Trains

We went to the Whistle Stop playground today after taking Daddy to work. Alex has no interest in the park, just the trains. He is absolutely terrified of them when they are on the closest track and toot their horns. (They are very loud and he doesn't know why they are yelling at him.)

I had to hold him for the entire time we were there-which was about 45 minutes. Eventually I went to the picnic table and sat him on my lap. When the fourth train went by, he just about crawled onto my head! He hugged me with all of his might and pressed his face into mine. It was really cute to see him giving the train a thumbs up even through all this. He could stay there all day if I let him.

Fun!

Fun-that is Alex's new favorite saying. Every time something is funny or enjoyable he says, "Fun!" These are some of his fun moments.


The camp chairs downstairs make for a nice resting place between laps around the stairs.

Mud is cool! This was taken before he decided to walk in the mud and track little mud prints all over the sidewalk.

Digging in and sitting in mud. Even more fun!

New toys from a coworker of Patrick's. Now he has his own tools and doesn't have to use Daddy's all the time. (Real hammers hurt!)

He is so cute!

One of my favorite smile photos!

Another cooking photo.

A bowl of bubbles lends itself to at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted fun and a very wet diaper.

Grandma Ludlow got a super set of pj's for this super little boy.

Cheesey pose.

The bike. Enough said.

Alex had tons of fun pushing his now 2 year old cousin, Elizabeth in her little car. So sweet.

Easter fun

Alex got to go to an Easter Egg hunt at Patrick's boss' church on Saturday. He got so excited about finding the eggs and opening them to find candy! They gave all the kids cupcakes which he very readily scarffed down.

We decided to find another hunt for him to go to since he had such a good time. Off to Silo Christmas Tree Farm in Moffat! They hid the eggs in and under the little trees. Alex, now knowing how to open them, sat down as soon as he got one and opened it. Finding that it was empty, he threw it aside and set off to find another one. So cute. They had a maze made of wooden pallets, a hay ride and a lawn-mower train. He refused to ride the train without Daddy, so watching had to suffice.

I need to apologize for taking so much time to get this blog post up. I am now having to email myself all the pictures so I can get them on the computer. (Yes, it took me a month to figure that out. I am not a smart woman.)

My little baby is now a toddler and will be two in a month. So sad and exciting at the same time. His new favorite things: cooking, cars, and bubbles. He can identify stars (thanks to Baby Signing Time) and circles most of the time. His little Dora bike has basically become glued to his toosh in the past few weeks. There is not a day that goes by when he doesn't ride it around the complex and touch every car in the parking lot.

Coupons?

I am trying to get buy each month on a small grocery budget ($200 just for food stuff). All the web sites I go to say to clip coupons. Well, we bought a paper (Temple Daily Telegram) last weekend and I couldn't find a single coupon worth clipping!! What the heck?! Where are all these people finding such great deals? All I have is HEB and Walmart to shop at and HEB is where I get the food. I try to use the coupons already in the store. I have found that many coupons are for name brand items which even with the coupons are more expensive than the generic I usually buy! ARGH!!! Please help! Should I get an Austin paper just for the coupons? That's an expensive paper and I don't want to get it unless it will pay off. Thanks.

PS--I am already tired of pizza, Ramen and Mac N Cheese. I am gaining weight lately as well since the cheap foods are so unhealthy (the yummy cinnamon rolls I made didn't help either.)

All Moved In!

We have now been in our new place for a week! We absolutely love it. Alex loves his new downstairs playmates (a bit older than him) and the step stool in the kitchen.

I still have a few boxes left that need unpacking, but they are Patrick's and he has not had time yet to do them being that he is at work 12 hours a day. Poor thing. I love having such a small place. It fits me to a "T"-minimal things and easy to keep clean even with Alex throwing rice on the floor.

And off we go. . .

Patrick and I found an apartment in Temple! We are moving out of our parents' house next weekend, March, 12. We are very excited to have our own place again, though the grandparents are going to miss seeing the little one each day. The expenses of moving always surprise me. You would think that after moving so many times I would know it all by now. Oh well.

Alex went sailing last week and had a blast! The first time on the boat, he was timid and clung on to me the entire time. This time, he walked around carefree and happy. (Even when heeling over!) He made his Grandpa very proud!!! Will show pictures soon.

New Do

I am cheap. No one will deny that. I just hate spending $12 for a toddler haircut, much less for myself. So I decided to attempt the cutting of Alex's hair myself. Mom gave me some pointers and I took over. I did a decent job,too. The back turned out pretty good, but the sides and top gave me some trouble. From a distance, all is good. Close up is a different story. It's only the first time, I'll get better. (Too bad he isn't a girl so I could just let it all grow out. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that to my son.)

He did!

As Patrick was leaving for work, Alex said to him, "bye, bye dada!" I am a proud mama!

New Word

While looking in a book, Alex saw a picture of a puppy. I told him what it was and he quickly repeated, "puppy!" He then ran around the house yelling, "puppy, puppy, puppy. . ." I think he likes that word.

20!

Well, I tried to update from my phone but for some reason, I could not type in the info, just the title. I couldn't even download pictures. Oh, well.

Alex is now officially 20 months old!!! That sounds so big to me. He has come so far in the past few months. Playing with his cousin, Zak, over Christmas time was a great present for him. They had so much fun playing together and learning from each other. Zak taught Alex how to crawl up onto tables and chairs while Alex taught Zak to scream. Alex will greatly miss his newest friend.

Also new is Alex's language skills. He can now throw things away, hand me something, or take something to Grandpa when asked. He can answer "yes" or "no" to questions. He can identify his head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly, and toes. He can say and sign so many more words now I have a hard time keeping up. I got some simple books from my mom that have a picture and the lable under, one per page, and Alex is able to identify what each picture is when asked. His new favorite word: apple. He will sign it on my face when I am holding him. Very cute.

I really do like being here in Belton. I am spoiled with family here to watch Alex while I nap, shop, or just get lazy. We are slowly able to save up money to pay our debts, but it seems like we will be living with my parents for quite some time still.

The only thing we are lacking here is a good church. I know for sure that I am constantly comparing to our church in Buda, and none are as good to me. I miss our friends there and the weekly LifeGroup. I am praying that we find a church home soon. Finding one, knowing that you can only visit one per week, is slow going and frustrating.

new pictres are here

Finally!

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What is life like at the Grandparents' you ask? Tantrums. Lots of them. I don't know if it is all the newness, the age, or all the stuff that he is not allowed to do or he just can't do physically. Thank God for giving me the patience to handle this.

We spend a lot of time outside taking walks with the dog and going to parks. He loves to play in the leaves and push his stroller. He has learned a lot of new words and signs. Some of his new favorite signs are "leaf" and "airplane." He hears lots of planes and helicopters overhead now that we are so close to Fort Hood. He hears them before most anyone else.

What is up with the tantrums? He likes having everything go his way or he gets frustrated, squats down and bonks his head on whatever he is mad at. Thus he now has a big bruise and a sore on his forehead from whacking it too hard. My new mantra: "This is only a phase!"

No Sir!!

Finally settled in at the Grandparent's.

Two Words!

Alex said, "No sir!" I got it on video, but cant figure out how to get it onto Mom's computer just yet.

Is that considered a sentence?

When will it end?

Why is it that while packing up and getting everything out of the house, the house actually seems messier than before?

I have spent this week packing all our stuff to move in with my parents this Saturday. It is all going into the garage for now and we will fill up the moving truck on sat. It isn't very hard except that I have Alex to attend to at the same time.

He was really cranky yesterday since he didn't get much attention and has been watching all of his toys and stuff being put away. Today is starting out quite whiny as well. Thank goodness he still takes a nap. I can choose to get work done without him or just sit and relax. Yesterday I worked my butt off, so today I will spend these two hours silent and fairly still.

Pray for our sanity. I have been quite quick tempered with Alex and feel really bad about it.

1, 2, 3, Go!

I put the step stool in here yesterday and he decided to create this little game. He has been doing it for about 30 minutes now.

Bout Time!

At the Texas State Homecoming game. Alex ate an entire hotdog and had a great time. The mascot scared him a bit and he couldn't take his eyes off of it. The whole crowd around us helped to get him to look at the camera, but he was not persuaded.










Yes, those are shorts on his head. He got upset when I took them off, so he wore them for quite a while.


These are just more cute pictures. Daddy cooking with the kid, and Alex hiding stuff in the buffet.

Man of the Year Award

Patrick found the camera!! It was under the bed. Hooorrayyyy!

So coming soon. . . more videos and pictures.

PS: We will be moving in a couple weeks to my parent's home. Pray for us an easy and uneventful move.

It's Super Baby!!

Not the best quality pictures, but you can still tell what is going on. Isn't he adorable?