June 29, 2011

First Steps

Saturday during an outing to the Stockyards Allison learned how to drink from a straw.  We also had 7-8 people stop to tell us how cute/sweet/well behaved she is.  As often as it happens, its always nice to hear!

Sunday afternoon Allison stood up in the living room and took one tiny step to me, then grabbed my shoulder.  This is very exciting although it means another round of babyproofing!  So far no repeat performances, but we hope to catch one soon on camera or video.  When we do you know I will share.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  If you dont have plans for this July 4 weekend, you are welcome to join us in College Station as we paint the new rent house!

June 24, 2011

Front Yard Updates

late 2010
Move in weekend - Feb


Stone done, plants a work in progress
Here is a before and after on our recent front yard work.  The builder put in some standard plants, none of which are very pretty.  We hope to replace them all this fall - we've pulled out a couple already.  This spring we added 3 tomato plants, my first effort at gardening.  Kevin and I have been using our evening walks around the neighborhood to try and identify what plants we want to get.  The stone we did ourselves over a weekend, which included digging up a big fire ant pile (I left that part to Kevin)!

June 23, 2011

Mark your calendars

Labor day weekend we will have a double celebration - Allison's first birthday party and her baptism.  More details to come closer to the event.  We hope you can join us to celebrate our precious girl.

June 22, 2011

My big girl

Allison had her 9 month check up today.  Here are the new stats:

Birth weight: 5 lb 9 oz
Today: 17 lb 8 oz
She started out in the bottom 5% percentile for weight and is now up to the 25%.  Her doctor was very happy with her progress.

Birth Length: 19 inches
Today: 28.5 inches
Dr. Nicole said she's likely to be tall and may genetically be long and lean.  She's now at the 75% for her height, up from 25% when she was born.

Allison is pulling up, can stand unaided for a second, and we expect she will be walking before her first birthday.  She babbles, but usually one syllable at a time.

Hope everyone is doing well

June 21, 2011

Weekend update

Friday night we went to the Botanic Gardens for the outdoor symphony performance with Cathy and Gary.  They had a few technical difficulties with the speakers, but otherwise it was fun.  Overheard some crazy things from the people sitting next to us!  I was worried the fireworks at the end would scare Allison but she did great.

Saturday we had a bunch of family over for a BBQ - I think we had 18 people and probably food for 30!  It was fun to see everyone and meet some cousins I hadn't met yet.

Sunday was church, Bass Pro Shop, and alternating between the US Open and baseball.  Overall we had a great weekend - hope you did too.

June 17, 2011

Friday night

We are at the Fort Worth botanic gardens waiting for the symphony and light show to start.

June 11, 2011

9 months old

Our little girl turned 9 months old yesterday (June 10).  She gets bigger and cuter every day.



Allison pulls up easily, and we think she will be walking by the end of the month.  She has also gotten a lot more vocal, though we don't understand what she's saying yet.

June 7, 2011

Unattended Children

Kevin and I have been trying to meet for lunch once a week - its always a treat for Allison to see her daddy in the middle of the day.  Today we went to Kincaids for burgers.  there are signs all over the place, mostly ads for when prices were a fraction of today.  I had to share my favorite sign:


Now that's an effective warning!

June 1, 2011

Wyoming Wedding

The ranch was amazing
Kevin and I spent a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend in Saratoga, Wyoming at Brush Creek Ranch for Renee and Dustin's wedding.  Allison stayed home with my parents, which was a different kind of adventure.

Friday before dinner - Kevin with TD & Holly

We arrived Friday morning, though our luggage didn't show up until late Friday afternoon - thanks Southwest.  From the Denver Airport we had almost a 5 hour drive to the ranch, but it was worth it!  The ranch is 13,000 acres, and all of it beautiful.  Mike, the ranch manager loaned us some jackets until our luggage showed up the next morning.

one of Kevin's many rainbow trout

Saturday morning we went fly fishing, just me, Kevin and the guide.  We went to one of the far ponds on the property, so got to see a lot driving out there.  Arriving at the pond we startled a dozen mule deer and got to see them move up the hill.  Kevin caught over a dozen fish, I got 8 - but only one on a fly rod.  I gave up and switched to a reel pretty early.  It snowed at least half the time, all the other groups went in early, but we stayed out on the pond for 3 hours.  After lunch Kevin went shooting with TD, Sara and Katie while I went horseback riding.

Rehearsal Dinner
The rehearsal dinner got moved inside Saturday night due to the weather, but we had a great time in the lodge.  Sunday morning the weather was perfect.  Kevin went fishing again and I hit the trails for a sunrise horseback ride.  After a big breakfast we both went out riding and got to see buffalo.  That afternoon I helped Renee and the bridal party get gorgeous for the ceremony.  
my beautiful friend and her groom
The wedding was outdoors and beautiful.  The wedding garden overlooked a pasture with horses, and Renee and her dad arrived in a horse drawn carriage.   The ceremony was lovely and the weather held out just long enough, though the wind blew Renee's veil around quite a bit.



Mr. & Mrs. Louderback 
Monday we had breakfast with our friends and took the scenic route back to the Denver airport.  On one stop we actually saw a moose.  It was a perfect weekend and such a happy occasion.  Renee and Dustin are spending the next two weeks in Italy for their honeymoon, and then will be moving to Texas by the end of the summer.  I can't wait to have them in driving distance.