CHICAGO! (American Girl Place)

Part of Anniston's birthday present (in addition to getting her American Girl doll) was to go to brunch at the American Girl store and get a few things for Kit. We went to brunch on Saturday morning at 9:30 A.M. Anniston was BEYOND excited, and squealed about well, everything. She was in doll heaven!

Anniston, Kit, and Mommy waiting as the doors opened at 9:00 A.M. to go inside!! Anniston and Kit!

Looking at the Kit Kittredge display. Kit is the American Girl doll that Anniston got for her birthday.

Mommy, MeMaMa, MaMa, Anniston, and Kit getting ready to go into brunch!

Anniston and Kit sitting down to their meal at the American Girl cafe. Kit had her own high chair, cup, and plate (and Anniston shared some of her pancakes with Kit).

The French Toast that MaMa ordered....yummm

Anniston, Kit, and MeMaMa ordered the pancakes

Mommy ordered the scrambled egg and cheese skillet

Then there was dessert: Mousse with oreos crumbled on top, with a flower stuck into it. Also, a glittery shortbread cookie.

We were so glad that all of us girls were able to go!

CHICAGO! (Navy Pier/Children's Museum)

Friday morning Anniston and I went to a bridesmaid's luncheon in Chicago for my cousin's wedding while Jerry and Treyson flew into town. We got back after lunch, napped the kids (and us) and went to Navy Pier. We walked around outside for a bit, then headed into the Children's Museum for a few hours before we had to head back to the hotel to get ready for the Rehearsal Dinner. The kids had SO.MUCH.FUN!! (we did too!!) Dadoo and kids on Navy Pier with part of Chicago skyline in the background:

Mommy and kids on Navy Pier

Big ole' dinosaur bones!

Cute little fire girl and doggie!

So much fun!

Using all of their muscles to pull the levers to get the water to run:

On the canoe in the "camping area"

T playing with the trucks:

Putting on a puppet show for Mommy and Dadoo

Going down the "musical slide"

Dadoo trying out his luck with his flying contraption:

It's a winner! We knew that Engineering degree would come in handy!


Treyson driving a city bus while Anniston hold on for dear life!!


Not sure what they're doing with their hands, although it somewhat resembles a "Y" from "YMCA"!! haha They were in the construction area here:

Funnies

A couple of funny lines from my kiddos:

Anniston is REALLY into rhyming right now. Bsically we work on it EVERY TIME we're in the car.....her choice, but I'm loving that she really wants to figure rhyming out. She started a game where we go back and forth rhyming. She always drops her jaw and smiles while saying "WoW, great job Mommy" when I come up with a new one. Anyway, this morning on the way to school she says, "Here's a rhyme....moose and noose!" I say, "Great job Anniston, but what is a noose?" She responds, "You know Mommy, the noose.....like the weather and the football....the noose!" Too cute!

(This pic was taken in the DFW airport Sunday afternoon)

Tonight I was wearing some old fuzzy hot pink jammie pants, and Anniston climbed up into my lap with Treyson to read books. She said, "Mommy I want some pants just like these when I'm 67 too!" (Note to self: invest in the anti-aging cream immediately....obviously my dove soap and neutrogena SPF 15 moisturizer is NOT doing the trick!)

We had a new babysitter over to the house yesterday. She was cracking up at telling a story of our kids outside playing baseball (surprise, surprise!) Apparently Treyson was standing close to Anniston as she was batting. Lauren told him to step back, but I guess he didn't get back far enough. Anniston swung her bat and popped him up the side of the forehead. Lauren said he didn't cry at all, he just grabbed his forehead with his hand, started backing up and saying "It's ok sissy". I have a feeling he's going to be one tough kid!

(T-man getting ready to jump off PaPa's boat...his favorite past-time at the lake!!)

All about Treyson

My goodness, I can't believe we're having to post about Treyson being 2 already! Time has just flown for this silly little boy! Treyson is such a blessing to us. He's the life of the party, the class clown, and we love him for that! Here's a post dedicated to everything he's doing now so that Mommy and Dadoo don't forget!
~Treyson, you go to bed around 7:30, and we wake you at 7 to go to Mrs. Amber's. If it's not a school day, you'll usually sleep until 8:00.

~You are not interested in learning how to use a big boy cup. You are just content with a sippy, so we'll try later!

~You are a milk-a-holic! You would drink it all day long if we'd let you! You also chug down water. . . although, we don't let you drink quite as much these days because things have changed up a bit recently....

~.....because you are now potty trained! You started the first week in August, and only had a handful of accidents. You wear Thomas the Tank engine underwear and some plain white ones too (we've taught you to say you're wearing "whitey tighteys"!). Most of the time you sit on the potty to go tee-tee and boo-boos, but you like to stand to tee-tee at Mrs. Amber's and when we're outside and don't have time to make it in! We're SO proud of you for how EASY you were to potty train!!

~You still wear a diaper at night. You wake up with a dry diaper about 50% of the time. Once you've had a dry diaper for 7 nights in a row, we'll let you wear your big boy underwear at night.

~You still sleep in your crib, although with all of this talk about wearing underwear at night, we're about to change that into a toddler bed so that you can get to the potty!!

~You are NOT a picky eater. You'll eat just about everything we set down in front of you. You love spaghetti, chicken bok-bok, veggies, fruit loops, fruit snacks, and M&M's the best!

~You are a cuddler just like sissy. When it's bedtime, we give you your blanket and you lay down on our shoulder and tuck your arms under your belly to "nuzzle in". We then give kisses and hugs, and you put yourself to sleep. All lights out, door cracked.

~You love listening to Anniston say prayers. We switch off praying in you and sissy's rooms. We all kneel together, and Anniston leads us. You sit there and smile with your hands folded.

~You are big! You tower above most kids your age, and lots that are older than you too!

~You are a non-stop talker. We understand almost everything you say. Your words are so clear now, so it's fun to have conversations with you.

~You are very curious....always asking questions.

~Your personality is so fun. You are always singing, talking, laughing, and trying to do things to make Mommy laugh. In fact, your babysitter Mrs. Amber always remarks on how quiet her house is when you're not there!

~You are doing remarkably better on following directions: ie: hold hands while in the parking lot, do not walk into the street, put your finger on the tire, etc. Before we would say it but still have to struggle to correct you. Persistance has paid off though! You listen so well! (The finger on the tire thing is something we started when Anniston was 20 months to prepare her for T's arrival. She would put her finger on the tire while I would open the car door before I loaded her up. The idea was to teach her that you stay right next to Mommy and touch the tire for when I would have later had Treyson to load first. I'm not saying this to say that we're planning for another child....just explaining the purpose!)

~You are a fish! You love anything involving water. Running through sprinklers, swimming in the pool, lake, jumping off boat, tubing, jumping off Nanny and PawPaw's diving board, going down their slide, water fountains (you're obsessed with these, and I personally think they're kind of yuck!).

~You play well with your sister for the most part. you know how to annoy her, and she doesn't like that. You also have a tendency to hit her if things don't go your way....you ARE getting put into time-out for that!

~You love sports! You love to play baseball in the back yard with Anniston and Dadoo. In fact, Daddo has you and sissy hitting off of pitched balls versus the tee. Your hand-eye coordination is amazing! Dadoo says that's going to pay off when you play sports!

~You are a lover! You give such big hugs and kisses. Mommy was drying her hair the other day, and you kept mumbling something over and over. Mommy leaned down to hear you say it, and realized that you were saying, "Mommy so pretty". Melt.Mommy's.Heart!

~You love to "clean". You have a vaccum and broom that you constantly have out. You also will go get a rag out of the drawer if I spill something in the kitchen. Next up, cleaning toilets and starting the washing machine. Your future wife is going to LOVE me!!

Treyson,

We are so blessed to have you in our lives. You are nothing short of fun, energetic, silly, and sweet all wrapped up into one smiling, beautiful baby boy! We love playing with you and getting you to get cracked up with that precious little giggle of yours. We love you more than anything, and are so proud to be your parents!

Love, Mommy and Dadoo

All about Anniston

Anniston, these are all of the things that you're up to now. I'm sure I'll miss some things, but I'll try my best (after all, this is my version of a scrapbook!).

~You are such a happy, smiley girl. Your personality exudes laughter and silliness.

~You have very good manners (please, thank you, may I please be excused, exuse me, yes/no ma'am and sir)

~You are very patient with Treyson

~You take 2 hour naps about 50% of the time. If you don't actually fall asleep, then you will lay quietly in your bed for 2 hours for "rest time".

~You are such a pleaser. You love to be praised for things you've done.

~You use alot of really big words, and amaze us that you use them correctly!

~You have all of the phonics down for your letters.

~You love to sing and dance in the car

~You love to help Mommy in the kitchen

~You love to play baseball with Dadoo, and jump on your trampoline

~You are swimming without floaties like a fish! Way to go!

~You like to ride your princess bike up and down the street, and Dadoo taught you how to use the handle bar brakes so that Mommy and Dadoo don't have to run behind you since the street has a slight incline on our way back to the house!!

~If somebody asks who your boyfriend is, you say, "Dadoo" (which makes your Dadoo very happy--you used to say Baylor!!)

~You've started back to gymnastics (we dropped dance), and you're so happy about it!

~You make your bed every morning, and are very good at picking your room up and hanging up all of your dress-up clothes. In fact, if Treyson is told to pick up his room, you will usually go in there and help him.

~If we tell you that we love you more, you respond that you love us the "mosty-wosty"

~You say prayers for everybody at all of our meals, and night-time as well.

We are so proud of you Anniston. You are such a smart little girl. We are amazed by how much you know, and also by how much you want to know. You are so sensitive and kind, and we are so proud to say that you are our sweet baby girl! (even though you're not a baby anymore ). We have so much fun playing with you, taking you on special "dates", and just hanging out. We love that you still want to snuggle at night before you lay down. It absolutely melts our hearts! We love you so much!!

Happy 4th Birthday sweet girl!

Love, Mommy and Dadoo

Summertime and popsicles!

This melts my heart... Cheers!

Yumm, yumm

The kiddos have been LOVING the popsicles for dessert! We strip them down (obviously) and let them go to town. They normally have juice running all down their arms and belly, so transitioning straight to the bathtub (or turning the sprinkler system on!) works out perfectly.

We're so excited for this fall weather, but we'll sure miss these evening popsicles in the back yard!

Playing Softball

Playing outside is our kids' #1 favorite thing to do. We can hardly keep them inside on days we're home (in fact, they were devastated today because it's been raining--Boo, for sad kiddos....YAY, for rain!!). Now that T is older, they will jump on the trampoline together, play in the sand box, and on their little clubhouse. They're also pretty cute driving their little John Deere Gator around.

But, bar none, their favorite activity together is playing softball/baseball. Anniston got a tee/bat/ball 2 years ago, and the kiddos have played with it all summer long. We live on an acre, so the kids have a large backyard to run in. Anniston is trying to get down the baseball concepts: hit the ball, run, tag home plate. She will hit the ball and run clear around the play area in our back yard (which is a fairly large area to cover)....and this goes on and on and on. Well, Treyson has picked up on this as well, and has gotten pretty good at it too (except in this video, of course!). They have one glove here, so they switch off who hits and who catches.

I just LOVE summer!