Tuesday, January 31, 2012

2011 Family Photos

I just realized that I never created a post about the family photos we took back in November. Since I plan on making a yearly album from my blog I wanted to make sure to include them. Back in early November I had one of my good friends and sorority sisters (Heidi Rae) take our family pictures at Breckenridge Park. Although James wasn't completely cooperative and it was a little hot that day, we got some great shots. Here is a sampling from the over one-hundred photos she took. Enjoy!

One of the only good group shots we got

Nice candid moment

My little man is 3 now!

playing in the tunnels (he loved these)

really cool tree we found for James to sit in

Muscle man!

me and my little man

he's gonna be a lady-killer one of these days :-)

Would have been a great photo if James was smiling

handsome little guy

hamming it up

*Wink*

My little family

James and his wonderful Daddy

Love him!

Awww, love this one!

silly boy

me and my handsome hubby

awesome photo with the lighting

My little Superman! (these were his thank you cards for his birthday)

Heidi did such a great job and I can't wait for her to take our pictures again this year!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Saturday @ The Cove

This past Saturday we headed down to The Cove, a restaurant/bar/car wash/laundromat with a play scape and patio, here in San Antonio with our friends the Hutchison's. Little did we know they were holding a high school "Battle of the Bands" event that afternoon, but it was still nice to enjoy the beautiful weather and great company. Despite it being rather crowded, James and his buddy Logan had a blast playing all afternoon and eating ice cream. I am looking forward to the springtime when we can do this kind of thing every weekend.




What a goofball!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

It should be "terrible threes", not "terrible twos"



Why do they call them "terrible twos"? My little three year old behaves much worse than he ever did when he was two. He acts out and disobeys us SO much more than he used to. I know, it just a phase and "this too shall pass" (at least that is what everyone keeps telling me), but there are some days I don't even know how to deal with him and no punishment seems to suffice. I've heard about children "pushing your limits" to see what they can get away with, but sometimes the blatant disobedience and disrespect I receive from my child is ridiculous. My husband says it's a good thing that we have a "willful" child because it will benefit him in the long run when he enters the real world. Maybe if he was the one dealing with it 24/7 he would have a different outlook...then again, probably not because he's stubborn and wouldn't want to admit that I'm right. :-)

I just want to warn all of the mothers out there that still have toddlers, if you think 2 is bad, just wait until they're 3. They can talk back much better at this age and have a firmer grasp on how to push your buttons. I love my child more than anything in the world, but there are definitely days that I daydream more about life before him. I've never been categorized as a patient person and having a three year old definitely pushes my limits on patience, even more than I'd like to admit.

I know I'm not alone when it comes to having a difficult three year old, but some days it feels like an insurmountable battle and I'm the lone warrior. I have tried everything from timeout to TV restrictions to behavior charts and nothing seems to work. Luckily, he seems to behave relatively well for others, like his teachers, grandparents and babysitters. He just decides to be a "devil-child" with his parents. I guess if there's a silver-lining that would be it. He respects other adults, just not us (well that makes me sad). The only thing I can do is foster our relationship to the best of my ability, hold firm on my rules, and hope that it will get better with time. It will get better, right?


P.S. After reading through this it sounds like I have a horrible child and I don't. He's just extremely difficult at times. There are plenty of times that he is incredibly sweet...like when he looks at me sweetly and says, "I know I just love you" as he is hugging my arm. Or when he comes into our bed in the morning to snuggle before the day begins.

"Terrible twos or threes" aside, having a child is the biggest blessing I have been given and I look forward to watching him grow into the wonderful, caring man that I know he will be.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Trip to the Zoo

The weather lately has been so nice in San Antonio (highs in the 70s) so last week we decided to head to the zoo with my SIL Melissa and baby Louisa. It just confirmed that I need to renew my membership to the San Antonio Zoo. It really is a great zoo and James loves it, so we will definitely be going many more times this year. Here are some photos from that day:

James checking out the black bears

James and the elephants

I love this shot

James on the infamous lions at the front of the zoo

Friday, January 20, 2012

The Fire Pit

After getting a magazine from Lowes with various projects, my husband was inspired to build a fire pit in our backyard so we could enjoy those cool evenings outside by the fire. Anyone that knows my husband, knows he doesn't do anything on a small scale, so of course we ended up with a rather large fire pit, but it turned out really nice. We have already enjoyed two fires and what's a fire without some s'mores making?

The pit almost finished

The finished product

The first fire in the pit (of course James is pantsless again)

roasting marshmallows for S'mores