Saturday, July 31, 2010

Watkins Gathering...

I am so glad so many of our Watkins family live in the Dallas area. And a few more will be joining us here in big D, my cousin Chafen and her hubbby Eric and their brand new baby Hal!! We got together last weekend at my Aunt Jan Uncle Jim's for some swimming and a cookout. A good time had by all!!
Here are a bunch of the crew taking a dip. Cousins' kids.
Pretty good to get this many looking at the camera.
And then Graham entered the pic...not too happy about it! And the other babies lost it too!
A quick soccer game before we head out.

Love, Love, Love these Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Cousins!!

Saying bye to the Halls...

Our friends, Matt, Kendra and Macie Hall are moving to WISCONSIN!! We met them at church and have loved getting to know them! Kendra and Matt are from out of state, but have lived here for 6 years and now are moving 10 hours away and still will be several hours away from both of their parents. I am amazed by their faithfulness to follow God's plan for their family. I can't imagine being that far away from my family. We will miss them dearly and pray for them as they make this huge transition. We got to play with Kendra and Macie a few times before they head out this week.
Good thing Anna has that ring on:). This girl loves the splash park. Cutie Conner sunbathing.
Anna and Macie sharing a snack.
Us with Kendra and Macie at the mall for another playdate.
Another sweet friend, Jerica, who also moved away last summer was in town. So fun to see her and Jacob!!
AL and Macie played in the mechanical car/rides but our kids had no idea they moved if you put quarters in. We didn't have any quarters, but they had a blast just climbing in and out of them.
Harper and AL

So thankful for these awesome friends!!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

2 1/2 and 9 months!

It is so cliche to say that "they grow up too fast" and "where has time gone!" But it's true! My babies are growin' and time is flyin'! Anna Lou is almost 2 1/2 and Graham is 9 months. Hard for this mama to believe! I wanted to record some stats, facts and the little funnies about these two.

Anna (aka Anna Lou and Lou Lou)
  • weight- 24 lbs
  • size 4 diapers- not interested much in the potty. Although I haven't pushed it at all or talked about it enough, but we will probably start soon.
  • size 24 months or 2T clothes
  • I dont know her percentiles since turning two, but I am guessing she is still around the 15-20%.
  • Eats- normal kid food- lots of fruit, not as many veggies:(, cheese, pbj, chicken nuggets, PIZZA, and most of what we eat ourselves.
  • Sleeps- about 11 or 12 hours at night and an afternoon nap of 2 hours in her crib. I am aware that most 2 1/2 yr olds are in big beds, but hey, if it aint broke...!
Fun stuff:
  • Loves a routine!
  • Loves to have her back scratched or arm or leg.
  • Loves her little brother so much and still isn't too bothered that he has joined the family.
  • No seperation anxiety so far.
  • Loves Mickey and Clifford.
  • Loves to eat anything sweet!
  • Loves babies, strollers, purses, all kinds of balls:), and lots of "girl" stuff!
  • Loves the pool, lake, being outside, church, dancing, singing, playing with cousins and friends, eating at "chick-a-yay".
  • Talks A LOT!
  • Sings "Light of Mine," Jesus Loves Me, "Jesus Loves the Little Children","Twinkle, Twinkle," etc...and of course, "Party in the U.S.A."
  • We are in the stage of asking repeated questions..."What's this? What's that? What are you doing? Where are we going?, etc" And lots of "Mommy, watch this!" And then she does something really exciting like jumping:).
Not so fun:
  • The words "Mine" and "No" are said too often.
  • Has meltdown moments when we have to leave somewhere that is a lot of fun. We do the "We are leaving in five minutes" which helps, but still have a hard time sometimes.
  • We have introduced her to the wooden spoon. Most of the time just its presence is enough:)!
  • So far not too many two-year-old moments, but I hear that three is the new two! yikes!



Graham (aka Grammer, Baby Graham, Anna calls him Baby Gum)

  • Weight- 20 lbs, 50% I always think he is SO big, because I am comparing to teeny AL when she was a baby. I can't belive he and AL are 4 lbs apart!
  • Length- 28 in, 70%!!
  • Sleeps 11-12 hours at night. 2 naps a day anywhere from 1 hour to 2 1/2 hours, but together they add up to 4 hours.
  • Eats- I feed him 4 times, although I dont think he eats much during the two day feedings. He eats LOTS of table food during 3 meals. He still eats some baby food to get in the veggies in, but this kid downs most everything I put in front of him. He was only on baby food for about 2 months and my friend Sarah convinced me to make my own baby food. What a lifesaver! This kid was eating way to much baby food to be buying it. It was so easy and I would recommend to anyone to make it at home! About 1/10 of the cost!!
  • Size 3 diapers
  • Has moved to the big carseat. He loves it because now he can see sis in the car! And I love it because I feel like it isn't as hot and it it's easier getting him in and out.
  • Not crawling yet, but pretty good army crawling. He like to pull up on toys and on us but is super wobbly! And he doesn't know how to sit back down on his tush to get down.


Fun Stuff-

  • Loves balls, trucks, cars, anything that makes noise. Most toys just go straight to the mouth.
  • Says "Dadadada"...of course:). And some more babbling sounds.
  • When he wakes up I find him sitting up in his crib playing with the bumper or a lovey and happy most of the time.
  • Again, this kid can eat! I hope he continues to not be picky! It also makes it easy to take him with us wherever.
  • Laughs a lot, mostly at Anna!
  • Sits and plays well by himself although not as long as he used too. This boy wants to move!
  • He's a Mama's Boy!
  • Smiles at everyone.
  • Cuddles and ducks his head in your chest when someone smiles or says hi to him.
Not So Fun-
  • I think we might be on the verge of seperation anxiety. Since he is such a mama's boy, he wants only mama when he is tired, hungry or overwhelmed. I'm not too sad about it now, but I might be when he starts falling apart when I leave him in the nursery.
  • Wants to crawl so bad so sometimes gets frustrated that he can't.
  • The exersaucer and jumperoo are on their way out. He still uses them, but not for a very long time.
  • Our grocery bill is rising and he isn't even one yet!

These two keep life exciting, fun, busy and changing every minute! I am so thankful for my two greatest blessings!!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Julie's "Wild" Shower...

My forever friend Julie is on her way to having TWINS at the end of August! We are dear friends with Julie's family and had to shower her for the arrival of Cooper and Campbell! Isn't that fun...a boy and a girl! Here we are with Mrs. Ross, Julie with Cooper and Campbell, me, my mom, and Wendi.Look at this doll baby! Wendi's little Georgia dressed for the party.
Is she not the most precious thing ever!
With a boy and a girl on the way we wanted to do a shower that could celebrate both. We decided on a "wild animal" theme and based it off of the book "Where the Wild Things Are." It was fun to veer off from the traditional blue and pink and gather animal decor. We used a touch of lime green too.
The invite...
Favors...vanilla and chocolate animal crackers with tags that said Johnson & Johnson (Julie's last name), or had an animal or had Cooper and Campbell on them.
Julie and David's baby pics.

Gifts galore...



The shower was at 11, so we served lunch.
Cake Balls
Julie got tons of great loot! Two babies means twice the stuff!

The hostesses
It was an honor to help shower Julie! She is going to be one amazing mom and her hubby David will be incredible too! I can't believe they are doubling the size of their family in a few weeks! I cannot wait to meet these sweet babies! Doesn't Julie carry them well?!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Southbound 35...

We made a quick day trip to Waco last week. Dave and Graham hung out at home while my mom, sister and I took the rest of the kids to Bear Country:)! The troops in the far back seat. Georgia and I were in the middle and mom and Wen up front.First stop...of course!




We met some good friends, the Stewarts and the Kennedys at Ninfa's.
On to the BU campus and to the Bear Pit. We got the boys and Anna Lou all excited to see the real Baylor Bear and that silly bear was asleep in the corner.










The smile I have been getting lately.
We made a few more stops at the BU Bookstore for some new BU gear and also to see all of the new additions around campus. We headed home and caught a few naps on the way.

Rewind to the 4th...

Rewind to the 4th of July. I somehow missed this post. We started out the day in our red, white and blue and headed out to church. After church and naps, we went to Honey and Papa's to celebrate with everyone. Anna Lou thought Honey needed a little help making the flag cake.
Not sure how much help honey got besides a test taster.


Miss Liberty
And she enjoyed her first corn on the cob. How 'bout a lick?
All of us minus Uncle Nick. We miss you!
Honey and Papa and their grandbabies.
After a great dinner we headed home. We missed the fireworks but decided it wasn't really worth it to keep the little bits up late. We could see some from our front yard so that will due for this year. Happy 4th!