Jordash & Co.

Madison the Ninja Baby

2012-01-27T13:36:00.004-05:00

I was startled awake this morning at 7:00am buy a 20 month old baby girl named Madison giggling and LUNGING on top of me in MY bed. I sat up quickly, thinking I had overslept, but I saw the clock and looked around and began to panic thinking HOW DID THIS CHILD JUST GET IN OUR ROOM?! I went out into the house calling our babysitter, thinking maybe she had come over early and gotten Madison up but NO...there was no sign of her anywhere. I suddenly began to put the pieces together. Madison had not only managed to climb out of her crib in COMPLETE SILENCE, but she opened her bedroom door (which she has never been able to do), climbed down the wooden staircase in the pitch dark, and in footed PJ's no less, and then opened OUR door....ALL without making a PEEP on the monitor. Stealth baby.

So this morning was spent moving the kids rooms...Hunter into the 2nd master (the big guest room), Madison into Hunter's old room, and saving the nursery for Audrey. I wasn't planning on trying Madison in her queen bed until bedtime tonight because naps are notoriously a harder transition than night time. So we put her down for her nap this afternoon in the crib (for one last time) and again she climbed out and opened her door before Jordan even made it back downstairs...I wish I could have gotten it on camera. She's got SKILLS. So we tried the queen for nap time today and she didn't put up a fight! She is sleeping peacefully in her new bed. They grow up WAY too fast.

This is a transition we have been putting off since she first climbed out at 17 months. I was planning to do it after Christmas but bed rest slowed that down. We knew we wanted to do it before Audrey came but Madison seemed fine in her crib even though she had climbed/fallen out a few months before so I was going to just put it off until I could be up on my feet again and help with the transition. Apparently Madison had plans of her own today! Thankfully she is doing well so far. Fingers crossed for tonight!

No news is good news

2012-01-17T16:40:00.004-05:00

I had a good appointment with the perinatologist today. Good in that nothing has changed. I am still on bed rest and my cervix is still short (2.2 cm) but it has held steady in the same spot for the past 2 weeks. In short, it seems bed rest is doing the trick. Also, I passed the gestational diabetes screen from my appointment last week, which is always good to hear. We are 26w3d pregnant and holding steady. Praise God!

20 months old

2012-01-07T09:25:00.003-05:00

Little miss independent. She is 20 months going on 4 years old. No really. She thinks she is 4. This month she has literally grown up before my eyes. It happened gradually over the course of the month but then when I came home from the hospital, after only being away from her for 30 hours, her language was suddenly conversational. She thinks she and Hunter are the same age. She does everything he does. Literally. Carbon copy. If he jumps off the stairs, she does it. If he jumps off the bed...she does it. She repeats everything he says and we say like a parrot. She is a total ham and she has so much spunk and personality. She cracks us up everyday. She is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. Seriously her cuteness factor is through the roof right now. I could watch her for hours.

She decided she wants to eat cereal the real way with milk and a spoon. She also wants to eat daddy's cereal...Ezekiel. What kids wants to eat Ezekiel cereal?! She can also drink out of a big girl cup (only allowed at the table).

This is the face we get when she knows we are taking her picture "cheese"

She wants to be nude 24.7 so she can potty on her little potty whenever she wants. I do make her wear clothes for outings. She can put on her own pants, socks and shoes and of course completely undress herself which is how she ends up naked every day.

She is always doing things that crack us up. She came to dinner the other night wearing a medical glove as a sock. I realized it halfway through dinner.

Things must look really funny through my reading glasses because she cracks herself up when she puts them on. Such a goofball.

She can climb out of her crib. We were planning to make the switch to the queen bed this week but bed rest has prevented us from doing it right now. We still have a little time before Audrey needs the crib. She only tries to climb out when we go get her up from naps. She just throws her long leg up on the side and lifts herself over (and yes it's already set as low as it will go). She is a total monkey. I have a feeling she is going to be our athlete she has NO FEAR and is extremely comfortable with her body in space.

I discovered her two front teeth were cracked the other day. I am sure a result of one of her fearless antics. I have NO clue when this happened but it obviously didn't phase her.

She loves dress up and jewelry and purses and shoes....she is obsessed with shoes.

She has no fear of the water. LOVES it.

And she gives THE BEST hugs. She loves to come up to me and grab my legs and peer over my belly asking to be picked up. I haven't been allowed to pick her up for quite some time but I can hold her while sitting or laying down. She just lays her head on my shoulder and squeezes her arms so tight around my shoulders and she says "ohhhh" the whole time. I CANNOT get enough of my Maddie hugs.

She loves to point out the body parts and do animal noises and when we sing our ABC's she joins in. Sometimes she will start the song by herself...she gets to A, B, C, D and then looks at us for help. She loves to say her prayers and at dinner when Hunter prays she bows her head and folds her hand and then tries to line up her "AMEN" with his. If we ask her to say a prayer she bows her head and whispers for a few seconds and then says AMEN! So absolutely adorable. LOVE this girl to pieces!

Just a little update

2012-01-04T19:00:00.004-05:00

Just a little update so as not to leave it hanging. I had another cervix recheck today and it wasn't so good. It's continuing to weaken and shorten. Now down to 2.2cm and still funneling. The perinatologist wasn't too thrilled with the changes especially since I've been on bed rest and had an uneventful week contraction wise. I think we had all hoped that it would chill out and hold stable. She decided to also manually check it and it was still closed but softening...so it is actively changing. SO basically that means I am likely down for the count. She was feeling confident that I could make it at least another 4 weeks (which would get us to 28 weeks) given that I am not really having preterm labor right now and am showing no signs threatening immediate delivery. If I continue to move in the direction and speed I am then we could be looking at a 28 weeker but we are PRAYING to make it much much longer than that. Prayers would definitely be appreciated. I am still feeling confident that we will make it to a further point but admittedly disappointed that things are still changing in a less than desirable direction. BUT all that being said I have SO much to be thankful for. I am in much better shape now than I was a week ago. Audrey is viable, has a round of steroids in her, and is 100% healthy. I have a great support system AND I am 24 weeks and STILL pregnant. Every day counts. Praise God.

P.S. I also found out today that the little stinker is a thumb sucker. She was going after it today during the ultrasound...same hand as her big sis :) it was pretty cute though I will admit!

Interview with Hunter

2012-01-01T18:01:00.006-05:00

Just for fun an interview with Hunter at 3 years 10 months old.

What is something Mommy always says to you? Letters

What makes Mommy happy? Hunter

What makes Mommy sad?  Maddie

How does Mommy make you laugh?  she tickles me

What was Mommy like as a child?  you looked like Maddie

How old is Mommy?  11

How tall is Mommy?  This tall (points to the paper). Mommy you’re taller than daddy.

What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?  You like to go to the park

What does Mommy do when you're not around? You look for me

If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?  Letters

What is Mommy really good at?  You’re good at scratching. It is fun when you tickle me and then it makes you laugh.

What is Mommy not very good at?  You’re afraid of owls and frogs.

What does Mommy do for her job? Cleaning up.

What is Mommy's favorite food? Apples I mean green beans.

What makes you proud of Mommy?  fun stuff

If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?  rudolph

What do you and Mommy do together? Go to the park and get a ice cream and go to the doctor.

How are you and Mommy the same? I don’t know you’re the same of Maddie.

How are you and Mommy different?  I am like daddy

How do you know Mommy loves you?  I keep my underwear clean and dry and it makes you so happy

Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?  at the store

What is something Daddy always says to you?  he says I can play the ipad

What makes Daddy happy?  when he sleeps on his bed and when I poop on the potty

What makes Daddy sad?  disobey

How does Daddy make you laugh?  he tickles me and then he laughs. Me and daddy laugh when daddy tickles me it was funny.

What was Daddy like as a child?  he’s like pop and papa but daddy has hair

How old is Daddy?  78

How tall is Daddy?  this big (stands on the bed with his hand reaching the ceiling).

What is Daddy's favorite thing to do?  fun stuff like park, water park, playroom, go in the bedroom and sleep

What does Daddy do when you're not around?  he says prayers and hunts deer and plays angry birds

If Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?  Deer
What is Daddy really good at?  he’s not scared of owls.  

What is Daddy not very good at?  giving me spankings  

What does Daddy do for his job?  he builds things

What is Daddy’s favorite food?  cheese and chips he loves it

What makes you proud of Daddy?  he makes me poop on the potty and it makes me so happy when I poo poo on the potty.

If Daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?  a cartoon that has the remote, because he poo poos on the potty and gets his phone, and he has hair on his arms

What do you and Daddy do together?  go to the park and build houses and dirt with the bulldozer.

How are you and Daddy the same?  Daddy is the same of me

How are you and Daddy different?  I am different because I don’t have any hair on my cheeks and my chin only daddy does.

How do you know Daddy loves you?  when he gives me a hug like Maddie does.  

Where is Daddy's favorite place to go?  get gas and look at Christmas lights.

Name

2011-12-31T16:02:00.002-05:00

It occurred to me, as I was updating from the hospital the other day, that I never officially announced (on here at least) that we are naming baby girl Audrey Ann. Jordan actually picked the name. We had agreed on a different name for a girl before we found out we were actually having a girl (although we both thought this one would be a girl from the start). When we found out the sex of the baby Jordan said he wanted to keep thinking on names. One Sunday he randomly said how about Audrey? I loved it! I also loved that he came up with it on his own and that it is not as widely used right now as some of the other names we were thinking about. We came to the middle name Ann because that is my mom's middle name (or it was before she got married). As you may remember Madison Lee is named after Jordan's mom's middle name. A friend of mine, Sarah, texted me today and told me she saw in her baby name book that the spiritual connotation for Audrey is "overcomer of difficulties". How fitting. We can't wait to meet you baby girl!

Home and Viable!

2011-12-31T09:31:00.002-05:00

I'm home! yippee! I am on strict bed rest but bed rest at home beats bed rest in the hospital ANYDAY! The doctor released me last night after my second dose of steroids. I was released early for good behavior :) I had zero contractions in the hospital and since my cervix had been checked upon admission she felt she didn't need to re-check it before discharging me because I had such an uneventful time while I was there contraction wise. I am on tocolytics round the clock to prevent contractions and I think increasing the dosage was just what I needed to keep them under control. Of course should anything change I should head in but I am being seen weekly for cervix measurements, as it is, between my high risk OB and my regular OB.

It is so good to be here in the comfort of my own home with my husband and kids who I missed terribly! Hopefully this will be the end of the drama of this pregnancy :) For now we can rejoice because today I hit viability! AND since the baby has a round of steroids should something go wrong she is MUCH better off then she would have been. Praise God!

Hello from L&D

2011-12-29T22:06:00.011-05:00

Don't be alarmed I don't plan to be having a baby ANYTIME soon! I have been admitted for a round of steroids for Audrey's lungs as well as just some monitoring to make sure things are stable (contraction and cervix wise). This isn't new by any means. I have had issues with all 3 pregnancies with both contractions and cervix stuff and this one has been no different. Each pregnancy of course is unique and has to be treated based on what is being presented as well as my history of pre-term labor/pre-term birth and current gestational age. Since I am only 23w5d the doctors here are being very aggressive with me right now because I am on the brink (but not quite yet) of viability and my body has not been behaving lately. In the past few weeks talks of cerclage vs bedrest and tocolytics have been the topic of conversation but once a patient reaches 23 weeks cerclage isn't really on the table anymore (and it never really was on the table for me anyhow)...but steroids for baby's lungs now are! While I would love more than anything to just move along through a pregnancy without all the drama :) that is not the uterus I have been dealt! It's fine though because it really is all I know. I am confident that I have many more months in this pregnancy despite what my body seems to be hinting at during my weekly checkups. We've been here before and God has brought us through it and I know He will provide exactly what we need again! Prayers are always appreciated though and each day that I stay pregnant and get closer and closer to viability...and beyond is proof that prayers are being answered everyday.

I normally don't update about this stuff very often on here because it is pretty much a weekly roller coaster that I would rather NOT consume my thoughts or the blog because I am confident it will all work out in the end. I figured that being hospitalized is probably something I will want to remember though and the story behind it as well because it is so amazing to see God's work in progress! I will post a picture below taken yesterday of my cervix. It is shortening below a point of "normal" for being 23 weeks and it's funneling (or beginning to dilate on the inside) but it is a very dynamic funnel...it has moments of looking just perfect so if you take a picture things look normal but if you stick around for a bit you will see that it has a mind of it's own!

This first picture looks great. Nice and long and I think measuring about 3.6cm-3.8cm in length and it is closed (not funneling). This is ideal. We are looking at it from the side. The baby and sack are to the left of the picture in the big black hole and baby's exit point is to the right. If you enlarge the picture you can see the white dots the sonographer has placed directly on top of the cervix almost like a tape measure to get an accurate measurement of it's length. The cervix is that horizontal black line right in the middle of the picture that almost look like a nike swoosh.

This picture below was taken about 3 seconds before the above picture. We are looking from the exact same angle (baby and sac are in the black hole on left) and you can see baby's head sitting there. That big sideways black hole triangle looking thingy is my cervix opening from the inside (funneling) and the tape measure (little white dots) is now almost half the length it was in the last picture. This measurement was about 2.4cm in length (which was a generous measurement) because it was difficult for the sonographer to find the end of the funnel since it was moving so much.

Basically as I laid there my cervix just continued to open and close on it's own sometimes with contractions, sometimes if I coughed or laughed and sometimes for no reason at all.

Back up to when this started... for about 5 weeks now I have been monitored by both my regular OB and my high risk OB because of this cervix issue. Back when they first started watching closely it was shortening and funneling but only with pressure or during a cough, or if I lifted something. It funneled just a tad but over the course of the 5 weeks (at weekly appointments) it seemed to have stabilized out where it was because it was the same every time I went in. My contractions were being managed with the 17p weekly injections and nifedipine oral as needed. And I was just continuing the "light duty no heavy lifting restriction" that I had been on for quiet some time. I went to Dallas on Christmas day with the family (with permission from my regular OB as long as I took it very easy). And the night I got there I started seeing a sign of pending labor (I will spare the details of that one) but this being my third there was no question what it was. I immediately laid down and ended up going to sleep because I was having no other issues...no contractions, pressure etc. nothing making me think this was PTL. The next morning I woke up with contractions that were irritating so I laid down some more did all the tricks I knew to stop them; laid on left side, pushed water, ate breakfast, took nifedipine etc. And after a few hours they wouldn't let up. I had just had my progesterone injection so this was pretty unusual amount of contractions for being so drugged up. Finally around noon I called my friend Rachel Colon who always takes such good care of me when we are in Dallas. She is an OB/GYN NP for her dad's (Tom Sudela's) practice. We go way back and she was there for me during an issue in Dallas with Madison's pregnancy too. Being 4 hours away from my OB can be tricky when things start going south so what a huge blessing to have her and her dad there to take care of me!

Anyway, when I called her with the update she wanted me to head straight in to L&D to get on a monitor (contractions) and get a look at the cervix. I was only 23w2 days at the time so baby was not viable which meant they wanted to be extra careful and conservative. She had me take a double does of my nifedipine on my way up there and by the time I got there it kicked in and slowed the contractions way down. They put me on the monitor and did a fetal fibronectin just in case. The FFN was negative and the whole time I was on the monitor I only had about 1 contraction every 15 minutes and they were so mild I didn't even notice them.

After an hour or so they took me down for a sonogram of my cervix. The sonographer at the hospital decided to do it trans-abdominally which I asked about because I had been told by numerous doctors they always take cervix measurements trans-vaginally in order to ensure accuracy. She stuck to her ways and did it abdominally and told me she didn't know why I was even there and that it looked totally fine. The measurement she got was best it had ever looked in the whole pregnancy which didn't surprise me because it was done abdominally! I again asked about the method of measurement but she assured me she was confident in her measurement... Okie dokie! They took me back up to L&D and I was released a few minutes later because everything looked fine! I however did not have peace about it. I said to Jordan more than once that I didn't think that measurement was right. We left the hospital and went home and I took it easy, despite the fact that everything suddenly "looked fine", for the rest of the night. The next day Rachel called me to check on me and hear about what all they did at the hospital. Thank goodness for her expertise and discernment because as soon as I told her the sonographer took the measurement thru the abdomen she said "well I am pulling the trump card on this one and we are getting a repeat sono on you the right way. I will see if I can get you on the schedule for tomorrow with our best sonographer." Sure enough the moment he started the sono my cervix looked just like it does in that above picture....A HUGE funnel and half the cervical length the other sonographer measured. He was awesome he took his time and made sure to get as many measurements as possible. He let me look at the baby and showed me just how perfect she is...each and every little part. He measured and checked everything and it could not be MORE perfect in there as far as Audrey is concerned down to every last detail she is just growing and growing exactly as she should be. She is super long measuring 2 weeks ahead in her long bones and pretty much everywhere else. She looks to be about 1 pound 10oz and each body part is exactly as it should be. The ONLY concern at all is my cervix which seems to keep misbehaving.

So I left the office and Rachel and her dad decided that I needed to get home to Houston sooner rather than later (since that is where I plan to deliver) and be on strict bed rest. They both said that if I was delivering in Dallas they would most likely admit me to do a round of steroids for the baby just in case and get me on strict bed rest. They told me to call my OB on my way to Houston and update them with what has been going on and to have someone else drive me so that I could lay down in the car for the 4 hours to take the pressure off the cervix.

First thing the next morning (today) we headed down to Houston. My mom drove my car with me laying down and Jordan drove his. When I got in touch with my Houston doctor she told me to come straight in to see her when we arrived in Houston and not go home first. She said I should be prepared to be admitted for a least a few days but possibly more depending on whether things are stable.

We arrived by 1pm I saw the on-call doctor since mine was out of town. She did a manual exam and I was posterior and closed (which is excellent) but when she saw the ultrasound and my history she said she wanted to be aggressive. She called the high risk OB for a consult and they both agreed to be as aggressive as possible since I am not quite viable. SO they admitted me to L&D. I am told if things go well I will get to go home on bed rest after 48 hours of monitoring. They are doing a round of steroids for the baby's lungs JUST IN CASE. A round is actually 2 shots 24 hours apart. I got my first shot today at 3pm so my next one will be 3pm Friday and then we will go from there based on how my cervix looks and contractions and baby etc.

BUT WOW what a huge blessing for God to have put everything in place as He did. Not only for the blessing of having the Sudela's (some of my longest standing friends) to be able to take care of me in Dallas rather than me going to some random ER in a random hospital. And for Rachel and her dad to have the experience and discernment to say "no we are going to re-check your cervix the right way". For my mom to be available to drive me down to Houston at the drop of a hat and then help Jordan and the kids get settled in at the house and buy groceries and cook meals for us. For Jordan to be able to take care of EVERYTHING while I can't and for the incredible husband and father he is...I know the kids won't miss a beat while I am gone. For all the friends and family who have offered to help, or come down and make or bring meals or take the kids out to play what a HUGE blessing. For the fact that Jordan is HOME and not on the other side of the country playing ball. For the fact that we have a friend we can hire in the mornings to help out with the kids while I am on bed rest or in the hospital. For the many many prayers that have gone up on our behalf over the course of this and other pregnancies. I am totally confident that God will bring us through this as He has done before. Thank you for all of your prayers and concern. It means more to us than you know! Will update when I know more!

Weekend with Sara and Jax

2011-12-12T17:06:00.000-05:00

Sara and Jax came in town for the weekend last weekend while the boys (Matt and Jordan) went duck hunting in Arkansas. I was originally suppose to go to Nashville with the kids to see all my Nashville girlfriends. but my doctor has put me on no travel orders. I was going to have to stay home alone but it worked out that Sara and Jax were able to come here! It really was perfect timing because she is approaching the end of her pregnancy in just 8 weeks so her ability to travel is coming to a fast close too!

Hunter loves decorating cookies

and eating them

The kids had fun doing movie night but the popcorn and candy was by far the highlight

craft time

Pillow fight!

Playing at the park

We had a great weekend together although it definitely was not dull! We had a plumbing emergency (that lasted 3 days), 3 showings (well actually only 1/3 came but that's a long story and not the point because we still had to get the house ready 3 different times) and she and I took turns having bouts of contractions all weekend...perhaps from taking care of 3 kids under 3 while pregnant and dealing with house showings and plumbing issues?! Either way we had a wonderful time and enjoyed our kids getting to play together again. We got out of the house every day for a showing and let the kids play, we stayed in at night and cooked and had movie nights with popcorn and candy, and we did two craft projects with the kids...one decorating gingerbread cookies and the other is a gift for grandparents so I won't go into that one. We are so glad they made the trip! We may not see them again until next summer/fall when Sara and I feel up to traveling again with our newest additions.

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-08T14:35:00.000-05:00

My sister took our pictures again this year for our Christmas card. We took them Halloween weekend when we were in Dallas. We went to a local park and spent just a few minutes playing with the kids and trying to just get a few shots. I prefer to do a collage anyway because it takes the pressure off of getting that "perfect" single shot which is very difficult with the 3 and under crowd anyway. We had fun and ended up with some great pics!

The rest are ones from the shoot that didn't make the Christmas card...I couldn't cram any more pics on it :) but I still loved the way they turned out!

This one is so sweet

Man of my dreams

Tia Dre

2011-12-07T14:15:00.000-05:00

Tia Dre came for a visit back in October and I realized the other day that I had not blogged about our weekend! Jordan went out of town for a hunting trip and I was still in the very tired stage of pregnancy so my mom was going to come down and help me with the kids while he was gone. It worked out that Dre was free that weekend and wanted to come for a visit instead!

The kids adore Dre she is always so good with them. Hunter enjoyed the extra attention and doing crafts with her.

We had a very relaxing weekend and took them out on a few out of the house outings.

It was so nice to get to spend the weekend with Dre! What was really neat is a few days ago (almost 2 months after the weekend with her) Hunter sat down for craft time and turned to me and said I am going to make this for Tia Dre mommy ok? Does it look pretty? I went over to look and he had drawn her a picture of a Christmas tree and put "I love you- Hunter" on it. So adorable! He loves his Tia Dre.

19 months old

2011-12-03T14:19:00.002-05:00

Madison is 19 months old! My baby girl is not a baby anymore. I find myself just watching her walk around doing her thing because it boggles my mind just how fast they grow up. She has such a sweet personality, gives THE BEST hugs, has such a contagious laugh and is the toughest toddler I know!

She is very much a daddy's girl. She loves to be near him all the time and gives him lots of hugs.

One of her favorite things right now is putting on clothes (and taking them off). She has on quite a lot in this picture, though hard to tell because of the robe, but this will keep her entertained for quite a long time.

We took her to her first movie this month. She wasn't familiar with the characters at all (happy feet 2) so after about 15 minutes she was just a distraction to everyone else. It's good thing we went to a theatre by the mall so I was able to just hit some stores with her while everyone else finished the movie. Had it been a Mickey Mouse movie she would have sat still for 2 hours glued to the screen.

She and Hunter love each other. I find them holding hands in the car all the time. He is really sweet with her (most of the time) and she wants to do everything he does.

She and Hunter are in swimming lessons together every week. The first few times she went she wasn't very good at sitting on the wall while Hunter had his turn but now she does well and LOVES when it's her turn.

Here they are waiting for their turn to go to the pool

She loves to swing at the park

She loves craft time but not as much as her brother does

He would stay here all day. This boy loves crafts

Madison is such a joy to have around. She is going to be such a good big sister. She LOVES taking care of her dolls. She loves anything girly: jewelry, makeup, dressup, and SHOES...she LOVES shoes. But she also loves to play outside and get dirty. She loves to try to keep up with big brother. Jumping off things is her favorite activity right now. She goes up and down the stairs independently now and when she gets to the last step she jumps off just like her brother. She will tackle and rough house and tickle. She loves to give hugs but she's not a big snuggler like her brother. She only stays a few seconds and then she is off playing again.

I posted a video below of the kids playing with daddy. He took them outside to play one afternoon so I could finish up dinner prep. I heard an awful lot of screaming and laughing so I had to go out to see what was going on. Jordan hooked some fishing line onto their roller coaster and took turns reeling them down the driveway. What a fun daddy :)

Thanksgiving week in Dallas

2011-11-28T12:42:00.003-05:00

We spent 10 days in Dallas over the Thanksgiving break. We started off staying at my parents house and then we went over to Dwayne and Vivian's house for the second half. The first Saturday we were there we went to Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday party. The Niswangers were in town again so we got to spend time with them all again!

Patricia and Emory (3.5)

Amber and Hailey (almost 11 months)

Rudy and John Carter (19 months)

Birthday girl Kaitlyn (3) behind the wheel and Madison (18m) and Ava Grace (19m) watching behind

Hunter parked himself at the air hockey table most of the time we were there.

We had fun hanging out with the family all week

Madison loves her daddy

so cute

and her aunt Beekah

and her jewelry

We had a great turnout at Thanksgiving. Not everyone is pictured here. Dwayne and Vivian also came over (they took the picture) and Meagan and Jimmy had already left for his family's get-together. It was SO GOOD to see everyone!

Madison and Brody had a reunion. The last time they saw each other was a year ago!

Cal, Phillip and Jordan tossed around the football after lunch

Uncle Jim and Meme

The adults had fun playing games while the kids napped

After naps the kids took turns taking rides from uncle bud in his suitcase

Papa and Vivi bought the kids Santa hats so they could take pictures of them in their sleigh

We all went to Benihana for Beekah's birthday

Madison licked her plate clean

Hunter was mesmerized

Beekah let Hunter help open her present

Madison gives the BEST hugs. She loves her Pop

Madison and Chloe had fun grocery shopping in their tutu's

Hunter always manages to find the good scratchers in the family

Jordan found the perfect size tea set for a tea party :)

The kids had fun playing with Papa

One morning Hunter announced it was time to put up the Christmas tree! Thankfully Vivi agreed. They all had fun putting up the tree together.

We left early Sunday morning to head back to Houston. Jordan stayed back in Abilene to get in a quick deer hunt. Overall it was such a good week!

Praise God!

2011-11-16T19:27:00.002-05:00

After my appointment last week and having started progesterone I had a pretty long week of contractions that worsened through the weekend. Jordan was out of town on a hunting trip and when he got back Sunday night they were so bad I was considering going in to L&D to have them stopped. He was suppose to give my my 2nd progesterone shot the next day but after seeing how bad they were getting he talked me into letting him give me the shot a day early. Thankfully they stopped shortly after! We have prayed all week that I would get a good report at my ultrasound re-check this week because we knew that if I didn't it would mean either a cerclage or complete bedrest. With the amount of contractions I was still having we knew a cerclage wasn't going to be an option. I was starting to get really nervous about the appointment because it was a really bad week with contractions and I thought there is no way my cervix can withstand this.

After many many prayers from loving family and friends I went to my appointment this morning to find that my cervix went right back to normal! It's right where it should be. What an amazing answer to prayer. My OB wrote a prescription for Nifedipine to carry with me if or when the contractions get out of control again and she told me to come back every 2 weeks for a re-check to make sure it stays put. I cannot tell you what a sense of relief this is. God is so good and He always gives me exactly what I need. He has carried me through each pregnancy and I have faith that He will continue to do that with this one.

Because of my good report I am able to travel to Dallas for Thanksgiving and spend the week with family. How exciting! I go back in 2 weeks for my anatomy ultrasound so prayers would be appreciated that it goes well and baby girl is healthy as can be!

It's a...

2011-11-07T20:00:00.001-05:00

We are so excited to find out we are having another baby girl! I had a surprise ultrasound at my OB appointment this afternoon. Jordan didn't come with me because I assumed it would be a boring normal appointment so it was just easier to have him stay home with the kids. There is always the chance that I will have an ultrasound just because of my history but I wasn't sure if it would happen today. Well baby girl was ready to be seen! She made it known! I was so excited to find out but I felt bad that Jordan couldn't be there with me so I thought I would do something special for him and the kids...a way that would be fun for them to find out. SOOO this picture is the moment they found out! Just before they opened it I asked Hunter what he thought it was and he said boy (he had recently said girl). Jordan and I had both predicted girl from the moment we found out we were pregnant and he hadn't changed his mind. We are all excited!

I am 16 weeks (and some change) and feeling pretty good! My contractions have slowed way down since I started taking magnesium again. I found out this summer that I was deficient in Magnesium and was low in Progesterone both of which can cause contractions, which may be a contributing factor to all of the issues I've had with each pregnancy. I took my normal prenatal vitamin in the first trimester and as soon as hit the second tri Jordan reminded me about the magnesium so I started taking it again and the contractions slowed way down. I also started the 17-P injections this week. The nurse came to the house today to "train" Jordan on how to give me the weekly shots and then he will take over for the remainder of the pregnancy. Our insurance covers the weekly nurse visit at 100% but it is kind of inconvenient to have to wait around every Monday for the nurse to come and it's hard on the kids to have to stay away from mommy while I go through the full checkup and shot. So it is a huge blessing to have the option of Jordan being able to give me the shots. He has done it before, in a pinch when we have travelled, so it's nothing new but we still have to go through the "training" for insurance purposes. Now we will be able to do it at anytime (between 6-10 days of each other), which will be so much more convenient.

I am feeling great, no more morning sickness, and my energy has increased quite a bit although the progesterone makes me sleepy the first few days after the injections so I tend to go to bed a lot earlier and sleep like a baby. My checkup went well but my cervix seems to be shortening like it did with Hunter. We aren't in the danger zone yet but we are in the grey area. They want to re-check it next week and then make a decision on where to go from there. It really all depends on what happens next week as to what direction we will go. A cerclage was brought up but I am not a great candidate for it since I have so many contractions so we will have to weigh the options and determine the best approach to make with this one. It's totally possible I could go in and find out my cervix is longer next week....because that actually happened with Madison, so I am not ruling that out either. Our prayer is that it either stays put where it is... or even better...goes back to where it should be until term. I am confident God will pull us through whatever happens because He has been so faithful all along. The bright side is I get to see baby girl AGAIN next week *happy dance*

18 months old

2011-11-03T20:27:00.007-04:00

We had Maddie's well visit this morning followed by a girl's day out of shopping (cold weather clothes for her and brother) and lunch at La Madeleine's bakery. It was such a fun morning! Daddy and Hunter have their guy nights out all the time after Madison goes to bed so it was fun to take Madison out with just me. I like to rotate which one I bring with me if I am going out and have the opportunity to spend some one on one time with them. With Jordan being home in the afternoons this makes the single outings a lot more frequent! She is at a great age right now. I LOVE 18 months. It is just so precious. She is talking (mostly in single word expressions and LOTS of pointing) and she understands just about everything we say. She is so incredibly sweet, loves to give hugs and kisses. She isn't as much of a snuggler as her brother....yet. She loves hugs but they last about 5-10sec tops and then she is off doing other things! Busy busy. The older she gets the more we can see her personality come out...which is so fun.

She loves to hide in tiny places....this one really scared me. She was under my feet while cooking and suddenly she disappeared....my heart sank when I starting walking around looking for her and she was no where to be found. After about 5 minutes I heard something in one of the cabinets and started opening them all...the last one I checked she was in...just sitting there smiling :) It was so small I didn't even think to look there because I didn't think she could possibly fit in it!

She LOVES to try on shoes

She seems to be a laid back go with the flow kinda girl. She's tough and doesn't cry at times were I would expect her to.....like her shots this morning. She follows directions and obeys VERY well for her age. And has some backbone to her when she needs to (like when brother is in the mood to pester). They both LOVE to be outside and would happily stay there all day.

Going on a walk with daddy is always a highlight

Jumping on their trampoline

Or playing in their sandbox

morning snuggles are my favorite

She is a great eater....still our vegetarian mostly. She is the kind of eater I thought I could only dream to have bc she loves fruits and veggies but isn't a big junk food girl. If you give her a cookie she will take one bite and set it down and walk away. She likes pasta and rice but not bread or big chunks of meat...she actually picks out any visible meat and sets it aside. She will eat it if it's ground up like ground turkey or hamburger in a casserole or pasta but that's about it. She gets her daily does of fruits and veggies x 2 or 3!

She wears size 4 diapers, 18-24 months clothes, size 5/6 shoe, and 24 month sleepers. She has all the teeth she is suppose to have (until her 2 year molars come in) and her hair is getting so long! It's almost ready for a real pony tail.

She is 33.25" inches tall (90%), 22.6 pounds (22%), and her head circumference is 18.5" (64%). Her doctor said she has stayed consistent and is still tall and lean! She got her Flu vaccine today (brother got his on Monday), and she also got Hep A. Neither one seemed to bother her. She gave the nurse a dirty look when she got the shots but then was distracted by the super awesome bugs bunny Band-Aids.

The biggest development for month 17 is her increasing interest in going on the potty. I wrote about her poop success after dinner 2 days ago. Well the next morning (yesterday) she woke up and started tugging on her diaper like she wanted it off. We got downstairs and she saw the potty and walked over to it and said tee tee and tugged at her diaper again. So I took it off she sat down and peed! We didn't have any plans out of the house that day so I figured why not give it a shot. I let her roam naked all day and she had 2 poops and 4 tee tee's in the potty with zero accidents! I put her in a diaper at nap time and she stayed dry! I couldn't believe it! But she has taken over and seems to want to really do this! So today I knew would be a challenge because we had her doc appointment first thing in the morning and we had to be out of the house till noon for a showing. So 6 hours away from the house for a girl who has JUST started to learn to go on the potty was going to be a challenge. I put her on the potty when she first woke and she went! Then I put her in a diaper for a run to target to buy her some panties since we didn't have any. I bought some trainers too (they have the water proof covering over the panty to hopefully save the clothes in case of an accident). I changed her into the trainers and she stayed dry all the way to the doctor (even thru target) and I put her on the potty when we arrived at the doc. She looked really apprehensive on the big public potty. She said she needed to poop but looked scared. So after she sat for a bit I got her down and she immediately squatted down NEXT to the potty and pooped. :/ I talked to the doctor about it during our visit and she encouraged me to follow her lead and go for it but to get a portable potty topper for public so it won't feel so scary for her. We left the doctor's office and found a portable potty topper at the store and the rest of the day went great!! She continued the success with two poops and two pees in the potty! After dinner she got down from her chair marched right over and pooped on the potty again! I am going to continue to just follow her lead on this and keep the potty available and her tooshy naked at home for a while and hope this is all it takes! Technically if we were doing the 3-day potty method tomorrow would be day 3 but since she is a little younger I will prob keep doing it this way until I am confident that she's "got it" even if it takes weeks of her running around bare bottomed :) I never would have guessed this is what we would be doing this week!

Hunter likes a front row seat when she is going potty. He coaches her up and is so encouraging!

We woke up to a very chilly house this morning so this was her bare-bottomed attire. She's checking out her successful potty visit :)

In other news, she starts swim lessons on Monday. Hunter started back last week and was the only one in his class (there is another class at the same time with boys he knows from church) so he is actually in the pool with them but he has his own teacher. At the pedi today I asked when we could start Madison in swim lessons (since she has tubes I was under the impression swim lessons were out of the question until the tubes fell out). Her doctor said she was fine to do swim lessons and the tubes weren't at risk of falling out unless she went like 4 feet under. So I called the swim school and got her in the same block as Hunter as a semi-private lesson with Hunter and his teacher! This will be awesome because we didn't start Hunter until much later when he had a little bit of a fear of the water. Maddie has no fear at this age so it will be interesting to see how she progresses!

I think that about sums up Madison for the month. We look forward to each passing day with these two kiddos. They are so incredibly precious and such a wonderful blessing from God they continue to amaze us everyday! Jordan and I just love being their parents and can't wait to meet our 3rd! God is good!

Another BIG potty success!

2011-11-01T21:19:00.003-04:00

I decided to buy Maddie a little potty chair so we could continue our potty "practicing" during the day at routine times....after she wakes up, after meals, before bed etc. I had been just holding her on the big potty suspended because I didn't have a potty chair for her to sit on. Today I bought her a little potty that sits on the floor so she could sit on it without me holding her on it. After dinner we usually do baths so of course I put her on hoping she would go and she not only went as SOON as she got on but she POOPED! Woohoo! Big success!

Halloween weekend in Dallas

2011-10-31T09:41:00.000-04:00

We went to Dallas for Halloween weekend. We stayed at Papa and Vivi's house this time. While we were there we met Beekah for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

Nana came over for a visit. Maddie couldn't help but plant sloppy wet kisses all over her.

Madison had fun playing with Rebekah's Samantha doll and all her accessories

She LOVED the peanuts and candy corn Vivi had sitting out

Hunter had fun in the kitchen with Vivi

Saturday night we went to a fall fest at the Benton's church. The Niswangers were in town for the weekend so we got to see everyone! I was bad about taking pictures but I stole this one from Patricia because it was to cute. They went as the s'mores family!

The kids had fun at the fall fest. Here they are doing the cake walk.

Madison went as a princess however I bought an 18 month dress and didn't realize how short it would be on her! She is so tall she was flashing everyone the whole time.

She was NOT a fan of the petting zoo but big brother loved it

Hunter went as Wilson from Chuggington

We have a hit!

2011-10-20T19:17:00.003-04:00

Every night before bath time I always put Maddie on the potty for a bit in hopes she will "tee tee" in the potty BEFORE getting into the bath tub. Up to now we have had zero success as she usually will sit on the potty (which she loves) and then hop off and head to the bath tub and tee tee the moment her feet hit the water. Tonight was different. She sat on the potty before bath which resulted in nothing as usual. She then took a 10 minute bath and when I pulled her out of the tub to dry her off she said "tee tee" and headed to the potty. I put her on and she immediately went! We have a HIT! So proud of my girl and even better that she told me she needed to go rather than just going when I put her on!

And baby makes 5!

2011-10-10T13:45:00.013-04:00

We are pregnant with baby #3! We are beyond excited and look forward to the arrival our sweet precious bundle of joy sometime in April!

We found out about 2 months ago when I woke up one morning and had a crazy idea to take the kids to Dallas for the weekend. Jordan was in football camp in New Orleans and I was tired of being home alone with the kids. You may remember this post :). We packed up and headed to Dallas to spend some time with family and somewhere on my way I had the idea to see if I could fly to New Orleans and surprise him at his game the next day. Right after we stopped at Buc-ees, the halfway mark, I started feeling really light headed and run-down. I got really discouraged because I thought surely I was coming down with something and I was 2 hours from Dallas and 2 hours from Houston and I had 2 kids with me. I kept thinking to myself I don't know if I can keep going.

We made it to Dallas and I got the kids down for naps and laid down on the floor with my feet up. I just could not make the feeling go away. I thought maybe it was blood sugar so I ate a bunch of food hoping it would make me feel better and it just wouldn't go away. Finally I dozed off and when I woke up I felt better....WEIRD!

It donned on me later when the dizziness hit me again that this was my first pregnancy symptom with the other 2 kids and also pretty much the ONLY time I am ever light headed.....it was hard to convince myself to actually buy a test because I thought.... this is ridiculous I'm not pregnant. The next day Rebekah was coming to pick me up to head to New Orleans. I woke up that next morning and took the test, half asleep. As I sat there looking in the results window waiting for it to say "not pregnant" I kept saying to myself this is stupid I'm not pregnant. Then BAM "PREGNANT" showed up. I couldn't believe my eyes.....so I took the second test that came in the package....again "pregnant"......whoa.

Before I left I made sure to snap a starting off belly pic. I forgot to do this with the first 2 and since I show so quickly (being short waisted) I always forget how much I have grown!

So this is me 4 weeks with baby #3!

Rebekah arrived later that day and I was still in La La land from my very surprising news earlier that day. I got in the car feeling sort of flustered and in my own world still trying to think back over the last month. No sooner do I buckle up does she turn to me and say "you're pregnant aren't you?" I was SO not prepared for that. So I just kind of sat there and then stuttered some sort of ramblings before I finally just said "how on EARTH could you possibly know that? I LITERALLY just found out!" She laughed and said she just had a feeling.

We headed to the game and you know that story.....the picture I posted of us after the game "surprising" Jordan was actually the picture of me surprising him with "we're pregnant". His jaw dropped, his eyes bugged out and I could see the wheels turning in his head. His eyes got slightly moist before he grabbed me and hugged me :)

We definitely had plans for a 3rd baby in our future but God had different (and better) timing. His timing is always perfect.

I am now about 12.5 weeks along and just had my second ultrasound this morning and saw a big beautiful growing baby! This baby is quite the squirmy one. I've already been feeling the little flutters for a few weeks now....I call it my little beta because it just feels like a fish is swimming really fast in my tummy! I love the flutters and look forward to future bumps and rolls as the baby continues to grow!

This first trimester has been a little more difficult than my 2 previous pregnancies. For what reason, I have no idea, but I know all pregnancies are different. I have all the same symptoms as with previous ones they just all seem to be MAGNIFIED. I have cravings, aversions, nausea, light headedness, FATIGUE etc. but they all seem to be slowly fading away as I get closer and closer to the second trimester so that is great news. In not so good news my good ole uterus seems to already be acting up again and I started having contractions at around 9 weeks so I am on "light duty" until we can start progesterone injections again once I get into the second trimester. No fun, but I've never actually experienced a pregnancy without restrictions so I really know no different! The contractions really let up when I take it easy so I am fortunate to have Jordan here to help me a lot with the kids.

We told our families we were pregnant when we were in Dallas last weekend. I was a little over 11 weeks which is later than we have told them ever before but I wanted to do it in person (after my first OB appt) and that was the soonest we could get there.

I have had certain weeks of cravings which I want to remember. The first major craving I had was for BLT's. This was my strongest craving to date. I think I had a BLT 11 straight days in a row. I have a really tough time in the mornings, when I'm pregnant, with feeling light headed and dizzy if I don't eat enough protein when I wake up. So it's not unusual for me to wake up and have left overs from dinner the night before for breakfast. If I have cereal for breakfast then I am ready for lunch by 9am. Once I have 3 solid meals in me I'm good to go for the day so the sooner I eat 3 good meals the better I am with the symptoms.

Hunter is actually old enough to somewhat "get it" this time. He can see my growing belly (although still small). He does know there is a baby in my belly and that sometimes I can't do things because my belly hurts (contractions). Daddy has really picked up the slack with the things I can't do so they aren't missing out on anything :) When we told Hunter we were pregnant I said "there is a little baby inside momma's belly and you are going to have another little brother or little sister. Isn't that awesome?" Hunter said "oh really, another Maddie?!" This morning when I got back from my ultrasound Hunter called me in from the playroom and said "hey momma did you get a picture of the baby in your belly? Can I see it?" So precious.

We are so excited to welcome our new addition and to see the many blessings that will flow from this brand new life. We have been so richly blessed and continue to count our blessings and thank God for all He has entrusted us with!

3.5 years old

2011-10-05T19:37:00.003-04:00

I meant to do a post in August for Hunter's 3.5 year update but the time got away from me! Not much changes from month to month at this age so I am sure whatever I would have written would be very similar to today.

Hunter has so much personality. He has a BIG personality much like his dad. He is the happiest person in the room or the saddest. This age is really easy compared to the first 3 years of life. I don't know if it's normal 3.5 year old behavior, first born behavior or just Hunter. Hunter has the unfortunate disadvantage of being the guinea pig to this thing we call parenting. He has turned out pretty good so far if I say so myself but I know we did a few things differently the second time around and probably will with future kids too. He is such a good hearted boy. He genuinely wants to do good and be happy and make others happy. He is quick to apologize when he does something wrong and he says it in such a sweet way "oh, I'm so sorry Maddie are you okay?" Sometimes he likes to pester, as big brothers do, and it's those times apologies don't come as easy.

He's a big snuggler and LOVES to be scratched. Everyday he comes and says mommy can I come snuggle you or sit with you? I take up every chance I get because I know these moments will only be here a little while longer. When we are laying there he will usually say "mommy I love you so much" MELT MY HEART. Sometimes he will say "mommy I'm so happy".

He is a much better eater than he used to be. It wouldn't be a meal if he didn't initially protest everything on his plate but eventually after watching everyone else eat he digs in and does pretty well most nights. He isn't much in to casseroles or things where he can't tell what all is in the food. If it were up to him he would have meat and bread...reminds me SO much of my brother Adam. He loves dessert though so if he thinks there might be a chance at getting "the biggest" cookie, or whatever, he will be the first one to finish his dinner...even if he stuffed it all in there in one bite and is unable to actually chew his food.

He still naps but only about 50% of the time. If he does nap it's a big nap 3-3.5 hours which makes falling asleep at night much harder. Normally he goes to bed at 8pm-7am and naps from 12:30-3:30 (roughly the same time as Madison). If he doesn't nap he still stays in his room for quiet time until Madison wakes up but then he goes to bed at 6pm. He loves the days he naps because he gets to go do "fun stuff" with daddy after dinner. Madison goes to bed anywhere between 5:45-6:30pm so if Hunter naps he and daddy get to go do fun stuff after dinner (5:30ish) until his bedtime at 8:00... BIG incentive for him to actually nap! They usually go to a park, go to the "dirt hills" (mudding), go fill up the deer feeder, go to the water park, chase armadillos, throw rocks in the lake and it usually ends with a stop for gatorade on the way home. Jordan treasures this special time with him and I know Hunter does too. When he gets home at night he comes running in dripping in sweat telling me all about their "adventure" as he calls it. He is usually so hyped up that it takes him an hour and half to finally fall asleep (well that and the combination of his big nap). It's a nice break for me too because I have the house all to myself for a few hours of downtime while Madison is asleep and the boys are out having fun.

He's at the age where he says the funniest stuff everyday. Jordan and I cut eyes across the room at each other SOOOOO many times a day because of this kid. He is hilarious. He is getting creative with his way of saying things and it just cracks us up! The other day he said "mom are you kidding me? did you just do that?!" haha I wonder where he's heard that?! He also gave me my most embarrassing moment a few weeks ago in Target. We were in the checkout line and he had been having some constipation issues. While we were standing in line he stood up in the basket grabbed his rear end and said very loudly

"MOMMY my bottom is freaking out!!!! Poo poo is trying to come out and I won't let it!!!"

Then he said....

"I NEED a new bottom"!!!

Everyone within earshot was DYING laughing and I'm pretty sure my face said all it needed to say :/ I couldn't help but laugh too.

Everyday with you is an adventure Hunter. You are so full of life and personality. You make the room light up when you walk in and you LOVE to have a good time. You are such a good big brother to Madison and you do such a good job of taking care of her. You are my big helper and you love to do things that make me happy. You are so tender hearted and intuitive. Your daddy and I love you so much and are so happy God blessed us with YOU as our first born. We look forward to many many adventures ahead!

17 months old!

2011-10-03T08:10:00.009-04:00

Madison is 17 months old today. Where did September go?! Life has been a bit hectic this month so I am behind on the ole blog but hope to catch up soon. We have been in Dallas this weekend visiting family. They can't stop talking about how much Madison has changed since we were here in early August. She is a little girl now. She has her own personality and talks all the time. I love this age because I feel like it's the first glimpse at what she will one day be like.

She loves bath time

and playing with Hunter

She is such a sweet little girl. I find myself just watching her as she goes about doing her thing. She is so adorable and has some pretty cute little quirks to her. He hair is getting longer which makes her look even more grown up. She's been walking now for long enough that she is pretty smoothe and quick on her feet and prefers to walk on her tip toes like a little miss priss...or run. She has such a sweet personality. Everything she does is big. Big hugs, big wet kisses with an extra loud smack (which sometimes is timed correctly and sometimes not), when she laughs it's contagious and the whole room stops to see what is so funny. She only REALLY cries when she is hurt, she is such a tough cookie that I am surprised every day at how much she just shrugs off. She follows directions so well not only for her age but in general....she may get that from me I always tried to do what my parents/teachers told me to do. She has fun little games she loves to play such as chase or peek a boo. When she is being playful and we tell her to come here she will drop to the floor on her stomach like a pancake and laugh hysterically...this is most often seen in the bath when it's time to get out. She is soooo busy, she entertains herself well but when she is bored she lets you know and generally a walk outside is a cure-all for boredom. She is really into trying on things right now, jewelry, purses, SHOES, clothes etc. she will entertain herself forever with a basket full of shoes that are slightly too big for her. She loves ride a long toys and her baby doll which she is so affectionate with.

She poses for the camera too, anytime I pull my phone out in her direction, whether I am taking a picture or not, she will stop and smile and say cheese!!!

She is down to one nap a day (unless she is sick) and generally it's from 12-3ish. If it's under 2 hours she has a 5:45pm bedtime and she will sleep till her normal 7am wake up time. Otherwise bedtime is 6:30pm-7:00am.

She is in 18 month clothes, size 5 shoes, size 4 diapers and she is still tall and skinny. She has lost what little baby fat she ever had (if any) and looks so much taller now. She is cutting her last two canines right now which will bring her up to a full head of teeth for her age....next are the two year molars.

Her appetite is still better than her brother (no matter what age) but it has dropped off a tad from the past 6 months. She seems to turn her nose up to meat and bread (which are actually Hunter's favorites) but LOVES fruits and veggies, pasta and rice. Her favorites are grapes, blueberries, apples, oranges, mango, strawberries, melons, green beans, peas, carrots, potatoes, and mac and cheese.

She has new words everyday too many to count at this point and LOVES doing the sounds of animals. She belly laughs when we go through them. She also likes to do body parts but not nearly as much as animal noises. She likes going through the names of those who love her and can do just about every name in the family including the tougher ones with more advanced consonants such as Vivi and James.

She loves to be outside....here she is swinging on the hammock with daddy while I am making dinner.

We love you so much sweet baby girl and are soaking up every moment we have with you. We are blessed!

16 months old!

2011-09-03T08:55:00.006-04:00

Madison is 16 months old today. I really love this age. I can start to see her personality shining through more and more each month. When I go back and read about Hunter at this age it's really obvious just how different their personalities are. Of course developmentally they are doing pretty much the same stuff but the way they react to situations at this age is definitely different!

Maddie is into everything...literally. She climbs on and in everything. She wants to be doing everything we are doing, especially what Hunter is doing. She and Hunter play really well together. When she wakes up before him or she and I are here alone she seems kind of bored without Hunter. She already knows how to be dramatic and "cry wolf". For instance if she is playing with a toy that she knows Hunter will want (i.e. one of his fav cars). She will sit over on the other side of the room and watch him out of the corner of her eye. If he so much as looks in her direction or Heaven forbid gets up and walks in her direction. She starts shrieking and screaming as if someone is trying to cut her arm off... I used to immediately think Hunter was instigating but one day I watched silently out of view and saw how totally dramatic she was being!!! Crazy how early that starts :) I will say though she has had her fair share of situations with big brother that taught her to play cautiously with toys. Haha. I really love how they play together. Hunter is so much better about sharing now that he has a sibling. He can be kind of manipulative about it....he definitely has the distraction technique down. If he wants to play with a toy without Maddie he will go find a toy equally intriguing and say "here Maddie you can play with this!" and then he will run off and play quietly with his toy. Haha it starts so early!

Maddie got a hold of some Visine (that didn't have a lid on it) she put it straight to her mouth like a bottle and started sucking on it. I grabbed it from her as soon as I could get over to her but I couldn't be sure of wether or not she actually got any. I had to call poison control because of the active ingredients in the Visine. Poison Control sent us straight to the ER. When we arrived we were prioritized in front of everyone and taken straight back. The doctor came and took vitals and asked how long it had been (only about 20 min at that point). They monitored her for changes and after an hour released her and said she must not have gotten any because the effects would have been immediate and dramatic. Whew! God protected her for sure that night. So thankful.

Waiting in the ER

Past her bedtime

Maddie has had her first language explosion this month. It's possible she had it a while back and I didn't notice because someone pointed out to me that she was saying things I didn't even notice. She has been "verbal" for a while but I thought they were just noises. Then I realized she makes the same noises for certain situations. For instance, when she's hungry she says "snack" and runs to the pantry or her high chair...."snack" did not sound like snack to me until someone pointed it out to me.

She says:

momma

dadda

meme

Noah (woawah)

Beekah (deedah)

Snack (sack)

All done (da) she yells it and waves her hands in the air when she's done

Pop

Papa

See

Please (peas)

Thank you (sa su)

Yes (sis)

No m'am (na ma)

Vivi (bibi)

Baby (beebee)

Cheese (when we pull out the camera)

Banana (bana)

Nana

And a few others that aren't coming to me.

When she wants something she runs over to it and does "ah ah ah" until I figure out what it is.

She loves my iphone and iPad and can totally navigate it to what she wants to do. Toddler flashcards, babytouch, and baby's first TV are her favorites. She gets so excited about it. She also has a few Mickey Mouse episodes to watch on there.

She loves her baby doll and will pick it up and carry it everywhere with her. She gives it kisses and the "smack" noise comes way after the contact, which is pretty cute. She burps, rocks and hugs the baby too.

She still sucks her thumb when she is tired. Usually she will find a Lovie and suck her thumb and lay down or walk over to me and lay her head down and make this lawn mower sound while sucking her thumb. She LOVES her lovie. She's OBSESSED with it. She would carry it all day if I would let her. But since the only time she sucks her thumb is when she has Lovie I try to limit Lovie to just the crib. She is such a good sleeper. She always has been but it seems like the older she gets the better she is. She doesn't fight naps or bedtime. She wakes up happy and plays until I come get her. The only time she cries is if she throws Lovie out of the crib and can't reach it. She is still in the 2 to 1 nap transition. She is still more of a 2 napper. She sleeps from 6:45pm-7:00am and takes her first nap from 9-10:00am and her second nap at the same time as Hunter from 12:30-3:30. If her morning nap is longer than an hour her afternoon nap will be more like 2 hours. If she only takes one nap she goes down at 11:45/12:00 and sleeps 3 hours. She's not a fan of footed PJ's anymore or long sleeves. We keep our house pretty cold so my kids usually can get away with wearing the same Pj's year round but Madison gets frustrated with sleeves and tugs at them and kind of yells at me in protest when I put her in footed PJ's. Definitely not a fan!

This girl can EAT. I seriously have no clue where it all goes but she easily eats 3 times more than Hunter and she is such a tiny little peanut! She's tall but super thin for her height. She loves pretty much all food but is crazy over fruit. Grapes seem to be the popular one right now. She's also at the stage where she wants what everyone else is having in addition to her food. It is impossible to eat in front of this girl without having to share, it wouldn't matter how full she is she NEEDS what you are eating too!

Two of her eye teeth came in last month and the other two are on deck. They don't seem to really bother her though. She chipped her front tooth a tiny bit, just like big brother, but it's not as obvious as his. I have no idea when or how that happened but as crazy as she is there really is no telling. She has zero fear.

She understands so much right now and is actually very obedient. She responds to "no m'am" SOOO much better than Hunter did at this age. If she does something she shouldn't and I say "no m'am" she will stop immediately and walk away. Of course she will return to it in about 5 minutes if I haven't found something for her to do but I have been impressed with how her response is so immediate. She follows directions very well too. I can tell her to sit down and she will sit down and stay there. I can say "let's go get Hunter" and she will RUN to the stairs and into his room shrieking with excitement. She understands pretty much everything in our normal daily routine so long as I tell her ahead of time she will lead the way! The way she responds to direction/correction is amazing I don't know if that's a personality difference or just that we've tightened up our parenting from when Hunter was this age but I am very impressed with her! Her personality is a bit more laid back than Hunter. Hunter is very precise (anal) and likes things just so. Maddie is the opposite. She is a totally go with the flow kid. I'm not sure if its birth order or what but it is very obvious how different their personalities are even at this young age. I love each of their quirks because it makes them so unique!

We love you Madison you make us laugh everyday. You are too precious for words. We thank God everyday for blessing us with YOU!

The big 3-0

2011-08-22T22:09:00.001-04:00

I officially crossed over today. It's just another day really, I'm not ashamed to be 30 at all but it has been fun to poke fun at all of my 30 something friends for the past few years. My birthday falls at an odd time for us because Jordan is always in training camp. Last year camp ended the day before my birthday so we celebrated ON my actual birthday for the first time in our marriage and probably in our dating life too. This year camp was suppose to end the day before my birthday again but the coach decided to extend it a week and take the team to California. So while Jordan actually had my birthday off...he was in California. I still feel the love every year though even if its not on the actual day I was born or even the month. He's always so good to me as are my family and friends!

The kids and I woke up this morning and headed to Chuck E Cheese to meet Sheila and her grandson Aiden for a play date. I normally go to Monday night girls bible study at Sheila's and she does a big birthday dinner for the birthday girl of the week but since I am without childcare I was unable to attend. So she brought my birthday dinner to me in the form of a Chuck E Cheese celebration. The kids of course thoroughly enjoyed my birthday and I loved even more watching them have a blast. We were the only ones there so they took over the whole place.

We did cake, pizza and presents and the kids played every game a few times through.

I am fairly certain this Chuck E Cheese has never had a 30 candle birthday cake. Not only was there not enough room for 30 candles but he did not have safe way of lighting them and he made sure to mention that we would have to move tables so as to get out of range of the smoked detector. Awesome.

No really it was hilarious.

I took Maddie up through the big tunnels and down the big slide something I am fairly certain I will never be able to repeat ever again. Like I said we had the whole place to ourselves. The last time I went through a tunnel that small I was much shorter. I had to bear crawl to get through...while pushing/holding a 20ish pound toddler. She loved it though. And she LOVED the huge slide.

They played all morning and we packed it up to get home just in time for nap time.

I arrived home to find this on my doorstep :) He's so good to me

It was a great birthday. What better way to spend the big 3-0 than to act like a kid all day :)

Saints-Texans weekend

2011-08-21T21:41:00.013-04:00

Papa, Vivi and Beekah drove down to Houston this weekend for the Saints-Texans game on Saturday. They arrived late Friday night after the kids were in bed so the kids had a nice surprise Saturday morning when they woke up! They were really excited to see them.

We played most of the morning and then got dressed and went to lunch to celebrate my birthday! Afterwards we came home to put the kids down for naps and the girls headed to see "The Help" while Papa stayed home with the kids.

Adam and Jaclyn drove in from Galveston Saturday night to keep the kids while we went to the game. It was a great game even though we lost. Jordan played Right Tackle and did a great job! (#79)

After the game the team headed to California for the week (for an extra week of training camp). They play Oakland on Sunday and then they will head back to New Orleans and break camp. The kids and I can't wait to get to New Orleans and be with Jordan again.

Photo shoot with Meagan

2011-08-17T22:55:00.002-04:00

Meagan did a last minute photo shoot with me yesterday. I was putting together my annual scrapbook for Jordan for training camp and had a hard time finding any pictures of me to put in the book. I'm always behind the camera! So my awesome sis did a quick last minute session with me before we went back to Houston. It was a surprise for Jordan's book. These are some of my favs.

I think this one is my favorite

Jordan said this is his favorite

But I also like this one because it was a real moment! I was laughing at something she said and the wind caught my dress!

Meagan is so awesome and really great to work with she has such a good eye. She's a natural!

Dallas

2011-08-17T21:32:00.011-04:00

The kids and I spent the week in Dallas after my quick trip to NOLA for Jordan's game. It was so nice to be surrounded by family. My house in Houston sure was feeling lonely with Jordan gone.

After returning from NOLA Saturday morning we hung out at Nana and Pop's for the week. Saturday night we went to Jimmy's 40th birthday party and met his whole family for the first time. Rebekah kept Maddie at home while Hunter and I went to the party with my family. It was a pool party and mostly after her bedtime. I was grateful Rebekah offered!

Sunday we went to church at Highland Oaks with my family and they did the big farewell presentation to Meagan as she leaves the ministry to pursue a career in nursing. That was neat to be a part of. I took a ridiculously awesome nap Sunday afternoon, as did my kids.

Rachel came over on Monday with Caden (12 weeks now). We hung out for the afternoon while my kids napped. It was great to spend time with her as usual.

On Tuesday Rebekah brought lunch over and we hung out all afternoon while the kid napped. Then I got ready and headed to meet Meagan for a photo shoot (just me this time). Photos to come.

On Wednesday the kids and I headed back to Houston. We were sad to leave but I needed to get back home and take care of things at the house. It was a great week with family! The kids had a blast with their cousins too.

Maddie had a blast playing in Chloe's dress up heels and jewelry

Noah is so sweet with Maddie. They have a really cute little bond.

Noah had to spend some time in time out and Maddie just couldn't stand to be away from him so she brought her toys over by him and played quietly behind him waiting for him to get out of time out. So adorable!

Hunter snuggling with Pop

Hunter and Noah watching cartoons together

Hunter and Maddie had fun in Nana and Pop's backyard. They were playing in the sandbox and the sprinklers came on. It didn't phase them....although Hunter's pants had a little trouble staying up when drenched! Check out that white tooshie!

What a MESS! They had a blast though :)

Surprise trip to NOLA

2011-08-13T09:57:00.002-04:00

I woke up Thursday morning feeling spontaneous I suppose. It was going to be a normal day at home, just me and the kids. We were starting off in our normal routine. After breakfast I started cleaning up the kitchen and just had the idea to go pack up and go to Dallas for the weekend. I put the kids in the playroom with a cartoon and quickly packed us all up and finished cleaning up the house (since it's on the market we have to leave it perfect). We were on the road by 8am and in Dallas by noon. Somewhere between Huntsville and Madisonville I got the urge to go surprise Jordan at his game in New Orleans. It was a 7:00pm game Friday night (the next day). I thought it would be fun to see him in person for his first game as a Saint. I called Rebekah to see if she wanted to join me to NOLA. She was in. I assumed there would be flights from Dallas to NOLA that would line up with the game since they are two big cities. I called my mom to see if I could leave the kids in her care for the night. She said yes. I called my friend from the Saints to see if her hubby could get us tickets so that we wouldn't have to get them through Jordan (since it was a surprise) she said no problem. I called southwest and booked two free flights (I had them saved up) for the 5:00 flight that arrived at 6:20pm in NOLA....cutting it close but we were gonna try it anyway!

Rebekah showed up at 3:15pm we went with only our purses (toothbrush, makeup and pair of shorts to sleep in). We hopped on the 5 o'clock landed at exactly 6:20 took a cab (that's a whole nother story) to the stadium and got there just as the game started. We picked up our tickets in Will call and headed up to our seats! It was a great game. Jordan played great considering he didn't know the offense yet and had only had 2 practices with the team.

After the game we went down to the family waiting area to surprise Jordan. Our friend called her hubby to tell him to tell Jordan to come out and see us. I texted Jordan to tell him to come out as well....he didn't get either message. After waiting about 45 minutes I finally called him and he happened to answer! He had already walked to his car and was about to leave when he felt his phone vibrate. He did not believe that we were there. He was CLUELESS! After much convincing he finally decided to come see if I was telling the truth. He walked in and had the best look on his face! He was definitely surprised! He said he was about to get in his car and drive to Houston because they had the night and the whole next day off and he missed us so much. I was very glad I caught him!

It turns out I had booked our hotel at the same hotel the team was staying in. So we jumped in his truck and headed to the hotel. We checked in to our room and the 3 of us stayed up talking for a while. We finally went to bed around 1am (Jordan went back to his room which we were not allowed in). Rebekah and I got up at 5am to catch our flight back to Dallas. The shuttle took us to the airport and we were back in Dallas this morning by 8:45am.

What a fun and quick trip! Rebekah and I had a blast together and it was so fun to surprise Jordan and get to see him play in his first Saints game!

Who Dat!

2011-08-10T22:44:00.003-04:00

Jordan signed with the saints this morning! This is a huge answer to prayers for us. Jordan is entering his 9th year in the NFL and wants to play this year more than I have ever seen before. His passion and love for the game is very much still alive! I am just amazed at God's timing through this all and His faithfulness. The NFL lockout was a long break and though it was SO nice to spend extra time as a family it left a lot of uncertainty for the future! Football is back and Jordan is in camp. All feels normal again :) I must say I have been blown away these last two days at God's faithfulness. I had not one but 2 dreams in the last few months that Jordan signed with the Saints. We also had a very dear friend that had that same feeling and told Jordan that he was going to pray specifically for him to sign with New Orleans. When he got the phone call yesterday we were BLOWN away....it is SO neat to see how God works! He has prepared the way for us with not one but TWO friends (couples) who live in New Orleans and in the last 24 hours I have already been totally set up! Jordan left immediately after he got the phone call and has a game on Friday after only 2 practices. The kids and I look forward to joining him in New Orleans once camp ends. We are excited and thankful for the blessing and new adventure!

Jordan saying good-bye to the kids

P.S. I'm not really a fan of the "who dat" saying so this is probably the only time I will reference it :) LOL

Jamie and Cal's wedding

2011-08-07T10:32:00.007-04:00

This weekend we went to Oklahoma City for my cousin Jamie's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a blast. She looked STUNNING. She seriously looks like a model in these pictures. She was breathtaking.

Jamie and her new hubby Cal

I left the kiddos in Dallas with Papa and Vivi. Nana, Pop and I drove up to OKC just in time for the rehearsal dinner.

Afterwards we went to her bachelorette party/lingerie shower

Me and Christine

Brody is a HEARTBREAKER! He looked so adorable in his little outfit

Me and Haylo

It was a fun weekend to spend with family. I got to go to bed late and sleep late everyday and get dressed up every night. On Saturday mom and I shopped all day (tax free weekend) and saw a chick flick. It was such a fun weekend and we were so glad we got to be a part of their special day!

15 months old!

2011-08-03T10:31:00.006-04:00

Madison is 15 months old today! Our sweet spunky little firecracker is really coming into her own these days. She is in that stage where we are basically just trying to keep her alive. She has zero fears and is a crazy dare devil. Some of her favorite past-times are standing on tables, climbing onto the sink in her bathroom (still not sure how she got up there), playing in toilet water (if big brother forgets to close the bathroom door especially nasty if he forgets to flush), swallowing small sharp particles (I'll leave it at that), and jumping on the couch. She is one tough cookie. She will have the nastiest fall that would leave any kid in the fetal position in tears and she just gets up and keeps on going. She is a rough playmate too! She tackles like it's her job.

But she still loves to do girly girl stuff too. She is obsessed with purses, bags, jewelry (especially necklaces and bracelets), and wearing pretty bows and princess crowns. She loves to play in my makeup brushes and sit next to me and pretend to put it on with me. She loves the iPhone and can navigate to her games (and play them) or can go to the pictures and take pictures of the ground or of herself. She also loves to talk on the phone while carrying her purse.

She is starting to fight back when big brother takes a toy away from her. She used to concede and just move on but now she fights back with all she has to hang on to the toy. She LOVES to go outside and the second she hears the door chime she makes a bee-line to the door and throws a full on fit if the door shuts before she gets to go out. She also does not like it when we leave (possibly due to the not getting to go outside thing). She is still okay with going to others (provided it isn't during the small snuggle window she wants after her nap). She goes well to the gym and church nursery with no protest or fear.

She loves to read books and says "see?!" about 5,000 times a day. Hunter's word was "whasat" Maddie's is "see". Which means she wants us to tell her what everything is. She loves to play the name game. Where we say someones name and she touches them to let us know who is who. When she refers to herself she pats her self 3 times and says "da da da" as if to say "Ma-di-son"....she's at least got the syllables right.

You cannot eat any food in front of this girl without planning to share at least half of it.....yup she's in that stage. She will have a perfectly good meal in front of her but she also wants what every other person at the table is having in addition to her meal.

Yum she and brother LOVE cake pops

She is a big daddy's girl and LOVES to see him return home in the afternoons. She will come running around the corner yelling "da!!!!!" and then tackle his legs and beg to be picked up. She also loves to go get Hunter from his naps, provided she wakes up before him. I will say "Maddie you want to go get Hunter?" and she will drop what she is doing and run for the stairs laughing the whole way up and then run into his door as if to knock it down all the while panting with a sort of breathless excitement. She then climbs up on his bed and tackles him. I love it!

She has figured out how to go down the stairs properly. She can do it with or without a rail. If she does it with the rail I let her and just stay close by...without the rail I usually have my hands ready to catch but she is VERY careful. She also goes up the stairs like a big girl too. She loves to drink out of big girl cups and use utensils to eat (mostly spoons) but both are still for practice.

She loves playing in the kitchen at the doctors office. I see one of these in her future.

She is in the transition from 2 naps to 1. She can take 1 most days usually at the same time as Hunter from 12:30-3:30. Some days she still needs 2 naps but I wake her up from her first one so she doesn't go too long. If she does two naps its 10-12:00pm (I wake her up) then her 2nd nap is from 2:00-4:00pm. She goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:00pm and wakes up between 6:45-7:45am....her wakeup time is what determines whether it will be a 2 nap day or a 1 nap day.

She always falls asleep on the way home from church. It's so exhausting to play with all of those kids all morning!

She has 13 teeth and one cutting this week to make 14. She is 31.5 inches (75%) and 21.5 pounds (25%). She wears 12-18 month clothes and size 4-5 shoes.

She loves to try to dress herself. She loves to go get her shoes and put them on. She tries to help me with her pants/shorts and socks.

We have a daily schedule we follow because it just works for us to have something planned out for the day. I am more productive and accountable and the kids know what to expect for the day and look forward to each new activity change. We usually go in 30 minute blocks. The days we follow the schedule we have very little discipline issues which is probably the biggest perk. I love it and the kids love it and I get a lot done because of the structure. One of the things we do everyday is go on a morning walk right after breakfast. Hunter rides his bike and Maddie in the double stroller (we take the double in case Hunter gets tired). We usually go for about 4 miles which takes a little over an hour. I can't believe Hunter can ride his bike that far. We have to go right after breakfast or else it is way too hot. Sometimes we ride up to the gas station and get a gatorade and then go back home. Hunter usually picks the trail we take for the day. And I am usually walking as fast as I can behind him to keep up.

After our morning walk is craft time! Craft time is their favorite part of the day. It's the only thing I could think of that would make them look forward to going inside after getting to be outside. They love it!

Maddie usually wakes up before Hunter from her nap (it takes Hunter longer to fall asleep but they both sleep the same amount of time usually). This is mine and Maddie's built in alone time together. She starts off very snuggly and wants to sit in my lap for a while and drink her sippy cup. I love these precious moments.

We love you to pieces Maddie Moo. You make our days so full and fun and we love to laugh at all the adorable things you do. You are our special baby girl. We love you!

Anniversary weekend

2011-07-12T10:03:00.001-04:00

Jordan and I celebrated 7 years of marriage this past weekend! We were able to sneak away for a quick weekend trip to an adorable little B&B in Fredericksburg, TX. We booked through http://www.absolutecharm.com/OohLaLaMain.html and stayed in the Oo La La. It was SOOOO adorable. The woman that owns it literally thought of every detail. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend together!

This was our little house. It was 2 blocks off the main strip.

Living room downstairs

Bathroom

Screened in porch with hot tub, TV, hammock and champagne on ice!

Bedroom loft

We arrived Friday night and grabbed some dinner and found our little cottage. Saturday morning we slept in (so glorious) and drove 20 min north of Fredericksburg to climb Enchanted Rock. We had fun :)

It's 425 foot climb in 6/10 mile on the summit trail. Took about 20-30 minutes and it's all on a huge pink granite ROCK!

The rest of the weekend we lounged around, checked out a few local Texas wineries along the Texas wine trail and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Texas Hill Country!

I thoroughly enjoyed the hammock on the screened in porch

Monday morning we checked out and headed back to Houston to see our babies. My parents had come down for the weekend to watch them for us. They had a blast as usual and even managed to keep the house in good condition for a "showing" while we were gone. That is no easy task!

Big thanks to Nana and Pop for keeping our babies so we could get away just the two of us. It's been 7 years and there is defnitely no 7 year itch here! We are more in love today than we ever have been. We are having the time of our lives! Lovin life!

Closing a chapter

2011-07-05T21:26:00.004-04:00

Today marks the end of the "fish" chapter in Hunter's preschool years. This afternoon I went upstairs to get Hunter up from his nap and I walked into his room to find this....

2 nightlights, 4 cars, 3 boxes of fish food, 2 lovies, 3 packs of wipes, a bottle of lotion, a storybook bible, a blanket, a soap dispenser and a nasal aspirator....his reason...."the fishies were hungry"

It should also be noted that he can now add "bitten by an armadillo to his repertoire"...he's only 3, I am scared to see what the future holds. He is ALL boy and SO his father!

and yes he is fine

Dallas

2011-07-04T14:51:00.004-04:00

On our way back from Louisiana we decided to stop through Dallas and visit the fam. We stayed with Rebekah and James for the first time. The kids had so much fun! They have 4 dogs (3 of which were there) so they had fun playing with the dogs too.

Saturday night I snuck away to go meet little Cayden Colon for the first time. Rachel is doing graet and feeling and looking great! Motherhood suits her well!

Here is Cayden about 6-7 weeks old.

Drew, Rachel and Cayden

The rest of the weekend we hung out at Beekah and James house. Papa and Vivi came over and we went to lunch with them Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday morning Beekah, Hunter and I went for a swim.

Hunter had fun showing off his new skills to aunt Beekah

We went to late service on Sunday morning, at lunch really quick and hit the road back to Houston!

It was a quick but fun weekend! Always good to see family.

14 months old!

2011-07-03T17:48:00.010-04:00

I love this stage. I love all stages but this is a really fun age. Madison is into everything right now. EVERYTHING! She is our little tornado that leaves a complete disaster zone wherever she has been. She knows she's doing it too because when she is totally busted she giggles and runs away screaming and shrieking with excitement the whole way. Little stinker.

Such a cutie patootie

This is also a really fun age as far as sibling interaction goes. She and Hunter are having a BLAST. He is definitely starting to see her as a playmate now and thoroughly enjoys entertaining her and making her laugh...likewise for Madison. He has already started the big brother pestering but she is totally up for it and can really hang with him quite well. She is a little firecracker! She is a fiesty and STRONG little girl. She can definitely HOLD HER OWN. She has incredible amount of patience and pain tolerance for a girl her size!

Fighting over the loofah (she's taking it from him!)

Getting splashed in the face

Big brother dragging her around the room by her pj's (she had a blast!)

Hunter loves it when Madison "walks" him around the house. He just grabs on and lets her lead him like a dog on a leash...they both giggle the whole way.

Hunter loves to go wake up Maddie just as much as she does! He always tells me "mommy you wait downstairs I'll go get maddie"...yeah sure thing bud!

watching morning cartoons together

She is really into climbing right now. She can get up on any chair and couch and will jump and throw herself forward or back. This morning she thought it would be fun to jump off the couch...literally... she contemplated it and went for it ON PURPOSE. She gets off the couch the safe way 1,000 times per day and this time she just looked, grinned and squealed and made a leap forward to the ground. She laid there for a second, laughed and then climbed back up to do it again. She's crazy.

She helped me clean out my closet this week.

She took a break to watch Mickey Mouse while I finished up...this process took 3 days :)

She tackles. She will full on slam her body into us and propel through the air about 276 times per day. She has the biggest grin on her face the whole time too like its the best thing in the whole world. She is a very independent player can keep herself entertained for quite a while, usually doing some sort of destruction, but she loves to run over for a quick hug or kiss....or 5... before going back out on her own again. She even makes the kiss sound. Pretty stinkin cute.

She loves to be outside and will make a beeline for the door the moment she hears the chime. If Jordan is returning home you can hear her running around the corner screaming DA DA!!!!!!! If it's me it's just DAAAAAAAAAA! like she is so excited. DA!!!! Is her "I'm really excited" word. When she asks a question she says "See?" with a certain inflection in her voice like what's this?" almost.

She loves to point out body parts and to tickle people. She loves to be tickled and to play on the bed. She throws her body around all over the bed when she's on it. She loves to make people laugh and play peek a boo. Her favorite thing is going to wake up Hunter in the mornings or after nap. I will usually go get her first for this reason because I love to see and hear the sheer excitement in her voice on the way to his room. We can be downstairs playing and I say "maddie you want to go wake up Hunter?" and she will throw down whatever is in her hands, yell "DA"!!! and take off running for the stairs.

playing peek a boo

She is a really good eater! You wouldn't know it by how lean she is but she can put away some food! Most days she out eats Hunter easily. She doesn't turn away from anything. She pretty much likes anything and feeds herself. She uses a spoon correctly but it is very messy :)

She is a very happy and content most times but she can be a little firecracker when she wants!

She's even cute when she's protesting :)

Life of the party this one...

I caught her stealing a sip of my protein shake the other day....here's how it went down....

"Hey that's pretty yummy"

"hey! why did you take it away from me?"

"but I was drinking thaaaaaaaaaat"

Fresh out of the shower :)

Messing with big brother while he's suppose to be eating

Stealing mom's wallet and keys as we are walking out the door she says "I'm driving!"

Getting busted trying to climb up on the window seal....this is the "I'm cute and totally innocent look"

Playing with her baby doll (fav toy right now)

She does this ALL DAY LONG....put the baby in the stroller, take the baby out, burp the baby, rock the baby, hug the baby, push the baby in the stroller, throw the baby on the floor, sit in the stroller, pick up the stroller and walk around with it suspended in the air.....repeat 487 times

She looks so old :(

You're growing up to fast baby girl. Make it stop someone! Seriously the cuteness factor is through the roof in my house right now. We love our babies to pieces and are just EATING THIS UP! Being their mommy is the best thing EVER!

Yellowwood 2011

2011-07-01T14:51:00.024-04:00

We just returned from our annual summer trip with the Bentons and Niswangers. This was our 4th summer to do it and our 2nd summer at Camp Yellowwood. We had so much fun hanging out, watching the kids play, swimming, 4 wheeling, shooting guns and fireworks and just being together! We just love this group so much and it's amazing how fast our group is growing! This year we had 6 adults and 7 kids. This was the first year the adults were out numbered. Our kids are all close in age so it's really a lot of fun for them too.

Main House

Loving some Hunter snuggles

Hunter had fun with his girls Emory and Kaitlyn. They taught him how to play make believe this week. It has opened up a whole new world of opportunity for him.

Madison, John Carter and Ava Grace are little toddlers now. They've changed so much since last year!

Sweet Hailey is the baby of the group for now. This was her first summer trip with the group.

Rudy, Patricia and the twins (AG, JC)

sweet Maddie moo

fun with bubbles

Getting some snuggles with Emory and Hunter

Patricia and John Carter

Kaitlyn, Hunter and Emory getting ready for Robbie's birthday party

Feeding the donkeys and goats

Hunter

Emory

Ava Grace

John Carter

Madison

Kaitlyn and Robbie

Hailey

Hailey and Robbie

Patricia with the twins (AG, JC)

More Hunter snuggles (I can't get enough!)

This is it right here...THE BEST!

Amber and me cooking dinner

Amber and Patricia

Patricia, me and Maddie (taken by Emory)

Emory took this one of us too :)

Jordan and Hunter had fun fishin'

Robbie, Rudy and Kaitlyn

Jordan at the range

Me at the range

Jordan giving Hunter his first shooting lesson

Rudy reading the kids their bedtime bible story

Hunter and Emory practicing their gymnastics moves

John Carter tackling Hunter. I know Hunter can't wait till JC is old enough to go do boy stuff with him. Poor dudes are WAY out numbered!

Our last night there we had fun with fireworks and sparklers

Amber and Hailey

Hunter thought the fireworks were too loud

I have no words... LOL

Look at my handsome boys!

Rudy, Jordan and Robbie

My buddy John Carter

He's such a snuggle bug!

Amber, Hunter and Emory

Emory playing catch with Maddie

Amber and Hunter making dinner

Picnic and movie on the couch

Hailey checkin' out those beards!

We had PLENTY of 4-wheeler time this year

Jordan taking Hailey for a swim

Boys piling on Jordan

Group pile-on!

Look at all these kiddos! From oldest to youngest Hunter (3), Emory (3), Kaitlyn (2.5), Ava Grace and John Carter (14m), Madison (13m), Hailey (7m).

We had a blast and cannot wait until next year. We love and miss these guys everyday!

Father's Day

2011-06-19T13:54:00.002-04:00

Happy father's day to 3 of the best dad's I know. Jordan and I were both so blessed to be raised by such incredible dad's. They were both involved in our lives and in our raising. They love our kids like we love them and would do anything for anyone. They both have such amazing qualities and we could not have asked for a better example of how to parent than from our own fathers (and mothers too).

Jordan is such an amazing dad to our kiddos. I am blown away each day with how tender and caring he is with them. He takes such attention to detail with them and has a hand in each and every menial task. He truly is a "man after God's own heart" and he is a great leader and provider for our family. I am so blessed to call him my partner for life and look forward to many many more child raising years along side of him.

We love you!

Out of the mouth of babes

2011-06-18T14:45:00.004-04:00

Hunter: "Is that like your daddy's truck?" (is that like my daddy's truck)

Maddie: "Su!" (shoe)

Hunter: "Where him he go?" (where did it go?)

Maddie: eesh! (fish)

Hunter: "it's tryin to be done" (the movie is over)

Maddie: Si? (what's that?)

Hunter: cadipedder (caterpillar)

Hunter: "it's loading!!!" (the dvd is skipping)

Hunter: is that a wine more I hear? (lawn mower)

I just want to document some of these precious memories. It seems like they grow up over night and it's so easy to forget some of the cute sayings they say or the adorable ways they mispronounce words.

SAD

2011-06-15T20:18:00.002-04:00

Marking this day in history for my own documentation. Hunter read his first word today...."SAD". He sounded out each letter and then said that says "SAD"!! Obviously we have a long way to go but at 3 that's pretty good!

Hunter

2011-06-03T15:59:00.008-04:00

Sometimes I look at Hunter and wonder when did he get so big? He speaks so clearly and has such deep thoughts and an incredible memory and attention to the most minute detail. But then other times I look over at him and I am struck by his smallness, his little boy-ness. He is just a little guy. He speaks with such an endearing (and sometimes embarrassing) call-it-like-you-see-it innocence. You know the kind where he gives a play by play in the public bathroom of what he sees and hears in the stall next to him. He speaks with such brutal honesty but is in that preschool age of zero tact. He speaks in absolute truths. That's the only way his little brain works.

A few days ago we found out that he has been having nightmares. He didn't tell us in those words but he did tell us with GREAT details what had happened to him during the night. I had left early that morning, before anyone was due to be awake, to go workout. I returned home around 9:30am to find a house that was totally silent. I realized everyone was STILL ASLEEP. It had me worried for a second because our kids are like clockwork and wake within 15-20 minutes of the same time every single morning. So for BOTH of them to be fast asleep at 9;30am was strange. Jordan came in to the kitchen and I asked him what he thought we should do. We both agreed to wake them up. So around 10am we went in to get them. Jordan got Maddie and I got Hunter. I walked into Hunter's room and pulled back the covers (he was totally underneath the covers) and found him sweating and shaking. He had this awful terrified look on his face and then a huge cry of relief came over him when he saw that it was me. My first thought was he was really sick. I couldn't get him to calm down. We took him downstairs and I took his temperature....Normal. I started asking questions and he just wanted to be held. So I held and scratched him and he finally started talking. He told stories of Madison jumping on rainbows and of lions and tigers biting his arms and chasing him. It was then that Jordan and I realized we were dealing with our first nightmare. I was kind of surprised that his nightmare resulted in him sleeping an extra 3 hours. I was always under the impression that nightmares woke kids up early.

The next morning the same thing was repeated. We went in to wake him up at 10am and found him terrified in bed and covered in sweat. He told more stories of lions and tigers and this time dragons. We began to notice some hesitation and fear when it came time for bed at night. He would ask questions as though he was trying so hard to be brave but we could see the fear in his eyes about what he might dream about when he went to sleep. He would ask in part-breathless, quivering manner, as if he was fighting back tears, if "the lions and tigers were gonna come in his room". We reassured him that daddy was gonna protect him and that there were no lions and tigers. He sleeps with several cars in his bed and most recently a military tank. We showed him how his tank had a gun on it that he could use to protect himself if he saw anything. The next morning he woke up at his normal time and when I went to get him I asked how he slept and he said there were lions and tigers but they went into the woods because he shot them with the tank. BRILLIANT.

He is such a smart little boy. His attention to detail amazes me. When he speaks it is with a kind of wonder like everything he sees is absolutely amazing. He has a very black and white way of looking at life. Something is either fun (park) or it's not (going to bed). He either likes food (corn) or he hates it (beans). Life is either fun or it isn't. His favorite toys right now are cars. They each have names and he always knows if one is missing where it is.

He is a rough a tumble kid. He loves to rough house. He enjoys bugs and dirt and chasing animals such as dogs and armadillos. But he is deathly afraid of owls. TERRIFIED.

He also has a new fear of being put under water. It was kind of a shock to see it happen so suddenly after 3 years of happily playing in the bathtub and pool. Jordan has been AMAZING with him. He is such an incredible father there really are no words. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about how amazingly patient he is and how he is so tender with our kids. He has worked with Hunter every single day in the pool to allow him to regain the confidence he once had. When I say terrified I am NOT exaggerating. We were the "freak show" at swimming lessons a few weeks ago even trying to get him to sit on the step in the water. After a few weeks with daddy, Hunter is back to going under on his own will and will jump in the pool to "tackle daddy" and then swim from daddy back to the wall. He wants to be in the pool 24/7 now and while he is still very cautious the difference is like night and day.

Speaking of being an awesome dad. One of my favorite things is the bond those 2 have. Every night after Maddie goes to bed Hunter and daddy have their special time for about an hour. They go outside and swim or go fishing or do whatever "fun stuff" Hunter wants to do. Since Hunter was born Jordan has always been the one to do the bedtime routine with him. He has always bathed him and tucked him in and lately he's been reading bible stories to him. Hunter loves the story of Adam and Eve and usually requests him to read that one over and over again. From the time Hunter was born Jordan has always said the Lord's prayer out loud to him before tucking him in bed. About a year ago Hunter started repeating it back along with him and a few weeks ago he said "I can do it daddy" and he recited it flawlessly from start to finish. THERE IS NO GREATER JOY.

Hunter has some pretty sweet moments. There is not much better in this world then to hear him say "momma can we go snuggle on your bed?" umm YES!! and hold on a second while I savor this sweet moment in time! It is so strange some days to look over at Hunter and catch a glimpse of the future, of the kind of boy he will be. Sometimes he just acts so old I find myself wondering where the time went.

Sometimes he finds himself in trouble. It's usually something involving not playing nice with his sister. More often than not when I call him over to talk to him about it he will walk over with his head down in shame and come put his arms around me and when I ask what he did he will say "I have to get a spanking" and I will say why? and he will say "cause I kicked Maddie" or "cause I didn't share toys with Maddie" as he looks down at the floor. Sometimes it is so hard to keep a straight face and look past his absolute innocence, honesty and cuteness and remain serious about discipline.

He is such a good little helper. He loves his sister to death but every morning he asks me if it's Maddie's nap time yet. He knows that when Maddie naps it's our special time together. He helps me get things done whether its, dishes, laundry, making the beds or just general clean up he is my sidekick. Don't get me wrong, he LOVES Maddie and is always eager for her to hurry up and wake up so he can go get her but he loves our time together too.

He is such a words of affirmation kid. He soaks up a compliment with the sweetest most innocent look of pride on his face. He will close his eyes and smile and nod and say "uh huh" when I tell him good things. He is so proud it makes it so worth it to see his reaction.

It is absolutely impossible to describe the love that we have for these two kiddos. Our lives have been so blessed. They bring so much joy and laughter to our days. Raising these two kids together has brought us closer to each other and closer to God as we share and marvel in the moments that are so normal yet so amazing.

13 months old

2011-06-03T06:14:00.007-04:00

I love 13 months old! Madison is like a little sponge soaking up and learning new things every day. Now that her pesky ears are no longer a problem we have our baby girl back! She is so full of spunk and busy busy.

This has been a pretty smooth month for her other than a few days of pain from cutting 4 molars at once! She still has 2 working their way in but she at least has some relief from the other two.

She finally tipped the scale at 20 pounds this month and seems to have grown out of all of her size 3 shoes. She wears her little Nike free shoes, size 4, most days and is running just about everywhere. She loves to climb and started self feeding with a spoon this month. She loves to have that control even though it is extremely messy. She savors each and every moment of that spoon being suspended, in her death grip, halfway between the bowl and her mouth meanwhile spilling the majority of the contents out, she grins with such pride at how big she is getting and that she has been allowed such freedom. Priceless moments.

There is our happy girl!

The downside to the tubes is that she can't go underwater anymore. That has REALLY cramped her swimming style!

When were are in the pool we spend ALL of our time trying to keep this child from going under water. It's exhausting. She finally conceded and just learned to enjoy the beach entry. Here she is running in. Once she gets knee high she throws her body forward in a pretend fall and splashes water all over herself and laughs. She then repeats this maneuver 2,173 times.

After being an exclusive tummy sleeper for 12 months she is trying out some new positions!

Always trying to keep up with Hunter

Highlights for month 12:

Added "shoe" and "fish" to her vocabulary (dadda, momma, poo poo, Nana, Hey)
Learning to self feed with a spoon
Stacks 4 blocks
Attempts to brush her own teeth
Attempts to put her own shoes on
Loves to "talk" on the phone
Points out 3 body parts
Loves peek a boo
Repsonds to simple instructions (give me a kiss, come here, hand me your cup, go tickle Hunter etc.)
Loves to see photos and pictures of herself
LOVES the iphone/ipad
Likes to help with getting dressed and undressed
Likes to pretend to read a book
Loves to play chase
Loves to turn on the bathwater and try to get into the bathtub alone (head first)

Things are so much fun right now. They are at such a great age for interacting with each other. It keeps getting better and better!

An update in iPhone pics

2011-05-27T22:35:00.012-04:00

I have a lot of random pictures on my phone over the last month or so that have not made it in any of my recent posts. Some of these were taken by my kids inadvertently and some on purpose. Most of them are just in the moment grab your phone real quick cause this is cute kind of pics. Enjoy!

Maddie's self portrait

This has happened on more than one occasion....Hunter chasing an armadillo with a stick

Hunter thought it was funny to take pics of Madison crying after her shots

I found these a few days later. I had no idea he was taking pictures or even knew how to take pictures for that matter

Jordan bought Hunter a fish. He named it Buggy

Cayden is here!

2011-05-27T18:26:00.003-04:00

On Sunday Rachel reached 37 weeks and was finally taken off bedrest. She had been on bedrest for preterm labor since 31 weeks. She didn't even make it a full 24 hours off bed rest before she went into labor with Cayden on Monday morning May 23rd at around 1:30am. She texted me around 6:30am to see if I was awake. I called her immediately because I just had a feeling she wasn't going to last very long off bed rest. She told me she would be heading to the hospital soon! Woohoo!!! Cayden Drew Colon made his entrance at 37 weeks 1 day at 7:08pm weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches long. He is absolutely precious and Rach and Drew are so in love with him already. I can't wait to meet him!

Dallas weekend

2011-05-17T09:44:00.017-04:00

We went to Dallas this past weekend for a very quick trip. Jordan drove his Harley up (he took the back roads) and I drove the kids up. This was Jordan's first road trip on the bike, which is not the "roadtrip" type of bike. The kids and I left first thing Friday morning and were there by lunch, Jordan rolled in around dinner time looking totally wiped out from riding all day long. After lunch and nap time the kids and I played with Aunt Rebekah and waited for daddy and Papa and Vivi to come home.

Hunter was so excited when Vivi got home he ran up and gave her a big hug

The next day was "Hog Wild" at Christian Care Center. There were lots of bikes there on display from various friends and family of CCC. This was the reason Jordan road his Harley. We had a great lunch outside and it was a gorgeous day.

The kids had fun running around outside and playing with Aunt Beekah and Uncle James who brought Babycakes (Harvey and Mary's dog)

After lunch we made a visit to see Harvey and Mary

We went home in time for naps and while the kids napped I ran over to visit Rachel (who was still on bedrest with Cayden). When the kids woke up Vivi was ready to bake cookies with them! This is one of Hunter's favorite things to do.

Such a cutie

Maddie couldn't help herself. She always wants to do what Hunter is doing.

She kept a close eye on the cookies while they were baking

That night Jordan and I left the kids with Papa and Vivi and we met my family at the Melting Pot (YUM) to celebrate Meagan's birthday.

Meagan and Chloe's birthdays are only 2 days apart so it was a double celebration

On Sunday we went over to Nana and Pop's house for Chloe's 3rd birthday party. We had lunch and cupcakes and the kids had fun playing games in the backyard.

Birthday Princess

After the party we headed back to Houston this time with the motorcycle in tow. After the long day on Friday we decided it would be a good idea to purchase a utility trailer for the motorcycle. We couldn't get on the road until 4pm on Sunday so the thought of Jordan trying to ride the bike back that late and so soon after his drive up was daunting to say the least. It was definitely a good purchase since we tend to move every year or two. A trailer for that bike (among other things) will come in handy :)

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T11:56:00.006-04:00

Mother's day was just perfect this year. I spent all day with my favorite people, eating my favorite foods and doing my favorite Sunday afternoon activity....taking a NAP!

I love my job

I get to spend my days loving on these babies and soaking up every sweet moment

It doesn't get much better

I am so thankful for the example I have from my own mom and Jordan's mom. I have been truly blessed with some pretty incredible "moms" in my life. To my mom. thank you so much for all you have done for me and taught me. I love you more than you know and I only hope I can be the kind of mom you have been for me. And to Jordan's mom thank for raising an incredible son and for being such a wonderful grandma to our kids. I have learned so much from watching you and I thank God everyday for hand picking you to be my mother in law. I love you both!