Brazos Bend....again.

My mom was trying to find a picture of just Patrick and me together...and she mentioned to me that they are more pics of alligators than there are of us. So true...which makes me reluctant to post more pics of gators!! Not as many today.

We've had a state parks pass this past year....so we wanted to make sure we got our money's worth out of it. So we most likely won't go as often....because this year we are going to get a zoo pass.

Today's trip to Brazos Bend seemed pretty uneventful...well....I guess in the beginning. We saw 32 gators...but felt like that wasn't that many. It's always to see the big gators...and we only saw 1-2 of those...the ones we saw were a lot smaller.

I saw another snake....it was 3-4 feet long. I saw it 30 feet in front of us...so it wasn't as startling. Patrick went up to it take a pic...but it quickly ran away from him. He said it was a simple water snake. I was teasing Patrick later on that I'm the one that ALWAYS spots the snakes!! Him and Elliott were teasing me that it'd be cool to spot 2 snakes in 1 trip. I told them 1 was plenty enough!! We were ALMOST done with our trip...we were on a small pathway. Patrick told me to stop moving because there was a copperhead. I was terrified...I went to go "hide" behind him...because I really didn't know where to go...and I was shaking like a leaf!!! The next step or 2, I would've stepped on the copperhead. Yep...this snake experience traumatized me, and Patrick finally got to spot the snake...and we got to see 2 snakes in 1 trip like the guys wanted!!

We saw several cardinals this time...really pretty ones.

We were happy to see some action from this guy. It's always fun to see them move...especially in front of us. Even though we felt like we didn't see as many....we were happy to see at least this one.

Little girl squinting at me....she saw the one walk in front of us and got really excited and called it "puppy!"

The rest of these pics don't deserve to be enlarged!!!!! The 1st is the water snake, the 2nd is the copperhead.

Elliott's Preschool Graduation

We had such a good time at Elliott's Preschool Graduation tonight!!! It was so cute to see him sing and dance to so many songs he learned. He definitely saw a different side to him tonight.

We were never able to catch Elliott's eye to show him where we were....he was constantly looking for us!

We were really bummed how blurry the pics came out!

Both classes came out together and did a few songs.

The younger class came out to perform and then the older class came out in their graduation robes. So cute!!! They performed a few more songs.

And then they walked across the stage to receive their diploma and scrapbook.

Elliott and his bonding buddy.

The stage before they came out.

Emily 22 Months + 1 day

I didn't get around to taking pictures yesterday....we had a crazy busy day. 

So I got the camera out first thing this morning. I got a few pics taken before my battery died. When I got out my spare battery....it was dead as a doornail as well.

So Emily has been BUSY this past month!!

She LOVES being outside. Playing with the water table, playing on the little tikes play cube, and even playing with rocks around our garden bed (her favorite lately). One afternoon, she spent hours out there. I just love it!!

She is getting "independent"....if you've ever had a child near the 2 year old age...you know what I mean!!

She is more insistent on what she wants.

Emily is still addicted to my Ipad. But I only let her have during times I need a break or if we are on a long car ride, or at the doctor's office.

We recently took off the front of her crib and turned it into a toddler bed. She's been doing great....but she's now resisting bedtime. She used to be a pro. So I don't know if it's her "independent" stage, or just the change. We may change it back to see if she will still resist bedtime. 

Emily is saying lots of words lately. I need to write them all down sometime.

I love that she has a gazillion expressions and mood changes all within 10 minutes!

So when I got out the camera....Elliott asked me what I was doing. I told him I had to take pics of Emily. I wasn't thinking right. And he was sad that I didn't say him. Awesome Mommy moment right there. So then I made a game of trying to take a pic. And he'd do his best to try not to let me take his pic. Here he is on the stairs....he was originally pouting here....but it changed quickly!

I finally got him!!!!

Outside Play Time

My silly little girl hates water. She whines when she gets 1 drop on her. So I am shocked by this photo!! She was having so much with the water table. When Elliott would splash her, she would giggle like crazy. She doesn't love it all the time. She is quite selective of when she wants to get wet. She still isn't a fan of bathtime...but maybe there will be some hope for splashpads this summer!

I scored this little tikes play cube thing on craigslist for $15. It wasn't even put together in the pics...but I figured I could gamble $15. We were quite happy that it all fit together and WORKS! The kids love it...and they love being outside. Emily spends most afternoons outside...for hours at a time. She also likes playing with the rocks around the garden. Elliott loves playing with his hula hoop out here too.

Blue Bell Creamery

We were really excited to meet up with Brock & Katy in Brenham today. Elliott was super excited to see them and to tour an "ice cream factory". I think this was my 1st time here too. Weird. Especially since I've lived here my whole life (minus the 4 years at BYU).

We got there a little early. So we hung out outside and I had fun taking pics of my beautiful kiddos. Love these guys to pieces!!

They had so much fun chasing each other...it was so fun to see them play. And it was fun to see Emily explore further than 5 feet away from me.

Elliott insisted on getting a pic on the cow. Emily was a champ and even held onto Elliott.

Emily loves playing chase...you can see her laughing here.

Both kids did great during the tour. Emily would get a little inpatient whenever we'd stop and listen. Elliott was very fascinated by it.

Elliott was excited that he got to pick his own ice cream...and it didn't have to be a plain vanilla or strawberry flavor. He chose chocolate chip cookie dough....and of course he loved it!

He was a champ and posed with the paper hat. He didn't want anything to do with it...but he relented and let me snap a pic. And of course, I put the hat on upside down!! I realized it right after, but I knew I couldn't get another pic of him.

Emily got a half scoop of vanilla....and she definitely was a fan of it. And was very inpatient with me while feeding it to her.

We then went to McDonalds and hung out there for a couple hours to hang out and chat. It was a lot of fun to spend that time with Brock & Katy. Too bad I didn't think about getting any pics!!

Mother's Day 2014

Mother's Day was nice this year. Patrick was on call, so I had both kids to take to church by myself. But my ward spoiled us and we were all able to attend Relief Society. I won't be able to attend on Father's Day...so Patrick will be taking both kids by himself...so it's kind of like payback.

I sent these questionnaires to both grandmas....they were completely from Elliott's mouth...so cute!!

This one was for Patrick's mom:

And this one was for my mom: