It's begining to look a lot like fall

We have been in the new house for about two months now. All the boxes are unpacked, pictures are hung on the walls, and although there are still many projects to do, it truly feels like home now. The weather has started to turn cooler and a jacket is definitely in order when taking Paige to school in the mornings, but the afternoons are still warm and we are enjoying eating out on the patio as often as we can, especially since we know that soon it will be too cold. The changing seasons, left me wanting to spruce up the front door. We haven't done much to the outside since we moved in and I thought that a pretty new fall wreath, might do the trick for now. I started with a plain grapevine wreath and just started adding fluff and stuff until it looked about right. This is what I ended up with. I think it dresses up the front door. I would love to hang it with some sage green ribbon I have, but haven't figured out just how to do that yet, so for now the green wreath hanger works.

How big is Collin....

He's SOOOOOO big! 9 month check-up (two weeks early)
27.5 inches long
20.11 lbs

Dancing Queen

Paige started tap and ballet lessons today and I think that she really liked them! Her teacher is Miss Nicole and she said that Paige was a little shy at first but seemed to warm up quickly. I think that it really helped that her friend Hannah from school was in her class too. Miss Nicole said that Paige was so funny because she would ask her to do something and Paige would reply, "I can't do that, it's too hard" and then she would do it. So, they are going to work on not using the "can't" word. After class on the way home when asked what she learned Paige told me that she learned to "plies", not a bad start for the first day of ballet. She also told me that she knew which foot to use since one had a pink dot on it (I'm assuming that they are working on distinguishing the right from the left). It should be a fun year, I can't wait for the recital at the end.

Back in Bussines

Hey there! I bet you thought we had forgotten all about you. I know that it's been forever since we have posted an update, but we've been a little busy around here. So much has happened since we got back from our summer travels that it's hard to know exactly where to begin. We have moved into the new house and have satellite internet, it not quite a fast as cable, so I won't be posting ever picture that I have taken over the past two months, but here's a quick catch up on what's new with the Wild Bunch!

We are moved!!! We moved out of the townhouse in Falls Church on August 1 and into our new home which we couldn't love more. We are so blessed and excited to have lots of room for the kids to spread out and play outside. All of the boxes are unpacked and most of the rooms have been painted thanks to lots of hard work by Noni!!! I still have the guest room, the office, and the entry way left, but am hoping to get them done in the next month. If I can keep my house clean for more than 30 seconds, I will post some pictures of the house and all the projects that we have taken on.

If you ask Paige, one of the best things about the new house is the swing set in the back yard. We spend most afternoons after naps outside playing. Paige loves the slide, she goes up and down, up and down, up and down.
Collin is perfectly content to hang out in the swing.

Collin continues to grow like a weed, we are now eating lots of table foods, which he really prefers to the pureed baby food. He will still eat it most of the time, but he has his moments where he just spits the baby food back out until you give him something that he can do himself. So independent!

Other happenings this past month included Paige's 3rd Birthday!!! Hard to believe that she is already three, although some days she acts like she is about 14:

"Paige, what did you do at school today?" "Nothing!"

"Paige, how was your nap?" "FINE!"

No, she's not developing an attitude at all. I think that we are going to be in trouble when she actually is 14!

We did have a birthday party for Paige. It was mostly family and a few of our friends as she hadn't started school yet. But she had a blast opening presents and soaking up all the attention.

Paige also started Preschool the week of her birthday. She goes three days a week from 8:10am until 12:30. She wears the cutest little uniform, khaki or navy pants or skirt and a blue, white, or red polo. So adorable. She is usually a little timid when we first get to school and tells me that she doesn't want me to leave her at school by herself, but once I'm gone she seems to have a blast. She always has lots to tell me when she gets home. Her teacher called the other day to talk about how she was adjusting and we both decided that besides being a little shy, Paige is doing great and starting to make some good friends.

So grown up! She is also going to start ballet and tap next week after school. Her teacher tells me that she loves to sing and dance so I hope she will like the dance lessons.

Collin is now 8 months old!!! Hard to believe this one too. He's looking very mischievous in this picture. Have no fear though, it's not just a look - he is very mischievous. I can tell he is going to be one to get into way more things than Paige did!

The weather has started to turn a little cooler this past week, so we have really enjoyed playing outside in the afternoon. Paige loves to take Collin for a ride in the wagon. Sometimes I think he likes it and other times, he looks at me like, "mom, come and save me"

Something smells...fishy

After a beach day to recover from our full day at the Zoo, we tackled yet another day packed with activity at Sea World. Once again Paige seemed to like Shamu the best and could not get over how big he jumped and splashed. It was fun to see her get more excited about the animals this year, especially the ones she could touch and feel.

Collin's still too young to have a clue about what's going on, but he seemed to enjoy his day out in the beautiful weather.


Hanging with Nana waiting for Shamu.



Touching the starfish in the tide pools.


Feeding the bat rays. These were my favorite, they are SO soft! Paige had a hard time getting them to actually take the fish out of her hand, but playing in the water was just as fun, especially when the rays would come by and splash water with their "wings". By the time we were finished she was drenched - salty fishy water...yummm!

Tuckered out!

We have one more day left here in sunny San Diego and then head back to Dallas for a few days before heading all the way East, where the daunting task of packing our house and moving awaits us... I think tomorrow will be a beach day for sure!

San Diego Zoo

After the 4th of July, Matt headed back to work and to take care of a few things with the new house and the kids and I traveled west to visit my Nana. The first full day we were in town, we went to the San Diego Zoo. Collin had a great day riding and snoozing in the stroller.


Last year, Paige wouldn't go anywhere near the animals in the children's zoo, but this year she had no fear.



Here she is being silly with Noni.


From the moment we arrived at the Zoo, Paige was intent on seeing the giraffes.

My own little giraffe.

Beyond just getting to see the giraffes, she also got to feed them. Once again, she had no fear even though their heads were as big as she was. She got to feed them three "biscuits" and after each one, she would jump up and down yelling, "he ate it, he ate it!" This was definitely the highlight of the day!

Other favorites included the Giant Panda's...

...and the polar bear exhibit. Here we are outside of the enclosure where they have several bears that you can climb and play on.

And here's the same picture from last year. What a difference a year makes. Paige has grown and changed so much and I was just a few months pregnant with Collin.

More fun with the Polar Bears.

The day was packed with lots of excitement and no naps, I'm not sure we made it out of the parking lot before both kids were sound asleep in the back.

Lake, Fun, & 4th of July

At the end of June, I packed up the kids and headed to Texas to visit friends and family. It's the first time we had been back since we moved at the end of last summer and Paige and Collin had a great time playing outside, swimming, and soaking up all the Texas heat.

Paige still has a hard time understanding that she cannot take things away from Collin when he is playing with them, but here is a rare moment when they are actually "playing" together. Hopefully this will continue as they get older!



We borrowed a jumperoo from some family friends of ours which Collin absolutely loved! He jumped so hard and so long one day that he rubbed a little blister on his toe. It didn't seem to bother him though, he was only upset when we made him get out!


Playing out on the deck.

Yes, that is another bucket on her head.

When we were still living in Temple, Paige had a very good friend Lauren that she still talks about. We were so lucky that Lauren and her mom were able to come up to the lake one afternoon. The girls had a great time playing once they warmed up to each other and the moms loved catching up.

Some of Paige's favorite things to do at the lake included going out on the boat...

and swimming in the water. She has definitely become a little fish!

Let's not forget the jet skis too. "Popi, go faster!"

Getting a croquet lesson from Noni.

Matt joined us for the long 4th of July weekend. He gave Paige a lesson on how to treat the flag. Here she is holding it high!

Happy 4th of July.

The fireworks were also a big hit. For the next several days every time we went outside Paige was insistent that we do more "sparkles".