Cute, cute, cute!

Aren't my kids the cutest kids on Earth? (I might be just a wee bit biased) :)

Solid food!

River decided before he was 5 mos old that he was ready to start solids. He was grabbing our food, intently watching us eat and screaming when he couldn't get food to his mouth. I made some organic carrot baby food to freeze to get ready to go back to school, but he ended up eating it before school started. Here he is eating some rolled oats I ground up and cooked with apples. Such a big boy!

Mall carnival

Soleil noticed that there was a carnival going on at the mall when we drove by so when we got home she asked Daddy if we could go. She went on the train first and was so excited to drive the engine. When she got on the elephant ride and it started to move, she wasn't feeling too confident as you can tell by her expression in the picture! River enjoyed watching his sister go around and around from his safe Daddy pouch.

Daddy's birthday!

We surprised Daddy with "Happy Birthday Daddy" cupcakes for his birthday. Soleil was so excited that it was Daddy's birthday and he got to make a wish, blow out candles, and open his present. Robbie took the day off from work and we celebrated by going to the Dallas World Aquarium.

July pics

Here are some random July pics. Soleil still tells me to run to get the camera whenever she "holds" River. Whenever I take a pic of Riv for doing something, she likes to say, "Look Mommy, I can do it too!" So here she is sticking her toes in her mouth just like River. In the following pic, she thinks that when she sticks her head back in the water that she is going underwater. She is so proud of herself. The last pic is of us at the new Irving water park. Robbie got out of work early one day and we headed up there. We had a great time. When we first go there Sol wouldn't go down the kiddie slide unless she went with us. By the time we left she was going down all by herself. River liked spashing in the water too!

Dancing Queen

Soleil got to attend her first wedding! She was so excited to be able to see the princess that was getting married. The princess was Karime. She wasn't so keen on the ceremony, but she LOVED the reception. First off she saw the candy bar, she filled up her little to-go box and begged and pleaded for Mommy and Daddy to let her eat some before dinner. She sat at the table with us and was the best little girl we could ask for. When it was time for dancing we headed over to watch Karime and Andres dance. Soleil kept asking when it was our turn. She had to wait and wait for all of the planned bride and groom dances. Finally they opened up the dance floor and Soleil was the dancing queen! She had the biggest smile on and clomped around the dance floor in her new wedding shoes. She lost all of her inhibitions and didn't care if she was next to Mommy or a stranger. Everyone was her friend when she was dancing. I lost sight of her many times. I think I was missing her more than the other way around! I remember at one point someone told me Soleil was break dancing on the floor. I thought that was strange so I fought the crowd to see what she was doing. Nope, not break dancing....doing Yoga moves!! Guess she thought she had to show off her moves! My feet were killing me so I took her back to the table. She didn't seem to mind because they were playing Disco music. When the Hispanic music came back on she was begging me to take her back to dance. Thank goodness Cynthia Erwin was at our table. She took her back dancing for me! Thanks Karime and Andres for letting us share in such a special day! It was a wedding to remember.

We decided Soleil has dancing in her so we signed her up for a dance class. Her first class is tonight. She has her leotard, tights, ballet shoes, and skirt all ready to go. I am sure this class will break the bank since it runs with the school year and we have to pay for all these performance fees and costumes. But to see her face when she is dancing, I am sure it will be worth it!

Alabama trip

Soleil, River, and I flew over to Mobile to spend a week with Robbie's parents. Jess and the boys drove over and got to spend some time with us too! We had a great time. The kids got to spend hours swimming in the pool, shoot off fireworks, and go for a hike in the woods. We all went out to the beach at Gulf Shores. River napped under the umbrella while the kids played in the waves. Soleil wasn't too sure about the waves until we turned it into a jumping game. It was fun until a wave took both her and I out. I still have a scar on my knee to show for it! I was trying to keep my daughter above water! We went to eat at Lulu's restaurant. (She is Jummy Buffet's sister.) To this day Soleil likes to pretend we are going to the beach and stopping to eat at Lulu's. I guess it left an impression on her.

It was nice spending some relaxing time with Nana and PawPaw. It was PawPaw's first time to meet River. They bonded quickly and I was so grateful for River and PawPaw's early morning conversations. When River would wake up around 6:30, I would take him out to the porch with PawPaw and head back to sleep and cuddling with Soleil. I think Soleil enjoyed River's time with PawPaw too since she had Mommy all to herself. Sure wish his parents lived closer...

Sorry PawPaw...somehow we didn't get any pics with you and River together!

July- Zoo family night

The zoo had an evening family night for members so we spent a warm afternoon with the animals. It was nice to see the animals be more active in the evening hours and also pretty much have the zoo to ourselves! Soleil and River loved splashing in the water area and pretending that Riv was a fly stuck in Spider Soleil's web! We also had unlimited rides on the carousel which was an extra special treat for Sol since it is one of her favorite things to do at the zoo. I think we went on it 5 times!!