Time Flies

I cannot believe how much my kiddos have grown. This top picture was taken in February when Aidan was two months old. The bottom one was taken today at nine months old. Look at the difference in seven months! Allison also looks older, even though she's still wearing swim suits on days that there's not a chance of going swimming. I love that! These little ones grow up too quickly!

Nixon

Gigi is here this weekend, and she brought some oldies but goodies from her house. Allison found this mask in one of the bags. (We now realize this is a Bush mask. The big ears confused us. Oops. This was still hilarious!)






Tyler then taught her the saying to go along with this classic pose. She had a hard time seeing through the eye holes. We are still cracking up at this video.

Against My Best Advisors' Advice

I was told by more than one person that I should not share this event due to how it makes me look, but it's way too funny not to document.

Allison: "Mommy, you have a big bottom."

Me: "Allison, that's not a nice thing to say."

Allison: "But Mommy, bottom is not a bad word."

Me: yadda, yadda, yadda...trying to explain what I meant

Allison: "You need big panties for your big bottom."

If this isn't motivation to get my big bottom to spinning class, I don't know what is!

How the McAfee Kids Watch TV

We all know I have hyper kids. They need to let out that energy.

Allison loves Little Einsteins. When I turned it on today she started jumping on the couch. That is not allowed, so I pulled out her mini-trampoline. Then, I put Aidan's jump-er-oo next to her, and they went to town. If she stopped, he usually stopped. If she jumped, he jumped. It was pretty cute. This isn't the first time I've used this technique to keep the troops happy. :)

Giddy Up Cowgirl

Allison rode a horse for the first time today at a birthday party. Actually, she rode three different horses! She loved it. It was so neat to see her reaction to getting on and riding. This girl was not scared at all. She even told the black horse, Ruthie, that she was pretty.

Disinfect This Joint!

Aidan, Tyler, and Allison have all been sick, in that order. Allison is much better today. It's amazing how kids get over illness so much more quickly than adults. Aidan's lasted less than 24 hours, and so did Allison's. Tyler has been sick since last Monday, and he's still under the weather. He had a fever for four straight days. Hopefully by Sunday he'll be back to normal.

Of course, Allison does not show she's sick. She's coughing, running a fever, and has a raspy voice. She still dresses up in a strange outfit, and brings me the camera for a couple of pictures and a video. She actually had me take around five videos. I won't subject you to all of them. She's also all about the posing right now.

This picture just screams "TROUBLE!"

There's a pretty funny story about this bike helmet. She needs it for a horse-riding birthday party tomorrow. A couple of weeks ago she and I go to Academy. She wanted this Barbie helmet. It said ages "5 and up", so I told her it was too big. She settled on a Disney Princess one that was "3 and up". We get home, put the helmet on, and it is perched on top of her head. My poor big-headed children! So, back we go to Academy. She now gets the Barbie one she originally wanted. On the way home this was the conversation:

Allison: "Mommy, you said the Barbie one not fit me. It's too big."

Mommy: "I know. I was wrong."

Allison: (singing to the tune of 'A Tisket a Tasket') "The right song. The wrong song. I was right. Mommy was wrong."

I could not make this stuff up if I tried. This kid is so crazy!

The Understudy

Aidan is going to give Allison a run for her money. He has discovered the microphone on her little keyboard. He thinks it is about the best thing ever. This morning they were taking turns singing into it, and we were sure to wipe it off between turns. No more sickies, PLEASE!!! Here was his before bedtime performance tonight.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

I am typing this post for all of you mommies with little girls in gymnastics. This summer I bought two GK gymnastics leotards and a pair of gymnastics shorts at The Little Gym for full price. These cute little things run $25-45 each. Allison constantly wanted a new one so that she could have an assortment to choose from. At that price, forget it! So, I checked out ebay. I was able to get three for a total cost of $40! All GK Elite, which is a quality brand. (If it's good enough for Shawn Johnson, I think it's good enough for Allison.) This pink one was being modeled for us tonight. They are in great shape because the seller's daughter outgrew them super fast, just like Allison will. She now has five to choose from. When she moves up a size in a few months, I'm going back to ebay for more.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: Papa Jerry was here this weekend, and he and Allison had a ball going to the aquarium downtown. She rode a ferris wheel, the merry-go-round many times, and saw so much neat sea life.

The Bad: Aidan was sick for the first time in his life. Allison has had a runny nose and slight cough for the last week. Aidan must have caught it. He had a fever for three days, and he had a stopped up nose the first day. That cleared quickly, thank goodness. Suctioning noses might be on the top of the list of things I hate doing. It upsets him so much. As of this morning his fever is gone, and he's feeling much better.

The Ugly: After you turn 30, birthdays aren't supposed to be pretty, right? Tyler turned 32 on Friday. It was not at all ugly, but hey, it made for a cute post title. Friday night Allison and I gave him his gift wrapped in Tinkerbell paper, and we had a pink cake Allison had picked out. Saturday night we celebrated again with his dad. I think below was his favorite moment though. (Don't ask why she's in a bikini. I have no clue.)

Making the Bed

This morning, pre-coffee, Allison was in our room chatting about who-knows-what. I was making our bed, so I said to her, "Sweetie, why don't you go and make your bed, like Mommy?" This was the result. Too cute!

Growing Boy

Monday Aidan turned 9 months old, and today he had his 9-month appointment. The nurses and doctor always ooh and aah over those big blue eyes. He's very healthy and growing well. Luckily he only had one shot, the flu vaccine. He didn't even cry, so that was great! Here are his current stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 11 oz (50-75%)

Height: 28.0 in (25-50%)

FOC: 48.5 cm (over 95%) - that head is still HUGE!

As far as developmental milestones go he's crawling, pulling up, waving when waved to, likes to say something that sounds like "heyyyyy" (we say it to him), can say "da da", plays with all sorts of toys, and has switched from three naps a day to two. He still does not have a single tooth. The fussiness seems to be improving now that he's mobile.

We are very lucky in that he goes to bed around 5:30 or 6:00 PM and usually doesn't wake up until 6:45 - 7:00 AM. I even asked the doctor today if she thought that was abnormal, and she laughed and told me to be extremely grateful. I am!

Nastics

Allison was very excited to start "nastics" today. She went to The Little Gym over the summer, and after a trial class at Cypress Academy of Gymnastics told me she liked it a little more. So, we've made a switch. She was excited all morning. Her class is at 11:15, but she was in full gymastics wear by 7:30.

She even entertained Aidan before we left.

I could not get a decent picture in there because the glass doors letting in light were behind me. She loves the beam, so I did what I could with this one.

The Princess and her Porsche

(Allison throwing the "hook em' horns" at an Asian cow with long horns, not a Texas Longhorn. Hey, can't fault a girl for having that longhorn pride!!!)

We just returned from a great trip to visit Papa Jerry and Nai Nai in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We left last Thursday and returned last night. Jerry's mother, Ruby (aka Granny) came from Chattanooga, TN to join in the fun. Both kids did well to and from on the plane. Aidan was a little squirmy but was overall happy or asleep. Allison slept the entire flight back, so that was great.

We did so much during the visit. The kids had fun being at Papa Jerry and Nai Nai's house. Allison swam almost everyday. I really hope we have a pool someday. She loved it. (There was a really hilarious moment of Papa Jerry and Nai Nai on this teeter totter. Too bad there wasn't a camera handy.)



Aidan pulled up on everything in sight. This little piano was his favorite. He also did not sleep through the night until our third night there. Argh! He sure can pose though.



Our first night we ate ribs, and Allison was a huge fan.


On our second day we went out to Dr. Lambeth's (Nai Nai's father) house to fish. He has a pond, and Allison was very excited about this shed. She called it "the farm". She and Papa Jerry caught some great fish. It was her first time to actually catch a fish, and she caught three! What is up with this pose?



That night we were fortunate enough to be invited over to Jose and Silvia's home. Tyler had offered some wine advice to Judy (aka Nai Nai) when they were attending a wine tasting with them. Jose was impressed with his knowledge, and appreciated the research Tyler had done, so in return he let him choose some bottles to open. Their cellar was beautiful, and we had a nice adult night out at a great restaurant afterwards. (Can you believe this is in their home? It was so neat, and cold! It's wine cellar temperature. Around 55) I really enjoyed the evening.



Now...to the title of this post. We took the kids to a place called The Lazy 5 Ranch. It was so neat! Papa Jerry has a new red Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet. It is one sweet ride. Of course it's only the best for his goomba. She rode, top down and propped up, through a wildlife ranch where she was very close to all sorts of animals. Zebras, llamas, axis deer, an elk, water buffalo, giraffes, you name it.

At one point we saw this rhino peacefully sleeping under his covered dirt bed. He woke up, saw the car, and seriously charged. I am not exaggerating when I say I thought this was how it was all going to end. While I was screaming, "Tyler drive the blankity-blank car!" and grabbing Allison, Tyler was taking a picture. What he knew and I had not realized was that the rhino was in a sunken area. He couldn't get to us. It's now pretty funny, but at the time I was about to wet my pants. Allison must have also had enough brains to know what was going on because she said, "Ohhhh Mommy" with exasperation.




On our fourth day Tyler, Papa Jerry, and I took the kids to the local children's museum. There were only a few other kids there, so Allison had the place almost to herself. Here they are making donuts in the Krispy Kreme factory.



Aidan had fun playing with wooden blocks and cars. It was great that there were areas for him to play also. Dang this kid is cute.



On our last morning we caught a shot with Granny. Granny is so wonderful with the kids. Aidan gave her huge smiles every time she talked to him. We are so glad she was able to come and see us for this great trip.

In conclusion, this was such a wonderful six days. Allison already talks about missing Papa Jerry. She is is definitely his biggest fan. Luckily he'll be here in Houston in a couple of weeks.