One...Two...THREE! Happy Birthday Anderson!!

ONE...

TWO...

THREE!!!

...and I brought these out of the archives!!

This was the morning of your birth...you were only about 5 hours old or so. We were still in complete shock that you arrived so early.

This is both your Dad and my favorite picture of you ever! You were a day old and snuggled in the crook of my arm all swaddled up and comfy enough to give us your first grin!

My Sweet "baby" boy turns three today! We love you so much Anderson!!

Summertime fun

What could be more fun than running around Nak#$ through the sprinkler system in the backyard?? Not much according to this lil guy!

He is ALL Boy!

10 months

This post is a bit late, but the picture was actually taken on her 10 month day! These pictures are getting harder and harder to take because she won't sit still!! She's so active now!

So sweet baby girl- you are getting so big and learning more and more everyday! People always joke about how time flies with babies...and it is so true. I think particularly with the 2nd one. I try to force myself to slow down and really take it all in because I know you will be talking, walking and all sorts of other big girl things very soon! I try to look forward to all the things we will share in the future, but it is so hard not to think "where did my infant go?". I miss the days of being able to cradle you and snuggle you up to my face. Now you just want down so you can go explore your little world- which is exactly what you should and need to do at this age....but momma is having a hard time letting go. Daddy is even worse if that is possible!

Lydia at 10 months:

**You can now crawl up on your knees, but still do the army crawl a good bit.

** You are starting to pull up and take pride in your ability to stand.

**You won't watch TV, not even Baby Einstein holds your attention. About the only thing that captivates you for any length of time is "Nursery Rhymes" from the ON DEMAND selection from our cable. It has small children singing and dancing to nursery rhymes. You still love music!

**You have loved every second of pool time that we have given you! You are also occasionally taking a bath with Anderson now.

**You love your brother and watch him intently whenever he is in the room. He sometimes snatches a toy from you and when you cry- he cries even harder. He feels so bad afterwards for "hurtin Wydia's fewlins". I hope you always love each other and are good to each other despite all of the childhood arguments you are bound to have!!

**You are fighting sleep again and we are having to institute nap "boot camp" because you were trying to give up your morning nap already!

**You spent your first night away from us with your Gigi this month. Gigi loved it- Daddy and I were lost without you and your brother here...it was so strange for the house to be that quiet!

** Your personality is still cheerful and happy. You truly are a happy little free spirit compared to your uber serious and pensive brother. The two of you could not have more differing personalities!

We love you so much Lydia!!

Beach Part 2!

We had a great 2 Br condo on Market Street, which was needed for all the stuff we had to pack to get two kids to the beach!! Ha! It was a lot of trouble to pack up and get down there with two wee ones, but once we got there and got set-up it was really not too bad. Here are a few pics of our room and views of Baytowne and the pool.





Of course we spent lots of time in the pool! It was really Lydia's first time in a pool or at the beach. She LOVED the water! Anderson, who was our little fish last summer, became very shy near the water this trip. He just wanted to sit on the steps and as he said "think about it". He would hardly even get in with us for the first day or so. Since then we have been back to swim lessons and he is back to being our little fishy...I guess he just forgot about how much fun it is to get in the water!

We also were steps away form this huge playground. We spent most of our mornings here. It just so happened to be located right next to the ice cream parlor...yum!!

Our Summer Beach Trip Part 1...

This post is late, but it has taken a while to get all of the photos edited and things (as always) have been super busy around here! Last month we headed down to our favorite beach spot. San Destin. It is on the Florida Panhandle and we have been staying in this resort for the last 4 beach trips. We declare it to be heaven on Earth! It is a huge resort that spans both sides of scenic beach road 98. We like staying on the Bay side b/c we can walk right out to the pool and shops and food!! Plus with little bitty babies the beach is a once a day for two hours trip- not an all day hang-out! We stay right above Baytowne Wharf which has about 15 restaurants, 20 or so shops and several bars. It also has a lovely amphitheater where they play live music for children on the green and show kids movies under the stars on weeknights. It is totally geared for families! We love it!! We stayed for 5 days, which wasn't enough- but it was enjoyable! Our babysitter, Chandler, cam and stayed with us part of the time. That was awesome! We were able to sneak off for dinner dates with just the two of us for 3 nights! Enjoy these photos...I promise to post the rest soon!

My 33rd Birthday!

As I get older I keep thinking that Birthdays are going to be more of a bad thing than a good thing, but not this year! On Friday I turned 33, and had one of the best birthdays to date!

Jeff started my day off with breakfast in bed- an omelet, toast and some very yummy fresh strawberries. Then I had a glorious morning massage and pedicure at a local spa while a sitter stayed home with the babies. Afterwards I did a little shopping for some running shoes and treated myself to lunch at Panera...alone. It was great! No ones food to cut up or noses to wipe...now that's my kind of lunch! Ha!

That night we went to dinner with a handful of sweet friends to celebrate. Jeff told me about it because a surprise is almost impossible logistically with two small children, but it was a very sweet thought! We headed to Chuck's Fish downtown. Jeff had some appetizers waiting on us and everything was so scrumptious! He even had flowers delivered and waiting on me at the table!

Stacie, me and Ashley

Stacie, me, Ashley and Greg (who somehow thought he was going to get out of a picture!)

Our friends and neighbors the Parkers

Matthew and Kelly Clark. Kelly was responsible for the cake, which was adorable and yummy!

When we got to the table Jeff had already arranged these to be delivered to the table! Isn't that so sweet? These are the same flowers used throughout our wedding and reception. Such a thoughtful husband!