Our Great Life Adventure: Monday Afternoon Chat...

Here's another edition of my totally random thoughts on this Monday afternoon.
- Yesterday, Vivian took her first three steps unassisted! She's not a walker, but she's making progress everyday. I have been saying since day one I'm in NO rush for her to walk... but once you see them get closer... it's so easy to get all wrapped up in the excitement of their special milestones.
- You know how I'm with both my kids pretty much 24/7? Well... I wasn't there for Vivian's first steps. Selfishly, I was really disappointed. But... it was awesome Chad got to have the moment with his daughter. With all the work and travel he does, there are a lot of "firsts" he doesn't get to see. And he was one proud papa! He called me, called his mom, got his mom on video chat, had the video camera set up and was trying to capture it. However, sweet baby girl refused to repeat the performance for the camera.
- I think her "first steps" was a warning to us, like if she could talk she'd say... "Look you guys, I'm pretty close to this walking thing, and I could probably do it full-time, but I'm going to spend the next month milking all the attention while you spend time with me every day trying to get me to do it again. I'm one sharp cookie, you can't duplicate this kind of attention and excitement".
- While I'm on the subject of Vivian talking... at this point, she's pretty vocal with sounds. She has Mama down pat... she only uses her Da-Da with Chad so we're pretty sure she's got that figured out. I am trying to figure out her references to Braden, but nothing concrete. More than words right now she's copying changes in the tone of my voice or if we're singing she'll kind of make noise along with us (singing = me and Braden being silly).
- These days she's trying what we're eating... but mostly her meals are still baby food. Call me crazy, but I give her fruit for breakfast, veggie for lunch and a "meal" jar for dinner. It just feels right. But when Chad handles it he's giving her "Butternut Squash with Wheat Pasta" for breakfast and it just doesn't seem right. I know she doesn't know the difference, but still...
- So if I'm usually always with the kids... where was I when Vivian took those first steps? Well... the past few weeks Chad has offered to stay home with Vivian, while I take Braden to the pool. I take them both during the week, but Vivian can't quite handle as much pool/sun time. It's nice to take Big B on his own, give him all the attention and stay as long as we want.
- Mid-August? Is my baby girl really going to be ONE next month? Wow.
- 10 days and I'll be landing in Las Vegas for a weekend with my girls... I already know the weekend is going to go by way too fast.
-  It's pretty obvious that Houston is hot in the summer. But honestly, it's not that bad. We live in a world with ACs and pools (even though sometimes getting in the pool is more like a warm bath).  Chicago gets this hot, for a shorter amount of time, but I haven't really had a big issue with the humidity either.  The evenings are getting really nice here. I'm looking forward to a nice, long, warm fall!
- But what is my problem with Texas? I am at odds with the toad infestation we have in the backyard. They have mated and multiplied. I know I shouldn't be jumpy for little things that are 2 inches long... but I am. I'm not requiring that Chad rid of them because I appreciate that they eat other bugs... but if it wasn't for that important and redeeming quality... they would ALL be over the fence.
- Last Friday was a pretty cool... we live in Katy, it is a big place, and quite populated.  Well, I went to the YMCA, saw a person I knew from the neighborhood... then Braden only knows a few kids and at the Kids Club he was there hanging with two of his friends... and on our way to the pool later I ran into two moms from the MOMS club. It was nice to be out and recognize people where we live. I'm sure it sounds silly to some people, but when you've been living away from friends and family, it doesn't go unnoticed. It's been a long time coming!
-  So.... I got sucked into the Bachelor Pad last week. I said I wasn't going to do it... but I did. There really isn't anything else to watch on a Monday night (since we cancelled Showtime and I don't have awesome shows to watch). I'm a sucker and now want to see how this all plays out. But there are some uncomfortable, hard to watch moments, and some CRAZY people (hello Elizabeth... please grab some... any... self esteem, you are crazy and desperate, and your fake orange-blond hair is not cute. You're a brunette, embrace it). Also... most of the audience watching is women... all the extended-10 seconds-too-long-camera shots of the women's chests... it's creepy.
- I'm a little embarrassed I just ranted about the Bachelor Pad. Don't judge me.
- Because what most people check out the blog for is the pictures, here are a few from a few weeks ago when we went to the Houston Nature and History Museum...