Dallas Zoo!

And with this last post, I'm all caught up. I've been making posts since we started the extended version of Return of the King. Oh. My. Gosh! We finished it about 20 minutes ago. Haha!

That said, this has been the coolest day in a very long time. We rode the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) out to the Dallas Zoo and it. was. AWESOME! Derek's first trip to the zoo, too. I think he really liked it! I loved seeing all the animals and was so very pleased that they weren't just lying around and that my camera took awesome pictures! Mom Heath has a lot more (since my camera died) and I'll probably add the best ones in a later post. For now, here are my favorites. Make sure not to miss the ones of Derek sprinkled in - they're hilarious!

Derek trying to eat Mom Heath's sunglasses

Mom Heath patiently showing him what glasses are for. We're on the DART here.

No, it's not a real snake.

See? There are a TON of these copper statues all over the zoo!

We took Derek into the aviary in the kid's section and the cockatiel you see on Mitch's head plopped right down on Derek's head a few seconds after we entered the aviary. Derek's hair was pretty slippery, so it opted for Mitch's cotton hat.

Cockatiel!

Naked mole rats!

Mongoose - they eat cobras!

Derek didn't realize the goat was real. He patted it and hugged it and then tried to squeeze it's ear. It flicked it's ear and Derek freaked out - he realized it was real. He didn't want to pet anymore goats.

A stuffed Alligator Gar eating Elmo. Priceless.

Gorgeous tiger!

Derek on another cool statue. He looks a little off balance because he was waving his arms around (his sign for "all done")

Awesome chameleon!

Stunning Panther Chameleon! WOW!

King Cobra - Cool!

Horned Viper

Super cool Harpie Eagle!

Derk fought and fought going to sleep. Don't worry, we laid him down in the stroller after I snapped a picture. :)

Ostrich

Zebra strikes a pose

African Elephants

I love cheetahs!

Gorgeous!

Yes, this is me feeding a giraffe. Best. Day. Ever.

Mitch thought it was cool too. Yes, we washed our hands afterwards.

Derek next to the lions. He wasn't sure what to think...

Build A Bear

Picture this: a busy store, a fluffy, fleecy puppy, two aunts and a nephew. Add it all up and you get a really good time. It was fun to watch Derek dink dink dink around the store and look at at all there was to look at.

For those of you unfamiliar with Build A Bear, it's a wonderful place where kids can go to make their own stuffed animals. You pick a bear/dog/cat/whatever they have available and then you move on to the stuffing station. You pick out a stuffed heart that has a unique tracking number in it (kind of like a microchip) and usually the Build A Bear staff member has you do some kind of silly dance and then kiss the heart before you put it in the stuffed animal. Then, the staff member stuffs the animal to the desired softness/firmness. Then you move on to a cleaning station to brush off any left over stuffing. Then you can pick out an outfit to dress your animal or (my personal preference) just go check out with a super cool stuffed animal! Thanks Nana, Aunt Amy and Aunt Valerie! And thanks to Mitch for coming with us to the mall. :)

Just finished stuffing. Derek kissed the heart all by himself. :)

Behold, Luke Dawg (and Amy and Val)! He's on the light-hearted side of the force.



At first....

but then - a happy ending!

Trip to Houston

Derek, Mitch and I took a trip to Houston at the end of March. Derek did really well up until the last hour. Then Mitch had the brilliant idea to share gummi worms with Derek. I was a little apprehensive, but it ended up giving rise to all the following awesome moments. He was so cute!!


"Touch"

Lovin' those gummi worms!

Hey!

Smile and eat at the same time... not pretty.

Derek's second ever gummi worm. I wanted to make sure I had both hands ready if he choked on the first one. lol

Derek, can you say "Dada?"

Derek, can you say "Mama?"

Playing at the Park

Took a trip to the park with some friends. Derek's first trip to a park with friends. :) He had a blast and didn't get sunburned. Yay!

Derek Newton and Derek Heath :)

I think he liked it

Going for a ride

Her mom's comment? "I'll be sure to keep an eye on him when they get older." Love it!

Definitely not having fun

Not having fun

Why is that camera in my face, Mom?

Kind of his new thing

He wants so badly to ride it

Picnic Down South

Mom Heath and Dad Heath have a piece of property south of Dallas. 5 acres, no house yet. Not sure if they plan to retire down there or not, but it's a beautiful little spot. We drove down so Mitch and I could see it and we had a picnic down there.

Learning about flowers

I think I like these...

Yep! These are cool!

Learning about hats

Nah, I think I'll pass, Dad.

Playing with his Toys

If at first you don't succeed...

...Try going backwards.

Too cute!!

His best friend

He likes to help Mommy around the house

Playing with the rocking horse at Grandma and Grandpa Heath's

Ride 'em Cowboy!!

JOB!!!

K, so it's not our end-pont, but our starting point. Mitch accepted a job as an overnight stocker working for the brand new walmart in Frisco. For those of you unfamiliar with Texas, Frisco is near us. Hehe. His employers are SUPER impressed with him and anticipate him moving through the ranks fairly quickly. He starts mid-April and the store opens in May. All I care about is that he starts getting paid in April. WOOT! This means my days will now be spent caring for Derek, keeping the house clean and looking for apartments - in that order. I feel pretty jittery but I'm so thankful that we have a job now. It pays just enough for us to scrape by if we're thrifty. Score! For those of you to whom this is a shock - join the club. :)

Deep Thinking

Julene, if you're reading this, thanks for posting this on your blog!

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us. - Joseph Campbell

Story of my life right now. I've been so caught up in what we've lost, (and still losing, more on that later) that I haven't been able to enjoy hardly anything about where we are in life right now. Except Mom Heath's delicious meals. Oh. My. Gosh! All of us are trying to lose weight, but I think I'm eating better than I ever have in my life (no offense to my Mom or Dad).

I've been worrying and stressing about so many things I went and made myself sick. Great. Let's just add to this pile. At least I've lost 5 lbs in 24 hours and, judging by the way the fever is making me sweat, I might lose another 5 before the weekend is out. WOOT!

One of the biggest stressors has been Lacey. What happened to my perfect pet?! She had less exercise when we were in Del Rio (Kal was mostly inside and she was mostly outside) and she only dug one hole there. Here, she gets walked at least every 2 or 3 days in addition to playing with Kal in the side yard all day every day and she's dug at least 5 mini craters. Needless to say, Dad Heath is not pleased but he's been so patient with us... well, with me I suppose. Mitch seems all too happy to be rehoming her and is now absolutely firm on never having another dog in the house. Kal is all weather, so he will be staying outside or in the garage during cold nights or super hot days. I think we'll have to shave him for summer. :S Man, he's going to look pitiful. lol Anyway, Mitch and I have come to the conclusion to put Lacey up for adoption. It's been absolutely horrible for me to even think about losing them, especially Lacey. She was such a doll, so good with Derek, ridiculously softer than any other dog I've ever met, and so loving. No other dog will sleep for 8 hours in a car in the backseat with a baby! No other dog has been such a good sport about doing dog training with me. Kal is a booger sometimes. He's just starting to heel consistently but if he sees another dog, even in the distance, he freaks out. Too bad it seems like everyone in Stonebridge has a dog.

**UPDATE** Lacey is so close to being in the best home ever! Just a few more days and we'll find out if she gets to stay with the neighbors across the street. How cool is that?!

Picturepalooza

Here are a bunch of pics of Derek and Mitch. Just some background for some of the pictures coming up: We decided to jokingly call Mom Heath "Mammy Tammy" and Dad Heath "Popsicle" until the kids get old enough to talk and give them their own name. Personally, I think they're super cute and absolutely original names and, considering that Derek has 5 sets of grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa can only go so far before becoming unbearably repetitive.

They love Popsicle's motorcycle!

Absolutely love his face! Priceless!

The Lipless Wonder

Apparently, babies taste like buttercream

Huh?

Mitch really did get stuck. I had to laugh. ;)

Waiting for Daddy to come back. Love the perspective and contrast