Bellies full of gold fish

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we joined Keith, Jana, and Kaitlyn at their church's pumpkin patch in The Woodlands. Being the dork that I am, I had all of us wearing our pre-Halloween gear, and was hoping for some good family pics in the pumpkins. The more you try to get them to look at the camera, the more they won't do it...that's what I've come to realize. Oh well, I'll take what I can get!! These turned out pretty cute, but I think we may try out another pumpkin patch before Halloween rolls around---sure was fun!

SWEET FALL

"Hunter"

Top 15 Little Things I Love about Hunter @ 2 Years old:

1.)I love the fact that you love stickers. You're completely fascinated by any and all kinds of stickers, whether they're in the sticker books I buy for you, the Krogers stickers that the bagger gives you, or on your banana for breakfast, you could care less-they are all "sheekers" to you...

2.)I love the fact that you are my awesome little helper. Whether it's helping me shut the door, put something in the trash, or pick up your toys...once I give you a task and you get focused on it, you don't stop until you get it done just right...

3.)I love the fact that you love to dance. Ever since you were able to pull up on your little music table, you have had some serious rhythm! Your favorite tunes to dance to are anything to do with Sesame Street/Elmo. The other day, you broke out all of the sudden in a breakdance on the floor -not really sure where you learned that one at...

4.)I love the fact that you are extremely focused. Well....not all the time, but when you do decide to focus on something you are doing, I can tell by the intense look in your eyes. Whether it's stacking all your blocks JUST RIGHT, or putting every little piece back into your puzzles, you have some serious determination...

5.)I love the fact that you love to be outside. If you had your choice we would just hang out in the garage or backyard all day/everyday-and you are such a good mailbox checker...

6.)I love the fact that you want to make everything "awl betta". This is your new favorite phrase, and it makes the melt every time I hear it. Whether I kill a bug for you, wipe off your face, or kiss your boo boo, everything is always "all better" in your book...

7.)I love the fact that you are incredibly hard-headed. And I don't mean stubborn (which you also are), I mean that I think you have a head made out of steel sometimes! When you are going full force you will sometimes take a tumble or smack into something that makes me cringe and wait for the tears to come, but most of the time you just keep on trucking-like it never happened...

8.)I love the fact that you love to read. While your sister can hardly sit still long enough to make it through a few pages, you are completely content on cuddling up in the chair and stacking up 3 or 4 to read at a time. Your all time favorites at this moment are "patty-cake", "i-spy", and of course your Sesame Street musical book from Gammy and Pa-pa...

9.)I love the fact that you LOVE your Daddy so much. Just like your sister, as soon as Daddy is home, I am pretty much kicked to the curb-and I am ok with that...

10.)I (secretly) love the fact that you have confiscated Hannah's cabbage patch baby. I tried for a minute to discourage it, but you were so sweet when you said "baby" and gave it a kiss, that I figure what could it hurt? "Adriana Tricia" (I think that was her name) has been in your crib ever since...

11.)I love the fact that you look like me. While you do favor your Daddy in some ways, you definitely look like my side of the family. Everyday I can see such a resemblance of myself, my Dad and even my Grandma Johnson in your face- I am reminded of how special our family is to us...

12.)I love the fact that you listen to my "1, 2, 3"'s. I remember when I was little constantly being told "one, two, three" when I was doing something wrong. I guess it works, because now I find myself constantly doing it to you! You usually stop what ever it is you're doing now on "2 1/2"...

13.)I love the fact that you scream "Momma" at the top of your lungs and practically knock me down when you first see me there to pick you up from daycare. After your 30 second long bear hug, you are usually ready to hit the road...

14.)I love the fact that you say "thank you" for anything and everything. The other day you told the bagger at Kroger's "tank you" for every single one of the 15 or so bags he put into the buggy, so polite! You even thought to tell the nurse that gave you your flu shot thank you as she was leaving the room-I'm sure she doesn't get to hear that often...

15.)Most of all, I love your hugs and kisses-you give really good ones! At the end of a long, exhausting day a big hug and a few kisses from you before bedtime makes it all worth while...There's truly no better feeling...

Again, I'm sure I will think of plenty of other sweet little things you do in the future, but these are my current favorites for now!

"Hannah Grace"

As I've said before, I love the idea of this blog because it not only lets others see what's going on in our lives, but also because it allows me to have something to look back on so I don't forget all the little things that have happened. I know that Hannah and Hunter are changing so fast right now, so I wanted to dedicate these next few posts just for them.....This one is for our sweet, silly Hannah

Top 15 Little Things I Love about Hannah @ 2 years old:

1.) I love the fact that YOU love shoes. I'm not sure where you got this from, but you are completely obsessed with shoes-putting them on, taking them off, finding random/mismatching pairs, squeezing your feet into shoes that are 3 sizes too small....You have been especially fond of your pink and orange crocs for the last 6 months, according to you they go with EVERY outfit. Such a girly girl..

2.)I love the fact that you are learning to be polite. You give mommy plenty of please and thankyou's (after some coaxing), and now you're new thing is saying yes ma'am. It sounds something like "ayes a mahama" but I know what you mean...so cute..

3.)I love the fact that you are an awesome sleeper! Since you were born, you have been such a good, sound sleeper. You take good naps, and most of the times, sleep right through your brothers, not so sound sleeping...we always wonder how long you would have slept if your brother wasn't your alarm clock every morning....

4.)I love the fact that you have started to sing with me. Just recently I've noticed you chiming in with me, and actually getting some of the words right, when we sing songs in the bath tub, or on the swing. Your favorites right now seem to be Jesus loves me, and ABC's. I hope you get your singing voice from your Daddy....

5.)I love the fact that you eat like its going out of style! You have always been the one with a good appetite, and will pretty much eat whatever we give you. Ever since you were a baby, if we ask if you are all done or try to take your plate away too soon, you start "speed eating", terrified that you might miss out on that last kernel of corn on your plate!! I sometimes wonder where you put it all because you are all skin and bones...

6.)I love the fact that you like to babble on the phone. We've given you our old cell phones, and one of your favorite things to do now is to walk around with it up to your ear just babbling away. I'm not sure who you're pretending to talk to, but it's pretty entertaining....

7.)I love the fact that you LOVE your daddy so much. When Daddy comes home, he's the center of your attention for sure! I pretty much take the 2nd seat after he is here...and I'm ok with that...

8.)I love the fact that you are fearless. Even though it scares ME to death sometimes, you throw caution to the wind whether it's jumping of the top step of the pool, running up and down the driveway at 90 mph, or squashing a bug until you are sure it 100% dead, you're not scared...

9.)I love the fact that you tell me when you potty. You pretty much let me know when you potty now, even if it's too late, and you are really into this whole "potty training" thing-as long as you get your peach puff afterward...

10.)I (secretly) love the fact that you are a good faker. You think it's really funny to fake cough or fake sneeze, just so I will keep asking if you are ok and saying "bless you"...

11.)I love the fact that you have a contagious little laugh. Your daddy can get you laughing so hard that you start cackling...it's one of the sweetest sounds I have heard...

12.)I (secretly) love the fact that you mimic me when I am scolding your brother or the dogs. You think it's cute to come behind and finish me up with a "no no Hunta" or "no no bad dog" of your own-and it is cute...

13.)I love the fact that you are a hoarder with your lovey's. Right now you have your baby, puppy dog, mr. bear, rabbit, poodle, snoopy, and your blanket in bed with you. You have been especially attached to mr. bear for the last 6 months or so. We get strange looks sometimes from people in the grocery store when you bring the giant bear with the Santa hat with you...

14.)I love the fact that you are so silly. We can be stressed out and uptight and here you come with your Christmas bow on your head, or your pants on backwards to make us laugh...

15.)Most of all I love when you give us kisses and hugs. You are quite a fan of puckering up now, and have even learned how to give butterfly kisses. My favorite are our "night-night" kisses and hugs, there's nothing better than that....

I'm sure that I will think of more things to add in the future, but these are the top things right now that I love about our sweet Hannah!

Still to come (hopefully tomorrow): "Top 15 Little Things I Love about Hunter @ 2 years old"

"Two 2 Year Olds"

Ok, I know this is almost 2 months late but I guess better late than never..... So much has happened in the last 2 /12 months since I left the blogging world!



The biggest thing is that our babies have turned two!!! I am reminded everyday now that they really aren't babies anymore, but full blown toddlers. I am also reminded daily, by them, of how truly blessed we have been to have such beautiful, healthy, sweet children. We have definitely entered the "terrible two's", although I prefer to call it "crazy two's", because I just don't like that wording! They are changing in so many ways right before our eyes-every day is something new. I remember when they were so little how I always couldn't wait until they reached their next step (rolling, crawling, walking, etc.) Now, I realize how unbelievably fast they are growing, and I wish I could just slow everything down! I still can't believe how fast these two years have flown by. It seems like yesterday when we brought them home for the first time....



Their actually birthday was on August 27th, but we celebrated theirs and Kevin's birthday on August 29th (his actual birthday)...does that make sense?? The party turned out great-good food, good times with friends and family. I decided to do cupcakes this year, instead of a cake. I had done a trial run with cupcakes a few weeks prior to see if they liked them.....they did! Last year at their one year party, I don't think I had even let them taste sugar yet-so when they got their little cakes they wouldn't even touch them! This year, it was a different story...oh, how we've come so far into the world of carbohydrates since then! Here are a few pics from the party....wish I had been able to get more, but was too busy!! If anyone has any that they took, please let me know:)

We are still here...

Well, after almost two months with no computer, we are finally back in the swing of things. Our computer decided to have a major meltdown, and hopefully is "oh bettah" aka "all better" as Hunter would say now.

It is truly amazing how much more stuff you can accomplish without having a computer. Let's just say that there was a lot more laundry, cleaning, and sleeping being done around here. I'm not really sure why it's taken me this long to have it fixed, I think I may have been secretly needed a break from it all. So... after my long, and lazy hiatus from the blog world, I am vowing to catch back up and to not get so behind again. I am currently still trying to redownload my camera software, so I can post all the pictures I've taken from the last few months, so stay tuned!

Still to come this week (hopefully): Hannah and Hunter's 2nd birthday party