A Follow Up

I wanted to provide an update on a few earlier posts. CCR and I made some bird feeders in an effort to bring birds (or squirrels) closer to the windows of our back porch so we could check them out. Because of the cold fronts and TMR's age, we couldn't just go for walks every day. So at first there was not much interest in our homemade attempt at a feeder. Then there was a squirrel...but he spent most of his time trying to figure out how to get up to the feeders and not much time actually eating them. He ended up just licking our dust pan clean. Then we caught one bird on our feeder. It was so quick which was amazing that we were able to capture it on film. Well, this is the finale of our bird feeder posts. I knew one of them was done when I found two of our dogs were fighting over the remnants of the twig wreath. Well, this squirrel got the last of our feeders. And it was very cool that we caught it on film as well. I have more supplies so I think we might continue to keep our back yard stocked because now CCR loves watching the squirrels either eating from the feeders, hanging out on our back porch (looking for more feeders) or scurrying along the back fenceline.

A New Hat and A Very Smily Baby Girl

Doug loves buying T-shirts on sale online. Well, he was shopping recently and found a very cute Nike hat on sale in CCR's size. So he got it. I was a little nervous because CCR doesn't really like hats (or socks for that matter). Well, there's something about this hat that exempts it from the anti-hat sentiment he has...so here's a few pics of him sporting his new hat.

And here's a few photos of TMR just smilin' away. She's is always smiling (unless she's sleeping, eating, or not...tee hee). My point is that compared to CCR she smiles a whole lot more...and I just love the roundness of her cheeks!

Addiction

My name is Kerri and I am an addict. I am an Etsy user. For those of you who don't know about Etsy, it's a shopping website that showcases (typically) homemade items. I was first introduced to the site when a very dear friend of mine who makes and sells nursing cloaks had be purchase one for a friend through her store. I didn't really understand the site and just went on to make the purchase and that was it. Well, a blogger that I follow posted a link to a friend's store which I was interested in. So I went to her store and was immediately hooked! So now I'm a shopaholic, but only at Etsy. While I love my favorite stores, I can't help but shop Etsy when I get free time. I can now relate to my mom's addition to Facebook games because my vice is Etsy.

What's crazy is Etsy has a function where you can "pounce" on new stores. So while I was pouncing (which is really where my addiction lies), I found a posting for a beautiful baby blanket. It is hand-stitched in the same way as CCR's "woobie" which was a gift from my mother's best friend Mrs. Hamdorf. So I sent a note to the store owner to see if she could make one for a little girl. She sent me a note right back. I was so surprised that she was so prompt. Well, it turns out she was in the middle of creating her store and getting her blankets posted. So here I was pouncing her at the same time she was getting started. I was sure to let her know that the pounce function works because she only had one blanket listed when I found her and halfway through our conversation, she had all five listed...just crazy timing!

Anyway, I need to get off of the computer because regardless of all of the cool tabs that are open, I'm stuck in Etsyland...

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...