Icyle lately...

Icyle turned 1 on May 5th!

She is busy being a big girl...

Walking all over
Talking all the time
Playing little mama with her dolls
Reading books to herself
Climbing up and down stairs
Climbing up onto pretty much anything she can get onto
Making a mess of the kitchen cupboards
Terrorizing her big brother
and pretty much just doing what 1 year olds do

She is a delightful child with a smile that melts my heart, and she pretty much wiggles her way into everyone's heart she meets... it's hard not to love Icyle with her joyful personality, chubby legs, and ready smile!

She is becoming quite the little water queen! This one was taken at Schlitterbahn where she was actually not too fond of the water, but since then she has grown to love it. We frequent our little community pool and Icyle is always happy to be in the water! She also is happy to walk around and find things to stick in her mouth!

We celebrated Icyle's birthday by going to Chuck E Cheese... she was absolutely amazed by the rides... she literally had this face the entire time the rides were moving...

... then the ride would stop and she would get down and go to the next ride pointing and saying "Uh, uh, uh, uh." until she was on it... and then this face would return! It was SO fun to watch her ride the rides!

Here she is riding another ride with Chuck E... she and Chuck E were seen kissing before this photo was taken... I guess she has a thing for mice?

Icyle is the little mama of our household... she always has a doll in her hands or is pushing one around in the stroller. One day I was watching her play mama... she put her dolls in the stroller pushed them around, stopped, looked at the dolls in the stroller and said, "HI!!" then she picked up her dolls hand, made it wave at her and then went back to pushing the stroller around. This type of thing happens almost every day and it just makes me smile! I could watch her play dolls all day... but then I would get nothing done and that wouldn't be good!

Here she is hugging her dolly that she got for her birthday from Gramma and Papa! She is a very loved dolly!

Icyle, I love you more than you know! You make me giggle and I am so glad I get to be your mommy!

Wyatt lately...

I realize its been yet another long stretch since I have blogged... partly because we didn't have a computer for awhile and partly because, well, I just didn't have a lot of things I felt like I wanted to say. 

But since its been awhile I thought I would give each kid their own post... so here we go.

Wyatt... I so love this little kid! He is absolutely adorable, wonderfully charming, and wildly imaginative!

A few weeks ago we went to Shlitterbahn (a huge water park here in TX) for Wyatt's friend's birthday party. We had such a great time and Wyatt is seriously a fish in water... even when it's really cold water!

See the wrist band he is wearing... it's still there. 

We have very frequent conversations about going to Schlitterbahn "yesterday" (in Wyatt's world everything that has happened in the past happened "yesterday") and how he still has the bracelet because he had so much fun!

It really just makes me laugh... and lots of other people think it is hilarious that he still has on his ever fading Schlitterbahn bracelet. We will see how much longer it lasts! 

Also, he has been turning into different things lately... one day this was the conversation we had:

Wyatt: How are you feeling mom?

Me: I feel fine, Wyatt, how are you?

Wyatt: Oh, I feel kind of weird... maybe like I am turning into a Dragon or something?

I cracked and then made that my facebook status... cause thats what I do when something makes me laugh. Wyatt was a Dragon for about 2 weeks.

Then after watching Disney's Tarzan and going to the Zoo, Wyatt decided he was a Jaguar. He was a Jaguar for about a week and then Chris introduced him to Star wars... now he is Dart Nader (aka Darth Vader)... he wears a cape (his green blankie) and carries a light saber! It is pretty intense. 

Wyatt has also invented a new game... 

Canned Ham Skating!

It is a game in which you skate on Canned Hams (as seen above) and try to make it from one end of the kitchen to the other without falling on your face and breaking either yourself, your sister, or your mother's toes.

He loves it and I give him props for being SO creative! If you have some canned hams lying around... here is a new use for it!

We spent Icyle's first birthday at Chuck E Cheese... Wyatt was quite the big winner...

See all those tickets in his pocket?

By the end of the night we had 180 tickets... with which my husband convinced Wyatt to spend them all on a giant cockroach toy... thanks hon! Actually the "prize" selection at Chuck E Cheese really sucks... I mean... what ever happened to whoopee cushions? Anyways.... I digress.   

Wyatt is altogether just a fun kid to be around... I enjoy every day that I get to spend with him!

Thanks for all the laughs Wyatt... you are my favorite little boy! I love you!

Life in the fast lane...

Yep... so remember that last post when I said something along the lines of "I promise I will be better about posting more often" yeah... well... ahem... I know.

So, but so much has gone on since that last post!

We (meaning the whole family) road tripped it to Minnesota to visit my family... we got there on Easter and was able to spend the afternoon with everyone at my Aunt Cher and Uncle Scott's house... it was a lovely time! We were also excited to share some news with them about a special surprise that we found out about (more on that later in this post). The whole week we spent time with family and friends, whom we love dearly, and then sadly, the trip was over and we spent a very long 24 hours in the car as we drove through the night on the way home. 

But here are some pictures from our trip to MN

I realize it's been a while...

Yep.

So, instead of trying to recap the whole last month that I've not blogged about, I though I would start with something more recent... something I can actually remember... like... oh, I don't know... 

St. Patrick's Day....

 

Icyle wore a newborn size dress as a shirt and sported green socks for the day... 

We all dressed in green and went out to a family breakfast (which I didn't take any pictures of) at The Egg and I. It is a cute little restaurant just a few minutes from our house. We enjoyed some delicious waffles, french toast, and of course, eggs. Then We sent Chris off to work (wearing a green shirt and tie) and the kids and I spent the rest of the day at the park and hanging out with friends. 

 

It was a good day. 

The next day we went down town with our friends, The Bisagni's... they took us to this really cool picnic area right off the river...

It was beautiful! We enjoyed eating, playing, and hanging out with our friends...

This is Wyatt helping Aiden climb a tree... what a nice friend...

Then we walked to the Alamo... which was a huge mistake because it was spring break and it was so super packed that we pretty much turned around and left. But the thousand mile walk was nice!

Then the next day after that, which was actually yesterday, the kids and I spent the day babysitting at the Bisagni's house... the kids totally love eachother and get along so well... it is so awesome to have friends like them!

Here are the kids looking out the window... Icyle brought over that little car and got up there all by herself so that she could look out the window too...

aw... I just love her!

So.

That is what has been happening around here for the last few days. 

Chocolate dipped valentine cookies

Today Wyatt and I made chocolate dipped valentine cookies for, you know, Valentines day. 

Well, I made the actual cookies, but Wyatt sure was an amazing chocolate dipping sidekick...

And he is an even better chocolate eating sidekick...

It was a lot of fun dipping valentine cookies with one of my own little valentines... 

and they look super cute too...

If you want to make some of your own just click here!

 

My little Ergo baby

This morning Icyle woke up with a fever of 102.1. I don't really know what's wrong with her... could be a number of things... but besides having the fever and acting really tired she seems fine.

But today I have a lot to get done because my parents are going to be here tomorrow! I have laundry to do, cookies to bake, bathrooms to clean, floors to vacuum, toys to pick up, counters to wipe, and shelves to dust. 

So, what do I do with a tired, sick baby who wants her mama when her mama has lots and lots that needs to get done?

Stick the tired, sick baby in the Ergo and do all the work I need to do!

Dear Ergo Carrier, 

You are awesome! One day I might write a song for you.

Until then, just know I am so happy you are in our lives.

Thanks for all the work you do to keep my baby happy.

Love, 

Amber 

Seriously, Ergo's are the best ever!

Daddy's hat