Little Chef!

Joshua has been interested in "helping" me cook lately and I love it! Yes, his definition of help is different from mine, but it is still fun to spend this bit of quality time with him. He is always the one that stirs. It is his important job! The boy has different speeds to his stirring. There's slow, fast, and super fast(super fast usually involves paper towels and a clothes change). He has helped me bake many of cupcakes and pies, but last night was his first go at a main dish! He pushed a chair over to the island and asked, "what you cooking, momma?" I told him a casserole and he said " I can help?" You sure can!! We talked about the ingredients that we would be using and all the bowls and measuring cups. It was really cute because he would repeat everything I said but in the form of a question. Once everything was measured and poured into the bowl, the most important part started...yep, you guessed it, STIRRING!! While stirring Joshua had to smell it and make sure it was "mmmm, delicious" I love the fact that he stays so focused and seems to be interested in every little detail of the process. I also think this is good practice for when he grows up! I did alot of cooking with my mom growing up and it was alot of fun! I hope he continues to enjoy cooking and wanting to help out in the kitchen.

Oh, by the way, we didn't get to taste our hard work, because this casserole has to sit over night in the fridge. We will get to eat it tonight though! It is chicken enchilada casserole and I will be more than happy to send you the recipe if you would like.

All About Joshua!!

So, I haven't really done an update on Joshua in awhile. An update like, his favorite foods and toys and things like that. So I thought I would do that today. He is changing so fast that I can barely keep up with all the things he does, so I guess I better blog about them so I don't forget!!

Age: 3 1/2

Height: I think it is right around 36in. (give or take) We measured him at home

Weight: I think somewhere between 34-36lbs. Once, again this was done at home.

Shoe size: 9 1/2 to 10

Favorite Colors: Red and Blue

Favorite Dish: Spaghetti and Chicken Nuggets

Favorite Fruit: Apples and Bananas

Favorite Veggie: Green Beans and Broccoli

Favorite toys: trains and cars

Can pretty much count to 44 ( he skips a few here and there)

Best Buddies at school are Andrew and Ali

Still Loves Elmo and Thomas, but has found a new love: Cars(The Movie)

Loves to sing and sings at the top of his lungs

Loves going to school

Drinks milk like it is going out of style

Does not need to sit in a booster seat anymore when at the table. :-(

Likes to get in the car and in his car seat by himself, but will not get out by himself

Is still as stubborn as anything!

Is testing his boundaries with everything

Still takes naps, but sometimes he skips them and by 5pm he is super cranky

Is still a great sleeper!

Loves to be tickled

Loves his bath or shower

Loves lemons

Is Shy

Is potty trained during the day, but still wears pull ups at night while sleeping

Loves his blanket when he goes to sleep or if he is hurt

Is not a big risk taker(not daredevil yet)

Can play independently for long periods of time and sometimes prefers it that way

Loves to figure out how things work

watches TV in the most unusual positions

Gets his feelings hurt easily

Is VERY bossy!

Loves to give hugs

Is a great helper!

"Tests the waters" by doing what he supposed to on the count of 2 when we are counting 1,2,3

Can take his shirt and pants off with ease, but has trouble when putting them on.

Navigates the computer with ease (this is both good and bad)

Can tell you what city and state he lives in when asked

Knows his full name and knows our names

Knows Dan's cell number and practices it on the home phone

If he doesn't like something he will say "this/that is yucky!"

If he gets hurt he will say "My booboo!"

Becomes over dramatic when he wants something or wants our attention (which he is quickly learning does not work with us)

Is super sweet and growing up so fast that I can barely stand it!!

Seaworld Trip!

After our fun sleepover on Friday night, we woke up bright and early, as in 6:15. This was not a planned wake up time, I think the kids were so excited that they couldn't take it any longer and woke up. So after breakfast and one crazy morning we all piled in the car and headed south to meet Brittney and Jeff for Seaworld. We finally made it and headed to seaworld. I had been told by a friend at work, that it would be worth the extra money to get preferred parking,which means we would park right up near the entrance. So we did and boy were we glad when it came time to leave the park. Instead of hiking a few miles, we walked a short distance and got in the car. NICE!! Once we parked the car we made the short walk up to the ticket line and that is when it got a little testy for all of us. When we approached the ticket line at 11:15am it was insane! The line was so long. It felt like a bunch of cattle being herded through the shoots for their shots! You add heat to that and you got yourself a unpleasant situation. The kids did extremely well while we waited in line. They past the time by doing this:

After many trips in and out of line to get water at the water fountain and the kids making numerous faces at each other, we finally made it through the gates! Once, our tickets were bought, we had to bring them to another line(thank goodness this one was shorter) to get them scanned and have our backpack prodded through we finally made it all the way inside and this is the first thing that we saw: At night it changed all different colors and looked so pretty.

We decided that since we waited in line during lunch time that we needed to eat first and then we would go to the splash pad to cool off before hitting the shows. We found a really good deal, you pay one price per person and you get unlimited drinks and food at the participating restaurants through out the park. That was the best purchase that we made the whole day. Being that it was over 100 degrees we made up for it in drinks and more. It was great to just show your wrist band and grab a couple of waters and a snack. Being that each drink started at 3 bucks a pop and Joshua's kid's meal was 8.00(that is not a typo) we felt good about the choice that we had made with buying the Dine All Day passes. After we filled our tummy's we headed to the splash pad, which happened to be right next to the restaurant that we ate at. This splash pad is Sesame Street themed, so everywhere you turned, you saw big bird or cookie monster and most importantly ELMO! Joshua was very content with saying hi and waving to the characters from behind a fence, but when asked if he wanted his picture taken with them, he would shake his head and say,"NO!NO!" They had a little stage that the characters would sing and dance on and you could watch them. We didn't even get a chance to get near it, Joshua was having a mini meltdown, but Maddie and Aubrey weren't to keen on it either once the performance started.

Here is Joshua saying Hi from a far.

This is Bay of Play. It was a combination of a Splash Pad and kid's amusement park! It actually reminded me of the fair. It just opened in the Spring of this year, so it was brand new! The pictures below kind of help you see what it was like. You will have to excuse Joshua in the first picture; he was still in meltdown mode.

They had a huge older kids area, but then they had this toddler area that was shaded and fenced with lounge chairs and a changing room. It was nice and the kids loved playing in these fountains.
We did play in both areas!

After we cooled off in the splash area we headed to our first show! One World, which was the Shamu show. We waited in a huge line to get into this show, but it was amazing. Joshua wasn't to into this show, but I think it had to with the fact that it was around his nap time and he was tired. I heard on the way out afterwards that they had to turn people away because it was full.

The Feldmans' enjoying the show!

This is truly amazing!

This is a mother and her baby! The baby was born not to long ago and was learning the tricks! So cute! They both jumped out of the water together, but I missed it on my camera. Darn! It was really cool!

The Madls' enjoying the show!

Check out this splash! Incredible! There is an area called the splash zone, basically if you sit there you are going to get drench! It would have been nice, but we decided the kids wouldn't think so, so we went up a few rows where it was safe. I remember sitting in the splash zone as a kid and loving it! You really do get drenched.

Leaving the Shamu show. This stroller came in mighty handy! Maddie and Joshua took turns riding in the back and the adults took turns pushing!

Snacking on some popcorn! We were able to find some shade, YAY!

It just wouldn't be complete with out ice cream and since we were at seaworld, it was a Shamu ice cream! It was funny because everything had shamu on it and even the pretzels were shamu shaped! lol This ice cream melted faster than he could it eat! Poor kid, I think he got 3 bites!

In between shows we would run through the splash pad to stay cool and re-apply sunscreen. It was great the way they had the splash pad built right in the center of the park. You really couldn't go to another show without passing by the splash pad, so we took advantage of it. Our next show we went and saw was the Sea lion show! It basically made fun of the other shows and rides! It was really funny and the kids really got into this show!

They were pretending to be on one of the Roller Coasters in the park: The Steel eel.

Taking a picture with "Elmo"

The next show we went to was called, Azul. This was like seaworld meets Cirque de soilel. Brittney and I thought this was the better show. We didn't want it to end! ha! The kids got into this show as well. There were dolphins, acrobats, parrots and much more. This show was truly amazing!

Simply amazing! They were jumping off of high jumps, the catwalk, the sides! It was crazy all the things they were doing and timed it perfectly!

Later in the evening after the Azul show, we went back to the Bay of Play for the kids to run around. I honestly have no idea where they were pulling their energy from(possibly from us, the parents) but this was around 7:30pm and they were still going.

This was the souvenir that Joshua picked from the gift shop on the way out! SHAMU! He loves his shamu. It took him no time to choose it. I was kind of surprised because he really wasn't into the shamu show and we had just seen the penguins before the gift shop and he was saying he wanted a penguin. KIDS!?

Maddie chose Shamu as well. They wanted their picture taken in front of this Shamu statue with them holding their Shamus! Maddie said later that she wanted to be a seaworld trainer when she grew up. So cute! The kids did absolutely amazing! I still can't believe it! None of them took a nap and they played so hard. Yet, they were still all smiles at the end of the night when we were leaving!

So after 3 shows, several trips to the splash pad, walking over 3 plus miles and having the time of his life, it took him about 5 mins before he was sound asleep and he didn't wake up (even when we transitioned him from the car to his bed) until 7:40 the next morning. Then he took a 3 hour nap that same day. I will admit that I took a 3 hour nap as well!

There were some pictures not posted because I took so many that I only posted what highlighted the main points. We also went and saw the penquins, but they had already turned the lights out, so you really couldn't see them and my flash didn't work so the pics just came out dark and blurry. Dan and Jeff rode the "Steel eel" roller coaster and loved every minute of it. We got to the park about 11:30 and we walked out of the park at 9:50 that night(they close at 10) We managed to make it all day without anyone getting sunburned, with minimal melt downs and everyone leaving with smiles on their faces and hopefully a lot of memories!!

Friday Night Fun!

Before we went to Seaworld on Saturday we had a little sleepover on Friday night! It was Jeff and Brittney's anniversary weekend, so they went to San Antonio for the night and we got to keep their precious girls! Joshua had so much fun with them. We ordered pizza and made cupcakes! The kids loved helping mix the batter and then they patiently waited for them to bake and then the fun began! They got to ice their own cupcake and decorate with sprinkles!

We also set up the sprinkler and the kiddie pool for them to play in! We sugared them up, so we had to wear them out some how! They loved it! Who doesn't love a sleepover that also throws a pool party!

Joshua chowing down on his decorated cupcake! There were so many rainbow sprinkles on that cupcake!!

Aubrey enjoying her cupcake!

Joshua piling on the sprinkles!

I gave them spoons to lick the batter with, but little fingers grab alot more.

They were loving this! When I went to take the bowl away, they each snuck in one last swipe of the bowl!

See they started off with spoons!

After the pizza, cupcakes and swimming fun; it was time to get ready for a movie! What's a sleepover without a movie and popcorn! The movie of choice was Curious George! They watched the movie and then it was time to go to sleep because the next day would be even better, because that was the day we met Jeff and Brittney and went to Seaworld!!

Another Fun Filled Weekend!

This past weekend was another busy, but fun one! Our little family...

...along with this wonderful family(The Madl's)


went to what some people call the greatest place on earth; nope, not Disney World, SEAWORLD!

While I wouldn't quite call it the greatest place on earth, it was sure fun!! It was the kids first time, and I don't think us adults had been since we were about 7 or 8! So, we all got to experience it for the first time with our families. I think Brittney and I were more excited than the kids! Yes, it was hot, but we all still had a great time! I am still recovering from the fun filled weekend, so this is a short blog post, but I will bring you the fun filled weekend this week, probably in parts, because so much happened!! I remember going as a kid and being "wowed" by the shows, and it was great to make my own memories with my family! More to come...

Water Weekend!

The temperature outside is just scorching, even at 10 in the morning! The only good thing about the temp is that we get to spend alot of time in the water. This weekend was definitely a water weekend. On Saturday, after Joshua woke up from his nap we decided to go to a city pool that is divided into 3 sections: A wading pool with shooting fountains, and fun climbers and slides for little ones, the next section is a about 4 ft deep and has a giant slide that you can go down and the last section is 6-7 feet deep and has some other fun activities. We stayed in the wading pool of course. Joshua loves going there and always sleeps so good that night! We were there for about 2 or so hours and then we went to Freddy's Burgers and Frozen Custard for dinner! It is new to Round Rock, and it is pretty good. Their fries are great!! We didn't get any frozen custard, maybe next time! On Sunday, we decided to start our water fun in the morning instead of the afternoon. So we loaded up and drove to Brushy Creek Lake Park. We got there around 10am and there were already kids playing on the splash pad! This is a free park that has a pretty decent size splash pad. It has fountains, sprayers, and dump buckets. Joshua was a little hesitant this time around, and I don't really know why! He has been here before a few times, so why he was glued to my side, I have no idea! He did play some as you will see in the pictures below. It was a great weekend to be in the water! Don't worry, we applied lots and lots of sunscreen! So everyone was burn free!! ha! Speaking of sunscreen, there is a new sunscreen by Neutrogena (msp?) that you can use while you are wet and YES, it does work!! It cost a bit more than the other ones, but at least you can just spray and go!

This little pole that squirted out water at different heights, is where Joshua was most of the time

Of course we had to stop at the playground on the way out!

Going For A Ride

Just another evening in the Feldman House!

Happy Friday!!

Joshua says: Stay Cool and Have a Great Weekend!!

When Joshua Speaks

Joshua has been talking in sentences for a while now, but it seems here lately that they are more complete and inquisitive. He is also becoming like a parrot more and more. He literally will copy anything that you say with the same inflection and tone that you said it. He plays the "copy cat" game without even knowing that he is playing(we will keep that to ourselves, because I am sure once he knows that it is an actual game, he will want to do it all the time). Most of his copying comes when we are at the dinner table. Do you know how hard it is to carry on a conversation with an echo in the background. We are trying to explain to him that this is not very polite to do when some is talking and that if he has something to say then he needs to say, "excuse me" and wait for his turn to speak. Very hard to explain when he thinks it is so funny!

Some of Joshua's sentences are so funny and then they can also be so grown up. The sentences that sound more grown up really throw me for a loop. My baby boy is growing up way too fast! So I thought I would share some sentences that he has said lately and some conversations that go on around our house.

Joshua: "Daddy, I need to ask a question?"

Dan(with a shocked look on his face): "Ok, what's your question?"

Joshua: "nothing"

My niece, Jordan was playing around with Joshua. They were kind of teasing each other, but then Joshua had enough and the conversation went like this:

Josh: "Jordan, stop it, stop right now!" "Go sit in time out!"

Jordan (with the expression of is this really happening) "Are you serious? I am not going to time out!"

Josh: "yes, you are!" ( my mom intervenes and tells them both to stop teasing and no one is going to time-out)

Josh: "Jordan, do you hear that!? listen! Jordan?!

My, what a bossy little 3 yr old!!

J: Stay right here momma! I be right back!

Me: Ok, I will wait right here for you

J: I'm back! I'm back! (as he comes running into the room)

Random sentences:

Momma, wanna a look at the stars?

I need to pick two trains to go to school.

Where's my stool? I need my stool! (searching for it) (finds it) There it is!

Momma, wanna play trains? You can be (insert name of a train here). He always picks the train for us, we never get to pick which ones we want to be...lol

I need my swimsuit, I wanna play at the water park!

J: "I want a banana."

Me: "Ok, but you have to sit at the table and eat it."

J: " No fank(thank) you." "I want to eat it on the couch"

Me: "You can't eat a banana on the couch, it is too messy."

J: "I be very careful."

Me: "No, Joshua! You can eat the banana at the table or you don't eat it at all!"

J: "I JUST HAVE TO EAT A BANANA! uggghhh!!" (As he stomps to the table and sits down)

" I can't have to go." (when he can't go tee tee in the potty)

"Sharing is nice. I share with Andrew!"

"Ok, lets see. What should we do?"

The list could go on and on. The conversations can be trying at sometimes, but overall they are just shocking and funny! I really don't get where he gets some of these grown up words and sentences. WOW!! You never know what is going to come out of his mouth!