Fabulous trip to Aruba

Josh and I had the most amazing vacation to Aruba!!  It is now our favorite tropical destination.  It is so beautiful, clean, friendly and ironically very safe.  It is sad that the island had to go through the media wars after the Holloway case, but don't let it defer you from Aruba.  It is spectacular.  The one downside is that it is quite expensive.  We have decided next trip that we will definitely rent a car because even though the island is small, the taxi rides are based on destination and not mileage.  We went to a fantastic restaurant for Josh's birthday, and it was $60 plus tip ride.  We stayed at the Marriott Aruba Surf Club thanks to our dear friends, Brooke and Jason!  It was a timeshare and so nice.  Our hotel had a lazy river in the pool area which was so nice when you wanted a break from the sand.  Here are a few pics and more details. 

Happy 34th Birthday to my sweet husband!!!  We celebrated at a wonderful place on the water called Mirandi.  It was all open-air on the water and was by far our favorite meal.  Delish!

The gorgeous sunset from our table. 

Looking back into the covered portion of the restaurant.  It is a giant palapa.

The host was so nice and took our pictures.  I think he liked my camera which was great because he taught me a few tricks. 

Picture from the beach looking back to part of the resort.

The water was so clear and just like glass.  No waves at all until a boat stirred it up a little

Making Josh pose for me.

Had to show you how clear the water was.

Iguanas were everywhere.  See if you can spot three of them.

Last night...it was so windy.

Posing again...that is the downside of having one person that loves taking the pictures.

View from our balcony.  It was so pretty.

Packed and ready to go home to see our baby girl but one last walk on the beach. 

All about Avery

This morning I decided to take a video of Avery eating her breakfast.  I realized there were a few pics that I never downloaded from my old (smaller) camera.  Avery is so much fun.  She will be 15 months tomorrow.  She is talking up a storm and will try to repeat anything you say.  She says uh-oh, oh wow, whoa, dada, mama, nana (for banana), eyes, hot, bye-bye, baby, shca(which we have learned is for Prisca, our cat), grits, outside.  Sometimes I swear she says "I stuck."  She loves playing with her baby doll and feeding it a bottle.  She kisses everything and says "Muah" after every kiss.

Avery is doing great at school.  She typically takes a good nap and plays very well with other kids.  The one downside is that she still isn't eating lunch.  I feed her breakfast at home because she is so picky and then she gets several snacks and good dinner at night, so she isn't starving.  I keep thinking she will see the other kids and start eating, but she is just stubborn.

We are getting excited about Baby #2.  We have our big ultrasound on August 20th.  I think we have decided to find out the sex.  When it really came down to it, I realized I am a planner.  Plus, I can't imagine how hard it is to not find out when the doctor can really see it?  If for some reason, we have another shy baby, I am going to take that as we shouldn't find out. :)  More to come later.  I am measuring a week ahead of my due date, but the doctor said it just means we will have another big baby.  Funny because Avery is in 90% for height but less than 50% for weight now. 

Here is our family pic on Father's Day celebrating Josh!  He is a wonderful Dad!  (Side note, this shirt is really loose  and puffy...I am not showing that much yet, just enough to look pudgy.) 

One day I was in the living room and thought it was pretty quiet so I went looking for Avery and she was in the chair in her room playing with her baby.  She had also found a pacifier under her changing table. 

She also loves necklaces.  She loves to wear them and put them on her baby.

Avery was eating her grits while watching Elmo, and I had to show you how she feeds herself.  She has to turn the spoon over every time.  It is so funny because we wish we could tell her she would lose less food if she ate it straight.  Next I will try to video her eating applesauce.  She would rather eat that with her hands.  Needless to say, we take lots of baths. :)

4th of July in Galveston

Hi All!  I am so behind on my postings.  This is July 4th weekend and almost a month has flown by since then.  Josh and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Aruba.  We had the best time, and Avery spent the week with both sets of her grandparents.  More to come later.  Here are a few pics of our trip to Galveston with my family.

Carson and Avery feeding the seagulls bread.  We arrived on Friday evening after all of the huge storms.  The rest of the weekend was beautiful. 

Morning milk...her favorite thing!

Drinking buddies! 

Sunrise on July 3rd

To the beach...Avery would not get down on the sand even though she has been to the beach numerous times.  My Dad, Pops, with his grandkids.

My sister and I with the kids.

Getting ready for the fireworks.  Avery strolled her baby stroller around the deck all weekend. 

Avery's normal squinty eyes and nose.

Super model pose!

The kids watching the fireworks.  Carson called them "Boom Boom."

Happy 4th of July!  Sporting her cute suit from her Grandma, Josh's mom.

Day 2, she still wasn't sure of the beach.  Check out all of the seaweed.  This actually looks good compared to what my mom said it looked like the week before.  They were bulldozing it daily.  Nothing was left in the water, thank goodness. 

This was the only way I got her out of our arms.  She became very brave after sitting on the boogie board.

Josh and Avery in the water.  Josh was afraid he would burn.

Cute Carson...love this look on his face.

So proud of herself.

All dolled up again.  The sun was so bright.

About the sweep the deck with her windmill. 

My parents had not installed their bigger TV so the kids were loving sitting on the floor right in front of the little TV.  We had to pull them back several times. 

Trip to the Children's Museum

Several weeks ago my parents were keeping my nephew, Carson, while my sister and her hubby were out of town.  We decided to take the kids to the Children's Museum on my day off.  They really enjoyed it.  There is so much to see as they get older, but they had a great time.  Here are a few pics of our day.  Sorry for the very delayed posting.  I can only contribute to procrastination.  It takes so long to upload pics that I procrastinate doing it.  If any of you fellow bloggers have suggestions for taking less time, please let me know.  Happy July!

On the Baby #2 front, all is great here.  I am 14 weeks this week.  I go in for another check-up on Thursday and hope to hear the heartbeat again.  We are still on the fence for finding out the sex.  :)

My mom, Mazzie, with her grandkids waiting for the museum to open.  She was going to be MomZ (her first name is Zana) but Carson changed it to Mazzie so it has stuck. 

We started with the water since no one was outside yet, but we didn't realize how wet they would get.  Check out Carson's shirt in the next pic. 

Having a ball and completely soaked. 

Playing together in the water. 

Showing Avery how to turn the wheels. 

Getting so tickled

In Kidtropolis (the little kid's city - so cool), driving the police car.  

Moved on to HEB in Kidtropolis.  They loved filling their shopping basket.  Very interested in the veggies. 

"Here, Carson, you can have this carrot."

Now we are at the vet's office looking at the stuffed dogs and cats.  

On to the little kiddie area.  They both loved this big cow.  

This was Avery's favorite spot...She is ALL girl!  Loved playing tea party.  

Playing with the life-size Light Bright

Not the best quality pic, but the one that they were both looking while in the truck.

They both loved the slide

I think this was their favorite spot.  Opening and closing doors, ringing door bells, turning on lights and seeing themselves in the mirror.  If you are wondering what is on my mom's feet, unless you have socks on they make you wear hospital booties.  Go figure.  

Playing in the balls

Ready to move on to something new...

We made one last stop again so they could get good and wet for the car ride home...I know bad planning.  Carson was showing Avery how to make big waves.  

"Haven't we seen this before?  I think I am done Mommy."