My big boy!

Pete loves sitting forward in his carseat now. I have to admit I love it to because I can turn around so much easier and see him! Now, his sister on the other hand, seems a bit jealous of his newfound freedom. She's not quite ready for her big girl seat yet.

Update on Grandpa

My dad is doing well after surgery. The surgery went very good and they were able to accomplish what they wanted to. He is having pain and nauseousness right now, but they have him up and trying to move around to get his strength back. We are thankful that everything went so well! We are hoping that he will be coming home by Saturday.

Grandpa

Nobody wants the "C" word to affect their family. Cancer, that is. Unfortunately, we found out at the end of the summer that Grandpa (my dad) cancer. Just like you don't want your kids to hurt, you don't ever want your parents to hurt either.

We, as are the doctors, are very optimisic. We are all keeping good thoughts and prayers going because we know that everything will come out ok. We are thankful that the cancer was found, that we are working to get rid of it, and that we are so close to MD Anderson.

As always I am thankful for my parent's friends and our extended family who have already called, sent cards, food, and well wishes. One of my dad's best friends even came into town to join my mom, me and my sister at the hospital tomorrow morning. So we appreciate how well loved we all feel right now.

Please keep my dad, my mom, and the rest of our family in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.

Our closing date . .

We have a closing date and a moving date SET! Everytime we go see the new house we get more excited to see all the things that have been done! We are closing on Dec. 23rd and then the movers are set to move us in on Dec. 29, 30, and 31st! It sounds silly but I miss certain things from our house . . .like our couch or our plates! It's going to be like Christmas opening everything up!

Lucky me

I'm sitting here with my protruding belly and my aching back thinking of how lucky I am because of this precious picture . . .



It won't be too long before our three little bambinos are in the tub together! What a picture that will be!

Happy Turkey Day!

They LOVE turkey! My kids ate turkey like it was the best thing ever. I'm not sure how Avery eats it since she just has that one little tooth!








On Thursday morning we went to GG and Gramps (my grandparents) house for lunch. The babies played outside, got to visit some other family, and were so sweet at the dinner table. They both just laughed and thought it was so funny. They weren't as into the sweet potatoes which is so funny since they love them all pureed up! They loved GG's stuffing (which is my favorite too!)

That afternoon we drove back to Houston to their Grandma and Grandpa's house (Pete's parents) for another Thanksgiving dinner. This time they got to play with all their cousins . . .what a group! With the 8 kiddos it sure is a houseful. They did the same at dinner and were so super sweet. They ate more turkey and stuffing and just were very happy with the whole day!

I'm going to blame the postlady . . .

OK - I love getting mail, email, packages, ect. I guess it makes me feel like I'm "connected" to the outside world. So, on Friday I was very perturbed as the kids and I were looking out the window (our new favorite activity) and we saw the postlady pass our mailbox because my car was parked an inch too close to it. I mean, I wasn't even in front of it - I guess just too close by her standards.

I thought I would go ahead and go outside to meet the postlady as she came back up the other side of the street. I could wave at the kiddos from outside - they would love it. As I making my way down the stairs (not fast, I promise!) I felt my feet come out from under me and realized I was going down. My behind hit really hard and my back soon followed and then I skidded down about 3 or 4 stairs. I was obviously upset, not really for me, but for little baby girl inside of me that I'm supposed to be doing everything to protect. I tried to take it easy for the rest of the day and really I felt OK, other than feeling the horrible bruise on my rear and back.

As everyone started getting home from work, I relayed my story and we all thought I was probably OK. I wasn't bleeding, I wasn't having contractions and I could still feel her moving around like normal. On Sat. morning, I decided that I should go ahead and call the doctor on call and just make sure that I was taking everything seriously enough.

Well, come to find out, anytime after about 20 weeks that you fall - you need to go to the hospital. Long story short, after spending all day in the hospital . . . we're both fine. Little baby girl was put through about every test they could do and she's still kicking around like crazy. Old Momma here is just really sore and I have some wicked bruises on my back.

I know that next week when I'm thinking what I'm thankful for it will be that my new little baby girl is OK and that I didn't hurt her by doing something as stupid as falling down the stairs. Everytime I go up and down now, I am holding on for dear life (not mine - but hers!)

Slowly but surely . . .

Our house is coming along and we were so excited to go visit this past weekend. The brick is almost done, they just need to finish it around back. The drywall was going up as we were there. They have told us that it will go very quickly after that. I was hoping that we would be able to have our first Christmas there, but our new closing date is Dec. 29. We'll just have to wait and see.

7 years and 2.5 kids later . . .

Pete and I splurged and went for a FANTASTIC anniversary dinner at Damien's downtown. It has been a long time since we have been able to sit and talk over dinner for hours. It seems now days we are scarfing it down as quickly as possible. Afterwards we went to IKEA . . . funny how different things are once you have kiddos! hee hee We picked out a new bookshelf unit for our new playroom and had a great old time. I realized as I was looking at this picture that ALMOST everything about it is the same as last year . . .we went to dinner, I was pregnant, and I wore the exact same dress! Funny, at this same time last year I never would have guessed I would be pregnant again this anniversary!

Last night, I was thinking about how long Peter and I have known each other and I reminisced that we meet in the fall of 1997. I was a new freshmen at Texas Tech, just pledged a sorority and was going out for a night of fun with a group of girlfriends. Little did I know that I would meet my future husband at my first fraternity party! We didn't start dating until the spring, but I remember thinking that if this is what college life was going to be like, then it was going to be great!

So, after all these years, Pete is more my best friend than ever. I love ya babe!

11 months . . . and counting!

It's very funny how sometimes I feel myself needing a little break from the house, the kiddos, the "same ol' same ol" that I do everyday. But as soon as I get that break, I find myself missing these little wonderful babies that graced my life 11 months ago. They amaze and delight me everyday with all the wonderful and cute accomplishments and milestones that they are achieving. I find myself learing something new as I am "growing" with them.



I thought for this month, instead of doing milestones, I would remeber those little things that make me go "ARGGHH!" sometimes and just make me laugh. For example, trying to clothe and change the diapers of these kids is near impossible. They just crawl, wiggle and toddle away! That way, years later, when I come back to read this I can have a little giggle at everything they use to do!

Miss Avery or maybe I should call her Miss Fearless! The girl just never stops! With her newfound freedom of WALKING, she is getting into everything so much easier! Drawers, cabinets, baby gates, doors . . .nothing is off limits for Avery. If I could consistently get her to sleep through the night, I think we would all be even more blissfully happy (even Avery!) But, I guess this too is just one of those growing pains. Feeding time is an absolute mess for Avery. We have to hose her down afterward. She gets it in her hair and we call it her hair gel. Avery is not done eating until it is smeared all over her face, clothes and high chair. She refuses to wear a bib has taken to fussing instead of wearing it!



Pete is still such a sweetie . . .except when he is not feeling well! I guess that's how we all become, though. His first steps were so sweet and he is so different from his sister. He holds on with such a grip, lets go, smiles, walks and then expects someone to get him! He loves to get out of the house and go different places, so I'm trying as much as I can to get out everyday. For some odd reason he loves to hold on to a bib and swing it around. He can do this for the longest time and smile continously! We call it his "flag" - I guess I should start singing the national anthem when he is doing it.