Some More Birthday Stuff

Turns out, I didn't even finish covering LM's 3rd birthday when this pregnancy got the best of me. The day before his birthday, he and I took the train downtown and went to the Dallas World Aquarium, just the two of us. Then, on his actual birthday, he got to pick what he wanted to do. What was that you say? Go to a water park, of course! It just so happened that Kim and her girls and Brooke and her children were going to a water park on that date already, so we glommed on to that excitement. LM had an absolute blast. Here are photos from those two festivities:

I was amazed how many animals - water lovers and otherwise - were in this place.

Now, on to the water park!

Oh my goodness he had fun!

I have no idea where the other two cousins were when I started taking photos!

Alexandra...

...and LM's imitation of Alexandra.

Because that must be how you should take a photo.

Happy all the way home.

A great day!

See you soon.

American Girl with Cora

One thing we were sure to do while Cora was here was visit the American Girl store. Secretly, I am SO GLAD I don't have girls so I don't have to ever go here except on a special occasion. This place - it is marketed SO WELL to young girls. Everything is at their height. Everything is pink. It's amazing how well they can pull money from parents' wallets. If I had a girl, let's just say she would never know this place existed until someone else told her. Ahem. 

But, luckily, I have a boy - and another on the way. So, I don't have to worry about this particular thing. Incidentally, one day I went here to pick something up as a gift, and I had LM with me. In a matter of moments, he had de-pants-ed three AG dolls before I could stop him. Oh my - I'll have my own issues, won't I? Anyway, I can enjoy this store vicariously through my nieces, who have learned about it some way besides me. When Veda came down a couple of years ago, we made the trek to this place, so now it was Cora's turn. We had a nice time checking it out:

Of course, there was a visit to the hair salon.

And there was lunch.

I'll have you know this doll drank her weight in pink lemonade.

And of course there was shopping!

Then, to make this girly day complete, we went for pedicures.

A fun day.

See you soon.

Caught Up

Let's be clear. That title up there is a joke. All caught up? Me? Ha! HAHAHAHAHAH! But, I AM, until this afternoon, all caught up with regard to downloading, editing and uploading photos I took from July until now. So, I decided that means I should get around to posting again. So here we go!

First, a little update since my last cryptic post. After months of stress and ridiculousness and waiting to find out how it would go, S was laid off from his company toward the end of last month. The worst part of it, in my view, was that he had to go through it. The best part is he can now move on, de-stress, find a better position, and be appreciated. In other words, except the fact that I hated he had to go through it, I think it was the best possible thing that could have happened - ever. He wanted to get out there and start looking immediately. I suggested instead that he take a month or two off to get himself back to normal. He decided to take me up on that. And, he's had some dental work done that would have been nearly impossible if he were still working. And, he's spent a lot of special time with our boy. And, pretty much it's been great. He's coming out of the fog and getting ready to start networking to find his next assignment sometime soon, and I have no doubt it will work out as it should. 

OK - now let's travel back in time, shall we? Back to the photos I just downloaded from the past four months...

For one, I cut my hair.

I've also dropped the glasses, actually. One day I'll find a photo sans glasses.

LM is still in love with Bubba's - his favorite restaurant.

If you ask him where he wants to go, his first answer WILL BE Bubba's.

The IHOP around the corner from our house had a grand re-opening.

LM was fascinated by this "dancing man"

He is still very into dressing up - more on that in another post sometime soon.

But here's one more - fireman outfit, boots, spider-man backpack

I think I mentioned Cora came down for LM's birthday.
Oh how he loved that - we all did, but LM especially.

Another one of the two of them.

She was so incredibly nice to him when she was here.

I'll tell you more about what we did while she was here sometime soon too.

He is still the sweetest thing ever, especially when he is sleeping.

This is LM with his sweet 2 yr old teachers.

They were the best teachers ever. I love them.

Here's evidence of the day Nonna led the congo line.

One day I was napping, and was visited by a masked man.

Oh, and back in August, LM and I had such a nice visit to Indiana.

More on that, too...

In other words, I'm a gonna try to do my very best to post more regularly, get caught up on all this stuff I have to share with you. In fact, I'm sure there are even more random photos to share too...but for today, this'll do, pig. This'll do.

See you soon.

Prayers, Please

Our boy, on the way to school the other day.

Such a ham!

Our family is experiencing a lot of internal stress right now, due to external forces. I am mostly stressed, worrying about my family. I have tried to not worry about things I cannot control. And, I'm usually pretty good at that when it effects (affects?) only me. But, when my loved ones are in situations beyond their control, I get stressed and mad. This is not good for the baby inside me, and does nothing to help the situation. I know my sweet husband is stressed, and I pray things will come around soon. I can even tell LM can tell we are stressed. We try to keep it all away from him, but kids know.

I would covet your prayers. Pray for internal peace for our family. Pray we stay strong and focus on those things which we can control, focus on those things that bless us - because there are MANY - focus on the future, which is bright, no matter what. Help us to be calm and thankful. Thank you.

See you soon.

Some News

An annoucement from LM

So, there's one reason for the hiatus. I feel less than ideal. Ahem. And, if the last pregnancy was any indication, posting will be slow for a while. But, I'll try to get back on a regular schedule. I have tons to share, of course! We are all excited about this news, and are looking forward to meeting our new family member in late February or early March. 

See you soon.

Hiatus

Well, I am clearly on a blogging hiatus. Not sure exactly what has led to this turn of events, but we are here nonetheless. I have tons of photos to upload, tons of stuff to write about, but I haven't found the time to do it of late. Blame it on my recent travel, my busy family schedule, or the heat. Yes, let's blame the heat. Let's do that. 

Never fear, I will return, at some point. And I hope you'll return too...stay tuned.

See you soon.

The 3rd Birthday Party

Man, I have been a slacker on the blog this summer! Here is a summary of LM's 3rd birthday party! We had a FIRETRUCK theme, as you know. In Dallas, you cannot have parties at the fire stations. So, one enterprising young Dallas firefighter bought a firetruck and will come to your HOUSE for the party. So, that is what we did. It turned out to be great fun for all ages. And, I went back to Dallas Affaires this year for the cake, and they knocked it out of the ballpark - you'll see - so cute! I have to say this might have been my favorite of LM's three lifetime parties - it was a good one - here are the photos - let me just say I really TRIED to do some collages of this stuff, but the software I normally use for collages would NOT cooperate with my luddite mind so, they are stream of consciousness, baby. All here:

Almost ready for prime time...

And will you LOOK at this CAKE!

I loved it.

We tried to come up with clever snack names...ahem.

We put the ride on toys along the driveway again this year, which was again a hit.

Then, the firetruck came down the street! Sirens blaring!

We are everyone's favorite neighbor after this, I'm sure.

We were so glad to have Nana and Cora visiting for the party as well!

Even the big kids had fun...

Then we gathered indoors for a talk on fire safety!

And then it was time to spray the firehose!

Everyone took a turn - and I'd show you every turn, except for that aforementioned collage thing...

Once again, even the big kids liked this.

Then it was time to take a ride...

You can barely see the kiddo's heads - S said they giggled the whole way.

Oh, and, to please the neighbors more, he ran that siren again. Whee!

Everyone took a trip around the neighborhood, too.

At the end of the firetruck time, I asked all the kids to stand on top for a photo.

Everyone complied except my boy - back there covering his eyes. Nice.

And a family photo. 

Then somewhere in here we did a couple of games. 

Where you moved water around.

Then, snacks...

And cake!

He blew that candle right out!

Then - presents. He received lots of nice things.

Including this ridiculous present from his parents.

Which he seems to really enjoy. 

We had no intention of getting him one of those types of vehicles, but when we asked him what he wanted for his birthday, a "race car" he could "ride in" was the only thing he ever responded with. And, well, we are suckers, so there you have it. 

It was a good day.

See you soon.