4 Kiddos Later

Bad blogger

2012-01-24T14:56:00.004-06:00

I'm sorry to all of you who follow my blog - I have been failing horribly at updating it! Not sure if I will get any better or not.

We've had a busy January. Soccer and swimming are back in session. Our weekends are completely booked these days. And perhaps the biggest thing that happened is that James resigned from his position at his advertising agency earlier in the month, and is busy starting up his own company. He has been working out of the house the past few weeks now. He and his partner have several clients already... and I know they will be successful. Just a tad stressful at the moment though. :)

I'm looking through our pictures to see if I have any to share, but they are either on my camera still or I haven't taken that many. It's probably more like I haven't taken many.

Austin turned 9 on the 1st. I can't believe I have a nine year old. Where does the time go? He had a few friends over for a sleepover and they had a blast. His new favorite thing is his Nintendo DS he received. We've had to put limits on it or else he would play the thing 24 hours a day. The other kiddos are pretty infatuated with it also.

Austin also placed 4th in the district UIL competition a few weeks ago!

Well that's all for now. Sorry again... and hopefully I'll be able to post again soon! Hope you all have a blessed week!

Decorating cookies

2012-01-09T10:25:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile! Happy New Year! We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Life has been busy.

I was headed to the gym this morning, but turned around and came back home - it was storming terribly and there were tornado warnings. So I figured I wouldn't risk our lives this morning. We came home and Cole is actually content watching tv at the moment (gotta love Bubble Guppies). He usually will not leave my side. So guess I have no excuse at the moment not to update the blog.

Here are the older ones making our annual Christmas cookies.

I tried to pose them like this b/c I think one of my favorite pictures of all time is from 2 years ago. It makes me laugh every single time!

Oh - how they've grown! Not as funny this year, but I won't stop trying :)

Then Abby decided to put her wet hand in the flour

they all thought that was hilarious

and had to do it themselves. I wonder if my kids are the only ones that actually enjoy the taste of flour by itself? Gross. The flour then got poured in the trash.

They had fun decorating the cookies a few days later with friends!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T19:14:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Hoping you find joy, love and peace this holiday season!

5 more days

2011-12-20T07:12:00.001-06:00

I feel like I'm not prepared this year. I still have shopping and wrapping to do... menus to plan. I'm not exactly sure when it will all get done, but it always does.

The kids are officially out of school. Yesterday they were getting on each others nerves terribly. This might be a long two weeks.

Here are some pictures from their Christmas party at school last week. The girls made gingerbread houses.

I'm the homeroom mom in Abby's class and we did these cute little snowman ornaments. I went in a few days before the party and did the kid's hand prints on the ornament, and then they decorated them at the party. I thought overall they turned out pretty cute, except for the kids who just decided to paint over their hand print and name with black paint.

Here's all the kids with their teachers. They are awesome!! We couldn't ask for better teachers this year. They are all so sweet and challenge our kiddos. LOVE THEM!

Christmas Karaoke

2011-12-15T06:40:00.001-06:00

One of Cole's favorite things to do is find the TV remote and press as many buttons as he can... we he somehow stumbled upon the Santa channel. They have games, music, and I think on Christmas Eve you can even track where Santa is.

So every night (and morning lately) the Christmas music is on... and it is loud.

I must have had my finger on my phone speaker... but the kids love singing and dancing around to the Christmas music. Sorry in advance if this makes you dizzy...

How I wish I could bottle up their energy! They seriously did this for over and hour... back and forth, back and forth! Oh and yes, if you've never noticed Abby still walks/dances/runs on her tip toes. We are trying to work on it. Easier said than done.

Super Speller

2011-12-14T12:50:00.001-06:00

Austin participated in the school spelling bee yesterday. He ended up losing to some 4th grade kids on a word that he knew.... he added an extra letter in the word and knew immediately he made a mistake. The spelling bee was in front of the entire 3rd & 4th grade - he asked before school that morning if anyone ever died of being so nervous. HA! I was nervous too! I couldn't even hold the video camera straight when he was on stage. He did awesome though. Next month he will perform in the district UIL competition. I think Austin spells better than some high school kids. We are so proud of our boy!!

I thought we were done with soccer this year... but got a call from one of the coaches asking if Austin could play in a weekend tournament in South Houston. It was the first time he has ever "played up" and he did great.... mainly played defense so he didn't score any goals.

One of the games was in the evening. He felt like a professional playing under the stadium lights.

The whole family joined

It was a long weekend... we were all tuckered out!

2011-12-11T07:48:00.008-06:00

I just realized it's been awhile since I posted. All is well in our family.

This is what we typically do on Sundays. Church and football. Austin failed to mention unpacking as well though. We still have a garage full of boxes and a few more trips to get everything out of our apartment.

We finally just got our tree up on Friday night. Usually we have our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but we're behind this year. I think Elfie, our Elf on the Shelf, was getting a little concerned that Santa would not know where to put the toys. The kids relayed that message directly from Elfie.

This is the first year for Elfie to join our family. He's been great. The kids have been pretty good especially since he reports all naughty and good behavior directly to Santa himself every single night. Absolutely brilliant.

I was able to find a few Christmas boxes so we have some decorations out now.

Sneaky Cole has been trying to find a way to get a hold of the ornaments on the tree. Only 2 have been broken so far... although I can't really blame Cole. Blame the girls.

All moved in!

2011-11-28T19:02:00.001-06:00

Well we are homeowner's once again!! The close was far from smooth, but it all worked out in the end. We were able to get our keys last Monday night and had the movers come late Wednesday.

I must say I have the greatest friends EVER. Between helping us move and unpack, and help watch the kiddos... we were covered! I am so thankful for all of our sweet friends (& mom who helped watch Cole).

I really don't have many pictures to post, it has been a busy week. There is still some unpacking to do and some furniture to buy, but we have a new place to call home. So all is well.

The kids camped out Tuesday night. There was no way we were getting them back in our apartment.

Thanksgiving day we made a ham and some fixins... including a pumpkin swirl cheesecake. YUM! Twice the time, twice the mess and ten times the fun! Although Abby doesn't look happy to be at the end of the mixin' line.

The girls couldn't wait for it to be done baking. Too bad it had to sit in the fridge for 6 hours after that.

They eventually gave up and I found ballet bear in their place.

Oh my... the things you take for granted when living in a tiny space... like a YARD. They've been running around like crazy outside several hours a day. It's great!

You can't take your eyes off this one for a second. There went the breadcrumbs that were a key ingredient for our dinner. Thanks Cole.

Family game night is back!

Some space for ring around the rosy! Now when "they all fall down" they have to be careful - hardwoods hurt!

Austin played in his first tournament over the weekend. He was on a new team that didn't do so hot, but he did score the only goals on his team. I was thinking we would take a break in the spring, but after talking to the coach he told us to keep him in... said he is very good and makes quick decisions for his age. He said they are watching him for when they make club selections. So here's to a crazy spring schedule also...

Packing up

2011-11-19T17:20:00.000-06:00

Austin's at a birthday party, James is sick, and Cole is asleep. The girls and I are packing up.

Well at least Abby is. Emily is busy reading to her animals.
If we're lucky, we're out of this apartment early next week. We thought there was a 0% chance of this changing, but after going back and forth with the mortgage people yesterday it is not guaranteed any longer. They ordered a late Friday inspection... why they didn't do it earlier is beyond me. So extremely frustrating.... they have known our closing date for the past 4 months and wait until the last minute to perform an inspection. So fingers crossed that all will go according to plan!

Here's a couple of pictures of the new house a week ago.

This is my favorite part of the house... big kitchen and I love the stone arch!

Just some random other stuff. Here's Austin at his Veteran's Day program.

and the girls at their Thanksgiving program called "Totally Turkey." Super cute!

And look who is toothless just in time for Christmas!

Well I gotta run. I hope y'all have a great Thanksgiving! Don't forget to count all your blessings, we will! :)

Abby Update - Wednesday

2011-11-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

Abby's home!! Her face is pretty much back to normal. She might have a tiny scar where they made the incision in the crease of her nose... but I don't think it will be a big deal.

We're so glad to have our sweet girl back home with us... really don't want to experience it ever again.

This is her before:

And after:

She's home with me today, but should be headed back to school tomorrow. I think she's back to feeling like her usual self except her hand is very swollen from the IV... but that's pretty much it.

We so appreciate all the prayers :)

Abby Update

2011-11-07T11:45:00.004-06:00

What a difference a day makes! Abby's face looks so much better. The antibiotics are kicking in.

I'm still not sure how much longer we are going to be here at the hospital. There is still a chance of a second surgery. We are all ready for Abby to come home and get back to normal.

We are so grateful for our sweet friends that have been helping with the other kiddos.

So thanks for all your prayers, keep 'em coming :)

Please pray for Abby

2011-11-06T16:37:00.004-06:00

I wouldn't normally post this, but our sweet little Abby could really use your prayers right now.

She's in the hospital with a really nasty infection. She should be ok, but it's still scary. We went to the ER yesterday for an abscess on her face that turned bad very quickly. It went from a small pimple, to the whole right side of her face swelling. We got transferred by ambulance from that hospital to the big children's hospital downtown.

She had surgery yesterday, and woke up this morning worse. She can't even open her right eye now. We've had slews of doctors into see us... the last one being an infectious disease doctor. We're still not sure what it is (probably MRSA). They changed her IV antibiotics to a stronger one today, in which she didn't react to well. If she doesn't respond to these, she'll have a catscan in the morning followed by more surgery... and we're already guaranteed another 48 hours there. She started off in good spirits, but she's really tired of it all right now. Poor baby.

So like I said, I wouldn't normally post anything like this, but we could use all the prayers we can get. I'll update more on here when we get more information. Thanks for the prayers!!

Happy November!

2011-11-03T08:49:00.006-05:00

It seems like we have been waiting and waiting all year for November to get here. If all goes according to plan, we should be moving in our new house around Thanksgiving! It can't come soon enough. I have to keep reminding myself as much as apartment life completely stinks, we need to stay positive! After all - we have a roof over our head, food in the fridge, and a healthy/happy family. We are blessed!

They just put the carpet in our house this week, and I completely teared up after seeing it. It's so real now. YEAH.

Here's a few pictures from Halloween this year. A sweet friend invited us over to trick-or-treat. Unfortunately her son, and Austin's best buddy, had strep and couldn't join us. We missed him, but the kids had a blast. And we have tons of sugar. The one good thing about all this sugar is that if the kids misbehave, all I have to do is threaten to take away candy and they immediately stop. Haha. Whatever works, right?! Little do they know... a handful ends up in the trash each day while they are at school.

This is the only picture I have of Cole in his full costume. He would not leave that thing on his head. I got it at Target after last year's Halloween for 90% off. Honestly I didn't even know what it was, but apparently it was some sort of martian from Toy Story. All I cared was that it was a costume and cost $1.

Austin was Darth Vader. Every year he picks out something he knows nothing about.

Emily was a bumble bee and Abby was a witch - another Target find from last year that went into the dress-up drawer.

Don't let this picture fool you... this was the one time Cole actually held the pumpkin and kind of went up to the door. He pretty much was cranktified the rest of the evening. I'm sure next year will be more fun for him.

Hope y'all have a happy November!

Annual fall pictures

2011-10-30T17:00:00.001-05:00

I know I need to change the top banner on this blog... it's been a good year and a half since we took that picture. I figured there wasn't a better time than now. I love everything about the fall... cooler weather, the beautiful fall colors, pumpkin bread, college and pro football, Christmas fast approaching, etc.

So I envisioned getting a nice fall picture of all the kiddos as we entered the pumpkin patch today... creating a new banner on top and being set for yet another year.

Well it just wasn't meant to happen today. This was the very first picture I took that day. Obviously it wasn't going to be that great anyway with the cars and auto shop in the background.

but they didn't get much better.

I laugh as I upload these pictures. I honestly don't know how most people can get their kids happy at the same time. We bribe and bribe. Didn't work today.

Didn't work last week either.

I know when they're teenagers we'll look back on these days and laugh.... and wonder why on earth we thought it was so difficult at the ages of 8, 6, 6, and 1. And one day I'll get them looking like the sweet children they really are (usually).

Here are some ok pictures from the rest of the day

Toothless!

2011-10-29T20:12:00.004-05:00

As I was helping out in Emily's class yesterday, she lost her first front tooth!

She cried hysterically... and lost what I thought was a crazy amount of blood for a tooth. But she was happier after the tooth fairy brought 5 bucks. I guess the top 2 teeth are worth more than other teeth. And I won't go into the drama that happened before that... let's just say Abby is a little jealous of the fact she hasn't lost any teeth and then the tooth went missing. All was better after it was found.

I don't know how it's possible, but I think Em may have even gotten a little cuter.

Here's a before... who needs fancy toys when you have boxes everywhere?

And after!

Dear Smurf

2011-10-24T11:51:00.005-05:00

Abby loves the Smurfs.

She doesn't watch the cartoon, but saw the movie a few months ago. I won't even share how many Happy Meals we bought this summer trying to find a plastic Papa Smurf or Smurfette. We never did get them, but luckily a good friend gave us their Smurfette. We ended up with tons of loser smurfs... you know the ones that don't even have a big part in the movie.

We go walking/running quite a bit in the evenings since our apartment is close to some nature trails. It was then that I found out Abby's biggest dream:

She wants the Smurfs to fall from the moon, get lost, and find their way to our apartment... where we could then care for them. They could eat dinner with us, play barbies, go to school in her backpack, etc. That would be the coolest thing "evah" as she would say.

She sat down yesterday and was writing a letter... I assumed it was to Santa. I was thrilled I might be getting some shopping done early this year... although I really have nowhere to store it at the moment. Anyway, I was wrong.

Instead she invited the Smurfs over for a dinner party.

Texans star

2011-10-13T09:23:00.006-05:00

This is the first morning in awhile that Cole and I have been home.... so I thought I'd share some pictures of our little Texans star!

Austin is really good at soccer - we love watching him play. This is the first year that he is in a league with real professional coaches, and I think it has made a huge difference. We practice 2 nights a week for 1.5 hours and then games on Saturdays. They also have games on Sundays, but we declined... just a bit too much at his age I think.

Even Cole made a new (territorial) friend out at the fields.

He kept stealing the ball from that big kid.

Goal!

So besides soccer, Austin's favorite thing is fishing now. James takes him out to Galveston about 2 times a month in his kayak. Well I'm not sure how much fishing James actually gets to do, but Austin loves it.

Oh and James went by the house today... look at the progress now. Can I get a WOOO HOOOO!?!

Cheer Clinic

2011-10-10T17:48:00.004-05:00

I am horrible about updating this blog lately. We just have so much going on... and this has taken a backseat to everything else.

It looks like I haven't put a recent picture of Cole up lately... so here he is.

Cutie pie but little stinker! He is either sweet as pie or throwing a fit these days. There is no in between. And when we are out in public he is usually not that sweet. I don't remember my other kids throwing fits this early, but holy cow... he can throw a fit with the best of 'em. He has hit the terrible 2's 7 months early. This too shall pass, right? But he really does have the sweetest little spirit, just no one would ever know it that sees him in person. HA.

So the girls did a cheer clinic at the local high school Saturday. They had a blast! One of Emily's best friends was there... so glad because if she wasn't, I don't think there was a chance she'd perform in front of all the parents!

Here they are... a little nervous I think!

Then there's Abby... totally not nervous at all.

hugging the cheerleaders...

Dancing with the cheerleaders...

Abby was in a different group... and little miss popular with all the high schoolers. She said they were laughing at her the whole time... when I asked why - she said they were laughing when she was doing her moves. I wouldn't be shocked to discover a youtube video of her somewhere. We couldn't even leave without someone saying "Abby, Abby!" I don't know where she gets it from.

House Progress!

2011-09-28T12:34:00.006-05:00

I have been asked by several people how our house is coming along.

The answer is, it is!

Finally!

Here are a few pics that are pretty boring to most of you guys... but it represents the light at the end of the tunnel for us. I am so ready to get out of this apartment.

shhh... don't tell the builder we weren't wearing our obligatory hard hats.

Peek-a-boo!

This was actually maybe 2 weeks ago. We now have brick and cabinets!

A girl's day

2011-09-17T17:15:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since we've had a girl's day, so I spent Saturday afternoon with my little beauties.

We started out with a Chili's lunch. Yum.

Then did some shopping.

Followed by a pedicure.

Back home with some DQ treats. Oh how I love these sweet girls.

We were supposed to do 5 things... so then I painted their fingernails. 5 items completed. Check Check.

Little reader

2011-09-11T19:08:00.003-05:00

Abby loves everything about 1st grade. I think between the girls, she will be our more studious one. She loves her teacher and she even gets to see Austin's 1st grade teacher an hour every day (who we love). So overall, 1st grade is going extremely well!

I would almost say the girls would be mirror image twins if they were identical. Abby is left handed, Emily is right. Emily loves to write and draw, Abby does not. Abby loves to read, Emily does not. Abby is little miss social, Emily is not. Emily is the sweetest little thing, Abby is too, but she is a little more spirited. :) Maybe the one thing they have in common is they love princesses. And looking pretty.

Why does Elton John pop in my mind from this photo? Quite the tiny dancer, errr tiny reader.

Cole's 1st Haircut

2011-09-01T12:06:00.000-05:00

You know it's time for a haircut when your sisters start putting ponytails in your hair.

Goodbye blond locks!

The only way to keep him from screaming was to stick a lollipop in his mouth. And that really didn't help much either.

Back to happy at home.

I think he aged a year after his haircut! :( Baby boy is growing up!

Back to school... again.

2011-08-24T13:44:00.002-05:00

So another school year has begun.

Austin is now in 3rd grade and the girls are in 1st grade.

These are not the best pictures. We were in a hurry to get out the door that morning.

We walked into the school together. I've always walked them to their class the first day of school. Austin immediately took off to his classroom by himself. No goodbye or anything! Sheesh. And so being officially independent begins...

Emily was pretty unsure about staying in her class. Luckily she has a few good friends from last year, or I think she wouldn't have been crying and begging to come home with me. She refused to take a picture.

And what would I do without my sassy little Abby? She was so excited for 1st grade to start. She was up at 5:30 with me ready to go. On the way to school she told Austin and Emily that she has 1,000 friends at school and was giving them advice on how to make new friends. They weren't all into that conversation.

Here's to another great school year!

FL photo shoot

2011-08-14T08:43:00.001-05:00

I can't share my favorites... I'm pretty sure we will use them on our Christmas card this year. But here is the best of the rest!

We actually had to take them out there both morning and night.

Because in our morning pictures the sun was right in the kiddos face, so they were squinty like this

Onto the evening pictures.... had to bribe them with both ice cream and popsicles. Sugar works every time!

Perhaps the funniest of the day...

FL Vacation - Day 3

2011-08-09T20:49:00.003-05:00

Yahoo! We finally made it! Lather me up mama and get me on that beach!

I think the kids' favorite part of the condo is that they have their own personal TVs in each bunkbed.

The old man and the sea.

Ready to hit the sand!

Raise your hand if your diaper is wet!

It's kind of hard to tell, but Austin is swimming just past the seaweed. It has been really BAD! Abby doesn't want to put her feet in it to get to the clear water.

Not our healthiest week of food. We did have some fresh gulf shrimp for dinner, though. Yum!

Because of the seaweed issue, we decided to check out a few local parks.

We found a great park near the bay. It was a great way to beat the crowds.

Peek-a-boo - greetings from Forrest Stump.

Mr. "I just started walking ten days ago" is showing off...

There was a specialty cupcake shop across from the park... they didn't open until later, so we had to come back!

"You wanna piece of my cupcake?"

At the end of the day we enjoyed a friendly game of Uno.

FL Vacation Day 2

2011-08-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

Well we made it to our final destination - Ft. Walton Beach, FL!

We didn't have a long drive today and couldn't check in until 4:00 so we drove around quite a bit. James did go to the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi for 30 minutes while we waited in the car and he actually won $100. That paid for our groceries later that day, yeah!

So we're off to a good start...

Except it appears they are having a major seaweed issue at the beach. We'll see how that pans out.

FL Vacation Day #1

2011-08-07T20:45:00.001-05:00

Fresh and ready for the big trip. Bring it on! Wait, did you say we're driving all day!!?!!

We started our family vacation early this morning! What a job it is to get a family of 6 packed! I spent all yesterday afternoon and evening getting everything ready. I'm not sure if this is going to be one of those relaxing type of vacations - but it's bound to be fun!

Here's Emily enjoying a po-boy in Walker, Louisiana - near Mandeville.

Everything was going great, everybody was enjoying their lunch until Abby spilled ketchup all over her dress. Looks like a scene from a horror movie. If that stain doesn't come out, it might be...

A new change of clothes and a happier girl!

I'm free! This is way better than sitting in a car!

Fooooooooood. Must - have - food!

Final stop for the day - Gulfport, MS!

The beach was great. And very few people... We may have to come back here!

Is this my good side?

This hotel is coool. I love these high beds... I can't wait to fall off, head-first... Poor kid needs to wear a helmet.

"My head is indestructible!"

3 tired kiddos. At least there's some evidence that they were getting along...

Look who's a walker!

2011-08-01T19:55:00.001-05:00

Goodbye baby...

Hello toddler!

I think all of our kids were walking around the 14 month mark. Go figure... they all look the same and hit their milestones at the same time.... I'm sure it has something to do with James' freakishly strong DNA.

New House

2011-07-27T19:15:00.001-05:00

Here's the progress on our new house.... WOW, huh?

If we believed what they originally told us, it should be complete in about a month or so.

Instead it looks like it will be close to Christmas by the time we will move in... and we will be apartment dwellers for many more months.

To say we are frustrated is an understatement. I thought we would be frustrated at the speed when they started building, not taking an extra 3 months just to get started.

In other news, poor Austin had his first cavity filled yesterday.

He also had his first set of x-rays and cat scan done last Saturday. He dove into shallow water head first and scared the crud out of us. He's good, but he's cost us a pretty penny this month :)

Here's Cole snacking on a nectarine. I left the groceries on the ground, left for a second, and came back to him helping himself. Very resourceful child.

Kidz Bop

2011-07-24T09:08:00.003-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that Cole loves music? Well he does. I finally caved and bought the kids a Kidz Bop cd. They've seen it advertised on tv and it's always playing at the gym. We typically listen to Christian music in the car because I've heard some crazy lyrics on the normal radio stations! They change the inappropriate words in the lyrics on popular songs.

ANYWAY.

This is Cole jammin' to a song...

Smithville, TX B&B

2011-07-18T07:52:00.001-05:00

We set off to the hill country this weekend to the small town of Smithville, TX. I heard that one of its claims to fame was that the movie Hope Floats was filmed there... One of my all time faves! After hearing that, I eagerly anticipated meeting the owners of the B&B, knowing that they'd have Harry Connick Jr's charm and good looks. Sure enough, they were extremely friendly (and a cute older couple) - just as you'd expect in this quiet little Texas town.

Welcome to our cabin! I hope you brought some food...

We had the pond all to ourselves - if you don't count an occasional visit from one of the cows. Or the very curious (read: territorial and frightening) snake that lived under the dock.

It's actually on a real organic farm... they have beautiful gardens and farm animals.

These twins are grass fed.

These twins are not.

Here are a few happy campers.

"They forgot me!"

Abby not too thrilled she had to wait until Austin was done on the boat.

Girls' turn! It amazes me that Emily will pick up worms, lizards, etc. - but if a little ant gets on her she'll scream bloody murder.

"Tell her what she's won. A Brand New Bass!!"

"It's wiggling!"

"Mr. Catfish 2011"

This catfish almost pulled Austin in - he brought it in all by himself.

Another cast. Another fish... Austin was on fire and is now totally hooked on fishing! (thank goodness)

"You can hold it, Dad."

I guess out in the country you expect to see some critters you wouldn't normally see.

I knew our mini-vacation was over when James informed me that this guy was eyeing me on the front porch while I was relaxing and reading after the kids had gone to bed.

I knew it was time to say goodbye to Smithville. Until next time!

Summer Fun

2011-07-12T13:09:00.005-05:00

I seldom take pictures these days, but life has been pretty busy! I could blame it on the baby since he is always crawling (not walking yet) off with stuff like this... (my camera lens). Although it kind of looks like we painted a mustache on him.

We try to get out of this apartment as much as possible. The girls took a few art classes this week and made these creations.

We've been to the zoo (no pictures), the gym (no pictures), parks (no pictures), gymnastics (no pictures), several pools (no pictures)... yeah you get the idea.

James got a brand new burnt orange kayak. We've taken it out a few times and it's a lot of fun. I'm hoping he and Austin can catch tons of fish to help cover what we paid for it. I did get a picture of it with my phone!

And if you look real close you might see me rowing Abby around while she feeds the fish a bubble gum and strawberry slushy.

Apartment bound

2011-07-03T17:06:00.003-05:00

This is what Mr. Crabs thinks about our new living situation.

I'm inclined to agree.

We officially closed on our house last week and moved into our smaller living quarters. It's been a stressful few weeks - our closing was delayed due to an appraisal issue and when resolved, we had 3 days to move a family of 6 out of the very first home we've ever owned. We moved our stuff into 3 places - storage, our apartment garage, and our apartment. I'm having a hard time finding things at the moment.

Austin is sharing a bedroom with Cole and the girls are together. They are jealous they can't share a bedroom with Cole. Actually they are jealous of many things.

We're making the best of the situation... getting out of the apartment as much as possible. I feel sorry for our neighbors, but so far no complaints. We're on the second floor with people above us and people below us. Our new house keeps getting delayed... it is now supposed to start mid-July, but I fully expect a hurricane and some much needed rain to hit then delaying it again. HA.

Hope y'all have a happy and safe 4th. We are blessed to live in this country.

And he hasn't been Mr. Crabs ALL of the time... just most of the time. He has some new teeth in the back coming in. Ouch!

4 cuties

2011-06-14T14:58:00.002-05:00

G is for Glamour Girl

2011-06-07T13:45:00.001-05:00

Abby was assigned the letter G for the kindergarten alphabet parade at school. A dear friend helped me dress her up - don't you think she is stylin'?

Emily chose the letter P. Not surprised at all. We didn't have to think out of the box on that one.

Shockwaves

2011-06-06T12:55:00.001-05:00

This is what has been consuming our life these days.

Swim team. Almost every day.

As big of a commitment that it is - it really is fun to watch. Austin is a whole head shorter than most kids in his age group and he is a top contender every week, usually placing between 1st and 3rd in the freestyle, butterfly, and the relays. He actually qualified for invitationals which will be another full day knocked out of our busy schedule, but figure we should let him experience it now before he gets older. Height does play a role in the sport of swimming, so physics are against him at the moment. Might as well let him do it now :)

Sweet little Emily usually places in the middle... but she is so cute to watch and is trying her hardest out there. We couldn't be more prouder of her. She just swims the freestyle and backstroke. Going into the season, she didn't know how to do either and she has improved drastically. Her personal times get better each meet.

Abby will sometimes join us at the meets on Saturdays - but they are long days and it is very hot. She usually makes it a few hours and then James will take her home with him and Cole. A friend and I are in charge of the 6 and under girls, so she'll hang out and play with them as long as she can.

My 2 current Shockwaves:

And future Shockwaves:

Cole videos

2011-06-01T12:20:00.001-05:00

I just dumped my phone pictures and videos onto the computer.

Here are a few of our little ONE year old!!

Here's Cole's first taste of ice cream, it's a love/hate thing. I feel the same way... although for very different reasons.

Must be a boy thing. Austin pretends to burp... Cole thinks it's the funniest thing ever.

Future soccer star?

or future American Idol?

In other news... our house sold! It really wasn't on the market that long, and now we are headed to a teency weency apartment in the next few weeks. Our new house won't be ready until October. So it will be a fun and cramped summer!

Don't you think he makes the cutest little flower?? I can't wait to share my blog with him when he's 13 or so. :)

Field Day and Field Trip

2011-05-06T14:40:00.001-05:00

Today was field day at the kiddo's school. And boy was it hot out there!! I was assigned to the sack races so I didn't get to see much else. It looked like everyone was soaking wet at the end of the day from all the water games!

Emily not feeling the sack races... or anything else that I saw for that matter. Ugh.

This was from the kinder rodeo back in March... I was just trying to go through all my photos and see what school things I have forgotten to put on the blog.

My cute little cowgirls.

Proof that Emily does participate in some things.

These are from the girls' field trip to the Oil Ranch. I forgot my camera so had to use my phone instead. There were tons of fun things to do... including milking a cow. Yeah... my girls were not feeling that one. I thought Emily might considering her love of bugs - she'll pick up any disgusting little creature but wouldn't go near a cow that was locked up in some sort of gate.

Preparing for the royal wedding

2011-05-03T10:20:00.003-05:00

May 2nd

2011-05-02T13:25:00.001-05:00

7 years ago today, James' dad went to heaven. We miss him dearly. I wish the kids would remember what a great man he was... but the girls and Cole weren't here yet and Austin was just 16 months old. I know they would have loved spending time with him. They lived out in the country and we had such fun when we visited... eating the best homemade meals and fishing to our heart's desire. Cancer sucks. Now 7 years later, James' brother is having some health issues also. I don't want to say much - but our family would really appreciate your prayers right now.

And I know I haven't mentioned that we lost our dog Saffron last month. This was the dog we "adopted" after James' mother passed away. She was his mom's baby, and for some strange reason I felt her presence through that dog. Weird I know. She was 14... and I know golden retrievers don't usually live that long. The kids were upset but haven't really dwelled on it like I thought they would. They know she's in heaven with grandma and Paw-Paw.

This was her last bath...

And I don't really want to end the post on a sad note - so here's 2 of my goofballs. They make my heart smile everyday.

Girls b-day pictures

2011-04-28T14:45:00.001-05:00

Well the girls turned six 43 days ago (but who's counting?) and I have yet to put the pictures up from their exciting day. In all honesty, I actually loaded these the day after their birthday but have yet to post them. Better late than never, right??! :)

I took them to a kiddie salon called Sweet and Sassy where they got pampered. This was right up their alley! They loved it and talk about doing it next year. I won't share how much it cost because it was absolutely ridiculous!! But since they didn't have a party I figured this made up for it. And Emily DID get her ears pierced! She changed her mind that morning about 12 times, but went through with it. Abby says she is waiting until her 10th birthday.

Home Sick

2011-04-25T16:00:00.000-05:00

My little Emily never gets sick. And it happens so rarely that when she does get something - the sweet little thing acts like she's on her deathbed.

She's her daddy's girl.

So she woke up this morning with a cough... in which I thought she was making it sound worse than what it was.

I was right.

She coughed all the way to school, gave me the "poor, poor me" act and then when we got home - she was ready to go to the store, practice some reading and writing...

play safari girl

chill out with the baby brother

played barbies

drew barbies

chased each other around the house ruining everything I had cleaned before they woke up.

My sweet little sick girl is headed back to school tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T11:33:00.004-05:00

Oh my - we have been busy. Soccer just ended, swim team has just begun, and our house is officially on the market. We are rarely at the house these days - the house is being shown all the time. And when we are home, it involves cleaning. Keeping the house in perfect condition and "show ready" at all times is a complete joke.

Here are a few pictures from painting eggs earlier today. I hope you all have a blessed Easter!

Bad blogger

2011-03-15T18:18:00.007-05:00

Well I knew it was awhile since I put something up on this blog, but I didn't realize it's been a month!

We've been so busy with soccer, swimming, school, and just life. Plus it's hard to get anything done when you have a baby that hardly naps. And we're about to put our house up on the market. We're not moving far - just to a neighborhood close by. So things have been very crazy!

Here are the girls at 5 years and 364 days old. They'll be turning 6 tomorrow. 6!! What on earth?

I'm taking them to a kiddie salon to get pampered. This is right up their ally. Emily is even going to get her ears pierced... well that's what she says now before she sees the ear gun tomorrow. Abby doesn't want to partake in any of that.

Here's a few pictures from Austin's soccer game last weekend. He's still our little soccer star... quite the athlete. All he wants to do these days is play soccer, throw the football, etc. Anything outside. James and I have had some very good workouts lately.

Wow, such talent...

Cole at the last soccer game... he's getting so big. 10 months old now and into EVERYTHING. He's super fast... you can't take your eyes off of him for one second. He is exhausting... but oh so sweet :) Looking more like Austin everyday, don't you think?

It's spring break this week. The highlight today was that Austin ate his first hamburger... ever. Technically it was a cheeseburger, but since he doesn't like cheese (only "melted" cheese) we couldn't call it a cheeseburger. The kid loved it. Go figure. My picky eater is finally trying new things!

Sweet little valentines

2011-02-15T09:28:00.001-06:00

We had a very busy and fun Valentine's Day yesterday. I still view this holiday more of a Hallmark holiday... we usually don't go crazy with gifts or anything. I did get James a box of chocolate. And guess what I got in return? A new washer and dryer! Yipee!! It comes tomorrow, best Valentine's day EVER - ha!!

Cole has his tongue constantly out these days.

Gee I wonder how Cole got these heart stamps all over his head?

Nobody completely admitted to it, but I have a good idea.

Raggedy Ann

2011-02-10T16:51:00.002-06:00

My mom brought over a Raggedy Ann doll for the girls to play with... apparently it was mine when I was little.

Emily immediately said, "LOOK Abby! We can scare the princesses on Halloween with this clown!"

Biking and gumballs

2011-02-09T08:32:00.000-06:00

The prize?

A gumball machine valued at $9.99 from Target 4 years ago (when we first tried to get Austin to ride a bike).

The goal?

Whoever can ride a two wheeler first gets the gumball machine... and the 4 year old stale gumballs to go with it.

I should have known that a little friendly competition would help Austin ride his bike. Brilliant. Why didn't we do this sooner?

Maybe not exactly friendly... as the girls found out quickly they didn't have a chance. None of my pictures turned out but they weren't to thrilled about how the day ended. Although I will say I don't think it will take them 4 years. Maybe one?

FINALLY!!! Eight is better than never right? I am so excited about the prospect of bike riding with my eldest son!

Austin decided he has to charge for his gumballs so he can add to his supply.

100th day of school

2011-02-03T12:16:00.001-06:00

Yesterday the girls celebrated their 100th day of kindergarten!

They came home on a total sugar HIGH. Holy cow.

Emily said she had marshmallows, chocolate chips, teddy grahams, m&ms, capri sun, pop-tarts, and popcorn. And they ate EVERY last bit.

They have both been doing so great in kinder. Abby is such the reader and Emily's handwriting has come so far since the first day. They absolutely love it. We are so proud of them.

Here's a silly song they do in school. Please excuse Emily singing in the shower in the background.

Then Abby put her own twist on it (and Emily is seriously going to town on her singing upstairs).

I always find it pretty funny when she names Cole after the dog (and Kiko, our dog who has been dead for several years now). Poor Cole.

Hope you all are staying warm. We are expected to have snow tonight and tonight and tomorrow morning!!

8 months!

2011-01-21T13:55:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the brief blog absence - we have all had the flu the last couple of weeks. All at different times, but still horrible nonetheless. Anyway.....

Cole - you are 8 months old now!

What are you up to?

Well the last month has been exciting to say the least. You can now officially get from "point a" to "point b" pretty darn fast. And you always go for the things that you shouldn't be in. Go figure. You've gone from scooting to the army crawl.

You also got your first teeth! The 2 bottom teeth have broken through your gums, but they're not in all the way yet.

You have so many nicknames: Spike, bam-bam, guacamole to name a few. In fact, you already have a theme song... it goes "Wholy Coly Guacamole, YEAH!" I'll try to get a video to put on here later. Emily invented it.

This is why we call you bam-bam sometimes:

You love baths

and being outside

and eating (check out your spiky hair)

and playing upstairs. "Hey kid, these are MY toys. Stay away."

and oh my gosh how you love the dog. I'm pretty sure it's not mutual though.

Sometimes when we're bored we balance things on your head. It keeps you entertained for awhile :)

Unfortunately I know exactly how much you weigh from the numerous doctor's appointments the last month. You are 17 1/2 lbs, wear 6/9 month clothes, and wear size 3 diapers.

Austin's 8th

2011-01-07T08:51:00.001-06:00

Well our little New Year's baby celebrated his eighth birthday last Saturday. How is it possible that I have an EIGHT year old?

We told him he could do anything he wanted that day. First thing he wanted to do was go to the gym, then lunch, then the zoo, then eat cotton candy, then go play football, then cake and presents. A fun filled day indeed.

Happy 8th birthday Austin! We couldn't be more proud of you. You are such a sweet boy and God has certainly blessed our family with you. Just please stop growing up so fast.

Austin the dentist

2011-01-04T07:23:00.003-06:00

Emily started off the year losing her first tooth! It's been so close to coming out (plus her grown-up tooth is already there). She didn't want her parents help - only her big brother. I had so many videos but had to cut it down to these three!

Emily got $5 from the tooth fairy and wanted to spend it immediately - so at the grocery store that day she got some princess silly bandz. Poor Abby is so jealous - no loose teeth in her mouth. I'm sure she'll be 7 like her brother before one pops out.

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-30T20:04:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus. We did!

Wow, it's been a busy few weeks. Are you ready for some picture overload?? I suppose I'll start with the kids' Christmas parties a few weeks ago.

Austin got to decorate a gingerbread house in his class.

Here he is with his teacher... Austin adores her. I've heard he's accidentally called her mom a couple of times. The girls also accidentally call me their teachers' names sometimes also. I wonder if most kids do this, or just mine?

Cole wasn't lacking for any attention among the second graders - obviously. He was a hit. Almost attention overload for a baby. It's almost as if I brought a puppy to the classroom.

Moving onto Abby's class - they had a book exchange.

"Hmmm... this doesn't look like a princess."

And onto Emily's class. All the kids got reindeer antlers and Rudolph noses. Super cute.

Sugar, sugar everywhere... At one point Abby was eating globs of icing by itself. Yeah - it was a rough night.

More icing. Sigh.

Before Emily's book exchange. It's the "first" present of the season. How exciting!

Here they are making our annual Christmas cookies. Technically, this is after we put the cookies in the oven - so they were free to lick the bowl. Just so you know - there were several hand-washing sessions throughout the entire process.

This is from last year and I know I've put it on here a few times, but I never get tired of looking at it. It cracks me up! Think I will pose them like this next year...

Here are the "favorites" that we saved for Santa.

What you can't hear in the background is Cole screaming. Poor baby was horribly sick all week. He's been sick for weeks and finally about yesterday he started feeling better.

The kids at the Christmas Eve service. Katie and I took the older kids - unfortunately James had to stay home with a sick Cole.

We played a few games of Christmas Eve pictionary. Is it a clown? Maybe baby Jesus because of the cross (and the tie-in to the obvious holiday we're celebrating)?

Nope it's an owl. Oops not really, because she thought she was supposed to draw an elf. So I guess it's one of Santa's elves.

Leaving some food out for the reindeer.

Holy cow look at those presents! The girls love their new dollhouse.

Silly Bandz! How does Santa know this stuff?

A dictionary to help feed his Scrabble addiction.

"It's a pillow. It's a pet. It's a pillow pet." Oh my gosh if I have to hear that jingle anymore I think they might just disappear. Those clever marketers...

Here's little Cole for maybe 30 minutes of the day that he was NOT crying.

He was more interested in "tasting" the packages. Mmm this is a good one.

Princess Jasmine...

My mom, dad, and sister were all over for Christmas and we had a great day. Katie was with us for about a week - it's always funny having her over.

We headed to It'z a few days ago. It's a pizza place with lots and lots of games. Kind of like Vegas for kids.

I think Emily might be regretting her decision to get into the mini roller coaster.

Queen of the cookies!

Aunt Katie and Austin having fun with bumper cars.

"Are you my mother?"

"Whatchoo talkin' bout Aunt Katie?"

Even more Silly Bandz!

Well I think that's about all for now. Happy New Year!

Dear Santa

2010-12-22T07:00:00.001-06:00

Dear Santa,

I have been so good. How is the reindeer and Mrs. Clause? I hope there doing good. Christmas is my favorite holiday because I put cheerios in the yard for the reindeer and opening presents. I hope you are not going to be tired and lose flying power. When you come into our house you are going to eat great cookies and drink exalent milk because I love you. I hope you will love our Christmas tree. I hope you are not cold in the north pole because it's in the negative deigrese and you would freeze up. And I also can't wait for mom to take my pictures with you. I would like for Christmas a top 100 greatest players book, a fugigi ball, a spongebob wii, a super mario bros wii, a walter payton card, and a children's dictionary. Merry Christmas Santa.

Love,
Austin

Dear Santa,

I have been very good. I will like a barbie castle and a pony and a fairy.

Love,
Abby

(Emily's letter got sent to the North Pole before these two, but it pretty much said the same thing... except she was "super" instead of "good")

Arm in arm

2010-12-21T14:10:00.001-06:00

Austin singing and Abby being silly.

Fruits and veggies

2010-12-20T17:11:00.003-06:00

Some information for you just in case you didn't know.

Abby loves to make videos... and talk... ALL the time :)

Blitzen

2010-12-17T12:57:00.006-06:00

Sometimes it's hard to get into the reindeer spirit

until your family starts singing Rudolph as loud as they possibly can

and until you have a black reindeer nose.

Antlers courtesy of Emily's class at her Christmas party yesterday. I've noted next time I take pictures with them to take the tag off first. :)

All I want for Christmas is...

2010-12-16T13:37:00.001-06:00

my one front tooth!

Thankfully there's no co-pay for this entry.

2010-12-11T17:25:00.005-06:00

We've had a busy few weeks. Full of germs. I am so sick of germs.

Austin was one of three 2nd graders (out of 170 at his school) selected for the district's UIL competition in creative writing. He was so excited to attend, but as of yesterday we weren't too sure if he'd be able to. Poor boy has been a mess the last week - including some asthma issues, a staph infection (mrsa), and a nasty stomach bug. Thankfully yesterday afternoon he started feeling better and was able to go. His school got 1st place overall. We're so proud of all the kids! Yeah!!

After the competition, we celebrated with some ice cream.

Then Santa and Mrs. Claus came to our neighborhood. Austin didn't want to go because he just knew it was an impostor Santa.

This was just a few seconds before Cole realized who was actually holding him and started screaming bloody murder.

Mrs. Claus read them a story about her hubby. She was terrific!

Last week we surprised the girls at lunch. They eat a very early lunch at 10:30 and the only thing open was Sonic.

I put a note in their lunches thinking I successfully tricked them. I did Emily for sure, she came in the cafeteria, sat down, and was visibly upset there was no lunch. Her teacher then read the note and she came and found us. She was so excited.

Abby came in the cafeteria without a lunchbox and immediately found us. Her teacher later told me she totally flipped out in class because she had nothing in her lunchbox. Should have known Abby checks first thing at school what her lunch is for the day (even though I told her she had a sandwich and fruit that morning). No getting anything by that one.

This is the best picture I got from Austin's 2nd grade Christmas performance. Obviously we didn't have the best seats but I did catch his shaking his hiney to Santa Clause rock. Hilarious. And, by the way, this wasn't a performance at a retirement home... I must have gotten behind all of the grandparents.

Now as I close this I'm off to call the doctor again because it appears Cole is allergic to the antibiotic he is on. And by allergic, I mean that I've just been informed about a new rash and exploding diaper that is "all over" the place. Can't wait to see that one. Does it ever end??

My favorite turkeys

2010-11-28T20:32:00.001-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Lots of food, family and fun.

Here are some pictures from the girl's kindergarten feast.

Here's Abby in front of the big turkey in school... everyone in her class had to design a feather and a vest. Look at all the colorful feathers - Abby wanted to do one with hearts. I didn't realize the kids would go all out on decorating either of these. I think some of the parents spent some serious money on the vests - we just put some stickers on hers and her Indian name she came up with "Paddling Duck." Everyone else was pretty traditional with feathers and such - oops.

The "Feast" at school. All the food looked great!

Abby in all of her glory. "Where's the FOOD?"

Abby was the only kid in her class to eat everything on the plate - even the cranberries.

The girls and their kindergarten teachers - they love these two!!

Brown bag special.

My dad came in from Colorado - here are the kids with him. We had a good time visiting.

I wasn't feeling the turkey this year so we just had a small ham and lasagna. Yeah, weird combo but it all worked out.

Here's my mom with the kids.

We skipped the Christmas tree farm this year and James just went to a local nursery to pick up a tree. We'll go back next year... it was really cold Friday morning (finally) and I didn't want to take Cole out in the weather. I didn't even realize the "big box" trees are $40 cheaper! So bonus there.

The kids' favorite part - drinking hot chocolate. Cole went for some warm milk (I'll spare you the picture on that one).

Happy kiddos by the tree (fueled by hot chocolate).

I actually participated a bit in the Black Friday madness. First year I've ever gone to a store the day after Thanksgiving. Austin and I walked into Old Navy late in the afternoon - they had his fleece pants for $5 so thought I'd get several pairs. As soon as we walked in, the registers all died. We should have just left then but we waited it out for a good hour. I'm glad it was Austin who was with me. So this is the first and last year I will participate in all that craziness.

Here's just a random picture of Emily - she slept in a braid and her hair was pretty wavy the next day. I thought she looked cute :) Plus it's always nice to get a photo of her when she's practicing her writing (and not playing with princesses).

Another Austin obsession - Scrabble. Sometimes he plays with us, sometimes a ghost. And usually the ghost wins. C-O-O-L (6-point word for our oldest kiddo).

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T13:28:00.001-06:00

from this little turkey!

6 months old!

2010-11-23T14:50:00.001-06:00

Cole - you are 6 months old now! Half a year old?? Oh my!

What are you up to now?

You LOVE to eat. Obviously. You are the cutest little round baby! I think your favorite food is sweet potatoes. We're still making all your food. Even Austin has pitched in... here is he helping with the carrots. They are not your favorite. They wouldn't be my favorite either. But we have tons of them so we'll see if you come around.

This is your favorite new toy - tons of stuff for you to play with on here!

You are so close to sitting up... and staying that way. You can sit up on your own for about 5 seconds until you topple over. I am completely fine with this. I know once you master this crawling won't be so far off.... I think you are going to be into everything.

You are a wiggle worm!! You are busy, busy, busy. You do not like to sit still when we hold you.

You are so ticklish! I could listen to you giggle all day long (which is why you get tickled quite a bit).

Everything goes into your mouth. Maybe you're teething, but no signs of any teeth quite yet. You have a very strong grip... and are not happy when we take something away from you. When you're laying down you hold onto your feet like this.

I think my favorite time with you is after your last feeding at night. You're so happy afterward and you play a little game with your daddy. You'll give your biggest, cheesiest smile - then hide in my shirt, look at dad again with your silly grin, and repeat over and over.

At your 6 month appointment you weighed 16 lbs. 11 oz. No wonder my arms hurt when I'm carrying you for a long time. You were 25 inches long... finally made the charts to the 4th percentile. Yeah! I can't remember exactly what your head circumference percentile was, but it was huge. Obviously you have big brains like the rest of us. Ha! You are in 6 month clothes and I just moved you into size 3 diapers.

You have the sweetest little spirit and we love you very much!

Strike a pose

2010-11-17T18:18:00.002-06:00

It's not quite the season here for hats yet - still in the 70's... not to mention the fact that our college teams aren't playing up to our expectations. But I think I'm one of the luckiest mama's in the world that I get to play with this little man everyday.

Mr. Football

2010-11-14T09:04:00.001-06:00

and I'm referring to the boy in our house, not to my dear husband... to James' dismay.

Austin is seriously a football lover's dream child. He's memorized the top 80 players of all time... here he is doing the top 40. He can also tell you what the team they all played for and their stats. I think he has a photographic memory. I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday.

I think he might be borderline obsessed. Which is why Santa is going to sneak some books about presidents into his stocking this year. Although who's to say he doesn't have a future in this? You never know.

While James was out yesterday, Austin created a 2o question test on football players for his dad. James came home, answered the questions, and scored a 50. HA! Here's the proof.

There's a new expert in our house these days.

Have a happy football Sunday!

Just another day!

2010-11-11T19:04:00.001-06:00

Just thought I'd put together a quick post since I haven't put anything on here lately.

We've had quite a few germs in our house the last few weeks, but life is good! These kids always make me smile. I am still amazed that we have these 4 beautiful kiddos and that God has entrusted us with His gifts!

They all got their first report cards last week. I can't believe the amount of work the kids do in second grade. There was actually a math problem that I had to think about last week when I was helping Austin with his homework. And I love math. This is the first year he has real grades. He got all A's on his first report card - James and I are so proud of him. I met with his teacher at the end of last month and he is doing super. He absolutely loves school and thrives in that sort of environment.

He reminds me of a CK model of some sort in this picture. Strike a pose. Ha!

He has about 5 loose teeth now and I bet in a few months he will have a mouth full of over-crowdedness! Mental note: start saving for braces!

Abby loves school. She comes home spouting off all the poems and songs they learn and telling me about all the kindergarten drama... you know like who was on superstar and who was in trouble for the day. I feel like I know all the kids in her class, even though I don't personally know any of them.

She picked these sunglasses out of the treasure chest at school. Apparently it was a reward for good behavior. Works for me!

And then there's my sweet Emily. She is such a trip. Everyday when she gets home for school, she immediately goes to her room, strips off her shorts and puts on a tutu until bed time. And by every day, I don't mean some days. Or most days. I mean EVERY day!

She likes school, I think?? I can't ever get any good information out of her and I think sometimes she just makes things up. Like today apparently she rode a horse at recess. We've had to have a few talks about truth vs. lying lately. Her teacher tells me she is very shy in class, but she's a "quiet leader."

The girls are into these things called silly bands. I had no idea what they were before school started. They are basically rubber bands that have shapes on them the kids wear as bracelets. Now they trade them on the bus - which I'm not sure how that's possible since I have never bought a silly band ever for them to be able to trade. There's a boy on the bus that they call "the love guy" who James and I are kind of weary about. It sounds like they are getting most of the silly bands from him. They have told me some strange stories so I'm not sure how much longer they will be riding the bus. Anyway... here are all the silly bands she came home with today...

And onto the next child - baby Cole is doing great. He continues to be the center of attention... and if he senses that he is not getting the attention he deserves, he let's us all know!

He gets so excited as the bus drives up to our stop. I want to think it's because he can't wait to see his siblings... but I think he really likes the big yellow bus! It's so cute to watch. He frantically kicks his legs until the bus drives off. And then when his entertainment arrives home life is certainly good for him!

Time is flying by this year. Where does it go? Enjoy the rest of your week!

Spooky spooky

2010-11-01T21:04:00.002-05:00

We started our week of Halloween festivities at the kids' fundraiser at their elementary school.

I got off pretty easy this year. You'll notice from the picture below from 2 years ago, the girls wanted to be a ladybug and clown once again. Clown costume still fit. The only costume I had to purchase was the ladybug. Austin's transformer outfit was from last year. Yeah for me! Maybe we should be giving them more milk!

Emily won the cupcake walk. Last year it was a 4,500 calorie cake walk. We're a-okay with cupcakes this year.

She gladly shared her good fortune with her sister.

Kinder costume contest. Looks a bit like the bar scene in Star Wars.

I left after the face painting and headed to my volunteer station - Chick-fil-A. I was in heaven. James was off with the 4 kiddos by himself and surprisingly stayed for a while. The kids still had tickets to spend.

I helped both girls in their classes last week carve pumpkins. This is not my specialty - but the kids were good sports. None of them knew that they drew the short straw with me at the carving station.

You know how dogs sometimes look like their owners? Well, I'm just sayin... :)

Time for our own pumpkin carving... that doesn't sound so good, looking at Cole's bib... I mean "real" pumpkin carving.

The girls' job was to put the seeds in a bowl for us to cook later. They had a blast. Unfortunately James sort of burned the seeds this year. He convinced them that they were supposed to look like that.

Mmm... pumpkin guts!

There's Emily and her alter-pumpkin. Aaargh!

Aaargh!

Roasted pumpkin seeds - yummy!

Halloween day...

Chubby little pumpkin.

It reminds me of my twin pumpkins 5 years ago. Gosh, all my kids are obviously related.

Oh, how they've grown!

Scoring tons of candy...

Late night for our little pumpkin.

I think we have even more sugar than we did from last year. I once again confiscated all the Reeses for my special hidden stash and now we need to figure out what to do with the rest...

Happy Halloween!

Sunday Pictures

2010-10-24T15:37:00.002-05:00

Last week we had a mini photo shoot with a photographer for our annual Christmas pictures... haven't gotten them back yet, but I'm not quite sure she got any good ones. Emily was sort of off that day. So today we headed out to the same place and I tried to get a few of my own. Plus I borrowed a lens from my brother-in-law and wanted to try it out!

I got Photoshop a few months ago and have been playing with it lately. On the picture below, I took part of James' body out. Pretty cool, huh? He was holding Cole up on the railings... so before I get any emails... NO, I would not trust my 5 month old to balance on top of that thing :)

There were tons of pecan trees where we went and the kids loved opening them up and eating the pecans. Yum!

Austin reminds me of some sort of cartoon character here.

When we were done we headed to one of our favorite parks.

Emily has finally mastered the art of swinging. No more pushing her on the swings! Abby is getting there too - but seems always distracted by something.

We tried to pose them again one more time at the park, but this time Abby was tired of all the posing.

Obviously.

Cole was smiling it up toward the end of our adventure. Isn't that the way it always works?

5 months old!

2010-10-22T19:16:00.003-05:00

Cole - you are 5 months old now!

What are you up to?

You are getting so big... and round!! I love pinching your chubby little legs. I love all your rolls... and kissing your little round cheeks.

You are almost sitting up! Here you are with a little assistance. I bet next month you will have this mastered and then soon after that you will be on the move! Your sisters and brother need to do a better job of picking up choking hazards (i.e. Barbie shoes and miniature football helmets). You can roll over when you are on your tummy to your back, but not quite yet the other way around.

You LOVE music. Not so much the radio, more so people singing to you. If someone wants to see you smile, all they need to do is sing the ABC's or Twinkle Twinkle - just about any of the classics. Gets you every time!

Here you are in your crib... you're not here very often. But we are going to start practicing really soon. Seriously.

"Dear God, please make my mommy give me more milk. I know she feeds me every 2 hours but I want more. Amen."

Instead you are still sleeping here. And loving it a little too much :)

You might be so darn tired because you seldom nap. You are my anti-nap little boy - and let me tell you it is exhausting! I can get you to nap a few times a week and you are so much more happier at night on those days.

You love the outdoors! You really enjoy going for walks in your stroller.... and your head turns every time you hear a car coming. They fascinate you.

Your hands are ALWAYS in your mouth. Now everything you can get your hands on goes directly into the mouth. You are so curious and want to touch everything.

You love being out of the house. We run lots of errands and people comment all the time to me how good you are! You really are. We've had lunch dates with friends, parent/teacher conferences, lunch with your siblings at school, gone to tons of stores, doctor's appointments, gym trips... and you are content just sitting and watching the world around you.

I can hardly believe you joined our family 5 months ago. We love you so very much little man!

October happenings

2010-10-18T19:47:00.001-05:00

So much going on, such little time to blog. Guess that's what happens when you have 4 kiddos.

Here's some pictures from Dewberry Farms a few weeks ago.

I love this picture - this is so my girls... just being silly and having fun.

This picture really doesn't do this "slide" justice... The girls giggled on every "bounce, bounce, bounce" - really funny to watch.

Children of the corn. You can really lose someone out here.

It was a beautiful day.

"Hey bro, whaddya say we lose the parents and get some ice cream."

Behold the power of Cheetos.

Getting ready for the pig races.

And they're off!! Well, at least 3 of them. Poor little Abby's pig is stuck in the gate.

Another new park - check out this slide! Kinda resembles a large intestine, right?

Mr. Chunkalicious is growing.

Since they don't have cell phones yet, this will have to do.

Austin's football wrapped up this weekend. They actually won the Superbowl. I didn't have my camera so I took a few on my phone... here is he before the game. He kinda looks like half a Cardinal with his shirt tucked in so far. :)

James told me last night I had to go look at Austin while he was sleeping... this is what I found.

Oh, he is so proud. It sure makes all of those practices worth every second.

When the older kids come home, they insist on playing with Cole. This day they were on a plane... Cole wasn't exactly feeling this game.

The girls and I had a "girls day" this weekend... I had to find something to wear for our annual family pictures on Sunday... so we shopped and had a lunch date at 59 Diner. I must say it is pretty fun having 2 girly girls... totally opposite of me. Abby said it was her best day ever... "except for the 15 minutes I sat in the chair" (meaning when she had to wait for her food).

Hope you're all having a fun October!

E is for....

2010-10-12T07:00:00.002-05:00

Emily!

Did you notice that her hair makes the letter E?!

Making baby food

2010-10-09T19:42:00.001-05:00

Cole's first week of solid food has been a success. Now that we've given Cole a chance to experience the boring rice cereal, we've decided to broaden his food experiences. Really the only things he's ever tasted are pretty bland... milk, baby cereal and his hand. It's time to step out.

Our first three kiddos ate the Gerber stuff out of the jar. I remember my mother-in-law telling me how she made her own baby food for her kids, and how I should start making it with ours. She said it was easy. I thought she was nuts. Now that I'm somewhat wiser, I think she actually had a point. I think about all the preservatives that go into those foods... and knowing where the produce comes from and how it is prepared seems a lot healthier for a baby.

It's not to say that I will never give Cole jarred baby food. I'm sure he will get it on occasion, but I am going to try and keep this up.

So today we made apples and pears. We peeled and cored both fruits... boiled the apples and steamed the pears.

They went into the food processer and ta-da! Homemade baby food. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I then put the extras into ice cube trays to freeze the leftovers.

"Yeah, it's food time! I love food. I sure hope it's that yummy rice stuff that I've been getting all week. I'm so used to it."

"Um, it feels like the other stuff. Wait, why is my tongue starting to tingle?"

"Hmmm... that's different."

"Can I talk to a manager. I didn't order apples!"

"Um. No thanks. I think I will pass."

"I said NO MORE!"

I'm not too offended. After all this was his first try at something besides his rice cereal. We'll try again next time! :)

Cole gets his first taste of football!

2010-10-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

Lordy Lordy - LOOK WHO'S

2010-10-02T17:47:00.001-05:00

FORTY!!

I couldn't imagine a better partner in life than you!

LYMM! Looking forward to spending another 40 birthdays with you! :)

And no, you do not look forty. Ha!

And here's some messages from our chickens:

Well in case you blinked, she said "Happy Birthday Daddy. I love you very much."

Which she must, because she actually said something on video.

And from our more outgoing one:

And here's the dance:

And a short message from the eldest...

and youngest.

Cole's 1st cereal

2010-09-30T19:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, well not quite the first. But the first that actually got into his belly.

Emily was especially excited Cole is moving onto real food.

Not happy Daddy moved his hands out of his mouth!

All done!

Full belly.

Adventures in kayaking

2010-09-25T19:07:00.000-05:00

Meet James' new hobby.

Kayaking.

He's had his eye on a few different types of kayaks that he wants to buy. So today he rented one and they boys (minus Cole) headed out to Conroe to try it out and do some fishing.

He told me that he rowed for miles which I thought maybe was an exaggeration... but they went to the furthest part in this picture! I bet he will be sore tomorrow.

The girls, Cole, and I headed to my step class this morning, enjoyed a delicious Chick-fil-A lunch, then headed out to a closer lake to check out the kayak.

Emily was excited to get in. No fishing, more rowing.

Emily thought that she was keeping "everyone" safe with her life jacket. "Don't worry, Dad... we won't sink. I have on a floating jacket! This lake doesn't have sharks, does it?"

Austin fished some more from a pier. It was more of a scouting trip. More fishing, less catching.

Cole did what he does best - just goin' with the flow. That child amazes me... up at 6:30, 2:00 we headed to the lake - slept 30 minutes in the car to get there, woke up when we got there, back to sleep for the 3o minute car ride home and that's it for the day. Not sure where he gets the energy!

Even I got to join in on the fun.

So after all that hard work I thought we deserved a special treat.

Yum! The girls didn't even know what a sundae was - but they were happily surprised.

Our 4 kiddos

2010-09-23T08:21:00.001-05:00

the princess

the prince

the cutie-pie

and the vocal little diva who does NOT enjoy having her picture taken.

Visit with Ms. Rona

2010-09-21T11:50:00.000-05:00

Ms. Rona came and visited us a few days ago. We absolutely love her - she watched the girls when they were little for a few years while I worked and I'm so happy we stay in touch. She actually worked for the day care we had all the kids in, and eventually we were able to steal her from there! ha! It was one of the best decisions we made when they were younger. In the two years she stayed with the girls, she never once called in sick. Crazy! Even though we don't see her often, the girls still talk about her and it's always so nice to see her :)

4 months old!

2010-09-19T13:47:00.001-05:00

Cole - you are 4 months old now!

What are you up to?

I know I have said it before, but you have to be the happiest little baby ever. Seriously. You are so easy going, constantly smile and talk to us.

You wake up in the morning and are ready to go for the day. First you get fed anywhere between 5:30-7:00. Then I put you in your bouncer and you watch me make the older kids breakfast and get their lunches packed. We then drop the kids of at school, go to the gym or store depending on the day - and you just go with the flow. The rest of the day consists of eating and playing. I tried giving you cereal one day last week and you didn't want to have anything to do with that.

You are officially sleeping through the night, I think mainly because you are such an anti-nap little boy!! Sometimes I can get you to take a little nap in the afternoon, but not very often. This is one of the main reasons I'm not able to blog as much - there is no time! You do get cranky at night sometimes - I think because of your lack of sleep during the day!

You weighed 13.3 lbs at your 4 month appointment and you were 22.75 inches long. There were three other 4 month old babies getting their check ups too - I originally thought they were at least 6-9 months old because they were all ginormous. Then I took you in and found out you are only in the first percentile in height (17% in weight!) so they weren't gigantic babies after all... I know you will catch up soon :) You are in size 2 diapers and still fit into your 3 month clothes.

When I'm making dinner in the afternoon you usually sit in your bumbo and watch Baby Einsteins. It's crazy how much you like this! I can hear you laughing from downstairs. You crack up at this little puppet every time you see it.

(just please ignore your pink bib once again...)

Your siblings continue to be smitten with you. You love watching them and they love making you smile.

Weekend in Bastrop

2010-09-08T08:27:00.001-05:00

Our first night away from the house with all 4 kids - it went pretty smoothly.

Goofing off in the car while James was paying for our entry fee into the park.

And the hike begins. James bought Austin this bird book with a checklist of all the birds in the region. We only saw a couple - because his "sisters were scaring away all the birds."

Austin led the way

Some of the wildlife we saw.

Emily happily skipped most of the way...

until the end when we had to go up hill. Then she got too tired.

Nature baby - had to be carried the whole time since I forgot the sling.

10 minutes later nature baby falls asleep.

I think the real highlight for the kids was staying in a hotel for the night. Not for me though - didn't sleep at all. They loved the elevators, sleeping on a sofa that turned into a couch, and a breakfast where they could pick whatever they wanted to eat.

Discovering himself in the mirror.

Emily wanted to know why a surfboard was in the room. Obviously I don't do much ironing.

Admiring the fish at the hotel.

Touchdown!

2010-09-05T19:36:00.001-05:00

Thought I'd share some pictures since this is what is consuming our lives these days - for FOUR days a week. Sigh.

Game 2 Highlights
1st TD - I just got the tail end of it. The play started around the 50 yard line... eventually my camera caught up to our little speedster.

Abby very rarely leaves Cole's side. He loves listening to her "stories."

Chubby cheeks (with a little help) enjoying the shade.

The 2nd TD - this time I was ready. For all of the defensive coordinators out there - you can tell he's about to get the ball by "the stare."

He cuts to the inside...

and turns on the jets!

Running to daylight...

adding more, and more separation with every step. Did we mention that we're proud of this kiddo?

After the game the opposing team's coach asked where Austin went to school because they lost their 2 fastest kids and were in need of some speed. Already recruiting in 2nd grade flag football - ha!

And here are some random pictures of Austin and his tongue.

Santa Bunny

2010-09-02T16:57:00.001-05:00

Ever wonder what Santa Clause and the Easter bunny would look like combined?

Yeah, me neither. But this is what it would like according to Abby.

1st Day of School!

2010-08-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

I had every intention of taking lots of pictures yesterday- unfortunately the day started out like this.

Yeah, Emily wasn't exactly feeling it. I knew it would be rough when she wouldn't touch her breakfast. She did pose for this one though right before leaving the house.

Emily was the first one to be dropped off and had a pretty hard time. I had to physically carry her to her desk and she would take off over and over. She was not a happy camper, thus the rest of us were not happy campers. Eventually we snuck out, and I checked on her before I left the school- thankfully she was sitting quietly at her desk.

Abby went right to her class, hugged the teacher and sat down - she was super excited to start her first day of kindergarten!

Cole and I then headed to the gym to de-stress. We had a nice (and quiet!) day - took a trip to the store, played some, made dinner, then it was time for the older ones to come home.

The bus coming home was about an hour late, but they all had smiles coming off the bus and couldn't wait to tell me how much fun they had!

Abby had too many favorites to name - She said she went "wee wee wee all the way home" on the bus ride home today. Emily said, "Mom, you were right. Kindergarten is so much fun!"

Getting to school today was so much easier.

End of Summer

2010-08-22T21:06:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting here looking at my fantasy football team once again. Yesterday was the draft and I must say I think I have a good chance of winning this year. Also wondering if I made the right choice drafting a QB in the 1st round which usually is a big no-no for me. But it was Drew Brees - helloooo - so I'm sticking by my choice right now. Geaux Saints!

Anyway, I know none of you probably are that interested in my draft - so thought I would put some pictures up instead. :)

Sticking to the subject of football... Austin started up once again. He is on the Cardinals team, and let me tell you - this is a really serious team. They have playbooks and all - for 2nd graders! And it is 4x a week. If I would have known that I probably wouldn't have given Austin the choice - it would have been soccer instead. He has practice Tues/Thurs with games on Friday and Sunday. Crazy! Not to mention the games and practices have been in intense heat. One kid even suffered heat exhaustion the other day.

I missed his first game today and am totally bummed. We had to be there by 4:30, it was already 100 degrees and there is no way Cole (or the girls for that matter) could have been out there that long. On James and Austin's way home they called and informed me that on the very first play of the very first game Austin scored an 80 yard touchdown run!! That kid may not have height on his side, but he is super fast. Here he is before the game... future Larry Fitzgerald.

James took a few days off last week. We went and made some art creations one of those days.

Family fun on three! A little pep talk before our adventure.

Take a look at this creation. I named it "schizophrenic bunny." The rabbit, not the girl.

That is our little Abby. I overheard her asking Emily yesterday why grandparents are so nice. She replied back, "Because God made them so, and Jesus, and Mary Poppins."

Hmmm.

Anyway, back to the artwork.

Austin made something pretty practical - a sports cup to put on his desk to put various items in.

Emily stuck to what she knows best - princesses.

Here they are on our bed one day last week.... all four of them!

Happy baby. Next week his entertainment is leaving him. Poor guy.

School starts tomorrow!! I have such mixed emotions about this. The kids have been getting on each other's nerves terribly, so on one hand I am happy for the break - on the other hand I am going to miss them! More on their first day tomorrow.... Time flies.

3 months

2010-08-16T14:54:00.001-05:00

Cole - you are 3 months old now!

You are turning into such a good little sleeper. You are still sleeping in your car seat at nights and I can usually get a good nap out of you in the afternoon if I put you in your swing. At night you have slept a few times from 10:00-6:00!! Every time I think you have it down though, you'll wake up at 2:00 the following night. You like to keep me on my toes.

Look - you even took a nap in your bassinet once! Too bad it was just for 30 minutes.

This is you falling asleep on your dad one night. You make these funny little dinosaur noises when going to sleep.

Your favorite song is head, shoulders, knees and toes. You smile every time.

These 3 follow you around everywhere. I know you are going to miss them when they go to school next week!

Emily likes to put pretend tiaras on you... and real ones too.

You took your first trip to the gym last week. The teacher told me afterwards that your brother and sisters would not leave your side because they didn't want any other kids giving you any germs. I was obviously very happy about this!

We have finally started seeing real tears from you when you cry now. It is the most pathetic thing and we think you even look cute even when you're crying. I don't think you like us smiling back at you at some points-it gets you madder. You have a blocked tear duct right now. It doesn't seem to bother you, but it drains and gets all crusty - yuck! Look at your poor little eye!

Please ignore your "princess in training" bib leftover from your sisters. We don't take you out in public with it.

You're not into being cradled like a baby anymore. You constantly want us to sit you up so you can see all the craziness in our house these days!

You've discovered your tongue recently and are constantly sticking it out at us!

I can't wait to see how much you've grown at your 4 month old appointment next month! Well actually I can, you are already growing up too fast!

The 5th Beatle

2010-08-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

Last Week

2010-08-08T18:26:00.001-05:00

Gosh I am so bad about updating this blog lately. And about taking pictures. The days and weeks have been flying by - I can hardly believe summer is coming to an end soon. School starts in 2 more weeks, and our future little kindergarteners (and 2nd grader) are really excited. We are looking forward to seeing who their teachers will be this year.

Here are a few pictures I took last week. You'll notice that they are pretty random. And all around the house. We have been making the best out of being homebodies during the day, but we'll all be glad when Cole is older so we can venture out into the world again.

I introduced Austin to my Sudoku addiction. He solved his first puzzle all by himself.

I put the kids to work. We watched Annie a few weeks ago andthe song "it's a hard knocked life" keeps entering my brain. Cleaning windows and baseboards builds character, right? :)

Cole was introduced to his bumbo seat. He sat in there and the kids watched a Baby Einstein DVD for a good 20 minutes - they were all thoroughly entertained. James has just informed me that he wants an adult bumbo seat - he thinks it looks comfy. Hmm...

Cole looks like the Captain of a ship. And the others are just having a quiet summer day. Aah, to be a kid again!

Austin and I were watching 30 Minute Meals on the Food Network and he was wanting to try a new dish - it turned out really good. Austin is our picky eater, and I think it helps matters when he gets involved with the process.

While I finished things up, these 2 were rocking to some tunes with their microphones.

Abby made a whole bunch of sticky notes and posted them all over the house. At least it wasn't glue this time. We found them in the living room, in our room, in our bathroom, in the kitchen, in the hallway, upstairs and downstairs... everywhere but on the dog.

"Saffron luv you Cole"

"Abby luv you Austin"

Abby planted a lemon seed in hopes of a lemon tree growing - in 2 weeks. She explained to me that's all the time it needs - as long as there is plenty of rain and sun. Her exact words were "simple." She told us that God wanted us to have a lemon tree so we could make lemonade.

Summer Staycation #2

2010-08-01T20:05:00.001-05:00

Well I thought that our second "staycation" was going to be a blast. Turns out not so much, but it was fun the hour or so it lasted.

The plan was to get up early, drive to Galveston, and spend the better part of the day on the beach. James has been dying to take Austin fishing - they even practiced at the lake in the neighborhood the night before and caught this catfish.

So they were both pretty stoked to catch some fish. We left the house by 6:00 a.m. - which is a major undertaking by the way. We got there around 8ish and James got the older kids all acclimated while I fed Cole. Then the boys headed out in the surf to fish and the girls played in the sand.

"Shark!!" It is the beginning of Shark Week, right?

Gladly, the wildlife still seems to be in good shape in Galveston. No effects of "the spill." Our thoughts and prayers to our neighbors to the east of us though.

I couldn't decide which one to put on here - the one with the hat or without.

I then decided to move the car a little closer to where the girls were playing. I turned the key... and had a sick feeling... the car wouldn't start.

After a brief panic attack I got James and Austin out of the water - Austin was upset because he was having a hard time in the surf, Cole was crying, and Abby started running up and down the beach screaming bloody murder because she saw a crab (which I have a hard time believing, especially since later she said it was yellow). Obviously the pictures don't reflect any of this. I wasn't in a picture-taking mood at this point. More of a "get me outta here" kind of mood.

We were on a pretty isolated part of the beach, but eventually James flagged down a car and a nice man named Rick jump started our battery. We left right there and then, which is good because I had visions of being stuck on that beach with 3 unhappy kids (Emily was still in a good mood) in 100+ degree weather.

So we got home and took the car to the Toyota dealership - turns out it was strictly a battery issue. James picked up some brochures for the new Sienna while he was there... didn't think the day would come where we'd actually consider buying a van. We were home by 1:00, picked up some fish to to fry (due to the lack of fish caught), and that was the end of our second staycation.

Family visit

2010-07-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we had some of James' family in town - his brother John and his kiddo from Maryland... Also, Aunt Mary and cousin Shelley from Louisiana, and Shelley's kiddos Savannah and Caroline. Also included in the festivities was brother Jay's family. All together we had 7 adults and 10 kids at our house. What a treat!

I didn't get a ton of pictures but it was great catching up with everyone.

I have to include a picture of cutie-pie Cole since he was napping while the other cousins were swimming.

Cousin John brought over his genuine NASA uniforms to play with - the kiddos had a fun time pretending to be astronauts. I have an idea on what Austin might be for Halloween this year...

And the forecast is....

2010-07-24T21:03:00.002-05:00

So we spent some time on Friday making videos - who knew this would be hours of entertainment for the kids.

Here's Abby, Austin, and Cole giving one of their many forecasts. Emily was too nervous to be on camera.

Little Longhorns

2010-07-20T15:28:00.001-05:00

Austin saw Cole in his Longhorn gear and wanted to do the same.

Then Abby wanted to also. I told her she didn't have anything Longhorn, so she pointed this out in the closet... it is a size 2T cheerleading dress. It fits more like a shirt now.

Emily wanted to put hers on also then, but didn't want to participate in any pictures.

Then I had the grand idea of putting them in their Texas Tech gear.

Little traitor!!! You can't really tell, but he's doing the "hook 'em horns" sign with his hands (as opposed to the "get your guns up" sign). James has a little too much influence in this house!

2 months

2010-07-18T18:15:00.001-05:00

Cole - you are 2 months old now!

What are you up to?

You love being held. I love putting you on my knees and talking to you - you "talk" back to me and smile constantly. The second you see your Daddy you instantly smile. You especially love being held by Austin, who will hold and talk to you for what seems like forever. It is the sweetest thing to watch. Abby will come over and do her baby talk, repeating the same thing over and over like "hello Coley Moley" - somehow saying it with enthusiasm and absolutely no inflection at all. Sometimes you think it's funny, other times not so much. Emily is always asking to hold you, but when I'm not looking she will take away your pacifier or start bouncing you up and down not so gently - this doesn't make you very happy. For some reason, the sound of a crying baby doesn't bother her at all.

You go to bed around 11:00 and wake up once in the middle of the night, somewhere between 2:00-4:00. Usually you will go back to bed pretty well. You prefer sleeping in your car seat, but we'll get you into your bed one of these days.

Usually the only time I can get a good nap from you is if we go in the car somewhere. The car instantly puts you to sleep for a good 3 hours. If we're at home it's hard getting you to take a nap... which makes for a fussy baby at night time!

You love the water! You love taking baths and recently you even got in the pool. You enjoyed watching your sisters and brother swim, although you really don't fit into your floaty yet. I held you most of the time on the steps.

You love watching the ceiling fans in our house and a few of them have even got some laughs out of you. Who needs expensive baby toys, right? You also love to make bubbles. You have finally started sitting in your swing and bouncy seat, although it's not your favorite thing to do. I did catch you kicking your legs and cooing in enjoyment the other day so hopefully this is changing!

At your 2 month doctor's appointment:
you weighed 9lbs 10 oz.
you were 20 3/4 inches long
your head circumference was 39 cm.

You have finally graduated to size 1 diapers and you are outgrowing your newborn size clothes.

You are a very loved little boy and we thank God every day that he has blessed us with you!

Summer Staycation #1

2010-07-15T20:41:00.002-05:00

With the addition of Cole this year, we decided to skip a long family vacation. Instead, we're planning several short "staycations." Our first one started last weekend through Tuesday. Here are the happy kiddos at the zoo. The zoo with animals - not the zoo we call our house these days. :)

About 20 seconds earlier, this bird tried to build a nest out of Emily's hair. She was a good sport - our little fearless one.

Here's Abby striking a pose near some birds behind glass. Many of the "glass houses" had soap rubbed on them - it's a technique they use to ease animals into their new homes (they can't see the visitors as well). Of course this is clear - so these birds are veterans.

This is a North American Cutie Pie. Don't be fooled, they can turn on you in a second. And you shouldn't give them too much sugar - it can cause unintelligible rants and fits. However, if you can find the right formula of food, attention and sleep, they make great company.

All of my kiddos love Komodo Dragons (including my husband). This is a cool exhibit. You can literally put your face 2 inches away from his (or her) face. And they have really long forked tongues.

Day #2 we headed to the rink to watch our future figure skating stars take to the ice. This is one of those high risk/reward trips. We were either going to have a blast - or it was going to be a disaster. Fortunately they all really enjoyed themselves. Whew.

Okay, so if you haven't been ice skating since the 70s or 80s (or longer), you might wonder what in the world Austin is using. This is where the people who live up north are probably having a chuckle. Yes, that's a skating walker - used to keep southern kids from falling when they "ice skate." Pretty funny looking, but quite effective.

Watch out, Kristi Yamaguchi. (Or your job is safe, Kristi Yamaguchi.)

James and I skated also. I think we were starting to get the hang of it after about 3 hours. I didn't fall once, but had several balance checks. James was a different story. He fell right on his face once and swears he cracked a rib.... then once when he was racing Austin. This is the only time Austin fell down - because James ran into him at the finish line. I have a pretty funny picture that he'd kill me for putting on here!

Hello!

2010-07-08T15:41:00.004-05:00

Long time no post. I am exhausted. It's been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't been able to get on the computer very much. Abby is sick once again. With strep - which for most kids involves a sore throat and antibiotics. With her it includes a fever in the 104 range, topping 105 at one point and vomiting around the clock. We got her some antibiotics yesterday but she can't hold them down. Poor thing - I hope she feels better soon.

Last week the kids had VBS and had a blast. I have a feeling this is where the germs came from. This is from their performance... Saddle Ridge Ranch.

I didn't take many pictures during the week - but they did tons of crafts and learned some really catchy new songs that have been embedded in my brain (and theirs) ever since.

My sister Katie came in on Friday from Atlanta for a short visit. We had a great time, including a shopping day on Saturday... without kids. I was in desperate need of some new clothes since I haven't lost all the baby weight yet. So we shopped, we ate, we swam, we caught up and had a great time. Here she is with her new nephew.

Here's a close up of my cutie - isn't he adorable? Such a sweet boy.

On Sunday mom came over and we hung out. Then Katie, me and the kids headed to a local church for fireworks, fun, and food. The Robbie Seay band performed and was completely awesome. Now that I think about it, maybe this is where the germs came from. James and Cole had some bonding time at the house.... didn't think it was a good idea for his little ears to be exposed to the noise. The concert was very loud, not to mention the fireworks...

Emily hated the fireworks this year. Last year it was Abby who covered her ears the whole time, this time Emily was begging to go home right at the beginning.

On Monday we had some friends over and spent the whole day in the pool and BBQ'd some yummy food. Then the rest of this week has been full of sickness and sleepless nights.

I discovered that I haven't had a picture with me and Cole - like ever. Yikes. That's pretty bad. I'm always behind the camera so Austin took this picture of us.... not the best - think I could use some makeup. I think I have maybe worn makeup twice in the last year. Must invest in some one of these days.

Emily and Austin have been good sports this week... here's Austin picnicing with the princesses. Poor kid, it will be nice when everyone is healthy and all the rain around here stops. He is looking forward to going to a friend's house tomorrow. I don't blame him.

Playing School

2010-06-28T14:10:00.001-05:00

The kids started with 34 students today, but ended with 33. Unfortunately brown bear had his clip moved to horrible and had to go home. While Austin was reading, white bear was put on the "not so good" level but thankfully his behavior changed and he was able to stay.

They did add one more student to the class.

Maybe you can see it better here.

Luckily he was a pretty happy student.

One month old

2010-06-18T21:07:00.002-05:00

Here is Cole at one month - such a happy baby!

He is doing wonderfully if I do say so myself. He is pretty much anti-nap during the day like his brother and sisters, although sometimes he will take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I remember the other kids as newborns sleeping a lot more than he does! I think he is finally starting to get some meat on his bones too. He loves (and prefers) to be held. He typically wakes up during the night once - somewhere between 1:30 and 4:00 depending on his last feeding, then he has a hard time going back to bed so he sleeps on top of me on the upstairs couch and sometimes I can go back to sleep. Yeah, probably not a good routine to get into but it works for now.

Cole got his first cold this week. The kids did gymnastics last week and I'm pretty sure that's where Abby got her cold from. No matter how hard I tried to keep them apart, he ended up getting it. It really stinks because I don't take them very many places to avoid all the germs and he still ended up getting sick! The poor little guy was miserable, but I think he's finally starting to feel better. He really doesn't like getting his nose suctioned out! Although James finds it rewarding in a bizarre sort of way. Ah, the little things in life...

Here they are both feeling better.

So we haven't been up to anything too terribly exciting. Just tons of swimming. Even in the rain. The kids thought it was so fun to let the rain hit them. You would have thought it was raining chocolate.

We had several bell peppers come in. This one went into chicken enchiladas.

Abby decided to glue stick a bunch of tooth drawings downstairs one day while we were upstairs. And when I say a bunch - I mean like 12. And when I say glue stick - I mean REAL GLUE on the walls. Good thing she's cute. :)

I will say Abby gets more into things than any other kiddo in our house - she tied this toy to her leg and we couldn't get it off. She dragged it along with her for quite awhile. Not a happy camper, ha!

James, Austin, and I participated in the national spelling bee. We each had our own sheet so we couldn't cheat off each other's work. We didn't get one word right, but were pretty close on a few. Yes, I am aware we are dorks.

See how exciting we are these days?

I signed us up for Netflix before Cole was born and it has been awesome. Pretty much James and I watch Dexter (so good!) on the Netflix DVDs every night before Cole's last feeding, and then I watch something during the middle of the nights. You can even watch some of the shows and movies on the Wii - very cool. It saves me from watching the horrid infomercials - there are some really strange things out there being sold.

I am totally stoked to be going back to my first spinning class tomorrow! The last time I went to the gym was on May 1st so it's about time! The kids and I have been looking forward to that all week. We are also celebrating father's day! Actually James informed me it is Father's Day weekend, so I guess we'll be celebrating him all weekend long :)

Saturday smiles

2010-06-12T17:25:00.001-05:00

Happy boy on a Saturday afternoon... he enjoyed watching the World Cup with the family today. Although the U.S. goal was a little weak in his opinion.

Beauty and the Beast

2010-06-10T21:45:00.002-05:00

Abby's first attempt at a sleepover with Cole. It lasted about 5 minutes.