Just Around the South Bend

Sunday, June 3, 2012

The Lone Star State

After we spent a wonderful week in Oklahoma with friends and Kev's family, we drove to Texas to see my family. It was such a relaxing and refreshing visit!

I got to spend some sweet time with my sisters and mom. And we even got a pedicure...special treat for me.

We spent lots of time playing in the backyard. Who can ask for more than a water hose, sand, and a mini pool? At least for Elliott, it was heaven.

We spent lots of quality time with babies. My sisters and I have all had a baby in a span of 4 MONTHS! Pretty awesome. It's so neat to me that we are all parents and get to experience babies at the same time. I'm sure the house will be pretty chaotic here in a couple of years when they're all running around like little hooligans, but I'm excited for that too.

We joked that the boys were our "easy," laid back kiddos (this is Mason lest you be confused).

The girls...let's just say they are not quite as laid back. :)

Sisters.

Anj with the newest addition.

"Whatcha got there cuz?"

Love me some chunky thighs (maybe I should specify on babies...not on me).

Bath time fun.

Miss Elliott was basically attached to Momo (my mom) the entire week...literally. She cared very little about mommy and daddy, and I must admit, it was a nice break.

The girls and all the kids. Our family has exponentially grown.

I've realized that my view of vacations have drastically changed. A vacation now=family, a daily workout, and frequent Starbucks. If I get an occasional nap, that's an added plus. Oh how life changes.

We're so thankful for our families and thankful for the wonderful two weeks we were able to spend with them. I'll try to limit the picture posts from now on. I've been a little excessive of late. :)

Friday, June 1, 2012

5 month update

I remember when Elliott was a baby, I was always waiting for each new developmental stage. Waiting for her to sit up and to get her first tooth. Waiting for her to roll over, crawl and walk. Waiting for her to become a little girl. And she did...in an instant. Sometimes I wonder if I missed the fun of her baby days while I was waiting.

With Mason, I often find myself wishing time would stand still. I LOVE the stage that he is at...love his smiles and giggles, love his snuggles and even his sweet little cries. But minutes fade into days, days into months, and our little man is already 5 months old.

We both gained a whole new appreciation for little Mace (as E calls him) over our vacation. We constantly asked each other, "Could he be any easier of a baby??" I could count on one hand the number of times he cried, he smiled at everyone, did not care who held him, whether it was Kev's 90-year-old grandma or my cousin's 8-year-old daughter. It didn't phase him that he was sleeping in a bouncer, that we had 4 total flights, that he was passed around to countless people he did not know. He took everything in stride.

He is wearing 3-6 month clothes but I am now buying 6-9 month clothes. I still have clothing dilemma's dressing a little boy. I must say...girls clothes are SO much cuter!

Wearing size 3 diapers.

He drinks 5-6 ounces from a bottle when I'm gone and nurses anywhere between 3-4 hours when I'm home.

He still LOVES his bouncer and loves grabbing the toys hanging above him.

He likes sitting in the bumbo as well and has become quite the sneaky grabber when things are in his reach. I usually put him on the counters while I cook, and all the sudden I'll notice he has pulled my bowl, etc over to him.

He loves to smile and has a smile that still melts my heart! I haven't done a good job recently catching it on camera, but he is certainly not stingy with his smiles.

He is such a ticklish little guy. Especially on his sides, neck, back, legs...okay basically all over. I tickle him often. :)

He loves his big sister and watches her constantly. She has gained a greater affection for him so is constantly giving him kisses, hugs, blankets, etc.

His second most favorite thing to watch is of course...Truman. He just smiles and smiles at him. Truman, on the other hand, is completely oblivious.

He has not rolled over which I think is the product of 2 things: I forget to give him enough tummy time and he is such a content little guy, not in a hurry to do any rolling. Fine by me. He stays where I put him.

I think he is one of the cutest babies I have EVER seen, and I know I'm biased because I'm his mom, but I still think he is SO cute.

He chews on his hands CONSTANTLY and loves playing with his feet.

He has turned into a spitty little guy. The real gross kind of spit-up. Like when it has time to be somewhat digested so is especially chunky, smelly and gross when it comes up. Love it.

Baby love.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The great vacation.

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. I haven't moved...we already did that. Life happened. And sometimes life doesn't slow down enough to write blog posts. Among the significant things that happened in the last 4 weeks...

finished the Whole30

Kev completed his first year in his PhD (only 5 more years to go)

we went on a fantastic vacation to visit family.

I realized that for at least the next 5 (maybe more), our vacations will most likely be dominated by trips home to see family. Because lets face, if we pay money and take time off, we want to see people we love. We're blessed to have families who know us well and still love us. First we traveled to Oklahoma to see Kev's family. I know this is a lot of pictures and probably no one wants to see all these except our family, but here goes...

The first couple of days in OK we got to go to our good friend Stuart's graduation from law school. What a major accomplishment! We were so thankful to get to celebrate with our friends! You guys are our inspiration. Seriously.

We spent LOTS of time playing in Grandpa and Grandma's backyard. Miss E was a major fan of their swimming pool and sandbox. A very dirty combination.

Little man chilling with Gigi.

The newest addition. Such a cutie pie!

One of the highlights to the week was our trip downtown. We didn't even intend to go to the splash pad, but the kids LOVED it. Why is spontaneous fun always the best?

E loved the splash pad and ran around like a lunatic trying to drink the water. Silly girl.

Have I mentioned she is obsessed with WATER? Like crazy obsessed. When she sees water, she wants to step in it, sit in it, drink it, pour it, all while saying "water." Maybe this is a toddler thing but it's slightly hilarious...except she was saying this as she was running along the open edges of the canal. I was slightly fearful she might just leap in (and subsequently sink like a log), but thankfully that didn't happen.

Mason chilling in the stroller while the older kids played. Thank you Lord for a chill baby.

Boat ride down the canal.

Waiting for the boat.

Dinner at Coaches. Love this pic.

A trip to OK is not complete without a little walk down memory lane...the college years.

OU's campus never gets old.

Continuing the water obsession.

We ended the trip with a little double date to Iron Starr and Sara Sara's cupcakes.

We had a wonderful time seeing family, so many good friends (many who we obviously forgot to take pictures with) and coworkers, yummy Mexican food (Indiana doesn't have ANYTHING on Ted's), and left with a newly acquired love (and tshirts) for the Thunder. Then we drove to Texas...

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Two in one

Birthday parties that is. Elliott has not really had many birthday parties to go to, but we just happened to have TWO scheduled in ONE day. What's better than one cupcakes? TWO cupcakes. Elliott was a big fan.