Conversation with Ivy

I just get a kick out of this video every time I watch it. This random evening, I was thinking to myself how I don't have many videos of Ivy, since she had started talking fairly well. So I just got out my phone and pressed record. It ended up being pretty hilarious.

Two things of note, in case you can't understand her:
-She's asking for her "Frozen pictures." Just some coloring pages she had at one point.
-She whispers the word "nothing" a couple times in there and the reason is, when it comes to things to eat, I normally say "well you can have ____ or you can have nothing." So in this case, she was choosing nothing, apparently. Haha!

Happenings from August (and beginning of Sept.)

Just wanted to post some phone pics from the end of August, beginning of September.. This top pic is the view of Harrogate from my neighborhood.. Then below- Marshall on the swing with mama, and Ivy with suuuper curly hair from a rainy day, hehe! I just love her curls: 

 

Sam's bowling team won their bowling competition for the second year in a row! (first year vs. second year in the pic). Woo! Way to go guys:

Flea Market shopping with friends! Rocking horse, anyone? Cute kiddos:

Rainy day walk with my cute girl:

Lunch date with the kiddos:

Marshall's first Oreo:

City of Harrogate Labor Day celebration with good friends! This is one of the most fun things the city puts on. Everything but the food it FREE! Bounce houses, ponies, train rides-- Ivy was in heaven:

 

 

Afternoon with Daddy after a loong test weekend:

At DCOM's Osteoblast (just an activity for the students to get to know everyone and sign up for different clubs and what not). They had a couple med-evac helicopters visiting:

Ivy's first day of preschool! Well, pre-preschool.. A friend of mine started up a small preschool class out of her home twice a week and it has been the perfect introduction to school for Ivy:

Kids pics! (and Marshall 9 months)

We just snapped a few photos before going to dinner with some good friends one evening... I ended up throwing my kids in outfits that kinda matched and we had about 20 minutes before we had to leave. I turned to Sam and was like "SAM! The kids look so cute! We should take some pictures!" I'm still in shock a little at how well they turned out! Sam took the pics while I tried to get them to sit still/smile... I just love how talented Sam has gotten with our camera! We've certainly gotten great use out of it!

Anyways, Marshall is almost 9 months in these photos. He has been crawling up a storm lately! Still eats and sleeps like a champ. And is generally a super happy kid! Super chill! Opposite of his sister, that's for sure! She is hilariously crazy. Finally been out of whatever funk she was in for a few months back in the spring and has been a happy, well-behaved girl! Occasional time-out of course, but nothing out of the norm for a 3 year old, lol! Every day gets more and more fun with these two.

Texas for the week

After Lake Powell back in July, Sam still had a week off before school started so we split up our trip home just a bit and made a few stops along the way. Our first stop was to visit Sam's sister Patrice and her family in Austin, TX. I've actually never been to Austin (Texas native? I know!) so it was especially fun for me! For lunch, we hit up The Salt Lick in the hill country for some A-maz-ing(!!!) BBQ. If you haven't already heard of it, this place really was incredible. And the whole location was huuge! I can only imagine what it would be like on a weekend evening. The grounds were just gorgeous though! I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. Next up was the Capitol! Patrice was kind enough to drive us downtown and show us around-- and even watched Marshall in the car for us while we walked through the Capitol! Thanks Patrice!! It was pretty cool. That night we hung out and played some games, then the next day we went to Rudy's for lunch, and just kicked back and took it easy for the rest of the day/evening. Thanks for having us, Davies family!! Yall are just all too fun!! And Ivy had a blast with her cousins Jill and Jack. :) 

Next on our road trip was Houston! We spent some time at my parents on Wednesday afternoon/evening, then headed to Jeff's where we were staying the rest of the week. Sam had some studying to do so I made sure to stay busy with a visit to Tiffany's house on thursday, (just up the road from Jeff's) and up to a mall with Kelli and her kids on Friday. Then, Saturday afternoon was Sam's 10 YEAR REUNION in Friendswood! Whaaat?? We are so old!! It was so fun to catch up with old friends and for Sam to play a game or two of sand volleyball with everyone. Just like old times! 

 

At Tiffany's.. These two boys just melt my heart!! They are so cute together. Asher kept climbing on Marshall and Marshall would just eat it up! He loved it. haha:

And these two were crack ups! So funny to watch their little (big!) personalities come out. And Kynlee was so sweet to share her Elsa dress. Ivy was in heaven! Cutest little princesses (with wet hair from the pool):

Love my beautiful seester!!! It was nice to have lunch together and have some much needed retail therapy! ;)

Chillin' at Jeff's house... Ivy, of course, had lots of fun with her cousins, Sydney and Jessie. But by Saturday, she wasn't feeling too hot and totally just snuggled right up to Syd and passed out! Such a sweet cousin to cuddle with her for like a good 30 minutes while I packed and got some things done! Thanks Syd! And poor babe! Marshall was all smiles, though:

The best photo we could catch at good ol' Stevenson Park in Friendswood, just before the reunion:

Sam and his best bud from high school, John:

We left the next day for home and everyone was very glad to be home. Unfortunately, Ivy caught some crazy bug and had a fever for the next couple days, then passed it on to the rest of the family. We all ended up with a cold and Sam got a cough for the next few weeks. Lame! BUT I guess that's what happens when you are traveling so much and around so many different people. And it was a great two weeks of vacation so I guess it was worth it! Ha!