Our Little Puppy Dog

Those of you who know us well, know that Kevin and I skipped the 'get a dog' phase and went straight to having children so no, this post does not mean we are getting a dog. Rather, its our little pet name for Evelyn because she has this strange habit of putting things in her mouth and crawling around with them. I've been cataloging through photos the various items she has "carried" so efficiently as she crawls. Here are a few of the snapshots.

Evelyn carrying a pretend potato chip from Josie's play kitchen and holding a toy chicken just so it won't get away. Ironically, the potato chip is by far her favorite item to carry around in her mouth. She comes by that love honestly.

Here she has a puzzle piece and a baby doll from Josie's doll house.

And here she is with a paci. Yes, I know I've complained that she won't 'take a paci,' but for what its worth, this is how she typically uses her pacis - more as a teething tool than a pacifier.

Cousins and Grandparents

The birthday parties also brought family here so we were blessed to have Grandma and Popo stay with us and Nikki and Emily visit. Josie LOVED having them here. In fact, anytime this week when we tell her we are going to see somebody or someone is gonna come see her, she always guesses its gonna be Popo, Nikki, Emily or Grandma. I guess they spoiled her.

Emily, Josie and Nikki

Grandma reading to Josie and Evelyn (Can you see the smirk on Evelyn's face? She never gets to play with this book because you have to be real careful with it.) Josie's words, not mine.

Evelyn, Popo, Josie and Grandma all dressed up for church.

Birthdays, Birthdays!

We had a fun-filled day of Birthday parties on Saturday to celebrate Maci (our neice) turning 1 and Lance (our nephew) turning 6. The morning started with a visit to the Tanglewood Splash Pad for Maci's party and while it took Josie sometime to warm up to the water, she eventually was running free. Evelyn only enjoyed it a little bit. And then after naps, we went to Grand Station for Lance's party, which included glow-in-the dark mini-golf and arcade. Josie played the mini-golf with her cousin Nikki. The progression of Josie's game was so much fun to watch. At first, Nikki started out helping her put the ball from the starting spot (I guess that is called the tee?). And then Josie would put it towards the hole while Nikki used her foot to stop the ball closer and closer to the hole. Once it was close enough (at the hole's edge), Josie was able to put it in, which usually resulted in my cheering and clapping for her. So, after 2 holes of starting at the tee, my quick Josie realized what a waste of time it was to start all the way back at the tee and it was a much easier game if you just put your ball next to the hole. So, holes 3 thru 18 consisted of Josie setting her ball right next to the hole and then putting it in sometimes with her putter and sometimes with her foot and if it seemed to be a particularly difficult hole, she just dropped her ball straight in the hole. We didn't get any pictures of the golfing and arcade (I was too busy trying to keep up with her), but we did snap a few pictures of the splashpad party.

The Birthday Girl enjoying the splash pad.

The Birthday Girl's brother, Lane, also enjoyed the water.

Josie having fun.

Evelyn getting a taste of it too (literally).

Cowboy Capital of the World

We just can't be stopped. Kevin had another meeting out of town this week and this time it was in Bandera - the Cowboy Capital of the World. He was gone from Sunday through Friday and the girls and I drove out and joined him on Thursday evening. First, let me just say, hats off to all of you single moms or to those of you who have husbands that travel a lot. The girls and I did our best to survive without Daddy, but for those of you who know Kevin well, know that he is a very big help and does more than half of his share to help out with the girls. We were missing him to say the least. The girls were really good for me on the drive and I even stopped in San Antonio to see Aunt Anna. Bonnie and Matthew met us so that was a nice break in the trip. And then it was just a mere hour to the Mayan Dude Ranch. This is Kevin's fourth time to host a training at the ranch so believe me, I have heard a lot about the place, especially about the great food and the complimentary wine, beer and sodas from 11 AM to 10 PM every day. I have to say the place lived up to its name and more. The pool had an entire end that was just 2' deep where Josie became really comfortable with walking around on her own. She even told me to 'stay back Momma,' a few times. We also took a hayride on Friday morning down to the Medina River where we ate a campfire breakfast. The deer were like cattle following us on the hayride, which Josie especially enjoyed. I would highly recommend the Mayan Dude Ranch to anyone looking for a fun family get away or a meeting location.

The pool had these horses with bikinis on the fence. Josie loved them so we had to take a picture of them with her. She was convinced that the horses go swimming after we all leave the pool.

This statue was in our room and Josie called it Jesus.

Viva la Valley

We had a great opportunity to take the entire family South for a little mini-vacation as Kevin had a conference in McAllen and I had meetings in Weslaco. We had a rough start on Sunday as we had to stop twice before we even got to Schulenburg. Kevin and I were a little worried because what should have taken us 2 hours was pushing 3. Fortunately though, the girls got whatever it was out of their system and we only had to stop one more time before arriving in McAllen. We enjoyed ourselves with lots of hotel pool time, a little shopping, and some great food and friends. Perhaps our greatest adventure was on Monday afternoon to South Padre Island...a first for all the girls in our family. When we told her we were going to swim in the ocean, Josie asked, "with the sharks?" The weather was great, the ocean was actually cool and we found us a perfect little spot next to another family that had a little girl Josie's age. It took Josie a bit to warm up to the waves, but after she did, the ocean was a hit. Although, she never really liked all of the sand on her and despite our best efforts to collect seashells, she kept throwing them out of her bucket. Her favorite thing was running out into the water with Daddy and Mommy.

Weekend Wrap-up

Jessica and I finally went out and did what we have been wanting to do for a long time. I'm sure many of you are guessing, have an uninterrupted sleep, but no, that's not it. Pebble Creek had its annual neighborhood-wide garage sale so we loaded up on Saturday morning in search for treasures. We really struck out the whole morning until our very last stop where we found a clothing jackpot for Josie, Maci and Evelyn! Jess and I then proceeded to dig thru the numerous bins of clothing, shoes, tights and bloomers (many of which were still in the packaging or had tags on them) and stuffed our bags full to the rim. Sweet Maci bared with us and along the way, made a friend in "Murray," one of the Wiggle dolls. This little guy sings songs when barely touched and Maci found an odd comfort in the jingle and she even fell asleep on Jess's shoulder clutching Murray. It was so sweet that I had to get a picture of Maci and Murray. And even though this was the start of a crazy weekend, I'm so glad we did it 'cause Jess and I had some great laughs and despite the lack of new found treasures, we made some memories we'll treasure.

A Special Day

On this day 2 years ago, we celebrated as our sweet Josie received the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism. What a blessing she is. A walk down memory in this picture of her with us and her Godparents, Karla and Jeromy Stephens, on the special day.

Weekend Wrap-up

My Mom had a meeting in Houston so she dropped Dad off on her way there and he spent the weekend between us and my brother and his family. Josie loves and I mean, LOVES, her Popo. She asks to see him on a fairly regular basis - I would say at least once every 2 days. And at times will cry and say, "I want my Popo." Needless to say, the girl was on cloud 9 to have her Popo here. Grandma came back on Sunday and we got to see her too. Although Josie called her Great-Grandma most of Sunday. We have been praying for great grandma (Kevin's grandma) a lot lately so I guess she's on Josie's mind. Having Mom and Dad here also meant we spent a lot of time with Royce and Jess, which was a lot of fun and a needed break for us. We had so much fun that I didn't even take very many pictures even with Mom and Dad here. I did manage to snap a few late in the day of bath time (Lane and Josie) and of after-bath snuggling with Popo and Grandma.