Garden of the Gods

Last weekend we flew out to Colorado to celebrate my youngest cousin's wedding. The kids did great on the flight.  Nate was very excited to go in an airplane and Marissa slept as soon as we took off!  My sister and her hubby picked us up at the airport and we made a quick stop at the Garden of the Gods.  It is an ideal place for little boys to climb on rocks and play.  We did not get to stay long, but they loved it while we were there!

Gorilla Weekend

Last weekend Daddy kept the kiddos and let Mommy sneak away for a college reunion with some of her very best friends in the entire world.  We actually got together to throw a surprise 39 and a half birthday party for one of the guys....however during the long road trip, Sheila and Mommy came up with an idea for the best prank ever!  We dressed in gorilla costumes and stalked the birthday boy for the afternoon.  It was a riot (call me any time and I will be more than happy to share the story).

It really was a great weekend for Mommy and so many new memories were made.  When I got back into town, Nathaniel gave me the biggest hug and said I missed you Mommy - simply, melting my heart.  That night as I laid him down for bed he looked at me with his huge blue eyes and said, "Well, Mommy, did you have a nice trip?" and I said, "Why, yes Nathaniel, I did".  And he asked "What did you do?".  To which I replied, "Well, I got to see a bunch of my friends, dress up like a gorilla, and laugh a lot".  Without skipping beat, a huge smile spread a cross his face and his eyes got even bigger and he asked me with great enthusiasm, "Did you get to say Ooh, ooh, eeee, ah, ah (monkey noises)".  And I laughed and said, "Why yes, Nathaniel, I did".

How awesome are kids???  He does not even find it the least bit strange that his 34 year old mom ran around like a lunatic in a gorilla costume, in 100 degree weather.  He is simply in awe that she got to say "ooh, ooh, eeee, ah, ha".  I sure do love that boy!

Weekend of the Fourth

We had a nice Fourth of July weekend.  My parents came to town, just in time to hang out with a feverish, fussy little girl.  Marissa spiked a fever on Friday and was pretty clingy and upset unless Momma was holding her most of the day.  She was drooling uncontrollably so I was chalking it up to teething; then on Sunday the fever broke and a rash broke out all over her body.  Monday we took her into the after hours clinic to find out it is a viral rash and she is no longer contagious (she just looks horrible).  She was nearly back to her usual self on Monday.  Even with all that going on with Marissa, we were able to sneak in some fun with my parents. 

Fri-  We hung out at the house and went for a nice long walk.  Nate rode the motorcycle Uncle Robert gave him!

Saturday - We made some delicious, patriotic strawberries.  It was awesome until we ran out of white chocolate!  Then Big Daddy and Gigi went to a dinner theater and had fun.

Sunday we went to church and to Moody Gardens

Monday was Gigi (and America's) Birthday!  We made a cake and had a birthday picnic (guess whose idea that was...)

 Nate was quite the little chef this weekend.  Here he is beginning Gigi's birthday cake

My sweet kiddos

Ain't he purdy????

 Fussy Girl and her patriotic rash!

 Putting the finishing touches on the cake

 Singing Happy Birthday to Gigi

And the infamous Birthday Picnic!

It was a good weekend, even with Miss Fussy Pants.  As always our time together ended much too soon.

And we are off....

Last night Marissa began taking up to 10 steps, walking between Daddy and myself.  She is quite pleased with this new found freedom (although in the video she is upset that Mommy had the nerve to put her down and walk away)!  Although we are very excited for her, I know this is her first move toward independence.  Stepping in the safety zone between mom and dad today, leaving babyhood behind tomorrow, and then she will be venturing out on her own before we know it.  Yikes!  Congratulations, baby girl!

Tomorrow she will be 11 months old.  This little 6 toothed-sucessive stepper-speedy crawler-eater of anything she can put in her mouth still thinks her brother is the funniest person in the world.  She is usually smiling and laughing and is our little delight.    She is currently working on mastering walking and the sippy cup.  She is super fun - even if she still does not sleep through the night! 

Give me a push....

Today was a Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Toddler Style, kind of day for us.  After watching Cars 2, we had lunch followed by a quick nap, then off to a birthday party (including a bounce house, pull apart pinata, and lots of sugar), then we ended the day with a trip to the park. 

While the kids played with each other, I played a little with my new camera (I have a LOT to learn about DSLRs).  So here are a few pics of the swings. 

What I also failed to mention is that we hosted a party at our house last night with a bunch of my coworkers. I am beat!  And instead of sleeping, I am blogging.  Oh well...'Rissa will be up in a few hours anyway....good thing she is so cute! 



Nate's 1st Movie

So we finally embarked on the cinema scene with our son.  I am not sure who was more excited about this; OK let's be honest here, we (the parents) were.  Nate LOVES the movie Cars  so we thought Cars 2 would be a perfect introductory movie for Nathaniel.  We rounded up some friends and hit up the big screen.  After all, movies are so much more enjoyable with company....and now Nate can proudly boast that he took not one, but two, beautiful girls with him to his first movie! 

Payton, Nate and Julianne at Cars 2

He did pretty well.  He stood up and rested his chin on the chair in front of him and had a bit of an outburst when I made him sit back down in his chair - but other than that, it was drama free!  Now my review of the movie is this:  It is a cute movie, some real LOL parts, but it is geared for older kids. Spoiler alert warning:  It is more of a spy movie, drama-ish, and blowing things up.  While I did like it, I do not think it competes with the message that the first Cars movie put out.  So there you have it.  Our child was culturally indoctrinated to the movie scene and he enjoyed it.  We will see if this becomes something we do more frequently!



Roo's Do

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful"