Lucy and the Water

Doug was out in the backyard the other night, adjusting the sprinklers. I have never seen Lucy do this - she was trying to bite the water as it came out of the sprinkler! It looks like she is drinking from a water fountain!

And, we're crawling!

The day before E turned 9 months old, he started crawling with a forward motion! Quite the exciting milestone for us. He's been manuvering backwards and sideways for about a month now, so we've been waiting on him to figure out how to move forward. Already finding out how hard it's going to be to "baby proof" - but we're taking it one day at a time! I cringe when he gets onto my icky kitchen floor; I try, but cannot keep it as clean as I'd like (not with two indoor/outdoor dogs!) Here's some pics of him crawling (well, the best I could do, since it's hard to depict crawling in still pictures!)

getting closer - with another strange look captured -

Well Hi mom!

Can I play with your sock?

9 Months!

My little one is 9 months old! In keeping with the cowboy boots/hat theme from his birth announcement, we did a photo shoot in our hallway. After he turns a year, I suppose it will be nice to change from cowboy themed pictures! (but probably only for a little while. cuz the cowboy theme is pretty fun). So, here are some fun pictures as a 9 month old:

(this one isn't edited - notice the outlet and rug?)

My collage, first attempt at a digital scrapbook page from scratch!

Not sure what this look is saying. Doug says he's seen ME give HIM this look. It dosen't seem like a positive thought, huh. Interesting to see your own expressions reflected in your child's face!!!

At the Lake with Uncle Dave

A visit to Uncle Dave's would not be complete without going out on his boat. The temperatures soared up close to 100, but out by the lake, in the shade, it actually felt great. Nice breeze coming in off the water. Poor baby E needed a nap desperately, but couldn't seem to fall asleep in this unfamiliar environment, even reclining in his car seat. So when we took him on the boat for his first boat ride, he was not in a good mood at all!! I just know if he was rested he would have really enjoyed looking around. We went very slow, even Mindy the dog was on the boat with us, but he was pretty cranky the whole time.

He did NOT like that life jacket.

Even tried putting on sunglasses, thinking maybe it was too bright. Nope, didn't help. That's ok though. We'll try again probably next year.

Mom feeding E some banana. Check out her cute straw hat (a surprise from the Canton trip the day before).

Mindy playing in the water.

E didn't mind playing in the lake water at all.

Even got to use his new float.

Big yawn.....

Mom, Dave and Mindy go for a quick ride.

David grilled for us that evening - it was DELICIOUS. Chicken, steak, twice baked potatoes, grilled vegetables, salad. Wow.

And, it was E's first time to take a bath in a "real" bathtub!

We had such a good weekend. Can't wait to do it again!

The Canton Experience

This past weekend, we went to visit Uncle Dave, who lives just north of Dallas. We were able to go to Canton on Friday. How fun is it to go to Canton with your husband and brother?! We had a great time. I am so glad they both like doing that kind of thing. Ever since David got his house, he has enjoyed having help "decorate;" I have to put "decorate" in quotes because of course guys don't decorate - they have sisters/moms/nice friends help them pick out items that would compliment their house. Anyway. We did find some fun things in Canton, which I will picture below (eventually - if you don't want to read my story, feel free to scroll down to two of my favorite items I bought). First I have to tell how I saved my brother from buying something too expensive. All day, he kept referring to these three metal squares that he had seen that he thought would look good on a long, empty hall in his house. He would see other things and compare them to these three squares, and decide he liked the squares better. So, as we were heading out, we stop by that particular booth - as we approach, I inwardly groaned and outwardly whispered, "no, Dave, no!" but it was too late, he was already walking in the booth towards the famous squares. More like getting sucked in. It was a Southern Living booth. Don't get me wrong, I love Southern Living items, I own a ton of them, but they are expensive (unless your hosting a party and getting stuff free and/or half off. I tend to buy their stuff when it goes on clearance). So he's talking to the SL representative, they recognized him from earlier (of course, a single guy picking out house stuff, a sitting duck who clearly doesn't shop at Hobby Lobby where you can get extremely similar items for waaaaay less), and Dave asks what I think of the $60 set. The set of three tin/metal, decorative squares that you can get at Hobby Lobby for less than $10 each on sale. The SL rep says if he buys them, he can get something else in the booth half off. I was tempted to just let him buy the set and let me use the half off to get a cute, red-blue-white striped bucket thingy for my front door, but I just couldn't do it. I had to gently let him know that No, this is not a deal. They are cute and all, and would look good in his house, but NOT for that price. Out of earshot of the representative, of course. Had to burst that bubble, rip off the bandaid. All in the name of Teaching Single Brother How to Buy Things for Your House. We actually stopped at Hobby Lobby on the way home from Canton, and David bought a fantastic piece of art to hang above his refrigerator, I was so proud of him - it was 50% off of course. Had to show him where the sale items are, especially the "66% off clearance aisle." All's well that ends well, Lesson Learned.

So, now on to what I purchased. I bought a few things, but these two items were my top favs. First, the rain boots. Or galoshes. Whatever you would like to call them. I call them "great." I seriously have looked for boots like these online, and at Target, etc., but they were always like $30 or more, and I'm too cheap for that. My backyard is muddy, and I'm always going out to the garden, or feeding the dogs, etc. and getting my feet all gross (even in flip flops). My husband and brother thought I was kidding about how excited I was when we saw this big table outside full of rain boots. Look how cute:

How stinkin' cute are these?! And only $19 bucks. I love it.

I may even wear them down to the mailbox on rainy days. Or dry days, depending on my mood.

On to my second fav purchase. Back in April, we visited an antiques booth (during our annual trip to Warrenton/Round Top) and I saw this great, old metal bird cookie cutter. I wanted that dumb thing, but it was the end of our day and we were out of money. It was so unique, and I love the bird theme. It was also a little pricey. Well lo and behold, we find the same people with a booth in Canton. And she still has the cookie cutter. And she's willing to come down $20 bucks. Sweet. Isn't it great?

It was made in the 1800's. I love old stuff. Being able to touch something that someone used over a hundred years ago. Very cool. I have it sitting up on my mantle actually and it looks great.

So, that's my Canton story! Can't wait to go again (when it's a lot cooler outside).

Where's the Baby?

This is the result of coming back from an out of town trip and just dumping stuff in the baby's play area, because laundry and other things have taken priority over straightening up his area. On a side note, I am not really thrilled with E's big, plastic play yard (I have unintentionally called it his "crate" on more than one occasion), but it does keep his mobile self safe and he doesn't seem to mind it (for now). Once he is truly crawling, walking, etc., we'll probably be moving the gates around, but for now, this is what dominates our living room!

The Butterfly Progression Continues...

Last Thursday, Mom mentioned there was a third chrysalis on the plant next to the Butterfly Plant, so of course I needed to take its picture. This chrysalis was farther along than our original two - the outer casing had turned clear, and you could see the butterfly inside.

Isn't it beautiful?!

This is one of the orginals - not faring so well.

This is the third chrysalis, picture taken yesterday (Sunday). If you look closely, you can see the clear outer coating has torn a little. As mom and I walked up the driveway Sunday afternoon, a buttefly fluttered past us, I kid you not. I totally believe it was the one that USED to be contained below:

This is one of our "original" butterflies. Don't know if he really got out (and flew past us!), did "something" swipe him off the side of the pot (as in, did he get eaten by a bird or something?), did he just fall off dead...I choose to believe he came out and was the very butterfly we saw moments earlier. 'Cause I like happy endings. Mom is still on butterfly watch on the third chrysalis. Doug says we should get ourselves our own butterfly plant, I think he's right! I am fascinated by this process!