Wordless Wednesday

Out of Hibernation...Maybe

I feel like I've been hibernating from the blog world over the past few weeks.
We're still in the middle of moving, renovating, painting, rearranging, and taking care of babies (one of whom is sick at the moment).
I still don't have enough time to post about what's been going on with us over the past couple of weeks, so I'll just leave you with a few pictures of the babies.

Aubrey's 1st football season

Learning to say, "War Eagle!"
Watchin' the Tigers play

Touchdown!

Luke has had a fever all weekend and when he's not following me around whining,
this is what he's been doing
he looks so pitiful, doesn't he?

Apparently when you're sick, you like to fall asleep shirtless in a lazy boy chair with your fly unzipped and your hands resting in your pants

He's all boy, or should I say all man!

Adventures in Indiana, Part II

While we were in Indiana we had the pleasure of helping cousin Parker celebrate her 2nd birthday. We were especially excited to take part in this celebration, because Parker's 1st birthday party was all but canceled due to the fact that Hurricane Ike hit Houston this time last year and all flights in and out of the city were grounded.

Parker loves the movie, Finding Nemo, so she had a Nemo themed party.

Aunt Holly and Big Mama worked tirelessly to create a Nemo cake and although it didn't turn out as Aunt Holly hoped, it looked great!

Aunt Holly said all the hard work was worth it when Parker took one look at the cake and yelled with excitement"Nemo!"

Parker's not a big fan of sweets, but she did enjoy a few licks of Nemo icing

Luke, on the other hand, devoured his piece of cake

After a few bites, he noticed that he hands were getting dirty, but that didn't deter him from finishing off the rest of his cake

Other than cake, what are some must haves for a 2 year old's birthday party?

1) Ride on toys

They provide hours of fun for toddlers with little supervision from adults, who might have been caught up in a cornhole tournament :)

Luke and cousin, Hillarie, crusin' in the driveway

Luke had enough of the crusin' and decided to bail

Parker preferred the "Learning Train", and she didn't care about riding it,

instead, she tried with all her might to stuff a basketball in the caboose

While the toddlers were busy riding their cars, the babies were engaged in stare match

2) Presents

Of course the toddler who is actually opening the presents is having the most fun,

But, watching in anticipation can also provide enjoyment

3) Balloons

The balloons were a huge hit

Here's a short video of Luke playing with his "moon" as he called it

4) Bubbles

Parker received a bubble blowing machine from her parents and the kids loved it

Most of the kids liked to chase after the bubbles

Luke decided he'd rather stick his face right in front of the machine and try to get as many bubble suds in his hair as possible

And last, but not least...

5) Fireworks

Did that last one catch you by surprise? Fireworks at a 2 year old's party? Believe it or not they were quite the hit, the kids clapped after each one was shot off and yelled, "More!, More!".
Don't worry they weren't the big, scary, loud kind, just small, tame, and colorful.

Happy 2nd Birthday Parker!

Wordless Wednesday

Having a baby sister makes you want to revert back to the good 'ole days of being carried around in your carseat

Aubrey is "talking" a lot now...she especially likes to talk to the animals on her swing

Adventures in Indiana, Part I

We returned home last night from a week long vacation in Madison, Indiana (Ryan's home town).

Ryan and his dad spent the week fishing in Canada while the babies and I stayed with Ryan's mom and visited with the rest of his family.

I planned on doing lots of blogging and catching up on my blog reading while I was husbandless, but the second night we were there the internet and main TV at Ryan's parent's house went out and wasn't restored until the night Ryan returned home.

So, I have several stories to share from our trip and will try to make time this week (in the middle of getting ready to move) to blog about all of our Adventures in Indiana.

Today is my sister, Anna's, 24th birthday!
She told me all she wanted for her birthday was for me to update my blog,
so this blog is dedicated to Anna ;)

Luke is a pretty well behaved toddler, except for the occasional tantrum here and there. However, he is NOT a good eater.
I am baffled by this, because I LOVE to eat and always have...you should see pictures of me as a baby!

Luke was a big baby, 9 lbs at birth, and he ate like a champ until around the time he turned a year old.

I started off thinking that he was just too busy to eat, which I know is common for many on-the-go toddlers, so I just gave him things that I knew he could eat quickly like crackers, pretzels, cheese, raisins, and yogurt. Well, I think we kept him on this diet too long, and he started disliking everything else and not wanting to try new things.

Over the past couple of months Ryan and I have battled with Luke to get him to start eating healthier and trying new foods. Most of the time Luke will eat whatever Ryan tells him to, I, on the other hand have really struggled with getting him to eat.

So, I told myself that this week while Ryan was away I would work extra hard to get Luke to eat whatever I put in front on him.
With the help of Big Mama (Ryan's mom), a few discipline threats, and the bribe of M & M's,
I was quite successful in my quest to teach Luke to eat.

As you can see from the pictures below, Luke wasn't necessarily eating healthier,
but he was definitely trying new foods.

I set the hamburger in front of him and he stared at it for a long time

Then he picked it up...
And took a BIG bite
He was then rewarded with lots of "high fives" and some of mommy's sprite

He ate everything this week from the mundane baked beans, carrots, & roast to
the exotic big red smokies(kin to hot dogs), fried fish & chicken quesadillas.

I was so proud of him and hope that it sticks now that we're back home.

What was the little Miss doing while big brother was learning to eat?

Why, she was cheering on one of her favorite college teams.

War Eagle!

As you can see from this picture, Aubrey doesn't need any eating lessons,
she's making an A+ in that subject :)