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...

18 months

it's hard to believe this little lady is already 18 months.  we haven't had her 18 month check-up yet, we're still waiting for her records to be transferred.  but, at her follow up appointment last week she weighed 29.9 lbs, and was 31 inches.  31 inches of crazy.  she is a little ball of energy, and creates a path of destruction wherever she goes.  she loves to sing, loves baby dolls, being outside, and her new favorite is watching tv.  (i'm trying not to let her become a couch potato, so i make sure she is pretty active, but still, she loves tv).

she loves gymnastics class.  i'm so glad we signed her up for it, it's so fun to watch, and see her learning new skills.  she also works out with me sometimes.  i was doing some yoga, and she wanted to as well...

 she loves to be outside and explore.  one of her favorite things is to chase the ducks down at the lake.

she's saying more and more, or at least i can understand what she's saying more.  some new things are cup, help, more, apple, cookie, and in the picture below, "wha happ?"

 she is not loving her high chair anymore, i still put her in there most of the time.  but she either puts up a fight, or eats really fast so she can get down.  while we were in houston she loved the little chairs that brittany had for her kids, so i went and got one for her.  she loves it. 

it was a pretty yucky morning on friday, so we had a picnic inside while we watched frozen...she loves this movie!

 i love those overalls, and sadly they are too short.  after i took this picture i had to change her because the buttons kept popping open.  sad day.

we are having fun exploring all the new playgrounds around the area, there are a ton.  she had a blast at the all abilities park that's not far from our house.

we had some visitors this weekend! breann, karen, and lucy came up from houston to spend the afternoon with us on saturday.  it was so much fun.

mae loved it. (you can tell in this picture, she is seriously getting an afro!)

 we love lucy!  mae loves her too.  they had fun together, and i'm so excited for them to be able to grow up knowing each other.

 and mae loves bre! 

 i wish these pictures weren't so blurry, but it's hard taking pictures with babies!

cody got a calling this weekend.  he's working with the 11 year old scouts.  i think he's a little nervous about scouting.  but, he'll be awesome!  and i know those boys will love him.

family!

we made the trip to houston this weekend to see cody's brothers and sister and their families.  it was so much fun.  i love them all so much, and continue to count my blessings to have married into such an awesome family.  it was our niece tessa's birthday party, and there were tons of kids, it was a blast.  i loved having parties with my cousins growing up, and i'm so glad that we love close enough that mae will be able to have that as well.

grandma karen had all 12 of her grandkids together for the first time!
mae did not want to sit for the picture, nor did she really want to look at the camera.  brittany actually got some good pictures.

 this was the best i could get...

 mae was in little people heaven.  she loves other kids. i'm so glad she got to meet all of her cousins!
 i'm pretty sure her favorite part was sitting in this little chair...

 and breann.  she is mae's new favorite person. mae just wanted to sit with her, or be near her. it was really cute.

it made me so happy to see everyone!  and having made the trip, and knowing that they aren't that far from me has helped make the move a little easier.  and makes me excited to be able to go down and see them more often!


mae has become very opinionated, even though she can't talk very much.  the other morning she was trying so hard to get these tights on her head, and whenever i tried to take them off she threw a fit.  so, she wore tights on her head all morning.

 

tantrums have become part of our daily lives around here.  some days they are worse than others.  everyone who has had a toddler before i'm sure can relate.  here are a few live action shots.

there's a reason toddlers are so cute...

we had a rainy and cold weekend, so we were super excited to be able to spend the day outside yesterday!  we had fun down by the lake, mae was chasing ducks all over the place.  and almost fell into the lake chasing them...good thing i have cat like reflexes.  we love to be outside, and we love that we live on this lake!

more ear infections

 little lady had a cold for a while, and finally i decided to take her to the doctor.  i was holding off because i hadn't had the chance to really look for a pediatrician, so i spent sunday asking people at church and doing some research online.  i was nervous because i absolutely loved our pediatrician in virginia. luckily for us, i found a great one.  and yes, mae has another ear infection. so they put her on super anti-biotics.  usually mae is a good medicine taker, not so much with this stuff.  it's a fight to get it down. ugh.

we have had some cold weather, so we haven't been able to be outside as much as we would like.  but we've spent as much time outside as we can.  she loves exploring.

 

this girl cracks me up.  we have some pretty awesome toys. but things she always gravitates to are travel size bottles of things, tupperware, wash cloths, and this box.  if she isn't being pulled in it, she is pulling her dolls in it.

one thing that make me so happy is when mae sees her daddy.  seeing her reaction when he gets home, or when he walks in her room, makes being here so worth everything.  i missed seeing her with him while we were apart. 

 

 mae isn't the only one getting new stuff.  mama got a new toy!  at the beach we rented bikes and a trailer for mae, and she and i loved them so much, i've been wanting one since then.  cody's so sweet and put some money aside for me to be able to get a bike and a trailer for mae.  and here she is...it's a schwinn.  the admiral.  i've nick named her bad addie.  i did not waste any time taking that baby out for a spin.

 mae loved it.  i think she likes the wind in her hair.  heck i wouldn't mind someone pulling me around in what can only be described as a mini chariot.  (in this picture she is looking for the piece of cookie that she dropped.)

we took a ride around the lake.  i won't get tired of this view anytime soon.

 of course we had to take a pit stop and play on the "beach"

 

loves the beach and water...just like her mama.

we're settling in, this week was harder for me dealing with a sick little lady, and being a little homesick.  but, i'm trying to catch myself whenever i think that and remind myself that i need to try to make this my home.  hopefully i'll be able to convince myself!