Memorial Day in the Big D

We started off summer right – kicking it off with a vacation to Dallas.  It’s our favorite place to go – you can’t beat the company of all our family and friends, yummy food, and so many fun kid-friendly things to do.  But most of all, we love the PEOPLE!

This time, we decided to skip the driving for 8+ hours with two kiddos and take a luxury we rarely experience – FLYING!  But our 1.5 hr flight turned into a nightmare with a 4 hour delay and we didn’t get off the plane until close to Midnight, let alone tucked into bed til nearly 1:30 am.  And any hopes of Brooke finally falling asleep on the plane were sadly never met.  Rather we had a bouncing, crabby, wide-awake lil girl with all of our other bags of tricks completely exhausted at the airport.  And so now, we’ve learned, driving isn’t quite so bad.

But it was STILL worth the trip and we loved our time in Dallas. 

Memorial Day weekend was totally low-key, hanging out with all the family.  Tanner was so excited for the PLANE, and then to see all his COUSINs, and then UNCLE KENNETH & AUSTIN, he was just beyond thrilled.

At one point he told me, “Mom, I think I have more cousins than friends!”  And it’s probably true—and thankfully all of our cousins are our closest friends, and we hope it ALWAYS stays that way. 
So while we did manage a few trips to our favorite places, most of the time we just stayed at home and played with cousins. 

Ft. Worth Zoo
The last time I was here, I’m pretty sure I was like 5 years old.  and Anthony was with me, but I only know that cause there’s pictures to prove it. 

When lived in Dallas, we always took Tanner to the Dallas Zoo since it was much closer.  And we were glad we went to Ft. Worth Zoo. 

First up, the monkeys with brand new teeny tiny babies (which sadly, the camera didn’t capture).  And one of the monkeys did something I hope to never, ever see again in my life, involving bodily discharge and eating. 

And this Gorilla was just chillin out next to the kiddos – while Cassidy was apparently trying her best to imitate :)

Some of our favorites animals included the elephant chowing down on the hay

The giraffes desperately reaching for the tall tree leaves

The rhino taking a swim in the water

A Siberian tiger—a rare albino version – giving us the stare down

And this bear was hilarious – he couldn’t sit still and kept pacing back and forth

Brown bear w/ants in it’s pants

This eagle strutting his stuff – anyone that walked by, he’d flaunt his wings out and let him know he was the boss!

And these flamingos were the noisiest bunch I’ve ever seen.  It’d be totally quiet, and then one would lead, and pretty soon ALL of them were squawking at the top of their lungs. 

The kids enjoyed climbing up on these Kangaroos, but I enjoyed seeing the real deal.  Not sure I’ve ever seen one all up-close-and-personal.

And we got to see the tail-end of a show, and then see the star turkey, again flaunting its brilliant feathers for us all to see.

We also enjoyed Texas Barnyard – petting a real armadillo – and then letting the kids run around in the play area – best part we enjoyed some quality chat time, momentarily kid-free, in air conditioning. 

And Brooke enjoyed gazing at the animals as well, although she spent most of the time in the comfort of her stroller.

Every now and then, she convinced others to help her out:


Surprisingly, it was slightly overcast and the zoo had tons of shade – making it perfect day to go.  We also loved having Anthony along too – usually he doesn’t get to join us on our excursions cause he’s at work. 
But afterwards, we still had to stop for ice cream – where Tanner got his absolute favorite BLUE ice cream!


Perot Museum of Nature & Science
This museum was finished right after we moved, of course, but we still got a membership & LOVE to go see all the super cool, high tech displays:

Tanner’s favorite had to be racing against a T-rex with his cousin Madison:

T-Rex Race

Or posing like a T-Rex next to the real deal with his cousin Leah:


Or playing with dinosaur-sized puzzles:

But there’s way more than just dinosaurs:

There’s a cool space area where Tanner learned about the solar system:

And a decked out kids area, where Tanner loves playing with the city building blocks – and even cooked us some food over the campfire:


And this is where Brooke really had the most fun, trying to “OWN” each walk-way/bridge/play area she came across:

And while the steepness of this bridge made is designed for much older kids, there was no telling her otherwise.  I wonder where she gets it from??

And she thought this draw bridge was hilarious.

She even tried to dance as she went, except of course, when I attempt to video tap her:

My brother Brendan lives in Dallas too -- so we were excited about getting to see him -- meeting up for Tex-Mex one night and Fro-Yo another.  Two of our favorite foods -- with one of our favorite persons.  Love it!!

And we did a million other fun things there too, but chasing after a toddler isn’t very conducive to picture taking when you only have an iPhone.

And anytime we were in the car, both kids would instantly fall asleep, even at 8:30 in the morning.  Poor kids were totally sleep deprived.


Most of our trip we hung out for family, but made a few exceptions here and there.

Like church at the Lake Highlands ward. 

Visiting our old neighbor Aunt Nell who was a few days shy of her 91st birthday.

Splash-park with cousins on Memorial Day – only it was overcast and freezing cold water.  Oh well.  We tried :)

Game night at the Petersen’s with some old friends Anthony grew up with

Park play-date in the park with some friends – if only the rain would have stayed away 


Fro-yo with a favorite buddy


And even though Brynlee and Caden were in San Antonio over Memorial Day weekend – we got to hang out later in the week.  And lucky for Tanner, he got a two-for-one and got extra playtime when he got to hang out ALL the next day too while mommy went to work. Grandma got sick unexpectedly and offered to watch BOTH kids. Not sure what I would do without AMAZING friends.  Seriously LOVE her and these two little ones together!

And I even managed to squeeze in some work! I worked half a day in my old office and joked that I’ve never been so excited to go to work.  Now that I work part-time remotely from KC for Dallas office, it’s still not quite the same and definitely miss working the people too.  So a lil fun mixed with productively is always a good thing!

Anthony surprised me on my b-day with a dinner at my favorite restaurant, Chuy’s, with some of my favorite people.  I was shocked he was able to pull it off without me knowing about it, but was so glad he did!!!  It was so fun to get away for a night out without the kiddos and catch up with some old friends!

And even though it’s been almost a year since we’ve moved away, when we go back to visit and reconnect with family and friends – it was like we were never gone.  And that’s the best part!!!

Tanner’s Preschool Spring Show

 

Oh my holy cuteness.  If I already wasn't in LOVE with Tanner's preschool, this definitely sealed the deal.

Tanner's preschool class hosted a Spring Show and we got a little glimpse into some of the things they had learned during the year:

Haitian Alphabet Song

There were a few other adorable parts that I didn’t video tape – like counting by fives and counting by tens.   They would do it in different voices – and Tanner especially enjoyed the cowboy version. 

Sign Language Alphabet

 

“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” Bell Song

And the grand finale was a play.  Tanner had been so excited about this – he’d come home telling me the ENTIRE plot every day – and just thought it was so fun to dress up like a monster and throw mud pies…at least until…ok…you’ll just have to watch the show :) 

“A Preschool Fairy Tale” Play

We were so proud of my lil preschool graduate!!  He has a tendency to be shy, but he didn't let it show.  He sang all the songs and knew all his parts. 

He has enjoyed being a part of Little Learner's Preschool this year.  He ALWAYS comes home with the cutest projects, like paper cup rocket launchers, Santa Christmas count-down, handmade dinosaur fossils, and no matter the unit, Ms. Bonnie went ALL out to make it fun and educational.

Tanner is right on track academically to start Kindergarten – he can identify almost numbers up to 20 and knows/recognizes each of the letters of the alphabet.  He likes to write his name and other words, but will sometimes start from the bottom rather than the top, although if you ask him where letters should start, he’ll always say the top.  He’s beginning to sound out words and loves to just look through books, and is always asking what words mean.  He also know basic math addition and subtraction, and the other day he was doodling with a small white board he started “practicing” on a piece of blank paper and writing/talking  2+2 = 4. 

The only hard part is deciding whether he should start Kindergarten next year.  Since he has a July birthday, it’s always been something at the back of my mind.  But there’s no blatantly obvious reason on why he should be held back.  And I’m sure he would do great if he started Kindergarten – he would love it.  But then I think about the the teenager years, leaving for college or a mission one year earlier, and I can’t help but think how much EXTRA good one more year can be.  And how I’ll have one extra year with him before he leaves home.   So I’m totally on the fence about it, and will be making a decision soon, but I’ll be honest if I wasn’t completely torn.  

But anyhow, back to Tanner’s Preschool.  This was such a breath air for us -- Tanner LOVED every minute of it!! In the fall, he struggled at another preschool environment where he would could home in tears because of one kid.  I dismissed it as first thinking he was still "adjusting" to moving to Kansas, where previously in Dallas, in his old preschool class -- 3 out of the 5 were close friends from church he had grown up with and he was surrounded by kids that just LOVED Tanner.  But when I dropped him off at school, the student would routinely yell out, "I don't like you Tanner!" in front of everyone.   We talked to the teacher and waited for it to get better -- but this kid was just a hard one to control and it didn't really get better.  And some days he’d come home telling me how he was his best friend, but then it would switch back the next.  And I know kids will eventually have to deal with this sort of thing, but not this young.  Preschool should be fun and exciting - not something you dread.

Then I found about Ms Bonnie's preschool --and after one lesson -- fell in LOVE.  She taught Kindergarten for years, but eventually decided to have one out of her home, and her WHOLE first level was all decked out for preschool.  She's a member of our church, along with most of the children, and we could feel the love and warmth emulated by her and other students.

Teachers will always hold a special place in my heart. We LOVED Ms Kennedy last year at Ridgewood Park in Dallas, and LOVED Ms Bonnie this year. There's just no words to explain the gratitude I feel for their individual efforts to teach with love and patience. I hope this trend continues as he starts elementary school, cause so far, we've been so BLESSED to have truly wonderful teachers.  Thanks Bonnie!!!

Brooke’s One Year Photo Shoot!!

Lil Ms. Brooke is ONE!  We had these indoor pics taken, and since you only turn ONE once, we had these outdoor pics too.

And I absolutely love, love how they BOTH turned out.

These pics bring out her girl-li-ness,  her sweet, sweet smile with the lil round cheeks!!  And what’s not to love about SPRING with all the grass and flowers in full bloom! I just happen to LOVE this lil Spring Blessing!!!

It's hard to have a tea party by yourself...wouldn't she love a lil playmate? Well -- we thought so. The best gift my parents ever gave me was sisters. Brooke's bday present (part 2) will be arriving in Oct 2013!

And of course she was all smiles when she was PLAYing

I couldn’t resist this cute cute hat!  Brooke wasn’t a huge fan…but appeased us for a few fun shots!

And she wasn’t really sure if she was ready to be in a good mood.  I had to wake her up from her nap (it was past 5:00pm), and she had a major blow-out in the car, and was not in the mood for playing.  But, with a lil persuasion and magic, she began to do her thang, smiling so perfectly!!

 

And Ms Brooke being so playful!  Peek-a-boo!!

She kept trying to run right towards me!

This is the face she makes whenever she’s doing something she’s not suppose to be doing.  Totally CAUGHT!

And here, she shows ALL her many smiles!

Her bashful smile!

Her “I’m a perfect lil angel” look

Her “I’m read-to-go play!” look

And these last few, might just be my favorite.  Love how her whole face radiates when she smiles!!!

And of course, those 7 lil teeth popping through!

It’s so crazy to think that a year has already gone by!  And with selling our house in Dallas and moving to KC, it’s been such a crazy year that I don’t think I ever got to just sit, relax, and hold my lil newborn baby girl!!!

But then there were many days and nights, where the only thing we could do to get her to sleep was to rock her asleep, holding her tight in my arms.  How I LOVE those memories, and how I HOPE they never fade! 

And now with #3 on the way, she’s not going to stay a baby for long.  Sometimes, I wonder how I can give each one of my precious children enough love and attention, how  they will know our eternal joy they bring to our lives, and how much I cherish their sweet smiles!!! 

And while there’s going to be less of “me” to go around, I remember my own experience in my family, being one of seven other siblings.  And I never doubted my parent’s love for me.  And while there was “less of them” to go around all of us eight kids, there was other siblings were are my bestest friends, even still today.  

Then I see Tanner play with Brooke, and his ability to make her utter the loudest, whole body laughter with one silly face and one lil hug.  And then I remember – while they’ll be less of me – they’ll always have each other.  And that’s the greatest gift I can give them!!!

Ms. Brooke Turns ONE!

So many things to say about the lil misses. 

First, she’s a princess.  She’s got lots of sass and attitude to go around.  And ever since she’s learned to talk, she hasn’t stopped.

She can say several words, like Mom and Dad (not Momma or Dadda), Up, Hi, Uhhh oohhhh, Ball, Ba-Ba (for bottle) and her favorite word “No!” uttered million times daily.  But she makes up for by using her manners all day long.  Hand her anything, do anything she likes, and she’ll say “Tank To!” 
And here’s a few more she’s so close to perfecting: ma-aah (more), Katie (she can say it perfectly, just not consistently).  And anytime there’s a bark or dog it sight – “Da-ah”.  She gets so excited, unless it’s a big dog, and the excitement quickly turns to fear.

People oftentimes mistake her for being 18 months or older.  Maybe it’s cause she’s already wearing 2T clothes, and is in the 90% for height and 97% for weight. There’s A LOT to love about her - ALL those 25lbs!


If you could ask her, Brooke thinks she's already 2 or 3.  She’s always trying to do everything everyone else is—and easily holds her own in a group of kids.   Maybe it’s cause she’s a girl, or the second child, or that she’s just incredibly smart – but she’s so quick to grasp everything that’s happening the in world around her.

Like one day she just folded her arms and prayed with us.  And now, when she gets a plate full of food, she instantly folds her arms and get’s ready to pray, oftentimes reminding us.  Shamefully, this isn’t anything we really ever taught her to do…but she still figured it out on her own.  And it’s like that with EVERYTHING!

And there’s very rarely any walking, mostly just running these days.  She's always got a little jive to her step, shaking her head in a half dancing, half running sort of way.  And now, she learned how to spin in circles and loves to twirl herself around. She always finds a way to crack herself up!

She also loves to back her THING up!  Whether it’s sitting on her bean bag chair, the first step leading upstairs in the kitchen (helping herself to a snack from the pantry), or making her way to the couch pillows [she insists on sitting on pillows, not just the couch].  And one day, even the sofa table!

Her pink chair is her FAVORITE!  She loves to back-it-up and chill on her chair.  What’s the funniest is when she’s not paying close attention and totally misses the chair!

And these two are SO cute together.  When Brooke sees cousin Scarlett, her whole face LIGHTS up.  She came running over to her, waves and says Hi!, and then plops herself down, and from there, nothin but giggles coming from BOTH of them. 
Earlier that day, same exact thing.  Besties for sure!!

Anything that can be climbed up, will!!  I had to hide my set toddler chairs/tables, cause she LOVED to stand on the chairs, and then make her way up to the table. 
Just the other day at the park - guess who booked it up the ladder to the top of the playground!!  She was so proud, while we were terrorized.  She couldn’t wait to go down the HUGE slide.  

She still has a shoe fetish – and LOVES to have her shoes put on.  She’ll usually insist upon it, cause she knows it means one thing, going OUTSIDE to play!
And the SWING!  When we first go outside, she screams if I try to put her down.  We have to go STRAIGHT to the swing first.  And she’s just as chill as can be when she’s outside.  Just a whole new baby, with this passive, soaking it ALL in kinda look.

Inside, it’s the I’M THE BOSS kinda attitude we get ALL the time.  We’re still working on breaking her stubborn streak, but she just might just have more will-power than me.

When it comes to food, she's very opinionated.  She typically likes most things, but there's certain foods she'll go crazy for.  Like avocados.  I put one in the cart -- and next time I turn around -- Brooke's mouth is gushing green full of avocado.  Yup, she found that lil ripe avocado and had no problem biting right through the skin.  The sales clerk tried to tell me I picked out a bad avocado...but turns out it was so delish she couldn't wait :)  And she also has a strawberry addiction.  She won't stop until see sees the container good and gone.  Until then, she'll beg and insist on more, and would happily eat a whole container, if I let her, all by herself. 

And she's also very particular how she eats.  She tries to convince me she's big enough to eat at the table like the rest of us, but we still insists she eats in the high chair, and for good reason.  But one battle we've let her win is eating with a spoon.  She loves to scoop up yogurt or oatmeal with it -- and for some things, I still have to help her with.  It's a very messy endeavor, but she LOVEs it!!

She also loves to get dressed.  Or "play" in my closet.  She'll take down one of my shirts hanging up and try to put it on.  Quite hilarious.   And necklaces/purses -- she'll find any and all accessories to get herself all dolled up.  And she never complains when Tanner wants her to pretend play with her -- the cowboy hat is a recent favorite :)

But she also LOVES to give hugs and kisses.  She’s so cute and cuddly, especially when she’s tired.  She no longer has to be coaxed to sleep.  She drinks her bottle (a HUGE fan of whole milk – no more of that “poison” formula that she strongly detested), and then simply wants to lay in her bed with her paci.  She has a new love affair with her paci now that I’m not nursing her…I’ve been replaced :(
And since turning one, she’s also sleeps 100% through the night, no more waking up at 5:00am for a snack, but is WIDE AWAKE for the world before 7:00 am each day.  And while there’s not much cuddling going on in the morning, her smile radiates the room and it’s still the best way to wake up. 

Brooke’s Cake Smash

This may be my all-time favorite picture of Brooke.  It captures all her sass and attitude without having to say a word!

But don’t get me wrong, she’s still as sweet as they come.  She loves to give hugs and kisses!  Be on the look out, she’ll come running with her MOUTH open.

Look at those round lil cheeks?  She’s so pretty!! 

And if you look closely, you’ll be able to see those 7 lil teeth popping through. 

We pulled this outfit together at the last minute…I had another dress and tutu in mind…but changed my mind at the last second. 

I LOVE that Brooke FINALLY let me put in a cute headband – and love how the brown lace romper compliments her soft golden chocolate eyes!  I see so many baby pics where the clothes stand-out more than the baby.  But we couldn’t have any for Ms. Brooke.

This is Brooke’s lil bashful smile.  She usually tilts her head a lil to the left for extra added effect, but she decided to pass this time around:)

And this is where it starts to get messy!!!

She just was licking the frosting – so I thought I’d help speed it along by offering her a BIG GIRL bite.  And she didn’t refuse!!!

But after that, she was pretty much done.  Just a few more smiles!!!

We also had a few more pics in the tutu & tiara.  Much to my surprise, they didn’t allow her tummy rolls to show [some rule about being fully clothed after the age of 1] so we had to use the lil cardigan instead :)

I just can’t get enough of that SMILE!