Our Big News

Yes...it's true. Our sweet Baby Brother is not going to be Baby Brother for much longer. We are going to have another little one at the end of March!

I know it's been pretty silent around here - and this pregnancy being one big reason. The first trimester was pretty rough. But we made it through and I'm singing the praises of second trimester glory!!! :)

Love,
Rebecca

Pretty Much Our Favorite Place Ever....

No, our favorite place is not the Catfish Parlour. Painted on the side of this building is a mural of fish, which is so very convincing to the mind of a two year old - what else could it be but Sea World? And every time we drive by, he claims we are on our way to Sea World. So, to Sea World we must go. This spring we have made two trips to Sea World San Antonio - and each time we have had an absolute blast.

We went one time last year - and it made quite an impression on Little One. The park has a deal where you buy a ticket and it is good for admission all year long! And Little One is free until he turn three, so we wanted to get the most out of his free ticket.

Here's some highlights of our last two trips -

Staying Dry - (Or Not...) The second time it POURED rain...

Feeding the Dolphins
And the Sea Lions
See that little brown spec in the middle of the picture? The wind blew some poor lady's hat off her head and right into the sea lion pool. The sea lions were thrilled that they had a new toy - and the overseer of the pool had a heck of a time trying to fish the hat out. The overseer and his net was slightly outnumbered!
And ourselves...my goodness, we usually don't buy much at amusement parks. I was shocked when I looked in our wagon to see how much loot we had accumulated throughout the day. Now, granted, we went with another family, so some of the stuff is theirs - but we have enough Shamu paraphernalia to last a while!

This was a big moment - talking for about 10 minutes with Dad about the roller coaster. In the past, he has been very afraid and hesitant about riding the roller coaster. "It's too loud!" He would say - and when we walked pass he would cover his ears and cower. But, after watching and talking it over with Dad....
He did it! And he had a great time. Afterwords he ran down the ramp, over to me, eager to share the experience. "You want to ride the roller coaster with me Mama?" How can you say no to that? So we rode it a second time. So much fun.
And of course, watching the shows. There are two shows that we are particular fans of, Viva (acrobats, dolphins and beluga whales) and Believe (Killer Whales). The shows have been a great tool for our dramatic play at home! We play acrobats almost daily. We also play that I am Mama Baby Beluga, Baby Brother is Shamu and Little One is John the Killer Whale Trainer. I think you get the idea of who's in charge of that....
This is how Little One spends a lot of the time at the shows. He is so sensitive to sound. Although, I did notice by the end of the second time, he spent less time covering his ears...

The five'o clock power nap. Yep, he is sawing Z's....the crazy things we parents do in order to get a full night's rest! He had made it this far without taking a nap - and the last thing we were going to do was get in the car and let him sleep for a good hour and a half and be wide awake for the rest of the night. So, we allowed a good power nap - had dinner, rode the roller coaster and took in another show before heading home.

About to pop...

Howdy from Colorado! The boys and I are on vacation - and we've had a lovely time. We are spending time with cousins, grandparents, and friends. And, most importantly, we are waiting for the arrival of Allison's baby! I can't wait to meet this little one! I can't wait to find out if I'm going to have a niece or nephew! The baby is due June 22nd....the countdown is on!

To see more pics of Ally and her beautiful belly - my friend Heather has been at it again - you can click here and here.

We all scream...

Yep, it's warming up here in Texas. This past week it's been in the high 90's. And we're lovin it! In the words of Little One..."I'm so glad it's hot outside so we can eat ice cream!"

A whole bunch of new!

Here's an update big things have gone on in all of our lives in the past week:

Little One:
He's learned how to pedal! We left him at the YMCA for a few hours last week for parent's night out, and he came home, hopped on his tricycle and said "watch this!" and he just started peddling his little heart out. He rode around and around the main floor for a good 45 minutes. And, it's a been a daily activity since.
The other big thing is that Frosty the snowman has been introduced into our family. We rented it and had to return it today - and I'm pretty sure one of us will be headed out to find the DVD in due time. I can only imagine what his response is going to be when he learns that frosty is gone. It was bad enough when Frosty melted.
And, on that note - have you watched it lately? I found myself laughing and chuckling to myself a lot this past week - all of the children are wearing shorts and mini skirts on the coldest day of the year. Karen is sure her mother won't mind if she goes to the North Pole - as long as she's back by supper. And the police man is told that he has to excuse Frosty because he just became alive. Of course! If only I had a great excuse like that. :)
So, here's a photo of the tricycle Frosty marathon that's been going on around here.



Baby Brother:
He's learned to giggle! And boy, does he have to work hard at it. So many times he has a HUGE smile and he squints his little eyes and no sound comes out. But, just this week he's figured it out, and it's just about the cutest thing I've ever heard. He also LOVES to stare at his fist. Check him out.


Daddy:
Daddy is an official Longhorn! Yes, my sweet Husband has been accepted into Texas University to finish up his undergrad. I am so proud of him. He was at senior status when we left CO - and has been working on his degree for so long! After much perseverance - he's in! Hook em Horns!

Mama:
Made and hosted her first Thanksgiving. I had so much fun. I learned a ton - and can't wait until next year. One of the biggest things I learned was that when you brine a turkey and have an option between an expensive brine bag and a cheap one - opt for the more expensive one. Because there is a chance that the cheaper one may spring a leak in the night and leak brine, and raw turkey juices all over your refrigerator and into the deli and cheese drawer, and the first and second produce drawer - soaking everything that's in the drawers. Uh huh. Ask me how I know.

But, now I have a super clean refrigerator (the bottom half anyway) and all fresh produce. No more limp celery stalks can be found in my fridge!

Despite the craziness of the leaking brine, everything came out beautifully. We had our friends the Blacks over - and so enjoyed their company. It was a lovely day.

I know I promised in my last post to post about our trip. I need to stop promising coming topics in my posts. Because, I never know when I am going to have the opportunity to blog - or if I'm going to be in the mood to blog. So, for the record, I'd like to post about our CO trip, I hope to post about it, but make no promises from here on out... :)

So, I sign off this post with a lovely fall picture my sweet friend Heather (who, by the way, is hosting a very fun giveaway. Stop by and check it out!) took while we were home. I love how she captured my little man. Thank you Friend! For all of you who live in CO Springs and need a photographer - I highly recommend her....

Just imagine a "Happy Thanksgiving!" coming from that little mouth...

I'm back....

This pretty much sums up where we've been.

More to come soon! :)