The Hodges' Happenings

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

24 Hours in Houston

We were able to surprise Dub & Pat with a quick, unexpected trip to Houston. It was short, but sweet, and we had a great time seeing Granddad & EI and Great Granddad & Great Nanny!

A four generations picture with a somewhat uncooperative Conlee!

Unfortunately, Conlee decided to get really clingy right when we started taking pictures...maybe next time we can get a picture of Conlee & her great grandparents, minus her very pregnant mom!

Conlee & Granddad before he left for work and we left for the airport...again, it was way too short of a trip, but we'll be back...and next time with Reece!

After our 2 weeks in Little Rock, we arrived in Austin to help Brent celebrate his 18th annual Lukarita! Technically, Lukarita was supposed to be "boys only" this year. But it seems having Conlee is like having the golden ticket, exceptions were made, and we scored an invite!

Gigi and Paps had so many great toys for Conlee, not to mention a new crib all set up. She was in heaven! She loved playing with Gigi and the bubble machine!

Our first night in Austin we hit up the Shuck Shack with all our Austin buddies. The McIntyres and the Fraziers joined us, along with Tyler & Mary, William, Wood and of course Gigi & Paps. I am absolutely in love with Tommy McIntyre! I think he's the cutest thing ever and am making it my mission to get he and Conlee together. I think this makes Tommy's daddy a little nervous...something about Conlee following in her mother's footsteps and being a little too much to handle!

Their first dinner date! Of course Audrey Frazier was there too, and she's completely adorable...but don't get any ideas, Audrey. We saw him first!

Audrey at her 1st Lukarita. She was one of the 5 girls who scored an invite...Conlee put her on the 'list'. I think she had a great time!

Conlee was super excited to be sitting with Paps & her daddy with the queso nearby!

Courtney & Audrey Frazier with Conlee & me! We were so sad to see the Fraziers leave San Diego, but we love having fun friends to visit when we're in Austin!

4th of July in Little Rock

We're back! We had the BEST time on our vacation! We got to see all of our grandparents, cousins and friends, and Conlee should definitely win the award for best traveler. She was such a trooper as we went from Little Rock to Austin to Houston to Denver to Estes Park...whew! I must admit I've been a little overwhelmed at the idea of getting caught up on the blog. Please forgive the randomness of some of the pictures, but it's the best I can do!

All of the cousins at Nanny & Pop's house for 4th of July weekend. It was a zoo, and it's definitely not easy getting these 4 kiddos to all look at the camera and smile at the same time, but there is no where we'd rather be!

Conlee's new BFF...Stephen's dog, Jack. He now lives with my parents, and he was such a good sport! Conlee spent her afternoons 'riding' him, petting him and trying to give him kisses.

Sweet Bauer is getting so big! He's such a good baby...I hope Reece is as good natured!

More of Conlee with her buddy, Jack...

Conlee's favorite day was when we went to the athletic club pool. She and her daddy had a great time playing in the water...and have you ever seen a cuter baby in a bikini?!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was all the quality time we got to spend with Granddad! I used to always go to Granddad's house for coffee in the morning when I would come home to Little Rock. Now that I have Conlee, he is so sweet and always comes in from his farm early to have coffee with me at my parents house. Those times are definitely the highlight of my trip!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Summer Vacation

Well, this second pregnancy is in full swing, and I've definitely let some things slide...namely my blogging! It took me about 2 hours today to play catch up with all my pictures. We really have been doing all kinds of fun things, I'm just way too exhausted at the end of the day to document any of it!

We'r'e heading out for a month-long vacation on Wednesday. We'll be in Little Rock for about 2 weeks, then head to Austin for a long weekend and Lukarita, and finally we'll meet back up with Ali and Mia at their house in Estes Park, CO for a week. All that to say, I'll be falling off the blogging radar, but I'll be back in full force at the end of July with all kinds of pictures from our travels. For all of you we're about to get to see, we really can't wait!!!

Preschool?!

I know this is the most random post, but I just had to do it. Ali and I took the girls to the church today to meet the preschool director. It's actually time to put them on the waitlist for Fall 2011! I just can't believe that I filled out a waitlist form today for my sweet baby girl. I had to take a picture almost as proof that it really happened!

I loved the director of the program, and I really think Conlee will love going to 'school'. When Ali and I introduced the girls to the woman, we told her we were church members and that our girls were in the nursery on Sunday. She said, "oh, are these the BFFs I hear so much about?!" Ali and I just started laughing...it seems their little reputations are already proceeding them. Big shocker!

She Speaks...in English!

Conlee has been talking in full sentences for awhile now...just not in English! She looks at you, rattles off paragraphs at a time, and looks so indignant when you have NO idea what she just said! Of course she's been saying mama and dada for a few months now, but today she spoke her very 1st word: Ali! It's fitting that "Ali" would be the first word out of her mouth since Aunt Ali is her absolute favorite person around. She cannot get enough of Ali! She has literally been known to pull Mia out of Ali's lap so she can crawl up in there...she's cried if I've tried to take her out of Ali's arms and put her back in mine...and when we go to the park, she takes time outs from playing just to run over and give Ali hugs. If I didn't know she loved me, I'd seriously develop a complex!

Today I was downloading pictures on the computer and she saw a picture of Ali. She got a HUGE smile on her face, pointed at the computer screen and said, "Ali!" in her sweet little voice. I tried my best to capture it here after her nap...the video is about a minute long, and her 'performance' is towards the end...just priceless!