Fun at Northpark

Some nice people took a picture for us.

Great shot of baby Gelnett cooking in Alicia's belly!

Merit and Alicia watching the turtles swim.

The ducks stayed under the heat lamp the entire time we were there.

Story time at Bookmarks

Clapping to the music

Alicia left Thursday at noon but we certainly made the most of our morning. We arrived at Northpark at 9:30 and spent the first part of our day watching the ducks and the turtles. Merit absolutely loves doing this. We did a little shopping and then headed down to Bookmarks for the toddler storytime. http://www.dallaslibrary2.org/branch/bookmarks.php Have you every been to Bookmarks? It is a really neat library for kids. You can check out books, play games on their computers or participate in one of their events. Fun stuff! We listened to stories, sang songs and danced. After we finished their we strolled to some baby stores to look at infant clothes. We really enjoyed every last minute of time with Aunt Alicia. We drove home and then she left for Houston. Merit and I were so sad to see her and Ranger go. However, we are looking forward to seeing them both again very soon!

Wednesday with Alicia

Aunt Alicia introduced Merit to Sesame Street at breakfast; he loved it!

I think Alicia really enjoyed watching it too!

Our favorite episode, Burt and Ernie calling, "here fishy, fishy, fishy".

We met Mimi for lunch at Panera and Mimi shared her cookie with Merit.

More cookie, please!

The dogs had a great time playing together! Merit really liked having 3 doggies to play with!

New water toy for Merit!

Merit having so much fun running through the water!

Merit insisted on all of us running through the water with him.

On Wednesday, Alicia and I went to the gym early that morning. After our workout, we took Merit swimming at our neighbors house. We cleaned up and met Mimi for lunch. We thought it would be nice to meet mom since she had to work on Wednesday. It was a nice opportunity for Alicia to get to spend more time with mom. Merit slept for most of the afternoon and Alicia and I cooked dinner together. It was so much fun to talk and cook together! We talk and cook frequently while on the phone with each other but it was great to actually be in the same room doing this. Mom came over when she got off of work. We had a delicious dinner, Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti recipe link, lightened of course. After dinner, we went to Walmart and bought Merit the Little Tikes beach ball sprinkler. He had a blast playing in the water. What a great day!

Playing With My Remote Control Car

Sharon and Dave gave Merit the cutest remote control car for his birthday last year. He absolutely loves watching this car zoom around the house. He really can't steer it by himself but that's okay because he just loves to watch it. I think the dogs are scared of it.

Fun with the Water Hose!

After our dinner with Papa we played in the backyard. Merit showed Aunt Alicia and Mimi how he loves to run through the sprinkler while Mommy is watering the flowers. He had so much fun!

Dinner with Papa

We always enjoy spending time with our Papa. Merit adores him too! Papa treated the girls and Merit to dinner at Twisted Root. Have you ever been? Seriously the best burgers in Dallas! I don't really eat hamburgers but I do eat their delicious Buffalo burger. It is outstanding! http://twistedrootburgerco.com/wordpress/ Well, needless to say we had a wonderful time with Papa. He recently had surgery on his face to remove a melanoma but you can hardly tell. We love you Papa!

The Aquarium at Fair Park

First view of the shark tank!

Petting the stingrays

Merit was a little unsure about this

Mimi took the day off so we could all spend time together!

Aunt Alicia bought Merit his first fish.

Merit having so much fun with Mimi and Aunt Alicia!

We took Merit to the Aquarium at Fair Park. We were pretty certain he would enjoy this because he loves all sorts of animals and really likes fish. We were right! He really liked watching the sharks and he liked seeing the different colors and varieties of fish. He was a little scared of the crabs and the alligators though. All in all, we had a wonderful time at the aquarium!

Alicia's Arrival Day!

Lots of goodies for Aunt Alicia!

I saved all of my pregnancy, baby and parenting magazines for Alicia!

This basket was for baby boy Gelnett; doggie blanket, sleep outfit and a book of prayers.

Lots of good books for Alicia and Marc to read!

Alicia opening her birthday gifts

Cute new maternity shirt and matching earrings

Another cute maternity shirt and matching earrings too!

Aunt Alicia came to Dallas to visit us. We were so excited to get to see her and her belly! Baby boy Gelnett is really growing! I had not seen Alicia since Christmas and couldn't wait to spend time with her. Her first day here was so much fun! I had a bunch of gifts and goodies waiting for her. These pictures capture most everything except for a large storage bin full of my maternity clothes. While Merit slept that afternoon, Alicia tried everything on. It was a fun fashion show! She looked great!