Barkitecture

So Jason's firm, Negrete & Kolar, decided to enter Barkitecture this year. It's an event where local architecture and design firms design and build dog houses to be auctioned off for charity. Theirs was called the "Bark-elona Paw-villion" (clever clever) and turned out super cool. We met friends at a pumpkin patch Saturday and then headed down to see all the other dog houses and even witnessed a Doggie Costume fashion show. Maizie was in heaven. It was our first at-home, together Saturday in a long time and it was NICE.

 
 
 
 

Nashville

Last week, Anderson and I had a Mommy-Son date to meet his little buddy, Eli, in Nashville. On both plane rides, the flight attendents stole Anderson from me for about a half hour and paraded him up and down the aisles. It was great to have the break (he was literally climbing the plane walls), but still felt odd. Here are some pics from the trip. Note the one of Anderson and Eli laying together. They are 7.5 months apart in age, but only 2 pounds apart in weight. Craziness. Oh, and a trip to see Jodi isn't complete without us dying our hair. Click to see more detail. I may be addicted to these collages for a bit.

 

Bye Bye Fancy Pants

A few weeks ago, we met some friends down in San Marcos at Guadelupe River State Park to say a fond farewell to Grant and Amanda. We plan to visit them alot in San Antonio, but so far the cards have not aligned for us to get down there. We are looking forward to many years of fun adventures with them in the Alamo City. San Antonio is so lucky to have them.

I got a few good shots of the fun and thought I'd try the Picasso collage, so here you go.

 

On a side note, I thought I lost my camera (aka third baby) on this camping trip. I was sad. Really sad. Two weeks went by and we bought a cheap stand-in, but my deepest affections remained for the old one. On the way to Nashville this week, I was going through the "fun" process of airport security with a ten-month-old who (of course) fell asleep 10 minutes before screening time. When the stroller went through, the TSA guy told me that I should be careful unfolding it because a CAMERA was in the middle of it! I literally did a "raise the roof" (wee bit embarrassing in hind sight) and told him he was my best friend and that he made my trip. So anytime you're feeling down about where your tax dollars are going, just think back to my story and do a little "raise the roof" on my behalf.

Perfect 10

Anderson is 10 months old today (and cousin Brooke is 3!) It's been another fun and eventful month. He is clapping up a storm, standing on his own for a few seconds at a time, and "real" crawling! He's also gotten alot more verbal, repeating back tons of sounds. His favorites are "Da, Hi Da!" when he sees Jason, "Wuzzat?" when he points to things, "Uh-uh" when I say "Uh-oh". He's eating like a real person for the most part. I just cut up whatever we're eating into Anderson-sized chunks and he has a ball. He also started "kissing" which means he dive-bombs my face with an open, teethy smile whenever I say "kisses". He's definitely found his voice (aka scream) when he's in the sharing arena with Maizie. That's going to be a long-term battle, I'm afraid. He's so much fun right now I really want to press pause....sigh.

 
 
 
 

Maizie Wonder

This video makes me smile. Hope it does the same for you! I'll continue my series of lessons in Maiziese as a Second Language soon. She's come up with some doozies lately. But I thought this would tide over our biggest fans (hi mom and dad!) until then.

Growing Up!

 
Saturday was Anderson's 9 month-day. We spent it with good friends and family in Abilene. Tons of fun! Took him to the doctor today and he is 17 lbs., 10 oz. (6th percentile). His height was 27.25 inches (11 percentile) and his head was, uh, well, in the 90th percentile. No wonder I've been having trouble getting his shirts on. The picture above is the "framer" for the dining room. Anderson's new "tricks" this month are pulling up (and learning to get down), putting new things in his mouth (and learning to let mommy fish them out), chasing after his big sis, and clapping to performances on So You Think You Can Dance. I couldn't have asked for a happier, sweeter, cuter man child.

 
Another big milestone was Maizie's first day of school. It was a bit of a madhouse getting out the door, but I dutifully posed her for first day pics when we got home. She was HYPER, so this is the best we could do. She's loving her class this year with Miss Angela and Miss Jeanne and can really repeat back the things they talk about this year.

 
Here are the two rugrats being so sweet together....

 
And now for the rest of the story. 90% of the time, all is well between the two siblings. But luck allowed me to capture this face when Anderson reached his "sharing" limit. Love it.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Here's a shout out to my most loyal reader, Dad! It's my Dad's birthday today and he's taking care of my mom in the hospital, so I thought a movie chronicalling our trip home to Michigan complete with sappy music would cheer both of them up.

My Dad is funny and sweet and caring and giving and forgiving and he makes an amazing Papa to our kiddos. Hope you have a wonderful day and Mom gets better as a gift to you! Love you!