The McLain's

My photo
Our journey began October 2005 when we met in our Single's class at Prestonwood Baptist Church. We were engaged in June 2006 and were married on November 17, 2006. JP works for ROMCO as a Product Support Sales Manager and I will begin teaching part-time for the Dallas International School in August 2011. We have one little boy, Merit Cross. God has truly blessed our family.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Flowers!

Merit had fun shopping for flowers with us on Sunday night. We picked out some very pretty flowers for the front yard and a few for the back too. Now I just have to find the time to plant them! :) Merit really liked the water fountains and the large pond. There was a beautiful duck swimming in the pond! Mimi and Mommy both gave Merit a ride on the flower cart and he really enjoyed that. What a fun evening!


Mowing Like Daddy

On Sunday, we went to the early service and then came home and worked in the yard. I sprayed some weeds while the boys mowed. Merit wants to do everything Daddy does. He is constantly imitating Daddy. He got out his mower and proceeded to follow JP until the entire yard was mowed. It was pretty adorable.

My pretty flowers that I planted last year came back! Hummmm...now if I could just remember what they are.



Merit was very focused and serious about this task.

Daddy even helped Merit push the big mower. He thought this was really cool!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Dinner & Airplanes!

Saturday night we met Tim & Holly for dinner. We were playing at the dog park when Tim called to see what we were doing for dinner. We didn't have any plans because I had been feeling bad the past few days. My sinus/allergy issues have been terrible! However, we make the best of our days and this Mommy doesn't succumb to feeling bad. I just kind of ignore how I feel and focus on having fun with Merit. So, we met Tim & Holly at Snuffers and had so much fun catching up with them and watching the boys be silly. I love that Tim & Holly are last minute get together friends.



After dinner we went to watch airplanes take off and land at the Addison airport. Merit would have never been ready to leave. He loved every minute of this!


Merit looking at pictures and videos from the day on my phone.

The Dog Park

We have a really nice dog park right down the street from our house. Merit has a great time watching the dogs run and play together. Merit thinks every dog is his best friend and loves watching Cali and Maui play with other dogs.
What a fun family outing!



Daddy helped Merit get Maui's leash secure around his hand so he could walk him.


Look at that smile! He really loved doing this!

Oops! :)

Saturday Painting

I decided it would be fun to try making some homemade finger paints on Saturday. It was fun and easy but they didn't turn out quite like I expected. However, you can tell from the pictures that Merit had a great time stirring the paints after I added the food coloring. He also had a really good time using the paints. After we were done painting, he wanted to help me water the plants. What a good little helper. He was pretty tired after our busy morning and fell fast asleep on the pillows Nana made for him.
Recipe I used for the paints:
http://www.thedailybuzz.com.au/2011/11/make-your-own_homemade_crayons_play-doh_chalk_fingerpaint/





Fun with Daddy

Merit loved this activity! JP stands at the bottom of our driveway and gives Merit's car a big push. The car speeds to the top of our driveway and then spins around and sails down the driveway. Merit giggles and asks for more.





Thursday, April 26, 2012

Loving Getting Dirty Outside!

On Thursday I actually had to strip Merit down outside before I could take him in the house. He had dirt and sand on his face, in his hair, on his legs, it was everywhere. I carried him straight to the bathtub! I had to get him clean before I put him in his bed for nap time. Too funny!



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Dirt, Dirt, and More Dirt

I really think Merit would stay outside all day if we'd let him. He has so much fun playing on his play set, playing in the dirt, and playing with his dump trucks and monster trucks. If you look closely you can actually see dirt on his face. I guess I should expect lots of dirt with a boy!





Tuesday, April 24, 2012

My Piggy Bank

Aunt Alicia gave Merit this cute piggy bank before he was one. I think it was given to him on his first Christmas. He thinks it's pretty neat. Curious George has a piggy bank and on his show he was counting his coins. So, Merit couldn't wait to do the same thing. We dumped out all of his money and he put the coins back in one at a time. He wanted to do this over and over again. He is counting 1 - 20 now with almost no mistakes! What a smart boy!


Monday, April 23, 2012

Someone's In My Bed!

Love these pics of Merit with his big, yellow, dump truck. He is all boy for sure! He really likes putting dirt, leaves and rocks in the back of the truck and then dumping everything out.



Merit couldn't wait to show Mimi his big boy bed. She asked if she could get in his bed and he said, "sure".

Mimi tested out the bed...her verdict was, it's very comfortable.

Then Mimi and Merit snuggled together in his big boy bed. What a cutie!

Merit showed Mimi the new tricks he can do rolling off of his bed onto the pillows. He thinks this is really fun!

Cars & Shapes

Today we practiced shapes with cars. I made the shape and Merit had to guess. He loves this game! We also made letters and numbers too!

Bed Head

You know your child has slept well when his hair looks like this! Too cute!


Sunday, April 22, 2012

My Big Boy Bed

We got back from San Antonio on Sunday and J.P. turned Merit's crib into a toddler bed. Merit was so excited about this transformation! He calls it his, "new bed". He slept great the first night and has only fallen off the bed a few times. Notice the pillows stacked beside the bed. Thanks to Nana, when Merit does fall off, he doesn't hit the hard floor!