Christmas Day

On Christmas morning Carlee woke up at 7:30 and came to our bedroom in total excitement. She knew exactly what the day held because all week long she had been opening one piece to her manger scene and she had only one gift left, baby Jesus. As we came into the living room she was surprised to see a basketball goal for her and Zachary and many other gifts. In this picture Carlee is sporting her new robe, her fuzzy purple socks and her princess backpack.
We also got her this Leapfrog spelling magnet that goes on the fridge since she is into spelling and reading.
Zachary loved his first golf club. Zachary is teething like crazy if you can't tell. He got his first two bottom teeth for Christmas.
Christmas evening was spent at my Miemaw and Pawpaw's house with my aunts, uncles and cousins. This was a very special Christmas and possibly the last Christmas at they're house. Here is my Pawpaw taking care of Zachary while everyone else is eating dinner together. He told me he had been waiting all day for this time. It just makes me cry thinking about it. This is the way he got all of us to sleep. I love my grandparents so much and wish they could be around forever.
My Miemaw blessed all the grand kids with a framed collage of special pictures of certain times in our lives. This was such a special gift because it is something that she did and spent many hours doing and it has been hanging on her walls for so long. Miemaw said some very special words to all of us that brought warmth and love. She spent lots of timing preparing for this day by making cookies and dessert that we all love. There is nothing like her chocolate chip cookies or her cherry cheesecake. What a wonderful day with family!! All of this because Christ was born! I thank God for such a special Christmas together.

Christmas Eve

Zachary and daddy with his stocking at Grammy and Paw-paw's house
Zachary and mommy waiting to open presents.
Zachary's favorite thing was the tissue paper. He would grab a hold and not turn loose.
Zachary received a fun ride on toy from his grandparents.

Obviously Zac is a little too young to fully understand Christmas, but big sister had no problem helping him out. She would open some of his gifts and show him how to use each toy. One crazy thing is that a lot of the toys he recieved said from age 6 to 36 months and so technically Carlee really could play and enjoy his toys just as much as he .... and that she did.

On and side note, Zachary is feeling better. He is getting over his cough and his runny nose is clearing up. Thanks for your prayers!!

Early Christmas

We celebrated with Greg's family on Christmas Eve this year. Our plan was to open gifts before they had to sing at their Christmas Eve service at church, but little did we realize how long the gift opening would take. It happened two hours before they left and then another hour after they got home. Carlee was a little overwhelmed by all the gifts and needed to take breaks in order to enjoy each gift to it's fullest.
This photo says it all. Carlee thoroughly enjoyed Christmas. One thing she did with all the wrapping was toss it in the air while screaming, "WhaWhoo." It was hilarious! This is a picture of her doing just that.
Carlee received a radio flyer scooter from Grammy and Paw-paw. This will definitely be used by both her and Zachary. One funny thing Carlee did was put on everything she got as she opened it. So here she is with her pink boots and her ear muffs.
Change number two into pink kitty cat velour jumpsuit and pink snow hat.
Final change of the night, into her purple princess dress. This dress was actually worn home along with her purple dress-up shoes. What a fun day!! Thanks Grammy and Paw-paw!

Pray for Zachary

Friends and family please lift up Zachary in your prayers. We just came back from the doctor's office and found out that Zachary has RSV. This is a relatively serious virus for an infant which causes him to cough a lot and have a hard time catching his breath. In order to keep him out of the Emergency room on Christmas day (doctor's words), we are having to do breathing treatments with him. They also put him on a steroid, which could cause some restlessness. Even though this is hard news, we are trusting God to take care of our child. We hope this is only temporary and pray he gets well soon. I'm sure he caught this from Carlee, who has been sick since last week. It's just a little harder for infants to get over because of thier small air passages. Thank you for your prayers! We love you and wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Growing Up

I turned 29 on Monday, the 17th. In some ways I wish I were older, so that I could have the maturity and wisdom that comes with age. I have noticed a few grey hairs lately, but that's not the kind of thing I am talking about. Carlee was sick on my birthday and my day seemed to have its ups and downs. I was hoping for a magical kind of day. I don't know why I place so much emphasis on my birthday- it's like I expect things to just go my way (kind of like a fairy tale). However, I do this kind of thing a lot and don't leave room for reality to happen. This is apart of growing up and maturing for me. I wish I were different, but I'm still learning and trying to be flexible. Responsibility is hard, being a parent is hard, growing up is hard.....

May this year be a year of growth for me and year that I choose to rest and know that God is good and He has the best in mind for me. He knows what I need and when I need it. May I trust Him through it all and look back and say He was with me through it all and I am more mature because of what I went through.

I did have a wonderful time celebrating my birthday with family. I am so thankful I got to go to lunch with my family on Sunday. I really enjoyed our time together. My dad and mom gave me a T3 professional hairdryer, which I totally love. I can literally dry my hair in half the time (4 minutes). I am all about efficiency. Thank you mom and dad!! I also loved my gift from my in-loves (laws). They gave me a beautiful silver and gold cross necklace from the Holy Land (Israel) and some Ahava lotion and mud from the dead sea. Yea, for good skin! Thanks Ed and Randle!

Greg took the day off work on Monday and let me shop for a while. My sister met up with me at the mall to help me with my sweater delimma. It was so much fun shopping with her. She blessed me with some jewelry (as seen in the picture) to match my new sweaters. Thanks sis (and John)!

Greg took me to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner while my mom watched the kids. Thanks mom! We had a lovely evening despite our salmon being undercooked because of this, they took care of our whole bill. What a blessing in disguise! We both had cheesecake. I had the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake and Greg had the Adam's Peanut Butter Cheesecake. Yummy!! Thankfully we had leftovers to bring home.

Well I think I'll stick to the ups for my birthday and forget about the downs. I need to get better about doing this anyway. Maybe this year I can become a little less pessimistic.

My Super Reader

Here is Carlee saying the "Pledge of Allegiance," while turning pages in her book. This is how they taught her at church and she insist on saying the pledge this way. She really does know the whole thing word for word. Can you say, "teacher in the making."
One of the best times of the day for us is reading to Carlee before she goes to bed. She loves books. We normally read to her at least 15 minutes if not more. We try to read different books, but Carlee likes her favorites like "Clifford's Circus," "ABC's" by Dr. Seuss and "The Foot Book." She has all of these memorized word for word. If I mess up a word, she will correct me. I am amazed by her skills. The other day she came home singing a song about an orange and she knew how to spell the word orange. I was very impressed and thought to myself that she is going to want to start spelling soon.

Playing Together

I believe Carlee is definitely getting used to having a little brother. She has been playing with him more and more lately. I will catch her playing Pat-E-Cake with him like in this picture or rolling him around on the floor. On a side note- Carlee has wanted to leave her hair down lately and this makes things a little messy. However, I adore her style no matter what. She is the only one I know who wants to wear all miss matched clothes and think she is a beauty queen. I hope she never looses her self-esteem.

New Tricks

After jumping at JW Tumblers in their bounce swing, I thought I should get Zachary's out for him to jump at home. He loved it and stayed quit content.
He also loved his walker. I think he was glad to be in a whole new location of the house like big sister's room. Carlee also thought it was fun pushing him around.

Christmas Tree Fun

This year, Carlee and daddy went to Home Depot to buy the tree. Zachary and I stayed home and prayed for a successful trip. Fortunately, they got the first tree they found and packed it in the car. This is a picture of Carlee with the Christmas tree. The odd thing is that she is in shorts and a t-shirt where as last year she was bundled in her winter coat, hat, gloves and long pants. Gotta love this Houston weather!!
This years decorating was a whole new story- Carlee was hands on in this process. This was a little scary for us, but she did well and nothing broke. However, she still loves taking the ornaments on and off the tree even the breakable ones. Talk about a whole new set of "No's." Here is a picture of her with the star ornament she decorated at church. I love these little crafts that you can have throughout the years.
Zachary just hung out and played on the floor while this all went on. He definitely loves looking at the tree and notices it every time we're in the living room. Here he is with his daddy being all bashful. This year, Greg and I decorated the tree separately taking turns helping Carlee with ornaments and holding Zac. I love decorating the tree and remembering each trip we took(we always got an ornament from each vacation spot) or memory from seasons of life. We eventually finished the decorating, but it was over the coarse of a 24 hour period.

6 Months

Zachary is 6 months old today. I've been dreaming of this age and here we are. I think I do better with older infants, but we'll see. He is 16.9 lbs. and 27 in. long. Zac is sitting up by himself with just a little help from mommy. He is one happy baby full of smiles and giggles. He has definitely discovered his voice. He is so loud these days. I think he is trying to match the noise level of the places we go. It's pretty funny b/c people are always asking me if he is ok and I say, "yes those are just the noises he makes." Thankfully, he is not crying or fussing. He is still teething, but there are no signs of teeth yet. Zachary has started to refuse diaper changes. He will literally be so active by trying to roll over and kick his feet that it makes this once so easy job very hard and unmanageable. He is really enjoying being on the floor these days. He will just roll and roll trying to get to his destination. I have to watch him close though because he is fast. Carlee is enjoying him being so accessible, however, she has now tried to pick him up without asking. One day, I had turned my back and before I knew it Zachary was halfway off the ground. It was a little scary. We have slowly started rice cereal and a little banana. So far so good. I'm a little worried about starting solid food because of the amount of time it takes and because of his digestion, but I'm sure we will make it through this stage just like we have made it through all the other ones. God has been so faithful to see us through.

We Elfed Ourself

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1126027521

Sometimes I wonder.....

...why I leave the house, esspecially if I haven't spent time with the Lord (seriously I feel like I am more vulnerable to the enemies attack). My two and a half year old wants and begs for everything now when at any store and doesn't understand why she can not have it all. Then on the other hand I have a 5 month old who hasn't had a poop in a couple of days and decides to have a major blowout at Target (this will now be the third time I have changed him b/c of dirty clothes). It's all good. Carlee wonders why mommy is upset and I tell her that she needs to stop talking so mommy can think, which is very difficult for me period and because breastfeeding takes a lot of your memory away. Ok, so we are at Target with a smelly infant and a cranky toddler and the cashier asks, "How are you?" I say good and then change my mind and say, "not really." I then tell her that my children are testing my limits today. She's a teenager, who doesn't understand and I don't blame her b/c I didn't when I was her age so she choose to ignore me the rest of the time while checking me out. I'm sure she was just hurrying so the awkwardness would soon be gone. I doudt she will ask that question again. Then I think about what I said and wonder if it was wrong, but I don't think it was b/c I was honest and I think we need to be honest about how we feel even if we are speaking to strangers. However, I did think to say to her that I just needed some good quality time with God so that He could fill me up (but I didn't say that). Maybe next time in my boldness will I approach a stranger and tell them the source of my strength. Anyways, now we are on our way to the car and by now Carlee is hysterical because all she wants is a drink and I forgot to bring one in the store (we are only going to be in the store for 30 minutes, so I think). Carlee then asks me, "Are you mad, mommy?" I tell her I am upset and she begins to ask, "Why?" I tell her that mommy has a hard time thinking when she is asking for everything in the store. Carlee says, "Oh, so you just want me to sing." I said, "singing was better than talking." So then Carlee tries the whole car ride home to make mommy happy by singing, "I Thank God For This Day" (one of my favorite songs she knows). I broke down in tears and could not believe what a blessing my daughter could be to me. I was feeling very empty and unsatisfied inside and then as Carlee sang to me all that emptiness was filled and I was restored. The power of Praise!! I am learning from this child and begin to be amazed by her maturity. Thankfully, she is learning from me as well.
I am not writing this to scare any of my friends who are about to have two or who already do, but because I am trying to be more open about my life so that those of you who know me will know that I am a complete and total mess without my Lord. He is the only thing that is good in me and I am ready for Him to live completely in me so all I have to do is trust Him to do His job. Doesn't that sound so much easier than trying to do it all on my own?! Help me Lord to release all control to You so that You are the only thing that lives in me.

Go Longhorns

The day after Thanksgiving, we went over to Greg's parents house to watch the Texas vs. A&M game. Unfortunately, the Longhorn's lost, but we still had a great time cheering for them and sporting our burnt orange sweatshirts. I have to share a little story with you about Greg's sweatshirt....Greg woke up at 4:30am this morning to be at Sport's Authority when they opened at 5. He was trying to be one of the 100th costumers to get a coupon for his purchase. He was there to get a new pair of running shoes that were on sale (he has been hoping that these shoes would go on sale ever since he bought his last pair four years ago), this longhorn sweatshirt which was half-price, and a basketball that was half-price. When he got up to the register he scratched off his coupon to see how much he would get off his purchase and it ended up being $50. WhaWHoo!! He got all these things for a total of $50. I'm so glad his early rising was well worth it. Thank you Lord for answering our prayers. We love a good deal and will do anything to save money sometimes.


Carlee opened an early Christmas present from Grammy and Paw paw. She got some Sesame Street ornaments for our Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving

This is Rachel and my traditional thanksgiving picture. We both are brown fanatics. What can I say... great minds think alike! We are actually looking more like sisters the older we get. This is probably one of the first times our hair has been the same length. Kinda funny!
This year we celebrated thanksgiving at my Uncle Perry and Aunt Tamera's house. They live in Magnolia. I was responsible for making a veggie and a dessert. So I made some steamed broccoli and a blueberry pie. I am not a pie person, but let me tell you this was one of the best pies I have ever had and everyone that had a piece will tell you the same. Thank you Southern Living cookbook!! Carlee ate before anyone since she was starving. It was close to 2 o'clock (her nap time). She inhaled her food and went straight to bed. I've never seen her eat so good in my life.
Carlee played with my cousin Ellana (she is 12) all day. She dressed up in all her fun hatsand wigs and clothed herself in all the fuzziest, silkiest blankets. They would make an appearance every so often and always be dressed in something different. Anytime I went in Ellana's room, Carlee insisted that I leave the room immediately.If I were only a fly on the wall...Thanks Ellanna for watching her all day!
Here Carlee is wearing Ellana's blue wig (Carlee's favorite color right now).
Zachary enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He was held all day long by aunt's, uncle's, grandparent's and great grandparents. He loved every minute of it and they did too.
We are so very thankful for our family and friends. Praise God that John and Rachel are back home living in Houston. We thank the Lord for our children, especially Zachary (our new little one). God is so good to us and we give thanks to Him for life and a relationship with Him that is never-ending. I am truly blessed to know Him and be known by Him and to be called one of His children. It doesn't get any better than that. Happy Thanksgiving!

Precious Boy

Zachary is chewing on everything and has been for the last month. No sign of any teeth though.
We are slowly introducing some solid food. Here he is with some avocado. He really enjoyed it.
Zachary is sitting on big sister's bed trying to love on her raindeer. So Sweet!
He's getting a lot more steady in the entertainer now. He loves all the sounds on it and gets really excited when he finds a button that makes noise. He will get so loud in this thing.
Here he is sporting his new winter hat. I hope it gets cold enough for him to wear it soon.

Super Carlee

Carlee is growing "Big and Strong," as we like to say. Everything she does revolves around the "Super Readers," (which is a PBS show that comes on every weekday morning). In this picture she is eating her "Super Power food," like peas and carrot. Carlee got inspired to eat all her veggies while daddy took her picture. Carlee also drinks her "Super Power water," so she can grow to be healthy. It's because of this show that Carlee is learning how to spell words. She can spell her name and cat and dog. This little girl is a sponge. I could not believe the other day when she recited the Pledge of Allegiance in the car. She told me she learned it from her class at church. Greg and I have decided it is time to start memorizing scrpiture with her. One of Carlee's favorite things to do right now is to put on chapstick, which she like to call make-up. She only does this while I put on mine under plenty of adult supervision. She also enjoys going to the park. She will go down every slide now and has started to go down on her tummy. Mommy is having to watch her closely because she is becoming fearless. She goes up every ladder very carefully while playing on the playground. I am always right there to make sure she doesn't fall. It's amazing how big she is now. I love this precious princess she is so special to our family.

5 Months

After 5 months Zachary has finally decided to sleep through the night. He has for the last three weeks now. YEA!! He will sleep 10 to 11 hours. Although, for the last three nights he has woken up once... I think this is due to his teeth coming in. It's all good and we thank God for the sleep. Zachary is a wonderful baby. He is pretty much all smiles unless he is teething or gassy. He laughs pretty much every time we get in his face and play with him. He is a hoot! He continues to amaze us by all his activity. This little boy does not stop. He will kick and kick all day long. Greg thinks we have a soccer player in the making. He loves his big sister and watches her every action. You can tell he is always looking for her. Zac rolls both ways now and can get around pretty good. He is so close to sitting up by himself.... It won't be long. We are going to start trying rice cereal consistently soon. We are just waiting for his digestive system to handle it better. His tummy tends to get cramped up when eating it. It will take some time for his body to receive it well. I don't know what it is with my kids and rice. Anyways, Zachary is in love with me and wants to be held often and he really likes to be held facing out so he can see the world. If you turn him towards you he pulls hair and ears. His grasp is so tight too. We're in love with our son and couldn't be happier parents.

A fun Saturday

When we woke up this morning, Greg asked me, "what do you want to do today?" All I knew was that I really wanted to see my family. Little did I know that my dad was waiting right outside our house just waiting for us to wake up. He had driven to our house from the airport because he was already on his way to Huntsville to meet my mom and brother for a band competition. He thought he would come and surprise us while he had time to spare. I am so glad he did. I love my dad and was thrilled to have him join us for our usual Saturday morning breakfast. Dad made it extra special because he went to the store and bought the good stuff. he got brown eggs, the meaty bacon that tastes so good but cost so much, the 100% real maple syrup for our whole wheat pancakes and the orange juice that is already to pour. YUMMY!!! Thanks dad! We enjoyed his company and hearing all about his wonderful trip to Argentina over breakfast. Carlee loves her grandpa and smiled at him while sitting next to him at the table. Later on, Greg and I decided to take the kids go to my brothers band competition. It was so fun to see Peter play his drums and in his element. I figured if everyone in his band practiced and gave as much dedication to it that Peter does then I knew they would be amazing and that they were. His band made it to the finals and I am still waiting to hear if they got placed. I'm almost sure they did because their preformance was like none other. It was incredible! I am such a proud big sister!! Here are a few pictures of the band . They are the only band that dress in costumes for their performance.
Peter is the tall one playing the snare drum in the middle This is a band that knows how to have fun!!
Carlee went with Nana to see the school bus that the band rode in. Carlee absolutely loves buses. She rides in the one at our church almost every Sunday. She was all smiles as she went and sat in the seats.

Old McDonald Farm

Giddy up Carlee! Yesterday we went to the Old McDonald Farm with some church friends and had so much fun. The weather was absolutely perfect- sunny, nice and cool. Carlee's favorite was the pony ride. She had already read about riding ponies from her "Giddy Up Elmo" book, so she knew exactly what to do. This picture really does capture her enthusiasm. It also reminds me of when I was a kid. Carlee was a whole lot braver than her mommy though.

Carlee rode the train with Brandon, Mrs. Erin and Ryan. It sounded like she really enjoyed it from what she said about seeing all the different animals as they rode along. I stayed with Zachary and watched her go. We really loved carpooling with Mrs. Erin and her boys it makes trips like these memorable and fun.