Baby #2, 9 1/2 weeks

I just looked up on babycenter.com to learn about what's going on with the new baby. Sadly, I have not been as diligent at following this baby's growth like I was with Wright. I found out that as of this week, the baby is about an inch long and the size of a grape. What I want to know is how is it possible that a baby this tiny is making my stomach pooch out so much already!!! I look like I have been drinking way to much beer :)

Northpark Slides

We met Jennie, Jake and Owen up at Northpark today and went to the area with the ducks and big potted plants that all the kids slide down. Wright wanted out of his stroller and ran right up to the "slides" with all the big kids and started climbing and sliding. It was so cute, he had never done that before and it was like it just clicked all of a sudden. Yet another example of how he is growing up so fast!

The 4th of July

The 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays. I am just such a summer girl and love outdoor festivities. This year we decided to take Wright to the Park Cities parade. I have so many memories of doing this every year growing up and I wanted him to enjoy it. We went all out on decorating his wagon for him to ride in style. A friend tipped us off on how to get great seats in the shade, so Brendan went up to the parade route at 6:30 am to set up our chairs and blankets. When we got back there around 9am, our seats were still there and we had the perfect spot. It wasn't even too hot in the shade!

Wright had a blast watching the floats. He especially loved the police and fire trucks with their sirens and of course grabbing all the candy that people threw. It was funny because all the bigger kids would run and grab the good candy and he would run after and get all the leftovers...he got tons of peppermints and gutter candy ;) He had a few donut holes and three lollipops and was on a complete sugar high when we left! But what else is the 4th about!?? That afternoon post naps, we met the Hannahs and the Woodards at Catherine's dad's house to swim, then headed to the Hannahs in Plano for dinner. What a great day!

All decorated and ready to go...

Brendan had the great idea to buy this thermometer for the sign.

The Brewers let us park a at their house and Charles took a quick ride in the wagon.

Family pic, if only Wright would smile :)

He loved the fans they passed out.

So patriotic, waving his flag.

The moms.

These beads are fun to play with.

Lollipop number 1...

Lollipop number 2...

Lollipop number 3.

Wright and Turner.

Headed back to the car, SO hot!

Eleanor, Wright and Turner in the pool.

Almost 20 Months and Baby on the Way

Wright is almost 20 months 0ld, I can't believe how close to 2 that is! We are so excited that he is going to be a big brother, but I have to say it is really hard to imagine loving ANYONE like I love him! I think the whole pregnancy thing is making me more emotional about him growing up, I will catch myself looking at him and thinking, please don't get big too fast!

Anyways, here are some cute things he has been doing recently.

- He runs around the house and says "See Dow" all the time which we finally discovered meant "Lucy Dog". She is still his favorite playmate.
- He says and sings his ABC's. I would say he knows about 8 letters total but he at least knows what order they come in the alphabet. He also knows about 5 numbers from 1-10 and when we count, he chimes in when we get to 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10.
- He has a great sense of direction. When we get near our house, he starts saying "house, house". When we drive down Royal by my mom's he says "Mimi house" and when we keep going on Royal, he says "Max, Yuuuuke".
- We started swim lessons and he can hold his breath for 6-7 seconds. He loves going under water and jumping to me from the side. He hates going to the teacher and floating on his back!
- He is obsessed with counting to three before he does anything...jumping off the stair, throwing himself on Lucy's dog bed, getting out of the bath or high chair, jumping into the pool, etc. His counting is hysterical, he says something like "Bah, two, weeeeeeeeeee".
- He is into babies and loves to check them out wherever we go. And whether it is one or three, he says "babies".
- He sings along to music in the car and acts out songs with motions. He loves "This little light of mine", holding his candle and blowing it out. He also loves "5 little monkeys", especially the part where you say "No more monkeys jumping on the bed". He gets this angry voice and points his finger saying "dah do bah boo dah doo da" (or something like that).
- He is still a big dancer and loves getting down to any music.
- He is still way too into tv. He says "show" a hundred times a day. And when he watches the shows, he knows the songs and dances. The other day he was watching Blues Clues and the guy said "Our handy dandy..." and then paused for the kid watching to answer and Wright screams "nobook" (aka notebook). I could not tell if that was smart or just plain sad that he watches tv so much!
- And Brendan wants to add that he loves watching baseball with his dad. He says "ball" or "bayball" when its on (which is a lot!)

It Has Been Too Long!

I cannot believe I have not posted anything on the blog in so long. We have had a lot going on the past few weeks. Wright finished his first year of school, which was very bittersweet. I have been really busy with my new gold buying business and prepping for teaching next year. We have been loving the weather here and enjoying the outside all the time.

Wright with Miss Dina and Miss Sharon on the last day.

We went to the Lane's lakehouse this last weekend and had a great time. There were four couples there and all of us have boys close in age. The kids had such a great time playing in the big yard with water toys. They also got to go on the boat, which was not a huge hit for most due to the uncomfortable life jackets.

While we were there, we had a VERY scary incident. Wright was sitting on a bench eating his lunch in his booster seat which was not attached. He must have leaned back because all of a sudden, he flew back and nailed his head on the window ledge behind him. It made such a loud noise that I think everyone in the room was scared. Brendan and I ran over convinced that he had busted his head open, but there was no blood, just a huge dent in his head. He was shrieking and shaking and could not calm down for a while. I think every mom in the room was crying, it was just so traumatic. Anyways, not too long after he had calmed down, he got in my lap and fell asleep which of course freaked me out. So, we had to call the after hours nurse at our pediatrician who told us what all to do to look for a concussion. But after a 2 hour nap, he seemed completely back to normal. We on the other hand were still pretty shaken. It is amazing how resilient these little guys are!

I'm all ready for some lake time!

Jack Henry, Cade, Wright and Jake.

Wright and Jake slip and slidin'

I can't believe that Wright almost looks like he was not crying in this pic - don't be decieved!

On the boat...

Wright and Jack Henry playing with the hammock.

Next to being outside, watching "shows" was of course Wright's favorite activity. He had his blanket because this was shortly after the fall.

Owen, Jake and Wright had a great time in the bath together! Wright and Jake played a splashing game that soaked the entire bathroom.

All the mommies.

Cute buddies.

Yes they are sorta all over the place, but I still consider it a miracle that we got 4 boys this age to sit long enough for a pic!

Since we have been back, it seems like Wright's vocabulary has increased 10 times. I am convinced it is from being around Jake who talks (and even sings) so well all weekend. But today he has been saying so many new words and then remembering them later too, instead of just repeating as we talk about it. Example is that he came in and saw baseball on tv and said football. We said no, that is baseball. Then later it was on again and he goes "baseball". It was like he actually remembered from being told that once. Very cool!

One funny thing he is doing right now is when we ask him to point to mama or dada, he always points to himself. We think it is because when we have shown him who we are, we have always pointed to ourselves, so he is imitating us. But he cannot seem to get this straight - no matter how much we have tried. He is also still way into blowing kisses to EVERYONE. In the parking lot at Sam's the other day, he was doing it to everyone we passed. I am sure he does it because it always gets such a big reaction. :)

He loves wearing this hat and still loves to dance and watch shows.

Not sure if he likes this new water toy we got.

But he loves this one that all his friends have.

Things to Remember - 18.5 Months

Wright is at that age that he is really just doing something cute and memorable every day. Here are a few I want to remember...

- He LOVES to turn the lights on and off. When I get him out of the bed in the morning or after a nap, he immediately stands in his crib and starts shouting "Light, light!" and I have to go get him and let him turn it on.
- He repeats pretty much every word we say and has gotten really good at knowing how to say things by sight. Not too long ago, we would have to say "point to the flower" and he would do that. Now, I can say "what is this?" and he will say "flower". So smart!
- He likes to help pick up small pieces of trash that he finds around the house. He will come up to me and say "trash" and then run to the trash can, open it and drop it in. This is especially nice after he drops half of his dinner on the floor!
- The other day, he fell asleep on the way home from running errands. When we got in the garage, I had my hands full of bags, etc so I got him out of his seat to walk inside and then turned to go in. When I realized he was not right behind me per usual, I looked back at him and saw him laying on the garage floor! I guess he was SUPER tired, but it made me laugh so hard.
- He is very independent and wants to be a big boy so badly. He especially loves to play with his big cousins and older friends.
- He is obsessed with TV. Everyday is a battle as he runs to sit in his red chair in front of the TV and repeats "show, show". We have had to limit it to less than 30 minutes a day.
- He is a great dancer and has made up some stellar moves that I never want to forget. We have started daily dance party in the kitchen where we crank music and just let loose. It is fun for me too, especially since he won't make fun of my terrible dancing!

We Got a Pool...

Well, not a real one, but to Wright it is just as good.

Weekend in Dripping Springs

Brendan and I enjoyed a weekend away baby-free in Dripping Springs celebrating Elizabeth's 30th birthday party. We stayed in her Aunt June's AWESOME guest house that was entertainment-ready with a pool table, ping pong, big screen TV and my favorite, lots of games. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us and it rained pretty much all day Saturday. So, sorry to everyone who sees me on a regular basis, but I am still quite pasty! At least we still got some time in the pool Friday afternoon and the hot tub (despite rain) on Saturday. In addition to amazing surroundings and beautiful accommodations, June cooked all of our meals for us. What a treat!

Wright stayed with Mimi at our house. She took him first thing to get a new toy so we knew he was going to have a great time. According to her, he was happy and very independent the entire time we were gone. But when we went to pick him up, he did want me to hold him and he basically laid on my shoulder for about 5 minutes. And when we put him to bed tonight, he cried and cried when we left the room which he never does. So, I think he is experiencing a little separation anxiety.

Here are some pics of the river area by the house where we stayed. The Hill Country really is "God's Country".

Blog is Going Private

I am going to make my blog private as of next week because I am hearing horror stories about weirdos getting on friend's blogs, etc. That being said, if you are a friend and really do look at my blog and want to continue to do so, please email me or put a comment on this post and let me know. I can easily invite you and you will still be able to view it. I don't want to lose any blog followers, but also don't want creeps tracking my life :)

Playing with Jake

Wright loved playing with Jake today as always. On our way over there, we practiced saying Jake and Owen. He has Owen down pretty well, but kept saying "Atch" for Jake. No idea why. Anyways, when we got there, I got out Wright's snack bag and milk and was letting him grab his snacks as he wanted them. Typically he would inhale all his food immediately, but since he was so busy, he sort of left it alone. This greatly concerned Jake who has probably never left his food just sitting there. So he kept coming up to me and Wright and saying, "Here are his raisens" or "Wright, want your crackers?" SO funny. Then he was like "Wright here is your milk" and took his cup over and was holding it up to his mouth for him! I captured that on camera. So cute!

Jake, don't worry. Wright is not gonna blow away anytime soon! :)

"Here Wright, here's your milk."

"I'll take that, thank you."

My Second Mother's Day

This was my second official Mother's Day, but really I count it as my first one since last year we were traveling back from Maryland and didn't do much. I had such a great day and am so thankful for my precious little boy and wonderful husband. We got up (I got to sleep in), went to church, brunch at Cantina Laredo, then home for gifts. Wright got me some really pretty earrings, Lucy got me a candle and Brendan got me a cool shirt from Anthropologie. Then I got to take a nap! Great day!

That evening, we went to Melanie's house for dinner and to celebrate with Mimi too. Wright wanted to join the big cousins in the hot tub for swimming, so I got in with him. He had a great time in the water splashing, dunking under, jumping in to me (while holding my hands) and even floating on his back. I was very impressed with his comfort in the pool and think we might have a little fish on our hands. Funny side note...whenever I count to three with him like when we were dunking under the water, he tries to count with me. But he cannot say one or three very well, so he just keeps saying "two", "two". Precious!

Max's Baseball Game

We finally made it to one of Max's baseball games and we had a great time! Right when we got there, Max was up to bat and he hit a home run! I could not believe it and was crying (out of excitement) - yes I am my mother's child. Gosh, if I am that emotional about my nephew playing sports, I don't even want to know how sappy I will be when Wright succeeds at something :) Anyways, Wright had a great time too and got to eat ice cream from the ice cream truck and play baseball with a cute older girl.

Max about to hit his home run.

Playing first base.

Wright loving his ice cream bar.

Look Mom, it's a real baseball!

Wright with the star of the day.

Cute Pics

I thought these were so cute of Wright, Lanie and Eleanor.

Something to Remember

This is just something I want to remember. The other day we were in the car running errands and passed our street, and Wright said "house". He knew our house was right down that street. Then today we were going to a friend's house that is right by his school and we turned the corner that his school is on and he said "cool" which means school. Then when we got to our friend's house he said "Elle", "Lanie" because the last time we were there that is who he played with. It never ceases to amaze me what he knows and understands!

My Little Flirt

So I picked Wright up a few minutes early from school today and he was sitting next to one of the little girls in his class with his back turned to me. They were nicely playing together with a toy and his teachers looked at me and were like "Those two have something going on." I asked what they meant and they told me that all day they have been kissing each other ON THE LIPS and at one point they were both looking out the window and she put her arm around him. LOL! I guess all the practice hanging out with little girls is teaching Wright to be a ladies' man.

Also as of the last week or so, his new favorite thing to do when he says bye is to blow kisses. I have no idea where he learned this because we did not teach it to him. But it is pretty darn cute. He even blew a kiss at the man who was helping us at the Post Office today. We might need to teach some boundaries with the kisses, but it is a crowd pleaser for sure.