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!

Life is Sweet

Say Cheese!

It's the moment I have been waiting for forever (it seems!). Nobody but me would think this picture is more significant than any other picture in my camera (and there are TONS of this little face in my camera). Today, though, was a very special day for me and my camera. Today was the first day in a LONG time (over a year) that I have been able to get Clay to look at the camera when I took a picture.

I take pictures most every day (and have since Clay was born) so cameras are nothing new to him. All of a sudden, though, any time he heard the camera turn on he would look in another direction. Every.single.time.

Now I have definitely learned a few little tricks for snapping pictures of him looking the direction of the camera (i.e. getting him while he's sitting down and can't run, hiding the camera and praying the shot I snap is of his face, having someone else stand behind me and distract him so he's not thinking about the picture being taken). I have also managed to get a few shots of him laughing and smiling but NEVER intentionally. I struggle every time I make a blog post or try to find a picture for a frame to find one of him actually looking at the camera and smiling.

He does the same thing for our photographer and it is so frustrating to try and choose portraits from a bunch of shots where he's not even looking at the camera. So...today when I went in to take some shots of Mike and Clay playing, Clay runs up to me, puts his hands on his legs and says, "Cheese!" I wanted to cry. Thank God!

I think it has a little something to do with a new friend he made a couple of weeks ago who loved to ham it up for my camera. Maybe a little jealousy got the best of my guy. Whatever it is- I'll take it!

And so, here's what my little boy looks like when he's actually looking at the camera and smiling for his mama:

And who wouldn't want to capture that sweet smile?

Free Snacks at My House

My day:

1) Started my day with pulling a storage drawer out of my closet to try and store under the computer desk for Clay's school stuff. It didn't fit. Way too tall.

2) Kept Carolina's screaming at tolerable levels so that the neighbors wouldn't call the police. She's teething, has a runny nose, frustrated that she can't crawl and keeps falling on her face and hasn't taken a decent nap in days.

3) Listened to a full day of Clay saying, "Daddy be home in a minute." "I go to the car. Fweese? (please)" "Daddy's in peace car" "Daddy bring me a taco". The child has serious cabin fever and missing Daddy issues today.

4) Got everyone showered, dressed (Carolina twice), bags ready and everyone excited to leave the house- only to call Mike and find out his lunch was an hour late today.

5) Spent way too long try to pin Carolina down and try to use the fabulous blue nose bulb on her to try and give her some relief. We're neither one fans of the blue bulb. And neither are the neighbors.

6) Gave up on Carolina's nap and tried multiple baby entertainment techniques to keep her calm and happy. None of them worked.

7) Got Clay up from his nap and put Carolina back down for another try. It worked.

8) Ate pretzels and read stories with Clay and enjoyed being with him (and Carolina being calm). This day had turned itself around. Finally!

9) Cringed as I heard Clay create a Pretzel Cabinet with the storage drawers that didn't fit under the computer and knew my feet wouldn't move fast enough to save the day. I've always wanted a Pretzel Cabinet. Not.


10) Started the countdown for when Mike gets home. At least then Clay and I will have someone to share our pretzels with...

Foster Parents

This summer has been a BUSY summer for us with lots of company and traveling. We had one house guest in particular, though, who stayed longer than all the rest.

We first spotted Ellie when she ran out from underneath Mike's parents car as they were leaving after July 4th. We saw her again a couple of nights later and Mike caught her. She was about 6 weeks old and clearly had no mama taking care of her. We brought her inside and locked her in the guest bath while we tried to decide what to do with her.

I called my friend, Rebecca, and she agreed to be Ellie's new mama. Well, one thing led to another and Rebecca ended up traveling, moving and just getting busy with life. We agreed to be Ellie's foster parents until her new home was ready.

Ellie was very cute but we have a little boy who became quite attached. Ellie worked out great for Mike and I, too. Any time we needed Clay to hurry to the front door and stop dawdling we'd tell him, "Let's go see Ellie." We could distract him from doing things he shouldn't by going on a hunt for Ellie. Clay asked for Ellie first thing in the morning and all day long.

Ellie also made friends with our other animals. She was the epitome of a kitten with her frisky behavior and playful nature. We really enjoyed Ellie but like all good things, her visit had to come to an end. We agreed that Ellie would go home after Rebecca and I returned from a trip to Houston.

When I talked to Clay about it, here's how it went:
B: Clay, who's kitty is Ellie?
C: Cway's kitty.
B: No, Aunt Rebecca is Ellie's mama.
C: No, Cway's kitty.
B: Ellie is going to go to her home with Aunt Rebecca.
C: No!
B: We are going to tell Ellie bye-bye.
C: No, Cway's kitty.

I started to worry that we might have a mega meltdown when Ellie had to leave since she had been with us a month. Fortunately, Ellie's leaving coincided with Clay's cousins' visit so it wasn't too noticeable.

She's been gone a couple of days now and I was pretty glad that he hadn't even mentioned her once. Clay's cousins left this morning, though, and a couple of hours later I heard him walking through the house saying, "Ew-wie. Ew-wie." Uh-oh.