Big Top Kidz

The vote is in... Big Top Kidz was a big hit for me and the kids. We headed up there today for a playgroup. We were there for 3 1/2 hours and I still had to literally drag the kids out of the moon bounce to take them home for naps. All the the toys were just the right size for toddlers. The play area was the perfect size with plenty of room to run but you could still comfortably keep and eye on your kids. Plus, they let you bring in your own food and drinks, so you can really stay and play for a long time. Today, Big Top Kidz was celebrating their 1 year anniversary and had a huge birthday cake, plus I won a free pizza in their drawing. We ended up ordering my free pizza while we were still there since the natives were getting restless. Therefore we ended up with pizza and cake for the entire playgroup. I took a bunch of pictures. There were lots of smiling and silly faces, and fortunately no tears.

Adventures

Well now Ryan is into the swing of things at the hospital and we don't see much of him. I am sure Annie and Billy know the deal. He is already in the hospital by 6am and if we are lucky we see him by 7pm. The kids and I have settled into a routine of breakfast, gym, pool, lunch, naps, playtime, dinner, and bed, so the days are going by fairly quickly. I also try to throw in other fun activities like going to McAllister Park (similar to Rock Creek Park in DC) for some adventures. Tomorrow we have a play group at Big Top Kidz. They claim that it is San Antonio's most fun indoor party & play destination for children 5 and under. We will give you our opinion after we try it out.

Smile Baby

Elizabeth has taken to calling Casey: "Smile Baby" which is much better than what she had been calling him before (Gay-Gay). I have yet to really capture a good photo of his gummy grin. I think the flash startles him, but he really is a happy baby.

Here is a half smile. Here is my first attempt at video. I will work on the lighting, but I thought I would throw this out there in the meantime for your viewing pleasure.

Here Casey is quite engrosed with batting around a plastic beach ball.

Sea Creatures

Thanks Lauren for the crazy sea creature kit. The kids have a had a great time putting together some wacky critters.

The more we get together...

...the happier we will be. Over the last week we have been making new friends and hanging out with some old friends. Since I am a stay at home mom right now I have started going to the weekly military playgroups, and introducing myself to random moms that I meet on the neighborhood streets. We are lucky to have a young family right next door to us with a 7 month old girl. They invited us to dinner at their house earlier this week and I think my girls traumatized their poor little baby. We also have neighbors behind us with a 3 year old boy and a new baby girl. So my goal is to finish pulling our house together and host my own playgroup next week. On a side note, one of the best things about our neighborhood is that we have a teenage girl across the street who babysits our kids. She is absolutely wonderful and the kids adore her.

Liz and Ava with a new friend at playgroup we attended with other military doctor's wives.

We also joined a gym less than a mile than our house with a great outdoor pool and childcare. There are lots of moms for me to meet, and plenty of new little friends for the kids to make. Almost every day we head over to the gym for me to workout and then we all play in the pool before coming home for lunch and naps.

Another nice perk of moving to San Antonio is that we followed some friends of ours from Washington, DC. They have two little girls (3 and 1) and live about 15 minutes from us. Over the weekend, we headed to their place for Sophia's 1st Birthday party.

Elizabeth, Elizabeth, and Ava hanging out at the birthday party. Ava and Liz: Best Friends! No matter whose house we are at or which kids around, you can always find these two hanging out together.

Thank you

I want to take a moment to thank all my faithful readers for sticking with us despite our sporadic postings over the last few months. We are finally settled in our new house, and our internet is connected. 100% of the boxes have been opened and sorted through, 98% of the furniture is in the right place, and 75% of the pictures are on the wall. We still have a few bigger projects like new counter tops in the kitchen, painting the nursery, and extending our patio that are on the list but hopefully they will be done by the end of summer. I will post some pictures our new house shortly. In the mean time, I also want to thank some folks for gifts that kids have received to include clothes, books, toys, and blankets. My goal is to snap of a photo of each gift in action, so that you can see the smiles you bring to our kid's faces.

Thank you mom for the adorable kids clothes.

Thank you Crystal for the hand-me-downs (actually Ava just wanted her picture taken and this is what she was wearing).

Thank you Annie, Billy, and Reina for the Pirate Mouse book.

Thank you Jen, Stephen, Conner, and Caley for the scrapbook.This is list of "thank yous" is by no means inclusive. We really appreciate everything thing that all of our friends and family have given us over the last few months from a place to stay, food to eat, new clothes and toys for kids, money for birthdays, and your time and company. We love you all!

Wild Woman

Elizabeth is quite the wild one and can always make us laugh. She is now into picking out her own clothes. The other day, I guess she was trying to go for the 80's big hair look. I think she has achieved it. She is also really enjoying her gymnastics class that she take once a week. Of course the trampolines are her favorite activity and this has inspired a new round of jumping on the beds and couches at home. Elizabeth is actually much more of a follower rather than a leader despite her first born status. Milo's crawling around our house inspired a game of "Follow the Leader." Elizabeth is only in front because she moves the fastest. The good news is that well exercised children sleep very well at night!

Little Woman

Despite her independent spirit, Ava has quite the maternal instinct. Every night she sleeps with a doll named "Baby Ava." This doll was originally given to Elizabeth, but she is a much bigger fan of Spiderman. Therefore, Ava has taken Baby Ava under her wing and hugs, rocks, and cares for her. Plus, this is better than showering too much love and affection on poor little Casey.Another one of her favorite toys is Gloworm, who she has recently begun to breastfeed.Ava even take the responsiblity of feeding Sammy very seriously and will watch over her and feed her dog food piece by piece.Handbags and shoes are some of Ava's favorite accessories. However, she really has found some big shoes to fill while hanging out with her Godmother/Aunt Andrea.

Tummy Time

At Casey's 3 month check up, he weigh in at 11 lbs and 4 ozs and 23 inches long. This puts him in the 25th percentile for height and weight. Not huge but a drastic improvement from where he started out in the 5th percentile. His head circumference on the other hand is in the 75th percentile in typically Sonne/Knight reproductive style.

Casey has been practicing his tummy time and can now roll over from stomach to back, which always seems to surprise him.He can also blow bubbles.Plus, Casey is smiling and laughing more than ever, but this has been a little harder to catch on camera. However, here is as shot of one of his unhappier moments. Although his sisters still adore him.This is where wished I grabbed my camera with the video option. Elizabeth was rocking Casey and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to him.

Landa Park

First Annie, Billy, and Reina, and now Andrew, Lauren, and Milo have made the trek to San Antonio to visit us and Gram and Bub. We have been very lucky to spend so much time with family lately and have tried to create some fun memories. Over the weekend, we had a picnic at Landa Park, just a couple of miles from where Gram and Bub live in New Braunfels. The park has lots to offer with plenty of playgrounds, water activities (pool, paddle boats, wading, feeding ducks), and even a miniture train.Bathing beauties at the swimming hole.

And last but not least a tuckered out little dude.