Ashley's getting married!!!

Wow!! It's hard to believe that the countdown to Ashley's wedding has begun! We gathered at a family friend's house to celebrate Ash's upcoming nuptials! They did a fantastic job of decorating, cooking, and just plain making everyone feel special! Thank you to Cecilia, Emily, and Heather!! (Fun fact: The Gooch family has been friends of our family since Ashley and Emily were three! Emily will be a bridesmaid for Ashley in April and Ashley will be Emily's bridesmaid in October!!)



Little Miss Avery was a fantastic guest at her first shower! So proud of my baby girl! She was so funny because everytime I would tell her Aunt Ashley was going to have a shower, it got a little confusing for her!! I finally just kept having to call it a party and promise that she would get some cake!

Lake house

Pete's parents took the plunge and bought a lake house at Lake Conroe. We were lucky enough to get to spend the weekend there and the kids just loved it! Going out on the boat was a lot of fun for them as they have never been on a boat before! Pete kept yelling "FASTER! Faster!" and all three kids were perched on the front of the boat (as Grandma and I held tightly onto them!) They enjoyed running around and checking everything out, as I'm sure we will have many happy memories there!

Country time visiting . . .

So reoccuring theme that will see over the next few months is: "We had a realtor showing so we had to get out of the house!" Luckily we have great family that is willing for us to come visit anytime. We took this oppurtunity to go out to the country with my parents. The kids got their share of four wheeler rides and tractor rides! This was the first time Papa had gotten the tractor out for the kids to experience. Not one of them was scared at all - pure country folk, right? This visit was a little chilly as we had just experienced a cold snap, but Saturday was absolutely gorgeous! The kiddos were even able to shed those big coats! My grandparents came over and they had so much fun swinging the kids! I think they might have gotten a little worn out (my grandparents not the kids!!)

Oh A-B-C, it's as easy as 1-2-3!

So one of the things I wanted to start working on this new year was "schooling" my kiddos. As a former teacher I know the value of kids who have received help at home. Now, my kids are only barely 3 but we're trying different activities to help them along. The Internet is so jammed full with amazing preschool ideas, often it is overwhelming.

Part of the reason I got so energetic about doing this was I became friends with one of the mommies in A & P's class. We started having play dates with the kids and decided instead of just playing we should incorporate some learning (don't you just love when former teachers get together!). So we've been doing a letter of the week, where we are each in charge of planning the activity or craft for the day around the letter we are studying. It has been great to get to use my teaching skills! Plus it makes you accountable when someone else is counting on you too! So much fun! We've made astronauts, bees and caterpillars so far! I'm so proud of A & P who know all of their letter sounds and can with about 90% accuracy tell you what letter most words start with! They amaze me everyday. Plus, little Hailey is doing so well too at letter sounds! Awesome!

Natural History Museum

One weekend we had to be out of our house for some realtor showings, so we decided to take our dinosaur loving kids to the museum. I really dislike going to huge places like this on the weekends, but we had to get out of the house, and it was raining so I thought "How crowded could it be?"

On a Sunday.
While it was raining.
And we parked in the parking garage that makes you come through the museum store on your way in.

Oh, it was crowded. And yes, my son threw a hissy fit for all the dinosaur toys as we walked through the store . But we still managed to have fun. I can't say it's my favorite thing that we have done in this great city of ours, but the kiddos seemed to enjoy.




Hopefully next time we come it won't be so crowded. And raining. And we'll remember to steer clear of the store with all the awesome dino toys. Hopefully.

All bundled up and someone has to go to the bathroom

Do remember the Cosby show? There is this one scene that I always thought was so funny and now as a parent, I am living it. Rudy is all bundled up in her cold weather gear, and just about as they are ready to trudge out into the cold outside, she announces "I've got to go pee!!".

Well, during the winter months, I have that times three . . .:) I'm beginning to miss the summer months of running around with no shoes and socks, shorts and a t-shirt!

Big kid beds!

Over the Christmas holidays we broke down and bought the "big kid beds". Avery and Pete were super excited to have a "real" bed. As our kids have grown up, I've always wondered those "How will I know questions?" and the answer is always the same - you just WILL! This milestone was no different. We had two kiddos that were no longer sleeping comfortably during the night, waking up continuously and just downright irritable about sleeping in their cribs anymore. It was like we had new kids when it came to sleeping.


Oddly enough, the first night we had our new beds, Hailey decided she had learned how to climb out of her crib and prance around while she was supposed to be sleeping. . . Hailey is very, very jealous of A & P's new sleeping arrangement and can often be found hiding in her brother and sister's beds (which I'm sure you can guess they just LOVE!)

With the new beds has also ushered in the era of no more naps for Lil Pete. Now, Avery hasn't taken an afternoon nap in I don't know how long, but I was savoring that nap for Pete. Well, I guess all good things must come to an end. Now I am down to only 1 napping child in the afternoon. I can still remember the days when I had all 3 napping at the same time every day - Let's just say, that didn't last very long!

"B" Christmas celebration

After a fun morning of opening presents at our home, we headed to Nana and Papa's for the afternoon - food, family and yes, a TON more presents! My grandparents, Ashley and Bobby were all there to help us celebrate. My parents always out-do themselves with dinner. I'm not sure how they manage to have everything ready to go and there to be a very minimal mess afterwards. I hope to be at that point someday when I'm making a big meal!





When the kids walked in to my parents they had already had 2 days of marathon present opening, so they were ready to go this time around! They scanned the massive amounts of presents and immediately wanted to start opening! Somehow we managed to eat first, and then they got to be spoiled! Some of their favorites were a new basketball hoop, a train set, dress up clothes, and a "custom" made tea party set!





We did many homemade presents this year for everyone. Those definitely made the day special for my parents and grandparents who love to get remembrances of their little ones! Another great celebration to start winding down our Christmas weekend!

Santa Came! Christmas morning

At 6:15 AM Christmas morning, Daddy Pete and I excitedly woke up, unable to go back to sleep in the anticipation of the kiddo's reaction when they saw that Santa had FINALLY come! Avery and Pete had been asking for weeks if Santa had came and today they were finally going to get their wish! The kiddos usual time for waking up is about 6:30 and wouldn't you know that since we were waiting for them they SLEPT IN! The nice part was that we got to individually spend some time with each of the babes when they came downstairs to experience SANTA!

Untitled from c s on Vimeo.

Pete came down first. He gets so funny and "impish" when he is super excited. He kept just grunting his answers. Luckily that wore off after awhile and he was super excited to see his bike. The bike kept him busy and he didn't realize there were alot of other presents under the tree. I'm not sure how we would have kept him from waiting until his sisters woke up.

Hailey got up next. She came down the stairs and seemed shocked by the sight of "daddy-razzi" snapping her picture and momma videoing her every move. She liked her little cozy coupe but seemed to enjoy her brother's new helmet and bike horn just a bit more! She kept honking that horn, and I just knew it was going to wake Avery up!

But, little Avery just wanted to sleep, sleep, sleep! Finally I went to wake her up and it was priceless. I told her Santa came and she said, "I got a pink bike???" and "SANTA CAME!!!" I could barely keep up while she was running upstairs. She was uber excited about her new pink bike! She has been asking for that for weeks!!!

We had a really great time riding bikes inside, eating cinnamon rolls, opening presents, and checking out our stockings. What a special day for our family!