Road trip to play!

We went to Austin to see our friends, Melissa, Kate, and Elia, on Monday. They moved to Austin 4 weeks ago. We really wanted to see them - 4 weeks felt like a long time! It was so great to catch up, to see where they live now, and to see that they are getting settled in. It is always easier to see people's homes and know what it looks like when you think of them and where they are.

We woke up very early and picked up our friends, JulieAnn and Rett, and headed to Austin. We only stopped once in Waco for a potty break and snack. We arrived around 11am. The kids were pretty excited to finally be there and so happy to see Kate. We chatted for a while, took a tour of the house, and the kids played. We then had lunch and the kids played outside for a while in Kate's new playhouse. They were funny to watch - they are starting to get imaginations and they were pretending to take naps in the playhouse. Then they played in the sprinklers, we caught up some more, and it was time to go. It went by really fast, but it was a wonderful day. We headed home around 3:30. The boys slept more than 1/2 of the way home and were very good in the car. Strapping down 2 toddlers for 6 hours in a car is not easy.

Here are a few pictures, courtesy of Melissa.

Kate tried to catch Will. Wasn't much of a success.

The three munchkins

Group shots on a timer that actually turned out!

A Day of Fun!

Will had a big day! Chris took the day off work, so we went to our neighborhood library where Will was rewarded for finishing his summer reading list (reading 20 books) and we then took him to lunch and see Toy Story 3 - his FIRST movie! He had such a great time and was really good during the movie. Will watched the entire movie, drank A LOT of lemonade, and ate popcorn and fruit snacks. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun!

Will with Ms. Kay at Launa's Little Library

Will picking out his "house" to put on the wall at the library

Checking out new books to bring home

Chris and Will before we go into his 1st movie!

Checking out the candy!

Loves the straws

Watching the movie!!

Happy after the movie, too!

Summer Swimming

When you have weeks of over 100 degree weather, the only bearable way to be outside for extended periods of time is by swimming! Chris got off work early today, so we headed to the pool for some fun and dinner. Our friends JulieAnn, Rett, and Ellie joined us. It was HOT outside - even at 6:30 at night. We were all extremely sweaty while trying to eat dinner outside, but the water was nice and the boys had a blast on the slide! What a nice way to spend an afternoon/evening!

Trolley Ridin'

We did a fun FREE activity in Dallas today! Will and I headed downtown and rode the trolley with some of our friends - Wendy, Collin and Graham, and JulieAnn, Rett, and Ellie. We had a great time and Will loved riding the "Choo Choo". It was SO hot outside, but we didn't mind too much. We rode the trolley through Uptown and into Downtown Dallas. We then stopped at Potbelly for lunch. I think they thought the circus had come to town - all those kids in the mix with working professionals! We then waited for our trolley for a while (and bribed the boys to be good with candy!) and then rode back to where we parked our cars! The boys LOVED riding the trolley. You could tell because they were completely quiet and would just stare out the window in amazement! Probably the quietest I've seen these three guys together! :) They look so big in these pictures and it is so much fun to watch them grow up together. When we got home Will said, "Mommy, I LOVED riding the trolley with my friends!". So cute!

Here are some pics from our day. Some are mine, some are Wendy's. She also has more on her blog that are so cute!

Boys patiently waiting for the Trolley

I think Collin took this pic!

Momma's waiting for Trolley

Wendy, Graham and Collin ridin' the trolley

JulieAnn and Ellie having fun!

Rett looked out the windows and enjoyed the view the entire time!

Will and I "Choo Chooing" along

Time to go get lunch! Crossing the street - it was busy!

Just the sweetest pic of these three guys

Collin with an after lunch treat...waiting on the trolley to return

The boys were amazed with the mail carrier dropping mail in the door

Will loving his lolly pop!

Riding back to our cars. They are covered in dirt from playing outside by the train stop! They look like they'd been "working on the railroad!"

Maddie is 10 Months Old!

Every month the milestone of turning "a month older" surprises me. Maddie is growing, changing, and definitely developing her own options! This month has brought a lot of fun and change! The biggest change is FORMULA! We are now on Similac advanced or what I call NORMAL formula. No more tiny cans for $25 each. And Maddie is doing great on it. Maddie is officially crawling, however sometimes she crawls the traditional way and sometimes she is an army crawler or belly scooter. But she can pretty much get anywhere she wants to go! She has mastered sitting up on her own and I often see her on her monitor sitting up in her crib checking out the world. She is starting to pull up, likes to stand up (and jump, like she always has), and even tried to climb onto our bed yesterday! Boy, I'm in trouble when she figures it out! She is ready to do whatever Will can do, so she'll be everywhere once she starts walking. She has separation anxiety now and really doesn't want to be left in a room by herself. She waves "Hi" and you can tell she is so proud of herself! She continues to babble "Ma ma ma and Da da da". She has a head full of little curls and finally has enough hair to wear BOWS! You know that makes me happy! It also inspires me to be crafty and make more bows, which is nice.

I'd guess that Maddie weighs around 19lbs. Hopeful she will be 20lbs at 1 year so we can turn her car seat around! She is getting tired of staring at the seat back and I think she'll love being able to face forward. She continues to eat baby food and is taking less formula. She still has an aversion to finger food and even baby food with texture to it. We're working on her having a little more to try to get her past it.

Maddie is a sweet and happy baby girl! She loves her Big Brother and is already taking toys away from him and testing his ability to share! While I want her to stay little forever, I'm excited to see them play together even more. Being so close in age, I look forward to them being good friends!

Here are some pics from our mini 10 month photo shoot I did today!

First pic of her standing up! Love them rolls!

Sign pictures are a challenge. She just wants to eat them. Successfully took a bite out of one before I could get it away.

Pretty girl

Sweet girl.

After this pic she pulled up and pushed the basket over and crawled out.

Maddie's 9 Month Photo Shoot

We did a session last weekend to catch Maddie at 9 months - rolls, dimples, smiles, and all. She wasn't as smiley as she often is, but Coco and Peanut really captured her sweet face, all her cute pudginess and her silly brother's antics! If you want to take a look, feel free.

http://cocoandpeanut.com/viewing/

password is halpin

Ron and Sarah - Thanks for great images of our kiddos!