For Stephanie - Saw This And Thought of You!

Wesley Is Loud!

This kid is really starting to get his personality, and his voice. Wesley is loud! Turn your volume up all the way, and that is how he sounds in real life. Watch how he screams anytime I try to close in with the camera.

Been Busy

We've been a little busy the last two weeks.  David switched jobs and his old company told him they didn't need him to work for his last two weeks, but they would continue to pay him for them.  Tremendous!  I had a honey do list that was needing some attention!  Unfortunately, we weren't as productive as we would have liked - David brought home the flu his first week off.  Yuck - not fun!  After we all got over that, we cleaned out closets, painted our room, painted Wesley's room, threw away a bunch of crap that was cluttering up my house, and were able to convince David's parents to watch the kids for a night while we utilized some of his Marriot points for a little getaway.  

Dave is a great painter.  He does the middle, and I do the edges.

Just because he's so cute, here's a picture of Wes...

...and one of Em.

Can you find what doesn't belong in this picture?  My 2 year old loves to throw things - she doesn't bite, spit, or hit - so I can't really complain too much.  If you have a kid that has to throw things in the house, I would highly recommend getting her a ball like the one in the above picture.  It can hit pictures and not break them, fly over the kitchen island and not knock everything off onto the floor, and bounce off of computer screens leaving no damage.  It can also get stuck in flower arrangements.  Em is still working on expanding her vocab, but she does have one word down - ball.  She will scream it at the top of her lungs until you follow her to wherever it is that she has gotten the ball stuck and retrieve it for her.  Way to use your words Em!

Em loves to hang out on the floor with her "little" brother Wesley.  We went in for their 2 year and 9 month check up last month.  Wesley weighs only 4 pounds less than Em, is 3 inches shorter, and has a head that is only 1 1/4 inches smaller than Emilee's.  I don't think that little brother is going to stay little for long!

I love Texas!  I love that it can be a sunny 80 degrees in February.  The kids and I spent some time in the backyard playing and working on the flower beds. 

Back to Wesley's ginormous noggin - the hat that he is wearing is 18 months, and it was still a little small.  I had to move him into the shade on the patio so his scalp wouldn't get burned!

This picture will be extremely amusing to my family.  I still hear stories of how I loved to eat dirt as a kid.  I would dump flower pots over my head and have a blast.  Please take note of the DIRT surrounding Em's mouth in the above pic.  I turned around from weeding the flower bed to see her chomping on this piece of compost...

...like it was a sandwich!  AGHHHH!  I was scraping dirt and pieces of twig out of her mouth for the next 5 minutes.  

These are starting to bloom...

...and the tulips and daffodils are almost done.

I love spring - even if it starts in February this year!

She Is Still Cute...

...even when she is making a mess!

Em Turns 2

Time to finally blog about Em's birthday. Constant sickness, Dave traveling, and life in general have contributed to no free time for blogging. Hopefully things will settle down now.

Emilee's last 2 years..

Here is a picture of David and I waiting - because that is what we did for years until we got our little Emilee. We waited, and waited , and waited, until we got a phone call that a baby girl had been born the day before and we had been picked to be her parents.

It was love at first sight - we were smitten.

And then she started to grow - look at those chins!

She loved her "Easter"Nemo...

...chillin' at the pool...

...and rolling all over the place - refusing to even think about walking.

She was a trooper when Dave got sick and we had to put her in "daycare" with Aunt Laurie and Uncle Chuck. What a blessing that they were home at the time and could watch her for us. Chuck taught her how to eat ice cream sandwiches and gave Em her first taste of Dr. Pepper. She loved spending time with them!

She turned 1 and learned to blow everyone kisses.

She hated the grass, but got over it in time...

...to enjoy the sprinklers in the summer.

She became a big sister - and after seeing that Wesley was indeed staying, she decided that she might like him after all.

Then she grew up again, and decided to turn 2.

Time flies when you're having fun!

Happy Birthday Emilee!

This is the first cake that I have ever made in my entire life. Wasn't so bad to make, might try it again for Wesley's b-day in April :)


Emilee was having too much fun with the bows on the presents to bother with unwrapping them.

Hanigin' with Grandpapa John and playing with her new puzzle.

He does this all day long...

...just because he can!

We Have a Swimmer!

Em found David's goggles and decided to try them out. She's ready for summer and trips to the pool!

Where's the water!

Finally - Christmas

I'm finally getting around to posting about Christmas.
Em started out the season trying to yank all the stockings off the mantle. Fortunately Em is in the 10% for her height and they were well out of reach.

We spent Christmas Eve with my family. Emilee was much better with unwrapping presents this year than last. Look at that concentration!

Wesley had a good time opening his presents...





...he wanted all that paper off so he could chew on the box. Now I know what to get him next year :)





We spent Christmas morning at home.







Then it was off to the farm to spend the rest of Christmas with David's family. Wesley's favorite present is his new John Deere blanket. Poor kid is always on a pink one, and Amy took pity on him and got him a manly blanket.

He was all smiles and loved being the center of attention.


Em's favorite new toy is the DOG book that cousin/aunt Steph got her. She will not let that thing out of her sight!

After all the Christmas festivities were done, we celebrate "Christmas Dave" in the evening. Amy out did herself with the cake this year. David had been teasing her son James that he was going to get him a goat for Christmas. Please take note of the "reindeer" pulling the sleigh. Yes - those are goats.

We had a great time being able to spend time with family!
Em's favorite toy from Christmas - the roll the wrapping paper came on.

Last week was crazy. We finalized Wesley's adoption at 8:30 Friday morning. The kids had been up since 6:00 and were in the middle of a full melt down by the time we got into see the judge. This is the only picture we got. Wesley was excited and wanted to hold the paperwork, and Em is pulling on her teeth that are coming in.

Next stop was the airport to see Michael come home from his mission. He has never met the kids, so we made a sign in case he didn't know who they were.

We went to the church Christmas party Friday night and had to bribe Em with David's blackberry to get her to stop screaming in the car. This child knows her cell phones. She won't play with the fake plastic ones, but as soon as she gets her little hands on a blackberry she is talking and texting everyone!

And in other news, Em is doing very well at not destroying the Christmas tree. She has however, decided that there needed to be some additional decorations. Each day we find a different toy on the tree. Last Friday when we couldn't find her shoes, we found them two days later stuck in the backside of the tree. Below is Habib, her camel that Aunt Krista got for her in Jordan. I think he makes a fine addition!

Em and Wes are starting to enjoy playing together. Their favorite thing to do is hang out on blankets.

Emilee likes to show Wesley how to help with the laundry.

She also likes to show him how to stop the paparazzi named Mom.