Thanks Stacey!

Stacey Hess, who became a friend of mine while we were neighbors in Benton, made this frame for me and I thought it turned out great! She does fabulous work and has created quite a business for herself. She can do anything your heart desires...her website is: http://www.latedadesigns.com/. Please check it out! She is wonderful. Thanks Stacey!!! We took this photo in April and it only took this long to get it framed and put up. We had a family photo with the same photographer in November and I have yet to buy the picture. I need to get on the ball but money doesn't grow on trees.....!!

Thought I would use this opportunity to post some pictures of Christmas day at the Tyler's. The kids had a blast and we still don't have all they toys they received there due to lack of room in the mini van!
As for the pictures below, it may look like I favor Landry, but really she is the only one who will sit still long enough for me to take a picture!!

We brought the tractor over and they had a blast!

And of course she LOVED the box......

Playing with their new Elmo kitchen

Playing on her new rocking horse from Aunt Lou.

Both kids are down for a much needed nap and let me tell you what NOT to do with babies. I got the grand idea to let Jake drive his tractor and push Landry in her ride along toy around the neighborhood. Let me first say that this neighborhood is not too kid friendly as there are a lot of college kids who love in here. So every time a car came around the corner I had to scream for Jake to stop. Then Landry decided that she didn't really want to ride in her toy and would much rather ride on Mommy's hip. And Jake cannot steer his new tractor so every time he would hit the curb(which was A LOT), I would have to bend down to help him steer and Landry would put a death grip on my neck with her nails that are TOO long. The minute I turned to get Landry and her toy I was still dragging along situated, Jake was almost in someones flower beds. So I sat Landry down in the grass, sprinted to get him before he ruined something and brought him back to the street. Then retrieved my daughter, had my foot run over by the tractor, and was sweating in this cold weather. I told Jake it was time to go back to the house and everyone was going to bed. So now I need to finish getting clothes folded and I am not because I am tired. Surely I could have done without the 6 mile run this morning. Chasing the kids is exercise enough, but no need to complain!!

Hope all of you have a great New Year's Eve! People ask if we are doing anything and I tell them that the kids don't know it's New Years and will therefore get up early if we go out. I have no desire to be dog tired all day tomorrow and besides, I am relishing the fact that I don't have a newborn to wake up to on THIS New Years!!!!! TaTa

Home At Last!

Well we had a great 3 days in Bossier. I redeemed my gift certificate from LAST Christmas for a facial and pedicure and it was really nice. Got some shopping done and played with the kiddos while Matt and his parents went to the Tech game. Am I the only Tech alum that didn't go to the Independence Bowl?? Just not that interested...fuddy duddy I know. So now we are back in Ruston and working on cleaning our house up from all the Christmas festivities. Matt and I are in the process of really looking at homes(it is just SO tempting and the finance rates are really low). We may hold off until summer and we may not. The economy is just really shaky....so who knows!

We plan on going back over to Bossier on New Years Day to meet my B-I-L's new girlfriend. He hasn't had a significant other since I've known him and he is a really great guy. They met first at Tulane while they were students. She was a volleyball player and Mark played football. He and Elizabeth reconnected at a Tulane Alum event this past fall. It will be a good time I am sure.

Nothing else is going on! My kiddos are both asleep but now I hear Landry so I am off to tackle motherhood once again. Post more when interesting things happen!

Christmas Update

For SOME reason I cannot get my slide show to post this time! I have worked and worked on it to no avail, so I decided to post the link and you can see it from there!
Click on the link below:
http://www.slide.com/r/oiR8EqbR4D8r9KizWt4JVQ7I-_HPHehI?previous_view=lt_embedded_url


We had a wonderful Christmas! Jake received the tractor he had asked for and although he would not get on it at first, he hasn't wanted to come in since he decided to get on it. And Landry loves riding on the back. Go figure! Anything to do with her brother she is all about!
My Christmas present arrived early on as the children decided they were tired from all the Christmas eve festivities at Matt's parents' house that they slept until 7:30 that morning. My last 2 Christmases have been spent up most of the night with a newborn, so it was nice to not replay that episode of our life! I really thought Jake would be more into the Santa thing but when he woke up and I started talking about Santa he thought Santa was in the living room and WOULD NOT go in there!
After the initial scare we were fine and went to check out the toys. Jake went to Landry's toys and started playing with them...could have cared less about his toys(although the toys are meant to be shared by all!!).
After they had both napped we went to Bossier for Christmas with the Tyler's. The kids got more toys and we ate steak and shrimp.....YUMMY! That night GiGi and I went to see Marley and Me. Great show but bring a towel(Kleenex won't do). Had a very good story line. Will post pictures of yesterday afternoon later...y'all probably get tired of the same 'ol pictures but for those of you who don't-they are for you!

Merry Christmas Eve!

No posts lately due to nothing going on...I didn't want to bore you! We have had some pretty uneventful days but are now gearing up for Christmas! We are heading to Bossier late this afternoon for Christmas Eve at my in-laws and will come back home tonight to have Christmas morning at our home. Then we will go back to Bossier for lunch tomorrow. My dad is on his way to Atlanta right now to have Christmas with Laura and Cameron. Mom is going to Bossier with us tonight and then will go to Dallas tomorrow to have Christmas with Darrell and Brian.


Since the temperature in LA is 70 degrees, I took their PJ pictures early! Didn't want them to get too hot tonight! Jake will kill me when he is older and sees what he is wearing! Thought they were cute, but a little much for him....


I was holding up a present to get Landry to look at me and guess who started copying me....can't win for trying!
Sweet girl.....and the fence was immediately put back up!

Matt and i are so excited about Christmas tomorrow. Jake has been asking for a tractor and we got him a John Deer Powerwheels toy(have NO idea where we are going to put that thing in this tiny house)and I cannot wait to see his reaction. Who'd have thought I'd be buying a tractor for him but that is what he asked for!
Mom just got here and I am off to buy one more present. Next year I am going to finish EARLY!
Merry Christmas!!

Picture with Santa!!!!

Mom and I took the kids to Monroe tonight so that they could take a picture with Santa at the mall. It was WELL worth the 30 minute drive!! You may not think so by looking at the picture, but this is the first time this year Jake has sat in Santa's lap. He has been asking for a train from Santa and we talked about this several times on the way over. We stressed the importance of sitting in Santa's lap and telling he wanted a train and Landry wanted a baby doll(I had to have a strategy-OK). I really thought he wouldn't get in his lap, but he did...and no he never told Santa what they wanted but oh well! And Landry surprised me by crying like she did, but to me this captures a memory-I LOVE IT!
We took the babies in for their 1 and 2 year check-ups today. Landry has a double ear infection(still) and Jake has conjunctivitis, but other than that they are OK:). Both are done with juice..Jake because he is off the growth chart (120th percentile) in weight(34# 8oz, 36 inches long) and Landry because she is in the 5th percentile(17# 12oz, 29.5 inches)for her weight. So Jake will now be on flavored water of some sort and Landry will have another bottle of formula instead of juice. We will also try the conversion to whole milk again. It didn't work last time we tried, but we don't know if her reaction(diarrhea)was to the milk or a virus(I came up with a stomach bug right after her symptoms).
And we are off from school for 2 whole weeks-YEAH! Have a great weekend.

Tagged!

I was tagged by Hannah to post a photo from my 4th picture file and the 4th picture in that file. Matt deleted all of my pictures shortly after Landry was born, so these are somewhat new. In this picture, Jake and Landry are playing with her musical fish. This picture was taken 4-10-08, so LGT was 4 months old. And not that it matters, but please excuse the bedding..way too many stripes-couldn't have cared less at this point in time. Landry had just started sleeping through the night!! Whohoo!!
And now I tag Tara, Katie, Carol, and Shelley. I'll be waiting!!!

2 Things I Learned Tonight:

I learned 2 VERY valuable lessons about myself tonight: 1) There is a reason that I am NOT an elementary classroom teacher, and 2) I am becoming the parent I said I never would!
There have been many projects going on in the classrooms that I service. I am in kindergarten and first grade rooms all day long. You can imagine the crafts that I see during the Christmas season. Some of the ornaments being made have been tempting to try myself, but I resisted. Well, today I saw one that I knew I could do myself. The teacher told me what to do and even let me borrow her Santa hat to take the kids' pictures with. SO, I went to pick up Jake and Landry, took pictures of all the kids that stay with Mrs. Dorothy(and got some GREAT shots!). I dropped Landry off with her daddy for a nap and off me and Jake went to Wal-Mart for the supplies. I was doing good until it came time for me to draw a tree. Look folks-what should have been a 20 minute craft project turned into a 2 hour plus UNIT TEST! They look pretty cute in the picture below but I am telling you not to click on the picture to make it bigger(MOM) and see all my mistakes. Just take the picture below at face value and give me the benefit of the doubt PLEASE:)!!!
I never thought I would be one of those moms whose always tries to go above and beyond(and normally I am just too tired to do the extra stuff), but here I am trying to do my best!!! Oh well, I was always taught it was the thought that counts!
And below is a picture of what my children were doing while I was trying to decorate:

The laundry baskets were great amusement for them until Landry insisted on being in the same laundry basket as Jake and he would scream and push her. She thought that was hilarious and kept trying to get in with him. We had to take her away before this stand-off became dangerous on the concrete floors. Always an adventure.

Thought I would add several pictures from our weekend. On Saturday night we had a Christmas party for Matt's district that he works in. Mom and dad kept Landry who was still sick while Jake was in Bossier. Matt has made some really good friends at work and we had a great time that night. Matt's boss, Russ Golden, was a coach and teacher at RHS when I was in high school and his wife, Lori, was my senior English teacher. They are the one of the sweetest couples I know.

Before the party. We don't have too many pictures of us so I just had to post it...sorry!

Lori and Russ

On Sunday afternoon we went to Bossier for a baby shower for our good friends Katye and Ben Hamby. They were one of the first couples we got to know really well after we were married and have had some really fun memories with them. They have an almost 3 year old, Sadie, and are expecting Bennett Ross in about 6 weeks. We are so happy for them and know Sadie will be a great big sister.
Jake and Ben had a great time dancing the afternoon away. Jake is forever a clown and they had the best time playing together. I had to post this for Melody. Her daughter Avery is 9 months old and PRECIOUS!!! Why won't my children smile like this for me? Perhaps if I didn't take so many pictures they would!!!

Ahhh..........and I can finally smell Friday! Have a great rest of the week.

Happy Birthday Sweet Jake!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet little man. Hard to believe that it has been 2 WHOLE years. What a joy and undescribable blessing he is to us. Jake keeps us on our toes and we never know what will happen next, but we are always up for the adventure. Below are a couple of pictures from each year:
His first Christmas...10 days old and he had been home for 2 days


First birthday...not excited about the cake. Wouldn't touch it!

Our family Christmas card picture from last year:Jake clowning around on Saturday. Need I say more?

Love you sweet Jake!

Five Years Ago Today......

...we got married! Hard to believe it has been five years. Oh the adventures, laughs, hardships, tears, and love we have shared. Would never think of doing it with anyone else. The absolute love of my life! He surprised me this morning with a blue sapphire fleur des lis pendant as sapphire's represent 5 years. Looking forward to 50 more years! Love you Matt!
Our engagement picture:

From the rehearsal dinner:

Our wedding picture:Heading to our reception:

It is funny how your priorities change over the years. Looking back on what was so important to me during this time in my life, I couldn't care less over some of the things that used to mean the most to me. Certain things are still very important, just in different ways. Both Matt and I have grown so much in our relationship as we have learned a lot about each other. We are always learning as life will do that to ya!

The Woes of Parenthood and Childhood

Oh you gotta love the adventures in parenthood! We had a weekend planned with festivities and the children were going to Bossier to spend time with my in-laws. We were going out with Matt's business partner(Julie Shirley)and her husband, along with one of their doctor's that they call on. Tomorrow night is Matt's Christmas party with his company. Well........this morning I went in to get Landry up and found her looking like this but worse:



Her poor little eyes were matted shut and she had unbelievable dried snot around her nose. OH MY GOODNESS is all I could think and almost panicked! Matt spent the night in Alexandria for business and I was trying to get to school on time. So mom and dad kept her for me until I could get her in to the doctor. Turns out she has an ear infection-the first-and received an antibiotic for that as well as some drops for her eyes.SO, we are not sending Landry to Bossier after all and I have no idea when I will get any Christmas shopping done. Yea-I am one of those who hasn't started. Sorry-I am a HUGE procrastinator and well, my kids aren't old enough yet to truly understand. But I am going sometime this weekend-maybe!!
So as to not make this post too depressing, I thought I would share some fun pictures from throughout the week when they were not as sick(both have pretty much been in and out of Mrs. Dorothy's all week:( ).
They LOVE their Leap Frog ABC fridge magnets. Thanks Thomas! Jake can pretty much sing the entire song.

Jake and Landry last night playing patty cake with Big MamaJake and I were playing in the living room the other day and Landry was being VERY quiet in the kitchen. Hmmmmm, I thought. When I found her she had taken Jake's Pop Tart off this booster seat and was digging in. I guess she likes them and she wasn't choking so what's the harm? Yet we will probably hold off a little longer before adding them to her diet!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Landry Grace

I am getting this out late, but it is STILL LGT's birthday so I am still OK! What a year it has been with our babies:). Hard to believe that this time last year I was meeting her for the first time(delivered her by c-section at 1pm and didn't get to see her until 9pm!!!). It has been a year of tears, challenges, trials and errors, frustrations, laughs, more tears, and oh so much love. Late nights and early mornings. Sleepless nights. Endless worries. Thousands of prayers. Countless questions. Many doctor visits(She even gave me her cell #...yeah she felt sorry for us!). Many calls from friends. Even more calls to my mom. A wonderful husband and father who helped more than most daddies. Couldn't have done it without a great support system from them and our family. Blessings, blessings, blessings!!!Never would I change a thing. Thought I would share some pictures from our first year with Landry Grace:

At 2 weeks old:

First trip to church(2.5 months):

3 months in her Easter dress(trying it over her clothes to make sure it fit!):6 months!

7 months and hanging out with Silly Jake!

Fast forward to last night when she took 8 steps ALL by herself!!:

Wow this year REALLY has flown by!

I took the kids to the see Santa last night at the Tech bookstore and it didn't go too well. You can see from Jake's body language that there was no way he was getting in Santa's lap. He was checking Landry's reaction in this picture. She didn't really care one way or the other:). Jake was that way last year as well!
Landry did(sit in Santa's lap) but not for very long. Oh well!!

And the reason I am up for this late post is that I finished my Christmas cards. I have been procrastinating for several weeks now and when I discovered that we received 3 cards in the mail yesterday and 3 more today, I decided it was time to get going! I absolutely LOVE getting cards in the mail! It is a highlight of my day:). Is that sad? Oh I don't care. I love catching up with people at Christmas. And I honestly had planned in sending a letter out with our cards this year but it just didn't happen. Maybe next year!

We also closed on our house today and that was a GOOD feeling. Now we only own 1 home. Merry Christmas to us! Now to buy or build....we will save that for a later time. Have a good rest of the week.

Happy Belated Birthday Matt!

Before I head to my first class of winter quarter tonight(uhgg!), I wanted to wish my husband a belated 32nd birthday(it was yesterday)! I found this picture from 3 summers ago...before children. Those pictures are hard to find I might add!!! He is such a wonderful man and even better father. We have now celebrated 7 birthdays together and hope to celebrate at least 50 more! I love you Matt.
And on to more news, I started running again today. The schedule mom gave me for Boston has us starting today and running 11 miles this Saturday. Boston is not until April 20 and I can see me not taking this schedule seriously until after Christmas. My goal right now is to run about 3 days a week until January. More if I feel led, but I plan to enjoy my break from school and Matt will be home for those 2 weeks as well. Well, I will be in touch, just wanted to tell my hubby on the BLOG Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Jake and Landry!

We had such a good time today at the kids' birthday party. We were overwhelmed by the friends and family that showed up to celebrate with us. Jake and Landry had a BLAST and Landry seriously did not stop the entire 90 minutes! She even loved the birthday cake! All of those who attended seemed to have a really good time. It was so good to see all of our friends. Enjoy the pictures. I tried not to post near as many as I took! Thanks mom for being the main photographer!

Fun Times!

Whew! We made it through the week with some highs and lows, but that is life with babies. On Sunday night I decided that Landry had to have a birthday hat for her party on Saturday. Why am I just now thinking of this-I work, come home, take care of babies, and tired when they go to bed, etc. So, I looked on this awesome website(etsy.com) and found this lady who not only made her hat, but a matching bib, and hat for Jake-PLUS had it on my front door by Wednesday! Now that is what I call service! Before you start to roll your eyes at Jake's hat, let me preface this by saying that Jake LOVES hats. He would have a fit if Landry had one and he did not. So he has one too. In fact, he wore his for an hour after we got them and Landry took hers right off.

Yes, I am taking the ribbon off Jake's hat-it has the elastic strap! He doesn't look too thrilled here but he really does love hats.

Reading is one of our favorite things to do!

We also LOVE to play with our walkers!

Jake is crying in my lap so I gotta cut this short. Sorry!

Decorating the Tree

My gracious mother came over to decorate my tree tonight. It would not have been done without her! Jake and Landry made it very entertaining. They were both into everything.
Jake getting into the garland...enough saidLandry took THREE steps on her own tonight, but Mrs. Dorothy said she walked everywhere today! I haven't seen it but she was really clingy tonight(and has been for the past 3 days now-teething is my guess as she woke up at 3:15 this morning-hasn't done that since she was 4 months old-and it took me an hour to get her back to sleep!)

The tree in progress. It took me giving Landry a sucker to be able to put her down!

Mama helping another mother out:). This is the only decoration I have done in this house! Figure there is no point if we aren't gonna be here a while!

The finished project. Glad to have it up! We have watched the Polar Express about 6 times as of December 1(we watched it 3 times just today-yeah that is too much TV but he doesn't sit there the whole time!). Jake LOVES the part when Santa comes out. I love hearing him say Santa Claus! Looking forward to a fun Christmas this year!!!!

And woo hoo, we have the magnificent Ruston Christmas parade on Thursday night. Looking forward to it.