We have a climber!

So apparently Brady can climb now. I was cooking at the stove and turned around to head towards the sink...this is what I saw. He was so stealthy about it!

I decided to let him help me unload a few dishes.

He was happy to help!

Long Post Ahead!

So, I've been a slacker and am making up for it in this post. So much has been happening this month. Soon after the post on 7/29 about Brady's unique crawling ability, he figured it out and can now "real" crawl:

Once he figured it out, he realized how much he loves his new-found freedom and can now move very quickly from one room to another, usually to chase Annalee, who loves playing chase with him.

Also at the beginning of the month, Lee went on his annual fishing trip with his friends Cameron and Travis. This year they went to a beautiful river in southern Colorado that took a 10-hour drive and an 11-mile hike to get to, but apparently to them it was worth it. Here are some pictures from his trip:

The day after he returned, I left for my annual Dunn Sisters Weekend...it was so much fun. The main exciting part was having a new member...Micah is now an official Dunn, and we were so glad to have her this year! Mary Kathryn also got married since our last trip, so we talked a whole lot about weddings and marriage. Now Becky is our lone single of the group...We spent our first evening at Bass Concert Hall seeing "Wicked" performed by a traveling Broadway group; it was spectacular! We also ate at lots of yummy restaurants, and even had cookies and milkshakes for dinner at the Cookie Lounge one night. We had a whole day of shopping at the Round Rock outlet mall, and saw the movie "Julie & Julia", which we all agreed was very good. After stuffing our faces with popcorn and candy, we went for a walk downtown to build up our appetite for dinner. We topped off our weekend by having MORE cookies from Tiff's Treats, a place where you call and order cookies, and pick them up 20 minutes later hot and fresh. Delicious!

Since we've all been home, we've been trying our best to swim as much as possible before summer ends. I don't have pictures, but here are some of the things the kids can do: Brady likes to "swim" (be pushed back and forth under the water) from me to Terri. Addie can dive in the shallow end to pick up objects on the bottom, swim and come up for air and keep going, and jump off the board and swim to the side. Annalee can swim the length of the pool, dive for objects in the deep end, do flips in the water, and dive off the side of the pool. I'll try to get pics and videos soon.

The girls start pre-school next week, which is the nail in the coffin for summer 2009 in my mind. I am also in my 9th season of coaching Cross Country for MCA, and we have our first meet this Saturday.

I'll end with a few cute pics from the other day:

The kids love to play together, and these photos capture what we get to see a lot of around here. I am so grateful for my beautiful family!!

cute conversation

I think one of my favorite things about being a mom is getting to overhear conversations between Annalee and Addie, often when they don't know I'm listening. Today in the car on the way to Mimi's house for our daily swim time, this is what I heard:

(Side note--they often talk about which princess they would like to be when they grow up.)

Addie: I want to be Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) when I grow up.
Annalee: Well that means you have to prick your finger on a spindle. But you won't die, you'll just fall asleep.
Addie: No, I don't want to touch the spindle!
Annalee: But Addie, you have to, the movie says so!
Addie: (after several moments of thoughtful silence) I don't want to be Aurora anymore.

We'll count it!

So....Brady has always been the most laid-back baby ever, and it has really shown when it comes to his physical milestones. He has been a lot "slower", if that is the right word, to develop his skills such as sitting, rolling over, and crawling simply because he is content to just lay on the floor and observe his surroundings. He is 10-1/2 months old and finally mobile, and although when I took this video a couple of days ago I considered it scooting, I actually think we'll count it as crawling; it's just that I've never seen a baby use this...um....style before. See for yourself. Maybe we could name this particular form "scrawling"; since it's kind of a scoot and a crawl.

weekend events

We went to Dallas this past weekend to attend my cousin Ryan's wedding, which was so beautiful, and it was equally great getting to see a lot of family I haven't seen in a very long time. We stayed with Lee's sister Mary Kathryn and her new husband Tim, and we are so thankful that they opened up their home to our three-ring circus! It was a whirlwind of a weekend packed with things to do, including Brady's photo shoot with MK (she's a photographer) before the wedding and our outings on Saturday after the wedding.

Here are a few samples from the portrait session:

That afternoon, our first stop was the American Girl doll store. The boys stayed at home, and MK, Becky, & I took Annalee & Addie. I had never been before, and am still amazed at that place! It is enormous! There are dolls on display everywhere, and each doll has her own accessories based on her theme; like the beach doll (I forget her name...yes they all have names) has a beach blanket, umbrella, sunglasses, etc. And the prairie one has a horse, wagon, etc. The girls (and I) were in awe. Annalee really wants one, and perhaps the coolest thing is that there are dresses that you can buy to match the one your doll is wearing! You can also get a custom doll to look like you: same hair color, eye color, and even freckles!

Annalee played with this doll and her bed for the longest time! Notice the matching outfits hanging on the rack above her.

Our next stop was a place called Pet Land, which I'd never heard of, and Becky accurately described as PetSmart on steroids. It's a pet store, but there are also all different kinds of animals, and most of it is hands on. They have mice, guinea pigs, bunnies, parakeets, and a whole wall of puppies that you can hold and play with. You just pick a puppy and they bring it into a little room for you.

Annalee petting a guinea pig

This bunny was very skiddish and tried to jump out of Becky's hands several times! Luckily when it finally succeeded it landed back in its cage and not on the tile floor....that would have been messy.

Annalee chose this chihuahua puppy to play with because it was the smallest dog they had. It was really sweet.

Addie wanted to hold it, but it kept running away; so when I told her to hold it tighter, she put it in a choke hold.

I'd say everything went very smoothly for most of the weekend, with the exception of Brady on Saturday night and all day Sunday. He was very fussy and cried a lot, which is very uncharacteristic of him. We assumed he was getting sick or something, but then last night I saw a new tooth coming in. Poor guy was just in pain! I gave him some Tylenol and he slept great last night, and seems much better now. However, I think we've soured Tim & Mary Kathryn on having kids...or at least delayed them a bit...after all his crying. Sorry guys. Hope you'll have us back sometime! Thanks for having us; we really had fun with you. Especially Addie, who spent all day yesterday telling us "I want go to Dawas (Dallas) and wiv (live) with Mary Kathryn."

random events

So here's a compilation of some random pics and videos from the past few weeks....

Brady has learned that he loves to throw stuff! Here he's tossing all the fake food from the girls' play kitchen. Sadly, I know in just a few short months it will be real food....

Addie working on potty training at Nana & Papaw's house. The day after this picture was taken, something clicked...and she got it! She's only had 3 accidents in the past month, unfortunately one of them was on Mimi's couch the other day...sorry Mimi!!
Brady giving his bear a hug...he seems to have the same fondness for stuffed animals that Annalee has.
Addie loves to vacuum for me, I just happened to catch her doing it in what appears to be a french maid costume that day....cute only because she's 2.
Daddy (the Aggie) loves Brady's new Texas Tech onesie...thanks Aunt Shirley!!!
Lindsy getting her picture taken with Minnie Mouse

Finally, a new post! So much to share....

The past few weeks were full of memories we'd been looking forward to for a very long time! The first event was Annalee's 4th birthday. I cannot believe how quickly she is growing up. She is such a fun little person to be around. She is also quite possibly the most observant and thoughtful person I know. Such a joy! Here are some pictures from her birthday party:

I made her a Minnie Mouse cake!

The other big event we have all been anticipating for a long time was Lee's youngest brother Wally finally getting to marry Micah! They got married June 27th in Lubbock, and it was such an amazing time! Most of Lee's family was able to come, and it was so great getting together with everyone for some great family time. And the ceremony itself was so beautiful, including the part where Annalee and Addie were flower girls! They were great, and I think they really enjoyed their special role. The reception was a blast and we couldn't believe how many people were there. Congratulations, Wally and Micah, and we are so happy to have a new sister-in-law/aunt!!!

The Dunn brothers and their dad sang the Doxology just before the wedding began.

Joe, the ring bearer, and Annalee & Addie, the flower girls


Micah with her flower girls

most of the Dunn/Posey/Spannaus cousins

I'm pretty sure Addie danced with everyone at the reception, including Daddy,

Aunt Micah,

Uncle Dave,

Uncle Tim,

Hilary,
Keith & Becky,

and Kacy Miller.

Annalee also got in on the dancing action.