Galveston

We spent this past week in Galveston with my parents, and sister's family. We had a great time ... went to the beach, the Strand, ate at Rainforest Cafe, and rode the ferry. Will loved it all! He thought the ocean was great, loved playing in the sand, and all around enjoyed himself!
We ended our trip driving through Crystal Beach/Bolivar which was very sad. A year later the place still looks like a ghost town, and the homes that are being rebuilt are so high they have porches underneath them. Although there are very few atually being rebuilt.

Here are some pictures from the week:
Playing at the beach


Rainforest Cafe

He LOVED dessert...

Miler

New sunglasses

The boys playing

At the ferry







This is a pier on the Sea Wall ... it was crazy! Apparently 2 people rode out the storm on top of that building, scary.

Fun with Friends

This weekend our very dear friends, The Lloyds (they have a blog link on our page) came and spent the entire weekend with us! They currently live in Austin, and we do not get to see them as often as we'd like. Their little girl, Peyton, is about 10 months younger than Will, and they played great together. We were also blessed with the Novosads presence Saturday evening ... they brought their 2 sweet girls, and I got to give their newborn Parker her very first bottle!! Once Malley settled in the 3 kids had a blast (as did the adults!!!) We fed the ducks, played, and enjoyed great company.
Here are some pictures from the weekend ... in no particular order!

Big Boy

This is not a great picture (taken from Patrick's cell) ... but here is Will's new big boy haircut! He looks SO cute, and SO big! We had it done at Snip It's in The Woodlands Mall, and then rode the carousel afterwards.

A whole lot of nothin'

This is what has been going on the McLendon house. We have had quite a lazy week after being going all last weekend. In my mind I am already on summer break; too bad I still have to work 5 more days!
Will has transitioned into his big boy bed like a champ, but what else would we expect? This child has pretty much transitioned into everything with no problem. How lucky are we?
I am still constantly amazed at his vocabulary - everyday he says something new. Right now his favorite thing to say is "I can't (and insert whatever we are asking him to do that he does NOT want to do!). For example when I wanted him to go take his nap today, he responds "I can't take a nap, Momma." Luckily, he says this, but usually is very easily persuaded into doing whatever we are asking. As he gets bigger he is more and more stubborn, but it is hard to get mad when he acts just like me!!

Big Boy Bed

Will is now sleeping in a big boy bed ... Patrick refinished the bed over the weekend while we were gone, so last night was his first night attempting sleeping in it. Didn't go well at all. Unfortunately, we had not taken the crib down yet so Will's response was "How bout this one?" while pointing to his crib, so today we took down Will's baby bed (such a sad day for Mommy and Daddy...) and he napped in his big boy bed! I am not quite sure how long he ran around his room, opened and closed the door, and got in and out, in and out of the bed before he finally fell asleep BUT he did sleep! We are about to put him down for the night, so we shall see......

Posing with the bed last night


Napping this afternoon




**EDIT - He slept all night! I was so worried he would be standing next to our bed in the middle of the night, but he was still sound asleep when I left this morning!

Busy weekend!

Our weekend started early ... I took off Friday to get ready for our very busy, fun-filled few days! Will and I left Friday and headed to Lufkin with YaYa. We had dinner with Aunt Amy, went shopping, and then Will fought sleep for quite a while (singing his ABC's, asking where everyone he knows was, and just non-stop talking.) He gave up a little after 10:00
Saturday morning started early, and we got on the road with a full carload (me, Will, Mom, Amy, Josh and Miler) by 7:15 headed to Louisiana for a family reunion. We enjoyed spending the day with the Gregory family! It has been several years since I have been, and Will's first visit. Neither of the boys slept very much that day, so once we got back to Lufkin Saturday night they were both ready for bath and bed! We had another big day Sunday...

Nonnie and her brothers - she was the only girl out of 8 children!


Sunday, we celebrated Miler's 1st birthday. Will, of course, tried to be the center of attention ... but Mommy really tried to make him understand it was Miler's day! Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying their time together!






Happy 1st Birthday Miler!

I love you ...

..TOO!

This is what Will just said to me. Everyday I am more amazed at what he understands. I just told him, "I love you!" and pointed at him. Now, this is an everyday occurence - we say I love you ALL.THE.TIME. However, in return, he said to me, "I love you .... (long pause) TOO!" and points his finger at me. He listens to adult conversations, comprehends what is being said and then, when you least expect it, actually uses words in the right context...wow!

Besides that, this child just melts my heart. I love being a Mommy.

Our Family

Will got to feeling MUCH better yesterday afternoon so Patrick and I got to go on a date last night! Before we left we took a family picture since it has been a while since we have taken a good one...

Sick little boy

We are now going on Day 3 of Will running fever .... he is just not himself when he feels bad and it makes me so sad. Patrick took him to the doctor Thursday morning, and he said it is just something viral that will pass in a few days. That makes it even worse because all we can do is alternate Tylenol and Motrin to keep his fever down. You can tell when it is getting close to a dosage time because he slows way down, and then about 30 minutes after he is peppy again. We have tried to explain that he needs to not get too excited, but his 2 year old ears don't quite get that! Last night he actually laid on the couch with me and watched the entire movie Finding Nemo - and he has never done that before. As I write this he is sitting in his high chair attempting to eat some breakfast and watching Mickey. Hopefully today will be the end of fever, and he will be on the mend!

Laying on the couch - can you tell he can't breathe unles his mouth is wide open? Poor baby.....not feeling too hot.


Hanging out in Mommy and Daddy's bed, when the Motrin is in full effect!

Some recent pictures

Since I have been kind of a slacker recently ... summer is almost here, and I will be better, I promise! End of the year stuff just gets crazy, but I cannot wait to be home with my boys for the summer! We have lots of fun things planned to do with Will since we will both be home!
As I sit here and type this morning, I have my leg propped on the ottoman, and Will walks up and says to me, "ABRE!" which mean open in Spanish because he wants me to lift my leg so he can get through. I am amazed at what he remembers (it has to be from a Diego episode). I know I am biased, but he is so smart!

Namaw and Pawpaw got Will a sandbox for Easter, and Will loves it (even if Daddy is dragging him around the yard in the top)!



And hiding under the top...silly boy!

Will and Malley during a recent visit with The Novosads

We're still here...

There is lots to update on ... Will is busy as usual! He is finally settling in to his Mother's Day Out program. No crying last week when Patrick dropped him off! YAY! He will go to Miss Michelle's house over the summer since the church won't hold MDO until next fall.

On a totally different note, we are definitely in the terrible 2's. Talk about throwing fits ... wow! He lets us know when he does not like something. He also has selective hearing these days. Sometimes Patrick and I cannot help but laugh at him.

The child loves to talk - it does not matter what he is talking about either. He sits in the backseat and talks to himself, points out everything we drive by, "Look, Mommy boat. Nother boat!" and "There horses." He also counts everything (in English and Spanish). Last night we were in the living room hanging out and he starts telling us, "SING! SING!" We had no idea what he wanted us to sing so we started, "Row, row, row your boat" and he was singing right along after hearing it about 2 times. I really don't know what we did before he started talking, he is our entertainment!

I'll post new pictures soon...

Oh Boy....

While at work yesterday Patrick e-mails me this.......... poor Rocco, this is supposed to be where he can get away! We SO have our hands full!

The Car Wash....

Will LOVES playing in the water, so of course he loves to help wash the cars ... here are a few pictures of Will helping Daddy and Mommy wash the cars.
So excited to go outside and play in the water

CHEESE!

Ready to help!