Zoo 2013

This year we have been so busy that we just now finally made our first trip of the year to the zoo. Melissa called to see if we would want to join them on a trip and we had such a blast going with them to play. It was suppose to rain so we were a bit nervous to go that morning but turns out the rain held off until we were 2 rows in the parking lot from our car to come down. It worked out perfectly except mommy was drenched before she was able to load everything in the car. But we had a blast and plan to go many times this year as it remains one of our favorite places to go as a family. Here are a few fun pictures from our first zoo trip of the year.

You know the kids had a blast when you look in the back seat to see this!

10 months Old

Can you believe it has already been another month???

I always get a little sad when doing these monthly blogs because I know how fast my little love is growing and I know it will not be long until she will be a big girl. So much has changed in the last month. Lillian you have finally popped out two teeth. First two bottom teeth came in a week after you turned 10 months. I thought you were going to have these teeth months ago and they finally made an appearance. Now you are already working on your top two as well. You are eating so much these days. You LOVE food and continue to eat well. Favorite thing to eat now is spaghetti O's ! Its a mess to clean you up after but you are always one happy baby when I feed you the O's for dinner. We are still waiting on you to take off walking but we are in no rush. You can stand alone but you are so cautious that you haven't taken a step alone quite yet. I can tell that you could do it if you wanted but I think you will be a little less of a dare devil than your sister. And I love that about you. You are still getting up 1-3 times a night but go right back to sleep. You continue to be an early riser at around 6-7 am every morning. You are babbling a ton more these days. Still only saying momma, dadda, and YEAH. Haha, it makes us laugh to hear you say "Yeah" because I know you picked this up from your mother saying that a million times a day to Harper. You also wave bye bye and make tooting noises with your mouth. You still have the funniest personality and continue to makes us laugh daily. You are wearing 6-9 months clothes and size 3 diapers. Lillian you love the water. Bath time is still your favorite time of the day.We love you little angel and cannot believe we are already starting to plan your 1 year birthday party. You are so special to us and we are overwhelmingly grateful to have you in our lives. Here are some beautiful snap shots of our 10 month beauty!

What a diva your are!!!

White Visit

We really are trying to visit my grandparents often these days. How blessed am I to still have my grandparents around. Its crazy to think my grandfather will actually be turning 80 this year . My grandmother has had a really hard year and really has made some big improvements lately. She loves to see the girls and to visit with us and even though she has changed so much over the last few years I still love visiting with her . We were always so close growing up and I am so grateful God blessed me with such an amazing grandmother and grandfather .  We grabbed a few pictures on our last visit. Here are two pictures of some special people in my life.

I am also so grateful that my girls are able to develop a relationship with these two as well. We continue to pray for healing for my grandmothers hip and for my grandpa's true devotion to helping her recover.

San Antonio Trip 2013

We had the chance to take a little trip to San Antonio this week and meet Uncle Mike and KK down there. So we loaded up later Thursday night after Harper got out of school so that we could make some headway on the driving. We ended up making it Austin and stayed the first night there. Lillian was over the road trip at that point and so we stopped and got in bed. Then early Friday morning we all loaded up and met Uncle Mike and KK at the hotel in SA around 11. We quickly decided to go to the Children's Museum downtown and play. It turned out to be such a cool children's museum and we all really had such a great time. Even Mimi played a little dress up.

Air traffic control Harper.

Look who is riding the plane.

Photo bomb Daddy ! HAHA!!

Then after a little fun there we headed down to the river walk to have some dinner.  We walked and watched the boats and had a little Mexican food. We really had fun watching the ducks harassing the people eating for food. Harper thought that was so funny.

Could she love him anymore?

Spending some time with KK.

We then headed back to get some rest for the next day. We got up early and headed to SEA WORLD....  The girls did amazing all day at Sea world and Harper loved all the animals. The weather was amazing and we watched some amazing shows. Even had the chance to feed the dolphins.

I think Mommy had the most fun feeding the dolphins.

Mimi scooting around.

Shamu

Harper waving at Shamu

Mimi and Lillian watching the seals.

What a day. We were exhausted! But everyone had so much fun. I was somewhat anxious about doing Sea World with both girls as young as they are but it went great. We left and took a good nap in the car and then met Jeff and Brandi for dinner at the food truck park. We had some yummy food and were able to catch up and then headed home to relax and get ready for our next big day. Then for our final day we got up and headed to the San Antonio zoo. I love the zoo ! And the best part of this zoo was the HIPPO.... Harper finally saw a live HIPPO. Weather was again amazing and we had a great time.

OH a bear's life!

Love these two.

HIPPO

Sun bathing Rhino

First taste of cotton candy.

After we played at the zoo we let the girls take a nap in the car and headed over to an outdoor mall. After a long day we headed back to the hotel and ordered a steak meal to go and all vegged out together and watched television.

It was so sad to say goodbye to Uncle Mike and KK but the next morning everyone headed home. Brad, Mimi and I took the kids to the Drive thru Safari. I think Harper really enjoyed the safari and I have to say we did get some pretty good laughs. Best part was the Ostrich.

Here he comes.

Zebra's are so beautiful.

This guy tried to stick his head in our car. That is a really big BEAK..

We had such a great time on our trip and the kids did so great. Maybe next trip I will get brave and we will go a little further away. I have to say we also had a cold front while we were down there which made it even more amazing with temperatures in the 70's.

9 Month Lillian

9 Months of Precious Lillian...

9 Things I love about you!
1. Your Humor!
You make me laugh so much.

2. Your Sweetness!
Seriously you are so sweet. Even when your sister steals your toys!

3. Your toothless grin!
YES still no TEETH.

4. Your chubby roles!
You are so much chubbier than Harper ever was and I love it..

5. Your Braveness!
You will scale the room and look back at me like you are so proud of yourself. FEARLESS.

6. Your Eyes!
So round and big. Those big eyes melt me.

7. Your Love!
Your love for your sister is amazing. Nothing makes me happier than watching you guys play and laugh.

8. Your Feet!
So cute..... Love them.

9. Your Monkey Love!
 I call you my Monkey baby because you love to be latched and hanging off me all day. I secretly love it because I know you will grow out of this soon and want to play with your daddy more then mommy. :)

9 month Stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 9 oz  (21%)
Height: 27.8 in   (48%)
Head:43.4 cm   (34%)

You are doing so great. We just went to your 9 month appointment . You did great. No shots this time which mommy loves. The Dr. said you looked perfect. We talked about what you have been up to as far as eating and getting around. She was happy with how you were progressing. Right now you are eating baby food twice a day and lots of snack foods. Still prefer breast milk or adult food over baby food but she said that was fine. We ate mexican food the other night and I swear you ate more beans and guacamole  than I did. Your favorite snack right now is crackers. I swear you could always have one and be perfectly happy eating nothing else. But you love food. You are wearing size 3 diapers still and 6-9 or 9 month clothes. Size 2 shoe. You are still getting up about 2 times a night and Dr. said to just gage how much you were eating on if it was time to wean you. I love that she says that because most Dr's would say STOP night feedings but honestly I just want to know you are getting enough to eat and you go right back to sleep so we will just see how things go the next few months. You are walking everywhere but still holding on to something. Not quite ready to go alone. We have you basically weaned off Reflux medications. Crazy that Harper did the exact same thing. At 9 months she was feeling better too. So grateful. You are talking more and more. And you do the cutest clap when we say " YEAH". You babble like you are saying " Yeah " back. Its adorable. Daddy taught you that and we love it. I looked back at pictures of Harper the other day at 9 months and you two still look so much alike at this age. I do see differences but you favor so much. We just adore you sweet girl. 9 Months has gone so quick and it wont be long before we are celebrating your first birthday .  Here are some pictures of my big 9 month old. WE LOVE YOU ANGEL.


Isn't my 9 month beautiful !!

FUNNIEST HOME PICTURE

All I can say is this girl is HYSTERICAL....

 If I would have caught this on video I swear we would have won America's Funniest Video. Brad put her on his shoulders and she just kept bending over and nibbling his ear. His expression is priceless... This kid is so funny! I hope she always has this humor about her! We were cracking up.

P.s.  Good thing she doesn't have teeth yet!

Fun Family Weekend

We had such a fun weekend ! We love when Uncle Mike and KK come to visit. Every time they come we end up saying a million times how we wish we lived closer so we could hang out all the time. Harper just adores her uncle and aunt. It warms my heart to see how much she loves them. We started out the weekend on Friday by letting the boys play golf. ( Would it be a family weekend if they didn't play a round of golf??)
HAHA!!
So the girls decided to pack up and head to Dallas for a trip to the Butterfly House. We have visited the one in Houston but never Dallas. So we headed in town and ended up having so much fun. Harper loved the butterflies and it was a fun museum.

Then we grabbed some lunch and headed back home to meet up with the boys. Then Friday night we had Harper's Art Show night at the church. It was really special for family to be here for Harper's special art night. They have a silent auction for the class as well as posted art from the kids in each class. They do this to raise money for a needy family. So we went and had pizza and checked out Harper's special art projects and bid on the class project. I know I am a over do it kinda mother but there was NO WAY I was leaving that place without the class project. It was adorable. A recipe book made of all the kids favorite recipes and pictures of everyone in the class. So I am proud to say I WON... HAHA!!!

I love it and will cherish it forever. Harper's first class project is mine forever.. Plus it felt good to donate the money we paid to a family in need.
So then on Saturday we all loaded up and headed over to the Renaissance Fair. We had never been to one of these fairs and WOW. It turned out to be a perfect day and the weather was awesome. Harper and Mimi and KK rode an Elephant and a camel. We ate fair food and visited the petting zoo. The people watching is crazy fun. I think we will have to do this more often.

Then Saturday night when we got home from the fair we celebrated Uncle Mike and KK's birthday. Harper and I made a special cake and we cooked Uncle mikes favorites . Pork Chops and baked potatoes and had a great dinner. It was so yummy!
We always hate to see them go but Sunday morning they headed back and we decided to enjoy a little family time. We went a did a little shopping and had some lunch and then played at the inside playground at the church .

Then we came home and played with a surprise toy Brad grabbed for the kids. It was a huge blow up ball that they climb in and roll around. At first I was a little worried but turns out we laughed and Harper loved it. It was pretty hysterical.

 It was such an awesome day. I love when we have family time. It is so rare in this busy life we live and I love every minute. We had such a great weekend and soon we will be headed to San Antonio for a family trip with Uncle mike and KK so we are going to look forward to seeing them again soon.