Bubble Bath with Daddy

My sweet baby girl

Looking back on the blog, I have been one lazy lady. This pregnancy is taking everything out of me and I have been such a complainer lately. All I want to do is rest and prop my feet up and poor Dustin is sick of me. I feel really bad because all I want to do is lay around and I know Harlowe and Dustin are so bored around me. But on the bright side seven more weeks and its all over, we will meet our new addition. I think Dustin and I have settled for a name; which is, Trysten Hastings Different. Actually Drew, Dustin's brother,  came up with Trysten, a movie Brad Pitt starred in and his name was Trysten. Hasting's comes from Dustin's mother's maiden name.

Harlowe has changed so much lately, one day she just woke up and was a chatter box. She is talking up a storm lately. She knows all her body parts, from the My Baby Can Read, I know I have said it again but she loves the books and flash cards that come in the set. But right now her passion is the IPad, I really did not want her to watch too much television but she loves the IPad. My mother bought it for my birthday but somehow Harlowe has claimed it. It really makes car rides more tolerable for her.

Dustin and I are so amazed how she has evolved over the past nineteen months, she is really growing fast. She is the sweetest, loving, but most stubborn girl. She really knows how to play us also, because we have been using the time out method for discipline. And it really is working for us, she knows what time out is and if we talk to her about what she is doing wrong, I think she gets it. Maybe Dustin has another perspective on the whole thing but it has been working so far. Anyway, every time she does something wrong, we threaten her with time out and she will just give you the biggest smile and wave and say hi. It is so cute and Dustin even falls for it on occasion.

She is saying so many words lately, it is hard to keep up with. She is mimicking everything we do, it is the cutest thing. She loves our dog, Harley, she will wake up and give him the biggest hug and kiss every morning. She wakes up is the best mood and will love on you and give us big kisses and hugs, it really melts my heart. Everyday Dustin says, I love my little girl, he is so attached to his baby. These past couple of months, they are like two peas in a pod. Their new favorite past time is bike riding, her bike seat has moved to Dustin's bike and they go riding almost every night.

We have been looking for schools for her also and I think we found the one. It is really expensive but anything for education, right. It is a Montessori school in our neighborhood so it is so convenient. All the teachers have Bachelors degree's and they even teach Spanish. Dustin and I took a tour of the school last week and Dustin was the one all for it. He really likes the school and did not want to look at any other schools. I cannot wait for her to start, I think it will be really good for her socially and education wise. Yet, I have mixed emotions and of course while we were talking to the director, I almost broke down in tears. Hormones, who knows, I just thought my baby is going to school and there is no way I am going to be able to drop her off the first week. That will be Dustin's job, I think I will be in tears and look like a complete crazy person, ha. But the director was so nice and said I could even stay in his office and watch her on video if that made me feel better. I guess I am not the only crazy mother out there that cannot let go.

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and pray for our troops. They give their lives to protect us and give us the freedoms we enjoy everyday in America. God Bless them, it is a great sacrifice.

Christmas at Honey's

If your wondering about the name Honey, this is my mother's new name for Parker and Harlowe. Parker was already calling my mother Honey for grandma, so now Dustin and I are trying to get Harlowe to catch on. Dustin's parents want to be called Nana and Pops, I am not sure about the Pops so I will have to clarify it later.

 As you can see we are non-traditional people, my brother and Dustin loves Crab Legs so that's what our Christmas dinner consisted of. Seafood but the sides of a traditional Christmas, weird, I know but it was delicious. I know this sounds bratty but I hate to work for my food so Dustin was kind enough to share his crab with me. I can remember when I was younger we would go to fancy brunch buffets at various hotels in SA. I would always want my mother to peel the shrimp for me, and of course the great mother that she was, would do it. Dustin thinks I am totally spoiled, so I guess Harlowe's attitude is partially my fault. God is paying me back, ha.

Parker got a sled type thing and Harlowe is trying to help him open it. Don't ask me why she is naked, I guess you can see the type of parent I am. No foo foo dress and no big bow on her head, naked is the way to go, ha. But hopefully when she gets hair, I can slap a big bow on her head.

For Christmas we got a waffle maker, All Clad of course, I love, love, love this brand. I highly recommend their pots and pans. Anyway, we also got a Blue Ray for Harlowe's DVDs and a talking pot toy. Oh, and how can I forget the pink car, Fred's family gave Harlowe, which she totally loves.

This was Parker's first Krispy Kream (I know I am spelling this all wrong) and the first donut period and he was two and a half. These are the best donuts ever, especially when there hot. Oh my gosh they just melt in your mouth. Sadly to say Harlowe has probably been eating donuts since she was nine or ten months. It was funny, Dustin turned and asked me, should we be feeding Halowe donuts? Of course the cookie monster, me, said of course as long as that is not the only thing she wants to eat. Luckily she still loves her veggies and she is definitely a carnivore.

Yesterday, we had a nice dinner before I went to work. Dustin broke out his Kobe steak which he loves, I think more than me, ha. The steaks are not that big so my greedy husband did not want to share with Harlowe, because he made that mistake once and she practically ate the whole thing. So I fixed her up some veggie chicken fingers, yum, they really taste just like chicken. She was not having it, she just ate the ketchup and a few bites of the fingers. So Dustin gave her a few scraps and she was shoveling the steak in her mouth and pointing at his plate wanting more but no such luck, he ate it all. Our baby has some expensive taste so from now on I guess I will be buying both of them individual steaks, ha.

So much for just posting pics and not blogging. I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter and remember the true meaning of Easter. 1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

14 Months

These are just some random everyday pictures. I know Harlowe is almost 19 months so as you can see I am way behind. So I think I will just post the pictures and try to catch up.

She is doing pretty good in the grocery cart, it is a hit or miss depending on her mood. I have been trying to reinforce her to stay put and I cannot hold her all the time since the new baby is on the way. She is doing pretty good, Dustin said I am being more strict with her. Which, Dustin said it was a complement, hopefully we can whip her into shape before the new baby comes, ha.

Christmas with the Different Clan

Dustin's family, I was the photographer of course.

Harlowe was loaded up with toys. Dustin's mom went crazy because we barely have any toys at our house. It was so funny, we spent the night at his parents house because our house was being painted, and Dustin's mom bought Harlowe a push lawnmower. Very cute but makes a lot of noise, Dustin and I were winding down and watching The Event (very good show, we highly recommend it). Harlowe started mowing the carpet while we were watching TV, and Dustin and I looked at each other and said this is why we don't have toys at our house, ha. I guess I am more focused on the educational stuff, I know complete bore.

Harlowe and Dustin's mom. She is trying to escape the camera but I got some of her, ha.

Dustin's parents love to play with Harlowe and she loves her toy bucket at their house. She has a big pink toy bucket filled to the brim with goodies. She just drags all the toys all over the house. Dustin is in the background putting together the wagon. It will be great with two children because it seats two.

We had a great Christmas, I got called off of work which was really nice, I think. I am having pregnancy brain, I am so forgetful. Thank you to everyone for the great presents and wonderful memories. I think it is a Different tradition to have prime rib on Christmas which everyone devoured, I do not think they had left overs. I of course enjoyed the salad and Harlowe is definitely not my child when it comes to eating, she LOVES the meat. If the dish has meat in it she will pretty much eat anything. Maybe my son will be a salad and fish eater, wishful thinking, ha.

The Children's Museum and Zoo

I accidentally posted these pictures without commentary, ha. Dustin and one of his friends, Cody, took the girls to the Children's Museum for the day and out to lunch. Daddy and Harlowe day, he said they had a good time and he was even able to get some good pics of the day.

Harlowe's first boyfriend, ha, I don't know who this little boy is but it is a cute pic.

My mom came in town this month and we took Harlowe to the zoo, because Dustin was busy remodeling our rent house. After the zoo we celebrated Dustin's birthday and went to Brennan's, which is a high end cajun type restaurant. It was really delicious, Dustin even tried the turtle soup, gross, and of course Harlowe had some too. I was dead set against trying it because we have a lot of cute turtles in our neighborhood ponds. But Dustin has a way of bugging you to death where I just cave in, just to make him stop bugging me. I really didn't like the taste of it, it has a distinct flavor, I cannot describe. Dustin didn't really like it either but Harlowe did.

Harlowe did not seem afraid of the goats but she was not too fascinated to see them either.

Cute baby giraffe

My posts are going to be all out of order, but these are recent pictures of Harlowe. She is 17 months and turning into quite a character. She is growing so fast and I love to watch her change. It seems like she does something new everyday. It was so funny, Dustin fed her cereal this morning and she proceeded to dump the cereal and milk onto her high chair table and put the bowl on her head. I was giggling but Dustin, not so much, he said two kids oh my God!

Oh well, we are in for some new adventures for sure. I am six months and big as a house. I really do not have cravings with this pregnancy, but with Harlowe I craved anything with salt. Dustin would get so mad at me because I loved movie theater popcorn and I would dump a ton of that yummy orange salt on the popcorn. We couldn't even share because Dustin was so disgusted. I am having a hard time sleeping and getting comfortable so my sleep is limited. I am still able to run but I have gotten to the point where I cannot push Harlowe in the stroller. I barely can shuffle myself around the block, but it feels good to get out and run. The weather has been so nice lately, I love the Spring.

Both of my pregnancies have been good, I cannot complain. I have three more months to go and I am counting down the days. I cannot wait to be on maternity leave again.

Chewy's at Christmas

I know I am so behind and have not even posted one picture of Christmas. But I found these pictures yesterday and downloaded them real fast before work. My brother and his family come in town for Christmas so we get to spend a few days with everyone, which is really nice.

It is really hard to get a good picture with two small children to look your way at the same time. So these were the best pictures we could get. My family and Dustin and I love Chewy's Mexican Restaurant, every time we are feeling cheap we go here for the happy hour. They serve free chips with queso, taco meat and beans. We usually fill up on the free stuff and share one meal between the three of us. We always feel bad that we are being so cheap so we of course give the waiter a big tip, to make us feel better.

Harlowe and Parker look so cute together. This was the first year they could really play together and really get to know one another. Their at the age where they parallel play but I still think they had fun. Harlowe loves children, she loves being around other people her size. So hopefully she will be nice to the new baby on the way. She really doesn't understand I am pregnant so I hope she is not completely shocked when there is a new addition.

My brother and his family

Harlowe loves to play with rocks, I don't know what is so fascinating about them.

Harlowe is seventeen months now and doing a bunch of new things. She is slowly mastering the fork and spoon. She is not really interested in coloring yet, she will just make a few squiggles and be on her way or she will put them in her mouth. I think I need to offer her more opportunities to color, I think that will be our next project.

My baby can read DVDs and books has really helped her, and no I don't own stock in this company, ha. Although, I think it has been a good tool for her because she can point to all her body parts and she loves the flash cards. She will bring you the flash cards everyday and goes through all of them over and over.

She is starting to say a few words: nose, I see you, hi, bye-bye, mama, dada, juice, bah (sheep sound). I really cannot think of anything else but Dustin states she says things everyday that I don't hear. But when he asks her to repeat herself she won't do it.

She is starting to point at her diaper when it is dirty so I have been introducing her to the potty chair. It really has not caught on yet but we will see. She will just sit on the potty and point to her privates without any pee-pee or poop. Yet, when I gave her toilet paper for the first time she knew what to do with it.

I probably could go on and on but I will save it for another post. I have been watching the news a lot and the people in Japan have been weighing on my heart. My grandparents still live there and are doing fine. But just take a moment to pray for the people who are still suffering there.

Kemah in November

We went to Kemah on a sunny, nice day in November. For the people not from Houston, Kemah is a waterfront area with lots of restaurants and a small little amusement park area. It is pretty nice for Galveston water, which is brown. Although, we had a good time and we got to go on some of the rides.

Harlowe and I on the Farris Wheel, it only went around a couple of times and Dustin was like, is this it? I think Harlowe liked it despite the short ride. She wasn't that scared of being so high, either.

Harlowe still loves to wave at everyone and anyone, I think in her mind she thinks she is a princess blessing everyone with her grace, ha. Just kidding, it is so cute, she is so friendly, I know she got that from Dustin because he can talk your ear off. He can pretty much talk to anyone, and me on the other hand, complete opposite.

Dustin was trying to put on a happy face for all the festivities. I think he was bored, but he hung in there for Harlowe's sake. Poor Harlowe was looking perplexed in both family pictures. It is hard to get a good family picture with a baby.

We went on a little kiddie plane ride that went around and lifted us up and down. Harlowe had fun playing with all the gadgets in the plane.

My two babies, this is a pretty good picture of both of them.

I wanted to thank everyone for all the well wishes for the new baby. My aunt and uncle sent this really nice card and we enjoyed hearing from both of them. And my brother even sent us a post card from Afghanistan. We really appreciate all the nice thoughts and all the prayers, ha. We need all the prayers we can get, ha. Dustin always looks at my stomach, getting bigger and says I cannot believe we are having another baby. I always say, me neither, but I think I put him at ease when I told him this is not a phenomenon having two children. People do it all the time and still survive, ha, he said that's true.