My little Mapsco - Grantisms

Grant always surprises us with knowing directions. When we drove back from Florida, we got near the house and passed our bank. Grant said "There's the bank!" I was amazed that he knew where we were after 12+ hours in the car!

Last weekend we pulled into a pizza place to pick up our pizza to go. There is a Starbucks in the same parking lot. He's gone through the drive-thru there a total of ONE time ever. Still, he asked "Mama, are you getting coffee now?" He may have recognized the location or he may have recognized the Starbucks logo. Not sure. Either way it's impressive because we have Starbucks an average of once or twice a year. But he's told us before that Eve (a friend at school) drinks coffee (she doesn't - it's hot chocolate or water in a Starbucks cup).

And whether we are coming from the house or from friends or just about any direction, he knows when we pass by his school (which is a good ways off from the intersection we are driving through when he notices). Meaning - he doesn't recognize the school parking lot because it's nowhere in site. He recognizes the route.

Welcome home, Ollie!

2 years and 2 days after starting the adoption process, my very good friends Jesse and Rachel arrived home with their baby boy, Ollie. In August 2011, they shared with their family and friends that they were called to adopt 2 children from Uganda. They were told the process would be 10-15 months, but could take longer... it was definitely longer! Needless to say, their patience has been tested. And may continue to be until they bring their second child home. That's a VERY watered down version of the challenges they have faced over and over again in the past 2 years. Their journey to become parents has not been an easy one.

At the Leoses "Dinner In" fundraiser in November 2011
Rach has been the biggest cheerleader for her friends welcoming babies of their own... hosting several showers and visiting lots of newborns in the hospital. All the while her paper pregnancy took much longer and was far more challenging than anyone could have predicted.
So when they landed in DFW at 1:45 p.m. this weekend, a large crowd gathered to welcome them. Then the crowd chatted, snacked, played Ring Around the Rosies, and tried desperately to entertain the younger part of the crowd for about 3 hours while the new family went through customs and immigration. I know we were exhausted and we'd had a full night of sleep and plenty of snacks for the kids - I can only imagine how tired the new family must have been!!!

A close up of our signs:

I'm so happy for my friends and their newest son. And the "icing" on the proverbial cake? They get to celebrate his first birthday this week with him in their own home.

Matchy match

I admit it. I get my kicks by dressing my kids alike. And Abby like me.

Example #1 -
I fell in love with the Seahorse Chinos at J.Crew and got a pair for myself. On my way out of the mall, I saw them in Crew Cuts. So - now Abby has a pair of seahorse shorts. It breaks all of my rules for clothes. My rules are:

1. Rely mostly on handouts.
2. If you must buy, single digits only. The only exception to this is dresses (since they are both a top and a bottom), which can be a max of $15 instead of $9. Abby's Easter dress was $15 at Sam's. 2 weeks later, I saw the SAME dress at Nordy's on sale. The sale price there was $30. Seriously?!?
3. Save gift cards for special occasions. Every year my kids' Christmas outfits are a gift from a gift card the previous Christmas.

So $30 on a single pair of shorts broke all the rules. As it turns out, I may get my money's worth. These are pretty fancy - they include elastic and buttons inside the waist band that will allow for some growth.... or so I tell myself.

Example #2 -
Matching PJs!! I'm in love with the Leveret line, and I can't resist stocking up when they are on Zulily. Bumble bees, Fire Trucks, Monkeys, Christmas PJs (although that should only be a half credit - I think that's pretty normal and less on the crazy side. Oh and these were from Target, not Zulily.)... and that's just the tip of the iceburg. We also have trains, lawn mowers, race cars, Sports, and for the fall/winter when the kids have grown a little, turtles, moons, and pink/blue. Zulily makes it so easy by having so many options in infant and toddler sizes. Right now they are in 18-24 months (Abby) and 4T (Grant).

Example #3 -
Matching swimsuits

Example #4 -
Coordinating dinosaur shirts (another Zulily find)

Example #5 -
Halloween costumes

Example #6 -
With the examples above, you may find this hard to believe. But this was totally an accident!

On vacation, Andrew (yes, a 4 year old) commented that "Grant and Abby like to match." I know it's a problem. And the only prescription is more cowbell.

Destin 2013 - More Pics!!

I uploaded some of my aunt's photos from the trip. Enjoy!

Destin 2013 - Part 3 of 3

We were packed up and on the road at 6:28 a.m. I think we were the second group to leave. Steve couldn't sleep so his group left at 2 a.m.! We were on the road for about 45 minutes when we decided to stop for breakfast.

We planned to just run through McDonald's drive thru... but it turns out that particular drive thru is more like a parking lot. I think it was a full 20 minutes before we got our food! I thought Grant could handle an open-faced milk... but it slipped out of my hands as I was giving it to him. So our ALREADY FOREVER first stop was delayed another 10 minutes so Grant could change clothes and so Derek could take him potty while I cleaned up the seat.

We took a slightly different route home (through Baton Rouge instead of Shreveport). Most of the drive was 75 mph!!

Abby was healthy again, which should be a good thing... but both Derek and I were wishing for a sick baby. I think of the 12.5 hours in the car, she cried for at least 1.5 hours of it. Derek's black eye and congestion were really getting to him. I think it was the first day where he wasn't drinking before 10 a.m., so the pain from the black eye that he was drinking away all week was finally catching up to him!

I think I drove about 5 of the last 6 hour in the car. The hour I wasn't driving, I was smushed between the two car seats reading books to the kiddos. I also picked another great place to stop and eat. (sarcasm). Chick-fil-a was SO busy!! I'm sure we were there for 20 minutes also.

When we were about 1 hour outside of Dallas, I told Derek to try and find a babysitter. We needed a drink and were both craving some Mexican food, but taking 2 kids that had been sitting all day to a restaurant to sit longer was just not in the cards. Emily came to our rescue!!! It was seriously a brilliant idea and I'm SO glad she was available!!

And for all the torture that driving 12.5 hours with 2 toddlers was, I'm glad we did it. Sunday was spent filling the fridge, washing the sand out of everything, etc. That drive also made us both look forward to going to work on Monday!

Destin 2013 - Part 2 of 3

I expected Abby to wake up feeling well on Sunday... but my baby was still sick! Abby stayed indoors most of the day... including during a 5 hour nap. The boys got some good beach time in.

Abby did seem to feel better after dinner:

On Monday Mary and Laura took a walk on the beach and saw a hammerhead shark! He was in very shallow (1 foot) water and a crowd had gathered. This was about 1.5 miles from our house... pretty scary! Derek decided to liven up the party with a hot pink thong. Abby took yet another 5 hour nap because she felt so awful. But she did make it to the beach for the first time in the morning and actually liked it. At night, we watched the finale of the Bachelorette and a group of us went crab hunting. Pics:

Tuesday we went to the Gulfarium. We were the first to leave. Our kids were really too young to enjoy it and their naptime was creeping up on us. Abby was feeling better! We had Cousins' Night Out, which meant the 4 grandparents babysat the 10 kids (all 9 and under). Laura took full advantage. Double fisting with a punch from Pompano Joe's and an O'douls. Since one contains alcohol, it still counts as double-fisting. Derek had a head-on collision with Lynette right before we left though. He had a pretty black eye for the rest of the trip.

On Wednesday, we all got dressed and ready by 9am for some pics on the beach. As it turns out, it's MUCH better to do the pics around sunset because the white sand is blinding! I think we still got some good shots, though. Thanks Lynette!

The day was more of the same - beach in the morning and pool in the afternoon. I think this was the night that Mary and Braden grilled the 30 pound amberjack and snapper that Matthew caught earlier in the week. Yum, yum, yum... it was so good!! The night ended with some wrestling with Uncle Steve followed by some strumming by Steve. The sing-a-long started with hits such as The Itsy Bitsy Spider and If You're Happy and You Know It... but after the kids were in bed, it was on to Ho Hey! And even a Tenacious D song that I won't post on my blog! It was a really good birthday! Pics:

On Thursday, Derek, Doug, Bruce and Braden got up and headed out to the golf course. We stayed at the pool and played games indoors (got a quick shower in the morning, then a big down pour in the afternoon). We got the Wii out and danced our hearts out! We also discovered that the singles we had brought for Left Right Center were stolen from our car (nothing else was taken - just the $37 - although my bro also left a handle of rum out that was snatched up). So I guess everyone was feeling generous because that night, the Hickses cleaned HOUSE in LRC!!

On Friday we headed to the beach for our final trip. The water was pretty choppy and the kids were not feeling it. The canopy was on its last leg (it ended up in the trash before the end of the day). My mom got a pic with her namesakes (both girls have her name as their middle name).

The Hickses and the Mitts were the "night owls" on the last night. I think we were in bed by 10:30 though!

We got to enjoy the whitest sands and the calmest, clearest ocean that I've been to in the continental US. And more importantly, we had a blast playing with our cousins and watching our babies play with theirs. A great vacation. Coming up in Part 3 - the long road home.