Food Trucks, Dinosaurs, and More!

July 2012

 

 In my last post, I talked about all kinds of fun things we did when Katy, Evan and Ben were visiting.  On one particular day, we took so many good pictures that I decided it needed its own post.  On Saturday, when Tommy wasn't working and we had a third set of hands, we got brave enough to pack everyone in one car and head over to Fort Worth for the day. 

 

Our first stop was the Fort Worth food truck park: 

It was a really cute little area with some big trees that provided a little shade on an otherwise sweltering day.  It even had a little permanent structure that sold beer, so Tommy was a happy guy. :)

Of course, we all went straight to the least healthy, but most delicious truck there, the grilled cheese truck:

Tommy got the half-healthy caprese grilled cheese and the boys had regular grilled cheese sandwiches.  Katy and I, on the other hand, went all the way and got the grilled cheese with barbequed pulled pork and macaroni and cheese - probably a hear attack on a plate, but delicious nonetheless! 

Cute photo of the three of us while Livi slept in her carseat: 

And she finally work up.  Sweet girl - I love how big her eyes are! 

After lunch, we headed to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.  The temporary exhibit was "Grossology," all about the gross goings-on in the human body - we figured it would be perfect for a group of little boys.  The got to slide through intestine slides and press buttons to make all kinds of bodily funtion noises - it was little boy heaven!

In addition to the temporary exhibit, there are always tons of fun things to do and see around the museum.  Here's Jack in the Texas cattle herding exhibit trying his hand at a little cattle roping:

All of the boys had to try their hands at hula-hooping:

And sit in a dinosaur paw print:

There was even an outdoor dinosaur dig area:

The boys spent a little time in the children's museum area.  I love this one of our three guys in front of the tubes of bubbly water.  Pressing the buttons made the bubbles flow faster and more frequently.

Jack and Ben also had fun building wooden tracks and racing cars on them.  We had to pull them away from this area when it was time to leave.

And Olivia did what she does best at this age - sleep the day away!  She's not quite big enough for her umbrella stroller yet, but really likes to face forward and watch the world when she's awake, so we rolled up a couple of blankets and propped her up.

Such a fun day! 

Olivia Meets Aunt Katy and the Carolina Cousins

July 2012

The month of July began and I was about halfway through my maternity leave. I was so fortunate that my little sis took the time and braved a flight halfway across the country with two toddler boys to meet her new niece and give her sister some very welcome company.

After a very eventful plain flight, involving a motion sick 4-year-old, among other adventures, they the Davis crew minus Ian made it safely to Dallas and we somehow managed to cram 2 adults, 4 carseats and lots of luggage in the MDX and headed home. The cousins, especially Evan, immediately fell in love with their little girl cousin and couldn't get enough of cuddling her and trying to make her smile. I think Aunt Katy was pretty smitten also!

We had lots of adventures while they were in town, including several trips to the neighborhood pool - we had quite the crew in the little red wagon, plus the stroller.

Unfortunately, Katy had stitches and wasn't able to get in the water, which left Aunt Audra chasing after three shaky swimming little toddlers when no one else could join us. We're all still here, so everything went well. We were lucky we had enough pool noodles for each boy because those were the instant favorite.

Of course, Olivia wasn't quite up to swimming yet, but she tool some great naps in her strawberry swimsuit in the shade while the boys played!

We also tried out a new hand-dipped ice cream bar store that had just opened up near the house. You picked your own ice cream type and toppings and they dipped the bars while you wait. Not exactly a tidy toddler snack, but they were delicious.

We had to get a picture of Katy and Olivia in her "I love my Auntie" shirt from her Aunt Brandi:

As we all know, July in Texas borders on unbearably hot, so we had to find activities that were either indoors, or involved water. One day while they were visiting, we packed up and headed to the splash park:

By the time we got out of the house, it was late morning and already really hot. Katy and I spent much of our time there trying to keep Miss Olivia cool and shaded, despite the lack of shady areas:

Since everyone would soon be headed to Aunt Karen's wedding in Kansas, we had to make sure all the boys had suitable attire. A trip to the mall with three excited little boys and a newborn is definitely not the most relaxing trip, but somehow we managed to find shirts and shoes for everyone - and even got some Chick-Fil-A for munch and a charm for each of the boys Crocs. Aren't they a motley crew?

While we both love our kids dearly, sometimes it is nice to have some sister time to be together, just the two of us and catch up. We don't get to do this nearly often enough! On one of their last nights in town, my amazing husband agreed to watch the kids so Katy and I could head to a nearby wine bar for some dinner, drinks and great conversation on the patio. Love you, Katy!

Of course, I took a picture of the wine and, of course it was a flight of Sauvingnon Blanc. Anyone who knows me would expect nothing else!

While they were in town, I celebrated my 34th birthday. The boys helped Aunt Katy decorate a delicious cake:

And everyone sang a beautiful version of Happy Birthday. It was wonderful having Katy and her kiddos there to celebrate and I absolutely adore the locket that they gave me for my birthday.

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Two Months Old and Fun on the Fourth!

July 2012

 

So Olivia is now 2 whole months old and already, Mommy and Daddy both think she's a superstar.  As I mentioned, she's even been regularly giving us 6-7 hours of blissful sleep at night, which was wonderful, and much needed.  Those elusive smiles were becoming more frequent, as were the gurgles and giggles of a little baby finding its voice for the first time.  Jack was really proud of his little sister and couldn't wait to show her off to anyone, friend or stranger - he certainly isn't a shy one!  I was a little more than halfway through my maternity leave and trying my best to soak in and enjoy each moment and each cuddle.

 

Olivia's 2-month appointment was on July the 2nd.  The first picture below is from the day of her two month and the second at about one month and I know the first is take from significantly closer, but doesn't it look like she's grown so much!

 



Her 2 month stats at the doctor visit were great - her height and weight stayed right on track since her one month appointment, but unlike her brother and cousins, she has a very petite little head.  We still think she's going to be a genius, though, just like all the boys!  Here are her stats:

 

Height - 23 inches - 75th percentile

Weight - 10 pounds, 9 ounces - 50th percentile

Head - 15 inches - 35th percentile

 

All of the shots tired out this poor baby - here she is curled up in a blanket on the sofa after the big appointment: 

Unfortuntately, it seems that with 2 kids in hand, the camera is something that is less frequently in ours.  We had a great time at Tom and Jen's house on the 4th of July swimming in the pool and enjoying time with friends and some delicious food.  Fortunately, we did manage to snap this one photo of the kiddos in their 4th of July finery:

Those who know me well know that I love my fireworks.  With Jack being so little, we hadn't gotten to catch a fireworks show since he had been born, and I didn't think we would get to watch one this year, either.  We left Tom and Jen's house just in time to see all of the fireworks shows happening around Dallas light up the horizon on our way home.  We also happened to be pulling in to Frisco just in time for the big fireworks show at the FC Dallas stadium.  After a sufficient amount of nagging from me, Tommy pulled our car over near the stadium and we watched the show from the back of our car.  Jack thought it was pretty cool, until the show neared its end and the pops got louder and more frequent.  I was determined to see the end of the show, so I watched outside while tired Jack whined in his carseat and Olivia slept away in hers.  Perhaps not the most relaxing fireworks display ever, but I remember watching them every hear with my family, so it just doesn't feel like the 4th without them.  Hopefully one day that will be a tradition in our family as well - just not quite yet!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

June 2012

One weekend, Nana made the trip from Houston to Dallas and Fort Worth to get her grandkid fix. Nana retired from her teaching job at the end of the school year (congrats, Nana!). Nana and Papa were in the process of building a house in Fort Worth, but until they had the opportunity to see the grandkids on a regular basis, Nana made the trip from Houston as often as she could!

 

While she was here, we headed to Dr. Pepper Ballpark to watch our local AA baseball team, the Frisco Roughriders. The stadium is really great for a AA ballpark and not too expensive - a really fun evening family outing.

 

In June in Texas, the heat is already scorching and we learned our lesson very quickly. Yes, I can be cheap at times, and I went for the cheaper tickets, which were, of course on the side of the stadium that isn't protected by the shade until the sun sets. We quickly moved into some open seats on the shaded side of the stadium, but made note that next time, the extra few dollars would be well worth it!

 

As we walked into the stadium, the man checking bags slipped a baseball into my backpack as a souvenir of Olivia's first trip to the ballpark. Of course, that ball quickly became Jack's ball and he proudly carried it around all night. Here's our little buy with his treasure - and some pretty cool shades!

Daddy carried Little Miss Olivia around for most of the game - I don't think she watched too much baseball :)

Here are Nana and Jack cooling off with some drinks. Poor little guy fell and hurt his wrist earlier in the day, so Daddy bandaged it up with an Ace bandage.

Finally, I love this one of my little man and I - shoes off after playing on the playground!

We're hoping to be able to catch a few more games in the future - it was a really fun evening!

Jack's First Trip to the Dentist

June 2012

 

One of my first outings with 2 kids by myself was to take Jack to his first dentist appointment.  I was really nervous that he would get scared, or Livi would implode, or both.  Luckily for everyone, the first dentist appointment went really well.  We went to a pediatric dentist, so Nemo was playing on a TV up above his head, and he got to choose a stuffed animal to hold while they cleaned his teeth.  Here he is before - what a happy guy!

Here is the teeth cleaning.  Jack is holding Nemo, while he is trying to watch Nemo on TV.  At least he's happy and isn't screaming his head off.

Dr. Davis examined Jack's teeth and proclaimed him cavity free, so he got to hold the giant toothbrush and have his picture taken for the no cavity wall.  Mom snapped one, too:

So we had a great first visit to the dentist.  If only the second (and third, fourth and fifth) could have been as pleasant...but that is a story for later...

 

Finally, these pictures don't really fit in this post at all, but I found them on my phone and wanted to be sure I posted them somewhere.  The first one is one of the first photos we took of Livi and Jack.  I love how proud he is to be holding her all by himself:

And finally, this is what I found one day when I went to pick Jack up from daycare - my cute little chef!



One Month Old!

June 2012

 

So Olivia just turned 10 months old, and once again, work has gotten in the way of my blogging, but I promised myself that I would keep the blog going, in order.  I'm sure that future me will look back and appreciate it, so now that busy season is over once again, I'll try to catch up a little bit.

 

We were so fortunate that Tommy got a whole month off work for paternity leave, but as Olivia's first month check up rolled around, Mommy was on her own.  Here we are headed to her one month check up.  Summer was upon us, so we had already removed the infant insert from the car seat.  It has only been 9 months, but looking at this picture today, I can't believe how tiny she looks.  She still seems so little to me now, its hard to believe she has grown so much!



And for comparison, here she is coming home from the hospital:

Dr. Le checked her out and proclaimed that she was in excellent health.  Here are her one-month stats:

Height: 22 inches (75th percentile

Weight 9 pounds, 3.5 ounces (50th percentile)

Head: 14 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

 

At one month, Olivia wasn't quite sleepimg through the night, but she was close.  At just 6 weeks old, Olivia blessed her Mommy and Daddy by sleeping a full 6-7 hours.  At that time, we just thought we had an amazing sleeper.  We didn't realize then that our full nights of sleep would come to an end around the time Mommy went back to work, but we definitely enjoyed it while we could!

 

We are trying our hardest to take as many pictures of Olivia as we did when Jack was born, but I now understand why parents always have so many fewer photos of the second child.  I still regret just a little that I didn't get any professional newborn photos taken of Olivia.  Tommy and I did our best to hold a few "photo shoots" while Jack was at school, but I have no doubt that Allison, our phographer would have had much better luck.  Still, with such a cute subject, there are bound to be a few good photos.  I can't believe how big her eyes are in this one:

Little sleepyhead:

Just like her brother, she studies everything with such focus, and has since she was just a couple days old.

These are were taken a couple of weeks later, when Tommy was already back to work. Here, it is painfully obvious that I am not a professional photographer.  Here she is in her first tutu, which I tried to lay artistically around her, but it just looks like she is sitting in a big circle.  The look on her face says it all - "Mommy, what the heck are you doing to me?!?"

No clothes, a little better, and a smile (sort of):

Tommy thinks this one is ridiculous, but I like it.  I got a few pieces of my Grandma Rose's jewelry out of my jewelry cabinet and thought I would see how it looked on her first great granddaughter.  Yes, it may be silly, but my intentions were good, and I think she looks adorable!

And, lest we forget, we still have a crazy 2 1/2 year-old running around.  He was attached to his sister from the moment he saw her and has been the best older brother I could have hoped for.  He's so sweet with her, I can totally see him teaching her to throw a baseball or kick a soccer ball a few years from now, sticking up for her if ever any other kids pick on her, and being at least as tough as Daddy on any would-be suitors who take an interest in his little "seester."

Here are some pictures of big brother Jack having some fun of his own on the slip and slide in the backyard:

I couldn't resist this one.  Even for the slip and slide, go get the swim diapers.  Oops!