Last Outing of the Break

This past Sunday we made plans to meet the Yeager's at the park.  I really wanted to get Aiden out of the house and I was feeling a little guilty that he hadn't had much of a chance to play with friends over my break.  I think he appreciated the afternoon out with Luke, even if it was a bit chilly (for Texas).

Aiden is getting more and more bold these days.  I still prefer a spotter for certain feats.

I'm super bummed that I can't get these photos to stay rotated after loading.  Sorry for the crick in your neck!

Zach and Luke (Aiden is learning adult's names now)

Static Head

Luke in a tube

Linsey and Kenley - feeding time!

After feeding the non-existent turtles in the pond (I'm pretty sure they were staying warm at the bottom of the water), we decided to go out for dinner.  We just happened to be near a Cracker Barrel, which I haven't been to in years.  Decades maybe.  I know it was while I was still in high school, could have been before that.  The only time I've ever been was with my friend's family for breakfast after I stayed the night at her house.  I'm pretty sure the last time I stayed the night at her house was Freshman year of high school.  I'd never been for dinner.  Of course, I had to reminisce with breakfast for dinner.  I'm a little ashamed to say I ate half of my plate and half of Aiden's.  Those grits really hit the spot!  Aiden's favorite meal is breakfast, so we ordered pancakes and bacon for him.  He went to town.

Man, that place is awesome.  I need to remember that place next time someone asks where I want to go to eat.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Saturday, Aiden was horribly cranky. Travis was only supposed to work until noon, so I kept telling myself, 'Travis will be home soon.' Unfortunately, he had to work late. Meaning I didn't get to have my break. I was planning to get my hair cut and go grocery shopping while Travis stayed home with Aiden.  Since we had plans for the Yeager's to come over for dinner I knew I wouldn't have time to do that when Travis said he'd be late.  Instead, he stopped at the grocery store for the two items I needed for dinner that night. 

Travis got a ham from work as his "Thanksgiving bonus".  We cooked it for Thanksgiving and then used the leftovers to make ham and bean soup.  It's a recipe my dad usually does with the Christmas ham.  Every time he makes it, the giant pot is gone in one day.  We all have a bowl or two and then Travis and Alex finish it off.  It's amazing what those guys can put back. 

It takes a minimum of four hours to make the soup because you use dried beans and you make your own ham stock using the ham bone.  Travis picked up a loaf of french bread and I have to say it turned out pretty amazing.  For dessert we had leftover pecan pie and the Yeager's brought a peanut butter-chocolate pie.  I don't know how I don't weigh 200 pounds right now.

Luke and Aiden ran around the house like mad men.  Aiden likes to jump on his bed whenever friends come over and Luke likes to shut doors.  Problem is neither of them can open the door to his bedroom.  So we spent a lot of time opening doors.  Kenley is getting so big.  She can sit up well on her own and started crawling the day after their visit.  In the past, she was afraid of strangers.  The only way I could hold her is if she faced away from me the whole time.  At some point she would figure out that a stranger was holding her and she would cry.  I am SO ECSTATIC that she has either gotten over the stranger fear, or I am no longer a stranger.  She left Travis and I hold her for long periods of time AND we got to interact with her.  When she was sitting on Linsey's lap, she kept laughing at Travis.  I think he's funny looking too, so it makes sense.

Sunday, Travis pulled the Christmas decorations out of the garage.  Aiden and I put everything up around the house.  I have a list of a few things I'd like to buy from the store, if I can find it.  I know this is cheesy, but my dad bought us a string of multi-color, musical lights.  They put me in the Christmas mood every time I go pee.  Aiden really likes them too.  Sadly, last year half the string went out and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with them.  I threw them away assuming I could buy more this year.  But now I can't find them anywhere!  I need to search harder on the Internet.  None of the stores near me carry them.  My dad said he got it from a local store.  I may have him mail me some!

Now all we need is a Christmas tree!  We are planning to get one this weekend.  I can't wait to decorate it with Aiden this year.  He is really into the Christmas spirit this year.  In the past it was fun because we were doing something different.  This year, he actually understands and recognizes more.  He does seem more smitten by Christmas trees than Santa.  Which means putting up the tree this weekend should be a blast. 

Last year my dad bought a frame and an ornament for me to place a silhouette portrait of Aiden and a lock of his first hair cut.  I never got around to doing it so it's been sitting on our desk for a year.  I walked by it the other day and though, "I should really take care of that before this Christmas."  Part of the problem was that I didn't have a good profile shot of Aiden from the time he got his first hair cut.  Instead, I used a current photo.  I plan to put both a current lock and the hair from his first haircut in the photo frame.  I still haven't put that all together, as I need to trim his hair first.  But here's the ornament:

Celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving. Ugh, I know.

Saturday we had more big plans.  Travis had to work that morning.  Aiden and I took it easy at home.  We played outside for a while and I folded some laundry.  I got him to take a nap on his own.  It took almost 45 minutes, but that's better than an hour!

When Aiden woke up, we played for a bit, then got ready to go out.  We went to Galveston for the Moody Garden Festival of Lights opening day.  I've been in the past and was really disappointed.  I thought they would decorate Moody Gardens with lights.  Instead, they have various shapes wrapped in lights, including Christmas items, safari animals, underwater animals and more.  I'm assuming those non-Christmas decorations are supposed to represent the two pyramids at Moody Gardens: the Rainforest and the Aquarium.

Since it was opening day, there were various additional attractions.  There were two small reindeer for the kids to gawk at...  

Then Santa sailed in on a parachute with two of his elves...

Interesting life...

We went with lots of friends:  The Ramby's (minus Chris, plus Alexa's mom), the Yeager's and the Yeager's friends that we've hung out with a few times.  I really like them.  They're fun-loving people who like to joke around.  My kind of entertainment!

After Santa landed, we couldn't see him very well over all the people.  There were SO MANY PEOPLE.

Aiden says, "Where's Santa?"

After an hour of waiting, Santa flipped the power switch and all the lights in the park lit up.  We were already in line by this point because there were SO MANY PEOPLE.

As disappointed as I may have been by the lights last time I enjoyed it so much more with Aiden.  He is so amazed at everything.  I love watching the wonder through his eyes.  At the end of the lit path, there was a fenced in area with snow!!  Next to the palm trees!  Without a coat, hat and mittens!

You had to pay $6 cash to enter the snow area.  We only had $5 left, so we told Aiden we couldn't do the snow.  He looks up at us with those big blue eyes and says, "But snow, Mommy.  Snow!"  I was immediately digging in my purse for a dollar's worth of change.  

Aiden slipped and fell while walking into the enclosure.  He was a little shocked at the cold temperature, so he started crying.  I told him it was okay, and when he stopped crying he looked at his hands and said, "Ice?"  Smart kid.  After I coaxed him back into the enclosure, with a little help this time, he really enjoyed himself.  Since adults weren't allowed in, Aiden waddled over to where we were standing near the fence and Travis tossed him a few snow balls.  Then Aiden threw them back.  He was so excited.  It was adorable.  We had to keep yelling at him not to eat the snow.  

"There won't be any snow left if you eat it all!"

Overbooked Saturday

We had an excellent weekend.  We shook things up a bit and went outside of our normal routine.  Travis was on call last week and this past weekend, which meant he had to work Saturday morning.  We had a birthday party to attend for my friend Katie's two-year-old son at 2 pm, so I put Aiden down for his nap an hour early.  He actually fell asleep.  I'm pretty sure it was magic.

When 1 o'clock rolled around, I called Travis to see if he was going to be home soon.  He said he was going to be a little late and since he was going to have to drive separately because he was on call, we should just go on without him.  Aiden woke up a few minutes later, we got dressed and on the road.  The party was really fun.  It was at Moody Gardens in Galveston.  They had a party room that was filled with many toy stations, all provided by Moody Gardens.  There was a Moody rep that stayed in the room and showed the kids how to do the various stations.  Katie supplied pizzas for everyone to eat.  Moody provided a giant cake and a bowl full of punch.  Travis showed up about 30 minutes into the shindig.

We played in that room for two hours and then slathered on the sunscreen.  As we walked outside, the rep handed each child a shovel and bucket and we headed over to Palm Beach.  Palm Beach is a really great outdoor water park for smaller children.  There are lots of sprinkler areas, shallow pools and even a couple water slides.  We've been there once before and loved it for Aiden. 

Overall, the party was awesome.  Katie didn't have to plan anything or clean up afterward and it was WAY cheaper than we've paid for an at-home birthday party.  There are other options aside from going to Palm Beach.  You can also go to the aquarium or the rainforest.  I'll definitely be keeping that place in mind for Aiden's future birthdays!  We stayed for an hour at Palm Beach and then had to leave.  I sort of overbooked us for Saturday!

We hopped in the car and stopped to change and grab a few things from home.  Then we headed over to the Yeager's for a BBQ.  They had a few other friends over as well, including Chris and Blair.  Blair, Luke and Aiden ran around the house like madmen for the majority of the evening.  We ate brisket and deviled eggs.  For dessert Linsey made a layered strawberry shortcake mix.  It was awesome. 

The evening was a hit.  I was shocked to look at my phone and see it was 9:20 pm!  We were walking out to the car and I noticed Aiden was walking really funny.  I though he was goofing around, but when Travis attempted to put him in his car seat he started screaming about being poopy.  Sure enough his butt was stinky.  Linsey let us come back inside to change his diaper on a flat surface, but I'm sure she was regretting it after a minute.  Aiden had diarrhea.  I was a bad parent and didn't check his diaper all night.  So I have no idea how long he was in this horrible diaper, chafing him as he ran.  He cried bloody murder as Travis wiped him clean.  It was BAD.  I felt HORRIBLE. 

Today most of it is gone.  He still has scabs on his leg where the diaper must have been rubbing him as he ran.  I've just gotten so accustomed to him not peeing as frequently that I've grown lazy about checking his diaper.  We were adamant about changing his diaper often over the remainder of the weekend.  I didn't want that dang thing to come back!  Poor kid.

Labor

We had an abnormal Labor Day weekend.  I think normally we would be running around visiting lots of friends, but this year we focused on laboring.  It only makes sense, right?  Travis enjoyed the three-day weekend with us.  I love that he gets holidays off with this new company!  We spent most of our days working on the Great Wall of Ward.  Travis got all the trim up.  I primed the stucco and caulked the wood.  Travis moved the cyclone fence over to connect the back yard to the newly walled in area in the front.  I still need to prime the trim and then we can paint everything!

We also need a gate.  Right now we have plywood up to help deter stray animals from our yard and to help corral Aiden. My dad texted me yesterday to say the gate he found at a store in Illinois is on sale.  I told him to go ahead and buy it.  It's REALLY simple, but you can't beat that price!  I'm planning to bring it back with me on the plane when I visit Illinois for my cousin's wedding at the end of this month.

Besides working on the yard, we had the Yeager's over for a BBQ on Saturday.  Luke was sitting at the end of the table when he says, "Mommy?" and holds out his hand towards Linsey.  She took his hand and he just sat there holding her hand.  He just wanted to be close to her!  It was so sweet!  So Zach scooted Luke around to their side of the table and said, "Now you can be closer to Mommy and as a bonus, you get Daddy!"  LOL!  That man cracks me up.

After dinner we sat outside and enjoyed one of our first days of "cool" weather.  By cool, I'm talking low 90's, high 80's.  It was amazing.  It started to sprinkle a little, so Linsey threw a blanket over baby Kenley's head.  She proceeded to ham it up for photos.

Sunday afternoon Ariel and Michelle came over.  We played it easy and ate leftovers for dinner.  We also spent some time in the kiddie pool with Aiden.  He enjoyed our company, and we enjoyed the cool water.  Actually, it was pretty hot.  We had to empty half the water and fill it back up with water from the hose so it would cool down.  Oh Texas.

A Very Yeager Weekend

We had a weekend filled with the Yeager's. Saturday afternoon, Travis stayed with Aiden and I went with Linsey, Kenley and Zach's mom to a fundraising event for the Opera House in Galveston. Zach's mom has been a major player in the fundraising committee and every year she goes to this event and invites Linsey and one of her friends along. Linsey invited me last year, but I was sick. This year, the stars aligned and I was able to go!

Basically, a bunch of ladies get together to eat food, drink wine and paint pottery. It was so much fun! We sat at a round table when we got there and let Kenley sleep in her car seat for a bit. First we checked out our pottery options. I chose a trivet (it took me 15 minutes of web searching to figure out that word) and an oblong dish. After we had picked our ceramics, Zach's mom held Kenley (she was so good the whole time!) and we went to get food and drinks.

After everyone arrived and was settled, the painting began! I didn't want to do anything detailed since I am not a seasoned artist. I did basic colors and a little fading. Hopefully it actually fades and doesn't look block-like. I won't know until I get it back after they are fired. I finished well before Linsey and her mother-in-law. After sitting there staring at my work for a few minutes, I wanted to do more. But I didn't want to ruin it. Zach's mom is a seasoned artist and I attempted to copy some of what she was doing. Hopefully it turns out okay!

Father's Day was on Sunday, so I let Travis decide what he wanted to do. He chose to mow the back yard in the morning and then spend a few hours playing Playstation. After Aiden got up from his nap, we drove down to Galveston to meet the Yeager's at the Moody Gardens Rainforest. They had to remodel after Hurricane Ike and we haven't been since they reopened. There is now a catwalk in the canopy of the trees so you can get closer to the birds and various trees. It was really nice, but dang it was hot. 116 degrees, according to the readout display!

Of course, I forgot to bring my camera, so I have to rely on Linsey's photos from that day. She got some great shots!

We were lucky enough to get really close to one of the three sloths that call the pyramid home. I could have touched him. He was that close. I was amazed at how big he was and his hair was super thick. Reminded me of Chewbacca. I wonder if they modeled Chewbacca after a sloth? Hm.

Aiden was afraid when the sloth got close. He moved so slowly and came down to eat a banana. I tried to convince Aiden that the sloth liked bananas as much as he does. Aiden didn't care. He wanted far, far away from that thing.

Linsey also got several great shot of the boys together. In the first one, there are several blue macaws on a branch behind them. Sort of hard to see though.

Every time we came to a bridge, the boys insisted on leaning over to look at the fish in the water. It was nerve racking at times.

Chumming it up with the Day Geckos...

Luke LOVES lizards. LOVES. We have an abundance of a small lizard called an Anole (pronounced ah-nole-ee) in our area and apparently Luke freaks every time he sees one. So much so, that his parents are contemplating buying him one for his birthday. The joke is why don't you just go grab one from your yard? I can't imagine that would be an easy task though. And perhaps those from the store will be more comfortable with people. Ha! Should be interesting.

I can't wait to get my pottery back! I promise to take a photo to share with you, whether they're crap or excellent.

Mother's Day

The morning of Mother's Day, we took it easy in the house. We cleaned the sand off our stuff from the beach and I watered the plants. Nap time was a disaster though. Since Aiden learned how to climb out of his travel crib the night before, we didn't even waste time setting it up. Instead, we let him run around in his room until he fell asleep - which ended up being on the floor directly in front of the door.

He woke up shortly thereafter, just in time to go to the Bayou Wildlife Park with the Yeager's. We stopped for Frapuccino's since hot coffee at home just wasn't doing it for me in the heat. We stopped at the Yeager's house only long enough for them to jump in their car to lead the caravan.

After you pull into the gate at the wildlife park, you are instantly surrounded by various ungulates and ostriches. We rolled the windows down and turned off the radio to get a better feel for the environment. For those of you who don't know me that well, I am distressingly afraid of birds. And I can assure you that the larger the bird gets, the larger my fear. However, I was totally okay with that ostrich being on the other side of our windshield. He stopped right in front of our car, so we had to stop and wait for him to continue his stroll. When he finally did, it was towards my open window. I was having flashes of him attacking through my window, pecking at my face and taking off my finger. I quickly rolled up my window and squealed for Travis to do the same for Aiden's window.

Don't worry. We survived.

After we got to the parking area, we left Zach and Kenley in the tram while the rest of us headed over to the petting area. Of course, there were plenty of random gazelle/antelope/deer-like animals lying around on the way.

Right next to the petting area was the giraffe enclosure. The boys really wanted to feed those giraffes. After reading the giant sign that says "DO NOT FEED THE GIRAFFES" we convinced them to give the goats a try.

One of the larger ones kept barrelling over the boys to get to the food bucket. And this black and white one in the lower portion of the photo above kept threatening to head butt when we got close to the female and her kid. Risky business.

After 15 minutes, we hopped on the tram with Zach to see the rest of the animals in the park. The ride kept going and going and going. I was surprised at how big the place was actually.



Linsey was right with me when it came to the ostriches. We both leaned our faces away from the large bird and Linsey made sure to protect her young (little Kenley was sleeping in her car seat the whole time).



Then there was this bad boy:


The tour guide told us that Goliath was new to the park and he did not yet know how to feed from the buckets without getting his horns tangled up in the tram bars. I thought he looked just fine on the outside of the tram.

Aiden seemed very interested in the camels. He thought most of the animals were pretty cool. He kept looking at the ostriches and screaming, "Ducky!" Ha! I even conquered my fears a bit and fed an ostrich. Actually, I ended up feeling more in control when I was feeding them because then I knew were their beak was going. Which was in the bucket and not in my face.




Luke was a little nervous about the horse ride, but he quickly decided riding a horse was totally worth it and gave it a go.



Aiden was not feeling so brave. The woman that walked the horses let us sit him on the bigger one for a photo. That was about as far as he was willing to go.




Check out this log in the pretty algae:

If it was an alligator, it would've bitcha!

Sunday with the Yeager's

Sunday afternoon we brought dinner to the Yeager's. Linsey's mom stayed with them for a week after Kenley was born, so they spent the past weekend learning to function as a family unit. I know how stressful that was for me without a toddler already running around, so I wanted to easy their day with dinner (and leftovers for later).

I made a no-stuff pepper casserole that was DELICIOUS. I stowed away the recipe for pulling out again later. I actually got the original recipe in the mail from the local grocer, but lost it somehow between making my grocery list and making the casserole. I had to improvise a little, combining some recipes online. I'd have to say I thought it turned out pretty good!

For dessert, we had angel food cake with fresh-picked strawberries and Cool Whip. It was nice to catch up with Linsey and Zach while Aiden played with Luke. Travis hadn't met Kenley yet - it was cute to see him holding a little baby again. It sounds like there has been a little stress in transitioning Luke to brotherhood. Hopefully things will smooth out soon!

Brand New Human

Kenley Malia Yeager

March 30, 2011

4:25 pm

6 lbs, 10 oz

19"

Linsey went in for her weekly OBGYN check up last Wednesday to find out she was already dilated to 4 centimeters. Her doctor told her to head over to the hospital for the delivery and to ask for the epidural as soon as she got there since this one was going to go quickly! She stopped at work on her way to tie up some loose ends, then headed to the hospital with Zach.

While she was at work, one of the girls (Michelle) handed her some lab bench diapers to sit on for the drive in case her water broke. I laughed so hard when she told me that. That is the lab equivalent to what the hospital put under me when they broke my water when I had Aiden.

I believe Linsey told me she got to the hospital around noon. She pushed about three times over the space of 15 minutes and out came Kenley! She spent two nights in the hospital, then Aiden and I went to meet the new addition to the family that afternoon.

I cannot believe how tiny she is. It's so funny how when you have a baby, you look at him and think, 'Wow, that came out of me?! He's huge!' But then once he grows into a monster toddler, you look at newborns like they are impossibly small. I mean, look at her in that swing!

Her middle name, Malia - pronounced like Maria, is a Hawaiian name meaning "calm and peaceful". It was Zach and Linsey's way to pay homage to her conception while they were on a child-free vacation.

Linsey's mom is staying with them for a week to help them transition at home with a new baby and a growing toddler. Zach's mom comes by frequently to help out with Luke. When we got to the Yeager's house on Friday, Luke was watching videos on YouTube with Linsey's mom. Aiden quickly joined in the fun.

We had a nice little visit. Linsey said she feels soooo much better than she did after she had Luke. She said all-in-all, it was a better experience than with Luke. The recovery is going quicker, Kenley is much more easy going than Luke was. I suppose those are both great things since they have to take care of Luke on top of this huge change. I can only hope that my next one will be easier than the last!