7.31.2012

Squeals...

Landry is being loved on by Miss Jessica every day while I am at work. Jessica is a former student/current friend, and while I am sure that watching Landry for 8 hours a day is riveting - she occasionally has her friends (also my students) over to keep her company.

This excites Landry... 


7.30.2012

Full Circle...


Time...don't let it slip away
Raise your drinking glass
Here's to yesterday... 



In time...we're all gonna trip away
Don't piss heaven off
We've got hell to pay...



Come full circle


7.27.2012

Landry of mine...

This little Landry of mine...


I'm gonna let you shine...


This little Landry of mine...


I'm gonna let you shine....


This little Landry of mine...


I'm gonna let you shine.


Let you shine
Let you shine
Let you shine.


My sweet Landry...I only thought I was prepared for my heart to once again grow.
For my arms to crave rocking you to sleep.
For my hands to want to hold you forever. 
For my thoughts to be consumed by prayers for you.

And yet - I am overwhelmed with so much love for you that I can be brought to tears in an instant. Being a mommy is so much more than I dreamed of and nothing I could ever have imagined. 

I love you, sweet Landry, and just wanted you to know!

:)





My Little Pony (pt. 2)...


Remember this post?

It may be one of my most critical and thought provoking moments as a blogger.

Earth shattering stuff I discuss. 

Well guess what?

Landry has also experienced this right of passage. 

Her first. pony. tail!!!


Seriously. What could be sweeter?!

Her hair is longer than Emmy's was at this age but not as thick, so it pretty much all fits into one pony tail. 

And. I. LOVE. IT!

Especially that after shot. 

You know - I think I should petition that "baby's first pony" be an added item in all baby books. 

I almost think it's bigger than "first food", "first house", "first ..."

A girl and her pony tail are life long companions. 

Even my friends with short hair attempt to pull their manes back from their face time and again. 

I couldn't survive without mine.

And I definitely couldn't survive without Landry!

:)






7.26.2012

Tiny Tales Thursday...

Emmy loved having us all to herself this week. So much so that she was thinking of anything she could to prolong bedtime. On Monday she kept insisting that she was reading books.

Ryan: Ok, baby girl - time for bed.
Emmy: Noooo. I reeeding, Daddy.
Ryan: Emmy. Time for bed.
Emmy: dramatically opens book No! I reeeding book, Daddy. proceeds with "reeeding" Lalalalala pause Princess. lalalalalalalal pause Horse! Lalalalalala pause Cat!


Yes Emmy. The Princesses sing from time to time, are carried by horses and sometimes own cats.

Today - reading. Tomorrow - UIL champion for reading comprehension/storytelling.


7.25.2012

Sisters...

It has been so fun having these two cuties to ourselves this week! Don't get me wrong, we miss the Radster tons, but life has been a little slower with just them to adore. Emmy is beyond in love with Landry and loves to pat, kiss, and tickle her whenever she can. 


I also feel like Emmy has gotten to "be herself" without big brother around. On a normal drive home from school she is pretty quiet, keeps to herself and lets Radley lead the conversation. But the past two days she has been jabbering away telling me all about "hopping", "pay-ing" and "col-oring with kayons". 

She even read us a book last night.


Her personality has gotten to shine without interruption which has served as a great reminder that we need to provide that one on one time to EACH of our kids when we can. 

She has toddled into our room every morning carrying her baby and just sits there quietly as I feed Landry. Her good morning, "Hi mommy!" has been a sweet little addition to my day.


Today I picked Emmy up early from school and took her to get her nails painted. She of course picked the "pup-el one" for her and "peenk one" for me. 

I realize this pic is out of focus (I had it on manual and forgot) but I still love it. I wish she (and all of my kids) could forever be little enough to just sit there in my lap. 


Our finished toes.

"Pitty feet, Mommy".



Love those precious toes.

7.24.2012

Thirty days...



Since I have had one of these...








(or any carbonated goodness). 

I was inspired by Cindy who went 100 days in this feat. I don't know if I can make it that long - it is seriously my crack. I miss it. A lot. 

But, as Cindy says, it's the least I can do/control until I somehow figure out how to work in a exercise routine into this crazy life. 

I'll keep you posted on my commitment and feel free to send my inspirational messages. Next step: running/exercise M-F beginning August 1. 

(Maybe I should buy some new running shoes, since the last pair was purchased PRE RADLEY). 




Crazy Cousins...

We had another great weekend with an extended visit from Owen. 

Radley was SOOOO excited for "big Cousin Owen" to spend a few more nights on his "secret bed". On Friday I caught Owen reading Radley books before bed. They both love Cars so of course Mater's Tales was the book of choice. Just so fun to watch them so excited to spend time together. 


After Anna's party and extended naps we headed up to campus to tour the MSC, my office and load the kids up on some Aggie gear. I will say that I am glad no one was studying for finals because these kids were all over the place. 


Owen could not get enough of Landry. He always wanted to know where she was, what she was doing, and if she was happy. She returns the admiration - always full of smiles for him. 


Sunday we got the kids up early and headed out for some donuts. (Poor Owen is used to sleeping in - he learned quick that this crew gets up and out the door, but he was a trooper). 


And then it was off for some tennis with Pete and Pops. 
(Ryan and I took this as an opportunity to do the week's grocery shopping with the girls). 


The "coaches" reported that both boys did pretty well for their first time on the court. 
(And they are not easy to please - I know from experience)
;)


Look at that two handed fore hand. 


Owen headed back to the house with us after we returned from our outing  but Radley stayed longer to sharpen his skills. I think we may have a future Agassi on our hands. 

We bought stuff to make homemade pizzas for lunch. 


The preparation may have been a bigger hit than the pizza. 


Owen decided he didn't want cheese. 


And if that wasn't enough yummy goodness - we ended the visit with some froyo. 
(that's frozen yogurt in trendy terms)


Owen added so much fun to our group ...  


and Landry even stayed awake to say goodbye. 


Emmy even gave us her best pooty face. 


We had a sweet time, Owen! Let's make sure we don't go so long next time!


Love you, buddy!


7.23.2012

Anna Banana...

We got to celebrate a sweet three-year-old last week! 

Miss Annaliese Sloan: the upper middle of the RHMs, the one in charge, the never at a loss for a funny comment, won't smile until SHE is ready, darling blonde headed beauty! We headed over to Brookside Manor for some hot dogs and sweet treats to help her celebrate. 


And blow out her {first} birthday cake of the week. 
(the littles were off napping or something)


Then after all that sugar, Josh and Uncle Pete designed a race track in the yard.

Coming to the Summer 2028 Olympics...

Rad "Lightening" King... 


and 

Caroline "Prances with Wolves" Munson. 


And their cheerleaders. 
:)


We always have such {loud} fun with this crew. We have dinner/play time/bath time/bed time down to an art form. Six kids - one tub - maybe 12 minutes tops. 

I believe this is the first official RHM "line" pic -

Take one... 


... take six... 
(All but Landry are SMILING!) 


Then we decided to take "buddy" pics...
(One day Anna decided that they all had buddies - all on her own she paired them off. It's a delightfully funny story)

The Bigs... 
(can you imagine the slide show at the rehearsal dinner if these two got married? Goodness, it would take 3 days)


The Middles... 
(these are the two to fear)


The Littles...


Then the festivities continued with her actual birthday party on Saturday. Like all good summer babies - she got to have a swimming party (I was always so envious of my summer bday friends). 
Owen got to join in all the fun and showed Radley all his tricks in the pool. 


And Landry, as usual, had a great time napping. 
(I promise she does stay awake from time to time)


All the kids were ready to sing to the birthday girl (and get their hands on those cupcakes). 


Especially this one. 


And what party is complete without a group photo?!?!


Happy birthday, Sweet Annaliese! 

We LOVE you!

7.20.2012

Big girl...

If I needed any proof that Emmy is indeed a big girl I need to look no further than her daily reports from school. For the past two weeks they have looked like this....




Yep. No accidents. At all. For TWO weeks.
(she will clearly have 14000 accidents tomorrow because of this post)

I almost can't believe it myself. I mean two Saturday's ago she had probably 6 accidents wearing her panties all day. And then it's like she was done/over it/ready to be big. I don't even know if we deserve to be so lucky - I don't feel like we had any "training" in this potty training phase. 

It's funny how small she is compared to Radley at this age, but how much more grown up she seems. 

She dropped the paci in one night simply because we couldn't find it. 
She decided one day that she wanted to sleep in a big girl bed.
She drinks out of regular cups at home. 
She dresses herself.
She puts on her own shoes. 
And now she uses the potty.

Crazy.

I think it's simply because she is "little miss independent." All of these things were definitely on her terms (except the paci). Her favorite phrases include, "I do it!" "I a BIG gurl!" and so on. 

She is loving this age and we are loving watching her become a {little} big girl. 
Although I want to cry just thinking about it. 

Love you, Emmy! So proud of the petite princess that you are!!!

7.19.2012

Tiny Tales Thursday...

So I've mentioned Radley's incessant question asking. And. As overwhelming as this may be at time, I also don't want to discourage him from learning anything (and may have told him this once not knowing it would come back to haunt me). He is also a pretty astute little boy and can tell when his questions *may* be annoying Mommy.

Radley: Question 1
Mommy: Answer 1
Radley: Question 2
Mommy: Answer 2
....
Radley: Question 15
Mommy: Answer 15

At this point we are usually a little more than half way home from school and he can tell that I'm running out of actual answers. He takes a break. I appreciate it.

He then usually starts up again but today gave me a bit of a warning....

Radley: Mommy...
Me: Yes, buddy...
Radley: When we get closer to that pile of rocks up there I'm going to ask you a question.
Me: Ok....
::driving slower now...approach said pile::
Radley: Mommy...
Me: Yes, buddy...
Radley: What are those pile of rocks for?
Me: Hmmmm...I guess they are going to build something.
Radley: Oh. ::pauses:: I'll quit asking questions now. It's just I like to learn so much.


7.18.2012

Saying goodbye...

Sadly we had to say goodbye to everyone on Sunday, but not before a scrumptious breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Everyone loves this place and if you've never been; well you are missing out!


Radley wanted to show Owen Ryan's "big PUS trucks" (yes - he says it backwards) so they made a quick trip to the center to check everything out. 


The everyone was SO EXCITED to take pictures. Well, at least I was. 

So here it goes... 

Uncle Jody, Aunt Sonya and Cousins 


The whole gang. 
(I thought it was pretty funny that Emmy insisted on standing by herself because she's a big girl...I then ended up looking awkward standing in the middle. Thanks, Emms)


They played LOTS of Star Wars in their 48+ hours together, so this next picture was pretty appropriate.

Master Yoda and the Jedi Knights...



MaMaw and her great-grandkids




GiGi and Pops





The Guercio Gang


And the big{gest} kids.


We had tons of fun and love you so much! 


Can't wait for the next visit!!