A Day at the Park

We have been having some beautiful weather in Dallas this last two months.  I guess the benefit of a mild winter is an early and gorgeous spring!  I know I'll be missing this weather when the triple digits hit in the summer, but for now Lexi and I have been taking full advantage of it with daily walks and park time.  This last week was the first time I put Lexi in the baby swings.  I padded around her with her high chair cover, but she LOVES the feeling of the wind in her face.  I can't get enough of her when she is giggling and laughing as I push her back and forth.  She loves to play "Gotcha" as I pretend I'm going to catch her as she swings towards me.  She cracks up laughing every time I yell "GOTCHA!" and grab at the swing.  What a joyous age 6 months is!

Longview Trip

Nick decided he needed a weekend of fishing and since I am so grateful to him for making the sacrifice to sell his boat, I didn't even hesistate the jump in the car and take the trip to Longview with him.  While he and his friend, Stephen, spend the day hooking fish on the water, Lexi and I trekked around town and hung out at the house with Nick's mom, Aunt Courtney and sweet little Cord.

There is just something about the look of detemination on his face that makes me LOVE this pic.  This totally captures the essence of tummy time at this age! 

 What a happy boy!

Though Cord and Lexi are 3 months apart, they weigh close to the same amount right now.  I predict Cord is going to be a football player...he's already shaping up to be a big, strong boy.  He has a head of wild hair that is just adorable.  I couldn't resist getting some pictures of he and Lexi playing on the patio and Cord holding his head up.  He has just grown up so much in the last month...it's unbelieveable.  I love watching he and Lexi together.  It's amazing comparing them throughout different phases of development and watching them grow from newborns to little infants now.  I know that in 18 years, as they drive away to college (that's right...they'll be in the same grade), Courtney and I will look back at these pictures and wonder where all the years went.  I know I am going to treasure every moment of these two angels growing up together.

I'm a Fluffy Baby

Alright folks, it's official. Our family is joining the cloth diapering world.  After I officially decided in March to stay at home next year with Lexi, one of the first things I wanted to check off  on my domesticated goddess checklist was to start cloth diapering.  I have always been intrigued by the thought of cloth diapering, but was totally intimidated by the whole concept.  How do you hold the diapers on?  How often do you have to change and wash them?  What do you do with the dreaded poopy diapers?  I knew that working full time and having a child in daycare, meant that cloth diapering was not an option. 
Now that has all changed.  After much research, I am embracing this new semi-crunchy (because I have not gone totally granola yet) way of life.  I even went so far as to make my own cloth diaper laundry detergent and started using cloth wipes and homemade wipe solution.  So far the whole transition has been pretty much seamless.  Nick, though hesitant at first, has helped with many a cloth diaper changes so far and even changed a poopy diaper today (though he swore he never would).   Plus check out how CUTE cloth diapers are now.  We are sticking with mostly gender neutral covers and diapers that can be used with more than one child.  Great for the environment, budget friendly and an adorable accessory.  How can I turn that down!

 I can't wait to share more as we delve even further into the cloth diapering world!

Visit to Frisco (Blog Catch-up Week)

I have severely negleted our blog these past 6 months since Lexi was born.  I have so many cute pics and stories and I have decided to make a huge effort to update at LEAST once a week.  I know I will look back on these memories and wish I had been more detailed, so I made a promise to myself to make more of an effort to log my thoughts and recollections weekly.  So this week is catch up week.  I have a new blog entry waiting to go for each day to catch up on what has happened these last few weeks.  So here goes....starting a couple weeks ago when Lexi had just learned to sit!

Lexi's Mimi and Grandpa (also known as my Mom and Dad) came in from Houston this month for a visit.  Meagan went to visit Jason in their new apartment in League City and my parents stayed at Meagan's house, which they will soon be leasing.  My mom is going to be back and forth between here and Houston, and plans to be in the Dallas area part time to spend more time with Lexi and I.  We are so excited to have her here! 
So up they came, to stay at Meagan's house and hang out with us.  On Saturday, we headed over to the Frisco area and visited the Shops of Legacy, but not before stopping at the Frisco Heritage Museum for a few quick pictures.  I have been dying for Lexi to finally be able to sit up on her own for pictures, so I was thrilled to pop her on this porch and snap of few quick shots.  It was very crowded with photographers so this was the only place we could find, but we had fun nonetheless.
We can't wait until Mimi is here with us more often....I forsee many girls outings together soon!

Busy Easter Weekend

Because of our unseasonably hot winter here in Texas we didn't use any of our snow days at school and I ended up with a four day weekend.  What a wondeful break for Lexi and I to spend some quality time together.  On Friday, we went and had a playdate with my friend Kristen and her new baby girl, Mackenzie.  Deanna and Mason came along too and we had such a fun time visiting and cuddling with their new sweet little baby.  I just couldn't get enough of her cute little face and head full of beautiful hair.  I can hardly remember Lexi being that tiny! 

Then this weekend Lexi's Mimi and Grandpa came to Dallas for a visit.  My sister Meagan will soon be moving to Houston to start PA school, so she and her husband Jason were down there spending Easter weekend together.  My parents took the opportunity to come up and stay at their house and visit Lexi.  We also went to Highland Village to Patrizios (my mom's favorite place to eat here) and sat on the porch for dinner.  The weather was beautiful and so was the company.  I will be so excited to have my mom up here more often starting in June!

First time in a high chair at a restaurant

Happy Half Birthday Lexi

I can't believe that I have a 6 month old baby!  My, how much she's grown in such a short time.  It seems like Lexi always hits her milestones exactly when she is supposed to.  Here are a few new things Lexi loves to do:

-She loves to talk and make noises and has started stringing together consonant and vowels (dadada, bababa)
-Right at 6 months, she went from being able to sit with support to sitting all by herself.  Now she loves to reach for her toys and pull herself up and down.

-Lexi cracks herself up when she throws things on the ground and they crash, when she makes her toys make noises or when music is playing.  She laughs and squeals while she plays.
-This month, Lexi mastered rolling and went from just rolling from her tummy to back, to rolling ALL over the place.  She also kicks her feet and spins herself on her tummy in a circle.

-She's got quite a reach on her...it's AMAZING how far she can reach for toys without being able to crawl.
-She isn't crawling, but she's attempting to squirm by putting her face down and booty up in the air and pushing off with her feet.
-She started solid foods.  So far she loves apples, pears, bananas and likes sweet potatoes.  She is still up in the air about squash and she HATES carrots.  (She went on a strike and wouldn't eat solid food for a day and a half after I introduced them)

-She is still a great sleeper and tends to always sleep for right at 8 hours.
-She gives us open mouth kisses, especially when she is very excited to see us.

We have also made a major decision in our household this month.  We have decided to start cloth diapering Lexi.  It's something I've always been interested in, but wasn't sure about because of working full time and sending Lexi to daycare.  Right now, we have started diapering part time (in the evenings and on weekends) and it is going great!  I love my little chunky butt in her cute cloth diaper covers!  This will end up being a BIG money saver for us, and I will feel so much better doing our part to go green!  I hate the feeling of throwing hundreds of dollars down the toliet on disposable diapers.