Winter, spring and a few things in between

Here we are almost half way through April and all I keep thinking is where did February and March go, and surely my baby boy isn't turning two in a few months. Since the start of the new year each day feels like we navigate through it at the speed of light, which I guess is a good thing, but as I mentioned before it has also become a frightful reminder that Braedan is only growing more and more. So just as quickly as our days and activities move along, I too will attempt to swiftly sum up the highlights of what we've been up to.

Our first winter in Texas was pretty uneventful compared to some of the snow and ice we witnessed during our time in Chicago, but at the beginning of February a "winter storm" decided to head our way making it seem otherwise to native south Texans. On February 4, we were part of a historical event in San Antonio--its first snow fall in over 26 years. Thankfully the snow was gone by that afternoon giving us the green light to mosey on down to the rodeo for Braedan's first taste of the cowboy way of life. While there he rode a pony for the first time and got up close and personal with other farm animals.

Viewing these pictures brings the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" to mind, because when I look back at these photos I will always remember what took place right before the shots were taken. Although Braedan looks to be enjoying himself on the pony, a few short moments before I took this picture he was crying and hesitant about being placed up there. What you don't see is me trotting alongside him continually reassuring him that it was ok and the fun part of the ride would begin in no time. Thankfully he calmed down and got into the ride, even bouncing a couple times to make his pony "giddy up." It's funny because while he was a little scared at the start of the pony ride, he certainly didn't seem to mind the friendly tap on the shoulder from the goat in the above picture.

During that same weekend, we cheered on the Green Bay Packers during their Super Bowl win and Braedan boogied on down during the entertaining halftime show. Over the last month it seems as though Braedan learns and says a new word everyday, and for a while now he has been into copying and imitating a lot of what we do. While watching the Black Eyed Peas perform at halftime, he picked up some new dance moves from his Tia.

March and the start of spring mean two important things to me -- nice weather to soak up and Fiesta in San Antonio is just around the corner. At the end of March our little family made a trip to St. Mary's University to celebrate its Alumni Weekend and for many of us, it's a little teaser of what's to come at Fiesta. During that visit Braedan indulged in a Fiesta food staple, his first chicken on a stick.

March and April in Chicago never quite lived up to their status as spring time months so it's been a nice change of pace to have the opportunity to spend so much time outdoors lately. One thing we have adjusted to is high wind gusts, which I learned is a normal thing down here for this time of year. But I tell you what, I'll take warm winds blowing us over any day over the possibility of snow showering us during this time of year.