New Tricks I have learned this week

These are some of the things that I have discovered this week. Boy has it been busy.

1. Stairs --
I have had a busy week learning all kinds of new tricks. Tuesday, I learned to climb the stairs all the way to the top. I actually have done it twice but I haven't learned how to get down them the correct way yet. My mom sure hopes that I learn that very soon.
2. Dishwasher--
Did you know that everyday (or almost everyday) my mom puts dirty dishes into this box and then when she opens it up they are clean again? It is amazing. Boy do I love to help her by pulling some of those dirty dishes out. I just have to be part of that action.
3. Toilet Paper--
I discovered the toilet paper and how much fun it is to unroll it and put it into my mouth. I just love to pull and pull that white soft paper until I can't pull on it anymore. Then I just leave it on the floor in a heap.
4. The Cat's water bowl---
My favorite thing that I have learned this week was that if my mom is not watching me all the time, I can sneak over to the cat's water dish and play in it and then dump it all over the floor. If I make a really cute face at her she probably won't be so upset with me when she has to clean it up. See for yourself.

New Addition to our Daytime Family....

We have a new addition to our daytime family. I am now watching a little 2 month old baby for my friend. It has been a week now since I have begun this new daytime adventure. I must say kudos for all of you multiple moms out there. I have always heard that having two kids is hardest to cope with until you get used to it. Now I know.
It really has been getting better day by day. Monday by far was the hardest maneuvering the kids around. I decided to take the bull by the horns and venture out on the first day with multiple kids. I knew that if I stayed at home everyday then I would go insane and so would the kids.
I decided to go to baby story time at the library. I wish some of you could have seen what I looked like. I have one kid in the stroller and a diaper bag across my shoulder and then another baby strapped in a snugglie all of us heading for the library entrance. I heard comments like, "Boy, do you have your hands full." or "Wow, how did you manage that?". I also realized that you also need to allow about 15 minutes extra to get somewhere with all of the newly acquired gear and bodies. Trying to hold a crying/fussy baby and play with a baby that wants to pull up on everything is really challenging, but we made it... and I felt triumphant.
Thanks to the generosity of Melanie, my friend, who lent us her double stroller life and outing have been much easier. We have been to the park and shopping and having more fun. It also helps if you can get both of the kids on a schedule, but at the end of the day boy am I pooped!

We have a Water Baby!!!!

Water Baby

We have a water baby. He loves to take baths, crawl towards the cats' water dish, and loves to splash in the pool. I found out that the Houston Parks and Recreation department has a few water playgrounds around. One is in Herman Park not to far from the zoo. With Eric being out of town, I decided to take advantage of this outing to give me something fun to look forward to during the day on Friday. I have to admit that the zoo was much more entertaining for me than for Alex, but we had a lot of fun. Alex really liked the petting zoo and laughed when he was able to pet a goat. But the real winner for the outing was the water playground. Take a look for yourself...

San Antonio Trip 2007

Baby Play Group

A group of friends met this week for a baby play group. It was more for the adults to have some time to spend together and chat than for the babies to actually "play". I think that it was a success... way to go Ashley! It was kind of funny to see the kids interact with each other. Most of the kids don't really have to share toys at home right now and I could see some assertive streaks coming through Alex as he took toys away from others or as he bulldozed his way through the crowd. We did get a picture of the kidos before they got too distracted and wanted to leave. Here's to many more play groups.

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we had a chance to take a mini-road trip. This was a trial run to see how it would go if we chanced another one in the future. Overall Alex did great. He was a little tired when we arrived in San Antonio but was a real trooper. We visited the Alamo and the Riverwalk and stayed the weekend with my parents at a timeshare that they have around New Braunfuels. It was fun to have a little time to relax and spend time as a family.

Fall Cometh....

I love fall. This is a time that I look forward to in the year. It means that Halloween is coming and then Thanksgiving and AHHHH-- Christmas. This season means cooler weather (finally) and then spending lots of time with family and friends. So in honor of the fall season, I became more festive. After seeing pictures of Spencer with his cute pumpkin hat from Target, I too rummaged through the dollar bins to see what I could find. I have to agree with Ginger. Target dollar bins are awesome!!!

I also grabbed a shirt and a hat for Alex to wear. I have to admit that it was more for my enjoyment than his. I did put the hat on him and wheeled him around the store while I did my shopping yesterday. It lightened my mood to look down at him and I chuckled to myself to see him looking so festive. Every now and then I caught a few people smile and laugh at the sight as I paraded him proudly through the aisles. Why, who could not help but smiling at a sight like this...

Date Night

Last Friday Eric called me from work and asked if I wanted to go on a date. Are you kidding me??? I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. I couldn't believe that we were going on an actual date.
He further intrigued my interest when he called back and said that we had to be somewhere by 6 pm, but he wouldn't say what we were doing. My curiosity was peaked and I tried to subtly get the information out. He had zipped lips and no information was leaking through. He said we needed to pick something up from one of our friends houses and and we traveled over to pick up what we needed. What are we doing? What do we need to pick up? Well my questions were answered when our friends jumped into the car with us. It was them that we needed to pick up. We were going on a double date.

Bowling, dinner, 3 rounds of board games and about 6 hours later our double date ended. It was so much fun, even if I did have to wake up at 6 the morning after. I am just glad that I chose to wear socks.