Daddy Daughter Dance

Josh and Alex went to their second Daddy Daughter Dance last month.  Alex had a blast! Josh had fun, but experienced being dumped for her friends for quite some time.  Mommy got to get together with girl friends for dinner and wine!

It was so much fun to help my girl get all dressed up for her big date!

PJ Monday

My girl started feeling not so hot last night.  We had some friends over and by the time they left, she was on the couch, curled up with a blanket just zoned out.  She had a fever before bed, but by this morning, her fever was gone, but her energy was still low.  I decided to keep her home from school.  We've had the best lazy stay!  We are both still in pj's!



 



My little artist has been coloring most of the day.  She LOVES to draw.  Last week she drew every girl in her dance class performing on stage with Josh, my parents, his parents and myself watching in the audience.

This morning she painted our first family portrait.  I love it!  I plan on framing it and including it with our pictures we plan on hanging in the hallway. (if you can't tell, she is the one with brown hair, Josh is in the middle and I have black hair, and we are all holding hands)

Long Weekend

Josh had to travel for work last week. It was the longest trip he's taken. 6 night! It just happened to fall on a week Alex's school was closed Thursday for teacher training. We loaded up the car and headed for my parents on Wednesday after dance. We spent Thursday in Dallas having lunch to celebrate Josh's grandma's birthday then we went to see my best friend and my favorite baby boy.

We spent the rest of the time at my parents house. Alex loved drawing on the windows with we new window markers and playing outside. Cooper had the best time playing with his BFF, Lucy. They adore each other.

We went out for pizza Friday night. It was so much fun to go on a date with my parents and my girl. My dad and all of his girls :)

I'm so grateful we were able to spend time with my parents. I know josh was too. I'm sure I would have gone a little crazy at home for 7 days without him here!

Christmas

Better late than never. These pics pretty much sum up our Christmas. Santa's elves worked so hard to create a new big girl room for Alex. She LOVES it! I am so thankful for our parents and josh who helped our vision become a reality. We started with plan on a piece of paper and a truck bed full of wood! I never could have imagined her bed would turn out as amazing as it did!

American Girl

The weekend before Thanksgiving we made a very special trip to Dallas.  Nomi and Popi got Alex her 2nd American Girl doll.  It is actually her Christmas gift, but we all wanted to be there when she experienced the store instead of just having her open it Christmas morning.  She got Bitty Baby when she was just a few months old, but this time she got to pick out whatever doll she wanted.  She looked at the catalog for months and was torn between McKenna and Caroline.  A few days before we went, she decided on McKenna.  I think she picked McKenna because she has a dog named Cooper too!

 

When Alex was younger we took her to the store in LA but she obviously doesn't remember it.  I thought she would be excited to look at everything the store had to offer, but nope, she picked up her doll and immediately asked to pay and leave.  We made her walk around some and point out other things she wanted so we could tell Santa.  She asked about every 2 minutes to leave.  It was like pulling teeth to get her to pick out a second outfit for her doll.  I'm sure our next experience will be completely different. 

 

Alex LOVES McKenna.  She changes her clothes every single day and makes sure she is sleeping in a little bed right next to her at night. 

Iphone Dump

I don't know how it happens, but I clear my pics off my phone at least once a month and before I know it, all of my memory is full again because I take so many random pics throughout the day.  Here is a small dump of some of my favorite pics!

 

Josh works in Houston now.  Over an hour from home.  There were talks of moving to Houston, but we decided at this time, it's not the right thing for us.  There are too many things we love about College Station.  Yep, I said it, we love College Station.  If you would have asked me after living here for a year, I would have never thought those word would come out of my mouth.  I love that we have a small town feel, but it's not really a small town.  We are close enough to Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas that we could easily drive there in a couple of hours.  My girl has a life here, her friends are here, our friends are here, our lives are here.  My sweet husband decided he didn't want to go most of the week without seeing his girls so he gets up while most people are still sleeping so he can leave the house by 5:30 or so each morning.  On a normal day, he leaves the office by 4ish and his home by 5:30 so he still has his evenings with us.  I will never be able to express to him how much I appreciate what he does for us.  Some nights, he gets stuck in meetings or has dinners or team activities so he doesn't get home until after Alex is asleep.  Those nights, I let Alex sleep on the couch until he can get home to carry her to bed.  One night she slept on me while we waited for Josh.  I love my sweet little sleeping angel!

 ok, this one is totally random.  Have you ever had a Honeycrisp apple?  If not, get yourself to the store and get one.  They are the best apples ever.  They are only in season for a few weeks of the year.  When they are in season, we like to cut one up for dessert after dinner.  Healthy dessert, yes please!

 My girl enjoying her apple!  This was a weird night for us.  We had an early bird dinner.  Josh was out of town and Alex and I were starving for dinner at 5 so we ate!  Then shared an apple!

 Alex has such a say in what she wears now.  She rarely goes a day without wearing something purple.  Her teacher actually asked me this morning if she has a closet full of purple.  Why, yes she does!  The girl knows what she likes!  She loves boots.  I found her these adorable purple suede boots.  A match made in heaven...even if they don't match her outfit!

 Poor Cooper, he puts up with so much.  Alex thinks its hilarious when we put things on him, like her sunglasses!  He just sits there and goes along with it.  I LOVE these sunglasses.  We were at Nordstrom one day.  Alex and Josh were walking around while I tried stuff on.  Next thing I knew, Alex was carrying a shopping bag with her new purple sunglasses she just had to have!  My child needed another pair of sunglasses like she needs a hole in the head.  She is up to 10 pairs now that she wears on a regular basis.  Sunglass hoarder!

 Dance is back in full swing.  At the end of each class they get a sucker.  My child always has to pick bright then insist on me taking her picture of her tongue!  It's turned into a game, we send a pic to Josh and he guesses the flavor.  Yes, we are crazy sometimes!

The Great Pumpkin Patch Express

Josh and I took a little trip last week.  We spent Wednesday walking around Round Top, then Thursday in San Marcos and Wimberly.  Josh's parents stayed with Alex, then took her to their house for the weekend.  We lined up a special surprise for Alex on Saturday.  My girl LOVES Snoopy and trains so we took her for a ride on the Texas State Railroad on a Peanuts themed ride.  The kids were encouraged to dress up so Alex used last years Belle costume.  It was so much fun!  We started the ride in Rusk.  We were able to walk around the depot until the engineer called, "all aboard!"

 

 My girl picked out a super cute pink engineers hat at the gift shop.  She proudly carried our tickets around until it was time to board.

 On the train ride to the pumpkin patch, they handed out bags and crayons so the kids could decorate their bags to use for trick or treating when they arrived.  As soon as we got there, she spotted Snoopy and took off to see him!

 A huge hug for Snoopy!

 The entire set up was great.  They had the pumpkin patch where everyone got to pick a pumpkin, a street front so the kids could trick or treat.  They also had carnival type games set up for the kids, a petting zoo, slide, bounce house, hay ride, a stage with a guy singing kids songs and a food vendor.

 Alex and Josh picked the perfect pumpkin then we took a hay ride.

 On the train ride back, they handed out foam sticker kits to use to decorate the pumpkins.  Then Alex turned the camera on us.  She loves taking pictures!

The ride was so great, Alex is already asking to go back next year.  The Texas State Railroad has several themed rides (a Peanuts Halloween, Easter and Valentines ride along with a Polar Express ride and all the regular excursions).  I have a feeling there will be many more train rides in our future!