The Floridians Come to Town!

My family came to visit from Florida to celebrate Silas' birthday. Becky came on a Friday and stayed through Thursday. My parents brought my niece, Gillian, with them on Tuesday and stayed through Saturday. We had a fantastic time, as always.

Aunt Becky is here!!!

Aunt Becky helped Vivien work on her maze book.

This was cute. She would tickle the backs of his ears and he just cracked up. He is so ticklish!

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They don't know I took this video. I was inside, shooting through the window.

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Couldn't resist taking this shot.

We took Becky to the new Cowboys Stadium for a tour. She was kind enough to treat us to the tour. Behind her is the largest television screen in the world. Everything's bigger in Texas...

This is in a double suite. A suite is leased for 20 years and costs 2 million dollars. Hey sure.

We ducked out of the tour early. We were bored and didn't want to get caught in rush hour traffic.

On Tuesday, Jim took Vivien to the airport to get the rest of the group. Here are Gillian and Vivien seeing each other for the first time since April. This trip was highly anticipated by both girls.

They immediately came back to the house and played High School Musical.

Then I dressed the girls up in costumes and we got ready to go to dinner at the Magic Time Machine.

I ordered the bubbly brew (or whatever the heck it's called) for the girls. Vivien spit it back out on her plate. Gillian wanted to guzzle it down. Grampy gave it a taste.

Our waiter was Captain Jack Sparrow. He never broke character. I think we had the best character there. The others seemed kind of lame.

They sang a birthday song to Silas. I thought I was recording, but I wasn't. I realized just as they finished the song, so here is the candle blowing part.

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The girls waltzed their way out of the restaurant.

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First night passed out.

Wednesday was Silas' birthday. To start the day off, we went to the Addison fountains. I'll do a separate entry to chronicle his actual birthday party.
Here is cutie pie, Gillian.

Grampy to the rescue.

The birthday boy is enjoying the fountains too.

There was an incident with Gillian, but Aunt Becky got her calmed down.

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I also brought bubbles for the girls to play with.

When we got back, Gillian taught Vivien some drawing techniques while Grammy looked on.

The next morning, I sent them out with the sidewalk chalk paint while Silas and I took a nap.

Jim and Grampy went to get tattoos, so Grammy and I watched So You Think You Can Dance with the girls. They busted some moves.

Vivien is a lot more into partner dancing than Gillian.

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On Friday, we went to Arbor Hills park.

Then the girls played in our kiddie pool.

Silas supervised.

All tired out, they chilled out and watched some TV before bed.

Grammy read a bedtime story while they took notes?

Normally, mom and I play Hand and Foot every night when they visit. But this time, we were exhausted every night. We finally played on the last night.

Saturday was time to go. We were taking pics and Vivien got overwhelmed. Grammy comforted her.

And here are the happy grandparents with all of their grandchildren. :)

Happy 1st Birthday to our Silas Digby!

Dear Silas,

Happy Birthday, beautiful boy. This has been the fastest year of my life. You bring so much joy to each one of us. No male has ever looked at me the way you do, and it is such an amazing feeling. You completed our little family in a way we could never imagine. You are so adventurous and filled with happiness. Your sister thinks you are the greatest little guy ever and can't wait for you to get even bigger so that you can play even more games with her. I am overwhelmed with the love I feel for you. Here we are on the day we got to meet you, one year ago today... I love you, son.

(TURN ON YOUR SPEAKERS)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Joy He Brings Her

I have had something on my mind recently as I watch my children interact. I wanted to take a minute to revel in the way Silas has impacted Vivien's life. On the eve of his birth, I wrote Vivien this open letter when I was overcome with emotion about uprooting the life she had known as an only child. Silas will be a year old in 11 days. The past 354 days of Vivien's life have not been filled with strife or jealousy. But rather, they have been filled with joy.

I listen to the squeals as they chase each other around the living room. I listen to their giggles as he climbs on top of her when she sits in her red chair. They splash and play as Daddy bathes them together. He eats better when she is feeding him than when Jim or I feed him. She has a silly voice she uses when she talks to him. She misses him when he is napping. She adores him. He adores her.

Yesterday, she and I were snuggling in my bed watching TV while Silas napped in his room. She snuggled up to me and told me that she loved me. Then she told me she was so happy to have a brother. She told me it is nice to have someone to talk to in the car. And while she literally means it is fun to have another person to look at in the backseat, I know that she will also be grateful to have that one person in this world that she can talk to in our proverbial car (our family). It's how I feel about my own little sister. There is no one in this world that comes from the same place or from the same two people. Vivien and Silas will forever have a bond that no one can stand in the place of, and she already feels it. It is lovely. I am relieved. My heart is so full.

It's July Already?

Seriously, slow down. My son is going to be a year old in a few weeks. I'm not ready for this AT ALL!!!! We have been pretty busy trying to beat the heat. Texas summers leave a lot to be desired, to say the least.

Like all normal kids, my kids found themselves playing with a cardboard box and a plastic water bottle the other day. Who needs fancy toys? I had to nip this in the bud pretty quickly, as in no time, Silas was chewing on the box. As usual.

This is just precious.

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We went to Willowbend Mall the other day to get the kids out of the house. It was a total zoo and I was on edge with that many people around, but the kids had a great time. Silas is so different from Vivien. She wouldn't leave my side at a place like this until she was over 2 years old. He took off and didn't bother looking back to see where we were. He also stared down random people whose shoes looked tasty.

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Afterward, we decided to get some ice cream. This was Silas' first taste of ice cream. Actually, it was frozen yogurt. Look at Jim's face. True to form of any parent feeding a baby, he has his mouth hanging open.

Best. Picture. Ever. Look at both of their faces. Priceless.

Classy ladies across the table from those messy men.

Monday, we went swimming at our friend, Courtney's house. The weather was nice and not too hot to be out. Vivien was not really interested in straying from the step. She finally gave in after it took her like 45 minutes to warm up to the idea.

I got to sneak some baby kisses. Yes, he was sitting in the recalled float. He's a second child, remember? Totally different rules.

Tuesday, Vivien and I made corn dog muffins. Sadly, she was not terribly impressed with the end result.

There is a girl on Dallas Area Moms that makes these knit hats. Her business is Beanies by Stacie. She ran a special that I just could not pass up. Here is Vivien's hat.

Mom, this is for you. My mom bought this outfit for Vivien when she was an infant because she knows I like Hawaiiana kitsch. Every summer she asks if it fits Vivien yet. This is the closest we've come. The pants fit this year, but the top is still a bit big. I think we need to take it to get altered. Check out her moves.

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Silas got a hat too, but this was the best pic I could get with him in it. His eyes take my breath away. Is he serious with those lashes?

Yesterday, I joined the Dallas Area Moms playdate at Henry's Homemade Ice Cream. Henry gave a presentation about how to make ice cream. Then we all got to eat some! Vivien had wedding cake flavor with rainbow sprinkles.

I had pineapple basil sorbet. Silas took a bite.

However, I don't think he was a fan of the cold.

Vivien was intentionally not cooperating in this pic. As usual.

I borrowed the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD from Amba. Vivien has done it with me several times. This morning she asked to do it, but I was not in the mood. So I let her do it by herself. I wish I could show all of the videos I took, but well, the push-ups aren't terribly appropriate for public viewing. Her are the hip stretches.

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Vivien got this mask at a birthday party. Jim put it on at dinner one night. I posted the picture on Facebook. My mom showed the pic to Gillian and asked her if she knew who it was. Gillian identified that it was Jim. When mom asked her how she knew she said, "He always has that face." HA HA HA!!! She's 5.

Vivien believes every commercial she sees. When there is a product that catches her eye, she comes to me with the sales pitch. She is sold on the InStyler. Notice at the very beginning how she gives me the "duh" face. She does this several times a day. It's like she's already 13.

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Dennis the Menace. This kid gets into everything. What he's not getting into, he's trying to eat. One day, as I was washing dishes, I looked over to see him standing on the dishwasher door hanging on to the top rack. I almost passed out.

It's a daily struggle for me to not completely smother this child with kisses. Good grief, he's precious.

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It's been a while since we took out Vivien's bike. It was a bit big for her last time we had it out, but this time she can reach the pedals. She totally rocked it. She's nowhere near taking off the training wheels, but we're in no rush.

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What Happens in June Stays in June

Time to wrap up June. Lately, Vivien doesn't like to have her picture taken.... That is, unless we are trying to take a picture of Silas. Then you can be sure she will try to jump in the middle of it. Little turkey.

I ordered some Kumon workbooks through my co-op group, and Vivien has been working on those. She still is working on properly holding a writing instrument. She gets pretty stubborn when I try to help her, so one of these days she will figure it out.

Silas was cracking me up with his whining. If I laughed, he would start laughing. He is starting to get dramatic, like his sister. He gets frustrated when we take things away from him or he can't reach something. We let Vivien eat breakfast in the living room and sort of gate her off. He will do everything he can to get around the gate. If he can't make it, he will blindly flail his arm around trying to get her plate. Notice in this video that Vivien comes running as soon as she realizes the camera is out.

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Vivien had her first movie date. It started several weeks ago when she asked me if I thought Sebastian would want to watch Princess and the Pauper with her. She thought there were some scary-ish scenes that he would enjoy. I mentioned it to Amba, who jokingly passed it on to Sebastian. He was game. I kept forgetting to set it up, but he reminded Amba who reminded me. He is 7, for those keeping track. He and Vivien have been tight since she was born. He really watches out for her, and she thinks he hung the moon.

Sebastian had fun playing with the dogs. He was "teaching" them tricks like "sit" and responding to their names. Of course, they already know those things, but I wasn't going to tell him that. What is funny is that he was scared of Speedy for a long time. He called him a killer. This time he couldn't get enough of Speedy. And Speedy was all too happy to sit next to the popcorn.
It should also be noted that a couple of pieces of the kettle corn I made scorched. Sebastian gladly ate them all. He will make a good son-in-law.

They moved on to another movie: The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl

Silas, like the good brother, tried to crash the date.

On the 27th, Jim took Vivien to a Frisco Rough Riders game. His company had rainchecks from when they tried to go a couple of months ago. They had their own section and food as part of the deal.

This is Sarah and Addison. Sarah works with Jim. She and Vivien have been friends for a long time. Vivien is going to teach Addison how to be a big sister, since she is going to have a little brother in October.
Sarah asked Vivien if she was on a date with her daddy. Vivien told her, "No, because there are other people here." She said it with kind of a "duh" tone.

Vivien was practicing cheerleading, which she learned on Hannah Montana. It was in 3 parts, but somehow I got her to combine everything so that we could make this video. Previously, she would do all of the moves first. Then she would shake the maracas (normal cheerleading gear, of course). Finally, she would shout the words. I'm glad we were able to streamline the process.

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I love when I catch them snuggling in the chair.

This was so cute!

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