American Girl

Taylor's parents are going on an Australian cruise (I think they should be on the ship now).  We decided to celebrate Anna Belle's birthday with them a little early.  We met at the American Girl store's Bistro for tea time.  Poor Anna Belle has dopey parents who forgot to bring her Bitty Baby.  Fortunately, they let us borrow a baby (phew).  These little tea cups were really cute.  My camera has been acting up again, so most of these were taken with my phone.

Anna Belle's first cake ball.

Brady totally enjoyed his first cake pop too.

Ann gave Anna Belle new crocs Mary Janes.  They're really too big, but she manages to keep them on her feet anyways.  She's been wearing them with her pajamas.  Allison got Anna Belle clothes and a beach bag from Target, as shown below.  Grandma got Anna Belle a few new dresses, sandals, a Bitty Baby diaper bag and a matching outfit for her and her baby.  Anna Belle sure is a lucky girl!

Anna Belle blew out her own candle right after we sang happy birthday; she's such a big girl.

 After tea time, we went to Cheesecake Factory.

Front Yard

Part of my time this week and last week has been meeting the landscaper at my parent's house.  I'm really happy with the face lift it gave to the house, and I really really love looking at before and after pictures.

The oak tree on the left was trimmed a lot.  Pulling out the indian hawthorne's by the front door really opens up the entry and draws more attention to the columns.  The landscaper put hibiscus at the front door, but I think we're going to move them over to the oak tree planter on the left.  The hibiscus will be in the center with purple lantana around the perimeter.  The seasonal color at the entry should be white and purple flowers when it fills in.  I've always liked the hunter green door; maybe it would be good on the shutters too?

The side yard clean up isn't quite as impressive, but I still wanted to show a picture (I know my dad will appreciate the before and after).

 The back yard is still more of a work in progress.  I'll post those pics later.

Sick Days

I thought I was over my cold bug, and it's baaack.  The worst part is that Anna Belle has it too, worse than me.  I feel like the worst part of being sick is being cooped up in the house, which is why I love having a hot tub when we're sick.  The balloons were a day old from the party, but the kids enjoyed pushing them around the hot tub while we sweat out our toxins.

The last two nights, Anna Belle's been up at midnight and then again at 3am (she must be on a 3 hour REM cycle).  Again, we sat in the shower at 3am to clear up the congestion.  My baby girl is homebound today (she would be so upset if she knew she was missing gymnastics).  We may have to visit the hot tub again...

Bridal Shower

I'm really glad Ann and Allison initiated getting group pictures at the shower.  It's something that I'm always bad about, but I'm really happy with the result.

 Allison had this idea of putting balloons in the pool.  The trick?  You have to put a little bit of water in side, to keep them from flying away.  The kids love to jump on the trampoline with balloons.  Water splashing on you when they pop added a fun twist.  Brady was screaming with laughter.  On a side note, I can't wait for my back yard to be back in bloom.  I guess it's this southern girl's version of spring fever.

Shower Prep

Yesterday, Allison, Patricia and I hosted a shower for Ann.  Tiny Prints has the cutest invites...

 This towel cake was a gift at Allison's bridal shower, and she saved it for her sister's shower.  

 These cookies were so delicious and cute!  If I'm feeling ambitious, I may try to duplicate these precious little cookies for Brianna and Anna Belle's birthday party next weekend.

I'll post people pics tomorrow morning.

Valentine's Day

I was good about doing a post a day, when I had pictures and things to post about.  Now that I'm due for a little catch up, I'll go back to the daily post plan.  For Valentine's day, we had dress fittings (last post) and very nice lunch at Sullivan's with Taylor's parents.  For dinner, we went to my mom's house for dinner.  Grammy bought the kids a few toys, which they were both excited about.  Papa got each child a box of Jolly Rancher lolly pops.  I've decided to keep the lolly props as bribes when they get restless in the car... it's been great so far : )

 Brady got a Transformer (Sideswipe) and Anna Belle got a Cinderella doll and My Little Pony.

 Grammy made heart shaped ravioli and heart shaped toast... very cute.

Say Yes to the Dress

Anna Belle was not particularly excited about having her picture taken, until Grandma showed her a photo of Ann in her wedding dress.  I managed to blur the picture of Ann; I can't give away too many secrets!  Anna Belle was so tickled and kept repeating Ann's name.

I still need to order a headband for Anna Belle; we used the flower for today.  The belt and the lace on Anna Belle's dress is gorgeous.

Natural Science Museum

On Tuesday, we had our second round of pest control, which forced us to leave the house (boo!).  This was a good excuse for the kids and me to visit the Houston Museum of Natural Science (yeah!).  The photos below are in the butterfly pavilion.

 Brady liked finding the butterflies on the identification card.  He eagerly looked at (and tried to chase) all the butterflies.  I'm still amazed at how many butterflies were there.

 Large blue butterflies kept hovering around us, which made Anna Belle feel like this.

 The paleontology exhibit was nothing short of amazing.

 The kids were in awe.

 With a wink, and a smile...

 Brady tells Anna Belle this is a T-Rex.  

 The photos above show my son.  The photo below shows my son on sugar... almost manic.  Our Sunday School class loved their ring pops!