Spring has Sprung

Is love in the air?  This girl looks way too smitten at the ripe age of not even four yet to be riding on the back of a motorcycle with Logan.

 Our birds are back!  Well, different babies this year, but the nest right outside our door got used again for baby hummingbirds.  Apparently hummingbirds aren't picky and don't mind reusing a nest.  

We all love getting to see how much they change and how quickly!  While Andy thinks they are kinda cool, he is not so happy about the mess they leave.

Mess shmess, they're cute.

 Our backyard is blooming....

 This week has been awesome because some of my favorite people from Texas are in town!

My best friend Jacqueline (mom of those cute twins from a few posts back) was in town for work so we caught brunch at the Brigantine on Coronado Sunday.  I love this girl!

I adore our friendship and am so thankful for it...seriously getting a little teary eyed typing this.

I so wish for the umpteenth time that Texas and California could just be squeezed together so I could see her more often.

Guess who else is in town??!!

My parents are also here for "work".

My dad has a conference at Torrey Pines all week, so we have gotten to spend some special time with Nana & Poppy....and a few nice dinners and golf thrown in.

In other happenings...

Graham is living up to his age.

He is testing limits, screaming/yelling, and destroying everything.

Totally different kid in the last couple of weeks....

I'm not sending him away yet, but let's just say thank goodness we have a few extra hands around this week to wear him out.

Addison's nap is long gone and "quiet" time is not so quiet.

She thinks as long as she asks me 100 questions while whispering, it's still quiet time.

So this is what I see for much of Graham's nap.

The Ipad is friend to both of us.

After 9 days of rain in Houston and 2-3 days here...we were ready for some sunshine.

 We headed to the beach after nap to run off some energy.

It's getting easier to manage the beach by myself, yet still not EASY.

I did use a tip I found on Pinterest and tried baby powder to get off gritty sand.

End result....

I'll be picking up an obnoxious amount of it tomorrow at Costco to get us through the summer.

Amazing.

 

Houston: the food and other important stuff

Next to friends and family, my favorite part of Houston is the food.

I talk about it all the time...obsess about it is more like it.

Seriously, two months before the trip I was strategizing my list of restaurants and meals that would most certainly have no part of Weight Watchers.

And here is the list of our stops!

Tommy Bahamas - obsessed with Bungalow salad, bread & butter, and tortilla soup

Brix wine bar - new obsession is their santa fe chicken salad

Carrabas - a throw back to the good ol days!!!  Andy and I still argue over who introduced who to this place......and I still stand firm that it was me.

Oh my goodness, just seeing this picture makes me hungry.

Carrabas pizza is ridiculous.  I used to think it was the best.

Until I met Grimaldi's.  Andy and I have been talking about this pizza for months. 

We met a bunch of our friends there on Saturday night....and I have no pictures....too busy eating!

Red Fish - ridiculous seafood and sushi...thanks mom & dad!

Rummels on the Green

lots and lots of Chick Fil A

and last but definitely not least.....LUPE TORTILLA.

Addison was cramming the tortillas into her mouth and ate her whole quesadilla....this is the girl that eats like a bird......though not at Lupe.

I just wanted to take a bath in the queso.

California??  You must acquaint yourself with queso.

I have been in withdrawal.

But it's the memory of Lupe Tortillas beef fajitas that is making my mouth water now.

That stuff is crack.

I must make my copycat recipe again soon.

Not on the list that I'm still trying to get over was Black Walnut and ....CHUYS.

How on earth did we not get to Chuys?

Creamy Jalapeno dip....

tears...

Other spots we had to stop by....

Market Street....got my fill of Maggie's candles!

Addison found her own store...

Random picture of Kat and sweet Merrick at Lupe....

Another spot that we frequented three times was Bouncing Bears!

The kids were able to bounce off some energy despite the rain.

Dad even joined us one day.

And then we made it down "south" to Pearland to visit with "GG"

and see Aunt Karen & Uncle Rob.

Addison did great and loved playing with GG's "vintage toys".

Graham finally racked out for a nap while we all watched Aunt Sarah's two hour wedding video.

Yes Sarah.....we watched the whole thing.  Grandma couldn't believe I had never seen it before.

Now I have....and so has Addison!

We love getting to see GG and Karen & Rob though.....wish it could happen more often.

Houston Homecoming 2012 was a great success!

Now I'm already counting down to Houston girls weekend in the fall....sans kiddos and hubbie.

Chuys will certainly not be missed then.

Houston: back to where we began

While we were in Houston, we did quite a bit of driving.   Some of this driving involved scouting out potential areas to move should be ever get transferred back.

This was really just an excuse to drive around and explore because a transfer in nowhere in the immediate future (at least we're hoping).

Anyways, while driving, we happened to be near the area where the church we got married is.

Andy and I never went to this church...to be honest we just thought is was a beautiful church and in a good location....and that fit the bill for us at the time.

Anyways, being the sentimental romantic that I am, I wanted to take Addison by and show her the church.  It was POURING down rain so I thought it was going to be a quick drive by.

We drove under the portico and I actually got out to try to see if it was unlocked by chance.  

(There were no cars to be seen in the parking lot)

It was, and Andy said, "You want to go in, don't you?"

Yes!  I hadn't been back in seven years and I just thought that would be so cool to show Addison since she has been extremely into wedding pictures lately.

That, and I was just being sentimental.

We got the kids out and once inside tried the sanctuary, which was open as well....but pitch black.

This church has the MOST BEAUTIFUL stained glass I've ever seen.  It was my favorite part.

So I just stood there for a minute in the black sanctuary with the thunder booming from outside and it was beautiful.

After a few minutes, the building manager came by to check us out.  Once he heard that we had gotten married there and were reminiscing, he offered to go in and turn all the lights on.

Then he took a few quick pictures for us.

Although they didn't turn out great, I love that we have these pictures with our kids on the same alter where we said "I do" almost 7 years ago.

It was seriously one of my favorite memories from our Houston trip.

I told y'all I'm sentimental!

Houston: Meeting the babies!

One of THE hardest parts about not being in Houston is not being around for the births of my closest friends' babies.  I got a text on November 27 that my best friend was giving birth to her TWO boys.  I have been going crazy for 3 months not getting to see and love on Cash & Walker.

I cannot tell you how happy it made me to finally lay eyes on them and hold them......not to mention just getting to catch up with Mark & Jacqueline.  It was heaven.  And so was Mark's cooking....that never gets old.

Can you believe that Cash was born at 33 weeks 3 months ago?

 I would say that this cutie has definitely caught up in growth!

Cash is a total mini Mark and Walker definitely looks more like Jacqueline.  They are so precious!

    Everytime I see these pictures, I can't help laughing because I feel like I'm looking at pictures of baby Mark Donat.  I mean, he's even got the same expressions~ it kills me!

 and Walker is just super sweet.

love getting to hug on these two!!

 and then cute little Davis!!!  Last time I saw this pumpkin, he was just 6 weeks old!  He is the happiest, sweetest love.....Sheila is so blessed!

 and then my sweet friend Kat just had her TWO little boys late January.  They actually had just come home from the NICU the week before we got to Houston!  I loved getting to hold precious Merrick & Taylor.  Let me say it again, I DETEST not being around to do this all the time!!

Houston: Nana's bathtub wins

I am the first to admit that I hate giving the kids a bath.

Ever since they were newborns, Andy and I have played by the "every other day" rule.

Unless they really get dirty....then rest assured, we will clean them.

We are just not fun, bath people.

For the past year or so, we have forgone baths for showers because it's just quicker.

I let Andy deal with all that efficiency cleaning.

But if we had a bath like Nana, I could definitely cross over.

Nana has the coolest tub ever, and I guarantee that next time we go to Houston, this is one of the things they'll be most excited about.

Houston...here we go!

 We just got back Tuesday night from a great 9 day trip to Houston.  It's always fun to get to take the kids back, let Nana & Poppy babysit, see friends, and eat a lot of great food.  We have only been getting to take the kids back once a year (because buying 4 plane tickets is not so cheap)...so we try to make the most of our time there and extend/cram in as much as possible.

 I have to say, since traveling last year with them (and holding Graham on my lap for the 3 1/2 hour flight), traveling has gotten about 100 times easier....thanks in part to Apple and the DVD player.

This is how they spent much of their time.            

 

 I actually got to read 2 magazines...amazing.

The kids adjusted quickly (too quickly) to the time change and were up bright and early the first morning.  They got to spend lots of good time with Poppy & Nana.

 And Graham also introduced Poppy to one of Apple's "gifts" to parents of young children.

 There was lots of reading time with Nana and lots of "show" watching thanks to the 7 days straight of rain we had while we were there.

The weather sure wasn't doing much for the "move back to Houston" campaign.

 The one day it DIDN'T rain, Nana took the kids down to feed the ducks.

Graham loved it.

 Then we took the kids up to my mom's old school.  She was principal there for over ten years when she retired a few years back (the year she became a Nana).

They surprised her with the honor this year of naming the library after her.

Addison was excited to meet everyone but I think she thought it was cooler that her picture was up on the wall.

 Much much more to come....