All things NEW!

It has been a very BIG week in the Houston Household.  First, I decided to chop 4 inches off my hair so I have a "new" do for the summer time! This is the "selfie" I took after leaving the hair appointment.  (A special thanks to Chris and Bri for letting me borrow their Explorer this week and for providing the background for this picture!)  I know my hair will not typically look like this but I love having it washed, cut and styled by my friend, Amy.  (It always seems like a day at the spa when you get your hair cut!)

On Friday, we traded in my Honda Accord I have had for 12 years and purchased a Subaru Forester! I absolutely LOVE our NEW car! It has a moon roof, heated seats, a back up camera, a cargo space in the back, is AWD (for when Zack has to go to work on snowy days), and can comfortably fit two adults with a car seat in the back seat!  Ironically, it also still fits in our garage where I used to park the Honda.  It was sad to see my car go... I LOVED driving my Honda for so many years but our new car is perfect for our little family.  It will also be great for road trips because of the awesome gas mileage it gets!

 Then, Friday night I tried something new!  I went to a Merlot and Van Gogh night with some of my co-workers!  We had a blast painting, eating pizza, and having some adult beverages!  They put your finished product in a frame so you can feel like a real artist. I loved being able to paint on canvas and I was quite impressed with my finished product considering that I am not artistic AT ALL!  It was so fun to get out of the house with some awesome ladies!

Finally, I will finish up with a few pictures of our little man from the Farmer's Market earlier today.  We have gone to the Farmer's Market before with Chris and Bri, and it is always a blast! I guess the only "new" thing about today is that Bri and Chris are expecting a little one in November so we were able to think about how much fun these outings will be next year when Zander's "new" friend is here! ;)

Happy Memorial Day!

It is always so nice to have a three day weekend at the end of May when the weather is beautiful, and you are counting down until the end of the school year!  I pray I never forget the reason we have this holiday.  I am so thankful for the many who have sacrificed their lives and for the families that have sent family members to fight and die for our freedom.  We are truly blessed to have men and women who do this willingly and who are away from loved ones more days of the year than they are with their family.  I just have to say "thank you" for your commitment and sacrifice.  I will conclude with some pictures of how we have spent the leisurely part of our weekend!

This little cutie turned 13 months old this past week.  We no longer have the monthly onesies, but I had to take a picture before "school" to document the milestone.  Zander is walking everywhere! He is confidently standing up, turning around, and getting anywhere he wants to go (even if some of those places are off limits)!

"Framily"

Our son LOVES mashed potatoes!! (This is an interesting fact because if you ask any of my family members.... they will adamantly tell you that Zander's mommy also likes mashed potatoes A LOT!)  I was trying to feed him some mashed potatoes last week and I was not feeding him fast enough with a spoon.  He started using his hands to shovel in the good stuff in between the bites I offered him.  You can see that dinner was a little messy that night!

There is a silly commercial out right now that talks about a "friends and family" cell phone plan and the people in the video are called a "framily".  I really can't stand the commercial but the concept has made me think. Some of your closest friends become family over the years.  I have been blessed to have some amazing friends growing up.  To be able to stay in touch with them has been one of the greatest blessings God has given to me! So when one of your best friend's sons is having his first birthday party.... you just have to be there! Being at the party showed me that their family has become our family and Zander is loved as one of their own.  It was so special for Zander to get to celebrate with Jacob as he turned the big 0-1!  There will be many more birthdays to celebrate as our two little ones are three weeks apart in age. It will be interesting to see how we change each year.

We loaded up the car with our boys to head west! 

 Spent some time with the Bakewells before the party......

 Zander played with new toys at Grannie's.... a horse and rocking chair that were both his size!

 Scott and Zack have known each other longer than I have known Liz.... we ate yummy burgers for lunch!

 Two generations of best friends..... this type of picture never gets old!

 Watching Jacob open his presents....

 Watching Jacob try his birthday cake.....

 Family Pic

We were able to have a delicious cookout with Zack's family afterward and hang out into the evening.  Zack's sister and cousin started entertaining Zander with some songs and everyone joined in!  My favorite part about this was that each person knew various verses to the songs selected and sometimes the words were different based on who you asked!  Zander has started picking himself up from a seated position to standing without holding onto anything.  He will then walk to wherever he intends to go.  He no longer looks like Frankenstein as he walks from place to place.  He is also waving "bye bye" and clapping on command.   Needless to say, we had an amazing weekend.  We are a little worn out from all the festivities and are hoping for a relaxing week ahead! ;)

Happy Mother's Day 2014!

I am so thankful to be this little cutie's mommy!! God truly blessed our family when he brought Zander into our lives a little over a year ago!  He has shown me a love that is hard to put into words and a strength that I didn't know I could possess.  He has also caused me to reflect on how patient I am on the tough days and how silly I can be to make him laugh! ;)

 We spent the day with our little family of four (Daddy, Mommy, Zander, and Burke!).  We went to church in the morning and received an awesome message about how moms are fighting for their children and will do anything to protect them from the enemy.  Then, we went grocery shopping... what every mom wants to do on Mother's Day!!;)....ate lunch at KFC (for some reason I wanted some fried chicken!)....and went for a walk with our boys!  It was the perfect day for relaxing and spending time together.  We thank all the moms that have shown us the type of selfless love a mom has for her child and hope we to pass on this love and compassion to Zander.  He has so many awesome role models already!  We are lucky to have our moms in our lives that fought for our safety and protection growing up and helped us become who we are today.  Happy Mother's Day!!

And a few other pictures from the week..... dressed up before church last Sunday.. and with daddy having to work late most nights last week.... Zander and I took the opportunity to have a dinner date at Chickfila!  We love that place! 

We have a Walker!

On Friday, April 25, 2014 (just four days after Zander turned one), he walked about 6-7 steps from our couch to his mama!  Since that day, he has been more confident about using his legs.  He will stand up and start moving to the object in front of him that he wants to get to.  Sometimes I will watch him just stand in place... not holding onto anything.... contemplating his next move!  My favorite part of this new stage is how he will come from behind me when I sitting on the ground and give me a hug after he has walked multiple steps to get across the room to me.  I am loving his baby wobble as he navigates from one thing to another.  I am glad he is not at running speed yet!! He is already causing his mama (and daddy) to be a little more tired in the evenings from following his every move! Things have been pretty normal (other than our big boy walking around) these past couple weeks.  Zander worked on Mother's Day cards for his grandmas a couple weeks ago and I just loved how he used his table from Grannie to complete his artwork.  (By the way... he is no where near ready to use crayons and make any kind of artwork... lesson learned!;)  I tried to hold his hand so he could write his name and that was quite an experience!)

We went to our town's Spring Folly yesterday.  It was so much fun hanging out with friends and family and eating lots of yummy food.  We ate bloomin' onions, cotton candy, ice cream, turkey legs, pizza, etc.  We were able to find some shade and sit down for a bit with Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Boomer.  There is this neat area downtown where you can sit in a courtyard and enjoy some wine and beer.  The whole afternoon was very relaxing!! We stayed into the evening hanging out with Bri and Chris and listening to some music.  We were out and about for almost 5 hours and Zander did such a great job the entire time.  We were able to come home and put our little man to bed and then head outside to light a fire in our fire pit.  It was truly a memorable day for our family, and we hope to make this a yearly tradition!

Zander continues to say "mama", and he has started to say "dada" or "daddy" and what I think is the word "hi/hey".  He uses these words for everything so we are still working on using the words to identify us specifically!  Until next time....