Oh H"Evans"!

Pictures I'm loving

2012-02-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

I take so many photos with my iPhone and only ever share them with my family via text. Here are some that are just too cute not to share with everyone.

Ace, wearing my robe.

Lily Kate at her school Valentine's Party. Come on, how could this NOT make you smile?!
My sweet boy in the front seat in morning car line.

These two are just irresistible and have SO much personality. Neither of them ever quit talking.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

I love this little FACE! Doesn't it just say, "Kiss me!"

Saw these on Pinterest and had to make them. It was tricky figuring out how to cut them without tearing his little hand up.

Here's the close up, minus the dum dum.

I had zero hopes of getting Lily Kate to do any sort of posing for me. She's started saying "cheese" whenever I hold my iPhone in front of her but it's the same face she makes when she's doing her business so I've got some smile practice ahead of her. =) I think I'll let Ace teach the smiling class. I mean, LOOK at that FACE!

Funny Man

2012-02-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

I am madly trying to finish Ace's 2011 yearbook to take advantage of Picaboo's 50% of coupon that expires on the 7th. I came across this photo and had to upload it!

At the Kiddie Park, back in December, Ace got his actor on and hopped in the roller coaster. Of course, it's just a stationary car. I love my crazy over-actor!

Barely Here...

2012-01-15T06:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still alive...only barely. Just updating the blog to prove it.
Poor, poor neglected blog.

Let's see...what's on my plate?
Starting tax season, flag football, single-parenting, school, house selling, house hunting, mortgage shopping, budgeting, constant house cleaning for last minute showings, mommy duties (too many to list)...you know...the same things that are on EVERYONE's plate except I'm incapable of keeping all the balls in the air with grace.

So, if you find one of the balls I've dropped...well, I'd say return it to our home address but who KNOWS what that will be?! In the meantime, your prayers are coveted!

This is a big week. We have a house appraisal on Monday that determines if our current contract will go through or if we have to put the house BACK on the market. We will also find out if the house of our dreams is a possibility from the sellers and our mortgage lender.

Life is a roller coaster and I can only assume that my heart is aging by the milisecond. Thank goodness the Lord is driving this roller coaster or stress would surely have overcome me by now.

Popeye Jr.

2011-12-22T03:23:00.000-08:00

This is what my Dad does in his spare time...

He draws on pictures of my precious children!

I know my posts have been non-existent lately. I would list out why...but don't have time. Suffice it to say that your prayers for the sale of our home would be most welcome!

Thanksgiving Feast - Ace

2011-11-17T05:06:00.000-08:00

Today was all about Ace.

He was so excited about his Thanksgiving Feast at school.

Here was his place card. Such a cute idea.

We were thrilled that TWO of his soccer teammates were going to be in his class at school. Brendan is in the middle and Stuart is on the right.

Just had to insert her "stink face" which is STILL alive and well.

Ace's friend Trent. Trent is a twin and Ace and I have had LOOOONG conversations about what twins are. Don't you just love Ace's dimple in this photo? And those red lips! I do.

Super cute centerpiece made by a classmate's parent.

Silly boys. These tee-pees turned into swords about 5 minutes after this.

Lily Kate went to TOWN on this apple and downed about half of it. I'm bringing one to every football practice from here on out in hopes it will entertain her for as long as it did today!

And this is how we ended up.

Gum on the shoe.

Ha! Car looks pretty clean from this angle. You'd never know we could feed all of China off the floor in the backseat.

WARNING: This photo will make your heart melt.

2011-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

This morning, I asked Ace to pick out Lily Kate's bow. OF COURSE, he chose the Florida State one. She will sport it proudly at his Thanksgiving Feast this afternoon!
Want a laugh??? I dressed Ace in his "fashionable" splatter-painted jeans this morning and he says, "Look Mom. There's bird poop on my pants!"

We're Official

2011-11-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

Here's our listing.

We'll take any advice you have about staging, showings or decorating!

If you know any secrets that will help us sell faster, I will take them.

I will be so sad to leave this house. The layout is perfect for us. I love my office with it's big windows that let me look out onto the green park area across the street. The playroom has been great for soccer and flag football practices! I am groaning over leaving behind all of the special painting I did in Lily's room. I hate to leave the moulding and slate floors that we sweated over with contractors.

But, it's all material right?

I'd rather have our family together and Jonathan starts work December 1st.

We haven't had any showings yet.

Please pray for a fast sale but also for a FAIR sale. Our realtor has told us unbelievable stories of buyers asking for all sorts of crazy concessions and I don't take it well when I feel like I'm being taken advantage of. I love this house and want to sell it to someone who will also love it.

PJ DAY

2011-11-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

I got Lily Kate up this morning, got her dressed in the cutest little outfit, went downstairs to make her lunch and found a note in her backpack that it was Pajama Day. So, off came the cute outfit and on we threw her jammies.

I LOVE that she actually reaches for her hairbows in the morning. I pretend it's because she wants to wear them and not that she just wants to rip them all down off their hanger like she tends to do.

I think, in this picture, she's telling me that she's ready for me to leave, she's alright and I'm embarrassing her with the camera.

Never one to be outdone.

Is it just me, or does that headband actually look pretty on him?!

The Sound of Silence

2011-11-03T18:36:00.001-07:00

Both kids put to bed and Jonathan out at the EBS birthday party. I had forgotten the sound of silence. It's rather nice!

Happiest Halloween

2011-11-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

We had the most beautiful trick-or-treating weather last night.

Darth Vader woke up from his nap crying to go trick-or-treating. We started about 6:30. Good thing because we didn't finish up until about 8pm!

The only thing I don't like about Halloween masks is that you can see this handsome face! We went up to his old daycare lady's house and she didn't even know it was him until I came up and told her!!!
This little pumpkin outfit was a hand-me-down from the neighbors down the street. We actually ran into the family who it came from and got a kick out of showing Lily Kate off in it.

She didn't quite get the whole trick-or-treating thing. She rode in the stroller or walked with Pops for most of the night. She stopped about 7:15 and gave out candy with Daddy.

My precious punkin' pie. She got mad at this costume several times. It was made up of strips of fabric and she kept getting tangled up in them. Sacrifice for fashion I say!

The funniest part of the night was when this guy came to the door eating a bag of Doritos. I guess he was out of candy because he gave Ace a handful of Doritos in his Halloween bucket! Ace immediately ate one before I could get to him!

Halloween is second only to Christmas in this house.

Enhancements

2011-10-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have FINALLY figured it out!

The computer server at work has locked me out so...(thank goodness I started work early and got my hours in before it went on the blitz.)...I decided to see if I could figure out how to change up my pictures using the Adobe Photoshop I begged Jonathan for.

One, five-minute tutorial later...
How snazzy is THIS!

Yes, she's naked in a pumpkin. Long story. Going to do some more Adobe Tutorials, fix up some of our photos and post them later. For now, I'm soooooo excited about changing the color on these.

Pretty Lily

2011-10-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

Lily Kate LOVES it when you say "Pretty Lily." It's like she knows what you are saying. She gets a big smile and kind of ducks her chin like she's being modest. Or...it's all in my imagination. Whatever, she's adorable.

Today, I was saying, "Pretty Lily" and Ace started pouting, threw himself on the floor and said, "You didn't call me handsome!" Oh gosh. Apparently I'm overpraising and focusing on appearance too much. I'm allowed to do that as their mother, right?!
(Yes, she's scratched her nose. Her nails grow super duper fast!)

If you're gonna be sick...

2011-10-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

...don't you wish you looked this cute?

I know that I certainly don't look this cute when I'm sick.

When I woke Lily Kate up on Friday morning, she was covered in throw up. All weekend, Jonathan and I took turns trying to avoid her blow out diapers. This morning, she blew it out again and I figured she had a bug. In the car, on the way to school, I heard something suspicious in the back seat (exactly like the sound of someone crumpling a ziploc bag). I asked Ace what was happening: "She's throwing up all over the place Mom. You've got to see this!"

Everywhere. Milk. Everywhere. Milk!

I can't possibly do anything other than love her. I set her on the ground to get the carseat out and she came over and gave me a big hug covered as she was in her own throw up.

We are seeing the doctor this morning.

(P.S. I love those ears.)

Halloween FUN...in the wrong spot.

2011-10-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

I totally spent the last 30 minutes creating a post of our Halloween fun last night but I put it on the WRONG blog! Click here to see what an awesome time we had when our cousins came over....and to read all of the things I love about my Lily! Oops.

Fashion Statement #929

2011-09-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for Lily Kate to fit into this delectable dress FOR-EVER!

Yes, I know she needs a second pair of shoes! She has to wear sneakers to school and mommy has never had more than one pair of black and one pair of brown shoes herself. I'm learning.

My mischief makers.

They are in charge of letting Hula out to potty in the mornings while I make lunches. That's why they are staking out the back door.

Fashion Statement #927

2011-09-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately that having a girl is SO MUCH MORE FUN than I imagined it would be? Even Ace is getting in the on the fun. He picked out her hair bow today (or, I should admit that he threw an all-out fit that she wear this one).

I can't pic just one photo and you can't make me.
It's really the girl that makes the clothes. My girl. My precious, rambunctious, giggly, toddling sweet baby who likes to pat my shoulder when I hold her.

Loves Her Daddy!

2011-09-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

I caught some photos of Lily Kate and her Daddy. She just loves him so.

I thought these two first photos were funny because they even opened and closed their smiles the same!

No doubt where she came from.
These days, Lily Kate likes to "wallow." Whoever is around, she wants to lay and roll all over them. She doesn't want to be cuddled or held. She just wants to sit, unhindered on your lap or roll all over you without you stopping her.

Never fear! The "scrunchy face" is still around. This one shows that she just does it to humor me these days.

Darth Vader is the newest addition to our clan. Don't worry, he's come over from the dark side and he's nice now.

Just silly days around our house. Life is sweet with these faces for company.

Who is this?

2011-09-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

No, I did not dye Lily Kate's hair blonde if that is what you're thinking!

This is JONATHAN!
I've been back and forth between this and Lily Kate's photos a bazillion times and they are like twins! Lillies has two dimples, my ears and darker hair (and less of it) but put him in pink and add a hair bow and we've got it!
Everyone always told me I looked like my Dad growing up. I guess we'll all tell Lily Kate the same thing!!!

First Double Sleepover

2011-09-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, the kids went on their first double-sleepover at B's house. My mom has kept both kids while I've gone out of town before but this is the first time I've been ALL by myself without them. (Jonathan was away on a guys' weekend.)

I LOVE the look Lillies is giving Ace! It is just a matter of TIME before she gives him the "what for." She is jabbering up a storm and I swear yesterday she said "quit it Ace."

It is VERY hard for me to let BOTH of my kids out of my arms. I am SUCH a worrier and I lay in bed thinking up elaborate plans of how to get us out of situations if someone carjacks us or burgles the house, or if there is a fire or if our car gets submerged in water...and those are the realistic scenarios!!! It's paralyzing sometimes and only the grace of God digs me out of my imagination. So letting both my kids out of armslength just makes my worries run wild.

They had such a great time. They always come home from B's smelling like clean, Johnson's nighttime lotion and happiness.

I, on the other hand, spent a night alone with Hula, working on the kids yearbooks. If I couldn't be with them, I at least wanted to be going through pictures of them. =) Is it possible to have empty nest just in a night? Oh the prayers I need to pray!!!!!

Can't get enough

2011-09-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

I just can't get enough of her (even though she wouldn't smile for me today).

Decked out for her second day of school.

Wearing her new twinkle toes.
Her baby cankles are almost gone. =(
She did whimper a little when I gave her to the teacher today. I think it's only because I wasn't the one to set her on the floor. She doesn't really like being passed around. She was happy enough in the 5 seconds it took me to sign her in and get out of her line of sight.
One less hiny to wipe until 2 this afternoon.

School Daze

2011-08-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

School days are here again!

Ace started Mrs. Samstag's class on Monday. Getting up, ready and dropping off through car line was old hat for him. He was really excited to play with all of his friends.

Lily Kate started Mrs. Young's class this morning. (Tear)

She did fantastic. No tears and once she was on the floor she just took in her surroundings and then went about finding a toy to put in her mouth.
Where did my babies go?

Bet your wishin...

2011-08-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

...you were at our house right about now!

This is the kind of day I DREAM about.

My ingenious (and generous) employer lets everyone have every other Friday off during the summer. I typically fill these days with...work...making up time for hours that I've spent changing diapers, consoling criers and wiping hinys.

Not today.

Today was a special day. Mrs. Klaassen released her chocolate chip cookie recipe to the Tyler magazine when they covered Canaan's trip to the Little League World Series and that (for me) is reason to call a household holiday.

So we TRIED our hand at it. (Walmart was out of butter-flavored Crisco. We just used regular. And I took the "ice-cream scoop" size a little too literally and one cookie will feed a family of four they are so huge.)

Scrum-dittly-umptious.

(And the cookies were yummy too.)

While we are on the topic of things that are in our bellies...
Yup, Ace swallowed a marble yesterday. He's told everyone from the doctor to strangers to the checkout lady at Walmart. I think it scared him pretty bad because he was hysterically crying after he did it and I didn't even spank him.

My last Free Friday of the summer. Spent with my two favorite munchkins and chocolate chip cookies. Got to tuck this one away in the memory treasure chest.

Fast Fun in San Antone!

2011-08-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

We picked up and drove over to San Antonio for some last minute summer fun. Friday was ANYTHING but fun (I mis-scheduled a lunch with Kate who was actually out of town!!! Then, Mary Kathryn was unexpectedly in town but when she called to get directions to the house my phone DIDN'T RING!) Double bummer.

But Saturday, we found redemption.

We started out at the Pearl Brewery's farmers' market.

We took a neat tour and enjoyed just looking at all the yummy stalls.

After a nap, we wanted to get the kids out of the house so we went down to the RiverCenter Mall. On a complete whim I said, "Let's get Lily Kate's ears pierced." Jonathan wasn't opposed so off we went. This picture is PITIFUL.
Don't worry, she only cried the amount of time it took me to unwrap a lollipop and stick in it her mouth. One very sticky baby later, she was happy as a clam.

One ice cream mustache later, she didn't even remember getting them done.

Turns out, she loves Mommy after all. Who knew?!

San Antonio was fun as always: Sashi and Honey rotated being Ace's best friend. Ace gave everyone "super names" and we role-played all weekend: Batman, Flash, Basketball and Soccer Coach, Sacafwika and many, many more. Thanks for a great time and great mexican food. Love you Honey and Sashi.

Irresistible

2011-08-12T13:33:00.001-07:00

Having just finished the kids photo albums from 2010, I was thinking forward to this year's album and wanted to get some mid-year photos of the kids taken for the covers of their 2011 albums. (If I use a pic from Jan, they look so young and if I choose one from December, they look too old. June or July is best, I think.)

These faces just make me smile from the INSIDE- OUT!

Innocent, beautiful, sweet, considering...

Charming, fresh, all-American, darling, loving...
Squeezable...
(Yes, I know it looks like Lily Kate has enormous feet with boat shoes on and Ace has no legs...this weird-limb-thing is getting to be a repetitive thing in our house - reference to mantle photo. Not a good thing.)

And this is the one that B couldn't leave the studio without. My cheap self was only willing to purchase 3 because of the coupons I had. B came to help me wrangle the kids and ended up lighter in the wallet for coming! If I was a good niece, I would have purchased it for her. (Did I mention that I'm terribly cheap? Or just terrible.)

The praise of others

2011-08-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Mothers can just never get enough reassurance when it comes to the question, "Am I raising my kids right?" I have a mountain of immovable bias when it comes to Ace and Lily Kate. It meant so much to get this little note from his summer school teacher.

If my love were enough, I know that Ace and Lily Kate would turn out "right." When it comes down to it, I know that the Lord has the right plans to refine them. Thank goodness that (despite my day-to-day acting like I am) someone else is "in charge" as Ace likes to say.

"Anxiety weighs down the heart but a kind word cheers it up." Proverbs 12:25

Another "FINALLY" Moment

2011-08-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

Back in May (yes, 3 months ago) we took a vacation with the Gilliams, Bates and Seigles to Disney World. We took a 4-day cruise out of Port Canaveral followed by three days at the themeparks. This trip holds some of the most precious memories we'll ever make.

And I have finally finished my photo album.

Here's the link.

Faces and Soccer

2011-08-05T05:14:00.000-07:00

This fresh face just MELTS me like a fondue fountain!

He got a hair cut last night. This is the only cut Mommy can do and it's too hot for anything else.

CAUGHT! Looks like Big Brother's been stealing Little Sister's toys.

Sorry, I'm still hooked on this scrunchie face. Indulge me for a few.

One for Bubba.

Last one...for now.

One silly face at soccer practice.

To say "it was hot" was an understatement. Ace was beet red and I poured lots of water over his head at his first soccer practice last night. We brought wet rags we kept in the cooler, popsicles and tons of juice. The sun was just beating on us.

SCORE!

We had such a great time at soccer practice. Jonathan is the coach! All bias aside, he did a phenomenal job. Even some of the other parents mentioned they were impressed with him. He was friendly, funny and the kids really seemed to love him. He chased them and they chased him. He is such a great Dad and I was blown away at what a great job he did. I never give him enough credit. Shame on me.

P.S. Yes, I know that shin guards are supposed to go UNDER the socks. Ace decided that they made him a superhero and insisted (to put it mildly) on wearing them on the outside. I'm picking my battles.

2010 Yearbooks!

2011-08-04T03:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is AUGUST and I am only now ordering Ace and Lily Kate's 2010 Yearbooks. I waited until Picaboo ran their 40% off special and saved over $80 yippee! Here are links to their books.

Ace's book

Lily Kate's book

These books are seriously my treasures and I can't wait to get them in the mail!

Lily's FirstBirthday Party

2011-07-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

I gave in and let Lily Kate turn one.

Despite the fact I said we weren't doing anything big, the decorations kind of got out of hand. We went for a Pixie Hollow look.
Lizzy, in one of the Tinkerbell movies, thought fairies only ate sweets so we had plenty to go around (guests were invited to make their own mix to take home as a 'thank you').
Having just ONE cake wouldn't do. All of the fairies made an appearance. (Seriously, these came from Walmart and tasted amazing.)

We got an extra Tinkerbell for Lily Kate's smash cake.

I think I could have just blown up a few balloons and Lily would have been just as delighted.

I remember enjoying the time Ace ate his first birthday cake. Lily's first birthday cake was so entertaining. She almost went through the whole thing before any of us took it away because we had such fun watching her.

She got a bath mid-party after the state she was in.

Beautiful birthday girl with Gabby and Pops.

Thank you everyone who came, helped and celebrated the sweetest, messiest birthday girl in our lives.

P.S. Credits also must go to my amazingly talented husband. Jonathan made fajitas, bacon-wrapped mango shrimp and some pretty darn good guacamole.

I will never tell anyone that we are "planning a small party" again.

Happy Birthday Lily Kate!

2011-07-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Lily Kate is one today!

That means we've had one year of her priceless smiles...
...and one year of more happiness than we knew before...

...and one year of irreplaceable memories.

Oh how I love this little muffin top! She is the cherry on top of my days.

I am thrilled to celebrate her all day and weekend long.

Bottle Baby

2011-07-27T05:59:00.000-07:00

Lily Kate made the switch to whole milk just a week shy of her first birthday. She LOVES her bottle. If we walk by a bottle or I take an empty one downstairs without giving it to her, she gets very cranky.

We've been working on her holding it by herself. Every once in a while, Ace gets in on the action but he really only succeeds in smushing it on her face.
This is new for me because once Ace was finished nursing we didn't go on to the bottle. I'm grateful that she'll sit still in my lap to take it (the only snuggling I get from her).

Swim Lessons

2011-07-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

We finally jumped in!

Ok, for whoever doesn't know, I am crazy with the kids around water. I don't know what happens to me. I just get overcome with anxiety and am VERY strict about nobody taking the kids to a pool except for Jonathan or me. (I've never known anyone whose drown or had a terrifying experience in the water. I don't know why I am this way.) Thank goodness Jonathan was a lifeguard or I may not even let HIM take the kids to the pool.
So, it is a lot for me to stay out of the pool and let someone else be in it with one of the most precious people in my life.
Enter...Ms. Halle.
Blowing Bubbles.

Starfish Floating.

He is constantly telling her what they should do next and what he doesn't want to do. He has been called "bossy britches" a lot lately.

Time for the kickboard.

This is Ace persuading Ms. Halle that it's time for playing and not a swimming lesson. He just jab, jab, jabs in the pool. I think she'll be teaching him to hold his breath just to get him to be quiet.

A happy spectator.

And if you haven't heard the story already...

After saying "hello" the second thing Ace said to Ms. Halle was, "Why are you brown?" After she said, "I don't know" and I said, "God made her that way" he followed up with, "I wanted you to be peach." I don't know WHERE this came from! His BEST friend at Mother's Day Out this past year was "brown" as Ace says it. We have talked so much in the past about how God makes you one way or another, including our color. I...wanted...to...die. She kind of laughed it off. Hopefully Ace will redeem himself.

Thank the LORD when we went to our second swim lesson last night he didn't bring it up again.

Not much going on

2011-07-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

We don't have much going on around here lately.

Here is Lily's adventure with donuts this past weekend.

Mmmmmm.

Stink face. I'm still not tired of getting her to do this.

Delight.
We were protected by Optimus/ Batman/ Cowboy with his arms of brick.

Naked time under the play table with crayons.

Doesn't get better than this!

Yup. Not much going on. I love these lazy summer days.

Fun but no Fireworks

2011-07-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

How could you NOT have fun over a long weekend with these two?

Lily Kate was in a great mood all weekend. She was getting all of the attention she loves so much.
This one was mischevous, as always. Jonathan and I took him to see Transformers 3. It was fun just to focus on him for a little bit.

This is her "up-to-no-good" face. Don't worry, after a few knocks, she knows how to get down.

I worked on the kids' photo albums all weekend (trying to catch up on 2010 still) and Ace was content to lay in my office like this. He is just so sweet. He just wants to be close to somebody.

Stinky & Sweet

2011-06-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

Lily Kate has turned into the biggest mimick! She will parrot noises, copy faces and do anything her big brother does. Don't get me wrong, this little girl has a personality all her own but it is waaaaay fun trying to get her to duplicate whatever we want.

This is my FAVORITE face. I guess I was giving her a real enthusiastic smile one day and she liked it so much she tried it on her own. Now, whenever I do it she copies me and it's hilarious. (I also love how you can see all of her teeth in this picture.)

Not to be outshone. This jelly bean HAS to have his picture taken whenever his little sis is getting hers. So this is his sweet face during dinner last night.
I wish I had a dollar for every ounce of joy these faces give me...I could wipe out the national debt. Oh no, better stop before I get my soap box out. Too much AM radio for me lately.

Disney (Ace)

2011-06-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

My fresh-faced, little man had such a GREAT time at Disney.

Here's a few of his smiles.

With Pluto on the cruiseboat.

With Sashi and Honey on Day 1 of our trip.
Doing his "sweet boy" pose on a throne on the boat.
(Thanks Lele for the awesome Woody costume.)

Brookelyn got buried and sculpted as a mermaid. Not to be left behind, Ace became a caterpiller (we kind of had no idea what other thing we could make him!).

He had this candy necklace eaten in no time flat.

Lookin cute.

We stayed at the All Star Movie Resort after we got off the cruise. This was a cute picture spot outside our hotel room.

I love these boys. This was the last picture we took at the parks as we left Epcot and headed to catch the bus and our airplane.

My Meme used to take us on fabulous trips before she passed away. This vacation was totally in her honor and I think she would relish how much fun we all had. The last night in our hotel, there was a Mickey Mouse cookie jar and cooking utensils in our room with a note from Meme. A perfect ending.

Disney (Lily Kate)

2011-06-08T08:47:00.000-07:00

Over 700 photos...

Here are a few of my favorites of Lily Kate.

At the airport, waiting to board the plane to Orlando.

At the hotel with Sashi and Honey. I think Lily Kate learned to wave on this trip and loved this picture that captured that.
My beautiful, beach baby.

Dressed like Tinkerbell in the Atrium of our cruiseboat.

With her eyepatch for Pirate Night on the boat.

We cracked up because Lily Kate wanted her leg propped everywhere she sat (highchairs and strollers). She takes after her Daddy and doesn't sit very ladylike.

She won the first heat of the diaper dash but lost in the final. Honey and Jonathan TOTALLY cheated by dragging food and jewelry down the race lanes - her two favorite things.

With Cinderella.

With Daddy in Animal Kingdom.

There are so many more photos of her that I love but these are the highlights. (A note about the hot-pink, flower headband...yes, she wore it a lot. I made it before the cruise and it had a Mickey silhouette in the middle and we certainly got our mileage out of it.)

2011 Cupcake Girls' Weekend

2011-05-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

This year, the Cupcakes headed to Alabama for a good ol' Southern time.

There are a zillion more pictures that I don't have time to upload. Suffice it to say that it was such a memorable weekend. Melissa (back row center) and Candice (on my right) planned a fantastic weekend of yoga, painting (glimpse a sample in the bottom right corner), horseback riding and training, yummy food and cute shopping. I am always amazed at how refreshed I feel after a weekend of unconditional love and abundant encouragement.

When poopy diapers and financial statements overwhelm me, I am going to close my eyes and return to a quiet morning yoga session where the breeze rustled the trees, the birds chirped, the water tinkled and friends laughed...oh, and, of course, the camera clicked. =)

This group is such a treasured blessing.

Ace Turns (TURNED) Four!

2011-05-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

I totally cop to the fact that I found the idea for Ace's 4th birthday party on a friend's blog (Thanks Em!). We had Superhero Training Camp. I hardly took any pictures and the ones I did take were AWFUL. (New camera, here I come.)

I loved the invitations. I found these cute portfolios which looked like covert operative's folders.

They opened to reveal the training camp details.

I made a bunch of signs at each training station.

1. They had to make a cape.

2. They brought their cape to me and got shut into the phone booth to become superheroes.

There was a door cut out of the back of the phonebooth where I changed them into their cape and gave them their superhero mask. I've had numerous comments from moms since then that they haven't been able to get the capes off the kids. Love it!

3. They had to shoot down the bad guys out of the windows. (We cut windows out of some wardrobe boxes we painted and set some toy soldiers up that they could shoot with water guns.) Ace will tell you that this was his favorite part of the party. It was water gun mania most of the time.

4. They had to rescue babies. I drew babies on some hard boiled eggs and they had to carry them in a spoon around and back to the beginning without dropping them. All I can say is that it's a good thing these kids aren't in charge of rescue ops. My boiled eggs were pretty smashed up by the end of the party.

5. The kids got to throw a pie plate with whip cream in "the bad guy's" face. My dad ran around the party smashing cascarones (eggs filled with confetti) on all the kids heads. He was our villian. The kids LOVED throwing pie in his face. They all went back three and four times. He was a GREAT sport and was a huge hit.

The other stations I didn't photograph:

6. They had to shoot bazookas through two hanging hula hoops.

7. They had to walk the balance beam and punch out two bop bags.

8. They had to throw ping pong balls into buckets.

9. We had a bunch of cardboard bricks that they were supposed to build up and knock down but (as is typical of ALL Ace's birthdays) we had some extreme weather (wind this time) and there was no way those blocks would have stayed put. As it was, everything was staked and duct-taped in place.
At each station, there was a bag of adhesive-backed felt stars that they could stick onto their capes.

Ace insisted on a Transformers cake (scream! I didn't even get a picture of it).

10. They had to find three balls marked with a black "X" in the bounce house.

Ace's friend Claire is my hope for Lily Kate. She knocked around with the best of the boys and her bow didn't even MOVE!

He was totally pooped after it was over.

And our little miss had a special outfit too!

It may have been 30 hours of prep for a one-hour party but it was all worth it when I went to Mom's Night at school on Thursday and on the wall they had asked the kids why they loved their mommies. On Ace's, he had told the teacher "because she plans my birthday party."

The Royal Wedding Festivities

2011-05-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

I have a thousand photos of our Royal Wedding party last Friday but I've narrowed them down for this post. This is what happens when three over-planners get together for an event.

Aunt B took care of the decorations. We had photos of Westminster Abbey, the north door where the guests entered and Buckingham Palace around the room. We used her gorgeous china and golden flatware.

We were up and dressed by 1:30am. Honey provided our outfits, jewelry and tiaras. She printed materials that detailed the route, the guest list, etiquette and even the program followed by the wedding guests.
Here's a photo of our table. I did most of the cooking and printed Prince William's royal seal on our menus.
Aunt B had pillows made with the royal wedding invitation printed on them. It WAS 1:30 in the morning and I put mine to serious use even though I had on 10 pounds of jewelry and an impossibly ruffled dress.
We hung a photo of the balcony at Buckingham Palace in the doorway to our gameroom and pretended we were standing with the royal family. Yes, Lily Kate was also awake in the wee hours of the morning. I figured she'd thank me later.

She even wore a fascinator (with a peacock feather).

Breakfast: Union Jack pizza, streaky rashers, chocolate chip scones and clotted cream.

Lunch: Bangers and mash hand pies & bubbles and squeak (and diet coke...we broke from english tradition and added ice).

Mom had a wedding cake made. Although the actual cake was a fruit cake, we substituted a strawberry filling. Note the awesome cake topper and poster of Will and Kate in the background.

Tea time: Sausage breads, BLT and chicken salad sandwiches, cheese and olive balls, cinnamon pickles, summer sausage rolls, salt & vinegar chex mix, assorted biscuits & sweets, cheddar dill scones, cinnamon pecans and cupcakes decorate to look like the sapphire engagement ring.

Honey make a chocolate biscuit cake just like William's groom's cake.

After resting up and an early morning T-ball game, the girls went to the Royal Tea Room. We sported all of our jewels and our royal sashes.

We got some stares but could have cared less!

One last photo of us in all of our regalia.

There were so many gifts and memories a-flying. It's hard to fit into one post. Honey made us house slippers with diamond crowns on them and bought us a commemorative paperweight. Aunt B gave us royal magnifying glasses that we used to follow our programs and made us placecards at the table. I may have to fit more details into another post if I can find the time.

It was such a fun day of memories and I'm so glad that Lily Kate got to experience it with us. She will either inherit the obsession or roll her eyes at us!

Easter Beauties

2011-04-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

These two clean up pretty snazzy-like!

Lily Kate has a killer pair of baby blues. Her hair is growing a lot and I'm testing it daily for the time when we can clip bows into it...until then, her assortment of headbands is continuing to grow.
Cotton-candy fingers add to his sweetness.

I did my best to tell Ace the real story of Easter and not confuse him that the fact that Jesus was tortured and put on a cross to die is a good thing. Now, when he goes down for his nap he wants "that Jesus story where he kicks death's hiney."

Taking time

2011-04-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

I had a moment this morning. One of those "smelling the roses" moments where I'm thankful for every second that ticks by. I saw these little cleats on the stairs: a sign of a healthy little boy wish sunshine in his hair and energy to power cities. Also a sign of someone who loves his routine and is following directions by taking his shoes off when he comes in and putting them on the stairs.

Little moments are what I'm relishing:
A laugh and a toot at the same time
Ace's dimple when he's trying to get out of trouble
The way Lily Kate smells like her nighttime lotion when I wake her in the morning
"Mommy will you come wipe my hiny"
Two little hands that have learned to reach for Mommy
"Do you smell that?" (always after Ace toots)
A smile so big it wrinkles her nose
Ace's constant questioning as to when he's getting married
Watching Ace's endless car and truck races
The sound of Lily Kate learning how to giggle
Snuggles
Lily Kate's infatuation with her brother

I'm thankful for an end to busy, tax season. I can now breathe a little between projects and appreciate more pieces of my puzzle.

2011-04-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

Honey saw the painted hineys in a magazine a few years back and we recreated the look when we were together at Great Wolf Lodge a few months back.

From the left: Braedyn, Brookelyn, Ace & Lily Kate.

School Pics

2011-04-23T05:25:00.000-07:00

I have a library of TERRIBLE school photos of my own. But this little guy won't be embarrassed by this one when he gets big. Handsome!

And Mommy didn't even realize it was picture day.

My favorite part is his little crossed hands. Angelic.

Of course, I know there is a little devil behind this facade because we've been wrestling him so much lately. Ace has started to do EXACTLY the opposite of what he's told to do so we've instituted the token system around here (plus, we are tired of spankings): If you follow directions, you get a token. If you don't, you get a token taken away. Once you have ten tokens, you have $1 to pick out a toy at Target. Mucho motivation if you've spent any time around Ace.

He stayed at 1 token from Monday - Thursday with his waffling behavior but I'm happy to report that he's up to 6 tokens at the moment. He'll go touch #1 and say, "I got this for cleaning up the playroom." It's really cute that he remembers. No so cute: his behavior at the wedding last week that ushered in the token phase.

Un"bear"ably Cute!

2011-04-20T03:43:00.000-07:00

Brittany and Todd had a beautiful wedding this past weekend. They were so sweet to include Ace. Here is Mr. Handsome in all of his ringbearer glory. This sweet smile is hiding all of the misbehaving that went on.

These two were unbelievable. Though they've only played together a handful of times before the wedding, I must have been asked ten times by other people in the wedding party whether they knew each other beforehand. They were fast friends and then practically brothers with the way they alternated loving each other and being mad at one another.
Jonathan managed a SHORT clip of the walk down the aisle.

Brittany was so patient and gracious with the boys. I think Kate and I are going to retire Pierson and Ace from their jobs as ringbearers until they can follow directions a little better...or until Lily Kate and Gray are walking!

Silence

2011-04-14T08:48:00.001-07:00

The past couple of days, I've started thinking about the different kinds of silence around my house. I think my fellow mommies will totally understand even though my explanations are bad...

Morning silence - Before the kids wake up where you try to get as much done as possible. This silence is a little tense because you are scrambling to get things done and waiting for the first sounds from the monitor to let you know the kids are awake.

Crying silence - The silent seconds following some sort of boo boo where they are sucking in air for the big wail.

Naptime silence - This is bliss. In our house, it's only the sound of the monitor and heavy breathing.

Trouble silence - When you are working around the house and realize all of a sudden that the babble of little voices has stopped. Trouble's coming.

Mischief silence - This is moments of silence punctuated with little giggles or the pitter-patter of little feet.

After silence - This is the silence that comes after a crash, boom or bang. You don't know if you are going to hear crazy crying or if everything will be ok.

Discipline silence - When the kids do or say something they aren't supposed to and then look straight at you, silent and just waiting for your reaction. My LEAST favorite.

I'm sure I'll come up with many more but these are what we are experiencing at the moment.

Some Lily-Notes

2011-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl is growing fast.

I had to lower her mattress because she figured out how to pull up.

She's gotten over her fear of Hula and they are now best friends. Lily Kate is a HUGE t-ball fan. (And apparently she is learning to steal her brother's toys...she absconded with Ace's stegasaurus and hid it in her carseat.)

She is teething in earnest, sleeping through the night, nursing less and doing everything babies do. She's not quite a snuggler but I'm hoping to change that. Her cries are super high and squealy. Her favorite person in the world continues to be Ace and Daddy is a close second. I swear she's on her way to saying "Mama."

We are loving our Lily.

A Wowser of a Weekend

2011-03-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Honey and Sashi came to Houston (yes, this makes 4 weekends in a row we've met up with them!) to be a part of Ace's T-Ball opening day festivities. They arrived on Thursday in time for baths, snuggles and bedtime. Yours truly had to work on Friday but the boys got in a round of golf while Honey shuttled everyone to and from school. Friday night, we visited Cy-Fest. We got there right as the gates opened and Ace got to ride everything he wanted and even got his face painted!

It was a fun time but we knew we couldn't stay too late because the T-Ball parade was to start EARLY on Saturday morning. Bright and early, at 7am, we met up with the Braves to load in their parade truck.

Ace's ears look hilarious in this pic. All his other teammates sported the same deformity because their ball-caps were too big. (Photo by Sashi.)

Lily Kate was over it all after a while. This is right before the big yawn.

Sunday morning, we rose early AGAIN to hit the strawberry patch right as it opened.

Lily Kate's first time a-picking.

Just like a pro.

Ace kept saying, "Oh my gosh, look at this one." Over and over and over. He would have picked the whole patch if we'd let him. He picked the "last one" about 20 times.

It's crazy to think the yellow in the center of this flower will be a red strawberry eventually.

Daddy-Son team with their pickings.

The cutest berry of them all.

After berry picking, we drove over to Kemah for lunch at Landry's. It was a beautiful day and we even got to watch a couple of fisherman catch some huge fish. Ace got to ride a few rides before the trip home.

Jonathan took this picture of Lily Kate watching Ace ride the merry-go-round. I just think it's so beautiful.

It was exhausting but what a time.

I have to congratulate myself because this post only contains 1% of the pictures I took!

Happy Birthday Ace!

2011-03-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

Look who is four today!

I woke him up this morning by throwing balloons all over him. He smiled and said, "This is the best birthday I ever had." After I sang the birthday song, he kind of looked down at himself and then at me and asked, "Mommy am I four?" (It was like he was looking for a change in himself.)

When I dropped off his birthday cake, one of his teachers said he ran down the hall to the classroom, smiling and yelling, "Mrs. Coombs, I'm four today!" He's so excited. (Mommy is not. I've been very weepy today. Who knew four was a hard birthday?)

T-Bawler!

2011-03-25T04:55:00.000-07:00

Ace had his first T-Ball game on Wednesday.

It was an awesome milestone and he had soooo much fun.

His team is the Braves (although he sometimes calls them the "Graves.")

Waiting in the dugout to bat.

His very FIRST at bat.
First run to first base.
(The parents on the team are awesome. I mean, this isn't even Ace's dad and look how excited he is!)

Who's on first???

ACE!

Great form!

Sweet boy waiting his turn in the dugout.

Let's face it, outfielding isn't really that important in t-ball. Most all the work is done by the pitcher and first baseman...and anyone else that wants to run up to the infield.

I was warned that some kids are more interested in picking daisies and watching the clouds than actually playing. My kid is one of those.

Loved every minute of it. Took a zillion photos. Opening Day is tomorrow and I will have a trillion more pics to post. This is such a sweet time to watch him grow and learn team sports. I'm sad that the only thing left of my baby boy is his snuggles but he is becoming the most precious little boy in the world.

Ace's "Taco-see-do"

2011-03-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Ace got fitted for his ringbearer tuxedo.

I tried to give him a serious talk on the way there in hopes that he'd behave. I told him he was going to get a tuxedo. He responded, "What's a taco-see-do?"
He was great while Steve (yes, we had to have proper introductions) measured every part of him.

He cooperated great. Steve even said that he was one of the better kids who have come in there. That was about 5 minutes before Ace let loose running all over the store.

Super handsome.

At some point, you give up discipline and get out the camera.

Can't wait to see him in the full taco-see-do.

Rodeo 2011

2011-03-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Rodeo 2011!!!!

Aunt B and Uncle James took us to the Rodeo yesterday and BOY did we have fun.

This year, we were all decked out. Hat, boots, belt buckle, leather vest, pearl buttons AND that was just Ace. At the last minute, on Thursday, Lily Kate and I ran to Hobby Lobby, bought some bandanas and some ribbon and slapped together a dress for her. Not too shabby.

She even got some compliments on it. And here are my two cowpokes ready to party.

Hey! Mommy does exist. Here's a picture of me and my little sherriff.

Sheer delight in the petting zoo. The same goat kept following B around the enclosure and eating out of their hands. Ace was mesmermized by a beautiful deer and loved the kangaroos.

I love Lily Kate's face in this photo. I thought she'd be a teenager before she'd start to look at me this way!

I rarely take pics that don't have people in them but this little chick was trying to peck out of his shell and my camera finally decided to cooperate. Isn't it amazing?

Only in Texas.

And Jonathan tried it.

He had a fried twinkie and a fried snickers. (Saturday is his cheat day. I'll give it to him. He's lost 15 pounds over the past month or so...that's 15 more than me.) He actually said they tasted terrible.

Ace threw a complete fit until he got to ride the ponies...and then threw an even worse one when he didn't get to ride a second time.

This picture encompasses B's battle with Lily Kate the entire rodeo...Lily Kate was gonna eat those diamonds on B's necklace if it was the last thing she did.

The best memory...Lily Kate decided she liked cotton candy...A LOT.

Thank you B and Uncle James. We had the best time.

Brad Paisley was an awesome concert. Ace fell asleep at the end and was so out of it in the car on the ride home that I had to hold his head against his carseat because it was flopping onto his chest in the most unnatural and uncomfortable way. Not Lily Kate, she was wide-eyed and bushy tailed even after leaving the stadium.

Today, we are all EXHAUSTED!

Visit from Pops and Gabby

2011-03-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

Whose loved?

Ace and Lily Kate!

As if they didn't get enough attention last weekend in Dallas, Gabby and Pops came in this week and loved all OVER them. They took care of Ace soooo many times so that I could put in some extra hours towards the tax deadline and kept me company last night/ helped me with the kids while Jonathan went to the Rodeo.

I don't know who was more spoiled by their visit: Ace and Lily with kisses and attention or ME with extra time.

I never take for granted all of the help that I have with the kids and each moment that someone else is loving on them is just joy for me. My embarrassmet of riches in this department continues tomorrow when I take Ace to meet my mom so she can spend Spring Break with him.

Sitting and Jabbering

2011-03-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

Look who's sitting on her own?

I was a little nervous to let her sit alone on the stone floor but no heads were harmed in the taking of these photos.

This video doesn't even do her justice right now.

Lily Kate loves to blow through her lips and make motorboat noises. She thinks she's talking.

Tooth #2 is trying to poke through on the bottom making this little lady very fussy but we're gritting through it.

Great Wolf! Great Fun!

2011-03-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

We loaded up the car and went to Great Wolf Lodge this past weekend to spend some time with Honey, Sashi and the Bates.

Grapevine is about halfway to where the Bates live in Arkansas so it was a perfect meeting place and I mean PERFECT! This place was amazing.
Cousins! Braedyn (2), Brookelyn (4) and Ace (3).

Our little fam before we hit the water.

Such a typical Ace face.

Daddy and his mini-me.

Lily Kate showin' some shoulder in her Juicy bathing suit that Lele picked out.

Sometimes she liked it...

...sometimes she didn't.

Lookin' beautiful early in the morning.

She loves her big brother most...Daddy is second.

War of the dimples!

Yes, all three kids know how to operate an iPhone.

Soon to be all 4 kids.

Great Wolf had story time at the clock tower each evening. Ace was terrified yet obsessed with the moose.

Here he is, not sure how close he's going to get to the Moose.

Before we left, we had a small, early celebration of Ace's 4th birthday.

We seriously had the best time. I'm usually a wreck around the water but the lifeguards were great, the water park was safe (lifejackets provided), the rooms were super clean and the hotel itself was super cool. I want to make this an annual tradition.

Lily Kate and I stole away for a few minutes to celebrate the wedding of one of my dearest friends. (See Britt & Todd's blog linked to the right for pics) It was really special. I hope Lily has such special friends in her life when she grows older.

It was a quick trip but SOOOOOO "Great."

The Snake

2011-03-07T04:38:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post as to why there is a huge snake in the last photo of my parents with the kids (Thanks Val)...

My Dad was a punk rocker for Halloween at his office (pink mesh arm warmers, facial piercings, white face paint, goth t-shirt, the works) and he wore the snake around his neck all day as an accessory. When we visited, Ace was obsessed with the snake an named him "Liver Boy." I think it was originally supposed to be "lover boy" but the pronounciation didn't quite get there.

So now, every time we visit, we play with/ torture Liver Boy and he goes around with Ace all over the house.

Thank you Honey!

2011-03-01T03:55:00.000-08:00

Honey, Here's a belated "thank you" for taking care of Ace and Lily Kate last week!

As Andy Cohen would say, "Here's What..."

Every time I have to go to Waco, schedule an appointment or do anything that takes me away from the kids, my mom is always ready to jump in her car or stop what she's doing. She takes care of the kids so that Jonathan and I can go on vacation or spend a night out together...and Dad helps at night.

It's just something that never ceases to amaze me and that I'm super thankful for.
Must be why my babies adore her so...and their Sashi too.

So even though I was with them, albeit working from her office, Honey was the entertainment last Thursday and Friday.

Thank you Mom. You will never know how much I appreciate you.

And thanks again for all of the diapers you changed when I was little, for making sure that all of the poop was off my hiney, for potty training me, spanking me when I know it hurt you more and putting up with everything else that came along with getting me raised right. I love you.

(P.S. Let it not go unsaid that I am also thankful for Jonathan's parents who are huge helps and Ace's Aunt B and Uncle James who frequently give me time to unwind from toddler-mania.)

Our week

2011-02-23T05:06:00.000-08:00

Lily Kate got her first tooth! It poked through on Monday morning.

If you look REALLY close, it's on the bottom right.

I'm afraid that all that will be on this blog for a while are t-ball pictures. That is the only reason we are leaving the house during this tax season. I have to say, it is SOOOO much fun. Ace is having the best time.

Fielding Monday night.
Hitting last Saturday morning.
He actually hit a line drive on Monday night!

He stomped all over the bases when he reached them.

We are actually shocked how Ace runs to get the ball, though still a little apprehensive that he is going to melt down when someone else gets to it first. So far, so good. I guess we thought he'd be more interested in the clouds.

I married this man for lots of reasons. I love how he gets on the field every practice and high-fives the kids, gives them encouragement and I love hearing his synopsis of the practices on the way home. He's made every practice despite his demanding work schedule.

And here's Ace's biggest fan.

She never misses a practice (or a meal apparently!).

B went to all of Ace's practices last week. He is so lucky to have her.

Typical moment in practice.

I am so thankful for this precious time in our lives, for healthy kids that can be involved in activities and for a Lord that has graced us with it all.

Pajama Day

2011-02-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

Pajama Day!

From our head to our toes

to our nighttime clothes!

Ace had pajama day at school today.

He insisted on wearing the Grave Digger pjs that Honey bought for him earlier this month.

Yes, Lily's pjs are waaaaay too big for her.

Couldn't resist posting this face of Ace's.

It's his "sweet boy" face that Sashi taught him.

Check out Lily Kate's roly poly legs!

I got a little worried when I dropped Ace off because none of the other kids had on their pjs! Panick! The teacher said it's only for the 3 year-olds. Phew!

Had a BALL!

2011-02-15T05:39:00.001-08:00

Ace had his FIRST night of T-Ball practice last night. It was soooooooo much fun. Unfortunately, Mommy dressed him in shorts and the mosquitos were biting so Ace spent most of the practice scratching his legs. =(

His "B" came and when he saw her, he totally forgot his team and practice, shouted "B" and ran to give her a hug (precious). Mommy, Daddy and Lily Kate cheered him on too.

This picture cracks me up!

Not sure what he's doing.

Melt my heart!

Daddy helping Ace learn to field.
It's a HIT!

Ready in the outfield.

If I had a penny for every time Ace's coach told him to take his time, I'd be rich!

Ace just wanted to hit and hit and hit and didn't want to learn how.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T03:52:00.000-08:00

6 Month Checkup

2011-02-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

Healthy girl...I mean, LOOK at those thighs!

15.8 pounds and 25 inches long puts Lily Kate in about the 37th percentile.
These days, she really only has eyes for her daddy and her big brother. Mommy is chopped liver (until mealtime). Still not sleeping through the night and very serious most of the day. She reserves her belly laughs for Ace's antics. She definitely demands more attention than Ace ever did and nobody get close after 7pm!!! Her favorite time is bath time. She could soak for hours with a smile on her face. Lily Kate thinks every phone call is for her. If you have called lately, there is no doubt you've heard her jabbering in the background. She has lots to say.

Needless to say, she is the center of everything around our house. Ace is definitely a jelly-bean and wants to be held, kissed and talked to in equal measure but he lavishes attention on her and insists on being right next to (if not on top of) her at all times.

Life is sweet. What a mountaintop!

"Marry Me" Memory

2011-01-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

If this face asked you to marry him, could you say "no"?!

Here was our morning conversation...
M = Mommy
A = Ace

M: Ace, hurry and get ready. I need to take your picture for Ms. Brittany.
A: Who's Brittany?
M: She's one of my best friends (sidenote - Ace is OBSESSED with "best friends").
A: Can I be her best friend too?
M: Sure. You're going to be in her wedding.
A: Then I be married like you and Daddy! Can I marry you?
M: No silly. I'm married to Daddy.
A: Then I'm gonna marry Mims. (Mims = Lily Kate)
M: You can't marry her, she's your sister. You have to find a best friend to marry.
A: Mommy, you're my best friend.
M: You're my best friend too. But I married Daddy because he's my best friend.
A: No! Daddy's my best friend. You can't marry him.
M: Boys don't marry boys silly. (Please, no ideological comments on this one if you disagree.)
A: Yes they do.
M: No they don't. And they don't marry their sisters either. Plus, you can't get married until you're like twenty or something.
A: Ok, Mom. I will marry you when I'm twenty.

I'm in love with him all over again.

Monster Jam 2011!

2011-01-24T05:26:00.000-08:00

We had another awesome time at Monster Jam. This is definitely going to be a yearly tradition at our house. This year, it was B, Honey, Uncle James, Sashi AND Lily Kate's first Monster Truck Rally EVER.

This picture (where Ace is a blur) is pretty indicative of his behavior all night.

He was revved up the entire time.

This year, we got to Monster Jam early to go to the "Pit Party." You can get up close to the trucks and take pictures with the drivers. Here are Ace and Lily Kate with Monster Mutt.

Here's Lily Kate with El Matador. These trucks are HUGE.

Ace has the BEST Daddy in the world. Grave digger is Ace's favorite truck and as soon as we hit the pit he wanted to see it. We kind of took our time and then SAW the line for Grave Digger. I think Jonathan was in that line AT LEAST an hour if not more. Sashi entertained Ace and took him to all of the other trucks while Daddy held his place in line.

B bought Ace a Grave Digger truck which Pablo Huffaker signed.

The signature was all but rubbed off by the end of the night.

Ace got to sign one of the smushed cars that the trucks run over.

Lily Kate did awesome! She didn't even blink at having her headphones on. We sat right below some lights that fascinated her when she wasn't sleeping.

(Ugh. Sweet potatoes in the nose. No matter how much I wipe, they haunt me.)

Ace was in Heaven.

I love how much our little man is loved. Honey, Sashi, B and Uncle James all came with us and everyone's primary motivation was just to watch Ace have a good time. Can you get more loved than that?!

Boys' Night Out

2011-01-21T05:15:00.000-08:00

Jonathan took Ace to watch the Houston Aeros play hockey last Saturday. I had big plans to get lots accomplished while they were gone but ended up sitting around with Lily Kate reading Twilight (I'm hooked now).

Their seats were right behind the goal - so that the pucks look like they are flying right at your FACE!

He came home yelling about the zamboni.
Chilly was his favorite.
(Hmmm...this is the kind of photos I get when I send Jonathan with the camera. LOL!)

They had a fun time. Ace told on his Daddy and said all he ate was popcorn and cotton candy!

My Talkers

2011-01-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Jonathan is a man of few words and, lately, that's a good thing. I guess that when he isn't in the mood to talk, I talk to the kids and have created two chatterboxes.

There's not a lot of quiet to be had around the Evans' house these days. In fact, when we tell Ace it's time to play the "quiet game," he responds, "NO! I want to play the loud game."

(He says he's a "walking stick" in this video because we've been watching "A Bug's Life" over and over and there's a walking stick in it that pretends to be a flower.)

Joy of Christmas

2011-01-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

Naughty or Nice???

2010-12-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Gabby and Pops gave us a little happy last time they visited us: two hand towels. One says "Naughty" and one says "Nice." I had NO idea that they would turn into such a big deal (or such a great discipline tool!).

Naughty Face!

Nice Face!
Ace's explanation of the towels:

As soon as you tell him that you are going to put out the green (Naughty) towel, he breaks into hysterics and tells you that he's nice and going to be good. (He was mad at me earlier today and told me that he was going to put the green towel out on me!)
THANK YOU Gabby and Pops!
We love these and they may stay out all year.

No reason

2010-12-17T04:56:00.001-08:00

Because I'm on a blogging roll, here's some more pics.

Lily Kate after she's rolled over.

Typical Ace during naptime. Toys piled on.
Modeling her Christmas duds from Honey.
They were a hit at Ace's Christmas party yesterday.
Check out that arm! Don't mess with my chunky monkey.

I can't resist these piggies.

Indulge me as I blog about Ace's Christmas party. I woke him up and told him "Ace, today is your Christmas party." He said "Am I gonna be four?" I said, "No, it's a birthday party for baby Jesus not you." He said, "Momma, I'm gonna eat ALL baby Jesus' cake!"

It is so fun to watch him with all his little friends. We had to bring a wrapped book for a book exchange. After his teacher explained what they were going to do and got EVERYONE quiet (including parents) I guess Ace thought the floor was his because he shouted, "Mrs. Maywald, we got a book from TARGET!"

I had to get phone numbers from two moms who wanted Ace to come play. They don't even know what they are in for. I am so happy that the Lord has given our little man an enthusiastic and outgoing personality. Even though he's social, he can still be snuggly, calm and follow directions. Don't get me wrong, I'm ready for 4. Ace will even say, "Momma I'm not testin' you." If THAT tells you anything about our conversations lately.

And...drum roll. Or...Lily Roll.

(And, yes, she's tooting in this video.)

Growing Girl

2010-12-16T04:48:00.000-08:00

Weighing in at a lucky 13 pounds and 13 ounces...

Lily Kate Evans

She passed her 4 month checkup with flying colors.
And lived up to one of her nicknames, Tinkerbell, by turning completely red in the face after being given two shots.

She celebrated her growth with a little rice cereal. We were really excited with how well she did. She's been smacking her lips for weeks. It was almost cruel that all she got for all that smacking was tasteless mush.

I've been listening to a bunch of mommas talk about their babies flipping onto their tummys, wondering why Lily Kate hadn't caught on yet. I needn't have worried. Tuesday and yesterday she's gone through a flipping frenzy. I guess she just needed the go ahead from her pediatrician.

A Great Weekend

2010-12-13T18:29:00.000-08:00

Gabby and Pops came in this weekend and they really outdid themselves.

Not only did they take care of the babies while Jonathan and I went golfing on Saturday morning, they stayed with Ace and Lily Kate while we went to dinner that night. We almost had the entire day to ourselves! It was a wonderful day together.

Lily Kate spent most of the weekend snuggling her Pops while Ace spent it learning Chutes and Ladders with Gabby and teaching them both all about Transformers.

Thanks Gabby and Pops!

Squeezable

2010-12-11T04:35:00.001-08:00

I admit it. I take it for granted that Ace's cousins live in the neighboring subdivision. It is a huge blessing that I know will bring a lot of joy to Ace and Lily Kate as they grow.

Brynley loves her "K K."

If only my little toots knew how much they are loved!

Pops gets a sweet smile.

Gabby gets a scrunched face smile.
And I'm not so sure what Lily Kate is thinking.
Probably "Is it time to eat?"

I remember holidays with my cousins growing up (I had about 13 on my mom's side!). I know they'll share a special bond and I hope it's even stronger since we live so close.

Aubrey, Brynley, Ace and Froggie (Froggie stood in for Lily Kate who was asleep)

I am thankful to be in Houston close to cousins and family.

Froggy came to visit

2010-12-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

At Ace's school, they have a backpack named Froggie who gets lonely when the kids leave so he goes home with a different child each weekend. Last weekend was our turn. Ace had a BLAST. (Sorry for the scanned pages. You may have to click on them to read 'em.)

Ace colored on every entry page. This is painful for his OCD Mom who wants everything perfect and pretty.
Got to love Lily Kate's ears. She gets them from her Mommy, Sashi and great-grandad Poppy Gil.

I didn't think he was going to let Froggie go so I finished the journal the night before school and we read it together. Last night, he asked me where Froggie was in a pitiful little voice and whimpered when I reminded him that he returned Froggie to Mrs. Maywald and Mrs. Coombs. He said, "Mama, I want a Froggie" to which I then threw the 3 stuffed animals at him which he's slept with for years: Horton the Elephant, Tole the Koala and Teddy Bear the...well, that's obvious. He asked if Santa would bring him one.

I think Santa's elves can whip one up before Christmas.

Turkey Day Travels

2010-12-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

We loaded up and headed to San Antonio for Thanksgiving this year. When I say "loaded up" I mean it. Jonathan's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving so he set the menu, I did the shopping and we loaded it all up in coolers to take and cook down at Honey and Sashi's. Yes - we lost our minds.

We started out Thanksgiving with Turkey Cinnamon Rolls. (Used cinnamon rolls, biscuits and sprinkles to make a festive breakfast. Ace loved it!) Yikes, Mommy needs some makeup.

Ummm...yes. Lily Kate is wearing her Halloween shirt on Thanksgiving. Sometimes, I really think I've given all of my brains to my kids. Oh well, just look for the Thanksgiving duds in our Christmas photos I guess.
Daddy and his mini-me.

More cooking with Ace. Honey bought all of the goodies to make Turkey cookies. We constructed about 4 before he lost interest.

My FAVORITE part of the holiday was the lighting of the RiverWalk. Honey got us incredible seats at an italian restaurant and all of the lights came on when it got dark. Ace's comment was that it looked like Pixie Hollow (Tinkerbell's Home). He was just amazed at the river parade that followed with all of the lighted boats.

We took Ace up to Sashi's office on our last afternoon in town. The Lighthouse is having a door decorating contest and everything used has to be recycled. We cut up an old bathmat for the tree and some newspaper for the music notes. Our singing ladies are smashed and painted Coke cans. We made their bows out of old Capri Sun juice boxes and beer bottle caps (courtesy of Ace and Jonathan, in that order).

Lily Kate transitioned to Christmas in style.

I love the holidays.

Nicknames

2010-11-06T13:49:00.001-07:00

I was smiling to myself this morning thinking about nicknames.

Here are Bubs and Mims.

I call Ace a million things: Bubba, Fuzzy, Bubs, Mini-man, Handsome, Bumble Bee & Dude are a few of the more common ones right now. Ace and I call Lily Kate "Mimmies" or "Mims" and it's rubbing off on everyone despite how silly it sounds.

My dad is King of Nicknames. When I was growing up, I had soooo many: Linus Gremlin, Cookin' Kell the Blonde Bombshell, Rottin Poot Bangs & Roozie are the memorable ones. They each have a long story behind them and make me giggle when I think of them. Mom and Dad still call me Rooz.

My sister was: Lonely Leona & Sissy Hot Dog Rainbow.

Jonathan was called "Easy." Hmmmmmm.

For me, they evoke such love and fun even though you sometimes sound ridiculous. I'm laughing right now reading back over this! Did you have a fun nickname???

Wings Over Houston

2010-10-24T14:14:00.001-07:00

Aunt B and Uncle James have been going to the Houston Air Show for over 10 years. They used to go with my grandpa who flew during wartime. A picture of "Paw Paw Johnny" hangs in Ace's room and, though he is no longer physically with us, Ace talks about Paw Paw all the time and knows he flew. Paw Paw used to share his good candy only with me and he has a really special place in my heart.

Jonathan's grandad was a highly regarded airman too. Ace comes from good stock.
He was lovin' driving the hummer.
The big attraction this year were the Thunderbird. They were A-MA-ZING.

I cannot describe how closely they flew together. It was as if any of them changed their speed at all, they would touch.

Can't believe I actually managed a picture of one upside down and one right-side up! Most of the time, they were so fast my camera was pointed in the entirely wrong direction because they had flown past me.

Yup! He rode the mechanical bull. HE insisted that's what he wanted to do and, despite promising me he wouldn't cry, the bull bucked a little too much and he cried to be let off. Hey, high points for the attempt.

It was a fantastic time and Ace loved it. He told Uncle James as we left that "it was the greatest time." I have to give credit to Jonathan who stayed home with Lily Kate so that I could go. He did feedings, naps and everything!!! When I got home, she was happy, fed and clean. I am still pretty amazed. He was a little unhappy that he'd missed going to the HUGE Baylor win over Kansas in Waco but plans to travel to their bowl game to make up for it.

Ain't Settlin'

2010-10-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

Love a good smile

2010-10-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

Is there anything better than your babies' smiles? I'll answer that: NOPE.

I am so greedy for Lily Kate's for smiles.

Jonathan and I were soooo against "baby talk" with Ace. We got off that high horse when Lily Kate was born because she ADORES baby talk and we will do anything and talk anyhow to get her to smile. I thought Ace was a smiley baby but he has some competition here.

Pouty Pumpkins

2010-10-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Ace has always been a fabulous picture-taker; he will say "cheese" for me whenever I get out the camera. For the past two weeks, he has not cooperated. Lily Kate was having none of it today until we just wore her out enough for her to go limp on some pumpkins. Ace does this face when he's tired of pictures.

Worn out.

(I will brag and say that this little pumpkin stopped traffic. Everyone around us stopped to ooh and aah over her. She's getting more beautiful every day.)
Attempting a pic of both kids at the same time.

Ah me. I tried.

Ace got ice cream afterwards and I'm about to get a nap.

This is why I'm a CPA and not a photographer.

Best afternoon ever!

2010-10-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

If I were to imagine my perfect afternoon, it would have been last Sunday:

75 degrees

A shady spot at the park

Burgers

A blanket

Holding my babies

I shut my eyes a few times and just listened to Jonathan and Ace playing and laughing & the sound of Lily Kate breathing. I can't imagine a bigger gift.
It didn't last long enough and I'm hoping for a repeat this weekend.

It was nice to slow down, turn the tv off (which never happens in our house) and just feel the sun on my skin along with a cool breeze. (Houston gets plenty of the sun but not the breeze!)

I will retreat to the memory of this afternoon whenever I have a bad day.

Last week

2010-09-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

We had some fun...

Ace went to his first Baylor game with Daddy.

Daddy had a bunch of late nights at work so we entertained ourselves however possible. Thursday, Ace spent the afternoon running in the rain.

I guess there's one good thing about hot and rainy Houston.

And Lily Kate started smiling.

I had really begun to worry about this little thing not smiling because big brother had set quite a precedent of smiling all the time.

I am desperate for a new camera. My PowerShot is really taking horrible pictures lately - they are all grainy and all of my nighttime pics are smudged. Taking suggestions.

Playground Pictures

2010-09-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening it was in the 70s! I took the kids to the playground and we stayed over an hour. We had it all to ourselves. I love these times with Ace when he does nothing but giggle and smile and indulges me by letting me take countless photos of him.

I guess Lily Kate doesn't like the swings yet.
If I could make time stand still, it would be looking at this face...

...or maybe this one.

Big Brother showing little sis how it's done.

No, I didn't slide her down the slide. She was so pooped, she hardly cared where I put her.

So I took pictures of her all over. =)

Maternity leave is over this week and I start back on Monday. How I will miss the time when the only thing I have to concentrate on is my two angels. Last night was a treasure.

Sip N See

2010-09-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the biggest treat! Brittany threw a Sip n See for Ms. Lily Kate and Mr. Gray Kadane. Gray is only one and a half months older than Lily Kate and Mommy is calling dibs on him for Lily Kate's future...although, she met Jack Davis (4 weeks) and Will Emmons (6 months) this past weekend as well. Choices, choices.

Here is the beautiful fireplace.

Quite the couple, wouldn't you say???

Proud mommies and the best hostess ever!

(No, Kate and I did not call each other an coordinate our outfits before hand. I guess mommy-wear is just coral colored.)

The unbelievable spread including Klaassen cookies!

Mr. Will Emmons and Lily Kate. She was crying and made the poor guy cry too.

If she wants an empathetic, sensitive guy, Will is her man. (Ace always calls him "Baby Wilson.") Lily Kate and her Aunt Shannon. Gorgeous girls.

Mommy and Precious.

It was such a memorable time. Unfortunately, my camera turned on me and blurred most of my photos! I'm going to have to beg around for copies.

Thank you Brittany for the best time ever!

Our Family

2010-09-11T12:54:00.001-07:00

Ace had his first HOMEWORK project. I was so nerdy-excited over this and wanted it to be perfect. He had to put photos of his family on a house that the teacher sent home. As soon as he got up from his nap we were printing photos. I knew I couldn't do it for him (as badly as I wanted to) so I thought my circle hole-punch would make everything clean looking.

Ace punched the photos and the white paper. Then I told him he could draw a picture of everyone on their white circle...it ended up more like scribbling.

I had some brads in my craft cabinet so we covered the pictures and made "windows" in the house.
Even Hula made it although you can't really see her in the lower right corner.
Ace used Elmer's glue which ended up soaking through the photo paper and giving everyone pink splotches in the middle of their faces!!!! I thought to myself, when Ace goes to school tomorrow, I'll just redo the whole thing. Then I came to my senses and just left it as the 3yr old's masterpiece that it is.
Here's the pic we used of Lily Kate. Looking more like her Daddy every day.
I had to take this picture of Ace because he's been OBSESSED with my iPhone lately. He can use it better than I can and I frequently find my wallpaper changed or my ringtones mixed around. He even called one of my clients! Yikes!

I LOVE this pic of the kids. Lily Kate isn't smiling very much yet but she will give those rare treats to her big brother.

My three loves.

Mommy does exist! (You'd never know it from most of our photos.)

Two more weeks of maternity leave then our world will change again. For now, we are really enjoying preschool and time together.

Precious Moments

2010-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some of our funny/ memorable moments from the past few weeks:

Ace sitting across from Jonathan at the dinner table asks, "Daddy, how was your day today?" then "Did you have a good day Dad?" I melted just listening to them!

Lily Kate let out a blood-curdling scream yesterday (while I was looking at her). I ran over to her to discover she had a death-grip on her HAIR and was pulling it out!

We call boobs "minnies" (I don't know why) and we use the same word for boys and girls. Ace asked me if Lily Kate would eat from "Daddy's minnies." I WISH!

Everyone has given me such a hard time for teaching Ace that his you-know-what is called a "don't touch." So I tried to change it and teach him it's called a weenie. He was in the bath last week and told me he was cooking his weenie for me to eat, that it would help me grow "big and strong." Commence faint.

Ace doesn't like to be taken out of the car by the ladies in the car line at preschool. Here's our conversation every schoolday morning:
"Mommy, you take me in."
"School doesn't let mommies come in, only kids."
"Even you?" (My heart melts at this point.)

Wish I could get all of these moments on video. This is the best part of mommy-hood for sure!

Ace's 2009 Yearbook

2010-09-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today is MOMENTOUS! I finally finished Ace's 2009 Yearbook!!!

I used Picaboo.com for Ace's 2007 and 2008 yearbooks and thought I'd look around to make sure it was still the best product for me. I wanted the ability to make my own layouts, determine the size of my text boxes and position everything where I wanted it on the page. Picaboo hadn't previously allowed me to do any of those as all of their layouts and sizes were set.

I tried Blurb and SmileBooks. I liked that these two offered complete customization but it was taking me FOREVER to complete just one month. After two full days of frustration at my lack of progress, I went back to Picaboo and discovered that it actually revamped its software and now calls it PicabooX. PicabooX let me change the size and position of photos and text, yipee!

One thing I absolutely love about PicabooX is all of the fun backgrounds. I'm sure my affinity for Picaboo comes somewhat from the fact that I'm familiar with it and can produce a book quickly. I also love that they are always running promotions. When I ordered my book today, I got 40% off!!!! (That meant that I saved $78 and paid $125 for his book. If I compare that to the cost of getting all of the photos printed at the store and putting them in a paper scrapbook, I know I saved a ton of money.)

Here's a link to my masterpiece. I will be eagerly checking my mailbox all next week for it!!! Now I can actually start working on the current year. (Since I've already taken over 500 photos of Lily Kate, I need to start the editing process early.)

http://app.picaboo.com/WebView/Project.aspx?clientID=f81c46b73ce54dc583536282ffd269ae&version=42957

First Day of School

2010-08-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

In hot, humid Houston our first-day-of-school photo is a little fuzzy because the humidity got to the camera lens! I woke Ace up and started singing "I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it" which he wanted to sing all the way to school!

He indulged me with a photo in the hallway. When we got out of the car he wanted to know if I and Lily Kate were going to stay in class with him. I was scared to tell him no but he didn't seem to mind. Phew!
His little backpack is even bigger than he is!
Here's the play-by-play of him going into his classroom...
"Peeking" in to see Mrs. Maywald.
The teacher asked him to get his little lunchbox out.

He put his lunchbox in the designated basket.

Then he put his backpack on the table.

Then he found his name on a little monkey and picked out his cubby.

After he stuck his name on his cubby, Mrs. Maywald said he could go play and he said, "Thank you" and went straight over to all of the plastic animals he played with at his classroom visit last week. He didn't even tell me goodbye. I swallowed the lump in my throat and snuggled Lily Kate all the way back to the car.

Can't WAIT to hear how it goes!!!

Best Big Brother EVER!

2010-08-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ace has SHOCKED me with his treatment of Lily Kate. He constantly wants to hold her and kiss her. He told me the other morning, "I'm going to give Lily Kate all your kisses!"

Right now, his big thing is for her to lay on his chest. He says, "Mommy, I want Lily Kate on my chest" and he pats himself with his sweet little hands. Melt my heart!
He really likes for me to tell Lily Kate about him. He'll say, "Mommy, tell her I'm her big brother," "Tell her I love her," "Tell her my name is Ace." This morning, we listed all of the things he'd teach her. His list included: all about Blue Angel airplanes, how to wear a hat, how to pee pee in the potty, how to kiss, how to brush her teeth (when she gets some) and how to play Transformers...just the important things I guess.

If I can just keep him from smushing her and poking her head. Wish I understood his fascination with those. Golden Rule: Never leave him alone with her!

But I am thrilled that they love each other so. She stops crying every time he holds her and just stares up at him with what I imagine to be complete adoration. I'm loving it while it lasts. It's not likely to go much past her ability to grab a monster truck!

Classroom Visit

2010-08-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Though I wish he'd stay little forever, my little man is getting big and getting geared up to start school next week. This week started with a home visit from his teacher. This was THE best thing that could have transitioned Ace into school. The home visit was awesome; I got to ask all of my "stupid" questions and his teacher got to meet Ace in his environment which made him so comfortable. I feel really fortunate for the home visit to be a part of this experience for us.

When we visited his classroom today, the ONLY reason he went into the room was to see Mrs. Maywald's familiar face. Here he is outside his school.

He was really scared to go into his classroom so it took us a while to actually get IN to the room. But he said, "Mama, I want to see Mrs. Maywald" and I peeked my head in the room and told him she was there and his face lit up.
Here he is outside his door. (Nope, he didn't have to go to the bathroom. Just posing.)

It was fun to see all of the stations they have set up around the room and learn all of the skills he's supposed to develop at each one. He gravitated to all of the animals (JUST like at home) and stayed there the majority of the time.

It was funny when he told me, "Mommy, don't touch my computer." Hmmm, he's heard that once or twice!

He really had a great time and didn't want to leave. He even told Mrs. Maywald that he loved her!

He impressed me by being very well-behaved: sharing, no tantrums and very little whining. Of course, he was the loudest kid there (no surprise as we have been asking ourselves lately why he talks so loud and so much). I warned Mrs. Maywald about his talking.

I'm so excited for him to start this little class. The kids in his class seemed pretty shy (Since Ace never knew shy, he should be good for them!) but really sweet and friendly too. They all stuck pretty close to their parents. I can't wait for him to tell me all that he learns when he starts next week!

P.S. Lily Kate was a trooper through it all. She just hung out in the Baby Bjorn the entire time. She and I are headed to parent orientation tonight. Wish us luck!

How it's going...

2010-08-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone asks, "How's it going?" So here's an update.

We are alive.

Today was my first day at home alone with both kids. My head is pounding and I had a tiny breakdown (but got rid of it with the thought of a bath and the Bachelor Pad).

Ace doesn't want to take a bath with Lily Kate yet. I think he likes the one-on-one attention he gets during bathtime. Other than this, he's pretty much wiling to share anything with his little sister.
Jonathan and I are both trying really hard to make Ace feel special. Jonathan was convinced that I should get out of the house and go to the mall (on tax-free weekend...a circus). A carousel ride with Daddy was super special.

And Hula has not been forgotten in all of the excitement (although I think she wishes Ace would forget about her - he terrorizes her so).

Overall, Ace is a great big brother so far. He is constantly saying he loves her and wants to know where she is every minute. He wants her to tuck him in for naps and asks for her first when I wake him up in the mornings.

I hope his sweetness towards her continues. The only thing I've had to watch closely is he likes to snuggle/ smush her. He isn't quite as jealous as I worried he would be.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Hopefully more smiles.

Ace is coming home!!!

2010-08-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

We are sooooooooooo excited!

Acey is coming home tomorrow!!!

Our hearts will be complete again!

Ace spent the first week of Lily Kate's life at B's house. The next Tuesday, he went to San Antonio to spend the week with Honey and Sashi. After too many tears to count over the past two weeks from missing him, Ace is coming home tomorrow. Yippee!!!

When Ace was born, I told everyone I wanted nothing more than to be alone at home with Ace and Jonathan. When Ace was a c-section, I realized how bad I needed help. This time around, I called in the troops and they were AWESOME! B took Ace so that I could take advantage of Honey at home with me and Lily Kate. Ace could not have been happier anywhere else - B personally knows the present fairy and she came to visit Ace every morning! He's had a blast at Honey's but hearing his sweet voice say, "Mommy, I want to come to my house," just broke my heart into a million pieces.

Mudflap, Skids is soooooooo ready to kiss all over your face tomorrow.

Finally photos!

2010-08-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Lily Kate is two weeks old and I am finally getting back in the swing of things. I've been spending all my time trying to remember how to care for an infant. I can't believe the past two weeks have passed as fast as they have. Here are some shots I took of Lily Kate on a random afternoon.

Pink is her color.

Nope, red is her color.
Maybe she makes any color beautiful to me.

Lele, Brookelyn and Braedyn made a 10 HOUR car trip from Arkansas to meet Lily Kate. (All my other photos of LK and family are stuck on my iPhone!) They wanted to hold her so bad that Tata gave in.

For some reason, Honey and I found Lily Kate's yawn totallly precious. Every time she yawned we were late with the camera until this pic...you would have thought we won the lottery when we saw we'd captured the elusive yawn.

She is a complete treat. She looks so much like Ace that I find myself calling her "Bubba" and feeling like I'm dressing Ace in girls' clothing! Though I doubted my ability to love anyone as much as I love Ace, Lily Kate has taught me how wrong I was. I feel like I have loved her my entire life.

Lily Kate's birthday...today?

2010-07-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

I've chronicled the drama of the morning on my "belly blog." See link on the right to "Kelly's Belly." Hopefully I'll be able to start posting pics of our new addition on Monday.

Singing

2010-07-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

I was working this morning and heard the sweetest little singing voice. Then I heard, "Mommy, I need to go poo poo." Like any mother, I grabbed my iPhone and my camera and made him sing it again.

Love the dimple, love the smile, love the voice. Couldn't be any more in love than I am right now.

Guilty Posting

2010-07-12T13:29:00.001-07:00

Using the pregnancy excuse AGAIN!

Here's a hodge podge of our happenings for the past MONTH that I haven't been blogging. It's just been such a crazy house around here lately. I'm hoping to post before and after photos of all the construction and painting that we finished last month and I'll post all of the projects I've been working on for Lily Kate's arrival on the Belly blog as soon as I can.

Here are the boys at Brynley's 2nd birthday party. Ace is such a little fish in his floaties. I still hover over him continuously but so does his daddy so I don't apologize for it. =)

Blue cookie monster cupcake = bright green poop. No need to panic.
Ace had a serious fever week before last (went to the doctor who just said it was a 24hr virus). All he wanted to do while he was battling his little virus was snuggle. Here's the boys snuggling while we were watching WipeOut.

Mommy and Ace waiting for the fireworks to start on the 4th of July.

Ace's sweet voice just melts me every time he speaks - no matter what he's saying.

Here's to more consistent posting in the future!

World Cup Crazy

2010-06-14T05:50:00.001-07:00

Our house is all about soccer right now. For the past month, with our contractor-marathon, soccer has been the only time Ace and I have gotten out of the house (Thanks to Jonathan who actually left work early so that we could make it to class twice!).

Here's Ace sporting the Greek soccer uniform that Daddy bought him when we were in Athens last year. It fits him at the perfect time. We watched Greece play Korea and Ace was excited that he was dressed just like the players on tv.

Here is Ace waiting patiently at soccer class for his coach to come throw his hula hoop so he can run after it. This is a big development - following directions.
Then a set back - not following directions. Hey, he's THREE! I wish I could just lay down whenever and wherever I wanted and rest.

This face cracked me up. I laugh throughout the entire class.

I love the last few seconds of this video. You can tell that Jonathan and I are big on praise because Ace has started to praise himself!

Memorial Adventures

2010-06-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

Honey and Sashi visited over the weekend and took us all down to Moody Gardens' Aquarium and Rainforest. Ace was in fine form, running from exhibit to exhibit with total enthusiasm and wanting us to see everything.

The penguins:

Loving on his Honey.
I'm ever wanting a family photo. Jonathan can't see, Ace isn't looking and I need to work on my posture! I call this one a success.

All smiles on the way home. We really thought he'd fall asleep in the car on the way home. Nope. He was a chatterbox the ENTIRE way home while Honey tried to sleep.

(I rectified his shaggy hair on Monday. Didn't realize it was THAT bad!)

Jus cus

2010-05-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

I've just been feeling guilty for not updating the blog lately so here's random pictures off my camera. We've really been up to nothing. Went to Willies for Mother's Day. I just love his face in this photo...need to crop my yucky face out.

Tried to get Ace interested in his bike but he just wanted me to push him around on it. Doesn't matter, he looks super cute in his gear.
Ace started soccer on Monday - an hour of laughs.

Just loving lazy summer days. Too lazy to get out the camera even.

Bye Bye Pacifier

2010-05-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Been gone from the blogging world WAY too long. Had to make it through busy season at work, plan Ace's birthday party (which I can hopefully blog about later) and went to Cancun for a week to recover. Came home from Mexico and we decided it was finally time to get rid of the pacifier.

I have been DREADING this moment for so long. I was SOOOO tired of random people (and some male family members) telling me that I need to get rid of the paci. Those people and men didn't offer any help, only their judgement of my parenting. Yes, I got bitter about it.

Had to make sure Ace understood exactly what we were doing...

Mommy, Lily Kate and Ace walking to Baby Braxton's house and waving at Daddy. (Yikes, can certainly see those extra 30 pounds on me!)

Knocking on his door.
The hand off. (Braxton is actually Nana's grandson - the lovely woman that takes care of Ace on Tuesdays and Thursdays for me.)

The reward!

The aftermath:

When we put Ace to bed that night, we had a meltdown. He said to give the bike back to the fairy! It was a difficult half hour full of tears but THANKFULLY that has been our only real hiccup so far. He's mentioned the paci a few times but we've ignored his comments and he's moved on to other things. I'm pretty impressed that that was his only meltdown. With the allergies of the past week, even I have wished for my OWN pacifier.

Now, everything ELSE has been going in his mouth. He chews on every toy he owns as if he's teething. Now all I dread is his reaction when Lily Kate comes home with a pacifier.

Sometimes, the anxiety is worse than the real thing.