1st Day at the Pool

Today was our first time to go swimming!! Last time we went was 2 years ago when Elliott and I would go with Megan and Will Stutz. The pool was opened today...but I wasn't really planning on going. We had a Mom's Club activity at a splash pad. I was so excited about it and have been looking forward to it for weeks. So I get Elliott all in his swim gear and drive on over. It was swamped! Parking lot was full and people were parking on the streets for blocks and blocks. There must've been an end of the school year party or something. There was no way we were going to stay...I hope it's not like that all the time. I hate crowds. But I had a little boy all decked in swimming gear. I was tempted to drive on out to Discovery Green...but being a Friday...I was certain it'd be swamped as well. So Patrick gave me an idea to go to the neighborhood pool...and it's open today too. So we did. I wasn't looking forward to it...but I'm really glad we went. I just wish I had my swimsuit on too...it'd be fun to be in the water with Elliott and Emily. Elliott found 2 little boys to play with. Elliott was really cautious and didn't wander off to far....in the beginning. The older boy was trying to teach Elliott to swim and kick. He was sweet to him. I kept an eye on him the entire time. I was ready to leave...we had been there an hour. I called for Elliott a few times...he ignored me...intentionally. The older boy taught Elliott to hang on the edge of the pool and work his way around. Well...Elliott lost his grip and he went under. The other boys were nowhere nearby.  I was on my way there but not hurried thinking he'll grab the edge. Then I realized he's in big trouble...and I booked it and was able to grab him and didn't even have to get myself wet. He was only under for 15 seconds or so. But what was really scary for me is that no one else saw him. There weren't that many kids either. But I know my Elliott...and I knew he couldn't swim. He was pretty upset...so I took advantage of that and we left to go home. He's starting swimming lessons on Monday...and he now knows why he needs them. It was a good time he had at the pool today....even with the almost drowning incident...he now knows to be more careful. I hope the pool isn't too crowded this summer and we'll be able to go often.

We are excited for the summer!!

This is the wading pool....the little boys hung out here during adult swim.

Emily 45 Weeks

Today is Friday!!

It's been a fast week...probably because of Memorial Day.

Emily is getting faster and faster. She's using her knees more with her army crawl...so it's a mix of both of the crawls. I can't imagine how fast she'll get when she's on her knees completely and abandons the army crawl. I can't take pictures of her on her tummy anymore really because she crawls to get my camera.

Yesterday Emily started cocking her head to the side when we talk to her...it's way cute. I need to get pic of it.

I have to use the pet gate now so she doesn't wander into the kitchen/dining area. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth!! So frustrating.

Emily is lots of fun. She is laughing so much more now....and she is so much fun to play with.

Emily is going to start swimming lessons on Monday. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm very curious on how she's going to react to the water. She has never been in a pool. And she absolutely HATES baths! So we'll see.

Do you see her cheeks are dwindling?? They aren't as chubby as they used to be. Oh gosh...I don't if I can handle her getting so big so fast.

Oh...she's getting so big. 

Coming after me...I mean my camera.

Love this little girl so much!

Memorial Day at Brazos Bend

We were pretty excited to go back to Brazos Bend. We wanted to get there pretty early because that's when you see a lot of the alligators...once it gets hot...they go hide out in the waters. But, we got there too early..and they hadn't even opened yet! But it was just a few minutes we had to wait.

We saw around 25 alligators...I kept losing count. I don't have all 25 of them on here...that would get boring...but I have several good shots here.

This was our 1st alligator of the day. It was lying in the middle of the path with his tail toward us. I think he heard us, because he seemed to move so he could keep an eye on us. I made Patrick go ahead of me to pass to make sure this guy wasn't going to eat my little ones. I was pushing the stroller and holding Elliott's hand while he passed him. I was a nervous wreck. It would be completely different if it was just Patrick and me...but I had my babies with me. Patrick had fun taking some closeups...I was nervous of course...I thought for sure he was going to annoy the alligator.

This guy was growling and splashing around a lot...he had calmed down by the time we got to him.

Very stealth-like....creepy.

And here's the 2nd alligator we stumbled up on in our path. He's kinda creepy too. And of course I was a nervous wreck getting me and my kids across. He doesn't look too friendly.

See....creepy!

We saw 2 of these mommas laying their eggs....

So we saw the bottom alligator here approach the one on top and we were anticipating some action....but it was quite anti-climatic as the top one just moved away.

These duck-like birds (I really have no idea what they were....but their bills look "duck-like") were way up high in a tree...it was fun to see them all lined up.

Interesting to see this guy on the left with his mouth wide open.

Look at this tiny guy...he was about the size of a quarter.

The baby alligators were a lot of fun to see. There were a dozen or two. I counted nine on this little log.

And here's Momma very close by....

This was our last one of the day....this guy was moving!!

Yes...I do realize that I called most of these creatures "guys"...unless I knew for sure it was a Momma.....yeah I really have no idea.

We weren't going to go to the visitor center this time since Elliott refused to touch anything last time (must be my genes at work there). But he asked if he could and he promised that if we drove out there that he would touch them. So Patrick went and took him...here's a picture of him touching the baby alligator. He also touched a snake too. When I asked which one was his favorite, he said the snake! (Definitely, Patrick's genes at work there!!) I was pretty proud of him. 

If anyone is interested in going out there with us...we'd love to! Let us know!!!

Emily 44 Weeks

I wasn't really motivated to take Emily's pictures today. But we are at 44 weeks...8 more weeks until we get to 52...I can't stop now!

Emily is super fast now at army crawling. I have to use the pet gate to keep her from going into the kitchen. Yesterday she attempted the stairs...she didn't get past the bottom stop. I took a picture and sent it to Patrick and said, "Trouble is brewing"...and he responded and said..."Lots of trouble". ha ha!!

Today Emily tried to attempt to crawl with her knees...it was more of combination army and knee crawling. She's not there yet...but she definitely wants to.

This week Emily has endured her first yucky cold. Yuck! The first night was awful. She was up every 30 minutes. I realize that some parents endure this awful sleep pattern regularly...I'm very grateful that my kids have always been good sleepers.

Emily is so not into these pictures today. She's cranky and tired and still has a yucky nose. I just pulled her doll from the laundry...she was so excited to have her doll back again!



She's sad here...but a wii remote made it all better.

I pretended I was crying to get her attention...it made her really sad. This is her "I'm about to cry" face.

Emily 10 Months

My little Em is 10 months old today.

The poor thing is going through her first bout of yuckiness and cold.

She decided to make me appreciate her more. She was up all night long crying...I definitely appreciate how well she sleeps through the night....especially after last night!! I finally just brought her to my bed at 3:30...then Elliott came to our bed. So then I advised Patrick to just go sleep in the guest bedroom...he'd get better sleep there.

She is a mover now! I couldn't take any pictures of her on her tummy because she kept crawling towards the camera! Army crawling that is. She's not crawling on her hands and knees. But she sure can move!

She hates it when I put her down...and sometimes she latches on to me in hopes that I won't be able to put her down. Silly girl.

She doesn't like to sit still in my lap...she's always reaching and squirming towards something.

She's a sweet girl and will give me hugs. The other day she gave Patrick a hug with both her arms around his shoulders...he was quite tickled by that.

We love our little Em!!

Another Brazos Bend Trip

Here's a quick overview of pictures of our trip in case you don't want the details. Patrick put it together. I don't have all the pictures below...but this collage has most of them.

It's been a year and a half since we've been to Brazos Bend. We love that state park and we decided to get an annual state park pass this time, in hopes that we'll go more often this next year and to other parks too.

 

We counted 25 alligators this trip! Wow! I think that's the most we've counted in 1 trip. However, we found several babies sitting on and laying on logs that I didn't count....I think there were 4 or 5 of them...they were pretty cute.

 

We ventured to the visitor's center when we finished with our 5 mile hike/walk...so Patrick took Emily for me and I finally go the camera...I had to get a picture of these three...love this little family of mine!!

 

 

Right before we got to this area, we passed a boy scout troop that let us know there was an alligator over here. Well...there definitely was 1...then we found another....and another...then another! We found 4. They kept creeping really close to each other and we were anticipating a little skirmish...but we didn't. There's three in this picture.

 

First pic for the day.

 

This was the 1st gator we found. Look at those claws!

 

 

It seems that we always have a story to tell when visit Brazos Bend. As we were walking I was wondering what was our "story" going to be this trip. Well...luckily I didn't trip over this guy. I was 2 feet away from him. I had to do a double take because I thought it was a piece of tire at first when I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I was pushing Emily in the stroller and zoomed by and said calmly and squeamishly to Patrick "there's a snake!" Patrick was wondering why I was panicking...and then he saw our copperhead. SO.NOT.COOL!!! So then he sent Elliott over to me...and Patrick proceeded to takes lots of pictures up close to this guy...I was so panicky the entire time. I hate snakes! I can't believe I'm able to put this pic here...on my blog! I was paranoid for the rest of our stay there...and I hope this experience won't ruin our future visits.

 

This crane is creeping on something.

 

These two kept growling at each other.

 

Apparently, I'm the one with the "eye" today. I spotted this little guy on the side of the trail. I also spotted most of the 25 gators.

 

And, of course, I'm the one that spotted this guy too. We were walking down the path and Patrick and Elliott were ahead of me. I told them to stop...and Patrick got panicky because he didn't know why I said stop and he thought it was something up close. But this little guy was sunning on the side of the pathway.