what we've been up to lately...

Two weekends ago (what can I say, Mary Beth keeps us busy), we went to Grapevine Mills for a few things. Three hours later... That place can suck you in. Especially when you pass this and Mary Beth jumps up and down and MUST go on a ride with her Daddy!!

Tuesday we got Kim's Save the Date magnet in the mail and there was a note about it being an "Adults Only Affair." Though Auntie Kim has assured Mary Beth that she's invited to the wedding and beginning of the reception, she didn't take it well. And goodness - I've seen that look before in all our childhood photos. I'd love to say it's on Kim's face, but well, she's definitely my daughter.

Late Wednesday night I went to go check on the sleeping beauty. I'm not sure how she sleeps like this:

Thursday night Bob went to ride in Austin so Mary Beth and I had our Girls' Night dinner at Kinkaids. They LOVE her there. And what's not to love?

Saturday morning the munchkin and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond. She went postal until I placed her on this bed that she fell in love with. I'm not sure if it's because of the bright colors or the softness, but if she actually had a bed I would have had to buy all of it for her. It was painful (for everyone in the store too) when I had to take her off of it.

And then Sunday afternoon we took a family trip to the grocery store. She was NOT having the whole "ride in the cart" thing, so she took over driving duties. No groceries were harmed in the filming of this video.

Have a great week!

my shiny new(ish) shoes!

I don't remember when, but a while back Kim was here and bought Mary Beth shiny, glittery, pink shoes from Target. They were too big and we had to wait for MB to fit in size 5.

But I should have known.

Disney size 5 shoes are not the same as Circo size 5 shoes, and once we finally sat down one morning to put them on THEY WERE TOO SMALL!!! And I'm not kidding when I tell you that she threw a FIT when she couldn't walk in them and we had to change shoes. I mean, threw herself down on the floor and cried to the heavens WHY MUST YOU TEASE ME SO?!?! I can hear my Dad laughing.

So this weekend I took them back and got size 6. I'm her hero now. See photo and video below when she put them on for the first time! She was so happy she had to come sit in my lap. She's a cute goober.

video from grapefest

Yeah, yeah, I'm a busy Mom. Just sat down and downloaded photos and videos from my iPhone to post. Sorry! So first post here in a video from Grapefest once Mary Beth was done with the spinning horsies. She was sitting in my lap yesterday looking at photos and videos on the phone and waved back to her daddy's voice from this video. Stinkin' cute. Enjoy:

big weekend for the little lady!

It was GrapeFest here in Grapevine this weekend. And once I saw "Petting Zoo" on the list of activities, Bob jumped up and got ready to go! We couldn't wait to see how she would love it, since we know she loves animals. Little lady is fearless! So off we went! You be the judge on how she liked it:

She said she's ready to visit Uncle Rob and the goats. And then before we left, she had another treat - now she says she's ready to visit Uncle Andy, too!!



Of course there is video as well, but it's late and it's not cooperating with me. So you'll get it, and a message for Nana, later this week!



first haircut!!!

So, her hair is soooo cute when we pull it up or back. But the days when she lets us do that are few and far between. And it was getting just unruly. So we had to get it cut. But we didn't get too much chopped. Just enough to make her not look like Justin Bieber. And she handled it like a pro!

this is what we do in texas when it's hot

Bob was watering the lawn.
Mary Beth thought YAY, WATER!!!!
What happened next, well, is just hilarous. Enjoy the pictures and videos. You MUST watch the videos!

The facial expression at :56 is priceless.

And don't worry, nobody got hurt. But it was close.

opening/closing doors...

Yeah. We're so screwed.

in daddy's footsteps...literally

um... close?

This is what happens when Mary Beth tries to put her sunglasses on by herself. I'll give her an E for Effort.

yee haw

That's right. She's a native Texan.

she's not picking favorites or anything...

Now I understand why people blog less as their children get older. It's impossible to get time to sit down and do it! I just downloaded a TON of photos from my camera (making room for the camping trip later this week!) and have some cute ones.

Mary Beth is taking swim lessons every week. She LOVES the water and smiles non-stop. Except when she's leaning over and trying to drink the water. This will come to no surprise to Rob and Kim. Like mother like daughter.

And apparently last week when I was at a going away party, Mary Beth entertained Bob by running through the living room giggling. She's hours of entertainment, people.

Last, on Sunday morning when Bob and I went in her room to get her up, Mary Beth proceeded to point and grab her "Tugga." That's Tigger, for those of you who don't speak Mary Beth-ese. Only thing is, she's got THREE Tuggas. One was my mom's, that I gave her back in the 80s, eventually went to me, and then I gave MB; a baby Tugga that I just couldn't resist when she was a few months old; and then Bob's mom sent a third one. Because you can never have enough Tuggas. Anyway, she wanted ALL of them. At once. And tried to carry all of them. I may be biased, but this picture and video are adorable.

playing catch-up

Auntie Kim shows MB the picture of her as her computer background. "That's me!"

So, we've been sooooooooo busy here lately that I just haven't had time to post. I know, I know. Bad Mommy. So we'll play a little catch-up over the next week or so.

Auntie Kim flew in to hang out with us for the weekend (2 weekends ago now), see Mary Beth running around (literally) and look at wedding dresses. For Kim that is - Mary Beth isn't allowed to go on a date until she's 30.

Auntie Kim played hairdresser for MB.

Oh crud. She likes my cell phone.

I also said that I'd post videos from every month/birthday. On the 12th, Auntie Kim, Rhonda and I were trying to get MB to dance. So she did. To Barry Manilow. Kim danced/sang, too. Posted below. Oh I can hear Mom clapping from heaven... 

nana time

Nana came to visit and Mary Beth loved every minute of it. After hearing how cute it was when MB kept climbing into other toddler's camping chairs last weekend in Galveston, she bought her a hot pink one to enjoy on the patio. And we've been meaning to get her a pool to splash around in. Nana to the rescue. So yesterday and today (after a too-hot trip to the playground), all 4 of us hung out on the patio in the Texas heat, getting cooled down by MB's splashes. She really is adorable, don't you think?

day at the park

A few weekends ago we went to the park to play. Mary Beth LOVES the swing and the slide. Looks like we'll have to get a playset in the backyard pretty soon! So we took some pictures and a few videos - a special one for Nana even! Enjoy!

devil child

Yes, Rob. We redheads do have horns. But Mary Beth wears them well, don't you think?

happy 14 months!

Well, it's a good thing I decided to post videos on her monthly birthdays this year instead of photos. Because I can't get her to sit still! Seriously. I couldn't decide between two cute videos so you get both. One shows why Mary Beth is a momma's girl instead of daddy's (and why Bob gets called "Mean Daddy"), and the other shows our exercise from last night. She was all out of breath and everything. So cute...

go mb go!

It's been crazy busy here. Both Bob and I have been swamped at work. Mary Beth has been running around (literally) and waving/saying "bye bye". Oh, and the Spurs have been in the playoffs. Mary Beth is a HUGE fan. She's snagged herself a silver Ginobil jersey and even tonight she stole my Tony jersey for a while. Never seen a cuter thief.

She's mastered the dance and clap to "Ya'll ready for this," the song that would start the Spurs player introductions. Enjoy some pictures and video from tonight and last game...

BIG day for mary beth

So, she's been a little cranky lately. But who would blame her -- she had 3, count 'em, 3 teeth coming in at the same time. Poor little bugger. And she's been drooling like it's going out of style. I have to keep bringing 2 or 3 outfits to daycare for her to wear throughout the day. Yukky. Or as she has been saying lately, "UH OH."

This afternoon when I went to go pick her up, they said she's been really "clingy" and getting mad whenever anyone put her down. She snuggled up to me in my arms and we started playing around. Know how she likes to be dipped upside down? Guess what you can see when she's upside down? TWO TEETH THAT BROKE THROUGH TODAY!! No wonder she was clingy. One on the top and one joining the first tooth on the bottom. The other top tooth is RIGHT there. We celebrated by dancing around and I asked for a high five.

Ya'll, she gave me a high five.

I don't think Bob really believed me when I told him. But we showed him. Enjoy this video of her having a fantastic time in the bath tonight... and high fivin'. My baby girl is a rock star.

Next trick to teach: beer retrieving.

13 months

I think we've decided that our signs are done. Quite frankly, I can't get her to sit still anymore long enough to take a picture of her holding onto anything.

So instead you get this video of her ruling the house. It is her world after all - we just live in it.

happy birthday, grandma!!

I just had a conversation in my head of what is going on in Heaven today:


Dad: Happy Birthday, Mary!

Mom: Thanks, Phil. The roses are beautiful.

Dad: Well, I thought you could use something pretty to keep your mind off the fact that you’re getting old. You’re 65 now – so you’re eligible for Social Security, senior citizen discounts, etc.

Mom: Three things for you, old man. First of all, I think getting money sent to me up here in Heaven just really isn’t going to happen. And next, you will always be older than me. Heck, I’m immortally aged 48 anyway since that’s how old I was in 1993. But you were much older than me when you died. So pipe down.

Dad: I thought you said there were 3 things.

Mom: Yes, you forgot my birthday one year. So technically I’m only 64…

Dad: Good Lord, you’re never going to let that one go, are you?

Mom: Nope. It was a pretty big miss there.

Dad: Can’t argue with that. Well OK then. Happy 64th-ish birthday. What would you like to do today?

Mom: Let’s go peek in on that beautiful granddaughter of ours.

Dad: Beautiful granddaughter? We just have that redheaded one. We can look in on her instead.

(CRUNCH!!!!!)

(That’s Mom smacking Dad across the head)

 
Sounds about right. Happy Birthday, Mom!

yum yum yum

The only thing Mary Beth may like as much as walking right now is eating. Boy does she like to eat! Her favorites? Avocado. Ham. Black beans. Banana yogurt. Peaches. And graham crackers. As you can see from the photo above, we had spaghetti tonight. Apparently she has some of her grandma's Italian blood in her and has now added that to her list of favorites.

She's a HUGE fan of the kids meal at Chipotle - cheese quesadilla and black beans. As you can see from the two videos below, she enjoyed her dinner both nights. And I promise, she ate the avocado right after we stopped taping. Yes, she ate avocado and spaghetti at the same time. What, you don't?

Easter and walking like crazy...

Mary Beth sat still for about three minutes on Sunday -- just long enough for us to put on the Easter dress that Kim bought for her birthday. Even during Mass, she simply did not want to sit still. Both Bob and I took her to the back of the church so she could walk laps. Literally. And while she was delicately walking in her cute, plaid dress, she was smiling and waiving at everyone. She met more people at church in one morning than Bob and I have. But then again, she is a lot cute than us.

We  came back home and tried to take some photos, but she was plum tuckered out from her new excercise regimen. So we just got a few.

It's close to impossible to get Mary Beth on video walking right now because she's so darn quick that she's already out of the room by the time you get the camera. But here's a quick attempt on a short video for you: