Lately

We started our morning off with beignets. Cut some biscuits in half, fry them in some Canola oil, then cover them with powdered sugar. Thanks to Katie Compton for showing us just how easy it is to have a yummy treat anytime!

We had some happy eaters too! Kate wore the powdered sugar all over her face, and Blake stuffed the whole thing in his mouth.

Everyone got haircuts today but me- but that is only because I am the hairdresser. This is Blake's finished boy haircut, compared to his earlier mullet. He looks stressed in this picture, but he actually enjoyed climbing all over the chair while I tried to cut his hair. I didn't plan on cutting Kate's hair, but once she watched me cut Brandon's and Blake's, she said it was her turn.

Brandon ended up getting the bug on Monday, so we had another few fun days at home! I wish I could give you a good report on Kate's sleeping, but it just seems to get worse. I think it started with waking up throwing up last week, and she was scared it would happen again. Then it just turned into a control issue. I finally talked to her pediatrician about it the other day because I don't want to shut her in her room if she is legitimately afraid. BUT, Dr. Peters said this is definitely a Terrible 2 fit. I put a safety knob cover on the inside of her door, but she figured out how to open it. Then, I thought about turning her knob inside out so I could control the lock and not worry about her locking herself in, but I got a tight pressure mounted baby gate so she can still see out if she is afraid, but she cannot run out of her room. This has made for some serious noise! Sweet Blake just sleeps right through it, but I keep wondering when he is going to get fed up with it. She has fallen asleep sitting up a few times when I go in to calm her down, and she even fell asleep during lunch at Mother's Day Out this week. At least we know she is human and still sleeps sometime.

We are trying to read, say our prayers, and get out of her room without looking back- but she is pretty smart. She has pulled every toy that could hold her weight and slid her changing table to the door to try and climb out. Last night, I heard her scream something about her pajamas while she was throwing a fit, and I got nervous. Sure enough, when I got to her room, she had all her lights on and was standing stark naked in her doorway. All this was after she had thrown every book out of her room. Can you say TEMPER!

Please pray that this battle of the wills will end soon, it is taking its toll on me!

Where Have We Been?

Kate wants to show you her boo-boo on her chin. I picked her up from the nursery after Bible study, and she had a band-aid on her chin. When she finally let me pull it off (which took a while), there was a tiny dot of a scratch- drama queen!

Blake wants to spend EVERY WAKING MINUTE outside. If you even crack the door, he stands there begging, "side, side, side." I have started walking him out for every little thing I do outside, feed the dog, check the mail, etc. He doesn't care if it is freezing cold, he just is an outside boy. This day happened to be pretty warm, so the kids were able to play outside for a while.

Brandon and I raked while the kids napped, and when they woke up, they wanted to help. I am sure you can imaging how much "help" they were. Do you see Blake walking right through a pile of leaves?

Anyway, onto news around here... there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Kate put her pacifiers in an envelope to mail to the "paci fairy" so she can give them to a baby that needs it. She did ok with it, but we have had a few temper tantrums for it lately. I guess it didn't help that the night we took it away was also the night she got the stomach bug. That is the bad news! Kate came home from the nursery after Bible study on Wednesday and played all afternoon. She started telling me her tummy hurt, but how can you believe a 2 year old? So, we didn't do anything special for her tummy. We put her to bed, and she was so excited about giving her paci to the paci fairy, that she did pretty well, until 10 or so. She coughed and then cried and whined until Brandon went to check on her. Then he called my name to come help, which is never a good sign! We decided not to give her the pacifier because we didn't want her to know we still had them, she had done such a good job "mailing" them off. She did fine, she slept on me all night long on the couch.

She was pretty much over the bug the next day, just kind of weak. Brandon was on call Thursday night, and Kate was particularly difficult to put to bed. I was tired from no sleep the night before, but I also felt a little queasy... so I let her sleep with me. I just knew I was getting the bug, and then it hit! Wow does it hit adults harder than kids! I was up all night, and finally texted Brandon in the morning that he had to find someone to call in some Phenergan for me or I was going to die (he doesn't like to prescribe things for his own family). Somehow, he was able to come home in the morning instead of the afternoon after being on call, which was amazing. He picked up my medicine and some gatorade, and then I disappeared in my bed for the entire day. Literally, the entire day! I slept all day, and then all night last night. Kate was my little nurse. She refused to go play in the den, she wanted to lay with me. I told her if she could be still and quiet, she could stay. She stayed in my bed with me from 10 until 1:30, not moving and not talking! When we got up, she asked me, "can I talk now?" Isn't that sad? Anyway, I woke up this morning feeling much better. I washed clothes, sheets, scrubbed bathrooms, cloroxed everything I could see, etc. And then, Blake started throwing up tonight! It is like a domino effect, but Brandon has not had it yet. Please pray that he doesn't get it, because by the time it hits him, it will be when he needs to be working, and he can't really miss any work!

I was thinking how funny/gross it is to be a mom of kids with the stomach bug. First of all, I would NEVER have thought I could handle throw up on or around me, but when Kate was sick, she freaked out if you weren't holding her, so she actually laid on me with a towel in between us, and she threw up on the towel. Disgusting, I know! But, she was comforted and it was easier to clean up. Secondly, when I was sick, I realized that I was not even concerned about how long I was going to be sick, I was just praying that Blake wouldn't get it because I couldn't take care of him. Part of that prayer was answered, he did not get it that night, but he got it afterall (at least I can take care of him tonight). Thirdly, I was kind of thinking that I may want to catch another bug before bathing suit season comes along. There went a good five pounds I wanted to lose!

I hope you aren't too grossed out, and I sure hope you are not home sick with the bug! I hear it is flying around!

Cold Day Fun

On cold days, we tend to not get out much. And things get a little crazy! The kids climbed up onto the chair in Blake's room to play one day. Once I got the remote out of Kate's hands and the sound machine out of his, we were safe to play on the chair. Kate is really into "funny face time" these days. I think we have Uncle Derek to thank for that one!

The kids get a little whiny when there is nothing to do, and there are only so many cartoons we can watch, and I can't physically watch Shrek again! So, we got out the tunnel that my parents gave them for Christmas. It was A HIT! They just went back and forth over and over again, and it provided fun for a whole morning! It comes with a tent, but it looked like it may be more than I wanted in my living room, so we went with the tunnel alone (they will never know anyway). Please excuse Kate's hair in her face... we are fighting control battles with bows, jackets, etc. lately and it is just not worth it to argue about a bow at home!

We hope you are staying warm and having fun!

Christmas 2009

A glimpse at Christmas at our house... No chimney, so we just hung stockings on the china cabinet.

The kids playing at their new table and chairs set. It was so cute, they each had a fake cell phone and were playing so seriously.

Blake got his very own Pottery Barn chair. These are BIG hits at our house, and it has been the source of some fights lately (who knew a 1 and 2 year old could already fight?), so we got Blake one too. He got some cute new clothes too! Mostly manly clothes, so Brandon was pretty happy.

For Kate, it was boots, boots, boots. She told Santa at the mall that she wanted boots. And she got them! She got real cowboy boots, and she is obsessed with them. She did not take them off all night! Here is a nice pose for you.



Everybody wears smocked dresses with cowboy boots, right?

Precious little boots!

The kids got a 2-seat wagon, and they love it. Kate gets right in and buckles herself in. Blake just opens the door, climbs in, the climbs back out, again and again.

Kate also got some warm Ugg-like boots. They look hilarious/adorable. She is looking so big all of the sudden. Maybe it is the fact that she is carrying on the funniest conversations with us and making us laugh like she is our age.

We have been trying to stress the fact that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth, and that we just get gifts as our celebration of him. She was so sweet saying her bedtime prayers tonight. She said "Dear God, thank you for Jesus." (And Daddy, and Mommy, and Bubba, and Raggedy Ann, and Dora, etc.) Not sure she totally understands, but it made me so proud of her to know that at least she had picked up on the true gift of Jesus! I hope we always remember to thank God for Jesus on Christmas, and everyday!

Getaway

Headed to look at this...



Happy 5 year Anniversary to me! Brandon and I have been married 5 years today! We are taking the kids to stay with my parents, and we are off on a getaway! He has been working ALL THE TIME for the past few weeks/months, and we are ready to both be in the same room for longer than 2 hours at a time. I feel like lately, he comes home from work (if he comes home from work, he has been on call too often), we eat dinner, play for a few minutes, bathe kids, put them to bed, and then we both crash. I am looking forward to some sleep, some strolling through stores, some good food, some sleep, some sitting by a fire, and some more sleep!
We are going to...

Gatlinburg! Hopefully we won't have the lovely bedding in our cabin... I will take pictures of ours. I am pretty sure all the cabins have the tacky quilted country motif. These are not necessarily our cabin or room, they are just random pictures to give you an idea of what I am looking forward to. See you soon!

Having Some Fun

I haven't blogged lately because we have been so busy, but we are having some fun around here! I have been doing a ton of sewing, trying to do some Christmas shopping, and trying to keep up with these guys! Don't let Blake's "unsure face" fool you, he loved this!

I don't think this toy wagon was intended to carry a small child, but no harm done! They were literally squealing while they were going through the house. It was funny because when Blake got out, Kate got in and looked right at him and said, "It is my turn, you pull me!" I am pretty sure he just turned around and found something else to play with. Isn't it funny that she thinks he can understand and play with her like other kids her age!

See his smile now? He is a sweet boy! He likes to run up to you, give you a hug, and then get right back down to play some more. He doesn't have too much time to snuggle, so I take it while he gives it to me! He is getting so big, I can't believe this will be his second Christmas.

These Kids...

These guys make me laugh all the time! (And make me want to scream a lot too!) I was doing laundry the other day, and came in to find them lounging on the dirty pile watching tv. They looked at me like, "can you move please, you are in our way."

Blake's hair has the cutest little curls when his hair first dries. I had to post a picture just for the memories!


This picture is the epitome of these kids. Kate is doing something to Blake, and he is looking at me saying, "Is this ok?" She sure does love him! We were going to Bible Study last night, and I told her to come on, that we were leaving. She said, "Wait, can Bubba come too?" Like we would leave without him! I guess I don't just tell him to come on, I have to pick him up, so she thought we didn't want him to go. I love these guys!