Fun & Pictures

I have been terrible at downloading pictures off of our camera lately. So, here are probably way more than you want to look at, but if you do look at them, you're a true blogger buddy! :o) We've had lots of fun these past few weeks staying busy and enjoying the great weather.

Great Grandma's Visit

As you can see, Syd was closing in on nap time in this photo.

Paul's Triathlons

I've been so proud of how Paul has committed to training for these races. Swimming, biking, and running one right after the other does not sound like MY kind of fun, but Paul loves it and does a great job at it. Triathlons come with really cool outfits too...HA!

YAY for Daddy!

Way to go Daddy!

A Mini-Vacation

Paul & I got to go spend the night at a place out by Glen Rose called Rough Creek Lodge. It was nice to get away...even if only for one night. Obviously we took self-portraits as there was really no one else around to take them.

Easter

We had a great Easter this year celebrating our risen Jesus! I especially loved that Gracie Claire understood so much more this year. We made a point to really push that Easter isn't about the bunny and eggs, but that it's the day that we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. She especially loved watching Veggie Tales "Easter Carol." My sweet Sydney liked watching too, but much preferred getting into the eggs!

The Zoo

In the last two weeks, we've been to the zoo three times!! We loved it every single time. I am so loving that the weather is finally getting warm enough to spend lots of time outside. We went with some of our most favorite friends!

Gracie Claire and one of her favorite friends Emmerson.

Me and my Girls

We had fun with Bennett and Jennifer on our second trip. Sydney's pointing at the tiger in this picture. :o)

Fun Friends

Cool Sun Bear Mommy

Gracie Claire loved the reptile house...yuck!

If you haven't seen the real crocodile in the Texas section yet, it's amazing...HUGE! It was right at the glass when we saw it with it's mouth hanging wide open.

Hi Mommy!

The turtles are cool!

On our third trip we went with Gracie Claire's best friend Claire. Sydney and Luke were there too, of course.

So Sweet

Hangin' out in the wagon.

Sweet Friends

Sydney was so awesome on all of our zoo visits. Having to miss regular nap time isn't so easy sometimes, but she was SO good!!!

If you've made it this far...I just want to say that I do know how to make slide shows, collages, and such, but didn't really have the motivation after downloading and organizing 170 pictures. I hope you didn't mind scrolling!! :o)

p.s. I just realized that I mentioned the girls' friends, but we also got to spend time with some of MY most favorite friends too. I love hanging out with Emily, Jennifer, and Becky...let me know if you ever get sick of me girls. ;o)

Way To Go...

American Idol!! I'm sure a lot have seen this already, but if you haven't...LOOK! The "idols" sang it on the Idol Gives Back show on Wednesday night and then they sang it again on last night's show! There was a difference though. Wednesday night they changed the words at the start of the song to, "My Shepherd..." and Thursday night they sang the RIGHT words..."My JESUS!" Love that they did this. This is Thursday night's version...

Introducing...

Bambino #3!! Yes, you read that correctly! Baby #3 is on it's way! I thought I would wait a bit longer to post about this, but decided that I couldn't wait any longer. We are so excited and completely in awe of the newest gift that God has given us! The baby is due at the end of October, so if you do the calculations, I will have been pregnant at least a little bit of each year since 2004. How wild is that?! We are so thankful! So, to introduce the newest addition, here is the first picture of "Baby Bean!" (Bean because this week he/she is the size of a kidney bean.) ;o)


The top photo says, "Head by Amanda" and "Body by Paul." My doctor, whom I love, thinks he's really clever adding those little captions. But what he doesn't remember is that he did it on Gracie Claire's & Sydney's first sonogram pictures. We gave him a courtesy laugh anyway! :o)

Look At My "EarWings!"

Since Spring Break was last week, we got to hang out with my mom a bunch. On one of our outings we went to the mall and as we passed Claire's I was telling my mom how every time we come to the mall with Paul, I always try to talk him into getting Gracie Claire's ears pierced. It's not that he is or was against her having her ears pierced, it's just that he's not so good with sharp things being shoved through skin. And that's not just his own, it's anyones'. He just doesn't want to watch. So, my mom says, "Let's go do it now then." OK. So we swung the ginormous double stroller around and headed back to Claire's (which is almost too small to maneuver a ginormous double stroller through...if you've never tried it.) It was all in vain because Claire's said "NO." They only do it if they're 5 or over. So, with a disappointed Gracie Claire, we head back down the mall hall. The next place we stopped, with a bit of hesitation I must say, was "The Piercing Pagoda" which is right in front of NY&Co. I asked bunches of questions, the girl showed me her "piercing license" and we signed the paperwork. GC was thrilled! I sat on the little stool and held GC. The girl measured exactly where the holes would go, made the little marks, I checked them, and she loaded the guns. I was sure that Gracie Claire would shed a few tears. I held her arms with one of mine and her head with the other and the girl pierced each ear so fast that it was all over within 5 seconds. The only peep that GC made was a nervous laugh. When the girl showed her the mirror, she squealed with the best excitement! She loved it! For the past week she has said, "Look at my earwings!" to almost everyone she sees! So, an event that I thought might be a little bit stressful turned into one that was so fun! I love being a mom!!

Sleepy Head

I just had to share this picture because it is very rare to have my Syd fall asleep in my arms. Just thought it was super sweet! Please ignore the look on my face...not really sure what it means. :o)

The Next American Idol?

These are truly hilarious. They came from a list of "The Worst Album Covers Ever." Not sure if they're real, but if they are, I'd like to say, "Good for you for going after your dream!" ;o)

Oh To Sleep Like A Child

Seriously...she really did fall asleep like this.

Winter...I Mean Spring Fun!

Gracie Claire and I went out and had a blast in the snow yesterday. We took the opportunity to go while Sydney was sleeping. Not that she wouldn't have enjoyed it, but since she's still not walking, and she probably wouldn't have appreciated it too much if I sat her down in the snow, we decided to go w/o her. Hopefully someday she'll get to experience it! Gracie Claire loved it and had to call Paul and BigPa and Gigi to tell them about her "big snowmen." She was dying to build a "big snowman," but was happy with the two we ended up with. She loved watching out the window while it was snowing too. She kept saying over and over, "I can't wait to go play in the snow!" It was so fun to watch her love it!!

Winter Wonderland...sort of!

So excited!

She tried so hard to help make the snowmen!

YUM!

Snow Angel

Our finished products...we used frozen veggies to make the faces. Then I dumped the whole bag all over our deck. Yeah, I know, smooth move.

The Last Birthday Post

Gracie Claire

Gracie Claire's birthday is on Valentine's Day and we had a long day of fun to celebrate it. This year her birthday fell on a Thursday, which is the day that she goes to school. So, we got her up and ready, gave her a couple of presents (Belle sunglasses and a Bell doll) and let her pick where she wanted to go to breakfast. She decided she wanted donuts and sausage rolls, so we headed to Shipley's. She chose a pink frosted donut and chocolate milk for breakfast and we had a great time just being together for breakfast. We dropped her off for school and headed home. Not a couple of hours after we dropped her off, we got a call that her "belly issues" (which she had trouble with the Monday before) had visited several times that morning. After waiting for the carpet cleaner guy to leave and Paul to come back home after leaving for the gym to bring me my keys which he had stuck in his pocket, I went to get Gracie Claire. After bringing her home for a little while, she decided that she felt better (which she did after making one more big trip to the potty.) We went back up to the church to play with one of her favorite little friends at the playscape. She loves Claire! When we were done playing, we headed to my parent's house to have a little BigPa and Gigi time before heading to have dinner with Paul. We had Mexican food at Christina's by Paul's work and had more fun time together. After our big day celebrating, my big 3 year was pooped and gladly headed to bed for the night! It was definitely a fun day celebrating our little girl!

Sydney

Sydney's birthday is the day after Valentine's Day. She chose to sleep in a little bit and then picked scrambled eggs, fried ham, and toast for breakfast. ;o) Paul took Friday off so we could have an extra day of family time before the party on Saturday. We spent a lot of the day playing at home and just spending time together. After nap time, we took a trip to our favorite little play area at the Northeast Mall. The girls had a great time climbing around (Sydney especially loves the little tunnel and the car) and then we enjoyed some soft pretzels from Auntie Anne's. YUM! When we got home we had a yummy dinner from Taste of Asia...Sydney's choice again. After dinner it was time for a birthday bath and then off to dreamland. We had a great day celebrating our sweet Sydney. How fast did her first year fly by?!