Yearly Vacay with Friends

They came to see us in Kansas over two Spring Breaks; we went to Corpus and shared a TINY, not so nice place, but still laugh at our memories there; we went to a river cabin on a river in OK that had such a heavy current we couldn't get into it and the cabin was a little buggy; we went to a condo on the beach in Padre - that was a win!; and this year...rented an awesome cabin on the Perdenales in Spicewood at the mouth of Lake Travis. Good part...us, of course - we are hilarious and have so much fun and there are some pretty great chefs in the mix, too...can you say crepes and tacos al pastor?! Also, great house, perfect back porch, beautiful views. Downers - 100 degree heat, virtually dried up lake from drought, and the dock we had was being worked on some of the time, so we could barely use it. Didn't stop the vacay, though...we went to Krause Springs one day. It is so pretty and the kids loved it despite the freezing cold water. We came to our neighborhood pool one day (we are only about 35 minutes from the lake - thank you, friends for driving longer this year!). And we had to all get sno cones at Blizzy's. The kids were nearly perfect playing and entertaining themselves the entire time! The adults played games, ate great food, sat on the back porch at night, and laughed and laughed some more. I LOVE that each summer we come away with all kinds of new sayings and inside jokes that become part of our vernacular:) Payson just went with the flow and slept 9 hours the first night!!!! Woohoo. He got tons of attention from the mamas and the other kiddos. I can't say enough how I love these people. We are so blessed and I do not take it for granted. Thank you, Lord, for good friends that are like family! One of the kids even said on the way there that they were going to see their cousins. Love it!

Baby Foodie

It may just be me, but I tend to add a y/ie to most words when talking to my baby. For example:

Do you have a poopy diapy?

Let's take a bathy.

I'm gonna tickle your feetsies.

Wanna eat some foodie?

I realize this could result in a speech impediment for him, but I'll take my chances.

Anyway...we started introducing solid foods to Payson last weekend (6 months old!). The first two days were great, then he kind of lost interest. This was never the case with Porter and Piper. They never slowed down once they started, so I wasn't sure what to do! I make my own baby food, so I had to experiment with flavors and textures, but I think we've made some progress in the last two days. It's really not a big deal to make the food, it's WAY cheaper and to me (I'm not judging people who buy jarred baby food, I swear!!), I feel better about knowing where his food is coming from. It's a weird deal to go from 6 months of strictly breast milk to putting something different in his system, so I have more peace about it all if I make it. And by "make" I really just mean "mash". I'm even too lazy to put it in a food processor after the first few times.

These are what we've tried in order:

avocado

sweet potatoes

rice cereal (yes, I made homemade rice cereal and he hated it)

banana

*coconut oil

Most people start with rice cereal and that's what my pediatrician told me to start with too, but my mommy (and nutritionist) intuition told me differently. Avocado is kind of the perfect food and rice really isn't. But, I tried it midway thru anyway and he didn't even like it. I think he's like his mama - sensitive to food texture. I also discovered the goodness of coconut oil and have been mixing that into his food. It adds good fats and a yummy flavor. So, his favorite concoction thus far is a mix of banana, sweet potato, and coconut oil. Today we will try sweet peas and keep our fingers crossed!

Resources:

Wholesome Baby Food

Williams Sonoma "Cooking for Baby"

Photobooth

Tyler travels and when he's gone I may still have conversations with imaginary him. Right here, I'm saying...

*What word did you just say?

*Spell it.

*You really think that is correct?

*You are so weird!

Room Make Over Part 2 - Finally

I previously posted when we got some much over due bedroom furniture. Love it. Didn't love our duvet cover. It was heavy, huge, and way too big for the duvet. Funny thing is we had our previous cover for 10 years until Tyler decided on this Pottery Barn duvet cover. I never liked it:( So, I got "permission" to search for a new one for our new room. I found a new one (not a duvet cover - just a comforter set) on clearance for $50!! Ironically, it is the same exact color as the one we had for 10 years. So, with a few added accessories - lampshade, lanterns, curtains, etc. and a painting I whipped out (literally - 45 minutes and not fancy or perfect!) inspired from an etsy listing, our room is complete and cozy and we like it!

Tia the Toothfairy

Porter came running out of school yesterday with his tooth in a ziplock baggie. He bit into an apple at lunch and really knocked it loose, so back in class he just pulled it out himself! It is his first one and I can't believe I wasn't there when it came out:( He was so excited and even more so to put it under his pillow and go to sleep. However, these are the things Porter imagined about the toothfairy that we had to live up to...

She is very tiny.

She has a name.

She doesn't always just leave money because money is boring.

Then, we had to ask him if he wanted to keep his tooth or have her take it. My toothfairy always took mine, but Tyler's always left his:) Porter decided he wanted her to take it...

The toothfairy (named Tia) left Porter $2 and ring pop because his tooth was so nice and clean:) She also left a note and a self portrait of her tiny self.

On our way...

Our new venture has a blog of it's own!

Blizzy's Shaved Ice

Name Calling

I call Porter, Po, Po-Po, Port or Bud. Piper is Pipe, Pipey, Pipes, or Sister. And I call them both Babe. With Payson, I may have gone a little far. I realized this when I left him in his class at church this morning and said "Bye, Doo-doo, I love you". Here is my running list for the little one...

Payson

Pay Pay (thanks to Allison)

Pace

Pacy

Paper

Poo-poo

Pooper

Boo-boo

Boob

Bubby

The Baby

*Doo-doo is not a regular, but came out this morning for some reason.

I call Tyler, Tyler, and nothing else...