A Peek into FaLL 2010

Alex with cousin Amy @ MSU game
Amy cheers at a local high school here and plans to try out for a college cheerleading squad next semester!!! We hope its MSU :))))

David's 1st game. Alex's 2nd. They loved the game and had a blast!

Alex's first day of dance (ballet, tap and tumbling) at a new studio

Sweet friends, Kim and Fleetwood, came for a weekend visit from Atlanta while in town for her college reunion at MC.

Their precious kiddos

We were also so blessed to get to host my college friend reunion this Fall. Including us, there were 4 families equaling 15 people (7 kiddos all 3 and under!!!) for 3-4 nights. We all gather from FL, AL, IN and MS once a year usually at a different person's house. It was awesome! We had a blast including this trip to the zoo...one of the few outings we had. We mostly hung out at our house cooking, visiting, playing outside, etc.

Zoo train ride

more reunion crew pics

reunion friends from Indianapolis minus 3 yr old son here.

Sable, Alex and Eli thought the zoo smelled and they giggled constantly. All the kids played well together, but Alex and Eli especially hit it off. It's a long, sweet story but Alex asked Eli to marry her. ha!!!! Yes, too young to even think that but the conversation was so sweet.

Kristen, Tony and Hannah (~2 months older than David)

Apple Snack Time

Thanksgiving Day 2010
David - 18 months, Alex - 3 yrs, 2.5 months

"Don't mess with my ball."
David is full on into balls, trucks and trains! All boy!

Proud of his throw :)

Getting my little rascal :)

Future Track Star

We love wagon rides at Mimi's house!

Chilling with cuz Amber at Grandmother's house
Not only did we get to spend 3 nights at Mimi and Grandaddy's for Thanksgiving, we got to spend two nights at Grandmother's. This is the beauty of being back in MS. Just over 2 hrs separate both grandparents' houses and we live kind of in the middle. Sweet!

Helping decorate Grandmother's Christmas tree

Alex and Mommy riding in the Madison Christmas Parade with Alex's Dance Studio
So Fun!
A recent Fall picnic at the reservoir turned into a freeze fest as the winds kept picking up and the temps were dropping fast. Of course, we still had a blast with our energy filled munchkins wanting to run, play games and ball constantly. Playing kept us warm.


Future soccer player...dude has been dribbling about since he could walk.
Don't let him fool you though. He can throw a mini football, baseball and can hit balls off a T awesome, too. We've got athletes on our hands. (That makes daddy and mommy happy:)

ENT Christmas party bound.
We went on 4 date nights in 10 days. It was nice getting out as we just haven't done that much lately.

Our awesome babysitters - Aunt Tammy and/or cousin Amy or Kelly kept the kiddos all 4 outings. Tammy and Kelly made a gingerbread house with the kiddos the last night :)



This video was taken several months ago. I just thought it was cute.

Alex dressed as Cinderella last year for a Trunk or Treat and wanted to again this year. She requested David to be dressed as the Dashing Prince :)

New Eyes and Chairs

Whew... Life has been so full lately that I just decided not to stress in keeping up with this blog as regular. So, just a few of the many happenings that have occurred in the last month are.....drum roll......MY NEW EYES :))) I had PRK laser surgery (not Lasik, but similar in that the goal was 20/20 vision) on my eyes at the end of September. Recovery to 20/20 is longer with PRK than Lasik but it is safer as their is no potential flap complication. After reaching 20/20 vision within 9 days of surgery, my eye doc (who is my cousin that did the surgery) said I reached 20/20 vision much quicker than expected and that it would continue getting better :) I was so blessed not to experience any pain either during recovery, just some blurriness for a few days (which deterred any computer activity!). All in all, I am AMAZED at how clear I can see without glasses or contacts. I love seeing the leaves on the trees. I love seeing faces clearly from a distance. I love being able to read the TV from a distance. I love exercising without my glasses falling down my nose. I love that I can cuddle with my kiddos and my glasses not bump their faces!!! I love that David does not rip off my glasses anymore and attempt to break or throw them. I love that Alex asks me now, "mommy, why don't you have to wear glasses anymore?" I often forget I can see and wake up thinking that I need to reach for my glasses. Or I'll think I need to take out contacts before going to bed as I think I shouldn't be able to see this clearly without them. I am loving this new world of clear vision with no aids :) I've been wanting to have laser surgery for a long time and this was the perfect timing - so thankful!!! Thanks to Mimi for helping with the kids for the couple days after and to Mom for driving me on surgery day!!! Bye Bye contacts and glasses!!!

Also, we have been pecking away at furnishing the house and various house projects. One small project I decided to tackle one afternoon was recovering our old dining room chairs. They were so filthy and stained from the kiddos. My upholstery job is not perfect by any means (I learned how by watching a 3 min video online after doing one chair my way), but it was a huge face lift to our table and chairs!

2 of the 6 old chairs

Recovered chairs in fun party print :))))

And for those that just want to see pics of the kiddos, yikes!!!! They are so cute and fun and I just have no good pics to prove it. They are at such a great age playing (and fighting) with each other. I seem to never take pics anymore...just enjoying the heck out of them...except when Alex pops her pre-adolescent attitude already!!! Oh, and David got his first spanking (not really hard and on top of his diaper) last week for throwing food from his booster seat after being warned a couple of times. He's getting a bit testy, but thankfully it started at 16 months old. Alex started testing us when she was 10 months old. David's personality is much more compliant/obedient than Alex's strongwilled self. Overall, they are precious and I am so thankful every day that I get to stay home with them. Loving my babies!!!

Cousins at Amber's 4th birthday party
(Amber, Raegan, Alex and Dylan)

Sweet Day Day sporting his Mississippi State gear

Alex is 3!!!

I cannot believe our first baby is 3. I love this age. Since she entered the terrible twos at about 18 months old, thankfully, she exited them about 6 months ago. Fits still come, but are nothing like the past. Thank you, God!!!! and yes, thank you, God, for our precious, full of life, hilarious, smart, silly, energetic, strong willed, sweet, brother loving Alex. We are so blessed!

We celebrated Alex's 3rd birthday on her birthday last weekend princess style as she requested a castle cake with princess figurines. We had a lovely time with lots of family and a few friends.

My 4th cake to make for my kiddo's birthdays. This was by far the tallest and most involved! Alex has already asked for another castle cake for next year - ha! Mommy gently said no and told her to wait until next year before deciding on a 4th birthday theme :)

Grandmother making sure kiddo plates are full of real food along with the cake

Aunt Cathy, Aunt Tammy and Hunter

Present time!

Sweet Anna and mama Jana

Cousins

Cousins

Reece was the only kiddo who could come from Alex's MMO class. He was a sweetie!

Sarah Kate (Alex's friend who is one week younger than her), cousin Anna Cate and David

Samuel and Reece playing

I pulled out all the tricks in the bag to keep my kiddos busy while I worked on Alex's cake. However, I still managed to pull a midnight plus night the night before. Chris snuck in and took pics of me at midnight putting the finishing touches on the cake. Those pics will remain tucked away as I had not showered in like 2 days and was working off of adrenaline as I was exhausted. Chris doesn't understand why I do this to myself and tells me to go buy a cake. I just can't...yet.

We took the kiddos biking for the first time in this bike trailor we got from a friend before Alex was born. The kids had a blast!!! It was so fun!

Taking a break from our bike ride to play at our neighborhood playground

David had a go at sushi while he joined mommy and daddy on a lunch date while Alex was at MMO one day. I think he liked it :)

Special Treats (even from around the world)

One of my bestest friends from our year in Australia is my sweet Zimbabwe native friend, Laura. She and her hubby, Ben, who we met for the first time, made a last minute trip to the US recently and called us out of the blue for a visit. What a special treat!!! We spent about 24 hrs together and had a fantastic time! Incredible memories of our surreal year in the land of Oz flooded my mind while they were here. Alex and David loved Laura and Ben, too, especially their accents :)

Such a special friendship and so thankful to reunite after 10 years!!!

David was starving and could not wait for all the food to get ready. He started his meal early all by himself.

Christening our new table with our special friends over a Southern holiday meal...notice David is still eating! I can't wait to see his growth progress at his 15th month appointment. He eats more than Alex most days and has a pop belly! ha!

Not only did we promise them Southern cooking during their stay, but kiddo entertainment as well. That came in many forms. Alex is entertaining with her ballet moves here.

We live about a mile or less from the Reservoir which is beautiful. We took Ben and Laura to feed the ducks with us one morning. Fun times!

Another special treat was one of my favorite Greek restaurants in Jackson was showcased on The Food Network on August 23rd!

The Madison Kroger has horses to ride outside. This is a special treat for Alex and David every time we venture to this Kroger.

The almost daily treat of the summer is homemade popsicles. Instant happiness and coolness as the summer heat has been brutal!

Former Little Rock neighbors gave us this motorized jeep before they moved away from our previous street. The jeep started to slow down so I told Alex I thought the battery needed charging. She got out and opened the hood saying she'll fix it. ha! She learned that from 7 year old cousin Hunter she said :)

Our redneck play area in the backyard. ha! This is what this area looks like in full force almost every day! We inherited the big play set at our new house and LOVE it! The kids can't get enough of outside rather it is swinging, climbing in clubhouses, sliding, pool time, soccer, t-ball, jeep, popsicles, whatever!!! So thankful the weather is more bearable this week for us all!

Oh and don't let me forget the doll action. When all the other outdoor entertainment gets boring, Alex brings out tons of her dolls to play with. She swings them, slides them, plays with them in the (dry) pool, etc... It's really cute even though they get dirty.

Celebrating Anna Cate's 2nd birthday in H'burg was another special treat. It is so nice to live closer to family now so we can actually attend family birthday parties now :)

Dancing in the rain together...excuse the fog on my lense :(

David loves to roll cars, trucks, and trains around while making the appropriate sounds. So cute!!! Here he is rolling them over cake crumbs :)

Another special treat was our first visitors from Little Rock. Special friends, Reese, Reagan, Layla and baby #3 came for 3 nights. We had a good time while the kiddos played themselves silly. Actually Reagan and Alex played so much they fought some, too...i think their time got maxed out. However, David and Reese played surprisingly well together. Sweet memories!

Alex and Reese having a ball

David and Reese were almost the same size. They were so cute together!!!

2 peas in a pod eating their bread together

Reagan trying to finish her food so she could get dessert :)

Grandmother surprised us with a quick visit during lunch yesterday. What a treat!

The fish tank at MMO (Mom's Morning Out)
I have been very emotional about this as Alex is signed up for 2 days a week and David one day. However, this became a treat for me today as I had my first MORNING (3.5 hrs) to run errands without the kids. I was so productive - tried out a gym for about an hour, shopped for Alex's birthday (2 stores), and went to 2 other stores before arriving a bit early to pick them up (really to make sure David was ok :) He doesn't do well on Sunday mornings in the nursery so I was worried about him. However, he did great they said after I left of course.

David and his main teacher, Mrs. Dianne, a precious lady
You can't see here, but his room has the coolest little toys for his age...no wonder he enjoyed it. There are 4 kiddos in here with 1-2 teachers.

Of course, Alex is doing great at "school" and loves it! There are 6 in her class now and 2 more will join her next week. That will make 3 girls in there including her :) She has great teachers as well.