Swimming

Lauren has made so much progress with her swimming this year! We started the pool season off slowly with Lauren being very cautious of the water and going under. She was still afraid to jump in the water unassisted. But after a few swim classes with an amazing teacher, Lauren is having a blast in the water! She will now jump in by herself with out even needing someone to catch her. She also LOVES diving for toys at the bottom of the pool. She has learned freestyle swimming and is currently working on backstroke too. We are very proud of her and happy that she has so much fun at the pool now!

Dance Recital

Lauren has been practicing all year long for her first dance recital. It was so rewarding to see our baby girl up on such a big stage with such confidence. She did an amazing job and all the girls looked so adorable! It was difficult for mommy though to have to put make up on her little girl. Lauren LOVED every minute of it but to us it is just another sign of her growing up so quickly!

She's 4?!

Our little angel is turning 4. I never knew time could go so quickly. Some days seem really long but when you look back another year has flown by. Happy Birthday Lauren!

Our Anniversary

We celebrated our 7 year anniversary this year!

Easter

Easter was fun this year. Both Lauren and Connor got to enjoy a couple of egg hunts. Lauren was good about collecting eggs and putting them in her basket. Connor more just found eggs and opened them on the spot to see what goodie was inside! After church we had our family over for brunch at our house.

Sea World

We hit Sea World again this Spring Break! This time with friends and the kids had a blast! So much so that the boys needed a break! As for the attraction the girls had to the pig's behind...well we're not sure what was going on there??

Our boy at the ranch

Houston Rodeo

We took the kids to the Houston Rodeo this year. Quite a different experience taking kids to a rodeo than all the rodeos I attended before kids. We mostly just played in the amusement park area. The kids had a lot of fun riding a toy train and Connor got to go on his first merry go round. He liked it about as much as Lauren liked her first merry go round...not so much!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Matthew had the opportunity to take Lauren to a daddy daughter dance. They dressed in their finest attire and Matthew started the date with a corsage for Lauren. Lauren loved every minute of it; she is in her element when she is on a dance floor. Apparently she got in every "choo choo train" / Conga line there was!

Keystone, CO

We started our year off with a trip to the Rocky Mountains. I have been missing the mountains and the snow and wanted to show the kids what real snow is like. We weren't able to do any skiing this year; but did enjoy a gondola ride to the top of the mountain, snowball fights, ice skating and some fun swinging and sliding the snow.

Christmas

We had Christmas at Wendy's parent's ranch. Lauren had a lot of trouble sleeping Christmas Eve in anticipation of Santa coming. Lauren asked Santa for, "a car that goes all by itself and a Tinkerbell movie". Santa must be a longhorn, because he brought Lauren a burnt orange Texas Power Wheels jeep (and the Tinkerbell movie). Connor got a little piano, like Linus from Peanuts.

TEXAS SNOW

Lauren has been away from Colorado for so long now that she thinks this is a big snow storm. We weren't sure how long the snow would last or if it would even be around in the morning so we woke her up around 11:30pm and put a coat and boots on over her pajamas so she could go play. She did it all in about 15 minutes; made a snowman, threw snowballs with daddy and made a snow angel. She keeps referring to this now as her, "Big Snow Adventure!" We told Lauren several times it does not snow in Texas like it does in Colorado so she keeps laughing now that the snow broke the rules.

Tree Farm

This year we decided it would be fun to go to a Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree!

Lauren finds Santa

Lauren was in Cuero with her Mimi (who may have known Santa would be around) and as she was walking on the street she found Santa! She got to sit by him and tell him what she wanted...a car that goes by itself (Power Wheels) and the Tinkerbell movie. Connor came too but was quite unhappy with seeing Santa.

Moving Target

I have cut Connor's hair a few times myself but it was time for a professional to take over and do more than a trim. Connor was not thrilled about this and the sweet lady had to keep going after a moving target and Connor continued to grab for mommy to get him out of the fire truck.

So grown up

Our babies just aren't babies anymore.

Pony ride

This was Lauren's first pony ride.

Pumpkin Patch

We took our annual fall trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Marble Falls to select our Halloween pumkins.

This is the story of our lives right now - Connor wanting whatever is in Lauren's hands.

Texas Longhorns

We have been enjoying a great Texas football season so far and the kids have done a great job cheering on the Horns every weekend!

Homemade songs

This one is for you Kristen.

Daddy is really good at turning everything he does and feels into a song for Lauren and Connor. It seems as though Lauren is starting to pick up on this and is now beginning to form her own songs.

This morning Lauren and I walked out to the garage to get a stroller so we could go for a run. Lauren began to break into song (to the tune of Farmer in the Dell), “What stroller will we take? What stroller will we take? Hi-ho the derry-o what stroller will we take?”

Wendy and Kristen’s lyrics when we were kids went like this, “Wendy is so hungry. Wendy is so hungry. Hi-ho the derry-o Wendy is so hungry. Wendy needs a burger. Wendy needs a burger. Hi-ho the derry-o Wendy needs a burger. The burger needs some fries. The burger needs some fries. Hi-ho the derry-o the burger needs some fries. The fries need some salt. The fries need some salt. Hi-ho the derry-o the fries need some salt. The salt needs a drink. The salt needs a drink. Hi-ho the derry-o the salt needs a drink. The drink needs some ice. The drink needs some ice. Hi-ho the derry-o the drink needs some ice.”