Destin-ation Momma Birthday

{trying to play catch up around here, so the next few rounds of posts will be a little dated, but better late than never!}

last november we decided to head to destin, fl, for my birthday.  my friend wendy, who i know from my st louis days and now lives in north carolina, and her family were all heading to the beach to celebrate her brother's birthday so we decided to join the fun.  we spent just a few short days there, but it was long enough for us to decide that we could definitely get used to a little more fun in the florida sun in the future!  nick had a lot of fun playing with wendy's kids helen {they're the same age} and henry, and enjoying the sand between his toes.

all i wanted for my birthday was to have starbucks on the beach 

we got the cool parents award for not caring that they got their clothes wet!

our hotel was next to this restaurant that had live alligators & all nick wanted to do was hold him a gator.  here he is with "cupcake".

on the way home we decided to stop off for lunch in new orleans.  i've never been, and it's been on my bucket list, we were headed that way anyway, so, it was a no brainer!  we were there long enough for me to enjoy a hurricane, some beignets, take a mule-pulled carriage tour, get some beads {FROM A STORE!  get your head outta the gutter!}, and chow down on some po'boys while taking in the view of the mighty mississippi.  i would like to go back again sometime to do a little more touring, but i can officially say i've been there now!

what?  we have powdered sugar on our faces? where?!

poor little dude was plum tuckered out & crashed the second we got on the carriage

bring on the po'boys!

the mighty miss

it was quite the long drive, but way worth it!  catching up with old friends and playing at the beach is always a win-win.

xoxo ... liese f

We're Off to See the Wizard!

the dutton {& russky} cast of the wizard of oz!

 we spent halloween as we did last year...trick-or-treating with our good friends the dutton's.  sweet girlfriend blair turned 2, so they decided to have a big backyard halloween birthday party for her.  there were games, munchies, and crafts to keep all the kiddos busy, and everyone seemed to have a smashing good time!

wendy always wanted to have a full-family wizard of oz themed halloween, so we dressed the little russky as the cowardly lion.  he was so cute if i do say so myself!

lion's and tigers & blair's oh my!  hee hee hee!  here's the birthday girl with her boyfriend nick & big brother trevor.

kris was a bit tall to be one of the flying monkeys, and glenda the good witch was already being played by wendy's mom, so we decided to go out on our own and be a "pair of blue jeans/genes".  clever, no?  the other parents at the party didn't get the memo about dressing up, so we scored ourselves the funniest costume award!  woo hoo!

cowardly lion nick & tin man trevor

dorothy & the cowardly lion all set to fill their bags with trick-or-treat delights 

kris had to work at the fire station the night of halloween, so i decided to just dress up as  a SAHM! {stay-at-home-momma}

me & my sweet russky lion :) <3

we all had a blast at the birthday party, and scored a ton of yummy loot the next night trick-or-treating.  i remember going door-to-door with our neighbors growing up, and i feel so fortunate we have made such awesome friends, and have started our own traditions for the holidays!  can't wait to see how the kids all grow and compare the pictures of the years gone by!

xoxo...liese :o)

Project: Nikita Miles Alexander Johnson

i'm a little behind on my posting, as usual, however i do want to introduce you all to a new tab i've created at the top of the blog called: "2012 photo journal".  i'm going to {attempt!} to take a picture a day of nick this year to see how he's grown, and better document what the crazy guy is up to!  i've already missed one day, but with all new year's resolutions, i think we're allowed a do-over or two early on in the game!  hope you enjoy watching the russky grow with us!

here's the direct link in case you want to save it...
http://2texansandalittlerussky.blogspot.com/p/2012-photo-journal.html

xoxo...liese :o)

Summer...Summer...Summer Time!

after much consideration, i decided the quit my job to stay home with nicky for the summer.  i had been with the company for almost 7 years, and not only was it pretty dead-end, i realized that i was missing out on the most important thing in our lives...spending time with nick.  we've had quite the rocky road post-adoption - nick and i's bonding experience unfortunately didn't come as easily as expected.  we also realized that nick was going to need to start a medication regime for his recently diagnosed ADHD and anxiety, and i didn't feel comfortable relying on a stranger to update me on his progress/set-backs.  so...quit my job i did, and a fun summer we had!  we got to travel here and here and we had a lot of lazy days, hanging out with friends, and a lot of pool time.  what more could i have asked for?!

visiting daddy at the fire station

swimming lessons with best bud trevor

fun night grilling and hanging out with friends...

 church arts & music camp...                                                       more riding of horses...

quality time with girlfriend blair bear 

nicky & trevor ready to race their lego stompers...these things took about an hour to put together...3.7 seconds to fall apart!  but...they were fun for the boys none the less.

nick in a bucket...

 2nd annual 4th of july at the fc dallas game...

when ya gotta go...ya gotta go...

                                                                       

sun goes down...shirt comes off.  this kid's come a loooong way from the one who used to pull at his shorts legs to make them longer and the days of not even wanting to walk around the house sans shirt!

one smart little russky...chillin' like a villian with girlfriend blair while trevor gives them a ride around the pool

 the silly faces above definitely summarize the summer and it's awesomeness!  getting back into the swing of the school year was pretty rough.  most every day the first few weeks involved a nap as soon as snack time was over.  i don't know about the russky, but i'm so ready for the warm weather and swimming and hanging out with friends.  the daily grind of being back to work, getting up early and having the responsibility of school is a drag!  summer break 2012 can't come soon enough!

xoxo...liese :o)

Valentine's Day in Paradise

kris and i abandoned the little guy to take a trip to paradise last february.  i had pretty well recovered from my surgery and we decided to let loose!  we made a marriage pact before we brought nicky into our lives that we would always, no matter what, make time to take an "adults only" vacation.  i kinda felt guilty leaving the little russky behind since this was our first long trip without him, but i quickly got over that once i had a nice beverage in my hand {thanks to my brother who knows how to pick up visitors from the airport in style!} and the sand between my toes!


we hung out with family and friends, ate, drank and were merry for a week before we headed back to reality.  here are some snapshots of our craziness in st thomas, norman island {woo hoo for willie t's!}, and jost van dyke {where colbie callait began stalking us...seriously...we met her there & then she followed us was at dinner at the same restaurant as us that night!}.  i love to travel and altho it's not exactly across the pond, being in the british virgin islands is the next best thing to actually being in another country for now...plus...it's the beach...and who doesn't love the beach?!  we love it so much down there, we just planned our next trip for february 2012!


day one of fun...hanging out at the beach house...

 3 "men" on one paddle board...do i even have to state the obvious that there was copious amounts of adult beverages involved?

me taking my turn on the paddle board...what you can't see is kris behind my board...i'm afraid to be in the open water alone, so in case i fell my super-stellar hubby hung out in the water waiting for me <3

pop taking his paddle board turn...he actually went before me...i figured if my 63 year old dad could do it, i could do it!

 evening of day one...yummy food and then night at the fat turtle for some crazy dancing!

 my brother's friend travis, brother brent, & the hubby...hot men ready to party

me hanging with the gals before heading out

me & the hubster at the fat turtle.  as you can tell...i got me a little sun!  i had to resort to a ball cap & long-sleeved shirt for a lot of the rest of our sun time :o(

day 2...big beach house bash...

my "little" brother enjoying the fact that he can pick me up and pretend to launch me into the drink

my family all gussied up :o)

day3...boating to the british virgin islands...

 photo op at st john...pre "potty break"

high five after jumping off the willie t!  afraid of heights or not...i was gonna do it... after the 3rd time i kinda strained my neck, so that kinda ended that!

 view looking down sandy cay with tortola to the east

hmm...wonder what kris is doing waaaaay out there in the water all alone while we're all on shore? {jost van dyke} 

our first encounter with colbie callait...{soggy dollar bar...try the pain killer drink...trust me!}

at some point my silly brother commandeered my camera & started taking random pix...here are a few i can actually show :o)

um...i think travis, kris and i were pretending to be "charlie's angels"?  there are too many things i could say about that...

apparently kris & i had a great story we were telling

the rest of our trip was spent lounging at the beach and pool, soaking up the sun, spending time with family and with no worries about having to "parent" anyone.  don't get me wrong...we missed the little guy, but it sure is nice to take a break now and then!

xoxo...liese :o)