Family Day Friday!

Today the Daddy had the day off and we went to the zoo!  Grammi and Papa got us a zoo pass and today was our first time to get to use it.  We will definitely be using it often!  Because we have a pass, I didn't feel like after we'd been there only an hour or so we had to stay to "get our money's worth" even though it was super hot because hey, we can come back for an hour every day next week if we want to!  

The new elephant habitat is amazing! And we got to see the baby elephant which was still fairly small, as far as elephants go.  

Milo getting ready for the zoo - as you'll see he spend most of the visit chewing on this strap.  Teething might just be the death of us around here...

Mama and baby elephant. Mama's name is Asha and baby's name is Malee, the third elephant in the pic is Asha's sister, Chandra. (Daddy's name is Sneezy and he lives in Tulsa.) They were spraying themselves and the baby with mud here:

Mama and Auntie never let the baby far from them - most of the time they were on either side of her:

Milo thinks the elephants are pretty cool:

See?  She's still little for an elephant...although when she was born she weighed 304 lbs.  YIKES!

Here the baby was trying to climb over this log but got high centered for a few minutes.  She finally got one of her back knees up a little bit and then Mama or Auntie came over and gave her a little trunk to rear support and helped her on over...only for her to turn around and go back over it the other way:

The baby was so cute playing in the water.  She just rolled around and splashed and looked like she was having a big old time:

Milo still thinks the elephants are cool and is still unwilling to give up the strap:

Milo and Mama with a gorilla:

I believe this was a black bear.  We saw the grizzlies too but they were pretty far away and lying in the shade (for which I cannot blame them as they are wearing heavy winter coats and it was HOT out there):

We stopped through the children's zoo for just a few minutes to let Milo cool his toes in the little stream:

In spite of the warm day, we had a fabulous time.  We loved spending time as a family and can't wait to go back to see more animals!

Thankful Thursday

I'm taking a page from AM's book and posting about a specific person today.  Today is Lana's birthday...meet Lana:

Lana, please don't kill me for posting that pic...it's the only one I can find of you!

Today I am thankful for chance encounters (totally orchestrated by God of course) and new friends that become old friends.  

We met Lana and Benj at our preacher's house when both couples were invited over for dinner one night shortly after we'd started attending Mayfair.  That night is one of only a couple that stick out in my memory because I was in pain from laughing so hard.  If you know Lana, you probably have experienced this.  If you don't know Lana, you're missing out.  After that we became fast friends with them.  Even though we've only known them for less than 4 years, it seems like they've been our friends forever.  Sadly, a job took them far, far away about a year ago and we miss them daily.  But I am still thankful for the time we got to live near them and hang out with them, I'm thankful for all of the fun times, the serious conversations, the road trips, the secrets shared, the hugs, the laughter, and all the other things that come with having great friends.  

11 Months!

I nearly forgot to post this one!  We were in Durant on the actual day Milo turned 11 months so we took these pictures a couple days late and then I forgot about it in the shuffle of unpacking, etc.  My bad.

In the last month Milo has started pulling up all the time, crawling on all fours (but he still does his belly crawl if he's in a hurry), jabbering a lot more (I really feel like he's trying to say words quite often), waving more, doing pat-a-cake, gotten a couple more teeth (we're up to 6 now), gotten (and started riding in) his new big boy carseat, and probably about a million other things I'm forgetting.  He eats cheerios now as well as graham crackers, he's started to show interest in drinking from a real cup (not a sippy cup mind you, the real thing with no lid), and he's showing a lot more independence.  He's constantly into things he shouldn't be so I'm VERY busy chasing him around most of the day! I wouldn't change it though - if I weren't chasing him all day I'd feel a lot worse about my Oreo habit.  :)

Here are some pics - yes, I know he looks like a little old man with his shorts pulled up that high.  There's really no in between waistline with these cloth diapers, either the pants are pulled all the way up, or they're not on.  Enjoy!

Update

For the three people who read this and are NOT my mother or sisters, here's what we've been up to lately!

N had to go to Las Vegas for a business trip so Milo and I packed up and headed for my mom and dad's house for a couple of days.  

Milo picking "beans" at Grammi & Papa's:

 Sitting in his cousin's lawn chair on the patio - just his size!

Having some lunch...

The next six pics are some that my sister took while we were sitting on the patio watching the girls swim.  I love these pics of Milo!

Grammi bought us a dump truck - as you can see it was a big hit!

Poor Livi - she was so worn out after a couple hours in the pool she fell asleep waiting for dinner.  This was not staged, she really is fast asleep!  Stayed there for about 30 minutes until they finally had to wake her.

  

Milo wore big boy pjs for the first time - no feet, two pieces.  Makes me a little sad...

On Saturday, Mom, Aud, Steph, Scott, and I ran the "I Like Ike" 5k in Denison.  Scott smoked us all, the Clay ladies ran it in right at 41 minutes.  And it was HOT.  Also, Ains ran the "fun run" which I think was about a half mile.  

And to cap off our trip, Milo learned to climb stairs. I believe the look on his face says it all.  I am in so much trouble.

We had a great time visiting my family (and N's) but we were VERY glad to see the Daddy on Friday night and we were glad to get home on Sunday.

Thankful Thursday

• Early morning runs with friends.
• Exciting family news.
• Planning for birthday parties.
• Husband's vacation days coming up soon.
• Milo clapping after he turns on the lights.
• Baby-sitters that we LOVE (I think this is a repeat but I can't say it enough!)
• An infinitely patient husband.

Thankful Thursday

I know, it's actually Sunday, but I've been busy! I've been chasing around a very busy 11 month old while his Daddy was out of town for a few days.  


This week I am thankful that we have family close enough that I can go visit while N is out of town and I can have some help! Milo and I visited my parents (and got to see his aunts and uncles and cousins too!) and got to swim and play and had a great time.  But we were SOOOOO glad to see the Daddy when he got back on Friday night.  

Thankful Thursday

* Good hair days (shallow, I know)
* GOOD BABY-SITTERS!
* A patient husband
* Double Stuf Oreos and Braum's skim milk
* Lunch dates with old friends