Staycation Recap ::Part 1::

Hi folks! It's been awhile for sure! My hubby's been in between jobs, so we attempted a staycation of our very own. I'll try to piece it all back together for you, but you'll will have to bear with me. I'm afraid I may have to bust out some pics from my phone along the way...

We spent plenty of days at the splash pad. What else do you do with the littles when it's 110 degrees outside?

And, we've been saying for years we would take the little road trip here...

We made it to the little town of Brenham, and if you're planning a trip here, you might wanna know that they are only open during the week.

Emma was so excited!

And bro is good with anything that involves food.

I love this one :)

And this is what you get when you ask your hubby to take a quick shot of you and the kiddos...pure blurriness :)

We got there early, but no cameras were allowed during the tour. So those were the "before the tour" pics and these are the "after." We were all eating ice cream by 10 am.

Emma enjoyed every bite.

It was so cool to see how the ice cream was made.

I wish I had photos to share of that part, but a girl's gotta follow the rules :)

There wasn't even a drop left in Miss Emma's cup.

I promise!

I was dying to try the birthday cake ice cream, but that wasn't one of the options. Guess we'll just have to buy the half gallon :)

This was our attempt of Emma being the "Blue Bell Girl Silhouette."

See below for the girl that Emma was trying to be... It was a total coincidence that their dresses and shoes were so similar. I should have brought her a hat and a bucket :)

I wanted a family shot at the end, but settled for this. At least it's in focus, right?

Later that weekend we met some old friends at Grimaldi's for dinner.

The kids got pizza dough to play with until their dinner arrived.

Bro decided to eat his.

Which shouldn't have surprised me.

at. all.

This place has the best. pizza. ever. If you haven't tried it and get the chance, you should!

While Rob was paying the bill inside, we took the kids outside to check out the fountains. In a matter of seconds, she was soaked...

And so was he!

Sometimes, you just gotta let it go...

They went home naked in the car...

And I feared what the police officer would say if we got pulled over.

Be back soon with Part 2...

Y'all sleep tight :)

Dear Bro,

You're 17 months now, and I just can't believe how fast you've grown! You're the sweetest little boy ever, and I could just eat you up. We all love you so much! Here's the latest...

Your nap is so much better! It's usually around 11:30. And lasts about 1.5 to 2 hours.

We finally made it to your 15 month check-up. You weighed in at 24 lbs. 7 0z, which put you in the 25-50%. You were 32.4 inches long (75%), and had a head circumference of 47 cm (25-50%).

You are still wearing your 24 month clothes. Your 12-18 months are pretty snug.

Your diaper size is a 4, and your shoe size is a 5, but I think new ones are just around the corner.

As for your teeth...you are cutting all four of your molars. That was a fun little grouping. Teething is just pitiful for you...just so sad. You're getting another little tooth too, next to to pair on the bottom. It's just to the right of that little pair. Let's see, that makes for 11 little teeth!

I'm saving all of your words for your 18 month post. You've got to have at least 50 these days.

You drink whole milk and water only. If I give you anthing else, you look at me like I've lost it.

You are a busy little boy these days. You've got walking and running down, and I love watching you explore. Hugs to my sweet baby boy!

Staging, Sanity, Sweating, Saints, Sunglasses & Sum up

That's a whole lot of s's...

Hello friends! I'll admit it's been too long since I last posted, but it's been nuts around here. Let's start at the top...staging. I've spent the last few weeks staging this little thing we call home....

And, let me say to anyone who's had their house on the market with little ones at home...I respect you, admire you, and applaud your great efforts. Folks, this had been a lot of work, and we're only about one week in. I may need a sanity check in a major way before this is all over.

That leads me to my next s...sweating. It is so hot y'all, and we've been busting it in the yard and the house. So, we've been sweating our tails off.

I even buried this little guy in my front yard to help things along. So, dear ole St. Joseph, please help our little house sell, sell, sell!

Legend has it that if you bury him in your front yard and say the little prayer, your house will sell. Well, he's buried, and I'll keep ya posted on the rest. Staging was fun. It consisted of removing the stuff from my counters and stuffing it underneath.

If y'all are still with me, next is a quick sum-up of our fourth...

We spent it at our neighborhood parade.

Which is never complete without an at-home decorated bike...

We even hooked our little bro up with his very own ride.

And Emma became fascinated with sunglasses...

And more sunglasses...

Bro jumped on the sunglasses bandwagon too...

Emma was the leader of the pack for the parade, which I'm sure all of you know made her so happy.

We finished up with snacks & crafts with our babysitter extraordinaire. We love her and I'm not sure what we're going to do without her.

Carson's long-lost brother was in attendance at the party. It was crazy how much they looked alike.

And, we finished up the festivities with bubbles.

So far, that's it for photos for July. Oh my heavens, I just double-checked that, and that is the truth. We've got July 4th photos and photos of our hopefully soon to be sold house. Can you tell I've been preoccupied?

Hopefully we can chill a bit now and enjoy our summer.

For all of you so confused, Rob got a new job. I just realized that I left out that piece of information. So, now we have plans to relocate to the Dallas area. If you have any thoughts or suggestions on where to move, I would love to have them. Any advice on areas or schools would be greatly appreciated! We are both a little overwhelmed!

My Little Boy Blue

You are sixteen months now, and everyday you seem to learn or say something new. Here's a look back at the past month...

On 5.26.11, you took your very first steps! So, that made you 15 months and about one week old for that big walking milestone. Just like I thought, in a matter of minutes, your first steps turned into making laps around the house. I guess you've been busy just perfecting and practicing.

You love your sister "memma" so, so much.

She loves to play with you...

But, we still do have our share of mishaps.

You are sweet, but honestly, your naps have been a nightmare. No napping has meant no blogging for your momma. We did switch to one nap....again. You have an early lunch around 11 am, and I put you down at 11:15 or 11:30. Then, I pray that you sleep longer than forty five minutes. seriously.

Maybe we are making some strides, because yesterday, you slept two hours and forty five minutes...which is why I got to write this post. Nap was from 11:15 to 2, but I am not telling you this, because if I did, it would probably totally jinx it.

You like to put your little hand up to your ear now and say, "hello."

And, you love to play with sister's baby dolls...you say, "bebe."

We aren't too worried about you liking baby dolls. You love to grill on the play kitchen too.

If you could touch everything that was "up high," you would be on cloud 9. And, you love it when I help you do a somersault.

You like to knock the big block tower over too.

You have a new high pitch scream/cry. It does wonders for my sanity. And, you needed a haircut terribly, so I took both of y'all.

A couple of weeks ago you had some sort of viral sore throat that came complete with little mouth ulcers. You cried all day for an entire week, and I thought I just might lose it. Mouth ulcers+your wonderful napping routine=more than a few heaven help me moments.

You have the best little laugh in the entire world. And when I tease you with your paci, you laugh so, so hard. Mama C. was with us for most of the week, so she helped me wrangle the two of you for haircuts.

If you look closely, you can see her peeking around the corner :)

Duck-duck is by far your favorite word. You have a tiny little book with a duck-duck on it, and it is your favorite. You carry it around so proud, walking, and saying, "duck-duck."

So I marked 6.8.11 as your very first haircut. I think you were super over due...

But I have this thing with keeping those baby curls.

I've only cut your little bangs a few times, so this was the first official chop, chop.

Here's the after...

And here's a shot of the back...

Sister got a haircut too.

She loved getting it cut and enjoyed her time in the little yellow car too.

Mama C. stole a kiss. We were so glad to have her for a visit.

And you were cracking up at yourself in the mirror...waving & waving.

And waving some more.

All done!

And oh so pretty handsome.

We took the obligatory mommy & me. I have one with Emma on her first haircut...just trying to keep it equal. wink. wink.

No 15 month check-up stats to report. I need to bust a move. I guess that's the whole 2nd child thing working in your favor...

I know you're healthy, and a check up just means exposure to sick kids + shots.

To our little bro-bro,

Just know that you are so, so loved and watching you grow has been the best. You have the prettiest blue eyes, and I honestly think I could just eat you with a spoon :)

laundry & mantras

I had a little thought this morning.

It was that if I could convince my family to run around naked today, all of our laundry would be done.

After I had that thought, I immediately thought that I was losing it.

oh heavens.

ALL of our laundry is done...the towels, the sheets, the lights, the darks, the cleaning towels, the beach towels and everything in between. I even washed my "hand wash only" dress.

Too bad it doesn't last.

And too bad, I am always behind on all of it.

And too bad, just when I think I have caught up, at least on the kids' stuff, Emma has a "once a year tee-tee accident" or somebody vomits.

Not only did I do our laundry, but I put it away too. Except for the pile of clothes in the bottom of my closet that need to be hung up. do y'all have that wretched pile too?

My little buddy hasn't been the best napper lately. No nap equals you get nothing done...especially blogging.

So, don't be worried. I am here. Just attempting to exist without sanity time :)

Here's Carson's 15 month update if you're interested. I was late writing it, so it's been back-dated, but it's new :)

A friend told me that everything is a phase. For the past few weeks, I keep on reciting that mantra to myself...

everything is a phase...everything is a phase....everything is a phase...

that's how i get through the day.

geez...phases are tough. really tough.

heaven help me if he doesn't start napping soon.

and just for the record, when i started writing this post, my laundry really was done. really. but, i've been interrupted so many times by now, that my laundry really isn't done anymore.

we should have run around naked.

hope to be back soon.