Angel Fire

I haven't blogged about our recent trip to Angel Fire, NM because it's just too depressing to thinking about not being there. Well, that's not really the reason, but seriously, it was amazing.

The Coleman family - Drew, Jennie, Jackie & Laura joined us this time. We had been talking about taking this trip since last spring, and it finally happened! We left town on a Thursday morning, made a stop for lunch in Dallas at "Two Guys from Italy", which was AMAZING, then headed to the airport to fly to Albequerque. In Albequerque we rented a couple cars then headed out to Angel Fire.

It really was an amazing trip. The highs were in the low 70s & the lows were in the low 40s. We wore jeans & long sleeves. When we talked about it at the end, it was hard to pick our favorite thing about the trip.

We relaxed inside,

played with Kate,

watched lots of movies,

did each other's hair,

the boys put their lessons to use and played golf,

we went out to eat every night.

look at that sky!

Oh, and did we play some games. Sequence every morning with breakfast, Speed Scrabble, Pit, Swap, but my personal favorite was this well documented Guesstures game. I even have some video...but it's on my actual video camera & I'm not sure how to get it on here. Maybe I'll figure that out...until then...

Saturday, we took a little trip over to Red River for the day.

Knock-knock jokes over walkie-talkies,

Ski-lift rides to the top of the mountain,

MUCH, MUCH sillines,

Oh, and Jesus stuff.

We had grand plans for Line Dancing at the community center, but they didn't start til 8 o'clock & we had seen all we wanted of Red River by 4 and the wait just didn't seem worth it. David just taught us the Texas Roadhouse line dance when we got home instead. Well, not really.

Sunday the boys decided to play another round of golf since our 4-wheeling dreams had been dashed by a locked gate, so the girls packed up and headed over to the big city of Eagle Nest. We grabbed lunch (nicely heated up from the freezer) & walked around town to take pictures. We tried to find letters in architecture to spell our names out. I was trying to find Kate's. I am still hunting for an A...

Monday morning we packed up, cleaned house, and headed back to the airport. Thanks to a long lunch & some fun traffic we were a little late getting to the airport...we were a little nervous things would take long returning the cars & the boys might be stuck for awhile...but they made it. Kate was an amazing traveler as usual. She had a meltdown on the way back to the airport after waking up from her nap too early, but nothing a Baby Einstein video couldn't handle.

So, now we're back to the 100 degree heat, except for this week we've gotten a few cool fronts - it's only 90 - and back to sweating the minute you walk out the door from the 97% humidity. Back to going to work, not having a cooked breakfast every morning. Back to not playing at least 3 games a day, and back to not living with friends.

At least we have our memories :-)

South Padre

Whew! It has been a CRAZY month of August. We have been going non-stop with such fun things to do, but it sure does feel good to slow down a little!

Two weeks ago, we went to South Padre Island with my family. We were excited to get everyone together for a vacation. David & I realized on the way down there that this was our first time back to a beach since our honeymoon - far too long!

We went down on Thursday & were able to fly, which was GREAT since it would've been over 9 hours to drive. It was such a relaxing weekend - sitting on the beach, eating great food, sleeping, etc. It is so fun to get to watch Connor & Kate interact the older they get. I imagine it is only going to get better & better (that is until they start biting & fighting!)

They both loved the beach - Connor especially! He would say "whee!" everytime he heard the waves. We definitely created lots of fun memories for their first trips to the beach!

Here are some pictures from the weekend...

David enjoying our amazing balcony!

My Mom & Dad with Kate

Helping Connor feed the seagulls

Kate & Connor playing in the sand - they both loved it!

My brother, Cole's family

Kate & Connor testing out the sand - Kate cleaning it off the toys & Connor going for a handful!

Cole & Kristin brought their wagon - it was a great way to take the kids down to the beach so we could carry all their stuff!

Cole & I with our kids

Kate & I on the beach

This is the life.

Mom & Dad with the kids

There were 2 walls of mirrors in our condo - Kate LOVED them! She spent most of her time talking to herself & kissing herself in the mirror!

She was GREAT on the plane. Both ways she was able to have her own seat - on the way there we even got to take the carseat on and she slept in it for awhile.

We rode from Harlingen to Houston on the way back with Cole, Kristin & Connor. Both kids are such good travelers!

Thank you Mom & Dad for such a fun trip!!!

Kate's New Game

I was so excited the day that she learned to put in her own pacifier. I had been doing the "pacifier dance" - putting it in at night when she woke up & couldn't get back to sleep, making sure she had it in before I put her down, etc. I love that now I can just throw a handful of pacifiers in her crib & she can put them in as she pleases.

These days when I get Kate out of bed, this is what I find...

Aparently, throwing them on the floor is just as fun as actually getting to put them to use.

8 Month Potratits

Since I took Kate's 7 Month pictures so late, it seems very fast to be posting new ones, but since we went on 2 very fun vacations right around the 12th, I decided to take advantage of it & take Kate's "portraits" on the beach and in the mountains! Brace yourself: A LOT of pictures below!

These were the pictures that were taken in Angel Fire, NM. We were there last weekend (more to come on that!). Our friends, the Colemans, went with us & Jennie took some really great shots of Kate. I also had her take some family shots too...but you'll have to wait for those!

And, of course I had to take a few myself...

There were a few outfits that were too big for Kate that were for cold weather that she never got to wear before it got hot here in Texas, so I wanted to get some pictures in this outfit. My mom bought it before she was ever born...I just love the little jacket!

Happy 8 Months Kate!

I'm late this month with Kate's update, we were out of town, but are home now. Hopefully I'll finally start to get caught up!

What a month! I feel like Kate is turning into her own little person this month. She has DEFINITE opinions, shows her little independent personality often, and much much more. I just love getting to know her & am having so much fun being a mom. What a joy to watch this little girl grow & learn each day!

This month Kate...

--LOVES to be sung to & is starting to do some motions to songs - "If you're happy & you know it" - she claps...not every time...but usually, "This little light of mine" - she sticks up her pointer & especially loves when I blow on her finger for the verse about Satan blowing it out, "ABCs" - can stop any meltdown. The minute I sing it she's smiling & watching...it's hilarious.

--clapping

--crawling - and it gets faster everyday!

--turns her head when she doesn't want something

--is aware of loud sounds & is usually intially scared and jumps further into my arms, but gets over it soon: the garage door, the waves at the beach, etc.

--still haven't found anything this girl won't eat: added cheerios, peas & carrots to finger foods

--sleeping the same as last month - won't let go of that 3rd nap (although it's just 45 min now), but I'm not complaining!

--pulls up - on EVERYTHING! It started with just her crib, but now it's everything - her highchair, our legs, baskets, coffee tables, EVERYTHING!

--still just 2 teeth :)

--sits with her toes pointed most of the time

--is funny about textures - after she touches something or puts something in her mouth if it's a funny texture (sequins, paper, etc.) she does this funny little shuddering thing.

She had just put this paper in her mouth - here she is doing the little shuddering thing!

--gives kisses

--"Dances" - when we're in restraunts with music she tilts her head to the right over & over

--loves the bath even more now that she can crawl around & explore the whole bathtub

--points - not really at anything, just points :)


--reccognizes familiar faces

--when asked "Where's Daddy?" She will look all over until she finds him then squeals with glee - she ADORES him!




--seems to be pretty tough - we are having MANY falls now that she is crawling & pulling up (already 2 bruises!), but it takes a very hard one to bring any tears!

in this picture she has a bruise on her left cheek

--"sings" when one of her toys plays music. I'm not sure if it really is singing, but it sounds different than regular babbling & it sounds the same everytime!




Now that we're back from all our fun vacations, hopefully I'll get some new videos posted of her doing some new things: singing, motions to songs, dancing, etc.