Our first overnight guest

Our dear friend Christie flew in to visit with us this past weekend. She had the honor of being our first overnight guest in the new house! She was SO wonderful and knew that I wasn't going to be able to "slep" around and do too many things. We went to Kemah for lunch and sightseeing one day, and then spent the rest of the time cooking, watching kids, playing games and just relaxing. It was so great! She helped me out so much! One of our favorite things to do is get a good bottle of wine and sample a bunch of fancy cheeses (she started that idea a long time ago!) The Kroger's that is right by our house has an awesome speciality cheese/olive section, so we went mini tasting and brought back alot to munch on! Unfortunately, I had to go "sans" wine, but it was still yummy and fun nonetheless! Christie also bought the twins their first slinky which they are totally enamored with! Thanks for being such a good friend, Christie, we are so lucky to have you!!
I love this picture because they were having so much fun running around the boardwalk, that they cried and screamed when we tried to pick them up to take this picture and leave!

The boardwalk was really devasted by Ike. All the the attractions are closed down and there are many walking piers that were basically left to sticks sticking up in the water. They were working on everything. Hopefully, before too long we will be able to enjoy it.



They sat and ate at Babin's for such a long time . . . it is always up in the air how they are going to act at a restaurant.

Christie is an amazing florist in Denton, and she had this beautiful arrangement sent to our house! It is so gorgeous and it makes the whole house smell fresh!

New baby, new year

The girl's room is coming along and I thought I would wait until the new year to debut her name:


Hailey Alyssa S.

This little baby has been Hailey, since even before I found out she was a girl! Everyone kept saying, "Oh, you know it's a boy!" and for some reason I just KNEW it was a girl! I even had a dream about her and her name. It is just another one of those things that is so different this time around. With the twins I never had a "feeling".

She and Avery are going to be sharing a room (after Hailey is sleeping through the night!) So really, Avery is going to have her room for quite some time! We are doing a flowers and butterflies theme in, of course, pink! Pete is really adjusting to being in his own room too.

Our year portraits

We went a little late to get our year portraits done. When you are standing there watching the pictures being taken, you think "I don't think any of these are going to work", but as you start to see them I couldn't believe how beautiful they turned out. We have the perfect wall picked out for 2 of the portraits (and we're leaving a blank space for a our new addition's year portrait!) and all we have left to do is get them framed.
Avery just ate it up and loved every minute of it. Pete really didn't like any of the bright lights or the flash.



These are the two we are getting put up on the wall. You can see my arm in Pete's but in ours they cropped it out! Someone had to hold that boy still!!!

Our new house . . . we're moved!

I keep telling everyone that I'm using the word "moved in" very loosely! ha ha We are all in, we're unpacking, and we're trying to get settled. This move has probably been the hardest thing PHYSICALLY I have ever had to do. My mind keeps telling me what I want to keep doing, but unfortunately my body just won't do it. So, we're just going to have to take it little by little, decorating and organizing will probably take some time. The moving company came on Dec. 29 and quickly got our NINE CRATES off the two trucks (SHEEZ!).

As we brought the kiddos in for the first time, they ran around laughing and just having a grand old time. They love climbing up their new stairs and running up and down the hall that leads from the playroom to their bedrooms. That's right, we now have a boy room and a girl's room. Until we get a new crib for Pete, he unfortunately is going to be in the pink room for awhile. He doesn't seem to mind that much, though. They are so good, and seem to be making the transition really well, better than their mom!!! Our first night to stay at the new house as a family was Dec. 31, so we felt as if it was a great way to ring in the new year!

My big girl!

On the one of days that we moved, Miss Avery rode forward facing in the car for the first time. She seemed fairly unimpressed with the whole thing. Unfortunately we are so preoccupied right now with everything going on - but we did manage to get some pics and a video just like her brother!

Helping hands

What would we do without good family to help us out? Unfortunately with this move I'm not going to be much of a help since my stomach is protruding quite nicely. So luckily we live close enough to have people come to us! We closed on our house Dec. 23 . . . what a Christmas present! So a few days later, Ashley and Bobby came out to help clean bathrooms and toliets and to help paint! I'm sure it is just what they wanted to do! But now we have beautiful blue and pink bedrooms just waiting for the kiddos. Brandi, Dave and the boys came out to visit and of course we put them to work too. Brandi helped unpack the guest room and get everything extra into the closet! We made a "game" for the boys and had them run around and see who could find the most stickers on our stuff (the movers put numbered stickers on EVERYTHING) to keep track of it). What a help to get all those off!



My mom came on Saturday and did so much. I didn't even know how to thank her. She basically unpacked the upstairs for me and got it all organized. The kids rooms, closets, bathrooms and playrooms. I'm so sore and achy all the time, so it was great to be able to JUST watch the kids and let her work on everything else that needed to be done! Moving with kids is like a 10 person job!

Thank you so much to everyone that helped!!!

Christmas night . . . more presents

Christmas afternoon and night we spent with Pete's family and of course like before, these babies are so spoiled! Grandma and Grandpa, and their cousins, got them lots of clothes, bath toys, and more toys (boy is our playroom going to be full!) Avery and Pete got to visit with their Aunt and Uncle plus their cousins, who they had a great time with (like always!) Those boys know just how to play with this little ones!

Christmas morning . . . Santa's been here!

On Christmas morning we woke up at Nana and Grandpa's and the kiddos got their first taste of Santa! The funny thing is that they love to open the FIRST present, but then get preoccupied and don't really care about the rest. Needless to say, our present opening lasted all morning long! Nana and Grandpa got them lots of clothes, toys, books, a kitchen and a tool kit (among many other things . . .they are so spoiled!) My sister, Ashley, and her boyfriend Bobby spent Christmas morning with us and we were so glad that they were there! The babies love them both very much and always get in a good cuddle. I, of course!, had them in their cute coordinating pajamas! They looked so sweet and so big . . .I keep looking at the pictures of them from last year when they were 12 days old on Christmas! It is truly amazing how watching children grow makes the passage of time even more visible. Running to see what Santa had brought for them!

For some reason sitting on the presents was more appealing than the actual presents themselves.

Christmas Eve

We all got dressed up and went to church together. The babies did remarkably well. Avery lasted about 45 minutes and Pete lasted about 30 minutes. When I went to find them Pete and his daddy were outside playing with all the other little boys and their daddies! The funniest thing was that little Pete just could not resist the temptation of this lovely young girl's hair that was sitting in front of us. Nana had him in her lap, and somehow before she realized it, Little Pete had given a tug on the girl's hair. I only saw her reaction and didn't see the actual incident, but at least she was sweet about it!

Ah, the appeal of presents

The babes didn't seem too interested in the presents until yesterday. It's like they just figured out all of the sudden that they were there! Avery kept trying to get Pete to get in on the fun, but he KNEW not to touch those presents. Well, later that afternoon, it got really quiet as I was doing the dishes so I went to check on the kiddos. I got a few shots of them before they realized I was there. So sweet!



Caught ya! Does the look on Avery's face tell you she has been caught before???