Photo Shoot

I have been meaning to get professional pictures of EZ and Netta since their birthdays in May and I finally got around to it today. You may have read my post around Christmas about the horrific experience I had at JCPenny, so this time I decided to go with Portrait Innovations. I have had a lot of friends go here and love it, so I thought it would be worth a shot. My friend Sarah warned that they do such a good job that you end up spending more money than you planned and she was right. I totally spent more than I planned and afterwards I was thinking maybe I should have spent less, but I honestly don't know how I could have. In fact as I was looking back through the cd I saw some pics I wished I had ordered that I didn't. So yeah they are great with kids and I am happy to say that I actually enjoyed going there. So here are some of the pics. I didn't order all the ones I posted and I think I left some out that I ordered, but anyway this gives you a good idea of how many cute pictures there are.

Surprise!!

John managed to surprise me big time and flew my parents in for the weekend. I honestly had no idea they were coming. Of course the kids were just as surprised and excited. Then he surprised me again by saying we were going to San Antonio for the weekend to check out the Riverwalk and Sea World. We had such a blast. We had some amazing Mexican food and did a boat tour of the Riverwalk. It is like being in a whole other world or on a Disney ride or something. Here is a pic of my mom and Netta at Mi Tierra waiting for dinner.

Here is my dad and EZ also waiting for dinner.

Here's a pic of Netta and I also waiting for dinner and enjoying some live music. There were a bunch of mariachi like bands walking around offering their musical services for a small fee. John had them play a song his mom and grandma used to sing all the time. (John's mom grew up in the Mormon colonies in Mexico so that's why she used to sing in Spanish in case you were wondering). Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that.

After dinner we took the boat tour of the Riverwalk. Like I said it was amazing. This picture hardly does it justice. You should google it or something if you haven't heard of it before.

The next morning we enjoyed some time by the pool. EZ has been taking swim lessons and even though he still cant actually swim he is much better in the water about basic stuff like remembering to close his mouth when he goes under. Pretty important. Here is a pic of Netta looking cute while getting tried off.

After swimming we headed to Sea World. They had a pretty sweet deal where we could all get in for the child price and get a pass for each person to come back one more time for free. Not too shabby. We will definitely be heading back in the fall after the weather cools down a bit. It was hotter than Hades out there. Despite the heat we all still had a blast. Netta got so excited every time she saw an animal/creature which meant she was excited and squealing pretty much the whole time. My favorite part was feeding the dolphins. Here is a nice close up of our dolphin friend.

EZ really liked the big aquarium where he got to see all his "friends" from Finding Nemo. We really need to cut back on his tv time.

Sadly my parents had to leave on Sunday. EZ was a bit distraught and apparently stood in the garage staring at the floor for quite some time after I left to take them to the airport. Luckily we are headed to Pittsburgh in about 4 weeks. Of course I have to say thanks to my rockin hubby who put this all together for me. Thanks babe. I love you!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Steve and Grandpa Phil and most importantly Dada!

Love,

EZ aka Tom Cruise

and Netta (after enjoying one of EZ's markers)

Dublin Dr. Pepper Birthday Celebration

Saturday we went to the Dublin Dr. Pepper Birthday Celebration. Dublin is a city a little over 2 hours north of Austin where they have the only Dr. Pepper bottling plant that uses pure cane sugar. John thought he had died and gone to heaven. They were giving out free Dr. Pepper and this stuff was phenomenal. Pure cane sugar makes all the difference. My favorite part was when they busted out the birthday cake made with, you guessed it, Dr. Pepper. It was so frickin good. Between that and all the free Dr. Pepper I honestly gained 2 pounds that day. They also had a carnival going on, which EZ loved. It was hotter than all get out, but definitely worth it. Here are some pics from the festivities.

An old fashioned delivery truck stocked with the glass bottles.

Netta and I enjoying a frickin awesome Dr. Pepper float.

The souvenir shop.

Every year they change all the city signs to say "Dr. Pepper Texas"

John as a Dr. Pepper spokesman with his new hat and a drink in hand.

Random Happenings

Just wanted to post about some of the random happenings in our lives as of late. Nothing photo worthy or super special, but I still think worth recording and sharing. So here we go:

Netta
1. Eats everything and I mean everything. The other day she was airing her bum out after a diaper change and pooped on the floor, ate some of it, and then threw up all over the place. It was disgusting and hilarious at the same time, although not all that fun to clean up.
2. Does not learn lessons well. Immediately after throwing up she attempted to eat a crayon. She loves crayons and the other day I found her storing them in her cheeks.
3. Finally has started pulling herself up to standing. She isn't cruising yet, but I am glad she is showing some desire to break away from the floor. I am not necessarily in a hurry for her to walk, but I don't know how I feel about both my kids being late walkers. The doctor said if it ruins in the family then there is less to worry about, but that actually makes me feel worse. I breed lazy children.

EZ
1. Started swimming lessons on Monday and it did not go so well. Spent about half the time screaming his head of and he is the oldest one in the class by far. I kept pointing that out to him, but I don't know how much shame/embarrassment works at his age.
2. Tuesday EZ decided to put on this man pants and things went much better at swim lessons. They changed from a girl teacher to a guy and I don't know if that is what did it but EZ was much more cooperative and was again today.

John
1. Still working hard at Dell. The economy obviously makes everyone a little nervous, especially when you are the new guy, but so far things seem to be looking good for him.
2. Loved by the kids. As soon as he walks in the door the kids are all over him, which is fine by me.

Me
1. The main thing I have been working on lately is weight loss. As with most women, after my first kid I bounced back pretty decently, but not so much after the second. As soon as Netta was weaned I knew I had to get serious and I have been counting calories and trying to work out regularly for the past 3 months. So far I have lost about 15 pounds and I am actually back to my pre-baby and almost pre-marriage weight. Now, my body may not exactly look like it did before kids, but some damage is probably irreversible without major surgery. At times I could cry when I think about how nice my stomach looked before, and to think I hated it back then too. If I only knew then what I do know.