Summer days

Stella loves tight spaces.

video catch-up

Reese and I had a funny exchange today.  She was upset that her toy whistle had fallen off its necklace.  I told her, "Reese, it's not a big deal."  She answered, "OK, Mommy, it's a little deal but I want you to fix it."  I could not stop laughing.  I asked her about it later and got this on video.  Not as cute as the original conversation but still pretty cute.

Reese loves to swim.

Drake finally likes the pool now.

Stella working on her number puzzle.

Reese needs pizza dust (her version of pixie dust) to fly.

Reese likes to count in Spanish.

Stella got a haircut today. Her bangs have been in her eyes for weeks and I've been begging Wes to take her. She still has curls in the back but her bangs are nice and short.

Wearing our hats.

Say CHEESE!!!!

Princess Reesie-Cup.

Holy Moly, I'm behind on my posts

Where should I start?  How about my last minute get-away to Houston?  I needed to check out (mentally) so I checked into the Four Seasons for some R and R.  It was just what I needed.  I got to see my Condit girls (Carol, Michelle, Chris and Shelley) and spent some time at Carol's working on her playroom.  Great food, which included Dolce Vita, steaks by Johnny, waffles by Carol, Damian's and the world famous souffle from Tony's.  Oh, that souffle.  You have to call 45 minutes in advance to place your order and it was awesome-sauce.  Literally, the sauce is the best part.

I only took two kid pics - Emily and Jaxon.

And here is one corner of the playroom at Carol's house.  Gotta love IKEA!

Backing up a bit...before I went to Houston, I dropped the kids at the club and did the RiverPlace Hike.  I always see people parking on the street and entering the trail but I had no idea how amazing it is!!!!  Here are a few pics and of course, they don't do it justice.  I never saw a house and I walked 1.3 miles in before I turned around to head back to the car.  One more reason to love Austin.

Kiddies

Copycat -

Bedhead -

Playing catch

Reading in the window sill -

I have a TON of videos to post - check back tomorrow for those:)

just some pics

This little guy is pretty cute.  And not so little.

My number one cuddler.

Reese modeling her new hat.

And eating breakfast with her dog, "Carly."

Still haven't tasted our veggies from the garden but soon...

A visit from Nana

On Wednesday and Thursday, Nana was here to play with her grandbabies.  She brought an awesome pool that was a big hit with the girls.  Drake, not so much.  He threw balls in but wouldn't set foot inside.  Seriously, I've got to toughen this little guy up!!

While Stella was at school Thursday morning, Reese got to enjoy a date with Nana.  They shopped at Target and ate lunch.  Reese had her first Slurpee, which was a big hit!  

Friday morning, KK and I took all 3 kids to the pool.  Once again, Drake was not interested.  He had a death grip on KK the entire time we were in the kiddie pool.  Reese had fun blowing bubbles, dunking her own head under water, and playing with some beach balls.  Stella loves the water, but she also loves getting out of the pool and playing chase.  We were all exhausted after an hour and headed home.  

I managed to swim laps 4 days in a row!!!  I took today off - Reese kept me up last night so that was a good excuse to skip it:)    Let's talk about Reese.  We didn't have much terrible in the twos but the threes???  Different story.  She is seriously testing her limits right now.  I say up, she sits down.  I say white, she says black.   I say kitty cup, she says owl cup.  Everything is a battle with her.  She will not let us help her do ANYTHING, from climbing in her high chair, to getting dressed, getting undressed, using the potty, buckling her car seat straps, washing her hair, the list goes on and on.  She's also started climbing out of bed in the middle of the night and coming downstairs.  After several "talks" and one big spanking last night, she finally stayed in bed.  She comes up with a long list of demands when she comes downstairs (water, medicine, spiders and ants in my bed, bad dreams) but I'm not buying it.  I told Wes, "NO NEGOTIATING WITH THE TERRORIST!"  If we give her medicine, which is just that Orajel teething stuff she sees us put on Drake, then it will become a nightly thing and I'm not having it!!  She's turning out to be smart, stubborn and manipulative....hmmmmmmm??  Might I be paying for my raising???

Drake has been watching Reese like a hawk and decided to start throwing a few fits himself.  Ugh - the second he doesn't have food on his tray, he screeches.  It's awful.  Like nails on a chalkboard awful.  I pop his mouth and he laughs.  Then he does it again.  Pop, laugh, repeat.  I've started taking him up to his crib but my legs can't handle all this exercise, up and down the stairs.  Yeesh.  Let's hope this is short-lived.  

Stella is the golden child of the moment.  Happy as a clam, constantly humming a tune.  Very affectionate these days.  Even when Daddy came home from out of town this afternoon, she just wanted her Momma. We've been doing lots of snuggling these days.  

Our garden produced it's first squash:

I'll let you know how she tastes!!