Let's Rodeo!

This year was our first time going to the Rodeo and it was a lot of fun! We started by checking out the pig competition. The smell was a little strong, and people were filing in and out all the time, up and down the bleachers. They would watch their pig get judged and if it was eliminated they'd leave, more people would come in. But they were so polite and helpful! So laid back and approachable. They made room for us and everyone loved making Ethan smile. The lady next to me educated me on what it takes to raise a prize pig and when we had to jump down from the crowded bleachers to leave total strangers turned to give us a hand, and all with a polite nod, as if that's the way it is all around the world. I love Texans!

Here's the map we took a picture of to know where we were.

After watching the pigs we worked our way around to one of the many petting zoos. It was free to go in and hang out with all the animals and Ethan really liked it. There were so many pregnant goats!

Here's a Kangaroo!



After the petting zoo we caught a puppet show with singing and jokes. We got to sit on bales of hay. Lovin it.

I saw a pony ride and was so excited to get Ethan on his first horse!! So we splurged and got in line. We got to the rodeo pretty early so we were the only ones there!

Here we are choosing the horse. A pretty black and white one, smaller than the rest.

Here's Ethan, strapped to the horn and bouncing up and down. He loved it! I even let go a few times.

We got to go around 4 or 5 times.

D is taking pictures and Ethan was excited to see him.

coming around again!

When he got off Ethan started clapping. "Thank you Mr. Pony Ride man!" He had a blast.

We got free ice cream too!

We spent most of the day at the carnival. It was Dollar Day so each ride was just a buck! Daniel had never been in a fun house before so Samuel took him.
They spent seriously 2-3 minutes in the mirrors, trying to find their way through.

Here they are on top looking at the crazy mirrors.

These are my favorite pictures. The motion is great and the color in the background is awesome.
Here's Samuel.

And here's D

I love fast, high, super crazy rides! But Samuel isn't into them so we went on a few smaller coasters and these kiddie bumper cars. Here I am in the red hoodie trying to catch him.

I was having a hilarious time! I was laughing and tearing up and crashing into people.

We met the Ereti's there after a while and Samuel had fun going on rides with the girls. Here he is with Shaina and Rene

Hail Storm

We had some hail a few weeks ago and they were pretty big! Thought I'd put some pictures out.


It woke us all up and we ran to the door to see what was going on. Little Ethan slept right through it.

This piece was the size of a quarter.

Camping Gear

I love Craigslist!! We found a 9-man tent for $40!! One pole was wonky so that's probably why it was so cheap but we fixed it right up and it works perfectly! There is a main room then three side rooms for sleeping. Daniel can even stand without hitting his head!

We put it up for FHE one night and watched a movie, then spent the night out there. I think I lasted till 2am, then went inside to my bed. It was great cuz Ethan just slept in his crib as usual and we hooked up the baby monitor.

I love campin'! Me and the hammer.

Yay Samuel!

Before Christmas break, Samuel got straight A's on his report card!! He worked so hard for them, kept track of all his assignments and projects, studied for his tests and he did so well. We are so proud of him. So we took him out to one of his favorite places for dinner.

He chose HuHot, it's like a Mongolian grill where they cook up your food right infront of you. Here is Samuel waiting for his.

Then I made him some strawberry shortcake when we got home.

He was all excited! Go Samuel!

Some filler

Here are some fun pictures we've taken between Christmas and now.

In this picture Ethan isn't walking yet, but will pull himself up on things to stand. Here he is helping D to fix Samuel's bike. I'm one of those mom's that makes my kids walk or ride a bike to school, especially since it's only a few blocks away. None of this chauffeur business from me! :)

Here is a close up of what a piece of food might feel like with Ethan around..."Here he comes!!!!!"

Mommy kisses

He's free-standing now, this was last month I think. I turned our file cabinet sideways so that 1) it's harder for him to get into, and mainly 2) so that he can use magnets on it rather than the fridge where he'd be under my feet all the time in the kitchen.

And here are the two brothers. Ethan will try to cuddle with anyone and everyone if they are on the floor. He'll literally plug in his little thumb and head-butt you as he colapses to cuddle with you. It's actually kinda painful and scary especially for the little kids who come to visit - he'll basically hug them to the floor.
He's already tackling people. :)

What our Christmas looked like

We had a wonderful Christmas, it's crazy to think that last Christmas it was just Daniel and I in our little apartment - we woke up at 2am (cuz I LOVE presents and couldn't sleep b/c of all the excitement) and we made crepes, our new Christmas morning tradition!

This year, with a baby and a teenageer in the house, I had so much fun!! I loved hiding the boys' presents in my room, wrapping everything, decorating everything, making the stockings and most of all - getting up in on Christmas Eve to put everything out! It was so much fun! I got up early Christmas morning cuz I couldn't take all the suspense and woke everyone up when I got tired of waiting.
D helped Ethan open presents and he loved it.

Presents under the tree!

Samuel lifting his "massive" stocking

Ethan found his stocking on the floor and the first thing he grabbed was the ginger bread man that Sarah made. She has a tradition of making ginger bread men from scratch and putting them in her kids' stockings, she made extra for us this year. They were sooo yummy! Ethan picked off the raisins first.

Samuel unwrapping his stocking stuffers.



Here is Ethan opening his first Christmas present. He didn't really get it, so D helped. In the end he got frustrated and found some confetti and played with that.

We opened all our gifts!! The keyboard is mine from D, I got him a maglite set and Samuel got the basketball to go with his new basketball hoop outside.

We hinted to Samuel that there was a second part of his basketball present. He didn't get it at first, but when he did, he ran outside at 5 in the morning to play with it. We played a family game later on in the day. D and Ethan vs. Samuel and me.

Christmas officially ended about a week later when I took down all of the decorations and the massive tree. It was gorgeous and smelled great, but it was taking up so much space in our little living room. So one day I wrestled it out of the stand, stuffed it through the front door, and dragged it to the curb for the city to pick up, and here is the mess it left behind. It took a while to clean it up, first by hand then with the vac.
Poor little Ethan is wondering what happened to the prickly thing with all the shiny balls on it. He loved them.
We love Christmas!

Ethan turned ONE in January!

Ethan turned one in January and I was debating whether to do a big party or a low-key family get together. I was looking in catalogs and online at all of the birthday kits you can get and all of the different themes. I think I would have done Pooh bear theme, but in the end I went the simple route - friends, some awesome cake and the best theme of all: the "Ethan!!" theme. He didn't know what was happening really, just that he was the center of attention and he got to eat sweets.

We started out with breakfast burritos!!

And mommy telling him what a wonderful boy he is and that it's his special day.

He smiled his bashful smile.

Like I've said before, I LOVE presents, even when they are for other people. I couldn't wait to open Ethan's presents with him, not even until his actual party. So here he is the morning of his birthday opening all his presents. The bowl he's holding is from Grandma Marcia and he wouldn't let go of it. He loved it!

Mommy, making funny faces.

Again, with the bowl.

Here he is playing with his lincoln logs when the girls arrived. We invited two families, it was very informal. Sam and her girls live just down the street and I babysit Summer, in the pink, and Destiny on the floor, every day after school. Ethan loves it when they come over, he dances and claps his hands when they come in the door. We also invited our good friends the Ereti's. We've been close to their family since I moved to San Antonio, Sarah's my oldest and closest friend in Texas. I love her to death. They have 4 girls and 1 boy, David, who is only a few months younger than Ethan. They are buds.

Here's the cake before we cut it. I made a double layered Texas Sheet cake with
Chocolate Sour Cream frosting.
Delish!
(Behind it is the green leather couch I'm fixing up, we used it as a bench)



After we sang Happy Birthday and helped Ethan blow out his candle, we gave him a piece of cake, but it took him a while to realize what was going on. I started to video him, thinking he would dig right in. After a couple minutes of him just sitting there I stuck my finger in it and offered him some to help him along.
After that he was good to go.

He's always been a great eater. He likes to inspect his food before putting it in his mouth, and sometimes even after he puts it in his mouth he takes it out to inspect it. I know. it's gross but cute. :)

He's palming it now. Lovin' the ice cream!

After he got going on his, we served up everyone else. Thanks for coming everyone!