Winter Zoo Trip

The day after Thanksgiving, black Friday, we decided to skip all the crazy shopping and head to the Zoo.  It was a great decision because there was no one there and it gave me a way to walk off some of the food I ate from the day before.  Our mission this time was to see the big cats.  We always miss that part of the Zoo somehow.  It was also a very nice day weather wise.  Here is Lincoln on his favorite thing at the zoo, the train!

Kennedy liked the train ride too!

We stopped off at our favorite place to eat at the Zoo, the Texas Wild Food Court.  Kennedy had just started to point to things and say "this" when she wanted to try something.

After we ate, Lincoln really wanted to ride the carousel.  Kennedy wanted to ride too.

Next, we headed up to find the lions and tigers.

We finally found the tigers, and as many times as I have been there, I had no idea they had white tigers.  They were beautiful!

There were three of each of them, so pretty

I guess it was a day of trying something new because then we headed over to the birds so that we could let Lincoln feed them.  I love this exhibit, you can buy feed sticks and go in this huge bird cage and they just flock to you. It is amazing how close you can get to them.  That is Craig feeding a bird.

Kenny wanted to touch him

Pretty blue one

Lincoln was a bit timid at first, but he finally wanted to feed the birds.  Here he is with a white and blue bird on his feed stick.  Sorry, I have no idea what kind of birds they are, haha.

After the birds, we headed over to the duck pond so Kennedy could stretch her legs.

Lincoln was showing her the ropes of the duck pond.

Craig taking a little break.

Do you see the ducks, Kk?

Looking cute!

They had a great time.  We topped it off with some ice cream and then they both crashed out for a nap, it was awesome!  I can't tell you how much we love our Zoo.  It was so much better than shopping!

Thanksgiving

We had a great thanksgiving! This year, my mom hosted a traditional thanksgiving feast. She got a special Cajun turkey (that was too hot for me, I'm a wimp) that everyone loved, especially Craig! We had a great turn out and it was fun hanging out with my family and Paula and her boyfriend.  Here is Ryan and Bob with Kennedy, happy Turkey Day!

Lincoln was having a blast jumping up and down while I took his picture. 

Kennedy and Daddy!

Gotta love the gobble butt and sparkle boots.  These were from last year but they still fit!

Family picture!

Learning her sports early

Mom and all her babies!

Our little family minus Lincoln, he was too busy.

Paula and her boyfriend, Chris were able to make it this year too.

On of the many people that I am thankful for in my life!  Love you Kennedy!

We had a great Thanksgiving and soon it will be Christmas at my house, woo hoo!

First Adult Getaway

Another reason I decided not to pick nursing back up with Kennedy after the 72 hours is that we had a trip coming up that weekend that would be our first no kids trip since we had kids. 

We got invited to Ryan and Stefanie's wedding on November 13th in Austin, TX.  We had originally planned to all go down (Craig, me, the kids, and Craig's parents) to San Marcos on Friday and stay with Craig's brother and hit up the outlets!  Then Craig's parents decided they didn't want to go down and that they would just keep the kids in Benbrook while we went down.  I was so nervous but also excited since this was our first kid less trip. 

We headed down on Saturday morning and went to the outlets first before driving back up to Lakeway (a suburb of Austin, I think) to go to their rehearsal dinner.  They had it at this fun Italian restaurant called Rocco's. We had a great time hanging out with a few people from high school. Here we are at Rocco's, sorry, it was from my iPhone.

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon, so we decided to run with the groom that morning and then head back to the outlet malls in San Marcos, I wanted to get some good shopping in!  This was also kinda my birthday weekend, so I wanted to get some goodies! They had the wedding at the Vintage Villas on Lake Travis.  It was a beautiful setting and I was so mad at myself because I left my memory card at home, ugh!  Here we are with Ed and his wife, Janey at the reception.

I have known Ryan since I moved to Texas when I was in third grade.  He lived behind me my whole life and now they live around the corner from Craig and I in the same neighborhood.  Ryan and Stefanie started dating about 6 years ago, and I knew they were right for each other from the start.  I am so happy they made this next step and it was a wonderful wedding. Here is the beautiful couple on their first dance.

While we were away, the kids were having a blast hanging out with Craig's parents.  They went to the park, went on walks, watched movies and played all day!  They sent us a few pictures to see how much fun they were having!  Here is Kennedy at Spring Creek having her a rib!  Mmm, doesn't that look good!

Their neighborhood is nice because they have a little park right up the street from them.  Kennedy visits it daily with Yong.  They had fun sliding down the slide.  I will say that these pictures did make me miss them so much. 

We ended our trip on Monday morning and headed back to get our babies.  It was a wonderful first Adult trip.  We got to talk to each other without interruption.  It was nice to be in the car and not hear screaming after 15 minutes.  It was nice to be able to just have fun with my husband and goof off like we did when we first met. But all the things that made the trip nice to have without kids, also made me miss them that much more.  I could not wait to get back to their hugs and sweet kisses.  It was just what we needed!

Kennedy is 14 Months!

On November 8th, you turned 14 months old.  Wow, I can't believe what a big girl you are.  So much has changed this month and it makes me happy and sad all at once.  Knowing that this will probably be my last baby, it makes me sad to know that you are out of the baby stage and into the toddler stage.  I love the baby stage, you were just so cute and cuddly and smelled so sweet!  Just look at how big you are sitting in your chair.

How have you changed this month:

-You still weigh 20.5 lbs and you look like you are getting taller.  You have your next check up at 15 months!

-Your eating habits have expanded to eating, well...EVERYTHING!  It has been great, you just love food.  I hope this keeps up!

-You are wearing 12-18 and 18-24 month clothes now.

-You are still in a size 3 diaper.

-You are so independent now and love to explore everything.

-The time change was hard on you, but you are  sleeping about 11 hours straight every night with no wakings!

-You have started to say a lot of words this month like, bye bye, hi, thank you, please, this, some form of Lincoln and a few others, it is so cute in your little sweet voice.

-You have the sippy cup down, but still like the bottle in the morning and at night.  We had to switch you to soy milk because cows milk was giving you tummy troubles.

-You have started to take naps in your crib on the weekends instead of me holding holding you the whole time...

-And we had to start doing that because you stopped nursing the day you turned 14 months old.  I had to go in for a steroid shot for my back and they said I could not nurse for 72 hours.  I didn't try to nurse you again and you have been fine.  It was a hard decision for me to make since I felt like it was the last thing that only I could do for you.  I know there will be other things in the future that only you and I will share and I can't wait for those moments.

-I just look at you now and see that you are going to be a beautiful little girl before I know it. 

We also broke out some of Lincoln's old toys and you have loved playing on the horse!

Now that you are bigger, the park has been a lot more fun for you.  We have gone a lot since the weather has gotten cooler. 

The swing is still your favorite! 

Kennedy, you amaze us everyday.  We are continually blessed that we were picked to be your parents.  We love you so much sweet girl!

Happy Halloween!

We had a very happy Halloween!  Lincoln has been really into super heros for a few months so everytime we asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said a super hero.  He decided on a superman costume and boy did he love it.  He even wore it a few times just around the house before and after Halloween.  It is his form of dress up! Here is Lincoln aka "Superman!"

I still get to pick Kennedy's costumes, so I could not resist when I saw this strawberry costume for her at Old Navy!  It was perfect for my future Zeta Lady!

Look at those cute little trick or treaters!

It has been a tradition in my family since I can remember for my mom to make Chili before the trick or treaters come by.  We headed over to her house first to enjoy some yummy chili!

This girl loves chocolate!  I didn't get around to dressing up, I never could seem to find the time or want to think of something creative.  I really want to next year!

Next stop was the annual Brawley Halloween Bash.

He is off to save the world...

I love kids costumes! A pumpkin and Dr. Evil

but the adults ones were pretty good too...Jack and Nancy were accident prone Extreme Makeover builders.

Such Cuties!

I had to put Kennedy down, but Daddy took Lincoln out to trick or treat, and he had a blast!

Trick or Treat!

Look at all the fun costumes!

The host, Niki, dressed up like a crazy person and her husband was the mental hospital doctor, pretty funny!

Had to post, just too cute!  He loves his Avery!