Next Stop: Brownsville, TX!

Tuesday we made the long trek down to South Texas to visit more family. Surprisingly there wasn't as much crying as before and Dylan even managed a 30-minute nap. However with two stops to try to keep Dylan calm, a 5-hour drive turned into a 7-hour drive. When we arrived my mom was busy getting everything ready for Dylan's birthday party! No one from my family has met Dylan yet since this is my 1st trip home since I was 8 months pregnant (aside from my immediate family), so she figured we could have everyone come over for a birthday party! Just a few weeks late, no biggie! :) It was really great seeing everyone again and for them to finally get to meet Dylan. Dylan was pretty fussy on and off since he'd been in the car all day and only slept for about 45 minutes after we got here, but he did a great job of staying awake and happy until about 8:30pm. He had so much fun at this party...he had a cake, got some cool presents, and even had his first pinata!!!

I thought it was a giraffe, but others told me it was either a donkey or a horse...I'll stick to giraffe.

Dylan instantly knew what to do...grab all the candy before everyone else!

And Dylan even got my meet his Great-Grandpa!!! He's the only living grandparent I have left, so this was a big deal to me :)

Yesterday, we decided, would be a good day to take Dylan to the beach (yet another first for him) before Tropical Storm Arlene would hit and the rain would ruin our fun. Well after Dylan finally woke up from his late morning nap and stopping for some fresh seafood we eventually made it to the beach. Immediately we noticed the dark clouds moving in, but we figured we had about 15-20 minutes to play.

We had a great time for about 5 minutes before the rain started. There wasn't anywhere we could really run for cover besides the overcrowded restrooms, so we all got pretty wet, even Mom & I who were planning on sitting back and enjoying the sun. We waited it out for about an hour before ultimately decided to head home because we knew the rain was here for good. And even though Mom & I were very determined to stay covered and dry (especially since we were the ones holding all the bags and everyone's stuff!) Keith and Joey managed to fight a few waves and Dad and Dylan played in little puddles around the shore. I really wish I could've snapped a few more pictures but I wasn't about to bring out my expensive camera in the rain. Of course it wasn't until later that I remembered I had my digital camera in the diaper bag that could've handled a little rain here or there. Oh well, I wish Dylan would've have more time in the water with the waves, but Keith said he had a lot of fun when he was out there.

Maybe next time Dylan!

It has been raining all day today and you would think it would be ruining our vacation, but the rain is such a refreshing sight to see...I can sit and watch it all day. We head back to Houston tomorrow and then back home either Saturday or Sunday, depending on how exhausted we all are. I'm so happy Dylan has been able to stick to his napping/sleeping schedule, I was really nervous about that. He doesn't nap and sleep as much as he does at home and I can tell he misses his crib, but that's okay! Here's hoping to some more safe travels and hopefully a couple of naps in the car!!!

Houston Aquarium

Today we took Dylan to go visit the fish at the Downtown Houston Aquarium. After a quick bite for lunch and averting some Houston traffic we finally met Stacey there. Dylan loved watching all the fish and pointing to his favorites. 

And here's the fish that was Ursula's "poor, precious poopsie" (from The Little Mermaid)...

Obviously Dylan had a lot of favorite fish that he saw!!!

At one point in the aquarium there was a room where we could pet certain fish. I was surprised that I actually touched a sting ray, but even Dylan touch one!

We also rode on a train that took us around the grounds and in a tunnel that was surrounded by a shark tank. It was fun and Dylan enjoyed the ride...plus a fresh break from the heat.

Once it started getting a bit hot outside Grandma S took Dylan to the shade while Keith, Stacey, and I rode on the ferris wheel. Then we took Dylan back in the air-conditioned building while Keith rode one more ride.

Even though it was a warm day and we were all pretty beat when we made it back home, we had a lot of fun and Dylan enjoyed every minute! Tomorrow we make our 5-hour drive to Brownsville to visit my family and the beach. I hate making Dylan spend so much time in the car so often, but we'll be home soon enough and he seems to be enjoying his first vacation so far!

Summer vacation continued....

Well we have all definitely been enjoying our time at home together. We have gotten in a great routine and it seems like Dylan is learning and exploring more everyday. He's still not walking independently (which I'm okay with) but is crawling like a mad man. He is walking when pushing objects and loves climbing any flight of stairs he can find.

He's also finally discovered his Italian side and will eat pasta for every meal if I let him. Which is actually great because I would too!

We left this morning for Houston and the car ride was about what I thought it would be...quite a bit of crying and NO sleeping. Dylan managed to fall asleep for about 2 minutes and wouldn't sleep the rest of the way, even after we stopped at Sonic in Fairfield for a snack  and a some quick fun in their playground. Luckily I had decided to sit in the back with him so I was able to keep him relatively calm and happy (when he wasn't trying to "hulk" himself out of his car seat). Plus Gloworm was along for the ride to help keep him happy :)

We ended up making it without any problems and Dylan enjoyed his first day at Grandma & Grandpa's house. He was welcomed with new toys and even pet their new puppy, Rory. We'll be in Houston until Tuesday when we make our way down to Brownsville to visit more grandparents and Dylan will take his first trip to the beach. Should be fun!!!

Birthday/Father's Day Weekend

Well we definitely had ourselves a busy weekend! Saturday was my birthday and it started off with a fun trip to Target and Elizabeth's Bakery in Plano to pick out my birthday cake! I ended up choosing a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a layer of chocolate ganache filling...YUM! After some presents, cake, and fun family time with my guys we headed off to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner...YUM YUM!! It was a great day! :)

Today was Father's Day...Keith's 2nd Father's Day. I was so excited to give Keith his present so Dylan and I gave it to him around 6:30am. I decided to splurge a little and get him an iPad. I knew he wanted one and he really did deserve it being the amazing father he is to Dylan everyday. Although I clearly stated to him that he probably would not be getting much for his birthday and maybe a box of Cracker Jacks for Christmas this year...hopefully it'll be worth it! We spent the rest of the day taking Dylan to the park in his wagon, going to lunch at Uncle Julio's and taking a stroll through the mall. Overall, another great day!

You gotta love Shutterfly!!!!

My next task is trying to get us all ready for our summer trip visiting all the grandparents. I'm all sort of nervous about traveling with Dylan for the first time and especially for being away from home for so long. Everyone tells me "not to worry" and "he'll be fine"...sorry, but I'm mommy and I get to worry all I want. But I'm really hoping this trip goes well, and I won't be afraid to cut it short if it doesn't! I really don't mean to sound negative and nasty...Ah, the nerves!!! :/ I'm also going to be purchasing a new lens in the coming week (just in time for vay-cay) and I'm very excited about it!!! Can't wait to try it out at the beach...

By the way, this is Dylan's new favorite hobby...racing mommy & daddy up the stairs when it's time for bath. That and crawling...my baby boy is finally crawling!!! :)

New Blog and New Haircut!!!

Well, with all the talk on the Apple forums (yes, I read the Apple forums...Apple geek here!) about iWeb disappearing in the "not so distant future", I've decided to make the switch to Blogger while I had the time. Love summer break!!! So, here we are! :)


We recently took Dylan in for his 2nd haircut ever (he’s almost 13 months but was born with a FULL head of hair). So of course, I had to have a photo shoot with my little man to show off his new ‘do!


I have fallen in love with the parks at Highland Park! They are so beautiful and clean, and are the perfect setting for a Dylan photo shoot. I suggest you scope them out if you have a chance.

I love the "school picture" pose!!!

And of course, Dylan throwing out the deuces!

And it just wouldn't be a visit to the park without going down the slide with Daddy!!! Dylan's favorite past-time :)

Our 1st week of summer bliss!!!

Dylan and I have had such a great time this week not having to go to school/work! We’ve been able to go to the park with his wagon in the mornings and have lunch dates with Keith a few days this week. We also visited with some fun friends and Dylan got to go swimming in his first big pool at Suzie’s house. He loved it! Thankfully it didn’t take us very long to get settled on a routine that works for both of us...I love morning nap-time the best! And to top it all off, I enrolled Dylan in Gymboree classes for the summer and our first class is today, we can’t wait to go back.

There were a lot of great things that came out of the recent Apple convention this week...I can’t wait for IOS 5 and OS X Lion! And even though I’m pretty excited for the endless possibilities of the new iCloud, unfortunately it will be replacing MobileMe and may mean the end of Dylan’s website *sigh*. Hopefully Apple will continue to let iWeb be used in iCloud, but we won’t find out for a while. I’ve been looking into Blogger as a replacement, but I can’t seem to make a decision quite yet.

In better news, today is Keith’s last day of work...Dylan & I can’t wait for him to join us in our summer bliss!!!