Bluebonnet Overload

This spring, as soon as I spotted the first bluebonnets along the highway, I was determined to get pictures of my little guy with the beautiful blue flowers. My grandparents usually have a ton of wildflowers on their land, so I checked it out last weekend. I saw like four bluebonnets. However, I surveyed the area and found several patches of them that hadn't bloomed yet, so I figured there would be plenty the next week for me to plop Ethan into. Here's what I found:

Pretty good, but not quite what I had envisioned. (Not to mention the harsh light and Ethan looking at me like I'm crazy).

So, I remembered this meadow farther back in the property from when I was a kid that was full of wildflowers. We decided to trek down there and find them.

We got there, and the "meadow" wasn't quite as large as I remembered it, and there was maybe two bluebonnets. What has this world come to?? Oh well, Ethan enjoyed the hike, and he checked out all the huge pine trees and the creek.

I was still determined, so on the way home, my mom and I decided we would drive around and take various ways home in search of the elusive flowers. We stumbled upon this gem of a field:

I'm pretty sure it was someone's property, but I didn't see a house or a sign saying "don't take pictures of our flowers," so we pulled E out and proceeded to take a million pictures. Enjoy.

One of the two of us. Excuse my nerdy face, I'm telling him to say hi to Nana.

And one more of the pretty field. I was so happy to find it, especially because bluebonnets and indian paintbrushes are definitely my two favorite wildflowers.

Happy Spring!

The Bug

Sorry we've been MIA. The Awful Stomach Bug of 2010 has taken over our lives.

Early Thursday morning/Wednesday night, the dreaded Bug made it's appearance and caused our little baby to throw up. Three sheets and three pajamas later, he finally made it to sleep for the night. The next morning, there was some messy diapers, but nothing was coming out the top end. We thought it would be pretty much over.

Wrong. Everyday since, he's eaten his first two meals fine, but every evening he throws up. It's a tricky little bug that makes you think it's gone, but no, it has other plans. The doctor is doing some tests, but he said unfortunately, E just may be one of those kids that takes awhile to get over this thing (he said about 1 or 2 out of 100 are like this, how lucky are we?). Oh, and The Bug has also infested me, but thankfully it passed fairly quickly.

So, we're here trying to keep the little guy as happy as we can, which usually means sitting on the back deck. Stupid rainy day ruined that for us today though, so the weather better change tomorrow or we will both go crazy. And hopefully, The Bug will be gone soon so Ethan can get back to being his happy little self again.

In the meantime, there's a little too much of this pout around here:


Breaks your heart doesn't it?

Our Wednesday

Ethan and I have now gotten into the habit of playing on the back porch every day, and he absolutely loves it. He can be on the other side of the room, but when he hears that back door open, he bolts over to it. He mostly just crawls around, but he'll also push his walker out there or discover new things that fit into his mouth.

So today we just hung out and enjoyed the weather. Oh, and I played with my camera of course.

just happy to be outside

"So you're saying you don't want me to eat this grass? Yeah right, Mom."

Action shot with his favorite toy

Big smiles and a dirty face. Leaves and stuff are yummy.

11 months!

So my eleven month baby is pretty much the same as my ten month old baby. He's still cruising the furniture like crazy, and pushing around his walker toys, but not actually walking. He still LOVES to dance and will do so whenever he hears music. That includes TV commercials, Mommy or Daddy singing, his dancing monkey, his music table, and of course music on the radio.

He claps, waves, signs "finished" when he's done eating, and likes to put his hand over his mouth and move it and say "ah" so the sound changes (hard to describe, but think about how you used to play like you were an Indian when you were a kid). He'll say "bye" when he feels like it, and he can say Mama and Dada, but I'm not quite sure he knows what he's saying.

He loves to be chased by us and to be caught and tickled. He also loves when we throw a ton of pillows and blankets on the floor for him to climb on and bury his face in. The back deck is a new favorite place for him as well. He loves to crawl back and forth and under the chairs, and he likes to push his alligator walker out there. It'll be great to spend time out there as the weather gets warmer.

I think that pretty much summarizes the eleven month old Ethan Bear, so here's a few pictures of him. He really wasn't a fan of staying still for pictures when he could be playing instead, so I only have a couple that aren't horrible:



This last one is thrown in because I love how he takes short cuts by crawling under things. He had just scooted himself under the chair since he's just too cool to go around it.

Eleven stickers down, only one to go :(

Ten on Tuesday

1. My little Monkey is eleven months old today. I know you get tired of hearing it, but I really cannot believe how fast time flies when you have a baby. He will be 1 in a month. There may be lots of crying in the next month (by me of course). Oh, and you'll be shocked to hear I actually did his 11 month photo shoot today, which I'll try to post soon.

2. Cory's brother and his lovely girlfriend came to visit us this weekend. We had fun showing them an Austin-y time full of yummy food and hope they can visit us more often. I have no proof of this visit however, as I didn't take one single picture. I failed, sorry.

3. My grandma's birthday was yesterday and we celebrated on Sunday. It was a lovely day and she was spoiled with lovely things and her favorite dinner. I was in charge of the cake:


And look, isn't she beautiful?

Happy Birthday again Gramma!

4. I think the babe is getting another tooth. At least, I hope that's the reason he's been so "off" today and last night because that means he'll be back to normal as soon as it comes through. He woke up at 2am last night (which he never ever does), and he's been in a whiny, pick me up, now put me down, now let me play with the cell phone kind of mood all day today.

5. I gave Ethan a haircut. And then I almost cried. It's not that bad, but it still looks a little funny to me and I'm a little sad to see all that hair go away. I just wanted to trim a little in the front because it was in his eyes and could not be trained to go to the side. Then I had to trim a little from the back because he was called a girl too many times for my liking. Here's a before:


And an after:

Please tell me it's not so bad. You'll see more (better) pictures from his eleven month shoot.

6. Oh, we have another birthday tomorrow, which will include a nice dinner out. Can't wait, and Happy Early Birthday Paula!

7. Monkey is in love with his push walkers. He has a Pooh car that he pushes around as well as an alligator one that he absolutely loves. Except when he runs into a wall. Then he whines and sticks his lip out until I come and turn him around so he can do it all over again. I need a bigger house, or perhaps a circular one.

He's pushing it backwards here. I love his concentration tongue.

8. Ethan has big feet (don't make fun of him Papa). I needed to order him new shoes so I measured him and bought the size indicated on the size chart. They came in the mail and they say 18-24 months. Granted, they are a tad big, but just a tad, as in they'll probably fit next week. Oh well, it's probably just because he's tall.

9. First birthday plans are underway, but I'm slacking a little. I think it's denial. I need to get on the ball and get stuff done already, without spending a ton of money. I think we're going to try and keep it simple.

10. On a very personal note, I may be losing my job soon. The mom of the family I work for may become a stay-at-home mom, so she won't be needing me anymore. While I'm excited about not working, I'm scared we won't be able to make it work. Pray that everything will work out so I can continue to stay at home with the Monkey.

Whew, I really had to reach to get ten, but there you have it. Happy Tuesday!