How's the Housley's?

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

A Wonderful Weekend!

Taylor's mom, Suzanne, and our nephew Braden came to visit us this past weekend, and it was a blast! They arrived early Friday evening, and we ended over to Taylor's aunt's home. Taylor offered to mow her lawn, and he LOVED it. He rode her riding lawn mower and he was in heaven.

Suzanne and Braden...

Suzanne and Shauna (Taylor's aunt, Suz's sister-in-law)

Braden playing with Isaac.

Or Isaac grabbing Braden.

While Taylor mowed, I played basketball and soccer with Braden and then we tried to invent our own little obstacle course. Braden is an awesome basketball player. I kept asking him if he thought I was any good and he was like, "Eh..." It was pretty funny.

Here's my little boy posing. So cute...

Mom and Son

Once the mowing was done, we went to dinner at Chili's. Isaac developed a new thing: yelling. It's not a cry yell or a "I'm in pain" yell or a "I don't like this" yell. It's just this random yell that gets slightly louder at the end. It was random--it started off somewhat cute, but by the tenth time with people looking at us...not so cute!

Suzanne was generous enough to buy dinner for us all. Shauna wanted to write Suzanne a check for dinner...so she did, and when she handed it to Suzanne, Suzanne ripped it up. It was pretty funny!! Shauna couldn't believe she did that!

So, Braden is six and he said some awesome one-liners that I was sure to remember....

1) At dinner, Shauna got some cash and was putting it away in her purse. Braden just looked at her and said, "Can I have a dollar?" It was so funny, I wish it was that easy nowadays. :-)

2)On the way home from dinner, Braden was "teasing" with the idea of sticking his newly acquired dollar out the window. Suzanne told him not to do that and then relayed a story about how when she was younger, she got a silver dollar. She stuck it out the window and it accidentally dropped. So after relaying this story, sweet Braden says, "I have a silver dollar, do you want it?" It was SO cute and such an example of the sweetness Braden has and conveys! Seriously, what six year old says that and offers his own?? I was so impressed!

3) Lastly, we recently got an air mattress and planned to have Braden sleep on it. Well, I guess the thing I bought to blow it up only works in the car....so Taylor went out to his truck to blow it up. Braden asked Suzanne where Taylor was. Suzanne responded, "He's outside blowing up your bed." Braden stood there for a minute, you could see him process what she just said, and then Braden replies, "I'm sleeping outside?" It was such a genuine question, it was so funny. He is just so innocent, pure, and genuine!

Back to the weekend. Braden insisted on reading to Isaac. I thought that was ADORABLE in and of itself! So, we get home and I ask if he wants me to hold him or if Braden wants to hold him, he wants me to, so I go to sit down and he wants Isaac to sit next to him...it was so cute!

Braden on his very new blue bed!

On Saturday, we had a relaxful morning and then went out to find a car for Suzanne. Following that, we got lunch and ate it at the park. The weather was perfect--I could have sat at the park for hours!

Following that and some afternoon naps--except for Braden and I--we went over to Shauna's house and had a "Cafe Rio" dinner with her kids. It was a GREAT night. Braden got to play with some kids his age, which he loved, then the boys played basketball for hours (which Braden loved) and the girls did what girls do best--ooh and ahh over babies, talk, clean up, do things outside, etc. It was just a wonderful night, again the weather was perfect and the company was even better!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. Look at how cute this is...

We played a quick game of "Sorry" when we got home (where I was ganged up on!) and then Suzanne and Braden took off. It was SO much fun having them here, we wish the weekend would have gone by slower or that they would have stayed longer! What a good kid Braden is--we are so grateful for the opportunity this weekend gave us to grow our relationship with him!

And, later that night...look how I found Isaac...SO cute!

Thanks for coming and seeing us this weekend, Braden and Suzanne! Isaac thoroughly enjoyed the love and attention you gave him this weekend too! We love you!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

BOATING!!!

So, some of Taylor's family was going to come up to see us this weekend, but things fell through and they didn't come. So, we ended up going boating with two other couples in our ward and it was SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOO much fun!!!! And the best part--Isaac was WONDERFUL!!!

Not even five minutes into the ride, Isaac totally fell asleep in his life jacket, sitting up, on my lap! It was HILARIOUS!! I did not expect him to fall asleep at all, let alone like this. He was OUT--we were yelling, laughing, had music playing, and he slept through it all! He looked so chubby in his life jacket--Taylor actually asked if he was still breathing! (That was ironic, because it is usually me worrying about that! ... and if it wasn't for Isaac's snoring, I would have probably worried too!)

Taylor and our friend Bryan got out on the tubes and got worked!

Taylor also got up on his wakeboard and did AWESOME!!!

Here's Isaac at the end of our ride, and it was just sooo comical to see him in his life jacket, he never once cried about being in it, but yet it looks so uncomfortable! ....our friend Dana was holding him.

It was such a GREAT afternoon, we definitely loved it and look forward to several more weekends out on the water!!

Bath time

Gotta love bath time!

"Who, me?"

Friday, June 20, 2008

My Mama's Birthday!!

Oh my....this is a post I have not been looking forward to--simply because there are not enough words in the worlds to convey my love for my mom. I love her so much and I just don't feel like my words will do it justice. But...I'll give it a try. My life with my Mom started when she was 25....This is my mom.... she's a babe :-)

I love my mom. I'd like to share a special memory I have of my mom: When I was younger, I danced a lot, a lot, A LOT. And the dance studio was 30 minutes from home on a good traffic day. She drove me there, drove back home, and then came and got me usually and then took me home--either way, it was a lot of driving, a lot of time, and a lot of money. There came a point where I was just sick of dancing--I was sick of the time involved, a.k.a. it didn't allow me to be with my friends as much, and I was just burnt out. Well, she recognized this and one night she came into my room and sat on the side of my bed and pretty much told me that it was my decision to dance or not. (Insert, I probably said something like "it's just so much driving on you, etc. etc.) Because then she said something I will never forget, she said she would travel to the end of the earth and back for me if dancing is what I wanted to do. And that is the kind of mother she is--someone who would sacrifice anything and everything for her family. And what a wonderful example that is to me. I cannot even tell you why this particular conversation has stuck out to me so vividly for so long, but it truly attests how in tune she is with the Spirit--she knew what I needed to hear and she was prepared enough to know what to say.

My mom is fun. Period. Some of my favorite things to do with her/memories of her: spitting corn at each other at the dinner table, spitting M&M's at each other across the room, teaching her "I like big butts and I cannot lie" song, knocking chocolate out of each others hands during church (we had several years where it was just the two of us at church together--Heather was at college and my dad was doing his church calling), making her laugh so hard that her stomach hurt, sitting on the floor to talk to her about every date or event, having her as my escort at the temple, yelling "You go girl!" at the top of her lungs while the audience was silent right before my solo in an acapella group, and the list could go on and on and on....

She is an awesome Nana. She loves Isaac--and Isaac loves her. My mom has come out to see us (or we have gone to her) every month since Isaac was born. It is VERY important to her that her grandchildren know her and I admire this so much.

When Isaac was born, my mom came out for TWO weeks. I cannot even tell you how nice it was to have her here. Yes, it was nice to have dinner made for us just about every night, but it is just SO fun to be around her. I don't think I really "needed" the extra help of having her here the second week in all physical terms (i.e. like I was too sore, or having a hard recovery) because I look back at that time and just think about how I loved playing with her and hanging out together. (For the record: she was a HUGE help in all aspects). And when she left, I totally cried.

My mom is my bestest of best friends. I call her regularly, and I tell her just about everything. She is the first person I think to call if something exciting/sad/frustrating/new happens. She has taught me how to be a mother by her example, and because of that, I love her even more.

I love you mom and I hope you had a GREAT birthday because you definitely deserve it!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Apparently I have a tendency to post a lot of updates in one sitting. So, enjoy my five (or so) new posts. :-)

Happy Father's Day, Part 2!

Happy Father's Day, Dad! How could I let a day like this pass without publicly expressing how much I love you?? You are the best dad a girl could ask for! You are a teacher by nature--I know all of us, me especially, have been blessed by this ability of yours. You are simply the best. And I know Isaac sure loves you!

You do so much for both me and Taylor. We are grateful for your influence in not only our lives, but our children(s) lives as well. You are wonderful, patient, caring, and generous. I am grateful that I found a husband that has similar qualities as you. You have been a great source of support and love to our little family. Thank you for everything...I love you so much!! Happy Father's day!

Cute randomness

Isaac loves crawling under his saucer...

However, when he feels like he is stuck...he doesn't love it as much. :-)

For the record, he was smiling two seconds later. The rest of these pictures speak for themselves...

Some things of note: Isaac has been drinking his juice out of a sippy cup..hurray! He has become quite the little mama's boy lately, love it! He says "mama" ... he may not know what exactly he is saying, but I sure love hearing it. Another funny thing he started doing today--I would shake my head as if to say "no" but I would close my eyes and make a funny noise, and he just looked at me, and then did the same thing, it was soooo funny. He is also learning to pull himself up...one night I went into his room when we were putting him down and he had pulled himself up on the crib...scary! (We have since moved the crib down). Another one of our favorite things to do together--watch Wheel of Fortune and eat Otter Pops! He LOVES them. He also tried mashed potatoes tonight...not a fan. He is, however, getting better at eating his puffs. Isaac is just the happiest, always smiling, not afraid of strangers little boy. I LOVE HIM!!

I should also note...yesterday, Isaac had just woken up from his nap, so we were sitting on the couch cuddling and I was "having a moment." I was looking at him and just thinking about how much I loved him and how much I love being a mom, and just about to start crying and Isaac just lets out this burp. It was HILARIOUS.

Eight Months (two weeks ago)

Yes, yes, I am definitely slacking on getting these monthly updates up, but at least I took the pictures when I needed to. :-) So, keeping with tradition, here is Isaac at 7 months: