We're still here

Wow, what a past couple of weeks we have had. Many pictures to follow, so I hope you all enjoy.


Two weeks ago, I asked my sister in law to take Christian's 3 month pictures and me oh my, she did awesome. I can't stop looking at them and smiling at the wonderful work she did.


Mother's Day was really sweet as usual. We went to church and then out to lunch to a really fancy, kid friendly establishment....CiCi's Pizza. Okay, maybe not classy, but very family friendly which was what I was looking for. The boys contributed to my camera envelope, which I decided to start before my birthday. Yes, I am like every other person in the family and want a spiffy camera. Jeff claims I want one because everyone else has one, but I disagree with that. I am looking at this item as an investment. I want to be able to capture life's precious moments, but it is really hard when the precious item won't sit still long enough for you to go click click. I also find it very annoying too that more times than not, the picture will be blurry because the precious little ones won't be still. So, I am wanting to invest in a camera that will meet my expectations and possibly exceed them. I also received some very yummy smelling bath items and am looking forward to using it if I ever get a chance to be alone.


Last Friday night, Jeff and I hosted a kid's movie night. Jeff first came up with this idea when I was nine months prego, and I turned it down faster than ants going after a cherry snow cone. Nothing is a good idea when you are nine months pregnant. So, one day, I started thinking about it and mentioned it to Jeff again. I told him I think I could be of some help now since Christian is super easy. So we had: Mark, Jack, June, Joseph, Tilly, John, Luis, and Christian all under one roof without the parents. We cheated a little and asked Kirk and Anna to come help... boy were they a blessing. Highly recommend these two if you ever need assistance or a babysitter. They helped get plates ready, played with all the kids, held babies and they even cleaned up Joseph's room! IT WAS SPOTLESS! I gave out an audible gasp when I walked in his room after everyone left. I just wasn't expecting it. The kids were absolutely amazing. They were well behaved and very mannered. The thing that kept coming through my mind all night was, these kiddos have some wonderful parents!! They were just so much fun. I spent most of the night with June, Tilly, and Luis. June absolutely cracks me up. Tilly is the sweetest little thing I have ever come across and Luis is just very mild mannered and respectful. It was just a great night. They had pizza, popcorn, 7up, cookies, and we watched the movie Bolt. Joseph loved all the company and was talking about it the next day!


Then on Saturday, we went to the property and celebrated Spencer graduating from UH. It was a wonderful time with family and the weather was perfect. We had some tasty brisket, played some hot box and visited a lot.


There you go, an update of our last two weeks. Other than all these things, the two little ones and myself have been sick. I took Joseph in last week after two weeks of a runny nose and cough. He ended up having a sinus infection and then on Friday I started to feel crummy. Sore neck, throat, and plugged up nose. I was thinking I might have an ear infection because I have been really dizzy these past couple of days and can't hear anything...'how's that different from any other day,' you ask...well, I really can't hear. Finally, after several failed attempts to pop my ear, it finally did it for me today. I was in the car when I did it...not recommended, it made me dizzy afterward and I may not have been driving in a straight line. I said, "praise the Lord," when it popped and Joesph chimed in from the back seat "Lord, Lord." Christian also got all of our stuff. With both myself and Joseph kissing him constantly, he was bound to get something. He has an, what I have diagnosed as an eye cold. Nastiness!! Please pray that we all get well soon. Not joking, one of the boys has either been on meds, sick or both since Christian was 6 wks! No LIE! CH had thrush for 6 weeks, Joseph has had an ear infection, horrible virus, two rounds of colds and to top it off, sinus infection!



This weekend, we are planning some fun things, so more pictures to come. Until then, peace.

(Above) After I picked up Christian, Joseph ran over to the blanket, laid down, and looked at me. I guess he was trying to imitate Christian because I was giving him lots of attention and oohing and ahhing over him. I think Joseph was looking to get the same response.



A rare moment, Joseph being still, looking at me and smiling...even though it is his silly grin.

Just good timing. When we took his 3 month pictures two weeks ago, he couldn't hold his head up very well, and yesterday, I caught this. Amazing how much they change in two weeks.

Joseph holding a frog. I think it's still alive!?

Erika's reaction to Spencer opening his gift. Several of us pitched in to get him a TV for his graduation present. I think they both liked it.

I am looking forward to all these kiddos growing up together. I can see us hosting many more movie nights and sleepovers.

Sweet Tilly Belle!

3 Months and 5 years

This past weekend Christian turned 3 months. I can't believe how much faster it goes with the second child. It seemed like with Joseph that it took forever for him to grow up and do the new things that he should be doing. At times I wish we could slow the days down so I can enjoy this stage of childhood, but then the other part of me can't wait to see him crawl, walk, hear what his voice is going to sound like and run around with Joseph.

What Christian is up to now:
-Still loves his swing. He will take all his naps in the swing...morning, afternoon and late afternoon.
-Sucks his thumb to soothe himself.
-Sleeps through the night more times than not. However, he is up for the day at about 6a. (Surprisingly, I'm not that tired during the day)
-Starting to like the Bumbo more.
-LOVES watching Joseph play.
-Likes to be carried looking out... I guess he thinks he is missing something facing the other direction.
-Enjoys being outside.
-Still does really well riding in the car.
-He can go from back to side while laying down.
-He can almost lift his head up while lying on his tummy.

This past weekend was another milestone. Saturday was 5 yrs to the day Jeff proposed. I don't know how many people celebrate this, but it is a good excuse to go out. Jeff and I both looked into getting Astros tickets (where he proposed), but they were out of town. Instead, we went to Bennihana's, the place we ate afterward to celebrate. I could eat much more this time. After the proposal I was very shaky and still trying to comprehend everything...My dream man had just given me my dream proposal! I am so blessed to be married to Jeff and so blessed to be a part of this family!

What a past couple of days we have had. Tuesday, my mom had to work, so I was by myself with the boys. My dad called and asked if we wanted to come in to town and join him for lunch. We were more than happy about the invite so we went and joined him for lunch at El Chico's. After that, I took the boys to Target and picked up a few things. That evening, my dad grilled out and my sister and brother in law joined us for dinner. (Thank you dad for the dinner, mom and dad for the gift, and Stacey for the cake!)
Wednesday, my mom was off so we went to the Dallas Children's Museum. It was such a blast and I believe Joseph really enjoyed it. He loved the water area and loved staring at all the kids (Field Trip Season ). I have learned one thing about him recently, he is a MAJOR people watcher. I have to constantly turn his head and get him back on track with what he was doing. What is really funny is when he is staring someone down and runs into walls and poles. This usually leads to people laughing, him getting super embarrassed and then mad. After the museum, we drove to my mom's work which was about 5 minutes away. We ate lunch at the hospital and then went to her floor so she could show off her grandsons. They were loved by all ;-). She also gave me a tour of her new unit and showed me the pictures that are up of Joseph, myself, and of Jeff. I think it is pretty cool that my mom gets to see her grandson on the wall from where she works.
Thursday, Aunt Stacey took off and joined in on the fun. We drove to Grapevine and had lunch with my mom , Stacey and of course, the boys at the Rainforest Cafe. Joseph loves animals, and more specifically, Safari animals. I don't know why I haven't taken him to this restaurant sooner, but he absolutely loved it! Our table was by some gorillas, or as he says 'ohla's,' so that was really fun for him to see them go off occasionally. Christian did really good too...his eyes were saucers pretty much the entire time. After a wonderful lunch and many gifts from the gift shop (thanks Aunt Stacey and Grammy!), we headed over to Sam Moon Trading Co. This is an awesome place to get accessories, purses, bags, luggage and many other things for discounted prices. We walked away with tons of new things...more than we probably needed. My mom blessed me with two bags that I intend to use as my diaper bags. I picked out a large one for my everyday diaper bag and then a smaller bag to be used for restaurants or quick trips.
We have been blessed so much this week and we hate to see it come to an end. Tomorrow, we are going to meet Papaw for lunch and then go to a bowling alley in the afternoon. Aunt Stacey took Friday off as well to come and play with us...by the way, Joseph adores his Aunt Stacey. He wouldn't let her leave on Thursday and throughout the day he would just walk over to her, grab her and kiss her. So stinkin' cute!
I heard from Jeff and he is in Paris. If everything goes according to plan, he will be in Houston at 6 :30 p. He said he has a lot of funny stories to tell and some good pictures to show me. I can't wait. Please pray for his safety.

A lot of times I will sit Joseph's food on the chair when we aren't all sitting down together to eat. The other night, my mom heard a screeching sound and looked over. Joseph drug the chair from the table to the window so he could sit down. We just thought this was a cute picture.

This may be really bad for me to say as a mom, but in the above and below pictures, I thought the boys looked like they both have been tasting some 'grass.' Sorry, but just with their eyes and then the placement of Joseph's fingers.

Joseph and then Christian's reaction to the thunder storms at the Rainforest Cafe.

I absolutely love Christian's face in this one. He looks like he is thinking, 'You crazy!'

Joseph was very territorial in the water area. He at one time saw a class coming in the area and he literally ran and grabbed all the ducks. Then some older boys were getting in his way, so he started squirting them with the ducks. I did intervene, but I thought it was pretty funny.

At one time, Christian lifted his head all the way up. This made me go and get the camera, and once I did, he didn't do it again.

We're here

Our trip to Dallas started out a little rocky. We started out Saturday morning about 11:30 by taking Jeff to the airport. It sounded like a good idea at the time, since it was pretty much on our way out of town. The weather was probably the worst I have ever seen in Houston. It took us 2 hours to get to the airport. The highway was fine, it was when we exited to go to the airport that it got real bad. The roads were flooded, people's cars were dying and getting stranded...a huge mess. We made it and dropped Jeff off and took off to Dallas. It took us a while to get to 45 and once we did it was pretty much smooth sailing. We stopped to get gas in Conroe and that was when Jeff called and said his flight had been cancelled. I felt so sorry for him. We made it to Dallas about 6:30 in the evening...a long time in the car is all I have to say. Since we have arrived, we have played outside, rode on the tractor, gone to the park, and have eaten a lot! Below are a few snapshots from our first couple of days here in Dallas.
*Update: Jeff has made it France and was absolutely exhausted. He should be on schedule to come back home on Friday, which I am really looking forward to.*

Okay, I know some of you don't care about this, but I just think it is so adorable that Christian has started sucking his thumb. Pretty much anytime you put him on the floor, he will find it and go to town. Just recently, when he is in the swing, he will get it and fall asleep. Now that he has found his thumb, ummm, yeah, he is like sleeping through the night now. Not to brag ;-). Last night was the first night in more than 2 weeks that I had to nurse in the middle of the night. He probably would have gone back to sleep by just sucking his thumb, but since we are all in the same room, I didn't want him to wake up Joseph.

Just chillin' at a park in Rockwall.

This face is not usual for Christian during bath time. He will usually have a huge smile on his face and be talking the entire time.

Something Joseph loves to do around here...play in the pool. The water was freezing, but as you can see, he didn't mind it. My goal is to teach him to swim this summer because he loves the water and I will feel a little better with him around the pool if we have lessons.

Easter Weekend

This weekend was much anticipated mostly by me because I was ready to be out of this house. We went and had lunch Friday afternoon with Grandma and Joseph seemed to be doing better, but during nap, he proved otherwise. I was so bummed, so we stayed home from the McDaniel's movie night. Then Saturday morning, there was going to be an egg drop by helicopter. Jeff and I were excited to see this. We loaded up and headed over to Pearland High where I saw the biggest church event that I have ever seen. There were so many people!! We didn't do any of the free games, inflatables, or booths because of the lines. Plus, we would totally have waited in line and then once we got to the front, Joseph would totally tell us no. I wasn't about to do that. Jeff ended up not taking Joseph on the field for the egg drop, which turned out to be a great decision. He said that it just didn't look like a good idea. Tons and tons of people lined the field and he just knew that he would wait all that time and end up with nothing. So, we just watched from the stands which was fun.
Then Sunday we went to church and then to Marnie and Poppy's for lunch and the annual egg hunt. It was great fun, but both my boys had melt downs during our time there. Christian's was during the photo shoot and Joseph's was during the egg hunt. Ahh, the joys of parenting. C-bear was mad because I woke him up and J-dog had fallen off the dining room chair onto the wood floor...I guess they both had good reasons to be upset. Mark and Jack were so sweet and gave Joseph some of their eggs since he wasn't wanting to participate in the hunt.
Once we got home, Joseph and Jeff hit the sack while Christian and I hung out. He was so happy and I hadn't taken any pictures of him yet, so we went outside and I took some photos of him. Then, once Joseph woke up and was happy, I went and took some pictures of both boys.
So, a great and long weekend. Please be in prayer for Jeff as he is going to France on Saturday. :-( Next weeks post will be brought to you from Dallas.
Peace, LLK

This is only half or less of the stadium.