Alexa's got moves

Alexa has got some serious dance moves. If it's the right song and she's in the right mood, the result is win. Among her repertoire: the side-to-side, the front-to-back, the leg-kick, and the fist pump.

Baby Wexie!

The Boys have been gradually increasing their level of excitement with every visit Alexa makes. They are so excited to see her, and Rachel and me, they can't hardly stand it! It's funny to see how much she wants to grab hold of them, and how funny the Boys think it is. She still takes a minute to unwind from her usual nap on the way over, but once she does, she won't hardly leave. I imagine that before long we will be hearing the Boys complain about Alexa and the other way around too! The different personalities of the boys are so funny to observe. Ethan is a mover and a shaker, I'm guessing a future in sales. Jordan is a bit more reserved and observant, possible engineer in the making. We had some delicious ribs on the last visit and there was enough for us to take some home. I was carrying them in a ziplock bag and as I was about to get to the sidewalk to put everything in my car, Jordan, whom I didn't know was watching me, quipped "Where you goin' with the ribs Cooey (that's my name translated in rugrat speech)?" Before I could answer he asked again, "Where you goin' with the ribs?" This was a hilarious moment.

The Wonderful World of Bows

K, so I bought a bunch of bows on clearance about a month ago and I decided to put all of them in Alexa's hair at the same time. Goofy, I know, but I really just wanted to see if she would let me. I had about 12 bows and amazingly, she let me do it! She didn't try to take them out for about 10 minutes, then her hands slowly moved up to her head and she started pulling them out. I just had to take some pics, so here they are...

Hard Night

Cory is in Houston - he left yesterday and won't be back until tomorrow night. I don't like it when he travels. I miss him terribly. My mom had church tonight, so as soon as I got home from work, she was out the door. I got home a little late - after 6 - so Alexa and I only had about 45 minutes before bath time. We both had dinner - she ate like a champ like she always does. I got her a new sippy cup with her name on it and she loves it! That made my day because it's completely different than any other sippy cup she has. All her other cups have silicone tops, but this one doesn't, so I wasn't sure if she was going to like it. I think she likes it more so that's exciting. Anyway, after we ate, we sat down on the living room floor and went over the parts of her face she knows (tongue, hair, nose) and tried to add new ones. She's picking up eye, which is fun to watch because she knows where my eye is - she tries to stick her finger in it!

Bath time is always a fun time. Alexa has so much fun. I enjoy it as well because both me and Cory give her a bath. I love that we do it together.

Before we knew it, 6:45 arrived. I scooped her up and headed for her room. Sometimes she hates it when we set her down on the changing table. Not sure why, but she definitely hated it tonight. The minute I laid her down, she started wailing - poor thing. If Daddy were here, he would have tried to entertain her while I took her clothes off, but since he wasn't here she just continued to cry. Sometimes he has the ability to make her laugh no matter how hard she's crying. After he makes he laugh, he usually gets the water ready, bubbles in all.

Without him here, drawing the bath was a little hard as Alexa wouldn't let me put her down. She was climbing up my chest like a little monkey every time I bent down to turn the water on. She finally let me put her in the her tub without the water in it. I then started the water, trying to find the right temperature. I started to fill her tub with water, but then she started crying again. Man, was this going to be a long bath!! She tried to climb out over and over - crying the whole time. Although at one point, she did stop and laugh when I acted like I was eating her plastic turtle. That worked for about 1 minute, enough for me to wet her hair. She did not like the sneakiness behind that. She suddenly quit laughing, put her hand on her head and immediately started crying again and tried to climb out. Needless to say, at the end of the bath she was exhausted from crying and I was soaking wet.

She was so upset and it broke my heart. She wouldn't let me dress her for about 15 minutes. I just cradled her on her bedroom floor and kissed her all over her sweet little face. She finally calmed down and let me put her jammies on. She was finally ready for bed. Phew!

I had a huge headache, but it subsided the minute I started nursing her and holding her sweet little hand.

It was a long night, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. She is just the sweetest baby there ever was and I'm so lucky to have her.
And oh yeah - her Daddy's pretty cool too. ;)

Long Day for the Sweet Baby

So ever since we had the sweet baby, family time is even more important to us. We try to make every effort to spend time with our family and make sure we enjoy the time we have with each other. A few weeks ago, we had a full day of visiting family and we loved it.

The day started out with a visit to my grandmother. She recently had surgery to remove one of parathyroids. She has had this surgery before, so we weren't as worried; however, she is 85 years old so any surgery has high risks, but knowing she has had this surgery before helped our nerves. Anyway, she is currently staying in a rehab center in Richardson and she is recovering quite well. I love to take Alexa to see her - it just makes her entire day. I usually don't even tell her we are coming as to make it an even bigger surprise. This particular day, I didn't call her ahead of time. It was just me and Alexa (Cory went to play golf with his cousin and uncle). When we arrived, I quietly stepped into the room. Grandma was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking down reading something and didn't even hear us walk in. It was as if Alexa knew it was a surprise, because she was as quiet as a mouse - waiting and watching. When Grandma finally looked up, she was so surprised - her face lit up and she grinned from ear to ear! That moment was priceless. She was so excited.

Alexa usually cries when people she doesn't see on a regular basis focus in on her and get excited, but she didn't cry with Grandma - she didn't smile either, but not crying is huge!! We had such a great visit. Alexa showed Grandma her picture album and showed her how well she can stand on her own - which impressed the heck out of her. We had so much fun. Here a picture of Alexa with Grandma.



After our visit with Grandma, we headed back to McKinney to have lunch with Daddy, Cousin and Uncle Matt. That was great fun as well. It's very unusual for all of us to be able to grab a bite to eat, but since they came up to play golf with Cory in Allen, it worked out that we were able to have lunch. We can't wait to get Alexa and Jack (Cousing's little boy) together for a play date - hopefully that will happen soon. This was sort of a short family meeting and the one thing we all agreed on is trying to get the family together more often - maybe at least once a month. Here's a cute picture of Cousin and Alexa. I think she's won his heart. Matt didn't want me to take a picture of him because he said his hair didn't look good. Geez.



So, after lunch we headed home and gathered baby stuff to spend the evening with Grammy and BB in Mesquite - yes, it's the same day! A lot of travelling I know, but it's very important to spend time with family when we can. If we are able to move closer to Dallas, it won't be as hard to get together. Anyway, we try to see Grammy and BB as much as we can. We love going over to their house and just hanging out - letting them spend some quality time with Alexa. You're probably wondering when she had her naps. Well, she had a very short one in the morning and then slept all the way to Grammy and BB's. Not nearly as much as she should have, but that's okay. Here are a couple of pictures of Alexa hanging with her BB. She was being so silly. She loves the camera - such a ham already!





Remember those two short naps?? Well, the picture below is the result - a baby way, way past her bedtime and going crazy!



What a wonderful day indeed.

Dylan's 1st Birthday Party

Last weekend Alexa got to go to her cousin Dylan's first birthday party at Aunt Christy and Uncle Cody's house. She was very excited to have someone so close in age that she could chase around! Dylan knew just how fast to move to stay out of reach and he also taught her a thing or two about tug of war. They were both going after a snack trap but she was no match for his grip. She won by getting slightly emotional, a trick her mommy taught her. Actually I think it runs in the gender.

Jackson's 4th Birthday

My good friend, Summer, invited us to her son Jackson's 4th birthday yesterday. Summer originally wanted his party to be at a neighborhood park but the darn weather wouldn't cooperate. It was sunny and 75 degrees all week long, then a cold front came just in time for the weekend. Go figure. Jackson had to settle for a Chuck E Cheese birthday; such a disappointment I'm sure! This of course was Alexa's first time to see the mayhem that is Chuck E Cheese. Cory and I haven't been for who knows how long, so it was very much an adventure for us too. Alexa's little eyes were wide open the entire time. She was so excited to be there and in the mix. We haven't seen Jackson since Alexa's baby shower, so it was a treat to see him. He's grown so much! Summer and I have been trying to get together for so long, but it never seemed to work out so it was very nice to be able to see them and spend some time catching up. She teaches 6th grade and she is never short of stories to tell. Kids today - they are so different then we were at that age! Geeze, I sound like my mother! Ha!
Summer's mother and step father were also there. They moved to Dallas late last year and are able to help with Jackson. Summer also teaches Saturday school, so having them there is probably priceless for her. I haven't seen Summer's mom since before I was even pregnant so it was great for her to see Alexa too.
We had such a great time. Jackson has been taking swim classes so we vowed to get together over the summer and let the kids play at the pool. Very much looking forward to that!