Bastrop Bruhaha

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, we went to Bastrop with Ryan's side of the family and stayed at the Lost Pines Hyatt Resort. We made the decision as a family to do it in lieu of Christmas presents this year, and I must say, I think the memories from the trip will last longer than the typical Christmas present. Just being able to sit around and talk with Ryan's family is enough enjoyment for me. But there was much on the agenda: s'mores around the fire at night, biking, hiking, driving into Bastrop to check out the old town (and a surprise birthday cake for Ryan), and a Christmas photo shoot courtesy of cousin Heidi! Faith had such a good time with her cousins, I was so happy they were willing to play with my little tagalong! There was one night the hotel restaurants were so crowded we ended up eating on a planter outside! As Ruthie said, "It's all about the memories."

Faith hitching a ride from Tucker:)

My 2 favorite men in the world!

Ryan's last year as a younger 30 something:)

Hiking and enjoying nature. Well, most of us...

Family Visits, Dress-up Day and a Last Minute Trip

My sister, brother-in-law and kids came down to visit. Grace didn't make it into as many photos (which is such a shame because she is so darn cute!) this time around. She has just started walking and I'm sure by Christmas she'll be keeping up with the rest of the pack!




We took them to Texas Pride BBQ which was featured on the show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (or something like that) with Guy Fieri. It was way out on the east side of 1604 but worth the drive!



Dress-up Day (aka Halloween) was low key this year. Here is ma' Belle...

and my little Alfalfa Sprout.

With the move, the baby, and Ryan's trial, we decided we needed a vacation! So last week we decided to do a quick road trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We had a blast! Here are some snapshots of our time there:

This was one night at the hotel where we were able to capture Zach enjoying a hug before it turned to squeezing and eventually smothering...

As you can see, this boy is packing on the pounds! I call him my "chunky punky".

Faith was scared to touch the water at first because she thought she would get burned (we've always told her if it's steaming, you're gonna be screaming:) This fountain was in front of the Visitor's Center, which is one of the old bath houses.



Faith and I pretending to "bathe".

Apparently, Hot Springs has ducks! (The kind you ride.) We had such a good time and are looking forward to more vacation time with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner. Faith keeps asking when her favorite Christmas song "Holly Jolly Christmas" will be on the radio:)

Zach Attack

I felt the new header photo of Zachary yawning was appropriate, being it is TUCKER Town! A friend from our playgroup is getting into the photography business and took some photos of Zachary for us. I think they turned out great! He was not happy to be naked, so we had to quickly switch to the swaddled pics. Faith also managed to weasel her way into the session. Oh, the trials of the secondborn, they have to share everything!

Zachary is a pretty content baby. He still sleeps more than he is awake, but when he is awake he usually wants his pacifier. He loves it when you blow your lips like a motorboat (what a boy). He smiles at the fan and frowns at us. Faith has been such a big help. She knows how to change his diapers (with help, of course:), hold his pacifier in till he takes it, and where all of his things are in case she needs to grab something.

I have been on a handwashing frenzy with this flu season. Faith was born in the spring and so I wasn't as concerned with RSV and flu (and now the swine flu). Once he gets his 2 month immunizations though, we're heading back to BSF and playgroup. I miss my girlfriends and GETTING OUT. Faith misses playing with her friends as well.

We're excited to dress up this coming Saturday and get some treats. I'll be posting pictures soon after, so look for Zachary's costume, it's a dandy!

Extended Summer

My dad came down to see little Zachary and in typical McKenzie fashion we headed for the beach (Rockport). We had a great time and Zachary never slept so well! You can see his inherited enthusiasm for the beach below:)

Faith just wanted to stay at a hotel (which is why my gracious parents turned the day trip into an overnighter). We stayed at a place called Hunt's Castle which had this throne chair. Faith was in princess heaven.


And my folks and children (wow, it is weird to say that word in the plural form!)

We have been out of the loop for quite a while with the move and Zachary's birth. I hope to catch up with many of you soon!

Bigger, Better Tucker Town!

So, this is how we spent last week...

And this is how we are spending this week!

Not bad for 2 weeks time! There will be more pictures coming, we're just playing catch-up.

Time Flies When...

You're super pregnant (getting out of bed is even harder these days) and in the midst of selling a house! Yes, for those of you who hadn't heard, we decided having a baby and Ryan being in trial wasn't enough of a challenge for us. We are trying to sell our home in the midst of it all. Of course, those are our plans, we will see what God has in store! We are currently in an option period for our home though the buyers appear to be anxious to get in and would like to close by the end of the month. We have found a home that we would love to purchase, but are asking for clear direction and God's will to be done in it. I must admit, it's hard not to get too excited about the prospect of a new home with pretty much everything you need and want!

My current due date is somewhere between the first and third week of September. How's that for accuracy? I have placenta previa and will not know till the end of this month when I will deliver based on if the placenta has moved and if the dr. will allow us to wait till the end of the 37th week.

Ryan will get to first chair his first trial at the end of the month as well (talk about everything piling up at the same time). That basically means he will be in charge of arguing the case in front of the judge and jury.

Faith is doing very well amidst the chaos and uncertainty (though she's had her moments:) She's a good kid. She is currently into acting out Star Wars and has been carrying around a lunch cooler with craft poms inside saying they are baby birdies in a cage (maybe there are some underlying issues:)

We hope all is well in your neck of the woods and I will try to keep the blog updated with the new baby and home news!

Heather!

Ryan's cousin Heather has completed her first CD entitled "Finally Free". You can download it on iTunes if you enjoy the samples on her website, which is: heathermccready.com Be sure to rate it if you buy! Thanks!

Faith's 3rd Birthday

Well, I guess we can surprise ourselves sometimes. Not even a week later and I've already posted again! Here are some pictures from Faith's party this past weekend. We had a great time!


Here's the kids entertaining themselves...
And the dads...

And this was was the cake we put together for the party. Faith is a huge Candyland fan, so I felt this was very appropriate. I would love to say I did it all by myself, but Ryan was a BIG help. I needed his more mathematical mind to get the Starburst gameboard on there just right(and a few other things:)

I can't believe my baby is 3. And the hardest part is she thinks she's 5! Praise the Lord for children, they are truly a blessing.

We've Got the Blues

Yes, we're in the process of switching out all of our pink baby stuff to blues! We are having a boy! Ryan and I are very excited about the prospect of a little boy. Faith kept telling everyone she was having a sister, so she was... underwhelmed with the news. If anyone has boy clothes they'd like to get rid of, you have a taker!

So Easter was quite the shin dig this year. We did it all (and even celebrated twice!) Faith knows why we celebrate and that is the most important part. We did an egg hunt the week before with our playgroup at Landa Park. It was great weather and even better company. Once again here is Faith with her friend Kenzie. For some reason, they take the best pictures together, probably because Kenzie brings out the clown in her.

We did our Easter egg hunt at her grandmommy and grandpoppy's. She used the lamb basket they bought way before she was born (or even a twinkle in our eye for that matter).

We also went to the Disney on Ice show. She now claims Peter Pan is her favorite movie, I think because she loved the part in the show where they flew through the air.

The weekend after Easter we flew to MN to visit my family. Both of my sisters now live there, so it makes it much easier to get all the kids together more often.

At the Como Zoo in St. Paul.

Yet another picture with no carseat.

Practicing with cousin Grace...

And immediately after this picture, there were tears.

This weekend we will be celebrating Faith's 3rd birthday. I'll probably get around to posting pictures mid-summer:)

A Faith First: Fearless Foreigner

As you can see by the lack of car seat, we are obviously not in the US. Faith made her first trip abroad this past weekend to Los Cabos. It was a first for all of us. We stayed at a beautiful resort in the "corridor" between Cabo San Jose and Cabo San Lucas that had stunning views and wonderful people. We also had the opportunity to take a sunset cruise on a pirate ship. Though the main purpose was whale watching and seeing Land's End (which had a large sea lion colony), we also got quite a show from the pirates.

We actually made it on the very last cruise of the whale watching season, and this must have been one of the last pairs of mother/baby humpbacks because as soon as our boat spotted them, 3 other cruises raced in our direction. The pirates know their movements pretty well, because they were able to predict when we would get to see the tail (which Faith quickly learned the word for in Spanish since they would yell it out. If you say that word in San Antonio out of context, it can get you in a lot of trouble, so I explained to Faith we only use it when telling the whale story).

Because this was the "Sunset Cruise" in Cabo San Lucas, there was a lot of booty shakin' music. Faith was the only one who felt compelled to make the most of it and proceeded to do so in the middle of the stage for a good 2 hours.
By one of the pools.

Dad, this one is for you.

Looking for crabs and sea urchins.

Tucker Town has a new resident!

As many of you already know, we are expecting Tucker baby #2 at the end of September. I just wanted to make it official since we had our second appointment this past week and know the Lord has thus far continued to entrust us with this precious gift. We had to tell Faith as my body apparently already knows what is to come and has been making room!

Speaking of Faith, we have really been enjoying these past few weeks with the new stage she has been entering. She recently had to go to the doctor to have some slivers removed and ever since then, she has wanted to play doctor. In fact, when we were at my appointment this past week, she hopped up onto the doctor's swivel chair, told Ryan to move her in front of him and asked "What is the problem, here?"

She is also into doing her Bible Study with me. We attend BSF (which I highly recommend to anyone who is concerned about the times we live in, it is such an oasis of hope in my week after hearing the daily news). They learn the same lesson we do, simplified. It's nice because I work on my study while she is napping. I'm usually trying to finish up when she comes into the room. She will go grab a highlighter (pink, of course), sit next to me on the couch and proceed to highlight most of the page (see below).
We hosted a tea party this past week for our playgroup. She and her friend Kenzie had a table of their own which we discovered may not be the best idea as we found them spooning sugar straight from the sugar bowl and eating it.

Yesterday, when Faith woke up from her nap, we decided we were bored with boring snacks and found this little number on the internet (it's supposed to be a castle:) She loved it. I think adults need to play with their food more often. I'll be sad when we are out of this stage and have to make everything normal again.

The Week of Josiah

As usual, I'm late in posting, but this had to go on the books since it was fabulous training for the future. At the beginning of the month, we had my nephew Josiah down to visit. My brother-in-law had a conference at a hotel downtown so I begged for them to send Josiah down so Faith could enjoy time with our "Jo Jo". My sister nervously agreed, warning me he is a very active boy. I realized it wouldn't be all bubbles and parks, so I began preparations for the week. I had every meal of the day down to the beverage planned out as well as what our mornings and afternoons would look like with rain days planned for as well. And I must say, it went pretty smoothly, minus a couple of glitches:
. Faith's sudden interest in toys she hadn't played with for months was unexpected as well as her fervor to get them away from Josiah.
I didn't take into account ages and stages (Josiah is almost 2) when I let Josiah have his new sunglasses from Nana and then proceeded to roll down the windows in the vehicle when we were stuck at a red light.
I couldn't believe that two toddlers able to keep me on my toes all hours of the day could be tamed by play dough for a good 30-40 minutes!

When all else failed, we just brought 'em to the zoo (or other walled-in facility) and let 'em go! My favorite time is recorded below. The kids were supposed to be taking their afternoon naps. I was on the computer when suddenly I heard the door opening and closing between the nursery (where Josiah was) and our room (where Faith was napping). I ran in and discovered this exchange. By the way, Josiah is into listing whatever he sees in the room, so the first words you hear would be something he sees in the room. It sounds a bit like an expletive:)


In case you didn't catch it all, Faith says, " I think you need to go to sleep, I said it 3 times". She had no idea I was in there recording since I had already told her to let Josiah go to sleep. I love how Josiah says "Cheese" when he sees the camera. I don't know if or when we'll get an opportunity to have my nieces Ava and Grace come stay, but we're ready for them!