Week Away, Part 5 of 5

The last part of our week away, Kevin and I got the opportunity to see one of my two very best college friends get married (Jake stayed with Nana and Big T). It was a wonderful time and beautiful wedding. Here is my other very best college friend, Carrie, and I at the rehearsal dinner... They were married at a chapel in Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The chapel was GORGEOUS!

They took all their wedding pictures pre-wedding, and while the photographer was setting up I snapped this candid shot of the couple, Mindy and Jon. I love this picture and feel it's a perfect insight into how much they love each other...

Here's Mindy's family as they were taking picture....I add this to show the beauty of the chapel...

The grounds were beautiful too, so we had to take some pics. Carrie and me...Kevin and me...

The reception was tons of fun and equally as beautiful as the ceremony. Here I am with the beautiful bride, Mindy...The three Baylor amigas...

I am a total sap and love, love, love weddings. I love it all, but being the sweets girl that I am, I especially love the cake...
Always got to try both the bride's and groom's

There was a fun band so of course, we had to get down...
At one point, the lead female singer had all the willing ladies on the dance floor to learn some new moves. It was a blast!

I'm so happy for my dear and wonderful friend, Mindy. I hope the future brings many more wonderful memories together.

Week Away, Part 4 of 5

As you might have guessed, our week away was spent with the Lawson family. The highlight of our week together was a two-night stay at Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. I definitely recommend it for vacation, especially if you have little ones. There was lots to do for little ones (and big ones), but most importantly, it was super easy to head back to our room for the kids to take their naps. The first things the kids did when we checked into our rooms was jump on the nice cushy bed!!!

In order to enter the waterpark, everyone over 2 years old had to wear a bracelet. Jake watched all of us putting ours on, and he immediately started pointing at our wrists and whining for his own. Nana saved the day and helped Jake to have one too...

Here we are with our matching bracelets. Jake was so proud to show his off with the fam...

We ate dinner at a restaurant at the Lodge the first night, and they gave all the kids wolf ears. Completely adorable...

The littlest wolf in our pack...
The main attraction at Great Wolf Lodge is their awesome indoor waterpark. Here's a look as you enter...
This is the area where we spent most of our time with the kids. It's shallow enough that Jake was able to walk around on his own, and fun enough to keep both the boys entertained...

These jet skis were definitely Jake's favorite part. He loved riding with Cohen and by himself, and had a blast shooting the water gun at people...

And we can't forget this beautiful water babe...Another neat thing about the Lodge was their nightly story time. They had a performance each night with a permanent puppet type of set that sang and told a story. Following the show, someone would come out and read a book to the kids also. We definitely didn't want to miss, so we dressed the kids in their pjs to get settled for the night. Here we are watching intently...Here's the view of what we were watching. A little hard to see in this pic, but very cool.Thanks Big T and Nana for an awesome time. We loved it!!!

Week Away, Part 3 of 5

The next day we awoke to the 4th of July...yeah!!!! and throw-up in Jake's bed...boooo. Despite the supposed physical evidence of sickness, this little boy awoke in a great mood, but to stay safe we stayed at the house and kept to a diet of clear/tan drinks and foods. After a morning of rest, no sign of futher sickness, and a great nap, we decided to go ahead with our 4th of July plans and we headed to Chad and Cassy's for a great homemade meal, then festivities in McKinney. The boys decked out in their red and blue... All three kids; this time they are not all looking at the camera....

This isn't the best picture, but it still shows off these two cuties. We were very pleased that Jake was super sweet to Channing all week.
Hanging out with Uncle Chad...

Enjoying the free bouncy fun after waiting semi-patiently in a long line...

Lounging for the fireworks....

Despite a unexpected rough morning, we enjoyed a great 4th!

Week Away, Part 2 of 5

After surviving the car trip to Gainesville and getting a good night's rest, we woke up to lots of rain. Fortunately, the rain stopped and cooled everything off. What is the best thing to do after a heavy rain? Wade in the water with Nana, of course...

Chad, Cassy, Cohen and Channing joined us and we headed straight to the Gainesville zoo. We discovered the boys are just a little bit shorter than the American Black Bear...
Time to pet and feed...

or just admire from afar...

Had to end the zoo trip with a pic of all the kids. Everyone is looking at the camera!!!!

We followed up the zoo with playtime and picnic in the park...

Beware of the lions in the park...

Well, I guess they look pretty harmless...

Week Away, Part 1 of 5

We spent all last week out and about on "Lawson family vacation." There's lots to document and little time, so I'll do it mostly in pictures. Here are the "pre" pictures. Jake watched a little TV while we were packing. I guess he didn't want us to leave him... It was a LONG car ride to Gainesville. Jake does still sleep in the car, so we coordinate rides with his nap, but he no longer sleeps for a long time. He was awake in the car for over 3 hours, so in order to keep him happy I bribed him with his first ever Cheetos and Nacho Cheese Doritos. A car trip just isn't the same without junk food, right? Looks like he's happy showing off his Cheetos face...

Goofin' around...

Are we there yet?

18 months plus more to remember

I recently did a post of things I want to remember about this time in our lives with Jake, and I thought of a few more I'd like to add. Before I get into that, though, Jake turned 18 months today so here are a few more pictures. The other day, Jake and Daddy made a fort under the dining room table... As we're trying to teach him about being respectful and responsible, hospitality is also an important trait, so Jake is learning that it's important to invite all your friends over...

Last night, Jake and I hung out and played in his room for over an hour. He pulled out a bin filled with shoes, then pulled out a couple and "asked" me to put them on. Here's the requested look...

He was perfectly happy with these shoes and kept them on the rest of the night. Something about this picture makes him seem like such a big boy...

OK, here are some additional things I don't want to forget:

1. Hugs and kisses--Another of the things that I love about him now is that he will hug and "kiss" us when asked and even sometimes on his own. His kiss is really just leaning in for me to kiss him, but it's cute nonetheless. He also blows kisses with the pucker mouth and the smacking sound. I love it!!!

2. Climbing---Jake loves to climb on things. It's just been in the last couple months that he's been able to climb on chairs and couches all by himself, and now he takes every opportunity to do so. I am very thankful he hasn't seemed the least bit interested in climbing out of his bed. He does however, try to climb IN, but that's a pretty hard task so he doesn't get very far.

3. Loves sweeping--I keep a small broom with matching dustpan (the kind with the tall handle) in our pantry. Jake loves playing with them. Sometimes the pantry door is accidentally left cracked open, and he will go inside, get out the broom and start sweeping. Lucky for me, I have a son who's already letting me know what chores he wants to do in the future, or so we'll see ;-)

4 Loves TV--I hesitantly admit that Jake loves to watch TV (or certain shows). I know this definitely has a lot to do with Mommy and Daddy and our love of TV, but it can get pretty crazy. His TV limit is supposed to be a max of 3 shows (1 1/2 hours) each day, and then it's off limits. He's gotten to where he will bring us the remote and say, "Mama, mama, mama" asking for more. We actually have to hide the remote sometimes until he's distracted enough by some other toy or activity that he forgets. One reason I think he likes TV is that he gets bored at our house if we're there too much; just another reason why it's so important for us to be out and about as much as possible. His favorite shows (a.k.a. the ones we DVR and let him watch) are Mickey Mouse, Super Why, and Chuggington. He also watches Handy Manny and Imagination Movers on occassion. He's also recently been introduced to his first movies, Toy Story 1 & 2, and Cars. We DVRd all these and watch them bits at a time.