The Bacot Family

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T07:07:00.002-06:00

For Valentine's Day, Taylor and I went to Cirque du Soleil with the Dachs. It was Michael Jackson themed, which was really fun. Yesterday, Taylor got Brady a new video game and matching TOMS for Anna Belle and I. I love that Brady and Taylor wear matching tennis shoes and Crocs. Now Anna Belle and I can match too (as soon as she grows into an infant size 4).

Since we moved to the "new" house, we really haven't done much with Anna Belle's nursery. It looked okay in the townhouse because the kids shared a room. Anyways, here's a before picture. We still have a ways to go, but I think the paint really helps.

...and after.

Sheer Joy

2012-02-05T15:26:00.007-06:00

A few of my new years resolutions are to spend more time outside and to spend more time reading to and/or teaching Brady and Anna Belle. Brady recently got a new bike, so we walk a lot more. We made it out to Coles Mill, which is a WONDERFUL walk from our house. We go through green belt, a wooded path, past a fishing pond, and a duck pond on the very short walk. The best part was seeing these joyful faces from my kiddos.

This makes me giggle every time I look at it.

This is Brady's face when he calls someone a silly goose.

Angel

The fam came over to our house to celebrate Grammy's birthday. The cousins' new favorite game it to chase and wrestle with Sam. At Papa's house, they run in circles. At my house, they dart around the trampoline. Sam's a trooper.

A random afternoon art project with Brady.

I am VERY pleased to announce that Anna Belle slept in her crib last night. After almost 11 months of nursing through the night in our bed, I was delighted that she transitioned into her crib last night. She slept from 8:30 pm to 5:30 am with NO CRYING! Praise the Lord... I didn't think it was possible. I hope we can keep up this new schedule. I'm so used to not really sleeping at night, that I couldn't sleep. I slept from about 9:30 pm to 2:00 am, and then couldn't get back to sleep. I'm sure my body will start catching up soon.

Video Ketchup : )

2012-01-26T17:58:00.002-06:00

Here's a video I took today when we went to have lunch with Papa.

This video was taken a few weeks ago of my precious children playing together. Anna Belle has become a lot more interactive with everyone in the last month or so. She laughs a giggles a lot! She also tells us exactly what she does and doesn't want.

Ranch Part II

2012-01-10T09:40:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, we had lunch with Taylor's parents at the Salt Lick in Driftwood.

Brady playing with his favorite car, Finn McMissile.

Anna Belle chewed on lamb bones on Friday night and pork ribs on Sunday. This girl likes her meat!

Daddy and his two favorite kiddos.

Late 2011 Family Album

2012-01-10T07:21:00.001-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books are the new way to preserve your memories. Create your own today.

Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm

2012-01-06T13:45:00.013-06:00

We're at the ranch for our 6th anniversary this weekend. Today we drove out to Stonewall, TX to visit this "living history farm" in Lyndon B. Johnson State Park. This farm grows and cans their own produce, milks the cows, makes their own cheeses and butter, raises chickens, collects eggs, spins wool and cotton, etc. It was cool to be on such a natural and historical farm, the weather was beautiful, and I'm happy we got a few good pictures.

So long 2011

2012-01-01T07:42:00.007-06:00

My dad's family got all together for the first time in 10 years. My parents rented a beach house in Surfside to hold all of us.

Christmas morning

Brenda the baby whisperer

I love this picture

Pappaw (Sceaux, France) and Grammy

Mammaw (Denver) and her youngest boys

Dave and Brenda (from Shanghai, China)

Josh and his new fiance, Kayleigh (Chicago)

Abby, Andrew (Kentucky) and Megan

Tim and Deb (Denver)

On 12/28, we went to Papa's house to celebrate Christmas with the Nelson family. We exchanged gifts and played the gift game.

This was Grammy's white elephant gift: a book and a pair of funny "reading glasses".

Brianna loves holding Anna Belle.

Brady and Anna Belle take baths together sometimes; they're quite sweet together.

We went to the Bowers for Brianna's "Acorn Fair." She set up games, snacks, acorn planting, etc. for the kids. Afterwards, the kids played in the backyard for awhile.

After Brianna's "Acorn Fair", we came back to our house, so the cousins could jump on the trampoline together.

We have really enjoyed playing on the trampoline as a family. Anna Belle's always tickled to be with her big brother. After jumping, Brady likes to be read to. I have not been good about reading to Brady, so I'm glad to find his interest sparked on his own.

After a good jump, we watched Zookeeper with the kids and then Water for Elephants (I just finished the book). As midnight approached, Bailey got more antsy about all the fireworks. He peed by our bedroom door. Taylor let him outside while he cleaned up the mess. Taylor found the back door bloody and Bailey gone. In his fit, Bailey broke through a fence board on the gate. His face and paw still look a little rough this morning.

THEN, Taylor crawls in the bed we've been cleaning all day (we rotated the mattress, fluffed the pillows in the dryer, washed all the pillow protectors, cases, sheets, etc.), and finds that Brady had wet his pants, in our bed . We're blessed to have a very patient Daddy.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T14:51:00.005-06:00

This morning, 12/24, Taylor's family came over to celebrate "Christmas morning" with us. We're doing dinner with them tonight, and then we're off to Surfside to meet up with my dad's side of the family (from Denver, Chicago, Kentucky and Shanghai). Christmas certainly feels like a season and not a day this year.

Ain't he the cutest?!

The trampoline Santa left + 60 balloons and Christmas lights.

Santa stuffed our stockings.

These were from last Saturday.

Second Baptist's Really Really Big Christmas Show was a little much for Brady and Anna Belle. We ended up watching the recording of the performance from the lobby... we weren't the only parents in the lobby with kiddos.

The dinner table set for our "Express Christmas" dinner (this term is from Modern Family <3). On the day before, my parents and sister decided to exchange gifts with us. It was a whirlwind, but it all worked out.

Daddy thinks her tutu's are ridiculous, but I love them.

Last, but not least, this is a video of Brady jumping on his new trampoline.

Bacot Family Projects

2011-12-11T05:04:00.004-06:00

Here's the Christmas tree and fireplace at the new house. I love having a "light switch fireplace". We turn the fire on almost every morning and every night, now that the weather's cooled off.

Taylor finished a few projects for us this weekend. For a long time, I couldn't decide what to do with these mirrors, so they've been sitting in Anna Belle's room. Taylor hung them in our bathroom. They're pretty heavy and they each have 2 mounts, so it's a rather tedious task.

This week the kids and I went to Home Depot to buy shelf supplies, and then Brady and I painted the shelves. Anna Belle wanted to help, but I made her play on the side. Taylor hung everything for us yesterday. The shelf system on the right was existing when we purchased the home. We just installed the shelves on the left. I really love having a play room for all the kids stuff.

Brady's boo boo is healing up nicely, for the most part. The Harry Potter scar looks really good. The one on his nose has one little part that I think may scar. I'll post pictures as soon as I take them.

Santa Visit and Learning to Ride a Bike

2011-12-03T18:09:00.003-06:00

Brady woke Taylor up around 3am to turn on a movie for him. By 4am, I was awake and doing my morning chores. We went to my mom's house, so Taylor could trim shrubs before my mom and sister put up the Christmas lights. At 10am we went to visit Santa Claus (played by a friend and former vendor of mine). We then dropped Brady off at Grammy's so we could finish our Christmas shopping (woo hoo!), and now we are absolutely wiped out. When we came to pick up Brady, he showed off his new bike riding skills. Megan had been working with him.

Anna Belle's started clapping a lot... so cute.

My cute little guy on his bicycle.

P.S. Brady should get his stitches out Monday night. The scar is looking a lot better, but he's still not looking forward to the doctor's visit.

Dog Bite

2011-11-29T08:41:00.005-06:00

Our neighbor picked up our mail for us while we were at Disney. We went to their house to pick it up last night. They have a very friendly great dane, who Brady has played with a few times before. Brady and the dog were in the other room when we heard Brady scream. Since I first saw him, I keep thanking God that his eyes weren't effected.

Long story short, we took him to one of the retail center ER's (Excel) to get 5 stitches. They saw him quickly and tried to make the process as painless as possible. The doctor and nurse said Brady was their most polite patient. He kept saying, "Don't touch me! Please?" He also called both the women "naughty boys."

It was my hardest moment as a parent, thus far, to hold my baby while he was clearly so afraid and in pain as they stitched him up. I was up most of the night worrying about him.

This morning I picked up his anti-biotics, some ointment and rented a few movies for him (my mom always rented movies for me when I didn't feel well, which I remember fondly). After watching some hard-to-find how-to YouTube videos, I cleaned Brady's sutures. He did really well; I'm so proud of my little guy. The photo above was taken after this morning's clean up.

Anna Belle has a little cough (I think she was on germ overload from all her well-meaning fans at Disney world) and Bailey has some sort of stomach bug. It's time for me to put on my Dr. Mom hat and get back to work.

Disney Photo Pass Pics

2011-11-28T09:32:00.002-06:00

Giving Vader a bump.

Biting his lip, after turning to the dark side.

Last day at Magic Kingdom

2011-11-24T05:52:00.004-06:00

Though challenging with 2 young children, we stayed at the park late to see the 10:00 pm fireworks show at Magic Kingdom. I'm so glad we did. I didn't really capture the fireworks in this video, but the dialogue with Brady is great. The Disney castle looked beautiful in it's icicle lights too.

We had an Aloha dinner at the Polynesian resort, and got a lot of good family pictures.

Brianna, Luke and Brady do the hula while we wait to be seated.

Anna Belle is increasingly mobile and loves to crawl through the coffee table in Grammy's condo. She's so proud of herself.

Brady enjoyed the jungle cruise with Aunt Megan. He got his Frontlock at the pirate's gift shop and used it to ward off unfriendly animals.

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was a little scary, but Brady did well and enjoyed it. Captain Jack Sparrow was a dead ringer for Johnny Depp.

Brady rode Aladin's magic carpets 3 times.

Harry Potter Land

2011-11-23T04:11:00.003-06:00

As you enter Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure, you have to go through Suess Landing. We just stopped for a quick picture on our long walk to Harry Potter Land.

Entrance, with the Hogwarts Express

Hogsmeade (with a little Diagon Alley flare)

The quaffles were jiggling around in the box; Brady watched and waited for them to break loose.

Grammy got Brady a Harry Potter wand...

...and a really cute Hedwig.

We stopped for Butterbeer and a bite to eat at the Three Broomsticks / the Hogs Head (they're the same building). Moaning Myrtle's voice was piped into the restrooms. I think we all had fun shopping at the Owl Post, Olivanders, Zonko's and especially Honeydukes.

Taylor and Megan rode both the big rides. Papa rode one of the rides too! I was on kiddo duty, and Anna Belle was not a fan of leaving me long enough to stand in line. All in all, it was fun, we're glad we went, but I know that Disney would have made Harry Potter Land a lot more magical and true to the movie. We're going back to finish Magic Kingdom this morning, come back home for a desperately needed nap and then we're going to a Luau at the Polynesian Resort.

Hollywood Studios (cont)

2011-11-22T10:30:00.004-06:00

Monday's visit to Hollywood Studios started very slowly, but ended with our magical Jedi experience. This morning, we went back to ride Toy Story Mania and the Tower of Terror. It was a short, but productive trip. We didn't want to stay long because we're going to Harry Potter Land tonight.

The Toy Story Mania ride was VERY much like the Toy Story Mania iPhone app. We were pushing and shoving to get in line for Toy Story as soon as the park opened. We were 2nd in line, had a great time, and found a 75 minute wait as soon as we left?! It was an insanely busy ride! Here's what the carts look like and a really blurry picture of Megan and Brady during the ride.

Here we are with the Bowers family at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. The wait was long, but the food and service were really great.

Here's Brady while we were waiting for our table. You can see Walt Disney playing on the TV in the back. The restaurant is supposed to be like having dinner at grandma's house. The wait staff bribes you with dessert for eating your vegetables.

Here we are at the park entrance on our first day of Hollywood Studios.

My precious little Anna Belle has gotten a lot of attention on the trip. She's been very sweet and happy in the park.

Magic + The Force = Epic Awesome

2011-11-21T19:57:00.007-06:00

We arrived at Hollywood Studios too late (11:00am) to go to Toy Story Mania or the Tower of Terror. There was a light rain which made it incredibly sticky, steamy hot. Our 2:35pm lunch reservation (only time we could get) was running about 50 minutes late... and then the day got really cool.

Brady is 4" too short to ride "Star Tours", so he watched the 4-12 year olds in "Jedi Training". Brady loved it, Anna Belle loved the shade, and the grown ups found the show highly entertaining.

After 2 classes (2 hours) of watching Jedi Training, a really nice Disney photographer named Laura offered to let Brady meet Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers back stage after the next training. I think Brady stole the photographer's heart when he started using his glow stick as a light saber, as he is in the video below.

Between training, we ran over to the Star Wars themed gift shop to get Brady a "build your own light saber" and a Jedi robe. I generally hate buying things at theme parks, but how could you meet Darth Vader without a Jedi robe and light saber?! Here's Brady at his 3rd Jedi Training. You can see the Storm Trooper had it out for Brady.

Click Here for a link a video of Brady's Storm Trooper Interaction.

Brady's Jedi Master escorted us to a platform on the ADA accessible ramp of the Star Tours ride, so we felt like we were on an Imperial Star Cruiser. We stopped on a large landing where we met Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers. After a brief light saber duel with Brady, Darth Vader surrendered his autographed red light saber to Brady!!! So cool!!!

We couldn't be more grateful for Laura the photographer and the Disney cast members (Jedi Master, Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers) who made our trip so magical. Hopefully I'll be able to post the professional photos soon.

Magic Kingdom Day 2

2011-11-21T02:12:00.003-06:00

We went to Magic Kingdom early Sunday, so we could see the opening ceremony and all the characters enter the park from the Walt Disney World Railroad. It was magical to say the least. I think Megan and I both teared up a little with all of Brady's excitement and because a "Make a Wish" kid got to "unlock" Magic Kingdom.

It was fun to have the family with us as we explored Fantasyland (we finished Tomorrowland Saturday). We rode Dumbo, the carousel, PhilarMagic, Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, the new Winnie the Pooh ride (really long line, blah ride), and of course the Tea Cups.

First Magical Day

2011-11-19T19:43:00.006-06:00

We're at Walt Disney World! Taylor, Brady and Anna Belle are all first timers. It makes me giggle how frequently the "cast members" wish you a "magical day". It makes me want to add magic to all of my questions. "Can you help me find the most magical place to take pictures of this ride?" Taylor jokes, "Where can I find the magical restrooms?"

Our first Disney parade

These photos are from the All Star Movie Resort, which we stayed at for one night before coming to my Papa's timeshare.

We stayed in one of the Fantasia themed buildings.

Reservations for Chef Mickey's go really quickly. Fortunately, a few friends of ours let us know that Disney frequently keeps a small block open for walk-ins. We came when they opened, they said it might be a 2 hour wait. 20 minutes later, they seated us?! Now THAT was magical.

Brady was really apprehensive at first, but eventually warmed up to the characters. Chef Mickey's has Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. It's also fun to be in the Contemporary Resort, where you can watch the monorail travel through the building.

Minnie was very sweet with Anna Belle.

We left Houston 5pm Thursday, drove through the night and arrived to our resort around noon. I was really glad they could check us in right away. We enjoyed our dinner a lot, but my favorite part was riding with Brady on the monorail when he first saw the Disney castle. It almost brought tears to my eyes to see how happy and excited he was.

Early 2011 Family Album

2011-11-14T08:44:00.001-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create a gorgeous, high quality wedding photo album at Shutterfly.com.

Photography Challenged

2011-11-08T17:39:00.002-06:00

I've started reading blogs about how to take pictures in front of Christmas trees. I love when the lights look all big and blurry in the background. This was one of my inspirations in getting the tree up so early. I used Bailey as my test subject (before I cleaned up the toys, dressed the kids, etc.). It turns out my kids move a lot faster than old Bailey. Every kid photo was terribly blurry. Out of 100+ pics, here were the best ones.

I also learned that Anna Belle does not like Santa hats and she's quite skilled at removing them from her head.

London Bridge

2011-11-05T20:10:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T07:48:00.004-05:00

Here are the kids playing in the front yard prior to trick-or-treating on Monday. I think they both enjoyed themselves. Aunt Megan came over and let me borrow her Harry Potter costume, which marks the first time I've dressed up in a costume in a LONG time.

With Halloween behind us, I really have Christmas on the brain (historically I try to hide how early I decorate, but I'm "coming out of the closet" here on the blog). I wanted to decorate prior to our Disney trip, which only gives me a few weeks. Aside from the "chore" of it, I love decorating for Christmas and I'm really excited to put the tree up in the new house.

Video Updates and More

2011-10-30T18:50:00.008-05:00

Here's Anna Belle's first ride in Brady's Jeep. They were both rather tickled with the idea of riding around together. I love how Anna Belle has her hand on Brady's shoulder in the second picture. After I took Anna Belle out, Brady put the towel in his lap like an old lady. He makes me giggle every day.

Brett and Allison came over this afternoon. We watched the Texans game, ate junk food and carved pumpkins. Brady used the drill to poke holes in his pumpkin. Every time Taylor uses the drill / powered screw driver, Brady wants to use it too. This was a great opportunity for him to play with Daddy's toys.

A little competitive carving between siblings. I think they BOTH did a great job : )

As usual, I'm slow to upload videos. This video is from Brady's first "Glow Bath". We bought a bunch of glow sticks and let him take a bath with them in the dark. It entertained him for quite awhile: mission accomplished. Photos and videos in the dark are kind of tough.

Here's a random video of Brady making Anna Belle laugh. We were trying to watch The Little Mermaid VHS in his room. I'm trying to introduce him to more Disney movies prior to our trip to Disney World. Obviously, I had a hard time holding his attention.

Anna Belle is moving around more and more. This little girl was born with a lot of vigor and determination.

Here's a video of Korey acting silly with Addison and Brady (the two who played so sweetly at the beach).

Too much Doc and Marty?

2011-10-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

Daddy: It's nigh-night time.

Brady: I gotta go back to 1985.

Late October

2011-10-25T07:32:00.005-05:00

This morning we decorated pumpkins. I think we're going to do the next 2 this afternoon.

Anna Belle's wearing her owl jammies in the background.

On Saturday we went to Galveston to visit our Aggie friends, who rented a beach house.

My initial plan was to get pictures of Brady and Anna Belle on the beach at sunset. Anna Belle really wasn't keen on the idea and Brady just wanted to play, so I ended up with these photos.

Johnson Space Center

2011-10-23T08:55:00.002-05:00

Grandma gave Brady this cool new astronaut jacket, which he loves! He's proud to show off the patches, and it makes him want to watch endless space shuttle videos on YouTube.

The space center had a really elaborate play gym.

Sightseeing around Vancouver

2011-10-17T17:38:00.005-05:00

Our group toured the North Shore today. We snapped these pictures from the edge of Stanley Park, looking back at downtown and our hotel.

After Stanley Park, we drove about 10 minutes further to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We saw a lot of totem poles in Stanley Park and around the bridge.

This bridge hangs 230 feet from the river rapids below; it's really quite spectacular (and a little scary).

Three of us on the bridge. Having Brady with us would have been quite scary.

After the bridge, we drove a little further up the Grouse mountain. These gondolas took us from 3000 feet up to the top of the mountain where we had a lovely buffet lunch.

Anna Belle has turned into quite the jet setter. She's been all smiles and giggles, which has been such a blessing! Taylor has meetings all day tomorrow, Wednesday is slow and Thursday we take the long trip home. I'm counting down the days 'til I see my favorite little boy.

Vancouver or Bust

2011-10-16T07:23:00.004-05:00

The Chateau Ste. Michelle winery is just 20 minutes north of Seattle. Since we were driving to Vancouver anyways, this turned into a great little stop. The Chateau and the grounds were really beautiful.

After the tour, tasting and gift shop, we sat outside and had our little bread, fruit, cheese and wine picnic with the Dennis family.

We also got a few good family pictures.

More Anna Belle...

Taylor hates when I take sad face pictures, but I couldn't help but snap a shot before we picked her up.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim ranks as the nicest hotel that Taylor and I have ever stayed at.

The Hotel Arts in Barcelona rivals this hotel. They were both built for the Olympics, had great technology and great access to the sea wall. In both hotels we also had good views of the water and the city from our room. This room is a little newer and has a TV in the bathroom mirror, which really takes the cake.

After dinner last night, Anna Belle was REALLY tired. I giggle out loud at her all the time; she's so sweet!

Seattle: Day 2

2011-10-15T11:20:00.008-05:00

We ate dinner in the Seattle Space Needle last night; we were delighted to get reservations on such short notice. Taylor's really good at taking interesting architectural pictures.

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I learned that the restaurant level of the needle rotates. Here was one of our views at dinner. Seeing downtown at night was also beautiful.

We generally wake up early, but with the 2 hour time difference, we woke up really early. It gave us a chance to shower and walk a block over to the market again. I know... we have probably overdone the sign pictures. We loved watching all the merchants setting up shop.

We ate breakfast at Lowell's this morning. I had bagels and lox, and Taylor had a traditional breakfast. It had a historic feel with black leather and chrome stools and old wood tables, overlooking Puget Sound.

Yesterday we ate the world's best mac-n-cheese at Beecher's.

They make all of their cheese right here in the market. We watched the dairy truck pumping in the fresh milk this morning and then picked up a few of their signature cheeses for our trip to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery this afternoon. It's just a 20 minute drive from downtown Seattle.

This pig is a popular place to take photos.

The fish market, photographed yesterday, is behind us.

The seafood displays are really beautiful,

but not as beautiful as the flower displays. They had huge bouquets for $5 - $10.

Maroon carrots genetically engineered at Texas A&M University, and sold here in Seattle. Gig 'em Aggies!

Hello Seattle!

2011-10-15T06:56:00.004-05:00

Here's the 3 of us in the courtyard entrance to our hotel, here in the beautiful city of Seattle, WA.

The Dennis family is Taylor's client, but they've become our good friends. We take business trips twice a year with them, and we really have a great time.

The ever so famous Pike Place Fish Co., which I learned about through a motivational seminar at Crescent. If you're unfamiliar, click here: Fish! Philosophy Video

View from the roof deck of our hotel.

View from the street entrance of our hotel.

The view from our hotel room.

Anna Belle in Seattle's airport, waiting for us to rent a car. She has been quite the center of attention, wherever we go. We feel so blessed that she did so well on the 4 hour flight.

The day before we left, Brady wanted cake for breakfast. Feeling guilty about leaving him, I gave in and we made a cake. I messed up a few things, so it really looked gross. Fortunately, my little Brady still loved it. I miss you buddy!

Natural Consequences

2011-10-10T16:32:00.003-05:00

If he's anything like his parents, I'm convinced Brady will only learn through his own mistakes. With that said, we keep preaching and correcting. We also embrace the opportunity to say, "I told you so," when he suffers the natural consequences of his actions.

Bailey has bitten Brady a few times, and through his tears we heartlessly explain that's what happens when you keep smacking or kicking dogs in the face. At Aunt Becky's house, he chased the cat under the bed. The cat felt trapped, hissed and used her back foot (and only) claws to scratch Brady's face. I'd like to think he's learned a lesson, but as I write I'm reminded of how he started hissing like a cat. When I ask him what he's doing, he says, "I'm being a funny guy."

In an effort to teach Brady to doggy paddle this summer, we put him in a life vest and threw him in the pool. Again... I felt guilty for being a little heartless. This traumatized him to the point where he's terrified of life vests. He breaks down into a massive panic when we put his AWANA vest on at church because he's afraid vest = trauma.

Today, we went in the backyard to play. I was on the phone with a pool repairman and Brady fell in the pool. I jumped in and pulled him out immediately. He was okay, but obviously shaken. I put the life vest on him, threw him back in the water 3 times and made him swim to the edge. With each swim, he kept crying, but he lost the panic stricken tension. Again, I was hoping he would learn in the moment. Here's his video quiz on the matter:

In happier news, at dinner at Rockwell's last night, the manager came out at the end of the meal to ask if it's Brady that she's been listening to. For the last hour she had sat in her office and giggled at the sound of his laugh. It's a great laugh, so here's a random laughing video.

Lastly, Anna Belle's 1st tooth debuted last week and today I noticed a second tooth. Time marches on...

7 Months

2011-10-04T18:10:00.005-05:00

Anna Belle will be 7 months old tomorrow, and the photo below is a few days after Brady turned 7 months old. My sweet girl loves her bath time, and Brady loved getting dressed and undressed at this age. They also started scooting across the floor at almost the exact same age.

RIP Grandma Joye

2011-10-04T08:15:00.005-05:00

Grandma Joye passed away this week. We went to the visitation Sunday and funeral yesterday; both were lovely and worthy of Joye's seal of approval. We were happy to get to spend time with Uncle Phillip (home from the Air Force), Aunt Joanne (from Tennessee) and her five fun kiddos (from left to right, Daniel, Samuel, Grant, Maddison and Tricia). After the funeral, they came over to go swimming and play. It was a little bit cool, so everyone piled in the hot tub together.

After seeing Madison in a floaty, Tricia wanted one too. It was cute to see them floating around together.

To keep Brady happy (not crying) through the visitation, reception and funeral, we boosted his blood sugar. It makes him a little crazy, but at least he's not belligerent. This morning he wanted more Coke, and I told him "no". He then persuaded me to go upstairs, "Mommy, wanna go upstairs? It's not scary. You can do it. Brady'll stay downstairs." He says this as he stands between me and the Coke. Whoever said kids were honest must not have kids.

Oil Ranch and a Wedding

2011-10-02T15:46:00.004-05:00

We visited the Hockley Oil Ranch this afternoon after church, with the Bowers family. Taylor and I are kind of afraid of these fall fun festivals because when they're crowded, they really aren't fun. We were very pleasantly surprised that there were no crowds or lines. It ended up being a lot of fun for the whole family. I love these pictures of my babies together.

Getting a picture of 2 kids is tough... 4 is near impossible!

The hay ride was really fun because we got to feed the cows.

Both with their eyes closed, but they're so sweet.

Last night we went to James and Lauren Strickland's wedding. It was really beautiful.

Melanie asked someone to take a picture, and they had a hard time with the camera. This was by far their best try at this shot, but Melanie looks like she's wearing a deer antler. Maybe it's because she knows how excited Kevin is about deer hunting season.

Brady went to the Cy-Woods football game with Grammy, and we took Anna Belle with us. She slept through the entire reception.

Random Menagerie of Topics

2011-09-29T10:26:00.008-05:00

Brady truly tortures our dogs, but it's all with love. He's been filling up Daisy's water bowl in our bathroom and then walking the flat dish back to the kitchen (which is a messier than I'd like). He also entices Daisy into her crate and then crawls in there with her. He loves the dogs so much.

Brady is really starting to wear me out. Yesterday he flooded the bathroom while I was taking a shower. His new favorite thing is to grab every pillow in the house and pile it in his closet for a cozy getaway. We tell Brady not to wet the bed, so for the last 2 nights he gets out of bed and wets his pants while standing on the rug in his room. He spilled my tea all over my lunch before I could eat it. After Brady pooped this morning, I came over to wipe his bottom and he said, "I can do it!" and immediately wiped his bottom with his bare hand. He touched a few things (including me) before I could throw him in the shower. All of this is just in the last 24 hours!

He senses when my nerves are wearing thin. After he spilled tea on my lunch he kept saying, "I love you, Mommy" and giving me sweet hugs while I cleaned up. He's such an endearing child. I think God made him that way, so that his mommy would be inspired to persevere with love and patience.

This morning I felt like super woman when I pulled out about 40 feet of our steel edging. The back part of the walk path has been a bear to weed. We decided to leave the flagstone path, but let the grass grow over the gravel part.

Earlier this week we cleaned up the river rocks along the path. I find it sort of therapeutic.

Now to figure out how to dispose of the steel edging...

Saving my favorite part for last... Another tutu photo shoot... this time Anna Belle's 6 months. My first year with my baby girl is going too quickly.

Never too early to start yoga training. "Downward dog" is a good start, right?

Anna Belle's not really crawling yet, but she's definitely getting close. She rocks on her knees a lot. I adore this innocent face.

Sweet faces

My sweet girl didn't enjoy the whole photo shoot.

Feeding the Ducks

2011-09-21T12:57:00.002-05:00

I'm grateful that the ducks are no longer quacking "Dueling Banjos" in our back yard. With that said, I like having the ducks nearby. Once every other week or so, we've been going one street over to feed the ducks in one of the neighborhood ponds. There's also a small crane (or maybe it's a lost cow bird) and a lot of turtles. Brady enjoys himself thoroughly. Anna Belle was in sort of a daze and fell asleep as soon as we returned to the car.

Brady keeps saying, "Mommy, I wanna be a funny guy!" This means that he wants us to wrestle with him or tickle him until he laughs so hard he can't stand it.

Our other favorite Bradyism is when he wants to play, "Scratch the big ball." This is where we tickle him while he tries to balance on the giant green exercise ball.

Zoo, Carnival, and Birthday Parties

2011-09-19T11:05:00.009-05:00

Last week, we went to the zoo with the Smoters (and a few other families).

The highlight was getting to watch the elephants get their morning baths.

Last night, the Wetterauers and Dachs came over for dinner and to watch the Texans football game and celebrate Thomas's upcoming birthday.

Kylie came over in these overalls, and Anna Belle so happened to have the same ones. When Anna Belle was done "swimming" I dressed her to match Kylie and snap a few photos.

On Saturday night we celebrated Megan's 24th birthday. She said she won't feel old until she's 25, because that's a quarter of a century.

On Friday night, we went to the Cy-Woods Carnival. Becoming a part of this community is one of the main reasons we moved out here. I'm always happy to see what nice kids go to our high school.

My mom was a "Pie Throwing" target for the first 15 minutes of the carnival. Everyone kept saying, "Who could throw a pie at Mrs. Puckett?!" I guess the bad part of teaching Juniors and Seniors is the young 'ens didn't know who she was and pied her without shame. Brady felt left out of the festivities, so he "threw" a pie too.

Our neighbors, the Skidmores (2 doors down) are super talented. Not only is Daylin star of the football team, but his dad designed our landscaping, mom sculpted the bronze wildcat in front of the school and she crafted this giant boot for the carnival.

Anna Belle's moving around a lot more lately. Both the kids love to play with my phone. On Friday night, Brady took my phone off the charger to play his games. I knew it wouldn't last long and I was already in bed and didn't want to argue with him. That was the last I saw the phone until late Sunday night on a wild hunt for it. Taylor found it in Brady's toy garbage truck... I should have known.

Brady now loves taking all the cushions off the couch and throwing himself upon them. He laughs and giggle hysterically and proclaims, "I want to be funny mommy."

Here's a video of my baby girl laughing at and talking to her daddy. She's just now becoming a lot more vocal and we're hearing her laugh and interact with us a whole lot more. What a cutie pie?!

Proud to be an Aggie

2011-09-11T07:18:00.008-05:00

For those of you looking at what college to attend (because maybe you're touring colleges at Thanksgiving in lieu of going to Disney), I want you to consider this. Texas is a great school, they're slightly bigger than A&M, their academics tend to be a little stronger, their football team has multiple national titles, they are in the beautiful city of Austin, blah, blah, blah. Last nights Texas game reminded me why I love being an Aggie.

One of the things I love about A&M is that when I looked at my fellow high school graduates attending A&M, it was all the, what I will call, "normal" kids. Just plain old, good, upstanding citizens who were approachable, honorable and down to earth.

I am very proud of A&M's former students. Not only is their support for the school unwavering, but our "normal" students go on to be exceptional leaders in the business place, military and political realm. One of the sayings on the A&M campus is that the A students come back and teach. The C students come back and donate buildings.

Today's Texas fans (including the current and former students) tend to be a little fair weathered. I include the current and formers students since a great majority of people walking around with Texas gear are HCC drop outs and Houston Cougars in hiding.

To get straight to the incident that inspired me to write this blog, who BOOS AT THEIR OWN TEAM!?! These kids go out to play ball, but when times are tough, they can't even count on their own team to support them during the game. The worst part of it is, this is not the first, and definitely wont be the last time it happens.

Furthermore, as we honor those who died on 9.11.01, I'm reminded of how 80,000+ Aggies came together in less than a week to honor those who died by wearing red, white and blue to the football game. The logistics were tough, but you can always count on Aggies to join together and support one another. I may not love football, but I'm darn proud to be an Aggie.

And Texas, you should summon your inner "hippie" roots and give your team some free unconditional love. They have earned it.

Thanks and Gig 'em!

Product Review

2011-09-10T11:27:00.006-05:00

Last night, a few Kirby vacuum reps came knocking on our door. A "slick salesman" looking guy and a really cute young girl (with big "eyes") came into our home to demonstrate the vacuum's many features. Slick left the house while the cute girl did the demonstration.

They initially handed us the price sheet and the 100 ways they could finance the same ridiculously high cost. They told us the makers of Porsche designed the vacuum's 2 motors and NASA first used this lightweight, beautiful aluminum. They pulled up all kinds of gross stuff from the carpet, and then they vacuumed our mattress... which is their real selling point. This vacuum also changes light bulbs, acts as a blower, inflator, deflator, will shampoo your carpet and scrub your grout. They were here for quite awhile. It really felt like an infomercial.

We were ready to sit down for dinner, and they were ready to close the deal.

During the endless presentation, I googled consumer reports reviews. Someone named the approximate price they paid, and we told them that's the price we wanted (a 60% discount). The cute girl made 3 phone calls before Slick came back to the house. Slick reaffirmed that our price was ridiculous and the most he could do was a 20% discount, but they wouldn't leave.

They wouldn't even go down to the MSRP posted on the box (both reps acted as if they'd never seen the box before). They said the MSRP was their cost. I thanked them for coming, gave them a bag of cookies and asked them to leave our house because they were interrupting our family time, telling us lies (MSRP) and not selling it at a price we were willing to pay. I went back outside to finish dinner with my mom, Brady and Anna Belle while Taylor continued to stay inside. Slick went to his car and upon his return he told Taylor he could take our offer. Taylor came outside with the cheesiest grin I've seen in a long time to share the news.

I still can't believe we actually purchased it (though I'm glad we did). My mom told me my Great Grandma Nelson always had a Kirby, but she was most impressed with how pretty the new Kirby is. I have to agree : )

I've also started cloth diapering Anna Belle. With every wear, I end up spending about an hour resizing all the diapers to try to get the perfect fit. Aside from that annoyance, I'm happy with the overall product. Though slightly bulky and a lot harder than disposables, I feel like I'm doing a good thing for Anna Belle's skin, the environment and the good old pocket book (the pocket book needs the cloth diapers to recover from the vacuum purchase). We still use disposables when we go out.

Sorry for the boring post, but I couldn't help myself. I'll return to pics of the kids next time.

Congratulations to Kelly and Anthony!

2011-09-06T06:35:00.006-05:00

This weekend, my mom, Anna Belle and I drove to Bloomington, IL to watch my cousin Kelly get married. I was delighted to meet her groom, Anthony for the first time. I know they'll have many happy years together. In lieu of bird seed, they had guests write prayers and blessings on little paper airplanes made from scrapbook paper.

I video taped the ceremony from the balcony while Grammy watched Anna Belle. It went pretty smoothly minus one time while I was holding Anna Belle, she tilted the video camera down at the crowd... sorry Kelly and Anthony! The wedding was beautiful despite my flawed taping abilities : )

This is an old Camaro Anthony fixed up. Everyone oohed and awed over it while waiting for the bride and groom to come out. Aren't they cute?!

After church on Sunday, we went to a nice Italian restaurant with the Bowers and Nelsons. Grammy and Anna Belle had good bonding time.

Daddy and Brady stayed at home for the weekend. They went to a high school football game (our neighbor 2 doors down, Daylon, is the star football player for Cy-Woods) and watched the Aggies play on TV. Before we left, Brady and I made a paper bag monster. You can just barely see his eye peeping through the hole on the right. I missed my boys and am glad to be home with them again.

Bottoms Up!

2011-08-28T18:14:00.005-05:00

On Friday night, we went to one of our favorite restaurants (the Silver K Cafe in Johnson City). They're always so nice and the food is so good!

Getting all 4 of us smiling at the camera is quite a challenge these days.

We stopped at the ranch to drop off the dogs before heading to dinner Friday.

We went to a few vineyards with Taylor's parents, his sister Allison and her husband Brett. The Solaro Winery had special grape juice for kids. Brady drank it happily. After this first sip, he was insistent on clasping both of his hands around the stem to drink the grape juice (without assistance).

Another attempt at 4 smiles...

The Solaro Winery also has thoroughbred race horses. Brady got to feed them.

Anna Belle Can Sit Up!

2011-08-25T07:53:00.003-05:00

I can't believe my sweet girl is already sitting up. I've been sorting through baby clothes to prep for the 6 - 12 month sizes, and it further reminds me of how my baby's growing up. Even though I'm staying at home, I still feel like Anna Belle is growing up even faster than Brady did (which is all in my imagination).

We have a lot of photos of Brady in his Jumperoo, but I think this is Anna Belle's first. I've been feeling guilty for not keeping up with my photo duties as diligently as I had with Brady.

Yesterday, Brady stood on the table (his stage) and said, "Let's sing a song," about 100 times. He didn't really want to sing anything, I think he was just mimicking the praise and worship leaders at church (hence the clapping and over dramatic pointing). He usually gets shy and stops what he's doing when I video tape him, but not this time : )

Oh Happy Day

2011-08-21T19:52:00.005-05:00

Kevin and Melanie Dach hosted a surprise party to celebrate Thomas's MBA graduation. Kevin and Melanie just finished renovations on the house they bought (about 18 months ago). It looks really really great, inside and out. I'm so happy for them.

Congrats Thomas!

Brady with sweet little Kylie

My sweet sleeping angel

who adores her big brother

and he adores her too

My precious family

Today we started going to church at Second Baptist's Cypress location. I already feel a sense of belonging because a few people in our Sunday school class have kids in Brady and Anna Belle's classes. I also love that Brady's class is with his cousin Luke. Brady's already asking to go back to church : )

Perry for President

2011-08-12T16:13:00.003-05:00

Taylor and I met when he was the chair of an MSC committee, and I was a new member. This organization hosted a speaking engagement with Perry, so Taylor introduced Perry and got this photo. 10 years later, Perry announces his candidacy for president of the United States. Gig 'em Aggies!

Ready to Roll

2011-08-08T20:18:00.002-05:00

Brady conquered his fear of the Jeep tonight. The previous video didn't portray the fear factor, which came soon thereafter. He was determined to only watch the Jeep from inside the house, where it was safe. After 4 visits to the Jeep in the garage today, Taylor and I put the car in the grass tonight and Brady hopped right in!

Happy Birthday boys!

2011-08-08T08:36:00.010-05:00

This photo was taken right after we went out for dinner to celebrate Aunt Megan's new job as an eighth grade US History teacher at Cy-Fair's new junior high, Salliard Middle School. Congrats Aunt Megan!

Last night we celebrated Brady's 3rd birthday. I've never seen so many people in our pool at once. It was a lot of fun.

Sweet John Patrick.

When Anna Belle had her melt down, I had to go sit in the bath tub with her for awhile. I was grateful that Sarah Beth took pictures in my absence and that Grammy held my crying baby for awhile, so I could still enjoy the party. Thank you both!

James is trying to explain to Brady that they need to take a picture together. Brady's trying to maintain possession of the lawn mower.

I think Brady's trying to explain himself. I got these little dog tags for the kids. Too bad they have an American Eagle on it with this word CHINA right underneath. I guess it's appropriate since they own us.

The Bowers got Brady this set of Cars from Cars 2 (or as Brady calls it, Cars Another One). He's playing his favorite game with them right now, "Sorry Cars". This is where the cars run into each other and say, "Sorry Cars".

These photos are in sequence. The candles blew out before Brady could blow, but that didn't stop him.

Papa got this Monster Truck for Brady. It was the hit of the night, until it came out of the box and charged at Brady.

This was Grammy and Pappaw's foreshadowing gift for the bigger Jeep to come.

Drum roll for the big birthday surprise...

Brady liked the radio, but started to get a little apprehensive when he hit the gas pedal. This is his favorite toy at Toys 'R' Us, but the ones at the store don't actually move.

Dalin is our neighbor two doors down and one of my mom's students from last year.

I had hoped that by letting James and Luke drive, Brady's sense of jealousy might turn on. I think he was just a little too overwhelmed to enjoy it yesterday, but I know he's going to love this little Jeep and have fond memories of riding in it. There's a little part of me that hopes his love for the Jeep kicks in after the temperature gets out of the triple digits.

Cheesy grin

Megan got Brady the Justin Bieber movie, so after the party they watched the first part together.

Grammy and Pappaw got Taylor this big cooler for his birthday. It's huge on the inside and still had ice this morning. Thank you!

I really enjoy being a stay at home mom. I like that I can have parties like last night and have the next day to clean up and relax with the kids. I like that Brady takes an increasing interest in playing with Anna Belle. I feel like I need to document some of my new favorite things, so thanks for letting me indulge myself...

It makes me laugh how happily Anna Belle miles and giggles... after her morning poop. I also like how she smiles at the mirror like she's looking at another baby.

I like that all morning, Brady's been saying, "Thank you, I love it," but saying it last night was a real challenge.

After I've warned Brady about a time out, he misbehaves again, and then I hold his hand to walk him to time out, he looks at me with those bright eyes and says, "I'm gonna be a good boy."

I downloaded an iPhone app based on the book, "There's a Monster at the End of this Book." It was one of Taylor's favorites as a child. Grover essentially begs and pleads the reader not to turn the next page because he's afraid of the monster... the monster turns out to be cute, lovable, furry Grover himself. Brady laughs and hee-haws at the book, and repeatedly asks to play "Zuper Zover."

I should probably stop blogging, so I can Google all the names of the Cars 2 characters. Brady's repeatedly asking me, and I just don't know!

Dinner at the Livingstons

2011-08-03T08:32:00.006-05:00

Brett and Allison hosted dinner for the family last night, to celebrate Taylor's birthday, Brady's birthday and as an added bonus, Father Bruce was able to attend and bless their home. Dinner was wonderful and I was impressed how easy she made it look to serve 12 people in her new home.

I don't know if I've ever gotten a picture of Father Bruce (or his twin brother Father David) where it doesn't look like they're talking. I love that Brett and Allison had coordinating outfits.

Brett and Allison gave Brady his first baseball and glove. Now he really looks like an "Astros-naut" (har har har). It seemed pretty hot outside to me, but Brady had a ball.

Anna Belle loves her great grandpa Jim.

Last night's dinner party gave me the itch to host a dinner party, but for now, all of our entertaining is outside by the pool. I've wanted a dining room table for a very, very long time now. In short, I'm really excited about having our new table. I even set the table with my china, silver, crystal and napkins, just for fun. If I put plush animals in the chairs it would have been complete, but I'm happy to report I didn't go that far.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

2011-07-31T19:26:00.005-05:00

Today we went to Allison's house to help her move some furniture. Afterwards we went to Pappasitos with Taylor's family and then to Taylor's parent's house. Taylor got a few nice shirts and they gave Brady this cool astronaut outfit (Taylor's birthday was 7/27 and Brady's birthday is tomorrow, 8/1). Brady still wants to say Astros-not, but he's getting better. We've spent the evening showing him videos of space shuttles taking off (repeatedly). He really likes counting down to lift off.

We've been getting Brady to do the Gig 'em thumb for a lot of pictures lately. It's not as easy as it used to be to force a smile out of him, while in front of a camera... almost as if he's getting a little bit shy on me.

Brady didn't really understand the concept of what an astronaut was at the time, but he felt pretty proud of himself in the suit. I don't know if we'll be able to get him out of it before bed time.

Anna Belle was being sweet for her Grandma. I think she's teething right now. She's been uncharacteristically fussy. I can't say it's been really bad, but she's had 1 - 2 hour spells of being uncomfortable / discontent.

This picture was from Thursday night, when we had the Dachs over to celebrate Taylor's birthday. Brady helped me bake Daddy's lemon cake while we stayed home (on our first day back from vacation). I need to learn to not get my picture taken with anything strapless.

I've only been a stay at HOME mom for 4 days, even though my last day of work was July 8th. I've mostly been on vacation. I have really enjoyed spending more time with the kids.

I think God makes every age as lovable as it is challenging. Brady pushes the limits, but it absolutely melts my heart at how frequently he says, "I love you Mommy," and gives me a hug (avg. 10 times a day). He manages to say it at the most tender moments, and it almost brings tears to my eyes. I also like to see that Brady and Anna Belle spend more time with one another. Brady sweetly checks on and talks sweetly to his sister, and she seems to simply adore him. God has truly blessed our family.

Last Trip Post

2011-07-29T20:36:00.006-05:00

For the last leg of our trip, we stayed at a dude ranch in Woodland Park, just north of Colorado Springs. Brady got to ride Star for 30 whole minutes; he was in heaven.

Gig 'em : )

We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which was really beautiful. Feeding the giraffes was really fun.

We also scheduled a special "encounter" with a hippo. We got to visit the area where the food is prepared and have a special tour with the zoo keeper. Brady was thrilled, but a little apprehensive.

We also spent an afternoon at the "North Pole" near Pikes Peak. My mom has pictures of her and her brother at the North Pole when they were about Brady's age. We went on a Monday, so the lines were really short and Brady got to ride a lot of the time with no lines. He had a ball!

Brady loved riding these little cars with Papa. The photo below shows a picture of the giant Santa slide; the close up photo is above.

Grammy mostly sat with Anna Belle in the shade. The altitude was really getting to all of us (except Brady), so we all spent our share of the time recovering in the shade and drinking water.

This little guy loves motorcycles.

The trip home was better than I had expected. We left the ranch at 2:45 AM and drove straight back to Houston. We arrived home around 9:30 PM. Both of the kids did really well, considering their ages. We really had a great trip, but we're all glad to be home and reunited with Daddy : )

Denver's Downtown Aquarium

2011-07-24T21:18:00.008-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Anna Belle at Mammaw's house. Mammaw, Aunt Deb and my Mama have been a tremendous help in keeping my sweet little Anna Belle happy. She's enjoyed playing with the blocks in the photo, but not quite as much as Brady has enjoyed them.

We had lunch at the Aquarium in Denver. I thought it would be just like the one in Houston, but it was actually a lot nicer. It was a cross between the Downtown Houston Aquarium and the Moody Gardens Aquarium. Brady got a dessert for being a good boy through the meal.

During our meal, they started to play "Kiss the Girl" from "The Little Mermaid". Suddenly, we started to see mermaids swimming in the giant fish tank and waving at the guests. It was pretty magical. I thought taking pictures of strangers would seem a bit creepy, so I don't have any photos to share.

Brady and Uncle Tim watching the Colorado River Otters. Brady's had a lot of fun playing with his Uncle Tim.

3 otters at play

Anna Belle's been a little under the weather. I've noticed that the more Astragalus I can get her to take, the better off she seems to be. I tried my best this morning to get her to take the water and astragalus via a bottle, but she really doesn't like it. Our dinner tonight was served with toast and honey. I mixed the astragalus with a little honey and let Anna Belle suck the mixture off my finger, which she LOVED! Hopefully her congestion clears up soon!

We're watching the first Harry Potter with Mammaw right now; she's never seen it before?! I think we're more excited than she is : ) Brady keeps reciting whatever scene is up next. He watches this movie before bed each night, so he's seen it a few hundred times.

Saturday

2011-07-23T23:37:00.007-05:00

Brady loves walking the dogs with Tim, around Mammaw's neighborhood.

Here's a photo of her house.

For dinner, we went to White Fence with the Johnson family. We were tickled that all the Johnson children and grandchildren could attend.

They had live music while we waited for a table (they had a 90 minute wait).

We could sit and play checkers while Brady was in the neighboring video game room.

My cute little cowboy with his stick horse.

After the delicious family style dinner, Brady got to get a "persent". He got a cool little car, his favorite.

The property had all sorts of fun stuff, from a petting zoo (which we didn't visit), pretty gazebos, little creeks with stepping stones and this fun jungle gym area. I love this picture with my little cuddle bug. Especially without Taylor with us, Brady has become more jealous of my time with Anna Belle.

My mom and I dubbed Kimmy the baby whisperer.

This was the cutest little tree house ever.

Oinking like a pig...

Brady laughed and giggled most of the night away on this tire swing. He loved when the swing would hit the neighboring support posts.

Sydney and Taylor

I didn't take quite as many pictures of my baby girl. Anna Belle is still a little under the weather, but she's in good spirits. She hates the saline nasal spray and the astragalus I give her via a bottle, but it really helps her breathe easier. Hopefully she's past the worst of it.

Trip continued...

2011-07-22T16:02:00.003-05:00

Taylor and I ordered our dining room set from furniturebuzz.com 9 weeks ago; it was supposed to take 4 - 6 weeks for delivery. To save $300 compared to a local furniture store, Taylor had to assemble the furniture himself and we had to wait a few months for the furniture. The furniture was delivered on Wednesday afternoon, and yesterday Taylor sent me this photo. I can't wait to see it in person!

We went to the Butterfly Pavilion today. The pavilion was very humid; it was like walking into Houston weather. I've never been anywhere quite like it. It felt kind of magical to have exotic butterflies fluttering all around.

Brady liked the little play area the most. He stared in awe and laughed as kids ran the zip line. He also ran laps around the perimeter; a great way to burn some of that pent up energy from the long drive up here. Grammy got Brady this cool 18 wheeler full of bugs. Why would there be bugs so huge in comparison to the 18 wheeler? ... very Jurassic Park.

They also had some sea life. Brady liked looking at the lobster. Can you see Anna Belle in the photo below? It's like "Where's Waldo".

Tomorrow evening we're going to visit with Bob & Peggy (Papa's high school friends) and their children and grand children. On Sunday, I think we're going to head to Estes Park. On Monday we leave Mammaw's house and check into the historic Triple B Ranch.

As the trip progresses, we all miss Daddy more and more. We had hoped he could fly up for the last half of the trip, but that didn't work out. I think Taylor was giddy / pre-occupied the first few days alone, but it's hard to be apart this long. My family has been really helpful with the kids, but kids this age are still quite needy of their mama. When I'm on my last ounce of energy, I try to remember that these precious moments won't last long.

24

2011-07-20T21:24:00.004-05:00

We have had a crazy 24 hours! Last night we had the family over for dinner. I got to meet the rest of David's growing family, which was really a treat. We took a picture to commemorate this rare occasion.

Last night, Brady kept taking off his swimsuit, prancing around yelling, "It's showtime!" Since going to the circus, this is one of his new favorite sayings.

At 6:00am, Papa, Grammy, Brady, Anna Belle and I got on the road en route to Colorado. We stopped to visit the Pattersons on the way. Cathy let Brady ride one of their horses, Sunny. He LOVED it; thank you so much Cathy! Brady asked to go back and visit you all day.

Grammy and Papa took turns driving while I stayed in the back seat with the kids. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the kids did in the car today; 9 hours is a lot for anyone.

We ate dinner at the Big Texan and checked into a hotel for the night. Brady napped all day and just ate a huge lollipop, so I think we'll be up for awhile.

Isn't this the machine that Tom Hanks had in "Big"?

Tomorrow, after about 7 - 8 hours of driving, we should reach Mammaw's house in Denver!

Brianna was Baptized Sunday!

2011-07-19T12:02:00.002-05:00

After her baptism, we went to the Bowers for lunch. Taylor and I let the family babysit while we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. These pictures make Anna Belle look so big! I think it's the lack of an oversized bow / flower on her head.

A day at the Circus

2011-07-19T09:33:00.002-05:00

We went to the circus on Friday. Brady LOVED it, particularly the tigers. Brady was quietly stunned, and Taylor was talking about the workers comp policy they must have on the guy they put in a cage with 8 full grown tigers.

Tonight, we look forward to having the Virginia Bacots (Taylor's oldest brother and his family) over for dinner.

Early tomorrow morning, Grammy, Papa, Brady, Anna Belle and I are driving to visit the Colorado Puckett's (my aunt, uncle and Mammaw). I'm a little nervous about the drive; we'll see!

Heidelberg Lodges, New Braunfels

2011-07-16T12:25:00.003-05:00

Brady loved our trip to New Braunfels this year. He could have played games all day. He also really wanted to jump off the big rock, but he would get cold feet when he stood up there with daddy. I'm kind of glad he didn't jump, since he doesn't know how to swim yet (Taylor was just going to hold onto him).

I ended up getting sick with a cold virus, so Grammy, Anna Belle and I stayed inside a lot. Here's a video of Taylor playing with the kids in the baby pool. Brady had so much fun!

Growing up tutu quickly

2011-07-09T17:34:00.005-05:00

I took Anna Belle's newborn photos in this tutu, and I decided it was time for her 4 month photo shoot. She's so stinkin' cute.

Blessed with Freedom, in more ways than one

2011-07-06T19:27:00.006-05:00

Lately, I feel busy, tired, a little sick, but oh so blessed. Anna Belle is at a great age. She smiles as soon as she makes eye contact with Taylor, Brady or me. She even smiles at Brady after he splashes water in her eyes in the bath tub. It's hard to convince him that she doesn't like it. Anna Belle's getting a lot stronger, which makes her easier to hold. She grips onto us like a little koala bear.

On the way home from Grammy's, Anna Belle was crying in her car seat. Brady tried to soothe her by cooing, "AaaAaaAw, it's okay sweet girl. We're malmost home. It's goin' be okay." It absolutely melted my heart. I tried, but was unsuccessful at getting a video. The crying was just too loud to hear Brady. I love how eager he is to soothe her crying and how happy Anna Belle is to see her brother.

For the Fourth, we invited the family over to our house. Anna Belle had cute outfits for the occasion, which has quickly become my latest obsession.

Grammy baked a banana cake, and Megan and Brady decorated it with the classic cool whip, strawberries and blueberries.

Brady loves playing with his cousin Daniel in the pool; we're glad that Daniel's been able to spend so much time with us in Houston. Brady's getting pretty nimble with those water guns.

Thanks for doing the dishes, Trey and Ann! I learned that Trey used to coach at Cypress Academy with Megan. It's such a small world!

Brett and Allison brought nachos from Lupe's; we're so glad that Brett didn't have to work for the Fourth!

On an unrelated note, here's a picture of my favorite chef helping to make spinach quesadillas (a staple meal in the Bacot household). I'm impressed how much Brady can do on his own.

P.S. Brady normally cooks with clothes on.

I have 2 more days at work before I'm a stay at home mama. It's so surreal to close this chapter of my life. I've been blessed with a great job with really great co-workers, vendors and customers. With that said, I really look forward to playing with and cuddling with my kiddos. I'm grateful for Taylor's talent and work ethic in his career, which enables me to stay at home. He's a great father and husband, and we're lucky to have him : )

Next week, we're going to New Braunfels for our annual trip. Grammy Pammy's coming this year, which we're really excited about. More pictures to come!

Yee-Ha Cowboy!

2011-06-26T07:59:00.003-05:00

Man's best friend.

Is there anything quite as cute as a little boy in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat? We have a few vacations upcoming, and we plan to let Brady do some horseback riding. I thought the cowboy gear would help him get excited. Before Brady had hardly even opened his eyes this morning, he muttered, "Put on cowboy stuff?"

The camera kept fogging up this morning. Here's Brady's tough cowboy look.

Brady's checkin' out his reflection.

Brady sure does love his little sister. Anna Belle doesn't look too enthralled in the photos below, but Brady can soothe her crying and make her smile most of the time. He's usually not this close to her face.

Hey Sweet Girl!

2011-06-25T21:05:00.002-05:00

Brady's such a good big brother.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

2011-06-19T09:10:00.005-05:00

My family came over to our house to celebrate Father's Day last night. Taylor grilled burgers (I would feel bad for making him cook on "his" day, but he prefers food cooked his way, so I try not to worry about it too much). Becky may be able to out run Taylor, but Taylor can shoot a basketball better.

The face of determination (tongue out).

Papa even joined in the fun! I think it's been about 10 years since Papa's gone swimming. He picked it up like an OLD pro : )

David didn't bring his swim trunks, but he couldn't resist joining in the basketball action.

Megan encouraging Brady's love of Justin Bieber. Our grapes (behind Megan) are almost ripe. I'm so excited; I pull one off for a taste test every other day.

My little cutie pie in her precious little swimsuit. Daddy said she looked like Rocky.

Anna Belle Rolled Over Today!

2011-06-17T20:43:00.004-05:00

I set up a blanket and a few mirrors in Anna Belle's room, so she could have some tummy time. It wasn't long before she rolled right over?! Way to go sweet girl!

These mirrors were hung in the dining room of the townhouse, but they haven't found a home in the new house yet. I actually think they're kind of fun for Anna Belle's room (on the floor), so they might stay there for awhile.

Brady's a pirate... Actually, he held the lens cap over one eye and started cooing at Anna Belle like he was taking pictures of her too.

Sweet siblings.

Brady's potty training is going really well. He wears big boy underwear day and night with maybe 1 accident a week. He can take himself to the potty without help, but sometimes his pants and underoos don't go back on quite right. He's also developed an obsession with where poop comes from. He checks out his stuffed animals with a flashlight, Bailey and even our household broom (the part where the broomstick screws in). It's rather embarrassing; we can't figure out how to get him to stop!

Our mornings are really hectic, but I'm always happy to wake Anna Belle up right before we're ready to go. She is all smiles in the mornings. That sweet cheerful spirit slows me down and reminds me what's important in life.

Anna Belle's first Astro's Game

2011-06-12T06:09:00.001-05:00

Before and After

2011-06-07T20:05:00.007-05:00

Here's our back yard when we moved in vs. what it looks like today. We feel like there's still a lot we want to do, but it's come such a long ways already! (I like to say "we", but this is really Taylor's doing while I watched the kids).

In the past few days, I would say Brady is officially potty trained. Hip, hip, hooray! He's had no accidents wearing big boy underwear day and night for 2 days and 2 nights.

Random Pics from this Weekend

2011-06-05T19:54:00.003-05:00

Smile!

2011-06-02T04:35:00.002-05:00

Anna Belle smiling at her Grammy. This new smiley phase just melts my heart.

Here's my second attempt at getting a picture with Brady and Anna Belle. Maybe I need to try another pose; this one lasts long enough for 2 quick clicks and then Brady runs off.

Way to go, Daddy!

2011-05-31T18:23:00.006-05:00

First of all, here's my sweet girl smiling at her Daddy.

We are so proud of how good Daddy's landscaping looks.

This is the best photo to compare to the "before" photos.

Here are some of our "before" photos:

Here are a few other random photos of the new house.

My Persuassive Child

2011-05-27T07:43:00.003-05:00

Brady has been really into "Back to the Future" lately. It's a great trilogy, but I rarely want to watch the same movie back to back. We watched Back to the Future I in the car, again at home and as the credits rolled at home, Brady said, "Again? Again? Again?"

I did my best to distract him by offering to go swimming. He scrunched his nose, squinted his eyes and said in a motherly voice, "Swimming is dangerous. Got to be careful. Let's watch Doc and Marty."

Anna Belle and her Uncles

2011-05-24T21:13:00.001-05:00

Anna Belle's smiles and fun with the Bowers

2011-05-21T16:46:00.003-05:00

Our first time to use the pool!

2011-05-20T21:42:00.004-05:00

Movin' and Groovin'

2011-05-11T05:08:00.004-05:00

We are scheduled to close on our townhouse at 8:30 am, Friday the 13th and we close on the new house at 10:30 am. Stacked and packed boxes take up about 1/3 of our dining room. I would normally say that my emotions are calm and collected, because I know everything is well planned and taken care of. I have to rethink that when I notice my inability to sleep and the blemishes all over my face.

It's exciting to think that my next blog post will be on Monday the 16th, when we get internet set up at the new house. I hope that by then, I will be able to post a picture where our pool and palm trees looks a lot better than this:

Gymnastics and Grammy's

2011-05-09T20:16:00.001-05:00

Baby Faces

2011-05-03T19:18:00.002-05:00

Here's Brady at 10 weeks

and at 14 weeks.

Lastly, here's a pic of me. I don't have a scanned baby picture of Taylor.

I see a little bit of all 3 of us in our little Miss Anna Belle.

Happy 16th Birthday Sam & Sara!

2011-05-02T17:42:00.005-05:00

Brady was in a bit of a mood.

When we got home, I tried to get a few pictures of the kids together.

It didn't last long,

so we just took pictures of Anna Belle.

Easter and more

2011-04-26T05:54:00.002-05:00

We went to Mass with Taylor's family and lunch with my family for Easter. We had a great time, but I think we both feel a bit tired and the whole family is a little bit under the weather.

Our townhouse and new house closings are scheduled for Friday, May 13th. It's hard to believe the day could actually come. On Good Friday, I turned in my 11 week notice at work. July 8th will be my last day, and then I start my career as a stay at home mom. I feel so very blessed to be able to stay home with the kids during these precious years. I'm really excited about starting this new chapter in our lives.

Crane Yard with Grandpa

2011-04-22T15:33:00.002-05:00

Brady and Taylor went to the TNT Crane Yard with Grandpa today. Brady kept saying, "BIIIIG!!!" Those cranes look huge from far away; they seem even bigger with little Brady up close.

Bath Time

2011-04-19T05:39:00.001-05:00

Going to Clays

2011-04-16T16:26:00.001-05:00

First Day of School

2011-04-14T16:39:00.002-05:00

Today was Anna Belle's first day of school. She went for 3 hours today and she'll go for 6 hours tomorrow, so she'll be ready for a full day on Monday (when I return to work). Brady didn't really like having Anna Belle at school with him. He was very protective over Anna Belle while the teachers oohed and awed over her.

Bluebonnet Blunders

2011-04-09T21:31:00.004-05:00

We had an open house for the townhouse today, which meant we had to clean up ourselves, the house and leave with the dogs. We're so grateful that Grammy dogsits for us for occasions such as these.

There were hardly any bluebonnets out this season, probably due to the lack of rain. We found this little patch of flowers with the Bowers (after a lot of driving around), and took some photos. Anna Belle really didn't like the windy conditions; Brady kept running towards the highway. We wanted a picture of the 4 of us, but somehow we weren't focused enough to get one.

Tomorrow morning, Taylor leaves for his business trip to Mexico. I already can't wait for his return on Wednesday!

Daddy Time

2011-04-06T20:28:00.002-05:00

I tend to hold Anna Belle all day and all night long (I'm trying to set her down a little more often. It's a little rough, so we're taking baby steps). In the hours after dinner and before bedtime, it's father-daughter cuddle time. While playing with Brady, I asked him to pose for a picture with Daddy and Anna Belle. I'm blessed to have such a sweet family.

My Beautiful Baby

2011-04-04T10:41:00.003-05:00

Who knew the bathroom would be a great place to take pictures? Anna Belle likes how warm it gets in there : )

What?!

2011-04-01T17:01:00.002-05:00

The buyer said they wanted our outlets fixed and a statement from the electrician saying the house was safe. We delivered and they terminated the contract because they STILL felt like the house was unsafe. What?! We feel used and abused to say the least. 3 Oreos later, I'm starting to feel a little better...

Everchanging

2011-04-01T08:49:00.002-05:00

Taylor and I should make a list of the dozens of hurdles we've jumped through with this process; it's starting to seem almost comical. The buyers on our townhouse are anything but slow and steady; it's like a game of red light, green light. We have a few minor post-inspection electrical repairs to make on the townhouse (after a 3 1/2 hour home inspection), and then we plan to close April 8th. Even though the buyers aren't moving in until June, they're not willing to lease back to us for a few weeks. Thank you Papa for taking our family in for the next 1 - 4 weeks, and thank you Grammy for taking our dogs!

We do all of our banking and insurance through USAA. After talking to them for a month about buying a home, we just learned that the earliest they can close is May 2nd! Our mortgage broker says we shouldn't worry. Closing with a new lender in a few weeks won't be an issue at all. Now we just need to get Fannie Mae on board. They said they can close between 4/14 and 4/27, but they cannot yet commit.

Fannie Mae is de-winterizing the Bay Tree house for us on Monday. On Tuesday we'll go over to meet with the inspector, appraiser, shutter and blinds lady and the pool guy. On Wednesday we move our family in with Papa, Thursday the movers put our stuff in storage and on Friday we close.

Before all that, I am SO excited about going to the Final Four games!!! We have an exciting week ahead of us.

Sweet Anna Belle

2011-03-30T16:46:00.001-05:00

Taylor took this first picture; it's my favorite. They grow so quickly at this age!

Hooray! Hooray!

2011-03-29T16:15:00.002-05:00

This morning we received Fannie Mae's counter offer on the Bay Tree Landing house, which we accepted! We plan to close on the townhouse Tuesday, April 12th and close on the new house Thursday, April 14th. Thank you so much for everyone's thoughts, prayers and encouragement! We feel very blessed.

Could this be the one?

2011-03-28T13:48:00.003-05:00

This is the exterior photo of the Bay Tree house, the same house as the previous post below. We submitted our offer on Friday morning, and the listing agent submitted the offer package to Fannie Mae. This is one step further than we made it with the Tobinn Manor house. We hope to hear back sometime this week. Please keep us in your prayers!

Hot off the Press

2011-03-22T17:30:00.002-05:00

A lot had changed in the last 4 hours, so I thought a blog post was due.

1. Anna Belle's 2 week check up went great. She was born at 5 lb 7 oz. At 3 days she was 5 lb 2 oz. Today, she was 6 lb and 6 oz! She's still small, but she's growing quickly which is what the doctor likes to see. Yeah! Her 2 oz bottles aren't cutting it for her all the time now, so sometimes she can polish off a full 3 oz. in one sitting.

2. The buyer for our townhouse met with their attorney who went over the details with our Realtor at 5:00 PM today. We should have an executed offer tomorrow, which has an option based on the inspection. The offer says that we will close by Friday, April 15th.

3. Our final and best offer on the Tobinn Manor (foreclosure) house was turned down for a "much higher" offer. As much as we loved the house, we wouldn't have felt good about paying much more for it. The house is probably worth it, but we don't want to get in over our heads. We also feel better about being homeless compared to carrying 2 mortgages.

Here's another foreclosure home we toured in Coles Crossing. We're not sure if it's the one, but it would suit our needs well. Pool houses in Coles Crossing seem to go pretty quickly, so we will probably put an offer in on this one and see what happens. I never thought I would have that kind of an attitude towards home buying.

A Day with Family

2011-03-13T19:44:00.002-05:00

My aunt Julie and cousin Nate are in town this week. Here are a few photos from our day.

A lot can happen in a week

2011-03-13T09:46:00.005-05:00

Anna Belle turned a week old yesterday; she's been such a precious addition to our family. Brady is very sweet with her and proud to embrace his role as big brother and big helper. His new favorite thing is to pull out an entire gallon of milk and carry it to the living room when he wants something to drink. This and other somewhat unnecessary efforts have sprung up all over the place. I love to see Brady's chest swell with pride and a little smirk of a smile.

Here's a video of Anna Belle at 3 days old. I think she looks really alert for her age. She also seems to have a good little zest for life. She's very alert when she eats, and she's quite demanding when she's hungry. As long as she's well fed, she's very easy going.

Anna Belle eats and naps most of the time. She's nursing about half of the time, and drinks expressed milk and a litte formula the other half of the time. I'm happy to see my precious Anna Belle growing and gaining weight like a healthy little girl should. Here's another wakeful moment after nursing.

Brady's always been a fan of guitars, mostly thanks to his Pappaw. We got a Wii with Guitar Hero for Christmas, but we found the easiest way for Brady to play (at this age) is to turn on a music video and let him pretend to interact with the video. Led Zeppelin is his favorite... country just won't cut it for this kid.

There was a rodeo theme at gymnastics this week; Brady really liked the hat and stick horse. Though his feelings about country music are rather lackluster, Brady loves horse stuff (he calls Polo shirts cowboy shirts, and he loves watching Back to the Future III and Secretariat).

Taylor and I put an offer on this short sale / foreclosure property in Coles Crossing. We toured the property right before gymnastics yesterday. It's really close to the elementary school, which is more important since Cy-Fair discontinued a lot of their bus services. We also love the pool, big lot and general space. Please say a little prayer for us. There's a lot of little pieces that need to come together in the near future.