Eastham

Santa's Letter

2011-12-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

Bella finally got to write her letter to Santa. She was better with her spelling this year. I hardly had to help her at all. :) She even asked Santa to bring something for Gavin. :)

Busy Time

2011-12-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

Hey all. I have a ton of stuff to blog about: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Tree Farm, Bella's Birthday, New House, New Baby, Christmas....wait...what? New baby? YEP! We are expecting our 3rd baby. :) We are so excited! What a sweet little Christmas gift. :)

Thanksgiving was delicious as usual. I didn't take many pictures. :( My nephew, Conner, loves Bella so much. I just had to share this sweet, precious picture.

I keep trying to back out of black Friday each year, but somehow, I always end up going. This year they opened Walmart at 10pm Thanksgiving Day for some of the specials. We decided to go to that one. Getting up at 4am didn't impress me. We stood in line for about an hour and a half for the xbox 360 with kinect bundle. We got one though! How exciting. Here is the line we stood in for so long. People are crazy. Really crazy!

We have been getting our Christmas tree from Motley's tree farm for four years now. We love it there. They have so many fun things to do. Well...this year was a little bit of a disappointment. :( We picked out our tree, cut it down, and rode the hayride to the front where our tree was prepared so we could take it home. They handed us the bottom half of the ticket from our tree so we could match our number when we were ready to leave. We went on ahead and let the kids play on the swings, pet the animals, have some hot chocolate and snacks, and do a little shopping in there store. We were done in about minutes and went to pick up our tree. We handed them our ticket with the number on it, and they looked and looked and looked.... No tree. Apparently, someone handed our tree to another person by mistake. WHAT?! Are you serious?! It took forever to find that tree...it's hard shopping for the perfect tree ya know. I was very disappointed. We had to go back out to the field and pick another tree...our second choice tree. We do love it though. It's very beautiful...oh and FREE. They refunded our money. :)

Bella's 7th birthday party was a blast. She wanted a "Pinkalicious" party. :) We chose to have it at Larry's Pizza. It was a great deal, and the kid's had a blast. The price wasn't bad either. Here are some of the pictures. It's so hard to believe she is 7 years old. Didn't I just bring her home from the hospital? :(

She also lost a top, front tooth!!!

Our house is coming right along. We have been picking stuff out left and right. It's very exciting. This will be our forever home. The place where our sweet babies will grow up....where memories will be made and cherished. Where each one of my children will come when they grow up and leave me. :( I can't wait to start making our memories there.

New baby Eastham. :) Wow. How amazing. Who knew you could love something so Tiny? Our first Doctor's appointment is December 29th. Please pray for this baby.

It's positive!

That's all for now. :)

H is for...

2011-11-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

Halloween. We took the kids to a trunk or treat at a local church. They racked up on candy and we had hotdogs. We had a great time! The kids finally got to carve their pumpkins. Bella drew a picture of how she wanted hers ahead of time. They turned out really cute.

Handsome. My cousin, Jenna, took Gavin's picture for his new airplane room. It's amazing. There were others...it will be a tough decision. :)

Hunter. Gavin only ever talks about "deer huntin' with daddy."

House. Look! They finally started framing! :)

Halloween Party

2011-10-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

My neighbor, Julie, and I loaded up our children and took them to an awesome Halloween party (hosted by my friend Jamie). Other than Bella being wounded by a rock thrown by her sweet brother, the night was great! There was a wienie roast, s'mores, chili, candy, a bounce house, play equipment, games, a full table of desserts, and a hay ride. It was so fun!

The house if finally coming along. They will be starting on it this week. I promise not to overload you with pictures, but I am VERY excited! :)

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

My friend, Margaret, came up Saturday night and spent the night while Chris was hunting. We went to Motley's Pumpkin Patch on Sunday, and it was sooo cute. It was a little hot outside for my liking though. I wish it would have been cooler. We plan on going to Shaeffer's Pumpkin Patch this weekend so Chris will be able to join us. I love the things to come during this time of year. :) P.S. Pray for our safety. Apparently all of these pumpkin patches in Arkansas are cursed. Yikes!

They started getting our lot prepared for building our house. :)

We will be loving this pond. :)

I remember...

2011-09-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

...picking berries with her. They were the biggest, sweetest berries. We always went walking - searching for berries or sweet gum off the sweet gum tree. We would chew it and put it in the refrigerator so we could have it later. I loved the smell of the honey suckle along the roads.

...gravy and biscuits...there's nothing like her gravy and biscuits. Nothing. Every single morning she had fresh biscuits and gravy on the stove. She always cooked every meal. We would have fried potatoes, okra, peas, cornbread, squash, fried apple pies, etc. She grew a garden her whole life. We would have cold watermelon on hot days and warm hot chocolate with marshmallows on cold days.

...bedtime stories. When we would we spend the night, we would sleep in the "yellow room". She always turned on the electric blanket a while before getting in bed. The feeling of sliding cold feet under warm sheets is unforgettable. She told the best stories. I loved the sound of her teeth :) My favorite bedtime story was Jack and the Beanstalk. She told it every time.

...feeding the pigs. We would ride in the back of the truck to the pig pen up the road. She always had old scraps to feed them. She loved animals.

...summer sausage and peaches. She always had summer sausage and cold, sliced peaches in the refrigerator. She would slice the summer sausage and heat it up. It was delicious. I always chose it for a snack.

...music. There was always some form of music at her house. The guitar, fiddle, banjo... We would always dance. I loved Wildwood Flower.

...the "pump house". She magically had tons of paper hidden away in the pump house. It was the old printer paper kind where you tear along the dotted line. She would make us hundreds of paper dolls.

...stray dogs. All dogs knew to come to her house if they were hungry or injured. She saved every one of them. We would keep them as pets.

...holidays. I miss holidays at her house. So much.

I miss her.

6 months later...

2011-09-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

So 6 months has gone by since I've blogged. Here is what we have been up to lately.

Over the summer, Bella lost 2 teeth and Gavin attended bible school for the first time. He probably should have waited another year. He was very cute though.

Bella is a first grader. She doesn't love school as much as she did in Kindergarten, but she likes it. I asked her if she liked her teacher, and her response was, "Well...I don't know...I guess I will have to get to know her better." I love her. She looked very colorful for her first day. She is a colorful person - it only fit. :)

She always manages to remember her brother while she's at school. :)

Every once in a while, I get the chance to have lunch with Bella. I. Love. it.

At the first signs of cooler weather, we headed for a picnic in the park. It was sooo fun...I love these memories we are making. :)

We celebrated my birthday today. I'm 29! Geez, I'm old! :( I woke up to a new dust buster and a cake. We also went to our favorite donut shop and had donuts in our pajamas. My kids are adorable. ;) I even got to have lunch with my friend, Nicki! It was a great day!

I love shopping for Bella. Period.

Gavin is always cranky when he has to be woken up. He likes to sleep until 10:00, but I wake him up at 8:00 every day so he will take a nap with the other kids. He doesn't like it.

Seriously, it takes him like an hour to get over it. lol

We are moving! Here is where.

TWO

2011-03-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

Gavin Walter Eastham is two. TWO! Wow. I just can't believe it. Here are pictures. He is everything we ever imagined he would be. :)

This is the stillest I could get him! lol!

As soon as everyone started singing the birthday song, he got shy.

Alex and my new sister-in-law to be, Alyssa!

Lizzie and Jackson. :)

Zoiee :)

Robin and Abby. :)

Sissy. :)

Catch up!

2011-03-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am HORRIBLE at blogging. Just horrible! I am going to try my best from now on. :)

The last few months haven't been all that exciting...we just aren't that adventurous. lol Christmas was great. The kids are rotten...we are working on that by the way. I really don't want my kids to think they get EVERYTHING they want. It shouldn't be like that. It's so hard though!

Santa came!

On the way to big daddy's and big momma's house

This was and still is the favorite gift!

We are working hard on getting Gavin fully potty trained. He does wonderfully, but just hasn't gotten the telling me part down. We put him in his first pair of underwear shortly after Christmas...yeah...big mistake. :) I am planning on trying again in 2 weeks. For any iphone users who are trying to potty train, I highly recommend the igopotty app by pullups. It has really helped me remember to take Gavin. :)

Aren't they cute though? :)

It snowed! The last couple of months were filled with snow! We tried to play out in it, but Gavin hated it. :( Maybe next year. Bella loved it though!

Bucket snow man...lol

Merry Christmay!!!

2010-12-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yes...I do realize that I spelled Christmas wrong in the title...of course I noticed it...I mean wouldn't you? lol Who spells Christmas wrong? :) Well...

I had an ornament made years ago for Bella. It has her handprint on one side with her age and Merry Christmas with the year on the other side. I decided I needed one made for Gavin too. Here ya go folks...

Merry Christmay Eve! :)

A whole bunch of Christmas

2010-12-23T10:02:00.000-08:00

We sure have been busy. :) It's fun too! This is my favorite time of year...I'm sure I've mentioned it a time or two. haha. There are just so many fun things to do with your family...I'm not even sure where to start! We love having something to take our children to, and Christmas time is filled with activities. :)

Earlier this month, I attended my cousin's wedding and took Bella with me (the boys stayed home). We ended up bringing my little cousin home with us to spend the night. Well..since it was such short notice, Alex or "Alexaner" as Bella calls her, didn't have any pjs or a toothbrush so we made a mad dash to target. I let the girls pick out matching pajamas and toothbrushes. We had the best time!!! I rented them a barbie movie and stayed up late to watch it. :)

Aren't these girls precious?! They could be sisters. :)

Later on that week, we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. We decided to go on a week night hoping the line wouldn't be too long. Luckily, we were right. :) Gavin was way too nervous and almost didn't want to sit in Santa's lap, but we were able to get a good picture. He wasn't smiling, but hey I'll take it.

I put them in their Christmas Eve pajamas. Aren't they darling? :)

We finally got around to writing Santa a letter. Bella had been anxious to tell him her LOOOONNNGGG list of things she wants (and expects to get). lol I helped her spell the first few words, but then I let her have at it. It's precious.

translation: Dear Santa, How are you? I have been good. I want Lotso, Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Buzz, Doll house. Bella.

Monday night, we went to a Christmas party at one of our friends' houses. It was fun. There was gumbo, chocolate treats galore, kids everywhere, a fire in the fireplace, and SANTA!!! Yep, Santa came to visit the kids and bring presents. It was the best time ever! Gavin ended up getting REALLY fussy...making us have to leave earlier than we had planned, but it was a great party nonetheless. :)

I threw a Christmas party here at the daycare. We had pizza, cupcakes, treats, and presents. It was a good time all around.

Gift wrapping

2010-12-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

Wrapping presents is one of my favorite parts of Christmas...oh who am I kidding? Every part is my favorite part. ;) This year, I allowed Bella to use some of her money to buy us gifts. I only gave her $5 so there wasn't much to choose from, but I am more than positive I will love whatever it is (lip gloss...she already told me haha). Since she bought these gifts, I let her do the wrapping. There was a LOT of tape used. LOTTTTSSSS. :)

We went to the parade last night. It was cold, but not too bad. The kids enjoyed it...Gavin especially loved the fire trucks. We are planning a trip to see Santa Claus at the mall tonight. Oh...and I have soup going in the crock pot. :) I love this time of year! Have a great Wednesday!

A big boy!

2010-12-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

Gavin is definitely breaking my heart here lately. :( He has jumped from sweet baby to sweet boy overnight. We were suckers and gave Gavin a night bottle until just recently (horrible I know!). His last night with the bottle was Tuesday, November 23rd. He has done wonderfully without it! It seems like ever since we took it away, he has turned into a full blown toddler. I can admit that I did cry, but I'm so very happy for him. He is now officially pee peeing in the potty. Our potty time can last anywhere from 5 - 20 minutes. So...while sitting there, we have tons of conversations. lol He loves the camera too! He learned how to say cheese and everything. It's sooooo freaking cute!

Gavin has also had the sudden interest in standing at the sink with Bella to brush his teeth. Oh what precious memories we will have. :)

Cuteness

2010-12-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Recently, Jenna took our family pictures for Christmas cards. I used one as our header (see above). I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of them!!!! She is amazing. Hit her up if you are interested in fabulous family pictures. You will NOT regret it! :)

I frequently catch little moments of cuteness with my cell phone camera...the only problem is...I rarely upload them...oh and the quality isn't as good as our "real" camera. Oh well...it's still cute. Here are some of those moments. :)

Bella was a piligrim at school for their Thanksgiving feast. Isn't she a beautiful pilgrim? :)

She was telling someone, "look...there's my dad right there!"

Do I even need a caption? :)

Bella and Layne (my little brother)

A pink Christmas tree of course!

Playing peek -a -boo with Bella in the car

Wearing dad's boots

We were shopping in Wal-Mart and Santa Claus just showed up!

Elf on the Shelf - The first place our elf hid.

Gavin's first time to pee pee on the potty!! We were saying bye to the pee pee. :)

Here is a video of Gavin in the bathtub. He is nuts!

Christmas and stuff

2010-12-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

We went to get our tree on black Friday. We have gone to Motley's Christmas tree farm for the last 3 years. We decided to make it our family tradition. It is a great place to go. They have amazing trees, hayrides, pig races, a petting zoo, free hot chocolate and roasted peanuts, and a little store to shop in. We love it. :) Here are some pictures:

Our tree. :)

He was dipping his cookie in the hot chocolate

We allowed her to go up to the window and purchase something all by herself. :) Big girl!

sweet babies

We bought a gingerbread house to make with the kids...I think it lasted a total of 20 minutes before collapsing! lol! We also made cookies to go along with our first Christmas movie of the year. :) Man I love Christmas time.

The candy was yummy though!

Bella's Birthday

2010-12-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

Bella's birthday was yesterday...she turned SIX!!! :( It's the same feeling every year...just pure sadness. I want to rewind and go back to my little baby girl...but I can't. She is my big baby girl now, and I must embrace this wholeheartedly. I do love it though. :) She is more precious every single day. We had her birthday party on November 20th so we could have an outdoor party and invite all her friends. She had a great time! Here are some pictures:

A REALLY long post

2010-11-08T12:02:00.001-08:00

I NEVER get on here...I know...I'm sorry. I just never make time for it. :( I really really want to, but...for some reason....I just don't. Ugh...

I have a ton of things to post about so I am going to just write about them all.

The first weekend in October seemed like the perfect time to take the kids to the pumpkin patch, but Gavin ended up running fever all weekend and cried over everything. He slept with us for 3 nights until finally he woke up and a new tooth appeared. He was teething! It was pitiful! :(
We decided to go to the pumpkin patch anway...he was really fussy, but we still had fun.

Poor guy!

Later on that week, we decided to carve our first pumpkin for the year. :)

Chris got a little fancy with this one

We finally got around to painting the playhouse for the kids. It is precious. The kids love it!

My kids are the best. They entertain us and keep us on our toes. I just can't get enough!

Bella is the "poser"...anytime there is a camera around, she strikes her pose and puts on her fake smile. haha. I just love her. :)

It was camo day at school

Gavin is FEARLESS! He literally knows no fear. It scares me to death! He is amazing...I love him. :)

Gavin loves to kiss Bella. Any chance he gets, he is laying one on her. It's to die for!

Bella's kindergarten class took their first field trip to Family Farm Pumpkin Patch. Chris was able to take off work and go with them. He took these precious photos of her and her cute little friends.

We had our first Parent Teacher conference. I was soooo nervous all day! I cried every time I thought about it...what a weirdo...lol Her teacher is amazing had nothing but wonderful things to say about Bella. Praise the Lord! :) Here is a picture of her report card. We are sooo proud!

Our town and a neighboring town (Benton and Bryant) had their Fall festivities on the Thursday before Halloween. We decided to take the kids so they can rack up on the candy a little early. We love candy. :) They were Super Girl and Super Boy - Bella's idea. These kids are amazing...I'm tellin' ya!

Bella's school didn't participate in dressing up for Halloween so they decided to allow the kids to dress up as their favorite book character and do a book talk in front of their class. Bella, of course, was "Pinkilicious". :) We also made treat bags to send home as a little Halloween gift from "Pinkilicious" herself. They were adorable. I love things like this!

So...about 1:00 Saturday morning I woke up with the stomach bug. It was TERRIBLE!!! :( I was up all night and in the bed all day Saturday. My poor sweet Gavin started throwing up around 10:00 Saturday morning. Chris was taking care of both of us. He is such a great husband. We missed my daddy's birthday and Halloween! :( Sunday was a better day for me, but my sweet husband started throwing up around 5 that evening. Bella was soooo scared because she knew she was next. Sure enough, around 1:00 Monday moring, Bella started throwing up too. Bless her tiny little heart. It was literally the hardest thing to watch. Gavin wasn't even this pitiful. :(

We are all well now! This past weekend was sooo much better. We went out to eat, did some shopping at Sam's, and lounged around. It was nice. Well folks...there you have it. A REALLY long post. :) Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!

When I grow up...

2010-09-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

...I want to be like my dad. I want my children to feel how much I love them every second of their life. I want to make sacrifices for them, work hard for them, help them with their homework, make them grilled cheese every morning for their lunch (this I do..haha), take them to buy school clothes, take them to the skating rink every Friday night, teach them how to drive, pick them up when their heart is broken, stand up for them when they need it, hold their hand through some of their most difficult life moments, love their children more than anyone could ever imagine, give them money for "breakfast and lunch" even though they are grownups and have their own money, drive the extra miles as often as I can just to see them...

Dad,

We can never tell you enough, but the little things mattered the most to us when we were little. We never doubted you. You are definitely one of a kind. We love you.

Stuff

2010-08-30T18:35:00.001-07:00

So Bella brought home the cutest picture in the entire world today. She drew it at school, and I nearly cried when I saw it. :)

The teacher wrote what each thing represented. She drew herself and her brother. :)

We got a baby gate/Gavin gate put up in his room. We have been needing to do this for a while since it's the playroom and there are always lots of babies here. My lunchtime routine will be so much easier now. Thank goodness!

YAY baby gate!

Chris installed under cabinet lighting in our kitchen! It's wonderful! My husband amazing!

Busy Bees

2010-08-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

We have all been busy busy....like bees (without the stinger of course). :) I have been needing to update for a while....so I am just going to scrunch everything all into one post.

Gavin drives me CRAZY. Literally. He touches everything, he climbs everything, he opens everything, he throws things in the trash, he throws things in the toilet or bath tub....etc...seriously? We love him...so much....:)

It is so hard to be mad at this face...

...until this happens... He decided to throw my wallet in the bathtub. My belongings (including paychecks and money) had to spend the day drying. Thanks Gavin.

We still Love you. :)

A couple of weekends ago "Alexaner" spent the weekend with us. The girls had a blast. I set them up on the air mattress to watch a movie before bed.

Pink is a dominant color in our house...

Gavin is a daredevil - as stated before... He climbs up our slide on the jungle gym and slides down by himself. It scares me to death...

We decided to put Gavin in the jumperoo...it's meant for babies who can't walk. Our baby can walk...and run...and climb...and get into EVERYTHING. Thank you jumperoo. :)

It turns out...Bella LOVES school. Kindergarten has turned our child into a teenager over night. Apparently she will be going to college soon so she thinks. Literally... She came home from school her first day and asked me who will be taking her to college. Um... Even though she still needs to work on her attitude a lot at home, we are very proud of our daughter.

P.S. If Bella gets in trouble one more time at school, mommy will not be very happy. Yes...she has already gotten in trouble. :/

Bella's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-23T19:26:00.001-07:00

Last week was a tough week. I cried, I lost sleep, and I worried, but I did it! I made it through Bella's first day of kindergarten. I have been meaning to post this since Thursday, but you know how it is. :)

I decided to let Bella choose her own outfit since she is a true big girl now. She did a wonderful job. Chris ended up taking the morning off work so he could witness this memorable day. It was so special to us. She walked in like she was an old pro. I lingered a little longer than I should have because Bella asked me to leave. :) She was just making a new friend as I walked out the door (not without taking a picture of course). She brings home the best stories about her day. We look forward to them.

Making a friend. :) That was the best part of my day...watching this...

2010-08-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

Bella busted her lip today. I panicked, but it turns out - she is a big girl. :)

This is what happens when you climb on things you shouldn't climb on.

She fell asleep with the rag on her lip

All better with a tiny bruise under her bottom lip. :)

Success

2010-07-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

You hope and you teach and you pray that your children will love... You try your very best to just show them how it's done - to love with all they have. Love each other, love other people, love...even when someone isn't very nice. It's hard to do sometimes...love isn't always easy. I for one, want my children to be sensitive...even if that means wearing their heart on their little, tiny sleeves. I believe in finding the good in everyone you encounter, crying at movies that make you sad, making people happy, having fun together, spending as much time with the ones you love the most, relating the words of a song to the people in your lives...it all feels so very wonderful on the inside. My heart swells. I like it.

I love the constant reminder that I have been given more than just happiness...I have been given EVERYTHING that I will ever need. I also love the constant reminder that I have succeeded in raising a beautiful, loving, and oh so sensitive daughter. She loves like no other. As I try my best to console her after a tearful ending to Miley Cyrus' "The Climb", I hold back my own tears. She is so sensitive. I love that. When a little baby brother gets himself into trouble (frequently), we have to talk to her about not babying him when he is suppose to be "in trouble." She just can't do it though...every time he gets in trouble, we hear her say "oh bubbas, sweet baby sugies...it's okay". How can you not just let her do it. :) As I talk to her about other people who need a lot of help...they don't have food or water...they don't have any money. She replies as she runs to her room, "I have money!". She tries to hand me her piggy bank...and I want to cry. Thank you Lord...for this sweet, sweet child. I love success. I love her.

Gavin was in the middle of a fit...Bella was making it all better...

"It's okay baby bubbas...goodness gracious"

We think Gavin is going to be just like his big sis...he sure LOVES this girl. :)

Random Things

2010-07-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

1. Chris stained our patio concrete yesterday. It is very nice. Take a look.

2. We went and bought all of Bella's School supplies yesterday. She was excited. She calls them her "school surprise". haha! I didn't cry. This is good.

3. The kids have a ton of play dishes for their little kitchen in the playroom. I just happen to actually read what one of them said on the bottom of the dish...and well...I laughed out loud.

The plastic dish

The warning on the bottom of the dish."CAUTION This is a TOY DO NOT place on oven RANGE." haha

Really? Who would actually put this on an oven range? Seriously...I'm being serious. Who? HAHA!

Belly Button

2010-07-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a very fuzzy (don't know why) video of Gavin showing his belly button. I sure wish it wasn't so blurry. He is still cute nonetheless. :)

Vacation Bible School

2010-07-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

We had Bible School at our church last week. I helped teach the 2 and 3 year old class, and I volunteered to take two of the boys from my daycare. They were so sweet and precious. I loved it! Bella had a wonderful time learning, doing crafts, and singing, but Gavin hated it. He has become very attached to us and hates to be left anywhere. The nursery must hate us for that. haha. Here is a video of the end of week ceremony. Bella is actually more concerned with "bubbas" than with her singing. I'm okay with that. :)

On the go

2010-07-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

I can hardly ever get a good enough picture of Gavin anymore...he is ALWAYS moving! He runs pretty much everywhere he goes, and he knows exactly when I want to take his picture... haha. Bella even tries to help me hold him still. :) Here are some okay pictures of him I suppose.

Wow...what a big boy I have! He looks too old in this picture. :(

Gavin LOVES his daddy. Whenever Chris goes anywhere in the house, Gavin follows. They are precious together. He especially loves when he gets to help mow the yard.

I am so thankful to be able to stay home with my babies. What an amazing gift. :) I love my "job".

Favorite Place

2010-07-21T05:14:00.000-07:00

School is starting soon for my first love. She is an official big girl now, and there is no turning back. I am planning her "back to school" clothes shopping trip to ensure my sassy frass of a daughter has all she needs for a successful start in Kindergarten. All summer I have been buying her 5t clothing..."t" meaning "toddler". I can't do that anymore. You have no idea how heavy my heart is now. I don't want to leave the "t" behind. I'm not ready. :( I am honestly not sure I can do it.

I want to be past this all so I can stop crying...what a maniac I have become. haha. I cry over a school supplies list, clothing, a "back to school" sign at stores...it's a nightmare. I will not be able to make it through the day on August 19th (First Day of School). :( I have so much worry and anxiety for her. Will she make friends? What if someone is mean to her? What if she gets hungry or cold or scared or...? I wish I could be there, tucked inside her backpack...to protect her. This is hard.

I have been spending a lot of time in one of my favorite places here lately - Bella's room. I sneak in there after everyone has gone to bed and catch her awake. We spend precious moments just laughing and snuggling. I hide my face as she asks many inappropriate questions that I'm not ready to answer, and I laugh at her way of looking at things. I love her. Although I will miss her "toddler years"...oh how I will miss it - I am looking forward to her "big girl years". She is amazing.

My flash is sooo bright! We had the hardest times keeping our eyes open and ended up exploding with laughter afterward.

Change

2010-07-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Standing in line at Wal-mart with 2 anxious and tired children can sure put a damper on the trip all together. We had just filled our buggy with groceries and a little nonsense, so we knew it would be a while before we were all checked out. I had my debit card ready to pay without even questioning if I could afford it or not. What a luxury huh? I was able to buy food for my children without a second thought. Bella wanted cookies, and Gavin wanted bananas. I could give them those things. As I stood in line, completely tuning the kids out, I noticed a man. He was a simple looking man who didn't seem to ask for much. He held a ten dollar bill clutched tightly in his hand while he watched as his items were being rung up. He bought hamburger meat, a loaf of bread, and 3 candy bars. He seemed tired because he was slumped against the checkout counter like he just couldn't hold himself up very much longer. As I tried not to make eye contact, I noticed his shoes. They were black sneakers and completely worn out. I watched him anxiously await the total as he switched the money from hand to hand. My kids were loud, but he gave them a shy smile anyway. It melted my heart, and my eyes filled up with tears. I began to imagine what kind of life this man may live - He was hardworking, but under appreciated. He didn't have much money, but he made sure to surprise his family members with a candy bar each. He would give up everything he had just to make sure his family had everything they wanted. Would he? I don't know this man...maybe he isn't any of the things I made him out to be. I hadn't even met this man. He is just a man... Right? Sometimes I wonder what difference I could actually make...and why place so much worry on a person that I have never met. A person at Wal-mart...or a person standing on a street corner holding a sign "will work for food". FOOD...not money. Can I do something to change that. Can you?

Maybe I am too sensitive, maybe I over think things, maybe that man wasn't any of those things. Maybe... But maybe he was, and maybe I CAN change the world. I wanted to give that man my groceries...a hug....some shoes. He needed a kind word in his life. I wanted to give that to him and tell him "everything's going to be okay". I wasn't able to do those things for that man for I will think of him often, but I am able to pray for him. God has blessed our family. We don't have to spend our last $10 on 3 items just to make it through the week. I will pray for that simple man with worn out shoes. I will pray that my children always feel the need to pray for people they have never met. I will pray that I can make a difference in the world somehow. I will pray and give thanks. Thank you God for my family, Thank you.

I am glad I went to Wal-Mart today.

Fourth of July

2010-07-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Fourth of July gathering with family members at Cane Creek in Southeast AR. We have a tradition every year of burgers, dogs, and a round of disc golf. For those of you who aren't familiar with disc golf, you can read about it here. The kids ran around and played their hearts out and immediately fell asleep on the way home. Once we got home, Jessica and I went to see Eclipse! WONDERFUL...that's the only word that comes to mind. :) I made it out of the movie just in time to enjoy fireworks with my family at Tindel Park in Benton. It was beautiful.

Vacation - Day 4

2010-06-22T18:31:00.001-07:00

We had a great day! We started the day off pretty early by taking the kids to a local and FREE farmstead. They really enjoyed themselves. Bella got to ride a horse, mine for Gold, and milk a cow. We finished the day off with a little ice cream and headed back for a nap. After nap, we took Bella and Gavin to paint some pottery. Bella is an artist. She's amazing. :) What a well rounded, sweet, beautiful daughter we have.

Our first night at the hotel was great! Gavin LOVED it! Bella had been to a hotel before and remembered it, but it was Gavin's first time. Here is a video of him loving himself in a mirror.

Vacation - Day 3

2010-06-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

Chris decided to get up early and head to work with Ryan to work on some of his computers while Felicia and I stayed with the kids. We decided to take it easy for the first part of the day (it was raining a little too). Chris came back just in time for lunch so we fed the kids and put them down for a nap. Chris agreed to sit with the kids so Felicia could take me to an outlet mall to go shopping. :)))) We took Bella with us for a little girl time, and it was wonderful. I bought the kids each a couple of items of clothing, went to a bookstore, and headed back. We got back and got all of our stuff ready to be loaded in the car. We decided to get a hotel for the last 2 nights so Bella and Gavin could swim...and staying at a hotel can be a fun experience for kids. Before getting to our hotel, we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese's. F-U-N....the kids LOVED it! Bella even made a new friend - it was the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Vacation - Day 2

2010-06-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

On our second day of our vacation, Uncle Ryan was off work so we decided to go to a children's mall to play and eat at a restaurant where a train brings your food to your table. It was sooo neat! We stopped off at the crayola store first so the kids could color stuff. Then we went to a scholastic display where Clifford the big red dog was. There was so much interactive stuff for the kids. They LOVED it! We stayed for maybe an hour before going to eat. The food was wonderful. After we ate, we went outside to the fountains so the kids could run through the water. They were completely worn out when we were done. :) It was an awesome day.

Vacation - Day 1

2010-06-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

So...I took WAY too many pictures on our vacation. :) I have decided the best way to blog about it is to separate each blog into days.

We got into Olathe, KS at about 10:15 Sunday night. We were so glad to be there. Six hours in a car with 2 small children....whew. lol But...we made it! We visited for a while before going to bed, and woke up early the next morning excited to start our day. First thing on the agenda was to take Bella to Build-a bear to spend her $20 from PawPaw. Aunt Felicia gave her a $10 build-a-bear card too! She was in Heaven. :) She bought a wedding dress, an outfit, a pair of sunglasses, and 2 pairs of shoes for her bear. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. She did enjoy herself thoroughly though. After build-a-bear, the kids played in the kid area at the mall and rode the carousel. They loved it! After all that fun, it was lunchtime. We ate in the cafe court and headed back to Aunt Felicia's for naptime. I had the hardest time keeping Gavin awake on the trip back to the house. He was sooo tired!

After nap, we took a walk to the nearby park to let the kids play. The weather was perfect! We stayed until it was time for dinner and headed back. Here are a few pictures of the park.

Bella had a blast!

Gavin picked everything up off the ground and tried handing it to us...

Graham loved the swing! He sat in there for at least 45 minutes of our park time.

Gavin climbed up the slide, of course. haha

This is what he enjoyed doing most.

I will post our "day 2" tomorrow!

The weekend

2010-06-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

When my babies are sick, they pretty much get anything they ask for. He had a kitkat...:)

We had a very different weekend. It started off pretty bad, but ended up pretty good. First off, Gavin started running fever Friday morning (which I freaked out over). So...I took him to the Dr. and had him all checked out to make sure there wasn't anything to be concerned about. He checked out perfectly and weighs 24.2 pounds - WOW! The Dr. ended up telling us that he more than likely had the fever virus that was going around. ugh... My poor baby ended up running a 103.5 fever Friday evening so we gave him some medicine and a sponge bath to get it down. He was still pretty sick and ended up throwing up. :( I slept with him in Bella's bed (she was at Aunt Jessica's) until about 4 am and switched with Chris so I could get a couple of hours of sleep. He ended up sweating after that and woke up much much better. He had a couple of bad diapers yesterday (diarrhea), but is wonderful today. I sure hope he stays that way and none of us get anything because.....

WE ARE GOING ON VACATION!!!! :) YAY!

See you all when we get back!

The garage

2010-06-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

The garage is slowly but surely becoming a sacred place for us. Daddy likes the garage, and we like daddy. :) Chris is building a plasma cutter machine thingy. I am not really sure what all that is, but maybe...just maybe I can talk him into writing a post one day. He will be glad to tell you all about it. All I know is that he LOVES it...he loves building things and creating things and welding things and wiring things. He is a project doer, and I love him. I think Gavin may love it too. We will see. :)

See the bruise on my sweet girl's forehead?

Gavin has to turn around to get down the steps

But he gets the job done pretty fast. haha

"oooooh"

Wanna know what happened to her head?

Seeing my baby boy with his daddy pulls at my heart strings. I completely melt...

Now...on to Bella's tragic forehead bump. See we have this changing table in Gavin's room which also serves as the playroom. Bella decided to climb on there today, and it pulled over on top of her. I COMPLETELY freaked out! I yelled, "OMG OMG OMG" like 10 times. I yanked her up and made sure she was okay....and...this is what I saw. :(

We removed the changing table from that room...and we let Bella have extra Oreos after supper tonight. She deserves it. :)

Summer memories

2010-06-05T18:33:00.001-07:00

We have been working really hard for the past couple of months to get our yard level enough to put a pool on. Whew! It has been tough...stressful...hot...annoying... haha...I think you get the idea. So...Guess What!

We finally did it! Our yard is level and we now have a pool! Woohoo! I AM SO EXCITED! It has been sooooooo HOT outside. A pool is the only way to go. :) We will definitely get a lot of use out of it and make some awesome summer memories.

We also made S'mores the other night. They were soooo delicious! Bella loves anything chocolate, so it was a big hit.

We used our grill to melt the marshmallows

Precious

2010-06-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

My kids are precious...nuff said. :)

Over the river and through the woods....

2010-05-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

to grandparents' houses we go...:)

We decided to head down south for the weekend to do some much needed grandparent time. We spend Friday and Saturday night at PawPaw's, and we headed to Big Daddy and Big Momma's house on Sunday. The kids are always spoiled and come home completely rotten. I guess that's what grandparents do....:)

My 95 year old grandmother always enjoys our company the most. She has had many, many years of sitting in a swing with children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and yes, great great grandchildren. She is one special lady.

MawMaw and Gavin in the swing

Bella and Gavin sitting on PawPaw's lawnmower

Gavin and Big Daddy sleeping

As promised...

2010-05-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Here is Bella's dance recital video. :)

VHS tape, plastic utensils, car key...it's all the same...right?

2010-05-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Our TV has a DVD/VHS combo feature. We can't use the DVD part because it's broken, and the VHS part rarely gets used. Or does it? ;)

Gavin

+

VHS slot

Finding all of this stuff inside

Yes, it's true... A VHS slot can be used for more than just tapes. ;)

Update

2010-05-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

I am definitely going to have to get better at this blogging thing. Seriously. :)

Well, I decided to take myself off of Facebook. It feels better to be away from so much outside drama. My family deserves my full attention without all the negativity that Facebook brought us. I am glad for my blog, because I love, love, love talking about my babies and my husband. I can still do that here. Thank goodness. ;)

My sweet, darling Bella will be staying home with me starting Monday. This is her last week to be at Mrs. Karen's. We will miss Mrs. Karen so very much. God placed her in our lives at just the right time, and now it is so hard to let go of her. :( We are trying to hold on to what we can, so we have decided to hire Shelby (Karen's daughter) to babysit the kids from time to time. It makes us happy to know that we have such wonderful people to trust our children with (because we need our time away too ya know).

Gavin, oh Gavin... What can I say. He is a ball of crazy with a "little tiny smidgen" (Bella's favorite saying) of sweetness. haha. He loves his momma and daddy like crazy and loves his big sister even more. Thank God for this child. He is the baby Chris and I always imagined we would have together. Exactly as we always knew he would be. Even with all the crazy. :) We are working on getting his screaming under control...he seems to be getting better with it....maybe not. lol Either way, we are all able to better tune it out. ;) The climbing, however, is getting worse. He has turned into a monkey, I think. Well...minus the tail. He climbs on the couch, the love seat, the chair, the stove, the patio chairs and table, the stairs off the deck, the slide, oh and today he climbed on the end tables...haha... I think he would climb on anything if he could reach. I can't get mad at him because he smiles at me. Oh what a smile...it literally turns me to mush. He has his daddy's smile.

To do list:

take more pictures
take the bottle away from Gavin (yikes)
save some money for vacation (yeah right)
do the laundry (who am I kiddin')
Forget all of the above and spend time with my family instead :)

Gavin and Bella love each other. Bella's little "sugies" is so special to her. She doesn't always admit it, but there are moments that I catch (when she doesn't know I am watching) - little moments of sweet hugs and tickle time. She even shares a toy or two every now and then. I love when I catch it. The secret moments are the best. :)

Dance Recital and Build-a-bear

2010-05-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

Friday night was Bella's first Dance Recital! Woohoo! She did so good. :) I am one proud momma. For now I am going to only post pictures, but I will post the video very soon. It is precious...and hilarious. haha! You will see. ;)

Aunt Jessica, Uncle Stan, and PawPaw came to watch our baby girl perform. She was thrilled beyond belief to see them there. She even gave PawPaw a shout out from stage! (she was suppose to be dancing, but oh well) Aunt Jessica brought her some beautiful flowers and a gift card to go to Build-a-bear. She has been wanting to go there for an eternity (maybe not that long). We decided to get up early today and take her. She absolutely LOVED it! She picked a pink bear and named her "Flower". I am so happy for her...she really loves it. Gavin didn't really care about build-a-bear, and we didn't take him to the recital. Poor Gavin. :( I think he will be okay though. He's pretty happy anyways.

Door

2010-05-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Gavin's new word this week is "door". He looks absolutely precious when he says it. His little mouth puckers up, and the sweetest little voice comes out. :)

The weekend

2010-05-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty interesting weekend...first of all...the storms ruined almost the whole weekend. We were up half the night (both nights) scared for our babies. Whew...we are pretty tired now. It doesn't really feel like we had much of a weekend because of it all, but we did end up having a GREAT Sunday. I made a splurge purchase yesterday! I researched it first and thought long and hard before buying it (I learned that from my dad). See below -

Isn't it great? It was only $98 for a 6 piece set! It is perfect for our deck and our family of 4. :)

Friday evening, we took the kids to get their haircut. Bella just got a trim, but Gavin went all out and got himself a "new do". I absolutely love it! We are thinking about letting Bella get her hair cut shorter, but it takes a lot of courage to do that. I'm not quite there yet. Here is a picture of Gavin with his cuteness.

Too precious...right?

We topped the day off with a kiddie pool and some sunshine. The kids really enjoyed themselves....well...until Gavin accidentally fell and went under. That's when we called it quits. haha.

December

2010-04-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

I love December. I love the brisk cold air mixed with the smell of burning firewood. I love snuggling under a blanket with a big cup of hot chocolate. I love the smell of our Christmas tree just after we brought it home from the tree farm. I love celebrating the birth of our savior with my very own precious miracles. I always say that I love Christmas…well I do…but most of all, I love December. Now that summer is almost here, I long for the feeling that December brings to me. Ya see…Bella was born in December…right at the very beginning of the month. She made her grand entrance into my life on the 1^st. What a beautiful way to start a month off. I was so scared….scared of her…scared of myself….scared of what I would never be anymore. I would never be just Monica…I would never be able to sleep again…I would never be “single”…I would never stop worrying. How in the world was I going to be a mom? One minute I’m me, the next minute…I’m lost. I had to do this all by myself. But. I was never alone…I always had my dad. When everyone else looked down on me…he didn’t. When everyone else ran away from it all…he was there. It wasn’t as scary as I thought. At 11:00 A.M that Wednesday morning…everything changed. I held her….oh how I held her. I breathed her in…I cradled her so close…so warm…so soft. She fit ever so perfectly in my arm…her rosebud mouth puckering and her dark eyes searching for me. In that very moment, I became everything I was ever supposed to be. A beginning and an ending to a life….my life. Mine. She was mine. My life. This was it! My journey started that day. It has sure been hard at times, but it has sure been amazing. Bella is five years old now. Five sweet, beautiful years have passed. She is exactly as I always imagined her to be. Sassy, smart, beautiful, and hard headed. She has an amazing heart and free spirit. When you meet her…you love her. A mother has to endure so much. The worry, the heartbreak, the late nights… A mother…it’s all I have ever wanted to be. Now my first born…my sweet memories…my big girl…is going to kindergarten. I am having a tougher time with this than I thought I would. I have found myself psychotically watching her sleep and crying because I miss her already. Sometimes I think about leaving Chris all snug in our bed just to go and cuddle my baby girl while she sleeps. Is that healthy? Haha. Maybe. Or maybe not…who cares. There won’t be too many more years that I will get to do that. I think I may just take advantage of it while I can. The years just come and go…leaving us wondering were they ever real. Take advantage of that late night or early morning…it’s God’s gift to you. :)

Messy

2010-04-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have been trying hard to get over my fear of messes...:) REALLY hard. So...we decided it is definitely time to let/help Gavin use a spoon by himself. He did get VERY messy, but it was so wonderful to watch.

]

A boat ride to remember...

2010-04-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

We decided it was time to take the boat out on the water. See....we haven't taken it out since summer before last. It was TIME. What is the point of having a boat if you don't ever take it on the water? - you might ask. It was a complicated summer last year...I had just had Gavin that March, and there just aren't too many people to leave a little bitty baby with...so we just decided not to. :) This summer was going to be quite different. Was? Yes...was... Ya see...we were out on the water (it was BEAUTIFUL), the kids were loving it. The boat was acting funny, but we just thought it was because it needed some small tuning up...we could handle that when we got back home. Well...we were wrong. :( We were probably out on the lake for about 2 hours before we decided it was time to head back. The guys (Chris and Alex) worked on getting the boat loaded and tied down when they noticed some milky white goop coming from the boat. UH OH... Yeah...it was everywhere in the engine. So now...we have to get that dang boat fixed before we can take it out again. But it was fun while it lasted. Wanna see?

Outside

2010-04-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

"Outside" is our new favorite word here in the Eastham house. We spend TONS of time outside. Gavin is such a "boy"...he LOVES to get dirty and climb and run. We just love watching it. Bella is getting so much better about getting dirty...she doesn't cry as much. She is very helpful with Gavin too. She even helps him walk up and down the hill in the backyard. :) It's just amazing seeing a big sister help her baby brother.

2010-04-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

We visited Garvan Gardens today! It was beautiful!!! Everyone needs to make time to visit this Spring and Summer. The kids loved it, and it was the perfect weather for it. :) I took my camera and got a couple of GREAT pictures of the kids.

Blessed

2010-04-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have been blessed.

Here's why:

Last weekend we met up with a new couple for dinner. We had a GREAT time! We ate at Colton's (I pigged out), we talked about life (I talked their heads off), and we found out we had a lot in common (we are all awesome!). Thanks Nicki and Jared for the fun night! Let's do it again? :)

P.S. if you want a cake - Nicki is the girl to go to! She makes yummy, delicious, mouth watering cakes! Check her out on FB!

My kids are awesome, beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, wonderful

So is my husband

My family is wonderful

Is there anything else I need? Didn't think so.

I attended a Mary Kay party last night...fun, fun! I bought some lip gloss and fell in love with the lip gloss. It is perfect for my daycare having, no make-up wearing, kid loving life. :) If you want some Mary Kay stuff, but don't know where to get it - Jenna Thomas is your go to gal! www.marykay.com/jennathomas or check out her blog.

Today was dance pictures for Bella. She was allowed to put her dance costume on, get all done up (with make-up and everything), and get her picture made. She was just so stinkin' cute! I just had to share these pictures with you. She is sure sassy I tell ya. :)

Love you daddy! See you Sunday!

Bella and Gavin

2010-03-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

We had an Easter egg hunt here at the daycare yesterday. I caught Gavin doing a couple of cute things on camera. He is just wonderful...everything about him. He reminds me so much of Bella at his age. They have the same personality...I love that. :) I recently allowed Bella to pick out a new bathing suit for this year. She picked a yellow one. I was surprised by that choice since everything she owns or does is pink. hmmm...

Here are a few pictures of the egg hunt and a very sassy Bella with her new bathing suit on. :)

Project : Deck Building

2010-03-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

Chris and I have been wanting to add a deck to our house since we moved here, but money, money, money. So...we decided to put our tax money to good use this year and just do it. Chris did about 80% of the work, and the other 20% was done by a great friend. He helped screw the boards and dig a hole. I have a very handy husband. :)

Where's the light

2010-03-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

We taught Gavin to show us where the light is. He loves it when we ask because he loves getting praise. He even claps for himself sometimes! lol. I also taught him where my teeth are...but I didn't quite think it through because I had a camera in front of my face. :)

So...while I am gone...or when he thinks I'm not looking, Chris sneaks Gavin drinks of tea...or chocolate milk. ugh...

Spring

2010-03-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

I have been LOVING this weather we have had here lately. It is perfect...mmmm...the breeze, the smell of a well seasoned steak on the grill, the sound of 2 crazy kids playing in the yard....oh and don't forget - the sound of a drill guiding a screw into place. Yep..that's right...a drill... Chris has planned and started the deck building process we have so desperately wanted to do for so long. Spring time brings about all sorts of projects around here. My husband is an overachiever and I love him for it. :) We (Chris) have already put one project under our belt - we (Chris) painted our garage floor a couple of weekends ago. It looks great!

Yesterday was Friday - Oh how I have looked forward to that day for a whole week (seemed longer). I have felt so drained for some reason. Maybe it was the time change catching up with me...or maybe it was from all of the stress of planning a birthday party for one sweet, precious one year old. All I know is that I needed Friday like whoa! Now that it's Saturday, I feel soooo much better. I slept late this morning, got up around 8, and prepared to go to a baby shower for some friends. After the shower, I took Bella to see Alice in Wonderland 2D, and now I'm blogging. I have REALLY been slacking with this blogging stuff. So sorry.

Last night I took Bella to Target to buy the shower gifts for my friends. While there, I thought that maybe...just maybe I could find a cute shirt or even shorts for Gavin since the weather is changing and he could use them. NOPE...nothing. I couldn't find anything that caught my eye or even made me think about buying it. They seriously need to step up their game on designing some cute boy clothes...really. ugh. So...instead, I bought Bella the cutest, colorful dress. And get this...it was only $6! Can't beat that! Here are some pictures I took of her playing in the dirt. She decided to sneak the dress on while I wasn't looking. :)

Yes, those are cinderella sleeves from her dress up box...:)

This is what happens when she dresses herself...

She was getting chilly

Running inside to grab a jacket

um...that's not a jacket...

The start of our (Chris') deck building project :)

Is it just me, or does Gavin look OLD here? Maybe it's the hair?
ugh... A one year old for sure. :(

Gavin's Birthday Party

2010-03-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our baby boy on his First Birthday. Sorry it has taken me so long...I am still recovering from all the stress and time change. :)

March

2010-03-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

As I look back on the last year - through memories in my head, pictures on my laptop, or 10 second video clips, I am brought back. And OH how I love that feeling. I love to close my eyes and leave reality for just a moment of "going back in time". Like the feeling of listening to that oldie but goody of a song you remember from High School, and if you close your eyes at just the right moment and let it all sink in - you could swear you were back there again... Or sometimes just sitting outside in the beautiful spring air letting the wind hit me in my face, I am taken back to a wonderful feeling I felt a year ago today. March...I love this month. I loved this month from the beginning...the day they told me when to expect to hold my baby for the first time...March. March was my new favorite word for those nine months. Oh how I wanted March to hurry and get here. I needed to hold my baby and touch his precious face...and I knew that March could give that to me. There is absolutely nothing better in this world than seeing your baby for the first time. Thank you March.

March 12, 2009

Our baby, her baby - Happy First Birthday Gavin!

Walking

2010-03-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

Gavin is braver than ever now...he is almost a walker indeed. :)

Friends

2010-03-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I miss having "friends". Ya know the ones you can be silly with and stay out late with. But here lately, I haven't really missed it much. I moved here (Benton) a couple of years ago and I guess just sort of grew up. lol I grew out of the junior high act and grew into a mom/wife. My home town friends resented me for it and talked behind my back. It hurt my feelings...I got over it...it happened again...I got over it - ya see the cycle? It took me a LOOONNNGGG time to figure out that they weren't really "friends". I mean they were there (when they needed something) and they called (when they needed something), but I just didn't like the way they made me feel. They didn't like me for me...and I was sad.

Good news!
I am 27. :) Yep...27! That means...I don't have to be friends with them anymore. I'm not in high school. I AM a grown up....and I like it. I have children and a husband (that I was made to feel bad for having), and they are my "friends". I get to act silly with them and stay out late with them after our walmart trips...and guess what! - They still LOVE me at the end of a bad day. So...I guess what I am trying to say is...

bye bye old life...:)

p.s. Dear old life, please don't text me some dirty, mean message because of what is written on MY blog. I didn't make you read it. :)

Here is my new life:

You have no idea how good it feels to be a part of this. This is pure silliness...and pure LOVE. :)

A first birthday is just around the corner!

2010-03-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

As Gavin's first birthday sneaks up on us, I am reminded how fast time flies...yet again. I am not sure how to take it...if I think about it for too long...I may cry. Here is the invitation that we are sending out today. If you didn't get one, I am so sorry. I just didn't send a lot out for the mere fact that a lot of people more than likely wouldn't be able to come (the drive is horrible...I know). So...instead, I am posting it on here for all to see. And...if you would like to come - we would LOVE to have you. :)

Thank you dearest Jenna for being so awesome! We love it when you can take pictures for us. :) Can't wait to see you at the party!

Here are a few of Gavin's accomplishments we are most proud of:

walking! YAY!
he says "maa" for more
he points and says, "wassat" (what's that) for EVERYTHING
he dances oh so very cute like
has the best kisses ever (open mouthed and wet)
says "bahh" for ball
says "baba" for bottle
says "biiii" in a really loud scream because he is mad and wants another bite
eats mostly table food (he loves bananas)
is riding forward facing in his new big boy seat
he says pawpaw when daddy is holding him

I am probably forgetting a few, but he is still amazing. We love our little one year old (almost). :)

Teeth

2010-03-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Gavin is working on his 3rd tooth now! YAY! So...we decided it is definitely time to start the ritual of brushing his teeth. We went to Walmart and bought him the cutest little toothbrush and some "safe to swallow" toothpaste. He loved it! It was the cutest thing!

Attitude

2010-02-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

Gavin has been sooo cranky ALL day. So...I decided to get it on video. Listen to his attitude when he says, "what" back to me. Man oh man...

"Ball"

2010-02-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

I see your hiney all bright and shiney :)

2010-02-17T16:52:00.001-08:00

Bella and Gavin really enjoy bath-time. Gavin's new favorite thing to do is take toys and put them in the tub organizer (thank you Grammy - we love it!). Oh...and he also likes to poop in the tub, but that deserves a whole blog update to itself. ha!

An Unexpected snow day!

2010-02-08T18:29:00.001-08:00

Wow! We woke up this morning to snow! REAL snow! It was beautiful and the flakes falling fast and thick. We didn't get a chance to take the kids out in it before it started raining. Now it's just slush everywhere. It was pretty while it lasted.

P.S. Bella is still prissy and Gavin needs a haircut REALLY bad! Love you daddy!

A big boy

2010-02-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

Gavin has been standing for longer periods of time now! It won't be too much longer and hopefully he will be walking. :) Also, when I change him, I have the habit of saying "shheww" or "EWWW"...and he has started saying it. Check out the video.

A bear hug

2010-02-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

Snow + a GREAT dad = FUN!!!

2010-01-31T20:08:00.000-08:00

Friday was great! We all got iced/snowed in together (Chris didn't have to go to work). We enjoy those days sooo much. We are all kinda wimpy and Gavin is still too small...so we didn't go outside and try to enjoy any of it. I feel it would have been a disaster...lol So..instead, we made red beans and rice, cookies, dumplings, brownies (thanks for the 5 lbs by the way)...and we made a fort, AKA "fork" as Bella was/is calling it. haha! Chris is such a wonderful dad...man I am sure blessed. Here are some really great pictures. Did I mention how blessed I am? :)

Bella was having a blast!

So was Gavin!

I love these two

Shadow puppets...sort of...lol

ooooohhhh...scary!

Gavin didn't know what to think about this...lol

1...2...3...GO!

2010-01-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

So...Gavin is standing up all by himself! He doesn't do it for a VERY long time, but we will take it. It's so cute. Here is our little guy trying to walk. It won't be long. :(

Bella was trying to help her baby stand up. lol

It's time...

2010-01-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

...for a new post. I have been busy lately and haven't had much time to update. Between the daycare, cleaning, and spending time with the family - I find it hard to be able to sit down and blog. :( I really like blogging too. I guess I will have to get better at it.

We went on a date again Wednesday night. We are REALLY enjoying these "date nights" provided to us by Jess and Stan. They are so wonderful. Wednesday night, we went to see Avatar 3D. I really liked the movie, but I had a headache. The 3D part wasn't helping either and it turned into a migraine by the end of the night. ouch! I hope to NEVER have one again. Migraines make me turn into a big baby. :(

Here are some pictures I took of the kids...we were bored.

I love my curious baby...

Bella's CD cover...haha!

Yes, Bella has an Edward barbie. :) We love him.

Bella was trying to kiss Gavin...

But, he pushed her away...lol

He tried to run, but she caught him on the cheek :)

He just looks defeated...poor guy had to get kissed by his sister...

Coming to tell me about it...lol

Playtime Pizza

2010-01-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

We decided to splurge and take the kids to playtime pizza. It was a blast! We had been there before, but never really spent much time doing what we wanted. We were always on a time limit, but today we were able to stay as long as we wanted. We got there at 11 and stayed until 3! We rode rides, played games, played putt putt golf, ate pizza and dessert, and bowled. We earned nearly 1000 tickets, but gave most of them away. :) Gavin enjoyed the crowd and ate a yummy chocolate chip cookie. He even got to ride in a few little baby rides. What a great day.

My Bella Marie

2010-01-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

Oh Bella...you are such a stinker, but oh so very cute. Here is why:

Every night before she goes to sleep, she says, "goodnight mommy - I love you more than anything". Then we blow each other a kiss and of course she has to put my kiss under her pillow for safe keeping. (I may accidentally put her kiss under my pillow too...what if I need it during the night?)
When she is talking about something REALLY big, she says, "hugenormous"
When we cook her one of her favorites for supper she dramatically replies (with her eyes closed and hand on her tummy), "mmm...this is the best supper EVER!"
She thinks Gavin is "the cutest baby sugies" (sometimes)
When she can't believe something just happened, she says, Well goshlee"
She still gets her "B's" and "V's" mixed up. (i.e. table is tavle, Gabe is Gave, tub is tuv)
She is very crafty and can cut anything out like you wouldn't believe.
She loves taking a bath with her baby brother, but sometimes won't admit it.
She says "up in the morning" way too much - "Where am I going up in the morning?", "Am I staying home up in the morning?", "Who is coming over up in the morning?" Oh my...
She stomps her foot, rolls her eyes, and storms off with the best of em...ha! We will definitely have our hands full later on...

Books are fun!

2010-01-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

I just recently discovered how much Gavin loves to be read to. He laughs and sits quietly while I read. It is the best thing EVER! He even kisses the babies on the pages of the book. His favorite book is one that has different textures to touch and feel. He puts his tiny little fingers over each one and feels them. I just love this time I get to spend with him. :)

He loves the way all the different textures feel

He cracks up every time. haha

He loves to kiss the babies on the pages.

Stuff...

2010-01-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated in a while so I thought I would just blog about "stuff". I don't really have much going on to blog about, but I have a couple of recent pictures I took. The kids are doing pretty good...the sickness is gone. Thank goodness! Gavin has a check up tomorrow at 4:00 just to make sure everything is clear. Just in the last couple of days, he has turned into such a stinker. He is sooo demanding and pushy. I don't know what happened to my sweet, precious baby...but I want him back! Bella has always been demanding and pushy, but in the last couple of days she has been so sweet. hmmm...role reversal? lol

Girls night at red lobster with friends/relatives...and...Yes, we did dress alike..:)

Me and Sarah

Bella and "Alexaner" - the two most beautiful girls in the world

I have trained her to smile...lol...if you notice, she looks the same in every picture. haha

Still smiling even when she isn't looking...lol

We decided to trust Bella to take our picture - she did a great job...until...

She got sidetracked...

I laughed forever...

We were all laughing hysterically in this picture because of it! lol

This is old, but I liked it. :) It's sweet.

Playing with my eye makeup...he was having a ball

Daddy's baby

Jumping on the bed is the greatest!

Bella and Gavin

2010-01-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

Ah...my two favorite people...and yes...I am one of those moms that LOVES to brag on her children. I can't help it...they are just too dang cute! :) I hope they will always see how proud I am of them.

Gavin was sick all last week with double ear infections and a horrible cough. We took him to the doctor and he was given a shot and some more antibiotics to take for 10 days. Today is day 6, and he is definitely feeling and looking tons better. :) His cough is going away, and he is happier than ever. At the end of the week last week, Bella started getting a cough. :( I was hoping it would go away with a little help from cough medicine, but now she feels bad. Chris had to pick her up from Mrs. Karen's today because she has a tiny fever. It may be tiny, but it's still a sign of something. Poor baby girl. I will spend my day snuggling it all away. Here are a few pictures from today with the kids.

I decided that Gavin looks too freakin cute in his hat...so I took LOTS of pictures...:)

The best one tooth grin EVER

Geez...he is way too cute for his own good...

On a mission

A multi-tasker

Have you ever seen a cuter rat tail? I didn't think so...

He crosses his tiny feet all the time

Bella - just beautiful. This was last week before she started feeling bad

My favorite little girl in all the world

Not feeling too great

Poor baby girl. :(