Trip to Red Oak

The kids' daycare was closed today, so we headed out to visit Grandma Rose and Papa's house. My mom had made spaghetti. The kids had so much fun playing and the weather was perfect. We got home just in time for the showers to start!

Mini me

Marlene posted an old family pic for #tbt. I've always thought Abby looked like my mom, but it was even more clear when they were side by side.

San Antonio

Other construction attorneys had RAVED about the construction law CLE in San Antonio, so I thought it would be worthwhile to go. Then we decided to make it a quick weekend get away! And as an added bonus, Clint and Shauna did too. A quick weekend away without babies!

My cab arrived at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday. Yikes. Highlight of the early flight: seeing the sun rise over the clouds. A first for me and quite breathtaking.

I spent all day Thursday learning and took advantage of some adult time in the evening when I met another attorney, Janet, at a bar. Service was terrible, but the conversation was great AND much of our meal was comped. YEAH!

Friday was another all-day affair. Seriously - we even had class during lunch. I switched hotels and snuck in a nap before Derek, Clint and Shauna drove up.

Friday night we went to Ritas on the River. Derek and I remember it for their KILLER beef fajitas. The fajitas were still good, but the margaritas were NOT! We saw the Alamo, remembered it, then headed back to the hotel for a night cap in the hot tub.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... The kiddos enjoyed a big breakfast, cousin time, and ice cream!! Grant cried once after he ran over his sister... Papa can have that effect!

Abby tried to drive the Ranger, then tried to drive the one-seater John Deere toy.

She also got some time with Coco!!

Saturday we enjoyed breakfast in bed (free thanks to our Groupon!), then the boys worked out while the girls chatted over coffee. We had lunch at Chris Madrid's Nachos and Burgers (which were paired with delicious Mango Margaritas).

And keeping with the healthy menu, we headed over to Lulu's for their famous 3 pound cinnamon roll! In case you're wondering, the cinnamon roll won.

We needed to walk off the food coma, so we headed over to the La Cantera Shops. We took advantage of child-free shopping and walked away with boots (me) and watches (me and Derek).

Derek and Clint had reservations at a winery for us on Saturday night. There was also a charity event going on with a photo booth. I eyed it early in the evening and schemed to sneak into it for a memoir of our evening. Sure, the waiter wanted us to spend $40 on wine to take home as a memoir, but I like the free one better. Plus, it's a rule that was broken without any consequence.... which I just love! Once we got back to the hotel, we capped off the evening (again) with a night cap in the hot tub.

Today, we had breakfast (with complimentary mimosas) and headed out by 10. We maximized our child-free shopping again at the San Marcos outlets (look for my $9 BCBG dress at the wedding this coming weekend!!!) and Cabelas. But the highlight of the day was seeing this when we drove up to Grandma Rose & Papa's:

I melted right then. I hadn't seen these boogers since Wednesday night. Truth be told, I even missed Lola and snapped a shot of a Jack Russell that appeared in a Victoria Secret window ad when I was missing her! Abby wanted me to hold her (and not let her go) and Grant continued to play with cars.

It was so funny to hear the grandparents' take on the kids. According to them, Grant is smart, sweet, and sentimental, and Abby is spoiled rotten! She runs away when you get out a Kleenex, tackles Grant, holds her hands up at Grandma Rose's feet to be held, and throws herself on the ground in a full-blown toddler fit when she gets mad. I blame their ages... and birth order. I'm sure it's not MY fault!!

The weekend away was refreshing. This weekend a facebook friend posted a photo from a date with her hubby. The caption from her photo rang true for our weekend away. "You say it's fun. I say it's NECESSARY!"

Christmas in Red Oak - Part 1

We spent the 23rd and 24th in Red Oak. Grant got his favorite toy of all - Woody from Toy Story!! Abby got her favorite toy - a picnic basket! The boys rode the John Deere toys, but mostly shot Nerf guns at each other... and used Brian's helicopter as Target practice.

Warning: plumbers crack:

Steve got abused for at least 2 hours.

Our "small" group of siblings/cousins (13) all stayed the night and had more Paxtons out the next day. You know what's not fun?! Staying in the same room as your kids. Grant played with his new talking Woody at 3:45. I got up to tell him to stop. And he did. But then he coughed for the next hour. At some point, Abby just randomly started crying - but only for 30 seconds. The end result was about 3 hours of good sleep.

Red Oak

By Sunday I was going stir crazy. So I texted Grandma Rose to see if we could come visit. When she said they were around, I texted Coco (Carrie) to see if she and her boys wanted to come play too.

We were all in Red Oak by 10 a.m. Grandma Rose had lunch for the whole crew, Papa made his salsa. Practically perfect...

The John Deere toys were run for several hours while we were there.

Happy Mother's Day!!

We headed to Red Oak for Mother's Day on Sunday.



Oh I love those blue eyes!!



I was putting my new lens to work. It was a great day! All the boys (and Abby) played outside, then we had ham & beans for lunch. After lunch, I packed up my crew. Grant was asleep before we got to the end of the driveway.

I think he's starting to understand cameras. Last night he just sat there next to Abby while I snapped away. He is so sweet and gentle with Abby.

This morning Grant told me ALL morning he wanted to go to Papa's house. He wanted to see Coco, Steve and "Woes". He listed off their names without me prompting him! I told him we were going to school and Julie's house, and he'd tell me "No. Papa HOWs."

New tricks

Grant and Abby got to play with Grandma Rose the past 3 days. Poor Nathaniel was sick, and hopefully playing with Grandma Rose kept my babies from getting the worst of it!

Grandmas have a special sense. Yesterday Abby woke up just before I was leaving for work. She smiled and was so happy to see Grandma Rose! Grandma Rose also got Grant to sit through an ENTIRE book by working her grandma magic (Go Dog Go! - it's over 50 pages).

Grandmas also have great ideas. I've been trying to teach Grant that my milk is for the baby and his milk is for him. I could tell he was trying to process this but didn't quite understand. But after some time with Grandma Rose, he knows the milk in the bottle is "Baby's Juuuuice". (it seems calling it "juice" made him understand better - or Grandma just explains it better!)

Grandma Rose also raced with Grant and taught him to do a somersault. Remarkably simple games/lessons. And things I had never even thought of!

Grant has always been curious. He likes to watch the wheels of the trucks turn as he rolls them on the ground. He likes to fasten the safety straps on the car seat/bouncy chair/stroller/booster seat/anything he can get his hands on! Yesterday morning we were in the kitchen wait on his "wawa" (waffle) and I started tap dancing. Grant stopped whatever he was doing, got on the ground and looked at my feet (like you would look under a door). It was cute - he was trying to understand and also breathing like a fat kid. I kept dancing then asked him if he could do it. He beamed with pride and tried to tap like mama.

I know people say it all the time, but it's truly remarkable how much and how quickly these kids learn. Abby knows and loves Grandma Rose now. And coos at her because she has so much to share! Grant soaks up all the new games and tricks that Grandma Rose teaches him. Every day he's saying new words... words he's likely said for months but we can actually understand him now! He's combining words too ("No. Dada. Hooome." = Dada's not home.).

With all this learning, I think we're going to have to start watching what we say. *Sigh.*

On second thought, maybe with all this learning, he can learn "ear muffs" instead.

Christmas with Grandma Rose & Papa

Yesterday we had Christmas at my parents' house. On the way down there, we taught Grant to hold his hands under his chin and say "Thank youuuuuu". He failed to do it at Christmas but has been doing it ever since.

The boys ran all around the house. Even a few falls and collisions (bottom right) didn't slow them down. *Note - why is Grant the only one with his shirt off? One word - lasagna.*

Grant did get a little distracted with Lola (that's who he's smiling at outside the door).

I really like this next photo of Uncle Steve with Abby.

Next came PRESENTS!!! Grant loved his sock monkey jack in the box from Aunt Carrie. The photo also captures Matthew's reaction to a lego set in the background. Love it! I also love the background of the second photo - Tia with her 'nog and my baby!

The young boys all got cowboy hats and John Deere boots!

Once the presents were opened, Grant played in the hat box and ate his stocking stuffer. Lots of people eat their stocking stuffers... when it's candy! *sigh*.

Grant went to bed and we put on the Wizard of Oz. Carrie's boys know the entire movie and reenact it or dance the whole time. Carrie and I sang every word like we used to at Gaumy's. It was so fun!

We were all wiped and went to bed mid-movie. That was a good thing - each of Carrie's boys was awake at some point during the night (and may have woken up other people too). And Abby was so congested that she needed to sleep on one of us. Oh - and she decided to party from 4-7 am. The Motos stayed in the game room and as soon as they heard about our overnight adventure, they called the game room for the next 5 years. Thankfully my favorite sister held my congested baby in the morning and I got a good nap!! It was a good thing too because next up was the Paxton family Christmas...

Thanksgiving 2011

Steve and Gloria hosted the family again for Thanksgiving. We ate too much good stuff and then recovered by chasing around the kiddos and watching and playing football. Grant wanted to dress up for the occasion:

Grant and Matthew played with cars and Grant got some good cuddling in with Grandma Rose and Tia.

We took a family photo after lunch. You can't even really tell that Grant has food in his hair!

Gloria even sent us home with leftovers. Lots of them! Grant's favorites are the sweet potatoes and stuffing.