Indoor Play and Fun In The Sun!

We had such a fun day yesterday! We made the best discovery...well, one of the girls from MOPS told me about it but yesterday we decided to check it out. One of the large churches around here has a huge play area that is open to the public. It is so nice...honestly, the nicest indoor play place I have been to. It as a huge 2-story play structure that is great for older kids and they also have a nice play area for the younger ones that is walled off to keep them from getting plowed by the bigger kids. There are tables so you can bring your own lunch to eat. And the best part about it...it's FREE! I was really not expecting it to be as nice as it was because it was free but it was great. Both kids loved it. The only damper to the day was I had packed a lunch for all of us and Alexa was so excited about it, but I forgot it on the counter top! She kept asking for our lunch while we were there and saying she was hungry so we didn't stay as long as I would have liked, but we met Nic for lunch so that was fun. We will definitely have to got back next week when Nic is off of work.

Then, when we came outside the sun was shining so bright and it turned out to be a really warm day. So, after naps we walked to the playground in our neighborhood and then had a picnic outside (the lunch that I had packed and forgot earlier). It's so nice to be able to enjoy a random day in December outside.

(Having a good time getting out of the house!)

(8 little Blake's...what could be better?:-)

(Alexa going to the amazing long slide...I have to confess that I took a turn myself with Blake as my excuse)

(The right half of the big play structure)

(The play area for the little ones. Blake had the most fun crawling in and out of the door)

(Our impromptu December picnic)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...well, almost!

This is our first Christmas in Texas and it is a little bit different. We have had some fairly cold days but for the most part it's been very sunny and warmer. It's odd to be outside in a long-sleeved t-shirt with my windows rolled down some days. Then other days, I'm freezing and feel like I'm back in Ohio. I'm definitely enjoying the sunshine though, even if it's chilly. We've had a lot of fun driving around and looking at all the lights and touring they "Christmassy" things to do around here.

We also had a lot of fun taking the kids to see Santa. It was particularly fun this year because it is Blake's first Christmas and because Alexa really "gets it" this year. Of course, everything she sees a toy or candy she says "I want this for Christmas Mommy" but she has been very consistent on the one thing she asks for over and over. She says "I want my 'owm' makeup for Christmas" (that is how she pronounces "own"). It was funny though because when she saw Santa she said "I'm having my own makeup for Christmas" instead of asking him...I guess she's pretty confident! Every time we drive to look at Christmas lights Alexa yells "Christmas Lights" at every house. She asks me almost every day if Santa is coming yet.

The other day Alexa found my hiding spot for the presents and came running out with her Tinker Bell toothpaste and some candy I got for Nic for Christmas. She was so excited that she found something and she has asked for her Tinker Bell toothpaste every day since then. I didn't really know how to explain why it was in the closet.

My little Blake seems to be growing up so fast! I can't believe he's almost one! He has four teeth now which are so cute! Especially since there is a big gap in between the top two and he just grins so cute with them:-) He is getting around really good walking with his walk toy but no steps on his own yet. He will stand on his own for a long time and I ask him to walk to me and he just slowly sits down and then crawls over. Right now we are working on getting rid of the bottle and exclusively using a sippy cup. It's been quite the challenge and very frustrating since he drinks water out of it great but he knows his milk is supposed to be in his bottle so he throws it down. He is finally drinking his milk out of it for the first morning cup but won't touch it the rest of the day. I keep reminding myself I went through the same thing with Alexa but it seems like he's a bit more stubborn than she was...I wonder where he gets that from? :-)

Here are a few random pictures from December. I have many more to post but I have to get them organized first. I at least finally got Blake's birth photobook done (now that he is going to be one in 2 weeks!) and Alexa's 2 year book...can you tell I'm a little behind?

(On the hayride for the "Live Nativity")

(Petting the baby Camel. He was only 6 weeks old...so cute!)

(Alexa petting the small cow at the petting zoo)

(Eating his puffs...he stuffs his face so fast!)

(I turn my back for one second...That's a toy knife by the way:-)

(My cutie in a pair of his Christmas PJ's trying to pull the garland down off the banister)

(Blake's beautiful curls...definitely red but there's some blond in there too)

(My beautiful Angel)

(Alexa was being silly and buckled herself in Blake's carseat so Nic carried her around in it)

Some Pictures of Our New Home

Now that we are finally settled and we got the house put together I am finally posting some pictures of the house. There's still ton's to do but at least the boxes are finally gone:-)

(Nic's Office)

(Alexa's new bedroom...she wanted green so I had to paint it for her)

(The playroom we made out of what was the storage room and the carpet we found in the attic)

(The loft area/bonus room)

(Going from the loft to the top of stairs and balcony overlooking great room)

(Leanne's "play room" and craft center where I do all my sewing and embroidery)

(The eating area and my new kitcen table we bought in Amish Country right before we moved)

(The Kitchen)

(Entryway)

(Dining Room)

(Great Room)

(View of Great Room from Loft)

Welcome to Texas!

In case anyone is wondering, yes we are still alive and yes, we made it to Texas:-) I actually had a long post typed up right when we got here and my computer crashed before it was saved. Things got to crazy with closing on the house and getting settled in to post again so I'm going to try to catch up. Following is what little bit was saved from the original post so I will leave it:

After a very long trip of a week and a half, we are finally here! We really enjoyed driving in and seeing the different countryside. Everything was really pretty driving in with rolling ranches and lots of cattle...we even had a moment of panic when there were 3 huge cows grazing on the side of the interstate! Fortunately, they are not fast like deer. We even saw a gorgeouse ranch that had the white horse fence and lots of horses...it reminded us of Kentucky so we thought we might not get so homesick. It got dark about an hour or so before we arrived so our sightseeing was over.

(Some scenery driving in)



(All the flags Texas has flown under)

(The bike path driving into our neighborhood)

(A view of our street from our driveway)

(Our front yard...figured I better get a picture of the flowers before I kill them all:-)

(More scenery of the drive in)

(Driving up to our subdivision)

(Our subdivision)

(The community center in our subdivision)

And of course, I had to check out the mall while we were waiting to close. The kids enjoyed the play area.

(This was Blake's first time getting down and playing in one of the play areas and he had a ball!)

(Alexa wouldn't sit still long enough to get a good picture)

(Enjoying the last days of summer at the pool at the hotel...It seemed weird to be swimming at the end of Sept)

Leg 3 to Texas...Arkansas

Even though our drive to Arkansas was the longest leg (7 hours with no stops) it was actually the easiest drive. We decided to leave later so most of the trip would be the kids bedtime. I was really afraid it would backfire on us and they would just be really cranky, but much to my shock...they actually slept about 5 hours! We didn't get in until after midnight and man, was I dreading unloading the car again.

The next morning, Alexa woke up and was so excited to see the kids. She had so much fun with them all weekend. She saw Ryan's picture at Nic's parents and said "he's my best friend!" She is so funny because she isn't yet into all the girly stuff and would rather play with him because he is 8 and carries her all around the house and makes a big deal over her. She went to school with Lanette to pick him up and he was introducing her to all his friends. She had a great time playing dress up and play-doh with Emma. Emma was crazy about Blake and was a great helper with feeding him and changing his diapers.

(Alexa and Emma playing so sweetly together)

(Emma entertaining Blake for me)


(I've never seen Blake laugh so much as did with the dog. He crawled after her everywhere and she loved jumping on Blake)

(Blake was in love with Marley...it almost made me want to get a dog...ALMOST)

(My big boy sitting in Ryan's chair...he loved it!)



We got the opportunity to go to the fair in Arkansas and it was so much fun! Alexa had a ball petting all the animals and riding some rides. I laughed so hard at the look on her face while I watched her on the on the Tilt-A-Whirl...it was a mixture of glee and, I'm going to puke:-) It was so funny at the animal barn someone had a giant rubber spider hanging from the ceiling and they would drop it when you walked under it and Alexa would not go past it even when I told her it was fake.

(Alexa would not quit sticking her hands in the cages...I was afraid she was going to get her finger bitten off)


(Alexa and Emma petting a baby bunny)

(Alexa and Daddy on the Ferris Wheel...I don't think he liked it too much)

(Sweet baby calf)

(The giant pig was the only thing Alexa was afraid to get too close to. She finally touched his snout when the owner showed her how)

(so cute!)

After a great weekend with Kieth and Lanette it was time to load the van yet again for our last drive into Texas! I dreaded loading up but I was so excited to finally get to our destination. All week Alexa has been asking to go to her new house so it was nice to get one step closer. Unfortunately, we have 5 nights in a hotel before we can move into our house but at least we can explore our new city. After a fun time at Emma's birthday party we headed out of town...

...Texas, Here We Come!!!