A Cowboy Christmas in Gruene

This was our second year to go to Gruene, TX to celebrate their Christmas market days and the town lighting. If you are from Austin and have never been to Gruene, you are missing out. It is a neat little Texas town with lots of fun "crafty" shops, the oldest dance hall in Texas, and a large restaurant called the Gristmill that serves the best beef tenderloin sandwich you have ever eaten. It was made even better by traveling with our friends the Drennons. We did not think we would all fit in one car this year, but when they arrived at our house with a plan to squeeze us all in, we were thrilled. It was a tight fit, but worth it. We started the afternoon off with shopping- in addition to the usual shops they had a large outdoor market of vendors selling items for Christmas. We all found some good buys. Next we ate and then it was off to the town lighting where Cowboy Kringle made his appearance riding his horse into town, lighting the town, and passing out candy canes. He did not fool Griffin though, who was very concerned about where his sleigh and reindeer were and asked us at the end of the night, "Who was that man pretending to be Santa Claus?" All-in-all it is a great way to kick of the Christmas season. Here are some pictures, compliments of Megan (if you have seen her blog then you might skip these).

Happy Birthday Tucker

My baby is one! I can hardly believe it. The year has gone by so fast. I try to remember and compare Griffin and Tucker at this age, but I cant even remember what Griffin was doing and my "notes" are not that detailed (guess it is not just the second child excuse, but rather my own weakness when it comes to recording things) It is probably better- less comparing and more just enjoying him as he learns new things. We were in Arkansas for birthday and Christmas last week and here are a few pictures of him enjoying his cake- and he DID enjoy the cake! Other than the cake and a couple more presents, he didnt even realize he had a birthday, but I guess that is par for the course for a one-year-old birthday. More pictures of our trip to come in a future post. In my attempt to be a better record keeper for my family, here are some things that Tucker is up to at age one.

Tucker is like Griffin in many ways: he is all boy, he is active and brave-climbing anything he can get into and standing up with a proud "look at me face", and he is loud. He has his differences as well. I have said it before, but he is my snuggler. He lays his head down on me and will just lay there- so sweet. I know it wont last much longer, so I am enjoying every minute of it. While Griffin is my creative drama "king", Tucker already seems to have a more "engineer" type mind. He will sit and take things in and out of a box or bowl, stir a spoon in a cup, try and put blocks or puzzle pieces where they go. He is more -oriented and I can only imagine the struggles that will come when he can stand up for himself when Griffin messes up something he has "put together". Tucker is walking...sort-of. He can take several steps without falling and now tries to walk, until he falls, then resorts to crawling. It wont be long. He is becoming very vocal. He points and grunts/yells when he wants things and he tries and repeats what we say to him- he usually gets the first syllable right. On the way home from Arkansas, Tucker was getting fuzzy and so I handed him a graham cracker and both Nathan and I could have sworn he said "thank you" (dat oo). I said it to him several times and he repeated it. Since he has only done it one other time without me saying it first, but I am pretty sure that is what he is saying. He has not added many new words since 11 months, but he says them all more consistantly, especially "dada", "nana" (banana), "ma (more), "ba" (ball).

Tucker, you are such a joy to our family. You compliment your brother and us in so many ways and we cannot imagine our lives without you. We are so excited to watch you grow and learn and play. Most of all, we pray that you learn to love God and choose to follow him all of your life.

We love you buddy!

Love, Mommy, Daddy, and Griffin

Our Christmas Tree

has become our tradition to get our Christmas tree and decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, since we are home and Nathan is off on Friday. We got a great tree and I love the way it makes our house smell at this time of year. We got a little fun with the extra lights this year and let Griffin decorate his room. We had a great family weekend.

On our walk today...

Tucker had taken his socks off twice and I put them back on, telling him "no, no". Griffin had a moment of profound thought and said, "When Tucker doos bad stuff I am still proud of him, but I am kind of sad." How true!

Tucker Walking...

okay, so it is only 5 steps and since that time he refuses to even try to walk, but it is a start, right?

Happy Thanksgiving

My perspective on the Thanksgiving holiday has changed over the last few years, and not just because I have kids. When we were little, for as long as I can remember, we had Thanksgiving at my Grandmother's house every year. It was always the entire family on my mom's side- 2 aunts, 2 uncles, 4 cousins, my grandmother of course, and our clan of 5. We had all the traditional food, ate until we were stuffed, the boys watched football, the kids played in the yard, and the women would go shopping or work on some Christmas craft. To me, Thanksgiving always meant family. I cannot remember a Thanksgiving that we were not with some of our family.

For the last 3 Thanksgivings, Nathan has been working at Brackenridge Hospital, and therefore has had to work on Thanksgiving. He could have requested off, but then he would have had to work Friday and we would still not be able to travel anywhere, so we have chosen to ask off for Christmas instead. Each year we have still tried to make the holiday special in some way. We usually cook a "semi-traditional" thanksgiving meal (minus the turkey and dressing- I am not there yet in my cooking) on Friday. We talk about what we are thankful for. We pick out our Christmas tree and start decorating. Honestly, I was disappointed to be away from family the first year, but it was fun to plan our own meal and start our own traditions. I miss being in a full house on Thanksgiving day, but it is nice to have some quiet family time. All-in-all I have come to accept it and enjoy it.

But it is different. While Thanksgiving still focuses on our family, it is not in the same way it was when I was younger. It is a reminder to me of how all things in life change and we are to be thankful everyday for the blessings God has given us.

Having said all this, I was approaching Thursday morning with a small amount of self-pity, but mostly acceptance and resolve to make it a good day for my boys. We were planning to go to lunch with Nathan, have a fun meal of appetizer foods that evening, and watch a family movie. It sounded like a good day...then I woke up...Here is how my morning went.

6:45- tucker crying, time to start the day
7- Tucker still crying- has a cough, stuffy nose, and a slight fever
8:30- send Griffin to the bathroom to get a warm wash rag for tucker, who is still crying, to wash the banana off his neck from breakfast
8:32- Tucker stops crying and follows griffin to the bathroom. I use this rare opportunity to check my email
8:35- Hear screaming from the bathroom. Go in and Tucker and Griffin are both standing on a small stepstool by the sink. Griffin is screaming cause he doesnt want Tucker on the stool. Tucker is crying cause griffin is screaming. The water is running in the sink and there is a full sized beach towel soaking wet in the sink. Guess I should have known better.
8:45- try to rock tucker to put him down for a nap
9-Lay tucker down for a nap
9:20 Tucker finally quiets and goes to sleep.
10- Tucker wakes up...you guessed it, still crying
10:15- Call Nathan crying- decide to take Tucker into after hours clinic. Make an apt for 11:40, which means we will miss lunch with Nathan. Cry some more
10:30- Tucker is playing- decide to wait about the dr and go to lunch with Nathan after all

after that, the day got much better. We had a nice lunch, the boys took a nap, and Nathan got off early. The evening went as planned

If you are still reading this (which I doubt-this was mostly for me anyway) then here are the things that I was reminded today to be Thankful for:

I am thankful for:

a 3 year old who, although he doesnt always get it right, is a BIG help and is smart enough to do things to help his mommy and is sweet enough to play with his baby brother

an 11 month old who will snuggle on his mommy, takes good naps when he is not sick, and loves his older brother

children who occasionally get a cold, but otherwise are healthy

a husband who is willing to work on a holiday to provide for our family, and to use PTO hours to get off early when he knows his wife has had a bad day

a home to keep us warm and food on the table (even if it isnt turkey and dressing)

family who, although we are not with them in person, are always there for us

a God who loves us, provides for us, strengthens us, and challenges us


and if you are STILL reading, here are a few pictures from Griffin's Thanksgiving feast. His class were the Indians and Ms Summer's class was the pilgrims, or as Griffin told me, "The Grumbles".

Tucker, 11 months

So I missed 10 months- sorry Tucker. There is so much going on this time of year that I just can't keep up on my posts. Once I got about 3 weeks behind, I just decided it better to wait and write at the next milestone...and I am only 3 days late.

Tucker has changed so much the last 2 months. In many ways he is just like Griffin. He is funny, adventurous, and stubborn. He is a great sleeper, just like his brother- going straight to bed without any fuss (usually) and sleeps all night plus 2 long naps. He eats about like Griffin did too- loves table food the best, tolerates baby food. Will try anything once. But Tucker is definitely his own person. He is more attached to Nathan and I than Griffin ever was- we have had our share of tears at church, but he is getting better. He is my snuggler. He loves to lay his head on me and will let me rock him, which Griffin never would.

I am reminded with my second one how much they learn and retain before they can even speak. Here are some of the things he knows/can do or say:

Understand "no, no", although does not usually obey it. He does get his feelings hurt though and cries this sad cry when told "no"

Tries to repeats words. Words he repeats fairly consistently and seems to know their meaning are: ball (ba), mama, dada, griff (gu), hat (at), night, night (ni ni), uh-oh, bye-bye, up

Plays peek-a-boo
can point to my nose(not his)
shows his tongue on command
shakes his head no
gives "five" (although he still refuses to wave bye or clap his hands)
gives "love" (lays his head on your shoulder and says "uh,uh")
Points at things with one finger

Our favorite, well you just have to see it. It is the one with him in the rocking chair.

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Camping Trip

Here are some pictures from our recent camping trip with our friends from church. The weather was great and the kids had a blast. We were sad that the Perkins and the Owens got sick at the last minute and were not able to enjoy the whole weekend. This was our first time to spend the whole weekend and we were glad we did, although by Sunday the boys were so tired and we had a few minor meltdowns. After a good bath (boy were they dirty!)and along nap, we were all feeling much better.

Happy Halloween

From Captain Griffin and Tucker the Alien
Oh,and the Little Lamb is Cousin Lily

Pumpkin Patch

I know there a lot of pictures and I am biased cause their mine, but there were just too many good ones to not show off. This is last weekend at Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Last Wednesday was Nathan's birthday. We had a busy day that day with work, Griffin's school, and summit group. Tucker and I did go to lunch with Nathan at work and Griffin helped me make a cake to share with our 9th graders at Summit Group. The real birthday celebration, however, was this past Tuesday night. I surprised Nathan with 2 tickets to the Black Crowes conert at Stubbs. For anyone who knows Nathan, you probably know they are his favorite band and he knew about the concert long before I did. The surprise was that I bought a ticket to go with him. He tried to get me to go last year, but I was 8 months pregnant and opted out. This was my first Black Crowes concert. Although I dont know much of there stuff and I have to say the rock concert scene is not really my thing (standing for hours, getting pushed and crowded by people you would rather not touch, etc...) I did enjoy myself and I was glad I went. It was great to go out and ewnjoy something that Nathan loves with him. The band was great as well. Thanks to our friend Caitlin for watching our boys so we could enjoy this date together. Happy Birthday Nathan! I love you!

Fry's Fun Farm

Every year at Griffin's school they have the farm come to visit. It seems like we have lots of "petting zoo" pictures, and to be honest they all start to look the same to me, but I must record the moment. Even Tucker got in on the action.

Riding on the Giraffe

Thanks Drennon's for the cute giraffe. It goes so well in Tucker's room. And as you can see the boys love it!

Trip to Arkansas

The last week in September we went to visit our family in Arkansas. We had not been to Arkansas since early July, so it was good to see everyone and for everyone to see how much Tucker has grown. Most of the pictures are of a football game we went to on Friday night- my uncle is the coach. They one and it was fun to be a a high school football game- I havent done that in a while

Griffin's thoughts on heaven

This is a converstation I had yesterday in the car with Griffin (paraphrased)

Griffin: "Why does God not come down here?"

Me: "He lives in heaven and one day we will go there and see Him."

Griffin: "Will the earth go to Him?"

Me: "Well...long pause...someday, when we get old, we will die. And then we go to heaven to be with God. It will be a wonderful place...there will be no shots (he just got his flu shot), everyone will be happy all the time, we will sing praises to God. We will live with Him forever."

Griffin: "Yeah, and after I sing a song to God, he will say, "That was so beautiful!""

Me: "Yes He will!"

Brad Paisley and NASA

A couple of weeks ago we went to Houston to visit Nathan's brother and sister-in-law and our nephew Grant. On Friday night they watched the boys so Nathan and I could go on a late annivesary date to a Brad Paisley concert. On Saturday, we took Griffin to NASA. He is really in to space and astronaunts these days so he was SO excited! It was a lot of fun, though not the best place to take 2 9 month old babies. We had a great visit and the boys had good quality cousin time.

School

I am way behind on my posts but this time of year is just crazy (why do I fell like I am always saying that). Anyway, I am going to TRY and catch up.

Griffin started school a few weeks ago. He LOVES it! He goes 3 days a week now and he wishes he could go everyday. I am amazed at how much he is learning already- he is a sponge. It is hard to get it all out of him at the end of the day, but everntually he lets us in on the things he did, who was the line leader, who he played with, etc... My favorite is on Wednesday afternoon when he tries to say his nursery rhyme that they learned that day. It is so sweet to hear his little voice get it almost right :). It is also funny to hear how he sees and understands things. Last week he told me in his surprised voice, "The numbers are gone, mommy! Do you know why? Because it's September!" (he was talking about the calendar at school). I am also enjoying my time with Tucker and some "quiet time" in the mornings when he naps.

Tucker, 8 months

Wow, the time goes by so fast. Tucker was 8 months old yesterday. This month has been a big one. He has gotten 3 teeth (all on the top, learned to crawl, started sleeping through the night (finally!) and is pulling up on everything he can. Griffin walked at 10 1/2 months and I was expecting Tucker to be slower at everything- you know, they are always different- but now I am not so sure. Twice in the past few days Tucker has pulled up on something, let go, and stood for about 5-8 seconds (although Nathan could only capture 2 seconds on the video). He wants to stand and move and I have a feeling her will be walking early. While most of Tucker's changes have been for the better, he has started one habit this month that I am not excited about. Although he plays well in the floor, especially when Griffin is around, when he gets tired he gets very needy and want to be held all the time. He has started this screaming thing, where he clinches his fists,leans back, and squeals loudly. It is pretty annoying. I think my dreams of having a laid back quiet child with his daddy's personality might be just that. Tucker is more like Griffin everyday, but I can't complain if I have too of them. It will require twice the energy, but will be twice the fun!

Tucker's latest trick

The "Mad" Elephants

Okay, so the explanation for these crazy elephant faced kids is this: This past Sunday I tried to take Griffin and John Paul to see a free play, Pinocchio the Musical. I happened upon it randomly and it looked neat, but you could not reserve seats and the theatre only seats 130. The last day it was showing and the only day we could go was Sunday, at 2 and 4. They start handing out tickets an hour-and-a-half before each show and I had good intentions of going down right after church and getting the tickets. However, we had some car issues and this did not happen. So I rushed downtown at about 1:15 with both boys in the back of our 2nd car that has no ac, windows down, hair blowing in the breeze and we hurried to see if we could make it. We got there about 10 till 2 and were told that they were sold out for the 2:00, but would start handing out tickets at 2:30 for the 4:00 show. I didnt even know if we wanted to try to go to that one, but they had face painting and entertainment while we waited so I thought we'd give it a shot. Griffin came up with the idea to paint an elephant and I must say I was impressed. They ran around and played, I got the tickets, and we headed home. The boys insisted they were "mad" elephants, whatever that means. Well, John Paul was not able to go back with us but Griffin and I went at 4 and enjoyed the play. For those here in Austin thinking of trying this next year, here is my review. It is free for a reason. The acting is so-so and the singing was a little corny, the set was minimal. If you are looking for some fine drama/cultural expereince, this is probably not the place for you. BUt, if you are looking for a cute play that your "young" child will love and be entertained by and get to meet the cast afterward and do all of this for free, then it was great! They do this once a year, in August and I am sure we will look for it again next year.