South Padre Island

Jay's parents and brother came to visit us this weekend, so we made a trip out to South Padre Island. It was pouring rain on the way, and it got so bad we almost turned around. Yesterday the Rio Grande Valley got more than 3 inches of rain in about 3 hours, so we didn't want to get stuck in that madness again! We decided to continue on since Rod hadn't seen the island yet. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant right on the beach, and by the time we were done, the rain had stopped, so we headed to one of the public beach entrances. Billy absolutely LOVED the water. He went straight in and kept laughing and falling over every time a tiny wave would hit him, yet he shook my hand away when I tried to steady him. He didn't seem to mind the salt water at all, even when he went completely under (quite a few times). We definitely need to go back again soon, and take advantage of living so close to a beach.

My Sweet Boys

This is what happens after we spend 1 1/2 hours at the splash park! Billy had such a fun time playing in the water and going up and down the stairs on the playground. The Bishop's wife was there with her 5 kids, and they are especially sweet with Billy. Anytime he fell down on the splashpad, at LEAST one of them was there to pick him up! Sam had fun, too. He chased after us up the stairs on the playground and even went down the slide on my lap!

When we got home, we went to Billy's favorite spot (a pile of blankets in the corner of his room), ate a snack, read books, and barely got through one song before I realized he was snoozing! He ended up sleeping right there for about 3 hours! We're debating getting him a toddler bed, but I worry about what he would do in his room if he got up during the night. This kid loves to pull cords out of electrical outlets and try to put them back in!

I love how Sam is laying next to him in this picture. Lately, Billy has become much more interested in Sam. He likes to give him treats and toys and laughs when he gets hyper and runs around the house. He will randomly reach over and pet him on his back or poke around his face. Yesterday I caught him with a finger in his nose! Poor Sam! He is such a good dog. He has always been very sweet and calm with Billy. He has put up with a lot already as Billy has been growing up, so it's fun to see Billy becoming more interactive and playful with him. I'm excited to see how their little relationship continues to change as Billy gets older. I'm so glad he has such a sweet friend, and I hope that we'll be blessed to have little Sammer with us for a long time.

Blog Stalking

The more I read other people's blogs, the more I realize we are r...e...a...l...l...y...

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Splash Pad Fun

A new park just opened up a few minutes' walk down the street from us. There are a lot of parks here, but it's nice to have one within walking distance. The problem is, who wants to walk anywhere and be outside in this heat? Our heat index is over 100 today and there is a heat advisory for the coastal areas closeby. I know this doesn't sound that bad to my friends and family living in the heat of the AZ valley, but you have to factor in the humidity here. The fact is, it's just too hot to be outside at a park during the day. But this new park just made McAllen livable. It has a water area! Woo hoo! Billy had an absolute blast! He was a little wary at first, but quickly realized how much fun it was and was running around with all of the other kids there. We happened to know a few of them because there was a family from our ward there, so they played with him and helped him acclimate. I only took my regular digital camera, so I wasn't able to capture the great face shots, but here are a few . . . (ok, a lot)! I took Sam, too, and tied his leash up to the stroller while we were playing. Well, our little dog obviously has some separation issues - he broke his leash twice trying to get to us! It was a new leash, too. Think Target will take it back without a receipt?

The Chuck Liddell

Billy's hair finally grew out enough from his last buzz cut, so this is what I came home to on Saturday morning. Notice he's also sporting his Tapout shirt, showing support for the big UFC fights that night! Course, they are shown a little past his bedtime, but Jay got to go see them at a member's house.

Billy was a big hit at church yesterday! The kid is all over the place during classes. At one point, he was sitting on a sister's lap, playing with her jewelery, WHILE she was signing for some deaf women! Talk about multi-tasking!

Billster

I can't believe how quickly this little guy changes week to week. He has turned into such an independent, playful, social, sweet kiddo. I guess the only new personality trait there is the independence, but the others have definitely been amplified by his new independence. Walking has opened up a whole new world to him. He's constantly walking back and forth from his toys in the living room to his bedroom (where his books, blankies, and potato heads are). He's really into potato heads right now. That's actually what he is playing with at this very moment, while I sit in the rocking chair writing this. Oh, and by the way, Sam is sleeping right next to him.

Another big change is Billy's relationship with dad. BIlly went through a crazy phase when he was about 1 year where he would scream if I left the room, leaving him alone with dad. Jay has always loved his time with Billy on the evenings and weekends that I work, but for a while there it wasn't very fun! Things have definitely gotten better over the past few months, but lately I think Billy has REALLY bonded with dad. On Sunday, Billy and I walked into Gospel Doctrine, and when he saw dad at the front of the class, he bee-lined straight for him and grunted to be picked up! So cute. This morning when Jay left for work, he said goodbye to us on the couch, but Billy wanted to walk him out like we usually do, so he followed him to the door, and reached up to grab his finger. That's gotta make a daddy feel good! Billy has been a little slow with the whole waving business, but today dad got an excited double wave - both hands! It's sweet to see him act like this with dad.

One of Billy's favorite places. If he's in his room and I don't hear any noises, this is where I usually find him, usually with a book or a blankie.

Yesterday I gave BIlly some slices of avocado, which he really liked, but he had WAY more fun squishing it through his fingers and rubbing it on his chest. The highchair needed to be cleaned anyway, so I took baby and chair straight outside and hosed them down! Billy loved it!

Big Boy Billy

This week was Billy's 15 month check-up. He's grown quite a bit, up to 32 1/2 inches, and weighed in at 27 1/2 pounds, putting him in the 90th percentile across the board.

He is walking well, eating well, sleeping well, but not . . . talking well! Arghhh! How embarrassing for me! I need to break out my old notes from my first semester of grad school and figure out what I'm missing here. He's a smart kid, so we're sure he's just a little delayed, but I feel so bad for him because he gets so frustrated. He loves reading books and is extremely inquisitive about how things work. He loves Connect 4, his busy ball popper, tupperware, and zhu zhu pets!

He also loves wearing hats. He'll whine for you to give it to him, and then he'll bring it to you to put it on him. Super cute.

And here is our super sweet Sammy. He especially loves to cuddle with his dad. So cute.

I hate taking &/or posting pictures of myself, but my family members have asked me if I am showing yet, so here ya go! I'm 20 weeks today, and I think you can actually tell that it's a pregnancy bump at this point, which is nice! I started poking out a LOT earlier this time around, at about 15 weeks. I'm already carrying her pretty high, so I guess that debunks the whole myth about carrying boys high and girls low. I guess we'll see how it plays out.