Cousins

We were so excited when this little unprovoked photo-op came along during our June family weekend at the lake.We had the brilliant idea to try to get the four of them together again this past weekend. 2 two year olds, an almost 5 month old and an almost 4 month old. This will be easy, right?




Despite our best efforts, which included every adult standing in the background clapping, whistling, and shouting, these were the best we got. Our sweet nephew tried his hardest every time. He is going to have some fun times ahead dealing with that group of girls.

3 Month Pictures

Life is flying by...

I should be working on my fantasy football draft that I am totally unprepared for, but wanted to do a quick post first. I can't believe my baby is going to be 4 months old and starting food in two weeks. Here are just a few of the 2100 pictures we have taken since her arrival.

This was Graysen with Daddy at her 12 week birthday lunch.

Shawn and I try to have "us" time one night a week. We had a really good time at a friend's wedding this weekend and saw some people we hadn't seen in awhile.
We have Sunday Funday bowling with the same group of friends every week. Graysen seems to enjoy it. We are wondering how long that will last.
I am still very fortunate to be able to take Graysen to work. She doesn't go all day anymore but still hangs out with us for at least half days. We are lucky she gets to see both of us and sometimes her Uncle Jer Bear. Speaking of work we closed 7 houses this month...by the 25th which is very impressive. We were just discussing today how smoothly it went. I am not sure how the last four months of the year will go but the three of us are proud of what we have done so far, and we have so much fun doing it (mostly).

We took this in the waiting area at her 8 week appointment. She did great at her shots. She cried for about 10 seconds and then was her normal happy self the rest of the day. It made it much easier on us. I can't ever remember her measurements and have to ask Shawn so I am putting it on here so I can look it up. She was 12lbs 7ozs and 23 1/2 inches. I can't wait to see her 4 month stats because we are constantly getting told she is HUGE. I mentally replace that with healthy. I did get a little sad when I boxed up her 3 month clothing which she wore for about a week. No more buying ahead of time.
This is my current favorite picture. That is Shawn's thumb on the bottom, but it is otherwise perfect to me. My favorite times are her bathtime and when she wakes up in the morning. I hear her start waking up and when I go to get her she greets me with a huge smile every morning. There isn't a possible better start to the day.

This Old House

The first time Shawn and I went to my Grandparents in Gonzales we saw this house. We both fell in love with it instantly. We asked about it in town and tried to figure out who owns it. Every time we go back we drive by it and hope there is a for sale sign. It definitely gives meaning to the term "fixer upper". I am sure people would think we are insane, but we have dreams of restoring it. I would love to watch what Shawn would do with it. He has such an appreciation for craftmanship I think he could really oversee it's return to it's 1920's glory. I would love to spend our weekends working on it. I would love to have a house closer to Austin.

Shawn's family is deeply rooted in Texas history. He is a 7th generation Texan and very proud that Graysen is an 8th generation Texan (I am thankful I was born in Ft.Worth and grew up in West Texas, otherwise I might not have passed the application process) He and his Dad are extremely cute when they get into conversations about it. It is one of the reasons this house would fit us. It IS located in the birthplace of Texas.

I have visions of decorating those columns for Christmas and enjoying the holidays with our family.

I think about putting a swing on one of the many gigantic oak trees on the property.

I have dreams of sitting on the porch with Shawn in our rocking chairs drinking coffee (me, not him..he doesn't drink coffee) watching our children and then grandchildren play in the yard.

It would be fun to have weekend trips with our friends and cook and drink wine and play games and just get away to a much slower pace for a few days.

There are only two problems with this dream of ours. One, it isn't for sale and two, if it was I am not sure how we would pay for it. We will continue to drive by it, and continue to talk about it, and continue to hope that one day the owner will get smart and not let it deteriorate further. Maybe, just maybe, you will see it on this blog again.

Graysen Takes a Road Trip

Graysen went on what will be the first of many trips. I started working on getting her passport today, but I am still a little scared of flying with her, so we wanted to try a road trip first. Our friends Jonathan and Rachael were taking their four boys to the Hyatt Hill Country and San Antonio and they invited us along. I have always wanted to go there and it wasn't to far away so we said yes. I didn't make a decision for the entire 5 days. I didn't pick the place, the time we were leaving, what time to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or where to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I didn't have to call either couple to let them know times. It was a rare break from EVERYTHING for me. I only had to do two works things the entire time. I really needed it. I didn't realize how much until we were coming home. Getting there was a little stressful for me. It was my first time to pack for 3 and I was very proud of myself for getting us all ready in 30 minutes. It was so much more stuff than I even thought. We borrowed Big Poppa's SUV and it was completely full. I can't imagine adding more kids. We took two of their boys and Rachael's brother with us and I ended up in a car with Shawn, 3 boys, and Graysen. I was very nervous about the drive. I literally watched the minutes go by on the clock. The worry was unnecessary. She did great and slept the whole way.

The first of many packed cars..

The highlight of Shawn's parenting journey so far occured on the trip. He got to take Graysen to Buc-ees for the first time. We even dressed her up in her Buc-ees outfit for the occasion.

We spent lots of time at the pool. We brought her travel cradle and stroller down with us and it worked out great. She went swimming every day and even tubed the lazy river with Daddy. I can tell from her face that she will love lazy rivers as much as her Mommy. These are a few of my favorites from the many pictures we took.

We ran into one of our oldest friends that we hadn't seen in awhile on our adults night out. We had a great time and I enjoyed catching up and we were really happy when she came to see Graysen and hang out the next day. We miss her.

The men drank masculine drinks and did masculine things like....golf. My husband never plays so I was highly amused watching him.

Rachael's sister came to help watch the kids which was great at night. After dinner we went to the hotel bar and the guys played games while we talked and listened to music. We picked one night to go to the Riverwalk and had dinner and spent lots of time looking for an elusive martini bar.

There was an adults only pool at the spa and we spent time there one fun afternoon.

When I got home and uploaded my pictures I found a few surprises from Shawn. These were a couple of my favorites from his afternoon photo session.

She loves spending time on Shawn's lap while he is on the computer. We had lots of room relaxing time and I got to read while he held her.
We had a great time and really liked the hotel. I can't wait to go back when she is a little older and can enjoy some of the many children's activities they have.