And.... He's Off!!!

As I have mentioned before, TJ has been a mover and a shaker from the very beginning. We all figured he would be an early walker and sure enough, he is. He's been itching to get up on those feet for quite some time. And, he's very excited and proud now that he is succeeding at that. He started taking steps a couple weeks ago, is now walking short distances and is quickly gaining confidence in his abilities...
Gotta love the mix of concentration and excitement on his face. Next thing I know he'll be running and jumping. He's really not giving me any time to enjoy each stage. I'm continually discovering just how bittersweet parenthood can be (in more ways than one). Where's my slow-mo button?

Just some pics

Chillin' together in the wagon. They both love this!
Little momma feeding her babydoll.
TJ's first biter biscuit. I'm wondering who it was that thought these were a good idea? Never used them with Alli and I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have with TJ either. What a mess! Not to mention when it got small enough, he crammed the whole thing in his mouth- also not good.

Spring 2007

A glimpse at our spring....

TJ & Alli enjoyiong the beautiful spring weather

Finally, things are green again and everything is blooming- notice all the little roses on the vines running through the mesquite tree in the background. Unfortunately, they only last for about 1 week. Had to get some pics while we could.

Alli's flowers- she takes very good care of them, watering them often.

TJ just being his adorable self

EASTER morning...

Alli got a Mrs. Potato head in her Easter basket and she was having fun with her glasses...

Candy!!!! My favorite.

The family photo...

I think TJ likes me a little (or maybe A LOT). He's not a momma's boy or anything.

Playing with all their loot!

A Fun Visit from the Westinghouse Family

Corry, Steph, Autumn and Shelby came out for a visit last weekend and we all had so much fun...

Shelby (8mos) and TJ (7mos) playing before the big sisters woke up Sunday morning. The calm before the storm you could call it :-) I think life is a little more peaceful for Shelby and TJ when the big girls aren't around. It was good to see that Autumn can be just as mean to her baby sister as Alli can be to her baby brother. Overall they are great big sisters, but every now and then something posesses them to push the babies for no apparent reason. Just establishing some dominance I guess. I have a feeling their time is coming- these babies are gonna start fighting back before too long. Steph and I are getting our referee uniforms ready :-)

Autumn and Alli checking out the prairie dog window at the zoo on Saturday. How cute!!

Dwaine and Corry went fishing Sunday morning and brought home a variety of different fish. (unfortunately for Corry, Dwaine did all the catching- sorry Corry, hope you had fun anyway!)

Alli checking out all the fish (she picked out that outfit by the way- I would have never dressed her in that). She was terrified of the huge ugly catfish when it first emerged from the livewell, but daddy eventually got her to warm up to it enough to touch it for a pic. Autumn, on the other hand, would have nothing to do with any of the fish even though she kept requesting to go outside to see the big fish :-)

Alli and Autumn riding high on their dads' shoulders to see the bear taking a bath.
Shelby and TJ did manage to get out of the strollers a few times. It wasn't always fun getting everyone back in the strollers, though.

OH NO!! Here comes a big scary fish. While Autumn stayed calm, Alli was certain he could get her and panicked a little right after this pic was taken.
By the way, yes, that is a princess tiara that Alli is wearing on the back of her head. It stayed pirched there all day. The things you can get away with when you are 2!

For some other cute pics of the weekend, visit Steph's blog at http://stephandcorrysbabygirl.blogspot.com/

Can't wait to see you all again. Thanks so much for coming out!

Unplanned Portrait Sitting

The kids and I were shopping at Babies-r-us the other day and I took the bait for a "free 8x10" offer in their portrait studio. I've been wanting to get their pics taken for a while but never seem to get around to it, so I figured I would take advantage of this oppurtunity just to see if they would behave and give me at least one good free pic (ignoring the fact that TJ had spit-up stains on his shirt).
Well, there were at least 2 pics that I just had to have, so of course I had to buy one in addition to my free sheet. But, I passed on some other really cute pics of Alli-she is quite the little poser when it comes to having her picture taken (but not at home for mommy). Anyway, here they are...

Not too bad for a spur of the moment portrait sitting. You can't even see those spit-up stains!

Gosh, that boy is handsome :-)

I know- I'm his mommy and I have to say that, but he really is.

That went so well, I feel another sitting coming in the near future. Maybe, this time it will be planned and I will actually buy enough pics to send out (gotta have a coupon for that- I never pay full price, you know)

A few quick pics...

Just a few quick pics. No time for lengthy stories...

Alli's famous grin.

TJ making daddy proud!

Browsing the Bass Pro Shops catalogue and sportin' her Spurs attire. That's our girl!

TJ joining Alli for a little tea party. Daddy's gonna get the fishing pole out again to make up for this.

????????

On the move, move, move!!!

BOY, I have got a livewire on my hands. This little guy is just full of it and he is loving life! He is crawling, getting into all of Alli's stuff (which she doesn't like by the way), and he just started pulling up too! Yes, pulling up at 6 1/2 months. Somebody please stop him. He is CONSTANT movement and that really is no exaggeration. Even when he is sleeping, he is all over that crib and usually stops only when his head is wedged in the corner. Crazy boy!!! Just look what fun he is having...

Sorry about the drool string hanging from his chin- still cute with that hat though right?

Do you see a pattern with that mouth being wide open?

Here he goes pulling up. He just can't wait to get walking...

Pigtails are my new thing with Alli. I just think she looks so adorable with them and I'm happy I can finally do something with her hair...

OK, so she's not smiling, but the hair looks great. I included the first pic to show that she does smile sometimes- just not with as much enthusiasm as TJ.

Elmo party!!!

Elmo came to throw Alli a party for her second birthday this weekend. He of course had a little (or a lot of) help from mom and dad. She had a great time at her party and we all had lots of fun with all the family and friends that came to celebrate with us. Thanks so much!

Alli playing with her new basketball goal from mom and dad- Slam Dunk!!!

The Elmo cake that mom slaved over. Yes, that's right, I made that cake and yes, I'm a little bit proud of it.

The birthday girl!!!!

Poor Elmo. Alli had no problem gobbling him right up.

Alli's First Haircut

We took Alli for her first haircut yesterday. She did better than I thought she would. The car chair and her own little TV with Dora playing certainly helped.

Before...

During...

After...

As you can see, other than the bangs, it didn't change a whole lot. And actually when it's dry, the hair just behind her bangs still falls in her face (don't worry Pawpaw-I pull it back and out of her eyes with a bow). That's OK though 'cause we like the wild and crazy hair that keeps her looking like a baby (especially daddy). We're just not ready to let her grow up yet. I know we will have to let go of that eventually, but not just yet. We're holding on as long as we can.

Milestones!!

TJ has had trouble sitting still since day one (and I mean from conception 'cause he was quite the acrobat in the womb too). So now that he is starting to figure things out and coordinate some of his moves, he is itching to get up and go. He wants so badly to join the rest of the family in all of our activities. Recently he has been able to sit up without assistance and he also gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. It won't be long before he's crawling and while I'm glad he is meeting his developmental milestones, I really don't want to rush this one. I have a feeling parenting two small children is about to become a lot more difficult.

Here are a few pics of TJ's newest accomplishments...

Oh yeah, he also "found" his feet. I love it when babies do this. It looks more funny when he does it before I get his diaper on, but I didn't think he would appreciate me taking a picture of that.

Our Christmas

We went to Dwaine's parents the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with his family. We had lots of fun visiting with everybody, ate lots of good food that his mom prepared, and exchanged Christmas gifts. The kids got lots of fun new toys and some adorable clothes. Thanks sooo much!!! As you'll see the kids were showered with lots of attention. They loved it and it was a nice break for Dwaine and me too!

Meg pulling Alli in the box- one of Alli's favorite activities...

Pop tickling TJ- one of TJ's favorite activities :-)

Alli checking out the presents before we ripped into them...

Then we headed home Christmas Eve, so the kids could get to bed, Santa Claus could come over night, and we could wake up at home on Christmas morning. It was nice to be able to sleep in a little, get up slowly and eat some cinnamon rolls before we started unwrapping gifts. We enjoyed that 'cause I'm sure that next year, Alli will insist on going straight to the tree first thing in the morning to see what Santa brought.

I think Alli really enjoyed the whole thing. She loved almost all of her presents, especially her babydoll and stroller. But she was less than thrilled with the remote control truck daddy insisted she have. While she is probably much too young for this toy, I actually thought that she would like it too, but how wrong we were. As soon as daddy pulled it out of the box and made it go, Alli said "NO, PUT IT UP, PUT IT UP!" Every time we got it out she would run after it, grab it and bring it to us insisting we put it up. It was quite hilarious. Well, I guess daddy and I can have fun with it until she gets used to it. A few days later she is warming up to it a little, but only if she has the controller.

TJ had no clue what was going on and it was just another day for him. As a matter of fact he was ready for a nap long before we were finished unwrapping gifts, but we kept him up till we were just about done and then we let him crash for a long nap. We used this time to let Alli try out her new Monarch butterfly kite in the backyard. That was fun except that the strong winds kept making the butterfly dive and crash straight into the ground. Can't wait till the weather is just right and we can show her how to do it right.

TJ enjoying his rattle and one of the dinosaurs from his "big bucket of dinosaurs" (another gift that daddy insisted on- he was just waiting for a little boy to give him an excuse to get some dinosaurs). Who knows how long it will be before TJ actually enjoys them.

Alli offering her baby a bottle. Later that day, Alli leaned down to her baby in the stroller, sniffed her crotch and said "eeeuuu." Cracked me up.

Alli decided TJ needed a bow.

TJ and Alli sporting Alli's new sunglasses.

GO SPURS GO!!!! She's got to have her team gear too.