One Year Ago

After 8 long weeks in the hospital, one year ago today we brought our sweet baby E home! Our life was never as good as it is with her in our home. (Yes, I am feeling a bit nostalgic.)

Then (my tiny little 6 lb baby who was red from the blood transfusion she received the day before)...

Now (my little 19 lb - yes we can't seem to break that 20 lb mark - big girl on her new bike we got at the neighborhood garage sell today)...

Captivating

The other day I was at the mall with E. Shopping wasn't going well so we made our way to the indoor play area to let her run around for a while. While we were there the funniest thing happened! She was probably the youngest walking kid in the area and the others ranged from about 18 month to 4 years. I looked over and E had a group of about 5-6 other kids following her around! They mimicked every move she made! If she went down and crawled, they all went down to crawl (yes, even the 4 year olds)...If she went running to one toy, they'd all go running. Of course E was totally oblivious to the fact that she had a following. I just found it amazing that all these kids wanted to follow this little girl who is stumbling on her feet and can't do everything that they can do. You don't see big kids following around little kids very often!

When I came home and told the hubs of this he said, "Well, yeah...E is captivating." That is what she is! Everywhere we go I am stopped by everyone (old, young, male, female...) telling me how cute she is or trying to talk to her. I'm not sure if it is those big blue eyes, that bald head, those chubby cheeks or what but something about my little E is just captivating...don't you think?

Welcome Fall

We welcome you with open arms...or maybe outstretched claws grasping onto you so you will not disappear from us again leaving us with that humid, hot summer weather. Please tell me you are here to stay...but I fear you are not. So we will try to enjoy these few days of fall because they are the reason we think it is bearable to live in Houston.

(E's idea of a fun day at the park includes finding a quite place to sit down out of mom's view so she can eat the acorns and wood chips without interruption).

A Whole New World

My dear hubs had a wonderful post the other day that got erased when trying to upload a video that didn't work...so I will try to recreate his words.

Lately I have been loving life with E. She is at such a fun age where she is exploring and learning. She is on a great schedule and is so easy to take out and about (which means I probably spend more money than I should). There are some hard things (like trying to drop her off at the Kid's Club at the gym...too mommy clingy) but overall we're great. One of the most fun things is watching her progression with walking. This girl is a crack up! We have numerous bumps and bruises but she handles it well. Now that she's fairly confident in walking she has discovered a whole new world...both inside and out and wherever we go! (I know some warn of the independence with walking...but I'm kind of loving her exploration instead of grasping onto my leg all day. I may hate it once my house is destroyed.)

This is another great one that totally shows E's personality. She is tons of laughs these days. Her favorite game is chase and she loves to be spooked. She also loves to be tackled and rough housed. I can't get enough of that laugh.

B is finding himself in a whole new world learning to hunt in Texas. The season opens Oct. 2 so I'm saying goodbye to the hubs for the next several months. He has staked his claim on some friend's property toward Austin and set himself up a deer feeder. He says he is doing this all to provide for his family...ya know, to put meat on the table. I told him I'd be okay with just buying some chicken at the store but I guess that isn't good enough. Hopefully he reaches his quota the first weekend or two so we'll be done. He's got a pretty good shot...and is consistent (notice he shot his own arrow)!

Finally, this is my whole new world. I have the tiniest pantry and am into food storage right now so it just didn't work. We converted a coat closet near the kitchen to my storage. Thanks to my friend Sarah for the deal on the Shelf Reliance system and to my hubs for the shelves I now have this.

5 States in 2 Days

As mentioned in the previous post...we try to pack in way to much for our vacations. So when we heard my sis was getting married in Cali we thought...let's just make a super trip of it. My grandparent's live in Vegas and have a vacation home in Pine Valley, UT. So, we left Houston (TX-1) and flew into Las Vegas (NV-2). From there we drove to Pine Valley (UT-3) passing through AZ (4) on the way. The next day we turned around, drove back through those couple of states and ended in San Diego (CA-5). So in 2 days we were in 5 states. A few more days were spent in San Diego doing wedding things then we headed back to Houston. To sum up how much fun we had and how busy we were E slept for 15 hours the night after we got home. The wedding was beautiful and Aunt C and Uncle T are a wonderful couple. We're all happy to have them both in our fam.

In Pine Valley we rode around town in the golf cart, shot BB guns from the porch, toured the oldest operating chapel, and went on a hike...all in one day.

When in San Diego most of our time was spent doing wedding things. Everything was really nice, including the weather! Unfortunately I didn't get many pics...I guess that is why you hire a photographer! After the temple we had a luncheon at a beautiful country club. My sis in law made the cute dresses for the girls! We got to spend one day along the beach before it was time to go. Busy, fun and now done.

Go, Go, Go

Quoting the hubs...Goodman's don't know how to vacation. We sit around and talk about what we want to do for like 4 hours, then we go crazy and pack in about 8 hours worth of activity into 4 hours. We just go, go, go...then crash when the week is over. Everyone came to Houston for a little reunion and my sister's (C) wedding party.

I couldn't resist the naked bath pic of E and her cousin, L. Let's just say they both look like their dads (my hub and my bro) making them look nothing alike. They were hilarious together! L is 2 months older than E (but seems a little older as they are really supposed to be 4 months apart). L didn't really want anything to do with E but E tried SO hard to do everything L was doing. It was super frustrating for E. It was hilarious how jealous they got, especially when L was with grandma (E is a little grandma's girl). It was great to get them together!

One evening we made a quick trip to the fountains. We didn't realize the girls would go straight for the water. I thought E would be scared of them for sure...but I was quickly proven wrong. Good thing grandma had a few towels in her car.

A trip to the beach.

And to the Children's Museum.

There were several things in between all that like tennis, volleyball, swimming etc. Finally the week ended with the Pool Party. Yes, C is so cool and pulled off an awesome pool party as her wedding reception. The pool was beautiful and super fun and the weather was perfect. Not to mention the bride and groom were adorable!

Touch a Truck

Not sure why The Woodlands decided to put an outdoor event in August because we were sweating the entire time we were there...which was only about 45 minutes. We went with some friends to go touch the big trucks. E isn't quite old enough but she loved the fire trucks!