Matt and I received a very large anonymous gift this weekend, and if the giver is reading, we just want to say THANK YOU! Not only is the gift itself incredibly helpful for our family, but just the thought of someone going out of their way to help us is incredibly special to us.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Nope.
She did NOT sleep in this morning, just FYI. And she still has a fever. And she wouldn't eat lunch. And she took a really short nap. And Kathryn and Patrick left today. Yuck.
Friday, June 27, 2008
GALVESTON!
The last couple of times we went to Galveston, it was cold. But this time, Joanna got the real beach experience, and she LOVED it! Since my sister and her boyfriend were in town, we all decided to go to Galveston on Friday. Mom had today off, so it was a nice family outing. Poor Matt couldn't come, but we made sure to tell him what a terrible time we had when we got home. :) Joanna got to bed a little late last night because we went over to my Grandmother's house for dinner. Sometimes, when she goes to bed late, she wakes up early and is cranky. Not this morning. She kept sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. Finally, we had to do something I think I've only done maybe one other time in her life: wake a sleeping baby. Yikes! We started by opening her bedroom door. I had to take a picture. We wanted to get on the road at 8:00. Here is Joanna at 8:20.
Finally we hit the road. We decided to do the Ferry first when we got to Galveston. Here's Joanna in the car waiting in the line to get on:
She was SO fabulous in the car today. It really helped having Kathryn back there with her to entertain her and feed her stuff.
Finally we hit the road. We decided to do the Ferry first when we got to Galveston. Here's Joanna in the car waiting in the line to get on:
She was SO fabulous in the car today. It really helped having Kathryn back there with her to entertain her and feed her stuff.Mom and Kathryn feeding the birds.
Aren't we so cute?
Our Ferry: (I caught the picture on the way back; obviously we're not on this one.)
Joanna is such a diva.
We decided to hit the beach after lunch. I didn't really want to hit the hottest part of the day, but we didn't want to get all icky first thing. We decided to pull into one of those pocket beaches where you have to pay but they have bathrooms and showers. Good call. We sure were grubby, as you will see.
The "weeee" game.
Look! A bird!
Loving marching in the sand.
Joanna LOVES LOVES LOVES wet sand. She thought is was the most wonderful creation ever. Thankfully, she did not want to eat it. I had a little bucket for collecting shells, and she kept trying to put mud in it.
Here, Mommy, have some mud!
Finally getting the hang of it: only shells go in the bucket.
Oh, she loved the sand. She loved the water. She loved the shells, and the birds, and the wind. This girl could've stayed out there all day. We really only stayed a little while, maybe an hour or so. This was both of our first beach trip of the season, and our sensitive skin requires limited sun exposure (or at least mine does). We both used Joanna's baby sunscreen, and may I say that it is GOOD stuff. We applied sunscreen early in the day, and then reapplied on the beach. I wasn't really paying enough attention to myself, so I have a very red back, and you can see how far my hands reached back there. I honestly wasn't thinking about how far the suit went down in the back. Preggo-brain. So my back is pasty-white right next to bright red. Like I said, very good sunscreen. So far, I haven't noticed any red or anything on Joanna. She did have a fever tonight, though. Poor tired baby. I really hope she takes the opportunity to sleep in tomorrow. I'm rambling... back to pics:
Getting a little tired. Snuggling with Mommy and getting me very dirty.
I LOVE this picture. It seems like an Ad to me, maybe for giraffe suimsuits. I'm not sure, but I just think it is precious.
This picture is not quite as fabulous teeny-tiny, but she has this very cute expression on her face.
Oh, what a dirty girl.
We showered off as much grime as we could, hit the strand, and headed home. Joanna does not like cold showers. However, I think she would've liked being grimy less. I didn't give her a choice, though.
There's this chocolate factory on the strand that is so wonderful. Kathryn and I got treats (we shared, too.) I got an apple covered in caramel, pecans, English toffee, and chocolate. Um, yum. A lot. I also got a little bag of chocolate covered gummy bears. They are delightful, I must say. Joanna managed about a 20 minute nap in the car (and that was it for the WHOLE DAY), but she was still pretty fabulous on the way home. That is until we dropped off Kathryn and Patrick at their hotel. Then she cried the whole way home. It was sad.
We had a super-fabulous, simple but fun day in Galveston. But don't tell Matt. You can tell him that the line for the ferry was EXTREMELY long, and it was very hot and too sunny. And our waiter at lunch should've been doing something else with his time. You can tell everybody else that it didn't matter that the ferry line was really long; it is very fun to ride a ferry and Joanna loved it. Tell them that the breeze off the water was wonderful and it wasn't raining! And the waiter wasn't so bad after he warmed up a bit. I think he was new.
Aren't we so cute?
Our Ferry: (I caught the picture on the way back; obviously we're not on this one.)
Joanna is such a diva.
We decided to hit the beach after lunch. I didn't really want to hit the hottest part of the day, but we didn't want to get all icky first thing. We decided to pull into one of those pocket beaches where you have to pay but they have bathrooms and showers. Good call. We sure were grubby, as you will see.The "weeee" game.
Look! A bird!
Loving marching in the sand.
Joanna LOVES LOVES LOVES wet sand. She thought is was the most wonderful creation ever. Thankfully, she did not want to eat it. I had a little bucket for collecting shells, and she kept trying to put mud in it.
Here, Mommy, have some mud!
Finally getting the hang of it: only shells go in the bucket.
Oh, she loved the sand. She loved the water. She loved the shells, and the birds, and the wind. This girl could've stayed out there all day. We really only stayed a little while, maybe an hour or so. This was both of our first beach trip of the season, and our sensitive skin requires limited sun exposure (or at least mine does). We both used Joanna's baby sunscreen, and may I say that it is GOOD stuff. We applied sunscreen early in the day, and then reapplied on the beach. I wasn't really paying enough attention to myself, so I have a very red back, and you can see how far my hands reached back there. I honestly wasn't thinking about how far the suit went down in the back. Preggo-brain. So my back is pasty-white right next to bright red. Like I said, very good sunscreen. So far, I haven't noticed any red or anything on Joanna. She did have a fever tonight, though. Poor tired baby. I really hope she takes the opportunity to sleep in tomorrow. I'm rambling... back to pics:
Getting a little tired. Snuggling with Mommy and getting me very dirty.
I LOVE this picture. It seems like an Ad to me, maybe for giraffe suimsuits. I'm not sure, but I just think it is precious.
This picture is not quite as fabulous teeny-tiny, but she has this very cute expression on her face.
Oh, what a dirty girl.
We showered off as much grime as we could, hit the strand, and headed home. Joanna does not like cold showers. However, I think she would've liked being grimy less. I didn't give her a choice, though.There's this chocolate factory on the strand that is so wonderful. Kathryn and I got treats (we shared, too.) I got an apple covered in caramel, pecans, English toffee, and chocolate. Um, yum. A lot. I also got a little bag of chocolate covered gummy bears. They are delightful, I must say. Joanna managed about a 20 minute nap in the car (and that was it for the WHOLE DAY), but she was still pretty fabulous on the way home. That is until we dropped off Kathryn and Patrick at their hotel. Then she cried the whole way home. It was sad.
We had a super-fabulous, simple but fun day in Galveston. But don't tell Matt. You can tell him that the line for the ferry was EXTREMELY long, and it was very hot and too sunny. And our waiter at lunch should've been doing something else with his time. You can tell everybody else that it didn't matter that the ferry line was really long; it is very fun to ride a ferry and Joanna loved it. Tell them that the breeze off the water was wonderful and it wasn't raining! And the waiter wasn't so bad after he warmed up a bit. I think he was new.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Mmmmmm.....
Joanna really likes rice crispy treats. We're over at my grandma's house having fried catfish, hush puppies, beans, watermelon, and lots more goodies. The very very best treat for Joanna was all the rice crispy treat bites her Gran and Auntie Kathryn let her have. She was a little confused by how sticky they were, but yum -- fabulous!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Finishing painting and even more Joanna cuteness
Here's a shot of me finishing up some edging in our freshly painted bedroom. Matt and I really love the color. I'm a big neutral addict. I don't like things too crazy. I like crazy things in other people's houses, but I'm scared of them in mine. Anyway, it's very peaceful in there, and I'm looking forward to getting everything back to it's spot and putting stuff up on the walls.
This is what Joanna was doing as we finished up painting. We didn't want any freshly painted handprints on the walls. I don't really remember why she was naked here. She has a diaper on, but usually she wears clothes, too.
Later that day, we were coming home from Atascocita like 5ish, and Joanna crashed in the last few minutes. She had woken up early, and had a very short, early nap, so she was pooped. Luckily, it was overcast, so I opened the doors and let her sleep it out while I read my latest Stephenie Meyer book in the front seat. It was nice. We got a little sweaty, but not too bad. I love how she's resting her head on her little hand!
She was very tired the rest of the evening, even after her nap. After dinner (naked, again, I don't know what happened), we headed in to take a bath. The gate was still up, and we were on the bedroom side. For some reason her soft green current favorite blanket was just over the gate in the entry, and she could see it and desperately wanted it. I grabbed it and handed it to her, and this is what she did. Boy, was she ready for bed!
OH! I remember why she was naked in the morning picture. We'd gone out first thing to play outside and water plants, and when we came in, she was covered in dirt, including in her mouth. So she had a bath, and she just wasn't dressed yet.
This next long story involves an update on our car situation. I can't remember how much I've already posted, so forgive me if I repeat myself a little. We decided to start looking for a new car, preferably a 3-4 year old van, when we got a fabulous call from my dad and step-mom. They knew our car situation wanted to help. Here's what they came up with: they have been thinking for a while about downsizing to one car. They're both retired and don't drive too much; they nearly always have at least one car parked in the driveway. So, they've decided to let us borrow Renee's van (a beautiful 2006 Honda Odyssey!) until after the baby is born!! This will give us the opportunity to scrimp and save until then so we're in a little better position to go out and buy a car. Yea!! Thank you guys!!! And, we already have it even though they live in Oklahoma! For that, we thank Kathryn and Patrick. They were coming down for a visit this week anyway and agreed to drive the van down. We looked at several options for getting them home again, but they ended up just driving both the van and Kathryn's car down, so they'd be sure to be able to get home for work on Monday. Thank you Kathryn!
My dad was reading the blog on Saturday, and saw the picture of Joanna in the giraffe chair and read that we weren't able to get it. So he wakes my step mother up and tells her she has to get dressed and go to Steinmart to find this chair for us. He is funny. Well, her Steinmart was also out of the chair, but she got us this bench! I'll take a better picture of it eventually. Joanna's a little short to climb up there herself, but I know it won't be long.
Here's how I know that. I heard Joanna playing her keyboard this afternoon, then getting a little fussy, like she was stuck. I turned around to find this. Even though she kind of gets stuck up there, she climbed up on that keyboard eight zillion times today. I'm going to have to come up with a new arrangement, I think.
Then later, I walked around the corner to find this: 
She was just flipping through the Oriental Trading catalogue as happy as could be, oohing at aahing at the pics. Of course I got the camera first, but then I got her down, and moved the conveniently placed footstool which is how I'm sure she got up there. I'm pretty sure the table is very sturdy, but it still makes me nervous.
This is what Joanna was doing as we finished up painting. We didn't want any freshly painted handprints on the walls. I don't really remember why she was naked here. She has a diaper on, but usually she wears clothes, too.
Later that day, we were coming home from Atascocita like 5ish, and Joanna crashed in the last few minutes. She had woken up early, and had a very short, early nap, so she was pooped. Luckily, it was overcast, so I opened the doors and let her sleep it out while I read my latest Stephenie Meyer book in the front seat. It was nice. We got a little sweaty, but not too bad. I love how she's resting her head on her little hand!
She was very tired the rest of the evening, even after her nap. After dinner (naked, again, I don't know what happened), we headed in to take a bath. The gate was still up, and we were on the bedroom side. For some reason her soft green current favorite blanket was just over the gate in the entry, and she could see it and desperately wanted it. I grabbed it and handed it to her, and this is what she did. Boy, was she ready for bed!OH! I remember why she was naked in the morning picture. We'd gone out first thing to play outside and water plants, and when we came in, she was covered in dirt, including in her mouth. So she had a bath, and she just wasn't dressed yet.
This next long story involves an update on our car situation. I can't remember how much I've already posted, so forgive me if I repeat myself a little. We decided to start looking for a new car, preferably a 3-4 year old van, when we got a fabulous call from my dad and step-mom. They knew our car situation wanted to help. Here's what they came up with: they have been thinking for a while about downsizing to one car. They're both retired and don't drive too much; they nearly always have at least one car parked in the driveway. So, they've decided to let us borrow Renee's van (a beautiful 2006 Honda Odyssey!) until after the baby is born!! This will give us the opportunity to scrimp and save until then so we're in a little better position to go out and buy a car. Yea!! Thank you guys!!! And, we already have it even though they live in Oklahoma! For that, we thank Kathryn and Patrick. They were coming down for a visit this week anyway and agreed to drive the van down. We looked at several options for getting them home again, but they ended up just driving both the van and Kathryn's car down, so they'd be sure to be able to get home for work on Monday. Thank you Kathryn!
My dad was reading the blog on Saturday, and saw the picture of Joanna in the giraffe chair and read that we weren't able to get it. So he wakes my step mother up and tells her she has to get dressed and go to Steinmart to find this chair for us. He is funny. Well, her Steinmart was also out of the chair, but she got us this bench! I'll take a better picture of it eventually. Joanna's a little short to climb up there herself, but I know it won't be long.
Here's how I know that. I heard Joanna playing her keyboard this afternoon, then getting a little fussy, like she was stuck. I turned around to find this. Even though she kind of gets stuck up there, she climbed up on that keyboard eight zillion times today. I'm going to have to come up with a new arrangement, I think.
Then later, I walked around the corner to find this: She was just flipping through the Oriental Trading catalogue as happy as could be, oohing at aahing at the pics. Of course I got the camera first, but then I got her down, and moved the conveniently placed footstool which is how I'm sure she got up there. I'm pretty sure the table is very sturdy, but it still makes me nervous.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Such a party girl :)
I think 7:15 is too early for the trash people to come to my street. They are loud. Matt and I stayed up really late (for us) watching the 100 best 80's songs on VH1. It totally hooked us, and it was really fun, but man I'm tired!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)