It's November

It's nearly halfway through November... how did it get to be the end of the year already.

It makes me happy because I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the friend, family and festivities that surround this time of year.

In the same breath it makes me sad because it means just after the Holidays my girls have a birthday.

Two and Four. Funny because when I see them like this I just think of them as babies. My babies forever!

Yes I'm totally that mom that starts thinking about their birthdays way in advance. Not sure why because I really don't do anything about it till after the Holidays. But I guess I just love thinking about and planning their special days.

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This weekend I will celebrate my 30th birthday. Normally I dread birthdays. It's not that I don't like getting older. In fact I'm glad I'm getting old. So much to look forward to. I think I just build it up to this amazing day and for some reason always feel let down. Again, I'm just weird around my birthday. Ask Adam, he knows what I am talking about.

SO.... for my 30th birthday I was determined to have a good day. So we are having a few friends over and having my favorite - fajitas and ritas. What else could make a birthday better? :)

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Lately we have been busy enjoying the beautiful weather. We have had some BEAUTIFUL weather here - highs in the 70's and clear sunny skies. It makes up for the very wet October we had. But really I'm ready for some sweater and scarf weather. I have so many cute scarfs that I'm dying to pull out!

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We have also been trying out some new hair styles for Grace. I've said it before but her hair is CRAZY. While I love her little ringlets, they are hard to manage.

So lately we have been doing lots of pig tails. Today Grace asked for braids. Well I can't do french braids (please someone help me, but I just can't get it tight enough), so I came up with next best solution - piggies with braids. Hard to see it in the picture, but she is so cute.

This is definitely my new favorite picture of Grace.

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And lastly, my littlest girl is so funny. She had just eaten some yogurt (that was red) and got it all over her face. I just thought it was cute and then she did this little head tilt thing. Grace has been doing it a lot for pictures so I'm pretty sure she thought it was the cool thing to do! HA! Already trying to be like her big sis.

Halloween 2009

Breaking news:

Our great friends, Meagan and Matt, are pregnant with TWINS!!!! I think I've talked about them a time or two, but we are thrilled for them! After all they have been through to get here, God has blessed them twice! Go tell them congrats here!

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Our Halloween was a blast.

We got our ballerina (per request) and our Aggie cheerleader ready and we were off for some fun!

First we headed to dinner at a neighbors 2nd Annual Halloween party. We ate yummy chili dogs and lots of other fixings and took lots of pictures.

Here are some of the kiddos. Maybe half? Have I said before that I love our neighborhood? :)



After some chit chatting and a full belly we were off to trick or treat.

First stop was back at our house to put out candy. Yup we just put out the whole bowl. But it was nice b/c we all got to go.




Grace knew just what to do. The funniest thing though is that when she went to each house she would say "Trick or treating" instead of "trick or treat". It was really cute b/c she kept doing it.

And Emma learned VERY quickly. Seriously what 19 month old baby knows what to do. Emma was happiest once she got a sucker. I was surprised b/c she walked the entire time. Turning into such a big girl. :(

And we ended the night at another neighbors house. They turned their garage into a fun Halloween tiki bar. With adult beverages and all - the witches brew was super yummy.

How was your Halloween?

signed up

I officially signed up for the half marathon.

I paid my money ($75!) - so its done.

Now that the easy part is done. I only have the hard part left... to run it!

6 weeks from today - December 13th!

Happy Halloween!

Click below to see pictures from past years...

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2007

Halloween 2006

I will post pictures of them in their costumes tomorrow!! Have a wonderful evening trick or treating with your little ones or giving out candy to ones that visit your house!

October

October... so far

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We have had a LOT of rain. I mean a LOT!

In between the rain we were able to get out a bit and enjoy some slightly cooler weather.

Emma loves her little car. Actually loves still loves it too - so we are learning to share. It's going okay...

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We had 3 different trips to the pumpkin patch cancelled b/c of the silly rain. But finally early last week we were able to go. It was a bit chilly and super windy, but we still had fun!

The girls....

Me with the girls...
Waiting for our turn at the hayride - its it beautiful looking out onto the patch.

Enjoying the ride.

Enjoying the pumpkins. Emma had to carry her own - at least there were several that were her size!

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We also made it down to Austin again this month to hang out with the Dugan clan. Christee is doing great! It's kind of a day by day thing, but really she is very inspiring and very prayerful that she will beat it! If you want to keep up with her - here is her caring bridge page.

It also happened to be Kaitlynn's Homecoming. Here she is posing with her fabulous mum before school. A fun southern tradition!

Here Kaitlynn is again ready to perform at half-time!

The other kiddos at the football game. It was the first football we have taken the girls to and they did great! We stayed until after half-time!

Grace, Kaleb and Kameron

And just hangin' out. This is the island or really the table that we all hang out around most the day! I just love that Emma has to pose when I pull the camera out!

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And then last night we went to our church's trunk or treat. So fun!

Grace was a princess for the night.

And after the Aggies win on Saturday over Tech, Emma had to be an Aggie cheerleader!! Here she is enjoying everyone bouncing her!

And finally a little sisterly love. I told Grace to hold onto her sister to make sure she didn't fall out and she wrapped her arm around her and shockingly Emma let her!

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OH and we can't forget the baby news. My parents were the ones to send Emma the baby. Thank you gigi and papa! Emma loves it. Here she is with another one of her many babies. Such a sweet mommy to rock and 'shhhh' her baby!

Tune in this weekend for Halloween pictures!!

who did it?

We got a sweet little package in the mail on Tuesday.

Someone sent Emma a new baby.

SO SWEET!!!

The only problem is we have no clue who to thank.

There was no packing slip or anything.

So if you sent Emma a new baby doll (the same one she has except with perfect little arms) please let us know. She is so happy, but now she wants both babies. At least now I have one I can wash and one she can have.

Thank you Thank you! xoxo

emma's baby

We try to keep "baby" in Emma's crib.

But sometimes the baby escapes the crib and comes along with us.

Emma has become pretty attached to baby. If she could have her way baby would come everywhere us. You know the nasty grocery store carts, church, Grace's school, speech, etc. Thankfully I can usually persuade my 19 month old that baby would rather stay in the car. And in those cases she usually asks to bring her lovey in. (Which I usually let her - oh and yes you caught me - she has a baby AND a lovey she has to carry around everywhere we go - as if I don't have anything else to carry-thankfully we do have 6 loveys in case one goes missing or is in the wash!)

The problem - baby was on the verge of loosing an arm. So naturally I headed to Toys R Us where baby came from and of course no babies like the baby we have. They only have the boy bear that is the same kind/brand, but of course its blue and a bear so it wouldn't work.

So today I decided to repair baby. I though it would easy. WAY wrong. You see the arms are made of ribbon that has frayed a bit. So sewing it back was no fun. I could hardly squeeze it under the foot to sew it. But for now baby is repaired.

And I'm on a mission to go to every Toys R Us and look everywhere online and buy us another baby - or two. You know just in case it happens again.

And so everyone can make fun of my sewing job - here is the beloved baby. I was able to bribe Emma with another baby while her baby was being washed and repaired.

Run Lisa Run

Last October I began running. No goal more than just to run a few 5K's, burn a few calories and just be in shape. I was pretty good at keeping at it. I would run some weeks several times a week, then Adam would be out of town or it would raining and that pretty much threw running out the window.

I've been thinking for quite a while that I really wanted to making running apart of my lifestyle. You know every week run 15 miles give or take a few. Then a little over a month ago I decided to take the plunge with encouragement from a couple friends, my brother and my aunt to train for a half marathon.

13.1 miles is a long distance.

WAY longer than I had ever run before.

But I thought that training for a half marathon doesn't mean I have to run it. Well now that I've been 'training' for a month, there is no turning back.

I still haven't signed up yet, maybe this week, but I'm planning to run my first half marathon on December 13th.

Less than a month after I turn the BIG 3-0.

Perfect.

I'm only up to 6 miles for my long runs on the weekends. But it hasn't been too bad.

So that's the plan.

My only goal is to finish.

No timing myself.

No trying to beat someone else.

I just want to finish and I want to run the whole thing.

Simple right?

I heart hooded towels

I have more pictures that I can possibly count of my girls after bath in their hooded towels. We got maybe 3 or 4 when Grace was born that have now been passed down to Emma and I love them. I know Emma is getting taller and is almost in need of a bigger towel but until then you get to see more shots of her all wrapped up. My little bug!

cousin Jackson

My big brother and his little boy Jackson were in town this past weekend. Becky came into town too, but was only able to stay for a day because of work. So I didn't get a lot pictures and the ones I did get weren't fabulous. Hopefully we can get a cute cousin picture at Christmas when they come for a week!!

All 3 Brooks' cousins - Grace not being cooporative.

Jackson and Emma busy chatting away

Jackson not sure about Grace's bear hug

And busy playing doctor!

(For anyone who knew Todd, my little brother, as a little boy -doesn't Jackson look so much like him?)

bitter sweet

This past weekend we made a quick trip down to Austin.

My sister-in-law, Christee, starts Chemo this week and we wanted to hang out with her before things got started.

We did find out that it is Stage IIIC - which is MUCH better than Stage IV, but we still need lots of prayer!! Also, since she is going loose her hair very quickly she decided she would rather have a celebration and shave her head vs. it coming out in clumps one day too soon. So we had a party!! It was super fun and great to meet all their friends. She has an awesome support system down in Austin and thankfully Adam's other brother lives there too! We wished we were closer, but we are planning to make trips down there more often. Here are a few shots of the fun.

Some before pictures -

The Dugan clan -

Todd & Tricia, Paul & Christee, Adam and I

Before

Kaitlynn helping cut her mom's hair.

A little mohawk!

bald and beautiful!

Christee sporting her one of her many new scarfs - doesn't she look so cute?!!

footies

I love when the weather turns cooler and I can finally put my littlest daughter in little footie pj's. There is just something about them that makes me feel like I have still have a baby. One last winter of footie pj's then on to separates - otherwise potty training would be even more difficult.

ps. I can't thank you enough for the prayers for Christee. Please keep praying! This is going to be a long hard battle, but we know she can beat it with God by her side!!

prayers

I have a big request. My sister-in-law (Adam's brothers wife) Christee, has a big road ahead of her. Last week she was diagnosed with Stage 3 (possibly Stage 4) breast cancer. She is only in her 30's and has 3 kids and has much to live for - so we need all the prayers we can get. This week please pray for Christee and her family and the news they have been given. Please pray that it is not stage 4 as the chance of survival at the point goes way down.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!!

rain rain

It's rained for 6 days straight now.

And while I normally love a rainy day to enjoy the indoors, I might very well go crazy.

Adam's out of town so getting out with two small children in the rain is tough. The girls are going stir crazy. We normally spend at least an hour or two outside a day.

Plus its putting a damper on my running schedule.

The only positive about all this rain is my super cute new shoes I have to wear. They are AWESOME - and green :) You totally need to try out Privo's if you haven't already. Thanks Hailey for telling me about them! I love 'em!!

Oh and I have to add that I got them on Amazon for $31 - tax, shipping and all!! Bargan since they retail for $80+!

Hoping for nicer weather this weekend so we go to the Balloon Festival!

Emma's half birthday!

Emma is now our big girl at 18 months!

At least that is what she thinks.

Honestly, I really wonder/fear what kind of pre-teen she is going to be?!

Emma is definitely our strong-willed child that knows what she wants and isn't stopping till she gets it. However in the same breath, she is sweet and kind and always ready to blow a kiss or give a high five!

She loves to do anything that means we are going - loves to go shopping (for a bit), loves to go the park, loves to go for rides in the car or a stroll around the neighborhood, she loves to go to the pediatrician, and loves to hang out and play with friends at their houses of course (new toys!). She just loves to be on the go.


Emma is really into pretend these days - playing with her baby dolls and putting them "night, night" or feeding them their bottles or even taking them for a stroller ride around the house - she loves it! She also loves playing house and with her little kitchen.

She is a great little sleeper - typically sleeping from 8:30pm-7:30am and usually takes a 3 hours nap after lunch.

Emma loves books as well. Well, she really just loves to pull every single one off the shelf and thumb through them. She has gotten into bedtime story time most. We all cuddle up in Grace's bed and read a couple books every night. She loves being in her sister's big bed. I suspect that we might have to move her to a big girl bed before we know it. She just loves it!

She also went pee-pee on the potty for the first time over the weekend!! I pulled out one of our little potty's and started putting her on the potty before bath time. Grace actually did the same thing about this age, but we have no plans to potty train till sometime next Spring/Summer - after she is 2.

Emma is also a little shatter box. I don't know exactly how many words she says but its a lot. I would say a good guess is that she is saying around 100 words. She tries to repeat nearly everything we ask her to and some things we don't. :)

Oh and I've almost forgotten - I think her hair might be starting to get curly. It's just doing this cute little flip up thing in the back and I love it. Maybe it will be curly like Gracie's hair?? Or maybe just a little body. Can't wait to see!

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Emma's 18 month stats:
Height - 32 inches (61%)
Weight - 22.2 lbs (18%)
Head - 19 inches (90%)

Emma actually lost weight from 15-18 months... just seeming to get taller and leaner. Thankfully she only lost a few ounces (which could have been b/c of what she ate) so the doctor wasn't worried at all.

The doctor did say she is way ahead with her language development. He said its pretty common for kids with siblings, but its super exciting for us. :)

Happy half birthday baby girl!! Until then stay little - your daddy and I just love this age!

first day

Today was Grace's first day back at preschool. She was so excited and ready to go meet her new teachers and new friends.

As always, she walked right in and said "see you later". I know she is going to have a blast, but why does she have to make leaving mom seem so easy!

I'm so excited to see what she learns and what new adventures this year brings.

(And of course Miss Emma had to have her picture taken too!)

annoying...

So is it just me or is anyone else not feeling the blog lately?

I've always felt like I was doing the blog so that one day my girls would have a little record of their lives - well lately I just haven't had a lot to talk about.



Until today that is.



Okay so picture you are at the grocery store just shopping away and you notice that you cut someone off with your cart. You know this happens - its just apart of grocery shopping. So you quickly move and apologize over and over until the person you cut off says no problem or don't worry about it.



Well today I was asking the customer service desk a quick question and a lady was trying to get her cart through this little walk way and my cart was in the way. Well I didn't know it. But of course as soon as I realized that my cart was in the way I quickly pulled it out of the way and said "OH I'm so sorry". And the lady looks at me, with the meanest look EVER, and says "whatever". I was dumbfounded (is that really how you spell that?)!



I was being honest. I really didn't know she was trying to get by.



So I said again - "No I'm really sorry." - probably should have just ignored her, but ouch - is anyone really in that big of hurry at the store.



So she storms off to shop and a lady that worked at the store apparently saw the whole conversation. She came up to me and told me that it wasn't my fault and b/c of the displays it was narrow walkway and I was being very nice.



So there you have it mean lady.


Moral of the story - when you accidentally cut someone off or someone cuts you off always say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" - something!- it makes people like me feel better. :)



****Check back later this week for Emma's 18 month post and Grace's first day of school!****

oreos

We love oreos in this house.

Kind of funny because if you know me, you know that I don't really like chocolate.

But I do like oreos.

And I couldn't resist when I saw them on sale at Market Street last week for $1.99. I mean under $2 bucks for heaven in a cookie!

Anyway, this post really isn't about oreos, its how you eat them. You've all seen the commercials with person after person eating their oreo in different ways.

So since this blog is about my girls I thought I would post pics of their first oreos.

They are so different.

Grace - Nov. 2007 (pulled her oreo apart and ate the icing first!)

Emma - Aug. 2009 (she just eats it as fast as she can)

(I wish it were a better picture of Emma... she looks so sad... trust me she wasn't!!)

asleep

Every night before I go to bed I go and check on the girls and make sure they have a blanket over them, that they are still breathing, etc.

Well the other night I flip the stairs light on to find Grace asleep on the stairs. So of course before moving her I had to take a picture.

I guess she got out of bed and knew better than to come and find me so she just hung out there and go tired of waiting for me to notice she was there.

She sure does look cozy there.

breckenridge 2009

Last week we headed to Colorado to get away from the 100 degree weather and enjoy the outdoors.

If you know me you know that I grew up vacationing in the mountains. However our vacations to the mountains always came in the Winter/Spring when there mounds of white fluffy stuff covering everything. I've never been to the mountains in the summer. Except a trip to Colorado Springs (located in the foothills of the Rockys) and it was for a soccer tournament for my older brother and I was in 5th grade.

It is so very different in the summer. Just as beautiful but in a whole new green way. While it did make me miss the snow and skiing (its been over 6 years since I've skied) I gained a whole new love of the mountains.

A family photo at the top of peak 9 at Breckenridge. Brrrr... it was cold up there!

We enjoyed the AMAZING weather - highs in the upper 50's/low 60's.

Emma sporting her cute little Breck gear.

We all enjoyed a little Alpine Slide action. Grace LOVED it. When I rode with her she kept telling me to go faster! She sure does love a thrill.


The girls got a chance to ski...
Emma

Grace

Majority of our time was spent outside. There is a beautiful river that flows right through town that the guys went fishing in (well down stream a bit).

We even made some new friends. We met this sweet Laboradoodle while hanging out one afternoon. Labradoodles are hypoallergenic so Grace was so happy that she actually got to pet the dog. She talked about it the rest of trip. Poor girl... LOVES dogs and cats... maybe one day we will have a Labradoodle??

Emma met a miniature horse. The became fast friends.

We panned for some gold... no luck though.


Went mining... no luck there either.

Grace was COLD... very cold down in the mines and Adam and dad were wearing SHORTS!!

The whole family... my mom sure looks like a natural?

(From left to right)

Todd (my little bro), dad, me, Grace, mom, Adam and Emmy

On yet another walk... the flowers there were beautiful. Seriously you can't grow flowers here in Texas like they can up there. Shoot all the flowers around here are practically dead!

Emma enjoying spaghetti... pretty much the only meal she actually ate. She is becoming quite the picky eater! And yes she is sitting in a regular chair. She has been boycotting highchairs lately and I've decided its not a battle I choose to fight over.

We even enjoyed a little dress up at the local Children's museum.

And of course a little view of the ski hill at Breckenridge... I believe that is peak 7? Grace enjoying the view at Maggie Pond.

Overall, it was a great family trip.

And what trip would be complete without the following -
Adam got sick the last 2 days of our trip.

Grace got ringworm - can't believe I'm writing that here, but thankfully its all gone now... I've decided she got it from the plane ride to Breck!

Grace threw up on the plane on the way home.

Emma screamed for a good 30 minutes on the plane ride home. It was probably a combinations of being overtired, her ears hurting and I think she was ticked about us giving her Benedryl (which didn't work!).

Thankfully we made it home. We also decided we are driving on our next trip. We had to bring WAY too much stuff - 1 pack 'n play, 2 car seats, 1 set of gold clubs and 3 suitcases, plus 1 carry-on backpack for everyone... yes we checked SEVEN items. Thankfully we flew Southwest where you can still check bags for free and 2 baby items count for 1 regular item.

We would still go back in a heart beat. So many things we didn't have time for this trip so maybe next year?!

Thanks for a great trip everyone!

3.5

My baby girl is 3 1/2 years old. How can I possibly have a little girl that is on the bend to her fourth birthday. 4 sounds so grown up doesn't it. Well maybe it isn't, but some days it sure does feel like it. I know in another blink I will be sending her Kindergarten. Thankfully I still have 2 precious more years with her at home.

Grace is such a great daughter. While many days she does say little comments that at first I wonder where she heard it, then I remember that I said it the day before. For example, its been really hot here. I think almost everyday while we are loading up in the car I will say "its hot tamales"... and sure enough now if we are out and about Grace will says "hot toemalees" (yes its sounds like she is saying "toe" "malees"). And we often use the phrase "see you later alligator" and "after a while crocodile"... well she gets the alligator and crocodile mixed up... its really cute and I think when I laugh she knows its wrong but also knows she is just being cute.

These days Grace loves puzzles. She is doing little 15 piece jigsaw puzzles all on her own. She also told me that all her "old" puzzles are now Emma's b/c they are for babies. Well hey at least she is sharing.

Grace's favorite food right now is by far cereal. Good thing her mamma is a crazy couponer and has loads of boxes of cereal. She would eat it for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner if I let her.

Grace's favorite books right now are Fancy Nancy, still Pinkalious, The three little pigs, and really any other fairy tail. She really loves when I just tell her stories... so sometimes I just make them up as we go along.

She also has a love/hate relationship with her little sister. When Emma is asleep or with my mom, Grace always wants to know where she is. In the same breath, when Emma is up and around she wants whatever her sister has. And of course vise versa... hopefully we get this sharing thing down at some point. I think she has just gotten a little spoiled being home all summer... starting back to school in a few weeks might be a really good thing.

Grace also continues to do great with her speech. We have been working on "s" blends all summer and we are getting there. She will say the words like "sweep" or "swim", but when we try to put it in a sentence it still comes out "fweep" of "fwim". So we will keep working. But she is making strides and trying really hard and that is all we can ask of her. We really couldn't be more proud... she really is a good little student and eager to learn and preform.

I guess that is all that is going on grace's life for the moment. We are really blessed to have such a sweet and happy little girl to be in our lives. We love you Gracie and look forward to many more memories with you!

just Grace...

This weekend Adam and I toook our oldest daughter to the lake! Some of our sweet friends invited us out to their parents lake house on Lake Jacksonville.

It was a perfect lake house made just for entertaining and having fun with friends and family. The house was built over the water so their view from the back deck was amazing. We had fun relaxing, driving the jet skis, drinking our favorite cold beverages, being pulled to our death on the tubes (I am so sore today!!), and going for cruises around the lake in their barge. Leslie, thanks so much for inviting us! We had a blast!!

Enjoying the sunset...

Part of the view... beautiful!

What trip to the lake would be complete without watermelon??!!

And of course Grace trying to "help" Steven drive.... hold on girlfriend... you have a lot more years to go!!

More pictures to come... I didn't have my camera out the first half of the day!

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Oh and don't worry, Emma was spoiled by my mom. Since the deck had no railing we figured it would be safer (and that Adam and I would have a bit more fun) if Emma stayed at home with my mom. My dad was out of town at a golf tournament so I think my mom wanted someone to keep her company. Thanks mom!

hot time summer in the city...

We have been enjoying summer so much that I've forgotten to update my blog!!

So in case we are wondering how we are doing... we are great!

And in case you are missing pictures of my two cuties... enjoy...

It's hard to tell but I'm not sure they like having their picture taken!

Hope you are having a great summer!!

helmet - check!

I just want to eat her up!

only emma...

It's crazy how different things are when you just have one child around.

This past weekend Grace headed to East Texas to spend some time with Adam's parents. She had a great time with Mema and Pop Pop - just going and doing and getting extra attention. She loved every minute of it! Thanks Sherry and John!

Adam and I had an equally good time with Emma.

She is a totally different little girl when her sister isn't around. And of course she just ate up all the attention.

We started the weekend off with dinner with my parents. Then of course we had to take her out for her first ice cream cone afterwards. Notice the dripping down her arm, on her legs and all over the bench. She loved it to say the least!

I also got some time at the mall shopping and browsing just Emma and I. We were even about to sqeeze in a carousel ride. She was in heaven! She loves the horses!

Then on Sunday Emma and I headed to Arkansas to visit my friend, Hailey and her crew. Remember she just had a baby 4 weeks ago and I still had not gotten to meet Miss Presley. She is precious and a super easy and laid back baby. She also looks exactly like her momma! Emma LOVED Presley (sometimes a little too much!). It was a nice quick trip, but was fun for Emma and I to go and play with all the girls.

Here was an attempt to get a picture of all 4... HA!

(Don't worry no child was hurt during the taking of this picture.)

I did catch one of the bigger girls...

Molly (almost 4!), Avery & Emma (16 months)

Grace swimming

I got a video of Miss Grace yesterday at my parents house.

Without further delay - our little 3 year old fish!

ramblings... summer 09

Sorry to disappoint all my faithful readers... you know all 5 of you. I've been a pretty bad blogger.



I've been busy with summer fun really. I've been meaning to update that we ended up having to give up Miss Suzie. Grace was apparently allergic to her and kept breaking out in hives and itching like a little banshee every time she played with her. So Suzie is now living with my aunt Stephanie. It is really a great fit since Steph doesn't have any other pets right now (she is a HUGE dog lover and has nearly always had a dog as long as I've been alive) and loves the company in her quiet house. We were sad to see her go since she really was the perfect little dog. Someday we will get another dog... I guess some hypoallergenic dog :) I'm thinking maybe a labradoodle! But not for a few more years. Maybe when I get the itch for a third baby that is when we will get a dog! HA! :)



Speaking of babies... mine are doing great.



Grace is having a great summer. She is swimming like a little fish. I'm a terrible parent and have NO videos to show for it. She can pretty much swim underwater about half a pools length (oh 15 feet give or take?) She has even learned to come up for a breath and then keep swimming. Maybe the swim team is in her future?



Grace is also working hard on her speech. We have been working on "s" blends all summer with our neighbor. My next door neighbor is a speech pathologist and agreed to work with Grace all summer. We didn't want to lose any of the headway we were making this Spring. So far she has got most of them down...just still working on "sw" blends like "swimsuit"... which comes out "fwimfuit". But she continues to work hard so we couldn't be more proud.



Emma has been quite a little handful lately. I've actually nicknamed her "Hurricane Emma". A friend from church use to call her little girl that and when I heard it it just stuck! Maybe I just don't remember this age, but wow. She is BUSY. Her favorite thing to do these days is to play with her portable highchair seat belt. She will spend an hour just wanting to snap the seat belt closed and will ask us to unbuckle it so she can do it all over again. Maybe she is our future engineer?



Emma's language has also exploded this month. I really need to count her words, but she is nearly repeating anything we ask her to. I love that she asks for "snacks" or "water" now. Makes trying to decode what she needs so much easier. She has also turned over a new leaf and hasn't bitten in a while now. AMEN... maybe that stage is over with. I think not having the pacifier has helped.



Emma also continues to be our little monkey. She seems very coordinated and ready for gymnastics classes! I must get a video of her climbing... seriously Grace never got into half of what this little one does.


Well I'm off to enjoy another HOT summer day. I hope to post some new pics and videos soon. How is your summer going??

Fourth Fun!

We had a fun and busy weekend.


First off, it was great that 4th landed on a Saturday because that meant daddy was home with us on Friday.


We had a nice Friday. Went to the mall for some lunch, carousel riding and a little window shopping. That evening we headed out to hang out with friends, listen to some music and watch fireworks. It wasn't terribly hot and listen to Beatles and Cher impersonators was fun while waiting for the fireworks to start. Best part was the fireworks were about 2 miles from our house so we were home and in bed in no time.

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to the local parade with friends. We found a nice shady spot under a tree and enjoyed the nice short 20 minute parade (perfect amount of time for a toddler and preschooler).

We headed home for a quick nap, then headed to some friends house a little north of us in the country. It was heaven! They rented a huge inflatable water slide and a mechanical bull! SO FUN! And wow are my girls fearless. Here is a video of the girls with Adam. After this I was even able to send Emma down by herself! She loved it!!




They also have this amazing pool and spa so we basically followed the girls back and forth between the slide and pool. We left around 8 b/c we had planned to watch fireworks again but on the way home Grace was asking to go to bed. So we headed home instead and enjoyed a little quiet.

Sunday we went to church and then headed to my parents house to enjoy a little more pool time and some yummy brisket. yum :)


So how was your fourth??

popsicles = summer mess (or not?!)

Aren't these things the coolest?

A friend told me about them last year and wow they are so great! They have saved so many outfits and so many sticky hands. Sure Emma still tries to hold her popsicle, but really isn't near as sticky as she would be without it. I picked these up on the popsicle/ice cream isle at Walmart.... you how sometimes they have things hanging? Anyway, if you don't have some go spend a couple bucks and get some for your kiddos!

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Thanks for the prayers yesterday. Lila Grace's surgery couldn't have gone better! She should be in the hospital for 5-9 days so please continue to pray for her speedy recovery. You can also read more here.

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You guys were so funny this week about the BIG news you thought we had. I got more phone calls, emails and texts wondering what our news was. Great to know that people actually read my blog! I had people thinking we were moving or that Adam got a promotion or even that I was going back to school to get my teaching certificate. So since you are on the edge of your seats dying to know our news...

hope you aren't too disappointed....

We got a dog.

Her name is Suzie.

Suzie is 3 years old and pretty laid back. I have yet to hear her bark and she is so sweet to the girls. Oh how the girls love her.

Emma walks around after her saying "dog, dog" and Grace just wants Suzie to be her little baby. She only weighs about 17lbs, so she is pretty small compared to our Sammie that was a hefty 90lbs!

We actually sort of adopted her or were given her from my grandparents. You see this weekend was a big weekend, my grandparents moved into a new place where caring for Suzie would be pretty difficult.

You know its VERY hard to give your dog away that you love and care about. I know because its how we felt when we gave Sammie to a new home about a year and half ago.

So what did you think the news was really about????

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Also, if you get a chance please say a prayer for Lila Grace - our neighbors sweet little 3 month old is having a 6 hour open heart surgery in the morning (Monday 6am). Thanks!!!