Update for January

Howdy all. Just updating with some things I don't want to forget.

Juliet at 16 months: She can pretty much say anything you ask her to. Verbally, she's amazing. Slowly starting to ask for things and say "eat please" or "more please." Smarty pants. She LOVES to scream, but not a chilling scream. More like an I'm-trying-to-win-at-tug-of-war scream. It's funny. She also ADORES her daddy. It's so cute when he comes home from work. We see him drive in the gate and she yells "Daddy, daddy!" I have a feeling I'm always going to be the bad guy in any situation with her, forever. Daddy's girl.

Juliet is an eater. I'm a little scared we're going to have to latch the pantry on her. I'm not complaining though - the opposite would be SO much more annoying. I love her infectious smile and her sweet disposition. However, she has learned "no" and "mine" and uses them frequently. She also enjoys the frequent climb up the chairs and onto the table to walk around. Yikes. Climbing Cooper's bunk beds is always fun. I have to take the ladder down every morning or there will be blood.

Cooper at five years (63 months - lol): He's been reading since he was four, but he's getting much, MUCH better at it. Still not something he can do alone, but he likes to read along with dad. The third Hank the Cowdog is the latest read. He asks so many questions, and is incredibly smart. I'm starting to think/worry/cheer about kindergarten this fall. I'm anxious to see how it all goes. We are sending him to a great public school. Still, I'm scared. Praying that God takes care of him (and me).

CHRISTMAS: We had a fabulous holiday. Everyone got what they wanted. I cooked a lot. What more can be said. As a fore mentioned, Cooper got bunk beds from Santa, and Juliet got a Fischer Price Little People house and furniture, cars, people, etc. They love it. All the grandparents did well, and aunts and uncles, etc. We are all extremely blessed.

I'll post pics when I get them off of my camera. I'm so lazy. I just make an Asian chicken and noodle dinner, and practiced some egg poaching thanks to Julia Child. With my new home/kitchen, I enjoy cooking more than before. I have a bit more room and we've been eating a home a lot more. I guess I've been forced to. It's a good thing. It's all good so far. :)

Sara out.

Happy New Year!

Hope 2011 is great for all of my friends and family. Love ya!

Nov/Dec 2010

Hey all! We've had a great holiday season thus far. November was super fun - great Thanksgivings all around, and a visit up to see the Wattersons at their new house in Edmond. We all had an awesome time.

This month, we've done some online shopping (love it) for Christmas, bought a tree and decorated it and the house, tried to get more done around the house (too many leaves to deal with, but it's beautiful), ran in the Jingle Bell Run, and I ran the White Rock Half Marathon last weekend. It's been a full few weeks, but all is well!

Juliet can say anything now if you ask her, and Cooper is starting to love Legos and asking way too many questions. I love the ages of my kids right now. I don't want them to get any bigger! Here are some pics.

Plug

Yes, it's that time. I'm now plugging my business, Photo Card Cafe', for the Christmas season. We have some great new cards this year, and have a 30% off deal running through Friday with code SNOW30PER at checkout. Check our latest holiday stuff! Thanks!

Cooper is FIVE!

Cooper,

Five years ago today our lives changed forever.

You were born on a Sunday morning after a UT game the night before, and I remember thinking a few hours after you were born, Um, I'm never going to sleep again, am I? No, My Past Self, no you won't. File that under Things No One Sits Your Down and Tells You Before You Have Kids. How could I have imagined what the first five years of your life would be like on that day? Looking at all of your little baby clothes after we got home that week, I stared at a nine-month outfit and never thought you would get that big. Ever. Now, you're not even in the baby section in Target anymore. No, no ... You're in the "boys" section. What? A BOY? I blinked.

The fact that you're five today is hitting me harder than any other age. You'll be in kindergarten next year, which I've been dreaming about and dreading at the same time. You love to go to school and be social (I mean, have you met your parents?), while soaking in as much knowledge as you can. (Okay, that's more me than Dad.) Kindergarten will be AWESOME for you in that respect. However, I shutter at the thought of anyone hurting you, taking advantage of you, or leading you down the wrong path. I become a Mama Bear with just the thought of someone doing you any kind of wrong. Even scarier, I hope we're teaching you enough about how to treat all people with respect and kindness, and that no one is better than you, but you're no better than anyone else. I'm getting carried away. You're NOT in kindergarten yet. You're five. And we have a whole year left. Whew.

Over the past year, you've become a big brother to Juliet. At first, I think it freaked you out a little. You didn't know what to do with the littlest version of her, yet you loved her fiercely. As she began to crawl and become more interactive, you loved to have her chase you around and protect her from the dog food, stairs, and wall outlets. Now, you guys play together. It's what I've been waiting for, and it's glorious. You hold her hard and lead her around the backyard, keep her away from the lawn mower and can't wait for the trampoline to be put together so you guys can tackle each other. You're learning to be gentle and sweet, which makes me so glad you have a little sister. Need more boys like you out there.

And, we moved. To another city entirely. Having our Austin house on the market for four months and dealing with the stress of moving must have driven you crazy inside. But, it never showed. You do miss your Austin buddies, but are making new friends in true Cooper form. You only have to know their name, and you are instant friends. You love the new house and are excited to make church friends. I can't wait to watch you grow in that respect.

Cooper, you are one of a kind. People smile when they think of you. You are a natural leader, protector, storyteller, pretend Rock Band player, and question-asker. You pray a lot to yourself and have a personal relationship with God at such a young age - I pray that only grows over time. You sometimes ask God for superhero powers and get frustrated that he hasn't given them to you yet.

Don't worry. He will.

I love you,
Mom

Update: I'm gonna start in July.

Warning! This is a long one. Here goes. (Pretty pic above by Cozy Impressions Photography.)

I'm going to start at the Hejl lake weekend in July. We had such a fun time with the whole Hejl group. The house was phenomenal. The small kids and their parents stayed in the guest house behind the big house, which was perfect for a napping 11 month-old. Most of my time was spent chasing Juliet around, but that will change in the future. We swam, ate, talked, and enjoyed ourselves. Mason, Landon and Cooper had a ball together.

A couple of weeks after that, Nonnie, my sister and Haley, and the kids and I went to Port Aransas for a long weekend. We had a great, busy time with all of the kiddos. Arranging naps with two babies was a challenge, but we ate well and enjoyed the pool and beach views from our condo. Cooper liked the ferry ride the most, for sure. It truly is that fascinating! I forgot my camera like a genius, so see my sis Rachel's blog for some good ones.

Then came Juliet's first birthday. I can't believe she's already 13 months right now. She has grown so much! We had the party at the Hejls' house because of our packing/moving situation. It worked out well. She had a butterfly cake, pizza, ice cream and lots of presents.

School has started! We came up to Fort Worth for a week before we moved to get the kids started in their preschool, which they LOVE. It was a little hectic at first with the move, but now we're in the groove. They both looked adorable on their first day! it was raining super hard that day, so most of the pics are indoors. I loved the first day because it was the first time in almost EVER that I'd been alone to work and run errands. It has been a GODSEND.

Oh, and we MOVED. We are truly sad to not be in ATX anymore, but we love our new house and neighborhood and are excited about what the future holds. We've done a TON of work to the pool - added a fence, drained and completely re-plastered the bottom to fix the cracks, ripped off the tile and old coping and added blue tile around the pool and on the steps/ledge, and added flagstone coping. It looks beautiful, but just in time for FALL. Boooo. Luke and I still love to sit out by the pool though. Lots of shade due to the oak and other trees around it make for great relaxation, but lots of cleaning leaves out of the pool. The previous owner did some great work on the house (built in 1965, ranch style) so we're thankful for that. House work is not our forte'. More pictures are to be shown of the inside of the house, but I'm waiting until it has to be super clean. :) I'm pretty sure that I'm never moving again, EVER. The process was super stressful to me. I was sad to say goodbye to my old house, but not too sad since it's still our house. :) The tenants we have are awesome though, so it's a good thing for us in the long run.

Kid update: Cooper is five! (see previous post) He thrives in preschool and loves his teachers. He's learning slowly how to recognize and read certain words in some of the books we're reading. Smarty pants. For some reason, he doesn't like Spanish class at school because of some game they play where they have to lie down after they've tagged. I dunno. I felt really sorry for him last night because he didn't want to go to school at all. Seems to have changed his mind this morning already. He and his sister play a lot and are starting to fight a little. Great. It's not full on yet, but I can see it coming. All in all, they are both sweet to each other and enjoy our back room are to play in. Since we've acquired an electric guitar from Nonnie and Poppie over the weekend, that back room is a Godsend. It's pretty separated from the rest of the house, so we don't have to hold our ears while he plays. I need to get him some lessons!

Juliet is growing like a weed! She's talking so much more now, and can pretty much say anything you ask her to in her weird little way. She's a speed walker, especially when it comes to running towards the laundry room to play with the dog water/food before I can catch her. Words like please, thank you, more, shoes, Jo-Jo (the dog), no, yes (head nod), tortilla (my girl), and ice are very clear now. I give it a couple of months before she's a pro speaker. Since the arrival of the pool fence, we've been spending a lot of time in the back yard and on the trampoline. BOTH kids love this thing. It's a huge trampoline, but it's worth it. Hours of entertainment and exercise. She is also loving preschool and taking a nap there as well. A Christmas miracle. Her nap schedule is about to be down to one a day, which is good and bad. The transition is the hard part.

I'll try and post shorter, more frequent posts. Here are the pictures!

So behind

I have a TON of stuff to post from the last couple of months - Hejl Lake Trip, beach trip with my mom and sister and the kids, Juliet's first birthday, first day of preschool, update on what the kids have been doing ... Oh yeah, and we MOVED TO FORT WORTH. I blame the move for my slowness. Sorry about that. I WILL update this week with some pics from all of these events for my records. It's been a crazy couple of months.

We do LOVE our new house. Buried in boxes for a while, but it's okay. We'll get out of it eventually, and can use it a while as an excuse for not cleaning up ...

Juliet is ONE!

Juliet,

Today, you turned one year old. I cannot believe a year's worth of time has passed by. It feels like a few days ago that your daddy and I drove to the hospital, I was induced, and out you came. Unreal.

I think part of the reason the time has passed so quickly is because of all of the changes into which you were born. Right before you came, Daddy switched to a new job that required a lot of travel, all over the world. It's a great job and he loves it, but that first three months of your life was incredibly stressful for your dad and me. I was so tired. Things became such a blur in your life. But, even with the blurs of the past 12 months, I do remember a few things from then, and now:

- You were, and always have been, so sweet and carefree about your days. Playing for you is about interacting - sharing, touching, smiling and talking.
- Singing is a favorite of yours - I know music will be in your life in some important way. I hope it is, and that you carry it on more prominently in your life than I have.
- Your brother loves you boundlessly, and you think he hung the moon. I hope you two will have an amazing bond that grows over time. I'm not sure what the both of you would do without each other. You get sad in the car when he's not with us for any reason.
- Your eyes are constantly bright and curious (we already know you're advanced) and you're speech is getting better by the day. You learn words in one or two days, which has been tons of fun for us. So smart. You can now say baby, please, thank you, Poppie, Nonnie, pizza (yay), all done, more, walk, and much more. :)
- You crawl like the wind, and are walking 10-12 steps across the room, as of today. Strangely, your brother did the exact same thing. You guys are all about birthdays!

We love you so much, Jules. You are truly a gift from God, and I thank the Lord for the timing he chose in bringing you into our lives, and how fun, healthy and smart you are. I know that God has watched over you this year in all of our craziness, and I know that he'll continue to do so. I just pray we can be the parents we need to be for both you and Cooper, and that your love of God, family and friends will grow as you do.

Love,
Mom

This updating the blog thing ... You'd think it'd get easier.

I'm here!

We've done a lot in the past month and a half or so. I'll start with what I can remember. We spent a couple of weekends in Cleburne - one being July 4th. We had a great time swimming in the pool. On Father's Day, Luke had a triathlon in Pflugerville with some friends, and did a great job in the sprint distance. We also went to the Hejl Lake Weekend (most recently) and had a fabulous time with all 16 of us in a super nice house/guest house on Lake LBJ. Now, we're mostly trying to get our house sold. Pretty frustrating, but we're taking it in stride. :) Three months on the market is really taking its toll on us.

Kid update: Cooper finished a week of swimming lessons today. He did a GREAT job. Much improved from last year, when he wouldn't even go near a pool without me in it, in the shallow end. Ms. Linda was a wonderful teacher! He can definitely swim across the pool by himself, and jump off the diving board and swim to the side. What a big boy!

Cooper has recently begun using my old iPod for some of his music (dad set it up for him) and he LOVES it. This kid loves all kinds of music. Right now, it's The Backyardigans. Lately, TV is a major struggle between Cooper and me. He would watch it all day, and I spend my whole day enforcing regulations we've put around it. It's getting a little better, since I've pretty much outlawed Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Suite Life on Deck, and Sonny with a Chance. These shows are fine, but he's just not old enough, and they don't really teach him anything. I'm glad that he likes to watch PBS more - he's learned more from Sid the Science Kid and Word Girl than anything else. Even me. Although, Disney's Handy Manny's not that bad either. He explained what solar panels were to me not too long ago: "Mom, solar panels use light from the sun to make energy." Um, alright, smart guy.

Juliet is changing fast. Time has passed way too quickly. She's a speed crawler. I give it about a month before she's walking. When she crawls, you always know she's coming because her hands are slapping the ground and she's squealing. There's nothing sneaky about her! She wears 18 month clothes, and is super tall. She and Haley are about the same height, and Juliet's six months younger. Big girl.

Juliet can now can say "cheese," "keys," "Dah-DEE," (really clearly) and when we say "One, two ..." she says "THREE!" Super cute. She loves to read books and for me to say "Shoo-WEEE!" when I change her diaper. Also, she'll laugh at pretty much anything that her brother does. Dies laughing. The little conversations she has with herself are really sweet.

Three teeth have surfaced, after much wailing and gnashing - two on the middle bottom (one at 9 mo., another at 10 mo.) and one on top (10 mo.). Two more top ones are coming in, and so is more drool. :)

That's all I can think of. Oh, and Luke and I are good. We celebrated NINE years of marriage on the 21st. Gets better every year.

Crawling, pulling, standing, etc.

Remember, I'm not mostly doing this blog to have something to show my kids in lieu of a decent baby book. I'm trying to keep my head above water, what with selling the house, moving, etc. I used to post more opinion, but I'm lately realized that no one cares. And neither will I later on in life. I WILL however care about when Juliet got teeth and the crazy things Cooper was saying. With that in mind ...

Juliet is crawling! She started crawling while in Marble Falls this past weekend, and hasn't let up since. She also like to pull up on everything, and really just wants to stand up all of the time. It's a new, crazy phase, but it's a lot of fun. She also got her first TOOTH last week, and a second is about to pop up. Let me say that she does bite down, and it doesn't matter on what. Ouch. I can't believe time is passing so quickly with her. It's like a blinked and she'll be ONE in less than three months. Yikes!

We had her nine month appointment a couple of weeks ago, and she's doing well. She's 28 1/2 inches long (85%), weighs 19 lbs., one ounce (45%) and has a 70% head circumference. Smarty pants. We also found that she has a bit of anemia, which I'm trying to combat with some iron drops. She doesn't like the taste of them, so it's a challenge. We're about to put this nursing thing to bed also, since I'm only nursing her at night. I give it a week. I'm proud to have made it this long with both kids! I worked full time with Cooper, so that one was a bit harder. Go me. Anyway, things she can now say, sorta clearly: mama, dada, get it, all done, dog, kitty.

Cooper is his same crazy, funny, smart aleck self. The attitude is in full effect, but he'll grow out of that, right? He (and Jules) are loving summer time and the pool. We went to Galveston with Luke for the weekend because he was already there for work. Lots of relaxing by the pool, and a trip to the beach. My parents finished their pool in the spring, and we spent the week there last week. We LOVED swimming and hanging out. We also went to our annual Marble Falls weekend at Ty's grandma's lake house (thanks Dishmans). The kids loved hanging out together, but we REALLY missed Jay and Ally. Next year, for sure. Cooper and Chase are a force playing together. Good times.

Well, enjoy the pics!