Zoo!

Last week we took a summer trip to Houston to visit my parents.  We did lots of fun things, but the highlight of our trip was Landrie’s first trip to the zoo!!!   We packed way more stuff than a group of 5 could possibly need in one day, and set off for the Houston Zoo! 

 Ready to go!

Attempting a wink!

Mark with his favorite baby girl

Landrie was loving the animals!! 

“Goats are icky.  Do you really think I want to touch one?”

“Actually, I think I LOVE goats!!”

“Oh my!  Their mommies make them wear HUGE bows!”

The fam

Snuggling with her GranJan

We caught her rolling around in the grass!

Mark and his girls checking out the enormous elephant

Let’s see… a 14 month pregnancy and a 6 foot tall, 150 pound baby??  If I was a giraffe I would definitely adopt!!

P-Pa, GranJan, me, Mark and Landrie (she was fascinated by the giraffes behind us!)

Adorable little 2 foot tall girl!!!

This Komodo Dragon thought Landrie looked like a tasty snack.  He was just inches away from her and looking verrry hungry.  Landrie was fascinated and I was a bit freaked out.  How strong is that glass??  We didn’t stay there long!

Landrie loves her grandparents!

So, Landrie, what did you think of the zoo??

This trip was such a hit, we are thinking about our next visit.  Which zoo should we visit?  What's your favorite??

Visiting Round Rock for something even better than their donuts...

Although many people visit Round Rock for their famous donuts, Landrie and I went to visit our sweet friends!  Jessica, her husband and I all went to A&M together.  He was out of town and Mark was at work, so we made a quick trip down!

Landrie had a great time playing with her grown up friends, Avery and Grace.  They took great care of her and LOVED feeding her a bottle!!!  (I mean, really, really loved it... :) )

I am SO copying Jessica's idea of giving the kids an after-dinner Popsicle in the bathtub!  Genius!

With two girls, they have all the cutest girlie things.  This towel is too cute!

Jessica and I stayed up late chatting and making curtains for her new house.  We realized that it was 20 YEARS ago when we became friends!  I am so thankful that she introduced herself on the first day of 6th grade.  I promised Jessica not to put any junior high pictures on here!!  :) Jessica is an amazing friend, and I am so glad to have her in my life!

Three year old Avery took this picture for us.  I didn't even have to crop it. :)

Seriously, these girls loved playing together!  We are already planning the next trip!!

Red, White and FRIENDS!

Our patriotic princess!

Spunky in her stars!

We had a great time hanging out with our friends and trying out their new pizza oven.  This was right up our alley because we LOVE these friends and we LOVE pizza!!

Landrie loved the pizza and garlic cheese bread, but she was really intrigued by Ashton's chicken nuggets.  She chowed down on them! 

Of course, we tried to get a cute shot of all the babies, but Ashton was the only one who smiled for the camera.  :)  Landrie just kept pestering Kellan and he just looked a bit worried about being stuck in the bumbo between the two others!

The boys and their babies: Mark and Landrie (hiding under her hat!), Cody and Kellan and Jeromy. 

Shari with Ashton

Lindsay and Kenzie

Landrie loved playing in all the water!

I love these girls!  me, Lindsay and Shari

I hope you had a great 4th too!!

Smiles, sweet babies and sweat!

My sweet friend Kimi organized a fun play date at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden!  We loaded up kids, lunches and cameras and set off on what was one of the hottest days EVER. :)  Despite the heat, we had a great time with our wild crew of 10 kids!

I love this girl!

Amy showed me how to use some more settings on my camera.  I love how this one turned out!

Amy sent me some that she snapped of Landrie.  She's got amazing talent!!

Korbyn was the best at making Landrie laugh for me!

LG with her new best friend Korbyn. :)

We may have lost a few toys in this pond, but not a single kid fell in!

Jenny's boys, Kimi's boys, Amy's kids (with Landrie in the middle) and Bethany's baby

I can't believe these sweet little ones actually sat still for us!!

One toe in the water...  

They would have hopped in that water if we would have turned our backs for just one second!  

Lake, Korbyn, Jace, Caden

Aren't Thomas and Smith adorable in their matching shirts?

Lake and Landrie checking out the fountain.  He's always so sweet to her!

little beauty

I just couldn't stop taking pictures! 

 If you haven't been before, you should go!  It's beautiful, and it's FREE!

I know I promised you girls copies of some of these, so here's the link to a million more pictures I took!   You can save them or just order them and have them sent to your Walgreens. :)

Fathers Day!!

It wasn't that long ago that I celebrated my first Mother's Day.  This weekend, Mark got his turn to celebrate! Landrie brings us SO much JOY and so many fun reasons to celebrate!!!

Landrie and her daddy at church on Father's Day.  Mark got to stand up with the other dads for the first time!  He didn't cry, but I may have gotten a bit teary-eyed. :)

Lunch at Joe T's on the patio.  YUM!

Daddy letting Landrie try her first flour tortilla.  She couldn't get enough of it!  It looks like she loves Mexican food just as much as we do.  She chowed down on fajitas, guacamole, tortillas and tomatoes!

Once again, we loved being able to finally celebrate this special day as a family of 3 this year.  Infertility is so often viewed as the wife's problem or as something that only bothers the woman in the relationship, but believe me, the husband is right in the middle of things too!  Mark was such an amazing rock through everything.  I knew he would make a good daddy one day, but I have been blown away the past 9 months as I've watched him in action with our precious baby!

Baby, I am so blessed to have such an amazing man as a husband.  I love you so much, and I've fallen in love with you all over again watching you take care of sweet Landrie Grace!!  Instead of getting me midnight milkshakes and rubbing my feet while we waited for our bundle of joy, you recopied my messy handwriting with your neat handwriting on stacks of adoption paperwork, calmed me down before a nerve-wracking birth mom meeting, and raced us to the hospital to meet our baby girl.  You helped with late night feedings, learned to pack a diaper bag like a pro and can make Landrie giggle like crazy!!  I love how she stops what she's doing and looks around the corner for you when you come home at night.  She loves you so much!  She is such a daddy's girl and can't get enough of her daddy playtime.  :)

Mark wouldn't be the man he is today without his sweet dad.  We are so blessed to each have amazing dads!  Happy Father's Day to each of you, and we can't wait to spend time with you soon!