one weekend 2 shots (June 25 & 26)

We had a family outing to the San Antonio Zoo and lunch at The Cove for my birthday. (The zoo gets its own blog post soon.) Lunch at The Cove was awesome. (If it is good enough for Guy Fieri, then it is good enough for us!) We all liked our food: hamburgers, lamb burger, shrimp taco, fish taco, grilled cheese and sweet potato fries. They even have a playground for the kids, which Alex enjoyed. An older girl showed Alex how to correctly drive the steering wheel.

On Sunday, I got together with a couple of friends. John had to work, so Alex came along and had a blast playing at Toby's house. He mentioned Toby's house last night, so I think that he wants to go back. I explained that it is our turn to invite them over and share our toys, but he quickly jumped to wanting to watch some Dinosaur Train before bed.

one weekend 2 shots (Alex's Outfits)

Alex now has an opinion on what he wears. This past weekend, he was really into picking out his outfits, and the results were humorous. On Saturday, Alex refused to take off his elephant pajama shirt since he loves elphants. By mid-morning the shirt had some ink on it after he got ahold of my pen. I got some regular shorts on him, but then he wanted to wear his red Elmo socks along with sandals. I do not like socks with sandals, but I have learned to "pick my battles" with a toddler. He had my cell phone, but he can't do too much damage when it is locked. :)

I came home on Sunday afternoon, and Alex had a different outfit on after naptime. This outfit consisted of a black and gray baseball shirt with some plaid shorts. The shorts were too big, so he preferred them as a hat.

As a bonus shot, I wanted to include Alex wearing his Alamo socks, which he wants to wear regularly.

two weekends 2 shots

This is a modified version of my "one weekend 2 shots" posts. I figured that I can change the rules since it is my blog. :)

The first photo is from May 1, when Alex was coloring. I was able to use the sheets to make some Mother's Day cards.

The second photo is actually from this past weekend. We had to cage the tomato plants before they took over the entire garden. Next year the tomatoes may get their own separate garden since they are doing so well. I was worried that we would have trouble growing them since we have a lot of shade in the backyard. Wrong! This is why we call it "experimental gardening." Alex actually picked our first tomato yesterday and then tried to put it back on the plant. We'll see if it will still ripen.

one weekend 2 shots (April 30)

Here are my photos from Saturday, April 30, 2011:

Yes, Alex is wearing one of John's hats on its smallest setting.

Alex fell asleep on the car after some shopping. Alex is barefoot since he no longer wanted to wear shoes in the middle of our shopping trip. He was in the stroller, so I did not fight it...

one weekend 2 shots (Austin)

We went to Austin for most of the weekend and met up with two of my college friends visiting from Ohio. We have made a couple of day trips to Austin, but this is the most time I have spent there so far.

We stayed by Lady Bird Lake (Town Lake), which is very pretty. We arrived around lunch time and headed over to the Hula Hut, which had good atmosphere, drinks and food. We checked out the roof top pool at the hotel, and I like being able to swim outside in April. We walked around downtown for a while and stumbled upon Max's Wine Dive for dinner. Even though this place is not geared towards kids, it still worked out. Our waiter was great and Alex did well. We enjoyed good wine and the upscale comfort food. It was worth the price, and I was happy to learn today that there is a location in San Antonio!

The guys stayed back at the hotel while the three of us ladies hit 6th Street in search of some live music and fun. We had a good time and enjoyed the people watching. I am now old enough to be happy to be carded to get into places! At work I see a lot of students who want to go to school in Austin. The city has a great night life, and I now see the appeal.

We had brunch today at Moonshine Restaurant, which was worth the wait. We headed back to San Antonio and Alex napped in the car. It is time for me to wrap up this post and go to bed. It was great to visit Austin and spend time with my friends! I am looking forward to going back.

one weekend 2 shots (April 3, 2011)

Our garden is doing well so far.

Alex is chillin' after dinner on the deck.

one weekend 2 shots (March 12, 2011)

We discovered Elmo's World videos on the Sesame Street website, and Alex was mesmerized.

Alex loves playing in John's truck!

I've started doing some of my photo editing on Picnik, which is quite fun.

one weekend 2 shots (February 11-13)

I am a little behind on blogging, so here are my shots from last weekend.

Kat and Toby came over for dinner on Friday night. Toby is three, so Alex also wanted to be a big kid and sit at the table. All three of the boys (John included) enjoyed John's remote control helicopter. (John is imitating Alex in the photo.)

It turns out that Valentine exchanges begin in toddlerhood. At first I was surprised when John brought the class list home, but then I decided to bust out the craft supplies. Alex colored on some white card stock, and I added it to some cards for his classmates. The treat bags were for his teachers. Alex has settled into his new room and is having fun with his new and old friends.

one weekend 2 shots (January 30) & a bonus shot

The weather was gorgeous over the weekend, so we spent time playing outside. We even ate Sunday dinner out on the deck. Alex had fun playing with his bubbles and John flew his helicopter around the backyard.

Here is a photo of some finches in our backyard from a couple of weeks ago. John and Alex feed the birds, and John is able to identify most of the birds that come to our yard.

one weekend 2 shots (January 22-23)

On Saturday we had beautiful weather, so I was inspired to trim back the bushes before they took over the driveway and sidewalk. Alex was so well behaved on Sunday morning that I forgot that he is a toddler. We had fun playing and reading books before going to Michaels and the grocery store. I stocked up on adhesives (for scrapbooking and making cards) and groceries - both are important.

Alex is pictured on January 22nd wearing John's hat and shirt. He had fun playing in these oversized clothes for a while.

Alex is enjoying the Tag Junior books he received for Christmas from his Grandma Mickey. He is pictured on January 23rd in his Star Wars shirt and Elmo slippers.

one weekend 2 shots (January 15-16)

We are wrapping up a three day weekend here. It is so nice to have an extra day off!

Moo Baa La La La! has become one of Alex's favorite books. He likes to make the animal noises in the book. It is a library book, so we will max out our renewals on it. (It may be worth adding to our book collection.) He really enjoyed reading his books this weekend!

We have moved from baby-proofing on to toddler-proofing. Alex can now open door knobs and reach our counter tops. Alex can open the front door, so it needs to be locked all the time now. Yesterday Alex opened the door to the cleaning closet, which is where I keep all the cleaning products that I don't want him to get. It was time to bring out the door knob covers. The adults around the house are learning to use them, and hopefully Alex will not learn how to use them anytime soon...

one weekend 2 shots (extra shots from the long Thanksgiving weekend)

We enjoyed the long Thanksgiving weekend. Friday was the laziest day that I have had in a long time, and it was nice not to set an alarm clock for four days striaght. Alex got sick on Wednesday but was getting better by Saturday. We watched so much football! Alex wore his OSU shirt for the Ohio State vs. Michigan game on Saturday. It was a gift from his Uncle Shrek, so I took some pictures of Alex in the shirt before he outgrows it.



We went Downtown on Sunday for dinner at the Riverwalk to celebrate my parents' 35th Anniversary. Congratulations Mom and Dad and thank you for including us in your celebration! The Riverwalk and Alamo Plaza look gorgeous lit up for the holidays. I had this idea that I could get a good family photo of the three of us in front of the Christmas tree for our Christmas card. WRONG! All Alex wanted to do was run around Alamo Plaza. He was exhausted when we got home.

Taking pictures at night reminds me that 1. I want to learn more about photography and 2. It was would be great to have a digital SLR camera. (It may be worth it in a few years when Alex might sit still for some photos...) I do like having a point-n-shoot camera that fits in my purse though.

We are back into our busy work week. This is the last week of the freshmen seminar class and spring registration for freshmen is about to begin. Our lobby is packed during walk-in advising! I only have two full weeks of work before my Christmas vacation.

one weekend 2 shots (Nov. 20-21)

On Saturday I ventured outside of my "five mile radius" to hear humorist David Sedaris speak at the Borders at the Quarry. He was very funny, and I enjoyed the evening with my husband and friends. It was a fun people watching event because so many people tried to cram into the second floor of the bookstore near the children's section. We managed to claim some good seats on the floor. The unanswered questions from the evening are 1. Who gets the reserved seats? and 2. Who put Rudy in charge? We read David Sedaris' most recent book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk for book club.

(I have borrowed the term "five mile radius" from a friend at work. It is so fitting since I live close to work and rarely have to venture far from home.)


Alex is in full blown toddlerhood. He has developed strong opinions about when and how he wants to do things. On Sunday morning, he only wanted to wear his jacket and diaper. A trip to the grocery store that morning was no longer in the cards. I finally wrestled some pants on him. He did not want to take a walk, but he was willing to put on some shoes to go play in the backyard. John finally got a shirt on him when he came home from work around noon. Alex was more cooperative by the evening.

one weekend 2 shots (ok, a few shots from Nov. 13-14)

The weeks are flying by! John and I are both keeping busy at work, and the holidays are quickly approaching. Of course, Alex is keeping us busy and has so much energy.



Alex and his Grandma are pictured playing with legos on November 13th. Alex was trying to build the tower so tall that it would fall over.



We gave Alex some water in a cup on November 14th since he has already tried that at school. He did pretty well, but then he just wanted to play in the water.

one weekend 2 shots (November 6)

We had good "family" time last weekend and got a lot done. I found some new glasses at Costco, we stocked up on groceries, and Alex got his second haircut.


Alex enjoyed his Spaghetti O's for lunch and made a mess.


Alex likes to play with our computers, and can now climb on our desk chairs without assistance. No computer is safe now that he has seen Elmo videos online...

This is my favorite Sesame Street video, and Alex seems to like it too.

one weekend 2 shots (October 29-31)

Frida and Paddy are pictured on Friday, October 29 waiting to go outside and bark. Sometimes they stick together, but other times they like their space. They are a funny pair.


Alex is pictured on Sunday, October 31 in his Halloween shirt, which says, "All My Friends Are Monsters." He had fun playing with the shape shorter. I put it away months ago when all he would do is chew on the shapes. He is much better at shorting them now.

one weekend 2 shots (October 23rd)

John worked on the truck (still named Cheney even though John fixed the snarly bumper a while ago), and I hung out with our silly toddler. Cheney is running again!

one weekend 2 shots (Sunday & Monday edition)

The weekends go by so fast right now that sometimes I forget to take pictures. We are busy chasing a toddler these days, but he will sit and read books sometimes. Photos taken 10/17/10 and 10/18/10.

one weekend 2 shots (Digital Scrapbooking Edition)

I started scrapbooking in 2005 but have made less pages since Alex was born. I take more pictures, but scrapbook less, hmm... I have been making more cards though.

Around spring 2008, I tried some digital scrapbooking. I took a great online class through JessicaSprague.com, but I found Photoshop Elements cumbersome to use. I get "rusty" on the software quickly.

For my birthday, I purchased My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up!. I made some hybrid cards over the summer and over the weekend I made some digital scrapbook pages. I'll share my pages now, and maybe write a review of the software in the future. I have more "playing" to do first.

one weekend 2 shots (Catch Up Edition)

It turns out that I have been taking pictures, but they were just sitting on my camera. The internet was down last night while John was a softball. The (only) problem with the being married to a computer geek is that it is easy to just rely on him to fix all things computer related. During my evening offline, I did upload some the photos from our camera into iPhoto.


September 18 - Alex received some "new to him" toys, and we are all having fun playing with them.

September 19 - I made some more cards and can't make cards or scrapbook without turning my desk into a complete mess.


September 25 - Here is some of Alex's artwork from daycare.


September 26 - It is still warm here, but Alex decided that he needed more on than just a diaper.

I did not take any pictures last weekend. John was sick for part of the weekend, and Alex started having "poo-splosions." The pediatrician actually wrote "poo-splosion" in the notes yesterday. (John coined the term.) It turns out that Alex has an ear infection. Hopefully he is on the mend, and we will get back to our normal routines this week. Luckily my dad was able to watch Alex some last week since he could not be in daycare with his "diaper situation". Alex enjoyed time with his grandpa and John and I did not miss too much work.