Monday, June 30, 2008

God Bless Texas - Millions Of Pictures

My parents drove to Shreveport, LA to pick us up at a Cracker Barrel! It was so nice to have both sets of grandparents together.

Yes, when we crossed the state line my dad played "God Bless Texas" from his IPOD. An hour later we stopped for a bathroom/nursing break at a gas station. I knew we were in Texas when we get out of the car at the gas station and I hear "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" playing over the speakers...
We really had a nice relaxing time in Fort Worth. Saturday night dad cooked my favorite Texas meal... Boiled shrimp appetizer with Central Market's amazing cocktail sauce, Filet Mignon, and spring salad with Central Market blue cheese (my FAVORITE!). It was WONDERFUL!
Sunday TJ and I got to go to our old church, Keystone, and see lots of friends. Eric and April were so sweet to make us a wonderful lunch and Karoline loved playing with Alli. Sam and Anderson basically slept the whole time. That night TJ and I went to my parents church, Fellowship Church, and out to dinner alone!
On Monday TJ conned my mom into buying new LCD flat panel TV's for their living room and smaller den. He was like a little boy on Christmas morning when we got home from Costco! He spent a lot of the day setting them up but the TV's looked great and added a lot of space to their rooms.
The rest of the week we just hung out at my parents house a lot... TJ and Dad got up before dark a few times in order to tee off the second the sun came up, Mom and I got away on a few shopping trips while the kids slept and the men stayed home, TJ and I got to have two dates (it was wonderful), and Karoline and Anderson were majorly spoiled! Oh, I forgot breakfast... every morning my dad made a "country morning breakfast"... yes I gained 4 lbs on this trip! OH MY!
Karoline's favorite moment was going to a cute boutique and buying her new Elephant... my dad named her Ellie. The moment we walked in the store she HAD TO HAVE IT. We tried taking it away and even giving her a smaller version of the same stuffed animal but NOPE, she wanted the HUGE elephant.
Anderson's memorable moment is that he got his two front teeth! He was a little fussy but it did not interrupt his sleep!
Anyway, it was a GREAT trip and I was really sad when we had to leave. It is HARD traveling with two small children but it is worth it. Karoline and Anderson did a wonderful job with the plane rides and car rides. I think my favorite thing about being home is that the kids are in their own rooms and my changing table! It is hard having the four of us sleeping in one room (which is why K & A took turns sleeping in Gammy and Gandaddy's room). Everything is getting back to normal...
My dad is so in love with this little man...

One of Anderson's favorite things to do was wrestle on the bed with my dad... and Gammy joined in on the fun too.

Getting to visit Eric, April, Alli and Sam... The girls were playing too hard for me to get a picture of them actually looking at me.


Getting a bottle from Gammy...


We swang on Mr. Ric's porch a lot.

Karoline had a blast in the little pool (Anderson was sleeping)...


Why is my father in a turtleneck outside, in a swimming pool, in the horrible Texas HEAT? That's a great question! I'll give you his phone number and you can ask him!



Look at those teeth (when they were just coming through)...


Enjoying the piano with Gammy...

Meet Ellie...

We got to see our great friends, Greg, Kristen, and Maddy! It was such a short amount of time... we need a week together! It was so fun though... we miss them so much! With three active children this was the best picture we could get! :)

This time Anderson got to join in on the pool fun...


Gammy and Gandaddy took Karoline to the park while TJ and I finished packing...




One last country morning breakfast...


GiGi and PopPop's House

We were in Rayville, LA for a very short amount of time...not enough but we got to enjoy GiGi and PopPop's new house they renovated and spend more time with Sarah, Jared, and Ella.

They took us on a 15 minute drive through corn fields only to arrive at a gas station... inside this GAS STATION in the middle of nowhere Louisiana they have two boothes and a few tables... AND the BEST steak I have ever had in my life! Yes, STEAK... Filet Mignon to be exact with salad bar with chilled plates. I took a picture with my cell phone camera because I didn't have a camera. You would just not believe the steak!





Saturday, June 28, 2008

Something I Never Thought I Would Say...

So we are home in California after a WONDERFUL two week vacation. We had an amazing week with my parents last week... more on that later. But I have to share what just happened during our family play time.

All four of us were in Karoline's room playing and Karoline likes to be rough playing with TJ. I guess she was messing with his earing and the little ball fell off... TJ says "Karoline, do NOT touch daddy's earrings!" I then said "Yes, Karoline, do NOT mess with daddy's earrings!"
TJ then looked at me and said, "I bet that is something you never thought you would have to say."... He is right! I NEVER dreamed I would be married to a man with two earrings! Honestly though, I can't imagine him without them and I like them!

Anyway, it was a funny moment to me. I am glad we are back and getting back into our regular routine and I can't wait to see friends at church tomorrow. I'll post pictures and stuff about our Texas trip soon!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Our Beach Vacation

We are now in Fort Worth with my family after a wonderful time with TJ's at the beach. We first flew into Ft Walton Beach to spend time with TJ's grandmother then drove to Orange Beach. On Thursday TJ, Barna, and Sarah drove to Bham to visit Nanny for a few hours and Jared, Kerry, and I along with all the babies went to Barna and Kerry's house in LA. We spent Friday there and then Saturday drove to Ft. Worth. Here are a few highlights of what my last week has been like...

- Pretty good flying with the kids except for Anderson screaming for 30 minutes on our second flight! Stressed me out! Got in at midnight so started the trip off with sleep deprived children!

- Karoline being TERRIFIED of the potty on the airplane and the child held it for 3 1/2 hours!!!!! I could not believe it!! She was also terrified of the public restrooms in the airport because the toilets flushed automatically and they scared her to death! But all in all no accidents!

- We had a three hour layover in Dallas so my mom brought us Chick-fil-A and an excersaucer for Anderson to pass the time! It was WONDERFUL and fun to see her for a few hours!

- Try driving all across the south with a baby with 4 TEETH coming in who hates his car seat and a toddler with her two year molars coming in! I should buy stock in Tylenol!

- My children have learned to nap on the road... my babies are crib/ bed babies and they have really had a hard time adjusting to sleeping on the road but now they are pro's...

- We got to eat at the Cracker Barrel TWICE!!!

Okay... Here are the pictures from the beach.

The Beach
Karoline was not very fond of the sand at all! She warmed up to it some but mostly hated it. Anderson liked the sand but since he liked it so much (enough to eat it) we kept him in a baby pool and he loved it.



My cousin, Jennifer, came from Mobile to spend the day with us. I have not seen her since Karoline was 5 months old so it was so special getting to spend time with her!








The Pool... Where we probably spent most of our time since Karoline hated the sand. Karoline loved jumping off the side of the pool, trying to swim a little, and enjoyed going under water and touching the bottom of the pool. I wish we could go swimming more often because she LOVED it!






Family Picture Time









Enjoying Sweet Cousin Ella

"Look at my cool hair... daddy is my stylist"

Playing in the condo...

The kids loved every moment with their GiGi and PopPop...




I also want to add that today Anderson is 8 months old! I cannot believe my baby boy is growing up so quickly!