bring on the heat

it's starting to get a little toasty in texas.  i am not complaining, i am enjoying it!  everyone says i'll change my mind when the real heat comes, but for now i am loving it.  mae and i have had lots of fun adventures this week, trying new parks, and just plain old having fun outside.

we've spent quality time at the lake.  she has become quite the little fishy.  she's started to roll onto her tummy and back in the shallow water.  she LOVES to blow bubbles with her mouth in the water.

 one of the fun surprises that the easter bunny brought was chalk.  she loves to draw on everything.  i was out in the yard and found chalk on all kinds of things, trees, sewers, our house,

 and of course on her. 

 i found a really cool free splash park near our house as well.  it was so much fun.  this little girl loves water, in any form

 we bought a little blow up pool for the backyard, and yesterday we spent a long time out there playing.  she found these old sunglasses, and wanted to wear them all afternoon. 

i feel like she has all of a sudden grown up.  she's saying more, and doing more.  she's playing little games with herself, using her imagination.  i love it.  but at the same time, i can't believe how fast it happened!

Easter

i love this holiday.  i love celebrating renewal, and the resurrection of our Savior.  i got to be in primary on easter sunday, and the sweet testimonies that those little kids all shared was a wonderful way to celebrate the day.

this was our first holiday spent just the three of us.  it was weird not shuffling from one house to another, but it was nice to have that time together. 

we started the day off (early of course) with our baldwin family tradition...bunny pancakes.  mae loved these

 then we had a mini easter egg hunt.  we had one with a group from church on friday.  it was way fun, there were tons of kids.  mae didn't really get it at first, she just ran around like crazy chasing the older kids.  but she got the hang of it.

 then we took easter sunday pictures.

 (thanks to aunt marci for mae's super cute new dress!)

i love these two.  i'm so grateful for my Savior.  to know that because of Him, i can be with these two, and the rest of our family for eternity.

san antonio

while my parents were in town, we decided to make a day trip to san antonio, to do the touristy thing and to see the temple.  it is such a neat city.  we really enjoyed it down there.  

we got lucky with awesome weather, so we spent a lot of our time walking around the river walk. it was really beautiful and peaceful walking along the water.  there are tons of restaurants and shops. 

 i can't get over how much i love the little overalls my mom got for mae!  of course i'm biased, but she looked so cute running around with those bad boys on.

then we walked over to the alamo. i'm pretty sure i never learned about the alamo.  here is what i do know...davey crockett died protecting it, ozzie osbourn peed on it, and pee-wee herman's bike was hidden in the basement (LIE, there isn't even a basement).  so, when mae finally goes to school and learns the story of the alamo in texas history, she can tell me all about it.

i had to zoom in on mae's face in this picture, haha hilarious.  she was seriously a trooper on this trip.

 this shot might be my favorite of the bunch.  for several reasons.  one my dad is on his phone, which you can tell my my mom's face (reason number 2 why i love this picture) happens quite regularly.  and reason number three, is that he's really on trying to figure out how to open the camera on his phone so he can take a selfie.

 and here is the proof that my dad took a selfie at the alamo...

 i love them.

gram & gramps

what a fun week we've had.  last friday my parents came into town to visit us for a few days.  i've been anxious for them to come and experience pflugerville. it was fun to show them around, to spend quality time with them, and to watch them with mae. 

you can always count on either gram or gramps (or both) to have an ipad handy.  or as mae calls it...pipad.  i try to limit the amount of pipad and tv time that little lady gets, but those rules don't apply when special visitors are here.  homegirl got some good quality viewing time while they were here. 

 

and of course gram came with gifts.  this little lady got spoiled!  but, that's the point of grandparents, right?  i absolutely love this little backpack my mom got for her!  it even has her initials on it. 

 mae's started to say "cheese" when we take pictures.  i love it!

 she was so excited to see her gram and gramps.  when she got up in the morning, she would walk to their room to see them.  it was so fun to for me to see her relationship with them.  we were so lucky to live to close to them before we moved.  but, it seems like their relationship is even more special now that we live farther away.

 and seriously, girlfriend's hair is wild.  i don't really know what to do with it, or how to tame it.  so, she runs around with a little afro.

 she's a special girl to convince gramps to take her for a ride on bad addie.  not very many guys would get on that bike.

 she loved to cozy coupe so much in houston that i decided to get one for her.  she knew exactly what it was before it was even put together.  she tore everything out of the box, and was very antsy while gramps was putting it together.  we had to leave to meet cody for dinner before it was done and she was not a happy camper.

 and then came the playhouse.  gram really wanted to get her something for the back yard.  so, we found this little gem.  my dad "conveniently" had to leave before it got put together.  so mom and i went to work during nap time.  i'm pretty sure we picked the windiest day to do this, so stuff was flying everywhere.  it took us a while, but we did it.  and with only one injury.  i'd say that's pretty awesome.  it was pretty addicting.  we couldn't tear ourselves away from it until it was done.

i love my parents so much.  i think the older i get, the better my relationship is with them.  maybe that's because i'm a parent now, and i have a whole new level of appreciation for them.  they're awesome.

our first guest!

we had our first overnight guest! mattie came to visit.  (thanks to polly and craig for making that happen).  i needed a friend, and mattie is one of the best that i've got.  and she's amazing with mae, and helped me to meet my neighbors, (if you haven't had the opportunity to meet mattie, she's awesome at making new friends).  it was so much fun to have her here.  and rufus came as well.  mae was in heaven.

rufus is a champ, he was so great with mae, and put up with so much!  but, he always wanted to be around her, it was adorable.

 rufus is trying to swipe mae's snack.  he had some good eatin' while he was here.  and my floors were spotless after mae's meals, which never happens. 

 of course, watching frozen.  mae will "sing" to let it go.  the only word she can really say is go, so she mumbles the first few and then says go.  it's pretty awesome.

 we spent the day downtown on thursday, which was awesome.  i haven't had the chance to go down there yet, so it was fun to have someone to do that with.  we did lots of exploring while mattie was here.  and i knew my way around a lot more than i thought i did!

when in texas...mae loved this hat. 

 however, she did NOT love the cowgirl boots we made her try on.  she was trying to kick them off, and she started crying. 

 

smiles for her aunt mattie.  she loves her aunt mattie

 

one amazing find downtown...wahoo's fish tacos! yessssss.  i haven't eaten at one in years, and it did not disappoint.  it made me so happy to find it!

 and of course we had to take a picture at the capital.  (yeah, we didn't go in, but it counts that we walked over to it right?)

 

friday we headed over to zilker park in downtown austin.  i had only read about it online, that it was bigger than central park or something, so we figured we'd check it out.  it was awesome!  rufus was in heaven with all the other puppies running around, and mae was in heaven chasing after him.  we need to go back, because they have a huge natural spring pool there, and a little train you can ride all around the park.  

 buddies

 it was so great to have mattie here.  i did so much stuff that i've wanted to do, but didn't want to do by myself.  and it was so nice to spend time with a friend!  she's an awesome friend, aunt and sister-in-law. 

houston!

last week mae and i made another trip to houston to stay with brittany and the kids while matt was out of town.  i've always enjoyed being with brittany, but we've never been able to spend that much time together. i'm so glad i was able to get to know her on this trip.  she is so awesome! we had so much fun.  mae of course had a blast with noah and tessa.  they are so sweet to her, it's so fun to be able to live near cousins!  (why is it that your children are so well behaved when you're somewhere else?  mae was so sweet, nice and happy while we were there.  boy, did she make up for it these past few days!)

we had a special treat on wednesday night, we took the kids out for ice cream.  mae and i shared, and i had to eat fast because she was inhaling the ice cream.  notice how she's the only one who wouldn't look for the picture?  too busy eating.

i love noah's face in this picture!  he is a riot, i had so much fun with him.

the next day while noah was at preschool we went to the library and to the park.  tessa is so sweet.  she was helping mae, and looking out for her.  she's a good big sister.

mae absolutely loved brittany.  when brit got out of the car to walk noah to preschool mae lost it.  she was bawling!   she just wanted to be near her, and hold her hand.

so sweet. i love that she loves her aunts!

mae would not get out of this little car! she loved it.  it was pretty funny.  here tessa is brushing mae's hair.  how cute is that?

 while we were there, mae did not want to eat in the high chair, she wanted to sit at the table like the big kids.  i've been holding out on moving her out of the high chair, because i like that the mess is more contained when she's in the high chair.  but she screamed bloody murder when i tried to put her in it.  so, now she eats at the table like a big girl.  so far the mess hasn't been too bad.  but if you ever come to our house, try not to sit in her chair. who knows what kind of treasures you'll find.

frozen has become an essential at our house.  she would watch it all day every day if i let her.  we usually watch for a little bit in the evening when she's drinking her milk.  i'm not sure who likes it more, daddy or mae...

 

it's been warm enough for shorts the past few days!  mae and i are loving the warm weather, and we're outside for pretty much all of the afternoon.  we were at the park the other day, and she just looked so grown up! love this smile and those thunder thighs!!

 of course i take her to this really cool playground, and she wants to climb on the lanterns.

this is how she fell asleep in the car on the way home from church the other day...