Houston zoo

I'm still trying to finish up my Houston posts, only one more after this! The day that we went to the Houston Zoo it was 100 degrees. We got there fairly early but it was already sweltering, so we quickly saw some animals (the indoor air-conditioned ones were the best) and we saw the special dinosaur exhibit that they had going on (Jamie LOVED this as he has been watching dinosaur train lately on PBS). After the zoo we ate at a "cool" restaurant nearby that sold sliders and fries and milkshakes, yum! I took the 3 older kids on the mini train that goes around the park, then we headed for some more air-conditioned goodness at the Galleria mall (think Bellevue Square only bigger!), which is where we did the build-a-bear workshop. It was a fun day but we were all pooped afterward and ordered pizza to go on the way home, from Double Dave's which has the BEST dessert pizza!

For more pictures from this day, see my sister's blog here.


so hot!!







It's a tradition for us to get a souvenir penny at the zoo:

Build-a-bear houston

When the kids and I went to visit Carrie and her family, they took us to the Galleria mall in Houston. It's kinda like the Bellevue Square of Houston, only bigger! We were going to let each of the kids buy a toy at the Disney store but then the girls saw the Build-a-bear store across the way, and there was no going back! Abby had such a good time building her bear and she loves to drag it around the house with her and take it to bed too!

The lady asks them for names, Abby chooses "bear":
Sydney tests hers for correct "fluff":
Abby's turn now:
Fluffing" up the bear:
Testing the softness:
First "bath":

All dressed:
Cute and cuddly!

Tristan at 4-5 months

Tristan is growing for sure! At his four-month checkup he was 13lbs, which was about the 25% for weight but he was about the 50% for height. He is a fairly easy baby as long as he's fed and he's around people. He could watch his siblings for hours and they are always trying to corner him and play some sort of "game" with him. However, he is my worst sleeper yet. He is so inconsistent, sometimes sleeping up to 6 hours at a time, other nights waking every 2. As long as I'm not feeling too tired, I'll pull him into bed with me, feed him and then send him back to the cradle. There are nights when I let him cry himself back to sleep. I'm hopeful that he'll start sleeping longer as we introduce solid foods into his diet. Tristan can easily roll over from back to tummy but he often gets stuck there. He gets frustrated with tummy time very fast so he'll often end up howling soon after rolling over. He just started laughing at 4 months and now that he's 5 months, it's pretty easy to get him to giggle. He's also very ticklish, especially on his sides and under his arms. His hand coordination is getting better and he can hold onto a rattle for a bit or move a soft toy or blanket towards his mouth. Although usually he just chews on his hands (the whole fist sometimes) and drools while doing it!

The three of them, never looking at the camera and always moving!

We went out to breakfast at Hi-Lo's and even Tristan got a turn on Jamie's bicycle!
We ate in the VW bus:

First time in the walker:

His deep-blue eyes:

Tummy-time:

First food, rice cereal:
Did more end up on his bib or in his mouth?


First laugh:


Tristan tried out his walker for the first time:


Tristan at 4 months old, day before we traveled to Houston


Tristan tries rice cereal for the first time:

date {over}night

Our first time without the baby was last month when we left all 3 kids with mom&dad. I had pumped enough milk so that Tristan could spend the night with them too, so Chad and I got a free hotel stay at the downtown Tacoma Courtyard Marriott (I used my hotel points). It was a cool part of Tacoma that I had never really explored before. We ate dinner and dessert at a nearby brewery, saw the UW Tacoma campus and walked over to the waterfront and by the glass and art museum.
The only downside to our trip was that there was some sort of flower and garden convention going on comprised mainly of 50-70 yr old women, which I have no problems with until you put a bunch of them into the room next to ours with alcohol and no husbands, which makes for one very loud dilemma. I had to call security on them twice (no kidding)!

Blake island guys trip

Chad and grandpa Steve took Jamie and his friend Otto to Blake Island for an overnight trip. The boys had so much playing on the boat, on the beach, the playground, and most of all - fishing!





Otto pretends to be an old man with his walking stick:


The boys show off their fort:


The boys take a ride in the dinghy:


Grandpa scares Jamie with the fish (mean old grandpa!):