Thanksgiving in Midland

This year we headed out to west Texas for Thanksgiving to Jason's hometown, Midland. It was a nice, low-key holiday--just the kind that I like!

Last year Aspen was still just nursing, so this was her first year that she got to chow down on the Thanksgiving feast. My sister-in-law, her husband, and their two boys were also there for the holiday. I think all the kids really enjoyed the meal. Aspen's favorite thing was hands down the cranberry sauce. Once she tried it, it was the only thing she wanted!  

After the meal Aspen was ready to watch some football. We taught her how to do the touchdown sign, so of course she had to show her Papa.

These two boys were very happy after the meal. Cameron even lead the group in a song of "10 little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed..."

All the kids really enjoyed running into Nanny and Papa's room. These two found some fun beads to play with. I thought Aspen wasn't going to take these things off ever Of course we had to encourage sharing with her cousins.

At our house Aspen likes to take out the broom and "sweep", but I have to be careful because it's a little large for her. Nanny gave her this little broom that was perfect and she had a blast running around "sweeping" the whole house.

It was hard for me to try and get a photo of Cameron. Every time I would whip out my camera he would run away--so how appropriate that picture I have he is running!

I love this sweet girl. I'm excited to be heading into the holiday season. It's my favorite time of the year. Lots of friends, family, food, and drink--what else is better in life??

Trip to See Grandma

It's been a very busy week and a half for our family. I haven't had a lot of time to do any blog post, so I have to go back in time a little bit. The weekend before Thanksgiving Aspen and I traveled up to Boston to spend the weekend with Grandma (my mom). After almost not going because of plane issues--we got there and had a  great trip.

The first day we arrived late in the evening. After Aspen doing AMAZING on the flight up, she was really exhausted. As soon as we got to my mom's house she went right to bed. In the morning after playing a little bit and having some breakfast we headed over to see Aspen's great-grandmother, Grammy, and her great-aunt, Aunt Mary. She was still tired I guess because she snoozed in this chair for about the first 30 minutes we were at their house.

Of course one of Aspen's favorite activities while we stayed for three days was climbing the stairs. We had to have a little "discussion" about not trying to carry a million things in her hands at the same time. It definitely was some good exercise!

The second day we were there we headed to my Uncle John and Aunt Dora's house. As a kid I spent a fair amount of time at their home. Lots of fun memories were had in their backyard. Aspen had take picture on the "big rock" with Grandma while giving some high fives.

She also got to explore and burn off some energy before we had dinner.She loves to be outside no matter if she has a playground to play on or not. She was just content walking around everyone.

Love this face!

My cousin Jill was giving Aspen some lessons on how to tie a togo for future college years. I thought it looked pretty nice! It was great to see Jill and her husband Steve and catch up with them both. Last time we saw them was for there wedding this past July. As the bride and groom they didn't have much time to chat. I'm glad they got to spend a little time with Aspen.

 And of course being in New England, they were trying to sway my child...

The last day we spent most of the day around my mom's house. Aspen had a pretty stuffed up nose and I didn't want to be running around right before heading out of town the next day. Grammy came over for lunch to see Aspen again and she was nice enough to share her quiche with her great-granddaughter. 

Thankfully as the day went on she seemed to be feeling fine. I can't imagine what it would be like to have to fly with a sick baby. I'm so glad my little girl was feeling better.

It was a really fun trip to see my mom. I was so proud of myself flying with a toddler alone. Aspen did great both ways and it's nice to know that we can do more traveling with her in the future. Thanks for letting us crash your house for the weekend Grandma!

Taking the Dog for a Walk

On Saturday night Jason's office had a work party, so my dad came over to babysit. He got to our house early enough for all of us to go to the park before it was too dark. I've noticed as kids get into the toddler stage they can become "obsessed" on one certain thing--trucks, birds, cell phones (I've noticed this in other kids). Well, Aspen I think has found at least one of her favorite things--dogs! She has to befriend every dog we meet. At times we wonder if she thinks she is more like Bella than like us.

Aspen walking her first dog...
(keep in mind she knows this dog--it's basically her second pup, Layla)

 

Yesterday Jason, Aspen, and I drove up to the Fort Worth area to see our nephew for his 1st birthday party. We arrived early because of daylight savings. It was nice for the cousins to spend some time together before the big party. Trevor was very excited for the big day--aren't those shades cute? My sister-in-laws house is so nice because upstairs she has a whole open area with all the toys for the kids. Aspen had a blast playing with this tunnel. She was totally entertained going through it over and over again.

 I always love to try and get all the cousins together for pictures when we see them. Of course trying to get three young kids to sit still and look at the camera isn't an easy job. Cameron did the best out of the three!

Take 1:

 

Take 2:

Take 3: Got it! (although no one is looking very happy by now)

Sarah and Brian did a great job with the party. The theme for Trevor's big 1st birthday was cowboy. They had a great food and pretty good size group of people. I think everyone had a great time.

 Trevor looking the part for his theme...

Aspen sporting her hat...

Trevor and Aspen spent a good part of the day together and I didn't realize until this trip, but I think they kind of look alike. They were playing so well together, which was nice because lately Aspen doesn't always want to "play" with others. Trevor was eyeballing Aspen's grapes.

Guess she was to slow.

No worries here--just a couple of happy babies!

Sarah did a great job on the cake. Homemade red velvet cake with of course cream cheese frosting. Yum! Trevor wasn't sure about it at first.

He got over that once he gave it a try!

Unfortunately because of work we had to head back that same night to Austin. It was a short trip, but a lot of fun. Aspen fell asleep in the car on the way home and we just moved her into her crib when we got home. She did great for such a full, active day. Of course she had to give her Nanny some hugs and kisses before we left.

Happy Birthday Trevor! Hope you enjoyed your party as much as we did :)

Making Our Mark

Today at our neighborhood park there was a huge tree planting event. There is going to be a total of 100 new trees planted at the park over the course of day. There was a new irrigation system put in to help the trees stay hydrated over the next few years. A lot of planning and organizing has been done to keep our neighborhood park one of the best in Austin.

Jason dug the hole and planted this tree by himself. I was hanging out with Aspen while he did it and the two other guys in the picture came and helped put the tree in at the end--but Jason did the hard part! The tree is a Dutch Elm

Aspen was very interested in all the people digging holes and planting trees.

It will be fun to be able to tell Aspen when she is older that "we" planted this tree!

15 Months Old

Today Aspen turned 15 months old. We had a doctor's appointment this morning and she did really well. She was actually having a blast playing with all the toys in the exam room. She didn't get upset until she had to get a couple of shots (which I'm not sure if there is ever a kid that doesn't get upset), but she bounced right back as soon as it was over. We left the doctor's and headed to the park and she played for about an hour--what a trooper!

What you are up to lately...

• You weigh 21 lbs. which puts you in the 25th percentile for weight. I think you will always be on the smaller size, but we don't mind :)
• When you were born you were 20 1/2 in. and today you measured 30 1/2in.--a whole 10 inches longer!
• You have been walking since right before your 1st birthday and now it's hard to keep up with you. Sometimes when we go to the park you prefer to just walk all around the park instead of playing on the playground. You burn off so much energy during the day! 
• Overall you are a good eater. You aren't the biggest fan of your green veggies, but we sneak them in where we can  Some standard favorites: bananas, yogurt, pasta (just like her mama!), turkey and avocado.
• You have become such a sweet girl giving hugs and kisses. It's the best thing to get a kiss from you.
• You are always talking, it's just hard to always understand what you are saying. Some words that I always can understand--Mama, Dada, Uh oh (when we drop something). Some words I think you have said-- shoes, juice (which is weird because I don't give you juice most of the time), baby, hi, and bye.
• You are learning new things every week. Lately you have been really good about pointing to your nose. I love watching you suddenly discover something new.

I think about what it was like for our family a year ago and how different things were. We were still so nervous as parents. You have changed so much and so have we--it will be interesting to see what things will be like a year from now!

Aspen a year ago--

And today--

Happy Halloween!

Last year Aspen was only about 3 months old for Halloween. This year she actually wore her costume without getting upset--last year we dressed her up as a monkey and she hated it!

Introducing, the Pumpkin Fairy--

We had a playdate on the Friday before Halloween that all the kids got to dress up and show off their costumes. They all looked super cute.

Aspen and her buddy Cole as the two pumpkins in the group

Aspen is still to young to really go trick-or-treating and she doesn't eat candy, so it was still pretty uneventful this year. I will say that I was dissappointed in the groups of kids that were still coming to our door last night after I had turned the porch light out--isn't this the unspoken rule of Halloween?!?

Aspen loved playing with the pumpkins on the porch--especially the glitter one we got from the studio I teach at---thanks!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween--I'm very excited to be moving into the holiday season!