Alex's First pair of shoes

Well our little one is growing up. She will be one year old this month. I can not believe I almost have a one year old.... She is moving up at school as well and on to the next class and she has to wear shoes. Since she is only cruising so far and no walking on her own we really hadn't put any shoes on her. So off we went 2 or 3 weekends ago to get her shoes at the same store Clarks that we always buy Sams shoes. Well she has a little plump feet so she could not fit into any of the shoes. So we asked around (aka I askd my friends) if anyone else had this problem and sure enough a few other mom's did and had the solution. There is a Stride Right down in Dallas that has everything you can imagine for little kids with chunkier feet. So we made a trip down there this past weekend and man they had a ton of cute stuff.. They are independently owned so they carry everything kid related. I walked in their overwhelmed but excited. We were able to find a cute sneaker for Alex in a few minutes that we thought would be very supportive of her first getting used to shoes and for walking in.

Here she is leaving the store in her new shoes...

We then proceeded to walk next door and eat Snuffers..Nothing like a good old fahsioned burger and of course what they are known for CHEESE FRIES!!!

Thumbs up

So on Saturday this weekend we went to the Flight Museum out by Love Field Airport. We went with another family that have been friends with Dan since the college days. They are such fun and have two adorable boys. We met up with them right at ten o'clock when the museum opened and had a great time. Apparently it was cockpit day so they had people at every simulator and plane to assist kids getting into and out of the cockpits. Well we were only able to talk Sam into getting into one of the cockpits.

We also had a lot of fun getting ready to get out the door. Earlier that morning at 7AM Dan went to drop his car off to get some work done and well the girls and I were just getting up and around and so Dan ran home for the car place..heheheh He actually loved it since he wanted to get some exercise in.

Here are the girls ready to go and I was running around trying to pack up a diaper bag so asked them to sit still for a minute (as Alex's new trick is going straight for the stairs)...

Alex immediately wanting Sam's hat and surprisingly Sam didn't get upset about this...I think she was very excited to go to the museum.


Sam sporting her cute hat we got her at the Rangers game we went to earlier in the summer.

Sam getting into the simulator cockpit. She is looking a little hesitant at first but Daddy was right there with her.

Now she is getting into her groove (I think all those buttons helped)...and giving us the thumbs up sign..

Eating in versus eating out

Well we are in that phase that all you moms know is all kinds of fun. It is much easier to strap the little one in the high chair and eat at home so you can get up and down a million times to get new and different things to try and let the little one eat for the first time. However eating out is also soooo much fun because then you don't have to clean up the huge mess underneath the highchair.

Alex is a great eater and loves to get in her highchair for dinner time..

Now the clean up process is much more of a beating these days as she insists on feeding herself. So I have resorted to basically stripping her down right there in the kitchen on the floor or I have even done the silly thing of taking her to the front lawn and shaking her off..heheeh yeah Sam thought that was funny but hey it worked.

Here is what Alex looks like during a normal dinner....My sweet baby....

Story time and play time before bed

So one night this past week Dan went to read bedtime stories to Alex and I was going to take Sam to her room to read her her stories and Sam went running in to Alex's room and decided to jump on Dans lap for story time with Alex. It was so cute I ran to get the camera and take a few pictures.

Here Dan is reading one of their favorites Good Night Moon. Dan has the thing memorized and lets them flip the pages as he recites from memory. Sam was having so much fun Dan ended up reading a lot of books to them that night.

Then it was time for Alex to get into her crib and well Sam didn't want her to be lonely so she wanted to get in too. They had so much fun playing in the crib and I cracked up looking at them both in there. Alex looks very serious but she was cracking up a second earlier.

And this is what we get greeted with now in the mornings when we go in to get Alex. She can pull up in her crib and she is practicing cruising...So she is usually standing up waiting for us to go get her.
Ahhh they are growing up so fast......

Dress up and crawling

So I know I mentioned Sam's favorite new thing to do is play dress up with Alex, well that continues. Sam got a cape at a SuperHero party we went to a few months ago and that has become one of her favorite things to put on Alex (mainly because she can do it herself without our help) and Alex seems to love it too. So got a few cute pictures of them playing one day dress up.

Alex dressed up as "Girl Batman" per Sam.

Sam is Minnie Mouse (that dress is way too small for her but she still insists on putting it on).

Alex is starting to want the cape off because it is interfering with her.......CRAWLING...

Yes we have a CRAWLER....LOOK OUT!!!!



And now we are all caught back up again. I hope not to be more than a couple weeks behind in getting posts up....That is my goal so we will see how I do with it....

Fourth of July

We had a very low key Fourth of July this year it was nice. We did get to help celebrate my Father in laws birthday but the rest of the weekend was just laying low time...

We did take a few pictures of the girls in their 4th of July tank tops that they looked so cute in..

Random pictures in late June

I found a few pictures from late June that I took trying to get a good one of the girls together. Which is seriously such a challenge..

Alex is such a ham it cracks me up....

Fathers Day

So for Fathers Day this year all the men in the family banned together and decided they wanted to go to Randy Whites BBQ. Sounds good to me. We had a fun lunch with the whole family. I couldn't figure out why I don't have more then the two pictures below from Fathers day and that is because my camera battery died. Sorry Dan no pictures of him with the girls on this special day. These girls are such daddy's girls. So cute to see their faces light up when Dan gets home from work.

Sam being silly....

Kendall and Alex having some bonding time too...

Swimming with the folks

One Saturday in mid June Dan had to work so I packed up the girls and went to our folks (yes they live in the same neighborhood) neighborhood pool. We always have such fun swimming there and eating lunch. Here are my favorite pictures from the day.

Alex looking so stylish in her biking and adorable hat.


Sam in her matching bathing suit and her floatie that she only asked me 20 times to make sure I brought it with us...

Alex did not have a nap that mornign so by 1 pm she was done...She and Papa John took a little rest.


Heheeh Papa John wasn't really sleeping but doesn't he look so cute with his youngest granddaughter.. This is my favorite picture of my dad with Alex. Just like I have a favorite one of him with Sam too...eheheh

Sea World

So right after Sam's birthday we decided to take a long weekend and take Sam on a road trip. We went to San Antonio. what a fun trip. We decided to leave Alex with Grandma and Grandpa for several reasons 1) Wanted to spend some special time with Sam, 2) it was pretty dang hot and 3) Alex had several ear infections in the spring and really didn't want to put her in the pools just yet. She had a fabulous time getting totally spoiled with her grandparent.

We stayed at the JW Mariott in the Hill Country and Wowsers..We did not want to leave. Sam loved swimming at the resort. We swam every day. This is the view from our fabulous balcony.

We took Sam to Sea World and it was a lot of fun. HOT HOT but fun. Here we are waiting for the Shamu show to start. Thank goodness all these shows are covered...

One night we went to the riverwalk for dinner and after dinner we went to get ice cream. Sam loves ice cream...

After ice cream we decided to feed the birds with our left over bread on the riverwalk. Sam had so much fun chasing the birds.

They had a fire pit at the resort and apparently every night they have staff out there making SMORES..I have not had one of those in years....We only found this out the last night (which may not have been a bad thing as we would have eaten one every night) and Sam had her first SMORES...She LOVED it... Check out that face.....

Oh and one more picture from Sea Worl after a long hot day seeing shows and walking around we changed Sam into her swimsuit and let her loose in the kids splash park to cool down..She had a blast..We love how she backs into the sprinklers.

We had such a good time on the trip we plan on going back again next year with both girls..

One final picture of Sam standingup watching the Shamu show with Mommy..

Alex's 9 month stats

In late June we had Alex's 9 month appointment. She is just chugging along....

Thought I would share her stats...

Weight 23 pounds 8 ounces Greater then 100%
Height 29.8 Again Greater then 100%
Head 18.3 One more time Greater then 100%

She is a big girl is the doctors comments. She is really just tall...Not super chunky by any means but just right...

She did get one shot and did great with it..She did get a tweety bird band aid and I think Sam was a tad jealous.... Of the band aid of course not the shot...

Sam's 3 year stats

Well I took Sam to her 3 year appt back in early June and it turned into a not so well visit. She had a horrible raging ear infection in one ear...Crazy since you would have had no clue..She was showing no signs..She had had a runny nose earlier in the week...Anyway got her some antibiotics and she was good to go.

Weight 32.6 75%
Height 38.3 80-90%

The Doctors comments were Tall Girl....You think!!!

Since we have been to the doctor a few times with Sam this year with her potential asthma and a few knock down illnesses she seems to enjoy going to Dr G's office. Didn't cry at all..Just was shy when he first came in..Also I wasn't sure if she was getting shots or not so I just kept telling her if she had one it would just be like a little pinch like when her sister pinches her which of course turned into a 2 day pinching game. Lucky for me no shots....

Sam's birthday party

This year for Sam's 3rd birthday we decided to have a Pump It Up party. Which is basically an indoor inflatable bounce house place..So many fun jump things and slides....She loves it... We had a great turn out with friends, school friends and family.

Erik with baby Kendall...


Me and Sam...She was getting tried. All that bouncing will do that to you..

Trying to get a group shot of the kids..This is the best one we got.

Sam blowing out her candles...yeah now can I eat the cupcake??



Two sweet cousins eating ice cream together....

Sam's 3rd birthday

On Sam's actual third birthday we just had a quick dinner at our house (it was a Friday) after work/school with my parents and Dan's parents. Sam thought that was super fun as her birthday party wasn't for another week. Her big present this year from us was a bike. She loved it. We are still workign with her to get the idea of pedaling down but she loves putting on her helmut and making her Daddy run along behind her helping her go...So cute....

Sam getting her bike..She was so excited it is pink and princess themed..What more could she ask for.




Going for her first ride down the driveway....



Look at me I am a big girl now!!!

Sam's first Dance recital

So late in May Sam had her first dance recital. She did a great job and loved wearing the pretty outfit and a tad bit of makeup.... She got to do two numbers, one ballet and one tap. She did such a great job... The whole family was there and she got flowers from everyone too which really made her day. Also I was asked to be class mommy...I cracked up... I had to line them all up right before their dances while their parents ran back to their seats and keep them calm. It was a lot of fun and I think Sam was glad I was there but next year I hope to get to see the whole thing from my seat..

Sam lining up with her bestie from school Sophie....


A quick pick with a proud mommy between her two dances.

Sam getting some gorgeous flowers from Aly. Sam and Aly are such sweet little girls... They were very excited to give and receive flowers from each other..


Trying to get a quick pic with Mommy and Daddy after recital...Sam was way more interested in playing/running around with Aly.

First Rangers Game

So one Sunday mid afternoon we decided to take Sam to her first Rangers game. Dan was very excited as he is a HUGE baseball fan. I was excited but also a tad cautious as she was just about to be 3 and still not able to sit still for too terribly long. I think Dan thought he could sit and relax and watch the whole game from the seats...We lasted a whole 30 minutes in our seats before we had to walk around, get ice cream, get her a new hat and check out the kids area. Oh well it was a great first game and it was also very hot....So Alex spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa getting spoiled..

Here we are just having gotten to our seats...Sam enjoyed it for about 30 minutes before she talked us into getting ice cream.

Ice cream with Daddy...
Us leaving after only being there just under 2 hours....
I think we will wait until next summer to try again...