Wasting away a Saturday Afternoon and the New Do

Well, for everyone that wanted to see the new hair-do, I snapped a few shots Saturday afternoon.

The hair cut went well. Brenna has had her hair cut before, but only at home. The stylist that I use quit working at a saloon. She lives in our neighborhood, so now she just comes over to my house when Brenna and I need a hair cut. It works out really great for me! Anyway, I decided that I would take Brenna to a place called Snip-Its. It's a kiddo hair saloon. They have a play-area with balls, and puzzels, and cranks to turn. Then the chair has a TV in front that plays movies, with a special chair for Mom, and an animal cracker dispenser. We counted all the colors of the sucker jar while she got her hair cut. I told the lady that we were trying to grow all the layers out and to keep as much of the length as she could. I'm not sure she listened, but she did do a good job, it's just alittle shorter than I wanted. We look like the last 8 months never happened! It's just fuller than it was then. I'm still trying to come to grips with the fact that we may have short hair for several more years. Of course, she's beautiful no matter what, but a ponytail would be a nice alternative every now and then! After the hair cut, they give the kids a card to insert into the "Magic Box" which sqeaks, squels, and honks and then spits out a surprise. In her case it was a sticker!

After spending the early Saturday afternoon at a birthday party, we continued to waste the day away with some outside fun! We started off in our backyard on the playhouse.

San Antonio Get-Away

We decided to take a short trip to San Antonio for a little get-away before the weather got too warm. We got off to a rocky start. But we made the most out of the vacation, and it turned out to be a great time. I planned the trip about a month out, and originally was concerned that we may not have gone soon enough to beat the heat, as Houston was already pushing into the the 80s in early April. Turns out the heat wasn't our problem, rain was. About a week out, I started checking the weather forecast for San Antonio only to find rain, rain, and more rain. As the vacation got closer, the chance of rain only got higher. Then, just two days before we planned to leave, Brenna started to run a fever. After two doctor visits (the last being the morning we left), we got the thumbs up from the doctor that she was good to go. We struggled a little bit with symptoms while we were away, but nothing that keep us down.

Mom and Dad flew down and went with us. We left on Thursday afternoon and made the 3 hour drive to San Antonio. We stayed at the Hilton Hill Country Hotel and Spa. It was fantastic! We got connecting rooms that shared a living room with a large balcony, so we never felt crowded and Brenna had plenty of room to play. It was just across the street from Sea World and only about a 15 minute drive to downtown. The hotel was beautiful and a great place for families. The grounds were kept to match the hill country style with four huge stone fire pits that they lite each night for the kids to make smores. They play a family movie each night outdoors in the courtyard (and indoors in one of the ballrooms on rainy days). They had a playground, three pools, and a hot tub. Unfortunately, we didn't get to enjoy any of them because Brenna was sick.

Shamu garden at the hotel

Brenna's New "Big Girl" Room

Well, I guess it's official. No more bottles, diapers, pacifiers, or cribs. Brenna's not our baby girl anymore, she's our big girl! And getting bigger by the minutes (at least it feels that way, it's like she grows an inch a week!) So, after much deliberation we converted her crib to a full sized bed. Which meant, time to decorate!

Decorating her new room was almost as much fun as decorating her play room! Of course, when given a choice, Brenna wanted her room to be pink. I considered painting, which I would love to do, but since we don't really think we'll be here for more than a few years, I wanted to keep things neutral. One day I'll have a house that I can paint every room the color that I want. Until then, neutral always helps the resale! So with a pink pallet, I went off in search of the key element, the bed. I narrowed it down to 3 choices, which I emailed to my Mom and best friend. My mom chose #1, Jodi chose #2, therefore I bought #3 (ha! it just turned out that way.....) After mixing and matching, I think the final product came out pretty good. Since we didn't paint, I made an attempt to accent one wall with a border, which I thought helped break things up alittle.

Just as a reminder, here's the "Before" pictures of Brenna's nursery.

The Easter Bunny Came.........Ok

Happy Easter Everyone! We give thanks for our risen Savior!

The Easter Bunny stopped by our house this morning! However, whether it be morning sleepiness or the lack of expectation, Brenna wasn't too impressed. I forgot to talk-up the Easter Bunny this week. Before this morning, he was just the guy that dropped off the eggs! I forgot to mention that he was a friend of Santa Clause the brings sugary snacks to sweet girls and boys. Even still, Brenna took it all in stride and appreciated her chocolate, no matter what means it came by.

Brenna's Easter Basket!

Brenna's First Easter Egg Creation!

Today Brenna created her first real Easter Eggs! It was an adventure! As always, she was excited to get started!

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt!

This morning was the Long Meadow Farms 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Brenna had a great time! They broke the children into age groups and had separate sections roped off for each group to hunt eggs in. Brenna's group really didn't have to hunt too hard. They had them inside the tennis courts, with eggs scattered all over the court. They lined the kids along the fence walls and then called "Go!" Despite what appeared to be "alot" of eggs, there were even more kids and the hunt lasted less than a minute! Brenna was a scavenger though and came away with 8 eggs! The eggs were all filled with candy, which she devoured once we got home.

Brenna and Daddy before the hunt begins!

One Spring Morning!

Since it started to warm-up, Brenna and I try to get our 2-mile walk in at least 5 days a week! I enjoy the exercise and our neighborhood is beautiful along the creek and around the lake. Brenna enjoys it because we always make time to stop off and feed the ducks and play on the play-ground. This Friday I took my camera because it was such a beautiful day and I snapped a few shots!

Brenna's Gymnastics

Jacob was able to go with us to Brenna's gymnastics session today, so we got to get some pictures and video. I put together a short movie (in case I haven't said this, I love our new Mac! It's got some great features for photos and movie making). Normally, they move up to the next level at age 3, and even then not everyone is ready. Brenna is always eager to learn and with her fearlessness, it's a wonder these classes haven't landed us an ER visit. I found her flipping over the lower clothes rack in my closet one day. Brenna's coach told me 2 weeks ago that Brenna aced her spring evaluations and that she's ready to move up now. We've only been in for 8 months, so we haven't even had our first recital yet, which is schedule for mid-May. I think we'll stick with our class until then, so she can do the recital with all her friends. Then she and one of her buddies (whose already 3) will move up together!

Last Year's Vacation!

I know I shared all the photos of our cruise last year with you, but there was one video that most of you didn't get to see. Brenna loved the water slide on the cruise ship, and anytime we talk about vacation, she always asks to go back on the slide. It was a never ending cycle; up the stairs, down the slide! I'm sharing this now, because we have a San Antonio getaway planned for later in April, and she's already asking if we're going on the slide again! I hope she has as much fun on the water slides there.

Houston Rodeo - March 12, 2010

This year we decided to go to the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo. For those of you who aren't familiar, it's the largest rodeo in the United States and carries on for 3 weeks. Since we're not really a Cowboy-Up type of family, we decided to pass on the actually rodeo and visit the carnival and live stock shows instead. We left the house at 2:30 PM that afternoon and didn't get home until after 9 PM that night. We were exhausted, we walked the entire time, and still only saw about 1/3 of what was there. The carnival alone is so big that they have a sky-lift that can take you from one side to the other. Brenna had a great time! Of course I had my concerns, but Brenna is fearless, so she rode the kiddie rides all by herself.  Jacob and I joined in on a few. She enjoyed the top view of the ferris wheel with her daddy and I had my fair share of slides down the giant fun slide. Brenna actually slide by herself, but I had to accompany her to the top because I was nervous about her on the stairs. We walked so much, I didn't even feel guilty over the chocolate and caramel covered deep fried snicker I had while we were there. Yummy! Here are a few pictures from the day!

Houston Zoo - March 3, 2010

After a long and cold winter (well, cold by Texas standards), Spring finally started to peek around the corner.  To celebrate and get out of the house, we met some friends at the Houston Zoo for a playdate. The day couldn't have been more perfect, a comfortable 72 degrees with sunny skies! Brenna, Avery, and Brady had a great time, and Jamie and I enjoyed a day not spent indoors.

Brenna, Avery, and Brady ready to roll! And when the animals didn't keep them entertained, the fence climbing did!

Sesame Street Live! February 5, 2010

Brenna always enjoys Sesame Street, so when we found out that Sesame Street Live was coming to Houston, we thought it would be a great treat for her. I was alittle nervous about whether or not she would enjoy the show. Our attempts at making any of the shows during our last cruise vacation were quickly rejected when the lights when down and Brenna began to whine "It's too dark!" But, she enjoyed it more than we could have asked for. We got there about 45 minutes early, just to get settled in and check out the souvenirs! She was excited just to see that many kids all gathered together for a mutual love of Elmo! They dimmed the lights and the show began! And I'm not talking about Sesame Street, I mean the Brenna Show, she was like a one man band! She sang and danced from beginning to end!

Brenna posing with Elmo and waiting for the show to start!

The New Blog!

Hi everyone! Welcome to the McAlister's blog!

With all our family and friends being so scattered, I've been looking for a way to keep everyone connected to what's going on in our life! After trying several different methods, I think this will be the best option for rolling everything together in one place to share stories, pictures, and video. This won't be a public blog, and it will only be available to our family and close friends, so we can share comments in privacy, without the worry of who's lurking.

So, in an attempt to try to catch-up on 2010, the next couple of posts will cover what we've been up to over the last couple of months. As I post new items, I'll send out an email reminder to check us out and see what's going on! I hope you enjoy!