Life's a Beach

Today we visited a great friend I used to work with. We usually reminsce on how much our lives have changed since we taught together in Bryan. We are now both happily married and mother's to our adorable sons! We enjoyed going to a new place - Palm Beach at Moody Gardens in Galveston. Max wasn't sure about it at first. I struggled a bit at first. I packed snacks, changes of clothing,etc. Of course, since I am a little, mmm, large/waddling at the moment I had to take in my stroller to carry everything. When we first got there I was so flustered!! I had to rush through the bathroom after our roadtrip. Then I unsuccessfully tried to push, then pull a stroller in the sand. Luckily my sweet friend Kari came to my rescue and we quickly got in the water.

Max liked being in the beach area and playing in the sand. He did not want the lfe vest on, so I just stayed close or stayed in a shallow area. I packed tons of snacks and drinks for the day. As much as I tried to avoid it, Max used his "sandy" fingers to eat grapes and goldfish. At first I tried everything to avoid it, but then I figured a little sand can't be all that bad. ;) Speaking of sand, the other thing he didn't like was the hot sand. I tried to keep him off of it, but being the free spirit that he is, he HAD to explore. His little cries were so cute, but I got him off the hot sand as fast as I could. We enjoyed the splashpad for a bit, but our beach area was more fun. The boys played in the sand and water and even shared their toys. We ended the day with a quick picnic on the way out. Can't wait to do this again with both my kids, with some help of course!!

Max & Mommy


In the sand

I've really been thinking lately about how the arrival of our daughter is going to change our lives...in good way. Nevertheless, I can't help but feel like I need to squeeze in lots of fun activites and one on one time with Max. Hence the beach trip at 36 weeks pregnant!! I remember how hard those first few weeks are with a newborn. I know as soon as she gets here, it will all work out and I will somehow muster up enough energy to be survive, with help of course!!!

Happy Father's Day

All Shawn wanted to do was relax on Father's Day, which was so hard for me, but I chilled too! We started out with Mexican food for breakfast, which we hadn't had in a while. Max loved the refried beans, potatoes and eggs!! We spent the rest of the day watching movies, flying helicopters, playing trains, grilling and relaxing!

One day he will fill those shoes!!

This boy loves spaghetti, his new booster seat and eating with a fork!

This and that

This past week seemed busy, but uneventful. I think that happens when you are a stay at home mom quite often. I stay busy by keeping a schedule. I try to go to StrollerFit at least 2 times a week, but with this heat it is getting hard. Its nice to get moving and have some adult conversation with other moms. Then Max gets to run around with the other kiddos when we are done. I think it's been great for me too. Keeping active has kept my blood pressure down. It hasn't done much for my weight gain, but I blame that on my addiction to sweets! I go to the doctor this Thursday to for my weekly check up. Around this time of my last pregnancy I was diagnosed with preeclampsia, put on bed rest and I started maternity leave. One way I know that I'm doing better health wise is that I only really swell when I've been walking around in the heat. Whereas before I would stay swollen.


Shawn came home early from his work trip to France. Although it was nice to have him home early, it was last minute so we had to rush back from our visit to College Station. Great to have the family back together again. I know Max was missing his daddy, and I love how his face lit up when we picked him up from the airport!

Max has been doing great. I think he is getting some new teeth in on top. It's about time, he is almost 16 months with only 4 teeth! He is very active too. He loves climbing onto everything, literally. When he was hungry he would try to get on his high chair. Which brings me to another milestone -- we are no longer using the high chair. He started getting really fussy at dinner time. After a while of that i brought in a booster seat since he was giving me signs he was ready to be in a chair. Guess what....he loved it! He's been eating much better since. Feeding time is always a struggle because he is very easily distracted. Add to that the fact that our dog was raised terribly and always begs for food. Max loves to feed him. At first I thought it was cute, then when he started feeding him all of his food, I had to put the dog out at meals. And ironically, Max still tries to eat the dog food any chance he finds some on the floor. Gross, I know, but what are you gonna do? He loves eating with utensils, his favorite is the fork. He still eats with his hands when he gets frustrated, but I think he likes eating like us. He will even grab my fork and try to eat with it.

With this summer heat going outside is not on the top of my list, so we are trying new things like drawing. Here are some pictures from that. He doesn't seem to prefer his left or his right yet. He uses them both to hold things. :o)

Sprinkle time!

I feel so fortunate to have so many supportive women in my life! Especially times like these when I'm pregnant and hormonal, my friends and family just let me be and still love me. That being said, Emily and Angela hosted a lovely and low-key "sprinkle" for baby girl. It was nice to visit and talk all about names and dressing our princess up in pink! The shower was so fun, I got lots of fun stuff for her and I can't wait to put the precious outfits on her.

Never thought I'd say this, but I LOVE all the pink!


Max likes all the new stuff and I know he will be a great big brother in just a few weeks.

After the shower the Terral/Pollard family went out to celebrate the twins birthdays. Unfortunately, my favorite twin wasn't even there for his birthday celebration. He is off in Europe for work. Although we miss him so very much, we hope he is enjoying this awesome experience and we are anxiously waiting for him to come home. Here is a lovely picture of the Terral grandbabies from dinner at Fish Daddy's in College Station.

Max (15 months) and Isabel (24 months)

Bring on the W-ambulance!

We had our 15 month appointment with Dr. Nguyen this morning and Max was not a happy camper. From the moment we stepped in the doctor's office, he started crying off an on. Getting all of his measurements was a nightmare! He was literally kicking a screaming the whole time. I just kept apologizing. I was saying how sweet he normally is and that he must just have a great memory. I know my son is not the only toddler who acts like this, but I felt like it.

Our talk with the doctor was good. I mentioned that Max's vocabulary has been regressing lately. He prefers to point and grunt for what he wants. I am going to try to work with him on using his words more, hope that helps. We also discussed the fact that when baby girl comes we will be seeing more regression. I joked that he'll probably be like kids his age then, since he is "so advanced". Other than his fighting, he is looking great health wise. I am going to start giving him zyrtec again because he is having some drainage. Dr. thinks that could also be a factor with his speech. If his ears are clogged, he can't hear, therefore not speaking as much. I don't think that is the problem though because he seems to hear very well.

Here are the stats for our big boy!
Weight - 25 lbs. 6 oz. 60th percentile
Length - 32. 5 90th percentile
Head - 50.2 97% percentile

It's gonna be a hot one!

We are almost to the end of May and boy is hot outside. We have been enjoying the outdoors despite the heat because there is so much to do and our son loves it. We've enjoyed taking care of our lawn and flower bed and it is looking nice, green and colorful.

As the year is flying by so is this pregnancy. I remember when I found out we were expecting I wanted these 9 months to last as long as they could. A part of me is sad to think that I will not be able to devote my undivided attention to Max, but on the other hand I know that this blessing of giving Max a little sister will be amazing. I'm sure all parents in our situation have this feeling at some time or another, right? Either way, ready or not here she comes....literally. I've started making doctor visits every other week. We get our next sonogram on Shawn's birthday. We need to see how big she is getting. Last appointment I was measuring 2 weeks ahead. Not sure if it's her or my overwhelming craving for sweets this time around. We've also been doing some serious shuffling of furniture to make room. We've got a few more decisions to make on the nursery, but we are making progress.

At Isabel's party
We made a quick trip to College Station this weekend to see Maritza before her D.C. internship and for Isabel's 2nd Birthday. It was a hot day! At least there was a nice breeze though. You could tell that Max was hot because his little cheeks turned red and he got a curl in his hair. I try to always put sunblock on him, but he has developed a little farmer's tan and a few freckles already. We made it home in time for Shawn to do some some yard work and play outside, then we cooled off with some ice cream. Max made a mess and loved every minute of it. :)


He couldn't decide if he prefered the spoon or the straw

Trying new things

Following Mother's Day Weekend we had a busy week here at home. Max and I went to StrollerFit a few times. I am enjoying being out and getting some exercise. Max enjoys seeing the other kiddos and playing in the park afterward. Maritza came in for a visit before her trip to D.C. We went to lunch, did some power shopping. Max's favorite was running around Ann Taylor. I promise I was watching him and the saleswomen thought he was precious -- who can resist that face though?? Then had dinner at Saltgrass with Shawn and had a great time. We are going to miss her this summer, but I know time will fly and this is an experience of a lifetime!!

We also met up with one of our playgroups and went to a new place, The Little Gym in Copperfield. At first, Max was hesitant to even step on the mats, but by the end he was trying to get back on the fun stuff when it was time to go.




He loved climbing on this thing

Thursday we went to the new LEGO store in the Galleria with our neighbors, Jennifer and Jaxen. We were really looking forward to taking the boys there, but we were a little disappointed when we saw how small it was. Nevertheless, the boys enjoyed running around and making little messes. Of course we cleaned up after them!! We also got to use our double stroller and the boys were pretty comfortable in it.

Max picking out Leggos for his little bucket

Jaxen and Max having fun making messes!