Wesley's First Bike!

Today Wesley got his very first bike, a Radio Flyer tricycle, and a helmet. He is on cloud 9 and I'm sure dreaming about it at this very moment (it's almost 10 pm). Here are a few pictures of him enjoying his first ride in our driveway.





A little boy and his bike, such a sweet thing! BTW, here is a view of the front of our house. This is about the extent of my fall decorating so far, the wreath on our front door. I've gotta get with it!

Craft Project

I've been itching to begin a new craft project and found some wonderful inspiration on Etsy. I've been couponing to get the best deals on my supplies and I was finally able to get the time this evening to begin.



So, the pictures aren't great but you get the general idea. These two little hair clips will be going to a friend who just hand her second baby girl. The Heart & Dots hair clip is for her older daughter (can't send a gift without including a sibling gift!), and the little one with the floral print and button is for the baby.


I haven't worked out yet what method is best to keep the baby barrette in place. I've heard that using Kyro (sp?) syrup works, but I'm leaning toward using a fine velcro.

I have some other great ideas that I'd like to try to replicate. Hopefully more to come! :)

National Free Museum Day - Our Time at the Houston Museum of Natural Science

We took advantage of the free National Museum Day and visited our local Houston Museum of Natural Science. This was Wesley's first time seeing dinosaur bones. It was great, but VERY crowded!

Getting Connected

It has been very difficult to find the time to make phone calls, visit different groups, check out some of the local birth centers, etc. with Mr. W on my hands all day. But this week I finally got away on Tuesday evening and attended one of the few remaining Houston B.I.R.T.H. Fair preparation meetings. The 9th annual fair is scheduled for Saturday, October 2nd and will feature discussions on vaccines, pregnancy nutrition, breastfeeding, schooling choices, doulas, babywearing, waterbirth and more, and will be showing The Business of Being Born. In addition to the Fair, B.I.R.T.H. is also organizing four performances of the play Birth.

I'm so excited that we arrived in Houston in time for this, I can't tell you!!!! I'm already committed to volunteering at two of the four performances of Birth and I'll be working at the Greater Houston Doula Association's vendor booth at the Fair! Yeay, so much fun to come and I'm so excited to be meeting my new tribe in our new city!

Upside of Moving...

Although we've had plenty of challenges with this move (i.e. no a/c when we arrived, two flooding incidense, getting utilities re-established - ugh!) there have been a few perks. One significant one is our new washer and dryer. I know, it's not until you're a real adult that this kind of stuff excites a person, but I'm there and I'm so excited!! So, here's our new washer and dryer. :o)


I did quite a bit of research before deciding on a Whirlpool Cabrio. It's fantastic!!

Houston, We've Arrived!!

So sorry it has take me forever to post on our blog. We are no longer the Stanglin's in Dallas but we are now the Stanglin's in Sugar Land. I'll post pictures of the new house (albeit still with boxes) and of our other trips to local spots.

Day Trip to Galveston

Well, I guess one of the perks of living so far south is that we're very close to the beach. So a couple of weekends ago we decided to take a day trip to Galveston. Below is the photo journey of that trip. :o)

Jeff chasing Wesley through the water. We had quite a time keeping him from running into the waves. We didn't plan on going swimming, rather just walking in the water, but Wesley changed those plans pretty quickly! Good thing I packed an extra set of clothing for him.

Wesley LOVES the waves! He kept having vertigo because he'd be looking down as he walked or ran, tracking the ground, except the ground was moving! When the waves would come in he would move in and when the waves would rush out he would wind up running in toward the ocean with them.

Just a beautiful day at the beach!
A picture of me (to prove I was there). This was from the pier at Murdock's Gift Shop. They have this great seating area and overlook toward the ocean. It's just stunning!
Here's another view from the Murdock's lookout point.
And since we were in Galveston we had to go by LaKing's for one of their awesome ice cream shakes.
Jeff had a strawberry shake (too sweet, for the record), and Wesley and I shared a chocolate shake (YUMMY!!).

Me and my shake.
Wesley, as you might imagine, loved the shake.
Here's a picture of some of their gorgeous chocolates. This place is amazing. Note that these are $2.5o each!
Wesley playing with the crank on one of those penny flattening machines, the ones that press another image into a penny as a keepsake.
Jeff lifting Wesley up to touch the signs along the main street.

What a fun day! We're already planning our next trip and hopefully we'll get to show Wesley some of the gigantic cruise ships that dock.