Caitlyn sits up on her own

Today Caitlyn sat up on her for the first time!! Up until now she has been rolling to wherever she wants to go but whenever you tried to sit her up she would arch her back and lay down. But not today - I was on the computer this morning and when I turned around she was sitting there smiling at me. You could tell she was so proud of herself. She seems to be more mobile than Amy was at that age. Already pulling up on things - so I lowered her crib yesterday. We think she is teething again because she has been waking up more than usual and just a little grumpy some times with bright red cheeks. Poor little thing. She has the cutest little smile right now with her two front bottom teeth shwoing. Amy is loving her "big girl" bed. I converted it when we got back from vacation. She is such a good little sleeper. She will walk upstairs with me around 8:30 each night, climbs into bed herself, lays on her tummy, I pull the covers up and kiss her good night and then we don't see her until 7:30 the next morning. Hopefully Caitlyn will inherit this trait too (although given her track record it is doubtful).
It's hard to believe our vacation was over 2 weeks ago. I can't believe how quickly the weeks are going by. It's Memorial Weekend here so it's nice to have a long weekend. On Saturday we went to work friend's place for a BBQ. Amy loved it because hamburgers were involved :-) Oh and Michael had baked some yummy brownies for dessert - so we all enjoyed that. With the long weekend it has also meant that Jerad got to play golf twice. So while Daddy was playing golf the girls went shopping. There were some really good sales that's for sure! Yesterday when we were at Lowes we picked up some really nice hanging baskets overflowing with petunias. So Amy helped me pot them when we got home and felt very important using her pink watering can to water them when Mummy was done. We had a few showers yesterday afternoon so Amy also enjoyed running around in the rain barefoot on the grass.
Amy is starting to talk more and more and picking up new words each day. The cutest this week is when she asks for grapes (sounds like gipps). But at least she knows to say please (peeezzz). The other cute one is when she says "Oh no" (imagine it with a Scottish accent if you will).
It sounds like Daddy needs some help peeling the shrimp for the grill tonight so I'd better go. Til next week.............

Port Aransas continued

We are back from vacation now, but we had a great time. Amy and Caitlyn both enjoyed going to the beach each morning and swimming in the pool in the afternoon. Daddy managed to fit in 3 games of golf while we were there (but we won't mention how many balls he lost) - it looks like Tiger's status is safe. Most nights Amy also got to watch her Tinkerbell DVD, so she was happy with that. The dogs loved being able to run on the beach. Although when Buka was catching the ball she did get a few mouthfuls of sand and salt water. On Wednesday we went for a drive to Corpus Christi and went through the Texas State Aquarium. It was really neat - they had all of the displays at a height that Amy could see easily. She loved the otters, sting rays, dolphins and turtles. While we were there we saw the show they had with birds and Daddy got invited up on stage while a hawk flew directly toward him. Unfortunately we didn't get a good photo as the bird was way too quick. After the Aquarium we went next door to Pier 99 restaurant for some more seafood. Thursday was another day of golf for Daddy so the girls went shopping (of course). I stopped in at a local shop called "Popsicle Toes", they do custom fit toe rings. We also went to a souvenir shop and bought 2 t-shirts. It was pretty cool, you could choose from hundereds of decals and they make the shirt up for you while you're there.

The video I included is Amy's second day at the beach. It's hard to hear her over the wind in the background. Jerad also added a slideshow to the blog which appears at the top. Well we're back in San Antonio now and of course it's only May and already reaching 100 F each day (great!)

Port Aransas

Well our vacation has finally started. We started our Saturday with the usual trip to Little Gym and then went home to finish packing. We then had an uneventful drive to Port Aransas and checked in a little early to the house we rented "Tropical Niche". It is a really nice 3 bed / 2 bath house with plenty of space. The dogs like it too as there is plenty of room for them. We didn't really feel like cooking so we went out for dinner to a seafood restaurant called "Castaways" and came home for an early night. But Sunday was a fun and tiring day. After breakfast we went to the local grocery store to pick up some things and then we came home and got ready to walk to the beach. We packed the beach bag and umbrella and the 4 of us set off for the beach. From the house to get to the beach was about 3/4 mile walk. Beaches here are not like Newcastle - there are very lengthy boardwalks to take to get to the actual sand. But we made it there just to find out that you can actually drive onto the beach! So you can guess what we did in the afternoon - we purchased a pass to be able to drive and park on the beach. It must be a US thing too because in general most cars don't drive on the beach and you're usually not able to because the sand is so soft. Here it is moist and hard and all types of cars and vans are on the beach. Anyway - Amy then got to experience the ocean water. Caitlyn did too, although from the safety of the sling and holding on to Mummy. Amy was a little hesitant at first not wanting the water to touch her feet but when she saw Mummy and Daddy doing it she gave it a shot. She loved it and was wanting to walk out deeper (and by that I mean just up over her knees!). Luckily Daddy was standing next to her for the first 2 times she got knocked over and got a mouthful of salt water. I was sure she would be not wanting to go back in the water after that - but she did, she loved it. I took her a bucket and spade to dig and make a sand castle but she wasn't interested, just wanted to keep playing in the water. After all the activity and walk back to the house it was time for lunch and a nap. Directly across from the house is a pool so we went out in the afternoon to buy some floaties for the girls to use in the pool. I didn't want Caitlyn missing out. So we then came back home and we all went for a swim in the pool. Amy loved laying back and floating around the pool. Caitlyn just hng out with Mummy and was nearly asleep again. Both Jerad and I can't believe how warm the ocean and pool water is at this time of year. Not complaining at all, just pleasantly surprised. Today we'll have more beach and pool time and Daddy is going to play golf in the afternoon. There is an Arnold Palmer course next door to where we are staying. We'll have to see how he does playing with an ocean breeze!