Lucas' First Bites

Back at the end of June when Lucas was about 5 1/2 months, we gave him his first tastes of "real" food. This kid loves to eat! Mario says he definitely a Mammina!!! Haha!



This first video was his first taste of banana. I put a little piece in the mesh food feeder...In case you can't tell what that is, it's a little contraption the baby can (kindof) hold himself in order to suck on the food through the mesh. This way, he can't choke on the little bits. It was given to us as a gift when Anthony was born, but I think we only used it a couple of times with him. This will probably be the only time it gets used with Lucas too...not totally practical, but cute, nonetheless.









This second video is Lucas' first bites off the spoon. The food of choice here is organic brown rice cereal mixed very thinly with some of my milk. (Mario thinks that sounds pretty nasty, but babies really like the stuff). He doesn't know what to do with it right at first, but he pretty much gets the hang of it by the time the bowl is empty.

And seriously, now this kid is a total champ when it comes to food! Tonight, for example, (at 7 months) he ate a whole bowl full of zucchini mixed with peas and rice cereal. Then he still seemed hungry, so he proceeded to eat an entire banana!!! THEN he nursed!!! The kid loves to eat! Now if he didn't just burn all those calories right off with his "army" crawl, we'd be in good shape in the weight department. :)

Summertime Fun IV -- Sunny Days and Rainy Days

Living here in Texas, we've had a LOT of hot, sunny days!!! It's really mostly unpleasant/unbearable to be outside unless there is some form of water activity. So, I'm doing my best to get the kids out to get some fresh air and get some energy out despite the heat! We dragged the sprinkler out one day...Anthony had never really played in it before, so I wasn't sure what he would do, but he seemed to enjoy it.

figuring it out

getting "rained" on

he kept trying to push his truck around in the grass and getting frustrated that it wouldn't go

I guess there's really only so much one can do by oneself with a sprinkler

"ahhhh...nice and cool"

Lucas had fun watching Anthony run around

my babies

being goofy

lucas didn't want to stay on the blanket...he was eager to explore the grass

yep, it's my new favorite picture up at the top of the blog...just having fun in the sun

and, oh yes, we still do the thumb-suck/ear pull...wonder if he'll ever outgrow it???

Here's a quick video clip of Anthony playing in the sprinker. He liked to run to one corner, let it "rain" on him, and then run to the other side so it could "rain" on him again. He did this for quite some time, but I only got a few seconds of it because squirmy Lucas kept trying to grab my camera! ;)

We have had some rainy days in between our LONG stretches of heat. The rain doesn't really cool things off much around here in the summer, but the cloud coverage is a nice break from the beat-down of the heat. Nonna sent down some rain boots for Anthony, so being the good mommy that I am, I got him all dressed for playing in the rain, and I sent him outside all by himself to enjoy it! :) Hey--at least I documented it!

riding his truck...

as you can see I was taking pictures through a screened window

playing with rocks

i think being alone in the rain was kind of like therapy for him

(just like the finger painting was!)

watching the rain splash out of the gutters

i love how he wants to explore

filling up his watering can....

....so he can water mommy's plants in the rain! what a big helper!!!

this is what lucas likes to do while anthony is playing in the rain--stay dry with mommy!

Grama and Grampa Visit

At the end of June, Mario's grandparents came to visit us! They live in Olathe, KS, so, they made quite the effort to come down by us! :) We were just so thrilled to get the opportunity to spend some quality one on one time with them. Well, we didn't actually go OUT to do much since it was so, so HOT...but the heat didn't stop us from still having fun! We spent a lot of time just visiting, talking, eating, playing with the boys, and we even had a late night game night. Grampa taught us a new card game called Casino. They even babysat the kiddos so Mario and I could go out for dinner for our 5 year anniversary! Get ready for picture overload...we had such a fun time!!!

Grampa and Grama offered to take Anthony to McDonalds for lunch on Friday--a BIG treat! This gave me some WONDERFUL peace and quiet at home with just Lucas. Here Anthony is getting ready to take a ride in "Grampa's car". He might have had just as much fun on the ride over as he did at the actual restaurant! He STILL talks about "Grampa's car"!!!

Grama with Anthony at McDonalds...for lunch, he ate french fries, chocolate milk, and dessert! That's what you do when you're with great grandparents, right?!? :)


all smiles



playing on the playground

"what's up here?"

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!" (sugar rush)

sweet Lucas having fun on his playmat

reading with my babies

finding "treasures" in the dirt

Grampa grilled out some chicken--Mario and Anthony visit with him while he withstands the heat long enough to cook the meat!

sweet boy riding his truck

Grampa demonstrates his artistic side

Grama feeds Lucas while Mario and I are on our date

roses from Maro--such a thoughtful husband!

Even though we went out to dinner, Mario and I forgot to bring the camera! Oh well! We went to get burgers at Twisted Root--a really cool burger joint, and then we went to browse in Target. Sounds romantic, doesn't it?!? ;) It was just a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of night! We had so much fun being together minus the boys...it had been too long since we'd had a date night, and we were just thankful to have some uninterrupted conversation! Haha!

Grama loving on Lucas

Grampa loving on Lucas

Lucas chilling with his great-grandparents on the sofa

thought this picture was funny--they kind of have the same expression!

we all love Grampa's laugh--it can fill the whole house!

isn't Grama beautiful?

Saturday morning, Mario, Anthony, and Grampa went to the McKinney Farmer's Market to get some fresh produce

Sunday after church, we grabbed brunch at Breadwinner's before Grampa and Grama had to leave

Anthony devoured everyone's fruit. He loves oranges--even the rind sometimes! ;)

Our only group shot--minus Lucas--he is in his carseat over by the waiter taking the picture.



We love you, Grampa and Grama! Come again to visit us anytime!!!

Some Black and Whites

Here are some pictures that I just love...

I took some candid shots of Mario with the boys on the Sunday morning of Father's Day while we were getting ready for church. He is a FANTASTIC dad, and the boys simply adore him! We got a smoothie treat after church--one of Daddy's favorites, and then after naps and dinner we went out for ice cream. We just had fun spending the day together.

By the way, that same Sunday was the day Anthony got his "big boy" haircut! See how long it was in the above picture?

And after!!! Such a big boy now!

Anthony wanted some pictures taken of him and his new haircut while he was eating lunch, so I humored him.

goofy grin, so sweet

Summertime Fun III -- More Friends and Christmas in June

Anthony's friend Kayden came over to play one morning. They were so cute together reading on the couch that I had to get a couple pictures.

Kayden is almost exactly one year younger than Anthony...isn't she sweet?

Anthony is doing a good job at sharing



Nonna sent down a "Christmas in June" box with all kinds of goodies for me, Mario, and the boys! Anthony enjoyed the items she sent, especially the snacks and rain boots! But even more than the gifts, Anthony loved the packing peanuts and the box the most!

"Look at me, Mama!"

"I don't know how the big peanuts turned into little tiny specks of peanuts, Mama!"

Here's a clip of Anthony making the big peanuts into little tiny specks of peanuts. I had a bit of a mess to clean up after that, but based on all the smiles I got, I'd say it was all worth it! ;)