Beauty

Sometimes I look at Piper and I can not get over how beautiful she is. That may sound bias, considering half of her genetic make-up is from me, but nonetheless, I find her to be beautiful. She is talking more these days, and I am astounded by how much she knows.

Up until she turned 2, I judged her age by months, 19 months, 22 and half months. But since her second birthday, she has stayed 2, even though she is technically 25 months. And here are some pictures from her 25th month of life.

Bubbles! Need I say more.


Sometimes my child lets me see the way I must look to her...

I took her to Shy Pond a couple of weeks ago to feed the ducks, and she loved it. And I loved watching her feed them. She would feed them the entire slice of bread.

Happy Easter

I love Easter. I love the colors, the candy, the overpriced baskets, the pretty dresses and most of all - the meaning for the day.

Wanna see some pictures?

Piper's 2nd Birthday - Part 1

One of the greatest memories I have with Piper so far is her first birthday, when Dusty and I took her to the zoo. To continue the tradition (can it be a tradition after one year?), I took her again this year on her second birthday.

First, we ate at Chick-fil-A, and she played with the big kids on the playground. I lost count of how many times she went down the slide.

Then, after getting lost and a quick nap (Piper, not me) it was on to the zoo. It was hard for me to take many pictures juggling Piper, the stroller, the camera, etc., but I did get a few.

It's amazing how much she has grown in a year!! Stay tuned for her birthday party!

Early Thanksgiving

On Saturday, Piper and I went with my dad to Palestine, Texas to visit his side of the family for an early Thanksgiving feast. We are missing a few cousins in the following photo - two couldn't make the drive and my oldest cousin is about 8 months pregnant with her second child and had to go to the hosipital the same day as our lunch due to some complications. (She's fine and has been put on bedrest).

The last time we got together for Thanksgiving (in 2006), it was only a very-young 6-month old Reese there. This year, there were four little ones there.


I love watching Piper play with her cousins. And Reese is such a helpful big cousin!


And the always handsome Jake.


Here is Piper in the hotel room.

I love the holidays and getting together with family; there is just something so heart-warming about it.

Proud Mama

This time last year, Piper and her cousin Reese had their pictures taken by the oh-so-wonderful Laurie. And it made their grandparents (and parents) proud. This year, we had their pictures taken again, but with a new addition to our family, the very handsome Jake - go here to check them out. Laurie does such an AMAZING job. I am so blessed to know such a talented woman.

Fair time

I love fair season in Brazoria County. Growing up, we lived within walking distance of the fair, and I love the sounds and (most of) the smells of the fair. As luck would have it, Dusty and I live relatively close to the fair today. The week is kicked off by the parade - the last time I went to the parade was in 2003. Honestly, I never really had a reason to go until now - I was either at school or I didn't want to wake up that early on a Saturday.

But, we took Piper this year for the first time, and she did so good.

The next picture makes me laugh. Dusty and his siblings are notorious for sneaking into the background of pictures, and they all three got me on this one.

Hopefully I will have some pictures of Piper at the fair soon to post. And another favorite part of this season, it is time for OU/Texas next weekend. Boomer Sooners!

It's moments like these

that make me smile.

Play in the toy box. And yes that is Piper's high chair in our living room.

The only time Piper is a daddy's girl is in the morning when I'm trying to get her ready for the day.

Happy Birthday, Bama

My parents, Piper and I visited my grandmother (AKA "Bama") yesterday to celebrate her 78th birthday.

Four generations:

The birthday girl with Piper:

78 birthdays, that's pretty amazing. Happy Birthday, Bama.

Beach trip #2

As part of my long weekend last weekend, my sisters-in-law (or is it sister-in-laws) and I took our kiddos to the beach. I think it was a rather fun trip, despite my ever-so-painful sunburn.

The beach

I've been wanting to take Piper to the beach since summer began, and today Dusty was kind enough to take us. We were only there for about an hour, but Piper had so much fun. She surprised us both by her fearlessness with the waves. She also ate sand and drank salt water, all rites of passage for new beach-goers.

Summer Fun

Everytime Piper eats spaghetti, I have to get a picture of her. When does it become socially unacceptable to have speghetti sauce all over our face?

If I have never mentioned it before, let me take this time to thank my parents for being such wonderful grandparents. Piper visits Grandaddy and Gigi almost every Saturday and sometimes Sunday. Today, we had the joy of getting to see our cousins, Reese and Jake (my brother's kids). We were playing outside, and Grandaddy let the girls play with an ice chest full of water and a few bottles of water. Pure entertainment for a 15-month-old and a 3-year-old.

And here is the newest addition to the Oden family, Jake Ryan, at almost 2 months old. Isn't he precious?

Family Vacation

Dusty, Piper and I took our first vacation as a family over Memorial Day weekend. We went to New Braunfels and the surrounding areas. I was so excited about this "mini-cation" that for the week prior, I think I told everyone that I came in contact with that I was going on vacation. I know New Braunfels isn't that far away and may not be considered a "vacation" to some, but for us, it was definitely a nice getaway.

Who knew that a suitcase could be a toy?

Our first stop on the vacation was the outlet mall in San Marcos. I couldn't have asked for Piper to be better for me. We shopped till we dropped. I love outlet shopping.

After shopping, Piper enjoyed watching Spongebob Squarepants in the hotel room.

I wanted to go to Gruene more than anything. It was actually the whole motivation for the trip. I have read about this cute little town, but I have never visited there. It was such a neat place. I underestimated the holiday crowd, though, and this caused me some stress at times. But overall, it was a good time.

We got ice cream at the Gruene General Store.

Took a look around Gruene Hall.

Piper even danced in Gruene Hall

We ate at the Gruene River Grill

On our last day, we went to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. Piper was looking sleepy before we got there, so we decided to give her some chocolate to give her some energy.

I guess she didn't get along with the goat in the petting barn.

The M&M sugar high didn't last too long because she fell asleep right before we began our drive through of the ranch, and stayed asleep until we left.

But Dusty and I enjoyed seeing all the animals up close and personal. I won't bore you with all the pictures we took of the animals, but here are a few to show how close they get to your car.

I would have to say that our first family vacation was a success. There were no major catastrophes, everyone came home with no injuries or illnesses and we definitely made some memories. I look forward to many more family vacations!