Fourth of July

We had such a good time 4th of July weekend. We found ourselves with a weekend with literally no plans (except for church on Sunday of course) which is a rarity in our family. We started off Friday by meeting with our realtor to look at some houses in Round Rock and Pflugerville. We found one that we really like but now just need to wait for something more to happen with the condo (three showings so far in 2 plus weeks but no other action). We'll look around some more but it was exciting and a good start.

That afternoon after naptime we went to the Brushy Creek Lake Park where they have this really cool water playscape (we called it a sprinkler park). When it's consistently over 100 degrees outside you have to find something you can do outside without frying and this was great!! Noah loved it. He's really into water these days. He didn't really appreciate it when he got sprayed in the face but he had a great time running around and splashing and playing in the smaller sprays and spouts. There is lots of water involved so if you go, parents-be sure to wear your swim suit too (I learned this lesson for next time)!

After the park we went to Kawaii Shaved Ice in Round Rock for sno cones. We'd heard good things and it was closer than our usual spot so we decided to check it out. It was pretty good (the ice was great, just not enough syrup) but Casey's New Orleans Sno Balls off Airport and 51st still has the best sno cones we've ever had!

On Saturday we stayed at home and grilled on the patio and then played in the pool. No fireworks for us this year. Noah still goes to bed around 7:30pm and since it gets dark so much later these days we decided to just stick to our normal schedule. Maybe next year he'll be better at staying up later. What a good weekend though! It was some great family time and really relaxing.

Eating hot dogs outside on the patio on the 4th

Father's Day

We had a busy but low key Father's Day weekend this year. We listed our condo (finally!) on Friday which was super exciting! On Saturday, Mike had a youth outing with the seniors to Barton Springs and other fun Austin stuff. While he was out playing on Saturday Noah and I shopped for his gifts. He got Dad's Awesome Grilling Book, some new beer and other various treats. After opening presents Sunday afternoon we went out to REI to look for some hiking boots for his upcoming trip with the youth group to Colorado. Then it was out to Rudy's BBQ for dinner!! Yum Yum! Lots of fun "guy" stuff. Here's Noah trying to help Daddy open his presents.

Happy Father's Day Daddy/Mike! We are so blessed to have you in our lives! I love watching you be a Daddy to Noah-you are so good with him! You can tell by how his face lights up when you come home how much he loves you. I couldn't ask for a better father for our son. I hope you know how special you are to both of us. We love you!!

15 months

Noah's 15 months old now. We're having so much fun with him. He is like a little sponge these days-learning so much so fast! Especially talking. No exageration, it seems like he picks up a new word almost every day. For example, last week at the beach he learned beach (he says beachy), truck, birdie, grapes (sounds like braps), yucky, and finally started saying mommy regularly (for a little while it was about every other word but it's worn off a little bit now). This week he's started telling us what sounds animals make. So far he knows that duckies say quack quack, cows say moo (although he says boo but it's close enough!) and sheep say baa. Some words require a little more imagination to interpret (as my dad likes to say) but others are pretty clear. Oh, he also says please now too ("pease"). He knows to say it anytime he wants something. He's already figured out that if he says please, nods his head yes, and points to something that he'll usually get what he wants. We don't always give in, but he sure has learned how to work the system already! I love that he's getting so much better at communicating with us and you can tell he enjoys being understood!

Some of his favorite things these days are keys, balls, cars & trucks, blocks and books. He still loves playing outside and begs to go to the pool. If we get his little turtle floatie out he immediately starts saying pool and will actually bring the floatie over to us and put the little spout up to our mouth to try to get us to blow it up for him. He follows commands pretty well for a young toddler...he knows how to pick up his toys, how to throw things away, you can ask him to pick up something and bring it to you and he does. He knows where to looks for things that you ask him for-even if they're in the other room. All this is so fun and cool to watch him grow more and more into a little functioning person. But of course it also means we have to be on our best behavior around him so he doesn't learn bad habits since he tries mimic everything we do. He's also wanting to exert more and more independence which is good for him but can also be challenging for us as parents. No major tantrums yet though thank goodness! I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

We had his 15 month check up today and all was great. Noah weighs 27 lbs (75-90th percentile) and is 32.75 inches long (90th percentile) and his head circumference is in the 95th percentile--in other words he's still a pretty big boy for his age! Our pediatrician did hear a slight heart murmur for the first time at this check up. It's very common in kids Noah's age and at this point is considered innocent and will just be something they monitor at each check up. Thankfully we come across this all the time in kids at my clinic so I knew from experience that it's pretty common and was therefore a little less alarmed by the whole thing. I was so proud of Noah for actually holding still and being somewhat quiet while the doctor was doing all his listening. He got two shots and I think had an idea of what was coming this time. Poor buddy. It was a little harder on me because of that, but he recovered quickly which was good.

We turned his car seat around last month as you can see below. New recommendations had come out to try to keep kids rear facing as long as possible past age one. We tried as long as we could with Noah, but he's just so tall that his poor little legs were getting all scrunched up. He was so happy to face forward-the look on his face when we first put him in the car was priceless!

Beach Bums

We took a family vacation, just the three of us, to South Padre Island for a week. It was WONDERFUL! Just what we needed--relaxing time with just our family, no real responsibilities to worry about, no schedule, just lots of good time together. We've recently been having some issues with the condo, are trying to get ready to sell it, and have had some crazy times at work, so the time away came at just the right time for us! We really didn't do much else besides eat, sleep, and go to the beach. Just call us beach bums!

We stayed in this great condo-it had two bedrooms so Noah could have his own room, meaning we all got better sleep at night! It was just a few blocks from the beach but we had to cross the main road with 4 lanes of traffic to get there, so we just drove the short distance to the beach when we went. It was still great access and made it super easy to just go out to the beach for short periods of time a couple times a day. We usually went once early in the morning and then again in the late afternoon, basically trying to avoid the worst times for the sun (didn't want Noah to get too much sun!) and also working around nap time! Being a condo we also had a full kitchen so we did lots of cooking there too. We loved the place and it made it really easy to be able to stick to Noah's typcial routine which I think contributed to the overall success of the trip.

The best part was getting to see Noah play at the beach. He LOVED it! He wasn't scared at all. In fact, he ran straight for the water as soon as we set foot on the beach. He liked all the foam on the top of the waves and kept yelling "Bubbles, Bubbles!" and chasing after the waves. He liked the sand too...lots of digging and tasting too! He and Mike did lots of wave jumping and digging in the sand...I loved just watching the two of them play together. Noah is such a little boy! He also liked trying to chase the birds and seeing all kinds of new, different people.

Whenever we would get ready to go to the beach Mike would chant "beachy, beachy!" and Noah picked up on it pretty quickly. Anytime we said the word beach he would start saying "beachy" and immediately go get his shoes and our shoes and try to get us out the door as quickly as possible. Even now back at home if we say the word beach or anything that sounds close to that, he will stop whatever he's doing and say "beachy!" and get this huge grin on his face. I love it! It's the best getting to watch him learn and have so much fun with new experiences.

I was worried about the long drive to Padre, but Noah did great. Took two naps on the way there and back and each time we only had to stop once!

This video shows Noah's first reaction to the beach. We'd literally been there for about 30 seconds at this point. (Sorry it's turned sideways, I took it with the digital camera and can't figure out how to rotate it!)

Chasing the bubbles

If only we could all get so much enjoyment out of the little things in life!

Having fun figuring out the beach with Daddy

I love this progression of watching him try to put things in his mouth

If you're wondering about the bright orange things in Noah's ears, they are ear plugs that he has to wear for swimming anywhere besides a pool because of his ear tubes.

Hanging out with Mommy too!

Wanting to chase the "bubbles". This was one of Noah's favorite parts

Daddy and Noah's first sand castle.

These weren't our chairs but Noah didn't care. He got such a kick out of sitting here!

We did got out to eat a couple times (had to get some local seafood!). We went to a pirate themed place one night on a pier. It was good and Noah had fun.

Eating a lemon...silly boy actually liked it.

Noah's pirate hat

Exploring the pier

I loved watching Noah and Mike play together.

Playing in the waves. Noah is a little thrill seeker!

Picking up sea shells

Chasing more bubbles

The boys made a mud hole.

Cute little beach hair gave Noah a mohawk

In the car all tired out after an afternoon at the beach! What a cute little beach bum!!

Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday this year. We went to Chez-Zee for brunch and split the Canadian Eggs Benedict and the Creme Brulee French Toast. It was sooo good! We've only gone to there one other time for dinner-dinner was good, not great but the brunch was excellent!! I highly recommend it-especially for a special occassion.

Noah with his mouth stuffed full of croissant still trying to smile for the camera. He's turned into such a little ham these days.

After brunch, we went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I was hoping to get some bluebonnet pictures, but we were a little too late in the season plus there apparently weren't as many this year because of the drought. We still got some cute pictures. Of course Noah, being the little boy that he is, had more fun playing with rocks and plastic bugs (how is it that he finds these things so fascinating already??). It was hot and there weren't as many flowers as we'd hoped for but we had a great time just hanging out just the three of us. Later that afternoon when we got home (and had all rested some) we went for our first swim of the year. Noah had a great time in the pool and loved the water! I can't wait till we head to the beach in a couple weeks to see what he thinks of that too.

Thanks to both of my boys for making this such a great weekend--I love you both so much!!