Sunday

Sunday we got up and were about to get dressed to leave for our usual Sunday breakfast and IHOP and Alex started coughing. She's had a little cough since Friday afternoon. Well, she started coughing so much she started puking! She was crying as she was doing, poor thing. Our bathroom and bedroom stunk like sour milk. Alex was covered so we decided to stay home and have breakfast. I know the puking was caused by her coughing so much, but I still didn't want to chance it. She isn't running a fever or acting different so I'm sure she's ok...but I still cringe a little every time she coughs!

We made pink heart shaped pancakes and had strawberry syrup! Yum!!! After breakfast we played a little then went outside since it was fairly warm. Alex drove her power wheels around some then we flew a kite since there was a pretty good wind!

After Josh got the kite stuck in the tree, I decided to show off my mad kite flying skills!

like 3 minutes later, I dropped the string thing and

the kite went flying off and crashed to the ground!

Auto Show and Kemah!

We had the best Saturday! Despite going to bed after 10 Friday night, Alex was up at 7 am! We had a quick breakfast, then got ready. We went to Houston for the Auto Show. We walked around then let Alex play in the kid zone. She was sooo excited about the huge slide, then heartbroken when we realized she was too short to ride it! She ended up finding other activities to keep her entertained. When we were done we debated what to do for lunch. It was nice outside and we were only 30 minutes from Kemah so we decided to go for lunch. We took Alex to The Aquarium to eat. Alex caught a glimpse of the 2 story carousel as soon as we saw the boardwalk and talked about it the entire lunch so after a delicious lunch and dessert, we headed to the ride area. I took Alex on the carousel where she picked a horse we named Sparkle! She had the biggest smile on her face the entire time and got sooo excited every time we passed Josh, who was trying to take pictures of us! It was such a great day!

Alex sharing her pink ice cream with Josh

waiting for our turn on the carousel


we are up there on the 2nd level!

we saw a cool bridge just outside of Pasedena and Josh wanted to drive on it!

Alex loves bridges and really tall over passes!

Valentine's Cards

I ordered the most adorable Valentine's Day cards to send! Once they are in the mail I'll post some of the pics I used on the card, but for now, the above pic is from the 100's I took!

Alex and Josh had a little date night last night! After dinner, they went for ice cream. Alex picked pink (strawberry!) They have another date night planned in a few weeks. Our Chickfila has events scheduled each month and next month, it's Daddy/Daughter date night! They do reserved seating, table service and activities!

Alex is back to napping...around 3 or 3:30. I hate that she naps that late, but it's the only time she will actually sleep. She usually sleeps until 5 or so. Her late naps make for great nights! She is still going to bed between 7:30 and 8.

We have had so much fun lately just hanging out. We have gymnastics and dance which she loves! Other days we usually do CFA, B&N or just random errands. In March she will start Hot Shots Soccer on Fridays. I think (hope!) she will love it!

Mommy/Daughter Days!

Josh went out of town Tuesday morning. Alex and I have tried to stay super busy the last 2 days, especially since Alex hasn't been napping. Tuesday we ran a few errands, Alex picked Chickfila for lunch then we went to B&N to play and look at books. Today after dance we went to Target, then I asked Alex if she wanted to go see a movie! Sadly, she said no. She wanted to go home and play. I talked her into lunch first. We went to Dickey's. I found out on Wednesdays kids eat free! Alex loved her own little Dickey's cup with super watered down lemonade. She was eyeing the ice cream machine the entire time so I let her get some before we left. I realized she has never had an ice cream cone, we always get it in a cup. She looked at me like I was crazy when I took a bite of my cone. She decided to try hers and spit it out calling it paper! haha! She ended up having a second bite and decided she liked it. She kept telling me, "Mommy, I like cones!"

Imagination

Alex's imagination is really out of control some times!

The other day we went to B&N to play then had lunch. When Josh got home, he asked Alex what we did during the day. She told him we went to the mall! He asked what we did at the mall and she told him we bought panties. I asked if they were for her (she likes picking out her own panties at Gymboree) and she said no, they were pink panties for Mommy! Crazy kiddo!

She loves to cook in her kitchen. She made Josh a bowl of soup, then ran around looking for a spoon. Once she found it and tasted his soup, she decided it needed olives!

If she is playing, she will take a few seconds out of her time to run pretend strawberries (or some other food) to me.

On another note, Alex is going back and forth with her afternoon naps. Some days (like 2 days a week) she naps without a problem. Other days she will get in bed and act like she is going to nap and as soon as I leave the room, she starts repeating, "but I woke up this morning," over and over. I know when she says that, there is no chance she will nap. I guess her thinking is that she already woke up for the day so she doesn't have to take a nap.

She is also very into using adjectives. When Tracy dropped Abby off yesterday he gave her a kiss, she looked at them and said, "oh that's sweet!"

She tells me when she thinks things are cute or very cute! It can be anything from an article of clothing, a book or the Grinch (who she thinks is very very cute)!

I love love love spending my days with her. We have so much fun together!

Monday Funday

We had such a fun day today! Abby spent the day with us since her school was closed for MLK day! We took Alex to gymnastics and Abs hung out and watched Alex with me. From there we went to the mall to meet Candice and Kate for a play date! It was CRAZY packed so the girls didn't play very long before we had lunch and headed to our house. The girls played non stop! Since I knew there was no chance Alex would take a nap, we ended up watching Tinkerbell on the projector. The girls all curled up on blankets on the floor and shared popcorn and goldfish! We LOVE LOVE LOVE Kate and Candice and can not wait for summer so we can spend more time with them! The only pic I got all day was the girls holding hands and running through the mall!

Tangled

It was so rainy and gloomy today we decided to go see a movie! We took Alex to her second movie. We went to see Tangled! It was super cute!!! Alex had to have popcorn and ate about 3 bites and decided she would rather have goldfish. About 45 minutes into the movie she said she wanted to go, but we talked her into staying. She got a little antsy, but did great! When any music came on, she had to stand in our row and dance. She is such a little doll! When the movie was over, we stayed until the credits were finished so she could dance.

Alex picked pizza for lunch so we went to our favorite place in College Station only to find it was closed. We then headed to the other location in Bryan to find out they were only open for dinner!!! We talked Alex into Mexican so we drove to our new Chuy's...which isn't open yet! Arg! After driving around for 45 minutes, we settled on Ninfa's, which is like 2 seconds from the movie theater!

We spend the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching football, while Alex proceeded to take what seemed like every single toy she owns out of her room and the playroom. I had a great day with my loves!

January Randomness

I'm finally well! I feel like myself! We've been laying low since I was sick and now it's just freezing cold outside! Alex is back into her routine of gymnastics and dance and she loves every second of it! She started learning her tap and ballet routines for her recital in May!

Alex is also getting into a little more of the terrible two's. She is super whiny and melts if she doesn't get her way. When she gets super whiny to the point where she won't even try to talk she has to sit in a chair in her room until she calms down. I guess it's our little version of time out. It's the only thing we can do that seems to work. She takes a few minutes to calm down then she comes out and talks to us.

Here are a few random pics from the month so far!

getting ready for dance on a cold day!!!

practicing on the tip toe rope...or vacuum cleaner cord!

sous chef!

2 1/2

My baby girl is 2 1/2 today! I feel like so much has changed in the six months since she turned two! Alex moved from her crib to a toddler bed, she is potty trained, she started gymnastic and dance (ballet and tap), and she really really started communicating with us!

Alex knows all of her colors, she can identify the all of the letters in the alphabet, she can count to 14 easily unassisted (20 with a little help), she can count backwards from 8-1, she can spell her name, she can identify most shapes, she sings songs, speaks in complete sentences, she has an AMAZING memory, she dances, runs and hops everywhere!

She LOVES helping in the kitchen. If I am making something, she wants to have her stool right beside me helping. She loves hands on activities. She like to help plant flowers, dig in the flower beds, play with play-doh, have tea parties, have dance parties, feed Cooper, make coffee...pretty much anything and everything we do!

She is very social and loves to be around people. She ask at least twice a day to go to Chick-fil-a or Barnes and Noble to play. She loves being around other kids so I know she will absolutely love starting pre-school.

It seems like in 6 months my sweet girl went from baby to a little girl. I look at her beautiful face and she just takes my breath away!

New Year...so far

Well, 2011 hasn't started off on the best foot. I started getting sick December 29th...and I'm just now getting over it! I had a horrible sinus infection but my antibiotic seems to be doing it's thing now!

My mom came on Monday evening to help out with Alex so I could get some rest and go to the doctor. He never really said what was wrong with me, but didn't disagree when I said I thought it was a sinus infection, so I'm going with it!

I've never been big on New Year's resolutions because I never stick to them and just feel guilty at the end of the year. There are a few things I want to focus on, but if I slip up some, no biggie.

-Organization! Alex's room, toys, the kitchen, our front closet that ends up as a catch all for every random thing in the house, our closet, the laundry room and just the living area in general. I feel like no matter what I do, we are being over run with stuff! It's all going to start with a major cleaning of each space and getting rid of the things we don't use or are just taking up space!

-Eating better! For the most part, Alex eats better than Josh and I do, but only because she is picky! We meet Josh out for lunch at least 4, usually 5, times a week. I want to be better about having stuff at home so Josh can come home for lunch instead.

-Alex...in general. I want to find a pre-school for her I really like. My goal is to have her start in the fall. I want her to go 2-3 days a week. We have several great options. I plan on scheduling a tour of each school in late January-early February so I can have a decision made by Spring Break. By the end of the year, I'd also like to have Alex moved from her toddler bed to a full size bed. I know the transition will be super easy for her since she already sleeps in a full size bed at my parents. My problem is redoing her bedroom. I ADORE her current bedding and I just haven't been able to find anything I like as much! Not to mention, I just can't vision how I'd set up her room so the bed isn't in front of a window!

-last but not least, I want to relax and enjoy time with Josh. I feel like my entire life revolves around Alex right now. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I know Josh gets the short end of the stick sometimes. If Alex has a bad day, it gets to me and poor Josh gets home to a cranky child and a cranky wife! I really need to utilize her nap time to get things done around here so after Alex is in bed, we can relax and enjoy our time together!

Alex Sings the Hits!

Well, not really the hits, unless you count Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, You Are My Sunshine and Happy Birthday in there! Please ignore the fact that she is in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet! haha

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Family Wedding

We spent the last 5 days in Dallas, but that will get it's own post later! Aside from seeing family and extending our Christmas celebration, we went to my youngest cousins wedding on Saturday (New Year's Day). Alex was the flower girl. She had a few melt downs before walking down the aisle, but when it was time, she put her game face on and did great! She spent the night dancing her little heart out and dragging who ever she could to the photo booth!

Mallory, the beautiful bride, and my Uncle Jaime

Alex in her beautiful dress!

Uncle Jaime, Mom, Aunt Martha and Uncle Bill

me, Amanda and Kelly

my handsome husband!

Alex, dancing with a random groomsman!

our family