Christmas Day

We had a simple Christmas. No big production, but tried to do a few special things. When Indiana got up, he wanted to "See Christmas" and asked if it was snowing. Sorry Pumpkin, it's easier to whistle up Santa Claus than snow in Texas. 

For Christmas, he got a real bicycle, with petals. No training wheels. We lowered the seat so he can still use his feet like he did with his balance bike, but hopefully, he'll get more comfortable and use the pedals. That was pretty much it for presents until we went to Jack and Mamie's house. Casey got himself the new Kindle for Christmas, and I'm going to order an electric toothbrush for myself. Man, we sound so old!!! I am actually quite looking forward to my toothbrush. My New Years Resolution is going to be brush my teeth more.

 

 Anyway....we did a few Christmas crafts while the pie was baking. I quite enjoy Indiana's use of color in painting ornaments. Quite avant garde.

And Gigi hung out in her favorite, favorite spot. Aren't they the cutest together?!?
 
Note: Uploading this photo was giving me fits. Despite my efforts, it was loading sideways. Casey fixed it, and he wanted you to know. He is a very smart man.

Chez my parents, Dad set a fire going, we opened more presents. I got a  very nice wallet, a beautiful silver and turquoise necklace and two berets. No joke. I've been needing a beret! Maybe. 

 

 Giselle loves her Mamie!

Dad made a delicious turkey and all the fixin's. Indiana ate some turkey and bread with gravy. Gigi had green beans, corn and stuffing. Together, my children had a full meal. I'll count it a win.

 In fresh jammies, Gigi sat with Dad and he shared a little ice cream from his cherry pie. A very merry first Christmas for the baby. :-)

For Nelda

Nelda, thanks for encouraging me to blog! Here's a summary of the past five months.

August:

 

Enjoying the last bits of summer, having breakfast with Sweet Pea. He ate my gravy and I ate his cinnamon roll. Good trade.

 

Soaking up some cuteness.

And hours and hours spent running with these folks.

September: 

 First all family outing to the zoo.

Indiana loves school! Of course, what does he always say that he did, "Play with friends." And learned about the body, apparently. :-)

Not a great picture...but at least we're together. Being back at work was a crunch. Trying to get work done, take care of the kids, keep up my running, and spend time with Casey, and sleep! That's about it. And at work, implementing lots of new techniques and re-doing every lesson plan, to boot!

October:

Twinkies. My Handsome boys.

 

Hot date!

 Checking out the turtles at the Aquarium!

 Baby girl turned six month! And began cutting her bottom two teeth, too!

November:

 Before the Turkey trot, a family tradition.

 Enjoying time with Nana Cindy!

 OMG this kid is too cute! He's getting to the point now where he's not just a cute kid to be taken care of, he's good company, a buddy.

 And this one is all smiles. She smiles and laughs, all the time. Such a sunny disposition. She sleeps from 6:30 pm until 8:00 am, most mornings, with one 5:00am feeding before Mommy goes to work. She's not a great napper, though, and still sleeps in the swing. But, she loves to eat. Mum-mums were a revelation. It took about two tries to learn to feed herself, and there was no going back. Avocado, sweet potatoes, puffs, banana, peanut butter, pasta...if it can be eaten by two teeth, it is!

The last long, long run, 22 miles, before the Dallas marathon. It only took 3 hours, 4 minutes! ;-)

December:

 Love these sweet kids. So blessed to be their mom!

 Baby Gigi!

 Give me that cracker! Seriously, she pulled it from my fingers. This baby loves to eat!

 

This is how we read books sometimes before bed. Truck jammies are required. 

 

 And this happy smile ends the picture show! Decorating cookies at school. I got to go, since my school got out early. It was some serious cuteness.

The marathon was a bust, unfortunately. I started too fast, the weather was too muggy, and slipping on  wet roads was wasting momentum, so I called it quits at mile 17. It had always been the plan to sign up for two marathons close together, hope for good circumstances for the first, but if it wasn't a good day, to cash in the chips and go all in at the next race. It's hard to maintain motiviation and gear up for another race post-holidays, but I've heard such good things about the Houston marathon (flat and fast!) that I'm willing to give it another go. :-)

It's Christmas Eve and time to go deliver some homemade gifts to neighbors and friends. Merry Christmas and many blessings to you.

Summer Fun

On the 4th of July, we (Indiana, Casey and I had) a ton of fun at the Park Cities Parade and other festivities at Goar Park. Baby Gigi stayed home with Nana Cindy.

Hula-hooping

Petting the donkey. The other animals, including the baby pigs weren't as keen on being petted, and Indiana wasn't interested in animals that were playing hard-to-get. Mommy chased the piggy, though. Mommy likes piggies.

 

At the fire station, they had a target set up and let kids shoot the hose. Fun. There were booths giving away popcorn, snow cones, lemonade and ice cream, and a few games and bounce-houses.

But Indiana's favorite part, by far, was the parade. There were fire trucks, throwing candy. He LOVED it. It took him a few minutes to figure out how it worked...but then he was up there, running after the candy with the other kids, dancing to the music and waving his little flag. He was PRECIOUS. Watching him have so much fun made it fun for us. His joy is infectious.

They even gave the cute kid a Popsicle.

The next weekend, he stayed at Jack and Mamie's house.

They went out into the woods, had watermelon.

Even went to church and made friends. He loves the music...so cute.

Back at home, he's "helped" make brownies. Oddly, he really doesn't care for the baked cookies or brownies nearly as much as the raw dough or batter. Or maybe that's not odd at all.

And he's gone to the pool with Daddy, lots. Love the big grin.

And "helped" Daddy put together a bookshelf. He so looks like the cat that ate the canary here. Loving it...but not sure that he's allowed. There wasn't a drill bit in there, so it was allowed.

Saying "cheese" at the top of the "mountain"--the steps of Dallas Hall at SMU, after a run with Daddy.

And still, loving trucks. He had his first official playdate this week, with a friend from school, Eli. Eli's mom picked him up from school and I met them with Giselle at Eli's house. Indiana apparently told them all about construction trucks along the way, and learned some finer points  about fire engines. It was nice, having some adult conversation time with Eli's mom who also has a newborn, and Eli and Indiana seemed to get along really well and didn't make too much of a mess. ;)
Playdate, success. 

In just a few a few years, he'll start school and have friends who live close-by, riding his bike all over...but for now, he's still small and needs help. Everyday, though, he shows more independence and more interest in doing things himself,  like wanting to "help" me make dinner. 

(AKA get in my way!!! while I make Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas...a double batch because they're so good that the leftover double batch didn't last 24 hours =( But he's still my sweet boy and wants kisses for his boo-boos and books read to him before going night-night. 

He's growing up, but not too fast, thankfully.

12 Weeks

Baby Girl is already twelve weeks old! Can't image life without her. She is so sweet. I love her sweet little head, so soft to the touch, so irresistible to kiss! And her little tummy, arms and legs are starting to round out, even more deliciously kissable.

12 week status update: She is still sleeping in Mommy & Daddy's room, in both the swing and the bassinet. Most nights, she'll have a longer stretch sleeping from dinnertime to 11-1, then a couple 2-3 hour stretches. She had one miraculous 7 hour stretch sleeping in the swing, but that was a one-time wonder, at least for now. But even if she doesn't sleep for super-long at a time yet, she almost always goes back to sleep after a 10-15 minute feeding. She eats about 10 times a day and is now wearing size 3 month clothes. Overall she's a very calm and happy baby. She does have fussy times, usually right around dinnertime, but she loves sleeping in the swing, and that almost always calms her down. She sleeps in Mamie or Mommy's arms sometimes too, because she's too sweet to set down. She likes it when I talk or sing to her. She smiles and coos and burbles.

Weeks 9-10:

 We like baths...very soothing.

 And being cozy and warm. I think I have a picture of Indiana in exactly this same pose. So sweet snuggled in a towel.

 Cute little skirt!

 Isn't she lovely? That creamy skin, bright blue eyes. She's a stunner.

But we make funny faces too. Since there's lots of pooping with all that eating. And her poops can be gas-powered and shoot up and out! I don't know if I should change diaper types/sizes, or if a few leaks are inevitable.

 There's nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby!

Bright-eyes! 

Weeks 11-12:

 Princess Piglet. So dreamy propped up on the Boppy.

 Sharing some cuddles with Daddy and brother.

 Getting some QT with Nana.

 And we've found our fingers. Slurping (loudly) is fun.

Sweet little girt just fell asleep on my shoulder. Love cuddling with her.

 This is a good position for chatting and singing. I get lots of smiles this way.

 Learning to use our hands in her cute little bubble dress.

 Squeaky clean!

 Sweet little yawn.

 Slurp!

 Love that belly!!

Lots of cuddles from Mamie.