Uncle Rob's Tatoo Parlor

I know, I know...I am way behind in posting. Here are pics of the cousins getting tatoos from Uncle Robert. As you can see, even Gigi was in on the action! There are no pics of Nate because he was screaming bloody murder the entire time. If you did not know any better, you would have thought it was a real tattoo, and the silly things have been on 2 weeks now!

Wildlife!

Sorry this post is coming late and more pics will have to follow from the other events of the weekend.

We had so much fun with my family this weekend, that this will probably require multiple posts! Mom, Dad, Barbara, Anson, Craig, and Dawson arrived on Thursday. Craig and Nathaniel interacted more than in previous visits, fought less, and yet managed to throw some big fits. The joys of 2 year olds have hit! Nathaniel was pretty sweet with "Baby Dawsie" and was concerned when he would cry. He tended to kiss or pat his head every time he walked by. I am hoping he will be as sweet with his little sister. So Thursday the Caswells helped me pick up and transport a "big boy bed" for Nathaniel. As soon as we move into the new house, we will transition him to this bed (which we are supposed to close within the week- yay!). We spent the evening playing with the kiddos in the yard. Friday we spent some time at Challenger park.

Saturday we went to Bayou Wildlife Park, which was amazing! The kids were able to feed, pet, and even kiss animals (my son tends to think he needs to kiss animals on the face- I realize how incredibly gross and dangerous this is but....he does it anyway).

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What Nate enjoyed most was using the feeding bucket as a hat....go figure!

The kids also got to go on a short pony ride, they loved it.

Then we ventured out to get pictures taken of the 5 cousins....I am still trying to recover from that experience, but we did get some very cute pics. The evening was topped off with a visit to Uncle Robert's temporary tatoo parlor. Sunday we headed to the beach in the morning. Nathaniel now has no fear whatsoever of the ocean and would have walked straight out as far as possible, if Mom was not freaking out. He apparently has poor sensation as well because the water was freezing, but he did not care. That afternoon we cooked out and had an Easter egg hunt.

Little Update

Tomorrow I will have one child at 22 weeks and one at 22 months. Crazy, I know! I had a check up today. Cookie seems to be doing well. Her heartbeat was 152 today. She is quite the gymnast already, this child flips and turns constantly. I am still pretty comforatable so it is an amazing feeling. I do hope she slows down some in the next couple months because I know as she gets bigger, it will be a little less "fun", for both of us.

Although I am consistently in maternity clothes now, I still have not gained any weight. I was a bit surprised by this, seeing as how I am eating sweets a LOT these days. I am getting occasional heartburn already (I don't think this started until the last trimester with Nathaniel) but other than that, feel pretty good.

We are really looking forward to my side of the family coming to visit tomorrow! Nate's crazy cousin Craig turns 2 on the 26th so we have some fun family activities planned. I am excited to see Nathaniel interact with his baby cousin, Dawson (who is 7 months now). And I know he will have a blast with his older cousins, Logan and Isabella.

And house news.....still waiting for the final say. We did get verbal acceptance of our offer from the bank last week but we are waiting to get it in writing. Our current house is sold, as of April 15th we need to be out (actually we do have a lease back option until May 1, but would prefer to be out by the 15th). So things continue to move along at a slow and painful pace.....I never plan on doing a short sale again! Thankfully we have the best realtor ever.

Pictures will follow of the Brew Crew Extravaganza in the next post!

Our Little Count

Accountant or doctor, what will he be?

We are pretty proud of our little count. You can even pick up some Texas twang in his vioce!

Cookie's Gender Announcement

We have always said he was a genius, but look at this. He is only 22 months and he is able to read sonogram pictures! Wow.

We are pretty excited about this addition!!! Nathaniel has no idea how much his world will be rocked in July.

College Friends and Kids

I am certain that nothing beats getting together with old friends and laughing about the crazy things we used to do! I was fortunate to have many good friends in college. The amazing thing is we have actually (sporadically) kept up with each other pretty well. There was a group of about 8 of us who were deemed the "Spartans" - I think it had something to do with the cheerleaders of SNL fame...I honestly cannot remember. It became our name for all inter-mural sports teams and any post-college gatherings.

Anyway, we were able to get together at the end of Feb with 4 of the families. We all now have kids - which made talking a little more difficult, but it is so much fun to see the offspring run around like crazy. Thanks Torey and Karen for opening your home for the chaos! I wish I would have gotten more pics.

Blake and Tyson Sellers

Addalyn McDonald and Nater-Tater

Casen McDonald

Our friends, Jennifer and Brian Taylor,were able to get in and join the chaos with their two boys as well. They were actually in from New Mexico. Jennifer's mom, Karey, had surgery at MD Anderson. So although it was not the best of reasons to come to Houston, it was really great to see them. And, Karey is doing great, but keep her in your prayers. They even made it down to Galveston one day - so I skipped work and joined them for some beach fun!

If you blow up the picture, you can see the Taylor men on the left.

The family and Trent attempting to enter the frigid water

Nathan had fun searching for seashells!

Jennifer and I actually went to elementary school together (along with Sheila - Addalyn and Casen's mom above). We have shared some pretty exciting life experiences over time. Jenn was the voice of reason for us in college and now she and I get to walk through our pregnancies together! She is due at the beginning of July - and I am at the end of July. We have had some pretty interesting conversations, comparing who has been sicker with these precious kids we are currently carrying. It is nice to not be alone!

I was pregnant with Sheila and Amanda when I was pregnant with Nathaniel (two of the Spartan women) and now with Jennifer. Almost like we dreamed about in college - only we all would have lived much closer!

Your place or mine?

Nathaniel is in love with our new dog - whom he calls "Dog". We cannot seem to teach him that "Dog" has a name like the other 3 dogs we own. Oh well, he is happy.

We made the mistake of putting Dog in the crib one morning to wake up Nathaniel; so now he thinks he needs Dog in his crib at all times. (Yeah, so I have not yet bought a twin bed....) The first thing he asks for each morning - is Dog. He occasionally says (his version) of I love you, Dog if we don't immediately go get the dog.

Dog has been a good lesson in sharing. He shares his food with Dog, his toys with Dog, and other things we would prefer he does not let Dog chew on. It is an adventure. Now, this does not always mean he is nice to Dog either. He does try, occasionally, to ride Dog and will push him away at times. But overall, it is fun to watch.

The other night Ted was out grilling so Nate and Dog were outside too, suddenly we could not find either of them. Nate had crawled into a kennel and shut himself and Dog in.

He was loving it (Dog, not so much). Nate thought it was hilarious. They are a fun pair to watch.

We finally transitioned Nathaniel into a booster seat this month. It was actually a pretty easy transition and he is doing good so far with keeping the food where it should be (other than when he tries to feed Dog).