Thursday, December 25, 2008

Could you imagine?

Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone had a wonderful day. We did... I will post some pictures and videos later.

I had a moment yesterday and just wanted to share it with you. As you all know, my Dad passed away in August and this is the first Christmas that we have had to spend without him. These last couple of weeks have been hard for me personally because I am still feeling a huge void in my life and I have been having a hard time finding the "joy" this holiday season. It seemed like every time I would think about Christmas, I would attach a negative adjective to it and I forgot the real reason that we are celebrating. If you know me at all, you know that normally I LOVE Christmas... I put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving, I put out my million gazillion decorations, and I have a smile on my face that just won't go away. This year I barely put out any decorations, and the only reason we had a tree up (we didn't get it up until last weekend) is because of my wonderful husband deciding that we needed some holiday cheer. To be honest, I was just ready to get Christmas over with so that I wouldn't have to think about my Dad not being here.

Yesterday we decided to go to our church's Christmas Eve service. As the worship team started singing Silent Night, the lights were all out and it was completely dark inside this huge room except for one candle light that was shinning. The worship leader light her candle from the one, and from there the light started to spread as the worship team and choir continued sing. Before you knew it, all the hundreds of us who were in that room held a candle whose flame was started from the one little flame. It was one of those moments that just took your breath away... to see that image... all those candle lights... and to hear the sounds of everyone singing... it just took your breath away.

Then I started thinking... if I think what I am seeing and hearing is this awesome here, just imagine what my Dad is seeing and hearing in Heaven right now. Imagine the singing there... it is more awesome than anything my ears have ever heard. Imagine the angels by candle light in Heaven... now that is something that would take my breath away. At the same time that I was experiencing something that I thought was breath taking here on Earth, my Dad was experiencing something so much more in Heaven, a million times better ... so much more that I couldn't even imagine! I think that was the first time that I have been comforted in knowing that even though my Dad is not here with me, he is in a place that is so wonderful, so perfect, so magnificent. That puts a smile on my face... the smile that I had lost during this season until now.

Merry Christmas.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Ho Ho Ho

We took the kids to see Santa for the first time this year! We stood in line for an hour and a half, and very surprisingly the babies did great! (Give them chick-fil-a nuggets and they are angels... ha!) I was worried that they were going to scream when we handed them off to Santa, but they didn't... they were really fascinated by his beard... it was really cute. I can't believe that we actually have a picture where Gavin is the one smiling and Madaleine isn't!

Christmas Pictures

We finally went to get our Christmas pictures taken... here are a few. I wasn't thrilled with how they turned out (I don't think I'm very thrilled with any picture that has me in it... ha!), but I'm glad we did it.







Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Snow in Houston?!?!?

Can you believe it?!?!? It actually snowed here! It is such a rare site here, that we native Houstonians get all silly and excited about it that we just have to get pictures! Len called me on his way home from work and asked if I looked outside lately, that it was coming down hard! (Yes, we call any snow at all coming down hard!) I went outside and couldn't believe it. My brother called me a little later and was all excited. A while ago we were talking and I was saying that they need to make a past tense word for snow... like snew! So now me and him always joke and say that it snew instead of it snowed... ha!






... and that my friends is real snow in Houston!

Gavin isn't far behind Madaleine!

Here are two short videos of Gavin learning how to walk! Yep... that's right, he is now taking a few steps! Before I know it they will be running faster than I can keep up with them. Also, one of the videos shows Gavin shaking his head no.... his favorite thing to do right now.





Monday, December 8, 2008

Birthday party... the good and the bad

Well, this past Saturday we had the babies first birthday party! I can't believe that it is already said and done with... where did that first year go??? The party turned out great, but poor little Gavin got sick on Friday. He started having diarrhea and he threw up dinner Friday night. To make things worse, he went poo in his diaper in the middle of the night Friday while he was sleeping, and we didn't notice it until the next morning... so needless to say, his little bottom was VERY raw! When Sat rolled around, Gavin seemed to be doing okay, so we went on with the party like we had planned. After everyone left though, Gavin started to have the bad diapers again. I made him sleep in bed with us Sat. night and Sun. night so that I could change him if he went in the middle of the night... and sure enough he did. It was miserable having him sleep with us because he HATES it. He is so used to his crib that he couldn't get comfy, so he really didn't sleep all that well (and we didn't either). He seems to be doing a little better, although he still has a raw bottom and is still going at least 4-5 times a day. Anyways, here are the birthday party pics... enjoy!






"I have my party hat on and am ready to PARTY!"


"Hey Mom, is this really necessary???"


"What is this thing?"


"Well, it's good whatever it is!"


"Oh, excuse me... I got a little on the side of my mouth... let me wipe it off."


"Can we have this for lunch everyday Mommy?"


Precious messy girl!


"I claim this present Gavin!"


Of course the wrapping paper was a bigger hit than any of the presents!


"Oh... this is what I always wanted!!!"


Look in the background of the baby biting Mommy's head... ha!


I think this is one of the only presents Gavin was interested in opening


This is what he did instead of opening presents... he went around socializing with all the guests


The morning after... playing with new toys


I love the static hair!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

This is not a real emergency

The babies are in rare form today... they are both extremely cranky. I think it has to do with them now deciding that they only want one nap a day now. Anyways, Madaleine just would not stop crying this morning... I mean NOTHING would make her happy. I tried holding her, giving her a bottle, playing... nothing would work. I eventually just picked her up and sat down on the couch with her and gave her the phone because I know that she loves to play with the phone. We normally don't let the babies play with the phone, but if they do we are always right there to hang up if they call anyone. It has always been in the back of my mind, "what if they call 911 or something like that", but I have always told myself what are the chances of them actually pressing talk, then 9, then 1, and then 1 again in that sequence? Well, you should never underestimate a baby I guess. I had her snuggled up to me and she was finally happy playing with the phone. I looked down and noticed that she had pressed 91111111. I immediately hung up hoping that by her adding all those extra ones that she really didn't call 911. Not even 5 seconds later I get a call from a guy named Robert from 911 telling me that he had received a call from our number and he was wanting to know if we had a real emergency! I told him no, that it was just my baby daughter playing with the phone (meanwhile she is screaming in the background because I have taken the phone away from her) ... I couldn't get anything else out before he hung up on me. AHHH! I can't believe she did that, and I can't believe that I doubted that she could actually call 911! I have learned my lesson... the babies don't get to play with the phone anymore... no mater how cranky they are!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Please excuse me!

Okay, this might make you think that I am a rude person (which I like to believe that I am not), but I have to blog about it anyway. The other day I decided that I needed to go to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Of course a "few things" turned into an entire list full of groceries that I needed to get. It was a Monday afternoon at about 2:00, so I thought that it wouldn't be very crowded... boy was I wrong (I guess people are trying to get ready for Thanksgiving). I was amazed when I got there of how rude people can be! Here I am pushing my big double stroller with two fussy babies with one hand and pulling a cart full of groceries behind me with the other, and people still expect ME to move out of their way through the isles! I guess that you could see the look on my face of how angry I was about the whole situation because one guy (after seeing me give this person a look of "are you kidding me????") said, "man... that's gotta be hard!" You think?!?! So, next time I'm in the grocery store, I will try to be polite but just excuse me if I come off a little rude.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

11 months and walking!

Well, the day has come... Madaleine has learned how to walk! She is still a little shaky some days, but she is getting the hang of it really fast!




Party time

It's almost time to celebrate the babies first birthday! I can't believe how the time has just flown by and how much our little babies have grown! I made them their party hats the other day... aren't they cute?




Gavin... "Mom, seriously... can't you find something better to do with your time???"


Maddie... "It's not a party unless there is food!"

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween... then and now

Halloween back then in 2007...





... and now Halloween in 2008...




Happy Halloween everyone!

Monday, October 27, 2008

GIve a Mom a Muffin

This is how it's been going lately...

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.


Thursday, October 23, 2008

Pumpkin Patch

We took the babies to another pumpkin patch and got some more pictures. Enjoy!










I guess Madaleine was giving us a preview of all the many faces she will make in her adolescent years! HA!

Little Man

I love these two pictures of Gavin. I can't believe that my babies are starting to look more and more like little kids! My Dad always called Gavin his "little man", and I think these two pictures show that he now indeed is a little man... not the little baby he once was (although he will always be Mommy's baby forever!) I love you Gavin and I miss you Dad!


Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Mischievous Monkeys

The babies love Gerber Puffs. I guess that I left the container on the couch or something because this is what I saw... little mischievous monkeys.

You can see the culprit in the background there... he is the one who apparently got the lid off of the container and made the feast on the living room floor. And of course the puff piglet (Maddie... that girl loves her puffs!) is never far behind

Little Stinkers (literally!)

So we have been having some issues lately... some very stinky issues! I will first start with Gavin since he was our first stinker that was born. Our babies are very "regular" babies. It never fails, both babies poop at the same times every day... no joke. Last week sometime I was talking on the phone with my sister. I could hear in the background one of the babies pushing. I thought to myself, "Gotta change that when I'm off the phone." So I continued with my conversation until I see this brown spot on the carpet. I immediately knew what it was and told my sister that I needed to get off the phone. It was obviously going to be a messy job since it had already come out of the diaper, and I needed to get my changing pad out which was in the kitchen in the diaper bag. Both babies were on the other side of the room playing with toys very contently, so I thought it would be okay to leave them there while I was getting the changing pad. Keep in mind that my kitchen is like 10 steps away from the living room... not very far at all. When I get back into the living room with the changing pad, Gavin had already found his way over to the "brownie" on the floor. He had it all smooshed in his hand and he was eating it!!! AAHHHH! Meanwhile Maddie decides that she needs to get in on the fun and is crawling over to all the action. I quickly thought to myself, "Better to have only one baby eating poo than two" so I grabbed Maddie and put her in the exersaucer before she could get to it. I then grabbed Gavin and ran him to the bathroom and washed his hands and mouth (and then brushed his teeth...yuck!). I couldn't believe it! My Mom and sister always teased me about when I was a baby doing similar things, but I thought for sure that my babies would never do anything like that! And just in case your wondering, Gavin was the one with the dirty diaper, so at least he was eating his own poo... does that make it any better!?!?
So I'm sure you have guessed it already... yes I have a story about our second little stinker as well. I left both babies with Daddy while I ran out really quick to do something. Like I said before, the babies are very regular, so I warned Len that Maddie was due to do her business. When I got home Len said, "You will never believe what happened!" Immediately I knew this was going to be another poo story (a mom's intuition never fails)! Maddie has learned how to pull the tabs off of her diaper and get her diaper off. Len told me that Maddie made her way over to the dinning room like she always does to play with her jungle gym (aka kitchen table). The next thing he knew he sees his little girl with her diaper off and stomping in her poo that was all over the floor! He figured better to have just one baby in poo as well, and caught Gavin before he made his way over to all the fun. What is it with those babies??? They are fast little stinkers... and I love them and their messes!

Yet Another Halloween Costume Picture

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Check out our sneak peak!

We took the babies for their 9 month pictures last weekend (even though they are 10 months old today!) Check out a few of the pictures from the session. Go to www.sunkissedphotos.blogspot.com
Gavin would not smile for anything in any of the pictures! He was to busy taking it all in! Maddie of course was basically posing for every picture she took! Two very different personalities!

Winter Coats

I love the fall/winter seasons, so of course I am going to love playing dress up with the babies as the weather changes. Here they are in their new coats... so precious! When I put the hats on the babies, they both looked at each other and started cracking up laughing... it was soooo cute to watch!

Ragga Muffins for Halloween!

The babies are absolutely ADORABLE in their Halloween costumes! Gavin is a Ragga Muffin Sailor and Maddie is a Ragga Muffin Dolly. I first got Gavin's costume in the mail, then about two weeks later received Maddie's... so if your wondering why I didn't get pics of them together in their costumes that's why. Check back soon though to the blog... we will be taking them to get pictures at the pumpkin patch with their costumes!











Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Dewberry Farm!

We recently took the babies to Dewberry Farm. It was a lot of fun! I love the fall season, and I love family traditions. I look forward to going back to the farm every year and getting to do more as the kids get older. This year we stuck to the basics... we went out to the pumpkin patch and got lots of pictures. As the kids get older there will be more to do, like the corn maze and the camp fires. Over all we had a great day. I was amazed at how great the babies did. Even though it was a little on the warm side, the babies had a great time with no melt downs!

I love this picture of Maddie showing off those pretty eyes and chubby checks!


The babies love to ride on their Daddy's shoulders.... they especially love to mess up his hair


"Hey Dad, don't tell Mom I'm playing in the dirt!"


Maddie and Daddy on the hay ride to the pumpkin patch


Gavin and Mommy on the hay ride


Here they are picking their pumpkin. Poor Gavin was stuck wearing one of Maddie's hats all day because the one I brought for him was to small!


"Okay Gavin, you can have that pumpkin... I'm going for the big one!"


I can't believe it, we got a picture of all four of us looking in the same general direction! It's a miracle!


Madaleine discovering that hay doesn't really taste that great.


A picture on a tractor
Daddy: "Just hurry up and take the picture"
Maddie: "I didn't even want to get up here"
Gavin: "How in the world are we going to get down off of this thing"


HA!


Our first little pumpkin sitting in the pumpkins...


Our second little pumpkin sitting in the pumpkins...


And you guessed it... both of our pumpkins sitting in the pumpkins!


The car ride home...


was so peaceful!