Week 1 - Houston Trip

We are going on our second week here in Houston. We arrived late Wednesday night. I am so lucky to have two children that love to fly as much as I do. Mason had his own seat on the way here and Taylor sat in my lap. Both of them were very well behaved. It was Taylor's first flight. Of course she slept the entire time. Mason watched the Incredibles on the in-flight movie.

Thursday we celebrated Mason's 2nd birthday a little early, with our family and friends. Friday we spent the morning at Adam's parents house visiting with everyone. Adam's grandparents flew in from Frisco, Tx. It was the first time to have everyone all together since Anna's wedding in December.

Friday night, my family had a graduation party for my cousin Chase. We had a fajita dinner, catered by Nifa's. Have I mentioned how much I love Mexican food? It's just not the same in California. All of the boys spent most of the evening in the garage checking out my dad's toys. He has several dirt bikes, a couple of 4-wheelers, and his Honda Goldwing.

Mason on the dirt bike.

Connor & Mason on their dirt bike.

Mason checking out the 4 wheelers

Jared on his dirt bike.

Taylor decided to go for a ride with Connor.

Aunt Christina & Taylor

Granddad with Taylor

Aunt Nettie with Taylor & Taylor

Saturday was summed up here. Sunday morning, we had breakfast with Adam's family. His grandparents and brother would be leaving that day to go back, and so would Adam. Adam's mom went to Bagel Cafe that morning and brought back some delicious bagels. Anyone that knows me, knows how much I LOVE Bagel Cafe.

Our friends Brad & Jill stopped by too, since their flight was delayed Thursday and they didn't make it to Mason's party. It was a delightful weekend, hanging out with family. I just wish Adam didn't have to go back so soon.

Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Kaye with their great grandchildren.

Brad & Jill loving on our kids.

Uncle Matty and Taylor. I love these pictures. She is smitten with him.

Aunt Laura & Taylor

4th of July

The morning of the 4th, we took it easy and had some down-time at my parents house. We had been on the go, since we arrived and I wanted to do was relax for a bit. That morning, my Dad took Mason out on the 4-wheelers. Of course Mason had a great time, but he wasn't really sure about the helmet. He doesn't like anything covering his chin.

Around 4pm, we headed over to my sister's house. She had been cooking all day and smoked a brisket, ribs, and chicken. We didn't eat there, but I made sure to nibble on a couple of bits of her brisket. It was delicious. Mason and Connor played in his room the entire time.

At one point, I heard Mason crying and walked into the room and found Connor trying to help Mason out of the toy box. When I asked Connor what happened, he told me he tried to lock Mason in the toy box, but Mason didn't like it. Connor kept apologizing. It was really funny.

Around 6pm, we drove out to Adam's sister's place. Laura & Matt just bought a new house in Memorial Heights area and it's lovely. Matt grilled burgers and everyone visited for awhile, before the fireworks began. Houston put on the nations largest firework display this year and we had the best seats in town. Laura & Matt have access to the roof terrace and you can see the skyline of downtown Houston and we were able to see all of the fireworks. Mason loved every minute of the show. Taylor did very well too.

Mason playing with his cousin Faith.

Adam's grandparents were in from Frisco for the weekend..

Great Grandpa Kaye with Faith & Taylor

I loved Taylor's outfit. One of my best friends, Jeanna bought the top for her when we found out we were having a girl. She knew that 4th of July was my favorite holiday.

Daddy & Taylor

Adam & Taylor with his sister Anna

Mason's 2nd Birthday Party

We arrived late Wednesday night and didn't make it bed until around 1:30am. I had a lot to get done Thursday morning, so we were up bright and early. Adam spent the day tubing down the Comal River with my Dad, while my Mom and I took the kids to run a bunch of errands. Our first stop was my sister's salon, to get my hair cut. I am in the process of growing my hair out and I have trust issues with hair stylists, so I have only let her cut my hair. I just needed a trim, since the last time I had my hair trimmed was back in December.

Afterwards, we made a bunch of stops getting party supplies for Mason's party later that evening. Of course, Mason didn't want to nap that day. But that didn't stop him from being in a great mood. I was on the go all the way up until the party started that evening.

We rented out the clubhouse in my parents neighborhood. They had just remolded and it was just the right amount of room for a party of 35 people. It was very simple, just pizza, drinks and cake. I was more looking forward to seeing everyone and visiting, then I was about the decor and refreshments this year.

This was also the first time all of our family and friends (except my parents) would meet Taylor. Poor girl was a little overwhelmed with all of the chaos and being passed around from person to person. She was still very tired and wasn't really in the partying mood that night. However, Mason was quite the little entertainer that night. He ran around playing with the other kids and just had a great time. Thank you to everyone that could make it out.

Aunt Christina & Taylor hanging out before the party began.

Connor was so excited to see his cousin, he didn't stop hugging him.

Jared & Mason

Grandma (Adam's mom) holding Taylor for the very first time.

Grandma & Grandpa with Taylor

The only time Mason stopped long enough to get a picture with him.

Taylor with her name-sake, my cousin Taylor

Mason's Car's themed cake

He got shy when everyone started singing Happy Birthday to him.

Can you tell he liked the cake?

The begining of opening the presents.

He just wanted to play with all of the tissue paper.

Way to go Taylor!

We are alive and well here in Houston. Not really a lot of time to write at this moment, but I wanted to let everyone know that Taylor rolled over for the first time today. She can go from her back to her stomach on either side. Way to go girly! I also weighed her today and she is 14lbs 6oz. I took a ton of pictures since we arrived (145 to be exact) and those should be on here soon.

Houston, here we come!

It's madness around here. I have so much left to do before we leave tomorrow for our trip to Houston. Luckily, my husband and kids are already packed, but I still need to pack and clean the house before we leave. Traveling as a family of four is going to be more work, now that we have to lug around two car seats, a bag each for Adam & I, and two bags for Taylor & Mason. I was able to fit all of their clothes in one bag, but I bought diapers last week thinking we would already be thru them by the time we left, but I was wrong. I was originally planning on buying diapers when we arrived, but since I already spent the money and Taylor is already wearing a size 3 diaper, I didn't want to leave them at home. What if she outgrows the size 3 by the time we get home in August?

Adam is in LA until the morning and then drives back to pick us up and we head back to LA around lunch time. We thought about meeting him down in LA, but he gets free gas with his truck and we didn't want to have to pay for two cars to be parked at the airport.

I'm so looking forward to this trip. I can't wait to see all of our family and friends and for everyone to love on our kids for the next month. We are so blessed. I probably should get off of here so I can finish getting everything ready. I'll be checking in from Houston. Until then...

Productivity

I feel so productive today! This morning, I woke up and got everyone ready and out the door by 8am. We met Marissa and the kiddos at Chick Fil A for breakfast. Today they were giving away free sausage biscuit and tomorrow it will their breakfast chicken biscuits. It was delicious as always and the kids were able to play in the Toddler area without the craziness of other kids running around. I guess no on knows how yummy their breakfast really is, unless they are all going thru the drive-thru. We had so much, we decided to go back tomorrow.

Afterwards, Mason wasn't ready to go home for good, so I drove home to get Taylor's Baby Bjiorn and to feed her, and we headed off to walk around the mall. It was my first trip with both kiddos by myself, and it went very well. I didn't buy anything, but I had fun looking. I was getting hungry and decided to head home for lunch, since I knew Mason would be tired very soon.

After a quick meal, Mason went down for his nap, while Taylor watched me work out. I love the feeling after a good workout. Taylor fell asleep shortly after I finished and it was nice to sit and have both kids asleep. I have discovered that Taylor isn't much of a napper. Her naps consist of 30 minutes to an hour. I would much rather her be a night time sleeper than a napper, so I'm not complaining.

Speaking of night time sleep, she has digressed to 2 night time feedings. Before last weekend, she only ate once in the middle of the night, and since Monday night, she has been waking up twice to eat. I don't know if she is going thru a growth spurt or if she is still getting used to sleeping in her crib. I can't even remember if I mentioned that, but Taylor is officially in her own room. She does pretty well in there and I only bring her in our room after her early morning feeding, so Mason doesn't wake her up.

Next week, we leave for Houston. Originally, it was going to be a short trip, and unfortunately it still will be for Adam, but the kids and I will be in town for the entire month. I can't believe next week will be July. Where has this summer gone? So if you are in town and wanna hang out, let me know.

Michael Jackson

Ok, I'll admit, I was a huge Michael Jackson fan back in the day, and when I mean back in the day I'm talking starting at age three all the way thru Junior High. He had some issues, but his music was great and boy could that man dance. The only record I ever owned was "Thriller" and I played it over and over again until it was all scratched up. I guess he is the Elvis of my time.