Hanging out

Kate is loving this weather and her almost complete swing set! She spends so much time outside. I admit, I love it! I am great with her spending large chunks of time outside! Her Kangaroo or baby always accompany her. The cooler and bag of toys comes too. She will literally walk laps around the yard with all her stuff in tow singing and talking.

Today, I am trying to get house sparkly clean for hosting Easter dinner. That always proves a challenge with 2 kids, one who tries to help but makes a mess in the process, and another who cries every time I walk out of a room. Kate came to me and asked if I would put Chance's leash on him. Normally I would probably have said no, but I was desperate for her to entertain herself. I kid you not the girl walked Chance around the yard for more than a half hour! And he obediently followed her around. Too funny. Way to take one for the team Chance!

And just because I adore this outfit, her is little miss. She has become more opinionated lately. She is picky about what toys she will play with. She loves diamonds though...my wedding ring and earrings are always getting targeted. She crawls backwards all over the room. She LOVES to eat puffs.

Kindle Love

Jon got me one of my best birthday presents ever this past October. I thought it was cool at first, but now our relationship has deepened. When Abby was born and I had to wake up all the time to feed her I learned that kindle light was perfect for diaper changes and late night feedings. Then while Jon was gone for a few months I would read until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and put my kindle on Jon's pillow. The dog and my kindle were literally life savers (I'm a total chicken at night time! Especially when home alone!) The kindle meant I didn't have to get out of bed to turn the lights off when I was finally ready for sleep--I just had to turn on the power. I have done so much reading lately it's crazy! In the past 7 months (since Abby was born) I have read 23 books...not counting 2 that I read twice. I love my kindle so much!
Last night, after I got a grumpy baby to bed late, I had another Kindle moment I want to remember. I decided I would finish my chapter (which of course led to just finishing the whole book) so I climbed into bed. I must have woken Jon up just enough because he reached out and grabbed my hand. I have now learned that reading a chick flick type book while holding your husband's hand is one of the best feelings ever. In the course of my reading I came to a part where the girl is listing the qualities she values about the man she just realized she's in love with. I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my love then too! Our life is not perfectly written like a novel, but it is perfect in a real world way. So here are some of the things on my list I compiled last night (most inspired by Marianne in Edenbrooke) My husband is a flirt. He loves to pick, poke, wrestle, tease, pester,annoy,taunt, and laugh at me. His eyes light up while he does it, so you can't be mad even if you want to. He is a gentleman. Not so much in the 1816 definition, but in the modern sense. He opens doors for me sometimes, carries heavy stuff for me, gets everything up/down from the attic, takes out the trash, kills bugs, catches lizards, builds anything I tell him to, checks the entire house for me when I have a scary dream, does any chore I ask him to do, sacrifices for the good of his family, and most importantly he keeps himself clean morally. On top of all that he challenges me to be better, but still seems to let me get my way (I'd say 95% of the time). While holding his hand and comparing him to flawless fiction I decided I wouldn't ever want to trade him! Thanks kindle for helping me feel the fire!

Heating up

Well I think spring is pretty much over here in southeast texas. Yesterday it was just shy of 80, and I started having that dreadful feeling that it will be nasty hot for the next 9 months or so...(ok so I exaggerate a little) One thing about the heat wave that is fun is Abby's hair! She already has curly hair, but in the humid mess she has perfect spirals! So fun to play with! And the curls make her bald spots look balder!  

Another random tid-bit from life, yesterday we went to the pediatrician for a check on Abs ears. (She is 19.4lbs) And Kate was in the spotlight. As soon as we got to the check in window she started asking the nurses what was wrong with Abigail. Then she asked the doctor what was wrong with her. The doctor looked and me and said "Now she is 4 right?" When I said no still 3, he asked when her birthday was. He jumped when I said December. "She speaks better than most 4 year olds!"

 

Kate has been helping her dad build a swing set outside. She LOVES it! We now have the thing built, but we are waiting on the swing/slide parts. They will be in this week. But our sweet little girl doesn't seem to need the swings to be happy. She takes her Kangaroo with her and they play forever out there! I must say it's as much a gift to her as to me! I'm sad to report that I missed a great photo op--Kate held with vertical beams up while Jon screwed them in. She really is a good helper.

 

Another photo I missed of sweet Kate was yesterday she and Kangaroo were exploring the yard. She came inside to tell me she found a big lizard. She went back to go say hi to it. It was on the fence, so she did a perfect low squat right in its face (all while holding kangaroo like a baby on her hip) and started to talk to the lizard. She was inches from the thing. Too funny. Buy the time I found my camera it was over.

 

Abs is ALMOST crawling. She's up on all 4's and rolling all over. She will get it soon. She has started eating some table food. She almost choked on a grape this weekend. I was holding her and eating them, she snuck one off the vine and popped the whole thing in her mouth! I'm serious when I say if she doesn't choke herself to death it will be a miracle! This picture is for Grandma Walter-- its a dress she got for her. It's extra cute when she lays down because the skirt holds its shape some and makes her look like a marshmallow.

Take that Pinterest!

I feel like since I joined Pinterest nothing I do is original. Even when people compliment something I did I feel the need to tack on "well I saw it online..." But I had an idea that was ALL mine! And I'm sure millions of other people have had the same idea and done it, but I didn't see it first--I came up with it!

In an attempt to deck my house out for Easter I decided to make an egg garland for the fireplace! I think it turned out super cute!

And best of all it was so simple! I got tons of eggs last year when they were on clearance, so the entire project was $3.00. I sat looking at all my eggs, trying to decide what craft to do and noticed they had holes in the eggs that would make it super easy to string them together.
So approx. 150 eggs threaded through fishing line and BAM! You have an egg garland!

7 months young!

 Today we have a 7 month old on our hands! This girl is so active! She will reach for anything she thinks she is close enough to. She is showing a HUGE interest in food, and will try to take any form of food near her (if she avoids choking it will be a miracle!). She has this cute habit of sucking on her tongue if her pacifier isn't there-- but she sticks her tongue out to do it. She LOVES jumping, but her favorite is if you swing her from side to side like a pendulum. She ALMOST crawls, by getting up onto her knees or using just her toes to try to jump horizontally. This girl is also a kissing machine. She grabs onto your face and kisses tons...and boy does she have a strong grip! I literally have scratches on the back of my arms and neck from her always getting me. It is fun to listen to her experimenting with her voice, she ranges from a high scream to a low mean growl. So far no teeth, but she chews everything and drools like crazy so I know it won't be long now. Jon put it best the other night "We should have named you smiley, cause your so cute!" Her little smile will melt your heart!

Happy Friday!

Yesterday evening Kate brought me flowers for the first time. It was super sweet! She came running inside with a handful of little flowers and said "Here Mommy! I got these for you! You are so happy!" Such a sweet girl. And Miss Abby is getting so big. She can sit up by herself-and only occasionally face plants! I just love my adorable girls!!

Eden Rose

 Kenneth and Heather had their 4th sweet baby. Miss Eden was blessed this past weekend. We had a nice time with some of the family getting together. Please ignore me in this picture--what I love is how interested Abby is in Eden. My dream is that Eden and Abby will be buds like Dallin and Kate are. Heather and I will make it happen!

 Here are the awesome parents with their sweet baby. Such a lucky girl to be born into this sweet family.

The whole Kenneth Walter family. Now to see if 4 kids is all they end up with....only time will tell ;) We sure love these guys!!

beauty

 This afternoon Kate wanted me to paint her nails. So we had a glamor party in the bathroom with the music pumping! She sat really still, and didn't make any smudges! She's getting so old!

Ft Worth Weekend

Last weekend we got to take a road trip up to Ft Worth to run in a race and spend time with Jon's family. Meghan and I ran in our 5k Saturday morning. We did better than we thought we would do with almost zero training. 46 minutes. Like I said, not fast, but we did it even though both our husbands were so busy we were practically single moms during our training time!

We got to spend some time with Jon's brother Bruce and meet Matt. It had been far too long since we got to spend time with Bruce! It was great fun to hang out and let Kate meet them! She still talks about them "Mom- when do I go to Bruce's house?" or "Mom- I like Matt. I like Bruce".

We had lot of fun- including going to the art museum where they had a kids day. Kate got to finger paint a picture and make a sculpture. Her artwork still makes her proud hainging on the fridge.

While we were there we got to see a real rodeo! It was pretty fun do to a Texas staple! Kate had a good time--but there is only so long a group of kids can watch people rope calves...so we left at intermission(or whatever rodeo folk call it....just a break maybe?) Kate was worried about the baby cows...she kept telling us on the way home that the baby cows got knocked over but they were going to be ok. Kate and Dallin think they need to share the lap of whoever is willing to hold them. The picture is Melissa with both kiddos. Later it was Heather's lap that was cool. And then Abby and I--I hope it was just the bad lighting in the picture and I didn't really look that rough...

Saturday afternoon we went to the park for a bit. Kate had a great time on the merry go round. I think it was her first time...but not positive on that. Either way--her first photographed merry go round ride!

Then Sunday Melissa, Kenneth and Jonathan got up way early to run a half marathon. They also did great! They all finished fast (and again with little training..I am crazy jealous of the Walter's athletic abilities. The I'm-going-to-wake-up-and-run-a-half-marathon-and-do-it-quickly slaps my I'm-going-to-near-kill-myself-to-run-a-5k in the face. At least I hope my kids inherit the natural ability to do those things well!). Jon's finish time was 2:38.

Overall it was an enjoyable weekend. The car ride home seemed to take forever, but in general the girls were really great. They both slept well while we were there and were well behaved for the car ride!