Come Over and Have a Seat

After months and months of searching, Randy and I finally agreed on new couches. They have all the qualifications that our family was looking for and needing in a couch. We all love them, even Nathan!


They are great for napping.

Playing at the Park with Friends

We met our friend Wes at the park today along with his kids, Sabrina and Austin. Nathan had a blast playing with them. It was very humid and we were all sweaty.


Nathan loves to swing really high.


Sabrina enjoyed pushing Nathan. Her brother, Austin, doesn't like to swing.


Austin and Nathan playing together on the playground.


Nathan and Austin all sweaty from running around on the grassy hill.


Nathan always finds a flower to pick when we are outside.

Children's Science & Nature Museum

We spent the day at the Children's Science & Nature Museum in Fair Park. We had a great time playing with all the fun activities.


Making giant bubbles.





Playing in the sand.


Planting seeds and pulling carrots.



Pushing buttons to turn lights on.



Playing with numbers.


Licking a lollipop after lunch.


Learning about electricity.



Making shadows on the color wall.

Sleepy Boy

Nathan was having a hard time getting to bed. He keep running out of his room and laying down with his Daddy. He needed some Daddy time.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We took Daddy to the Ft. Worth Zoo for his birthday. Our adult child, Aunt Samantha, joined us. It was very hot, but we had a great time. We brought our lunch and packed lots of drinks.


We found this pond full of fish and ducks. We feed a quarter into the machine and got a tiny handful of fish food. We each threw a couple of pellets in the water and watched the fish fight over it.


Nathan taking a much needed drink break. Check out those rosy cheeks.


Bye-Bye fish. See you next time. One thing that's great about the Ft. Worth Zoo is that there are a lot of shaded areas. We could always find a nice shaded spot to stop a watch the animals.


Nathan wasn't interested in having his picture taken with the giraffes. He was trying to jump out of my arms. Maybe, he just wanted to swim with the fish and ducks.


Nathan loved feeding the tropical birds. Aunt Samantha found an abandoned stick of bird seed, which they were selling for a dollar. Bonus!!


I just remember how hot and humid it was in there. See how Nathan is drenched in sweat and of course Randy is completely dry. Samantha and I couldn't wait to get out of there because we both had sweat dripping in our eyes. (Remember . . . it was over 100 degrees today.)


Nathan couldn't care less. He was enjoying the colorful birds.


It's so cute how Nathan is holding the kangaroo's hand.


Another place that Nathan throughly enjoyed besides feeding the birds was the children's zoo section. It was a building shaped like a barn with different activities for kids to learn about farm animals. Nathan is pushing the buttons on the wall to hear the different animal sounds.


Here he is learning about chickens. We had to drag him out kicking and screaming. He was hot and very tired by this point. It took the three of us to strap him in his stroller.


Aunt Samantha helped me wrestle this alligator. The heat must have gotten to him because he was pretty tame.


Then, Nathan hopped on for a ride. He's so cool in his sunglasses. Notice that he is out of the stroller. He must have talked someone into letting him out.


The last part of the zoo that Nathan loved was this touch tank. He had no fear of reaching in the water and touching all the sea critters. And to think . . . this is the kid who is deathly afraid of fans. Go figure!


The water was a little deep for him. It went past his elbows, but he didn't mind at all. I think he would have climbed in, if they let him. Here he is touching a starfish and a horseshoe crab.


Oh, no! What happened to Mommy?

Even though it felt like it was 150 degrees outside, we all had lots of fun at the zoo. Nathan fell fast asleep once we left the parking lot to head home. We talked Randy into stopping at Sonic for drinks to help us cool down. Then, we all jumped in the pool once we arrived home.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Kid Tested . . . Parents Approved

There have been many baby/kid items that I have purchased or received as gifts that I have loved or hated. They have either been very useful and made my life easier or I thought they were just worthless and a waste of money. Here is one that I love.


Nathan enjoys listening to music with the iPod and he also likes to watch movies and TV shows on the computer. He started out wearing the iPod earbuds which kept falling out of his little ears. He would have to keep calling me over to help put the earbuds back in. So, we next tried Randy's bright yellow Sony Walkman headphones. These stayed on much better, but Nathan tended to pull and tug on them. This worried Randy that something might accidently happen to his beloved Sony headphones. So, we went searching for a better solution.

That's when we found the Fisher-Price Kid Tough Headphones.


What we love about them is that they are the perfect size for Nathan's head and they don't constantly fall off. They also have a volume control that automatically lowers loud sounds. They are "Kid Tough", so they can take abuse from toddlers and not break. We found them for under $15, which makes them very affordable. We have had them for a couple of weeks and they are the perfect fit for our needs.

My favorite part is that they keep Nathan occupied for a short time so I'm able to get some things done while he is using them.

Fisher-Price has two other items in their Kid Tough line, a DVD player and a digital camera. We might have to check these items out as well. They would be great to take on our summer vacation.

Nathan's Favorites . . . Right Now

Nathan's little personality is growing and developing. He is not afraid to tell everyone what he is thinking. He knows exactly what he likes and dislikes and it's very hard to change his mind. Hmmm, does he sound like someone we know. Let me give you a hint . . . Randy!

I want to share with you some of his favorite things right now. But, you have to remember that he is a 2 year old, so these can change at any moment.

Nathan's favorite:

TV Shows - Caillou and Yo Gabba Gabba!

Colors - pink and purple (I think it's great that he is not afraid to cross the gender line. He is asking for a pink lunch box to take to school in the Fall and I'm going to have to pull rank on this one. Sorry, Nathan, but Mommy will talk you into a different color.)

Book - Goodnight Moon (We read this book every night before he goes to bed.)

Food - granola bars, veggie chips and bunny crackers (He likes to snack all day. I can't get him to sit down at the table for any meal. At least he is eating healthy foods. I have to pick my battles.)

Toys - Legos, floor puzzles and Play-Doh

Activities - Swimming and his Little Gym class (We swim almost everyday at Nathan's request. He also loves his new teacher at The Little Gym, Mr. Travis.)

Game - Hide and Seek (I love to play this with Nathan. It just tickles him so much. I'm the one who usually hides and he will run around the house to find me. When I ask him to hide, he will just stand in a different room. I pretend that I can't see him and eventually find him.)

Let me know if there are any other favorites of Nathan that you are interested in. I'll do this again as Nathan's interests change and he grows older.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a low key 4th this year. We swam in our pool most of the day. Then, we went to my sister's house in the evening. We played with toys and visited with family. At 10PM, we headed over to the parking lot of a school to watch the firework show. It was a great viewing location up on a hill. This was Nathan's first time watching fireworks. He loved the pretty colors and said that they sounded like heart beats. So sweet!

Sorry, but we didn't take any photos today. Strange . . . I know! So, I leave you with my favorite photo of Nathan from last year.

Our Little Sea Horse

Nathan is now swimming on his own with help from his floaties!


I couldn't get Nathan to wear the floaties last year. So, I knew I was going to be challenged again this summer.


I was able to get him to try them on a few times. But, I actually got him in the pool today with the floaties on. I let go of him . . . he was off on his own.


His confidence keep building the more we swam. I went to grab Nathan at one point and he told me, "No touching, Mom!"


I declared him to be a little dolphin swimming in the sea. Then, he corrected me by saying, "No, I a sea horse!"