This IS my first rodeo...

Neither Finley nor I had ever been to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo before. I have been to the cook off and the concerts in the past, but never to see the Rodeo itself. I must say a Texas sized good time was had by all.

Outside the pig races
Getting ready to see the piggies run

And they're off...

The Aggie pig came in first, whoop!

The Fun on the Farm exhibit was super neat

We got to feed the chickens to collect an egg

Pick the oranges from the tree

Harvest an ear of corn

We also planted a seed and got a bell pepper, milked a cow to get some milk and traded it all in at the market for some money, which we used to buy a box of raisins at the store.

Waiting for the elevator to get to our seats for the rodeo

Ready to watch the show

Let's Rodeo!

Having snacks and watching the horses...

This is fun!

The cowboy got bucked off the bull

Chuckwagon races!

Instead of a helmet sundae, we had cowboy hat sundaes! Finley flipped out after she ate all the ice cream. We had to leave the suite after that.

We had a great time watching all the rodeo events and headed out just before the concert began (neither of us are big country music fans and it was getting to be Finley's bedtime)

We saw the championship pig

And the championship cow

And all the other livestock on display

So long rodeo...see ya next year!

Playdate with Max

We had playgroup yesterday, but due to a big tanker truck tipping over, only Finley and I were able to make it over to Max's house. Luckily, a few years back I had timed all the lights in his area, so I knew a few good back road shortcuts to get there, only having to slow down for a ton of school zones. Finley had a great time playing with Max, they had some good interactions together.

Seriously, you are wanting to take our picture?
Don't you realize we are trying to play?
I mean, don't we look like we are having a blast?

So Many Animal Friends

Finley adores all her stuffed animals. She will carry them around and will fetch whichever animal you ask her to, whether it be a penguin, a moose or even a dolphin! She also has a group in her crib that she sleeps with that always includes Bear Friend. Currently Snow Leopard, Elmo, Fuzzy Bear (my childhood bear), Train Bear and Bear Friend all are napping in her crib with her. She hasn't taken any interest in dolls, but she just loves all her animals. Must have something to do with all the trips to the zoo.

Thanks Aunt Sharon!

Finley was so excited to open a package from Aunt Sharon, she definitely knows the word "present". After tearing through the paper, Finley was excited to find her very own ladybug apron and dishcloth with her name on it. So fun! It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of her in it, she is on the go all the time now. Finley is still loving her kitchen, she plays with it everyday and we still haven't had the heart to move it to her room yet. Who knows if it will ever make it up there...

Need a Mover?

Finley loves moving stuff around, especially boxes. I got a new pizza stone (thanks Chasity) and she has been loving carrying the box around with her. She also likes to carry the boxes that hold all her kitchen stuff in them and then sort the felt food, wood food and dishes from box to box and in the drawer. Sorting is definitely her favorite thing to play.

Fun at the Zoo

And not a single picture to show for it. While I was at Sarah's "Sprinkle" for baby Lilly. Finley and Clifton went to the zoo. Clifton didn't snap any pictures (boo!), but Finley and I took one when I got home. Apparently, she was much more interested in her animal crackers than seeing any of the animals at the zoo. And since it was 70 degrees, sunny and a Saturday, the zoo was jam packed with visitors. They did get to visit an elephant up close and personal.

Pantry Raid!

Finley's favorite place to play is our pantry. She pulls out raisins and goldfish and animal crackers and on and on and on. If I close the door, she whines outside it until I open it. It has gotten out of control. She likes to take the bags of Sun Chips and shake them around. Another favorite is pulling out a tube of crackers, this morning I caught her using them in the cat food, mortar and pestle style.

Sick Bug

Poor little Finley bug, she has her very first ear infection. Her pediatrician said we caught it early, so that is good news. She is super snotters, has a fever and is just miserable overall. I must confess that I secretly enjoyed her being so snuggly this morning and she fell asleep on me at the doctor's office, so cute. She had a rough night sleeping last night and wasn't hungry at all for breakfast, so for lunch we tried some favorites: blueberries and baked cinnamon tortillas. She gobbled them all up, so that was a relief. She also took her antibiotics like a champ, another huge relief. Let's hope her fever goes down and she is back in action for playtime soon.Doesn't she look so cute even when she is sick?

Trying on Clothes with a Toddler is...

TRYING!!! We had some throw pillows to return at Target, so I decided to quickly try on a couple of spring dresses since my wardrobe needs a quick revamping from business casual to just plain casual. Finley had different ideas and wasn't too thrilled being contained in a dressing room at all. Thank goodness she loves being in the cart or else shopping would be impossible all together.

She had gotten my purse open, gotten the PurseIn open and then had opened my wallet and started pulling things out all in the time that it took me to slip one dress over my head. Crafty kiddo!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It rained nearly all day yesterday and was too cold to go out. Which of course translates to playtime inside all day for Miss Finley. I think she had every single one of her toys out at one point or another. We sorted, we cooked, we read, we played and played and played.

Today, Finley has a super snotty nose, so we are going to forego our original lunch plans because we don't want to get our baby friends sick. Instead, we are just going to head to Target and hope that the runny nose subsides soon. She seems to be feeling fine, but her poor little nose is just running non-stop. The only time she is miserable is when I have to wipe her nose, which is about every five minutes, poor thing.

A Very Special Visitor

Yesterday, Finley's beloved nanny Lori stopped by to drop off some homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and a book for Finley for Valentine's day. Finley was so excited to see her, we have missed her so much!

Playgroup is the Best!

Finley and I went to Sarah's house for a fun playgroup playtime yesterday afternoon. Sarah has a great big playroom that is perfect for all the little ones. Finley was great with all the other kids and the hit of the party was definitely the water bottles, I think every kid wanted one or two! We got to meet Avery and Caroline, the twins of one of my former co-workers, who have just joined our playgroup...so fun!

Finley and Audrey

Finley admiring the twins' rocking horse skills
She snacked on Goldfish the whole time we were there (big surprise!)
A pink horse and a pink cell phone? Pink-fection!
The hostess with the mostess

Raiding the Pantry for Raisins

Finley has figured out how to get in our pantry, locate the raisins (or goldfish crackers) and open the box and get some to eat. She must have eaten her weight in raisins this afternoon, she wasn't into raisins a few weeks back, but she is now obsessed with them.

We went to my old office this morning to pick up the Girl Scout cookies I had ordered from a co-workers daughter. Finley was super shy meeting everyone, but let my designers carry her around for a bit. It was great seeing everyone at the office, especially since it was Finley's first time meeting them in person (though they have all been bored by countless pictures of her).