June Randomness

June was filled with birthdays, anniversaries, and lots and lots of swimming to escape the heat. But it was also filled with lots of little things that I never sat down to write about. Things that I don't want to forget. So this post is just about a bunch of random things that have been filling up our summer days.

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I found out a few weeks ago that our library was having a summer reading program for preschoolers every Tuesday morning. We have been participating the past three weeks and Parker is really enjoying it.

The first week was a bubble program. The Bubble Lady (or Bubble Nazi as I like to refer to her as) showed the kids lots of different ways to make bubbles. Despite being scolded for standing up to pop a bubble, Parker thought the bubbles were pretty cool.

The second week was a children's author who did different things with poems and music.

The kids got to choose an instrument and march around the room while they played it. Parker chose the cymbals.

Here is Parker's star. They used the star to make motions as they sang a song.

This past week was a man who brought different reptiles like turtles and snakes for the kids to see. Parker actually got to touch a snake during the program. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures this week.

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Parker's newest hobby is cleaning the house. One day he saw me cleaning the bathroom and wanted to help, so I gave him a squirt bottle filled with water. I now have the cleanest shower, bathtub, couch, table, floors, etc. in the entire neighborhood.

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Both Eden and Parker love to give Rocky his treats after he comes inside. They also like to lay down and watch him eat his treat. Not sure what the fascination is, but they both think it is pretty funny.

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My parents just got back from a trip to see relatives in Ohio. While they were gone, they sent the kids some stickers in the mail and they loved it! I loved it too because they spent 30 quiet minutes creating their sticker masterpieces.

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Eden had a recheck at the ENT yesterday. Everything looked great and we don't have to go back for 6 more months. I have really seen a difference in her speech the past three weeks. She is not talking yet but is starting to babble a whole lot more and use a lot more sounds when she "talks". I am certain that the word "mommy" is just around the corner!!!

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I am now 22 weeks into my pregnancy. I am feeling great and am enjoying my second trimester. I am finally feeling the baby move a lot, especially at night after the kids go to bed and I have time to sit down and relax. The one thing that I have been craving this entire trimester is Lays Sour Cream and Onion potato chips. I could eat my weight in them right now! You will often find me hidden in the pantry sneaking a few chips while the kids are playing in the playroom. It is the one thing that I do not like to share with them right now!!!

June has been a fun month and it is hard to believe my summer vacation is almost half over. We have a lot of things planned for July, including a family vacation to Colorado that I am already looking forward to. It will be nice to escape this Texas heat for a week.

Eden the Problem Solver

This morning after breakfast, Eden started dragging the chair from the playroom around. She does this occasionally, so I didn't think anything of it at the time.

A few minutes later this is what I found:
She is very into spoons right now. You can usually find her with at least one in each hand at some point during the day. I guess I was busy and she couldn't reach the drawer, so she problem solved and figured out a way to get them herself. Smart girl!!!

The Next Tiger Woods? (a.k.a. Videos for Granstan)

For Parker's birthday, my dad (who is an avid golfer) gave him his first set of real golf clubs. We put them in his closet because we were worried that without close supervision he might accidentally hit Eden in the head with them.

After dinner tonight, he went to his closet and pulled them out, so we took them out to the backyard so Cory could show him how to hit the ball. Below are a few, short videos of Parker hitting the ball. Keep in mind that these are the highlights...there were a whole lot more balls missed than hit.

I can't wait for Parker to get just a little bit older (and quieter!) so that he can go play a round of golf with his Granstan. What a wonderful hobby they could share together!

(Please overlook the fact that Parker is not wearing clothes. We had spaghetti for dinner and I didn't take the time to put his shirt back on him!)

12th Anniversary

Cory and I celebrated our 12th anniversary yesterday.

My parents were kind enough to watch the kids and let us have a weekend getaway. We left after breakfast on Saturday and went shopping. Cory needed some clothes for work and I just haven't been shopping in a while. It is amazing how much easier and enjoyable it is to shop when you don't have 2 kids to worry about.

Saturday night we treated ourselves to a wonderful dinner at our favorite steakhouse, Del Friscos. The food was wonderful and the conversation was even better. It was nice to reflect upon some of our best/worst memories from the past 12 years.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Gaylord Texan resort for breakfast. We both ate way too much but enjoyed every bite!

We ended our weekend with a trip to Fair Park Music Hall to see "Wicked". I have heard so many good things about this Broadway show and have always wanted to see it, so when Cory and I found out it was coming to Dallas, we quickly bought tickets. The show was wonderful- I loved the music! I would give anything to be able to sing like those performers.

Like all marriages, the past 12 years have been full of ups and downs, great moments and not-so-great moments, and lots of wonderful memories. I can not think of anyone else I would have rather spent them with than Cory and I can't wait to see what the next 12 years have in store for our family.

Obsessed

My sweet, soon-to-be middle child has recently become obsessed with two things:

yogurt and stickers.

She is no longer allowed to eat breakfast with a shirt on.

By the time she is finished scraping every last bit of yogurt off her plate, she is covered from head to tummy.

Cleanup is a nightmare and she hates every minute of it.

But it sure does taste good while she's elbow-deep in it!

The stickers are invading my house.

She wants to put them anywhere and everywhere.

On my carpet, on my arm, on her leg, on the furniture.

I found one on the bottom of my foot the other day.

I wonder how long it had been there.

But it sure melts my heart to see her get so exctited about something so small!

Family Pictures

We went and had family pictures made this morning. It is a day that I always dread because you just never know how they are going to go. I try to go in without any expectations so that I am not too disappointed if they are a disaster and am pleasantly surprised if they go well. We usually go to Portrait Innovations for our pictures. They are resonably priced and I don't feel bad walking away if we don't get anything good. Plus you get the pictures the same day, so I don't have to wait three weeks to get them.

The last time we had a family picture was when Parker was 8 months old. I wanted to get a picture of the four of us before Baby Girl Brown #3 arrives to show what our family has been like for the past couple of years. I was very pleased at the results:

This is the best picture we could get of Parker and Eden together. Eden was NOT in the mood for pictures today, so we had to take what we could get. (Notice her bow! She finally has enough hair for a little bitty ponytail and I was able to get a bow in without her yanking it out!)

Here are our favorite pictures of Eden. Again, she was not interested in being photographed and just wanted to play with the Lego table they had in the waiting room.

Parker, on the other hand, was quite the ham today. He smiled, laughed, and completely cooperated during the entire session. Cory and I both couldn't believe it. Here are a few of our favorites of Parker.

A Great Birthday Weekend

This past Friday was my birthday and we ended up celebrating all weekend long.

On Friday, I took the kids to McDonald's for a birthday party and they had a blast. Even Eden was able to maneuver through the playscape and she didn't stop the entire 2 hours that we were there.
Cory's mom was nice enough to watch the kids Friday night so that we could go out to dinner and celebrate my birthday. We went to Chuy's Mexican restaurant because I was craving their burrito and it was SOOO good. It was so nice to relax and enjoy my meal without worrying about the kids. We even stopped at The Cheesecake Factory for a piece of cheesecake before we came home- YUM!!

On Saturday, my twin sister and her family drove to Cleburne so we could celebrate our birthday with our parents. We cooked out hamburgers, swam, and enjoyed birthday cupcakes.

On Sunday, my sister invited us to go to the Fort Worth Children's Museum with her family. I have always wanted to take the kids there and was excited for the chance to finally get to go.

The kids all had a great time! They enjoyed playing with water and digging for dinosaur bones in the sand.

The biggest hit of the afternoon was the mock grocery store that allowed the kids to grab a shopping cart and go shopping. After they finished their shopping, they got to use a register to check out. Parker loved doing this and I think that we would still be there right now if they had not kicked us out at closing time.

After an afternoon of playing, we had worked up quite an appetite, so we headed to Central Market for dinner. After a calm and relaxing dinner with 4 kids crazy dinner where Parker spilled an entire glass of water on himself, we let the kids play on the playground.

Finally, we headed over to Sweet Sammies Ice Cream for a yummy ice cream sandwich. My parents told us about this place and we have been wanting to try it for a while. They have 12 different types of homemade cookies and 10 different flavors of ice cream to choose from and it was so yummy.

Overall, it was a great birthday weekend. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family to spend my special day with and I am looking forward to what the upcoming year has in store for me.

You Know You're a Mom When...

you spend your birthday lunch at McDonalds celebrating someone else's birthday and you love every minute of it! (Except for changing a dirty diaper in a small bathroom without a baby changing station...who doesn't have a baby changing station these days?!?!?!?)

I couldn't think of 2 other people that I'd rather spend my birthday with!!!