Those Silly Monkeys!

the other day we were at a furniture store...they had monkeys (slightly odd).

mason found them HILARIOUS!

Time for New PJs

thankfully grandma and grandpa had esp and sent both kiddos some new jammers!!!

peeeerrrfect timing :)

THANK YOU!

Grana leaves early tomorrow morning, but we aren't that sad....we get to see her again really soon (more on that later).  She was a huge help the past couple of days.  Having multiple showings and two small children AND potty training is really a combo that probably shouldn't go together.  However, Grana definitely helped with everything!!

thank you and see you soon :)

OH...and in case you didn't notice, today is my half birthday.  

That means you only have 6 short months left to find my PERFECT birthday present.

...tick.toc.tick.toc.tick.toc...

Mommy and Mason

My little man and I don't have a lot of pictures together...
Thankful we got a couple of cute ones in the other night :)

Lake Conroe

This morning we woke up early to go on Lake Conroe with The Johnsons!!!  We did some swimming, Mason took a nap, Tim and Justin conquered wakesurfing, Tiff did some wakeboarding, and Aubrey and Taylor kneeboarded!

{thank you, thank you, thank you, for this lovely sunday!}

Visitors

Guess who is in town?!?

Grana and Grampa!! 

Which means Tim and I can look like this:

(notice anything missing?!?...hint: they are little and active)

warning: this post has a lot of pictures...which is another thing that happens when you have other people watching your kiddos.

We went to a concert in a park...again :) The kids played in the fountains, it was Mason's first time and he loved it!  He let the water splash in his face and then kept on playing.

 

{melt my heart}

Foto Friday

Yup!  We're moving...but it's only one mile away :)  

Bigger house, on a cul-de-sac, backs to a reserve, with a pool....
Smaller yard, but nice long flat driveway.  

More details on new house later, we close July 29th.
For now, anyone want to live here???

Mason-Man

So many cute moments that I've gotta share of my little man!

Potty Training

It's been one of those weeks...and it's only Wednesday.  You know those weeks.  It's been VEEEEERY long and exhausting and I'm just wishing time by...I dislike that.

As I said about Olivia in her half birthday post, we started potty training.   Last week Olivia stayed naked most of the week and we remained at home to really focus on it (no pool, no shopping, no gym, no parks, etc). We've done a constant stream of lemonade and goldfish...throwing any sense of healthy meals out the door.   She knows what to do and has really good moments/hours/day.  She gets one skittle whenever she does #1, but we wait for her to ask for it...and she forgets 50% of the time.  THEN for #2 she has a line-up of princess and barbies that she can choose from...we haven't received any of those yet.  She is almost completely good with #1....not the same with #2.  Last night, we bravely took Olivia out to Target with no diaper on (she did great and even told us when she had to go...our first public bathroom experience)...anyways, she is walking down the barbie/princess aisle saying...  "My Barbie when I go poo-poo in the potty.  Go poo-poo get Barbie.  And I get to watch Ariel and Jasmine and Tiana.  And I get princesses.  Mason don't go poo-poo in potty."  

lol.

This week Olivia started wearing big girl panties...and ugh, they give her the feeling that she can go to the bathroom in them :(  She is refusing to go #2...and holding it and then her belly hurts because she hasn't gone in a couple of days.  And then it really hurts to go.  Ugh...who knew potty training was so much fun!?!  We've had MULTIPLE accidents and remained home most of the week AGAIN to give Olivia the freedom to go whenever necessary and not wear diapers (I've learned pull-ups give her the same feeling as a diaper and she thinks she can go in them, so no pull-ups for us).  It is difficult for me to stay at home all day everyday and not run errands or just get out of the house.  This house starts to feel really really small and there is definitely a sense of cabin fever going on.  Not to mention that Mason is into everything so we really can't "play" in any room but the playroom.   Then to make matters worse, I decided last week (regrettably) that Olivia was not watching anymore tv until she was potty trained.  WHAT?!?!  Why in the world did I say that???  I know that I could just give in and just allow her to start watching TV again, but that's when she was having most of her accidents.  And she does watch a lot of TV... so this is good for us all (I think).

Oh, did I mention we have our house up for lease (yes, that's another whole post coming soon)...so we are trying to keep the house picked up 24/7 so if we have to leave for a showing I only have to focus on getting the kids ready to leave the house.

arg.

Then on Tuesday, our AC just stopped working.  Yes, it's the middle of summer in H-Town and we have no AC.  To make matters worse, everyone else in the area was also having AC issues so someone couldn't come out until 4-6pm.  6pm rolls around, no repair people :(  Needless to say, they didn't show up until 10:30pm...to discover that an animal chewed through the insulation and ate wires near where condensation was building up.  The animal, thirsty because it hasn't rained IN FOREVER.

Oh, yes, we were still potty training in the middle of all that!!!!!

lookin' good

She's lookin good in a firefighters hat.

Shhhleeeeeeeeepy!!

Happy Father's Day!!

We love you!!!!

NO SCHOOL!

haha...Tim just reminded us (how quickly we forget) of what our life was like a couple of months ago.

Remember This!??!

It seems like a life we had eons ago.  We are loving this freedom we get to share as a family.  It's a wonderful feeling waking up on a Saturday/Sunday and discussing what fun things we are going to fill our day with.

Oh, Tim gets to pick up his diploma soon.  It's on sheepskin.  I asked why...and he said because it was offered and he is only doing this once.

I agreed then, sheepskin was the way to go :)

Foto Friday

Home Depot

10 Months!

Happy 10 Months Mason!!!

Tidbits:

*wearing 12-18 month clothes (that white gerber onesie...it's 18 months!)

*barefoot most of the time...need to purchase robeez for him!

*size 4 diapers

*walks with walker or if you are holding his hands

*can stand without holding onto anything for 20ish seconds

*blows raspberries

*sometimes says Mama

*points to things

*will have screaming conversation with you

*eating more "real" people food ... but loves puffs and yogurt melts

*drinks milk (formula) and water from sippy cup

*has four bottles a day 

*two bottom teeth

*two naps a day.  morning is about 2.5 hours long afternoon is 2 hours

*sleeps about 12 hours a night

*very curious and adventurous...shows little regard for personal well-being 

*can climb stairs (we didn't know this until he was on the fourth step)

*generally a very happy baby

*likes to eat his crib

*sometimes will fall asleep in his mommy's arms :) 

Happy HALF Birthday Olivia!

(this post is two days late....supposed to be on June 13)

WoW BiG GiRL!!!  Can't believe you are 2 1/2!!!!  

For your halfie you got a scooter (which you call a "coose") and enjoyed half of a cupcake.  Mason did not find all the excitement entertaining and screamed...he just didn't know we were celebrating you :)  You did a great job blowing out your candle and finished the cupcake in about two minutes!  The Hawk Family sent you a little present too...some nail  polish with fancy stickers. thank you!

We love you lots!!

Tidbits:

*wears size 5 diapers, does not like being dirty or wet...so starting TOMORROW we are getting a little more serious about potty training (gasp)

*wears mostly 3T clothes

*size 7 shoe

*finds princesses endlessly entertaining (she has a coloring book that she will spend 20+ minutes looking at multiple times a day...and it's a coloring book)

*LOOOOVEs to watch movies....a little too much.  We do have battles about how much watching is taking place.

*Still enjoys her food, especially anything carb/starchy.  We have resorted to giving her milk at the end of the meal after she has eaten enough of the "good" stuff.

*does lots and lots of narration.  She tells you what she is thinking/feeling and what she thinks you are thinking/feeling.  It's difficult when she tells us to not touch her or to be quiet because we are being too loud.

*still finds hitting and pushing as a way of communicating

*and therefore we still use time-outs

*identifies boo-boos and picks scabs and doesn't like band-aids

*wants to do most things by herself and then will completely 180 and want you to do everything for her

*starting to enjoy books more (yah!)

*brushes her teeth

*takes one two hour nap a day

*goes to bed around 8pm wakes around 730am

*loooooves her silky blankets.  rubs her fingers, toes, cheeks, and throws it on top of her head

*still sucks her left thumb

*has horrible bed head, we always have to use a spray conditioner to help brush it

*has such sweet moments with her brother

*likes to stay up late and watch "mommy shows"
*can count confidently to 10.  knows numbers to 20, but often skips numbers when saying them independently
*Sings her version of ABCs
*can find block letters of her name
*loves to sing songs (knows way too many current hits...our fault)
*still loves to jump (does that whenever she is in an unfamiliar or uncomfortable situation)
*has almost no fear in the water

8 Years!

Until Next Year...

Oh Lake Travis how we love you and will miss you.

Grateful for this time with our families and friends!!

Last Full Day :(

There are lots of things to do...even if you are not on the lake

*feed babies bottles

*play on the ipad

*attempt to have a group nap and then real long normal naps when the group one doesn't work out :)

*take baths in big tubs

*brush hair

*play trucks

*jump on the trampoline

*kill scorpions

*play games

*eat and drink

Sad that we leave tomorrow :(

Vacation Life

Oh the life while on vacation...

**you jump from high places, scream how much you love your mom,
and say "1, 2, ready, set, go!" :)

(Olivia really impressed us here.  She had been watching her buddy, Parker, jump from the elevated boat deck and decided she wanted to jump.  She did it completely on her own, multiple times!!)

**spend HOURS swimming....although we have the fewest pictures of this.  Notice the top picture in this collage...you can see all the fish that would come nibble on us :o

**cheered on the kids while they tubed, knee boarded, and attempted wakesurfing!

**attempted wakesurfing for the first time - Justin definitely got the hang of it!

**took pictures of some seriously cute kiddos!

**And went on sunset cruises where kids tubed, babies got sleepy, and everyone enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us.  I was pretty focused on this sweet little man below.  If I could bottle this moment up...it would sit on my mantle.

WE LOOOOOVE VACATION LIFE!

Foto Friday

our fish, swimming in clear water

Let's Get This Party Started!

This morning we left for our second annual five day vacay at Lake Travis.  We are looking forward to being out of our house, with great friends and relaxing with family :)

Last Year

Our Conversation

Me - Olivia take two more bites of cheerios

Olivia - No Ma'am. (pause)

Stop it. (pause)

I'm angry. (pause)

I'm so frustrated. (pause)

Me - I understand your anger and frustration. How about just take four more bites of cheerios?

Olivia - Okay mom. I'm sorry. My fault.
(and she proceeds to have four more bites)

Neguus

Neguus (nay-goose) is how Olivia says "music".  We've been trying to get her to at least put the /m/ sound at the beginning...so sometimes it ends up mmmm-neguus.

No Mason

I wanted to take a video to show Mason playing and how fast he is crawling...but it ended up showing all the things Mason is into.  I had to stop the video multiple times because he kept getting into things he shouldn't...when I realized, this is how Mason "plays" :)

Awhile ago, when I had a newborn and Olivia, I mentioned to Tiff about how I think I'm the busiest I'm going to ever be with two kids right??  And she said yes...and then stopped and said, "Well, maybe once Mason becomes mobile."

OH-MY-GOODNESS was she ever right!!  They are different time phases in a young child's life, but I was exhausted (sleepy) when Mason was newborn...  Now I can't take my eyes off him!!  He is seriously into EVERYTHING.  He is into things that Olivia never bothered and I keep commenting on how different they are. However Mason is also having more opportunity to get into things.  I end up leaving Mason alone (briefly) to tend to Olivia and when I come back I find Mason:

*in the fireplace

*chewing on a cord

*in jerry's water bowl

*in jerry's food bowl

*eating jerry's food

*going out jerry's doggie door

*pulling lamps on his head

*attempting to climb stairs (at friends' house)

*pulling on glass bottles

*playing in toilet (I like to think he was helping clean it)

*etc...etc...etc...

And you would think that I have left him alone for 5 minutes...I'm talking LESS than a minute.  

With Olivia, we were able to leave these candles out and she played with them once, we told her no, it was never an issue again.

With Mason, we finally gave in and moved the candles here

And now a pack n play sits permanently in front of the fireplace to cage Mason when we have to leave him to be with Olivia and to help block the doors to the fireplace (he knows how to open the doors and, YES, climb into the fireplace).

HOUSE

Mr. Justin, Mrs. Tiffini, Taylor and Aubrey gave Olivia and Mason a house!!!

It's been really hot out, but Olivia wants to be outside all day playing in this house.  And I promise, whatever temperature it is outside, it's at least 10-15 degrees HOTTER insider her new house...

THANK YOU for our new house :)

Peek-a-Boo!

Peek-

a-Boo!

Foto Friday

Don't think these little people know about TGIF...

home :)

i-phone self-portraits