Puppy Niece!

I'm a bloggin' fool!

I had to introduce you all to the newest member of our family. Our puppy niece, Lyric. Adam and Laura have been talking about getting a dog for a while and finally did it a few months ago. We were all excited to meet her when we were in Houston. She is a sweet little, fluffy ball of energy. They already have her trained to be a good little dog, she even rings a little bell when she needs to go outside to potty (I'm not kidding!). The boys had so much fun playing with her, especially Sam, he wore her out pretty good! I was curious to see how Gabe would react to her since he's had a few, pretty big allergic reactions to dogs. Adam is allergic, but Lyric doesn't really bother him. Gabe did great until Lyric licked him on the face and he welted up, right were she licked him. So, we doped him up with some Benadryl and he was good to go. Looks like Lyric will be the closest we get to a dog for awhile! Here are some pictures of us with Lyric...

Sleepy Baby...and more

Ever since Luke was a newborn, he loved to be swaddled. I kept thinking that he would grow out of it, yet when I would try to put him down with out swaddling him, he would cry and cry, I would go in and wrap him and he would literally fall fast asleep in a minute. So we kept swaddling, and kept swaddling. We used the Miracle Blanket and he would rarely break out of it. This past week, when we go in to get him in the mornings, he has been breaking free. I decided to try putting him down again without swaddling him, just to see what he would do. He did great! He loves blankets right now, he would rather have a blanket to eat and play with than a toy, so I gave him his little nigh-night blankie and plopped the paci in and he was good to go. It's even more fun to go peek at him sleeping now, here are a few pics from the past few days. He is really under there, fast asleep... This last one cracks me up...this is really how I found him...

While I've already got a post going for the little guy, I'll just continue on with some more pictures of the cutie. When Sam was little, I was big time into Black and White photography. I did up this little collage of him...

My friend Christy coined it "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." I've done a few for some of my good friends and, of course, did one for Gabe when he came along...

I'm sure you see where this is going! After I hung Gabe's up next to Sam's on the wall, I thought about how much fun it will be one day to have a wall with three hanging next to each other. I finished Luke's HSKT photo shoot a month ago. I've got the pictures edited and the frame under my bed. I just haven't actually put it all together. I've already got that special wall picked out in the new house where they will all be displayed together. We'll have to wait a few months to see the actual finished product, but for now, here is a little slideshow of some of the pictures I will use for Luke's collage, I still haven't decided which ones will make the final cut. I threw a few others in from the photo shoot that I probably won't use, but will frame separately....

I know this post is getting ridiculous, you don't have to keep reading, unless you are family, then you are required to go to the very end of this post! Not much more, I promise...

Here is a (nother) slideshow of some random pictures. Luke thinking he's all big sitting up, or rather, propping himself up. He could probably do it by now, but I'm not allowing him to sit up yet, he's already got two teeth, he needs to wait awhile before he really starts sitting. This is what happens with your third, you don't want them to do anything because you know once they start doing stuff, they won't stop. I know I'm fighting the inevitable, but I'm just not ready for him to do big baby stuff yet! He has also mastered "the airplane" move, which cracks me up. He loves the Johnny Jump-up and his big brother Gabe, who decided Luke was interesting enough to play with for a little bit last week while Sam was at VBS. He even wanted to feed Luke his bottle...for 2 seconds, but I got a picture of it. Luke got the shaft big time when Sam got home, but he enjoyed his time with Gabe on the couch, however fleeting it was.

Now I feel bad because there is no picture of Sam in this post, even though it's a Luke post, Gabe is represented, so now I feel Sam needs to be...

There, now I feel better.

Mom, Dad, good luck reading this post with all these slideshows flashing.

Now...I'm done.

Houston Post #3

Neal's Grandmother, Aunt Helene, Uncle Jimmy, cousin Rachel, her husband Jason and daughter Kate and cousin Drew all travelled from Louisiana to spend a few days with us in Houston. We always have so much fun hanging out with them and just don't get to do it enough. So it's extra special when we are all in one place. We did a lot of eating, Kate's 5th birthday was celebrated with an RJ Goodies cake (delicious) and some Blue Bell, we pigged out at Houston's Aquarium Restaurant, and had an amazing brunch at Adam and Laura's house. Kate and Sam are 6 months apart and were quick buddies. Gabe kept up with them for awhile, but I think he started feeling a little left out and being exhausted didn't help. He spent a lot of time in my lap. They had fun running around the fountains at the Aquarium, swimming in Mimi's backyard, soaking Drew with water guns, holding frogs hostage in a big Tupperware container and trying to catch flies to feed the poor frogs. Thankfully, Jason had a little good-bye, send the frogs home ceremony with Kate and Sam before bedtime. We had a blast with everyone and can't wait to see you all again soon!

Huh?

Last night, as I was cooking dinner amidst the barrage of questions from my 5 and 3 year old (I don't want that, can I have a cookie, I want the red plate, can I have chocolate milk, I don't want water), I finally broke down. I'd had it up to my eyeballs with all the complaining, whining and questions about food. You'd think I never feed them the way they beg for food, then, when they get it, it's not good enough or, they really weren't hungry. I stopped cooking and sat us all down in the middle of the kitchen floor for a little meeting. Here is how it went...

Me: Guys, I'm sick of all the complaining and whining about meals. We are going to go over our food rules again because this has to stop...talk, talk, talk, blah, blah, blah...So, whatever I put on your plate is what's for dinner. If you don't like it, fine, you don't have to eat it, but you aren't getting anything else, especially no dessert if you haven't eaten what is on your plate. Do you understand?

Boys: Yes (nodding their heads).

Me: Gabe (who is now spinning around on the floor) What did I just tell you?

Gabe: (emphatically) Don't splash water out of the tub!

...nice

Decorating Magazines

I love magazines. Especially decorating magazines. I always have to resist buying a few every time I'm at the store. I have stacks laying around my house that I can't bring myself to throw away. Since we are moving in 7 weeks, I've started trying to get things organized to begin packing. I've been gathering all the magazines from around my house and have a huge stack to go through. My plan is to tear out ideas that I like, put them in a binder and then...throw the magazine away. That way I'll have a nice big book of ideas to go through when I need some good ideas for the new house. The new house that is decorated like a page out of Restoration Hardware...

in my head.

When you are taking a flight, going to the beach/pool, or just have a night to yourself, what are your favorite magazines to look through?

Houston - Part 2

One thing you've probably figured out by now - I take a lot of pictures. When you have a combo of my parents, me and lots of cute cousins running around, the amount of pictures triple; and, there are actually pictures of me spattered in there, which only happens when I make Neal take one, or when my parents are around. I guess they still think I'm "cute" enough to take a picture of, even though I'm not a toddler anymore! Of course, I'm always with a toddler (or kid) in the pictures they do take of me, but that's how I would want it anyway.

Thank goodness for Picasa slideshows - I couldn't just pick a few to put on my blog. Here are some random pictures from throughout the week we were there. I'm SO bummed that I didn't get a picture of Shana and I together. I got one of her and Luke, but that's it, and we had some perfect opportunities to get our picture taken too. It was so great to see Shana and get to spend some good time with her. I got to see some new stuff she has been working on at her house and was amazed (again) at how talented and creative this girl is. She sees something she likes, figures out how to do it, and the end result is fabulous. Maybe someday she will blog some pictures of her projects. I laughed until I cried when Cody, her husband, showed Laura and I some of their dog, Daisy's tricks. Cody is funny anyway, but watching he and Daisy play hide and seek was hysterical.

I also was able to see one of my best friends from MS and HS, Sarah, her husband Byron and their adorable daughter Bella. They came over for a visit at my parents house and I didn't get a picture of us either! She and Byron are both Doctor people and it's always fascinating to hear them talk about what they are doing at the hospital. She was amazing to talk to when all Luke's stuff was going on. I would call her and literally read the reports I had to her verbatim and she would translate them into normal words for me. It helped so much talking to her during that time, she helped me calm down quite a bit on quite a few different occasions. It was SO good to see you Sae!

I have one more Houston post in me, but I'm waiting on pictures from my beloved sis-in-law and cousin before the post can be correctly complied. (hint, hint) Then I will start torturing you with pictures from our summer, Luke being cute, thinking he's all big and the boys being crazy. :0)

Morgan

When I was planning our trip to Houston, I had to finagle a way to have some help with the boys on both flights. As I was trying to figure out how to get someone back to Nashville with me, I realized my niece Morgan would be a great help. We've always talked about her coming to see us for a week in the Summer, but have just never done it. This summer was the perfect time to do it. Morgan is 11, she has 3 younger siblings and is the most amazing helper. The boys absolutely adore her and will do anything she tells them to do. They all loved getting to sit on a row on the airplane together, the whole flight went so well. Once we were back in Nashville, we dragged Morgan around with us everywhere we went! We took her to see the new house, spent a lot of time at the pool (some of that time was spent waiting for it to quit raining), Neal took them all fishing out on the lake, Morgan and I went to see Prince Caspian, we watched a lot of movies, at a lot of ice cream and went to Sonic (probably every day, but who out there doesn't??). It was so much having her here, everyone should have an 11 year old girl come stay for a week. When I asked her what her favorite part of being here was, she said "just hanging out with you, Uncle Neal and the boys". It's fun being loved by an 11 year old to...she told me I was awesome a few times...who doesn't love to hear that? I love you and miss you Munchkin (your almost too old for me to call you that), we can't wait to have you out again next year!

Photo Disclaimer: I sent the small camera, in a plastic bag, with strict instructions to Morgan and Neal NOT to FORGET to take a picture while they were out on the boat. They, of course, forgot, so I had to make up for it by taking a picture of the kids on the boat right after Neal had put it back in the garage. Nice. At least their fishing trip was somewhat documented. Some of the first pictures are in Houston, before Morgan got her super cute new "do", very similar to mine, I might add!