Family Weekend

This past few days, my mom, sister and two nephews were in town. We had such a wonderful time visiting and playing around town. My mom was in from Orlando and my sister and her kids were in from Oklahoma. We ate at great restaurants, played Xbox and just goofed around. Here are a few of the great photos we were able to snap of all of the cousins/grandkids...

These first few were taken as soon as Troy and Justin got to town. They had met CCR once (a year ago) so it was fun for them to see him so "grown up". And the boys met TMR for the first time.




During the visit, we took the kids to the Arboretum to take a few photos without my living room as the backdrop. I'm not sure a parking garage is much better, but it was neat capturing a few more great photos of all of them together and also different pairings...






We had such a wonderful time hanging out with our family from out of town. We don't get to see them as often as we'd like, but we look forward to the next time we can get together and make some more great memories. We love each of you and hope you had a great time in Texas!

Snow Day in Austin

The weather has been pretty crazy this Winter...and today did not disappoint. It started to snow so I took CCR out to our back patio to take a few photos of the slush/snow that was falling. After playing a little while inside, it really started to fall, so we went out front to take some more pictures. I'm glad we braved the cold to snap some very sweet photos...

Here's how it started...slushy but it was sticking...




Then it really got started...it turned to real snow and it really started to accumulate.






CCR had a great time walking around in the snow. Unfortunately, TMR is too young to have enjoyed the first real snow in Austin for each of them. I'm just glad I was able to get some great photos to document it.

Miscellaneous Pictures of Late...

Here is a collection of photos of the recent happenings around our house.

I just love this pictures, but for more than one reason. Of course it's cute because it's two of our dogs hanging out on a lazy morning with CCR. But more importantly, for those of you unfamiliar with the Miniature Pinscher bread, they are burrowers by nature...which means any blanket on our couch turns into a make-shift cocoon for either of our puppies but more often ET (the black and tan). Well, what's so special about this pictures is that she was burrowed in a very warm blanket right before this, but she opted to come out of her hybernation spot and hang out with Ike and CCR. Just precious...


Related to the above description, the burrowing has become an issue because ET gets very territorial when she's burrowed. Well, that wasn't boding well for CCR. So we don't have any blankets on our couch when CCR is out and about, but they come out during nap time and after he goes to bed. Well, in order for the puppies to stay warm, they have to snuggle together...


Here's a very descriptive picture of CCR. He's a huge veggie and fruit eater, but he doesn't get citrus very often...so here I gave him grapefruit for his snack which I thought would produce some cute puckered shots...well, clearly he wasn't impressed...and I just love the bed head...tee hee


During Mimi's latest visit (and last visit since she'll be a resident of Austin in a few weeks), we took some photos during snack time. CCR was enjoying bananas and chocolate when we realized he had finished eating the banana and was licking the plate...look closely and you can see his wide-open mouth...

A sweet photo of Mimi with CCR and TMR.


CCR loves his little sister. He is constantly checking on her and rocking her when she cries...and he loves giving her kisses!!


A quick shot of TMR...


CCR has started showing a real interest in helping me take pictures. When he does, I let him stand in front of me and push the button. We end up with photos of the ceiling, a random corner of the room or maybe even part of a dog. This was our attempt at a self-portrait.


Another quick shot of TMR...

Bird Feeders

Well, it's been pretty chilly here in Austin recently (which makes outdoor activities fun with a newborn) so in order to keep CCR entertained and to be able to connect with the outdoors while still inside, we made bird feeders. Since pine cones are not in season, we went to Michael's and got some of those twig decorative balls, smeared them with peanut butter and rolled them in wild bird seeds. It was a ton of fun!!

It took a while for the birds to realize we had hung them up (the squirrels actually found them first), but I was able to snap some photos of a squirrel hanging around our patio as well as a bird that landed on one. It was a fun activity, but I know it'll be much more fun as CCR gets older and can do more on his own. Enjoy the pictures...

TMR - 3 1/2 weeks

CCR and Chocolate Bananas

Sliced bananas with a little bit of chocolate sauce for snack...it didn't last long...