April 27 - He's On the Move

Happy belated Easter everyone! I spent half the day sleeping (sick with bronchitis) but we still had a nice day. Julia found her Easter basket hidden in the playroom and was excited for all the goodies. I'm not sure the Easter Bunny brings every child a Dora toothbrush and princess toothpaste in addition to candy....but hey, that's the way we roll in our house. Our little Julia Bean has developed a love for chocolate so she was VERY excited about all the goodies. In fact, she seems to have hidden mini-chocolate bars around the house. I keep finding her in the tent eating with a chocolate mustache...little stinker. I need to do a complete "search" this weekend to locate her hiding spots. She is developing quite the sweet tooth like her daddy!

In other fun news, our little man is officially on the move! Within the last week he started crawling and he can push himself up into the sitting position. He is beyond adorable. He is still pretty slow so I don't

have to worry about him moving from room to room yet, but I know he'll be a speed demon before we know it. He's also quite the eater these days. His current favorites are bananas, sweet potatoes and squash. Julia also loves feeding her baby brother. She is such a great sister. She tells me all the time how much she loves "her baby Lukey."

We also recently went strawberry picking at a local farm. Since Julia loves Strawberry Shortcake, we told her we going to pick strawberry's like the Berrykins. She was VERY excited and had a fabulous time at the farm.

Fun Julia quotes of the week:

"No Mommy, you listen to me. I want to sleep in your room."

"Daddy, can I sleep in your room, please?"

"When the sun comes up in the morning, I can come in Mommy and Daddy's room."

"Mommy is my best friend. Daddy is also my best friend."

"I love Mommy and Daddy and Baby Lukey and Amelia."

"I'm Tinkerbelle. Look at me fly!"

"I want to feed Baby Lukey!"

"Mommy, you look very pretty today."

Luke loves Mommy's cell phone

He also loves the computer, this is what inspired his crawling

Strawberry picking with Daddy

Julia and her chocolate

Water fun!

Luke touches sand for the first time, he's thinking about whether or not he likes it

Luke & Daddy

Have a great week everyone!

April 20 - Mommy, You Sit in the Carseat, I'll Drive

Let me recap what has happened the last few days I've picked up my little dimpled munchkins from school. Luke goes into the car first (very easy since he is already buckled into his carseat). I open the door for Julia and she climbs into the back, then quickly climbs into the drivers seat, grabs the steering wheel and says:

"Mommy, you sit in my carseat and I'll drive." - Julia

"Julia, how old do you need to be to drive?" - Mommy

"16." - Julia

"How old are you?" - Mommy

"I'm 17." - Julia

"You are 2 and you'll be 3 in August. You won't be driving for awhile. Please climb back to your carseat." - Mommy

"I'm having a bouncy house party, right?" - Julia

Ah! This is such a cute age yet I admit very frustrating at times. When she doesn't want to do something she likes to thrash around (often when trying to strap her in her carseat and she is screaming 'No! I want to drive!') or she has perfected 'the limp noodle' when I try to hold her hand which drives me insane. She is also sneaky at the grocery store and has a penchant for grabbing food and eating it before we check out (she sits in the car thing in the front and knows how to unhook the belt). The last time we went she grabbed a container of blueberries and ate the entire thing! At least it was healthy.

However, as challenging she can be, she is such a ball of energy and so much fun. She also LOVES her baby brother and it melts my heart every time I see them together.

She loves to sing and dance for him and tries to "play" with him as much as possibl

e. She is so excited they go to school together now. Luke also LOVES his big sister and almost always has a huge smile on his face when she's entertaining him. I love my kids! (that includes Amelia Peabody, my furry baby)

Completely unrelated, but I was talking to a girlfriend recently about all the things people tell you when you are having a baby that don't turn out to be true. For example, people told me I'd be changing crib sheets in the middle of the night "all the time." Hmmm..only time I've had to do it was when Julia had a stomach virus. I was also told that Luke would pee "all the time" during diaper changes. Hmmm...it happened once. I realize all kids are different but for all the moms out there that read this blog, I'm curious as to things you were told would happen that never did. I'd love to do a blog to share them! Shoot me an email.

Please enjoy some more photos from our NC trip.

How adorable is Andrew? I love how he loves to eat!

Uncle Greg showing Luke how to work the remote

The girls loved jumping off the couch

Mommy & Jules

April 9 - I'm a Pretty Pony, Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop!

Let me start off this post by wishing my hubby a very happy birthday. Hope you had a great day babe! I loved it because we spent all day together as a family. Gymnastics, soccer, birthday dinner, cake-it was perfect! It's amazing to think that 10 years ago on this day I took you skydiving..my how things have changed.

I traveled with the kids to Raleigh last week for Andrew's baptism.

It was a great trip! In terms of the flight itself, I took a different tactic this time around. When we went to Florida, Luke was in his carseat/frame, Julia walked and I had a backpack. This time we flew out of IAH (which is a larger airport than Hobby) so Julia was in the umbrella stroller, Luke was strapped to my chest, I had a backpack, rolling suitcase and another bag (I didn't have to bring any carseats this time around as my brother had them already). We flew Continental and I was determined to fly without paying for a checked bag. Other than discovering I couldn't bring a snow globe through security (there was actually a sign specifically for snow globes as this is a new restriction; luckily J.D. walked in with me and was able to take it) everything went smoothly. Julia has flown so many times she is a seasoned pro. Luke was just happy to be held by mommy.

Our flight back was a little more challenging. We were delayed 2H at the Raleigh airport (Julia rode the moving walkways for a few hours to kill the time; she had a blast) and once we were in the air, bad weather added an hour to our flight time. There was direct tv on our flight though so she was happy watching Nick Jr. while Luke slept most of the way.

As for the trip itself, it was so much fun! It was pretty much Thanksgiving 2.0 with a few more people.

The kids were spoiled with presents and had a great time playing dress up, reading and enjoying their new toys (the adults had a lot of fun playing with the granimal toy..I'm thinking about getting one for myself). Victoria and Andrew have a rocking horse/pony who says "I'm Pretty Pony, Clippity Clop, Clippity Clop" and the kids spent a lot of time on it.

We probably heard the theme song a couple hundred times (I still find myself chanting it throughout the day) but it never annoyed me (that can't be said for some other people...they were going crazy listening to it). The girls also played with a hammer/peg kit from Great Grandpa (a gift for Andrew that they took over) for hours.

Andrew's Baptism was on Saturday and it was a very nice service. He looked so dapper in his little white suit and the girls looked adorable in their beautiful dresses. Luke was even rocking a new suit.

The kids all behaved pretty well in church and it was a beautiful day. Afterwards, there was a party at the Cook's with family, relatives, neighbors and their close friends. In addition to the pony and hammer kit, the kids played in the woods, the sand/water table and really just had a fabulous time.

In addition to all the fun family activities, Jill hosted a playgroup at the house on Friday with about 5 kids around age 3. It was great meeting her friends and their kids. On Sunday, we went to Monkey Joe's (bouncy house place) for a birthday party Victoria was invited to. Uncle Bryan spent the day with Julia bouncing from house to house and boy was he tired after 2 hours! It was a beautiful day on Monday so we went to the park and had fun.

Great Grandpa, Mommy & Luke

Great Uncle Brian & Luke (Brian was amazing with Luke when he was fussy, he could get him to stop crying almost every time!)

Great Uncle Craig & Julia

Great Uncle Chris & Luke

Greg & Jill (I love this picture of them - what a beautiful couple!)

The Girls - It Doesn't Get Much Cuter Than This

Mommy-Please Get Me Out of this Carseat

Mommy & Her Little Man

Victoria took this picture of Jules which is pretty cool. Great job V!

March 30 - Almost Crawling

Okay dimpled munchkin fans-huge news. Luke is almost crawling. He can get up on all fours and rock and he can also get into the pushup position. He's been doing this for the last few days. Any time we put him on the floor, he is immediately up on all fours trying to crawl. Well, either that or he is flinging his legs around spinning in a circle. We think he'll be officially crawling within a few weeks. I knew this day was coming but I didn't think it would be so soon. I looked back at my posts when Julia was a baby and she was doing this at 7.5 months old. It's exciting but kind of scary at the same time..my little snuggler will be a moving, getting into trouble baby before I know it!

In other fantastic news, we've

had a sleeping breakthrough with Luke. Our trip to Florida was very rough

. I didn't want to disturb Hannah and Mark while we were at their house so every time he made a noise I picked him up. I think he caught on to what I was doing because by the last night I was pretty much holding him the entire night. I'm sure he loved it..me, on the other hand, averaged about 3H a night while we were there. Our first night back in Texas, I was so exhausted that I put him to bed at 8:30pm. He woke up at 1am and I was so tired I couldn't get out of bed. He fell back asleep on his own and didn't get up until 6am. Woo hoo! So for the last week, he's done GREAT. He usually wakes up crying one or two times but he can generally fall back asleep without eating. I feel like I have a new lease on life!

In other news, there was an International Festival at Julia's school this past weekend. Her class did a dance and it was so adorable. She did great. She was actually the only kid that was on the little stage without a parent-all of her classmates either didn't want to participate or required a parent to stand next to them. But our little dancing diva was front and center doing her moves. We were so proud!

On Sunday, the Hargrave family came over for a bbq. They are moving to Milwaukee soon so it was great spending time with them. We blew up a baby pool for the kids but you can see that Amelia ended up taking refuge in it. Oh-and see that the cone is back? While I was in Florida she reopened the wound so now she must wear the cone for 4-6...weeks!

The Push-Up Position, it's hard to see in this outfit but his body is completely off the ground

Julia, Emma and Shane - BFF's

Julia and Brilee

Wait? This isn't a dog pool?

She knows how to unlock J.D.'s i-phone & pull up photos and videos..I can't imagine what she'll do by the time she's 3

March 27 - Super Mom, Nanny B & The 5 Star Resort

Last week I traveled to Florida by myself with the kids. Yes, just call me 'Super Mom' from here on out. Rambunctious 2.5 yr old? Check. 5 month old baby? Check. Carseat/Stroller? Check. Carry on bags? Check. 15 frozen ounces of breastmilk? Check. Exhausted Mommy due to infant who doesn't sleep? Check. Okay...it honestly wasn't too bad. I checked in online but still had to check a bag (which was over 50lb and they charged me $50..oh well) and had to prove Luke was under age 2 by showing his birth certificate (no joke, Southwest actually checks this even though it is obvious he is under age 2). J.D. went into the airport with me and helped with the kids until I had to get in the security line. It did take awhile for our crew to get through security (luckily the airport wasn't busy) but we didn't have any major issues. Our flight was 100% full and we were lucky to have a girl who used to nanny sit in our row. Once we were airborne, Julia watched a Strawberry Shortcake DVD quietly and I snuggled with Luke. It was pretty uneventful. While we were landing, Julia became VERY excited about seeing Grammie and let out a high pitch squeal (ear piercing) but luckily she only did it once. Grammie and Uncle Chad met us at the airport and it was fab seeing them. After picking up the rental car, I had a quick lunch at the Yamo's and then headed to Gainesville with Luke.

It was great being in the office again surrounded by people. While I undoubtedly get more work done at home (I pretty much sit in meetings all day when I'm in the office), these quarterly trips always invigorate me. However, this trip was bittersweet because this was my first time away from Luke. My girlfriend Suzanne watched him on Wednesday and Thursday, while another friend, Karen, watched him Friday and my old neighbor Hannah (who we stayed with while we were in town) watched him Saturday.

On the first day (Wednesday) I called Suzanne mid-afternoon to see how he was doing and she said he was

refusing the bottle. I freaked out..but it tuns out right after we spoke, he passed out for 20min and woke up with a new tooth!

Then, he drank his bottle with no issues. All the ladies loved him to pieces (Suzanne said he's the best baby she's ever seen) and he had a great time. He also made a new furry friend, Bailey. Bailey is Amelia's old buddy, the pooch next door (Hannah and Mark's furry baby). Bailey (or Nanny B as Hannah nicknamed her) LOVED Luke. Check out Hannah's blog (Bailey & Co link on the right) for her take of our time there and some adorable pictures. I also go to spend some time with Jill and meet her new baby (Arthur, 7 months) for the first time. He is a mini-Jill and absolutely adorable. He is a super happy, smiley baby and wouldn't you know-neither Jill nor I had a camera to get a picture of our little men together. Darn.

Okay...now to my little Julia Bean. She had an absolutely amazing time at Grammie's. I'm now officially calling Grammie's house

"The 5 Star Resort" because she has such a great time every time she is there. They did so many fun things! They went to the beach (she loved the shells, walking with Grammie and Uncle Chad and building sand castles), the zoo (she told everyone she swings like the monkey's at gymnastics; she also wanted to feed the giraffes with Uncle Greg but was too scared when they came up to her, so he fed them), the aquarium (she really loved a mermaid statue!), the park and shopping (she is just like Grammie and loves shoes!). Uncle Chad also set up a baby pool for Julia on the back patio which she loved.

She had so much fun playing with Grammie, Uncle Chad, Uncle Greg, Aunt Nicole and of course, K.C. the cat (she carried him around everywhere...and even tried to put him in his litter pan a few times). Grammie also sewed her some adorable outfits!

Oh-this is fun. So we flew back last Monday on the 6:55am flight out of Tampa. It was an early morning to say the least. The first flight out on Monday is usually very busy and if I didn't have the kids, I would have missed the flight (I was able to bypass the ridiculously long security line because I had the kids). As we were boarding the plane I walked pass a girl in the airport that I knew-my old friend Teri. Teri was a diver at NYU when I dived at Emory and we met at a meet many moons ago. We used to be very close friends (even though we've only seen each other a handful of times in our lives) but we haven't talked much the last few years. She ended up being on the same flight and sat next to us. It was fabulous catching up and talking to her. She also works in the medical device industry so we were able to catch up on personal matters and "talk shop." Small world!

Special thanks to everyone who helped last week with the kids-Grammie, Uncle Chad, Uncle Greg, Aunt Nicole, Hannah, Mark, Nanny B, Suzanne, Karen, Teri (she helped on the plane with Luke).

Here some more adorable pictures of the bean. Enjoy!

Water Fun

Watering the Plants

Pool Fun

Julia Loves K.C.

She takes him everywhere!

No Joke-she even carries him outside!

This is one chill cat..who allows a 2.5 yr old to carry them around like that!

Another great photo of Julia & Grammie at the beach

I'll be posting again in a few days-we had another fun filled weekend here so there are a lot more photos to share. Hope you all had a great weekend!