Partying All Summer

Saturday morning Brady and I headed out early to go the Gracie's 5th birthday party. Todd didn't go with us because our lawn was an absolute jungle and he needed to get it mowed before we leave for vacation next week. We had a great time at the party and got to see lots of friends and relatives. Brady really enjoyed himself because there were lots of kids there. We had to chase him around most of the time because he wanted to get his little hands on everything, but he only broke one thing and stole a few chips off of the other kids plates so he didn't do much harm.

He really enjoyed playing in the pool with his cousins.

So Ready For The Beach

This past Tuesday I dropped Brady off at Mother's Day Out and headed to pick up my best traveling companion Hillary. Even though she had just gotten back from a long trip out of state she agreed to accompany her old friend on an overnight trip to Galveston. Todd was out of town for 3 days for a leadership retreat for work so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get out of town and have some fun before I have to go back to work. We got a great rate at The Tremont House on the strand. I have always wanted to stay there but never have due to it not being on the seawall and not having a pool. I knew that if you stayed there that you would have pool priveleges at the Hotel Galvez-which I knew had a very nice pool. So, we settled on this and planned on 2 days of fun and sun...and relaxation without having to chase sweet Brady around. MawMaw and PawPaw graciously agreed to keep him.
Of course it hasn't rained all summer but the day that we left it appeared that a small tropical storm blew through the entire region. It was raining from Jasper to Galveston and everywhere in between. So...we weren't in any hurry to get to the pool considering it was raining buckets. We took a detour through Houston and had a great little shopping trip at the Baybrook Mall and the surrounding area. Once we left the mall the weather had cleared up and we headed to the hotel.
I love Galveston and always have, esp. when the weather is nice. The hotel was lovely and it wasn't crowded at all due to us being there in the middle of the week. We never had to wait more than a minute for the elevator of the valet to bring the car around. The hotel lobby and public spaces were beautiful. I was a bit disappointed that the hotel's rooftop bar was closed the night that we were there. Not that I am a big drinker but I would have liked to have gone out to see the view from up there. Our room was fantastic. The ceilings in all of the rooms are like 14 ft. high which makes the room appear alot bigger than it really is. Our room had 2 nice and comfy old fashioned iron queens beds and a large bathroom and dressing area. The whole hotel had a fantastic historical feel loved we loved.



We took advantage of the close proximity to the strand and walked over to a few of our favorite shops. We finished the night off with a delicious seafood dinner at Landry's.
The next morning we got up early and drove over to the Galvez for some swim time before we left time. The hotel itself is so beautiful. The last time I was there they were renovating the pool and the spa so I had not see them. The pool area is soo nice. It is big but not huge and very inviting. It was early so there were hardly any other guests there. We had a very enjoyable few hours in the pool and hot tub. I think we were successful in getting a little bit of much needed sun.









We ran back to our hotel and checked out and had lunch at Miller's Landing on the way out of town. I would not normally have stopped in here but my parents raved about the food the last time that they went to Galveston and they were so right. It was some of the best food I have had lately. We had crab balls, fish, shrimp, and the most heavenly homemade chocolate brownie ice cream dessert. I was so glad we tried it and I can't wait to go back. I felt very rested and relaxed when we got home and it made us so excited for our week in Florida in just a few weeks! Can't wait!

As the summer rolls on...

We have just been laying kind of low around here the last few weeks. Last Saturday we went to Crosby for Hunter's 4th birthday party. It was nice to see everyone and Brady had a good time playing with his cousins.

We also bought a new car this week which was kind of exciting. We have been wanting a bigger car since we had Brady, but we really wanted to wait until we paid the car off to get anything new. We have been looking around for the past month and decided that we really didn't want to afford the monster car note that would go along with the kind of car that we really wanted- a Tahoe or an Expedition or any other type of car that could carry a small army. Anyway, we found a great deal on a slightly smaller but very nice GMC Acadia, which we are now the proud owners of. It is black-my favorite color and it has remote start which I really wanted so I am happy. It will be a nice drive for our long trip to Florida this year. Brady also got a new ride this week. Daddy came back from Walmart with a surprise for him!

Fourth of July

Well, we had a very low key weekend this weekend for the Fourth of July. It was nice that Todd had a three day weekend and we could enjoy some family time. We went out to his mom's river camp on Saturday for a fish fry. It was nice to get out of the house and see some people that we usually don't get to see. Brady did really well for about an hour and a half. I thought he was a real trooper considering how hot it was. We packed up and came home and called it a night. We had originally planned to go see the fireworks in the city park. But, we were all tired and it didn't start until 9:00, which is Brady's usual bedtime. So, in order to avoid a meltdown we just decided that we might try that next year.
Sunday we went to church and attempted to eat lunch at Martin's. We haven't gone in a while with Brady and he def. reminded us why we haven't. He sits and eats for about 15 mins. and then he is ready to get out of his high chair and run. So, it was a little frustrated to say the least to fight our little 25 lb. bull while we were trying to choke our lunch down in record time. We decided that we won't be doing that again any time soon. We all went home and took a nap after that, lol.
Monday we went back out to the river camp because Todd's mom had cooked dinner for us. We were tired and wanted to lay around the house, but we don't usually pass up the chance to have some real country cooking as we call it. We had pork roast, creamed corn, creamed potatoes, fried okra, corn bread, and peach cobbler. We all ate (Brady included) until we were stuffed. Then we got to sit out on the porch and watch the river. It was nice...not really relaxing since we were chasing Brady all over the place, but nice. Here are a few pics I took of our sweet baby this weekend.




Also, a trip down memory lane-Here is a picture of Brady last year on July 4th. He was just a few weeks old. Oh how time flies!

Girl's Weekend

A few years ago my friend Allison and I took Hillary to see the New Kids On The Block for her birthday in Houston when they came out on their reunion tour. The concert was so great and we had such a good time that when they were scheduled to come back to Houston this month we decided that we had to go again. This time it was me, Hill, and Sam. I have been looking forward to the trip because I love to go places and I haven't been anywhere in a while.
We took off Saturday morning and had a nice day of shopping and eating at one of our favorite restaurants-La Madelaine-Yum! We checked into The Magnolia Hotel downtown at about 4:30. We have stayed there several times before due to the convenience of it being right by the Toyota Center and it is pretty nice. We had to wait a while for our room to be ready- along with lots of other people. It was a concert night and a baseball game night so I guess that is to be expected. Once we got dressed we headed out to another great restaurant-Guadalajara Del Centro. It's located in the Houston Pavillions complex. Unfortunately it was super crowded and we ended up having appetizers and drinks at the bar because the wait was so long and we had to get to the concert.
We got to the concert right on time and had fantastic seats. Jordan Sparks was the opening act. She was pretty good, but we were ready for the main attraction. New Kids were on tour this time with The Backstreet Boys who I was never a major fan of. We had a blast and the concert was great, but I think I much preferred the last concert where the New Kids were performing solo. But, it seemed that most of the other screaming girls in attendance were major Backstreet Boys fans so it was very high energy. After the concert we headed back to the hotel and got a fabulous night of much needed sleep.


We left pretty early Sunday morning to shop a little bit more before we headed home. We ate lunch at another one of our favorite-Pappasitos and ended up making it home by late afternoon We had a great time spending time together and doing some of our favorite things.
While I was away Brady spent Saturday with his Daddy. They went visiting and he got to swim at Debra's and went out to the river camp to see his Nana. My Mom came to our house Saturday night so that she could keep him for Todd to go to work on Sunday. She said he was great and he was in a good mood when I got home so I assume that everyone had a good time. It was a successful and much needed girl's weekend!

Catching Up

Brady has done so many fun things over the past year and changed so much. I am going to go back in time a little bit and tell you a bit about what he has been up to--
1 Year Photo Shoot





We have been lucky enough to have one of his daycare worker who also works as a photographer take the last few rounds of pictures that we have had done. She does a great job and Brady loves her so he usually smiles.

Trip To The Beach








Todd and I took Brady to my parents time share property in Galveston. He spent one night with them so we could have a night to ourselves and then we all spent the next night there. It was Brady's first time to get in the pool. He loved it! It was also his first time to really get on the beach. He didn't seem so crazy about the sand, but he did seem to enjoy it. We hope that he is going to be a water baby because we are planning a week long Florida beach vacation this year and we love to spend our time at the beach and in the pool when we can!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Well, when people say time flies when you are having fun it is definetely not an exaggeration. I haven't updated in FOREVER- but I am trying to get back into blogging while I am home for the summer. This week my sweet baby boy turned 1 year old! I can't believe that time has gone by so quickly. In preparation of his party we put many of his baby things away in order to make room for his new toys. What a sad day that was for me to realize that my baby is no longer a baby! But, we are moving on to a new fun stage(most days, lol) of toddlerhood.

We had his jungle animal themed party last Saturday and boy was it alot of work! All of the housework-inside and out that Todd and I had been avoided for months defintely caught up with us. We had a fantastic group of family and friends come out for the party and it was a great celebration for Brady.