Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ballet and Tap

Lainey started her dance lessons today! Lainey is taking this six-week session of ballet and tap lessons with one of her good friends, Nora. This class is a bit more intense than Lainey's previous ballet class - this is more like the real deal. I'm not sure I really realized that before today. Parents are pushed out of the room (pretty quickly, I might add) and encouraged to peek through a little window (about two feet wide, one foot tall) if they wanted to catch a glimpse of their tiny dancer. So, these pictures are not the best because 1) I had to take them through a window and 2) I wasn't quite tall enough to see in the window, so I just kinda had to hold my camera up and snap a picture and hope that Lainey was in it. :)

Nora (sitting, on the left) and Lainey (standing, center) and their teacher, Miss Dawn

sweet Nora

dancing across the floor

the girls, all lined up and waiting for their turn to dance

baby Asher
(Walker was there, too, but I didn't get any pictures of him!)

Friday, March 25, 2011

Sandbox Happiness

I love sandboxes. They are SO messy and it's a huge challenge to try to keep the sand from migrating to every part of the backyard but I still love them.




Lesson learned today: Walker needs to keep a binky in his mouth because otherwise, there will be sand in there instead. :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Mannequins

Lainey was completely enamored with these mannequins today at Old Navy. Although she knew that they were "just pretend," she still treated them with the utmost respect and I think she would have been thrilled had they been real people. For one thing, it was hard to get her to move away from the mannequins. She successfully pulled one off of its base - I think she had tried to either pick it up or give it a hug, but I'm not entirely sure because I had been looking in another direction...oops. She was also quite determined to hold several mannequins' hands, converse with them, and give the dog hugs. She gave the mannequins names and was ever so concerned that the little girl mannequin was "missing a braid." (She had a giant hole on the back of her head where a bun was supposed to be!) Anyway, it goes without saying that 1) this whole scene was cracking me up and 2) we were getting some seriously strange looks from people (this is happening more and more these days).



Sunday, March 20, 2011

Sunday Times

Just a few pictures from Sunday...
playing before church

I love Walker's little toes in this picture. :) Ok, I love them all the time but they are just so cute here!

Lainey is wearing one of my childhood dresses. It's so sweet. I'm glad she can finally wear it! And she's glad that she's able to "turn around" in it (i.e. it's a good dress for twirling).

***
After church, I went to a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of my friend Meghan's baby boy. Meghan and I went to college together, and today I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen in a very long time. I am excited for Meghan to move back to Dallas this summer! She's been gone for too long! :)

Meghan opening her gifts

Lesley, Andi, and Trish

Andi, Mandy, Alexie (and her baby boy, Sam), Meghan, Trish, and me

Uncle Matt Visits Texas

Yay! Uncle Matt came to visit! He, as always, was very attentive to his niece and nephew and they enjoyed seeing their uncle. Great to see you, Matt!!

I'm pretty sure Walker has a rock in his mouth at this point. Probably because Lainey is preparing a plate of rocks for us to "eat" - including the one that looks like a piece of chocolate! No wonder he got confused. :)

so sad that he can't get in the pool


Thanks, Uncle Matt, for being in charge of the kids poolside so that I could take some pictures. ;)

You can't tell from this picture, but Walker is grabbing for a jalapeno popper stuffed with elk meat and wrapped in bacon. I must say...YUM! And Walker liked the elk meat, too!


playing babies in the kitchen
(Gotta love Cabbage Patch Doll accessories from 80s!)

moving...

a total ham
(This face is so funny - it's his funny, cheesy grin!)

Cute boy looks so grown-up in this picture! Look at all of his teeth! He has 12 of them!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Growing up so fast...

Remote? Check.
Comfy clothes? Check.
Diaper? Check.
Favorite chair? Check.
Nick Jr. on TV? Check.


I should get this kid his sippy cup and a snack! :)

Springtime in Texas

Springtime = Outside time
Love it!

a little backyard playtime with cousins

Lainey climbing up the slide of our new fort/playset (SO FUN!)

Kate playing with Walker

a swinging Brooke :)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Wow...

Walker is 13 months old!
And he's SO excited to be walking!

Walker likes/loves:
-banging objects against each other. Or banging one object against a stationary object.
-pooping all day long (sorry if this is TMI, but seriously, folks...he poops so often!).
-putting items through slots, into boxes, inside trucks, in the laundry basket...you get the idea. Whenever something goes missing, I try to think like Walker to see where he might have stashed it.
-fruits, especially apples.
-remote controls.
-tools.
-pushing around chairs. (Lainey loved to do this, too.)
-pointing at an airplane when he hears one in the sky.
-carrying around things that are big - like plastic golf clubs, sticks, baseball bats...
-being carried on our hip through our master bedroom closet - he likes to put his hands out and touch all of the clothes! This is especially delightful when he's got a runny nose.
-meals. When he's hungry, he's hungry! There is no delaying mealtimes for him.


Crawling first with the remote...

and then crawling with the cup of yogurt. (This is a typical thing - he likes to crawl while holding onto something, either with an object in one hand or objects in both hands.)

He cannot stand it when:
-he has to have a diaper change. I feel like I'm changing a crying, wiggly, aggressive monkey.
-things don't come apart: the lid on the small trashcan won't come off the trashcan itself, the finger puppet in his book that won't come unattached from the book.
-he accidentally tried cilantro. Not a fan. At ALL. He absolutely hated it and cried and cried while trying to get it off of his tongue!


cute happy boy

Walker has learned how to:
-walk. Well, when he's up and able to. He still crawls a lot, too.
-say "dee," "dis," "aye," "ish," "iss," "baba," "dada," (not directed towards Ben) "itss," "mama" (not directed towards me). He loves to point at things and say "ish" or "itsss" or "iss."
-sleep all night long. (He will still wake up in the middle of the night. He stands at his crib railing and cries. However, I know that if we go in there it'll turn into a big scene so it's best if we just let him cry and put himself back to sleep (he always does). He usually cries anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.)
-push the button on the TV to turn it on/off.
-get an ear infection...a raging one that left his right ear draining for a week and a half...and the doctor had even vacuumed it out the week before!
-eat so much food. He mows it down. He still eats like a little bird - if the piece is too big, he'll put it in his mouth anyway and then take it out and then put it back in...yummy.
-drink whole milk. He will even drink it cold!
-use a sippy cup at meals and for snacks...but he still drinks milk from his bottle
-get off of things. He backs up and puts his feet down on the ground first. It makes park experiences a little bit less stressful for me! Except he still loves to put those wood chips in his mouth...


Funny stuff:
-He still puts his little fists on his cheeks to communicate with us. It's to the point where others will ask what it means (like nursery care workers or the babysitters at the gym).
-He pats his tummy with both hands (randomly) and will swing his left arm forcefully when he's frustrated.
-Walker will sit in any available basket, box, doll bed...
-He likes stuffed animals (especially ones that talk/make noise). He'll carry them and walk around and give them hugs.


We love you, Pumpkins!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Park Adventures

I am so excited. I love this weather. I love being outside. I don't really even mind the time change even though my kids' internal clocks are completely confused. They'll get used to it, right? In their own time? It is not fun to wake up either of my kids before they're ready to get up. It just starts our day off on the wrong foot. Or our evening, as is the case after naps. So, for now, we're trying to adjust. I think Spring Break is the perfect time to do so!

Only after I uploaded these pictures did I notice that Lainey slid down the slide with sticks in her hands...nice. That probably wasn't the safest thing to do.

sweet Keagan
(I missed getting a picture of his little brother, Kohen!)

the fearless sliding wonder

Ready...

Set...

Go!

Keagan, Ainsley, and Lainey

Walker was a happy kid on this playscape. He's so ready to play with the big kids! Gage, Landry, and Liberty were also at the park today. I'm sorry I missed getting pictures of them. We wish that our other friends, Keegan and Audrey, were able to join us today. We miss you, Keegan. We pray that you get well and are able to come home from the hospital soon!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Happenings

What we've been up to lately...

laughing as Walker climbs in this baby crib to play whenever he's in Lainey's room,

applauding his graceful skills in dismounting,

and ever-so-patiently waiting for these babies to wake up. They've been sleeping for probably two months. Heaven help the person who tries to awaken even one of them. (This is just a small sampling. There are several more babies over by Bella, the unicorn.)