A-C-U-Whoo!

After Lake Brownwood, we headed to Abilene to see Jason's sister and our 5 neices and nephews. We had a great time seeing thier new home and got to eat at Taco Bueno and Jo Allen's barbecue. We were also patrons of Fancy Feet Salon, a privately held company owned and operated by our neices Cecily, 11, and Ensley, 9. Boy, did Jason's feet turn out fancy. Sorry, no pictures of that.

On the way home, we stopped by campus to show Maizie where we met. Here are some pics.

There is no chin under Chuck Norris' beard. Only another fist.


Aren't we hee-larious?

Lakehouse Trip

We had a great weekend hanging out with Westover's YM group at Lake Brownwood, thanks to the generous hospitality of James and April and the Brown family. We were really able to get to know people on a deeper level and recharge from a string of stressful/mundane weekends. Some of the highlights from the weekend included:

• Getting out on the boat and jet ski and realizing what a wimp I am compared to a few years ago. I chickened out on tubing after an incident I can't repeat (but Wendi can), and I couldn't get the jet ski over 20 mph. Thanks Morans and Robertsons for watching the girl!
• Jason leading the group in a few games of Mafia and we made chocolate shakes at midnight...it was almost like being in the singles group again...almost.
• Playing ping pong with Jason (and him beating me left-handed).
• Cooking for a big group and not feeling insecure about it (probably because it was just dessert:-)).
• The girls playing in the pool in their matching suits.
• Wilson getting slaphappy and speaking German while singing America, the Beautiful in a wonderful falsetto.
• Talking and playing games and being social (and I only slipped into baby talk once or twice)!

Anyway, here are my favorite pics from the weekend.

Can anyone say Grumpy Old Man?

Other babies swim in the pool. Maizie does grass.

The big family dinner.

Maizie's new teeth. One spoonful of mashed potatoes, va va va.

Double Happiness

Last night, Tanya and Wilson invited us for free burritos at the Chipotle opening up next to our new development at Mueller. So it was double happiness--free food and a walk through the developing open spaces and parks at our future homestead. It really got me excited and thankful for the opportunity we've been given. Pray that we are patient on the timing.


This one will be blown up to 8x10 and hung on our walls. It's a perfect portrait of my two favorite people. Behind them is "Town Lake" for Mueller.


Tanya, Wilson, Anthony, Mia and Maizie


Standing on your tippy toes is cheating! Maizie's really not that much bigger than Mia.

Maizie 8's

Maizie turns 8 months old today. I thought I'd go over her pictures and pick out my favorites from each month. Happy monthday, sweet girl!


Once a brunette, always a brunette (at heart).

Sleeping in her boppy.

Santa's first spoiling.

Doe eyes.

Pebbles.

The tuft, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

Happy baby.

Her favorite "pulling up" station.

For the rest of her 8-month pictures, click here.

Like Father Like Daughter

You may have heard that Jason likes to sleep in the shower. He can fall asleep just about anywhere. Looks like Maizie is going to follow in his footsteps. We laid her down for a nap this afternoon and came back to check on her and she was snoring away in this position. I guess Sunday afternoons are made for sleep anyway you can get it.

Jason's Founding Father's Day

Happy First Father's Day to Jason. One of the reasons I chose to marry Jason was that I thought he'd make a great dad. It's been cool to see that thought come true this year. I love that he's the kind of dad that does diapers (even the dirty ones) and nights (even the long ones). I love that our family is one of his first priorities. And I love that, even though he won't admit it, he's a great big softy when it comes to Maizie.


In love from day one.

Jason's initiation into the "pee on the shirt" hall of fame.

2-month-old Maizie in 3 feet of snow.

There's no resemblence here at all.

I don't think any of this would've been possible without my dad. If it wasn't for him, I don't think I would have known what to look for when picking out a daddy for my own kids. Thank you, Papa, for being a wonderful father and a great grandfather (though I hope you're not an actual great-grandfather for many, many, many, many years to come).

Spelunking

The Westover Hills Young Marrieds group went spelunking tonight at Inner Space Caverns north of Austin thanks to Grant and Amanda Maloney who work there as tour guides. It was Maizie's first underground experience. We learned about stalagmites, stalagtites, and the holes in the ceiling where Texans were drilling for oil and instead discovered the caves. No Texas tea here. But it was amazing to see how beautiful even the hidden parts of creation can be.


Pretty much the cutest picture ever, even if Dad is going to have some wisecrack about her "giving in" to the Texas way of life. I can totally see my rough and tumble girl as a bull rider later in life...hopefully sans sequins of any sort.


Don't ask. Don't tell.

Things I've Learned in Texas...Update!

Mosquito Larva are not Tadpoles. Yesterday Jason and I were walking and I told him that we have hundreds of tadpoles swimming around in a flooded plant pot on our front porch. He told me to dump out that water as soon as we got home. Who knew mosquitos were little wormy swimmy things before they become annoying flying bitey things?

The Many Adventures of Maizie

Here are some of Maizie's adventures from last weekend.

Taking a bath with cousin Brooke. Maizie's head looks ENORMOUS here. Brooke turns 8 months old today! Happy Birthday, Brooke!


Maizie figured out how to climb walls. Literally. She pulled herself up just by putting her hands on the walls in the nursery. New nickname: Spider monkey.


We met Koby and Irma for dinner Saturday and Maizie learned how to drive Koby's jeep. They grow up so quickly nowadays...