Central Texas Beach

Although the drought has severely affected us in central Texas, we adapt.  Water prices are up?  Well, now we save the bathwater to pour on the plants.  No water in the lakes?  Well, now we have a nice little beach to hang out at.  Memorial Day was spent discovering this newest adaptation.  And frankly – it was awesome.  A day spent at the “beach” playing in the water, making a mess in the sand, grilling out, and enjoying friends.

A little perspective of our drive up to the beach…

Kate LOVED the water and was much less scared of it than last year.

We used the cars to create some shade to escape to.

Enjoying some watermelon while waiting for dinner to cook.

Not quite a push toy

 

Jacob REALLY wanted this to be a push toy.  He kept trying to push it around while walking, like the big yellow one we have at home… it just wouldn’t work that way though.  Eventually he gave up and just carried it around whining.

The Run-down

The quick and dirty of what's going on in our house these days...

 Learning how to put spoons in the cone.  Always fun to move it and find a big pile!

Playing at the park...

- nap INSANITY.  Kate's nap starts at 12:30 (when we leave the room), she falls asleep at 1:30, we wake her up at 3pm, and then she can't fall asleep until 9:30pm.  I kid you not.  Big disagreements about whether to nix the nap are happening in our house.

- Jacob is weaned.  Well, sorta.  I weaned him down to two feedings, then he got sick and I started nursing him again, then we weaned him, and then he got sick... so who knows what the heck is happening.  He sure doesn't, and his frustration shows.

- Kate is asking death questions.  It started because we have a Christmas book that talks about Jesus.  Although we skip the part about how he died (and there are no pictures for that part so it's easy) she asks about the death.  Last time it was "what did Jesus turn into when he died?  this plant?" she asked as she pointed to a picture of plant (the only picture on the page, so really it kinda made sense).  Maybe we have been listening to too much Kirtan in our house.  Then after we found a dead bird it was "what happened to make the bird dead?" and "what makes birds dead" and "what makes people dead?"  So far I have just avoided entirely.

- Kate is big time figuring out roles and what is expected of her.  We hear things like, "I was nice to Jacob, Mommy, I didn't even hit him" and "I walked Nana to the door, wasn't that polite?" and "I slept really good last night, didn't I?"  She is very focused on figuring out what different people expect of her (nanny, mom, dad, Jacob, nana, papa) and how the roles are different and what she can get away with.

- Jacob is walking everywhere.  His new favorite toy at almost 11 months is that push-popper.  Today, for the first time, he wanted to touch the vacuum.  He is normally terrified of it when I clean, but he wanted to push it himself today.  This is odd to me mostly because Kate never did at that age, and he has a boy cousin who is obsessed with vacuums.  Maybe it bodes well for his future roommate...

- We got a full day sans kids today for our anniversary.  Nine years!  We went to Enchanted Rock and hiked all over the park.  It was wonderful and perfect (and hot!!) and exactly how we wanted to be together on our anniversary.  For #10 we are looking forward to actually leaving the kids for a few nights if we can find someone to feed them and let them out twice a day.

Echo

"mama, my horsey is driving me nuts!"

A Cobbler by Trade

Just a little early morning shoe making...Paul got a crash course in starting the morning with kids.  I heard "we are making shoes and I haven't even had coffee yet?!"

Strange things happen before 8am when you have children.

Going to Grandma's

<p>Kate made a car today. She attached a radio and we made a steering wheel. Now she is taking horsey to see Grandma, which is me of course, following logically from the fact horsey is her baby.

We are sitting down for snack so I have to go entertain!

Mothers Day

My friend Catherine and I spent a wonderful Saturday evenig chatting, drinking wine, and sleeping in a nice, quiet, babyless hotel.  We were a bit concerned for a while when we realized prom was at this same hotel, but didn't hear a sound all might.

After nine hours of sleep I came home to the loveliest card I ever read, flowers, a balloon (I was told I was sharing with Kate since she has a baby named Horsey) and a lovely necklace.  Then we spent a lovely time splashing in the water at the greenbelt.

Lovely!

Now, naps, then dinner with my mom.

Ear and sinus infection

Ah the joys of being a baby. Last week the doctor thought it was hand, foot and mouth. This week she tells us she was wrong.  A little frustrating.  The kid is surviving.  Fussy, not sleeping at night, but generally in a good mood.

Smartee

I told Kate tonight that if she kept doing things to make Jacob feel sad she would have to take a break in her room to calm down. She told me that if I did that I would have to go to my room.  Touche.

Preacher's daughter

Kate: Do you like my babies?
Paul: I do. What are their names?
Kate: This one is Thomas, and this one is Cory, and this one is Jaime.
Paul: and the babydoll?
Kate: (thinking...) This is baby Jesus.