Happy Father's Day

Haley and Jackson would like to wish their Daddy and big Happy Father's Day! They are so lucky to have such a hands on dad who does everything from diaper changes to bath time to playing horsey. We love you Daddy!!!

Last weekend we finally hung up some pictures of the kids on the wall and noticed they were all of Haley. So off to JC Penney's we went this weekend to get some pictures of the kids. I was very pleased with how they turned out. Jackson was a ham and gave huge smiles. Haley was a little scared at first but warmed up quickly. We were very proud of both.

Jackson


Handsome boy

My favorite picture of the two of them. Right before this Jackson crawled right off the box. It was very challenging to get them both to pose and smile but it turned out GREAT!

Haley was asked to share her flag with her brother. Jackson was thrilled but Haley was not

Sweet love

Princess Haley waving her flags. I love this picture of her

Such a sweet girl

After pictures we came back to the house and had a play date for Haley. The Clements clan came over from League City. Anna and her girls, Kara and Lauren, are back from China for the summer. Haley was so excited to have some fun with the girls.

Kara hanging on to the hippo and playing with her Uncle Stephen

Lauren hanging on to her Grandpa Larry

Stephen, Kara, Jackson, Haley and Me having fun

After fun in the pool and a delicious lunch, the girls went upstairs and played with all the toys. I think they tried on every pair of Haley's shoes and had a blast. Lauren and Haley playing on the horses

Haley can't wait for her friends to come back. Hopefully they will move back from China soon and we can see them more often!!

For Father's Day today we decided to take the kids to the 3D version of Toy Story. Well, it was an adventure. Jackson was restless from the beginning so I took him down to the bottom where he fell asleep. That left Haley and Matt back in our seats at the top. Quickly Haley decided she didn't like the glasses and threw them off. Half way through she asked to go home. I guess Woody and Buzz isn't her speed yet. Matt and I didn't mind because we both commented we had a headache from watching the 3D. It was a cute movie, what we saw of it, but we'll wait for it to come out on Blu Ray and rent it then :)

After the movies we came back home, had some lunch and Haley was off for a nap. Jackson wasn't ready yet so I let him crawl around in the living room. As you can see, he is going to be a trouble maker...
Crawling through the tunnel...Hi Mom!

What a huge smile. Still toothless but I'm sure they are coming in any day.

Ah, my favorite thing. Playing with cords.

Even when Mommy hides them, I can find them...

Yes, I like to crawl in between the couch and the wall to find my cords

Busted!

Jackson started pulling up to a stand this week. This little guy wants to be on the move so bad.

And finally, Haley has kicked potty training into a new gear. All week she wore big girl panties. She only had 2 accidents and 1 was during nap time. We are so proud of her! She even told us at the mall and during the movie she had to go potty. Now saying that, she has only gone poo poo once on the potty. She is having a complex over that so we are still working on that one. She has been waiting until we put on a diaper for night time before doing her business or just holding it and holding it. Poor thing. But we'll get there soon!

Show week and exploring

This week was Show Week at Little Gym. Haley did great and we are very proud of her.

Shaking the bells at the beginning of class

She has been practicing on her routine for the last few weeks. It was a forward roll followed by a monkey jump. The kids all lined up against the wall and waited their turn to perform. She is in a parent/child class so doing things on their own is a big step. She was at the end of the line and looked really nervous but when her teacher called her name she ran up with a huge smile and did it perfectly!!
Forward roll...

monkey jump!

And her big smile afterwards!

She then got her award. What a big girl :)

Haley loves Little Gym but we are going to take the summer session off. She has been going every Saturday since she was 10 months old. We're going to go lots of swimming this summer and start again in the fall with gym and some other sports.

Jackson wanted to get in on the action too. Standing proud

Who can ever resist cute butt shots! I can't. I'm pretty sure Jackson's is bigger then Haley's.

On to exploring. Jackson crawls everywhere and nothing is out of limits with this little guy. We have a couch against a wall and today he managed to crawl in the little space between the couch and the wall. He is also starting to pull himself up on things. He always wants to do what Haley is doing. Going up the stairs is no different. Guess we'll have to find some sort of large baby gate soon...

Sometimes he just likes to climb on the toys

Silly Haley wanted me to take her picture while she was upside down. Still beautiful

Look what came in this diaper box. A happy boy!

I think it is a Mary Poppins' bag...a little girl came out of the box too!!!

Once the kids came out of the box, they decided to get back in and make it a boat.

To end the weekend the kids took a dip in the pool before bath time tonight with Daddy. I think Jackson had the right idea. Kick back and chill with my toys.

Haley likes to pull Jackson around the pool. Not a bad way to travel either.

Have a great week.

Zoo and Buster

We woke up this morning and tried to think of something fun to do with the kids. It was cloudy and the weather report wasn't oppressively hot so we decided to make a trip to the zoo. This was Jackson's first trip and Haley hasn't been to the Houston zoo in over a year.

The first exhibit when you walk in is the sea lions and they were doing their show. About 5 minutes into the show Matt and I broke a sweat and we realized, WOW, it is HOT!! But we are here so we'll make the best of it. I pick up Haley to watch the show and notice her shorts are soaked. Nice way to start the day! Good thing I happened to pack and extra outfit for her as well as Jackson. Still watching the show and BLAH, Jackson spits up and some lands on the little girl in front of us. Luckily it was just a very small amount so we decided that was the clue to leave that exhibit. Good thing the rest of the walk around the zoo was uneventful.

Haley hanging with the sea lion

Jackson holding on for dear life to Haley

Checking out the giraffes

Just a tad taller then Haley

A new baby elephant was born at the zoo a few months ago. He is adorable and Haley said that was her favorite animal

Cheese

The petting zoo is always a hit too. Haley was brushing all the goats while Jackson was trying to figure out what was going on

Right next to the petting zoo was a nice "park" that Haley really enjoyed.

Having fun

Haley sliding down the red tube slide

And playing music. She liked to count instead and did good in English. Then decided to work on her Spanish and got up to 6 then started back at 1. Not bad I guess.

A very hot, tired and hungry little girl.

After the zoo we met up with some friends and had a nice lunch. The kids did great despite the heat. And the weather man lied, it was very oppressive heat out there today!

An update on Buster. Last Thursday morning Buster woke us up sick. He threw up once and Matt and I thought that was the end of it. Well we made a HUGE mistake of not shutting the doors upstairs when we went to work. Needless to say we got home from work on Thursday to WWIII upstairs. Buster went in every room upstairs on the carpet and got sick. I'll spare all the details but let's just say it was coming out of both ends and lots of it. Good news is he seems ok now and we were able to salvage the carpets after a lot of elbow grease on Saturday.

Here are the three very important lessons Matt and I learned this week:

1. Never leave the doors open upstairs, especially when the dog is sick

2. Never try to clean up a dog mess by rubbing it into the carpet more. Always go straight for the spot cleaner and blot it up.

3. Never try outside activities in Houston when the temperature is above 80.

Have a great week!!

Friday night fun

Both kids were in a good mood tonight so I decided to get the camera out and capture some life moments.

Haley showing off her pickle. She had a few tonight.

Jackson was ok chewing on his toys while Haley moved on to pickle #2

We have a little boy on the move. Jackson is quickly becoming proficient at it.

Which of course means we get into more trouble...

Ahhh...eating electronics. He is going to take after his daddy, not eating electronics but liking all things electrical. Earlier this week I caught him going for the outlets in the floor and he unplugged a cord from the wall and was staring at it like he was about to eat that too. We are in for it with this little man!

Then the kids decided it was time to gang up on Daddy!

Haley giving the poke to the eyes while Jackson has Daddy pinned down. What a team.

1...2...3....you're out for the count Daddy!!

After the fun on the floor Haley and Matt took a swim then we all had dinner.

The next adventure is bath time. Haley found a new fun thing to do in the bath, get in the baby bathtub with her brother. We usually bathe them together but keep Jackson in his baby tub because it keeps him from going under the water.

The quarters are a little tight so this doesn't last long. I love to see the smile on both of their faces as they play together. Melts my heart.