Our First Family Vacation!

Well folks, we survived our first vacation as a family of 4! On Tuesday morning we headed out to San Antonio and went to Seaworld. I crammed myself into one of the 3rd row seats so I could entertain Landry in the car. It worked pretty well - no screaming meltdowns or anything. I was just super uncomfortable. My knees were pretty much at my chin! Anyway, we got there without any major issues (one stop for a leaking diaper - and it wasn't pee!).

It must have been 8 million and a half degrees there. Wow, it was hot! We survived, though. Drank lots of water and spent a good deal of time in the aquarium, penguin exhibit and water park. Bethany looooooved it! I think her favorite things were the penguins, the sharks and getting to feed the seals and sea lions. Landry didn't love it so much, but she was very good. No break downs or anything. What a great baby!

We spent Tuesday night in a hotel. It was our first hotel experience with Bethany and she thought it was great. Probably because we let her order an ice cream sundae from room service before bed. Hey - it's a vacation, right? Both girls slept great in their own beds and didn't wake up until 8:30 in the morning. Well, Landry did wake up to eat, but not for long. When we got up Wednesday morning we went back to Seaworld until about 4:00 that afternoon. Needless to say, there were some sleepy girls in the car. Bethany actually slept for about an hour and a half and she NEVER sleeps in the car anymore!

I am pretty irritated with our camera, though. I'm on a mission to get a new one, so if anyone has any reccommendations I'll take them. Half of the pictures we took turned out pink. I don't know what the deal is, but it made me very sad! Anyway, here are some of the pics that did turn out well.

Landry did great in this stroller! She doesn't like the infant carrier carseat at ALL, so she got to be a big girl and ride in the actual stroller.


This is one of my pictures that turned out pink. Isn't that weird? Anyway, Bethany was "navigating" and telling us where everything was on the map.






This marching band goes around the park all day. Bethany thought they were the greatest.


Waving at them.


Playing "limbo" with them. She actually got scared and started crying for me after she went under. Oh well.

Shamu!!!




Are we done yet? I'm hot.


Me too.


Day 2!




Bethany feeding the seals.


Sucking her thumb. Doesn't look too comfortable, does it?


Well, these were taken in the aquarium and didn't come out well of the fish and sharks. Oops.




While Bethany and Daddy swam, Landry and I chilled on the deck chairs. Well, we weren't close to really being chilly, but we were at least in the shade.










Bethany played this game and won a big stuffed penguin. Then she wanted to dunk her penguin in the water.


My sweet girls.

My Future American Idol

This video is from April, but I just now got it put on youtube (thanks to my friend Stephen!). I just thought this song was so cute!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin' and Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day (a little late) to all those dads out there. A very special wish to my husband and my dad. They are 2 wonderful dads and I'm so blessed to have them be such an important part of my life! There are some cute pics of them with the girls from this weekend, but I don't have them yet. I have to wait for my sister to get them to me (hint, hint!). When I do I'll post them!

On to the big news for the week - Landry is rolling over both ways now! She's been rolling from tummy to back since she was about 2 months old. Last Wednesday she rolled from back to tummy. She's 3 months old now. I thought that seemed a bit earlier than Bethany did it, so I looked in Bethany's baby book. Sure enough, she didn't roll either way until she was 5 months old! Landry just has a lot more time on the floor to practice I think. Probably because she doesn't cry all the time! And she's also smaller than Bethany was. Bethany had a pretty big load to roll over!!! Anyway, here are some pictures of her performing her latest trick.



Just rolled over!


Trying to get back to my tummy.






Finally!

Out of the Mouth of Bethany #3

Here are a couple funny things she's said lately...

Bethany - "Me and Daddy are going to make cookies for you Mommy."

Raymond - (Correcting her grammar) "Daddy and I."

Bethany - "Daddy and I. (pause to think) Who's I?

Amanda - "You are I."

Bethany - "I'm not I!"


I hesitated to post the next quote because it's not quite so humorous if you can't see the look on her face when she said it. However, it's too good to not post!

We were at HEB the other day in the bakery. I was talking to one of the ladies behind the counter. Meanwhile, I hear in the background Bethany saying, "Mommy, look - cupcakes! Mommy there's cake! Mommy - cookies! Mommy, look - cupcakes!" Over and over and over. So the nice lady behind the counter gives her a sugar cookie. As we are leaving Bethany looks at me with overwhelming delight in her eyes and says, "Mommy, I want to have my birthday party HERE!!!!!!" I laughed out loud in the store. A birthday party at HEB. That would be a first!

Out of the Mouth of Bethany #2

A few days ago:
Bethany - "Can I go outside and swim in my pool?"
Me - "Not today - it's too windy. See, the wind is blowing your pool around."
Bethany - "I can swim another time when it stops... (pause to think) wind-ing?"

Tonight:
Bethany - "I want more M&M's!"
Raymond - "No, you aren't getting any more M&M's tonight."
Bethany - (pause to think) "I definitely want more M&M's."

It only took 2 1/2 years

to figure out how to use a paci! Bethany NEVER would take a pacifier as a baby. Now that we have them lying around the house (not being used, mind you, because Landry doesn't take them either) she has decided that she needs to suck on them. I thought it was pretty funny tonight, so I took some pics. Note, she's not really good at it. Sometimes she has to hold it in with her hand. :)





And here she is holding it in WHILE she helps me with the dishes. Sidenote - she is obsessed with the sink sprayer! I've decided to try and harness the spraying energy and let her "help" me rinse the dishes. She loves it!

Cuttin' Up!

First of all, most of you were right. That last picture WAS Bethany. You guys are better than I am because I think I would have guessed Landry!

Yesterday Bethany was sick - fever, tummy ache, a little throw up incident. It was lovely! However, today she was much better. By evening she was totally back to her little mischievous self!

She's been wanting to cut with scissors lately, so I bought her a pair and let her use them under close supervision. Today we made collages and she had a blast cutting and gluing! Who knew that could entertain a 2 year old for so long?





She was proud of her work and wanted me to take pictures of them.

Food


Animals


Babies

Out of the Mouth of Bethany #1

Today while I was on the phone with a friend, Bethany brought me a loaf of bread from the kitchen. When I hung up I asked her what kind of sandwich she wanted - it was lunchtime, I figured that's what she wanted. She says, "I want JUST the crust!" We've never had an issue with crust. We've never really even talked about it. She's never asked for it to be cut off, so I never started that. So where does she get that she wants JUST the crust? What 2 year old actually WANTS crust? I'm intrigued, so I say okay. I get a piece of bread and cut off 4 pieces of crust. I give her one. Our conversation is as follows:

Bethany - "That's not crust!"

Me - "Yes it is."

Bethany - "No it isn't."

Me - "Well then what is it?"

Bethany - "It's the soft part!"

Then she proceeds to eat all the crust AND all of the "soft part." She's so weird sometimes!

This afternoon I left the kids (yes, both of them) with Raymond for a little while. Bethany wanted to swim in her pool outside, so Raymond put sunscreen on her. Well, while she was flailing about, some of it got in her eye. She cried for a little bit, but felt better soon. Her eye, however, was still red and very watery all evening long. She told us while we were eating dinner that her eye was "melting." Ha! Funny kid.

I have a feeling that this "Out of the Mouth of Bethany," will be a long series. :)

Happy 3 Month Birthday Landry Gayle!!!

Today our baby girl turned 3 months old! I can't believe she's that old already! She's just so much fun. She "talks" to us, laughs, pushes up, rolls over (from tummy to back only), grabs for toys overhead and even tries to "crawl." She ends up scooting herself pretty well, actually! I took some pictures of her today to try to capture "her" at this age. Here are a few of them:







She wanted everyone to see her big ol' belly!



And here's a little comparison. These are a few pics of Bethany when she was 3 months old.







Wow - I'm not sure I could tell which baby was in this pic if I didn't know! They really do look alike when they are asleep! Which one do you think it is???