Latest Creations

Seersucker was on sale at Jo-ann's, so I bought some and attempted some shorts for Sam.

And on our recent trip to Washington, we had family pictures taken. The colors were blue and white, so I made Afton this dress.

Getting her in and out was a difficult process (no buttons or snaps), so I think I'm going to put some buttons on it. More on our trip soon!

The New Dress

Here it is! Without a top on underneath, it's a little too loose.

 Give me that camera!

Sam came and wanted in on the picture-taking action. Here he is trying to teach Afton his funny face.

She picked up on it pretty quickly.

Since she can't stand on her own yet, we had to wait for Daddy to take some pictures standing up.

 And this girl must finally be teething. Her tongue it out of control!

It was a fun project. Quick, pretty basic (although I did learn how to make my own bias tape, which was a little tricky for a beginner like me), and cheap. I bought this fabric at Walmart for $1/yd! Next time, I'll make the straps shorter and closer together in front. I'll also probably shorten the length some and maybe learn how to do buttons instead of snaps.

This past winter, Dan planted a crepe myrtle tree. Last week it got its first blossoms so I excitedly took some pictures.

And now, five days later, it looks like this:

Yay!

Dan caught Afton in a cute sleeping pose.

Sam and Afton playing on our bed.

A new shirt I made for Afton. It's a little big.

I didn't make the pants. They're from a different outfit and just happen to match really well. And I'm almost done with a new dress for her. Can't wait to have her model it!

Sam the Conqueror

We started potty training Sam last Monday. He did really great. The first day was definitely the hardest. Something about being confined to the kitchen area for 5 hours or so and constantly asking, "Are your pants dry?" over and over... I thought I was going to go insane. Add that to the fact that Dan was gone 4 nights last week until 10 (getting SCUBA certified), and it made for a LLOOONNNGGG week. But I think we did it. Sam hasn't had an accident in quite a few days. He goes to the bathroom without being reminded. He'll stop in the middle of playing and run to the bathroom if he needs to go. He's graduated from the potty chair to standing up and using the toilet. Now we just need him how to figure out BMs on the toilet. That's hard to do when he now only goes like once a week. TMI. Sorry.

The best part of potty training, other than not changing diapers, is the super cute underwear. Sam doesn't like having his picture taken sometimes. This was the best I could get.

That's Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba. He also has sports underwear and Thomas and Friends underwear that he earned by going to the bathroom at church.

I think it helped that we waited until he was three. Before that, he showed zero interest and now he's just old enough that he gets it. Also, for those who might be potty training soon, we used the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day," recommended by Gretchen, in case you're interested.

Date Night

Saturday, Dan and I had a great date. We dropped off the kids with K&G and headed down to Miller Outdoor Theater, in downtown Houston. (Swinging by Jack in the Box first to grab shakes, of course. They're pretty good!) The theater holds free events all summer long. That night was a show put on by Classic Albums Live, a group that recreates classic rock albums on stage from start to finish. The band that night played Led Zepplin's albums IV and II.

We started out on the hill,

but then the lady behind me started smoking before the show even started, so we packed up our blanket and moved up to the covered seating.

There were all kinds of different people there - hippie ladies with maxi dresses, homeless men with no shirts, business-y looking men, teenagers, kids, it was a good mix.

 It was a great show and the musicians did an awesome job. I'm sure LZ has some dirty lyrics, but for the most part, I couldn't tell what he was saying. So that was probably good. Dan loved every second of it. He said it was the best concert he's ever been to (even though it wasn't actually LZ). He even said it was 1,000 times better than any concert he's ever been to. I think he might have been exaggerating a bit. But I don't know. Look at his face.

He looks pretty happy to me.

 Sorry all of our pictures are of us holding the camera out. That's what happens when it's just the two of you. And everyone else is inebriated.

Macaroni and beef

 They're off 'cause I was trying to hold the camera away from my face trying to get her to smile at me.

My latest carseat cover. I like it. The inside is the same fabric as the brown on the straps.

When I put mousse in my hair in the mornings (ugh. My hair routine is very boring, thanks to Houston humidity.), Sam likes to put mousse in his hair, too. I hope I do a better job with my hair than he does with his.

Dan and I have been feeling like we need to get food storage. We've never really had a good store set aside before. So I've been trying to collect just a few extra cans when I go to the store, but I wasn't very organized about it and it would have taken me forever. So we bit the bullet and ordered a year's supply of food storage for a family of 4 from Costco.

They were supposed to deliver between noon and two yesterday, but he called at 5 saying that he didn't know how to get to our house. So I asked where he was, and he told me the name of a street that sounds fairly similar to ours. I knew where he was, so I tried talking him through how to get from there to our place. And he just kept saying, "It's not telling me that. That's not how it says to get there." I don't know what "it" is. I'm guessing his GPS. Anyway, he was very confused and finally asked me to get in my car, drive over to where he was, and lead him to our house. Which I did. No biggie. Then when he got here and got the giant pallet of boxes off the truck, he couldn't get it over the curb up the driveway. So I told him to just leave it in the street. Thankfully, a nice neighbor came out and offered to help me carry the boxes inside (all 56 of them!). We were super sweaty afterwards. I'm making her cupcakes today. It was worth it to get her help!

So now we've got 300 some odd cans of food to put in our house. Under beds, in closets, etc. Should be fun.

It's been a while

We haven't been doing much, but I feel so busy during the week.

Last Saturday, Dan and I went on a date. We went out to dinner and ate on the patio. It was windy and things kept flying off our table. When the guy came to put parmesan on my pasta dish, the cheese kept flying all over me and didn't land on the food. It was fun.

After dinner we took out our camp chairs and walked over to a little outdoor concert. The band sang everything from Lady Gaga to Michael Jackson to the B-52s. It was fun.

 We sat a little ways away from the main action. That way we could still talk and do some good people watching.

Some girls came by giving away free patriotic shades. You know we jumped on that! Don't I look so awesome?

 

Afterwards, they had fireworks. It was a great date!

Here are some pictures that are a little bit older.

Sam on his b-day.

 Blowing out candles. He asked for Daddy's help.

 A happy moment. He'll ask to hold her and then 5 seconds later say, "I'm all done, please!" And if you don't grab her fast, he'll try to squirm out from under her and she'll topple over.

Sam is THREE!

His birthday is finally here! I feel like we've been talking about it for a while. Probably ever since his cousin Carter's birthday and that was six weeks ago.

Where would we be without this little ham in our lives? He has brought us so much joy. He loves to make us laugh with his silly faces and smiles. He likes to make up nonsense words and say "Boo!" to Afton. He loves cars and trains. He loves playing Sesame Street games on the computer. He knows the sounds of all the letters, but gets mixed up when counting to twenty. He loves playing with his friends but is really shy around pretty much anyone else. Each night he gets to sleep with one toy. He usually picks a car. He's an early riser and comes into our bedroom usually around 6:30 to wake us up. He still takes a great afternoon nap. He's a picky eater but loves PB&Js, warm milk, warm chocolate milk, and warm strawberry milk (thank you, Nesquick). He likes to wear gloves in 90 degree weather. And he likes to pick out his own socks.

As far as size, he's in the 70th for weight, and 77th for height. Although it was pretty hard to figure that out. When we went to the doc for his appointment, he threw a total tantrum when they tried to get him to stand on the scale. So then I picked him up thinking I could put him on the scale. But then he did that thing kids do where they go limp and saggy and flop around like a wet noodle. He was crying, the nurse was holding Afton, and I didn't know what to do. Finally we got him to semi-sit on it. The scale read 34 pounds, but his feet were on the ground so that might not be correct. Then to measure his height, a good little boy would stand against the wall with the inches on it. Sam would not. Remember? Wet noodle. So we had to hold him down on the bed thing and she marked his height on the tissue paper cover. Oh, well.

We started the day with donuts. That was Dan's suggestion. Sam loved it. And I did, too.

 After breakfast, we let Sam open his present from Grandpa and Grandma Cheney. He was so excited! (He cannot smile normally anymore. It's unfortunate.)

A little later we headed upstairs. I put his toy together and he got down to business playing.

 I told him to give me a "regular" smile. This was it. Guess we're going back to a "funny" smile! And the boogers are a nice touch, don't you think? Love this kid.

He requested a robot cake for his birthday, so I thought he liked robots. Apparently not. I made him this robot shirt to wear today. He said he wanted to wear his front loader shirt instead. I made him wear the robot shirt until he gave me a good picture and then I told him he could change.

It took a while to get his cooperation.

Finally I caught a good one. And then I let him change.

He's a character.

Sam requested grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, so that's what we're having. K&G are coming, too. Here's the cake:

After the train cake debacle of 2010, I followed the tutorial from Betty Crocker more closely.

We LOVE our little guy! He is the best!