two and a HALF

i have a love/hate relationship with having a two and HALF year old boy....

i love that this little boy is growing

 growing

growing

but, i hate that this means in his mind he is now a BIG boy!!!

We continued our half birthday tradition of sharing our birthday treats!  I love that Avery is now old enough to tell me what he would like, cookies with candy!  I also love that he knew who he wanted to share with!
Remember our cousin JD from North Carolina who visited this summer? 

Well, Avery loves him and we talk about him every time Avery notices his picture on the fridge.  We went to the best cookie place in Dallas, JD's Chippery to get Avery's "cookie with candy."  Once I told Avery where we were going in his mind the cookies were JD's no question.  I hate it for Michael and his partners, I was thinking we could honor them and the hard work they have been doing for our family this year.  But, I know JD will love some tired old cookies from his favorite 2 year old cousin, sorry JD I hate it they won't be fresh by the time they make it to you. 
Here are a few more things I love and hate about having a 2 and a HALF year old
I love getting to see so much more of his personality, like when he was helping with the set up of our birthday photos

but i do hate that it meant 97 takes and only got 2 good pictures....
i love that he loves his baby brother

i hate that i can't seem to get pictures of when he tickles and plays with hank in the tub, it is adorable!

i love that avery can tell us things like "daddy i a super hero" out of the blue at dinner, it is amazing what is flying around in that little brain.

i hate that it took almost 2 hours to eat dinner last night because his majesty requested thing after thing to eat because he was starving because he threw his lunch in the floor and then got to go to his nap with basically no lunch.  when does the food throwing stop????

i love that avery loves school.  he gets so excited and literally jumps out of bed saying "I get to go school" every monday and thursday.

i hate that avery is not the favorite at school.  he loves his teachers and i truly believe that they love him, but he is probably not the favorite since he is the only kid still not taking a nap at nap time....nice!  any tips anyone???

i love that avery also loves to go church and is learning more and more.  it is so special to hear him put things together from church at home.  yesterday he was planting seeds in the dirt so God could make them grow! 

i hate that we are now those rowdy people with ratty children during big church.  we still can't manage to keep avery quiet and attentive for the 15 minutes before we get to send him to Bible hour. 

i also hate that when we were teaching Bible hour this week our rat was the one who chose to throw his Bible while we were singing about how we do NOT throw our Bibles.....i am telling myself he is better when I am not there, wishful thinking???

i love that avery loves to be outside.

i love that avery loves to play with other kids, any kids, and in my humble opinion plays well with other kids.

i hate that my little boy is growing up so fast.  i am just not ready.  i am loving this age!  i know that 2 year olds are supposed to be miserable, and don't get me wrong we have our miserable moments.  like when he threw down outside tom thumb because i told him he couldn't ride in the back of the buggy because we needed too many groceries. 

or when i forgot i had told him he could yell outside anytime so he yelled at the top of his lungs all through the same parking lot and while i unloaded the groceries at our car, i am sure all the people in the parking lot really enjoyed it.  but the love that fills me when he says "mamma your beautiful" or
"mamma i wub you" how can you not love having a 2 year old.  and sesame street thank you for making exquisite the word of the day "mamma you squizit" is as good as it gets.  i even love it that my name has recently become mamma mamma mamma and hate it for michael that he is only daddy daddy!

we LOVE you so much Avery boy, we are so glad you are the 2 1/2 boy that you are!!!!

5 Question Friday

1. If you could speak with a different accent, what would it be (i.e Australian, Scottish)?
British I guess, however I really don't mind my southern twang!


2. Can you fall asleep anywhere? (i.e floor, couch, deck)
yes and no.... couch, yes, floor with a pillow, deck probably  not!

3. Do you use public restrooms? If so, do you sit on the toilet?
Yes.  And I normally sit unless there is an obvious reason not to.  I do clorox wipe them before Avery sits, since he feels the need to touch it all!!!

4. If you were stuck in an elevator for 24 hours, what celebrity would you most want to be stuck with?
Julia Roberts, I think she would want to be my friend if she knew me.  :) 
5. Where did you & your significant other go on your 1st date?
hmmmm.... do all the dances that we weren't date dates for each other and went as friends, or a real date?  then we need to know exactly when we stopped being friends and started being more.....

5 Question Friday

1. What is the first nightmare you remember?
Get ready, this one is pure nuts!  My recurring nightmare when I was little was like this...
I am playing outside our apartment (my family never lived in an apartment) with friends by the fountain (fancy apartment huh) and the phone rang.  My mom went inside to answer the phone and while she did I got kidnapped.  The kidnapper yanked me up, put me in the car, shrunk me, and then folded me up in the visor of the car on the passenger side.  Then when my mom came outside and looked for me she couldn't find me, but I could see her and my kidnapper from my terrified, tiny vantage point folded up in the visor.  I screamed and screamed but my scream was too little to hear. 

2. Even if you're not a sports fan, what's your favorite sport to play/watch?
I am a sports fan!  I like to watch baseball best in person, and A&M games are really fun in person as long as you are not in the student section and get to sit down.  I like to watch football on TV.  I do NOT like to watch random teams I don't care about.  I like to watch the Rangers, Cowboys, and the Big 12 south, even though there aren't 12 anymore and they need a new name.   

3. If you could pull off one piece of trendy fashion, what would you want it to be (jeggings, hats, thigh high boots, etc.)?
Well, I got some jeggings so I hope I can pull it off.  I do wish I was cool enough for hats, too, and that I could walk in high heels.


4. Did you make good grades in school?
good enough, but man math was a struggle!




5. What magazines do you subscribe to?
Real Simple!  It's awesome!  The only one I will make time to read, but I did enjoy People when I got it. 

Good Thing Bad Thing

The boys and I went for a walk today, it's been a long time since I went on a good walk....

Good Thing-I walked 2 miles

Bad Thing-it took 35 minutes and I thought I might die

GT-It was only 86 degrees

BT-It felt like 95 with the humidity

GT-I can get back in shape

BT- This time last year I was walking 12-15 miles a day

GT-I love walking with a 2 year old, we talked about butterflies, squirrels, acorns, the "shiny" sun, big trucks, fork trucks, cars, bicycles, skateboards, birdhouses and so much more

BT-both of the playgrounds we passed had school kids on them so we couldn't stop to play

GT-Hank was happy as a little clam, just chilling on his side of the stroller for the whole walk

Best Thing-MY WALKING BUDDIES!
did you notice they are dressed sporty in sport shorts for avery and a baseball outfit for hank :)

Restaurant Update

Here are so more of the restaurants we have tried along the way to our goal of 30 new restaurants in our 30th year!

#4 Greenville Ave Pizza
Michael 4
while he's not usually fan of the thin crust, he really liked this

Abbe 4.5
great fresh tasting toppings

Avery
ate a WHOLE piece, yummy!

#5 La Duni
(we got to enjoy this with our friends the mccords, they were willing to weigh in)
Michael 5!!!
the french toast was voluptuous

Annalee 4.5
Cheese in stuffed french toast divine
bread was slightly dry, loved syrup and chocolate sauce

Evan 4
Really good, but not the best he ever had

Abbe 4
I thought it was good, but didn't have a sweet breakfast and I am guessing that is what is the best
**on a side note, we asked to sit on the patio so they put us out there, but they put us in the corner where the fans were broken and we got no air.  with 2 2yr olds and 2 babies, that was not the greatest.  when you pay more for nice service, i think you should get perks like i am sorry ma'am but if we seat you outside you won't be getting much air**

#6 Go Fish
We got to go here with the Easons for a Top Chef watching Party.  GOOOO TIFFANY!!!  We think you should have been a finalist!  We all participated in a 4 course tasting menu with wine pairings that was very fun!

Josh 4
Tomato/lobster bisque great, entree great, dessert good, wine good except the dessert wine.  Would have been the perfect meal if he had chosen bananas foster for dessert
Michael 4.75
Lobster bisque amazing, scallops and creamed corn great, dessert wine-nasty!
Dara 4.5
Great!  She wished she had gone with the fried green tomato and bananas foster
Abbe 4.75
I LOVED my entree and appetizer, the only thing I regretted was the salad instead of lobster bisque(it was good, but the bisque was better.)  I also agree that the dessert wine was awful. 
Also, our server was not so great, but it wouldn't slow me down from going back because his co-workers totally picked up his slack and were great!

#7 Torchy's Taco's (Happy Birthday Uncle Jeff)
Abbe 3.5
Avocado taco exceptional
Michael 3
creme soda was exceptional

#8 Fuzzy's Tacos
Apparently we like tacos :)  LouLou joined us for this adventure.  Fuzzy's get high marks for being SUPER close to our house!
LouLou 3
Tacos good, rice good, margarita not good, family friendly
Michael 3.5
He liked it, they had cheap beer, but its seating area is crowded
Abbe 3.5
Great taco, I like that for the cheap taco price you still get lettuce, tomato, and cheese in your taco.  Liked the white queso, too!

#9 Eddie V's
We got to try this with our friends the Shoemakers for restaurant week, but I forgot to ask them their thoughts, oops!
Michael 4
liked the meal, didn't love the dessert
Abbe 3.5
i thought me entree was great, but i didn't love my appetizer.  my dessert was also great.  i think i would have rated it higher if hadn't just had the greatness of Go Fish!

#10 Gold Rush
We have been meaning to try this local place for a long time, and I think we may have caught them on a bad day....
Michael 2
food fine, but service took way too long
Abbe 2
same as michael, we want to love it, but can't stomach 2 hrs for breakfast....

We are so excited to be a third of the way to our goal.  What suggestions do you have for us.  Obviously we are taco heavy in our locations.  What is something non-Mexican we should try?
Let us know if you want to try it with us, too.  I didn't realize until I was typing this that we are getting to eat with lots of fun friends along the way.

Happy Half birthday Handsome Hank

handsome hank is halfway to his whole birthday, i really can't believe it! 

he had a really great day of celebration yesterday!  we even got to eat dinner with pop how fun!

hank continues to be our happy, smiley baby!  he loves his toys, and also his big brother....

how could you not love having this guy for your big brother?

hank has pretty much stolen all our hearts in the last 6 months!

michael and i were laughing on the way home from the lake remembering that it was this time last year that we told our families wee 2 was on his way.

we continued our half birthday cake sharing tradition with the littler prince, too.  he will be sharing his half birthday cupcakes with a new friend maddie and her family today.  he decided this will be a great way to make a good impression on a future nursery buddy!

5 Question Friday!

1. What do you do when you have time to yourself?
Read or watch TV, often both....I like the background noise...
2. When you look out your kitchen window, what do you see?
Yikes! We have the cutest old fashioned (1949) corner window that I LOVE, but our view is unfortunate to say the least. The neighbors like to collect junk and chickens in their backyard and I have a birds' eye view.
3. Who/What would you want to be reincarnated as?
No clue! I guess as a friend of my great grandkids so I could know what they are like when they are our age!
4. What is your biggest pet peeve about other people's kids?
When you ignore them at a big group function, I know it stinks and you want to visit with your friends, but you still have to parent. (I can say this because Michael usually does it and I get to visit, thanks bud!)
5. Regular or Diet soda?
Diet Dr Pepper in my dream house we have the fountain and sonic ice!!!!

Embrace the Camera

I love this little man.....
I realized last night that in being all emotional about Avery going to school, I wasn't celebrating a very special gift.....time alone with Mr. Hankapotamus!  It has been so fun to get to have a few hours just the two of us.  I love this age.  The constant smiles and laughs are great for the ego!  Hank is such a great baby and I am so thankful that we get 5 hrs on Mondays and Thursdays to play just the 2 of us, and I know Honey and LouLou will feel the same way when it is their turn. 
Pardon the PJs for the littler prince, I had to wake him up to take big brother to school.