We Got a New Car!!

Eric and I are really excited about our new car! We are the proud new owners of a 2010 Nissan Pathfinder SE. We looked at it before we went on our cruise, and even negotiated a great deal, but we weren't quite ready to settle yet. Late last week, Eric emailed the salesman and said we were ready to do the deal if he could do a few other things for us. They agreed, so it's done! Eric was able to negotiate them down quite a bit, and negotiate more for our trade in also. It always feels good to know you got a great deal! Anyway, I am really excited to finally be in a larger family vehicle!

Carter checking out the specs... he approves!

Travis and Amanda's Wedding

On Saturday, Eric's best friend (and best man at our wedding) got married! It was a lovely little outdoor ceremony at the Botanic Gardens in Ft. Worth, followed by a yummy lunch with all their family and friends at Papasito's. What a great day! Here are a couple of pictures.

The happy couple - Travis & Amanda Byrum!

So sweet! Proud parents to be.... little Ava is due in August!

Travis and Amanda with Travis' parents

Eric was Travis' best man. Love this pic of the 4 of us!!

Later that night, we met them and a few of Amanda's friends for dinner and drinks. It was so great to spend some time with them while they were back in town. They currently live in D.C., but we're hoping they will be moving back to the Dallas area VERY soon! We had a great weekend with them! Congrats, Travis and Amanda! We can't wait to meet that little bundle of joy soon, too!!

The newlyweds!

My new favorite picture of Eric and me!

First Pool Trip of the Summer

Eric and I took Carter down to our neighborhood pool yesterday for the first time this year. We had him in the pool some last summer, but he was only about 3 months old, so I wasn't sure how he would handle it. We started him off by setting him on the big, shallow step. He loved sitting and splashing in the water, just like he does in the bathtub. Then Eric got him in, and Carter absolutely loved every minute of it! Eric would toss him up in the air and catch him on the surface of the water. He loved all the splashing, and he even let Eric do a half dunk under the water. He did so good.... he didn't seem uncomfortable or afraid at all. And I'm glad because he is signed up for swimming lessons in July in preparation for our family trip to Grand Cayman in August. I'm relieved that he seems to be very comfortable in the water, and I think he'll really enjoy being in the pool this summer!

Carter Loves to Climb

Carter has become quite the little climber lately. He figured out how to climb up the stairs at my mom's house last week, and he's been climbing anything he can ever since. His loves to get up into his little chair to watch tv, and is always so proud once he's climbed up there and settled in. He also loves to stand up in his chair. Not a great habit to form, but it sure is cute. At a playdate today, he enjoyed climbing up Caroline's little slide... or at least attempting to. He kept sliding backward and was getting a little frusterated Also, he just loves to sit up on the big couch with me, and he's now learned how to turn him self backward, and slowly ooch himself down off the couch. I'm glad, because I no longer have to worry about him accidentally falling off! What a big boy!!

On a side note.... my little boy had a milestone this week. This may seem like no big deal, or WAAAAY late (yes, it is), but Carter finally will hold his own bottle. Keep in mind, he was strictly a breastfed baby up until about 6 weeks ago, so he's never had the need or desire to hold a bottle on his own. Everytime we've tried to get him to in the past, he looks at us like we're crazy. But for some reason, this week, he decided he was ready! I had fixed his bottle, Carter got all ready and situated up in Daddy's lap, I held the bottle out to hand over to Eric, and Carter just grabbed it, turned it up, and put it in his mouth like he's been doing it forever. What a little toot. I think Eric got a slight taste of what I felt like several weeks back when I weaned Carter. He looked at me with this sad little puppy dog lip like, "Ugh... I guess he doesn't need me anymore." HA!

Proof:

Oh What Fun!

This little boy LOVES to play games. His favorite things to do are chase us around, or have us chase him, be thrown up in the air (the higher the better), and his new favorite is being tossed onto the couch, the bed, or a pile of pillows. He thinks it is just the funniest thing ever. I think this boy is going to like to rough-house with his Daddy, no doubt. Here is a cute video.

Get Away

I have been such a bad blogger lately, mostly due to the fact that Eric and I went on a 7-night cruise last week! We left the morning of the 8th, flew to Orlando, and then drove to Port Canaveral. Our hotel had an amazing pool that we spend a lot of time at, and we went to the port for a wonderful dinner Saturday night. Sunday we headed down to board the ship. We had three stops - Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. We spent time at the beach, did a little shopping, did a speed boat tour and snorkeled all while in port. On our days at sea we did a lot of laying by the pool. And eating. It was great to have a whole week for just Eric and me, but we definitely were missing our boy! We were so glad to see him on Sunday when we got home! Here are a few pictures of our trip.

Dumbest rental car ever.

We died laughing when we saw they gave us this.

Getting ready to leave port!

View of the beach as we are pulling away

There were two other ships that left about the same time as we did.

Eric on our balcony with the Disney ship in the background.

Me and the Carnival ship.... having a little fun.

Enjoying the beach in Cococay, Bahamas

Our ship - Freedom of the Seas

Exhausted from the day

Watching some surfers on the Flow Rider. This thing was awesome.

This guy was actually a "pro" that was on the ship for a couple of days.

Supposedly ranked #3 in the world. He was pretty amazing.

Pulling up to St. Thomas. Look at everyone hanging out of their balconies!

Just gorgeous

Eric and I having lunch in St. Thomas after our speed boat tour.

St. Thomas at dusk, as our ship was leaving

On our catamaran snorkel tour in St. Maarten. There were 3 ships in port this day.

These boats were actually racing. The wind was so strong this day that I'd look over at them and their sail would be almost in the water, everyone piled to the opposite side of the boat. Crazy.

Having lunch in St. Maarten

Poolside the last day on the boat

Belly flop competition... OUCH! We laughed SO hard.

These guys were CRAZY!

Silly Little Games

Lately, Carter loves to play games with us. The other day while we were being silly, I blew into his cheeks and it made a really loud noise. I guess because of the sound and the vibration he thought it was so funny, so he started to do it to me. We tried it again today to see if he remembered how, and he did! But he did seem to be a little distracted by the slideshow of pictures going on our computer screensaver.... He kept saying "baby!"