Mexico Vacation

I am writing after thanksgiving so let's talk about how thankful I am we were able to Mexico for a wonderful vacatiion.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband for choosing to take such an amazing honeymoon 9 years ago.  So amazing that we have gone back to the same place 4 times since then.  I am thankful that he values our relationship so much that we make vacation a priority

dinner time



arrival

I am thankful for my wonderful Aunt who was able to take care of our kids while we were gone.  It is so nice to have family around and the kids had a great time.

I am thankful for my 3 healthy kids.  Every time one of them has turned one we have made this vacation and they seem to understand, thrive, or careless however you look at it.

I am thankful for gorgeous views and nice time relaxing.

view day 1

view day 2

I am also thankful for Grandma who allows me to work a flexible schedule and help pay for such fun vacations.  Never mind all the other wonderful things she does for us.

I am thankful for great weather and even better food with awesome service that we thoroughly enjoyed.




they even folded our towels when we got up to go to he bathroom


flautas for lunch

all dressed up for our favorite dinner

 I am thankful for the Aggie win which was the icing on the cake while we were there.

a great place to watch an aggie game



 And I am thankful for the opportunities that await in the upcoming year!

 

 

I am of course thankful for much more but that is a good start for the vacation.

Konnor is 1

My baby is one!!!  I think I will say that every year with a new number but still.  He is no longer a baby!  It is pretty sad.  He isn't quite walking but it doesn't really bother me.  He is still drinking one bottle a day but it doesn't really bother me.  He eats more sugar than a one year old should and it doesn't really bother me.  He plays with small toys and it doesn't really bother me.  You get the picture.  I think I am guilty of not wanting "my baby" to grow up.

But he is definitely getting bigger.  In fact he seems huge.  He weighs about 23#'s but again I haven't officially taken him for his one year check up.  He eats a ton.  And especially protein of any kind. Steak, chicken, hamburger meat, you name it.  He doesn't really like noodles or rice. Unlike my other kiddos. He is also a little slower with vegetables than the other two but he is coming along.  He loves his walks with Kenzie and grandma. He sleeps with a pacifier and small blanket but only about an hour and a half twice a day. He is my early riser, about 6:30.  His favorite toys are balls but he also is pretty good at playing with pots and pans or in the kids play kitchen. He also has recently started patting us on our back when we held him which is too fun!

He doesn't like getting his shirt changed or his diaper changed. Surprise surprise!  He is a true boy.  He also gets pretty annoyed when Kenzie tries to lay on him :)

 

 

So it was pretty difficult to make a decision on his birthday party and just when I decided to wait and do it at thanksgiving so at least one of my sisters could be there, I changed my mind again and had an impromptu party on his birthday. Aunt Marla called and said she wanted to come by and Tyler was in town and Kevin brought some balls hme from work and there we have it.  It's a party!  Konnor loved the cupcake.  He wasn't too interested in the presents but at least he got to do some face time with my sisters!

He was pretty happy boy.  We decided to get him a ride on/push toy and he knew exactly what to do.  It was the perfect party for my baby :)

Halloween

Let's think about where we were last year at Halloween...Supper pregnant!!!

This year much more comfortable :)

 

 

I had fun making Kenzie's costume and thanks to Uncle Dave I was pleasantly suprised with Klayton's costume.

Even more fun was the whole evening. 

Grandma and Aunt Laura were able to come with us.


The kids were full of energy and didn't want to stop and they just make me smile.

We even had time for pumpkin carving

 

I'd say all of that makes for a pretty good Halloween !!

Klayton's 7th birthday

This is the perfect example of why you should write about things as they happen.  I am a month late and don't remember much already.  Klayton wanted to go bowling for his birthday and that was easy to accomodate.  The kids love the bumpers and they make it fun for all of us.  

 

 

 

 

 

 As for cake and presents, still pretty simple.  We were in the middle of baseball season so cakeballs it was.  Kevin was able to bring them to him at lunch for school and then we just had a quiet night at home. 

 Klayton's favorite present was his baseball bag and new water bottle.  It's the simple things.

What is Klayton like - He is still my little sweetheart.  He is of course growing up and he has his moments where he gets mad at us (especially if we make him re-write his homework).  He is also still a 30 year old in a 7 year old body.  He likes to talk to adults and hang with Grandpa and Daddy.  He is really into Aggie football and probably knows more players than I do.  Legos are probably his favorite toy but he is also starting to read about Star Wars which makes his daddy happy.  He is of course a huge help with Konnor and most of the time he plays well with Kenzie.  I can't believe he is 7.  He is getting so tall and so grown up.  He makes me so proud and as he becomes more independent I smile and almost cry all at the same time. 

Happy Birthday Klayton (almost 2 months late :)

Pumpkins

Disclosure: I know I missed Klayton's birthday but I wanted to be on time so here are the pics and story

We decided to head to the local "pumpkin patch."  So it is really just some pumpkins in front of a church but it is a good excuse to take pictures and the kids have been begging to go pick out pumpkins.  I know the pumpkins are way WAY overpriced but even a tight wod like me caves every once in a while :)

family pic thanks to a passer by.  yes it is October and we are wearing sleeveless and shorts

which one should I choose

pumpkin hugs

 

We did find a few pumpkins and the kids were excited so mission accomplished. 

Another disclaimer - I promise that I will start putting shoes on Konnor.  I forget that he is wanting to stand up now so he really needs shoes once in a while.  Poor 3rd child :(

Kenzie is 4

Kenzie is...

all girl with her pretty dresses and finger nail polish and obsession with shoes and her love of going shopping and trying on new clothes

She is all boy when she fights with her brothers or races on her bike.

She was into barbie dolls this year.  She still loves books of any kind - princesses, Clifford, curious George - you name it.

She is really growing up in terms of discipline.  Her crazy fits from the summer are mainly a thing of the past and when she does throw one she knows pretty quickly what she did wrong and doesn't hesitate to apologize. 

Her favority song is Taylor Swift's "This love is ours."  She likes to watch Star Wars just to torment her brother. 

Of course saying I love her doesn't even begin to sum it up.  I love how she enjoys doing things I do and I look forward to how our relationship will change and grow and be tested as she grows up.  I love how outgoing she is and how she is not afraid to make friends. I love her sweet smile and her crazy enthusiasm.  My little girl is 4 and I am so thankful for everything she is to me.

 

 

We had a "Tea Party" for her birthday and it was a huge success thanks to Klayton for being a waiter and Daddy for bringing us some "gear," and of course to all of her guests that make it so special.


the table decor

the cake

the servers


all the girls

What a fun day and what an exciting and fun 4 years.  Looking forward to more girly stuff and watching my baby girl grow up!!



Konnor is 9 months

Really he is 10 months now but I only have 9 month stats so...  He weighs 21 lbs and he is in the 90th percentile for height.  In other words, he is really big and I need him to start walking so I don't have to carry him.  I know I don't want to rush things but the boy has to get lugged to everything and he is really heavy.  My arms are getting a great workout. 

I just re-read the blogs from when the other two and the consensus is that my kids like to eat.  Konnor is eating like a champ and he eats basically whatever we are eating.  I don't think I have found anything he doesn't like.  We are only lacking in the sippy cup department.  He wants no part of them.  Two months before bottles have to go away.  Scary thought!!!

Favorite toy- the stacker and balls

Favorite place - upstairs with the kids

Favortie food - tough...maybe banana

He says both dada and mama but I don't know if it is deliberate.  He is napping and sleeping great.  He pulls up on everything and is constantly getting new bruises.  Yesterday he pulled a candle over and it broke and he got a new bruise.  He giggles at just about anything Kenzie does and even when she tackles him he doesn't get upset.



He doesn't like when we take away the phone or getting dressed.  He thinks that is real torture. 




He is crawling most of the time but he still occasional belly slides when he gets in a real hurry.  He is not real good with strangers but he has made a few friends at Klayton's baseball games and Kenzie's school.

That's all for now.  After all it is Kenzie's birthday so I need to post about her.  Stay tuned

The Monster Truck Show

Everyone who knows anything about me knows that I am eternally grateful to my amazing mother in law.  So her birthday should be a huge deal but we seem to fail miserably every year.  She is  just hard to buy for (grandma if you are reading, sorry but it is true). So this year Kevin thought she would enjoy watching the kids laugh at a monster truck show.  Well... She wasn't so interested.  She thought it would be better to stay home with Konnor.  Maybe what she is trying to say was she wanted some peace and quiet :) So we went to the truck show without her and the kiddos thought it was awesome.  It was a little loud and a whole lot redneck but we did it. 

The arena was a little small for much racing but we still had the highlights .  

4 wheeler races

The "grinder"

Klayton cheering

Kenzie and me

jumping the cars

more cheering

Now they will be monster truck show fans for years.  Great :)

Is Summer Over?

School is starting!!!  We have had a busy summer (which is so cliche. Is there ever a non busy summer).  The kids have got to play a lot with there cousins and Klayton did a ton of camps at the golf course.  Kenzie enjoyed playing iwth her brother most days :) And we although we missed camping this summer we did at least take the boat out last weekend so we can say we are officially ready.  Or at least we are ready for football season.