The making of a Christmas card.

Who knew that making a Christmas card would be such an event. Just attempting to get one picture of the whole family looking the same direction, eyes open, smiles all at the same time while holding the pose for just a 3 seconds for the camera...well for us just impossible. We had lots of fun attempting the pictures over several nights. And got lots of great candid shots, looked more natural for us anyway. Last weekend we enjoyed a carriage ride looking at lights through Papaw and Nana's neighborhood with the whole family! It was cold and those horses could really move! Sweet Pea is really into pointing out all the Christmas lights and decorations we come across. Surprisingly as curious as Cupcake is, and as a notorious climber, she has not messed with any of the Christmas tree ornaments (most are out of her reach). And thankfully we have yet to find her climbing the tree and with her track record this is a very good thing! We are looking forward to celebrating family Christmas next weekend with all the extended family. It always proves to be such a spectacular celebration that lasts all weekend long! The guys will enjoy their 3rd Annual Golf Tournament while the ladies shop and take the kids out. Can't wait to see the whole family! I will be sure to post all the excitement and remember we are currently forming gift exchange alliances!

We made a turkey!

This was our first Thanksgiving at home. L and I had a blast making our first turkey. At one point the night before I was a little grossed out when I learned exactly what I had to do to the turkey. So like always L came to the rescue and prepared the turkey. We did consult the Internet for added support! We will call it L's turkey as he did all the yucky work...wow I think it was the best turkey I have ever had! We had a blast giving Thanks with our family and celebrating Uncle E's birthday.

Sweet Pea and Papa go fishing

This is Sweet Pea's first fish! He was so proud of his fish. All day we kept hearing "fishing pole water, fish." He was trying to tell us about his first fishing "trip." The "trip" was the long walk down the drive way to the big pond full of fish. I don't think it took very long to catch this one. He had fun. Everytime he sees this picture he says "see "Sweet Pea's" fish!"

Two kids and one dog later...it has been 4 years!

It has been 4 wonderful years!
2004 - The Crescent&St.Lucia,
2005- Private Cabin in Gatlingburg,
2006-Steak dinner at home with 4 month old Sweet Pea,
2007-A night out on the town
2008-Ritz-Carlton and Nick and Sam's. This year I was surprised by "L" with a luxurious stay at the Ritz-Carlton where we enjoyed a desert tray of chocolate covered strawberry's, two bottles of Champagne (no we did not drink both...one was a souvenir!), another large bowl of strawberry's with whipped cream, elegant in room breakfast and several gifts from the hotel. The Ritz Dallas was just ranked the number one hotel in the U.S!Because a few things happened that were not up to their high standards our one night stay at the Ritz was complimentary! Wow, we really did feel like royalty at the end of our stay. Nick and Sam's was nothing less than the best. We enjoyed our four course meal over several hours. The next week on our actual anniversary I was surprised when "L" took the entire day off! I had Bible study at church that day and the kids had school, so he spent a few hours at home doing laundry! I was then surprised by a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Later that night we took the kids to Memaw's and enjoyed a quiet meal at a local little Jazz bistro. This year felt like an aniversary extravaganza!

My wobbly steps

For the past week I have been taking lots of solo wobbly steps. Tonight I decided to walk across the play room! That was 15 steps in a row before falling. I am still just under 9 months...early walker like my big brother! My teachers were very sad today...because I showed them how well I was taking my steps. In just a few weeks I'll have to graduate to the walker room. They decided they would let me get a little better as I will be the youngest/smallest walker in my new room.

Big smile for the camera! This is how happy I am to finally walk!

Quick mom get the camera! See me walk!Now I just want the camera!

Oh No! Reveille needs a diaper!

Early one morning Sweet Pea thought Reveille was missing something, after all he had a shirt on...but no diaper. So Sweet Pea ran to his room and attempted to put a diaper on Reveille. Oh No! Before he can finish Reveille has a dirty diaper and now Sweet Pea needs a wipe. So its back to his room for a wipe.

Sweet Pea gets Reveille all cleaned up. When were done, what do we do with it? We roll them up and take it to the trash............

Not if your Sweet Pea! He chunked the fake "yucky" diaper into Cupcakes room! And then he shut the door! Not sure if he was making a statement...but that is not what we do with our diapers! It was pretty funny that is what he did with his first pretend dirty diaper. I guess we know what were in for!

I want to be just like you...

During lunch time today we sat upstairs for a movie. Little Cupcake watched as Sweet Pea sat at his table enjoying lunch while she had her bottle. I guess that was really boring because she quickly gave up her bottle and tried to take his food. Sweet Pea became frustrated trying to defend his food. So I made Cupcake her own bowl of cereal and sat her at the table with Sweet Pea. Then she realized he had a cup and she only had a bottle. So it was back down stairs to make Cupcake her own cup. She had a blast pretending to eat her cereal and drink out of a cup.

What Sweet Pea is doing:

His new favorite word is not "No" but "No way"

He is talking in a lot of sentences ex: "Sherman he eat it" "Washer the car" "Here it goes dump" (playing with his dump truck)

He is trying to negotiate with us: "How about a cookie" or "How about a cracker" or "How about juice"

He tells Sherman: "No running!"

New verse : I will put on Gods armour to stand against the enemy - this one is harder. It comes out I will Gods armour against enemy

What Cupcake is doing:

Preparing to walk. She lets go of everything and stands on her own, but has not attempted to add the walking part.

She is a climber in a mater of seconds she can scale the pick nick table, slide or just about anything else she sets her eyes on.

She Babels: "Da Da" "De De""La la" and more but not "ma ma"

She waves: although never when we want her to and really she only waves to Sweet Pea

At Church Cupcake is learning how to praise and worship. Her teacher said she is often the example on how to praise. She also gets saran aided with " Jesus loves me" prayed over is learning about the Bible and learning developmentally things like her reflection. What fun she is having.

Happy Harvest!

Fall is here and what a way to celebrate.....with a festival! As a family we decided not to participate in Halloween any longer. A personal decision the Lord led us too. But we can still celebrate the return of Fall! Sweet Pea was a cute turtle who refused to where his hat and Cupcake was a kitten ballerina. However, it was soo cold we had to keep her bundled up so much I think she looked more like a homeless ballerina. I am sure we will have to explain that outfit one day.

Sweet Pea had to learn the concept of lines.....no fun. His favorite activity was the jumbo slide. He rode it 3 times and every time he was so upset about having to go back to the end of the line. It was so fitting. He was a little turtle and climbed the stairs so slow causing a back up behind him. We have to give him credit, he was the smallest, bravest rider. He played lots of games and one lots of candy and prizes. One game he even picked out a Minnie mouse doll for Cupcake. She loved her new toy. At the end of the night we took Cupcake to a play area specifically set up for her. She played with lots of fun toys, and even rode a zebra and loved it. At the end of the night we saw one of Sweet Pea's teacher and she gave us lots of chocolate candy. A nice change because all Sweet Pea wanted were the suckers....mommy and daddy really wanted some chocolate! We all had a blast. Can't wait for next year.

The Zoo!

This week we took a day trip and enjoyed the Zoo. We weren't very sure how the kids would react to all the animals. We were quickly comferted when we walked up to the monkey exhibit and Sweet Pea shouted "WHOA!" "WHOA!" "WHOA!" over and over again non stop back to back. He had another lady at the exhibit laughing. What a reaction. Ella enjoyed the day in her stroller, being outdoors and seeing the animals. As soon as we started walking around it was if Sweet Pea already knew what was coming up. He started screaming "Elephant!" before we left the first exhibit. It was like he caught on, there are animals here, so there must be an elephant some place. We rushed to the elephants and he enjoyed watching them. He also enjoyed the snake exhibit, while mommy and daddy tried to rush through he had to look at every aquarium and yell " Yucky snake!" - after mommy said that after the first look. He left that exhibit kicking and screaming.

At the end of the park we took Sweet Pea to a play area to run and play...as if he needed to burn some more energy. Sometimes he is more active than his age permits. He climbed a very large play area that ran across the ceiling. A place that would have been a little difficult for mommy and daddy to come to the rescue. Of course he was such a scout and fought through the maze and found his way to the slide after a few intense minutes!

We did cheat and take the train back to the front of the park...mommy and daddy were a little exhausted and Sweet Pea was beyond the need for a nap. At the end of the day Sweet Pea was so desperate for a nap he laid face down on the ground and kicked and screamed. Daddy was in the restroom and mommy just sat on a bench and let him scream....it was after all 3 hours past nap time. I just laughed and relaxed then we decided to take the train. It was such a fun day and Cup cake was so wonderful. Thankfully just one terrible two sleepy fit!

MMM cake!

Last weekend I made a simple banana bread cake with yummy frosting. I was not expecting the response Sweet Pea gave me when he took his first bite. He took one bite and said, "MMM awesome cake, Mommy!" I almost cried.
Sweet Pea is starting to do all the little boy things. Yesterday he brought me a a dead snail shell and asked what it was. I explained to him a snail lived there at one time. He walked off and the next thing I heard was chomp, chomp, chomp. Yuck! We quickly went in side and cleaned out his mouth. However it doesn't beat the baby frog he brought into the house and let loose in the living room. After much screaming..by me, he picked it up and took it back out side.

Cupcake is starting to babble. Dadada. She loves her walker toy and has been pushing it across the room all afternoon. When she stops she crawls to the other side and pushes it back across the room.

The past few nights have been a nightmare. Suddenly both Cupcake and Sweet Pea conspired together, we think, and have been boycotting bedtime. Last night Mommy and daddy decided it was cry it out night. After an hour everyone was asleep and slept all night...well except Sweet Pea who likes to get up for a midnight milk snack!

What Cupcake is doing..

Cupcake is on the goooo. This week she was moved out of her regular nursery school room and moved up with the "older" 8 months + babies. Her teachers decided she would have more freedom to move about and fit in better with that group developmentaly. When we picked her up everyone said she is so sweet and fit in great with her new friends. We were worried she may become the speed bump in the group, however that didn't happen. We defenetly have a climber. It is offcial, she climbed all the way up the small fort slide and sat at the top all by her little self! I did not have a camera at the time but she was extremly proud of her little self. We have to keep telling ourselves...she is only 6 months...well now 6.5 months old!

Pre School

Sweet Pea started faith based preschool a few weeks ago. This semester he will go once a week and possibly twice a week next semester. He is learning how to incorporate God into his daily routine. They start the day with praise and worship, Bible time and have time for individual prayer requests. I imagine those are some interesting prayer requests from the 2 year olds! Then they teach the alphabet, colors, shapes, nursery rhymes and crafts. Sweet Pea is also learning about red, circles and letters. Although with just us he is not shy to tell us the correct colors and shapes, count and do his letters, we are so happy that he will start to gain the confidence in what he knows and share with others. We are always so amazed by the wealth of knowledge in his little head, but he tends to hide that around others. This month his nursery Rhymes are Humpty Dumpty and Bo Peep. He learned that Humpty dumpty fell off the wall and God put him together again and Bo Peep lost her sheep, but God helped her find them. We are just so grateful for our church outreach that our children are really learning how to apply the truths and love of God to their lives at an early age. Sweet Pea's teacher said he is the most helpful little boy. He helps with great energy and is ready to move on to the next thing as quick as possible. He does not like to dilly dally or other to slow the process down. I arrived early to pick him up and loved watching him shine his flashlight all over the room to this little light of mine. He loves flashlights and "measure tape" so it was such a joy to watch him. When I did finally leave the room with him he was so full of light and Joy like none I have ever seen before! We don't have any problems with him getting upset to go to Church and he is always extremely happy and the life of the party...everyone knows Sweet Pea. But today there was a difference in him he had more Joy than anyone I have ever seen. So much so that when he fell asleep and I carried him to bed he was laughing in his sleep! I started laughing; trying not to wake him up, then he would laugh harder in his sleep. By the time I reached his room I was cracking up and didn't care if I woke him up. It was that funny. Then I placed him in bed he opened his eyes and just laughed and laughed and was still half asleep. I left the room laughing and he continued to sleep laugh! His new favorite word is "Awesome"!

What we are doing....

Sweet Pea is talking in more complete sentences. Today on our walk he said, "Look Mommy there's a bird!" He can now recite 2 Bible verses: Matthew 22:37 and Deuteronomy 5:27. He enjoys doing his chores: unloading the dryer, handing mommy the clean dishes from the dishwasher, bringing his dirty clothes to the laundry room and helping mommy vacuum the stairs...but I still can't get him to keep his room clean before nap time. He is such a ball of energy!
Cupcake is developing so quickly. She is pulling up on everything. She is starting to brave holding on with one hand and then no hands...but quickly falls to the ground. Today she was so upset when she could not climb up the slide like Sweet Pea. We are trying to keep his Fort a safe place for him to play and be two, however that is getting harder and harder to do. She loves to climb through all the openings and hide out inside with him. At 6 months she is already following her big brother everywhere!

Fun time in the play room!

Our first fight over a toy.

Showing off how I can sit all by myself!

Very interested in the camera.

I was only gone for 30 seconds!

When I left the room she was playing in the middle. I walked to her bedroom to get a wet wipe and when I returned this is where I found her! She really wanted to play with some toys.

Family fun time at Main event

Daddy and Sweet Pea bowling together. Even with a 25 lb toddler in one hand daddy was still able to get strikes!

Sweet Pea's turn. It took a very very long time for his ball to reach the pins.

Ridding a horse.

Not a basketball player yet...

I think we found Sweet Pea's sport! The little guy was amazing at the soccer game! Look at his perfect form!

Cupcake and Mommy watching Sweet Pea play games.

Sweet Pea's swim lessons

Sweet Pea learning to Swim Float Swim. He went for 5 weeks and hated every second most days. However, in the end it was well worth it. We have to keep practicing but we have the basics.

Our girly girl

I love to hold my little dress in my hand.

Showing off my adorable bonnet memaw made me.

Not walking yet...we have lots of practice to do if we want to be walking at 8 months like my big bubby. I am on the move. I love to "crawl" all over the play room "chasing" after my big brother and his toys. Usually by the time I get to him he gets up and moves again. I don't think he realizes how difficult it is for me to follow him around.

cute photos of Cupcake

Cupcake and Nana

Cupcake and memaw

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Pea!

Birthday boy!

Just wanted a quick taste before my friends arrived. Thanks aunt Steph for the wonderful cake!
All the boys enjoyed hot dogs and then some fun in the pool.

Birthday morning I enjoyed getting up early with Mommy and Daddy to open gifts and eat cupcakes...yum! I enjoyed a nice evening with my parents eating out and seeing Wall-E at the move theater. What a fun day!

Cupcake is such a ham! she just loves to make everyone laugh. If she does anything that makes you laugh she will keep doing so because she enjoys laughter. Cupcake is really trying to crawl. Her teachers in Sunday school tell us every week how impressed they are with her motor skills. She definitely knows what she wants and will not let anything like crawling get in her way. She will roll and scootch on her tummy to get to her toys. She enjoys getting in on the action and watching Sweet Pea play with his toys, she even takes them away from him!

At my 4 month Dr visit I was 15lbs 3 ounces and 25.75 inches long.

Baby dedication.

A few weeks back we had Sweet Pea and Cupcakes Baby dedication. Sadly this is one of the only pictures we could find. It was a fun event. Sweet Pea loved being in front of everyone. He did not get to see Papa before the dedication started, however during prayer he found him in the audience and yelled "Papa! Papa!" and tried to jump out of mommy's arms. Once the prayer was over there was another prayer and during this time I decided to turn him away from the crowd to avoid any distractions. Then suddenly he starts yelling out "Baby!" Baby!" Baby was in Daddy's arms but not in Sweet Peas line of sight so it was not until after the dedication that I found out that Cupcake was on the big screen behind us! So much for avoiding distractions. Regardless it was very cute and Cupcake and Sweet Pea just looked adorable!

Lots of catching up...

It is official Sweet Pea is now ridding in his car seat like a big boy! We waited as long as we could (23mo.) and now he just loves his new ride. Sweet Pea enjoys counting the cars as they pass. Although he can count to 10 great, 14 ok, and 20 with help there always seems to be 1,2,3 cars and no more.
Things I can do:

Tell you my name, The state I live in, my dogs name and my sisters name, I can sing my ABC's to G clearly,count to 14 (with the exception of 11) and 20 with help, I am very curious and always ask,"What's that sound?" "What's this?" "Where's Pillow?" "Oh, NO!" "Oh Man!" I always say "Pleazzzzzze." and "Tint To." (thank you) to name a few and our least favorites are:

"That's mine." and "I want it."

What Sweet Pea is learning about God:

To combat the "That's mine." phrase we tell him "No, that's Gods." We want him to grow up already knowing that everything he has is a gift from the Lord and thus belongs to Him. He knows the difference between his books and three Bible's. He can also recite Mathew 22:37 with help. This is the first scripture we felt he should learn.

Take me out to the ball game...Rangers

Sweet Pea went to his first Rangers game a few weeks ago and had an absolute blast! When we arrived at the ball park Sweet Pea had been sleeping. Once we woke him up and started walking to the stadium he frantically started looking around, and suddenly yelled, " Baby! Baby!" We realized he thought that we had left baby in the car. As people started we had to explain that Baby was with Nana and Papa safe and sound. Once he understood that Baby was not in the car we proceed to the stadium. It was so sweet to see how much he cares for his little sister.

Yummy! Sweet Pea enjoyed his first bag of cotton candy! We were sure there would be no sleeping after all the sugar. As usual Sweet Pea made friends all around us. One nice lady loved him so much she brought back this cute bat for Sweet Pea to play with. That was so sweet and he loved it, however mommy and daddy spent the last 3 innings of the game making sure he did not swing the bat and hit any of his new friends.

Sooo close to all the action. Sweet Pea loved to point out the ball as it was launched to home plat.

Cupcake hits a major milestone today

Cupcake is now 12.5 weeks old. Today she decided to roll over for the first time. She made that look so easy! Mommy and Daddy had not been working on this with her. So this caught us by complete surprise. Like her big brother she likes to be swaddled and once he learned to turn over his swaddle days were over. Congratulations Cupcake! You learned this all on your own.

Look at this beautiful bow my aunt made for me!

Having a good time!

Mommy was giving me a bath last night and discovered something....I have curly curly hair! Usually she brushes my hair straight and then when it dries it looks like crazy hair. Last night she just toweled dried my hair and was shocked to find all these curls! I love my curly hair!