May 2014 Trip to Utah

My sister had her first baby in April and I was very excited to see the sweet new baby. We decided to have just Baby and I fly to visit her because then I could actually be helpful to her instead of bringing my entire brood and overwhelming her little house with noise, germs and craziness. Also, it was too long of a drive for me to do by myself with 5 kids and Fixitman couldn't take time off. So at the end of May, sweet Baby and I got on a plane and headed for Utah. It had been almost 10 years since I had last been on a plane. Not much has changed besides security being more annoying. However the miracle of transporting myself to Utah from Texas in just a few hours made it well worth it.

It also meant I was able to take lots of pictures of two sweet baby cousins together!

 My sister is a loving mom. She is very considerate and thoughtful of her sweet baby. My brother in law is also awesome and always thinking of his wife and baby. I loved seeing their sweet family together. I attempted to be helpful and give them more tools for baby care while I visited. Our mom had been there right after her baby was born. However now that he was 2 months old I thought there might be things with which I could help.

 Baby asleep in a swaddle, on his side with dad. (The 5 S's are fabulous!)

 

In Utah you can put babies on the grass without fear of fire ants!

They are holding hands - sort of.

Love this guy and all his hair!

Baby turned 6 months in May, so he was experimenting with new foods. Watermelon was a favorite.

Helping his Aunt learn how to wear a baby was a fun adventure!

 Fixitman's parents came down from Idaho to meet our new baby. They also brought fun genealogy things for me to look at!

 Mmm, yummy celery!

It was a great trip! I enjoyed spending time with my sister and her family very much. Playing with a new nephew was awesome.

Here at the end is my brother in law dribbling the soccer ball with his feet and knees. We made this video for my son who likes soccer. I think this is so impressive!

Photos from May 2014

May 5 is the day we learned we'd have to move away from our country house that summer. It was not a planned or desired move. However when you rent, unexpected things like your home being sold out from under you happen. As a result, I spent many hours in May searching for a new place for us to live. We did have some other fun activities though.

I ran in another 5Kwith a friend. It was my first trail race and I was worried most of the time that I was going to fall and twist my ankle. I managed to finish without that happening. I even got a faster time than the last race!

Dinoguy came with me to the race. He passed out water cups and cheered for me. That was fun!

We ordered more butterfly caterpillers. Princess requested them but we all really enjoyed watching the butterflies grow, make chrysalises, and hatch. We learned lots about nature from it. I love seeing their tongue uncurl to drink juice!

Trainboy had a few more soccer games to play in at the beginning of the month.

Baby started cutting his first teeth! Trying to take a picture of it was not easy.

Little Guy wearing a bow tie for church "just like dad"

I had fun on a cub scout cooking project with this sweet boy.

Dinoguy earned ranks and merit badges at a court of honor.

Trainboy got new glasses.

He picked them out and when we got home they were similar to Dad's new glasses!

Baby started moving backwards. This means he got stuck under the couches!

Swim meet season arrived. Both older boys participated.

Trainboy participated in a piano recital. His piano playing skills are progressing nicely.

This kid kept me laughing. He's a sweet one.

And I took lots of pictures of this sweet baby.

That's a quick summary of May!

Pictures in the Bluebonnets (March 2014)

We finally took pictures in our seventh year of seeing the bluebonnets here in Texas. It is a common tradition here and you will see people stopped along the road to snap pictures in fields during the two weeks they are in blossom. They are beautiful to see and I have meant to arrange for pictures during them for several years. However it is usually a busy period in the spring when they happen as well and they are usually gone before I realize it. This year I did arrange for a friend of mine to take some photos of us in the bluebonnets and they turned out so well!

Thanksgiving and Grandma visit (November 2013)

A little over a week after our new baby joined our family, Thanksgiving occurred. This is my favorite holiday and usually I am planning, shopping and cooking for several days. This year I knew I would just be enjoying the food and company of friends. One of my dear friends here invited us to join them at their home.

Okay I did make my favorite Fudge Pecan Pie. And it took all of my energy.

Car ride!

Let's go eat!

Sweet kids table. Trainboy was ticked to have to sit there while Dinoguy was at the "big" table.

Some of the food.

Fixitman did brine and roast a turkey, while my friends' husband smoked a cajun turkey. The cajun turkey was spicy but delicious! They also made a new version of green bean casserole that was actually delicious (it involved making the fried onions and cream sauce from scratch.) We also introduced them to Fixitman's famous macaroni salad. There was plenty of food and lots of good conversation.

My mom came to help me after baby's birth and while she was here we took some pictures, my goal being to have a decent family photo for Christmas cards. Mom had a new camera she was playing with so it was fun for her too I think.

My mom & I. People tell me now that we look alike.

My 5 boys

Family Photo, pretty good!

Silly family photo

Another fun one

Mom also had fun playing grandma and doing fun things with the kids. One of the things my mom loves is nature. She has become a master naturalist in South Carolina and loves to photograph wildlife. While she was here she took the kids on a couple of nature walks and installed a bird feeder for the kids to be able to watch birds and taught them the names of several kinds of birds.

She also let Princess paint her nails and surprised Grandpa when she got home. This is a picture of Princess peeking through s door knob hole at her.

It was wonderful how much support I had from friends and family after baby's birth. I was able to rest and recover for weeks without having to go anywhere, it was fabulous.