iPhone picture dump

it's that time again... if y'all aren't on instagram, you really should be. I love it. It makes your okay pictures look so much better! My user name is carriewilliamson--follow me!  I am so original in my user name. 

First picture: how amazingly cute is this little guy? This is Andrea's baby, Wells, and I think this is seriously one of the most adorable pictures I have ever seen.  I am obsessed with his little smile!!!

This one...he just doesn't quite get the whole concept here....

We took Hank to Petsmart to get a little bath.  The boys were chatting on the way there....

And this...is how I go to the bathroom these days.  With all three boys hovering...

I ran into a restaurant to pick up lunch the other day.  Andy saw the bowl of lemons to go in drinks and he started pointing and asking for one.  I told him repeatedly that he wouldn't like it and he wouldn't want it.  He insisted, so I said FINE.  I gave a slice to him and he ate.the.whole.thing.  Literally did not flinch.  I worried about him swallowing the rind, so I stuck my finger in his mouth to get it all out.  Crazy boy!

We went over to Chris's house this week to celebrate Catherine's birthday with the cousins.  Her birthday party was while we were out of town, so we got to help her celebrate here! These cousins LOVE each other!

Cal's soccer season is under way and Andy is enjoying practice time as much as CalBoy is!

Happy little kid with his crown...

And that turns into a meltdown in 2.4 seconds...

While we were at Chris's house, we left lovie there-- unbeknownst to us.  Maggie, his dog, picked it up and walked off with it.  I turned our house upside down looking for the thing.  I called Trader Joes, I called the gym, I cleaned my car multiple times.  Andy is in love with this thing and he was so sad to not have it.  He walked around looking for it saying, "Lala?? LaaaLaaaaa!!!!" It was killing me.  In a last ditch effort, I text my brother asking about it and he wrote back, "oh yeah, that's here." Such a typical guy! Here is Andy looking under the bed for his lovie for nap time...

We had Cal's second soccer game this weekend.  It was the team's third, but he missed a game while we were in Texas.  He actually did really well! He dribbled the ball a ton and scored three times! Two of the times were in his own goal, but whatever.  We were excited for him and he was thrilled! One time, he dribbled down the field in the wrong direction-- scored on his own goal, then ran out doing the gangham style dance.  Seriously, y'all.  I took a video, but it isn't uploading.... 

We got lovie back and washed him since he spent some time outside with Maggie and when we gave him back to Andy, he was SO SO SO happy! He didn't stop smiling and hugging him!

Saturday afternoon, we had a birthday party at the gymnastics place.  Both boys got to go, so it was Andy's first time there.  They both had a ball... Cal is on the opposite wall, stacking blocks, and Andy just jumped in...

Andy was hamming it up for my friend Ashly's camera.  She sent me these of the wild one...

And, the little guy wearing daddy's hat this morning..

it is COLD and rainy here, but it has been a pretty great weekend! We went to church today and plan on spending the rest of the day watching basketball!

 

Andy lately

As I have said in the past, I try to keep it very REAL on my blog.  There are a ton of wonderful things to write about, but to be honest, there are a ton of hard things too.  Right now, Andy is HARD.  Well, not all the time.  Sometimes he can be just as sweet as can be.  He loooooves his momma and loves to run around and play!

He also loooooves to scream as loudly as he possibly can when we are in the car...or in a store...or any other point of the day...

We are in the midst of the TERRIBLE TWOS.  And they are, my friends, quite terrible. 

He isn't always awful.  But when he is, it's like he is trying to win an award for the loudest, most poorly-behaved child in America.  And, I would, hands-down, grant him this award. 

He has a mind of his own and if he doesn't get what he wants exactly when he wants it, a melt down follows.  I think a huge part of this is the language barrier.  He is figuring out how to express himself and when I am not fully understanding what it is that he wants, he just loses it! He also loses it any time he is strapped down-- in the car, in a restaurant, in a stroller, in a shopping cart.... the kid will let you know how unhappy he is with you. 

I try to keep a sense of humor about it all-- because honestly, what else can you do? (although I did break down and cry on Tuesday because he seriously screamed at the top of his lungs-- not exaggerating-- for five hours straight. My mom called at 9 and heard him and then we talked again around 1 and he was still screaming....she was in shock).  So, in order to help with the sense of humor, I have been taking pictures of him.  You can see in these pictures what a strong-willed little boy he is. 

As both of my parents have pointed out (with smiles), he is soooo me.  Apparently, I acted similarly to this when I was little.  Whatev.  I don't believe it.  I was an angel. I never cried, much less screamed. 

I guess, as they say, karma is a bitch..... here's evidence....

 he insisted on pulling this suitcase through the airport.  he looks so big here...and SO SO determined. 

 andy makes going through security interesting.  this was on the way to texas.  on the way home, right as we were about to walk through the screeners, he took off in a dead sprint away from me.  i was barefoot and my pants were falling down since i took off my belt.  andy felt like these security bins were the perfect seat for him.  and he refused to get out of them.

 once we landed in texas, we were in the baggage area.  he threw baby on the carousel and then went after him.  i must have pulled him off of this thing 50 times.  he thought it was awesome.  of course it is dangerous...that's why he loved it, i am sure.

 there are tons of awesome walking trails by eddie's parents house.  i asked andy if he wanted to walk and see the waterfall one afternoon after naps (he woke up on the wrong side of the pack n play).  we got about 20 yards down the trail and he stopped and said screamed NO! So I said, okay, let's go back the other way. again, he screamed NO! so, i offered to go back towards the waterfall.  he then threw himself on the ground in a pretty intense tantrum.  there were people walking by and bikers passing.  i just smiled and waved and said, "he'll be two in may." since that seems to explain it all.  i could have attempted to pick him up, but i knew it wouldn't be pretty.  there would be kicking and flailing, so i let him wear that part out a little. 

 in texas, andy would walk into patty's pantry every single morning.  he would find the fruit snacks or raisins and squat down to try to eat them.  he always took some of this animals in there with him.  if we didn't open the food for him right away, he would become furious with us.  the boy likes this food. 

In the DFW airport, there was a person taking a snooze.  Andy did not want to leave this person alone.  Not sure what he was thinking, but I was afraid he was going to go try to wake the person...or tackle him.  

Again, the boy looooves his momma.... so i think i get the brunt of most of his temper. plus i am around him all the time, so i am the one dealing with him 99% of the time. 

This picture of him eating his happy meal just makes me so happy.  he was so worn out, but so content to munch on those apples.

speaking of eating. yesterday, i ran into a restaurant to pick up lunch. andy spied the lemon slices cut for iced tea.  he started demanding one.  i explained to him that he wouldn't like it and it is very sour.  he didn't care.  he took one and put the ENTIRE thing in his mouth.  rind included.  he chewed it all up-- and was about to swallow when I stuck my finger in his mouth and got it all out.  he didn't even flinch or make a funny face.

 This little guy can be SO SO happy one minute...and then falling on the ground screaming the next. 

 today, one of his classmates brought in their baby sister for pick up.  andy was enamored.  he could NOT leave her alone.  he wanted to stare at her and rock her and touch her.  little does he know, his CRAZY behavior is not much incentive to have another! HAHA!

Andy, finally.... proof what an angel he is in the car.... good thing this doesn't have volume, right???

As my sweet mom says, this too shall pass.  Holy smokes, y'all.  Here's hoping to it passing soon!

Happy Friday!


 

A Texas Wedding

We left last Tuesday for Texas for Eddie's sister's wedding.  We spent the week out there before the wedding doing lots of fun stuff.  Of course, I took a million pictures.

Other than a very brief delay, we had no traveling issues getting out there.  The boys were fine-- neither one slept, but they were both troopers.  There are a ton of pictures here, so I am breaking it down by days there...

Wednesday:


Visiting with Moose before heading to Tricia's final dress fitting with her...

After playing at a park and a yummy dinner, a bath was much needed! The matching jammies came from Grandma!

After the boys went to bed (read: passed out cold), Tricia's future inlaws came over for a visit.  The bride and her groom opened a few gifts...

Thursday:

Helping Mimi cook...

Time to ride on the train!

Nugget had his lovie (or Lala, as he now refers to it) for the whole ride.  He had a bit of a tantrum at one point and threw lovie off of the train.  Thankfully we were close to the parking lot when this happened and we were able to retrieve it pretty easily.... lord, help me. 

Cal held Tricia's hand for the ride...

Thursday night, we headed down to the stock yards to meet my parents for dinner. 

Andy was...well, TWO that night and he was NOT having it at dinner.  He was in very rare form, which says a lot for this man.  To say he was awful would be the biggest understatement of the century.  He was throwing stuff, screaming, throwing himself on the floor in a rage... you name it.  I was READY to get the heck out of there! My sweet sister in law, CB, kept shoving my margarita over to me-- she knows me well! Ha!

On the way home, the screaming was pretty much out of control.  Both kids wanted to hold my hands, which was pretty impossible from the front seat.  So, I hoisted my big ol' booty on into the back seat and made everyone happy.  (do I look exhausted? because I feel it)

Friday:

My mom and I hosted the bridal luncheon on Friday at noon.  We had it at a super cute restaurant that Patty picked out and it turned out really well!

Heading to the luncheon...

The favors...

The gifts from the bride for her girls...

All the mommas: my mom, mother of the bride, mother of the groom, and mother of the wild things...

Mother of the bride and groom

Tricia gave each girl a football jersey-- how cute is that? We each had a number on it with our names on the back.  Tricia had one too, but left it at home, so we did the full group shot with her on the actual wedding day (below)...

All the girls...

Friday night was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner...

Heading into the church...

The bride and groom!

Eddie got to walk his mom down the aisle...

The Carries....typical. 

The rehearsal dinner was at a Mexican restaurant, La Familia.

Eddie's dad was having a HARD time giving his youngest daughter away.  We all love Tommy, but I think it's hard for any day to let go.  Well, he was tearing up right and left.  Eddie gave a toast and gave him...

...a "holster" with tissues attached

The margaritas were...flowing.  And my head was hurting the majority of Saturday....

 

Saturday: wedding day!!!

I couldn't find Andy Saturday morning and then heard voices outside.  He and Poppy were blowing bubbles together.  I think these are just about the sweetest pictures ever...

I think Andy had to come in to blow his nose...

Grandparents from both sides came over for lunch on Saturday.  I took a TON of pictures of the grandparents with the boys.  I love this one... everyone looks so happy!

Cal was really shy Saturday morning....Andy was mister ham.  He was putting on a show-- but in a good way! He was bring a character and walking up to everyone and performing constantly.  Cal was totally overwhelmed by everyone. 

The Williamson boys...

Four generations of Calvin Edwin Williamsons.  I wish Cal's hand wasn't in front of his face.  I tried to get him to move it, but by then, everyone was over pictures!

All of the bridesmaids came over in their jerseys for some pictures...

The boys were watching and literally could NOT wait to get in this picture.  As soon as we got the group shot, I said, "okay, you guys can get in," and they both RAN over as fast as they could to pose with the group...

After we cleaned up things at the house, some of the bridesmaids set out to get our hair done for the wedding!

My finished product...

The Carries...

Our bride!!!!!! You can see the cowboy boots in the background... we all changed into boots after the ceremony!

The Williamson Family...

Me and mom and the reception...

Being the huge TCU fans that they are, they had Super Frog at their wedding!

After a very fun week, it was time to head back to the airport.. of course, I was in the backseat holding both hands.  There was no one in the front seat....

It is tiring traveling with two kids.  Not just the actual act of flying.  The act of sleeping elsewhere, where neither boys sleeps as well as they do at home.  I slept with Cal on an air mattress and he was a WILD sleeper.  I was up multiple times a night with him.  Andy, who always takes a 4 hour nap, barely ever napped over 2 hours.  Which, I am thrilled he even napped, and two is great.... but when he is used to 4, cutting that back it tiring! Cal also was up and ready to roll by about 6am.  All of those factors on top of a really fun wedding...all makes for some worn out people!

Andy was about to fall asleep in the airport eating the apples from his Happy Meal.  I thought for sure he would sleep on the plane...

But he didn't....at all.  He was wild.  And crazy.  And ornery. 

But, we made it home! And we got all of our bags.  We made it easy on the airlines by forgetting one of our bags at Eddie's parents house. Whoops.  Thankfully, my parents were coming home on Monday, so they brought it home with them! That could have been bad...

It was a fun week celebrating Tricia and Tommy!