Things to do when it's HOT outside:

#1. Make some Watermelon Granita. It is seriously delicious and so refreshing on a hot day.

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
4 cups (1 3/4 pounds) cubed seedless watermelon (from a 4-lb. melon)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Preparation
Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into a 9x9x2" metal baking pan. Freeze mixture for 1 hour. Stir, mashing any frozen parts with the back of a fork. Cover and freeze mixture until firm, about 2 hours. Using a fork, scrape granita vigorously to form icy flakes. If you want it can be made 3 days ahead just cover it tightly with foil and keep frozen. Give it a quick scrape before serving.

#2. Spend some time reading books.


#3. Go to the pool as much as possible. We probably go to the pool 3-5 times a week. I'm so thankful that we have a community pool! My Dad visited recently and we went to the pool with the kids. My dad was a great swimmer/diver growing up so he was so happy to see Brooks in the water and swimming so well.


#4. Visit your local waterpark. We went to Volente Beach here on Lake Travis with Team Hancock. Brooks LOVED going down the big slides. The tunnel slide was his favorite. I think he just really enjoyed being able to do the things that Bryan and Dawson and Megan were doing. Here's Brooks and Dawson in the pool after coming down the slides (the water isn't dirty, it's just lake water):

Laney was such a trooper. Well, actually, she was a little grumpy due to a cold and some teething pain plus she was going with no nap (it was kind of hard for her to nap when it was 105 degrees outside). But, she had her happy moments being passed around. She especially enjoyed her time with her Daddy:

The kids were wiped at the end of the day:


#5. Explore a museum. My mom was in town and we left Laney behind and took B to the Children's Museum in downtown Austin. He had a great time going from room to room getting his hands on all kinds of fun things.
Serving Gammy some food:

Brooks and Gammy pulled on the rope to launch a pig on a parachute:

Learning letters with Mommy:

He even made a rocket out of all kinds of scraps:


#6. Play ball inside. I hate that it's too hot to go to the park, but Laney and Daddy pitch the ball to Brooks in the living room instead (it's become a nightly event). Everyone was quite entertained.



#7. Clothing is optional. If you haven't figured that out by all our summer pictures then you haven't been paying attention. Brooks is usually running around the house in his underwear and Laney is crawling behind him in her diaper. It's too hot for real clothes.

Mini-Vacy Part 2

After our Team Hoffman trip to San Antonio we met up with the rest of the family at The La Cantera Resort. That meant lots of cousin time and lots of swimming for Brooks. It's always so great getting together with all the family: That's Birdie and Scoops + the six adults + twin boys + two five-year olds, one three-year old and the peanut = 14 Happy Campers.
This is what we looked like waiting in the hallway for our room keys:

Brooks and Laney spent some time before the pool wrestling around on the bed:

And after my kids napped they got to join the crew down by the pool:

The hotel had a huge fire pit and provided all the goodies for the kids to make s'mores (which Brooks thought was totally cool, but unfortunately I forgot my camera to capture that memory). There was also a huge movie screen outside once it got dark and the kids stayed up late a bit to watch "Gnomeo and Juliet". The next day was spent entirely at the pool. Birdie and Scoops made sure to get a picture with all the grandkids before getting in the water:

Then...it was pool time:


Brooks has spent a lot of time this summer swimming and he's gotten so good. He swims totally by himself: kicking his feet, using his arms, taking a breath when he needs it, and treading water. I'm so proud of him.
Here's the little fish in action:

As if swimming, s'mores, and movies weren't enough, the hotel also had a tennis court full of inflatables. Brooks and Brodie played over there a bit, too:

It was a totally fun weekend with the family and a great way to wrap up our summer fun because school is starting soon:(

Team Hoffman on a Mini-Vacay

Well, with all the running around and visiting friends/family that we've done this summer, we thought it would be a good idea to have a little getaway...just the four of us. It was Chad's idea - and it was a great idea! We had such a wonderful time just hanging out and exploring some of San Antonio. It makes me so happy thinking and dreaming about all our future family vacations: All the places we will see, activities we'll do together, all the junk food we'll eat, and all the nights in hotel rooms, etc. We got up Friday morning and drove down to San Antonio and headed to The Children's Museum.
His favorite part was flying the plane.


We were his passengers.

Brooks and Daddy acted as paleontologist.

Laney had a great time just watching...

...and she also got to play a little in the "toddler" room.

Laneybug just practicing her ballet skills.

And even at the museum, Laney could not escape her brother's love.

After the museum we checked into out hotel. We stayed at Embassy Suites because it is essential to us when traveling with the kids that we have two separate areas so when the kids are sleeping we can still hang out. Essential. The kids napped and we just relaxed. When the kids woke up all refreshed we headed down to the River Walk to sweat off a couple of pounds.

(I'm really bummed that Brooks smiles like he's in pain. We're working on it.)

Our hotel had a free happy hour with all kinds of yummy snacks so we just pigged out there and then got ready for the pool.
Brooks and Laney - together as usual.

Laney is always happy in the water.

And after a long, exhausting day there's nothing better than snuggling in a king-sized hotel bed.

Bend it Like Beckham

Brooks is having a blast playing all sorts of sports with his Daddy. But lately it's been too hot to play outside, so we've been creative inside the house. The other day Chad and Brooks spent about an hour playing soccer. Chad would roll the ball to Brooks and he would kick it back. Literally...an hour.

We would "label" Brooks' kicks: AWESOME or LAME. So, eventually he caught on and whenever he missed or didn't kick it hard enough he would say, "Oh, that was lame."
LAME:

AWESOME:

I think Brooks pretty much has the same form as Beckham, right?!

Check out his intense face with every kick!


And then Chad started making all kinds of funny noises and yelling, "STRIKE" in his loudest umpire voice. Brooks thought it was hilarious and spent a good amount of time cracking up.

Laney just spent the hour crawling around the intense soccer game. She had a good time too.

I love that we can have so much fun without even leaving our house.
I love my family:)

9 Months Old

My 9 month old baby girl would not sit still in the chair for a picture. Instead she thought it would be a good idea to wiggle around, eat her toes, and climb on the chair. I tried.




At the doctor's office...

...and the results are in...
Height:29 inches, 90%
Weight:16lbs 9oz, 10%
The funny thing about these stats are that they are identical to Brooks'. At 9 months Brooks was 16lbs 7oz and 29 inches. Laney still looks so petite because she's so long and skinny, but really she's a pretty big girl. When they compare her stats on the "growth curve" she's being compared to full-term babies. The doctor said that if we adjusted that according to her actual due date she would be off the charts for her height and 25% for her weight. Point being said, she's growing and developing unlike a preemie. Awesome.

Current Menu: Laney is currently enjoying broccoli bites, bread, Cheerios (a staple in her menu really), peas, any sort of fresh fruit pieces, applesauce, yogurt, black beans, and we're trying to give her other little pieces of food. She's eating a pretty equal mix of pureed food and small pieces that she feeds herself. She's doing really great picking up her food, so hopefully she'll start to eat more by herself because I"m not that big on feeding her all the pureed food.

Daily Summer Schedule: Laney is up between 7:00-8:00, but she usually finds her paci and calms down enough so that I wait and go in around 8:00, or sometimes later if I fall back asleep. She nurses and then plays with Brooks while I make them breakfast. Then she's down again, sleeping from 10:00-11:30 or 12:00. She nurses again and then eats lunch and plays with Brooks. Both kids are down around 2:00 and Laney sleeps for another 1.5-2 hours. She nurses again and then it's play time until bedtime. She gets a bottle around 6:00 or 6:30 followed by dinner, playtime, bath, and bed.

Her Personality: She is a ham. She dances all the time when there's music playing. She does the little head shake move, but she has also started rocking her body back and forth when she's crawling to show her moves. She smiles at everyone and is happy 90% of the time. She is happiest with her family, especially Brooks. They play together most of the day. I think Brooks will be sad when they go back to school and Laney goes to her own school. She can really stick out her bottom lip. When I tell her no or when a "toy" that's not really a toy is taken away she spends the next 5-10 seconds contorting her face and really showing off her pouty face. It makes me laugh every time.

Something New:
Two teeth. I told you those would come in this month. They are so adorable. She bit me once while nursing. I flicked her lightly on the forehead. She cried and it never happened again. I tried to get an adorable picture of her new teeth and I got this picture instead...

The girl pulls up on everything. The only problem is she doesn't always know how to get down. The other day she started crying and I looked to see what was wrong and this is what I saw...

Like a good mom, I took a picture first and then rescued her. Moments later I looked up and saw her climbing on Brooks' chair. So again, I took a picture. Brooks thought he needed to be in the picture, too.

*I realize this makes me look like a bad mom because I'm never "watching" my children. These instances happened when I was cooking. I swear I keep an eye on my kids...most of the time.

Time with Brooks:
Laney and Brooks love to cuddle before bed time. It's so sweet.

They love to play together. I keep telling Brooks to go play with his toys and he always says, "No mom. I just want to play with Laney." Recently they have been playing in the tent a lot. Look closely at the picture and you can see Laney with a big smile on her face. They love each other so much!


Laney gets one bottle for dinner, and Brooks is good at helping.

Time with Mommy:
Laney and I have a special bond (obviously), mainly because we've always spent that intimate time together while she nurses. Going back to work makes me so sad because we're going to lose that. At night is my favorite because she falls asleep in my arms afterwards and we just cuddle for a few minutes. I know that isn't going to last forever so I'm really taking the time to enjoy that for now. I don't know if Laney is really saying "mama" for sure, but when she's looking for me she crawls around saying, "mamamama" until she reaches me and starts climbing up my legs to get my attention or until I pick her up and comfort her. That counts, right?

Time with Daddy:
This time usually involves lots of laughing. Daddy can always make Laney laugh with lots of rough kisses from his beard.