Party People

Recently, the kids enjoyed several birthday parties.

The first party was for Paxton, a friend from church.

He had a Cat in the Hat 1st birthday party.

Miss MG with Paxton.

Then there was Michael's at the Dallas Science Museum.

Henry has really been into dinosaurs lately.

Unfortunately, he wasn't into this life size one... freak out!

We skipped the dino dig and went downstairs to the children's area.

Henry and Michael

The funny mirror

I've always said that Henry has a long torso...

... and a huge head!

Margaret was happy to get down and get moving in the infant playroom.

(She doesn't dig the stroller)

Not sure what Henry was doing here... laying the egg???

Chocolate milk always brings a smile.

:)


The last party that day was Ava's 1st birthday party.

It was a watermelon party, so Margaret had to dress the part.

Too bad I was wiped out and didn't take pics of the kids enjoying themselves or of sweet Ava being adorable...

... but as momma, Kim, walked us out, I snapped this one.

It's a perfect depiction of how the kids felt after going to 3 birthday parties.

When we got home I tried to take a pic of the kiddos (what was I thinking?), but only Margaret made the cut, cause Henry was laying of the floor crying, pleading to go to bed.



The next weekend we went to Auriana's,another church friend's, party.

Seeing that I had to fly solo with the kids again, I didn't get any pics, but here's a pic of Margaret with her friend at Paxton's party.

Thanks Paxton, Michael, Ava, and Auriana for including us in your celebrations!

Godson

My friend, Liz, asked me to be Charlie's godmother, and I couldn't be more honored/ excited!
I jokingly told her that I'm going to have to look up the "duties" on the Internet, since I wasn't sure what they are.

Liz told me that I just need to be a spiritual role model for him.... talk about pressure :)

The baptism is in October, and I look forward to being with Charlie on that special day.

(I stole this pic from Liz's blog because I think it's one of the cutest pictures I've ever seen- he's the redhead I've always wanted!! :) )

Playing Around

Margaret playing around while I sorted fall clothes.

She found her favorite toy- the purple spider.



Loves that thing!
It needs a name- haven't come up with a good one, yet.
She crawls all around the house with it.



Tom thought it would be a good idea to show the kids how much fun the window seat can be.



One day, Henry wanted to take a nap in it.

Playing around with Mr. Potato Head.

Almost, Henry.

Welcome back...

Alice!

Mondays and Wednesdays are Henry and Margaret's days spent with their cousin.

A neighbor did ask me if they were all mine.

Another said "Whoa, you have your hands full!"

Come on people!

Maybe it's because the kids were in their PJs,

or maybe I need a bigger wagon.

I have started to curse the hills in our neighborhood.

The kids aren't always this happy, but so far so good!

A Morning Dip

Eating Issues

This is how Margaret and I are feeling about her eating these days:

When we started with solids, we began with sweet potatoes. She ate them and didn't complain.

Next was carrots. Wasn't that crazy about them.

Peas- didn't mind them.

Apple Sauce- hated it.

Bananas- disgusted by them.

Pumpkin- tolerated it.

Then started to refuse all food.

She would eat a couple of bites and then turn her mouth into Fort Knox and push away the spoon.

When I handed her the spoon (which was probably a mistake??), she would try to eat whatever was on the spoon.

So my mom brain told me it wasn't that Margaret minded what I was serving her, it was how I was serving it. (well, apple sauce and bananas she does mind- hates it)

Ok, I can work with this, right? Well, she doesn't have the pincer grasp... or the control to self feed herself with a spoon, so that posed a problem.

Amy gave me the idea to roll her food into little balls. So I added a lot of cereal to some sweet potato (to thicken it up) and served it to her:

She tried.

Huge mess.

I've also tried spreading the puree on a Baby Mum Mum and that works pretty well.

I've tried giving her puffs to pick up herself and sneak in some bites from a spoon... doesn't work.

(as I was typing that last sentence, I thought, "hmm... maybe God is trying to teach me a lesson in patience.")

I know (I think I believe) that Margaret's getting the nourishment she needs from me, but this situation has been driving me crazy!

So my plan now is just trying to introduce her to as many different flavors as possible and when she's able to better feed herself, then problem will be solved.... I hope.

Pureed peas on a Mum Mum and overly cooked Green beans (gnawed on those for a while)



Gave her a big chunk of cantaloupe to suck on

It was a little slippery, so she brought her mouth to it :)

I think this was just a fluke.... Margaret signing "all done".

And here's a video of her trying to eat her sweet potatoes all "rolled up" into a ball.

7 months

I attempted to get a good 7 month picture, but Margaret wasn't feeling the love for the camera.

I love this outfit- thanks Leah!
There's a smile!

Tried to get some happier pictures before church.

There we go :)

Getting bored...

And it's over.

This month I have felt like I'm taking crazy pills....

Margaret's all over the place :)

Crawling like a champ now... she's gotten fast!

Loves to eat shoes(especially Henry's Crocs.. he gets pretty annoyed when I put them on his feet and they're all wet), paper, and leaves.

Doesn't love to be fed solid food. (I'll get to that later)

Still sleeps pretty well, but learning to pull up in the crib definitely put a dent in her naps for a while.

Talks the most when she's in the car... such sweet sounds... no mamas or dadas yet.

Happy 7 months, my love.

Houston/ Evie's Party

We drove down to Houston to help Evie celebrate her 2nd birthday and to help the Whitesides bid farewell before they moved.

The party was at a splash/water park.

Henry was pretty nervous when we got there, but quickly warmed up to the place... ended up loving it.

PatPat and PawPaw were there, too.

Lucky for me, cause I got to pawn Margaret off on them while I went down one of the big twisty slides- twice :) I'm really wanting to do an adults-only trip to Hurricane Harbor.

We tried to take a group pic last we did last year at Evie's party.

Margaret Gray was making it difficult.

Better.

Since it was the Whitesides' last night in Houston, we all had a slumber party at the Burkharts.

After putting the kids down,

Jenny, Mary Pat, and I went out for cheese and wine.

And stayed up too late talking.

So glad these two have gotten to be such great friends!

The next morning, after helping MP and Jenny with their goodbyes :),

we loaded up the kids and headed home.

We loved all our time we got to spend with our dear friends.. just wished it could have been longer.

Kiddos in the morning

Love how Bekah prefers to be dressed in her swimsuit at all times!

I'm super cute...

... in my pigtales :)

Magical Birthday Party

Henry and I got to celebrate Audrey's 2nd birthday at a Puppet Theater.

I was really surprised how well Henry sat and watched the variety show.

Audrey was great help with the magic tricks... and added much humor to the show.

The Variety Show ended with this weird dancing bear/ doll thing. Surprising only 1 child was scared, and it wasn't mine!

Even though Henry was a little leary of the puppets up close, I got him pose with Raggedy Ann... he frequently puts his hands on his hips these days. Ha.

We don't get to see the Barkers nearly enough these days since they moved, so it was nice to hang out with them for the afternoon and see Audrey enjoy her party.

Girls' Trip

In July, I got to spend a weekend away with some of my best friends.

Jenny, Kristen, Amy, and I met up in Austin for some much needed rest and relaxation. We had a great time talking, laying out by the pool, eating, shopping, and sleeping in past 8 am :)

Hopefully, we can make this an annual event... heck, maybe even biannual!

Thanks Kate and Brent for keeping the kids!

(The day Margaret decided to take a bottle and I was filled with joy knowing that I could now go on the trip, Tom found out that someone needed him to switch weekends... bubble was burst. The Wood family came to my rescue!)

Video Madness

Hadn't unloaded my videos off the camera in a while... so you get to "enjoy" them all at once... don't think any of them are too long.

"What's the biggie?" you ask.

HUGE improvement from the beginning of the summer when he was terrified of the water.

I think it was his swimsuit that was holding him back. :)

I adore Margaret's chuckle.

Family baseball time with a pink golf club and a tennis ball.

Playing a "guitar"

Jesus Loves Me

Doggie training is hard work.

Henry likes to eat Margaret's leftovers and Margaret wanted to get her screech documented. It's a lovely sound.

Little Miss MG decided to sit, crawl, and pull up all at once. We've been very busy. She wanted to "dress" just like her brother on his crawling video.

I was once told that you can tell a dog's intelligence by how quickly they try to get a towel off their head. ...Whew- Margaret's in the clear.