Merry After Christmas

Hello! We enjoyed a quiet Christmas this year and only traveled the weekend before Christmas.  It was a fun visit with my side of the family. The kids had a great time opening gifts.  Abigail is really starting to understand the whole Christmas gift deal.  :)  We are trying to keep her grounded but it is so hard to avoid the craziness of it all.  She is, however, so polite and tells everyone thank you for her gifts and is genuinely excited about each present.  Tai is still figuring it all out.  He loves to thrash through all the wrapping paper and tear it up as soon as it is possible.  He is a hoot! 
Christmas morning was very special as we were able to wake up in our house and surprise the kids with the gifts and stockings when they woke up.  My parents and my grandma pitched in to buy a playhouse for the kids.  Jerry put it together and the kids played with it in our living room all day yesterday. Eventually it will make its way outside but it was rainy and cold yesterday so it was perfect to play with it inside.  Since our extended family was not here yesterday we were able to talk to most of them and even Skyped with my Grandma.  It was a nice and relaxing day.  Chocolate chip pancakes for brunch & Turkey for dinner. Yummy!
Last night Jerry and I watched the Nativity Story. That was the 3rd year in a row we have watched it.  It is a true reminder of the TRUE reason for the season.  happy birthday Jesus!
Today:  clean house & get some exercise.  Time to work off all the holiday extras...
God bless you all today and always!
.....Jenny

Worst Blogger Mom ever!!

Hello.  It has been way too long since my last blog.  I am ashamed to say that i have been better about posting pictures on facebook than I have been keeping up with this blog.  Poor Tai wont have much to document his first year of life.  Maybe I can quickly catch up on a few things.  Here goes...
2012 has been a bit of a blur.....
As stated in an earlier post Tai celebrated his 1st birthday.  We invited his birthfamily and they came in earlier that day so we could spend some extra time with them.  We went to the zoo and had a great time.  Then we went to the park to have his big party with all our friends and family.  It went pretty well. It has a few awkward moments but all in all it was a very special day. Little Tai was pooped out!  We also had a friend take some amazing pictures with Tai and his birthfamily.  Those pictures are priceless!  We are so thankful for that relationship.

The week after his birthday both Tai and Abigail had surgery! Yep, you read that right. Abigail had a tonsillectomy to remove a cyst.  Tai had tubes put in.  The surgeries went well but this Mommy was a wreck.  I felt very disconnected because I had to choose which baby to sit with. Tai came out of surgery just as Abigail was going in. I cuddled him for 2 minutes then took off to go with Abigail. So thankful Daddy and both Grandma and Mimi were there to help.  Tai was silly as usual that afternoon. Abigail: well, it took 10 days or more to get my sweet girl back to normal. Awful! She wouldn't eat or drink and every swallow was a battle. Poor girl! So glad that is over!

June 2012:  Jerry and I got away for a mini vacation.  One of my best girlfriend's, Kelli, got married in California wine country.  My parents came up to stay with the kids while we flew off in the sunset for 5 days! It was a great vacation. I slept for 7 or 8 hours each night! San Francisco was wonderful and Sonoma was beautiful.  The time spent with my other friends and their husbands was so great! Back at home: the kids were having a blast with Mimi and Granddaddy. We recieved pictures via text almost daily.  I know the kids were excited and the Gparents were exhausted.  Their bags were packed and ready to go when we drove up.  :)  But I know they treasured every moment with the kiddos.  And...yes...these little monkeys are exhausting but so worth it.

July 2012:  We were well into the ski season and both kids were having fun out on the lake.  Tai couldn't swim in it due to the tubes in his ears but Abigail was doing great! We left for our annual family trip to Lake Tenkiller at the end of the month.  It was a great time.  Abigail skied! (pictures to follow) 

.....well....Mommy duties are calling....I hope to be back here very soon.  until then...God bless.

Jenny

Lots to celebrate!

I just found this and realized it never posted back in May. 

We have several things to celebrate and blog about so i will try to get through this first part....

Tai's "Gotcha" day!  One year ago we were driving home with our son. What a wonderful surprise! We found out about him a week before we brought him home.  Our little family was complete.  Thank you God for your blessings!

Last friday on May 11th was Tai's first birthday.  Wow! I can't believe how fast he is growing. Just in the last few weeks he has started talking more and um...walking! He started officially walking while we were at my parents house in Pipe Creek on May 5th.  And now he is a walking dude. It is so cute and he gets so excited when he starts walking. So excited that he knocks himself over.  Abigail thinks it is pretty cool too; she says "Momma, Tai's walking." as he approaches her.  He is only 2 pounds lighter than her so he is about be able to tackle her completely! Also, last weekend we celebrated Tai's and m nephews birthdays.  They are 17 years apart! We got to eat cake and blowout candles on Sunday may 6th and Tai ate angelfood cake and icing.  Really sweet and really messy too!
 Anyway, this week he has been busy with his walking and on Friday (his birthday) Jerry's mom and my parents came for a visit.  It was great to have the Gparents here at the same time.  We didn't do  a huge celebration until Saturday.

Yesterday, may 12th....we invited Tai's birthmom and family here to celebrate Tai's bday.  We met them at their hotel and it was great to see them. We hadn't seen them since Tai's 6 month visit. Unfortunately, Tai's BGrandfather couldn't make it but BUncle came to meet Tai and us.It was great to meet him because it now completes BMom's family support system.

Sorry...we've been slacking

Wow, time really flies when you have two toddlers.  So much has happened since our last post.  2 kiddos birthday parties.  And probably way to much to post about.  We have a water skier in Abigail and Tai would have but he has tubes in his ears which are not supposed to get wet - much less be dunked in lake water.  Tai started walking 2 weeks before his birthday and is now just running everywhere. 

Skip forward to the present, Abigail is just a sponge.  She soaks up everything and brings tears to my eyes when she starts singing songs she's heard on K-Love.  She has such a precious little heart.  The stage of "why" is starting though.  At the zoo on Saturday, an elderly lady was in a wheelchair and Abigail just had to ask why she was in a chair several times and very loudly.  It's cute though because she does it with a concerned voice, like she wishes she could help.  Somewhere she picked up the idea that she could give me nicknames, most of the time when I leave from lunch to go back to work she says "Byebye bunny rabbit".  I don't know why but she giggles after she says it and it makes me laugh everytime.

Tai is just bonkers.  He's so fun and all over the place most of the time.  There is no "that looks like it could be in my way, let me go around it" in his mind.  He just barrels right on thru what ever is in his path.  He loves to play ball.  He throws more with his left hand but can actually throw pretty well with both.  He's talking more, says "Go-Go" when he wants something.  He asks "Peas" for please and still uses several sign-language words.  The funny thing is that one of his first words was DaDa and now he is saying MaMa and won't say DaDa at all.

They love to play together and do have the occasional wrestling match that quickly becomes a "Tai bit me" situation.  Abigail is deep in the midst of potty training, diapers only at nap and bedtime.  She's getting so big.

There's a lot more to write about but I thought I would keep it short this time in hopes that I can be inspired to write more soon.

May the peace of Christ's love be with you this Thanksgiving season.

Jerry

Long overdue post

After 22+ years of wearing contacts and glasses, today I will be undergoing LASIK surgery.  While statistics say everything is going to be fine and my vision will be perfect, there is a chance as with any surgery that the worst may happen.  The worst being blindness in one or both eyes.  So I wanted to take a quick minute to write to Abigail and Tai just in case the worst does happen.

Abigail, you are an amazing treasure of God.  Your smile lights up every room and your laugh is contagious.  I love the way you make faces, especially when singing "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"  You are so smart and when I'm at work I just can't wait to get home to spend time playing in your room or on the playset outside with you.  Your spirit for helping others is truly inspiring and I hope you never lose that.

Tai, you are a true blessing from God.  You are changing so much every day, trying to walk and learning to say different sounds that almost come out as words.  Your smile is infectious with those two dimples and eight teeth.  Although you cry when left alone, you always show your affection thru hugs when picked up and it really does show how much you love being a part of our family.

I pray that my surgery today goes well and that I'm posting more regularly in the future.

God bless,
Jerry

It's been WAY too LONG....

Ok, so it has been months since our last post.  Between the holidays and traveling plus 2 little ones it has been so busy.  That is a poor excuse but it is all I got.  Life is a bit crazy but with each crazy moment there are 59 happy, fun ones.  This mama is tired but so happy and blessed.  My arms are almost always full with at least one of the kiddos.  Both of them would rather be carried then walk or crawl so that leaves my arms full! What a great "problem" to have, right?  All that to say, I don't get much time to actually type on the computer and/or blog. It is a new month and instead of sitting on the couch watching tv I thought I would finally blog.  Let's see....how can I catch up?

We left off right before Thanksgiving....We went to my parent's place for Thanksgiving and visited with all my family.  Tai was busy moving around as usual. He was a bit fussy and struggled with his sleep but right after Thanksgiving he cut 5 teeth! Yes, 5 teeth.  Poor guy.  Abigail did great and loved spending time with Mimi & Granddaddy and all the other grandparents/cousins/aunt&uncles. 

December highlights:  The kids and I went on a short road trip to Round Rock to meet my mom/dad for Mom's birthday on the 17th.  That was fun and the kids did well in the car plus we got to do a little Christmas shopping.  The next week we packed up and drove to Arkansas for Christmas.  We had prepared for this journey by telling everyone we knew to PRAY for us! Poor Tai is not a great traveler and really does not like being in his carseat for more than an hour but the prayers worked because he did great in the car.  Abigail did pretty well but she got antsy the last 2 hours of the 8 hour trip.  We must have listened to her "music" cd a hundred times!  The wheels on the bus go round and round.....this little light of mine...abc...itsy bitsy spider...   The list goes on and on and on...and she knows every word.  But we made it there safely and had a great time with Jerry's siblings and mom. Tai again didn't sleep well but we managed and all the family pitched in to help.  There were 4 kids under 4 years old.  It was crazy but so much fun to see everyone. Miss them so much!!   Christmas morning was precious. All 4 kids attempted to sit in front of the tree for a picture...um...that is really difficult to do. Gifts were exchanged and for the most part all 4 kids played well together.

New year's eve....don't remember...probably fell asleep early...but Tai and I were up to watch some of the festivities on tv.  He woke up for a bottle right around midnight. Stinker!

January 7th weekend we traveled to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with them.  It was fun to see the kids open their gifts. Tai is moving and pulling up on everything so he had a great time exploring.  I am learning real fast that little boys like to explore and EAT everything.  Oh boy!  Abigail had fun going with Granddaddy to feed the cows and give Noodle (miniature donkey) some crackers.  She got to ride in the back of Gdaddy's truck with mommy and daddy and go for a ride in the pasture. (don't worry it was very slow and safe... :)  One of their many toys was a red wagon.  It is so cute to see them ride together. Abigail holds Tai and off they go. They also got a huge kitchen for Abigail's room.  We "eat" cookies and "drink" tea all the time now.  Tai just tries to eat the fake cookies and cake. 
So that was our Christmas celebration.  OH....and the kids got a swingset/slide/playset from us this year. A friend of ours sold us theirs.  It is great! Pictures to follow...tomorrow i hope.

February Update:  Tai is standing on his own for about 10 seconds. No steps yet but he crawls about 100 miles/hr.  Not really but boy can he move.  He is even faster when he has something ready to put in his mouth.  He has a great personality. He is sleeping better (Thank God!) which means Mommy is sleeping better which means things around the house are better.  Hhmmmm....why is that?  He sleeps about 4-6 hours at a time overnight. Yes, that is better believe me. During the day he is in a great mood as long as he is near Mama and able to crawl around. His smile is awesome with 2 huge dimples and his hair is getting SO curly.  What a flirt he is! He is saying Dada, baba, and occassionally Mama when he is fussy. He just started waving hi and byebye....it is so cute!  Tai eats like a piggy...table food and baby food now. Of course he still likes his bottle too.   Abigail........oh what a smart thing she is.  She can count 1 to 10 in english and spanish and she has a vocabulary that is amazing. It is so hard to believe that we have actual conversations all day long. real ones too.  She is like a sponge.  I rarely have to sit down with her and teach her anything. She just learns it. She loves to sing songs and her favorite one is Jesus loves me.  She loves to read.  In fact, she reads herself to sleep every night.  There is something so special about how she grabs a book and comes and plops down in my lap.  So yes she is super smart and hilarious but let's not forget that she is 2 years old. Oh man can she throw a fit when she wants to..Holy cow!  It is tough but thankfully it is not too often. She is also potty training and doing pretty well at it.  There have been a couple surprises when she takes her diaper off without my permission. No accidents on the floor just a little naked 2 year old running around.  I can't help but smile about it right?

well...that is all the time i have now but i hope to be back real soon. I want to share our most recent bedtime ritual. It is very sweet.  and I will include some pictures too...
until then God bless!
love,Jenny