You Look Like A Beach Angel!

We ventured back down to Moody Gardens this weekend! But this time, we booked a hotel room and made a mini-vacation out of it. We also hit up the strand, the beach, and the hotel pool- making it an action packed, exhausting weekend! Lines from that Travelocity commercial kept popping in my head all weekend: "Our girl's a genius!" "Our boy's an architect!" "You look amazing." "You look like a beach angel!"

In the gift shop at the dinosaur exhibit-
Ready to see some scary sharks!

Surprised, as usual, to look up and see me staring at him-

Locked in the shark cage, ready to dive!

At Palm Beach-

At the Ice Cream Parlor/Candy Shoppe on the strand-

At the REAL beach!! Notice Ada's new swimsuit. I forgot her other swimsuit at home. Who does that? Forget their kid's swimsuit on a vacation centered around swimming? Me.

MiMi was gracious enough to come along for a third set of adult hands, too! I had a cute picture of MiMi, Ada, Casey, and Dax- but it didn't upload. And if I upload it now, it'll screw up the alignment of all of my text. I'll post it on Facebook! :)

Solids!

Dax got his first taste of cereal today... not just a taste. He inhaled the entire bowl!

He scarfed the stuff down, fussed if I took too long to re-load the spoon, and gobbled it up like he's been eating solids since before he was born! Yumm...

Mission Master Revamp: Complete!!

After living in this house for three years, I have FINALLY decorated our master bedroom!! This was the last room in the house that needed to be done (aside from the office, but that really just needs a few more office-y things).
These are the kids' rooms, since we're on the subject-
Ada's - http://thedailydowell.blogspot.com/2010/08/adas-mod-pod.html
Dax's - http://thedailydowell.blogspot.com/2011/01/african-safari.html

Here is the before. Decent enough, I suppose. This is the color that our entire house was when we moved in. It's mind-numbingly bland. I WILL paint the rest of the house. Eventually...
I've been collecting things throughout the summer with my master plan in mind; and I committed to the final step this weekend- painting the walls. Once that was complete, it was a whirlwind of fabric, frames, and hardware! Oh, and Adele's new album. :)

First, a quick thanks to Team Dowell for their support, assistance, understanding, and positive words of affirmation-

And, here it is! In all it's glory! I LLLOOOOVVVEE it (said in a growly voice). In fact, rarely are my visions realized EXACTLY how I'd hoped. And this one met and exceeded all of my expectations! I don't even mind the mis-matched nightstands and our cheap bed. They just add to the eclectic vibe I was aiming for. :)

MorMor recovered our old throw pillows with leftover fabric that I didn't frame. :)

We cashed in our credit card rewards and got a new TV! It's awesome.

"Crap, now I have to go home and tell my husband I spent $100 on lamps." -Saturday's Facebook status. I just couldn't resist them- they were calling my name.

I painted our bathroom while I was on my painting rampage. I decided to go a shade lighter than the bedroom for a two-tone look.

The best part of finishing the room? The kids and I snuggled for 1.5 hours this morning watching movies and drinking our coffee & chocolate milk. LOVE.

Tada!

ENT and Children's Museum

Yesterday Ada had her biannual ENT check up for her ear tubes (which went well, and the kids were total angels the entire appointment), so we hopped on over the the Children's Museum while we were in the neighborhood. This was the first time I'd taken Ada to some of the "big kid" portions- like "Kidtropolis" which is like a mini-city. (And the face painting station, which you'll notice in the following pictures!) It's so cute, and Ada had a ball!! (All pictures are just ones I snapped with my phone- I was not about to lug around my real camera in addition to the 500 lbs I was already carrying!)

Grocery shopping at the mini-HEB. She even got to "check out" with a "cashier" and fake credit card!

Nursing a bunny back to health at the vet clinic-
In the art studio-the black lines are hills, she said. (Just to be clear- I wrote the A!)

Dax and I observing-

Then we headed up to the "Tot Spot"- where I turned Ada loose and let Dax out of the papoose for a bit. He loved it! I parked him in this little cushioned "pocket" and let him explore a little-

Intrigued by this airplane-he kept knocking it off the ledge (because his hands are still more like paws!), and then he'd fuss because he wanted it back-

Typical pass-out scene on the drive home from an awesome day-

When we got home, I plopped Dax into his jumparoo, switched the function on one of the toys from the most simple "color flash and 1 musical note" to "woman stating the color and shape in English, French, and Spanish" mode... This was his reaction- a little confused?

I loved this picture of Ada for some reason. I think she's so pretty.

Dax- 4 Months

NO, he's not 4 months old! Yes, he is. And he just gets more adorable, awesome, amazing with each month.

Ada has nick-named him "nushooginah"... I have NO CLUE what it means, where she got it, or what she may be *trying* to say. But it is seriously sticking. Sorry, Daxy!

He's starting to occasionally roll over the opposite way- but it's usually more of a knee-jerk reaction to rolling his normal tummy-to-back. He's not crazy about laying on his back, and I think he realizes that mid-roll; and must get back to his tummy ASAP!

He can sit semi-unsupported for extended periods- if he would just quit wanting to crawl so bad that he throws himself forward! This kid is constantly trying to devise ways to be mobile. Which I do not like. I don't like it one bit!

He'll giggle if you act really silly or tickle him- and still very smiley. But he also has a very serious side if he's learning something new, studying an item or person, or is simply thinking. (About what? I'd like to know!) Much different from Ada, who was content to just make herself laugh! :)

He's getting re-accustomed to his carseat- it is no longer the bain of his existence.

He lllooooves to read- he'll sit still and listen and watch me read to him for up to 20 minutes sometimes. So cute!

Here are pictures from our 4 months monster photoshoot! Love this baby boy with all my heart!

Here he is lunging forward out of a perfectly fine seated position-

LOL!-

The Greatest Show on Earth?

We went to the circus today (with a little pit stop by the Take Care clinic for Ada's bout of swimmer's ear)... and it was surprisingly unimpressive. Maybe I'd talked it up too much? Maybe I wanted shock, awe, and magic? Maybe we didn't have the greatest seats? Oh well, it was something to do on a Saturday, indoors! :) It wasn't bad, and we had a good enough time.
We ate our fair share (and the elephant's share, too) of crap concessions-

Dax enjoyed splitting his viewing time between the show and Ada-

Ada had cotton candy for the first time in her life-

I did love the elephants! How can you NOT love the elephants? I know this is total animal cruelty, but it's still adorable-

The circus was decent, but the real spectacle was the ringmaster's leotard-tight pants. Among other things..

And Dax changed into this shirt when we got home. Actions may speak louder than words, but these words are pretty cute!

Look at him sitting up only lightly supported!