Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Driving Miss Carolina

May

September

They're growing SO fast (and getting cuter by the day!)!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Baby Einstein

Question: Brittany, why do you ALWAYS have a bow in that baby's hair??

Answer: You be the judge...

Before:


After:

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Going out for a little run??


P.S. You might want to put some pants on first. Just a thought.

Summer Fun III: Casey and Kaelen

On our way out of Houston, we stopped to pick up my sister's kids. Our summer hadn't slowed down yet!

Casey and Kaelen came home with us for 5 days and we had so much fun! Clay was very excited about having kids come stay at his house. He especially liked Kaelen, my nephew, but for some reason he always called him Casey. He still talks about Casey but we know he's really talking about Kaelen. Oh well, someday he'll get it right!


We visited the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science a couple of times (there's two museums so we split it into two days). The kids had so much fun. Casey and Kaelen were also very excited to get to bring the kids I used to nanny for since they had become such great friends over the years.


Clay was in awe over this big bear

He worked so intently on this puzzle

The Spy section of the Museum was a HUGE hit with all of the kids




Casey and Kaelen have been coming to visit since they were babies but this visit was so different than all the others. I think we're all still getting used to me being Mama and Aunt Brittany at the same time.

We had to keep a couple of schedules going- one for the big kids and one for the little ones. Casey and Kaelen are used to having little ones around (their little sister is one) but I'm still working on trying to keep four different ages busy at one time.

Luckily, Mike was off so he was able to do things like take the big kids swimming every afternoon while the little ones napped. We also had fun cooking and playing games after the little ones went to bed each night. That Casey plays a mean game of Scattergories!

We always enjoy having Casey and Kaelen come visit. Kaelen has the funniest sense of humor and cracks us up! Casey is such an old soul with so much to talk about and so many theories about the world and how it works. She is growing up so fast and turning out to be such a pretty young lady.


Once again, we were sad to see company go but we're already ready for another visit with Casey and Kaelen. Come back soon! We miss you!

Summer Fun II: Houston

My time at home after Vegas did not last long at all. Within a couple of days, Rebecca, the kids and I were on our way to visit friends in Houston.

Rebecca and I had planned a trip to Houston to visit my college roommate, Amanda, and her family. Amanda's son and daughter, Grayson and Bailey, are close in age to my little ones so we knew it was a recipe for lots of noise and lots of fun!

We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and immediately Clay and Grayson clicked. They played together so well and were so cute together! It's so funny to me how kids that age play together like they've known each other forever (and it's the first time they've met).

Grayson and Clay at Rainforest Cafe

Carolina and Aunt Rebecca



Clay continues to have a thing for girls' pink sunglasses and did not want to give up Bailey's glasses the whole time we were there (and she graciously shared). The boys ran themselves ragged and the girls sat back and took it all in. Bailey's a year older than Carolina but I have a feeling those girls will team up and be in on the action pretty soon!



We really enjoyed getting to visit with Amanda and her family and we were all sad for the trip to come to an end. It's so special to me that mine and Amanda's children can play together now since we have been friends for so long (I can't believe it's been over 10 years now!).



Clay still talks to me about Grayson's house. We definitely will be planning another get together with our good friends soon!

Summer Fun I

We have been busy bees this summer and it's not over yet! Here's a little rundown of some of the things we've been up to:

Clay went to his first birthday party for a friend his age. This was a blast for him and really fun for me, as well. He had such a good time playing with some of the little ones from his playgroup and we both made some new friends to play with in the fall. Yeah!



Our summer starting really picking up around mid-July. My dad and his girlfriend, Tina, were able to come up and visit for the weekend. We went to The Purple Cow, the Museum of Nature and Science and spent some time around the house just hanging out and visiting. Clay and I were given the museum membership as a birthday gift from my dad and Tina so we were excited to get to use it.

Clay found so many fun things to do at the museum- he didn't know where to start! He loved the fire truck area and the dress up stuff. A lot of the museum is science stuff that is way above Clay's head but he loved looking at everything. We had such a fun time!




Carolina enjoyed her time at the museum, too. Her favorite part about company, though, is having someone hold her and play games with her all the time.




Right after my dad and Tina left, I got to go on my very first "Mommy Vacation". My grandmother invited some of the ladies in my family to go to Las Vegas and I was happy to oblige!

We left on a Friday afternoon and came back on Monday. I had such a great time and Vegas was unlike ANYTHING I've ever seen. We stayed at the Mirage and it was such a beautiful hotel. I had never really played the slots before but I did play a little while I was there. I discovered I am not a good gambler (I have some anger issues when machines take my money) and therefore did not spend a lot of time in the casino.

I did not take a whole lot of pictures but I have some memories that will last a lifetime! I was so glad to be able to spend time with some of the ladies in my family that I rarely see. We visited and ate at fun places and did A LOT of people watching.

My sister and I went to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dophin Habitat.




Mike's mom was sweet enough to come up and care for the kids while I was gone. I'm not sure that they even noticed I was gone (okay, maybe Carolina did). It was such a nice getaway but there's no place like home!