Family Fun Week

My sister and her family came in town from Phoenix and stayed for a whole week at my parents' house. And my other sister, Ashley, was in town and stayed a couple days at my parents' house too. We had a blast all together especially the kids. The cousins hadn't seen each other since our beach vacation last summer, but they played like they see each other all the time. Greg took a day off work so we spent 2 nights over there and then I would come during the days the rest of the week.

We celebrated my mom's 60th birthday and my sister's 29th birthday by going to Ciro's, a family favorite restaurant. Then we came back for cake and presents.

 

Back in December my sister had suggested that instead of exchanging sibling Christmas gifts, we should go out to dinner sans kiddos. So one night we put the kids to bed (Cambry, Kyler, and Hayes all in the king bed), and left them with the grandparents. We went to Liberty Kitchen and had a wonderful time and conversation. My sister even found a wine I liked! If you know me you know that I hardly ever drink. There is not much I really enjoy and I am far too cheap to get a glass of wine or other fancy drink at a restaurant. But she ordered a moscato and insisted I would like it. And she was right! It pretty much tasted like welch's white grape juice which is why I liked it. Anyway, now I can say there is at least one type of wine that I really like. I am so sophisticated.

While the Kimmels were in town we had to go to Monkey Bizness like we did last year. I think we enjoy racing each other in the inflatables more than the kids. My sister gets super competitive.

We spent a lot of time hanging out at my parents house letting the kids run around and play or going to the park. On Saturday morning my dad, Cody, and Greg got to play top golf, which was part of my dad's Christmas gift. Then later that afternoon we went on an impromptu RV trip to Stephen F Austin park. We had just discussed personality types and how my sister was fun country. So of course this was something she loved. Well I was abruptly woken up from my nap with Cambry and told we were leaving in about 5 minutes so I got kinda cranky. My personality type is perfect country (meaning I like things a certain way, like to be prepared, etc). Anyway, I like to spend forever getting ready for the smallest outing and packing everything imaginable that I might possibly need for the girls. I eventually got over my crankiness and had a lot of fun. We hiked some trails and had hot cocoa outside. Then we headed back and picked up Rudy's on the way home. It was just a quick trip but really fun to go in the RV.

We had a great week of family fun. Thanks Gigi and Pa for putting up with all the kiddos in your house!

Hair Cuts, Lessons, Crying, and Wrestling

She is 3 years old and we finally got her hair cut. Her hair came in very even and it was always so pretty that I never wanted to cut it. She didn't even need one that bad, but I thought the ends would look better if they were trimmed up. They cut off a couple inches but I should have gotten more cut off because I can barely tell a difference. Maybe in a couple months I will take her back and get it cut shoulder length for a change. I even think a bob would be adorable but I'm not ready to go that short yet. I guess it is just hair and not a big deal but my sister and I still make fun of my mom for the way she cut our bangs (a good 3 inches above our eyebrows). I'm sure Cambry will find plenty of things to make fun of me though no matter what.

Since I am trying to be more intentional about teaching Cambry things, I started talking about the weather when she was playing outside one day. I was explaining the different seasons and how we are in winter right now and it is cold. But then spring will come and it will start warming up and flowers will grow like the bluebonnets we saw last year. Then summer fall blah blah blah. She looked at me and said "Can you stop talking about that?" Yep. Lesson over.

Lainey bear has been such a mama's girl lately. Sometimes I can't even leave the room without tears. She almost always comes crawling after me when I go in the kitchen. And every so often throughout therapy she will have to come dive into me for a quick hug. When Greg is holding her, if she makes eye contact with me she will start crying for me to hold her. We had a couple days this week where she was so fussy and clingy. Basically we had to be in a perpetual embrace all day. Sweet and exhausting.

The picture below pretty much summed up Monday of this week. Pitiful. Even had her ears checked. They were fine.

 

But gosh she is cute.

When Greg gets home from work the girls love to wrestle with him. Yes, even delicate Lainey likes wrestling. He is the best daddy. He will change out of his work clothes and then often times we will just all pile on the bed and the girls will attack him. 

We haven't been too busy this week. Just getting back into the swing of things. It has been cold but we did find a nice day to take out the new wagon (thanks Nana and Pops). Next week Divine Design starts up again which I am super excited about. And family is coming in town so it should be a fun filled week!

 

Faith Family and Bows

A while back I gave our master bedroom a new look. It had been the same way for a while and I was ready for a change. We had the walls painted, bought new lamps, new curtains, switched out our old duvet for a plain white one, and bought a few throw pillows. We kept all the same furniture because things can get expensive and you gotta draw the line somewhere. I also ordered 2 canvases from our family pictures we had taken this fall. I love how the canvases turned out. As I was trying to decide where to put the canvases, I felt like maybe I should group them together with something else. Greg suggested putting big wooden words on the wall that said FAITH FAMILY BOWS. I guess that describes us.

As you can see we have nothing on the wall next to the closet. I would like to get a decorative mirror to put there. We also have nothing on or above our big chest of drawers. Maybe this will be the year I work on that.

New Year New Goals

We had a fun time celebrating the new year with our bible study friends again this year. I think we made it until about 10pm before heading home. Lainey was a trooper for making it that long. Cambry probably could have made it to midnight. She was talking up a storm on the way home.

I took a look back at my 2014 goals to see how I did. Some of them I worked on, some were forgotten.

2014 Goals

Workout - Well I did start off the year working out, but after a while things just got too busy. Especially with all the therapy and doctors appointments. I love the First Baptist gym and the classes, but the childcare is only MWF mornings and that just wasn't flexible enough for us. Plus I just got a little lazy.

Read the book Bible vs. Bible app - Not that there is anything wrong with the bible app, but for me I am much more focused if I am reading the actual book. I hardly ever read the Bible on my phone now, so that is good (for me). I still need to read the Bible more in general, but that is another thing.

Make our house safer - There is always room for improvement, but we (Greg) did anchor a few big pieces of furniture to the wall so I felt good about that.

Redecorate our master bedroom - I did do this for the most part. One wall is still blank though. I should do a separate post on this later.

Declutter one room a month - hmm, I think we stopped in February. Need to get back on it!

Ok, so fresh start. Here are some of my new goals.

2015 Goals

Workout - This is probably on every one's list every year. I want to try out the YMCA and hopefully find a class and times that work for our schedule. And ideally 3 times a week would be best but whoa that sounds overwhelming right now.

Pray scripture over my children each night - I have been trying to do this for several weeks but I still sometimes forget.This will be good for me to memorize scripture and hopefully Cambry will start learning it too and eventually Lainey.

Be intentional about doing a "school" lesson with Cambry each day - Nothing too crazy, but just maybe 15 focused minutes working on letters, numbers, etc in a fun way. I don't really even know what all I should be teaching her but I need to start doing something. I need to head to Lakeshore Learning soon!

Wear more house clothes - This probably sounds ridiculous, but here is the deal. I often wear "nice" clothes around the house. I'm not talking fancy, but I usually wear my nice jeans and a decent top. And on Sundays, for example, I will usually stay in my church clothes all day (though I often wear jeans to church as well). Sure I have days where I wear workout type clothes or yoga pants too, but not most of the time. Greg is the type that has to change into house clothes (as I call them) immediately upon walking in the door. Even if he knows he has to go somewhere later, he will change out of his work clothes into athletic shorts/shirt, then later change into jeans/shirt. I make fun of him a lot for this and continually remind him how inefficient it is when he changes 3 or more times a day. Well now it has come back to bite me because my 3 favorite jeans have holes in them!! 2 of them have big holes in the knee and one has a tear on the rear. I am pretty sure it is from crawling around and chasing after the kids. And one of them is a pair of Paige jeans that I just bought from Nordstrom Rack a few months ago and they were not too cheap. They are at the alterations place now. Anyway, Greg has now proven to me the benefits of house clothes. So in summary, my goal is not to look like a slob, but try to put less wear and tear on my nice clothes. I guess I need to go buy a couple pairs of cute (but cheap) workout type pants or leggings. 

{Karen Jacot Photography}

Morning Quiet Times - I have been doing this for a while, but I still have plenty of days I miss. Doing it before the kids wake up works best for me right now and I am most focused (as long as I am drinking coffee). So my goal would be to do this every morning.

{Karen Jacot Photography}

Get ready before the kids wake up - whoa this goal is big and scary. Not really sure if I can make this happen, but I am going to try. I know this will definitely not happen every day. Maybe I will start with a couple days a week. I feel like my mornings would be a LOT smoother if I was already dressed and ready when the kids get up. Some times I feel so frustrated because it seems to take me all morning just to make breakfast, clean it up, get dressed, put on makeup, while playing with the kids and keeping Lainey away from all the things she shouldn't be putting in her mouth and making sure she doesn't constantly fall since she is pulling up on everything. So we will see how this goes.

Happy 2015!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight

A couple came to Bethlehem
Expecting child, they searched the inn
To find a place for You were coming soon
There was no room for them to stay
So in a manger filled with hay

God's only Son was born, oh Hallelujah 

{A Hallelujah Christmas by Cloverton}

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I am so thankful for what Christ's birth means and so thankful for family to celebrate with. We have talked a lot about the Christmas story with Cambry this year and she can tell it really well. We need to video her telling the story because it is the cutest thing. She will say "Then the Angel said 'Mary you are going to have a baby.' And Mary said 'I'm too young to have a baby!' They were kinda like teenagers" Then later she will say "Joseph said, 'Inkeeper can I have a hotel room please?' But he said nooooo." I love hearing her tell it. We did our book tradition again this year and that was fun for Cambry to open one each day.

On Christmas Eve Eve my parents came over and we had a nice dinner and opened gifts together. Cambry was so excited about her gifts. We will have to try out her new tricycle soon! 

The next day we loaded up the car and drove to Waco. Cambry and Lainey had so much fun with their cousins. Anderson and Lainey are such a pair. Anderson just loves on her and it is the sweetest thing. Lainey loved Hollyn too and gave her lots of snuggles and hugs. We went to Christmas Eve service and all the kids did surprisingly well.

The Bryants came over on Christmas morning in their jammies after they had their Christmas at home. We let Cambry and Lainey open their stockings and one gift and then saved the rest until the afternoon. Cambry didn't even mind. They just played and had fun and we all had lunch together. Then after naps we opened gifts.

And here is the crazy part. We could not get Cambry to open all her gifts. She was having so much fun with all the toys - and mostly the ones that weren't even hers - that she WOULD NOT stop playing to open her other gifts. And she really didn't even have tons and tons of gifts. We only got her 3 gifts, and she would only open 2. She was in love with the shovel/rake/lawnmower set we got for Anderson and then once Nana and Pops gave Lainey the red wagon there was just no getting Cambry to open anything else.

I did not get a picture with the Bryants because it was taken on their camera!

Even by the end of the night Cambry was still not wanting to open any more gifts. The next day the boys went hunting and Cambry never even mentioned her other gifts. We had a fun day shopping and going to the children's museum. Around 8pm that night after the boys had gotten back we asked Cambry if she wanted to open her big gift. She finally wanted to and was so excited to get a dollhouse from Nana and Pops. 

We headed back to Houston on Saturday and Cambry stayed a few extra days with her Grandparents and cousins. We pick her up tomorrow. I miss her tons but I know she is having SO much fun with them. Isn't motherhood the strangest thing? You think all you want is a break from the responsibility of watching kids, but as soon as you get away from them you miss them so much. However it has been really nice having one-on-one time with Lainey.

We had such a wonderful Christmas. Everything is so much fun with kids. Cute Christmas outfits, seeing Cambry's excitement while opening her stocking, decorating a gingerbread house together, and sitting together at church. I have so much to be thankful for. Merry Christmas!

Lainey 14 Months

I am not going to do updates every month (I didn't do one last month) but I will try to some months. Lainey is working hard to gain new skills. She is crawling all around and now she is pulling up on things. But it gets dangerous because she cannot really get down safely or stay up for long. But she is loving that she can get into everything. And it seems like WHATEVER Cambry is doing, that is what Lainey wants to come over and get. And Lainey loves Cambry's monkeys. Oh goodness. Since Cambry carries it around everywhere Lainey must realize it is a prized possesion and always tries to grab it.

I am trying to teach Lainey the word no. See here she is chewing on the phone charger cord and then smiling at me. If I raise my voice and say it very firm she will stick out her lip and start to cry. It is so pitiful.

I still can't figure out if she has outgrown her milk protein allergy. We tried giving her cows milk a while back but she didn't really like it. We tried giving her some milk based toddler formula and it seemed to make her fussy but I couldn't be 100% sure it was due to the formula. They we tried again a couple times recently and she got fussy and it seemed like she had reflux. So, anyway, we are trying to figure out what to do about that.

She takes 2 naps a day - one around 10ish and the other around 3ish. But every day is different so the times can vary greatly depending on what we have going on that day or the length of her naps. She sleeps well at night and has been great with all our busy evenings with Christmas festivites. 

Love this little one!