Being Cute

Just a sweet picture of my baby in his carseat

Having Fun with Friends

Anthony has had the opportunity to spend time with quite a few of his friends lately. Here are some cute photos of him hanging out with everyone...

Friend Audrey--He loved riding her car...I guess he wouldn't let her drive!!!

Audrey and Anthony practicing the alphabet together

Anthony decked out in Audrey's pink sunglasses, pushing the pink baby stroller with Baby Elmo inside...too funny!!!

Friend Kayden--Anthony makes himself right at home with her toys!

Just chillin' with Kayden

Friend Michael--They are both little hams!

At least they kept each other entertained!!!

Wearing Mommy's Shoes

Anthony has a thing for wearing my shoes these days...these are the clogs that I wear to work. His other favorites are my black patent flats and my black fuzzy slippers.

Anthony Moves to a Big Boy Bed!!!

We decided to transition Anthony to his "big boy" bed a few weeks ago. We just wanted to make sure he was well-adjusted with that big change before he has to adjust to having a little brother (and Mommy's divided attention)!!! As of right now, we plan to have the boys share a room. Lucas will be in the cradle in our room until he's sleeping through the night. And we don't really plan on napping them together at first either...Lucas will probably take his naps in the cradle in the beginning, and then in the pack n play in our closet for awhile. Anyway, it may work really well, and then again, the plans may fall apart. We figure we can always rearrange the furniture again if we need to. But this way, Mario won't have to give up his "office" which is located in our guest room, and our guests can still have some privacy when they come and visit.

Anthony played a little trick on us and did amazingly well his first night in his bed. He went right to sleep, slept through the night, and waited for me to come and get him the next morning!!! We were sure we had a child prodigy on our hands!!! What a piece of cake this transition stuff is, right?!? Well, for the next few nights, we had some "middle of the night awakenings" with Anthony getting out of his bed and searching and crying for us...we left the door cracked for him. (I feel safer knowing he CAN get out if he ever needs to come get me for anything.) That tapered off pretty quickly, but then we entered the phase of resisting naps in his bed. He'd do everything but go to sleep! First, he just came out of his room looking for me. Then when he realized my persistence in taking him back to his bed, he got smart and only came to the door. He'd peek out for awhile, and then he'd open it a little wider and push on it so it would bang and make some noise and get mommy's attention!!! When he realized I would still come and put him back in his bed, he even got a little smarter and began playing quietly with his toys or dragging stuff out of his drawers!!! It was alot of trial and error (maybe more error than trial) on my part, and it did require some disciplinary action at times for disobedience, but we eventually found a plan that worked!!! About one and a half weeks after we started the process, he was doing great!!! Now, we read him a couple of stories before naptime, or we do his regular bedtime routine before bedtime. He goes to bed when it's time, stays there all night (or nap), and doesn't get out of bed until Mommy or Daddy comes in and says it's time to get up!!! WOW!!! We love this kid! Some days it took alot out of me, but the consistency is so worth it in the end! Occasionally I'll find him "reading" some books in his bed when I come to get him after naptime is over, but I don't really mind (even though he definitely had to get out of bed to get the books off the bookshelf!). He just takes them back to his bed to read, and he's usually so quiet that I don't even know he's awake.

"Getting ready for my first night in my big-boy bed!!!"

"As long as I've got Bunny, I'll be just fine!"

I'm glad the cute comforter that came with the nursery bedding set is finally being put to good use (instead of just being for decoration!!!)

Some views of the room...

This view looks a little dorm-roomish

Crib and changing table/dresser

Just to give some more perspective

One of his first nights he stayed in his bed without getting up to search for us!

Mommy is so proud!!!

Making a Masterpiece

My sweetie pie's artistic side...

I let Anthony "paint" with some leftover glaze I was using to make Christmas cookies!!!

It was a sugary sticky mess to clean up, but it was so much fun!!!

(and it kept him occupied for a little while!!!)

Anthony Loves his Leaves

Last month our front yard was one big "leaf blanket"!!! We spent several hours raking, trimming trees, and tending to the "mess" that has been our front lawn, all the while adding a few Christmas touches! Anthony sure had a blast playing in the piles!!!

" Yes, I know I'm cute!"

"Ahhhh! No, Daddy! Not more leaves!!!"

Oh, to be a kid again!!!

Fort Worth Getaway

Right after Thanksgiving Mario and I went on a one-night getaway over to Ft. Worth--our first visit to the town. We were so blessed that Mario won a sales contest at work. The majority of our dinner and hotel were covered by giftcards that he received as a result of winning! Yay!!! I'm so proud to have a husband who is so good at his job! We dropped off Anthony at a friend's house, and drove away to have one last hoorah before this baby gets here! It was a fun time to be in the city because they were having plenty of Christmas festivities to get the holidays started. We stayed in a very nice luxury hotel called the Ashton. Here are some pics of the room.

The linens were super-comfy...I think they were imported from Europe!

Separate bathroom with cobalt blue tile and pedestal sink

Sitting area/Work area...Even had a docking station with speakers for your ipod--too bad we didn't bring our ipod!!!

Craziest thing we saw in Ft. Worth--A man walking a dog with a cat riding on the dog's back and a mouse riding on the cat's back!!!

In front of the big Christmas tree in Sundance Square

The Christmas parade that evening with over 100 floats! Compared with our McKinney 4th of July parade, it was in a whole different league!!! They had lots of lights, music, and unique "floats" such as unicyclists and people riding on horseback standing up! Fun to watch!!!

Right after we finished eating at Del Frisco's--Mario and I agree it is the best restaurant we've ever been to. The food was delicious, the service was impeccable, and we even received a thank you note from them upon returning home stating best wishes on the upcoming birth! I guess they took notes!!!

Outside our hotel all lit up

Front of our hotel

Mario holding his "Voss" water we found in our room.

When we came back in from dinner, our linens had been turned down and there were homemade chocolate chip cookies waiting for us!

The next morning before we left, we went out to the Ft. Worth Stockyards that we've heard so much about. It's like stepping into an old fashioned western town, complete with steers you can pose on for a "small" fee, a cattle drive, a vintage railroad, a cattlepen maze, and plenty of museums, eating places, and western shops.

Me in front of the ginormous Christmas tree

We thought this was hilarious...some forlorn guy sitting all alone above a restaurant called the Love Shack!!!

Here's a view of the streets in the stockyards

Cowboy Mario in front of the "Stampede Room"

What a fun trip! Might be our last for a little while!!!