Our Train Wreck/Biker Baby

This was Erin last night after feeding herself yogurt. A complete mess. I think that's bread in her nose, and I'm sure that's yogurt in her hair. Gotta love it.

Speaking of hair, this kid loves to brush hair. Her hair, my hair, Olivia's hair, dad's hair. I'm estatic that she finally has hair to brush.

Aunt Lou Lou, this one is for you. I can't believe this shirt already fits!!! It seemed HUGE when you gave it to her last year. I guess my baby can't stay tiny forever.

Another picture of Erin in Olivia's room... She has to touch everything. We watched a few minutes of Finding Nemo yesterday. She loves the singing. I can't wait to see what movies this kid is going to like. Hopefully her attention span is longer than mine.

Until next time......

Our Latest...

Olivia went swimming again this past Saturday. I don't know the temp of the pool this time, but I know it wasn't warm enough for those over 12 years old. For some reason, kids don't come with that little voice inside their heads that says "go find something better to do. It's too cold to swim". Doesn't look like it's bothering her, though. Erin holds these awesome conversations with us where she sounds like she's speaking Alien. She contorts her lips all sorts of crazy ways and does something funny with her tongue. I happened to catch her making a silly face mid-sentence.
Erin is in love with shoes. She brings shoes to me all day long and shows me her foot. And, since she's usually in some sort of footed jammies, I have to take her feet out to put on shoes. She walks around with one shoe like it's no big deal. It's a good thing because I don't know where her other shoe is.
Papa and Mimi came to visit Tuesday evening and they took Erin on a little walk. This is Erin's new favorite thing. We don't even get close to the front door while she's around because she thinks that means she's going outside. Erin has no concept of streets, curbs, or steps. Well, either that or she thinks she's big enough to do them all on her own. Needless to say, both knees stay scratched up these days. She just rubs a little dirt in 'em and she's on her way again.

Janette, tell Gary this one is for him. : ) And my fingers are on FIRE.

1001 words

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Monday Afternoon

After a very chilly start, today turned out to be one of the nicest afternoons we've had in a long time. Somehow, the four of us all ended up in the backyard. Tony was putting bricks and stones around our new garden, I was taking pictures of Erin in the beautiful sunlight, and Olivia was just being Olivia. See below...

The first picture is the very first picture I took. It didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted since little Bruta had her back to the sun.

Here's a better picture without the shadow on her face. I absolutely love LOVE this one. I see myself in my baby girl!!! Anyone else see it?!? Maybe not, but this is one of those pictures that I can look at and see that Erin really is mine.
The sun was a little too bright to get great pictures. I love the way the sun shines over the fence on the side yard in the evenings. Makes me feel like I'm on the beach soakin up the sun. And here's my superman hard at work. He thoroughly enjoys some of the things I really don't enjoy. Like planting shrubs and then replanting them elsewhere. And stacking bricks and stones around our garden. And removing posts. And mowing. And, well you get the picture. Our yard would be a wreck if I had to mess with it.
Yes. That picture up above was taken today. April 14. As in the middle of April. Yep. That's Olivia in the 69 degree water. Having the time of her life. The conversation went something like this. Olivia: "When am I ever gonna get to swim in the pool again?" Me: "You can get in tonight if you'd like." Olivia: (stunned) "Really?" Me: "Yep. Get your suit on." About 30 seconds later Olivia is back with her suit and goggles on. I knew she'd go for it. She was all the way in, hair wet and all, within about 15 seconds of stepping foot in the pool. CrAZY!!!

The backstroke, then the pose for the camera...

Olivia, take off your goggles. Much better. Isn't she beautiful? Olivia told me that she can't wait to tell her best friend Asheera that she got into the pool today.

Her New Favorite Thing

And just in case you were wondering...she's still attached to that toothbrush! I wonder if she's getting some new teeth because she loves chewing on it. I think she also likes the taste of her toothpaste. We have to take that one from her, though, because she doesn't know how to close the cap.

She Still Has It

I put Erin to bed about an hour ago and this is one of the last pictures I took. She still has that toothbrush in her hand! As you can see, she's open to playing with other toys, but she still feels the need to carry around her toothbrush.

Recent Pictures

Our little Bruta was too excited for words this morning while I was getting her milk ready. She finds little treasures all day long and carries them around until a new one is discovered. This morning it was a tube of butt cream and her toothbrush. Both of them. Together. She even tries to squeeze the cream onto her toothbrush! I was trying to get a picture of it, but this one was much cuter. She looks so different to me in this picture. I've taken a few lately where she looks not so much like a baby, and this is one of them. Her hair has gotten much lighter and she's gotten a lot more of it. And that makes mama so happy!

Erin got a new ball last night. Here she is showing it to me. We played with it forever before she got tired of it.

This doesn't happen often

I love her little bum in the air! Tony found her like this around 9:30 this morning. He picked her up, put her in bed, and didn't hear from her for almost two hours. Isn't she sweet??!

We've Been Released!!!

Today was a big day for Erin. Tony took her down to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children this morning. It took them over an hour to get there due to the mess on the roads from the storms last night, but everything went beautifully once they were inside. Since I didn't go, we don't have any pictures. Just imagine a big, huge hospital with the most wonderful staff you have EVER met. It's colorful, kid-friendly, and filled with smiles. There are, however, many children who are very sick at the hospital. We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have two very healthy little girls. Especially on the days we go to Scottish Rite. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the hospital, take the opportunity. You won't regret it.

The visit took a little more than an hour. First, she had an x-ray of her hips. Tony says they did it while Erin stood up. Good thing, cause she doesn't like to lay down for doctors-or mom. Then they weighed her and measured her and stuck the two of them in a waiting room. I imagine that was fun. Tony says she didn't squawk one bit. I think she likes having new people to watch and things to see. Two doctors read the x-rays and they both examined Erin's hips. Together they agreed that Erin's bones had grown perfectly into her hip joints. So, they released her and sent the two of them on their merry way back to Frisco. We don't EVER have to go back, but the doctor said we could schedule a check up anytime. Yippee!!! We are forever thankful to all of the wonderful nurses and doctors that examined our little baby. I can't believe it's been a year already since our first visit. Time really does fly.

A Great Weekend

What a wonderful weekend! On Saturday Olivia joined my nieces, Hannah and Madison, along with Mimi and Papa for a trip to the Dallas World Aquarium. Visit the aquarium here . The girls had a blast. Then to Mimi's where they played and played but I didn't have my camera! All I have are pictures from our house before they left.

Madison, Hannah, Olivia, and Erin

On Friday night Olivia and I were all dressed up with no where to go. We had plans to teach with our missionaries but the person we were to teach cancelled!! So, we hung out with the sisters for a while and I took a few pictures of Olivia and Erin out front. Erin is totally loving walking outside these days! She hasn't yet learned that she is too small to just walk down steps, but she has got the walking part down pat.

We visit Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children on Thursday morning so look for those pictures later this week. This visit should be her last one. Ever. She has been two times already because when she was born the pediatrician told us she might have hip problems because she was (a)breech, (b) a girl, and (c) first born. For some reason those three factors together can spell big trouble. He ordered a sonogram and the sonogram showed that one hip was definitely loose. So, we were sent to Scottish Rite. They did tests there and said she was one of the lucky ones and Erin did NOT have any hip issues. But, they asked us to come back a few months later to make sure that was the case. It was. That visit was the same as the first. A clean bill of health. At that appointment they asked us to come back when she started walking. And, well, she's walking! She has been for a while, but they couldn't see us in February or March. Let's hope all goes well on Thursday. Visit this amazing hospital here

A new career??!

I took your quiz, Janette. I've always been told I don't sound like I'm from Texas. Y'all should check this one out.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The South
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Here's something you might not know

63 words

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I can type, but I use the WRONG fingers. I took typing for about a week in high school and traded it for another class- probably journalism or theater or something... I finally broke 60 words per minute!!! See how good you are here.