Pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins

October 19, 2009

This past Monday we went to the Dallas Arboretum to see the pumpkin patch they put on each year. Lindsey (my sister-in-law), Russell and Sydney (my nephew and niece), Mandy and Brett (Lindsey's sister and nephew), Nelda (Lindsey and Mandy's momma), and Vicki (Mandy's mother-in-law) drove to Dallas from Waco to join us for the day. We had such a great time and it was great to be able to spend time with my sister-in-law and nephew and niece. Ethan was not too happy when at the beginning, but warmed up as time went on and had a blast! Eliana had a great time too and was all over the place. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

Ethan and Russell (one of the few I got of Ethan with some pumpkins)

Eliana trying to sit on the same pumpkin as Brett

Ethan in one of the little houses

HSU Homecoming

10 Years (really 10 years!)...Gosh it is hard to believe. It seems like forever ago and like yesterday in so many ways. This past weekend we ventured out to Abilene for my college Homecoming and to spend time with our good friends, Christy and Lon. Christy is like a sister to me and I love the time I get to spend with her. We both agreed it would have been perfect if Desha was able to join us, but alas she lives in Colorado and the trip was a bit too far! We had a great weekend and I was able to visit with some friends I had not seen in a long time. On Saturday morning I went to the AIO breakfast and was able to see some of my sorority sisters. It was such a good thing to see them and meet their husbands and children. AIO was such an integral part of my college experience and many of these women were like family to me. The few Alumni that were there came over to Christy's that night and we spent hours talking and reminiscing about old times. Our husbands thought we were crazy and couldn't help but laugh at us. Thanks guys! Overall, it was a great weekend and the kids had a blast. Ethan and Eliana loved Christy and Lon and their cat Joe. Ethan either wanted to be petting Joe or looking through the window at Joe the majority of the time we were at the house. This weekend meant so much to me and I am SO thankful for this time with good girlfriends.

Kirsten (and Noah), Joyce, Me (& Eliana), Christy, and Jennifer

The Alumni with the current AIO members
Eliana and Noah (my friend Kirsten's son)

Ethan and Eliana on the HSU campus

Eliana and Daddy on a stop on the trip to Abilene (love this picture!!)

Yee Haw..Ya'll!

October 10, 2009

After living in Dallas for four years we finally went to the State Fair. The State Fair is such a big deal around here, especially where we live because literally it is only minutes away from us. Ethan and Eliana had a blast seeing all the rides in the Midway and seeing everything the fair has to offer. We took them to a petting zoo where they had a zebra, baby giraffe, Texas longhorn, buffalo, and many more animals. Ethan was a bit overwhelmed by all the people in there, but Josh said Eliana loved the animals! We went to the car show for Ethan (he loved it), saw a parade, went to a little backyard circus show, and Josh and I ate really bad food. It is not Texas without finding the most fattening food and making it worse by making it fried (i.e.fried Cheesecake, fried snickers, fried oreos, fried butter (yes..butter!), and on and on. We tried the fried cheesecake and fried Snickers and let me tell you they were good! Oh and I wanted a turkey leg..the thing was ginormous! We saw Big Tex and the big Ferris wheel..the two things I remember about the State Fair. The kids loved the huge Ferris wheel. I can't wait to take them on it someday!

There were tons of people

I was having to hold Eliana up so our heads were not exactly on the right place;-)!
Yummy..turkey leg!

Mommy and Ethan and Big Tex

Big Tex

Ethan and Eliana in front of all the John Deere tractors

A far off picture of Ethan and Eliana in front of the big Ferris Wheel

13 months old

October 2, 2009

My sweet Eliana is now 13 months old and is growing and changing so fast. She is down to one nap now, drinks out of a cup (she would not do sippy cups so she drinks out of a straw cup), says new words and phrases all the time. Her language development is amazing to me. She can already put words together to tell us what she wants (she will say "want this"). She still has quite the spunky personality and will throw a temper tantrum (which includes her screaming at the top of her lungs) when she does not get her way! Eliana loves her big brother Ethan, playing outdoors, animals (real and stuffed ;-)!), and music. Oh, and she loves her food! Josh and I wonder where it all goes. She can eat so much and always seems hungry. She does this little dance where she shifts from one foot to another when we go into the kitchen and she knows food is on the way. It is hilarious! Lately she has gotten to where she will carry a bucket or a basket around and pile toys in there. It is cute. One day she was carrying it like a purse...Josh wondered if it was hardwired in little girls DNA to like stuff like that ;-)!

Here are some pics of Eliana at 13 months. I tried to take some pictures of her with a bow in her hair, but she does not like bows (she is her momma's girl) so she kept pulling it out.

Here she is taking out the bow!

Medieval Times

September 25th, 2009

For Josh's 32nd Birthday (which is on the 28th of Sept), we went to Medieval Times. We had a great time and were impressed by the choreography. It was fun to see how the crowd really got into the whole story and cheered for their knight. It was also hilarious to watch the kids in the crowd and see how enthralled they were by it all. We will have to take Ethan and Eliana one day. Here are some pictures of our night.

Josh being silly

Our knight was the yellow and red knight

Cowboys Gear

September 20, 2009

We set up an outdoor projector and screen for our residents to watch the Cowboys take on the NY Giants. I dressed up Ethan and Eliana in their matching Cowboys outfits. At this point in the season, I believe everyone felt there was still hope. There is always next season, right? I wanted to share the pics of my cute kiddos in their Cowboys gear, especially for you Nana ;-)!

I could not get a good picture of the two of them together!

Fun at the zoo

September 6, 2009

On Sunday Jamie, Shane, and Abigael came back down to Waco and we all headed to the Cameron Park Zoo. Even though I grew up in the Waco area, it was my first time going to the zoo. It was such a great zoo and the kids had a blast. I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the details they had for the kids to make it a fun experience for them. Ethan and Abigael particularly liked the chimes they could jump on and make music (see pic below). Here are a few pics of the day.

A family pic at the zoo

Abigael, Ethan, and Eliana (love this pic)

Ethan's war wounds

(he was running so fast he fell and got all scraped up)

Ethan and Abigael making music

Ethan and Abigael by waterfall

Ethan with the fish

Eliana intently looking at the animals

Eliana's First Birthday!

September 5, 2009

Eliana celebrated her 1st Birthday at the beginning of September in Waco at Uncle Blake and Aunt Lindsey's house. The majority of our family was there, including Nana who flew from Colorado for the special day! Eliana had a great Birthday with lots of gifts and lots of cake! She loved the cake so much that when I was cleaning off the icing she was trying to lick the towel I was using to get more. True to Eliana fashion she was not timid about eating her cake and was wearing quite a bit of it before it was over. I still can not believe my little girl's first birthday has come and gone, but I am enjoying watching her as she continues to grow and change. Here are just a few pictures from the day.

The Birthday girl on the move

She loved the balloons

Big brother Ethan and the cousins

Yummy!!

This stuff is good!

Mommy with her two precious children

Eliana's little cake

The cupcake cake