Giggie & Bop

Giggie and Bop came down for a visit over the weekend.  We always enjoy having them and Jonathan is still talking about them.  We didn't get out too much, but we did take Giggie and Bop to the Cibolo Nature Center.  Jonathan did some more wading, we did a little hiking in the wild flowers and we even chased a road runner down the trail.

This kid loves spicy food.  That is some very hot dip on that chip, and he ate and ate and ate it.  He wanted to make sure Bop got to enjoy some of it.   

Ooooo!  Fried Pickles with Giggie!  

Gathering

Last weekend, I decided to take Jonathan on a quick trip to Ft. Worth.  Grammy was heading that way from Amarillo and Jonathan hadn't visited with his Great Granny, his uncles, aunts and cousins in quite some time.  We take a route almost all the way up the edge of the Texas Hill Country.  It is a beautiful drive, made especially so by the proliferation of wild flowers along the way.  

We got to spend a good deal of time with Aunt Donna, Aunt Cyndi, and little Nora.  Nora stayed with us one day while Uncle Josh and Aunt Cyndi had a date.  We sure enjoyed it!  Nora is such a darling baby.  

Jonathan suffered from spending a little too much time in a place where he literally cannot touch anything.  The poor guy heard the word "No!" more times in one weekend than he's heard it in his entire 23 months on earth.  Mommy was completely frazzled by the second morning (This is when we discovered that the pack and play will no longer be serviceable for Jonathan.).  It was all worth it though. It was so good to see everyone.  

At some point we will come up and just visit with friends.  We see our families so little that almost our entire visit is with them.  I am certainly not complaining about that, but I always feel terrible that we've not had the opportunity to visit with friends.  

Reading with Aunt CeCe and Haley

Handing Nora her toys

Great Granny and Nora

Aunt Donna, Grammy and the little princess

Hey!

Awwwwwwwwww.

Visiting Papa's grave

Running through the roses

Firsts

We found out last week that Jonathan is really too big for the pack and play, and the high chair is just in the way.  He's getting big way too fast.  We've been blessed with amazing friends everywhere we've moved.  One new set of amazing friends lives just down the hill from us.  A couple of weeks ago, Jason had to travel at the last minute and I was already scheduled to attend a class on one of those nights.  Our friend, Heather, had an excellent idea.  She would take off early that day, we'd wear Jonathan out at the zoo that afternoon and she'd keep Jonathan while I attended class.  We've never left Jonathan at night before, so although I wasn't really worried (Heather is a trusted friend.), I didn't really know how it would go.  It went without a hitch.  Jonathan went down at his usual time and slept all night.  I checked on him when I returned home that night and he was "snug as a bug in a rug."  Here are some pictures Heather took on our outing.

Daddy Time

Jonathan and I have been to a lot of neat places together, but we always miss Daddy while he's at work.  Recently though, Daddy got to experience a couple of those places with us!  

Skipping rocks at Cibolo Nature Center

Wading among the cypress at the nature center

Wildseed Farms near Fredericksburg

Lady Bird Meadow at Wildseed Farms

Under that great "Lone Star"

One speed

Reading the paper

Butterfly habitat at Wildseed Farms

Cibolo Creek

Dog-back Riding & Easter Eggs

Jonathan has a good friend next door named Burton.  He lets Jonathan ride him.  How lucky are we?  Almost every neighbor around us has a nice dog.  We don't have to buy one, or take care of one.  

Kinda needed a hair cut for Easter Sunday.  Didn't happen!

Look what the Easter Bunny left!

Wow!

Hunting Easter Eggs with friends

Glad Mommy & Daddy found this before I did!

Ordinary Moments

I am constantly amazed by the delight my little guy takes in what I've relegated to the "ordinary."  He stops to investigate everything with a squeal or a loudly exclaimed "WOW!" or "See dat?"  Bugs, rocks, sticks, leaves, flowers -- they all become extraordinary through our sweet Jonathan's eyes.  I'm re-learning a lot from him.  

A very mild and wet winter has brought about one of the most glorious displays of spring wildflowers I've ever witnessed.  It also brought out the bugs and snakes.  I've seen two tarantulas and eight snakes this spring.  The tarantulas don't bother me so much, but the snakes make me a bit nervous.  We did the usual thing around here -- we set Jonathan loose in the bluebonnets and took some pictures.  I'll take more pictures in the coming weeks.  The bluebonnets are gone, but the roadsides and ranch lands are filled with indian blankets, coreopsis, verbena, wine cups, primrose, purple sage, indian paintbrush, white Texas prickly poppies, scarlet gaura, blackfoot daisies, Mexican hats, many species of thistles and with the recent rains, white lilies.  South Texas is spectacular this spring.  

Not only have we enjoyed some spectacular wildflowers this year, our tree out front became the home to hundreds of red admiral butterflies.  We enjoyed them for weeks before they went away.  Jonathan and I spent our craft time for several days at a table under our tree letting them flutter around us.   

What a gift. 

Moos & Neighs

So.  It's been a while.  Sorry.  We have had a lot going on -- as usual.  I try to keep notes on events I want to blog about, and it's really not a good thing when I look back and realize that I've forgotten the details.  

There's something here about Jonathan and a puzzle.  I'm assuming it has something to do with his "big boy" puzzle that he can almost put together by himself.  He has been slightly delayed in some areas (speech for one), but this little guy has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to hand-eye coordination and balance.  He likes to take things apart and put them back together to see how they work.  He can kick a ball hard and straight and has been walking up and down stairs without the aid of rail or hand for several months.  Daddy's hoping we'll have a soccer player on our hands.  He's also been opening doors for a couple of months (definitely a mixed blessing).  He simply doesn't give up.  If he wants something done, he works at it until he figures it out.  I like it!  He points out letters in signs and asks me if I see them, and he tries to sing his ABCs, although the only letters we can make out are A, C, H, I, O, Q, T, X and maybe Z.  

Cows and horses are "moos & neighs."  Sheep are sheep, or "baas", depending on the situation.  I'm not sure what the determining factor is yet, and I doubt I'll ever know {smile}.   All this to say, things are getting REALLY FUN around here!   Jonathan loves to help water plants, throw trash away, mow (Giggie and Bop bought him a little mower on their recent visit.), swiffer, dust, pick up, put on and take off his clothes (He prefers nudity.) and brush his teeth, among other things.  I never realized how completely wrecked this house could get until the last couple of weeks.  We pick up once before bed, and that's good enough for me.  

Here's the first in a long line of updates.  I'll do my best to cut the chatter in the following updates and let the pictures speak mostly for themselves.  

At the end of March, we made a week-long trip to Amarillo.  We had a lovely time.  Mom and Dad live on seven acres on the outskirts of town.  Some horses and puppy dogs live next door.  Jonathan loves animals, so we spent a lot of time outdoors getting to know the "neighs & doggies."

Jonathan and Izzy

Reading books with Grammy

Pappa Jack teaching the fundamentals of tricycle riding

On the trail at Palo Duro Canyon

Time for a snack!

The hotter the better!

Izzy & Skip

Neighs

Watching Pappa Jack fly his toy airplanes

Waiting for neighs