Summer

I have heard so many people wax poetic about summer. I'm going to be honest, it's not my favourite time of year. I really prefer spring and fall. I love spending time outside, and summer in Katy is not made for outdoor activities. We go swimming, and go to the park , and we take evening walks, and eat outside. Ok, that last sentence made summer in Katy sound magical. But all of those are early morning or evening activities. Daytime is brutal. We usually spend the hours from 11-5 hiding out inside doing crafts and trying to keep the house somewhat orderly (ok, Andy and I are the only ones trying to keep things orderly, Madeline loves a mess). But in a spirit of optimism and looking at things from a positive light, I am choosing to concentrate on the things I like about summer.

I love early morning visits to the playground.




I love bubbles and pajamas.




I love swimming. I love the smell of sunscreen on my little ones.




I love bringing Owen outside so he can do the exact same thing he always does, except outside. And I love his new set of faces he's learned to make.




I love setting up the sprinkler toys and inflatable pool in the backyard and watching Madeline and Nelson go crazy.




I love flowers in full bloom.




I love sno cones, and red tongues.




I love that the time gets all jumbled up and an afternoon visiting with friends quickly turns into evening and night. Afternoon swims quickly lapse into dinner and popsicles.




I love evening walks as the sun starts to set.




And I love summer naps, and summer nights.

Jarntip + Shawn

Weddings are one of my favourite things in the world. I would love to just go to random people’s weddings and just soak in all the love and happiness that comes with a wedding day, like Wedding Crashers, but less hook up and more fly on the wall. It is a day filled with so much joy, and hope, and happiness.

I love the anticipation of waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle, even though I JUST saw her 10 minutes ago.



I like to look at the groom, and watch him watch her. I love to hear all of the readings and declarations of love, especially when they are words I've never heard before.



I love all of the decorations, all the little details the bride has worked so hard to coordinate.



I love celebrating afterwards. I love night weddings where the day fades into night.



I like the dancing, especially when everyone has had a bit much to drink, and doesn’t notice that I am not in fact the great dancer I pretend to be.



I love the cake (who doesn’t love the cake!).



I love watching total strangers joining together to love two people. I love getting together with old friends who I don’t see often enough.



And of course, I love the kids. I love that they don’t really know how important this day is and they don't care. They came to dance and eat cake. And they are always so happy.



I really think weddings are a lot like a birthday (like the actual day a little one is born), except with pretty clothes, dresses, cake, and dancing. It is a day full of hope and excitement. A day that no matter what goes wrong is always the most perfect day you could ever imagine.

These pictures are all from my friend, Jarntip’s wedding this past weekend. It was even more beautiful than the pictures. It was a perfect night that I want to do all over again.



Congratulations Jarntip and Shawn. We love you!

Another Awesome Weekend!

I am so lucky, I have had such an amazing May. I love the weekends, who doesn't. It's so nice to be around the people I love all the time, not to put down my coworkers, because I really do like all of them, but they can't compete with my two little ones, and Andy. This weekend we had lots of great family time. Saturday was filled with farmer's market adventures, a golf outing for Madeline and Andy, scrapbooking, and an evening picnic.


Sunday I didn't take many pictures, because a lot of it was spent at the pool, and that just doesn't seem like a safe place to bring my camera. If you had been there, you would have seen 2 very cute little girls (my best friend, Breck, and her boyfriend and his daughter were in town and we all went to the pool together), and the most adorable little boy in the world. Every time I looked around people at the pool (mostly other moms), were pointing towards us with giant smiles on their face. Owen loves the water. He loves baths, and he most definitely loves swimming. He just relaxes and takes it all in. Next time I need to remember my point and shoot camera to take pictures of Owen. And Madeline is really starting to get the hang of swimming. She has work to do, but I'm predicting a short solo swim by mid-summer. We did have some pajama time at the end of the day that I caught on camera. Madeline and Owen are really amazing siblings. They truly enjoy each other so much. They both light up around each other. It's very cool to watch their love grow every day.

Our next two weekends are already full, and then I'll probably have to work through the following weekend, so this weekend was especially nice and peaceful. And how awesome is it that we got to spend the whole weekend together.

Lazy Weekend

Last weekend we accomplished nothing; it was the most amazing weekend in such a long time. I have a tendancy to plan out every minute of our day, so it was kind of nice to have nothing to accomplish. Plus, it rained almost the whole weekend, so it was the perfect time to just stay in and enjoy each other. Andy went out of town to visit a college friend who finally graduated after 14 years. I was a little nervous going into the weekend. It was my first time with both kids for more than just a couple of hours. Madeline has figured out that she can get away with infantely more when I'm feeding Owen or trying to get him to sleep, and she has started taking advantage of that. It puts me in a very precarious position, do I raise my voice and risk waking Owen up, who fights sleep so hard, or just ignore whatever she is getting in to. I was nervous, but I was also a little excited. I really wanted us to have a fun weekend, and really wanted to prove to myself that I could survive outnumbered.

We were stuck inside almost all day Saturday, but Madeline was amazing. She watched her dance recital video about 5 times, and danced along with every class. Owen and I watched her, and occasionally joined in, but couldn't perform up to Madeline's standards most of the time. I discovered that Owen loves watching the rain. I set his swing up facing the window outside and he loved it. He is going to enjoy summer afternoons on Grandma and Pappy's porch watching the storms roll in with Pappy and Rusty. In the afternoon we worked on a mosaic pixie picture that she had gotten for her birthday. It finally stopped raining in time for us to make a trip quick to the park. Madeline does not stand for her clothes to get wet, so she wore her rain boots, and hiked her dress up as she stomped through the puddles. Owen watched very intently as Madeline tried to explain how to pump your legs so you can swing like a big girl. This is a skill she aquired very recently, but she talks like she is an old pro. My good friend Ashley came over for a dinner of mac and cheese and hot dogs, and then we went to our favourite cupcake place for dessert. It was such a slow peaceful day.

Sunday we had a picnic in the backyard and played silly games that Madeline made up. Madeline decided she was old enough to hold Owen in her lap without any help. She did a great job, and he cooperated nicely. I think that might have been her happiest moment all weekend. She is such an amazing big sister and has so much love for Owen. And he adores her.

I was so nervous going into the weekend that it was going to be hectic and crazy, but it was just the opposite. It was so nice to just enjoy each other and just play. I wish Andy had been there to enjoy it also, but the good thing about weekends is they're only 5 days apart.

Springtime in Texas

I think March and April are easily my favourite months. Its warm and sunny outside, but not quite hot yet. I like to spend as much time as possible outside. Madeline can play in the barkyard or with sidewalk chalk, and I bring Owen's swing outside so even he can enjoy the fresh air. We eat dinner outside during these months, and go to the park as often as possible. Here are a few pictures of Madeline playing outside the past few weeks.

Road Trip

Last weekend we took our first roadtrip with Owen. My mom complains that she does not get to see Owen enough, even though she might see him the most outside of our immediate family, and she lives 2 1/2 hours away. She had gone almost 2 whole weeks without seeing him, and was not happy about it.
We forgot how much stuff you have to bring for a baby, and we pack light when we visit my parents since they have everything at their house. They really do have everything we might need except for a stroller. babies just take a lot of stuff. It was a wonderful weekend. Jules and Zac were in town also, and we had such a blast hanging out with them. Saturday morning, I decided to try and straighten Madeline's hair. It looked really cute, but made her look so mature. Saturday afternoon, my cousin, Ellen, and her 2 adorable children, Claire and Nati, came over to play. The kids all had such a fun time, and I always enjoy catching up with Ellen. Saturday evening my Baw, Aunt Nancy, and cousin Amy came over for a fun dinner. It was a very relaxing, fun weekend in Austin.

OKLAHOMA!

We went to Oklahoma this past weekend with Julia and Zac. Zac's family has a working ranch with lots of cows and horses. It was very fun but extremely cold. I was secretly a little excited about the opportunity to touch a cow, but they are quite skiddish, so that didn't happen. Madeline did get her big wish though. The whole week prior to the trip we talked about her getting to ride Dollar, Zac's horse. Dollar is 27 years old, and very very tame. Madeline was so excited. Prior to the trip I also took the time to sing "Oklahoma" to her several times. She didn't have it all down, but did sing "H-O-M-A Oklahoma!" all day. It was really cute.

Our two favourite Madeline quotes of the weekend were:

1. She saw a Hannah Montana hat at Wal-Mart and announced, "Hannah Montana is yucky! I like Hannah Texas!"

2. Andy asked her if she was a cowgirl and she replied back very sincerely, "No Daddy, I'm not a cowgirl silly goose! I'm a Dollar the Horsie Girl!"