Sister's Visit

My sisters came to visit a couple of weeks ago and it was just splendid. We stayed very busy, exercising every morning then heading out on an adventure before coming home for lunch and Tate's nap then we were off again for the evening right after he woke up. Every day was full and exhausting and so fun. It was great to have them here where we live and to see Tate open up to them a little more because he's here in his element. It was not so great having them go home at the end of the week, but I am confident we really made the most of their time here!

We were charged with doing some serious back to school shopping during their stay so their first few days here were filled with just that. We hit up the mall close to our house, the woodlands mall and market street, and also the outlet mall. We had fun finding unique things and Tate was actually a super good sport and was just so happy to be out and about with his Aunties. He had a big smile on his face the whole time.

We had a nice, relaxing Sunday. Just chilled inside and went to our late afternoon church meetings. On Monday we went for a run, did some shopping, then after naps we took a trip to the NASA space center. We did not leave ourselves near enough time to play around there. There was so much fun stuff to see and play with and we were really in a rush to get in as much as we wanted to in our three hour stay before it closed for the day. I wasn't sure if it would be any fun for Tate but he adored it all. He was thrilled to see real rockets and space ships and astronauts. We went in this one exhibit that had so many favorites it was an overload and he just kept saying, "That's a rocket! Those are stars! Space rocks! A moon!" over and over in a very animated voice while pointing to each thing.

This big Saturn rocket is just amazing. It is unbelievably big. Kenzie, poor dear, got sucked into the engine.

Tate, Mallo and Kenzie at the entrance to a space station model.

One of our favorite moments from NASA day was watching Kenzie stand in front of this series of mirrors that was supposed to represent what you would look like and what you would weigh on different planets. She thought it was pretty cool that she would only weigh 60 pounds on Saturn. She took pictures of herself in each mirror...including the one representing earth. Her complete fascination with the exhibit was so funny.

Tuesday we went swimming in the morning. It was a really nice chill time.

Then we picked Glenn up and went down town to the science museum to see the butterfly exhibit. We met some hissing cockroaches among many other nasty bugs.

Then went out into the butterfly conservatory. We carried cards to try to identify some of the different kinds. Mal and Kenz were a little startled by how friendly the little butterflies were.

Tate, however, had much more fun this time and would giggle when they flew close to him.

Eventually Mal and Kenz got friendly with the butterflies, even stepping in for some close pictures...as long as the butterflies were holding still.

Then, since it was free day at the museum, we wandered through the rest of the science museum too.

Tate is learning about porosity and permeability in the oil and gas exhibit. Glenn was very proud.

For dinner we showed the girls a fun little Cajun restaurant down town with delicious beignets. Oh my heart.

For their last afternoon we perused the aquarium. Such a fun place to visit. Tate loved every minute of course, but so did we.

The white tiger was especially frisky that day. There was a guy who tried to rile him up and the tiger got so mad he jumped on his hind legs, tried to paw the guy's face through the glass, and growled really loudly. Man, were we glad the glass was there. Those beasts are SO big.

I was selfishly glad to learn that the girls were as tired as I am during Tate's nap time. I was thinking my feeling of crashing at noonish was just due to my being preggers, but I think the morning jogs in the soul-crushing heat may actually have something to do with it. We were all so bushed! It was nice to have someone to jog with and complain with about all of the sweat and gross heat.

Oh it was such a nice week. We had an absolute blast together. We watched movies and Office episodes, ate skookies (a new favorite!) to our hearts (but certainly not our waistbands) content, played really hard, laughed at pretty much everything Kenzie said, and talked a lot. I especially loved little moments like these:Little moments Tate was able to spend with his Aunties. I miss those little things because we live away and it makes me so happy to see Tate love his Aunties. Tate loved reading stories with Auntie Mallo this trip. Once he even asked her to read to him AND sing his bed time song instead of me. I was thrilled that he was so taken with her.

We miss you ladies. Thanks for a wonderful visit and please come again!!!

For those who don't already know...

Baby boy Makechnie number two is on his way! It took longer than we hoped this time, but with some time, some tests and some lessons in patience with Heavenly Father's plan for us, he's finally on his way! In fact, we're expecting him in 20 weeks or so. His due date is January 1st, 2012. We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and were lucky enough to have two of his aunties there to say hi to him. He was a little shy. He had his hands up by his face the whole time, which we thought was darling.
He was not, however, shy about his gender. He wanted there to be no doubt that he is a little guy. We're incredibly excited! And Tate's just going to love having a little brother to play with. Eventually, if not right away, right? I just smile inside picturing the two of them playing together. Tate taking pride in showing him the ropes and little babe copying his cool big brother's every step. I hope they're best friends. I hope they realize at some point how great it is to have a brother.
The pregnancy is going well. The marvelous trimester of vomit is finally wrapping up and I'm feelin' much better! It might have been worse this time. It might just be that I've forgotten some details from last time and I didn't remember it being quite so bad...but either way, it's over now and life is great. I'm especially happy to be currently sporting an elastic waistband, which is oh so much more comfy than my regular pants rigged with a hair elastic.
Keep cookin' little boy. We adore you already!

Aunties

Tate is in love with his Aunties. He's having an absolute blast playing with them. I'm a pretty big fan of them myself. The first morning it was almost more than he could stand that they were here and he got to play with them all day! We still have four more days to play and we're both feeling super lucky.

Thus far we've been doing a lot of shopping. You know, these girls are both starting school again in a couple weeks so new school clothes are a must. The next few days we have some fun outings planned. Basically we're having a blast, working out together, eating too much together, watching funny shows together, and tickling Tate until he can't take it any more. No complaints here!

This video is especially for Nanna who requested a video of Tate giggling. So here it is. Kenzie was shooting foam darts at the ceiling and they hit her as they bounced back down. For whatever reason, Tate thought it was stinkin' hilarious.

Summertime...and the livin' is easy.

It's wicked hot here. We just try not to go outside for very long unless it's early morning or right before bed. On Saturday mornings we do yard and housework and sometimes Tate comes out with us and colors with chalk while we work. This was what he looked like after half an hour outside.Covered with chalk and his hair soaked with sweat. Poor boy.

A couple days ago we were watching Tate hit one of Glenn's golf balls around in the kitchen with a drum stick and we thought, "seriously, let's just take this kid golfing." So we packed up and went out to play mini golf. We all had loads of fun. Tate let Glenn help him swing the club just once or twice. There were way too many cool things to see and climb on to be confined like that for too long. There were all these animals that glowed in the dark, things floating from the ceiling, paintings on the wall. It was a magical land! He had to hug and climb on every animal we came across. Very fun outing.

Then yesterday Tate and I ventured out to Discovery Green, a big park right in the middle of down town. Tate thought it was pretty cool to play right by all the "castles". It has this huge fountain that kids can run around in and a big playground right around the corner. We tried to get there early but it was still just crazy hot. Tate had a blast. We went last year too. Look how little he was. Sheesh kid. Slow down, will ya? It was a great outing. Tate thought it was all so cool. He just ran and ran until the fountains stopped, then he'd look down the holes waiting for the water to come back out. A sweet friend who went with us even let him borrow their umbrella for a bit. He loved that.

In other news, I'm busy sewing like mad during Tate's naps trying to get my inventory up for a big craft fair in September. I'm really excited for it and hope I can do as well as last year. It's going to take a lot of work over the next month to get ready because I want to have more to sell than I did last year and...I'm no where close.

Glenn's busy at work and loving it, which is such a blessing. He's been looking for some good motivation to run and something to train for, and he found it. He signed up for a marathon on March 3rd. The guy's insane. He'll do awesome, I'm sure. I'm excited for him to have a goal that big. It will be good for him. Also, he came home from work yesterday and told us he has to leave this morning for 6 days. Major bummer. Hate it when that happens. Also yesterday, however, my sisters decided to make a last minute trip here. They're coming tonight for a week. So while Glenn's going to be out of town, at least they'll be here to keep us company! It's going to be a wonderfully busy week and will be so nice to have company again! Happy last few weeks of summer everyone!

Cael's Party, Harry Potter, and a love song.

We said goodbye to some great friends last week. The Gardners finished packing up and moved out to Denver. Steve was asked to transfer there and they decided to go just a couple months ago and it was way too fast...and I did not approve. We miss them already. Jen is a great friend. She helped me so much this past year. Adjusting to living here, watching Tate, crafting play dates. I just love her. And Cael and Tate were little buddies. Last week Tate went to Cael's birthday party. They had a slip and slide in the back yard and you'd think it was Christmas. Here's Cael trying it out.All the kids had so much fun. Jen set up a little slide they could climb up at the front of the slip and slide to give the littles a bit of momentum on the slip and slide. AND there were these great squirt guns that Tate couldn't quite figure out but loved nonetheless.It was a huge hit. Thanks for the fun party Gardners. We miss you guys!

It's been far too long ago now but our Harry Potter evening simply must be documented. My friend Janelle, who lives in Austin, and I have been talking for months about how to get together to see the last HP midnight movie. It seemed like we just couldn't make it work out and then at the very last minute she had quite a nice reason to come down here. She heard about a quilting store closing down here so she made the trip and we hit up a fabulous sale. Everything was super cheap and I seriously stocked up. Thanks for the tip Janelle! The store was crazy crowded, the lines were crazy long, and the kids held up quite nicely in spite of the cramped spaces and the heat. Man, was it hot in there. Here are the three kiddos camped out in the corner (we took turns supervising and shopping). The photo shamelessly stolen from Janelle's blog. Thanks Janelle...

Then that night we snuck off to see the movie. It was so fun to be out with Janelle and to have a good friend to be nerdy with. No, we didn't dress up, but we hoped to make fun of those who did. Unfortunately, there were very very few. But we had a great time anyway. The movie was great. I quite enjoyed it. There were parts that brought me close to tears (I know, I know. But that poor Snape is just so sad.) and I found myself very satisfied at the end. They did a great job wrapping up this story and legacy and I'm really glad we saw it!

And this video, as random and poorly done as it is, is just for my momma. Because she doesn't care how random and poorly done they are, she just wants to hear Tate's voice. The other night I sang "So this is love" from Cinderella, to Tate before bed and for the next 15 minutes we heard him singing over and over, "so this is love, mmmmmm, so this is love, mmmmm." it was so cute. I tried to catch a few rounds from the bathroom next to his room but this is all we got.

Surviving the Heat

I'm finding it difficult to blog about our summertime lives because they're just not super exciting. We're spending a LOT of time at the pool. We're probably there 4 times a week or so. We love it. It's just about a quarter mile walk from our front door so we get in our suits, Tate hops in his stroller, and we head over for as long as we want. Unfortunately I don't have pictures because it's impossible to take them when I'm there with Tate by myself. I'll try to get some when Glenn's home this weekend.
Tate is getting much braver in the water. Last year he didn't care for water in his face at all. This year he thinks he can swim, in spite of the many, many time he's jumped off the stairs to us right before we look and sinks right to the bottom. When we grab him he usually comes right back up with a big smile on his face. At least he knows how to hold his breath. So far. Gives me a heart attack every time.
Our pool has a little play ground with a slide and he's started to love climbing up the stairs, braving the sprinklers, and going down by himself over and over. A feat he never would have attempted last year. It's so fun to watch him just love being in the water and it's a very nice way to pass the time in this nasty heat.
We still get out in the morning for our brief jog around the duck pond and then we've been spending lots of time in the toy room, watching shows, getting things done around the house, running errands. Most of the time Tate is very sweet and patient. Sometimes the poor kid feels like a caged animal. So this morning, we decided to brave an early visit to the zoo. It has been months and Tate was as excited as the first time we went. Poor kid. He just yelled as we drove up, "I see the zoo! I see it! I see it!" He put on his sunglasses himself. I thought it was cute, so we left them. He was just thrilled to see the animals again and kept telling them, "Hey komodo dragon, I came to visit you!" "Hey, big fish, I came to visit you!" "Hey chimpanzee, I came to visit you!"
Oddly enough, I think one of the highlights was seeing this "diver" cleaning one of the fish tanks. Tate thought it was the coolest. He kept waving at him and talking to him. "Hi diver, I'm Tate." We remembered quickly why it's been so long since we've braved a long outside outing. It was so crazy hot. We always visit the drums in the African section, but this time we lingered for about 20 minutes. It was a great little stretch of shade.We both kept guzzling water, seeking every bit of shade we could find, and still left completely soaked in sweat. Yuck. It may be another while before we visit again.
Play dough is another classic keeping cool activity these days. Tate has his own version of play dough play. He wants us to make him cars. Play dough cars. Not just any cars. The cars from the movie "Cars". Here he has Mister the King, Sally, Lightning, Chick Hicks, Luigi, and the tractor. Of course he dictates the color. They must be in the correct color. He especially likes it when the tractor says "mooo" and tips over. We're determined to have a good time in spite of the heat! Thank heavens for air conditioning!

The 4th

We had a great 4th this year. I've been very behind in my blogging to it's taken me a bit to record it, but it was splendid nonetheless. The festivities really began on the 2nd when Glenn and I got a sitter and went to a Red Sox vs. Astros game. We were hoping to rid Glenn of the "curse" of never having attended a Red Sox game where the Sox have won. Luckily, our odds were very good when they were playing the Astros. It was a fun night. Fun atmosphere. And of course the Sox were victorious which made for a very happy Glenn.

On the 4th we went to a little parade in Kingwood. It was a good time. Wicked hot, but we found a spot in the shade and it started early so we didn't feel like we were melting into the pavement until near the end. Glenn entertaining Tate before the parade started:The beginning was a bunch of old cars and Tate and I picked out a bunch of characters from the movie "Cars" which he thought was pretty cool. Here are Glenn and Tate with Mack the truck.

Glenn scored him a few free things, a flag, mardigras beads.However, I can say with absolute certainty that the highlight of the parade for him were the multiple lollipops he ended up with! Better than Christmas.

I think the highlight for Glenn and I was watching this funny lady, seen here cooling herself off from all her exertion. She was hilarious. She was very intense about getting the freebies from every float offering them. She had her little goodie bag and would walk in the street along the floats getting goods from everyone on the float throwing goods. She was out there competing with a bunch of little kids...the best part, there were no kids even in her group. Just her. Getting lots of free candy. For herself. It was like a sport to her. Hilarious to watch.

By the end of the parade we felt like this:

And we were ready to get home for some AC and Tate's nap time.

That evening we met up with the Gardner family, some of our best friends here. Sadly, they're moving to Denver next week! I can't think about it too much. It stinks. Not only are Jen and Steve wonderful, but they have sweet twin daughters, and a little boy just older than Tate. They play nice together and Jen's been a great friend. They invited us to join them for their tradition of going to the Miller Outdoor theater downtown for the Exxon sponsored symphony and fireworks. It was wonderful. The hill was completely crammed but we found a great spot, sweated out the wait until the concert, and had a great time. Jake and JoAnn and family, cousins from my side, were in town for part of the summer and they came over to spend the night with us. Here's Jake and his little girl Jayla

And cutie pie baby Michael.

It's been so nice to spend a little time with them this summer. Their kiddos are so sweet and fun to watch. They play sweet with Tate and JoAnn sure is fun to talk to. I wish we'd been able to spend more time all together with both of our families but both the guys were pretty busy working. Here's our whole group waiting for the concert.

The kids played on the blankets, ate way too much candy and snacks, and had fun listening to the music too, I think. Here's Tate "playing the trumpet" with the symphony.

John gave it a try too.

We adults enjoyed the good music and fun conversation. There's something about patriotic music that makes me so happy, so proud. We sure live in a wonderful country and I'm very proud of it and this was a wonderful way to celebrate it.

The concert ended with the 1812 overture, complete with cannons, which Tate loved, even though at the end of the night he, and the rest of the boys, were looking like this:

Then a great fireworks show. Thanks Exxon. So much fun! I think it may well become a tradition. Happy Birthday America!