Party Planning

I mentioned we hosted a baby shower Saturday. Everything went perfect! We had just enough food, delicious ice cream cupcakes and a house full of people! Now that it's over I can start setting my sights on a very special day. My baby girl turns 2 next Friday! Josh and I have a very special day planned for her on her actual birthday. I'll share a recap of our day along with pictures on her birthday. Saturday is the big party! I've been buying stuff for it (and the baby shower) for the last month or so. I happened to get soo lucky because my parents had a huge party a few weeks ago and used the same colors I was planning on using for Alex's party, so I am borrowing all of their stuff which works out great! I know the next 2 weeks are going to be filled with last minute details and errands, but I am sooo excited about it! I changed our blog pic to her birthday invite...kind of. I took out all the info and just added The Stafins. But you can see, our colors are orange, hot pink and aqua! I can't wait until it all starts coming together!

Last Swim Class

We had our last swim lesson on Friday. I'm not going to lie, swim lessons 4 days a week for 2 weeks is a pain. We may find something different next year. It was right in the middle of our morning so it made it hard to get anything done before nap time. I could tell Alex was over swim lessons about half way through week 2. During class she kept repeating Mommy, all done and wanted to get out of the pool. A few days she didn't even want to leave the house to go to class. The highlight of her class was she got to see Kate. Alex would see me getting our stuff together and get so excited because she knew she'd see Kate. We are sad Kate is in Las Vegas for 2 weeks and we won't see her! :(

I wasn't able to get any pics of us in the pool this year. Friday before class, I took some last day pics.

Alex sad because it's her last class?

No!

Alex was upset because I wouldn't let her have a snack before class!

Alex loving on Kate!

Admiring the slide on the other side of the gate

Post class snack. A swim class tradition!

Random Stuff

I feel like we've had a busy few weeks. Tomorrow is Alex's last swim lesson and I'm soooo glad. 4 days a week is a lot for both of us and it's right in the middle of the morning so it makes it hard to run errands before, and by the time they are done, we have time to make a quick stop, have lunch then head home for a nap. On a good note, Alex is loving her swim lessons! After the first class, she was fine getting in the pool and leaving all the toys in the basket. She catches onto habits very fast. After each class, Candice and I sit with the girls and give them a snack while we dry off and dress the girls. Yesterday about 5 minutes before class was over, Alex looked at me and said, Mommy, all done. I told her class wasn't over yet and she said, no, all done! So we went to the edge of the pool, she got out, went to our towels, sat down and got her snack. I guess she was over class! lol

One of Josh's friends stopped in College Station on the way to Houston Monday. We all went to dinner. While we were eating, Alex was playing with her water cup. She poked her finger through the side of the Styrofoam cup and water spilled everywhere. She looked at us and said "oh shoot!" We started dying laughing. It actually made me happy that another S word didn't come out...I've been really good about watching my mouth in front of her!

We have been having a few sleep issues. Alex woke up one night at 3am screaming her head off. I finally went in snuggle her and she refused to go back in her crib. We ended up on her floor. Around 5 I woke up and she was sleeping in the middle of her room. I left her and went back to bed. When Josh got up, he heard her playing in her room. She has been fighting her nap. She gets so tired but doesn't want to sleep in her crib. One day I let her out and made a little bed on the floor with her babies and lots of blankets. She stayed in her room for an hour or so playing, but never napped. I guess she just needed some quiet time. I have a feeling once we transition her to a toddler bed, she'll prefer sleeping on the floor! Monday she actually slept until 9:45 when I woke her up so we wouldn't be late for a playdate. She NEVER sleeps that late! She is a creature of habit and no matter what time she goes to bed, she is up by 7:30 at the latest!

Here are a few pics from our week!

Alex and her "cheese" face!

Happy Father's Day

This is the love of my life. He is with the other love of my life. I could sit and watch them together for hours. He is a natural. He is the most amazing daddy I have ever seen. I could not imagine going through parenthood with anyone else. He provides for us, he takes care of us, but most of all he loves us and shows us every minute of every day. I love watching him love our baby. Alex lights up when she sees him and she is truly a daddy's girl.

Josh, I love you, thank you for being such a wonderful Daddy to our sweet daughter. Happy Father's Day.

Swim Lessons

We had our first swim lesson of the summer today. Alex LOVED swim lessons last year so I was soo excited for them to start. Last year we did evening lessons so Josh and I took turns getting in the pool with Alex. This year, we signed up for a day class so it's just the 2 of us. Alex was soo excited when we got to the pool and had a hard time sitting on our towel until the class started. When it was finally our turn, I let her sit on the ledge while I hopped in. As soon as I turned around, she leaned in because she was ready to get in. Then it happened...she noticed the water toys. From that point on, she was obsessed. She pushed away from me as much as she could to try to get to the basket of toys. I almost lost my top several times and she tried climbing up my body so her foot kept pushing my swim suit bottoms down a little. Not fun. I got tired of fighting with her so I let her out of the pool and she stood at the basket throwing toys in for me to fetch. She ended up getting back in the pool for a few minutes but not long. The instructor said she'd hide the toys tomorrow so hopefully we have better luck. Once the instructor moved the toys she was fine and ready to get back in the pool. Too bad class was over. I am crossing my fingers tomorrow goes better.

Girls Weekend

Alex and I had a girls weekend! Josh flew to Chicago Friday evening for his grandma's 90th birthday. We were hosting ort HOA meeting that night so Alex and I stayed. Alex played the little hostess serving everyone tea with her little tea set. She got to stay up late and have milk and cookies while we were having our meeting.

She woke up at 7:30 Saturday morning and I felt hungover because I stayed up late reading. Is it sad that lack of sleep can make me feel hungover? Must be a sign that I'm getting OLD! I got Alex and put her in bed with me so she could drink her milk, then she hopped down to play. I decided to go ahead and get up and make some coffee. I quickly realized we were out of coffee beans! :( So I threw on some clothes so we could grab breakfast. When I came back in the kitchen, I found Alex with a bag of Pirate's Booty in the middle of the floor eating and sharing with Cooper. I guess that meant she was hungry! We went to Kolache Rolf's for breakfast (and coffee) then to the grocery store for milk and a few other things. It wasn't until I was in the car that I realized I forgot the darn coffee beans!

We met Katie and Abby at Target after Alex woke up from her nap. We are hosting a baby shower in 2 weeks and needed to get some supplies. Alex decided to give some attitude and demanded juice. I don't know where she gets it from, she has had juice maybe 10 times in her life. I offered water, NO, Cheerios, NO, then she decided she wanted everything off the shelves. By the time we checked out, I had a pile of stuff I had to tell the cashier we didn't want.

We had a quiet night . I let Alex stay up until a little after 8 because she was being so sweet and snugglie. We sat in her glider for the longest time just talking. Every few minutes she would reach up and kiss me. It's those moments I know I am the luckiest person in the world. I have a beautiful, sweet, caring little girl who loves and adores me. I love and adore her too! Friday and Saturday night she fussed and cried some when I put her down. I really think it's because Josh wasn't here. We both always put her down. Every night we have some snuggle time, we hold her between us when we sing to her then she says "bye-bye Coo Coo, bye-bye, night-night Daddy." She knows it's just not the same when he's not here.

She has asked for Josh about 100 times since Friday. We have called him several times and she loves talking to him. It is so sweet hearing her excited voice when she realizes it's Josh on the other end of the phone. The conversation usually goes something like, "Daddy. Love you. Bye-bye. Baby." The background pic on my phone is a pic of Alex so she gets distracted by the baby on the phone. She loves pushing the red end call button when we are done.

I am so ready for Josh to get home. He should be home at some point during Alex's nap so when she wakes up she'll get to see her Daddy!

I was planning on transitioning Alex to a toddler bed this weekend, but decided to hold off a bit. We are going out of town 2 of the next 3 weekends and she will be sleeping in a pack and play so I don't want her to be too confused going back and forth between a toddler bed and the pnp.

23 Months!

My baby will be 2 years old in a few short weeks! I can not believe it! She is at such a fun age. I love every second of it.

She is talking up a storm and is starting to string several words together. Sunday when Cooper went in the playroom where Abby was sleeping the night before, Alex told him, "Coo Coo no no, Abby night night." She is a little parrot. When Josh gets home, I always holler, "hi Bubby (a little pet name)," from where ever I am. Alex has started saying "hi Bubby" to him too! She is the queen of NO. She says no to pretty much anything we ask her even if she means yes.

She is getting so much better about eating! She is slowly starting to eat meat again. Meatballs and McDonald's cheeseburgers (super healthy, I know) are current favorites. She LOVES fruit. She can eat a whole bag of grapes in less than a week. She loves strawberries, blueberries and bananas. Her favorite snack is grape tomatoes. She can eat with a spoon or fork, but as she gets to the bottom of the bowl, she can't resist the urge to dig in with her hands and ends up making a huge mess. I have to plans meals around baths. Nothing too messy if she isn't getting a bath immediately after the meal. Some days she gets 2 baths a day because she's decides to rub her hair when she had yogurt or applesauce all over her hands and then again at night because she did the same with spaghetti sauce! Good thing she loves her baths...come to think of it, she may be doing it on purpose, she loves her baths so much!

She climbed out of her crib for the first time last weekend so we are transitioning her to a toddler bed over the weekend.

She is starting to learn her ABC's. She will repeat every letter after I say it and will try to sing along when we sing. We count together and are working on colors and shapes. She loves music and songs. I think I'm going to enroll her in Kindermusik when her swim lessons are over. We start 2 weeks of swim lessons next week then gymnastics the week after her birthday. She loves interacting with other kids so I want her to have as many chances to as she can!

She loves giving kisses, especially when I ask her to kiss specific body parts. She loves kissing my nose, eye, ear and cheek, but my favorite are the sweet little kisses on the lips.

I am so excited about her birthday party. I'm in full planning mode since we are hosting a baby shower 2 weeks before her birthday party!

Sour and Sweet

Alex had an off day. It was my fault. We met Josh at McDonald's for lunch and we didn't arrive early enough for her to play first! I ordered while she dragged Josh to the door of the play area, then proceeded to throw herself on the ground and scream bloody murder when he told her we had to eat first. She fussed as she ate an entire cheeseburger. As soon as we got to the play area, she continued to fuss because she was tired. She wanted to go down the slide, but only if I went down with her. Me and a toddler slide tunnel slide...not a good combination. She threw another fit when it was time to leave. She screamed as Josh buckled her in the car. Within a minute, she was back to her sweet self. She is getting really really bad about throwing fits if we go somewhere with a play area and we don't let her play immediately or when it's time to leave the play area. It's getting to where it's not even fun to take her because I dread the scene I know she'll cause when it's time to leave. She took a great nap and woke up happy. Around dinner time, she started melting down again and was just mad and upset. Josh bathed her as I cleaned up. I decided we needed some down time, just giving her every ounce of our attention with no TV or music distractions. It was just what we needed. We played in her room for about half an hour. She brought me Olivia and "read" it to me. She likes to flip through it and point out things Olivia is wearing or doing. I love it! We had some sweet snuggle time as she drank her milk then we sang her night time song as we all hugged. Josh left the room and I sat with my baby in my arms and just talked to her. She curled into my body and it was just perfect. As I was about to put her down, I told her I needed her to sleep good tonight (since she woke up several times last night crying) and she whispered, "ok." I told her I loved her and she looked up at me with her sweet brown eyes and whispered, " lole looo (love you), night night Mommy." It was a perfect end to a tantrum filled day!

Alex and Abby

We got to babysit Abby this evening. I've been telling Alex all week Abby was coming over so anytime we would see Tracy at lunch, she'd ask about Abby. I know she misses Abby because last time she was here, Alex woke up every morning that week asking where Abby was. When they got here, she kept saying Abby Abby Abby over and over again. She kept bringing toys out to share! The girls picked right up and started playing ring around the rosie. We all sat down and had dinner together. I realized, Alex may be picky, but she is a little piggy. She ate her food, in about half of the time it took Abby to eat! After dinner, we took the girls outside to play. We took Alex's cozy coupe and motorcycle with us. Alex hopped on the motorcycle while Abby relaxed in the cozy coupe. Alex was a mad woman. She really got some speed pushing herself on the motorcycle. We had to pretty much mall walk to keep up with her! When we got to the little common area at the end of our street, the girls switched vehicles. Alex was not too happy about Abby being on her bike, but seemed to be ok when Abby let her sit on it with her. When we got back, the girls got to take a bath together, then we settled down for bed. Alex kept taking books to Abby in her glider so they could look at them. They were so cute with their milk, blankets and books. Alex was soo sweet kissing Abby over and over again!

ring around the rosie!

we all fall down!

zoom zoom!

Abby giving Alex a ride

We had to put Abby's feet up because she kept getting her feet stuck under the car as we pushed her!

my cutie girls!

Alex reading her favorite Bunny My Honey to Abby

Alex checking out Abby's blankie.
Abby was not too sure about Alex touching her blanket until Alex said, "Abby kankie"
so Abby knew Alex knew it wasn't hers!

sweet night night kisses!

Changes...

So, we have been in our house almost 3 years (it will be 3 years mid June). Since we've been here, 2 new houses have been built. I'm sure the developer would like it to go a little faster, but I'm not going to lie, it's been kinda nice to have lots of empty land around us and at least 2 lots between us and our side neighbors. That all changed a few weeks ago when we saw a SOLD sign in a lot by us. It was hard to tell if it was the lot next to us or one lot over and we quickly learned it was the lot right beside us. There are TONS of empty lots to choose from and we were very sad the lot right beside us was selected. Last week they started clearing the lot and it has been non-stop activity since. It stinks because the machines are loud and there are always huge trucks parked right in front of our house. We used to wake up and open all the blinds in the front of the house. Now our 2 living room windows look directly at the construction. The only good thing is Alex LOVES watching all the equipment work. She can sit at the window for half an hour just watching all the action. She says bye bye to each truck as it leaves and blows kisses.

You can kinda see the lot to our right that was all trees and brush. The tree at the right edge of the pic that provided us lots of great shade is no more. They cleared every single tree from the lot. :(
Here is the lot cleared last week. It's not the best pic because it was taken from my phone and it was really really bright out.
Alex's new favorite past time. Lounging on the boppy, knocking back a cup of milk while watching the activity!