Summer Fun!

So this summer has been busy and fun. We are trying to keep busy...especially Mavrick and I. Lots of swimming. We got the opportunity to go to a flooring convention just right over in Lake Charles at a Casino. Yes...it was at a casino but we didn't go into that part of the hotel. They had a HUGE lazy river, good food and it was free since it was put on by one of our flooring supply reps. So we said...why the heck not. =) Mavrick loved the lazy river and the hotel room! Holy Moly did he and little Liam love jumping on the beds. We had a little scare though...at 3 am I woke up and heard the door to the room open and close. I thought it was Ryan which I don't know why I thought Ryan would be up at 3 in the morning. But I stood up in bed and the room was pitch black and I asked Ryan if he went somewhere...then I realized that Mavrick was not in the bed! Talk about a Mother and Father's worst fear!!! Waking up and your child is not there. So Ryan jumped out of bed faster than I have ever seen him before and bolted out the door and sure enough Mav was in the hallway a couple of rooms down. He just felt like exploring in the middle of the night I guess. Luckily, everyone in the hotel was down in the Casino area so not too many people were up on our floor. Still...huge scare and lesson learned. Don't just lock but bolt the doors. =)

Thats my little boy!

View from the floor of the Great and Spacious Building we stayed at.

We have also made sure we have swam a lot. Since my current condition is "pregnant" I don't venture outside in the Texas heat very often unless I am by a pool. Haha.=) Mav is getting so good at swimming. He still uses his floaties but he is starting to be a lot of comfortable with the water and kicking. I think we are going to put him into swimming lesson next spring. He is so fearless with things once he does get comfortable I want him to learn to swim pretty quick so I don't worry so much when we are around a pool.

We are loving the summer. 

Love,

Me

Fathers Day 2012

I am so sticking behind on all my posts. So since this is kinda my journal and I cheating a little and back dating these posts of where they SHOULD be. =) Father's Day this year was a little different. Mavrick and the "unborn child" are not old enough to do anything for Daddy yet on their own so I usually do a little something something. Ryan had been wearing these shoes with a HUGE hole in them for 3 months. They looked so trashy and if you know my husband he HATES spending money on any type of clothing or apparel and is probably the most picky guy when it does come to shoes or clothing. So an intervention had to be done. I get so nervous about buying him shoes that I actually said a prayer before I went shopping to help me find some. Haha. =) Silly I know but it ended up being a success. I found some that were a pretty good brand of running/nicer shoes for him to wear and then a pair of croc flip flops. I know. I know. They are crocs but they don't look like it and they are so stinkin' comfortable. HE LOVED THEM! I have been trying to get him out of those Australian Girly ones for 3 years (and immediate family...you know which ones I am talking about) and finally I found some that he liked. This was a milestone in our marriage. =)

Second thing I ended up doing for him was making him a scrapbook of just pictures of Mavrick and him for Father's Day. Each year I plan on adding to it and as we have more kids. I love Father and child pictures and some of them are my absolute favorite in the whole world so it was a fun project. Ryan really, really liked it. I am not a scrapbooker people. The clutter, the options, the mess, the expense...I usually can't handle it. But a friend down here has a scrapbooking business and she showed me a while back how to do these one event/one design albums and they are perfect for me to do. You can see some of hers here on her blog but that is kinda what I did. Not every page was the same but I only had 3 or four page layouts that I stuck with. I look at it all the time. I was so proud of myself. Haha. =)

All the time I spent shopping and cropping was totally worth it. I didn't spend a lot but the things I gave him he absolutely loved. I might have to best baby daddy in the whole world. I really am so grateful that my children get to have such a wonderful Father. My Father-in-law is such an awesome guy so it shouldn't surprise me that he learned from one of the best. =)

That morning we woke up really early cause we were heading over to my Dad's to cook breakfast and celebrate with him. But the night before Father's Day my little brother's Jay and Jordan came over and we made cheesy little cards for him. Jordan found the funniest joke online but I can't find it. Anyway...my Dad ended up loving it. We also gave him a golfing package and the boys are going to all go play a round of golf with him sometime in the fall. I am so grateful for my Dad. I have always been kinda a Daddy's girl. He has always been so involved in my life. Its kinda funny how I married someone who is like him in so many ways. Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there.

Below are a few pictures of Ryan and Mav right when they woke up on Father's Day so don't judge the pictures to harshly. =)

Happy Father's Day!

Love,

Me

Visiting the Dinosaurs!

So this past Saturday we went to "Visit the Dinosaurs" and can I just say that it might have been the best $40 we could have spent?! This kid is OBSESSED with Dinosaurs at the moment. Mavrick was in heaven!!! It was worth every penny to see him say "Wow" every 5 seconds and chase him from exhibit to exhibit. I love our little boy. Ryan was trying to read everything and finally we gave up on that cause it was kinda curbing his excitement so we let him down and he went NUTS! Just running from exhibit to exhibit saying "WOW! WOW! WOW!" and pointing. He was so cute too when he would look at other people around him who were not quite as excited about the Dinosaurs as he was and start pointing and jabbering to them like he was saying "Do you see that?!". Also when he would beat us to the next exhibit he would look for us and say "Dad! Look! Whoa!"

Like I said...Money well spent. =) Below are a few pictures of our little Jurassic Adventure. 

 

Love,

 Ryan, Kayla & Mavrick LeBaron

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

Memorial Weekend has always been a big deal in my family. We always go up to the lake. So this year was no different. We packed up our truck and our little family and headed up to the lake which is about 1.5 hours away. Not too terrible of a drive. On the way up there we stopped at a little Trade Days/Farmers Market and let Mavrick ride his first pony. =) He didn't really know what to think of it once he got on. But I figure it was a good $5 well spent for some cute pictures. 

 

We finally made it to the lake. And this time we rented some cabins and a trailer. It was so nice to have beds, AC, a bathroom, and a place for the babies (and pregnant women) to nap. We unloaded and then headed down to the lake. Here are some pictures of us getting use to the water!

It was really nice to have everyone there. We were only missing my sister Kami and Caleb who ended up having to work this weekend but all the nieces & nephews were there which made it really fun. They also had a perfect little kid area with slides, sand area and shallow water that was roped off.

  It didn't take Mavrick long before he got use to the water, which is good and bad! Once he is use to it after 10 min he is fearless which means we have to watch him like a hawk and keep floaties on him at all times. He kept swallowing the water! It was disgusting.

 

Proof that I swam and was at the lake too. 

 I love this picture!

 

 

Mavrick was being a sissy about being on the pier with Uncle Jeremy.

 

So...Ryan is the proud new owner of a Kayak. Jeremy got one for graduation and that is all he has been talking about since then is getting a Kayak. He loves it and went out early in the mornings on the lake to fish while we were there. Happy EARLY Birthday & Father's Day Ryan! =)  

 

  We all tried it out and even had some relays. I even enjoyed using it. I despise canoes but Kayak's are a lot smoother on the water. Here are some pictures of all of us having fun with the Kayak. =) Emma and Mavrick eating some breakfast and being cute together.

Another SUPER nice conveniece was that my Dad brought his golf-cart up for the weekend. I am usually a "lets walk" kind of a girl but not in Texas heat and when I am 6 months pregnant so it was very nice to have that. The babies LOVE riding on it too so it was a god distraction for them when we couldn't go swimming in the lake. I have no clue why these two were BOTH picking their noses right when we took the picture. Haha. =) Goobers.

 

We also got to go down the road to a blueberry farm and pick some blueberries. They were SO good! We definitly want some plants in the future. These were $1.25 a pound! The store rip you off so bad it angers me. AND they are not as good. So we ended up freezing a ton and will probably go back in the next week or so to get some more.

 It was a fun and relaxing weekend away from home and lives stresses. We all got in some good vitamin D in too. Thank heavens. I was starting to glow and Ryan had the biggest farmers tan I have ever seen! =)

Sincerely,

The LeBaron Family

Mavrick turns 2!

This past Thursday Mavrick turned two! I still can't believe Ryan and I have a two year old. We are so grateful to have him and everyday is a fun new adventure. =) Here is a little recap of our day and the festivities.

We started the morning off with snuggles and a happy boy. He is like his Daddy in the mornings sometimes, kinda cranky (I didn't know that was genetic). So I was glad he woke up in a good mood since its hit and miss everyday. I bought his favorite breakfast food for him the night before: "OOOPs! All Berries Captain Crunch" He doesn't get sugary cereal in the morning very often but it was a special occasion and he was so excited!

 The rest of the day was kinda crazy. We read lots of books in the morning, cleaned the house, watched some cartoons, ran a TON of errands with Aunt Kami (thank heavens she was there), nap time, and setting up for his party. His party was a success and I think I did a really good job about not stressing out over EVERY detail that didn't happen. I have a tendancy to go overboard and do too much. Ryan says I am getting better at it so by the time my kids get married I will be so chill. Haha. Anyway...below are what his invitations looks like. I hand delivered them in case you were wondering about the actual Goldfish Crackers I put on there. I did an all blue party last year and still had a ton of things left over so I just through some orange in there. Mavrick LOVES fish! Really he loves anything boy but I had more stuff for a fish party and a dinosaur party. Haha. =)

 Menu:

Sub-Sandwiches

Watermelon

Goldfish Bar

Veggies & Dip

Chips

Blue Jello

I tried to do everything Mavrick liked, which is not much, and still keep it adult friendly. Last year we did WAY too much and made homemade ice cream, grilled kabobs,  and it was just TOO much work! I am glad we simplified it this year. It was also so nice to just have the kids swim in the little pool and play in the sprinklers while the adults chatted it up and did nothing. Below are some pictures of the party and the fun time Mavrick had. He really does love playing with other kids and people. He is a social butterfly like his Mommy so I am glad we invited other kids this year.

 

 

 

 So I had to put this picture up cause its so funny! Haha. He got into trouble for hitting Miss Annabelle on the head with his dinosaur. Sorry Annabelle...we are still working on that. =) She took it like a champ though.

Friends and family just chilling out and having fun.

 Grandpa showing Mavrick how to splash like a pro.

 Man! Does that boy look like his Daddy or what!? Same facial expression and everything!

 

Cake Time! Ryan made the shape and design of the cake the night before and my Mom decorated it for the party. They did such a good job! 

  Singing Happy Birthday & Blowing out candles!

 It was so funny...after we were done Mav points to his candles and says..."Hot. Hot."

 

Blowing out his candles and he did it all by himself! He is such a big boy!

 

Do kids do this on their second birthday or just first?

 Miss Emma who is older and more experienced, came out of no where and showed him how it was done! Haha. She is so cute. =)

 

Then Mavrick really dug into it!

 

Opening Presents Time!

Thanks everyone for bringing his gifts. He loved every one of them. =)

 

Eating cake with his dinosaur? Ok.

 Getting some quality time in with his new toys.

Mavrick loved his party and at the end of the day we had a happy tired worn out little boy and Mommy to go with it. =) We love you buddy.

Love,

Ryan & Kayla (Mom & Dad)