Zoo Zoo

The crew decided to head to the Waco Zoo last weekend, since we were in Moody for Thanksgiving and were close by.  It was the boys first time at a zoo and Elijah was in awe!  Ian was stud daddy and had so much fun teaching and showing Elijah all the animals.  (He also knew exactly how to lure the animals our way with his arsenal of sound effects; anyone who knows Ian knows he has plenty of those in his bag of tricks) :)  We had a blast, though, and are loving getting to "show the world" to Elijah now that he is old enough to be interested.  Parenting just gets better and better!  :)  

Ian's growl worked on the Lion.  He came right over to where they were in front of the glass and let out a few big roars himself.

He also managed to get the orangutan to climb over our direction with some clicking noises.  :)

And here we are at the little photo op spot.  I had Joaquin in the bjorn and he knocked out dead asleep about 5 min after this picture was taken.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARREN!

*This post is for our good friend, Darren! Happy Birthday man; We love you!

We were so excited to get the email from Lindsey telling of your video birthday wishes! We hope you have an amazing birthday and we are sorry we can't be there in person. Just know, our hearts are completely there in joy and gratitude!

You are an amazing man! We are so proud to call ourselves your friends and feel honored that you have chosen us to share times of your life with us! You are so loyal, trustworthy, honest, genuine, compassionate, fun, accepting, encouraging, and loving. Thank you for being who you are! We celebrate you today!!!

A little side note about our videos. So, we took these Sunday morning, which you must realize means we are still in our jammies and are lazo-ing around the house. Sorry I didn't put any makeup on or at least brush my hair. :) But, even though we aren't dressed for your party, we love you all the same. :)

Gampa's Visit

This weekend Ian's dad, otherwise known as "Gampa", came to stay. The boys had a blast with their new buddy in town and it was wonderful to see the generations of guys all bonding. Elijah kept holding up his arms for Gampa to hold him and Joaquin was all smiles every time Gampa came into the room.

Gampa watched Joaquin while Daddy had a bath time with Elijah. :) It is always fun and games with Daddy in the tub!

Here is Gampa and Elijah just before Gampa had to head off to the airport. Elijah wasn't too happy to be losing his pal. :(

Gampa showed Elijah how to wear his fancy tie and let him play with his big-boy briefcase. The credit card, however, was stolen from Daddy's wallet, that little scoundrel. :)

Little man, Joaquin, after he had his bath with Daddy. (I love those little doughy arms!)

Gampa helped motivate Joaquin towards learning to crawl. He is pretty darn successful at getting where he wants to go just by rolling, wiggling, and army-crawling on his belly. In this picture he started on the play mat (in the far right corner of the photo where the blue book is placed), but as soon as mommy turned her back towards the kitchen he was out the gate and headed toward the bedroom where Gampa and Daddy were talking. Wanted to be with the boys, I guess. :)

Thanks for your visit Gampa and for loving on your grandbabies! We love you!

New Experiences

"Kris Kross Will Make You..."

Joaquin has a new favorite way to spend his time...in the bouncer! It is a great way for mommy not to have to worry about him getting trampled on by Joni or Elijah running around. He loves to warm up those leg muscles and just jump and jump and jump.

Elijah's new favorite activity is good ole fort building. Well, I should correct that and say his favorite activity is playing in the fort, not building it. Mommy and Daddy get the joy of putting it all together, although it isn't like it takes a lot of effort to move the couch pillows around. :) It brought back such fun memories of playing in elaborate forts that my brothers and I would take days to construct with secret passageways and booby-traps for tress passers. (Of course we would later make my mother or father "tress pass" so the traps were put to good use.) Ahh, so much happiness from scheming and creating. Parenting is such a special time-traveling experience that puts us all back there in that simple space of childhood joy!

If you want a laugh...

Some New Tricks

Elijah's New Trick

So, Elijah recently figured out how to sneak under the stair gate. I had to put it above the wood edge on the wall so there has always been about a 3 inch gap, but he hadn't-until recently- noticed it. Looks like I will have to find another method to keeping him off the stairs.

Joaquin's New Trick

This one really needs no introduction...

Hallows' Eve

This Halloween was especially fun because Elijah was older and more aware of what was going on. It was his first time to go trick-or-treating and it is so much fun as an adult to get to introduce them to strange traditions and things of the sort! Actually, Elijah had about a weeks worth of Halloween activities, starting at his Mother's Day Out, the church, and then the actual door-to-door stuff. Here are some pictures from the events.

Joaquin as a chili pepper

Elijah was an elephant, as you can see.

Daddy and son before his M.D.O. costume parade

The two of us getting to school early that morning

That outfit was so cute. It was padded in the front and back and looked hilarious when he waddled around.

The crew all dressed up to go out and walk the neighborhood.

Joni the bumble bee, Elijah the elephant, and Joaquin the chili pepper

Leaving the house

Elijah got so excited every time someone dropped something into his bag. He soon realized that each house we went to was going to GIVE him something, and that was awesome!

However, after about 7 houses Elijah was pooped! Daddy ended up carrying both boys back to the house, because Elijah didn't want to walk any further.

He was to interested in what was in his bag at that point.

Baylor Homecoming

The whole family headed up to Baylor Homecoming this weekend. We were going to the football game because, if you don't know, the cheerleader alumni can cheer on the field during the 3rd quarter of the game. It is usually a blast and all the old cheer guys and gals play around stunting on the field. Well, I haven't been able to do this in a very long time (6 years to be exact) because I was living in California, and then I was pregnant every time homecoming came around since we have been living in Texas. So, this year I was excited to go to the game.

We decided to take the little guys so we wanted to show up around half time because we didn't think they would be able to last a whole game while both on Daddy's lap. :) Ian is super-dad, by the way. However, we ended up getting there late and only had 3 min. left in 3rd quarter for me to jump down on the field. (And, I mean that literally. I jumped down from the stands with just enough time to throw a few stunts in my jeans and all! Ronnie had me throw on some white t-shirt of his over my tank top and that was it!) Ha! It was fun though.

One-armed liberty

Left-armed Cupie

This was part of a stunt sequence

Twisting and smiling at the camera for a nice photo op :)

Arabesque after the game

Twisting out of a stunt at the game

Pike-open basket toss

One-armed lib

Right-armed Cupie

Ball-up stretch (kinda tough to do in jeans, ha!)

Eventually, Elijah got stung by a bee on his hand and the party ended. He was a tough little guy though and by the time we headed to the car, he had stopped crying all together! I wish we had gotten more photos of the boys and Ian at the game, but it was tough to remember the camera with so much else going on.

This was what they call a tic-tock. Ronnie switched off hands, holding both my feet above his head with his right hand, then his left. It is a tough stunt for the guys. Not as tough for the girls. We just stay tight and enjoy the ride. :)

One-armed liberty, which is where the girl is standing on one foot and the guy is holding her one foot with one hand above his head. :) This is a tough one. Ronnie and I were great partners together. It was like riding a bike; our technique just fell right into place again.

Backyard

We were playing in the backyard this weekend and decided to take some pictures.  We actually have these beautiful white flower weeds growing all over the place, which made for what we thought would be a good picture op.  :)

Elijah's favorite word is "BALL", which he says with the intonation of a question, like he isn't sure if it is a ball or not and wants someone to verify.  He is also learning to throw the ball to Joni our pug, and Daddy of course. :)

One of Elijah's favorites!  Daddy tosses!

Precious little man!

His hair is getting long and curly in the back.  I love it.

Elijah thought it was fun being in the flowers.

Joaquin liked daddy flying him around in the air.

He DID NOT, however, like laying in the flowers.  I think this one got a little too close to his face and it freaked him out.  :)  It was funny, though.

He is getting so big now!  

I love my little guys!

Cancun Pics- 2nd Vacation Post

*If you want to hear about our vacation in order, read the previous video post before you read this one. :)

This was day one of our trip, in the Prius, on our way to the airport in the morning.

The beach was beautiful. Ian and I loved those little beach beds. You would seriously be asleep in seconds listening to the ocean.

This was just one of the little covered huts where you could sit out in front of the ocean. You had to get to the beach early if you wanted to claim one. :)

Central pool with the lobster grill on top of the water.

This is another one of the pools and the ocean is in the background. It looks empty because it was around 8 in the morning just before we went out for breakfast.

I took this pic early in the morning of one of the pools with a swim-up bar and a little restaurant that is in the middle of the pool.

This was before we went out for dinner at the Mexican restaurant on the grounds. There were 5 or 6 nice restaurants that you could choose from each evening.

This was one of my favorite things to do. They had two person sized hammocks all over the grounds that hung just enough in the water to keep you cool. As soon as the breeze started swaying the hammock I was asleep in seconds!

I loved these palapa beds. Ian and I spent an afternoon in the pool and reading to each other out loud under our palapa.

This was the entryway when you check in to the resort. You arrive on the 2nd floor and then walk down these stairs to the rest of the facilities.

Here is Ian getting ready to start our hydrotherapy at the spa.

I know it is random, but the trash cans in the spa dressing room were just so pretty!

This was a huge 3 story water fountain wall in the center of the spa. The ceiling at the very top was a clear skylight. The architecture was amazing! I want one of these in my house someday! :)

A mid-day break from the heat, reading on our couch.

Ian and I laying out on the white sand beach.

Crystal clear tropical waters!

Huge jacuzzi tub!

The bed, with Ian still sleeping in the morning. :)

Our amazing rooftop terrace

Another picture of the balcony beds, our pool and the outdoor shower on the terrace.

The view of our side terrace from the covered balcony.

The tub had a window/door that opened up onto the covered patio

View from the balcony

This was the covered part of our balcony. We sat/laid out here when there was a mid-afternoon shower.

Looking towards the ocean from our balcony. The pool on the far left is part of the hydrotherapy spa.

This is a view of one of the pools that circles around the resort. I took this picture from our balcony.

I secretly took this pic during our second flight out. Ian was knocked out! :)

Here, we thought we were leaving. This was Friday morning. But, we actually sat on the plane for 2 hours before they drove back to the gate and cancelled our flight. :(