Autumn has a secret!

Autumn has a secret she wants to share. . .

We're expecting baby #2 in early November!

Pancake Saturdays

I like the idea of traditions and so one tradition I am trying to do is "Pancake Saturdays".  Most Saturday mornings I get up and make us a pancake breakfast.  It's simple, from a box, not from scratch, but I think we all enjoy it and it is a fun time to eat together as a family.

iPhone Dump

Here are a few pics from lately.



Hanging out at the Town Sqaure with Grandma.





Autumn likes to use a lot of toilet paper. 
Don't worry we're not potty training yet. 
I'm just trying to get her used to the idea of a potty.



Papa bought Daddy and Tio funny St. Paddy's Day hats from the dollar section at Target. 
Warning!!  Apparently these hats are chick magnets.



Baby girl was out!



Checking out some Vera purses on St. Patrick's Day.

Last night we took dinner over to Nana and Pops.  Autumn saw a banana on the counter and she asked for it by name.  It was pretty close sounding to banana.  She also started saying Nana to Nana.  She was excited that she knew who she was and could say her name.  We would ask her where's Dada or where's Mama or Pops and she would point to each of us and smile.  She also knows where her nose is, foot, hand,, mouth, etc.  She is so smart and growing up so fast!

Weekend at POC

This weekend we went to the beach house in Port O'Connor.  Papa had invited us down to spend some time relaxing and eating good food.  I had hoped that Andrew would be able to join us, but I wasn't holding my breath.  He's been super busy lately at work.  Most nights he hasn't been home until well after midnight.  Anyways, Friday night after a lovely dinner (Morton's Mac n Cheese, Meatloaf and Sauteed Spinach), Andrew surprised me by saying he could join us for the weekend. 

We ended up heading down around 10PM on Friday night.  Autumn slept the whole way.  I always try to plan travel around her sleep.  She woke up a little when we got there, but eventually went back to sleep. 

Saturday we played with the toys at the beach house, watched The Little Mermaid (while Autumn rearranged the DVDs and magazines), took a stroll on the beach and took a nap with Daddy.  We didn't spend too much time outside on Saturday because it was very very windy.  In the afternoon we played with the toys outside on the deck, went to the park and pier with our POC neighbor Vera and did some more DVD and magazine rearranging.  For some reason Autumn loves to rearrange things.  She took all of the DVDs out of the cabinet and moved them to the other side.  She also took all of the magazines out of the magazine holder and put them on two ottomans.  Saturday evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner of pea soup, spinach salad, sauteed veggies, rice and fish. The guys smoked cigars late into the evening and then Andrew and I stayed up all night tending to a very fussy baby.  Autumn was just not herself Saturday night.  She cried almost all night long. 

Sunday morning Tia took Autumn off our hands for an hour or two so we could catch a few zzz's.  Thanks Tia!  Sunday was a beautiful day outside.  Low winds, blue skies and blue waters.  Sunday morning Daddy and Tio played with their Christmas presents (remote control helicopters). Sadly, Andrew's died a horrible death after flying too high and then crashing into the beach.  Late Sunday morning we took Autumn's very first boat ride.  She did well for about 5 minutes before the huge life vest that made her look like a giant marshmallow and the cold wind became too much for her to handle.  We turned the boat around and she cried the whole way back to the marina.  After the devastating boat ride we had a quesadilla and pea soup lunch and then headed home. 

Sunday night Autumn and I went to Babies R Us with Grandma Clarke and then ate Mexican food with Grandma and Grandpa while Daddy caught up on some work that he missed while we were playing this weekend.  All in all it was a great weekend.  Sorry, no pics.  I always forget to take pictures when we're having a good time.

Great Grandpa Walker's 80th Birthday Party

Last weekend we went to Dallas to celebrate Great-Grandpa Walker's 80th birthday party with Andrew's extended family on his Dad's side.  We all stayed at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, which I recommend.  It was a very nice hotel, although paying for parking on top of the hotel charge is always a little frustrating.  We got into the hotel around 1am on Saturday morning.  We had left Houston around 8:30, so that Autumn could just sleep the whole car ride.  That plan worked out very well, until we got to the hotel, which was teaming with University of Arkansas fans fresh from the Cotton Bowl.  Autumn got a little wound up from all of the commotion and ended up sleeping in bed with us the rest of the night.

On Saturday morning I got up, ran 2.5 miles outside on the hotel's track before they turned the sprinklers on, then I ran another 5.5 miles inside at the hotel gym.  This was my last "long run" before the Houston Marathon next Sunday.  For some reason 8 miles just deosn't seem like a long run anymore.  After cleaning up, Autumn and I headed out to the Southlake/Grapevine area.  We visited with Andrew's cousin Madeleine briefly while we dropped off and picked up some stuff from her house.  Then Autumn and I met up with two of my college roommates, Bethany and Mary.  I guess I haven't been paying attention to facebook lately, because I was surprised to see that Mary was pregnant (and very pregnant at that).  She is due with a little boy, Max, next month.  We had a fun lunch at PF Chang's with Beth, Mary and Beth's little girl, Ellie, who is a little over 2.  Sorry, no pictures from the lunch :-(

Saturday evening we all headed to Chuy's for the birthday dinner.  Chuy's is always one of my favorites, but I probably overdid it with my caloric intake that night.  I had 2 margaritas, tons of chips and "Creamy J" and split a "lite entree" with Andrew.  I am estimating 55 Weight Watchers Points Plus values for that meal.  Yikes!  After the dinner we went back to our hotel room for cake, presents, and socializing.  Grandpa Walker got an iPad from his kids, a hat and a back scratcher.  I'm sure he got more presents that I am forgetting.  It was nice to spend some time with Andrew's Aunts and Uncles and cousins, many of whom I had never met (in the 13+ years we have been together).

On Sunday, Luke, Aislynn, Andrew, Autumn and I met up with Randy, Melody and Noah for brunch at a little cafe in the Galleria area. 

Overall, it was a fun and quick trip.  Here are some pics from the weekend:


Grandpa Walker opening his present from Terry and Sandy (a hat).

Birthday Cake courtesy of Sandy.

 

Autumn slept through most of the fun.

Grandpa trying out one of his other presents, a back scratcher.



Andrew hanging out.



Birthday candles.

 

Grandpa telling a story, or explaining all of his pills, I forget which.

 

Still sleeping through the fun.




Cousins!

 

Mr. Noah



Melody and Autumn having some fun.

  

Tia and Tio at brunch.

Swinging with Tia

After dinner at Thai Cottage last night Tia was swinging Autumn around in the parking lot.  Autumn LOVED it!  She is such a happy baby.  Here is a video of her swinging.  Not sure if this will upload correctly or not.

Feliz Navidad - Tamale Time

My lovely sister-in-law, Aislynn, is half Mexican, which means we get to pretend to be Mexican at Christmas and help her make tamales!  YUM!  Aislynn did most of the hard work (cooking the pork the night before and making the Masa).  My father-in-law, David, and I just helped her assemble the tamales on Christmas Eve.  We enjoyed eating them on Christmas Day with our other Mexican themed fare.

Here are some pics from our tamale making day:



Autumn with her favorite Tia (okay her only "Tia").

 

Beginning the tamale making process.
Notice the new ceiling in my kitchen (thanks Andrew!)



Masa!



Pulled pork.



Assembly line time.

 

Papa helping his "girls" (minus 1 - where were you Allison?) make tamales.

 

Step 1 - Start with a corn husk (you must soak these the day before, so they are pliable).



Step 2 - Spread Masa on the flat end of the husk in a square approx 4in by 4in.

 

Step 2 cont - spreading the Masa.

 

Step 3 - Add the pork (or other filling) on the Masa.

 

Step 4 - Begin to roll tightly.

 

Step 5 - Tuck the "tail" into the roll.

 

Step 6 - Roll some more.

 

Voila! (or however they say that in Spanish)

 

We made about 5 dozen in total - and they were YUMMY!

 

Lexy hanging out on my diaper bag while we work.

 If you plan to make tamales I highly recommend looking up a "how to" video on YouTube.  This helped us considerably.  Calls to Tia's Mommy also helped! :-)

Andrew's 28th Birthday!

Autumn got sick with a stomach bug the Sunday before Andrew's birthday.  We got her up and fed her breakfast and got her dressed.  When we arrived at church and got her out of the car she threw up.  She was sick for 12 to 24 hours and then started to get better.  Two days before Andrew's birthday he came down with Autumn's bug and then the next day I did.  We had to postpone Andrew's birthday dinner until Friday, December 23rd.  When we finally had his party we had a very nice dinner with family.  The menu included shrimp bisque, asparagus, beef tenderloin with blueberry port sauce, Morton's macaroni and cheese and a Baskin Robbins Yuletide Log for dessert.  Here are a few pictures from the party:

Autuumn got to open a present too!

Watch from Dad and Socks from Dang.

BJ's gift card from Nana and Pops.

Birthday card from Mom.

Beer and Texas Bourbon from Luke and Aislynn.

Mixers from Dad.

Scotch Decanter from Dad.

Justin Bieber wrapping paper!!! :-)

Bose Portable iPod Dock from Amanda, Autumn & Cooper.

Yuletide Log.