pictures

We finally put the swings up in the front yard.  Both girls are slightly obsessed.  They can see them through the front door and first thing each morning, they run to the door.  Reese yells, "New swing, new swing!"  Today it was rainy outside so I had some unhappy campers.  But here's a picture from yesterday.

Stella loves her new puzzle set from Nana.  She is trying to say most of her shapes, usually getting the last syllable.  Rectangle is "gle" circle is "cle" but oval, she gets both syllables.

Our kids love their Mardi Gras beads.  And Reese loves to yell, "Mardi Graaaaaaaaaaaaaas!"

Drake continues to kick one leg out of his high chair.

So he can suck on his toes.  Yum!!

Family instagram:)

Reese has been enjoying playing soccer with her dad.  She's got some pretty strong legs.  Check out her form.  I think her knee touches her forehead.

Sleepy Drake.

Drake likes to talk to himself in the mirror.  I wish I could have captured it on video.

Poop and Pork Chops

That about sums up yesterday.  Wes was out of town, I was doing bath-time solo, and Stella pooped in the tub.  Reese FLIPPED out because she hates seeing "trash" in the tub, much less POOP.  She started screaming, "NO STELLA, NO POOPING IN THE TUB, YUCKY YUCKY TRASH.  MOMMA, GET IT, GET IT!!!"  All her screaming upset Stella.  Luckily, Drake was already out of the tub and in the playroom so I only had to wrestle two screaming kids out of the tub quickly.  Ahhhh, this only happens when Wes is out of town. 

Then, in an effort to eat better (healthier) since I realized I would like to wear a two piece bathing suit again, I decided to cook dinner.  The broccoli was delicious, the pork chops were awful.  Seriously, worst pork chops I've ever had.  I guess the best way for me to lose tummy fat is to have Wes leave town for a month and take my credit card with him.  If I couldn't eat out, I would probably starve myself by cooking awful meals. 

On a happier note, Nana came to Austin today.  We met her at Ross, where we snatched up half their toy department.  Then we took the 3 amigos to Chik-Fil'A to have some fun on the playground. 

Stella crawled in a basket of stuffed animals and read a book after her bath tonight. 

A few random photos - Here is Wes saying goodbye before we left for Mexico.

I had to get a urine sample from Stella and the baggie in the diaper trick was not working.  So I put her in a crawfish platter (which has since been washed THOROUGHLY) gave her a movie and some ice chips.  Success!!!

I got an e-mail from my mom's club in Houston to report they woke up to find their car in the driveway looking like this.  Yikes!!!!

To Mexico and back...

Jill came in town on Wednesday to hang out with the kiddos before we left.   (THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU JILL!!!!!!)  Knowing her and KK were holding down the fort allowed us to truly enjoy our vacation.

We met Brian and Kirsten at the airport and two hours later, we were in MEXICO!!!  The drive from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen is less than an hour so we were at our hotel by 2:00 in the afternoon.  Plenty of sunshine left to enjoy.  We stayed at Be Playa, a cute modern hotel with really dim lighting.   Here is our room.

We walked around Fifth Street and found our first restaurant.  Delicious ceviche, crab croquettes and margaritas.  That pretty much sums up our diet the entire 3 days we were there.  Lots of ceviche, pico, and guacamole.  Saturday, we took the ferry across to Cozumel and rented scooters.  SO MUCH FUN!!!   We would just drive until we came upon the next beach bar and post up for a while.  The weather was perfect and with the help of 70 SPF, no sunburn!  

 Here's some video I took whilst scootering.

Sunday we enjoyed the rooftop pool at the hotel.  

Strike a pose -

We mixed it up and tried some different food on Sunday - found a great pizza place for lunch, Babe's Noodles dinner.  

And the best part of all, three nights of glorious, uninterrupted sleep.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

We left Monday and made it home just in time to see the kids before bedtime.  Their reaction was adorable.  Stella had the biggest grin while she hopped right past her mommy into daddy's arms.  Drake made a bee-line for Daddy, too.  And Reese had a spaz attack, yelling "Dada, Mama, Dada, Mama!" while spinning in circles and falling down.  

This morning, I was taking the kids to the grocery store and Reese started crying as we pulled out of the driveway.  I asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I want Jill come shopping."  I whipped out my phone and took this video.

Awwwwww.  Let us know when you are ready to come back, Jill:)

Whirlwind weekend

Reese and I made a quick trip to Houston this weekend. 

First stop was Berryhill's to meet Travis, Michelle and baby Maggie.  She was so cute and so TINY!!

I was super excited to eat my Berryhill faves, a crispy fish taco and chicken enchilada.

And Reese enjoyed the salsa and a margarita.  (ha ha ha:)

 After lunch, we headed to Condit to say hello to all my teacher friends.  Then Carol and I enjoyed a mani/pedi while Reese headed to Chris Meyer's house to play with Emily.  Here are Emily and Reese playing in the tub.

On Saturday, we met Carol, Johnny and the boys for breakfast.  Reese didn't know what to do, surrounded by all these cutie-pies. 

I think Jaxon might have a little crush.  We played outside for a bit.

After breakfast, we swung by their house to play for an hour.  And to give hugs.

Then it was off the Nana and Pop's house. Reese had so much fun playing with the dogs.

Then we headed home.  The drive is super easy and I'll definitely be doing that again!!!



Here are Drake and Reese rocking Mardi Gras beads.

My words have never tasted soooooo good!!

Remember when I said I would never hire a housekeeper?  Those words are tasting pretty good right now.  Wes talked me into hiring some help every other Friday and it's been AWESOME!!!  No more spending our Saturday cleaning house.

Few funny stories:

Reese, Drake and I were eating at Panera Bread when an old man in a stocking cap walked by.  Reese started screaming, "Santa! Santa!  Does he have presents?!"   Everyone sitting around us was cracking up.

Another Reese story - All 3 kids have snotty noses.  This morning, Reese was whining in her high chair so I left her there while I went to play with Drake in the other room.  I returned to find this...

Sorry, that's a pretty gross picture.  

This little cutie is getting SO big.  He is running around the house, chasing Reese and Stella.  He has a little bratty streak that he has copied from Reese - he puts on a good show when he is told "no."  I hope he outgrows that.

Stella needs a haircut but I'm dreading taking her to get one.  Love this girl and her BIG BIG smile:)