Our Family

Better Late Than Never...Halloween!

2009-11-29T14:21:00.002-06:00

I've been a little behind on my blog, so since I'm behind, I'll go back a month ago...to Halloween! Abby was a witch and Kate was a cat. Abby's birthday party was also on Hallween. She had a costume party...it was a BUSY day! We were all very tired by the end of the night. Not many houses around our house have their porch lights on, so we normally go to a neighborhood by my parents house. There is one house in particular that Michael LOVES to go to. They hand out King Size candy bars every year. Michael looks forward to that house. I get a big kick out of it because the guy that lives there is stuck in the early 90's...it cracks me up! I hope that your Halloween...and Thanksgiving were a blast!

Our little cat!

I wish Kate would have smiled for this :)

Abby the littlest witch!

We live next door to one of my aunt's. The girls were headed her way because she always gives the girls a little something extra special!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-11T09:48:00.008-05:00

Every since Abby was a year old we have taken her to Neumeier's Nursery for their annual pumpkin patch celebration and we have carried on the tradition with Kate. It is absolutely beautiful in the fall. There are pumpkins, mums, and other beautiful plants everywhere! I always come home with pumpkins and mums that Abby has picked out. I do NOT have a green thumb, I have a brown thumb! I always have such good intentions, saying that I am going to water the mums or ferns or whatever plant I bring home. I always water them really good for about a week and then the next thing I know...the plant is dead. So, once again, this year I brought home 2 beautiful mums, yellow and white. I know when Michael saw me carrying those things he was thinking that I might as well throw my money out the window!
I got some really good pictures. My favorites are the ones where they are walking under this trelace! I hope that everyone is having a wonderful October! Abby's 6th birthday is this Tuesday! My baby is growing up :(

Kate's First Day at Mother's Day Out

2009-09-20T15:34:00.003-05:00

Last week was such a LONGGGG week! It is really crazy trying to get 3 girls dressed, hair done, teeth brushed, beds made, and breakfast ate before 7:25. But..we did it! We have been very fortunate to have my mother-in-law watch both girls while Michael and I are at work. Her parents are not doing very good, health wise, so she is not able to watch Kate anymore. So...I had to find daycare for Kate. Having to do this after the school year had already started was very stressful and scarey. After calling a couple of people, who watch some of my friends kids, I called Goddard. That is where Abby went to Mother's Day Out and LOVED it! I thought it was a long shot because they would be full, but thought I would give it a try. They have a Mother's Day Out (MDO) program for Kates's age that meets any, or all, days of the week. They also offer before and after school care, for working mothers and fathers. They had ONE spot left. I went and visited with the director and teacher, and Kate and I got to see her classroom. I just love Goddard! I feel totally safe leaving her there knowing that she is going to be taken care of and loved on! If you are ever in need of a place to put your kids, I would recommend them. Now...let me say this...Kate suffers from extreme seperation anxiety. I was really nervous about leaving her because I KNEW she was going to cry. Here are a few pictures before we left the house on her first day of school!

Isn't she all cute in her 1st day of school outfit?!?!

Here she is telling me that she will not cry if I only stay with her!
Watching Micky Mouse...she loves HIM!

I told her that she was going to have fun and she turned her head

and started laughing!

I would take her to school with me if I could!!! Isn't she a doll?!

So Kate is smarter than I thought because when we got to Goddard she knew that something was up because I had her diaper bag. So she knew that she was getting left. Of course she cried, and I cried when I walked out the door. I had to buy waterproof mascara for the event because I KNEW that I would be crying and I didn't have waterproof. It held up really well because through all my tears my mascara stayed on really well. Thank you Cover Girl! I waited until 9:30 and I called to check on her. They said that she was doing really well, she was sad at first, but she had calmed down. It was a long day for me because I was just counting down the minutes to go and get her so that she would see that I was not abandoning her! When I picked her up, she was just fine! The rest of the week went pretty smooth. She didn't cry when I left her on Wednesday, so I thought that maybe that was behind us. She cried Thursday and Friday though :( Her teachers tell me that she is calming down really fast after I leave though. I even think she has made some new friends because she was waving bye-bye to one of her classmates when we were leaving! CUTE!

Kate also brought home her 1st piece of artwork this week. It was a sun!

Look how proud she is!

She is so proud because everytime I hang it on the fridge she takes it off and runs around with it!

We have been fighting a pretty bad diaper rash this week. It's really the first one that she has had. Abby NEVER had a diaper rash! Kate's is looking a lot better though.

Say prayers that we have another smooth week this week!

Soccer Season

2009-09-11T03:32:00.009-05:00

Fall soccer season is in full swing. I love this time of year. I know that the weather is about to cool off, jackets are about to be put on, and the smell of clean, crisp, cool air is something to smile about. I was just telling my mom that I can't wait for cooler temperatures so I can open my windows at school. There is nothing like fresh air! I LOVE it! This is Abby's 3rd season doing soccer. She really seems to enjoy it. She tells me before every game or practice "I really like soccer!" She is doing really good too! Her coach this fall is really working them and she is learning a lot. Here are some pictures of her first game.

Working hard to kick that ball!

Taking it in for a goal!

Look at her throwing her arm out!

Sitting on the sidelines. There are 2 girls on the team.

This was before the game. No...that is not your eyes going bad, they sometimes practice with little soccer balls.

Hustle!!!

She ends up scoring here!

Abby is smiling at Michael, in the yellow shirt. She had just had a really good quarter and he was going to give her a high five.

Miss Kate...Yes...she wants to be out there too! Notice how her fair flips out on one side, but not the other. This child's hair has been giving me fits since the day she was born. I think she is going to have curly hair. The back of her hair flips up into little curls. So cute!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Go Hogs!

2009-09-05T15:43:00.004-05:00

My cousin, Stacy, got Kate this cute little Hog outfit last Christmas. She is an Ole Miss alumni, and my uncle Ron and Stacy's husband, Brian, are 2 of the biggest Ole Miss fans around, since they live in Mississippi. Of course Michael and my dad have to give them a hard time every year around this time. The trash talking never seems to end, especially since Ole Miss has taken up with our no good ex-coach Houston Nutt! ha

Since today is the first Hog game I had to dress Kate up in it. Tonight we are going over to my parents to watch the game and grill burgers...yummmmyyyy!!!

She loves to read....the teacher in me is so proud!

GO HOGS! BEAT MISSOURI STATE!

Not me!

2009-08-17T20:23:00.004-05:00

OK...it's time again for Mckmama's "Not Me" Monday!

When I was putting up clothes Saturday in Kate's closet, I did not dress her in one of the outfits that I was about to hang up because I didn't want to take the time to walk 10 feet into Abby's room and get one of her hangers because Kate was out of them. I would not put my toddler in the same outfit that she wore the day before when she has soooo many clothes in her closet that I can barely fit another outfit in there... that would be just shameful. Not me!

I did not for the second week in a row skip church on Sunday night to watch "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." And I do not have a crush on Regis!!! Not me!

After seeing me for numerous weeks in my ghetto and falling apart black sandals, watching me walk around with only one sandal (because one of them fell apart) of the outside of our church looking for "The Promise Land" with my Wednesday night kids group, and reading about my pitiful Wal-Mart journey in my last post, my good friend Kacee did not take pity on me and go out and buy me not one, but TWO pairs of black sandals! Not me! (I love you Kacee!)

And ...after buying me those two pairs of sandals, I did not carry one of those pairs of sandals in my purse Sunday morning because I was afraid that my black heels would hurt my feet to much by the end of church! Not me!

One night last week Michael was playing racquetball and I had put the girls to bed, so I was alone...in the living room...with the TV remote all to myself. I did not use that precious, rare moment to watch "Sonny with a Chance" on the Disney Channel....and really enjoyed it! I would never do that by MYself...voluntarily...Not me!

After hearing the "8 Point Lesson Plan" that I'm going to have to start writing for every single lesson, I did not actually consider that maybe I won't last another 21 years in teaching before I can retire. Because I feel like I'm fresh out of college! So young and excited about EVERYthing! Not me!

And....during our family game night, Michael and I did not get so irritated with each other that he got up in the middle of our game, stomp off like a 2 year old, and refuse to play with me! Not HIM!!!! And I did not think that I did permanent damage to our daughter who had to witness how immature we both were....Not us!

And there you have it...this week's edition of Not Me Monday!

***I'm really going to try and get on here and post some pictures of Abby's 1st day of Kindergarten this week! :(

Not Me! Monday

2009-08-10T16:10:00.005-05:00

So today I'm going to join in on the "Not Me" Monday! Mckmama posts her own "not me" Monday's...you can read them here. We are not perfect, and it's funny to read about how "not" perfect other people can be...so...here it goes...

This morning when I heard Kate cry out to let me know that she was up and ready to start the day, I did not just lay there in bed and let her cry out a few more times before she finally got the message that I was not coming in to get her at that moment....and we all fell back to sleep. Not me!

I did not just nod my head, smile, and look at Abby as she continued to talk and talk and talk...about what...I'm not quite sure, but it involved Halloween and decorations for Halloween. I'm always the type of mom that listens to every single word that my talkative 5 year old has to say. Not me!

I did not send my husband to church by himself last night because I wanted to stay at home and watch Regis on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" because that would be just sinful! Not me!

After I did get out of the bed this morning, I jumped up and down at the thought of returning to work tomorrow and that this was going to be my last day of summer vacation. I did do that, didn't I??? Yeah right! Not me!

When I was at Walmart this past week, I did not have such badly beat up sandals on that the bottom of my sandal was completely coming off and was flopping around like a dead fish. So that means I did not look like a fool as I tripped over the flopping sandal several times before I decided to just drag that foot. Not me!

After reading the "social networking rules" from my school district's newsletter, I did not panic and go back and start reading and deleating comments that I made on Facebook or my blog because I was scared that my license would be taken away from me. Not me!

I did not tell my 14 month old the other day, when she was throwing an absolute fit, that I somehow must have been given the wrong baby at the hospital 14 months ago because no child of mine was going to act like that....and...I most certainly did not threaten to take her back to the hospital and exchange her for a more pleasant baby because what mother would say that? Not me!

Wow! That was fun! I'm going to have to start doing that every Monday!

Footlose!

2009-07-31T22:17:00.018-05:00

I got my necklace this week. I love it! It's so pretty and I can't wait to wear it. I love anything that is custom made or has to do with my girls! I've been wanting something like this for awhile. I had originally wanted a bangle bracelet with the girls names on charms somehow, but I found this and I really like it. You can get them or other hand-stamped jewelry at The Vintage Pearl. I'll probally order something else!

We love to dance in our house. The girls love to put on their CD's and just jump around. The other morning we put on some songs and got to dancin'.
I'm not quite sure what Abby is doing here with her hands between her legs like that. Who knows!!! Their feet were cut off and I hate that because I caught them jumping!

When Kate dances she does a little bounce. Also, she loves to wear necklaces! As you can see, she has some of Abby's beads on :) She loves to get headbands and sunglasses and stick them on her neck like they are necklaces! So cute!

Gotta love this smile! or attempt at a smile! ha

Love those blue eyes! I hope they stay that way!

Here is my green-eyed girl! I have green eyes that are almost that exact color...

Still cuttin' teeth!!!

The girls love to hear the "Cha Cha Slide" and dance to it. That was one of the songs they were dancing too. I started videoing Kate dancing the way she dances. It's so funny. Please excuse the mess on the floor. We had been playing with Kate's toys so they were left out. I also spotted one of Abby's flip flops, her black bag, and a book. I almost didn't put this video on here because I didn't want people to think I was a slob. If you know me, then you know I'm a neat freak. I've been called a little OCD about it. But I thought it was so funny, her dancing, that I could get past all that and share this video with you :) Please ignore the HICK sound to my voice that I have going on. I pray that's not how I really sound!

Also...Praise the Lord that Stellan is doing much better. I've been following very closely and the pictures that have been posted today are so much more encouraging then the ones from earlier this week. He looked so sick this week, but today he looks so much better. He still has a ways to go, but he has improved so much. Continue to pray that his heart completely heals so that he no longer has to rely on any medication. Our Lord is the Almighty Physician! God is so faithful. Pray for comfort for Mckmama and family. It's so incredibly hard when there is something wrong with your baby and she needs peace, comfort, and strength.

I will be attending a funeral tomorrow for my friend and colleague that left this world last weekend. Her son is doing very well, considering. Please continue to pray for that family. Peace and comfort...

Calling All Prayer Warriors

2009-07-27T11:15:00.003-05:00

Please pray for baby Stellan and his family. He is around 10 months old, I believe, and his heart is failing on him. I can't imagine what this family must be going through right now. Stellan did not have a good night last night. You can read about him HERE.

A teacher at my school died this past weekend. She leaves behind an 11 year old boy. He was her world. This woman was a wonderful person who always made me feel better about myself whether it be a nice compliment or a smile and a greeting. She will truley be missed by many. Please send prayers for her family as well.

It's times like these that are so saddening and many questions are asked as to "WHY?!?!". I don't have answers but I do know that our God IS faithful, IS loving, IS listening, and IS miraculous. Let's call out to God today with prayers for these 2 families and these 2 boys.

Tasty Kitchen

2009-07-20T23:38:00.007-05:00

I was going to show some picturs of the girls and all the fun we had dancing around the house yesterday, but the pictures wouldn't transfer over to my computer for some reason. I'll try again tomorrow.
I'm really excited because today I found a website that The Pioneer Woman recently started. Who doesn't love her anyway? It's called Tasty Kitchen. It's full of receipes that viewers (and cookers too!) have posted. If you're anything like me, I sometimes have a hard time deciding what to cook for dinner. I feel like I make the same thing over and over again. Luckily I'm blessed with a husband who just likes to eat and who will eat pretty much anything! I was looking for something different to do with chicken when I came across this Crescent Chicken Squares. It turned out really good and it was different than anything I had done like that in awhile. If you are looking for some receipes give Tasty Kitchen a try. Also, Campbell's Kitchen is really good too! I have gotten tons of good stuff off of that. Like the Easy Chicken and Cheese Enchildas. Those are to die for! (I use hot sauce instead of picante sauce in that one) Check out these sights and also check out The Pioneer Woman. She's a hoot!

I also ordered this necklace recently from The Vintage Pearl.

Of course it won't say luke and london, but abby and kate. Her jewelry is sterling silver and hand stamped. I've been looking for somthing like this. Beautiful stuff! I can't wait to see it when it comes in.

I don't think I've ever posted 2 times in a row without putting a picture of the girls in it....so...here's an old one of Abby. I loved this picture of her. She was 3 and playing dress up. That boa gets fuzz EVERYWHERE!!!! Oh the joys of dress up!

Vampires, Edward, and Twilight...Oh My!!!

2009-07-16T11:39:00.008-05:00

Summer time is really the only time I get to read books that are appropriate for my age (or around my age). Since I'm a teacher I spend my day reading picture books and kids chapter books and then the same thing at night with the girls. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but sometimes it's nice to be able to read a book that is more on my own level. My friend Becca has been telling us girls at work about the Twilight book series. I was like yeah I don't want to read those, vampires are really not my thing. I'm more of a Nicholas Sparks or Mary Higgins Clark type girl. She kept saying oh no...it's not like what you're thinking at all. She just loved these books!

Well...I saw the movie, and I thought it was good, but not the best thing I have ever seen. I was disappointed in a way and was kinda wandering what all the hype was about. So I went to work and told Becca that I had seen the movie and it was OK. She was asking me some questions, and she just kept saying that in the book you really get into Bella's head and what she is thinking. I told her I would read them this summer.

So, after Disney World and church camp with the kids I bought Twilight. Oh my goodness! I could say that word over and over again because it doesn't even BEGIN to describe how I felt about this book. It was wonderful!!!!! I couldn't put it down and had it read in 2 days. I read at night after the girls were asleep and when Kate was taking naps and Abby was playing on her own. So, this book

was my new favorite book. I was obsessed. I quickly ran (or drove, ha!) to the store and bought this

New Moon...which is the 2nd book. I was a little disgusted at first with it because (I won't give too much away about it if you haven't read it) there was one character who was in it a whole lot more than what I would have liked because this character kinda annoyed me. It was still very good, got me deeper into Bella's story until I had to quickly go get this

the 3rd book...Eclipse. I loved this one. When you start reading these, it makes you really look at your spouse and for me it made me just fall in love with Michael all over again. I know that sounds so silly and high schoolish, but it really did. This is a classic love story, and I just loved reading it. So after Eclipse, and my eyes about falling out of my head because they were sooooo tired from reading, yes I ran again to go get this

Breaking Dawn...the 4th and last book in the series. Like I said before I don't want to give anything away so all I will say is **sighhhhhh** it was wonderful! I'm so sad that there is not a 5th book to dive into and read. I do hear that there is one on the Internet that is from Edward's point of view. Someone asked me if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob...well if there HAS to be a choice...I am most definitely

is there really any other choice girls???

Happy 1st Birthday Kate!

2009-07-15T22:00:00.011-05:00

Ok...for some reason my pictures are in front of everything I wrote. I've done that before and I have always been able to move it. It's not working right now. You can enjoy these pictures of Kate's 1st birthday and then read about after! Enjoy!

Kate was upset here because she couldn't reach her balloons.

This was after her party. She was just laying there looking at stuff :)

Here was her cake after she "ate" it.

Don't you just love the cake all in her fingers?!?!

We started out just barely touching the cake.

About to blow out the candle.

I loved her cake.

In the pictures her cake looked really small, but it wasn't.

Abby wrapped Kate a gift from her. I had no idea what it was. It turned out to be a book (that was actually my book when I was a little, little girl that I gave Abby) and a stuffed little dog. Kate loved it!

I meant to post this about a month ago, but like I've said...it's been busy! My baby had her 1st birthday on June 9. It is so hard to believe that it has been 1 year since I had her. She looks so different than she did when I first laid eyes on her. When she was born she had this curly, DARK brown hair and she looked like a little Indian baby. As you can now see, it is NOT dark brown. It's blondish with a red tint to it. She got that red tint from me. Everytime I go in to get my hair highlighted, Jody, my stylist, says that I have a red tint to my hair and I say GET IT OUT!!!! No offense to people with red tints of any way in their hair, but it just doesn't flatter me at all! Back to Kate...her hair is still curly when it is wet and if I would let it dry withOUT combing it, it would curl. But it's not a pretty curl, more of a messy wave, therefore I brush it when it's wet. We have come so far to the little one who had that little cry and would ball her fists up. Actually she still does cry and ball her fists up, but the cry now is MUCH louder. She has quite the little temper (she in NO way gets that from me! ha) that matches that red tint in her hair! She also no longer looks like a little Indian baby, she is very fair skinned!

She had a wonderful birthday and a lot of fun.

What are you doing at a year old Kate?

Hmmm....let's see....

*You go to sleep at 8:00 and wake up anywhere between 7:00 and 8:00.

*You take 2 naps a day - one around 10:00 and one around 1:00 or 2:00. You take one really good nap that lasts about 2 hours and the other nap usually lasts about an hour.

*You are walking VERY good! You don't fall as much as you used to!

*You like people food! You love chicken, oranges, mac and cheese, and grilled cheese.

*You LOVE breakfast. I think it's your favorite meal. You have milk, a blueberry pancake, and a ceral bar.

*You love your sister. You really look up to her and want to do what she does.

*You get into EVERYTHING! I have to close all doors except yours because you will get into it all.

*You love taking baths and also showers:)

*You love our dogs, especially Dixie. I can ask "Where's Dixie?" and you will run to the door and knock on it so you can see her.

*You like your ki-ki (pacifer). I was thinking the other night how MUCH you like and how HARD it will be to get rid of it.

*You love to go outside.

*You will not stay in the nursery at church. You cry and cry.

*You don't like strangers.

*You love to wave hi and bye to people.

*You can say hi, momma, dadda, bog(dog), and abbbb (abby)

*You weigh 20 lbs 14 oz

*You are 31 inches tall

*You were very brave for your 1 year shots.

*You are an absolute joy and your daddy and I wish that you would stay this age for awhile!

We LOVE you Katelyn Rose! Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Dreams Do Come True!

2009-07-13T20:30:00.007-05:00

Back in June we took a family vacation to Disney World. We had so much fun! This was everyone's first time except for Michael. He has been a couple of times as a kid. I cannot say enough about Disney...it was magical! Everything was beautiful and so well kept up. I have been to several amusement parks, and it sometimes just looks like things are not well kept up with. NOT Disney! They are the real deal. The park is beautiful...no trash...anywhere! They are totally on top of the game. The workers are all wonderful. You really felt like they truely loved what they do and that they loved being around children. I also felt totally safe in the park with the girls. Kate was in the stroller and we would have to leave our stroller at the "stroller parking" area at times, with countless other strollers. At first I was not comfortable with leaving our stuff out there while we rode a ride, but by the end of it I didn't even think twice about it.
We cannot wait to go back! We didn't want to leave! I took so many pictures, but I'm only going to post about 30! So please indulge me! :)
Disney truley is a place where Dreams Come True!

This is how Kate looked most of the time! SWEATY!!!!

This was the "FINDING NEMO" show. It was wonderful!

This was the "LION KING" show. It literally gave me goose bumps because it was sooooo good!

This was in front of our hotel

This picture cracks me up! Recognize it...May the force be with you!

Yes...we did get our family picture in front of the castle and all of the other recognizable places, but the Disney photographer took those pictures so I am going to have to order those :)

Enjoy!

Guess Who?

2009-07-12T14:19:00.005-05:00

Hello! It's been forever since I've been on here. It has been a very busy month! Things are FINALLY starting to slow down. We went to Disney World and then to church camp. It took me about a week to recover from that and then before I knew it, another week has passed me by. I have so many pictures from the last month to post. So...instead of overloading you all at once I'm going to really try and post something everyday. The memory card on my camera is full, and it has NEVER been full!

Does your family play games? If not, you really should! It is such a bonding experience and really fun. Our family LOVES to play games. We try to have a family game night at least once a week. We play everything from Candy Land to Dominoes. Michael and I are both very competitive and we try to keep that in check when playing with Abby. (We love to play cards with our friends and I am known for throwing my cards at him because he makes me SOOO mad!) The other day when we were at Walmart I bought Abby "Guess Who?". Do you rememer that game? I loved it when I was a kid!

We got it home and put it together (boy, did that take a long time) and I taught Abby how to play it. We played several times througout the day and Abby couldn't wait to show Michael when he got home from work. When Michael did get home, Abby was so excited so show him her new game. She loves to talk and explain things. She started to tell him in detail how the game goes and how to play it. I figured Michael would say that he already knew how to play so I whispered in his ear to just let her explain the rules because she was so excited to tell him. After Michael and Abby played a couple of times I said "Isn't that game fun? Didn't you just love to play it when you were a kid?" And guess what? Michael said that he had never played "Guess Who?" I couldn't believe it. Well, Michael is now hooked on this game. You would think that he was 6 years old. In the directions it tells about how you can play while trying to guess 2 people. Each person gets 2 cards instead of one. We didn't think that would work very good, but when Michael and I tried it we had a lot of fun.

Last night after we put the girls to bed and finished the finale of Harper's Island ( I knew it was Henry, but I thought his motive was very weak! I was kinda disappointed) we were going to go to bed and Michael said "How about a game of Guess Who?" We played for 2 hours! I know...we are pitiful! But we had a lot of fun!

If you don't play games together as a family, you should try. It's a lot of fun! That's what a lof of kids are missing these days...special family time together. Besides playing games with just Abby...we (Michael and I) like to play cards, dominoes and other games like that, but I guess we can add "Guess Who?" to our list as well! :)

Talk to you tomorrow!

2009-06-11T00:53:00.001-05:00

SCROLL DOWN!!! There are 3 new blog posts! The first one is "Last Week of School". I still need to post Kate's 1st birthday pictures, but it's 1 am and I'm tired!!!! I'll try posting tomorrow! Also, I will not be posting again for 2 weeks because we go to Disney World next week (YAY!) and then church camp. This is my first time to Disney World...any pointers???

Summer Fun

2009-06-11T00:01:00.007-05:00

We have only been on summer vacation for a week and a half, but it has been so much fun already! I love being off with the girls. I WISH I were a stay at home mom! I love my job, but I love my kids MORE! Here are some of the things that the girls have been up too...

Posing by the couch. Kate loves to walk around from room to room. She loves to pick up things, throw them down, and move on to the next room. I spend a lot of my day going around and just making sure the doors are closed because she will get into ANYTHING!

Playing outside! We love it outside. We have 2 cute dogs who Abby loves to play with too!

Watching a little TV. Kate doesn't watch TV, except in the morning she will watch a little Mickey Mouse. Abby had been watching the Sprout channel and had left the TV on. I saw Kate watching Chicka, this little chicken, and I had to get a picture! So, NO my baby does not watch TV except for a little Micky Mouse in the morning.

Abby has successfully learned how to ride her bike withOUT training wheels. We tried this a few months back but we were unsuccessful. I was cooking dinner and Michael was outside with the girls. They called me out to show me what she could do! She hasn't put her bike down since! She learned in less than 5 minutes! I was impressed :)

Here's a video of her trying to master her bike riding skills!

I was cooking and got something out of the fridge and it didn't close all the way. Look who opened it up! She gets into EVERYthing I tell you! She wanted water as you can see!

Abby wanted to watch stars the other night. We were outside watching the stars and moon. She wants a telescope to see them with now!

Abby's 2nd Ballet Recital

2009-06-10T23:46:00.005-05:00

Abby had her 2nd ballet recital. They performed "Beauty and the Beast." Abby takes ballet and tap. Her class were the "Flowers in the Palace Garden." She had 2 dances, tap and ballet. They were SO cute! I just love watching all of the little girls get up and dance! They are too cute and too funny!

She LOVES being on stage!

Here are some of the girls that were in the recital.

She had to sit on stage at the end of one of the dances.

Loves to pose!

The fun part about a ballet recital is the flowers. It is so much fun getting all the flowers afterwards. Most girls love this part...Abby is no exception! ha

You can't see the pretty flowes in the vase that Michael, Kate, and I got for her. You can barely see the top of them.

I also got her a necklace with ballet slippers on it. You can kinda see it here in this picture.

At this point it was 9:30 and Kate was out! So that is why she is not in this picture.

We can't wait for next year's recital!!!

Last Week of School!

2009-06-10T23:01:00.005-05:00

Here is Abby on her last week of school! She had a wonderful year at her preschool and I am so sad to leave. We will be back when Kate's ready though! Here are a few shots of her on her last day. They painted these shirts to wear on the last day of school because they were having a "Under the Sea" day. Too cute!

Mother's Day

2009-05-16T11:36:00.008-05:00

As I said in my last post, I've been so busy lately with the end of the school year, ballet, and soccer, that I seem to be posting things a week after they happen. So here is my Mother's Day post! I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I am so blessed to have happy, healthy children. My two beautiful girls are the center of my world and I love them so much. Every Mother's Day is special, but this one was extra special since it was my first one with Kate. She is quite the talker and walker these days. She spends most of her days just walking from room to room looking for something to get into. As she walks she also talks. It's something you would just have to hear. I'll try to get a video of it and put on here. We went to a Kindergarten preview day at Abby's school she will be attending next year. I LOVE the teacher that she will have next year. We actually went through the teaching program through college together. Going to this made it seem so real. We only have 3 days of preschool left. So sad!

Last night I had so much fun. Rarely do I get to go have dinner with just my GIRLfriends. I had dinner with 2 of my good friends, Jessica and Janie. It is always so much fun to get together with them. We laughed so hard that we cried. I always have a great time with them. We need to do it more often! Anyway...here are some pictures of Mother's Day, breakfast, and a birthday suit shot of Kate!

What a smile!

This is "Take 1". Of course Abby is NOT looking at the camera since Kate IS smiling AND looking at the camera. It looks like she is just looking at Michael in awe :)

"Take 2" Not that great a shot of Kate, but it'll do.

Kate LOVES to eat blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

This cracks me up. I had her clothes off because she was about to take a bath and she ran off. I found her looking out the back door at Dixie. You have to understand, Kate probally spends 40% of her day looking out the back door at Dixie, she LOVES that dog. I had to get a shot of this. She'll probally kill me one day! ha

Abby Celebrates Mother's Day and Kate Walks!

2009-05-08T20:49:00.008-05:00

May and August are my 2 busiest times of the year...school ending (yeaaaaaa!!!!) and school starting. I am pulled in a million different directions. Since my last post, Kate has become quite an accomplished walker. I put up some pictures of her walking, but if you keep scrolling down you can see her in action. I call her "little Bambi". For about a week she would take a couple of steps, start stumbling to the side, and then fall. Michael was constantly asking her what she's been drinking. You would have thought her formula was spiked! ha Yesterday, Abby's class had their "Mother's Day Tea." This is a cute little tradition that her preschool does. Last year I was 37 weeks pregnant, about to pop, and I cried through the whole thing. My emotions were at an all time high, and I was so scared about how this new little baby was about to come into our lives...Would I have enough time for Abby? Would I have enough time for the baby? Would Abby still realize that I love her? All these questions...and the answer to all of them....YES!!!! So, this time I was faced with a whole new set of questions and fears...This is it for preschool...how will starting BIG school be? Will she stay this sweet forever? I am happy to report though that I only shed a few tears...not blubbering like last year. At this year's lovely tea they had a cute little plate that they had drawn on and decorated, a cute little hat pin for me to wear, cupcakes and fruit that they had prepared, and a picture that they decorated with answers to questions about their moms.

Let me read you Abby's answers to questions about me:

My mother's name is Shanna.

My mother is I think 15 years old.

My mother weighs 9 lbs. (I WISH!!!!)

My mother is 5 feet tall.

Her favorite food is pasta. ( I do like pasta, but I LOVE mexican food!)

I like it when my mother cooks macaroni.

My mother's favorite place to go is Wal-Mart (I laughed so hard at that one!!!)

When I am at school my mother is at school-teaches kids.

She was pretty close on a lot of them. :)

I also put a video of Abby's class singing their ABC song.

Here is Abby singing her songs!

The 3 girls...Best Friends...Abby, Kate, and Aryn

They're so cute...I wish they could go to school together next year!

Singing pretty :)

Here is the whole class. I'm going to miss her preschool so much. I just love it!

I thought this was so cute of Kate. CrAzY hair!!!

This picture is kinda blurry, but it was such a cute shot of her walking.

This cracks me up!!! She is running, laughing, and trying to catch me all at the same time.

No clothes....It's HOT here in Arkansas...and sticky!!!!

Look at those legs! Precious!!!

Wouldn't you love to know what they think?!?!?

Here's Kate WALKING!!!!!!

Michael was outside working on something so Kate was standing at the door watching him. You will also notice her bow hanging down off the side of her head. The child can't ever seem to keep her bows in!

Soccer

2009-04-25T14:47:00.003-05:00

Soccer has been in full swing here. Abby really loves it! I think she's pretty good too :) Here are some pictures of her playing.
We moved Kate into her "big" car seat this week. She is turned around to the front and I know we are supposed to wait until she is a year, but, heck, we are 1 month away! She loves it! She can see and look out the window!
Enjoy!

A Shout Out!

2009-04-22T21:41:00.004-05:00

My mother has had this cordless vacuum called a "Shark". I made fun of her because of its name. She told me that it worked really good. She uses it to vacuum her kitchen floor instead of dust mopping it everyday. Well...I tried it out one day, and I was totally blown away. When Christmas time came around, my grandmother asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told her a Shark. She looked at me kinda weird. "A shark?" she asked. So I had to explain exactly what kind of "shark" I was talking about. My grandma got me my shark for Christmas. I have to say it is the BEST Christmas present I have ever gotten. I told her this about a month ago, and she thought it was pretty sad that a sweeper was "the best gift" I've ever gotten. If you know me though, you know that I am an absolute neat freak. Everything has to be clean at ALL times. I was constantly sweeping up my kitchen floor and everyday I had to drag out the vacuum because the rug I have in my kitchen shows absolutely EVERYTHING. Well...since I've gotten the shark, cleaning the kitchen floor has been a breeze and since it's a vacuum it cleans my rug too! I LOVE MY SHARK! I totally recommend that if you have your own place, you have to invest in a shark. They are really not expensive and totally worth it. Since I got my at Christmas, I've only had to charge it 3 times. I use it everyday, several times a day. All I know, is that I had no idea what I was missing!

Here is my little best friend:

I recommend you go and get one!

Just Look At Her....

2009-04-20T22:36:00.002-05:00

Look at this baby....Isn't she cute?!?!?

Look at those eyes! And those eyelashes...Just makes me want to stare at her all day...

And those cheeks! Don't you want to pinch them?!?!?! (I'm not quite sure what is hanging out of her mouth here. Maybe a spaghetti noodle?)

Look at her now! She has grown up so much!

Here she was on her first day of preschool this year. How the time flies!

I enrolled Abby for Kindergarten today! I'm so sad. It's just something about "big" school that is just scary for me. I'm afraid that all of that innocence is about to be lost...

Abby is such a sweetheart. She is so sympathetic towards others, she reads about a lost dog or cat and she cries. She loves to help others. My prayer is that she will keep these characteristics with her throughout her life.

I know that she will do great starting "big" school next year, but I don't know how I will handle it!

My baby is growing up!

Just wait moms...You'll see!

How Was Your Week?

2009-04-19T14:09:00.009-05:00

A lot happend in our family last week. Starting in April, it gets REALLY busy around here. It usually doesn't let up until after school is out. Which by the way I only have 28 days left! I am so ready. Like I always say...I love my job, but I LOVE being with my kids MORE. If I could be a stay at home mom, you wouldn't see me at work tomorrow. But, I have a great job and that is so much to be thankful for because so many people are struggling right now.

My goal is to post something everyday this week, from last week! I get so busy at nights, so we'll see what happens. Today I thought I would start with Easter. We had a wonderful time! I hope your family did too! This was a special Easter because it was Kate's first Easter. Both girls had a good time, even if it did rain. We had our family cookout and egg hunt the day before when the weather was nice. Abby hunted eggs, and we would hide them again...she'd hunt them again...then she would hide them for us, and we would find them. Later when we got home, we were going through the eggs and seeing what was inside of them. We found some quarters in some. Boy did she hit the jackpot! That is one thing I remember most about the egg hunt when I was younger. My grandma would put quarters in about 3 of the eggs and it was always a big race to find the eggs with the quarters. Boy did we love hunting for those eggs!

Was there anything special hidden in your eggs when you were little?

So I had to put this picture in here. This was after my attempt to take a million pictures. I wanted to get a really good one of both girls together. Normally, when I try to do that I have Abby sit there and smile while we try to get Kate all situated. As you can see, Kate was sick of taking pictures and wanted to get away! Of course, Abby thought it was hilarious!

Kate loves to stand up! She is doing so good. She can go from any position. She is walking now too! She started that a couple of weeks back. Now, she is taking anywhere between 5 -10 steps at a time. Then she gets lazy and drops down to start crawling :)

Abby found the "golden egg" at church and got these sunglasses. She was so proud!

Abby loves to pose for the camera :)

Eating those fingers!

Thought this one was cute :)

I wish I took good pictures like this!

Here they are looking at their Easter goodies from the Easter bunny.

Goofy girls!

This was the best picture of BOTH of them together all day. Abby is holding one of her Easter eggs she dyed. I don't know why she is holding it up like that. I guess she's proud?!?!

See what I mean...Abby smiles...Kate...not cooperating!

Awwww...sooooo much eaiser at 5!

We had an Easter egg hunt over at my aunt's house. She bought this little wagon for Kate and Selah (my cousin's baby) Selah is about 7 months. As you can see, Abby liked it more than Selah!

Here is Abby dying Easter eggs. We have to do it outside every year because we always end up spilling something!

EVERYTHING goes in her mouth!

I love this shot!

Kate hunted eggs too! Here she is getting one out of the flowers.

And of course the master Easter egg finder...We hid eggs at our house all week to get ready for the "BIG" hunt!

Finding more eggs!

No I don't torture my poor child. I just like pictures! Why can't she?

Easter Bunny Abby

Sunday's Coming!!!

2009-04-11T12:37:00.000-05:00

Very powerful! This brings me to tears everytime I watch it, but....Sunday's Coming!!!

Easter Cookies and Pictures

2009-04-10T17:42:00.007-05:00

I got this from a mother of one of my kids in my class. She said that she did this last year with her kids and really liked it. I am going to try this with Abby this year.

Cookies for Easter to be made the evening before Easter.

You will need: to preheat oven to 300 degrees (this is important - don't wait until you'rehalf done with the recipe)!
1 cup whole pecans 1 tsp.
Vinegar
3 egg whites
Pinch salt
1 cup sugar
Zipper baggie
Wooden spoon
Tape
Bible

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. Vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Palms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white Represents -- in God's eyes -- the purity of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt. 28:1-9

I encourage you to share The Easter Cookie Story With Friends and Family

We took Abby and Kate to get pictures made last Sunday. It is such a HUGE ordeal to go and get BOTH girls' picture made. While we were waiting, Abby was spinning this spinner around looking at the frames that were on it...well...one fell off and grazed Kate's face. Not bad at all, but bad enough so that she couldn't get her pictures made!!! So, I am going to have to take Kate back. Abby went ahead and had pictures made by herself. I thought they turned out good.

I hope everyone has a good Easter. Please take time to read and reflect on what Easter is all about....Our Lord Saviour Jesus, and what He did on the cross that day, and how miraculous it was that He rose.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NIV)

LOST and Beef Taco Skillet

2009-03-25T21:19:00.008-05:00

If anyone is a Lost fan, you have to let me know so we can discuss what is happening! I LOVE LOST! It doesn't hurt that I get to stare at this pretty face every Wednesday night either....

Ohhh...Jack...YES...you are HANDSOME!!!! So anyway...I have been noticing a receipe that keeps popping up in my Better Homes and Garden magazine. I had to try it.

It's called "Beef Taco Skillet."

1 lb of meat

1 can of Campbells Tomato Soup

1 packet of Taco Seasoning

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of salsa

6 flour tortillas cut into 1" squares ( I used a pizza cutter and it got it cut in 30 seconds!)

1 can of beans (optional)

1/2 cup of sour cream (optional, this makes it creamy)

1 small can of green chiles (optional)

Cheese ( I used the fiesta mix, but you can use whatever you like)

1. Brown the meat, drain off your fat (not literally YOUR fat, I wish I could drain off MY fat, but until we figure out how to do that drain off the MEAT fat!)

2. Add the taco seasoning, soup, water, salsa, tortillas, beans, sour cream and chiles. Stir until it has been WELL stirred.

3. Let it sit until it comes to a boil. Turn down to low for 5 minutes. Add your cheese and turn up the heat until it melts.

4. Serve it on your plates with lettuce, tomatoes, more salsa...whatever suits you!

5. Now, sit back...relax...and watch Matthew Fox do his thing out there on that mysterious island..... :0)

This is truely comfort food!

Here are 2 shots of the girls today!

Spring Break!!!

2009-03-23T14:04:00.005-05:00

I really don't have a whole lot to say! I'm so happy it's Spring Break! I really needed it! I have done NOTHING so far all day. I'm always doing something, because there is always something to be done. But I've done nothing, and it feels great! Michael was gone this weekend to a raquetball tournament in Little Rock, so it was just me and the girls. Abby slept with me Saturday night. I was reminded as to why I DON'T like her sleeping with me. I slept with 2 feet in my side ALL night long! But we had fun. We went up to Ozark to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins who were in from Dallas on Spring Break. They have a cabin up there and we always enjoy going out there for a visit. Here are some new pictures of the girls! I hope everyone has a safe and fun Spring Break!

I can hardly remember Kate being this small...She was 1 day old in this picture.

This was Kate coming home from the hospital. Look how BIG her pacifier was!

I was going through some pictures of Kate when she was first born and I came across this one. Kate was about a month old and I was trying to get her and Abby's picture. She wasn't into it!

Then I got this really cute shot!

AWWWW....time flies!

Here she is now....almost 10 months old. She is crawing, pulling up on EVERYTHING, crusing, and standing alone!

Speaking of standing alone....I was trying to get a picture of her standing, but she was in the process of FALLING!

Here's my other sweet girl. I didn't have a digital camera when Abby was a baby. I'm going to try to scan some pictures of her so that you can see what she was like. I think her and Kate look alike when they are little.

Here we are eating sweet potatoes!

She's so sweet. I know she is my daughter and all, but she really is sweet. She has such a big heart. She is so compassionate and I just love her smile!

I had to put this one in here because doesn't this picture make you want to pinch her cheeks!

It's Been Awhile...

2009-03-08T14:13:00.003-05:00

Oh my goodness...It feels like it has been forever since I've been on here. I have been extremely busy and when I have had time to get on the computer, my camera's batteries have been dead so I couldn't get to my pictures. You know I can't post without a picture! This past week has been an extremely STRESSFUL week. Where should I start...
Rebel...Our sweet little new addition to our family has gone to doggie heaven. If you remember Rebel is the little doggie that we adopted because someone left him and his siblings on the side of the road in a box. We had truley grown to love Rebel and had decided to keep him. Our other dog, Dixie, LOVED this dog. They were inseperable. Here is a picture of them, after they had been playing, swinging on our swing.
It just makes me want to cry. Rebel had been gaining weight and doing so good. Well, about 2 weeks ago he started losing weight and not eating so good. I made an appointment to go get hime checked out the next week. Well, by the weekend he got 100 times worse. Not eating, throwing up, not really moving. It was a long weekend. Before work Monday morning I took him up to the vet and explained the symptoms. They said it was probally parvo, but they would do some tests to make sure. I went to school crying, and then the vet called me aroud 10:00 and said that it was parvo and that he was pretty much gone. We made the decision to have hime put down. I soooooo badly wanted to be there and hold him and say goodbye. I'm crying right now thinking of it. The vet we use, Best Friends Pet Clinic, is the absoute best. They are the most loving people and I'm sure they loved on him before hand. They even sent us a card later in the week expressing how sorry they were. The vet had asked if we had any other dogs, and of course we have Dixie. She said to bring her in. We took Dixie in the next day and she checked out totally fine. Thank the Lord! I know that Dixie is missing her little friend. We would like to get another one, but I need to talk to the vet to see how long I should wait because I know that parvo is very contagious. I would like to get a little lab or golden retriever. Here is a picture of Abby with Rebel.

For those of you who know Abby, you know that she has such a sensitive heart towards animals. I was so scared to tell her. Michael and I sat her down later and told her and she took it well. Of course there were a lot of tears, but Rebel was hurting and now he's not. WE LOVE YOU REBEL!

That is how my week started off. Then I had lots of STRESSORS at school! LOTS of them! I won't go into all that here. But let me tell you....LOTS of STRESSORS!ha

I returned to school Tuesday with the news that one of the little boys in my class whose mom just had a baby on Wednesday of the previous week had passed on. He was only 6 days old. He had a virus of some sort. I still don't know the cause for sure. My friend, Rachel, who teaches 2nd grade with me, and I went to the funeral on Friday. This was my first baby funeral and I hope that it is my last. There is absolutely nothing more heartbreaking. It hit very close to home since I have a little one who is only 9 months. I cried and cried at the thought of what those parents must be going through. Please keep that family in your prayers. That is something that I don't believe you can ever get over and I know that they need our prayers.

My weekend has been much better. I've played with my girls and hubby, my dog and spent some time with good friends. Kate is crawling like a mad woman now and pulling up on EVERYTHING! She is so fast and can go anywhere. She has both of her bottom 2 teeth. So cute! She was sick last weekend, throwing up, but is MUCH better now. Here are some pictures of miss Kater-poo doing her thing!

Abby is getting ready to start soccer again. I didn't think that I would EVER like soccer, but I have really enjoyed watching her! She is also going to be a flower in the royal garden for her tap and ballet perfomance of "The Beauty and the Beast." She is so excited. Here is just a quick shot of my pretty girl!

Everyone has heard me talk about The Pioneer Woman...well...I'm so jealous. My friend Kacee has won one of the pioneer woman's contest and is getting to go TO the pioneer woman's house to met her and BAKE with Bakerella! I AM SO ENVIOUS!!! She has promised to take lots of pictures and tell me all about Marlboro Man!

I will be back some time this week. I've charged my batteries so all is good to go!

Enjoy!

My First Blogger Award

2009-02-16T20:34:00.004-06:00

I'm so excited to announce that I got my first blogger award. It is the Great Attitude/Gratitude Award! Thank you Laurie! I love looking at her blog and watching Brock grow. It was so neat because we went through the first trimester of our pregnancies together.

So I am now passing this lovely award on to:

Kacee, Micah, Teresa, Angie, and Rachel

Here are the rules:

*Put the logo on your blog or post

*Nominate your favorite blogs which show Great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

*Be sure to link to your nominees within your post

*Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog

*Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award

Happy Day of Love!

2009-02-15T15:20:00.009-06:00

It feels like it's been forever since I've been on here. I have had the busiest 2 weeks! Kate is crawling AND she cut her first tooth! She continues to amaze me so much by what she can do everyday! Abby has had a busy 2 weeks too. We had a mommy and Abby night. We went and ate dinner at our favorite mexican resturant, Juans, and then we went and saw the Lippinzan horses. We had such a good time! It was a lot of fun just for the 2 of us to go out and have fun. We have decided to keep the puppy, Rebel. He is just too sweet and he keeps Dixie company. Dixie has not been digging holes anymore and we think that is due to the fact that she is too busy keeping up with Rebel and trying to hide her bones from him! ha

Abby had the 100th day of school the other day. It was a lot of fun to get ready for.

Valentines Day was a lot of fun too. Mom and dad came and got the girls Friday night. I made dinner, Pioneer Womans "meal of love" roasted garlic mashed potatoes, pan fried steak, and chocolate pie. It was all delish! Last year Michael and I started staying at home and eating dinner and then going to see a movie. I can't imagine life without our girls, but it is really nice to just sit, the 2 of us, and eat dinner at HOME. We went and saw Taken. If you want a good movie to see, this is the one to see. I drank to much coke and I had to use the restroom, but I didn't get up because I KNEW that I would miss something. It is soooo action packed! We had a wonderful evening. I am reminded, on this day of love, why it is that I love Michael so much. He is such a wonderful husband and father. He loves me and the girls so much. I am such a lucky girl and I know it!

For Valentines Day we thought we would take the girls out on a date. I thought we could go to Chick-Fil-A and have dinner, I thought "how crowded could it be on Valentine's Day?" ha ha ha ha!!!! They were having a candlelight dinner night there. It was VERY crowded, but it was a nice atmosphere. After dinner we were going to take Abby to the mall to go Glo-Golfing. Well...we get there and it was closed down. Abby had just been there 2 weeks ago! She was a little disappointed, but got over it when we told her we would go bowling next week!

I am very lucky to have such a wonderful family! I hope that everyone else had a good day as well!

Enjoy!

Here we are at the horse show! We had a lot of fun!

I had to throw in just a couple of pictures of the horses we saw. They were BEAUTIFUL and so well trained!!!

He is JUMPING!!! Abby loved this!

We saw Abby's best friend, Kate, from school.

What a poser!

OK...I found Dixie looking like this after Abby had gotten ahold of her!

Here is Abby on the 100th day of school. We made a 100th day t-shirt. I wrote 100 on it and she painted 100 dots on there while we counted outloud to 100. She is holding 100 kisses to share with her classmates.

Abby and Rebel...yes...I think we are keeping him...

Miss Kater-poo

Here is my little Valenine!

Michael and I got her Madagascar 2 for Valentine's Day. I guess you could say that she liked the gift!

Here is Kate eating her first Valentine's card she got in the mail from Grandma "Linker" Lankford.

She is opeing her present, but she looks very confused!

Miss Abby...she has this goofy smile when she smiles for the camera now! I tell her all the time to just smile!

Here is Kate with her "camera" that she got for Valentine's Day.

And finally...sisters...aren't they cute?

Puppy needs a home!

2009-01-29T20:34:00.004-06:00

So today at school I was minding my own business, grading papers (this was about 3:25 after school) and then one of the teachers makes an announcement that there is a box of puppies at the school because someone dropped off a whole box of them. I was like "Ohhhh...I have to see what they look like." I went to go see and I almost started crying! They were adorable! There were 9 of them and they are so little! The guy who found them said that he was driving down the road when he noticed this box turned over and 2 puppies walking around it. He pulled over and looked inside and saw a bunch of eyes staring back at him! Can you imagine!??! How cruel for someone to leave these beautiful dogs! I held one of them and all of the teachers were like "you have to take him....he needs you!" They were all boys except for one of them. The one I had was a boy. Well....that's right....there is a puppy in my kitchen right now. Dixie, our other dog, cannot get over him! I think she scared the poor puppy, we are calling him Rebel, to death. I would have taken the whole box, but Michael is about to kill me for taking just one! I think this is the cutest dog, but I don't know if we will keep him. If anyone is interested in a cute little puppy let me know! I have no idea what kind of dog it is, but he is a cutie!
I also posted some pictures of the girls on our days off with the ice! We had a lot of fun!

Here's little "Rebel"!

Kate doesn't know what to think!

I went to get something and came back and found Kate doing this!

Dixie's ball was stuck in the ice!

Saturday...Girls Day

2009-01-24T21:48:00.008-06:00

We had a lot of visitors today. Michael had to work ALL day so I was happy to have people over! My mom came over for a little bit this morning. After lunch and a nap my aunts Margie and Tami came over and also my cousin Laura. They brought Selah along with them. Margie's son, my cousin, Cory is Selah's dad. So I guess that makes Abby and Kate, Selah's 2nd cousin???? I'm not quite sure how that works. They stayed for a bit and we got the girls pictures together. They are about 4 months apart. Then Michael's parents came by and got Abby. Abby was going to spend the evening with them. So, it was just Kate and me! We ran to Target and then came back for a bottle. Later on, we went out to dinner with my parents and then we went back to Target! ha I love Target.

I also meant to tell everyone that Kate had her eye appointment yesterday to check on any problems from the JXG. Nothing wrong. Her eyes are perfect, as you can tell from her BIG blues in the pictures below! Let me just tell you though that trying to get a 7 month old to hold still while someone is trying to look through their dilated eyes is NOT very much fun! I'm just so very thankful that God has kept her healthy and safe! We are so very blessed and lucky!
"God is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine." Ephesians 3:20

If you still haven't check out the pioneer woman's website...it's a must! I'm going to try out one of her pasta receipes next week. I'll let everyone know how it turns out!

This is what I saw when I walked into Kate's room after her nap! Isn't she precious. Wake up times are a favorite of mine.

"Kate" jump up

Love the smile!

This is the mound of hair that I wake up to every morning. Abby and I argue about 2 things...brushing her hair and brushing her hair some more. Oh the price we pay for long hair!

But then we make up after it's been combed!

Selah and Kate

Patty Cake!

Who is this Pioneer Woman???

2009-01-23T22:20:00.003-06:00

So I was reading my friend's, Laurie, blog and she kept talking about this "pioneer woman". Everytime she would mention it I would just let out a laugh because it sounded soooo funny! So I was thinking "Who is this Pioneer Woman???". I scrolled down on Laurie's blog, which is what I should have done in the first place, and she gives the website. So I get on this thing and I'm hooked. This woman does it ALL!!! Her receipe's are AMAZING and her stories are a HOOT! She calls her husand "Marlboro Man" and it cracks me up. She tells the story of how they met. If you get a chance you have got to check out her website http://thepioneerwoman.com/. The girls have been in bed since 8:00 and Michael checked in early so I have been on there reading and reading for the past couple of hours. You have to check it out because she is hysterical!

LOST and Chicken Tacos

2009-01-21T22:21:00.003-06:00

O.K....I'm a HUGE fan of Lost! Tonight was the premiere and I was soooo looking forward to it all day. At dinner Michael and I were discussing possible things that could happen. I was telling him my theory on how the island will be going back in time (thanks to Jenny). Well...he thought I was cRaZy! If any of you saw the show tonight, then you know who was right! ha I love the show and I love how it makes me go hummm..... I also made a new receipe tonight...chicken tacos. I found this on the internet. I wanted to make something in the crockpot for tonight and this was super easy.
Put a can of chicken broth and a package of taco seasoning in the crockpot. Mix it together. Add your thawed chicken (however much you want...I used 2 BIG pieces of chicken breasts for Michael, Abby and me) I put mine in at 7:30 this morning and left it on low. When I got home around 4:00 I pulled the chicken apart (with 2 forks) and let it continue to cook until we ate. We ate it on soft taco shells with all of the fix ins! This is a new favorite. When we were eating Abby patted me on the arm and said Momma this is so good I think I'll have another. She is so funny. So in all we had a very eventful night. LOST and Chicken Tacos....what a great Wednesday!

Stressful Weekend!

2009-01-19T12:10:00.001-06:00

I've been meaning to get on here and post the lastest on Kate, but I haven't had a chance. On Monday we got a call from the dermatologist. She said that they got the results back on the tumor they removed from Kate's arm. She said that it was JXG. I was upset when I heard, but the doctor didn't seem very concerned. She sent an order to get blood work done (JXG can be the result of some frightening things) and told us to keep the eye appointment that we already have scheduled. So...on Friday we went to the doctor's office and they had to take blood from Kate's arm. I hate having to put Kate through all of this. It's no fun having to keep holding your child down while people cut stuff off of her arm and draw blood out. Michael couldn't get off of work so mom came with me. While they were trying to put the needle in I was down kissing Kate and talking to her. I looked over to see if it was over and they hadn't even gotten any blood out!!! They said her veins kept rolling and they couldn't get the needle in. Finally....the got the needle in and they got the blood. Since it was Friday they wouldn't get the blood work back until Monday (today). It was a very LONG weekend waiting for the blood test. For those of you who know me well know that I research EVERYTHING. The more I kept reading about JXG on the internet, the more I kept crying. Michael told me to quit reading stuff about it and that everything would be fine. So...this morning we get the call from the doctor. Everything came back normal and healthy! Praise the Lord! I feel that a huge weight has been lifted. We have the eye appointment at the end of the month, but I'm not to concerned about that.

I am enjoying my day off with my family and I am looking forward to a 4 day work week!

Here are some new pictures of the girls.

Kate LOVES her Jenny Jump Up!

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I had to grab my camera when I saw this. She couldn't put her arms down!

Abby was so proud of her puzzle she put together!

Abby's Ballet Class

2009-01-10T10:10:00.001-06:00

Abby's ballet class always has a "Visitor's Night." I got to go in and see her with her class. She is quite the little dancer. She loves ballet. Her love for it grew even stronger when she had her ballet recital last year. Last year they put on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Her little class were squirrels. She LOVED getting up on the stage to perform. This year they will be doing "Beauty and the Beast." Her ballet and tap class will be "flowers in the royal garden." The neat thing about her ballet class is that her teacher, Mrs. Penny, was one of my ballet teachers when I was younger. I hope that Abby continues to love dance because it is so much fun watching her!

I tried FOREVER to rotate this video. I've had to rotate videos before and for some reason I can't figure out how to rotate this one. If you don't get a crick in your neck....Abby's the one in the skirt!

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Update on Kate...

2009-01-06T21:58:00.003-06:00

That rhymes...how cute!
After doing lots and lots of reading and talking with others, Michael and I decieded to reschedule Kate's appointment with the surgeon. I did NOT feel comfortable with her going in for surgery to remove this from her arm. Everything that I have read has said, that if it is JXG, it goes away on its own and that surgery is NOT recommened! So, I did some research and found another dermatologist that is also in pediatrics. I found one and made an appointment to get a 2nd opinion.
Well, we had our appointment with the 2nd dermatologist today. I have been talking to several friends about this whole situation with Kate and her arm and I found out that 2 of my friends use the dermatologist that we made our new appointment with! They couldn't say enough good things about her! They have a website so I was able to read about the doctors and about their practice. I was very impressed. First they took a picture of Kate's bump on her shoulder. The doctor came in and looked at it and then proceeded to talk to us about it. She said it looked like to her that it was pilomatricoma (which is NOT what the 1st dr. told us). I told her about our 1st appointment and how that dr. said it was JXG. She said that it was a possiblity, but that she has seen lots of JXG and she didn't think that is what it was. She said that she could take it off today and send it off to the lab. I said "really?!?!" because that is one of the reasons why we wanted a 2nd opinion because the other dr. said he wanted her to have surgery. Her jaw dropped open and she said "What?!" She said there was no reason what so ever to do that. When I also told her that the other dr. thought that it was JXG but wasn't to sure because he has seen only 1 other case her jaw almost dropped again. She couldn't believe that we went to a doctor who had no idea what this was. She said that yes she could remove it today and that she has done this countless times on children. Sooo.....IT'S GONE!!!! She has 3 stiches though :( Kate was not happy about the shot (local anesthesia) but we got it off. When she was removing it there was a cyst underneath it and that pretty much confirms her diagnosis of pilomatricoma (benign skin tumor derived from the hair follicle). All the stuff that we were seeing was it calcifying. It is being sent off to the lab to get the real diagnosis, but I feel MUCH better. I am so glad that we got a 2nd opinion. It also shows us how faithful our God is. We have been praying for Kate and believe that he has answered our prayers. As my pastor Gary would say "GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!"
I will be posting some pictures soon!

Our First Christmas as a Family of 4

2009-01-04T14:30:00.013-06:00

We had a very good Christmas. This was Kate's 1st Christmas and Abby's 6th Christamas. They both had a wonderful time and enjoyed visiting with family. In all we had 5 Christmas celebrations in 3 days! I know that Kate had to think that we were all crazy. The girls are very excited about all of their gifts and also very thankful!
Enjoy!

Pretty Smile!

I love this picture!

Kate's new blocks.

Pretty blues!

Abby loved her walker. I know Kate will too!

Abby's Christmas present from Grandma "Linker".

Here we are!

I just thought this was a funny picture because they are all making a different kind of face!

Sisters!

Abby and her horses.

Pretty smile!

Kate is playing with her fishbowl!

Abby wanted a "techer set" for Christmas. Santa granted her wish!

Kate loves her "guitar"!

Here is Abby's "My Puppy Grows".

Here are both the girls with their Santa gifts.

Michael and Kate. Very cute!

Here is Kate with her "guitar".

Abby loves Barbies and Horses!

This is the horse set she was just opening.

Isn't she cute?!?!

Kate is trying to see what present she got next!

She is VERY excited!

Kate's BooBoo

2008-12-30T23:24:00.003-06:00

I have SOOOO many pictures from Christmas to look at and edit. I found 3 of the girls that I thought were very cute. I'll add more later. The picture with Abby and Kate together in their pj's is very cute. When we had Abby, I wanted to start a family tradition of sorts. Michael and I thought that it would be really neat to give Abby a gift on Christmas Eve night for her to open. The gift is the same every year...pajamas! I love pajamas and so does Abby! I look forward to shopping for her special "Christmas pajamas" every year. After she opens her present, she can put them on to wear for Christmas morning! (I have pre-washed them of course!) I love our little tradition and I got to carry it on with Kate. Abby and Kate had matching (different colors, same design) p.j.'s this year!
On to Kate's arm...a couple of months ago Kate got what appeared to be a pimple on her arm. I didn't think to much about it. Then it didn't go away and it started to get bigger. I was going to wait until her next well-baby checkup to talk to the Dr. about it. Well....I was talking about it at work and someone said it could be a staph infection. I quickly made a Dr.'s appointment and we went in. The Dr. said that it wasn't a staph infection, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. He made us an appointment with a derematologist. People have said it looked like a wart, mole, etc.... I wasn't too worried. We went to the appointment yesterday and the doctor at first kind of said hummm....and wellllll....I believe it is juvenile xanthogranuloma or JXG. He started to explain it, but all I heard was tumor and could lead to problems with her eyes. I immediately started to cry. When he saw me crying he said that he didn't mean to worry me! I wanted to say "Well what did you expect??!!!" He said that it is very rare and that he has only seen 1 other case of it. He left the room to go read up some more on it. He came back with better news. It probaly won't affect her eyes because the JXG is not on her eyes it's on her shoulder and the tumor is benign. He brought in another dr to look at it. This dr has seen them before and he said that it is most likely JXG but not to worry. We have to have it removed. Since she is so young they can't just do a local anathesthia and then cut it off. We are meeting with a surgeon on Friday to see what and how this needs to be done. I'm very nervous but I'm thankful it's nothing too seriously bad. I've done a lot of reading up on this in the past 24 hours and I feel a lot more better about it now than I did. Unless the JXG was on or IN her eye, she will not have to worry about her eyes. The dr still wants us to go and take her to the eye doctor to be on the safe side.
Please keep her in your prayers. I don't want them to have to put her to sleep to take this thing off, but if that is what has to happen then we will do it. We've prayed over Kate and I have complete trust and faith that God is watching over and protecting her. Our church has been handing out prayer cloths and Kate has one under her mattress that she is sleeping on this very second.
I'll update everyone after Friday!

Here is Kate's JXG!!! :(

TWINKIES!!!

Christmas Sunday

2008-12-21T14:47:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures of us on Christmas Sunday. This is a special day because it is Kate's first Christmas Sunday. Our church always hands out treat bags and Kate really enjoyed it. Abby and Kate had dresses that were alike. Abby's was pink and Kate's was cream. They looked beautiful!

Enjoy!

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All I Want For Christmas...

2008-12-20T21:54:00.005-06:00

Abby's preschool had their Christmas program this week. They sang really good. Abby loves to sing. When she sings at home she is SOOOOO serious. She does the little vibratey thing with her voice when she holds out a note! It's so funny! There was something in the sanctuary that was making her eyes water. If you watch her in the video below she was wiping her eyes. She must have been allergic to something. I'm very sad that this is her last preschool Christmas program. I don't want preschool to be over for her. They grow up too fast!

Enjoy!

Abby and her friends from school
Pretty girl!

I don't remember what they were singing.

Aren't they cute?

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!!!

She sang really good!

Abby and her friend Kate

Getting ready to sing

My girls are growing up!

2008-12-14T15:18:00.003-06:00

Everything has been good here at the Holycross house. Kate has been busy sitting up. She is trying to crawl, but gets frustrated and wants off of her stomach within a minute. We are eating baby food now and she likes it. She tried bananas the other night and LOVED them. Abby has been busy with school and ballet. She loves ballet, but ever since we saw The Nutcracker, she is IN LOVE with ballet. Mom, Abby, and I went and saw alma high school put on "The Wizard of Oz". It was wonderful! Abby absolutely loved it. She is all about that right now too. We are trying to see if we can find the wizard of oz on dvd. Don't know if they have put it on there or not yet. I'm ready for this week to be over with. The last week before Christmas break is always hard. It's like the last week of school in some ways! The girls can't wait for Christmas. I'm so excited that Kate is sitting up in time for Christmas. Abby's school is putting on their Christmas concert this week. I will put up some pictures of that after it is over and done with.

Enjoy!

Kate LOVES to play in her walker. She is in that thing probally up to 3 hours a day!
This is her "I'm hungry...feed me" face :)

Laughing at something Abby is doing.

Here is Abby at her school. Her class sang for the "Pacesetters".

Us girls being goofy :0)

Abby and Kate

BLUE EYES!

Here is Kate playing in her crib.

Kate sits up really good now.

The girls in the morning time.

SmILe!

Here is Abby and me before we went and saw "The Great Russian Nutcracker"

Pictures

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Here are some pictures we had taken of the girls this past weekend. I thought they turned out really good.

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It was hat day at school...Abby was a cowgirl!

Here's Kate eating with a spoon for the first time.

She mostly kept her tounge out the whole time!

Abby blowing out her candles

Abby's cake...It was a horse party

All the party guests

Abby got a bike from her grammy and pappy

One of her birthday presents

Abby's cake on her birthday

Abby's horse cake she took to share with her class

BUSY!

2008-11-09T14:34:00.004-06:00

It has been forever since I've been on here it seems. I started back to work about a month ago. It hasn't been easy. It is so hard to leave the girls everyday.

Kate is 5 months old today. She is getting bigger and so is her personality. Abby had her 5 year old physical the other day. She is very healthy and getting taller. She is 3 inches from being 4 foot tall! She's our little ballerina and soccer player!

I've got a bunch of pictures. Some are from Halloween. Abby was a 50's girl and Kate was a lamb. We also visited a pumpkin patch and got a view pictures there. Abby's 5th birthday was October 13 and there are a few pictures from her party. We had it at Creekmore Park. This was the first time we invited friends from school. There were quite a few kids there. I was TIRED after the party. She had a good day though :)

Since I am finally getting used to going back to work I will be better at updating and adding photos. It's been hard because what I was used to getting done during the day, I have to get done at night now.

Enjoy! :0)

Kate is 4 months old!

2008-10-09T09:26:00.004-05:00

Kate is 4 months old today. How time flies! She has really discovered her feet this week. She loves playing with them and Michael showed her how they can go in her mouth! Gross! She keeps trying to stick her feet in her mouth and I have to keep pulling them out. She is rolling over while lying on her back to her stomach really good now. The other day when I was doing my class at the gym, she was on her blanket and I looked down and she had rolled over! It was funny. She loves to give smiles too. Just smile at her and she will smile back! I have to go back to work on Monday. I don't want to return! I have really enjoyed my time off with Abby and Kate. Monday is going to be very hard so keep me in your prayers! Of all days to return to work....Abby's birthday! I'm going to miss her snack party at school! The pictures of Abby below are of her and the letter bucket. It was Abby's turn this week to bring home the letter bucket. Her letter was "e". We had to go around the house and find items that started with the letter "e". She came up with: earrings, envelope, eraser, Eeyore, elf, Easter bunny, egg, engine (she has a Baldor shirt with an engine on it), elephant, earphones, and eyedrops. We could have put a couple more things in there, but as you can see the bucket was getting full. Abby also made Pappy some brownies. There is a little girl across the street where they live that is always making him brownies. She gets jealous, so she decided to make him brownies. You can see what she looks like after she licks the bowl. Enjoy!

Kate Rolls Over!

2008-10-02T10:48:00.004-05:00

Kate and I were playing this morning and she was rolling over from her stomach to her back. She's done this before, but everytime I get out the camera she quits. So, I tried getting out the camera again and she did it for the camera! The first video is hilarious. She's talking and then all of the sudden she spits up! The next video she actually rolls over. The picture above this is of her and how proud she is of herself! She wore herself out because right now she is sleeping. :)

Abby's Puppy Dixie

2008-10-01T11:58:00.004-05:00

Abby has been begging for a puppy for a looooonnnnggg time now. Michael and I have been talking it over and we were going to surprise her with one for her birthday. Well....Abby loves to go to this small, family owned pet store. They have all kinds of animals, but best of all they always have puppies there. You can hold them and play with them. Abby visits so often, she is a little celebrity there. They know her by name! When we walked in this past weekend we saw several puppies. Abby went straight to the chiwawa's. I spotted this cute little blonde puppy. I immediately picked her up and I was sold on her. Abby saw me hold her and fell in love. Long story short, she ours now. We named her Dixie. She's a cocker spaniel mix. She is a doll. Very laid back personality. Doesn't jump, doesn't bark, doesn't bite (which is one thing I hate about most puppies) She is perfect for Abby. Here are some pictures of the puppy and Abby.

When I was fixing Abby's hair yesterday, Kate was laying on the floor and the next thing I know, she had turned over! I grabbed my camera and got a picture. The bottom 2 are of Kate napping. She LOVES to nap in our big chair, I think it's funny! And sometimes when she is napping she has one of her eyes a little open, but she really is sleeping. You can see her doing this in the bottom picture.

Abby's School Field Trip

2008-09-22T14:01:00.003-05:00

Abby's preschool took a field trip to the state fair today. There are livestock, poultry, and Old McDonalds Farm. Old McDonalds Farm is were they can feed and pet the animals. Here are some of the pictures that I took of her. They had a zebra out there this year which I thought was neat. In one of the pictures the goat was trying to take all her food, you will see Abby laughing. I had to include the picture of her and her friends holding hands. They are so cute at this age and they just love each other. I don't want to send her to Kindergarten next year, I just want to keep her at home and keep her sweet and innocent!!! I also included some pictures of Kate at the bottom. She is really growing. I didn't realize how big she was getting until yesterday when we visited my cousin at the hospital. He just had a baby girl. Kate looked HUGE next to her!

Abby having a snack

There was a neat shark exhibit

Abby feeding a camel!

Abby plays soccer!

2008-09-14T22:01:00.004-05:00

Ok...This messed up on me. The pictures were supposed to be after what I wrote. I know now what I did wrong. Scroll down to see what I wrote. Enjoy the pictures!

Abby and Braden...BFF

Here's Abby getting the ball!

Running hard!

She scored a goal!

Abby is playing soccer. She IDOLIZES her cousin Bethany so she wants to play soccer since Bethany does. She is really liking it. Her best friend, Braden, is on the team too. She looks so cute out there running around getting the ball. They ALL go after it and half the time they all end up on the ground. I sometimes don't know if I'm watching soccer or football. She has scored some goals and is really proud of herself. I put some bows in her hair on the first game and when Michael saw the video of her later that night he told me that you don't wear bows in soccer. He wasn't there the first night because he was out of town on a job. I told him I would wear bows and so will Abby! ha The next game I put the bow in her ponytail, which does look better.

Here is Abby before the game.

Click on the "September (13)" on the right and you will see all of the pictures of Abby as a flower girl!

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Bumbo!

2008-09-09T22:52:00.003-05:00

A couple of teachers at my mom's school told her about this baby "device" called a Bumbo. We looked it up online and I had to go and get one. It allows babys to sit up even if they can not sit up on there own yet. Kate LOVES it! She feels like such a big girl and she loves to look around. If any of you have ever held Kate you know that she HAS to move her head around so she can see everyTHING and everyONE! So this is right up her alley. We are having a lot of fun with this!

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Abby the Flower Girl

2008-09-09T22:40:00.004-05:00

My cousin Brian got married this past weekend in Hot Springs. Abby was the flower girl. This is her second time to be a flower girl. She's becoming a pro! This was the first time that I have ever been to Hot Springs and I loved it! We were busy with wedding stuff so we didn't get to do a whole lot. Saturday morning we went to the MidAmerica Science Museum and stayed there for a couple of hours. We LOVED it! This first picture of Abby was so pretty I thought. The wedding was outside on Lake Hamilton. Michael and I said that when we retire we are moving out there and buying a hosue on the lake! :) One of the pictures is of my cousin Laura and Abby. I thought it was a very good one of the both of them.
Kate is a very good traveler. She slept wonderful and it was hard to get her up the next day. We needed to get going and she did not want to get up! Abby is always a good traveler. She gets so excited to go to hotels. She brought a couple of stuffed animals and some books. As soon as we got in the room she set them up to make us all feel more "at home". She is so funny.
I hope you enjoy the pictures!

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Kate's Dedication

2008-08-27T23:24:00.003-05:00

We dedicated Kate this past Sunday. It was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. As soon as we walked up there I could feel the presence of God so strong. It was very overpowering. I got teared up while Gary was talking about her at first. When he started praying over her the tears just kept coming. It wasn't just me because Gary got emotional too. He later told me that he had never gotten so choked up during a baby dedication like that. He said it was just an awesome thing to look and see the heritage that was standing there. I know that God has great things in store for Abby and Kate. It was such a powerful and precious moment to dedicate her to God. This was one day that I will never forget.

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1st Day of Pre-K

2008-08-27T23:18:00.003-05:00

Abby started her first day of Pre-K this past Monday. She is going to the same school she did last year. We absolutely LOVE it! They are wonderful! They really love the children and the kids learn so much. This year her class is called the Rainbows. I have really enjoyed it because I have been able to drop her off and pick her up. That is the down fall of being a teacher, you miss out on these precious moments. I LOVE being at home with the girls right now. It is so hard to go off to work and leave them. I am going to be volunteering in her class as much as I can before I have to go back to work. I just love her school and I know that Abby does too! She wasn't nervous at all! Now next year when she starts Kindergarten I will be a MESS!

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Doctor, Doctor

2008-08-19T15:59:00.001-05:00

Kate went for her 2 month checkup today. She weighed 10lb 15oz and measured 23 1/2 inches. She's going to be tall like Abby we think. The doctor said that she is doing great, very healthy. Then came the shots. It was horrible. Michael is out of town so I had to be there by myself with Abby. Abby tried to show her support, but I think she was just happy it wasn't her! :) Kate cried, not as bad as I thought she would. It's horrible to have to sit there and watch them get stuck by that needle :( We came home and she has been fine since! She's a trooper. I got some pictures of her legs with the bandaids on them.

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Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-08-17T20:15:00.001-05:00

I've been really bad about getting on here. I'm going to try a little harder to update this better. This past week as been busy with school starting tomorrow. I don't have to go back (YAY!!!) until October 13. Here are some pictures I have taken of the girls. The bottom picture is of Abby and Kate laying in our bed. Abby let Kate borrow her blankie and Kate LOVED the way it felt. It's very silky! She wouldn't let go of it. Abby was a good sport about it and said that she could borrow it. :) Kate loves to play with her keys. She holds on to them and throws her hands around. She is really smiling. It's fun to get her to talk and smile! Kate went to bed last night at 9:30 and didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning. She normally gets up around 5:30 to eat. I woke up at 6:15 and realized that she hadn't woken up yet. I got scared and went to her room and felt her chest. She was breathing!!! I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't because I got myself worked up.
Abby is doing good. Very proud of Kate. She helps out a lot. She is getting ready to start back to preschool on August 25. We go to meet her teacher this Friday. We are excited!
I think that is about it here. Michael will be out of town all week long so I'll be lonely without him! I hope everyone has a good week!

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Abby and Kate

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Laughing!

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I love her!

2008-07-26T18:08:00.001-05:00

Isn't she cute!

2008-07-26T18:08:00.000-05:00

Laughing!

2008-07-26T18:07:00.000-05:00

Kate smiling

2008-07-26T18:06:00.000-05:00

Here we go!

2008-07-26T18:00:00.000-05:00

Ok...So a lot of my friends are doing blogs and I thought I would try one. I figured this would be a good way for my family who doesn't live in Fort Smith to get updates on the girls and what is going on with us. You'll have to bare with me as I try to figure everything out.
Kate and Abby are both doing really good. I'm going to try and put on a couple of pictures that I took today. Kate is really smiling. It's so cute!