Thanksgiving Weekend 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of fun with family. We went to my parents for the day Thursday and took family pictures and had an awesome lunch. My sister and I have started a new tradition called Black Friday shopping. We left the house at 8:30 Thursday night and did not come home until 6:00 the next morning. It was so much fun.

On Saturday morning my my Mom, my Sister, the kids and I loaded up the car and went to Palestine, Texas to ride the Polar Express. The kids were so excited. It was a lot of fun and we will definitley be doing it again. We stayed the night in a hotel, which the kids thought was pretty cool!!

I am still recovering from a full weekend of fun. I am now trying to get ready for Christmas.

Here are some pictures of our Holiday Weekend.

Halloween Weekend

We had a busy Halloween weekend. Saturday we went to our church for the Fall Festival. The kids had a blast with all the bounce houses, blow up slides, and of course popcorn. Sunday after church, we quickly put the kids in their costumes (Peyton - Buzz Lightyear and Brady - Woody) and went to eat at Willies. Kids eat FREE if in costume. It was a cheap lunch!! Sunday evening we had some friends over for trick-or-treating. Peyton was really into it this year. Brady was good for about 4 or 5 houses, then he kept saying, "mama I tired".

It was a fun weekend. Now we are starting preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It will be a crazy two months!!

Peyton, Brady and Addy

Peyton, Brady, Addy and Emily drinking lemonade and eating popcorn

Peyton Turns "4"

For Peyton's 4th Birthday, we got together with family and friends at our church. The theme of course was Toy Story. Peyton loves Buzz Lightyear!! He picked out a Toy Story bounce house and him and his friends had a blast. After the party, we had a relaxing family party at our house.

On his real birthday, the 19th, I scheduled for him to have his 4 year check up which consisted of 5 shots and the flu mist. I will tell the truth, IT WAS AWFUL, but it is over and he got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese after for lunch. We met Papa, Grammy, Aunt Lezlie, Addy, and even Daddy took the day off. He now asks to go back daily.

Here are some pics of all the celebrations!!

Disney World September 2010

We had an awesome time on our trip to Disney. We went with 3 other families from our church. The week was really perfect. The kids were all great, and tolerated being out in the parks most of the days really well. We are already looking forward to our trip back in a couple years. We have to wait till Brady is at least 40 inches tall. Here are some of the pictures from our trip.

Labor Day Weekend 2010

We are having a wonderful weekend so far. Now we are enjoying a relaxing day at home in our pajamas!! The boys are loving having their daddy home!

Last night, we got together with family at my parents house. We would normally get together and make homemade pizza and swim. It was my (crazy) idea to try something new. The day before I was watching a food network show and she was making sushi. It actually looked good and looked to be pretty easy to make. I asked my parents if they would want to make some sushi, and they thought it would be an adventure.

We made lots of sushi (all different kinds). It was not that hard to make, and it was a lot of fun. This was my first time trying sushi, and I was excited to try it. The first one I tried was a crab, peach, and avocado roll. It sounds great right?? Well, it had Nori in it, which is the seaweed stuff. It was AWFUL!!!! I did try a roll without the Nori and decided that I could tolerate the rolls without the seaweed. Everyone else thought that it was all pretty good. I filled up on cantaloupe!!

After dinner, the boys went swimming with the kids. The water was a little too cold for the girls. When it got dark, Papa made a fire in the fireplace and we roasted marshmellows and made smores. They were REALLY good!!

Overall, it was a great night with family to try something new. I would like to try sushi again at a restaurant. I know now to not eat anything with Nori in it!!

Here are some pictures. Have a great Labor Day weekend!!

Brady is "2"!!!

We celebrated Brady's Birthday this past weekend. I can't believe that my baby is "2". We had a great time with family and friends. Dwayne's mom and sister flew in for the weekend from Oregon. Saturday we started the day with his party with friends. We had the party at the splash pad at 9:30. The weather was actually not bad. It was not too hot yet. Then everyone came to our house for blueberry cupcakes, and breakfast casserole. Brady had a great time playing with all his friends.

Later that afternoon after naps, we went over to my parents for his family party. He got to do his favorite thing SWIM. We had pizza and more cake.

Brady is really starting to communicate well with us and Peyton. They are really starting to become best friends. It is fun to watch them run around the house and have their own conversations.

I am so excited to watch him grow and become more of a little boy over the next year. Here are some pictures of his birtday weekend.

4th of July 2010

We had a great weekend with family. Lots of swimming, eating, and fireworks. Nothing better!!!

Galveston June 2010

Before we had kids, we loved to just pack our bags and take a short trip. Well, we are trying to get back into that now with kids. Sunday during the kids nap, we decided to pack up and go to Galveston. An hour after we even thought about it, we were in the car headed South!

We stayed at an awesome hotel, went to a nice dinner, walked the beach at night, and went swimming in the hotel pool at 10pm at night. The kids slept great in the hotel room, especially since they were up late swimming.

The next morning we sat around the hotel. We then packed our bags, checked out, and headed to the beach. It was a lot more crowded than we were expecting. The locals said that the beach has been really crowded since the oil spill. Everyone is going to Galveston.

We went to a private beach and had a BLAST!!! Peyton acted like he had been going to a beach for years. He loved the sand and was jumping the waves. Brady was not as sure about the beach. He liked the dry sand, but he did not like walking in the water. If you held him, he loved jumping the waves and getting all wet. Overall, I was pretty impressed with them and their first trip to the beach.

We have decided to make more spontaneous trips like this. The kids loved it and it makes them learn to be flexible!!

Wow It's Really June!!

We are still here. A lot has happened since I posted in April. We lived with my parents for about 5 weeks, which the boys loved all the attention. We closed on our new house the end of April. We have been here about 7 weeks and are loving it. We have awesome neighbors. All the kids in our cul-de-sac are Peyton and Brady's age. We are outside every evening riding bikes and playing baseball. Of course we live one street away from my sister and her family. Peyton and Brady are loving just being able to walk over to Addy's house.

We are pretty well settled. This past Saturday was the first Saturday that we have had in months with nothing to do. We finally feel things are back to normal.

I am loving my new office. My business is going really well. I am looking for it to grow in the near future!!!

This summer we are not too busy. We are going to Oregon in about a week to visit Dwayne's family for a weekend. The rest of the summer will be pretty open to lots of pool time and maybe even the beach. We are already reaching temps in the upper 90s with a heat index of 107 degrees. We are pretty much living in bathing suits!!!

We just booked our first big family trip to Disney World for the end of September. We are SO excited.

Here are some pictures of our house and the boys!!

Easter 2010

We are still here!! It has been a crazy couple of months. The end of March we moved out of our home and are living with Papa and Grammy. We are closing on our new home hopefully this next week. We are very excited!!!

The boys have loved living with Papa and Grammy. They are getting lots of attention and LOVE!!

Here are some belated pictures of our Easter weekend.

PEYTON

Peyton has been growing up so much. He is really comprehending things and able to communicate everything very well. He is asking so many more questions, that I am not sure how to answer sometimes. Here are some things that Peyton has done or said over the last month:

Mommy: I need to go exercise
Peyton: Why?
Mommy: Because it make Mommy feel good.
Peyton: Because you are fat!!
I just laughed!! I have been exercising 6 days a week since that comment :)


Mommy: Peyton do you like this dinner?
Peyton: Mommy this dinner kicks butt(as he is giving me a thumbs up)


Grammy was driving Peyton to school the other day. Peyton first of all wanted to ride in Brady's car seat, which Grammy thought was funny. Grammy started driving and looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that Peyton had his hands fold together by his face:
Grammy: What are you going Peyton?
Peyton: I am praying
Grammy: What are you praying for?
Peyton: I am praying for Brady because he has a fever!
(SO CUTE, made Mommy tear up a little bit when I heard this)


Driving to Papa and Grammy's, we got stuck behind a slow person:
Peyton: Move it Lady, I need to get to my Grammy and Papa's house.
(he is learning a little road rage, however I am trying to have my road rage under my breath!!)

I am loving the age that Peyton is. He is so much fun!!! He makes us all LAUGH!! This post is for my Aunts. They keep reminding me to write all of the stuff he says and does down so that I do not forget. This blog is really acting as a baby book for us.

Here is a picture of the boys in their Valentine shirts. Peyton had his Valentine Party at school today.

January 2010

Well about a month has gone by since I posted last. January was different for Houston. It was really cold the first of the month, then we had a taste of spring fever for a week. It was nice. Now we are back to the cold. Peyton keeps asking if we can go back to the park.

What has happened in Jan:

Peyton is getting to be a young man. He is pretty independant about everything. He is loving that Brady is older and he has someone to play with at home. They play pretty well together, and they are starting to fight a little. Peyton went through a stage in December when he did not like school or Bible Class. It was rough, but he is out of the funk and enjoying both again. He is very ready for baseball to start back. He asks every day if we are going to the Minute Maid Stadium to watch the Astros. He is a BIG FAN!!

Brady is, well, a mess. He is 17 months now and has developed a personality and an ATTITUDE!!! He is saying all kinds of words and attempts to communicate the best he can which is adorable. He is also enjoying playing with brother. My favorite thing that he is attempting to say is "where did it go". It is more like, "we di di do". I love this stage. He still needs to get 4 more teeth in and he will have all of them but 2 year molars.

Dwayne has changed jobs. He now works for Texas Direct Auto. He is a buyer for them. This is the kind of job that he has wanted for a long time. He is working a little bit more, which it is taking a toll on Peyton, but he will get use to it. He also for the first time has a desk job. He sits on the computer buying cars at auctions online. It is very different for him, but he is so much happier!!! :)

I have been very busy with my private practice. I have now hired a sitter to come monday thru thursday in the mornings to watch the boys. It is grown much faster than I was prepared for, but I love it. I get the best of both worlds: work from home, and stay home with the kids. I feel very BLESSED!!!

Here are some pictures of the month of January:

2010!!

Happy New Year!