Beach bums

As promised, here are a few more pictures from our Galveston beach trip.   My parents rent a house each year for all the kids to enjoy.  As our family continues to grow, this trip becomes more and more fun.  

There was fishing:

  And boat races:

and lounging: 

and sand burying:

and lots and lots of swimming:

and a Christmas party: (there was also a Mexican Feista, but sadly we had to miss that):

and more relaxing:

As expected, Evan loved the beach! 

Which makes me all the more excited about our trip to Destin next week.

* Please forgive the sideways pictures.  I thought I fixed them this time.  Honest. :)

Bangalicious!

Update:  I now realize the title of this post could have multiple connotations. I'm talking about my new haircut.  pervert.

It was time for a change. Going nearly a year without a haircut will do that to you. After getting input from anyone who would listen, I decided to keep my hair long and go for bangs. I've never had bangs, unless you count the bowl cut I had in 3rd grade, which you don't if you are my friend.

Bill was absolutely speechless when I got home. All he could get out was I'm sorry, I'm sorry. (why I think this is hilarious I have no idea.). The only other comment I was able to get out of him was this:

B: are bangs in style?
J: yes.
B: oh, I guess I never noticed because if I saw a girl with bangs I just wouldn't look at her again.


Bahahahaha!! It's a good thing I went with this haircut after we got married. :).

Here is a pic.

7 month photo shoot

I wrote about what Evan has been up to lately here, but I wanted to post his pics for you to see as well.  I know that you all love his face as much as I do.  Well not quite, because that is impossible, but I know you are anxious to see Mr. GQ.  

Taking pictures of the little guy can be hard sometimes because he literally never stops moving. 

He loves reading and is currently learning Spanish. (total joke, but the book he is holding is a Spanish numbers book). 

Am I getting paid for this?

Everything he touches still goes directly to his mouth!  As an added bonus, he has learned how to be a man and will pitch a fit (back bending, arms flaying, etc.) if you do not let him have whatever his taste buds are after.  Mostly this happens with my keys.  

He is getting better at independent play and will usually sit for a while playing with toys.  At daycare, this  involves taking every toy off the bookcase so that he can lay on the bookcase with the toys.  Don't ask me, I have no idea. 

Happy 7 months to our precious little munchkin.  You have made our lives better in ways we could have never imagined.  

Sushi Time!

We are having a great time here at the beach!  Last night Bill and I were in charge of dinner and decided to host a Japanese party in keeping with my 30 under 30 theme.

 That's right, I cooked sushi!  And, it was good.  At least I didn't see anyone spitting it out when I wasn't looking.

Brendon was my Sous Chef.  Please ignore the popsicle.  That is not an accurate reflection of what his duties entailed.  

This is much more accurate.  Boy has been to entirely too many Hibachi grills.  He played with knifes practically the entire time he was suppose to be helping.  Hey, I have to win the cool aunt award somehow.

Mattie did not have time to help with preparations.  She was too busy working on her Kung fu panda skills.

 

The process was fairly long, but mainly it is just a lot of prep and waiting on different steps for the rice.  The 

assembly was much easier than I expected.

Proof that I do read directions.  Sometimes. 

In addition to the sushi, we had several Japanese appetizers, including edamame, gyoza, spring rolls, honey toasted seaweed crackers, shrimp flavored crackers, squid jerky and mochi.  For the main course, Bill (with the help of my sister Mandy), made stir fry and to top it off, every one drank Ramune, a Japanese soda complete with a marble.

Evidence that everyone ate and enjoyed.  Well, except for dad who proclaimed, "this crap is nasty."  Now you know from where I get my brutal honesty.

Hi Ali, you made it to the blog, and your are looking good.  When this picture gets picked out on the "internets"  remember me and our agreement for 10% royalty. 

For dessert, I made "dessert sushi" with rice crispy treats, fruit roll ups, and Swedish fish.  I didn't take a picture, but it looked a little something like this.

Stay tuned for more pics of my little beach bum on his first swimming trip ever!  I could just put them on this post but (1) I'm feeling lazy and its past my bedtime, and (2) I need something to ramble about tomorrow.  

On the road again

We had a great time at the beach an I have lots of pictures to prove it! But for now, we are back in the car headed home, sun tanned and exhausted. So far, Evan has taken a 2 1/2 hour nap, woke up for lunch and has been back to sleep going on one hour and counting. Usually he takes two 45 minute naps a day. Yea, he's tired.

On a unrelated note, he can feed himself a bottle now. He's so big time.

My pushiness knows no bounds

Me +iPhone + 9 hours in the car = 9000 blog posts for you! Please contain your excitement.

When my nieces visited, I decided it would be a great idea to impose on them my love for running and hold races in the back yard. I kid you not, we raced over 20 times (fence to fence was one race) and these girls were still not tired. Olympics 2032 here we come!!

All my bags are packed and I'm ready Togo

You're lucky you're not Bill and only have to read that title rather than listen to me belt it out at the top of my lungs. There is a special place in Heaven for that guy.

We are driving down to Galveston for a long weekend at the beach. You all are going to forgive me for what you read in the next sentence, OK? It's times like these when I wish the dogs could just watch themselves for the weekend. (hey, at least I didn't say I wanted to put them up for adoption.). Don't get me wrong, I love my dogs, but they make traveling so much harder!

So, I'm trying not to think about the $49 special on Southwest tickets to Houston last month, or about the fact that my family is soaking up the sun and eating homemade pizza without me. And I'm definitely trying not to think about the fact that we have approximately three hours left of this journey and my child is refusing to take a nap. Nope, instead I'm focusing on two days of uninterrupted vacation, my mom's no bake cookies and the amazing sushi I'm going to make tomorrow night.

Now for a moment of insightfulness from yours truly. You're welcome, I knew you would be interested. It's times like these (when my patience is being tested) that I remember why I run, especially long distances. Running trains your brain in ways you didn't think possible. It requires you to sit tight, focus and keep going through the motions, knowing that you will eventually get to your destination. So, to these next dreadful three hours with a crying baby and an aching butt, I say bring it! I've ran for longer than this, you've got nothing on me.

7 months

Little man is 7 months today. Practically an adult. I think it's about time he get a job and start supporting himself.

Evan's personality has really started to show this month. He loves people and loves attention! He's been nicknamed snugs by a couple of ladies at daycare because he always wants to be held and loves to cuddle. He knows he's cute and could stare at himself in the mirror all day (oh boy)! He hates to be left in the room by himself or to feel like he is missing out on anything. Some may say he's even a little hyper. Our child, never!!

As of last Friday, 7/13, or at least I'm pinning it to that date, Evan officially has a one word vocabulary. I first noticed at Target on Friday after work. Every time we passed another child, regardless of age, Evan would make this I sound. It was the same sound over and over. Then Monday when I took him to daycare, he made the sound again. His teachers and I agree he's saying Hi. And it is adorable!!

Pooptastic

Want to know what I did this morning?  Took Bill's son (yes, I am disclaiming him for this) into daycare covered in poop!!  Seriously!! He had an explosion on the way to daycare, I didn’t notice through the mirror (although I knew he pooped because I could smell it, should have known), and he proceeded to play with it and smear it everywhere.  Seriously, there is a good 6 inch wide circle of crap on his carseat. 

Once I got him into daycare, I stripped him down and attempted to clean him up.  I should have never taught him to roll because that is all he wants to do on the changing table these days.  So there I was, trying to control my unruly child while the daycare linoleum changing table became one big brown streak.   I wanted to ask where the water hose was; but, I proceeded to give him the best wipey bath possible.  Once I got him and the changing table cleaned and was about to put his clothes on, that's right, he peed everywhere!!  I cleaned that up, asked him if there were any other bodily functions he would like to get out of the way before I put his new clothes on.  He giggled, I took that as a no, and got him dressed.  All of this before I even started my work day.  Oh the joys of motherhood.   

Seriously boys are gross!  A girl would have cried, not played in her crap!  

Sorry, this is the best picture I could get.  My photography skills are average at best, but add a poop disaster and things go downhill fast.  Look closely at the hands.  Yes, that's poop.