Lincoln LOG

Fort Worth Stockshow

2012-02-07T19:31:00.002-06:00

The Fort Worth Stock Show is a huge event held every year here in January and February. I don't even remember the last time I went, but Lincoln had never been and had been asking to go. We had this last Friday off and decided it would be a good time to go since it was about to end. It was a pretty raining day which made for some fun stroller running, haha!

We dressed the kids up in their cowboy gear and headed on down. Lincoln thought it was so neat to be able to see all the animals up close. He even asked if he could have a cow, they looked so soft, he said. To be honest, my favorite part about the stock show was the Stubby's Cinnamon Rolls! Lincoln and I were fighting over the last bite, and that says a lot about a kid who eats nothing! Of course it was all sugary goodness. We also had a great corn dog and steak burrito, yummy food!

Here is Lincoln checking out the kids baby animal area. He loved the floppy eared rabbits!

Kennedy was excited too!

Baby goat!

These are in the wrong order, but cute all the same. This is my mom and Ryan with K at our family super bowl party!

She is gonna get your glasses G-ma!

Back to stockshow cuteness! Lincoln has his pearl snap shirt on with his square toe cowboy boots!

Kennedy loved her western dress and gold boots. We got so many comments on them! Best shoe purchase yet!

We had a great time, but I think I really just want to go back for the Cinnamon Rolls, yes, they were that good!

Playdate With Caiden

2012-02-07T19:31:00.001-06:00

It has been a busy year already! It has been hard for me to find time to take pictures and even harder to find time to post about them. But that does not mean that the fun has stopped, just that I can't find time to document it, haha!

A couple of weeks ago I had a Friday off and Jennifer lured me out to Flower Mound for one last Cachette date before she moved. This place has the BEST cupcakes ever. They are slightly bigger than a normal cupcake and full of flavor. My favorite is the Andes Mint cupcake. They also have a great lunch, but it is all the way in Argyle so I only get out there when I go to see her. Of course, with two little toddlers now, it is a bit harder to get out to a small cafe that has lots of cute breakable items, so Jen picked up.

After we all ate and naps had been taken, we headed over to a park for some swinging fun. It was an unusually hot day for January and we both got really hot, but the Kids had a blast!

It was a beautiful day!

Caiden is walking like a pro now!

The swings are always a favorite!

They are just too cute together!

This is new, gravel! Fun, just don't throw it or eat it K Mae!

Next time we see Caiden, he will be in a new house with a new room! We can't wait, but we sure are going to miss Cachette!

NYE 2011

2012-01-09T21:42:00.002-06:00

Check out the latest 5 posts that include all of Christmas and New Years, 2011 Wrapped Up!

Yes, it is December and the kids are wearing short sleves! New Years Eve held the most beautiful weather. We had to spend the day outside before heading over to the Brawley's house to have a fun NYE Celebration. Kennedy enjoyed playing in the leaves and Linc enjoyed hitting his baseball. I think this will have to be the next sport we try him in. Anyways, I digress, back to the post at hand...NYE Was A Blast!

Hit that ball!

Like I said before, this plasma car is a big hit in our house, way to go Santa! I love how he likes to give her rides.

After a fun day in the sun, it was time to head over to the Brawley's house for some dinner and fireworks, well the leagal kind, haha!

Little family photo op! If you get in close, you can see that Craig has a mini mullet, haha! He thought it was so funny and the hair dresser could not believe that he really wanted to cut his hair like that, she laughed the whole time. I, on the other hand, just wanted it to be over, haha. Whatever gets a good laugh, I guess.

Kennedy and Calvin have started to really play with each other and it is really fun to watch them interact. They were playing ball together in this picture and sharing pretty well. (Hey, they are babies, they can go shirtless)

Avery and Linc are pros at playing together, but whenever they all get togehter they love to dump all of the kids toys everywhere and it takes them hours to pick them up, haha!

Levi just watching as the dumping ensues!

Now it is time for fireworks, YAY!

POP!

Of course we had to try them too!

Look at those cuties!

Sparklers look so awesome in the night sky!

You got it buddy!

Calvin was the lone baby, Kennedy had to pass out but she sure did miss some fun!

Isn't she just so cute!

We had such a fun night, but we didn't make it to midnight, close though. Of course you always regret those late nights the next day with kids, but it was nice because I still got two more days before I had to go back to work, recovery time! What a great 2011 we had, I can't wait to see what 2012 holds!

Christmas Photo Session

2012-01-09T21:18:00.000-06:00

As you know, we love to take pictures of our family to document the passing of time. We had a wonderful photo shoot with Jennifer Matlock again and now that all the cards have gone out and we are, well...a few weeks post Christmas, I would like to share them with you all! As always, she did an amazing job!! Enjoy all the photos!!!

Christmas Has Come!

2012-01-09T20:55:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas, well, a few weeks ago! We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Lincoln has been so excited to open his presents. When I put them out a few weeks before, he didn't understand that he could not open them yet. We told him how he had to wait to baby Jesus' birthday and that made it ok! Santa was good to us all and that was wonderful. The kids woke up super early in anticipation of the fun goodies that would be waiting for them.

Santa got some fun ride on toys!

Lincoln got a fun ball tunnel and tent

Lincoln got a plasma car and that has been awesome in our house. Lincoln loves to take her on rides, it is so cute!

Santa also brought them both fun stuffed animals

Kennedy also got a push buggy that she loves!

Lincoln was all about superhero's this year so he got a lot of fun toys in that theme!

Kennedy had a good time just taking the paper off, she was not really interested in the toys behind the paper.

We also hosted Christmas Day lunch at our house. This years food theme was mexican food and it was awesome. I got pictures of all the decor but I forgot to take pictures when everyone was there, :(

I love this picture of Linc and K.

Yum!

Some yummy pinterest desserts! Lofthouse cookie and andes mint cookies, the best!

The main dish, yummy enchiladas, cheese, bean and chicken (also a pinterest recipe)

It was a wonderful Christmas with lots of family from both my sides. We sure were tired afterwards, but I really do love to have people over to our house.

Christmas Eve at My Parents

2012-01-09T20:24:00.000-06:00

We always spend Christmas Eve at my parents house and this year was no different. It is a great time to relax before the big day. This year my grandparents came to spend it with us and that was a lot fun for us all, especially since Santa came with them. I love their Christmas tree.

Kennedy was ready to party!

Lincoln showing off his photo pose!

Grandma enjoying the fun!

Lincoln loves the nutcracker

Someone is ready to open presents!

They got their own travel trays and chairs, fun!

My mom with the kids

The whole family, minus Craig and the Grandparents

Santa came to visit...so fun!

Lincoln was super excited to see Santa (AKA - my grandpa), Kennedy, not so much.

She was out of there

He told santa he wanted batman!

Kennedy was starting to warm up to him.

We tried again and failed, haha!

So I got in and it was better.

Ryan is so big now, but not too big for Santa!

They got a kitchen from my parents and they LOVE it!

And lots of other goodies!

We had a wonderful time at my parents house spending time with my family!

Annual Book Exchange

2012-01-09T19:53:00.003-06:00

For three years now we have had an annual book exchange for Christmas with The Brawley Family. Each year we trade off who's house it will be at and this year we came to ours. The kids are always so excited to open each other's book, but we make them wait until after we all had dinner and they put their jammies on. This year we also tried to all watch The Santa Claus together but that only lasted about 10 minutes, haha. Maybe next year their attention spans will be longer, maybe!
Here are the little cuties getting ready to open their books! (Lincoln - 3, Kennedy - 15 mos, Avery - 3, Levi - 6, Calvin - 16 mos)

Kennedy and Calvin have no idea what is going on but they had fun anyway!

Time to open the gifts!

Yay, look at all those fun gifts!

Look at those cuties!

We had a great time with The Brawley's and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Craig's Birthday

2011-12-07T09:05:00.001-06:00

Check out the latest 4 posts, I was way behind as normal!

On December 5, Craig turned the old age of 29! Now we are both just one year away from 30, or I guess we could always just turn 29 from now on, haha. On November 30th, my nephew turned 16, which as you know is a huge birthday! We had a little party for both of them at my house with Ice Cream cake and goodies! Here are the birthday boys!

Kennedy wanted a cupcake so bad that we had to start the party as soon as she saw them, haha. She is a sugar queen just like me!

She also likes to share her sweets!

Lincoln wanted to help blow out the candles.

Mmm, that is so good!

Craig and I also went to Eddie V's to celebrate his birthday. That place was really wonderful. I am not a big fish fan, but they had the best of the best. We both split a crab cake and I even had scallops which I normally don't like, but they were amazing. It was a fun birthday for Craig.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-07T08:26:00.001-06:00

As far as Christmas traditions, we don't have many yet as The Gabbard Family. I guess I follow the ones from my parents, like making fudge, opening stockings and eating dinner at my Mom's house on Christmas Eve. Our traditions so far consist of watching Elf while decorating the house, having a book exchange with The Brawley Family, making tons of desserts including cookies with Paula on Christmas Eve, opening the rest of the gifts of Christmas morning and making Christmas lunch for everyone. One we started about two years ago, when Lincoln was old enough, was letting the kids each hang their own ornament. Lincoln really enjoyed this in the past years and will often move his around before Christmas. This year, Kennedy was old enough, so she got to hang one too. Here she is about to hang her ornament.

Trying to find the best spot!

She almost got it on...

She still needed a bit of help!

There we go, she got it on. Then she wanted to take it off and move it, haha!

Lincoln has a little red train that he gets to put on every year.

Good job buddy!

Now the Christmas tree is complete!

I love my little Christmas Helpers.

I hope we can make more traditions as the kids get older, I would love for them to have something to pass on to their families one day.

Winter Zoo Trip

2011-12-07T08:17:00.001-06:00

The day after Thanksgiving, black Friday, we decided to skip all the crazy shopping and head to the Zoo. It was a great decision because there was no one there and it gave me a way to walk off some of the food I ate from the day before. Our mission this time was to see the big cats. We always miss that part of the Zoo somehow. It was also a very nice day weather wise. Here is Lincoln on his favorite thing at the zoo, the train!

Kennedy liked the train ride too!

We stopped off at our favorite place to eat at the Zoo, the Texas Wild Food Court. Kennedy had just started to point to things and say "this" when she wanted to try something.

After we ate, Lincoln really wanted to ride the carousel. Kennedy wanted to ride too.

Next, we headed up to find the lions and tigers.

We finally found the tigers, and as many times as I have been there, I had no idea they had white tigers. They were beautiful!

There were three of each of them, so pretty

I guess it was a day of trying something new because then we headed over to the birds so that we could let Lincoln feed them. I love this exhibit, you can buy feed sticks and go in this huge bird cage and they just flock to you. It is amazing how close you can get to them. That is Craig feeding a bird.

Kenny wanted to touch him

Pretty blue one

Lincoln was a bit timid at first, but he finally wanted to feed the birds. Here he is with a white and blue bird on his feed stick. Sorry, I have no idea what kind of birds they are, haha.

After the birds, we headed over to the duck pond so Kennedy could stretch her legs.

Lincoln was showing her the ropes of the duck pond.

Craig taking a little break.

Do you see the ducks, Kk?

Looking cute!

They had a great time. We topped it off with some ice cream and then they both crashed out for a nap, it was awesome! I can't tell you how much we love our Zoo. It was so much better than shopping!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-07T08:12:00.001-06:00

We had a great thanksgiving! This year, my mom hosted a traditional thanksgiving feast. She got a special Cajun turkey (that was too hot for me, I'm a wimp) that everyone loved, especially Craig! We had a great turn out and it was fun hanging out with my family and Paula and her boyfriend. Here is Ryan and Bob with Kennedy, happy Turkey Day!

Lincoln was having a blast jumping up and down while I took his picture.

Kennedy and Daddy!

Gotta love the gobble butt and sparkle boots. These were from last year but they still fit!

Family picture!

Learning her sports early

Mom and all her babies!

Our little family minus Lincoln, he was too busy.

Paula and her boyfriend, Chris were able to make it this year too.

On of the many people that I am thankful for in my life! Love you Kennedy!

We had a great Thanksgiving and soon it will be Christmas at my house, woo hoo!

First Adult Getaway

2011-11-27T20:04:00.001-06:00

Another reason I decided not to pick nursing back up with Kennedy after the 72 hours is that we had a trip coming up that weekend that would be our first no kids trip since we had kids.

We got invited to Ryan and Stefanie's wedding on November 13th in Austin, TX. We had originally planned to all go down (Craig, me, the kids, and Craig's parents) to San Marcos on Friday and stay with Craig's brother and hit up the outlets! Then Craig's parents decided they didn't want to go down and that they would just keep the kids in Benbrook while we went down. I was so nervous but also excited since this was our first kid less trip.

We headed down on Saturday morning and went to the outlets first before driving back up to Lakeway (a suburb of Austin, I think) to go to their rehearsal dinner. They had it at this fun Italian restaurant called Rocco's. We had a great time hanging out with a few people from high school. Here we are at Rocco's, sorry, it was from my iPhone.

The wedding was on Sunday afternoon, so we decided to run with the groom that morning and then head back to the outlet malls in San Marcos, I wanted to get some good shopping in! This was also kinda my birthday weekend, so I wanted to get some goodies! They had the wedding at the Vintage Villas on Lake Travis. It was a beautiful setting and I was so mad at myself because I left my memory card at home, ugh! Here we are with Ed and his wife, Janey at the reception.

I have known Ryan since I moved to Texas when I was in third grade. He lived behind me my whole life and now they live around the corner from Craig and I in the same neighborhood. Ryan and Stefanie started dating about 6 years ago, and I knew they were right for each other from the start. I am so happy they made this next step and it was a wonderful wedding. Here is the beautiful couple on their first dance.

While we were away, the kids were having a blast hanging out with Craig's parents. They went to the park, went on walks, watched movies and played all day! They sent us a few pictures to see how much fun they were having! Here is Kennedy at Spring Creek having her a rib! Mmm, doesn't that look good!

Their neighborhood is nice because they have a little park right up the street from them. Kennedy visits it daily with Yong. They had fun sliding down the slide. I will say that these pictures did make me miss them so much.

We ended our trip on Monday morning and headed back to get our babies. It was a wonderful first Adult trip. We got to talk to each other without interruption. It was nice to be in the car and not hear screaming after 15 minutes. It was nice to be able to just have fun with my husband and goof off like we did when we first met. But all the things that made the trip nice to have without kids, also made me miss them that much more. I could not wait to get back to their hugs and sweet kisses. It was just what we needed!

Kennedy is 14 Months!

2011-11-20T15:33:00.001-06:00

On November 8th, you turned 14 months old. Wow, I can't believe what a big girl you are. So much has changed this month and it makes me happy and sad all at once. Knowing that this will probably be my last baby, it makes me sad to know that you are out of the baby stage and into the toddler stage. I love the baby stage, you were just so cute and cuddly and smelled so sweet! Just look at how big you are sitting in your chair.

How have you changed this month:

-You still weigh 20.5 lbs and you look like you are getting taller. You have your next check up at 15 months!

-Your eating habits have expanded to eating, well...EVERYTHING! It has been great, you just love food. I hope this keeps up!

-You are wearing 12-18 and 18-24 month clothes now.

-You are still in a size 3 diaper.

-You are so independent now and love to explore everything.

-The time change was hard on you, but you are sleeping about 11 hours straight every night with no wakings!

-You have started to say a lot of words this month like, bye bye, hi, thank you, please, this, some form of Lincoln and a few others, it is so cute in your little sweet voice.

-You have the sippy cup down, but still like the bottle in the morning and at night. We had to switch you to soy milk because cows milk was giving you tummy troubles.

-You have started to take naps in your crib on the weekends instead of me holding holding you the whole time...

-And we had to start doing that because you stopped nursing the day you turned 14 months old. I had to go in for a steroid shot for my back and they said I could not nurse for 72 hours. I didn't try to nurse you again and you have been fine. It was a hard decision for me to make since I felt like it was the last thing that only I could do for you. I know there will be other things in the future that only you and I will share and I can't wait for those moments.

-I just look at you now and see that you are going to be a beautiful little girl before I know it.

We also broke out some of Lincoln's old toys and you have loved playing on the horse!

Now that you are bigger, the park has been a lot more fun for you. We have gone a lot since the weather has gotten cooler.

The swing is still your favorite!

Kennedy, you amaze us everyday. We are continually blessed that we were picked to be your parents. We love you so much sweet girl!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-20T14:28:00.001-06:00

We had a very happy Halloween! Lincoln has been really into super heros for a few months so everytime we asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said a super hero. He decided on a superman costume and boy did he love it. He even wore it a few times just around the house before and after Halloween. It is his form of dress up! Here is Lincoln aka "Superman!"

I still get to pick Kennedy's costumes, so I could not resist when I saw this strawberry costume for her at Old Navy! It was perfect for my future Zeta Lady!

Look at those cute little trick or treaters!

It has been a tradition in my family since I can remember for my mom to make Chili before the trick or treaters come by. We headed over to her house first to enjoy some yummy chili!

This girl loves chocolate! I didn't get around to dressing up, I never could seem to find the time or want to think of something creative. I really want to next year!

Next stop was the annual Brawley Halloween Bash.

He is off to save the world...

I love kids costumes! A pumpkin and Dr. Evil

but the adults ones were pretty good too...Jack and Nancy were accident prone Extreme Makeover builders.

Such Cuties!

I had to put Kennedy down, but Daddy took Lincoln out to trick or treat, and he had a blast!

Trick or Treat!

Look at all the fun costumes!

The host, Niki, dressed up like a crazy person and her husband was the mental hospital doctor, pretty funny!

Had to post, just too cute! He loves his Avery!

Sea Life

2011-10-23T20:11:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago we decided to take the kids to Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine. It opened up over the summer, but when it opened it had a 3 hour wait to get in, so we decided to hold off. We went on a Friday and it was a great choice because there was no one there! This place was really great for kids and had a lot of great exhibits. Here we are at the start of the aquarium.

Lincoln and Kennedy loved the open water tank.

They had a lot of glass bottom exhibits and Kennedy was scared to walk on the glass, I think she thought she would fall through, smart girl!

Daddy and the kids looking at the fish from a different angle.

See Kennedy??!!

They had a huge all glass tunnel that had all sorts of sting rays and sharks just swimming all around you.

See the fish swimming under his feet?

Shark, scary!

At the end there is a place where the kids can touch some critters and play on a big indoor playground.

Oh and have a snack of course! It was a great exhibit, I just wish it was not so expensive, haha! But I guess that have to pay for the cool stuff somehow!

Since we were at Grapevine Mills anyway, we decided to make it an animal day and eat at the Rainforest Cafe! I had not eatten there in years, it is a very kid fun place!

Kennedy picking out what she wants to eat, such a big girl!

They had a wonderful time and everyone sacked out on the car ride home, even me!

Onesie's are the Best

2011-10-11T20:39:00.001-05:00

Check out the latest 3 posts!

Aren't onesies just the best? I find with a girl that she is rarely ever in just a onesie, I always want to dress her up from head to toe. On this day, she had gone through her orginal clothes for the day and we just threw a onesie on her for the remainder. I had to snap photos because she just looked so cute just in her onesie and shoes!

The shoes and onesie were both Clara's and Kennedy just looks great in them. We love those shoes. It is funny, because those have been the best to fit her and they say they are for 9-12 months.

Did I mention she has become a hamm in front of the camera now. She loves to smile when you snap her picture now, too cute!

Kennedy loves to raid bubbas toys from the playroom and transplant them somewhere in the house where we eventually step on them, haha! I know I am going to look back on this picture and remember how cute and little she was, awe.

Off she goes and now she will never slow down. She looks so much like her bubba in this picture.

Oh and I had to throw in a picture of our silly hats. Paula and I attended a tea party baby shower were we all had to wear hats, it was pretty funny. Paula's mom made hers and it looked better than my bought one and matched her dress. Kennedy didn't want to wear hers. She said she has to wear it enough on a regular day and that we should see what it feels like to have those big things on our heads, haha!

Lincoln's Soccer Games

2011-10-11T20:24:00.000-05:00

Lincoln has really been enjoying soccer. He has played in 5 games already and always is willing to go in. He just loves to run around and chase his friends. Here he is at his first game. They all look so cute in their little uniforms!

Kennedy was excited to see her bubba play soccer, but most of all she was excited to play outside!

Getting ready for the YMCA pledge.

A rare moment when she would stay put, ahhh!

Getting ready to sub in.

It is so fun to watch them. They are all off in their own little world and most of the time don't pay attention. He has a few people on his team that have played before and they are the ones that always score. I think by next year he will have a better handle on it, but for now he is enjoying his time!

Linc gets his first sideline kick!

This team had twins on it, number 7 and 8 and they were good, haha! That was unfair, just kidding.

They are just so cute sharing the big chair.

He has a few more games left and I think he has really enjoyed it. I think it is good for them to have something like this in their life at this age. I want him to be able to try anything he wants to do, so I guess we will see what is next!

Caiden's 1st Trip to the Zoo

2011-10-11T20:04:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back, we got invited to go to the Zoo after we had taken Linc to preschool. We met up with my friend Jennifer and her baby Caiden for his first trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was a great day for the Zoo, not hot at all. Here is Craig with our wild child, Kennedy!

You know how it is with babies, we all had to feed them before we headed off on our first adventure. Here are Jennifer and Caiden in the eating area.

The babies were being silly!

Love her sweet face!

Even at 9 months, Caiden loved all the exhibits. He was actually oohing at everything and would go up and bang on the glass. Kennedy on the other hand just wanted to walk around and run away from us, haha!

Can't you see I am trying to hide mom!

Caiden had a blast!

We can't wait to go again and Jen and Caiden got a pass, so now we have more friends to go with, yay!

Kennedy's Ice Cream Parlor 1st Birthday Party

2011-09-11T21:55:00.002-05:00

Please check out the latest 5 posts I did today!

Oh September 10th, we celebrated Kennedy's 1st birthday at our house with a Ice Cream Parlor Theme. I searched for months and months for ideas and I think everything turned out just how I wanted it. Warning, this post has tons of pictures!

One of my favorites was the cake, it turned out so cute and was super yummy. I love marble with strawberry filling and Treat Me Sweet Bakery is the best!

They also made ice cream cone cupcakes...

and ice cream cone cookies! I made the rice krispy fudgesicles, yum!

We had all the set up for a great ice cream sundae party. I even got a 3 gallon container of my favorite ice cream, Krazy Kookiedough. It is cake batter ice cream with colored sugar cookie dough, I know you mouth is watering!!

As you know, I take a picture to commemorate each month. I am glad I did because it made this months project turn out great!

We are finally getting to use Lincoln's birthday present! Happy 1st Birthday Kennedy! I think I had to write this like 4 times because Lincoln kept adding his special touch, haha!

And the first little guest arrived, Calvin!

Up close of the months project!

More friends arriving!

The little party favors. They had a note pad, stamp, bouncy ball and iced cookie inside.

They also got to take home ice cream bubbles!

Can't ever have enough balloons, they really make a party.

Baby guest Peighton!

Since I had so much prep to do with her party starting at 2pm, we asked Yong to watch Kennedy while we got everything ready. It was a good thing we did because she showed up in a great mood after having a great nap. Here is the birthday girl with my sorority sister Brooke!

Here is one of Kennedy's ZTA playdate buddies, Poppy. Her birthday is on the 15th, which was my due date, how funny, right. Her party is this weekend, yay!

You work that ice cream dress!

Hayden and Levi enjoying the cherry limeade

Work friend Jamie and her husband Chris.

The fun poms!

We also got a water bounce house upon Lincoln's request. This was the funnest thing and adding the water made it that much more fun. I won't lie, I spent a few hours in it after all the guests went home.

All my ZTA playgroup friends came out for some fun!

The guest of honor's smash cake and hat. I love the little scrap fabric skirt I made for her highchair, it classed it up!

Sweet baby Ava.

Too cute, Niki and Calvin!

We had an outfit change for cake time!

She could not wait for me to get it out of the box, she wanted to get her hands on it!

This is the first baby I have seen that has actually went for the cake.

Happy Birthday Kenny!

She wanted to feed it to everyone!

Then she was ready to eat it her self!

That is my baby for sure!

With grandpa and grandma!

She even wanted to eat the plate, haha!

She got tons of great gift including two car seats which were much needed!

Jennifer, Caiden, Kenny and I after presents.

Typical Family photo, only the parents are looking, haha!

Aunt Paula and her K Mae!

Craig's Family, Doug, Yong, Chad and my babies

It was such a great party. Thank you to all that made her day wonderful! I think we had over 25 families in attendance, certainly the biggest party we have ever had at our house. Fun was had by all and Kennedy didn't even cry and was not shy either. She loved all the attention, who would have known, really! Happy 1st Birthday baby girl. We got video so that you can see all the fun some day!

Lincoln Loves Soccer

2011-09-11T20:49:00.001-05:00

On September 8th, Lincoln had his first soccer practice. That's right, my 3 1/2 year old is playing sports! I am so excited to see him play since this is what I played when I was growing up. Hopefully if we try a lot of sports he will find one he likes! Lincoln loved the shin guards most of all, haha! He has been wearing them around the house for two weeks.

September 8th was also Kennedy's 1st birthday, yay Kennedy! She wanted to get in on the soccer action. She even wore her puma's!

Look how little they all are. I can't wait to see an actual game.

This was the "catch the coach" drill, Lincoln loves to run!

But it sure does make him thirsty!

He was having fun and that's what counts!

Hey there sweet girl!

We think Lincoln might be left handed and footed. He always seems to kick with that foot first and color with his left hand. I only know one person in our family that was left handed and that was my grandpa Hank! That would be so great if he got that characteristic from him.

He has the stance down for sure, looking so good! He had fun shooting the ball into the goal.

He started to get tired about 10 minutes before it was over so I think we need to run him around a bit more. It has just been so hot that this type of activity almost never happens for him.

They were all so little and cute. I think he is really going to enjoy being on a team and I can't wait for him to learn what it means to be a part of a team. Of course I don't really expect that to happen at 3, but I am sure he will get some basics, maybe, I am hoping! His first game is this coming Saturday on the 17th! Stay tuned for more pictures! Go Team!!

Lincoln's Get Well Build A Bear

2011-09-11T20:27:00.000-05:00

After Lincoln got out of the hospital and I got back to work, he received a special gift to go make a build a bear from my co-workers. He was so excited to make his get well and stay well animal!

He was so excited to go make an animal, he has never been in build a bear before. He looked at all the animals and gave it much thought before he committed to his animal.

The longhorn was the winner and a good choice I might add!

If you have not been to build a bear, it is the coolest and funnest experience for kids. First you pick out your unstuffed animal. Then you get to help stuff it. Lincoln pressed on the pedal to make the stuffing go.

Kennedy enjoyed some snacks while waiting to see Bubba's finished product.

Then Lincoln got to stuff the longhorn with a hearts, 3 to be exact, and gave all the hearts kisses and well wishes and then stuffed them in.

Next it was time to give the longhorn a bath, he scrubbed him up good!

She was done with watching and wanted in on the action!

Out of all the outfits you can put on a longhorn, Lincoln decided the Harley Davidson Leather Jacket fit the best. And of course if you get the jacket, you have to get the bike to go with it and some cool aviator glasses. This longhorn was stylin!

The last step in the process is to name your animal. Lincoln decided the best name for the longhorn was.....Cow. So I am proud to announce the newest member of our stuffed animal family, Cow!

Lincoln had the best time and Thanks everyone at my work for this special gift. We all had a good time playing at Build A Bear and Lincoln and Cow are best friends!

Kennedy at 12 Months

2011-09-11T19:44:00.000-05:00

Kennedy, you turned 12 months old on September 8th! I remember the day of your birth like it was yesterday. I remember what I wore to the hospital, what I ate before and how excited we were to finally meet our baby girl. We waited a full 12 hours for you to arrive, and it was worth every second! You came out screaming, which soon became your identifier, "oh that must be Kennedy", haha! We know you will do something great with that powerful voice of yours. We love you so much and are so excited reach this milestone!

How have you grown this month:

-You weigh 20.5 lbs (50%)

-You are 28 3/4 inches long (50%)

-Your head is in the 75 %

-You wear 12-18 month clothes

-You have 8 teeth now, four on top and four on bottom

-You walk all over the place and now it is your preferred mode of transportation besides the mommy taxi

-You started doing half your bottles at Yongs with cows milk and are loving it as long as it is heated up

-You are still with halmoni and will be until January when she goes to Korea for 3 months, yikes!

-You still don't have a lot of hair, but I think it might start coming in soon

-You finally got the sippy cup down, whew!

-You don't eat any baby food now and love your pasta and green beans

-You love ice cream, hence the ice cream themed first birthday party

-You are putting simple words together like "hi Daddy"!

-You nurse about 4 times a day

-You still are waking at 3am, but sleeping 12 hours total

-You love to explore everything now and love taking things out and then putting them back

She is thinking about doing something, so smart!

In daddy's head band, I have a picture of Lincoln just like this at the same age!

Check out my new walking shoes!!! I am getting use to them, but I prefer to be barefoot.

This year went by too fast, we love you so much sweet girl. Happy 1st Birthday Kennedy Mae!!

Kennedy's 1 Year Photo Shoot

2011-09-11T19:02:00.000-05:00

About two weeks ago we set out at 7am to have Kennedy's 1 year photo shoot. We normally get up and out of the house by that time anyway, but gathering all six of Kennedy's outfits and getting everyone dressed was a challenge, but we did it! I'm sure you are wondering, why 7am. Well it has been like over 100 degrees here for months so the coolest time is in the morning and even then it gets to 90 pretty quick! We think the pictures turned out great and hope you enjoy them!

Here is Kennedy in her birthday hat!

We are having an ice cream themed party for her and wanted to get a picture of her in her party dress! So cute!

We got a few family shots too and they turned out pretty cute!

My favorite!

Love you Lincoln!

They love each other!

This is a dress my aunt gave me when I was a baby. Then she had my cousin, Marion and she wore it. When we found out I was having a girl, Terri shipped back down to me so Kennedy could wear it. They all look so cute in this dress and I have a frame with all of them in it in Kennedy's room.

Kennedy in her first year Korean dress that is actually from Korea. She looks like a doll. An Yong says this is what she use to wear when she was a little girl.

Kennedy as a Flapper as Paula called it! Haha, but she does look super cute with her pearls and strapless romper.

"I'm One!" She swiftly kicked over the rootbeer float, but it was a good prop for one picture!

He was calling Levi and having a conversation with him, haha, imagination is so fun!

Look at those muscles! Jennifer should hire him as her prop mover, haha!

Look at those little bunny teeth!

Our superhero contemplating his next moves!

Hope you enjoyed the photo shoot! Happy Birthday Kennedy Mae!

We Are Home!

2011-08-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

Let me first say that this was the longest week ever and we are so happy it is over! Well I take that back, probably plays a close second to when we were waiting to have Lincoln, that was a 4 day wait as well! I digress...

On Monday morning, Lincoln woke up saying his head hurt. We asked if he fell or hit it and he said no, so we gave him an ice pack and headed to school. When we got there I bent down to give him a kiss and he felt really hot. Lesson #1, always kiss your child goodbye, you might discover they have a fever! We checked him right there in the class room and discovered he had a fever of 100.2, high enough to go home for the day. When we got home I gave him Tylenol and he seemed brand new an hour later.

We went on with the rest of our day and he went down for a nap. About an hour into his name he woke up crying. I headed in there and he would not let me pick him up and said his head was hurting again and was holding it and had a temp of 102.2. At that point I thought we should go to the doctor, that he might have an ear infection. Before we got there I noticed he was not turning his head to either side as well, very strange.

At 4:30, his doctor came in to check him out. I told her about the stiff neck and I guess that alarmed a few bells. She ran a strep and mono test as well as a blood panel. Both tests came back negative, but the blood test showed elevation in his bacteria fighting cells. She said we should head to the ER and see if they could get a better look at him. She thought he might have some abscess'.

We got to Cook Children's Medical Center a little before 6pm that night. They put in an iv and ran an xray and ct scan with contrast on him. All those tests took about 5 hours before they determined that he did have these abscess' and because of the locations of them they had to be treated right away or his air way could close off. Scary stuff!

Here is Lincoln waiting to be admitted at 11pm on Monday.

We were admitted that night and finally got in a room on the Infectious Disease floor at 12am. We did not have Kennedy with us, thank goodness, but I needed to go pick her up, feed her and get to bed so I could head back up in the morning. Craig ended up staying with him that night and neither of them got much sleep.

They had to do 3 different antibiotics and 1 steroid around the clock to get the bacteria to go away. We were in contact isolation which means that Lincoln could not leave the room. Cook's is amazing and they have people come around to your room trying to find things to entertain you little child. On Tuesday, Lincoln got to do art. He painted, played with foam and made me a bracelet. He really enjoyed the art teacher!

He also got a prayer bear, two stuff animals and two pillow cases all from Cook's volunteers. They also brought in other toys for him to play with. My mom came up at lunch on Tuesday so that Craig and I could leave the room and have some lunch. It was so nice to get out of the room but we also felt guilty because Lincoln could not come with us, that was really hard. He didn't seem to notice, he just enjoyed having his Grandma there to play with for a while, she brings candy! See Lincoln was not contagious to other people, he just had to stay away from the people that were since he had a weakened immune system. Craig stayed with him again on Tuesday night and was getting very tired from not having much sleep.

On Wednesday he started to look a lot better to us. My mom came in again at lunch and we went out for a quick bite and at that time not seen the doctor yet. She did not end up coming until around 3 and told us we might have to stay until Friday and see and ENT and see if they thought he needed surgery. Ugh, we were bummed because he looked so good to us!

She wanted him to stay because she had taken him off the steroids on Wednesday and wanted to make sure he didn't swell back up. Craig planned to stay again on Wednesday night, so I headed home again to put Kennedy to bed.

When I was walking in, I saw our neighbor, Bill and told him what was going on with Lincoln. He said he would pray for him and that warmed my heart. The next thing I know I hear the sound of someone mowing their lawn and it sounded really close to our house. That is because Bill was mowing our lawn at 8pm at night! I love random acts of kindness, that really warmed my heart!

Later that night Lincoln was getting inconsolable and wanted me so I had my brother come over to watch Kennedy while Craig and I switched places. He got some fun gifts from his preschool, Kid's Place, which is actually the Cook Children's daycare, haha, so he was not far from school!

I notified everyone that we would probably be in the hospital until Friday. So surprise, surprise when the doctor came in on Thursday late morning saying we could go home today! Yay! We were so excited. She did warn us to watch him and that it could come back so we need to be careful, but other than that he can resume normal activity! We are going to try to keep him home all weekend and then resume outings on Monday. He was so excited to be leaving!!! Cook's took great care of all of us.

We asked Lincoln what he wanted and he said he wanted to ride the train, haha. My boy likes his trains! So before we put him in home isolation, haha, we took him to the train really quick at the zoo. And let me tell you it was quick because it was like a thousand degrees outside. But Lincoln didn't notice and really enjoyed the train ride. It put a smile on both our faces to see him so happy!

We are so happy our little man is better. We are so lucky to have family so close, i don't know what we would have done without them helping watch either Kennedy or Lincoln. Our friends also kept up with us thru texting, calling and visiting me at home and that helped too! Both our works are also awesome, Craig's wrote him a card and got some bundt cakes and mine gave him a card to build a bear! We want to thank everyone for all the kind thoughts and prayers for Lincoln and us.

He is definitely catching up on his sleep, which is great for everyone. I don't think the scariness of it all hit me until I got home. I was just in go go go mode until we left. I know most abscess' are not harmful, but they kept telling us the location of his were dangerous to his breathing and that really scared me. What if they didn't get it down, then what would happen. I am just glad I don't have to worry about that now.

I definitely hug my little Lincoln longer now, which in a three year old can be hard to do since they don't want to be still. It is a horrible place to be in when your child is in the hospital. I prayed and prayed that he would just get better and that no surgery or long stay would be required. I continue to pray that he will get healthy and stay healthy. I feel a calming when I ask for this and I feel now that everything is going to be ok. I am glad we caught it early. I love you so much Lincoln and I thank God for choosing us to be your family!

Tyler Turns 2!

2011-08-22T15:10:00.000-05:00

Also last Saturday we had Tyler's 2nd birthday to attend. Leyton's ended around 11 in Trophy Club and Tyler's started at 1 in Mansfield so we decided to just eat lunch in between and not go home. Tyler's party was at his house and was also a swimming party. Right when we got there Lincoln wanted to swim, so back into our suits we went. We really loved their pool because they had a sunning step and it was good for Kennedy to hand out on.

Tyler is one of my sorority sisters son. He also became a big brother about 3 months ago and we had her baby shower a while back ago with our ZTA playgroup. Diana (Tyler's mom) has a wonderful family and they had the whole house full of food. I was kinda sad I had already ate because it all smelled so good! It is time for cake!

Very cute guitar cake!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyler!

Here is Poppy and Kennedy going after some puffs, who will get it first!

We had a great time and were very worn out afterwards. I am glad that does not happen often (two birthdays in one day), I don't know if I could do that often! I know it will only get worse with Lincoln being in preschool now, but what do you do, haha!

Leyton Turns 2!

2011-08-22T14:52:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday we had two birthday parties to attend! The first one of the day was Leyton's 2nd birthday. They had the party at the Trophy Club Splash Park. Let me just say, this place was amazing! It was the biggest splash park I had ever seen and was totally safe for both kids. I wish we had one close to us like this. Lincoln was so excited to get out and play, he was off playing the entire time!

There were so many cute water features, even Kennedy enjoyed playing!

Linc liked getting the water dumped in front of him.

Hey girl!

Time to get her feet wet!

This ship had slides and all kinds of fun tunnels to climb through.

They had a huge slide that even Daddy enjoyed going down! Linc going down tummy first!

Go Kennedy and Daddy!

Playing in the water giser!

Linc had a blast!

Here is Mr. Leyton! Happy 2nd Birthday buddy! We really enjoyed coming to your party!

Calvin is 1!

2011-08-19T22:35:00.001-05:00

4 new posts!
Calvin turned 1 on August 9th! The Brawley's had a frog themed swimming party for the little dude. I remember when Calvin was born and it seemed like it was yesterday. I remember going up to the hospital to meet him and knowing he was going to be one cute little guy. He has a great personality and is a super happy baby. Kennedy and Calvin always have fun together and I hope they will stay friends through the years. Here is Kennedy enjoying the swim party.

All the Western Hills girls and our babies. Me and Kennedy, Staceyann and Boston, Niki and Calvin and Jenn and Ella Reese.

Calvin and Kennedy are 30 days apart from each other. Lincoln and Avery are two months apart. It is really great to have two kids that are the same age! We always have a lot of fun together even if it is crazy sometimes!

It is cake time! Calvin did not like the cake, he was scared of it, poor guy. He did like the taste though! Happy 1st Birthday Calvin!

The big kids got into the cake for Calvin!

Look at the cute little frogs!

All these pictures are courtesy of Niki, thank you! Also, thank you for having us over to Calvin's first birthday party!

Kennedy is 11 Months!

2011-08-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it, but you turned 11 months old on August 8th. Mommy was in New Orleans for a work event on your 11 month birthday, but I hear you had a great day.

Sweet Girl, what is new this month:

-You weigh about 19.5 lbs, we think

-You are still tall

-You still wear a size 3 diaper

-You wear more 12-18 month clothes now

-You sleep got better again and you are only waking around 3 to 4 am for one feeding and then sleeping until 7 on the weekends. Naps, eh, I give!

-You are mostly off baby food and eating all of our food. You are a pretty good eater, which is great. You love to drink water out of a straw!

-You took 4 steps around your 11 month birthday and now you can walk tons of steps, you are so close to getting up and going without someone to catch you.

-You started saying the words you know a lot cleared and are trying out new words as well.

-You still stay with your harlmoni and love her so much, but you will have to start school in January when they leave for Korea for 3 months :(

-You have increased separation anxiety all the sudden, yes it is worse than it was before, haha

-You still want to nurse a lot, but we are nursing about 5 times a day now and are thinking of doing whole milk soon.

-We are teaching you the sippy cup, I know a bit late, but we will get it down I am sure.-

-Your personality continues to grow each day and we know you are going to be a strong woman someday!

We love you so much sweet girl!

Working hard on the sippy cup skills!

Mommy has been super busy planning your 1st birthday party which is coming up soon. We can't wait but it is also sad that it has flown by so quickly. We all love you so much little K Mae.

Playdate with Jennifer and Caiden

2011-08-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

On August 5th, we had a playdate with Jennifer and Caiden. They came over to our house so we could hang out and let the babies play. Caiden is growing up so quick. He was almost crawling when he came to our house and just a week later he was all over the place! We also made a stop at Sweet Sammies for an afternoon treat. It is quickly becoming my favorite place! That week I had gone there 3 times. It is a little too convenient for me since it is Downtown and that is where I work. Caiden is checking out Lincoln on the horse that we have now passed down to Kennedy.

He is quite a handsome young man! He looks just like his daddy, cute boy!

Jennifer and Caiden.

Kennedy has recently started putting all types of things on her head, not sure why, but it is funny!

I like you new hat KK!

Look at that smile, just makes me melt! Kennedy, you have some good looking boys to choose from!

We had a fun playdate, didn't we guys! Can't wait to see Jen and Caiden again soon!

Happy 1st Birthday Seth!

2011-08-19T21:51:00.000-05:00

We have a lot of first birthday parties coming up and kicking it off was our baby friend Seth. Michael (Seth's Dad) is one of Craig's oldest friends, they basically grew up together. Now Michael and Darbi have 3 wonderful boys! They had Seth's 1st birthday party at their house. Kennedy was watching her bubba concur the slide.

Lincoln loved the waterslide bounce house! He had a little trouble getting up the ladder, but Michael's boys were quick to help him. We are getting one of these for Kennedy's 1st birthday party, so fun!

He loved it!

Here is the birthday boy, Seth! Happy Birthday Buddy!

I love watching children's reactions to smash cake time. Some get into it and others are very cautious. He was on the cautious side and ate the cake very slowly.

We had a great time at the party and can't wait for all the others coming up!

K Mae is 10 Months!

2011-07-12T20:06:00.000-05:00

On July 8th, Friday, you turned 10 months Kennedy Mae! You are growing up so fast, and it seems like these past few months you learned so many new skills, it is hard for mommy to keep up!

You tried watermelon for the first time this month and loved it! You also liked squishing it between your fingers to make a big mess!

Pulling up is a huge new skill you have learned and mastered. You can pull up on anything now, even my dress when I am standing!

You definitely love this new skill!

Your top two teeth just crack me up, like a little bunny! So cute!

How have you changed this month:

- You weight around 19.5 pounds and I know you have grown taller because your pants are shorter

-You have tired new foods this month and enjoy cut up watermelon and bananas, rice and bits of chicken. You really like the baby cheetos and don't really like jar food anymore, but still need to eat it

-You nurse about six times a day

-You love to swim and have been to the pool at least once a week and even went to a water park and did great!

-You are pulling up like crazy

-You can stand alone, but only for two seconds

-You love walking around the house holding our hands

-You have the crawling and sitting down pat!

-You sleep was good and now you have started waking up at 10pm again, hopefully we can get this back on a good schedule

-You spent your first night without mommy when I went on a trip for work overnight. You did really great for Daddy, but I think you are making up for it now with extra cuddle time each day!

-You still wear a size 3 diaper

-You are in 6-12 and 12-18 clothes still

-You love to chat it up just like your bubba

-You are showing your independence now when you don't want something, you just push it away

-You are finally getting a little bit of hair

Sweet girl!

Look at me pulling up all over!

Check out my tie die!

I am glad we got this picture in time, you where on the move as soon as we put you in the crib. Kennedy says that the crib is only for sleeping and doesn't want to be in there to play, haha!

We also lowered your crib this month since you started pulling up.

Mamma is in high planning mode for your 1st birthday and we can't wait. It will be so much fun and happen way too fast. I love the little baby stage and you are close to growing out of it, so bitter sweet. We love you so much K Mae, you really brighten our day. Kiss Kiss!

4th of July!!!

2011-07-12T19:56:00.000-05:00

Yay for 4th of July! This year was a pretty low key fourth. Since it was on Monday and we had to work the next day, we decided to just hang at the house with the kids. We did go get some sparklers for Lincoln and two little fireworks he picked out. We didn't want to keep Linc up too late since he had school the next day. Here is Craig messing with the sparklers.

Oh fun!

We did the first sparklers on Sunday night and Kennedy enjoyed watching her bubba.

She is done with the hat! Baby girl does not want anything on her head these days!

Here is Linc with his turtle firework!

It was kind of a dud!

One outfit change and a day later, it was now July 4th!

We asked Craig's parents over for dinner and enjoyed watching the NY fireworks on TV.

Lincoln had one more firework to shoot off, the fire engine!

Boy, it was so loud! I kept telling Craig to shut it off, I was afraid the police where going to come find us, haha!

It was pretty cool!

Pow! Pop! Bam!

Linc really liked watching the sparklers, but not holding them. Kinda glad he is scared of the fire, maybe he won't play in it like I did, haha!

I even got to have some sparkler fun!

Happy July 4th everyone!

Kennedy is Pulling Up!

2011-06-28T22:10:00.000-05:00

June was a busy month! I just went blogging crazy so be sure to check out all six posts I created today!!!

Kennedy has a new trick she wants to show you!

You want to come along?

I think I can make that

Oh, that's a great start Kenny

Almost!

Yep, that's right, I learned to pull up today, June 28th!

I can also get down by myself.

Oh and I am crawling pretty good now, yay!

That is a lot of growing up in a short amount of time! It sure happens quick, but it is so exciting and they also love the new independance as well!

Good job Kennedy!

Brock's Birthday Party

2011-06-28T21:55:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday Linc was invited to Brock's 3rd birthday party. They had the party at a fun little park close to their house called castle park, just like ours. Linc was so excited to go play outside and there was a nice breeze!

Off he goes!

Brock, the birthday boy!

Kennedy and I enjoying the sun!

Kennedy's favorite is by far the swing!

What is better than diggin!

The cake was so cute, cat in the hat!

We had a great time and Linc enjoyed playing at the park. It has been so hot that he has not had much time at the park. Most of our parks don't have enough cover to keep you cool while playing, so he enjoyed his time! Happy Birthday Brock!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

June 19th was Father's Day. We all headed to Allen to celebrate at my aunt Kaye's house. We all enjoyed a wonderful bbq lunch and yummy cake! Here is my grandpa holding the cake, it looks like someone had a pre-taste, maybe Linc, haha!

It was beautiful, pics had to be taken!

Here are all the dad's minus my brother who had to work, poor guy!

Craig's 1st father's day with two kids!

Love you sweet baby K!

My dad got my grandpa a computer for Father's Day so he could stay up to speed with Skype, the Internet and my blog!

After presents, we headed out to the pool. Lincoln was really enjoying putting his face in and jumping from the side. He really enjoys the water! Kennedy also enjoys the water but she was sure tuckered out and had to get in a quick nap. I was even able to change her diaper and she didn't wake, that's how worn out she was!

Lincoln is our little fish!

My mom and Aunt Kaye.

Grandpa, Linc and Ryan.

My dad is currently doing a detail in Washington DC for work and is gone Monday thru Thursday every week. When I was younger, I remember him traveling a lot like this for work. While I did miss him a lot, I always remember that my dad was there for the moments that truly counted. I remember him coming to my school fully dressed in uniform to bring me McDonald's at school and he would sit with me in the cafeteria and I felt so proud. He sacrificed living in the same state with us so that I would not be moved around in my high school years. One thing is for sure when it comes to my dad, he has always provided for our family in the biggest way possible. He did anything in his power to make sure us kids had the best life possible. He set a very good example of what a hard working Dad should be. I love you so much Dad and I thank you for all the sacrifices you made to make our lives better. I know that you still strive to do this and that is why your are in DC now. We all can't wait for you to be settled back home again.

We all love you Craig. You are an awesome dad and wonderful husband. You have a soft spot for your babies and I love how they adore you. I am so glad you were chosen for me and for my babies. I know days can be rough sometimes with the terrible threes and an infant, but I know at the end of each day you wouldn't trade it for the world. We love you so much Daddy!

Happy Father's Day!

Playdate with Caiden

2011-06-28T21:03:00.000-05:00

On June 17th, Kennedy and I went out to Lantana to have a playdate with Jennifer and Caiden. We decided to head out early so that we could get in the pool and enjoy most of the day. Kennedy was a good girl and slept the whole time and was excited when we got there. Here is Jen and Caiden getting ready for the pool!

Someone loves mommy!

Kennedy wanted to hang out in Caiden's jumparoo for a bit! It looked like so much fun, well that is because it is just like yours!

Caiden wanted to come join the fun!

By the time we all got changed we were starving! Kennedy just wanted to get moving and screamed the whole time for the short ride to get some to go food. Caiden's face says it all! He is not sure what is going on, haha!

We finally got to the pool and it was awesome. I love that they have a beach entry and it is not over crowded. All the people are nice and the kids are well behaved and careful around babies. Caiden and Kennedy had matching floaties and enjoyed cruising around the water. We also all enjoyed wading in the water and standing in the water. It was a beautiful and hot day! Kennedy was ready to crawl all over that grass!

One thing is for sure, swimming wears kids out! When we put the kids in the car, I knew Kennedy would be out in 5 seconds!

We had a fun time hanging out with Jen and Caiden and can't wait to hang with them again at the Zeta Playdate in July!

Date Night!

2011-06-28T20:43:00.000-05:00

On June 11th, our friends Ed and Janye got married. Philip and Craig were in the wedding. This had been a long time coming for this couple and we are happy for them! They have 3 beautiful children and had a sweet family filled reception. Here are Niki and Philip at the reception.

We all decided to let the kids have a night with grandparents so that we could enjoy some couple time during the celebration of this couple.

The reception ended early and we all decided to go see a movie. I had not seen a movie in a while and was really excited to be able to have a real date night with my husband and great friends! We decided on x-men and the movie was really action packed. Anyone that has a small child and doesn't get out much knows that it doesn't matter what you see, because anything is going to be awesome since you have not seen a movie in a while, so it made it extra great! We got popcorn and candy even though we were all stuff to the gils from the reception. Here is Craig with his Crazy Craig eyes! He never wants to take a normal picture.

We are so glad that we got to have some adult time with The Brawley's. By the end of the night I was missing my kids and couldn't wait to see them! Lincoln ended up staying with my mom and had a great night swimming and watching movies. We picked up Kennedy and I was so excited to see my sweet baby girl.

Date nights might be few and far between, but I always have fun and love reconnecting with my husband and getting to just have fun together and with our friends. Thank you all for a wonderful night!

Summer Fun on the Slip and Slide

2011-06-28T20:21:00.000-05:00

We started off the summer with a big splash! Niki and her kids came over to play and we got out all the water toys! Linc got a big slide for his birthday, Kennedy had a splash mat and The Brawley's brought over their slip and slide. Fun was had by all! Here is everyone gathered for a quick picture on the splash mat!

As soon as the big kids left, Calvin wanted out too, he was on the move.

There they go!

Cal wanted to go too!

Kennedy enjoyed the shade and water!

It was time to slip and slide! This was Linc's first time to be on one!

Go Lincoln!

Yay, he did it!

Go Levi!

That is a big splash!

There goes Avery!

That was a fun day! Lincoln loved having his pals over for a fun day in the water and he can't wait to do it again. Slip and Slides are awesome!

It is Photo Shoot Time Again!

2011-06-21T18:30:00.000-05:00

On June 10th, we had Kennedy's 9 month milestone pictures done with Jennifer Matlock. She always does a wonderful job and we think they turned out awesome. They seem to get better each time! I did put Lincoln in an outfit in case he wanted to get in the pictures and that was a good thing because he wanted to be in all of them! The first outfit I choose was a lavender scalloped dress, I wanted a sweet vintage look.

As soon as Lincoln saw the cameras, he wanted in the pictures!

I just love this picture of him, shows his fun personality!

Her second outfit was more of a fun, girly look. I got her a ruffle butts tutu and jean peace sign toms!

This girl loves to stand!

I love the little matching shoes!

He was determined to get in every one, haha. Last shoot he didn't want in any of them. I know now we just have to tell them he won't be in them and then he will beg to!

This one shows Kenny's personality. She is super fun loving, but a lot of people don't see it because she is also super shy!

For this outfit, I really just wanted her to wear my old baby bonnet and be naked, but she is too busy so we had to put a diaper cover on her. I love these pictures, while the bonnet is a bit snug (it is made for a newborn), it was mine when I was born and that makes it really special!

She is a true girl, she loved her tea party!

Linc wanted in on the action and had himself a little tea party while we changed K Mae for her last outfit.

I love it! So cute and sweet!

I bought this outfit right after our six month shoot and could not wait for her to wear it for this. It is such a sweet, fun and unique dress, I wish they made it in my size! All the bows where done by my sweet friend Natalie of Bella Fleur Boutique

Bubba loves his Sissy!

Yep, I'm a big girl, I can hold on to the tree all by myself!

Look, one hand!

It was a great photo shoot and now I just have to find more space to put the pictures up. We just put up the six month shoot so I think we will just have to find more frames! I can't believe the next time we have a shoot she will be one year old! Time sure does fly!

K Mae is 9 Months!

2011-06-15T19:54:00.000-05:00

Kennedy Mae, you are 9 months old! You light up our lives each day and we feel so blessed to have been chosen as your parents.

You move around so much now it was hard to get a good 9 month picture at 6am, haha!

Here is how you have grown this month:

-You are 19.2 lbs (50%)

-You are 28.5 inches long (75%)

-At your check up this month you had one shot and a blood draw. The blood draw was hard because they had to take two vials instead of one. The second one is checking you for allergies (particularly nut, hopefully it comes back negative). You didn't like the blood draw at all, I felt so bad for you

-You are officially army crawling like crazy. You have gotten up on all 4s and rocked back and fourth before you decide it would just be easier to army crawl, haha

-You are babbling a ton and say mama, dada and bubba

-You still love to walk with someones help and will often look up to see who is holding your hands

-You are a great eater and the doctor told us to start more table food

-You nurse about 6 times a day

-You are still sleeping great, and have actually slept more than 7 days from 7pm to 6am without waking up, it was awesome! Naps, eeh, what are you gonna do, still not good!

-You went to your first picnic for mommy's work outside the tummy and it was hot

-You still wear size 3 diapers

-You wear 6-12 month and 12-18 month clothes

-You are getting two more teeth on the top so now you will really look like my little bunny

-You are such a Daddy's girl, you cry when he leaves the room without saying something

-You are still with halmoni each day and have a fun routine

Most of all, you love your family and your brother more everyday.

We are so excited for these months because of all the new developments! I wish I could see them happen each day, but I really love all my weekends with you.

Thank you so much for coming into our lives! Kisses for my sweet K Mae!

A little Zoo and A lot of Summer

2011-05-31T21:05:00.000-05:00

I am happy to say, I stuck to my once a month zoo trip! Now with the weather getting hot, I am not sure how often that is going to happen. Kennedy is pumped for her stroller ride, she loves it.

Linc will hang in the stroller thru most of the zoo.

We have sort of a routine now when we go to the zoo. Our normal zoo day starts when they open and going through the monkey's area. Then we start walking to the Texas Wild area and see animals along the way. We eat over there and then do a carousel ride and then take the train back to the front of the zoo. While this is fun, we keep missing some key areas, so next time we are going to try a different route. Hopefully that will go over ok with Linc since he lives to ride the train! We did see some rhinos this time!

Then is was train time!

K likes it too!

Someone was ready for a nap.

This past Saturday it was so hot outside we decided it was time to break out the birthday gift Jennifer got Lincoln, a super water slide! Yay!

We all got in our suits and were excited to get in some cold water, especially Kenny!

And Linc too!

I was telling Lincoln how you go down the slide so he tried it on the grass first, he didn't get very far!

I have a silly bubba!

Deep Thoughts, by Kenny Mae...

He was so ready!

Finally all the parts were blown up and watered down, it was time for the first go!

Going good, screaming how fun!

Go buddy!

Oh dang, missed the pool, haha.

Ok, try number two.

Yay, made it in this time and he is hooked!

It looked like so much fun, Dad had to try, mind you this is a kids toy, haha!

And he's off!

Dang, that's a big splash.

He did make it in the pool, but was soon back out of it, hahaha! It was so funny to see I asked him to do it again and so did Lincoln. Daddy is funny and a true kid at heart.

It was a great way to kick off our summer fun. I went once, but with caution, I didn't want to land on the grass. Kennedy enjoyed splashing in the pool area and playing outside. Linc loved it so much he played in it again on Monday! I love summer days, well when you have a way to cool off!

Kenny Mae is 8 Months!

2011-05-10T22:23:00.000-05:00

Check out the latest 6 posts, whew, that was a lot!
Another month has come and gone like wild fire. You are almost as old as I was pregnant with you. It amazes me how quick it passes this time around, but I sure enjoy it. This has been a big month!

How have you grown this month:

-You are 19 pounds

-You are around 28 inches long, from what I could measure

-You still wear size three diapers

-You mostly wear 6-12 month clothes, but really should be in 12 month because you are already stretching it in the 6-12. I am so glad it is summer and that most of your outfits are dresses, that helps!

-You started eating size 2 foods as well as a few table foods. You like potatoes, mac and beans.

-Sleep has been somewhat of a challenge again. You use to sleep from 7-3 or 3:30 and now you wake up at 10 and then again around 3. I use to pump at 10, so now I just feed you and then feed you again at 3am. Hopefully as time goes on and you get more table food you will sleep better at night.

-You still stay with "halmoni" (grandma in Korean) during the day and it is so helpful!

-Your new tricks this month include leaning over to reach for something and getting on all fours for a few seconds.

-You also love to wave your arms up and down when something is exciting or music is playing.

-You can say dadda and bubba, but it isn't on command.

-You are trying to pull up and getting close to crawling.

-You notice when we are not in the room now and cry if you think we are leaving you

-Daddy is your new favorite and you cry when I am trying to put you to bed and see him

-You still love Lincoln and smile when he comes around you, you have such a beautiful smile

-Next month you go to the doctor for your 9 month check up, so that should be fun!

She has so much to tell you!

See my dolly?

I wanna pull her hair!

Getting in crawl stance, ready.

That all for this month! Love you guys!

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T21:56:00.000-05:00

Mother's Day weekend really made me feel like a mom this year, haha. It all started on Friday when I got home after I fed Kennedy. I guess she was not feeling too well and as I had her sitting facing me, she decided to loose her lunch all over my face! Craig got a big kick out of it and was cracking up and then finally got me a towel.

After I showered off, because I did need a shower after that, we headed out to purchase Youg's Mother's Day gift. We decided to head to a jewelry store outside the mall so that we could contain our kids, haha. Well, both of them got really restless while trying to pick something out, so by the time we were ready to purchase, both of us were holding a child. I had Craig pay and he had Lincoln, so he sat him down on a stool next to the cash register. Neither of us saw what happened, but before we knew it Lincoln was crying really loud. Craig picked him up and pulled his hand away to find tons of blood. Off to the ER we went. Poor baby had to get 3 staples in the back of his head, but he was so brave. He only had a whimper when they put in the staples. He got his favorite meal on the way home and slept with me that night.

Friday night I started to feel like I had a stomach bug, and ended up having to get up a few times in the middle of the night. Saturday we all headed over to a Mother's Day brunch with Craig's parents, my parents and my grandparents. The food looked so great, but I was still feeling pretty cruddy, so I just hung out with Kennedy while everyone ate. It was great to get everyone together for brunch. Here is Doug with K!

Kennedy hanging out with her Great Grandpa

My sweet babies with their grandpas!

Craig with his mom, Yong.

Doug and Yong with Kenny!

Dad with his mom, grandma

Someone is ready for a nap.

My mom and I, love you mommy!

Yay for Mother's Day!

Luckily on Sunday, my stomach was feeling better and Craig made me breakfast. Lincoln and Kennedy gave me some great cards and pretty flowers. We had a very relaxing day and Craig topped it off with grilling out from Central Market and ice cream from Rita's. While Mother's Day weekend had a few crazy bumps, I would never wish it any other way. I am so thankful I was blessed to have these experiences with my wonderful children and that I was chosen to be their mother. Just looking at them each day makes me smile and feel so lucky to be able to experience the love of a child. Thank you Lincoln and Kennedy for coming into my life. Thank you Craig for being my partner in this journey through parenthood. I love you all!

Ducks and a Picnic

2011-05-10T21:18:00.000-05:00

Like most people, we buy bread every week and every week we have lots left over. So this past Thursday I thought it would be a good idea to go feed the ducks after work. We packed up all the picnic stuff and headed over to the pond by castle park. We picked up McDonald's on the way over which is Lincoln's favorite. Kennedy really wanted a french fry, but got baby oatmeal and apples instead. I think she enjoyed her dinner!

The boys fed the ducks and then took a break to play in the park.

Craig is just a big kid at heart!

Kennedy and I just enjoyed the wonderful weather on the blanket and had a mini photo shoot!

She started to make some interesting faces! This one says, "girl, who you talking to?"

"phooey!"

"Okay, I give, you're funny mom!"

Tire swings are awesome!

Kennedy just loved the swing! I got so many giggles out of her, love it!

Time to feed the ducks again.

That's a lot of bread, buddy.

Here they come!

I think they were fed well.

We all really enjoyed park day. It was something different from our evening routine and perfect for the spring weather. Hopefully we can do this a few more times before it gets too hot!