Happy Easter

Finley had a very exciting Easter! She woke up just before 7 am to discover the Easter Bunny had visited and hidden eggs all over the house (just like last year and the year before that)  Finley was so excited to find all the eggs.  The Easter Bunny left her lots of treats, Little People, Wheelies and Cootie.  After the early morning, we headed up to Intercontinental Airport to go through our Global Entry interviews (we were all approved, phew.)  We then headed back home to pack up for an afternoon on the boat.  We headed over to Kemah so Finley could play on the splash pad for a bit, then it was out to Galveston Bay.  Finley had such a wonderful Easter!

Opening Day

The Astros aren't going to be very good their last year in the National League, but that didn't matter, we were heading to Opening Day no matter what. Finley has never missed the home opener, which is quite an accomplishment for a three year old.


First Opening Day
Second Opening Day
Third Opening Day

The size 4T dress she wore last year was still very wide on her, but it was WAY too short.  So we improvised with a Texas shirt, too big Astros cap and baseball hair clips from Aunt Joan.  Finle was so excited to go to the game and was even more excited for the fireworks after.  Finley ate most of Clifton's chili cheese dog and snacked away, but after about the 4th inning she didn't eat a thing and was still very entertained watching the game.  She loved the fireworks and can't wait to go to her next Astros game.

Grammy's in Town

We all thought Grammy and Grandad would be in their new Houston home by now, but due to some problems with their buyers in Atlanta, that hasn't happened quite yet.  Finger crossed that it all works out in the end.  In the mean time, Grammy came into town for a last minute trip to see some houses to create a back-up plan if everything doesn't work out with their original selection.  We went out to dinner at Los Cucos and Finley was so happy to have Grammy in town.  She does keep asking, "Where's Grandad?"  Hopefully he will be here soon enough.

Best Part of Bluebonnets

Dairy Queen!  We may have bribed Finley to take pictures in the bluebonnets with the promise of Dairy Queen.  We headed to Bellville for a Dairy Queen lunch, but Finley's favorite part of the meal was her Dilly Bar.  She requested it as soon as we arrived and was thrilled when we turned in the kids' meal coupon for her Dilly Bar.  Such a happy girl.  She ate the entire thing and didn't spill a drip on her dress.

Bluebonnets!

Happy Birthday, Kennadie!

Finley and Clifton headed up north to Kennadie's 4th birthday party.  Kennadie's party was held at a gymnastics gym, so Finley was right in her element.  These are the only three pictures from the party, Clifton isn't nearly the shutterbug I am.  Finley had the most fun jumping from the balance beam into the foam pit.  We might have to suggest that setup at her gym. Happy 4th birthday Kennadie!

Shasta

The University of Houston Cougars had a special event at the Houston Zoo this past Saturday.  When I started school, I noticed the Shasta cage on campus over my the Hilton School of Hotel and Restaurant Management.  There hadn't been a live cougar in there forever and it was eventually torn down.  This weekend, there officially became a live cougar mascot for the Houston Cougars, Shasta VI.  It is the first boy live cougar we have ever had and he isn't even a year old yet.  His mother was killed by a hunter when he was just 5 weeks old.  He survived on his own in the wild for nearly a week before he was rescued.  He is a gorgeous creature and will live at the Houston Zoo, but there will be a live webcam so you can see Shasta whenever you like and he can have a presence at sporting events.  Finley was excited to ride the cougar on the carousel and make a cougar tail before the ceremony.  Welcome Shasta and go Coogs!

Cheesecake!

Finley had a doctor appointment last week to diagnose the redness between her toes. Turns out, it was exactly what I expected it was, but I was still shocked that my three year old has Athlete's Foot. I assume she picked it up at either swim or gymnastics, maybe even both. The doctor prescribed some medicine and for Finley to wear sandals as often as possible, which won't be a problem now that it is warm. I had a couple of errands to run at the Galleria and decided to get my rings cleaned. While we were waiting for them to be cleaned, I decided to take the good patient out for cheesecake. And she loved it! I know you are very surprised.

Pizza Date

Last week, Max joined us for the day.  Tuesday is Finley's busy day, so they didn't get much chance to play together.  We started at gymnastics, the coaches were nice enough to include Max in the gym, but in a different class from Finley.  After that we shuttled down to swim lessons.  Max did great watching Finley swim, I am sure he was a little bored.  So after all that, we headed over to Center Court Pizza for lunch.  Each kid had 4 pieces of pizza, they were like pizza vacuums.  After that they wanted to dance and play with the hunting video game, which I was less than thrilled with.  We dropped Max off with his mom and Finley got hysterical.  Nearly an hour of crying about Max.  Those two kids...

Pack'n'Play

Finley has outgrown her Pack'n'Play at Grandma's house, but she still fits in her dolls' Pack'n'Play just fine. This is her pretending to sleep in it. The funniest part is that she makes the silliest fake snoring sound while she is 'sleeping.' We are so lucky to have such a good sleeper, tonight will be a week in her big girl bed and she is still doing fantastic. She calls for us to come and get her out in the morning, which is great. She hasn't woken up at all except for the night we tried to go diaper free...that was a bit of a fail.

Big Girl Bed!

Finley finally has her big girl bed. We ordered her mattress on Sunday and it arrived on Monday. She has slept without any issues every night. I am so proud of her. Naps are a different story, she has yet to take one. I told her that she has to stay in her bed until mommy or daddy say it is okay to get out (thanks for the tip Marianne!) and so far that has worked perfectly.

Christmas in March

It has been a very busy year, so busy in fact that we hadn't gotten a chance to exchange Christmas presents amongst the cousins.  This Sunday, the stars aligned and everyone was available to swap gifts.  Finley was so excited to open presents.  She especially loved her pillow pet Mater and Candyland.  After opening gifts, we enjoyed a Chinese lunch.  We all headed to the park where Zac and Josh had a competition jumping off the swings with Aunt Rose, Clifton and I working as judges.  Finley played in her red car, went down the slide and did some swinging herself, with no jumping.  We got back and the kids got into a game of Candyland.

Playdate at Max's

Our playgroup met up this past Thursday for a morning of fun.  The kids feasted on Monkey bread muffins and fruit, and I might have had a muffin or three.  The kids worked off the sugar energy by bouncing like crazy in the bounce house.  The best part was that it was spring break and that meant Izzy's big sister Kate was home from school.  And we had a built in babysitter for the kiddos.  Kate is truly wonderful with the kids and they love playing with her.  Max is especially taken with her, much to Finley's dismay.  The kids were having so much fun, Courtney whipped up lunch and we hung around a bit more.  It was a fantastic way to fill another day of Spring Break.  I am looking forward to a summer filled with playdates!

First Visit to the Dentist

Finley was so excited for her first trip to the dentist.  She already loves going to the doctor, so I was not too worried about the visit with the dentist.  We went to my dentist, Dr. Angie Dinh, for her first visit. Dr. Dinh has been my dentist for nearly seven years, I just love her. Finley was all smiles while we waited to be seen.  The dental hygenist let Finley select what flavor of toothpaste she wanted (blue raspberry) and outfitted her with special sparkly glasses to wear while she got her teeth cleaned.  She said that Finley was the best three year old she had ever seen.  Finley listened well to instructions and was so calm the entire time.  Once Dr. Dinh came in for the exam, Finley was super proud of herself and her clean teeth.  Dr. Dinh said her teeth looked great and we could come back in six months for another cleaning.  We went home with a bag full of toothbrushes, stickers, floss and cards.  Finley was thrilled with her first visit to the dentist and I was relieved that it went so unbelievably well...not to mention I was happy we didn't have to spend the extra money on a pediatric dentist.  Now hopefully my trip to the dentist next week goes as well.

Dinner at Mi Tierra

Whenever we visit San Antonio, there will be a lunch or dinner at Mi Tierra.  Look at baby Finley having dinner fun two and half years ago, she sure has grown.  Finley loves the mariachis and all the lights, same as she did as a baby girl.  She was treated to choosing a cookie from the bakery after dinner, she chose the pink, white and green cookie. Bear friend normally doesn't leave Finley's crib, but since we had a three hour road trip and Finley was such a trooper for it, so bear friend was able to join us for dinner.

Nap Mat Time

Finley has been home this week for spring break and her favorite playtime activity has been to play school. Finley plays Miss Juliana and I am Miss Jackie. We pack our lunches, coordinate playtime, make art and have nap time on Finley's nap mat. It's home this week from school so we could launder it. I am hoping playing nap here will encourage Finley to actually nap during school. It would be so nice to pick up a well rested child. I have even put her nap mat in her crib to hope that she gets used to actually sleeping on it.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Even though our day at Six Flags was rained out on Saturday, we were still able to visit for a few hours on Sunday before we had to drive home to Houston. The weather was absolutely perfect and Finley had so much fun riding all sorts of different rides. She was so brave and even rode a couple of rides by herself, but she wanted to ride with Auntie Hodder the most. We got season passes to Six Flags, so it looks like Finley will have more fun at Fiesta Texas and Six Flags Over Texas in Dallas.  I don't think she realized who any of the characters were, it wasn't like meeting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

Natural Bridge Caverns

Our original plan was to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but the rain and the cold put a halt to that.  Luckily, the Natural Bridge Caverns is always 70 degrees inside.  There are the occasional drips of water, but no rain like in the outdoors.  The caverns were breathtaking, I was really impressed by what we saw.  It was hard to take a good photo inside because of the lighting conditions.  If you are heading to San Antonio for a quick vacation, I highly recommend adding the Natural Bridge Caverns to your itinerary.  It took an hour or two to explore the caverns and Finley really enjoyed herself.  We headed for a pizza lunch afterwards per her request and she napped through the magic show at the hotel.  I think all the climbing in the caverns wore her out.