The Merry Month of May

Happy Birthday, Bitty!

Wow! This has been a crazy month! Knowing that Tracy was scheduled to begin the APD Academy on May 29, we really tried to spend a lot of time together as a family. While our weekdays are pretty much tied to the normal routine, weekends give us a chance to get out and play a little. One of our favorite weekend activities is driving around in South Austin. We love the neighborhoods and the eclectic, if overpriced, houses. We recently discovered a great little grocery/coffee house, P and K Grocery. Whenever we’re nearby, we make it a point to stop in for café au lait and “dime store” candy. Of course, Beanie and Bitty celebrated their birthdays this month, and Bitty suddenly began talking in complete sentences AND using the potty. How much can one momma take? Here are some more highlights from this month.

The girls decided it would be fun to jump from the fire truck bed to ours. Pookie figured it out right away. Beanie...didn't.

We have had so much rain this spring! Back in February, we took the kids to the Barton Creek Greenbelt for this first time. The creek was almost completely dry, and we enjoyed hiking around on the rocks. The spring rains have filled it up, so we spent an afternoon relaxing down at the creek with Paul and Princess Jackie. Bitty quickly picked up on the true spirit of the greenbelt! Beanie got stung by some bug in the water and that put a damper on her spirits, but she recovered when a butterfly landed on it. All in all, it was a great day at the creek, and we finished off with dinner at La Feria. Yum!

Just checking...

Beanie's first words upon waking this morning: "Am I still four today?"

Beanie is 4!

Last week, I learned something from having to rush around making Pookie's dream of a heart-shaped birthday cake come true. While Grandma was here I entrusted her with the mission of discovering what Beanie expected in the way of cakes on her actual birthday. Bean's response was, "a black square cake with black 'fostine' an' a wed heart." Grandma was even gracious enough to actually bake the cake late Friday night and put it in the freezer (thank you, thank you, thank you)!

Following my award-winning performance as The Mom Who Saved The Birthday, when Pookie first saw her cake she seemed unimpressed. Her first comment was, "I thought it would be red." Wow. So much for that Oscar. I explained how I had chosen her favorite colors and pointed out the lovely pink and white striped candles, to which she replied, "Well, I guess it will be okay. Thanks, Mom." Ahem. Needless to say, I have been hoping for a slightly better response from Beanie.

Beanie raced into the kitchen and asked excitedly about her cake. Holding my breath and guarding my emotions, I pointed to the fridge and leaned in behind her as she opened the door. At first, silence...and then, "It's my birssday cake! It haves chocolate an' a wed heart! I knew you would make it for me, Mommy! It is gweat! Thank you!"

Whew.