Mission Impossible

We took Alex to take bluebonnet pictures today! Last year, Josh took Alex as a surprise while I was at a baby shower. I was sooo excited I got to go this year! Now, I'm not sure why. Getting a good pic of an almost 2 year old is impossible! Alex is such a busy body she would not sit still to save our lives so 75% of the pics I got were of her back side, as she walked off to explore! We went to Washington On the Brazos. It's such a neat little place to walk around. It's where the Declaration of Independence was signed so there are historical plaques everywhere. We've been a couple of times, but never when the wildflowers were blooming. I'm sure we'll go there for pics every year. There's just nothing more Texas than taking bluebonnet pics at the birthplace of Texas! Alex was much more interested in playing with the gravel than sitting for pictures. She also stopped every few steps to pick up rocks. She carried the rocks around forever until she finally got tired of them and tossed them in the grass. She was less than pleased when we picked her up to move a little faster.

From there we went to the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham. Again, everything was blooming so it was beautiful! Alex loved the gazebo! She could have spent an hour going up and down the steps and spinning around in the middle of it if we would have let her. They have picnic areas so I think Alex and I are going to have to pack a picnic lunch one day and go back so she can walk around as much as she wants.

Alex and her rocks

the only decent pic of Alex kinda smiling

looking at Daddy like he's crazy!

crying because she is being carried!

Rose Emporium

21 Months!

GULP! My baby is getting closer and closer to 2 by the second. This mama isn't ready to say she has a two year old and admit she has a toddler and not a baby anymore! My sweet precious little girl is so much a toddler and not a baby it hurts. She LOVES her independence. If we are out in public, she doesn't want to be held or restrained, she wants to be down exploring. She just looks like a little girl now. I look at her and it just takes my breath away, she is soo beautiful! The rare times she falls asleep in the car, I could just sit there and stare at my little angel sleeping.

What is Alex up to?
She is a dippin' fool! She LOVES to dip her food. We can't have a little bowl on the table without her wanting to dip whatever she is eating in it. I mean, she even dips her bread in ketchup. Whatever helps her eat better!

She is also a dancing queen. She loves music! She is constantly bopping around, shimmying her shoulders, and just swaying. She just started doing the cutest little booty shake!

She loves stacking. She can stack her blocks 10-15 high. When we are in the shower, she balances the little shampoo on top of the larger one.

She is talking up a storm, but it still fairly quiet around new people. Once she warms up, she will start talking. Her favorite is "please" because she knows mommy and daddy will do pretty much anything she wants if she says please. The other day, Josh was about to leave for work and Alex grabbed his hand, took him to the computer and said, "peeese, boom boom" meaning she wanted to watch videos, please. She has the sweetest little voice that just makes me smile anytime I hear it.

She knows her routine. The second I get her clothes out, she demands to put shoes on. She will walk around the house crying shoe shoe shoe until we put them on her. She knows when she brushes her teeth I do her hair. She will not brush her teeth until I have started combing her hair. She loves wearing bows. After she is dressed, she points to her bows so I don't forget to pick one out for her. If she takes it out, she brings it to me so I can put it back in.

She is turning into such a Daddy's girl. She just lights up when she sees him. Every morning she runs to him to hug him before he leaves for work, then she watches his car drive off. She says Daddy all day long. I tell her he's at work and she waves at the door and blows kisses.

Happy 21 months my sweet doll!

Canton, Easter and more!

Alex and I have been on the go since Thursday. Last Thursday, I packed up and the kids (Alex and Cooper) and I headed to my parents house. We relaxed the rest of the day and got up bright and early Friday to head to Canton. Alex is now stocked up with new bows and an adorable pillow Nomi got for her. That night we went to dinner with my parents and some of their friends. Alex was great despite being up a few hours past her bed time!

Alex and Nomi pretending to be asleep

Saturday morning we were up and at em early, again, to head to Dallas. Our first stop was Grapevine to drop off Cooper and see Josh. He drove up to his parents Friday night. Then, my mom, Alex and I met my BF Shannon and her mom for brunch. It was so great to relax, visit and eat. Alex was great the entire time!

That evening, we had dinner with Josh's parents and Gram. Alex and grandma spent the longest time playing outside. She was in hog heaven! Sunday morning, we all got up and ate breakfast. After breakfast, Alex got to see her loot from the Easter bunny brought and had her first Easter egg hunt. She loved finding the eggs grandma and grandpa hid!

Easter Goodies!

That afternoon we went to my aunts house for lunch and an egg hunt with all the kiddos. We all bring little dollar gifts and number them. We then hide the numbers in plastic eggs so when the kids find the eggs with numbers in them, they get the corresponding gift. This year, we had 8 kids hunt and about 45 gifts, plus other eggs with candy and money. Somehow Alex ended up with 17 of the eggs with numbers. We ended up giving the bigger kids most of the gifts because Alex didn't really need all 17. I let her pick out a few that were age appropriate.




That night, Josh and Cooper headed back to College Station. Alex and had plans today, so we stayed an extra day. Alex and I met Amy and Sylvia at the arboretum. It was a great day, just a little overcast. Alex was cranky and fussy most of the time. I guess all the traveling caused her not to sleep well so she was tired. She crashed within about 10 minutes of getting in the car. It was great, but I was starving and had to pee and didn't want to stop and wake her up so I held it to Waco when she woke up. We stopped at Wendy's for a late lunch. It feels great to be home!

n
These two pics crack me up! Alex was not happy and Syvie was looking at us like we were crazy for putting the crying child next to her!

Tired after a long long weekend!

Fun Run and Kite Day

Saturday was a busy day for us! We started off by going to the Fun Run Josh's company was hosting. Alex and I walked in the 5k while Josh ran! I am so proud of him, he has not run since the fun run last year and was only like 30 seconds slower this year! Alex and I actually finished the walk this year. Last year it was sooo cold and my RA was at it's worst so we did about 1/3 of the walk. Alex had a blast! She got to see Abby and had so much fun playing with Ina and our new friend, Kate and her mom Candace.

Alex and Josh Fun Run 2009

Alex and Josh Fun Run 2010

Alex and Ina

After the Fun Run we went home and relaxed a bit. Then we went to Martha's Bloomers for Kite Day. Alex could care less about the kites everyone was flying, she was more interested in the kite tied to the canopy. We didn't stay very long because Alex was getting tired and cranky.


When we got home it was nap time for the little one and both of us! I hopped in the shower since we had dinner plans with the James' then I took an hour nap with Josh. It was just what we needed. Tracy and Katie took us to Christopher's as a thank you for taking care of Abby. They arranged for a sitter to watch the girls at their house. Both kiddos cried when we left but it didn't last long. We heard Alex did well and she was soo excited when we got back to pick her up. She was so full of energy, she didn't go to bed until 9! Josh and I had a great time at dinner. It was so nice to dress up and have some adult conversation, a delicious dinner and not have to worry about trying to eat with the kids. I wish I would have taken my camera because we all clean up well! :)

Josh and I were sooo full from dinner we couldn't sleep well. He was up at 4:30 and I managed to doze off and on until 7. Josh made us breakfast then we went to get some plants. We came home and had a busy day. We pulled a ton of weeds in the back yard (one of the only bad things about having empty/wooded lots on both sides of us) and planted a few shrubs. After that we painted some small areas in our bathroom, bed room and Alex's bathroom to try out some colors I picked up last week. Our next big project is to paint!

Duck Duck!

We met Josh and the guys for lunch today. We were ready a little early so we stopped at the pond to feed some ducks. The ducks must be fed quite often, because as soon as we got close to the rail, they swam right up and waited for food! Alex loved them. When they got bored with the bread we fed them, they swam off so we took a walk around the pond. While we were there, Alex learned 2 new words, duck and quack!

random pics

Here are random pics from the last few weeks I realized were still on my camera!

Little Monkey See Monkey Do unstrapping the toys from her activity table just like Grandma did!

Alex in the dress she wore for her 1st birthday
(that will be used as this years Easter dress!)

Alex and Josh having some fun Daddy/Daughter time!

I adore her wild little pig tails! (Her hair is getting soo long!)

Alex and Me

Alex always takes time to smell the flowers!

that's right, whipped cream straight out of the can!

Smoothie Queen

Alex has a new found love...smoothies! Alex has started snacking a lot in the afternoon and wanting dinner early. I decided to help fill her up, instead of Kix or goldfish and milk, I'd make her a smoothie. I always pick up huge bags of frozen fruit at Sam's because I love it with yogurt and granola. I picked out some strawberries, threw in 1/2 a banana leftover from breakfast, some vanilla yogurt and milk. Alex LOVED it. Pretty much every day since, I'd made her a smoothie as her afternoon snack. I change it up a little every time I make one. One day it was peaches, mango, honey, yogurt and milk, today it was all the different fruit (strawberries, peaches, mango and pineapple). I love using frozen fruit because it makes it a little thicker! As different fruit are coming in season, I'll probably start using a mix of frozen and fresh. The only problem I have with frozen fruit it that it isn't as sweet as fresh, which for Alex that's ok, but if I'm sharing with her, I add a little honey. I've actually read several different places that you can throw a handful of fresh spinach in and it doesn't alter the flavor. I'm picking up some on my next grocery run so I can try it out. I love it because she is getting dairy, fruit and soon to be veggies! Since she still tends to be picky it makes me feel better knowing she is getting some good stuff!