Dan and Laura's Fantabulous Visit - Day 1

Back in January, I was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail from a long-time friend of mine saying she and her hubby wanted to come visit this spring. They live very far away and I don't get to see them often...it's been several years since the last time we got together. Ian was very excited to meet them and enjoyed having company over Memorial Day weekend!

We started out their time here with a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. Laura (doesn't she have a cool name!?) and Dan were trying to get Ian to look at the camera, but he was much too busy being cool looking at them.

Cheese!

Right inside the entrance to the zoo. Dan remarked that when anyone asked him about the trip, he was going to say that Texas was squinty. We definitely had a lot of bright sun while they were here!

The Laura's and Ian.

I think this guy was a Mandalin, but I could be wrong. He had a cool looking nose and a purple tush (didn't get a pix of that tho...sorry to disappoint you!).

Hehe...this guy reminded me so much of my hubby I had to take a picture! That's how hubby sleeps too!

This was a friendly little fellow. He came right up to the glass and knocked on it a couple of times. When he couldn't get through, he plopped down to keep Ian company.

For cousin Allie, who loves giraffes - a picture of a couple of long necked giraffes.

Flamingos!

Across the way, a friendly old tortoise came up to say hi to all the visitors.

As we were leaving the area, a few of the zoo staff members came out with a few little flamingos to teach them how to swim. So of course we had to stay and take pictures!

All zonked out after the zoo!

That evening, after Daddy got off work, we went to go play Putt-Putt. It's kind of a fuzzy picture, but I had to include it! Fuzzy Putt-Putt can be fun! ;-)

Awww...this picture makes me smile! What a cute couple!

Hehe...we couldn't resist playing around with all the safari animals at the Putt-Putt place. I mean really, what bettter way to practice my polo form than atop a fake zebra?

James' polo form is apparently in tip-top shape, so he just preferred to go for an elephant ride.

Daddy tried to show Ian how to play...

...but poor Ian wasn't so sure about that! There goes our millions from having a pro-golfer in the family. Oh well.

Putting with Mommy. He did a little better this way.

Our "Batman" guys!

Daddy and Ian taming the baby rhino!

I asked Dan and Laura if they wanted to tame the momma rhino and this is the response I got! I am guessing that was a "no"...hehe.

Laura's polo form looks great! Go baby rhino!

Awww...Ian petting his baby rhino.

Dan and the baby elephant made a good team.

DANce revolution!!

Of course, Daddy had to do the drumming game. Well, it actually turned out to be just a jam session and not a game. But still, where there are drumsticks, there you will find Daddy.

Playing air hockey.

Dan and Laura were having so much fun that we had to give it a go too.

Whew! What a busy, fun day! We sure are glad Dan and Laura came to visit!

Look Who's Walking!

Tonight was a pretty normal night. We had just bought a new steam cleaner (thanks Lissa for the awesome recommendation!) for the carpets, since they desperately needed something more than our vacuum could give them and I didn't feel like hand scrubbing every single spot! Daddy took Ian on a walk while I got the carpet started. The process takes a while, so Daddy and Ian finished their walk before I had finished the carpet. I was only doing the living room/dining room area, so they went to go play in Ian's room. After I finished, I went into Ian's room to play while the carpet finished drying. I still have some spot cleaning to do, but it looks so much better (if you had seen the before carpet, you would definitely agree!).

When I got to Ian's room, Daddy and I decided to play the walking game with Ian. For the past month or so, Daddy and I have been sitting with our toes touching and letting Ian "walk" between us. He loves this game and it is always sure to bring a smile. We try and let go, but, of course, he always sits down (or falls down!). Tonight though, he surprised us by keeping his balance and then taking a step or two! We tried it again and sure enough, he took a few more steps on his own! We couldn't believe it! Our little baby took his first steps tonight!!

Getting ready to take a step on his own!

Walking on his own! What a big boy!

Tonight during a tickle session, we finally got a picture of Ian's new top teeth that are poking through. There's one on each side of the two middle top teeth!

We love you, baby boy!! You bring so much joy into our lives and we love celebrating each new step with you! (Pun intended...haha!)

Birthday Party Hullabaloo - Part Two

Here's party pictures, part two! There were so many that I couldn't fit them all into one post.

After we had cake, we opened presents! Ian got so many nice things - everyone was really thoughtful!

Mindy helped Ian open their present to him. Haha - that's the only present Ian helped open too!

While we were opening presents, Aiden was having fun in the now empty pirate treasure chest.

Woo-hoo! A 3-in-1 trike from Grammy Jen, Grandaddy, and Aunt Erwin. Ian can be buckled into it at this age and there is a push bar so we can push him along. It transitions to a trike that he can pedal all by himself.

Woo-hoo! A drumming shirt from Aunt Kt, Uncle Tray, and Ace.

A very cool sign language alphabet placemat. ABC's, here we come!

Cute clothes from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Britt.

Piggy bank (with coins in it!!) from Aunt Sandy and Uncle Rich, along with some clothes and a zhu-zhu pet (Ian loves to kiss his zhu-zhu!).

Ummm...yeah. Remember when I said "we" were opening presents? Well, "we" were. James and I anyways. Little mister birthday boy was off playing by himself, having a grand old time with the streamer wall.

Yup...those are some great streamers!

Haha - he was having so much fun...we just let him play!

Rocking drumset shirt from Gramma K.

Back off playing by himself with a cool light up truck from Aunt Kt, Uncle Tray, and Ace!

After presents, we watched the DVD of last year's pictures of Ian.

Poor little buddy had two new teeth popping through that were bothering him. Nana made him a little improv teether with two ice cubes, a washcloth, and a rubber band. Ian had some good chill time with Aunt Kt (pun intended...haha) while we watched the slide show.

I just had to get this close up of Mom and Mr. Frank too. Come on now...everyone together...awwwww!

Another "awww" moment - Grandaddy comforting his little teething buddy.

Aiden had so much fun pushing Anya around in the Cars car!

Gramma K looking cute as ever!

Grandaddy was so nice and put together Ian's new 3-in-1 trike.

In the meantime, Ian had some good chill time with Grant Julie (Great+Aunt=Grant...cute, huh?)

Remember those crazy balloons? Well, they started sticking to the air vent and, of course, Ian had to investigate!

I'm pretty excited about these next few pictures. You wanna know why? It's cause they are sweet and sentimental and meaningful. And generational. For an early Father's Day present, Ian and I got him, Daddy, and Grandaddy shirts that say 03, 04, and 05. So sweet!

Precious! Just melts my heart.

You want to see something even cuter? Check this out! Our other little buddy, Ace, got a shirt too. He's Ian's big cousin and plays a very important role. He is turning two this year and is gonna teach Ian the ropes to everything!

Now you want to hear something sad? Of course not, but I'm going to tell you anyways! My memory card filled up just as we were starting to take these pictures!! I was frantically trying to delete pictures while the guys were posing. Fortunately, I managed to get a few shots. Grammy Jen is going to have to e-mail me the ones she got!

We love our 2, 3, 4, and 5!!

Whee! 3, 4, 5 - sakes alive!

Awww...love this!

Hanging with their little buddy. Actually, he's hanging with them!

I love this one too! 2 and 5 helping 3!

Bye-bye, Aunt Kt! We sure had a great time seeing you and Ace!

All sacked out after the party. I love the funky way Ian sleeps sometimes!

When Ian is teething, he gets awful cuddly. While we feel bad for him, we certainly aren't complaining! Ian didn't end up sleeping through the night very well that night, so he came to bed with us, where he at least slept better. (This is something new he has started doing - he NEVER used to sleep with us because he wouldn't sleep!) This isn't the most glam picture, but I have recently decided to start documenting life more as it happens and not edit out all the pictures of me I don't like!

After a little while, he rolled over off of me. So, I had to get up and take a picture of my boys sound asleep. A little while later, Ian rolled over on his back and put his hand on Daddy's arm. It was sooo sweet, but I didn't want to chance disturbing them by getting up again to take another picture!

Whew! That was one fun party, but it sure had us all tuckered out. See - even the balloons are tired!

The next day, we took Ian's trike out for a spin. He loved it!

Such a big boy!

Happy 1st Birthday, little buddy! I think we have all had enough partying for a while! Now it's time to play with all those fun toys...