Well it's been awhile....

I have so much to blog about I don't really know where to begin so this will be a bit of a random post.

The kids have been doing really great, Luke finished up his first year at Mother's Day out in May and he really misses his friends from "school" but has been having a blast with his other friends this summer. He loves playing in any pool he can and is really starting to enjoy Caroline so much more now that she can somewhat play with him. Luke has grown taller and slimmed out alot but is still my super picky eater - oh well what comes around goes around I was the pickiest kid in the world!!! We are going to start full on potty training tomorrow but I am going into it knowing we will have to really work at it because he has regressed and tells me that he is supposed to poo poo in his diaper NOT the potty - GREAT!! So I will keep you updated on that one. Also, Luke is still weighing in about 34 lbs, I don't have his height but he is tall.

Since my last post Ms. Priss (Caroline) has turned the big 1 year old and has come so far. She had a great party with friends and family and is eating everything she can and is so close to walking but not quit there yet, but she crawls so fast so I'm sure she feels there is no need to walk. Caroline also loves to splash in the water and for the most part still thinks her brother is great except when he is taking her toys away from her - he better watch out when she can walk because she will be after him. She still has 8 teeth but I can feel where 2 more are about to break through anytime now. We go for her well check on Thursday so I will have more stats to post then but I believe she still is weighing in around 23-24 lbs. Her favorite new thing to do is give kisses, it is so sweet but it especially melts her daddy's heart.

James is still at home with us and is enjoying getting to be with the kids everyday and seeing what they are up to.... but I pray he starts looking for a job soon so when the school year gets here we can all get on a better schedule.

I am now a student for on online college called Allied Medical College and will start classes next week to be certified as a medical biller and then will take a class on coding so hopefully I can start in that industry about the time Luke is in full time preschool. I am very excited about this new chapter in my life.

We had a great July 4th, we had a birthday party we went to and a bbq in the evening and the kids loved every minute of it!!! I will have to post pics of this later.

Kids exploring....

Well, as I type this post as I'm sure you can tell I am new to posting pics on here and I ended up posting them from newest to oldest in regards to how our week went.... oh well, I am too tired to fix it tonight.

The kids had a great week last week - Luke enjoyed being back at school with his friends and got to go on a few playdates. Caroline is getting more and more mobile she still inch worm crawls but she is FAST, she does get on all fours to sit up and to pull up on things to a standing position. She walks some now behind a walker and when we hold her hands but she isn't yet standing unassisted but will be any time now. Luke has done LOTS of projects/crafts this week but I didn't think to take any pictures - he played playdough, painted, built with moonsand, sprayed ants with his "water gums" (water guns), played games with his daddy etc... in the meantime Caroline has been getting better with her sippy cup (she likes the bigger ones), working on crawling through the tunnel and walking with the walker (again I didn't get a pic of that).


This is Luke trying to "play" with Caroline in the tunnel - ie, he wants to show that he can do it
just as well as she can!!


Caroline being so proud of herself making it through the tunnel.



Her big girl sippy cup AND one of the few pink things that she owns!! HA, and I had to sneak that in the house - I was getting their cups mixed up and when they were both sick I wanted no sharing of sippy cups!!


Luke enjoying the rain over the weekend - why I didn't think to put his rain coat on as well who knows but he had a blast puddle jumping in front of our house.

One of the few times we let him play in the street!

Caroline holding Bessie Mae's bottle (she is the 3 week old calf that James' parents are bottle feeding). Sometimes at night I wish we could feed Caroline a bottle this big to make sure she sleeps all night!!

Luke thought this was the coolest thing ever to feed the calf - he got to do it 3 times before we went home. The calf is really sweet and he got to pet her as well.

The kids love to go to the farm but they always love getting back home as well... like I said we have been busy busy with crafts and projects - Luke amazes me how good he is with his crafts and he focuses on what he is doing and is pretty neat with it and lets me know when he is finished - the only difference is now we have to put him at the kitchen table instead of the kids table in the playroom since Caroline wants to be up in his business now!! He better watch out she is on her way to take over his world!!! HA!!

AND the big highlight of today which I so should have taken a picture of but didn't really believe it would happen..... Luke at not one but TWO HOTDOGS for lunch (not with a bun)!! Why are you wondering is this so great - the child does not try new things and today he was all for it!! I've never been so excited for him to eat kid food as I was today! I had already cooked chicken nuggets and tator tots so James got to eat those for lunch.

I'm always open for good breakfast/lunch ideas from those of you with little ones .....

What is your kids favorite food??

Easter

Happy Belated Easter Everyone!!!! We had a wonderful Easter weekend at the farm and spent some really quality time with the kids and James family.

We left on Saturday morning trying to give Caroline another day to heal from her illness (herpangina - or sores in the back of the throat and top of the mouth). The kids did great in the car although I am so ready for Caroline to be in her big girl car seat so that she has more room. It should be here tomorrow so I am so excited to see that UPS truck show up at my house. The Easter bunny did visit the kids at the farm however we had to emphasize to Luke that he came and left presents and hid the eggs but was long gone and we would not see him - if you remember from the older post he is terrified to see the E. bunny but is obsessed with looking at him in pictures!!! The kids as usual got way too much but they loved every minute of it and they got some much needed spring/summer clothes from their aunts/uncles.

Luke loves his family so much he played so hard and neither one of the kids took a nap Easter Sunday. Caroline also did not sleep either night so I took the liberty of taking a nap in their place and let them have fun with the family. Thankfully however she has been sleeping since we got back home and back in her own bed.... don't you just love to get back in your own shower and bed after an extended trip?!?


This is Luke and his cousin Sydney they are checking out some of the goodies inside the eggs.



Caroline enjoying her plastic egg and watching the others run around.



Luke and Sydney taking a rest in the hammock - Luke thought this was so cool!
He now wants one in his yard and poor thing we have no trees in our yard (Ike took care
of the one big one we had).




Luke, Caroline and Sydney on their wagon ride.



Luke and Sydney after church at the egg hunt.




Sydney was trying to show him the ropes!!!

Luke was coming to show me what all he had found.

Luke is still singing Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail.....

Easter party

On Saturday I took the kids to an Easter party/egg hunt at their friends Awbrey and Claire's house and it was fantastic!!! Our friends live out in Hockley and live on a couple of acres so there was plenty of space for a huge egg hunt. Before the party got in full swing the easter bunny arrived and Luke was TERRIFIED to say the least and Caroline just stared at him. It took about 30+ minutes of hard crying for Luke to calm down and start enjoying the hunt - and although he was crying he really picked up the most eggs - go figure!!! He loved seeing all of his friends that we haven't seen in awhile and got to burn a lot of energy which is always good. Caroline is still under the weather but she tolerated the party well and did great when I decided to take some bluebonnet pics when we left the party on our way to the doctor. Both kids will hopefully get in to see their regular pedi on Monday to see if Luke has or had what Caroline has -- not fun.

9 month update and sick kiddos

Caroline had her 9 month well check yesterday - she turned 9 months on the 25th of March - and she weighed 21 lbs 10 oz (90%), is 29" long (95%), and her head measured 17 3/4" (75%). What can I say we have tall healthy babies!!!! She did extremely well at the doctor, never cried once and mostly laughed and "talked" to the nurse and doctor. Both Caroline and Luke have had colds and today I think they were competing to see who could have more dirty diapers!!! I think I changed 8 total dirty diapers (and a few others just wet), poor Luke has the runs - not fun for anyone but mostly him since it has left him with a terrible diaper rash and I am praying that Caroline is not getting the same thing since she went potty so much today as this is very unusual for her....

I am praying for a speedy recovery for Luke's tummy so that he doesn't have to miss any school - he loves his friends at school and his teachers.

My favorite picture....

This is about a month or so old but I had to share because it is a favorite of mine of my silly monkeys... hence my new layout!!!! This is still when Luke would ask to "hold Caroline" and now he just loves to be right up in her face.... oh happy days! :)

Time flies.....

Here are some recent pics over the past week and today on their "month day!" Enjoy...


Caroline is so wanting that soccer ball....



She is giddy with delight - she had just drank her first yogurt drink and was in heaven!!! Happy 9 months baby girl!!!



This is at Zube park after we rode the trains, she had to stay in her stroller since she has her mama's fair skin - but she still had fun and loved riding the train!


Just kickin' back enjoying the day....

I was trying to let Caroline be part of the "farming" experience while Luke was gardening with his cousins - he was having a blast.

Caroline was showing off her clapping skills at granny and popo's

This is Luke's first ride on the big tractor and HE LOVED IT!!!

Me and my friend Melissa in Austin right before we were headed out, we had a great time and are already planning for the next trip.

Melissa and Zachary after there craft - the place we went is so cool and has free crafts every Saturday - like 5 different kinds - I wish I could find something like that in Houston.

This is Luke being silly in Zachary's funny glasses.

Enjoying one of the beautiful days in Houston recently.

Well I can't believe it but Ms. Caroline is 9 months old today and Mr. Luke is 28 months old. It seems so surreal to me that my kids are getting so big so fast - especially Caroline, the second time around is truly a whirlwind. I don't have her "official" stats yet we go to the doctor next Tuesday but we weighed her and she is about 21 lbs, she has 8 teeth is very long and babbles like crazy - dada, gaga and to my delight her newest is mama!!! Caroline had a lot of first's over spring break - she started inchworm crawling (and she is getting really fast), pulls up to her knees and once has pulled herself to standing.... so I have a feeling this next month we are in for a fully mobile baby - and much to Luke's dismay she loves to crawl into his room and pull all the books off the shelf and play with his cars! Too funny, he so does not get how his life is about to change!! However he loves his "sweet caroline." Luke has been busy as well and seems to be getting taller. He had a fabulous spring break - we started off in Austin with some friends and he got to play with a lot of cool toys, make fun crafts and go on an adventure in the woods - THEN off to granny and popo's farm where he got to work in the garden, ride a BIG tractor and help move wood around and play with his cousins - he could not have been happier.

Since being home we are getting back into a routine and Luke was excited to get back to school yesterday and James and I are working on projects around the house with high hopes to actually get them completed before he starts working again - which will help our stress level a lot!!! I should mention that these "projects" have been on our list of things to do for over a year so now we have run out of excuses and need to get things organized.

Eating and our kids are still a challenge in our household... we are trying to get Luke to try new things daily and it seems like our friends can get him to try so much more and you know who you all are!!! He has done better in some areas and even ate some of the dinner I made for the family tonight (baked chicken with rice and gravy) and we put this same dinner in a grinder for Caroline and she gobbled it up as well as had some homemade fruit puree that I made for her. Yesterday she ate refried beans, rice and a small taste of taco meat and loved it... now baby food we have to almost make her eat it so I think she is read to make a almost full transition to regular food. She also now loves Luke's yogurt drinks. I am trying hard to not have a second picky eater.

We have had well kids for awhile now which has been a blessing but tonight Luke went to bed with a slight runny nose and I am hopeing it was due to his crying from being overtired (he wouldn't take a nap today) and not him getting sick.

There are lots of babies out there in nicu's around the US that I have been praying for so I ask all of you to please include all babies in the nicu's for peace and recovery - especially Jonah (who has a very rare skin disorder and has blisters all over his body), Stellan (who is 4 months old and who is in very serious condition with his heart in svt and has a severly high heart rate - in the 200's). And I've said it in the past but give your kids an extra hug and kiss and be blessed that your kids are home to annoy you when they are acting up because we are blessed!!