Little Ballerina

Last Monday Vivi started ballet at her preschool. She was a little leary at first, but once we pulled out the leotard and tights she got very excited. In fact, I think that was her favorite part! She showed off her leo and hairsprayed bun to her brother about 20 times before we left. I took some video but I've had trouble downloading it, so this pic will have to do. Hopefully, more little girls will sign up so the class will make and then we'll have some more shots I'm sure!

Winter blues

As some of you know, I have a tendency to be VERY affected by the weather. Thank God I haven't been called to move to Seattle! Still, every January is usually a little difficult being house bound and having cold days. I've been trying to get creative with this weather and now being a bit more busy helps as well. Here is a different winter blues shot- me and the kiddos in blue enjoying a fire daddy made. This was last weekend which didn't involve too much activity, kind of nice for a change! Daddy was gone in the morning but we got to spend all afternoon together.

Word of the Year 2009- Remember

Inspired by a friend who came up with a posting on her blog for a word of the year, I have been thinking what word could inspire me for a whole year. As I was nursing my little 2 month old this morning and working on my Bible study I saw it-"remember".

I want this to be my theme for this year- remember the special moments of my children right now- right where they are at. For Vivi this may mean her sweet little phrases- "Good morning" greetings to each one of us in the house, her telling me how much she loves her little brother and that he's her friend. She has so much love in her little heart! This also might include her learning how to potty train- trying so desperately to get her pants, socks, and pull up off without getting pooh everywhere which sometimes makes me want to yell and sometimes laugh. For Isaac, this would mean his sweet face and alertness. His eyes are so bright taking in all of his environment. He's learning to coo and grin intentionally at me and others and it just melts me each time. For Nick and I, it will mean remember these special days when we get to jump in the car and have a time without a set schedule but time to just enjoy conversation. It will also include remembering our youthfulness- energy, or looks, and our desire to still woo each other. If I can capture these moments and remember them in a year when I'm dealing with a tough day it will make me love them all the more and realize how truly blessed I am.

I also want to remember what God has been telling me. Today His warning was remember Lot's wife- basically focus not on my own self seeking but focus on Him and losing my life for his sake. This refered me to another passage in Luke, "those who seek to save their lives will lose it, and those who give up their lives will gain it" (paraphrased). I do truly hope to look up and around me and remember others in pain and serve them or encourage them and those in a good way and celebrate with them. I really struggled this week with self-pity and my momma has always said when you get down like this that your focus is usually on the wrong place- look for an opportunity to serve. This is my prayer that I won't be self-focused like Lot's wife but that I will be looking to God and seeing opportunities to serve.

Look for more entries with the word "remember" as hopefully we'll see a common theme of this word this year. Thank you friend for inspiring me and encouraging me to think bigger!

My Sweet Men

Here is one simple shot captured of Nick enjoying his new son Isaac. I just love my sweet men!

Fort Worth Stock Show

This year we got to attend the Fort Worth Stock Show our full family with the Boyd family. What started out as a very cold morning blossomed into a beautiful spring day. The girls enjoyed seeing all the animals while we ventured in and out of the storehouses of goats and cows. We enjoyed a quick lunch (unfortunately they were out of sausage on a stick which is a HUGE part of why you attend this event but oh well!). Before we left, we just had to get one souvenir to remember our time- a pink cowgirl hat with tiara attached which Vivi affectionately called her "he haw hat". The girls certainly enjoyed showing off in these even wearing them to Benbrook park later that afternoon after naps! Nana and Papa joined us for some sliding and swinging time there at the park. What a memorable day.

It's pajamas- p-a-ja-ma-s!

If you know me at all you know how into matching clothes I am. It's a silly obsession but sometimes it actually helps save me time on picking out what to wear for me or Vivi. This time Vivi picked out these pajamas for her and brother to wear. Enjoy our little snowflakes!

Purple Cow Milk and Cookies

The other day I ventured out with both kids by myself to storytime at the library. Vivi enjoyed the stories of farm animals and especially the coloring at the end. She colored her cow all purple and if you are familiar with Fort Worth/Dallas area this may bring a smile to your lips too as you think of the Purple Cow Diner. I thought we really need to get her a purple milkshake but due to tight budget and cold weather I had to come up with the next best alternative- purple milk. What goes best with purple milk- cookies of course! Vivi and I put on our matching heart aprons from a few Valentine's days back and went to town on baking my fav chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies- before the salmonella break out! (Don't worry though everyer has eaten them in my family and we're all doing just fine!) Here are a couple of shots of the proud little chefs oh and the audience Vivi lined up to see our production.

Something Old and Something New

Here are a few shots captured with some of our old toys- brother in bouncy and Vivi playing with the flying pig. As well as some shots of the kiddos with new toys- Isaac and Vivi in the new playhouse decked out with CARS and Vivi singing to her new disney princess music player. We have certainly been enjoying all the fun toys we got for Christmas! Some of my favorite moments of the new year have been watching Vivi explore Flo's cafe, sing to her disney songs, dance with her dance cam, give haircups, line up and play with her my little ponies. Everything is new for Isaac so just seeing him become more aware of his environment and watching his eyes take it all in is so fun. I think Vivi thinks so too as you'll see from the last shot.

Old Crusade Crew

Last week a few friends from college got together for a "mini-reunion". I enjoyed getting to join them in Dallas for a nice taco soup and Courtney's homemade guacamole and chips. We caught up with what is going on in each other's lives and I got to introduce them to Baby Isaac. Here's the one picture I got from the night. Thank you Keri for hosting and I enjoyed hearing what the Lord is doing in each of your lives. Hopefully we can have more little crusade reunions in the future. From left to right- Keri, Jodi, Kelly, Courtney, Isaac, and mommy.

Toesies

I've been wanting to post a few pictures all of which have something to do with our families toesies! I do believe these can be one of the cutest or not so cute parts of the body. Over the past two years or so...I have gotten very spoiled to a new luxury- pedicures. My mother-in-law takes me often to get our toesies done at Mrs. T's. One of these shots include our latest trip there with Isaac. Vivi also became VERY interested in toe nail polish around her 2nd birthday. I've told this story to some, but the way we got her off her pacys (pacifier) had to do with nail polish. She got into a bottle of mommy's and painted her self, her outfit and legs, mommy's bathroom carpet, and her pacy. At that moment, she ruined her last pacy and that was the end of those! So if you need to break your kids love of the bink (another name we use for pacifier) than leave a bottle of nail polish around and hope she gets into it. (Maybe not for the sake of your carpet though!) One more story, not only have I enjoy pedicures with my mother-in-law but it's also become a tradition to get some major spa treatment with my sister and mom for their birthdays which fall in Dec. This year, I got the wonderful treatment of a massage for my big 30 in August. You might have seen some pics here in our blog, but what you didn't see was that my sis and mom got pedicures that ended with fairy dust (glitter). Vivi quickly noticed that Aunt Em had sparkly toes and fingers and declared every day for a month that she had sparkles on her own toes and fingers. The first weekend after returning home from the hospital after having Isaac (3 months later!) Vivi painted my toes and my mother-in-laws adding "sparklies" of her own. I can't believe how much these little ones remember! Check out the pic of Vivi over my toesies with a crayon. The other two shots include one of Isaac's sweet toesies which Vivi calls them daily. Also, a picture Vivi took of her and her daddy's toesies with her stampers from Little Gym's on her feet- probably her favorite part of Little Gyms. Thanks for sharing my love of our sweet toesies.

Jaime's Baby boy Shower

Last weekend was a busy one! Not only did we enjoy Clara's birthday party but Isaac and mommy headed to Dallas to throw a baby shower for my very good friend Jaime. We decided to choose a teddy bear and prince theme. Here are a couple of shots from the shower. It was an effort coordinating with two other friends, especially because all three of us live in different places and have two kids under 3! Still, I think Jaime felt honored and hopefully special. She is totally worth it! Also, another fun point...God's timing is perfect. We just threw the shower and I got a call from Jaime on Monday she had her baby! She was 3 1/2 weeks early but just in time for us to get to spoil her. Thank you Lord! Welcome baby Fenton.

Clara's Boutique

Last weekend we enjoyed a friend's birthday party which included dress up time, tea time, and of course cupcake time! On the way there Vivi was a stinker declaring she did not want to dress up but seeing cupcakes and other girls dressed up let her know it was a party and she just had to get warmed up. The first few shots you'll see a sour face and her hanging close to mom, by the end she was dancing around in as many outfits as she could put on as fast as possible. She even got some of the others into it too. Maybe the sugar from the cupcakes helped too. Thanks for inviting us Clara. Great job on all the details Erin!

In House Moments

We've been trying to get into a routine with preschool starting back for Vivi, everyone recovering from all the sickies, Nick heading back for full work weeks, and Jen trying to adjust to life with two kids. I have a new found symapthy for all my friends with multiples and understand the phrase "It's just not worth it." I feel like I'm saying that more often these days instead of just jumping in the car quickly. Also, winter is here in Texas which means highs in the 50's/60's= cold enough to not venture out too much. Here are a few of our in home shots some included with Nana whose kept us company.

"He's my friend."

I just experienced the sweetest moment since having two children. This is the moment I've been looking forward to since the day I found out I was pregnant with Isaac. Today, after pulling the Christmas tree and deco down, we decided to give our playmat a test run with Isaac. The second I pulled it out Vivi wanted to show Isaac how to play on it. She laid right down next to him and started hitting all the toys on it and rolling up in a ball. Isaac was so excited he started trying to mimic what his big sister was doing including batting his arms in the air and grinning at her. She looked at me and said "Mommy, he's my friend." I completely lost it. I love my kiddos!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year friends and family! We decided after the mass chaos of Christmas that we would lay low and try to get better for New Years. My only request was some fettucini and a movie at home. That's what we did. Nick took our little family out to dinner and than we came home and watched a movie. May sound boring but it was actually quite nice. Hope you had a nice one and are enjoying ringing in the new year in your own special ways.

Picasso or Princess Vivi

Picasso or Princess Vivi? You decide! Vivi is having a ball enjoying all her new toys and outfits she received for Christmas. Here are a couple of shots of Vivi painting and playing dress up.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We had a lot to celebrate in Christmas 2008 and a lot of family to celebrate with. I will have many memories from this year including watching Vivi and Chloe play tea party in their princess dresses, watching Chloe sit in Vivi's babydoll's haircut chair, seeing Papa curled up with Isaac on the sofa, having Vivi finally pass out on the floor with exhaustion, sharing a 5 minute race of how many gifts can Vivi open at home, anxiously awaiting the doctor's diagnosis for both sick children and enduring shots and an arsenal of meds, trucking it to San Antonio to see Nick's family, hearing Aunt Janna read "Do Princess Really Have Scraped Knees" to Vivi & Isaac while holding both, being grateful for Uncle Joel's holding Isaac until 2 in the morning, comparing notes with Garyn & Zack on their new baby experiences with Campbell, and finally making it back home to try and get healthy again. Wow! Merry Christmas and we hope your Christmas was filled with laughter, health, and as many special memories (but maybe not the chaos)!