Star Search here we come...

Because this girl has some serious talent!!!

(please excuse the ghetto boppy rigging the actual boppy was getting washed)

When I looked up the other day and saw this sight I about dropped over because I was laughing so hard. Playing with her toes while still drinking from her bottle. Has this child been blessed with some serious talent or what? :)

Shhhhh Buzz is sleeping

Ever since Disney re-released Toy Story (at the end of March) it has been a staple in our household. Well for Mason's birthday he got a Buzz Lightyear toy which has become one of his favorites. Well last week we were getting ready to watch Toy Story (on blu ray for the first time) and I asked him where his Buzz was and he replied " Shhhh Buzz is sleeping." I replied "He's sleeping? Where?" To which Mason replied " I show, I show" (this means that he would show me) and sure enough Buzz was sleeping in mommy and daddy's room. HAHA!!

Here is Mason shhhhshing me :)

And here is Buzz Lightyear napping on our bed

It was hilarious!!! He was so serious about it too. Kids and their BIG imaginations :)

Such Enthusiasm

When we first gave Samantha "food" (oatmeal) she seemed relatively indifferent about it and wasn't quite sure how to actually eat it. Well we have since moved on to fruits and veggies, puffs and yogurt melts and a new favorite baby mum-mums (thanks Bekah for introducing them to us). The girl is a champ and is now quite enthusiastic about eating.

This is the face that I get EVERY time I scoop food onto the spoon :)

One very happy girl!!

We have yet to meet a fruit or veggie that she doesn't like. Hopefully it will stay that way :)

Young Love

Derrek and I knew that Samantha would have boyfriends eventually in her life (I mean hello she is gorgeous) heehee :) We had no idea it would happen so soon. Ever since my friend Robyn and I found out I was having a girl we joked that her cutie patootie son Hunter and my baby girl would be a future Mr. and Mrs. This works out well for us b/c at least we know that the mother-in-laws and father-in-laws will get along. haha!! Well it turns out that with all our joking aside Hunter and Samantha really DO like each other. Every time we put the two together they just stare at each other in awe (this is where you could insert the background music from cinderella "So this is love do do do do, So this is love" haha) Anyways, Robyn and I had a spa day together about 2 weeks ago and the dad's got together with the kids and even they witnessed this young love for themselves and were quick enough to take some pictures of it. You know it must be real if even the daddy's noticed it :)

Hunter hanging out by Samantha's jumperoo (I am confident we will get a picture like this 16 years down the line but instead of the jumperoo it will be a mustang or something)

Whats that Samantha, you are hungry?

Here, chew on my finger :) How romantic of Hunter to sacrifice his own finger for her :)

Doctor Rog looking on as his son shares a special hand holding moment with his lady :)

Are these two babies to cute for words or what?

Swimming Lessons

Mason started swimming lessons on April 12th. We decided that he definitely needed to take them before this summer b/c towards the end of last summer he was getting a little to brave for mommy's heart to handle. The first day he was so excited when we got there b/c he had no idea what to expect. A little background info on Mason, he does NOT like having his face wet with water. This is pretty much mine and Derrek's fault b/c when he was a baby we were very cautious about not getting water in his face when we would bathe him. Lesson learned!! Poor Samantha didnt stand a chance and now gets the water dumped right over her head :) Anyways, all started out pretty good on the first day until he had to go under water. Then he was not so sure that the pool was where he really wanted to be. BUT he made it through the first day.

Listening to his teacher with his classmates

Being dunked under water

The look he basically kept on his face for the rest of the class

On the 2nd and 3rd day he startedt o cry as soon as we walked into the place :( Poor kid! He did end up warming up about 10 minutes in to it though. On the 4th day he was a bit pouty but no tears. On the 5th day he ran right in and waved to his teacher and didnt shed a tear. It is amazing how quickly they catch on to what they are learning. His class is everyday for 2 weeks and they are being taught to float on their back to the side of the pool. The idea being that if they were to fall in they can turn themselves over and float to safety. Look at the progress he made in just 5 days.

Thats right he is not afraid to put his head in the water and HE IS FLOATING BY HIMSELF!!! We are so proud of him for being so brave and overcoming his fear. Bring it on summer, we are ready for you!!!

Easter Fun

It is not very often that all 5 of my siblings and myself are together at one time BUT, Easter (at the moment atleast) is the one holiday that it is guaranteed to happen. And this year it did. Since my sister Ronnie is 9 months pregnant and can not travel, everyone came to Houston this year. I hosted Easter day festivities at my house and it was a blast. Now, because there are so many of us it can tend to get a bit chaotic at times but we always manage to get through it and the end result is always a good time. We decided to do a brunch this year so that everyone could get back on the road at a decent time. We started our morning off by opening up Easter baskets. The kids were all excited with the loot that they got from the Easter Bunny.

Mason checking out his stuff

My niece Jacquelyn going through her basket

We then continued with many a photo session on our new back patio. Derrek worked so hard to get it done before Easter and he did :) he did an amazing job on it. More pictures of the patio to come later though.

The LeRouax Family

The Rapp Family

The Woodward Kids (not sure why I dont have one with my sister and brother in law in it)

My kids with all of their cousins

My brother Mark and sister in law Macie

My brother Joshua and his girlfriend Hayley

My brother Michael is single at the moment and did not want to take a picture by himself. If anyone knows any nice girls ages 23-25 send them my way. :)

Me with my brothers and sisters

There is something about Easter photo shoots that brings out the inner supermodel in me. haha. This is not the first Easter shoot where I have decided to spice it up a little bit :)

I 150% know that I am a dork :)

After photos we ate our yummy brunch and then it was time for the egg hunt. My house backs up to a field that is just grass with a walking path and it was perfect for our egg hunt. We jsut threw all the eggs out there and let them go at it.

The kids coming through the back yard

Jacquelyn hunting eggs. It was hilarious that she was holding her easter basket like a purse. Too Cute!!

Melanie filling up her basket.

After the plastic egg hunt we moved into the good stuff. CASCARONES!!!! These are the confetti filled eggs. We have done these eggs since I was a little girl and it is the best tradition ever.

My sister Ronnie will probably kill me for posting this picture but it is just to funny NOT to post.

Matthew getting his daddy on the head with a confetti egg.

Zachary getting Uncle Mark

Jacquelyn getting Uncle Michael

Once all the kids figured out what was going on and how to do it they went crazy and had the best time chasing each other.

This is Mason after he managed to crack the egg himself on my brother Mark's head

Daddy letting Mason hit him on the head with an egg

Well there it is, our Easter Day in a nutshell. I hope that everyone had a Blessed and Happy Easter holiday.

Mason's Birthday Party

Mason had his birthday party on March 27th. Since he was turning 3 we figured that it is more about his little friends and him now so we had it at a place here in Pearland called Pitch, Putt and Play. The kids had a blast!! The party started with all the kids getting tokens to play the arcade games. I initially though they may be to little for this but they were NOT!! They LOVED it.

Mason and Barrett hitting up the skee ball game

Mason playing a game that was giving free candy

Mason and Peyton cheating at the basketball game :)

Zoe showing of her awesome moves at dance dance revolution. Girl has got some serious skills.

After playing in the arcade area it was time to go outside to jump in the jumping house and to ride the train. As you can see below the train was a tractor that pulled hollowed out barrels that had been refitted as train cars. haha!! Didnt matter to the kids though they were just super excited to get to ride it.

After all the outside activities we headed back in for pizza and cake. I of course forgot to take a picture of the cake (yo robyn can you send me that pic please) but it was big hit and the kids had the best time getting all dirty with the crazy colors of frosting it had on it. Note to self: cupcake cakes are great in theory but BAD in practice. That thing literally had like an inch of icing on the top of it.

Pizza time!

Mason enjoying his cupcake.

All in all it was a super fun party and my boy had a blast!! Thanks to everyone who came out for it and made it such a success. :)