Our Big Three Year Old

November 2012

On November 16, 2012, my little boy turned three years old.  I know I will look back on these pictures and think how little he is, but every time my baby boy hits a milestone, it seems to me like he is such a big boy.  I'm so excited to watch him grow up, but I know the bedtime cuddles and big bear hugs won't last forever, so I'm trying so hard to cherish each and every cuddle, hug, and "I love you, Mommy."

Jack's birthday was on a Friday, so Grandma, Grandpa, Poppy and Gigi came into town that afternoon and help stressed out Mommy plan for the big party on Saturday.  Here's the big boy on the day of his birthday - so proud of his cake!

Jack's big present this year was a play set for the backyard - truly a labor of love for his Daddy.  It arrived at the house as lots of pieces of wood, plastic and nuts and bolts.  Tommy started putting it together about a week before the big day and worked hard to ensure that everything was straight, tight and safe.

On the day of Jack's birthday, Tommy got some much appreciated assistance when his Dad came into town for the birthday celebration.  Here are the two builders next to their masterpiece - "Fort Mhire" as they liked to call it:

They finished just before Jack arrived home from daycare, as the sun was just starting to set.  I love his face the first time he sees his present!

He could've stayed outside all night and played on his new fort.  He even asked if he could sleep in it!

I love these next couple of photos.  He insisted on going out to play after we finished dinner and was fascinated by the "telescope" at the top of the stairs.  I think we have a future stargazer here!

This super fun day was just the beginning of the birthday celebrations.  Stay tuned for a Saturday superhero celebration!

Chopped!

November 2012

We continued to celebrate Austin and Amy's upcoming wedding with another shower thrown for their Dallas friends and family.  This was truly one of the most interesting and unique wedding showers I've ever attended.  Amy's sister-in-law-to-be's mom owns 3015 at Trinity Groves, a really neat culinary event venue near downtown Dallas.  We arrived at the venue and snacked on some yummy apps and drinks.  After we'd mingled for a while, we were all given an apron in one of three colors.  Then, we were told the secret ingredients - those ingredients that everyone had to use in their meal.  Austin and Amy planned a destination wedding in Key West, so the ingredients were appropriately island themed; shrimp, seaweed, dried mango, key lime (I think) and maybe something else I can't remember.  We got five minutes to conceptualize our winning dish and pick any additional ingredients we needed from the "pantry."

Our group decided to make some sauteed shrimp over a seaweed and potato pancake with mango-lime salsa.  Here are our cooks in action.  I was the photographer/consultant :)

Each of the teams had a cooking station from which to create their shrimp masterpieces:

Here is our finished product.  Notice the beautiful plating?  A heart for the two lovebirds!

Of course, Austin and Amy got to judge the finished dishes:

Sadly, while the blue team won "best plating," we did not win for the best tasting dish.  That honor went to the seaweed and shrimp wrap made by the red team which included Austin's mom and dad - do you think they had a little bit of an advantage? :)  Mrs. Pichot is an amazing cook and certainly has a good idea of what pleases Austin's palate.

While the adults competed, the kids were having some fun of their own.  Jack, Gemma and Sierra got to decorate their own cupcakes!

 

Such a fun night, and a wonderful way to celebrate Austin and Amy!

The Perfect Photo Session

November 2012

Admittedly, I was nervous about our first professional portrait session as a family of 4. Olivia had just barely learned to sit up and late afternoon on a weened night was known to be a fussy time for both kiddos. I had no idea what kind of pictures we would end up with.

Amazingly, both kids were angels. They smiled when they supposed to, especially Olivia, who seemed to have a permanent smile on her face. They sat still long enough to get some great shots and I don't think there were any tears or fights the whole session!

 

She posed us and for the first time and was amazed that everyone was smiling and facing the camera - so was I!  This is my favorite shot of the family:

But I really liked several others as well:

She got quite a few good ones of just the kiddos, too.  I love this one because it shows what a sweet big brother Jack is:

So much of their personailities come out in this one:

This one is one of Jack's favorites - it was his choice to frame in the living room.  What boy doesn't like being held by his feet, but who would be able to manage to still smile like this??  Livi's not sure...

Jack, as usual, ran around like a crazy person.  I'm always amazed at Allison's ability to take photos that so perfectly capture his personality, even in the midst of the craziness:

As I said, little Miss Olivia was all smiles!

 

She got some really cute shots of Mommy and Daddy with the kiddos, too:

I even loved the shots that didn't come out perfectly.  I know they are the ones I will look back to when I remember that day.  In this one, she had Jack run at us from the side and tackle me.

And then there's this one.  Well, boys will be boys...I love you, Jack!

Thanks to Allison Duckworth of ElevenThirtySix Images - this is the 3rd year she's taken our pictures and we couldn't be happier!

Halfway to One!

November 2012

 

So this is bound to happen sometimes when you wait 9 months to write a blog entry.   A few entries ago, I used the Canadian Thanksgiving photo as Livi's 5 month photo because I didn't think I'd taken one at 5 months. Well, I was wrong. I had taken one at 5 months.  It was 6 months I apparently forgot.  So I figure I'll include it anyway, even though now it is a little out of order.  Here's Livi's real 5 month photo:

Like I said, I guess I didn't take a 6 month photo.  On Halloween night, she was just a couple of hours from being 6 months old, so I guess we can just look at the previous post and imagine her a few hours older :)  So let's see...at 6 months Livi was just barely sitting up by herself, eating cereals and some pureed veggies (carrots were her favorite), sleeping through the night (most of the time) in her own crib and being a generally happy, smiley baby. 

 

Of course, we got a few shots at the doctor.  Livi is a little more of a drama queen than I remember Jack being.  Right after the shots, she screams like it is the worst thing in the world and looks at you with this incredulous look of indignation.  She doesn't cry for long, but she certainly lets you know that she didn't appreciate it!  Here are her stats at 6 months (yes, I called the doctor yesterday, nine months later, and got these from the triage nurse because I somehow managed to lose the paper they gave me - she talked to me like I was completely wasting her time, but she gave them to me):

 

Weight - 15 pounds, 7 ounces (40th percentile)

Length - 26 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head - 16.5 inches (30th percentile) - the only Bitler grandbaby so far with a small head - her brains must be densely packed inside :)

 

My mom always comments on how much Livi reminds her of me when I was a little baby.  This is a photo of Livi in an outfit that I wore when I was a baby, on a blanket that was mine as well:

I pulled this next picture of me out of some old photos. I can't believe how much she looks like me as a baby!  She has some Mhire characteristics, but as I looked at a few other old baby pictures of me, there were even some postures and mannerisms that I recognized from seeing them in Livi.  Jack always resembled the Mhire relatives so much as a baby - it is fun to see so much of myself in one of our kiddos!

Livi's First Halloween

October 2012

 

Finally, after weeks of build-up, the big day arrived.  I tend to build up holidays and important occasions in my mind much more than necessary.  I was looking forward to trick-or-treating at least as much as Jack, and definitely more than Livi.

 

Halloween was on a Wednesday this year, which meant that I went to work - all the way in Downtown Dallas.  I left Downtown before 4:30, which should have been way more than enough time to make it home to trick-or-treatig.  Or not.  Despite my best efforts to leave early, I failed to account for exactly how many people were also trying to make it home.  From the moment I got on the freeway, we alternated from dead stopped to crawling at a snail's pace - certainly nothing over 20 miles per hour.  I had my moments of near panic, close to tears in the car imagining sitting helplessly there while I missed my baby's first trick-or-treat.  That very nearly happened.  Nearly 2 hours later, I did finally made it home.  Tommy had the kids dressed up and ready to go, so we plopped Livi in her stroller and headed quickly out.  Jack was a lucky guy this year.  Obviously, Livi can't eat candy yet, but no one with a bowl of candy can resist superwoman in a tutu at their door, so big brother ended up with double candy!  He made sure that no one skipped putting a piece of candy in his little sister's pumpkin!  Here they are at the beginning of our adventure:

When we came back, I had to get a few more pictures of the super duo.  Once again, I can't decide which one of Livi is my favorite, so I included them all.  I love how her smile keeps getting bigger and bigger...

 Only one of Spiderman, but isn't he cute?!?

And one last picture of the two of them for good measure.  Happy Halloween everyone!! 

More Halloween Fun

October 2012

Our Halloween fun continued through October.  The weekend after Trunk or Treat, we headed to the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm just north of us in Celina, Texas.  We had been there a few years ago and had a really fun time.  We didn't get any pictures of Jack feeding the cows and goats, but I don't remember him being quite as interested in them as he was a couple of years ago.  They were some pretty aggressive goats, so he thought his safest bet was to throw the food through the fence and keep his distance!

Just like I do every year with the bluebonnets, I always have grand visions of my two munchkins sitting quitely amongst the pumpkins and smiling.  Obviously not realistic.  Jack was a little used to this by now, but poor Olivia just wondered why Mommy kept leaning her against pumpkins and stepping back to take pictures.  Here, she's not at all sure she likes what's happening: 

Here she looks like she's about a second away from falling into the pumpkins:

OK, so this one is pretty cute.  Sweet big brother and his big-eyed little sis:

Finally, some smiles!

Jack loved running through the hay maze:

A boy always loves trucks:

Daddy rode the train with Jack:

While smiley Livi and I waited with the pumpkins:

We concluded our trip with a family hay ride.  Fun day!

Our neighborhood had a costume party in the park.  The committee does a great job planning the neighborhood events.  This one had bounce houses, a petting zoo, crafts, cotton candy and a petting zoo.  We got there a little early and Jack had the bounce house to himself for a few minutes: 

Livi didn't join in the bounce house fun, but she enjoyed watching her brother:

The petting zoo:

The last party of the season was the Kids R Kids party.  The whole daycare is decorated and each room has a special activity, and of course a treat!  Here is Jack painting his black cat: 

And jumping around in a room of balloons:

Halloween wouldn't be complete without some pumpkin carving.  Jack got to pick the design, so of course, we had a Spiderman pumpkin.  It looked really cool, but I guess we didn't get any pictures of the finished product.  Boo!  This year, unlike in the past, Jack didn't mind sticking his hand in the pumpkin guts, although Mom still did most of the pumpkin clean out. 

As usual, Dad was on carving duty:

We've finally reached the end of our Halloween festivities.  Stay tuned for the grand finale - Trick or Treat!