Grandparent Parade

We are so blessed to have so many who love us and want to come and visit us and our kiddos. Just last week we were honored to have Grandma and Grandpa K (my parents) and our kiddos great-Grandma and great-Grandpa B (my grandparents) visit and at a separate time their Grandma B (Derrick's mom). It was a house-full for a few days but what is so special about that time is that they get to see the kids in their comfort zone. So it is a more real picture of who they are on an everyday basis. Our visitors get their best moods in the morning and sometimes their not so good moods too. But they just don't miss a minute of it because of transit time. I am especially touched by the great-grandparents making a 13 hour drive down here to meet baby Clare for the first time. It was very special and I will never forget it. I am also so grateful for the effort all of our family has made to be a part of our kids lives as traveling is not the easiest right now with two very small children.

5 Months!

I cannot believe we are sneaking up on a half of a year having our little Clare. She is such a joy to be around that it is flying by. Every night, though exhausted, when they go to bed, it makes me a little sad that I never get that day ever again. And that the next morning they are just a little bit different. Clare has accomplished sitting on her own at 5 1/2 months. She's loving having a new view. She rolls around and can often be found in crazy positions in her crib. She is pushing up on all fours occasionally and hates being left behind by everyone. So maybe she has a fire lit under her to learn to crawl. She's very grabby and will try and snatch anything anywhere close (including a chocolate frosted donut she grabbed right off of my plate one morning...apparently she possesses my sweet tooth.) She is laughing more and more and still enchants most she meets with her beaming smile. She is such a great baby girl and I am so privileged to have her as my daughter.

Mmmm...Rice Cereal

Miss Clare has begun her journey in joining the rest of us at the dinner table each night...
As you will see from the pictures she didn't know what the fuss was about when it came to food after she gave the rice cereal a go. Now, that cheeseburger Mom had on her plate that we had to pry out of her hand, that's where she wanted to begin.

Clare is Dedicated to the Lord

Our little Clare was dedicated on February 6th at our church with other new babies and children. We desire to raise her up to be a devoted servant to Christ and live in His will for her all the days of her life. Thanks to you for your prayers in this desire of our family's heart.

Clare after dedication

4 Months!

Clare is just a great little baby girl. She rises a little earlier than we’d like most days, but at least she does it with great joy. You can’t hardly even be mad when you walk in as she starts kicking her little legs and smiling when she sees you. At 4 months she can roll over now both ways, from belly to back and back to belly. She’s doing baby sit ups constantly (I could use to do a few of those) to get stronger and can almost sit unattended. Her legs are strong and she loves to stand holding nothing but your fingers for 10 or more minutes at a time. I can’t keep things out of her mouth so we have to monitor her brother’s sharing spirit when it comes to toys. I tell her everyday that I love her joyful heart and her joy is from the Lord. Her scripture verse is “Be joyful always” 1 Thessalonians 5:16. It is a beautiful and direct command from the Lord and I already am taught by her because she embraces that command and obeys it fully. I am so blessed by her.

Studio pictures we had taken of Clare at 4 months

Clare at 3 months

Bless her little heart. I can only hope she'll forgive me for always being so behind on everything. I will get to it though, even if it takes me longer. Clare is such a joy. She has so much to say...when brother is sleeping. At 3 months she starting cooing to you as if in conversation. She really get into it in the morning while Hayden is sleeping and doesn't quite understand why I'm trying to teach her volume control. She is happy but also a little feisty. At 3 months she is grabbing objects with her hand and working to get them to her mouth. We all love her so much. She just melts you when you meet her.

January and February

Well, I know it’s no shock and surprise that it has taken me this long to blog. Forgive me. I'm not good at keeping up on everything. I think I need to commit to one thing or another instead of dabbling in mediocrity with everything. My house is kind of clean, my laundry always almost done, I somewhat have a blog. I sometimes really do wish there were two of me. But mostly my two beautiful children are how I spend most of my time. I figure, everything will be pristine again someday and my blog will be up to date. Then I will just have to make sure I have something to blog. They make my life exciting.
To catch up, we have had many things happen in the span of a month and a half. Our little Clare has up and turned 4 months on us but I will keep her to a separate entry. We had a week of "no school" (or work rather for Derrick) due to inclement weather. It was a lovely time...until our pipes froze and burst, flooding our garage and a few spots in the house. Derrick is a very handy man and was able to get our pipes in working condition but it looks like our remodel has now extended itself to the garage. We're still in the process of dealing with that. However up until then, we were feeling blessed to have heat which much of New Mexico did not have due to natural gas shortages.
We began to look for a preschool for Hayden in the fall and are pretty sure we've settled on one. He'll go in the mornings. He's just so bright and he amazes me every day at what he knows. It's so precious to hear him singing (even when he's supposed to be sleeping) the ABC song over the monitor. He actually has it down. His language development is exploding. He's speaking in actual sentences and can recall exciting and scary parts of his day. He still loves to read and has a new love for puzzles. He was supposed to be starting gymnastics and soccer for toddlers (just to burn off energy and start to learn to follow instructions from other people than Mom and Dad...don't worry, I don't have visions of an Olympian) HOWEVER, he fractured his collar bone. We don't know when or how. He gets hurt ALL the time and cries and because we couldn't see evidence of it until what we believe was a week later we just visited the doctor. Poor guy, we couldn't figure out what he was complaining about when we would pick him up. There is nothing we can do but let it heal for the next 4 weeks. So our physical activities will have to be postponed for now. We'll start swimming lessons in the summer. One of these days, surely I'll be able to wear him out...he certainly wears me out. We have been blessed by having minimal illness this year however. For that I am grateful. Now onto some pictures.

Already playing together

The beloved dump "guck" or dumptruck

My smiley girl

Pulling Woof-woof (his beloved stuffed dog) around in his gon-gon (or wagon)

Happy girl on her play mat

Watching the snow fall

Clare in her exersaucer

My handsome little fella bundled up outside for some playtime

Snow still falling

Getting to work on the snow with his dump truck and shovel

Hayden Turns the Big 2

Well my oldest is officially a two year old. I can't hardly believe it. It really has gone fast. Every year goes faster. While I don't post every picture I take, I'm so glad that I take so many. Its amazing to see the difference in my kids throughout one year. He amazes me more all the time. His language development is amazing. He is making sentences using 3 or more words now and knows his colors and basic shapes. He is counting and knows his family members even from far away. He loves to jump from the stairs, play with Sadie, and loves anything that is remotely related to a car. He loves to read still and looks forward to playdates with his friends. He is passionate and stubborn and independent but has a sweet and gentle side with his mom and sister. He is his own little person and everyday he makes me so proud. We had a party to celebrate and his friends and their parents and his Grandma Vickie and Grandpa John were able to come. He had a blast and even enjoyed a piece of cake this year. It was dairy, egg, and peanut free and actually tasted pretty good if you ask me. If you want the recipe let me know... And now, to the pictures.




Opening his birthday gifts in the morning








The Lightning McQueen cake from cars








Mama with her 2 year old little boy!

A Quiet Little Christmas

Merry Christmas (as I post this 1 day after)! Our Christmas was quiet as we celebrated in our new home this year. Traveling with an almost 2 year old and a newborn was not a sane act this year and though we missed the hubbub of family celebrations, we got to connect with some over phone and Skype throughout the day. Christmas Eve, we celebrated in the morning at a brunch over at our friend’s house. We then went to Christmas Eve service at our church. Christmas celebrations started out rather rocky due to Hayden boycotting a nap that day which led to total breakdown later and Clare exploding in her cute outfit about 2 minutes into Christmas Eve service began. However, we made it through all the plan evening festivities and praise God for his wonderful reminder as we settled in after kids went to bed, he blessedly put on “It’s a Wonderful Life” to remind us to look at all the blessings among the messiness in everyday life. Christmas Day consisted of a nice breakfast followed by opening gifts. Though Hayden was distracted completely by the second gift and checked out after that. I shouldn’t have wasted the wrapping paper I realize now, though it does look pretty under the tree. He has so enjoyed his gifts, in fact, that removing him from play the last two days have proved challenging. We found the need to get out and enjoy the 50-something degree day that was going on outside and found our way to a park after naps (all around). Then shared in Christmas dinner together! I am grateful for the wonderful family I have and though I have received beautiful gifts this year, I can sincerely say that I am the most blessed by the gifts of my husband, children, family and friends that are in my life and care deeply for me. God bless the rest of your year!

Christmas Eve before Service








Christmas Morning in our pj's






















The prized possession...Mack from Cars!









Mama showing off her rocking new purple slippers! Thanks Daddy!












Later in the day at the park, a happy Clare in the stroller.






















Hayden playing on the playground equipment










Daddy and Hayden having a race on the slides






Sadie joining in the fun

Happy 30th!

Derrick is officially a grown up. Isn’t 30 when that happens? If so, I’ve still got 6 months to live a wild and crazy life of someone in their 20’s. Oh wait, we have 2 kids, a dog, an SUV and a mortgage. We may have graduated to that before we hit 30 anyway. But we celebrated it well here anyway for him. His family flew in to surprise him and many friends joined him to celebrate this big occasion. I hosted this surprise birthday party for him at our new abode, with the help of many. We wish that all of our friends far and near could have come and it makes us grateful that wherever we go, God has provided us with the friendships that we have needed and enjoyed. And God has given us friends who sincerely care to "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12:15) as we go through our lives together.