Rodeo and Houston Weekend

Attending the Houston Rodeo has been a long-time favorite tradition of my family since we lived there over 15 years ago. We had to miss out on last year's fun since our wee-little-one was too tiny to travel from North Carolina, but this year, we got to head on down the road to our Texan neighbors! AND for the first time in several years, the Boston Kayes joined in on the fun and all 14 current members of the Don/Judy Kaye mishpacha were united for the first time EVER! When you get that crowd together, you're bound for little sleep, much noise, and lots of great memories!

Having just arrived on Friday night, girl cousins Mira and Gabi get straight to playing.

If you look closely, you can tell how excited Craig is to be receiving his wife's kiss.

Cousins Jacob and Sammy were so excited to FINALLY meet each other!

Zayde with all three of his grandsons together for the first time

"Boys will be boys," and cousins Jacob and Noah started playing right away!

Saturday morning arrives, and everyone gets their best cowgirl smile ready!

Cowgirl Gabi is dressed and ready (even accessorized) for her first rodeo!

Uncle Jon also was excited to meet his newest nephew for the first time.

We play a little before it's time to leave:

We're on our way! Of course it starts to pour the second we get into the cars...That just adds to the adventure.



The cars took us to the train, and the train will take us to RODEO!

It's Rodeo Time, y'all!!!

Gabi wasn't sure how to feel about her first cow-petting experience.

WHEW, time for a break from too much fun.

Break's over!

Shoulder rides seems to be the way to get around.

Sometimes it's actually not clear if we all come for the animals, family, and sights....or the CINNAMON BUNS!

At first, it appears as though Jacob is gonna get/have to eat all the buns...but I'm pretty sure that even on our nicest days, we wouldn't let that happen.

Being Gabi's first Rodeo, we also get to see how she feels about her FIRST Rodeo cinnamon buns. She liked it! Such a proud momma! :)

And now for the AMAZING traditional family pictures with the paper Rodeo lady in the background.

All the cousins - cute looking bunch!

Boston Kayes

Team CohAn with their magical Rodeo hats that MAKE them smile in family pictures. POOF!

Team CohEn

the whole mishpacha

Team Gilden

In the chaos of the cinnamon buns, no one noticed the spilled water that baby Gabi sat in ---> NAKED BABY!

The family then splits in 2 groups, and 1 group takes the "big kids" to the actual Rodeo competitions.

The second group stays at the Livestock Show for a little longer with the "little kids" before heading back home. We headed to the Rabbits area, and Gabi LOVED looking at and petting some of the soft animals.



Back at the ranch the next morning, we have big and little helpers to make breakfast for everyone.

The kids eating breakfast all getting alonglylike.

After breakfast, the family sits down together to watch Nana's Surprise Birthday video!

After the Nana Birthday Video, which featured some great 80s pop song intros, we had a dance party to some more 80s pop tunes, naturally. What happened next were some FANTASTIC moments captured on camera that I hope these children will always be proud of!




Despite the drizzle, we still go outside for some scooter and wagon riding. Big cousin Mira was happy to pull her 2 smaller cousins along, and her smaller cousins LOVED riding!



We all enjoyed some more great moments of togetherness before we had to head our separate ways.



Aunt Sandi enjoys some moments with Gabi and Noah.

I may have been the first (and best) aunt to meet baby Sammy, but I sure had missed him and LOVED getting some more snuggles over the weekend in Houston.

It's time to say goodbye, and nobody does it sweeter than Noah!

JELLO!

You just don't get too much more fun than babies and jello...Unless you throw them in a bubble bath after...Then, you're bound for TONS of fun all around! Thanks to Lo for inviting us for a great playdate!

Pre-Purim Party

Aunt Syssa and Uncle Craig have been enjoying hamentashen baking parties with friends for several years now, and this year, Team Cohen got to participate...and host... With Purim coming up in just a couple weeks, it was time to get out the rolling pins, flour, jelly, and some creative fillings (S'MORES!) and get baking! We had a great time!

the bakers: Ben, Craig, Debbie, Leora, Alyssa (Gabi and Jon were supervising)

Aunt Syssa and Uncle Craig join us for dinner and bestow some upside-down sandwich kisses on their favorite Austin niece!

February 2014

After the excitement and chaos that we had in January, we all enjoyed peace and calmness in the great month of February. As with January, however, the most exciting part of this month was certainly the insane progress this 13-month-old made in her motor abilities!

She started the month scooting away, and she was just beginning to pull herself to stand. We got hard at work crawling up the stairs, building those leg muscles, which she can now do like a pro! She then got herself to hands and knees which then got herself pulling up to her knees on just about any object to reach higher plateaus. Gabi then had enough core strength to balance on her knees, able to use 2 hands to pull books and toys off shelves - way faster and more efficient than just 1 hand! She can now pull herself to stand on just about anything and can cruise across furniture, even when pieces aren't touching.

We are still working on her "exit strategy" which as of yet does not exist. Meaning, once Gabi is standing, she can't get herself down and therefore gets stuck and frustrated (especially when she stands up in the crib at the beginning of nap-time and can't lay herself back down). Our OT has recommended the use of an upside-down basket behind her to help her feel safe coming down which has started to work, and we're seeing a little more of attempted independent falls.

Gabi continues to grow cuter every single day. Her beautiful smile is contagious, and her laughter brightens up any room. She is QUITE the talker and babbler. Her favorite word now is "HI!" but will also wave and say "bye bye." She still loves "Uh Oh," and she is developing good use of sign language to communicate her needs and what she sees/understands.

First, some videos for your entertainment:

This was the beginning of her cruising. I hadn't seen her doing this even the day before!

This is what I call a 'Stair Master'!

How does your baby finish her breakfast?

Training for Gabi's first Passover with solid foods coming up in just a few months!

She's cute in the bath, and she KNOWS it!

Now that we're a big girl in the big bath tub, we needed more bath toys to play with! Thanks to Aunt Syssa and Uncle Craig for coming to the rescue with their birthday present for Miss Princess.

Mommy was trying to send pictures to Daddy at work to bring cheer to his day...

...Then, Gabi decided she wanted to be in charge of the glamour shot angles...

Playing with Daddy one day:

BEFORE

AFTER

Thank you to Aunt Erica for our great shape sorter for Gabi's birthday!

One gorgeous afternoon, we got out some bubbles and toys and had a lovely time enjoying our front lawn:

Mommy-Gabi selfies before we go out

The pitiful baby kittens keep us from making the bed...daily...

Then and Now

Just a girl, eating a banana...Can you spot any differences?

August 2013

February 2014