The Pflugerville Pfireworks were Pfantastic!

So, CP and I took Ethan to Lake Pflugerville to try to see the fireworks show. We thought there would be at most a few hundred people. Let's just say there were at least several thousand cars there -- with familes. It was huge! We enjoyed people watching down by the lake for a while, but around 9:05pm or so, Ethan was getting hot, the breeze stopped, and the bugs started. So, back to the car we go hiking. About halfway there, the fireworks start, so we stop and enjoy for a several minutes before hiking the rest of the way to the car. We get Ethan settled into the A/C of the car, the the fireworks are still going! Wow, it was great! Next year, we might just stay in the car, as the view was great, and the dust was minimized.









WEE hope y'all had a great Fourth of July!!!

Happy 4th of July!

Here's a pretty random update of pictures, but hopefully we'll take some cute ones of Ethan later today.

Dad and his Boy hanging out under the trees at Tratoria Lisina outside Driftwood. They have several picnic tables under various stands of oak trees that make for a great hangout. When the temperature drops into the 80s, I'm sure you'll have to fight to grab a seat!

Here's Cookie Pockets looking beautiful, as usual.

Oh boy! Ethan got an Exer-saucer as a gift, and he likes going to work in it. There's so much to play with!

Dad recently went on a co-worker's bachelor party to Portland. There was good beer, good people, great weather, and some exhausting hiking up Mt. St. Helens. The vertical elevation change was around 4500 ft. in just over 4 miles! Plus, there were almost no switchbacks for the last 2/3rds of the way up. This pic is taken from the top (rim) of Mt. St. Helens, and you can see thh other side of the rim with the crater in the middle. The peak on the left is Mt. Rainier and the peak on the right is Mt. Adams.

Ethan

We had a wonderful getaway this past weekend, and our family really gave us a nice relaxing break. Ethan received an abundance of love and affection, and he just ate it up!

Here's a group shot from this past weekend.


Ethan loves it when he gets to stand up -- especially on someone's belly!


Awww, I can't tell which one of my babies is cuter!


Ethan likes his toes...

and his hands...

... and his pirate!

"Watch out, I'm coming to get you! I'm learning the basics of a scootch."

It's time to stretch and grow!

"Are you going to just lay there and take pictures, or are you gonna play with me?!?"

Garden Update

A lot has happened in the past month. Here are a few of the garden events.

The tomatoes are starting to come out, and I even have a pepper that turned red. Of course, all of this is covered by bird netting to keep the mockingbirds from poking holes in everything.
Here you can see the netting and support on the left.
Here's a downside to keeping the birds out -- the tomato hornworms are allowed to roam freely, munching away at the plants. Luckily I only saw one of them, but I'm keeping my eyes open.

Our crepe myrtle is starting to bloom -- man, I love that color!

Here's our first blooming artichoke from about a month ago. It has a beautiful thistle like flower with a fairly strong (but nice) scent.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, we're still trucking along. Ethan has started playing more, and at times, he really loves tummy time on his play mat. He's really loving his hands and what they can do... they're really good at grabbing chest hair, necklaces, glasses, noses, or anything else that gets too close. Here are some recent pictures of him, and pictures of our family from Mother's Day brunch.

"Oh, is there a booby over there? All this exercise makes me hungry!"

"Goodness gracious, I'm soooo cute!"

"Mmmm, this pirate tastes yummy!"

"Weeeeee! I'm flying... and drooling!"

This must have been the part where Ethan was asleep.

Happy Mother's Day, Cookie Pockets!

Here we all are gathered for brunch. It was a great time to see everyone together.

Times...They are a changing!

The past few days have been so much easier with Ethan. We're preliminarily attributing it to his partial adaption of a nipple-shield-less breast for the first time. We're thinking he might be getting more volume or eating more efficiently. He's been taking naps the past few days, and he's even had periods of awake-and-not-crying. During these times we've been able to play and we've been able to venture out a bit with him. Hopefully his new attitude will stick around for a while...we like it!
This is something he never used to do during the day unless he'd just eaten a bottle of breast milk.

That's right! Check out Ethan's post-bath-time hair!

Strike a pose! It's time to look cute for the camera...


Heres Mommy and Son heading out in our Hawaiian gear.

This is a supper-yummy dinner that Dad cooked the other night. Blackened Mahi with steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes with fresh-dill and garlic chives.

The many faces of Ethan

Now for the Ethan posts. There are a bunch here, but he's just so darned cute at times, and we need to remember those times when he is crying and fussing and mommy and daddy are tired... ;)

"Ooooh, look. My hand!"

"Is that food I see over the hill?!?"

"Shhh. I'm trying to catch flys."

"Mommy. Did you toot?"

"I'm practicing my inclined press so I can have big muscles for when I start hitting the gym soon."

"Who, me?!? No, I'm innocent..."

"Let me distract you with my cuteness..."

Three generations. Guess which of the three falls asleep when the hair dryer is turned on (the cool setting). Guess which one doesn't sleep well when daddy turns on the hairdryer.