Stark Stories

Trip to the Zoo

2012-01-29T20:58:00.000-08:00

Chris took the day off from work on Friday so we could take the kiddos to the zoo. It was a little chilly at first, but it turned out to be a beautiful day, perfect for the zoo! All three kids had a great time. I'm thinking I might get a membership this summer so we can go as much as we want.

This big guy was looking so sad :-( He would just lean up against the glass with the saddest look on his face. The sisters loved him and would've gone into his area to play if they could have. Landon? Not so much. He is a very healthy fear of many things...definitely not the dare devil type. I love that about him.

This bear LOVED Emily and she loved him back. Again, she would've jumped right in there with him if possible :-/

The lion was roaring VERY VERY VERY loud! I bet the residents of the homes all around there hear this guy all the time! The kids kept covering their ears.

A favorite of the kiddos was the huge birdcage you could walk into and feed all of the birds. I was afraid I would get pooped on in there, but I braved the pooping birds and went on in with my lovies :-)

MOLA is the new amphibian/reptile habitat at the Ft. Worth zoo. It was really neat! Landon made sure to keep his distance from any snake he saw :-)

The Penguins. The girls are obsessed with Dora the Explorer and if you are a mom of youngsters, you know her show is partially in Spanish. Well, because of this, Emily and Allie think penguins are called "penguinos." They kept screaming "Un Penguino! Un Penguino!" Very cute and funny :-)

We had such a fun family day at the zoo and cant wait for daddy to take another day off soon so we can go back! We LOVE hanging out with him :-)

Just a few cute pics

2012-01-18T21:03:00.000-08:00

Bowheads

Going for a walk on a chilly evening

Landon at a birthday party with all of his cute little school friends

Emily making Allie laugh with her silly faces

These baby girls are super tiny...they are almost 3 and these little skirts are 12 months! C'mon girlies...grow!!

My sweet sweet Landon

Spending some father/son time out at the golf course

New Years Eve. Landon made it till 11:40 and finally passed out on the couch. Tired boy :)

Christmas Part 3

2012-01-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

This is the last and final blog entry about Christmas 2011. After spending Dec. 23 at my mom's in Granbury, Christmas Eve at Sabrina's, and Christmas morning at home...we still had 2 more to go. We always spend Christmas evening at Nommie and Poppy's with my dad's side of the family. Poppy does an amazing job decorating the house and making it very kid friendly! He goes all out with the outdoor lights and decorations and everywhere you turn there is some sort of talking/singing/dancing Christmas decoration all throughout the house. It's seriously like a Christmas museum over there during the holidays! I LOVE it!! We ate till our tummies ached, opened tons of gifts, relaxed/visited/rested, and the kids played and played and played. This particular Christmas reminds me so much of my childhood. Nommie still lives in the same house, so I have been doing this exact same thing my entire life...I'm just the adult now rather than the child. It is also where my dad grew up. This home holds a lifetime of memories for our family :)

A failed attempt at a pic with Nommie, Poppy, and their great-grandchildren. Allie was not a happy camper at that particular moment :(

Emily

Allie was much happier sitting with her Nommie :)

The holidays really took a toll on Allie. All of the long days, skipping naps, constantly driving from here to there and everywhere, and just the overall lack of their normal schedule made for a fussy Allie Kathryn. Surprisingly, Emily did fine with the chaos. If you look close at this pic, Allie is laying down refusing to take a picture with her sister...

The Tuesday after Christmas, we went to Grandpa and Donna's house out in Southlake. We had Christmas with them a little late because they went to FL to be with Donna's mom for Christmas this year. Again, we had a blessed time stuffing our faces with tons of goodies, opening lots of great gifts, and enjoyed spending time with our amazing family!

Christmas Part 2

2012-01-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas Part 2 includes our family's Christmas morning at home...just the 5 of us :-) and Christmas Eve at Grandma Sabrina's and Grandpa John's. Picture Overload Alert!!!

Santa came!! The Jolly Old Fellow brought Landon a new green and black bike (just like he asked him for :)) and the girls got Dora tricycles. He also brought the kids Happy Nappers (2 ladybugs and a dragon), a hot wheels motorcycle racing thingy for Landon and Dora guitars for the girls. Each child got a new book from St. Nick as well :) They also had about 7 or 8 gifts each from Mommy and Daddy to open. After seeing the gift outcome of all 5 of our family Christmas', I think I'll cut down on the gifts from us next year. The toy situation at my house right now is out of control!

Chris' mom Sabrina and stepdad Amadeo (aka John) have a big Christmas Eve party every year. There were probably about 20-30 people there...not just family, but some of our family's closest friends, as well. Santa even showed up with his elves! And once again, my children were spoiled rotten with all kinds of great gifts!

Allie.Emily (yes, I'm labeling my daughters again :) Dont want to ever forget who is who!)

Emily.Allie

The day wouldn't be complete without a good wrestling match! Allie is the screamer here.

I couldnt keep Emily off of Anda's walker :-/

Sweet little Allie :)

Great Grandma Anda!

Lots of family and friends!

I LOVE this picture. Em is looking at a photo of herself during Christmas 2009...same date, same place. My how she has grown! Tooooo fast :-(

Emily (otherwise known as sassy pants)

Landon with Caleb and Tyler (Dr. Hood's boys)

Adorable Austin!!

The funniest part of this picture to me is the Woody toy all sprawled out on the floor. He looks like he's been through the ringer...

Emily grabbing the gift from Santa's elf as fast as possible...hence the bluriness. The girls were not having Santa yet again this year.

Allie making her fast getaway.

This kid was hilarious! Rather than doing his duty as an elf, he was way more interested in Landon's Star Wars gift :-) Landon kept looking at him all weird. I could tell he was thinking "Are you an elf or a kid? Did you make this Star Wars toy for me?" hahaha!! The look on Landon's face was priceless. He was really trying to figure this elf slash kid out :-)

We were able to get Em on the elf's lap, but Allie wansn't having it one single bit.

Hanging out with friends and family!

Stay tuned for Christmas Part 3. Still gotta blog about Christmas at Nommie and Poppy's and Christmas at Donna and Grandpa's!

Christmas Part 1

2011-12-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Im thinking my Christmas post is gonna have to be broken up into several different posts being that we had 5 different Christmas celebrations! It was definitely a chaotic, tiring holiday season, but we LOVED every minute of it. Today's post includes some Christmas cookie and ice cream making, a visit w Santa (lets just say 2 of my 3 children would prefer Santa to just go away), and our first Christmas celebration at my moms house in Granbury.

I'll start off by sharing a pic of my nerdy Christmas feet. Yes...I'm the geek who likes to wear festive gear and have my pedicure done to match the season :)

Aunt Steph, Uncle Shaun, and Cousin Keagan gave Landon an ice cream maker for Christmas. We had a fun, messy time making some chocolate ice cream!

We baked/iced Christmas cookies for Santa (and ourselves :)) Not sure why I only snapped a pic of Allie. If I had to guess, I'd say the the other 2 weren't cooperating with yet another photo shoot :)

Landon asked for a green and gray big boy bike without training wheels.

The pretties weren't fans of Santa last year...or this year :-/

Nana and Bud spoiled the kids as usual :-) I'm pretty sure Landon holds the world record for The Fastest Present Opener EVER. Emily was pretty quick too, but Allie took her time. She wanted to play with/try on everything she opened before moving on to the next gift. I'm going to label the pics of the girls just in case I cant tell them apart later down the road. That has actually happened many times before. There are so many unlabeled pics of the girls as babies that I cant distinguish between the 2 now :-(

Emily

Emily, Allie

Allie

Emily

Allie

Landon and daddy playing football

Emily, Allie

Allie

I'm always behind the camera, so this is the only pic I have of myself...my feet. This posts starts with my feet and ends with my feet. Weird. Oh well, all I know is this pic was taken after the mad dash of gift opening and I was so happy to sit by the fire and relax. Aweeeee....

Stay tuned for Christmas Part 2 and 3 (maybe 4 too). I've got a lot more fun to share!

Girls Annual Christmas Party and a few cute pics of the kiddos, of course :)

2011-12-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Their shirts may say they heart Santa, but in reality, they want NOTHING to do with him.

My new iphone has an edit option for my pictures. I got rid of the red eye in these two, but apparently I uploaded the unedited ones :-/

Emily Grace

Allie Kathryn

Landon Christopher

I have an AMAZING group of girls that I have called my best friends for 17 years now. Every year, we have a Girl's Christmas Party. Last year, we started a new tradition of going down to Heather's family lakehouse in Granbury for a Christmas party/sleepover. We shopped around on the square for a little while, went to a wine tasting at a local vineyard, ate dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, then went back to the house for cocktails and our gift exchange. Johnna made a slideshow dvd of lots of our favorite music and pictures. It was so good!!!! Another neat thing we do every year is write down predictions for the upcoming year, and then read them aloud at the following year's Christmas party. We still have to do that this year though, because we forgot to bring our predictions down to Granbury. Oh well...just another reason to get together again sometime soon :) I love my girlfriends so much and would not be the person I am today without them!! We have been through everything together!! I didnt get many pictures, but I'll be stealing some from Ivy when she gets hers up :)

At the Barking Rocks Winery and Vineyard. We are missing 5 of our girls due to newborn babies, having to work, no babysitter, etc etc. We missed you Kara, Stevi, Brooke, Amy, and Kelli!!! We were so excited Kendra made it in from San Antonio for the party this year!!!!

We made a pit stop at Bootleggers to pick up some important goods :)

I'm back!!!!!!!

2011-11-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

So now it's November 2011 and Landon is 5 and Allie and Emily are 2 1/2. All three of my sweeties are amazing children! Busy and wild as heck, but absolutely amazing! I love each of them more than I ever thought was possible. We just had Thanksgiving over the wknd. It was very nice. We spent the early part of the day with family at Chris' dad's house in Southlake and the afternoon at Nommie and Poppie's house in Arlington. I took a few pictures, but now that I'm blogging again, I will be taking my picture snapping up a notch :)

Kendra was in town, so some of us girls got together at Johnna's house to visit and hang out for a couple hours.

Allie, Landon, Emily. Em was NOT into the photo shoot.

Allie and Landon with permagrin...Em rolling her eyes at me.

Cousins!

On Saturday night, we went to the Texas Tech vs Baylor game at the Cowboy Stadium. We had amazing seats, only 7 rows up from the field on the 40 yard line! My brother-in-law John-Michael just graduated from Tech, so we were rooting for them. But they lost :(

Landon in his goofy football hat.

Got our house all decorated for Christmas! So cozy!

We didnt bring the girls to the game with us. Something tells me that would have been a complete disaster. They dont sit still for more than about...hmm, 7 minutes maybe??? So, it will be a little while before I ask them to sit and watch a football game :)

Here's to rejoining the blogging world! I'm telling you...I'm pumped about documenting our lives again! I HATE that I missed the ENTIRE year of 2011 :( I'm so glad I made my blog into a book. It really gave me the motivation to start up again :)

Am I good at blogging these days? Not so much...

2010-11-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

Dear trusty blog readers....sorry that I TOTALLY SUCK at this lately. It's not that I don't want to blog or don't have the time, because I do. I just know this is mainly for the pictures, and I have yet to download all of my new camera stuff so I can upload some pics. I'm so horrible at computer stuff, I haven't even tried to download it myself. I just need to get Chris to do it for me...but I keep forgetting! Ugh!

So...just in case you care about whats been going on with The Stark's, I'll type up a quick post, minus pics of my adorably perfect kiddos :-) I think I'll type up 4 separate paragraphs...3 talking about whats been going on with each of my kiddos and one about Chris and I...or something like that. This blog is my version of a scrapbook, so I need to record what's going on at these ages :-)

Lets talk about Landon first. He's the typical 4-yr-old boy. He loves dirt, bugs, sports, and bugging his sisters. He absolutely adores his babies, but he likes to provoke their little girly attitudes they have recently gotten (more on that later). His favorite food right now is penne pasta (he calls it "noodles with holes in em"). He also loves hot dogs, pizza, and candy. Yep, he's really into healthy choices these days ;-) I make him eat his fruits/veggies and drink his milk, but that doesn't mean he likes it. He is still into sports big time. Landon and Daddy play catch with the baseball or football just about every night. Chris also picks him up from school early about once a week or so and takes him to the golf course for a round of golf. He LOVES sports which I am thrilled about! He also loves being outside. He likes to ride his bike and his scooter. He collects sticks and rocks and whatever else I find in those grubby little pockets of his. He likes to pick up sticks and "shoot things" with them. He says he's shooting the deer....nice. Not sure where he got that being that Chris doesn't hunt. Oh well...it's cute to watch him pretend :-)

Landon is doing great in PreK this year. He has learned soooooo much since August. His writing and drawing skills have drastically improved over the past 4 months. I think it's because his PreK class is much more like school than his 2 and 3-yr-old classes were. They have a full-on classroom schedule just like you'd see in elementary school. He can count and count and count and count and count (you get the point, not exactly sure what number he can count to, but it's alot....that's for sure) and he knows all of his letters and sounds. He can write all of his numbers/letters, as well. He writes lots of common words like, mom, dad, dog, cat, or whatever he can sound out. He also writes all of his family members names. Landon has become quite the little artist, too. He has moved on from the stick figures with legs coming out of the head to people with torsos, hair, ears, etc. His drawings are very cute to mommy!

We are in the process of checking into local private schools for Landon to go to next year. He will be VERY young, probably the youngest, child in his grade. His bday is August 20...if he was born only a few weeks later, he wouldn't even be able to start this next year. Chris is worried about him being the youngest and smallest (for sports mainly, I'm sure). Chris isn't really thrilled about sending him to kinder next year at all. He thinks we should wait, but I would like to send him bc I think he'll do fine. So, we kinda came to a happy medium. We decided that we would send him to private kindergarten. That way, the following year, we can send him to public school and if he needs to repeat kinder, he won't even know the difference bc he'll be in a new place with new kids. Plus, Chris and I both started out in private school for K-3rd grades, so we like the idea.

Overall, our boy is perfect! Don't get me wrong, he definitely has his moments where he will argue or throw a bit of a fit if he doesn't get his way. It's not too often though. Right now, our trouble-makers are 2 little blonde-haired, blue-eyed divas that happen to look just alike :-) I was gonna write about them after Landon, but they are gonna have to wait till tmrw. My fingers are cramping from typing and I'm tired. So, I'm off to bed and I'll pick back up tmrw...or the next day :-) or maybe the next. No, I really am gonna get back into my blog groove! It's my only documentation that I even have kids!

Blog Slacker

2010-10-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

I must say I have been the biggest blog slacker ever :-( My camera has been out of commission for some time now, so I haven't been taking any pictures. I finally went to Wolf Camera today to have them take a look at it. The guy told me it was pretty much screwed, so now I've gotta get a new one. Being that it's the holiday season, I can't go long without one, so Chris and I are gonna go to Best Buy tmrw after our weekly sushi lunch date. I hope I leave with a new camera!

We haven't really been doing a whole lot of interesting things around here lately. I know that's about to change though with all of the holidays approaching. I had a house full of sick kids last week, so that was no fun. Poor girls both had double ear infections :-((( They felt horrible! They were feeling a bit better by the weekend, so we dropped them off to spend some time with their Nommie and Poppy, and we took Landon to the Ranger game. Chris' company had a suite reserved for the Sat playoff game. I hope they make it to the World Series and maybe we will get to go again. Landon LOVES the Ranger game. That evening, a few of my girlfriends and I spent some patio time at El Arroyo for Kara's birthday. Today, I took my dad to lunch at Olive Garden for his birthday. It was a fun weekend and start to my week.

This weekend should be super fun. My very good friend Erika is getting married to one of my best friend's brother, Thomas. Chris and I are going to the wedding and then to the reception at Joe T Garcia's. Yum! I'm super excited for a night out with great friends. The rest of the weekend is dedicated to fall fun. We are heading to the pumpkin patch to get some pics (if I have a camera...grrrr) and then home to carve our family of pumpkins. I've also got some crafty Halloween stuff for the kiddos to do. I better have a camera by then so I can document our fun!

Kids Pictures

2010-09-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

I got the kids pictures taken last week. I had Paige Walker do the honors, and they turned out AWESOME!!!! The whole picture taking experience was a little chaotic with 3 small children, but Paige managed to capture some amazing shots of my beauties :-) Go to www.paigewalkerphotography.com to view the photos. Sorry, can't figure out how to make the website a link.

-click on clients and the password is stark3

Thoughts...

2010-09-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

I don't have any new pictures to post...I must admit, I've been THE WORLD'S WORST about snapping any pics of my kids (or anything for that matter) lately. But I've noticed that my blog is being very neglected these past few months, so I thought I'd just post some thoughts...

I LOVE staying home with my kids, like REALLY LOVE IT. These past 2 years have been THE BEST years of my life so far. Don't get me wrong, being a SAHM is hard work. Luckily I have a sitter to allow me to run errands and have a little time off from time to time. Lord knows it is absolutely impossible to grocery shop with 2 babies (no room for the groceries!) Although being a SAHM is tough at times, I personally think it is the best and most important job in the entire world for a mother of young children. I'm SOOOO thankful that I am getting this opportunity.

But tonight (and the past few days) I have found myself very nostalgic about my days as a working mom. I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching. It's a huge part of who I am. I talked to my old team leader (Joni) the other day...which I'm sure is what started all of this reminiscing. I just really miss it. Not only do I miss the "teaching" part of the job, but I REALLY miss my team. I had such an amazing group of girls I worked with for 6 years. We got along perfectly and had really become best friends. Joni was seriously like a 2nd mom to me. I can trust her with ANYTHING and she taught me the ropes of my profession. She is hands down THE BEST teacher I have ever known. Being that I grew so close to Joni, Amy, and Robin, it's hard to just up and leave your bff's. I also miss all of the little stuff that comes along with being a teacher...Christmas parties, fun assemblies where the whole school would gather in the cafeteria, our VERY quick lunches where we would sit together and gossip or whatever, getting my room all spiffy for Open House (and then going to El Fenix with my team afterwards, every year), I even miss the dreaded 2nd Wed of the month faculty meetings (I would do just about anything to sit in a room full of ADULTS for an hour these days), I just miss it all.

I know I am truly blessed to be able to stay home with my children, and I wouldn't change it for anything. I wouldn't have given up my PERFECT position as a 3rd grade teacher at Dunn if I didn't think it was worth it. I LOVE my day to day happenings with my sweeties. We have soooo much fun together during the day. I am so lucky to be able to spend these first years of their lives with them because I will never get them back. But with the decision to raise these babies myself the first couple of years comes the loss of a perfect position. The awesome thing about my job is that the job itself isn't going anywhere. I will always be able to go back to teaching. Unfortunately, I think my days as a 3rd grade teacher at Dunn ES are long gone. My spot has been filled, and honestly, no one really leaves that school unless they retire or move away. My classroom has been filled with another teacher's belongings and I don't see that changing.

I mean, Team 3 at Dunn is undoubtedly the best team ever, so who would leave it? Me. I left for the perfect reason, though. To allow my children the opportunity to be with mommy for the 1st few years of their lives. Who knows...maybe by some miracle, they'll need a fifth teacher and I'll get back on. Highly doubtful, but not impossible.

I'm "planning" on staying home one more year after this year. Landon is supposed to start kinder next year, but I think we'll hold him back until the following year because of his super late Aug. 20 bday. Chris is very concerned about him being the youngest and smallest. So, if we wait, the girls will be 3 when Landon starts kinder and I definitely want them in preschool by then. It will be the perfect time for me to return to teaching. SCARY!! I've taught one grade, at one school, with the same girls, and that's it. I can't imagine another grade or another school...and no one will ever compare to Joni, Amy, and Robin. Ughhhhh...makes me sick to my stomach to think about it. I swear, if my old spot just happened to come back open this coming school year, I'd go back a year early just to be back at Dunn with my old girls.

But until it's time to get back into the working world, I'm gonna just enjoy my time with my lovies. Not everyone gets this opportunity. I need to remember how lucky I am.

My baby is 4-years-old!!!!!

2010-08-22T19:58:00.001-07:00

Landon turned 4 on Friday!!!! I can't believe he is growing up so fast :-( It seems like just yesterday when we were staying up all night with him as a newborn. It's so weird...Chris and I were talking the other day about how hard it is to remember how life was before Landon. It is easy for us to remember life before the girls because the memories of our first baby are still so vivid. But life before Landon???? Who knows...we seriously don't remember it! Weird.... Anywaz...for his 4th birthday, he wanted to have a pool party. We have a pool in our backyard, but deep pools are not exactly great for little kids to play in. So, we decided on Howard Moore Play Pool in Arlington. It was perfect!!!! The pool is 1 1/2 ft deep all over, so all of the kids could touch, even the pretties...although they kept loosing their footing and plunging underneath the water constantly! Thank goodness for Nana and Daddy who kept a VERY close eye on them the entire party so I could be a good hostess :-) Thank you! Landon and his friends had a great time. We ate pizza and cake, swam till we had pruney fingers and toes, and Landon got tons of great birthday gifts!

My ADORABLE, BRILLIANT, PERFECT 4-year-old Birthday Boy!!!! Yes, I'm bragging about my kid...that's what blogs are for :-)

Wow Wow Wubbzy was the theme. That is Landon's favorite show on Nick Jr right now.

Presents!!

Adorable Benjamin!

Landry and her little sister. Landry is in Landon's class at school.

Landon getting a little help with the candles from best buddy Mitchell.

Singing Happy Birthday

Wow! Look at my cool cake!

Daddy and Allie under the waterfall.

Johnna and Ben

Audrey and Jackson. Jackson is too cool for school throwing that peace sign :-)

Landry

Nana and Allie. I love this picture! It is too cute!

Best buds from school...Mitchell and Landon

Uncle Shaun and hmmmm....not quite sure! ha!

Claire and Lauren

Cute-pa-tootie Mitchell

GG, Aunt Steph, and Grandma (aka Chris' grandma, Chris' brother's wife (due anyday), and Chris' mom) Oh! and baby Austin, our newest nephew!

Grayson, Jamey, Stevi, Denton, Kimmie, and Audrey

Gabby, Kyler, and Kyler's mom Sara (Landon's friends from school)

My BRILLIANT, and I mean brilliant niece Olivia. I'm pretty sure she's a real-life genius.

Emily...I LOVE that sweet face!!!

Sweet Claire

So much fun!!

Awe...Landon giving his sister some love. Do I know which one? Not so much....

Cutie Chloe

The Pretties with Daddy!

Pretty Audrey

Summertime Fun

2010-07-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

We've been staying busy this summer, doing things like......

Playing in the rain

Hanging out with Caden at Abbey's Playtown

Having storytime with daddy while mommy cooks dinner

Going to the neighborhood park during the cool evenings to run around and play baseball

And spending lots of time staying cool at the pool with Grayson, Denton, and Hayden

We sure are enjoying our summer!!

Landon's 1st Dentist Appointment!

2010-07-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Landon had his first dentist visit about 3 weeks ago. Apparently, I was a little late being that the dentist told me children should be seen every 6 months after the first tooth comes through! Uh oh...just about 3 years too late ;) He told me that they don't clean them till their 2 or 3 yrs old...but they like to check the teeth alignment and so on right from the teething stage. And if they aren't aligned correctly??? What are they gonna do...give a baby a retainer? I don't think so. They told me they'd love to see the girls for their first visit whenever I was ready. I think I'll take them a little earlier than Landon, but not right now. I think I'll wait another year. Anyhow...the visit went great! Dr. Wright and Mrs. Marlene (the hygeinist) were super nice and Landon was such a big boy! He was a bit shy at first, but then he let them do their thing with no problems whatsoever :)

Hmmm...not so sure about this.

Getting some x-rays

Showing Mrs. Marlene what a good brusher he is.

Mrs. Marlene wanted to make sure he was brushing correctly...and he was :)

He got these super cool shades to block the bright light.

Checking out those chompers.

Looking for sugar bugs.

The spinning brush tickled ;))))))

Dr. Wright came in after Mrs. Marlene cleaned his teeth. He counted Landon's teeth and then started using a bunch of dentistry terminology with Marlene that I didn't understand. He said that all 20 of Landon's teeth were there...and no cavities! He also said that they were aligned very nicely, and according to the x-ray, his adult teeth had great alignment, as well. Chris nor myself ever had braces, so maybe we'll get kids who won't need them either. Hope so!

Florida Vacation - June 2010 (part 3)

2010-07-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the last post of our Florida vaca!

Sabrina, the girls, and I went shopping at an AWESOME mall in Boca Raton one day while Chris took Landon to the Florida Marlin's baseball game. Unfortunately I have no pics of the game because I forgot to give Chris the camera. They had fun, though. Landon caught a foul ball and got to run the bases after the game. Us ladies enjoyed our day of shopping. The pretties enjoyed some milk while Sabrina and I browsed through the stores.

We went to eat at a Cuban restaurant one evening (which turned out to be a total disaster...sometimes dinner out just doesn't work with three toddlers). The kids loved playing in the fountain outside on the patio.

Luv his sweet smile

Sweet pics of my boys

The obligatory toes on the beach picture

Sandcastles!

I decided I needed atleast one pic of myself, so I snapped one of me :) NERD.

hahaha...don't know what my goofball is doing here, but it's cute!

Collecting shells

Took this while cruising up and down the coast. I thought it was pretty.

We ate lunch one day at Ocean's 123...it was a delicious beach front restaurant.

Sushi with my boys on the beach...my definition of paradise!

On the fishing pier

This was the day we left. I thought this was cute of the pretties...too bad it's in the bathroom by the toilet. Emily's poor eye :(

I had to capture this just for memories...this child NEVER keeps her shoes on! Here she is pulling one off. Silly Allie.

Bye Bye Florida!!

Florida Vacation - June 2010 (part 2)

2010-07-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Enjoy more pics of our vacation!

John took us out on one of the boats. The girls liked it as long as it was moving.

Daddy and Miss Em

Grandma with Emily

Landon loved it!

Me and Allie

There is an area called Boca Lake where people anchor their boats, swim, party, whatever. It was about 4-5 ft. deep, so the boys took a dip.

We spent lots of time swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool, too.

The Pretties waiting to go outside and swim

They liked walking around the backyard even more than they liked swimming....which was hard bc they would walk right in to the pool!

Target was out of boy floaties, so he got some purple ones :)

Action shot!

Tropical backyard

Awe...poor boy was in time-out for shoving his sister :(

Grandma relaxing with a book

The three stooges with their fish that they would wait allllll dayyyyy longggg for and then throw back?!?! Ummm...hello boys...why don't we cook the fish and eat it?!?!?!

Oh no! Em fell off the side of the pool (we were in the pool swimming thank goodness!) and bumped her eye on the side. Poor baby girl had an awful blackeye :(

Chris and I had a date night one of the nights we were there ) We headed to Ft. Lauderdale and ate at H2O. It was a very yummy steak/seafood restaurant right on the beach. We ate dinner, had a few drinks, and did a little shopping. It was nice!! Thanks Gma and Gpa for babysitting!

Just a big ship

Me hangin with some pirates.

Still have more pictures to post, so stay tuned for part 3 of my vacation blog!

Florida Vacation - June 2010 (part 1)

2010-07-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our summer vacation in Florida last Tuesday. We were there from June 23 through June 29. We stayed with Chris' mom and stepdad at their home in Deerfield Beach, which is right outside of Ft. Lauderdale. The vacation was WONDERFUL! We had so much fun hanging out on the beach, riding the boat, fishing, shopping, dining, and chasing around children of course ;) I took almost 200 pictures while we were there, so I've decided to post a few different blogs rather than one HUGE post. This first post documents our first 2 days in Florida. I'm a little upset with myself for not taking any plane ride pictures, but the camera was the last thing on my mind during the plane ride. Let's just say it was quite eventful with 3 toddlers ;)

Landon was ready to go fishing off the dock THE MINUTE we arrived. Grandpa John was such a trooper with Landon's nonstopness. I know that's not a word, but that's exactly how he is. Not sure why he was in his underwear and not sure where that dog came from bc it doesn't belong to them :)

This is the kind of funny random stuff John does...puts huge motorized boats in his pool.

Stripped the girls down and gave them a bottle after the plane ride from H, E, double hockey sticks!

They live on the canals of the Atlantic Ocean. The canals are all murky and gross...I was pretty nervous about Landon and Chris kayaking down them, but I stayed brave and let them do it. I even tried it!

They made it back alive :)

Chris caught a big fish! He's standing on one of John and Sabrina's super cool boats!

This was sad :( The fish was making crying sounds :(:(:(:(

L is fishing in his undies again...

Taking goofy pictures while relaxing on the hammock

Goofball

The hammock hangs under a huge mango tree...you have to make sure your head isn't right under a mango or you could get nailed if one ripens and falls.

Emily lookin cute on the beach

LOVE this picture of my boys!

Em was NOT having the beach at first...Once that tide came in and the water covered her, she was done!

Landon loved it from the getgo!

My little boogie boarder

Still pissed! Grandma trying to get them all to look up...wasn't working so well.

well...atleast one is smiling

Take 3...Em is sooooo mad, Landon is over it, and Allie is ecstatic!

Em is starting to warm up...Where are her feet? :)

Wait for me dad!!

Emily LOVES it now! Love that little prance she's doing.

Waiting for the perfect wave

hanging out with Grandma

me and my girls

We went to The Cove to eat the 2nd night. It is very similar to The Oasis on Joe Pool Lake. It's right on the Intracoastal, and everyone ties up their boats and hangs out. It was a fun place!

Stay tuned for the next few posts from our vacation!

Wedding Fun and Father's Day

2010-06-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Casey (my cousin) and Jessica got married on Saturday night. It was Landon's first wedding ever, and he did really well. I was a little worried he would be "that kid" who shouted out or chit chatted during the ceremony, but he did great. There was the occasional "This is taking foreverrrr" or "What is that man talking about?"...but overall, I was pleased with his behavior. He danced his little tiny booty off at the reception and was wiped out at the end of the night. Enjoy the pics!

Family pic...missing the pretties, but still cute :)

I love this little man.

Nommie looked Beautiful!

Nommie and Poppie dancing the night away!

Me and my momma

My husband is HOT!

I love his face!

He was shy about dancing at first. He would only go out there if Chris or I held him.

Sweetest little luvbug

Perfection

Hey Cousin Bailey...Could I have this dance?

Watch out ladies! Let me show you how it's done!

Mesmerized by the cheesy band singer

These two knew how to break it down!

Father's Day was this weekend, as well. Chris' definition of a perfect Father's Day is spent on the golf course. All.Day.Long. He met his dad for a round early early at like 7:30am and then played another round with his buddies in the afternoon. He got home around 6pm, opened up his Father's Day gift (new shoes he wanted for working out), spent some time with the family until the kids went to bed, and then passed out pretty quickly right there after. My dad came over to hang out with me and the kids for a few hours while Chris was enjoying his day of golf. He played the guitar for the kiddos and they danced and danced and danced. He also taught Landon how to play a few notes. Landon was VERY intrigued by Dad's guitar skills. He really is very good!

Here's the man of honor in all of his glory...soooooo sleepy after a long day of golf in the hot hot sun. He tried working on the computer for a bit, but that didn't last too long. Here he is snoozing away. Atleast he managed to try on his new shoes! Happy Father's Day baby! I love you so much!

Fun Monday Night

2010-06-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

About once a week, Chris and I lose our minds and decide to go out to dinner as a family. Last night, we loaded all 3 kiddos into our new car (brand new Denali XL...so excited about having a huge car for our huge family) and headed to Chuy's in The Highlands for some yummy Mexican food...my favorite. There is this new spray park right next to the restaurant, so we decided to let the kids have some "completely spontaneous" waterplay. We had no change of clothes, no towels, nothing. Oh well...nothing wrong with a naked ride home ;) I snapped a few pics of the kids getting soaked in their clothes. The first few are from when we were playing in the playroom waiting for daddy to get home from work to pick us up.

Landon took this one! My little photog :)

Summertime is here!!

2010-06-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend was the first time we got into our pool this year. I cant believe how warm it is already. I'm not surprised being that its 500 degrees outside everyday :) Ugh...this is gonna be a HOT Texas summer. I'm sure we will be taking a dip everyday. The girls absolutely loved the pool from the minute we put them in. Landon was a little more cautious of the water when he was a baby, but not these little dare devils. They are definitely water babies for sure. Enjoy the pictures of our weekend. Half of them are from our house and half are from Chris' dad's house. This might of been our last time in their pool...they are a few weeks away from moving into their new home in Southlake. CAN NOT WAIT to swim over there...it's seriously like a hotel resort pool!

My pretties talking to each other :)

Landon loves for Daddy to throw him.

Belly Flop!

My mom got him this little surfer suit in Hawaii...it started looking more like a bikini after jumping into the water so many times.

Sweet Allie

Sweet Emily

Wow Chris...you really know how to get a great shot of us ;)

Me and the hubs

Haley HATES swimming!

But it was sooooo hot...she needed to cool off. Landon thought it was so funny.

My precious boys.

Dad with his little ladies.

Don't let those sweet innocent faces fool you...they were up to no good sneaking up the stairs.

Emily (Em-a-Wee as daddy calls her)

Allie (daddy calls her A-Wee)

Cannonball!!!!

Cool jump, huh mom?

Wow, all that swimming made us hungry....time for a snack.

My sweet sweet Landon :)

2010-05-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Ivy took this picture (and the profile pic above) at Grayson's bday party the other day. It's one of my most favorite pics of me and my perfect boy.

Landon finished up his soccer season last Sunday and got a medal. He is soooooo proud of his medal! He took it to school and showed all of his buddies today. We are thinking about signing him up for the summer league since he enjoyed it so much. He's actually pretty good, too! He made a total of 16 goals this season! He said he wants to play again, so I'm sure we will be. And t-ball is right around the corner, as well. Wow...I think this boy is gonna keep us busy with sports for the next, oh, 15 years. Can't wait! I'm a real-life soccer mom now :)

After I got done with my workout this morning, I decided to go surprise Landon during his nap. He just loves when he opens those sweet eyes to Mommy in his face. I scooped him up off his nap mat and we headed to the strawberry patch down the street from his school. If you haven't been to Gnismer Farms garden off Bowen, I suggest you pay them a visit. It's so cool! They have everything from fresh new potatoes, fresh asparagus, fresh tomatoes, fresh cabbage, fresh onions, fresh celery, fresh carrots, fresh strawberries, and much more! We spent about 45 minutes filling up our basket with the best strawberries in the patch. Landon had lots of fun :) And the strawberries are delicious! So red, ripe, and sweet!

We got pretty hot picking strawberries out in the sun, so we decided to go get some frozen yogurt at Pure Bliss. It was delicious as always.

*****I haven't forgotten to blog about the girl's 1st bday party...I just haven't gotten the picture cd from Johnna yet. So, stay tuned...still.

Wow...I am WAY behind

2010-04-22T13:06:00.001-07:00

Last week, the girls and I had a swimwear photoshoot one day when we were hanging out at home. The girls got some adorable swimsuits for their birthday and I wanted to try them on for size. As you can see in the pictures, the first 2 swimsuit changes went fine...but the last 2 wardrobe changes were a different story :) And if you're on facebook, sorry you are seeing these pics for the 2nd time.

Easter was really fun this year! Chris and I decided that rather than traveling from house to house to house all day long trying to fit in all of the family on Easter, we would just alternate year to year who we spend Easter with. This year we spent it with Chris' dad's side of the family. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle John-Mike, Uncle Shaun, and Aunt Stephanie (who is expecting a baby boy this August!!), and the five of us met for a delicious brunch at Brio in Southlake. Chris and Donna (Grandma and Grandpa) are building a beautiful house in Southlake (due to be complete this June), so we all stopped by after brunch to take a look at the progress. It's looking great and we can't wait till they move in. It's going to be a great place for holidays and family gatherings. We plan on having Stephanie and Shaun's baby shower there! After visiting the new house, we went to the current house they live in and had an Easter egg hunt and hung out. The girls played with the babies and the boys played basketball. I'm pretty sure Landon beat them all at the game :) The last few pics are from home. The Easter bunny came while we were gone all day, so we came home to a house full of eggs to find. Aren't the girl's little outfits cute? Donna found them at Cracker Barrel of all places. They look old-timey, like something I wore back in the 80's. Love them.

Stay tuned for pics of the girls 1st Bday party! Yep, they are 1-yr-old now! Time sure does fly! But I must say, I'm NOT feeling the baby fever that I began to feel when Landon turned 1 :)

Swings and Soccer

2010-03-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

Nommie and Poppy (my grandparents) have some great trees in their backyard that they have hung 2 swings from. Landon and his cousin Bailey used to swing in them all the time, but now Emily and Allie are big enough for them, so they tried them out the other day. Landon loved pushing his sisters, and the girls had a great time swinging in the wind. Allie is in the blue swing and Em is in the red one. Check out the static electricity going on in the girl's hair!

Landon had his first soccer game today! All of the little 3-yr-olds were such cuties. They all mostly got in a big group and just followed the ball wherever it rolled :) Daddy did a great job coaching and Landon scored 2 goals! The girls and I watched and cheered them on from the sidelines :) We are all very excited about this soccer season...it's going to be so much fun for the whole family!

Spring is in the Air

2010-03-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying some beautiful weather the past few weeks. We've been going outside just about every single day, mainly going on afternoon/evening walks or playing in the yard. I am so ready for summer to get here so I can get these babies in the pool! Not to mention, Landon asks just about everyday if the pool is warm enough to swim yet :) It's going to be a great summer!

My mom and I took the kids to the zoo a couple weekends ago. Landon loved looking at the animals. The girls really didn't know they were even around animals...they just loved strolling around outdoors. I wish Chris could have gone, but we went on a Tuesday and he had meetings all day long.

Landon is going to be playing soccer this spring! He has his first practice this weekend, so we piled all the kids in the car and headed up to Sports Authority to get all of his soccer gear. We had already bought him the soccer ball that is required, but we still needed shin guards, cleats, those tall soccer socks, and some soccer shorts. He will get his team jersey at his first practice. After we took over Sports Authority with our herd of children, we went over to the soccer fields across the street to practice for a little bit. Landon did great! He took a few tumbles, got a few scrapes, but nothing that was too big of a deal. He can't quite control the ball while running at the same time yet. His feet just kinda follow the ball no matter which way it's going...which was usually off to another field or something :) He kept saying, "Mommy, I really want to make a goal and I can't" in a real sad voice. :( So, I put the ball right in front of the goal, and he kicked it right in. He was pleased with that :) It's gonna take some practice, but he'll get it! The girls had fun watching big bro...they enjoyed crawling on and eating the grass :) Enjoy the pics!

A few new pics of the kiddos

2010-03-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago that I never got around to posting. Enjoy!

Landon LOVED the rodeo!!

Campo Verde...yummy :)

Bath Time!

Dallas World Aquarium

If you've been to the Dallas Aquarium, you know what I went through trying to get this massive stroller down those teeny tiny aisles......but the girls didn't mind the traffic jam!

Landon showing his sisters the big turtle.

Emily thinks her sister is crazy :)

We had a great time!

Texas Snowstorm...Feb. 11, 2010

2010-02-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

We have been having an absolute blast in all of this snow! I can't believe we got 12 inches in a 24 hour period. This snowstorm blew away the all-time record of 7.8 inches! It looks like Colorado outside my front door right now, and I absolutely love it! Winter is my favorite season, so all of this snow is right up my alley. I'm not sure I would love this all the time, but if it could do this exact same thing about twice a year here, I'd be a happy camper. Landon has been enjoying it, as well. Like all other schools in North Texas, Landon's school closed today, so he stayed home with us for a fun snow day! His favorite part was snowball fighting. He loves to throw ANYTHING, so he was thrilled to know he could throw as much snow as his little heart desired :) He also liked eating the snow. We even made snow ice-cream. The girls enjoyed the view of the snow from the window most of the time. I did bring them out one time for a little bit to snap a picture, but it was just too brisk and cold for the little ones. Daddy got to stay home from work, so he got to be in on all of the fun, too! Enjoy the pictures!

I'm ready for some fun!

Viewing the fun from the front entry way....toooooo cold for little babies. brrrrrr.

Snow Bears!

Our very first snowman (built during the snowstorm)

2nd snowman (built at night, and it's still snowing!)

3rd and best snowman! (built the day after the storm) Landon wasn't having the picture thing anymore, so he kept running off as you can see in this picture :)

I had to post this...my neighbor shoveling snow in stiletto heels and a miniskirt. dead serious.

Where are Haley's back legs? I think she's peeing...oops, sorry Haley :)

Landon and Haley had so much fun romping around in the snow together.

Beginning to be over it...too cold and wet. Time to go in....

and make some snow ice-cream!

a little snow, milk, vanilla, and brown sugar...and Viola! Yummy!

Well...it's been nearly 24 hrs since a snowflake has fallen, but since it has been so cold, there hasn't been all that much melting. The snow on the trees and bushes is melting off, but we still have atleast 7-8 in of snow in our yard. I guess we'll get to play in the snow again tomorrow!

Lots of catching up to do

2010-01-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

Wow...it has been WAY TOO LONG since I last blogged! This is due partly to being a lazy blogger, but my computer has also been out of commission for a while. I sat my Iphone down on it a few weeks ago and it immediately shut down and never started back up until it visited the computer doctor. Now it's all fixed and up and running. YAY! I did NOT like being w/out my beloved laptop!

So, what's new at the Stark household? Not too much...although we do have 2 mobile little girls now :) The days of sitting them down on the floor with a few toys and tending to laundry, dishes, etc are long gone. I must be with them at all times now because they are into EVERYTHING! They don't exactly "crawl"...it's more like an army crawl/roll/scoot type maneuver. Whatever you want to call it, they definitely know how to get where they want to go!

Landon is really starting to enjoy his baby sisters lately. Now that they are playing and moving more, he has become very interested in them. I can tell he is going to be protective over them, too. It's so funny...whenever they are doing something that seems like it could be unsafe to him or if they cry because they are hurt...he comes running to me or Chris to let us know. He also likes to put them in time out :) Landon knows it is not ok to spit, so if the girls are blowing raspberries, he thinks they are spitting. Therefore, he tells them they are in time out. He says, "Ok, that's it...I've told you 3 times to stop spitting. Now you are in time out." HA! I wonder where he has heard that :)

Today was Emily and Allie's 9-month well check with Dr. Hull. As I already knew, they are perfect! Everything developmentally and physically checked out perfectly.

9-month stats:

Allie: 18 lbs. 12 oz. (50th percentile)

28.25 in. tall (75th percentile)

Emily: 19 lbs. 10 oz. (60th percentile)

27.25 in. tall (50th percentile)

Ok...so right now, Allie is the tall skinny one and Emily is the short chubby one :):):):):)

Enjoy all the pictures...they are a mix of lots of different days.

Landon with his Nana (my mom)

The girls with their Nana. She would want me to mention that this isn't her normal attire...she was on her way to work. She's a flight attendant for American Airlines. I think she looks smokin' hot :):):) in anything she wears, but she hates her work clothes.

Wow...this pic looks like I have 3 sons. Note to self...lose the blue bibs :)

Landon washing his Bevo at Build A Bear.

Shopping at Costco.

First time drinking water out of a cup and having some puffs. Yes, they are 9-months and I'm just now starting cups and puffs. I'm in NO HURRY with these sweet angels. I'm holding on to their babyness as long as I possibly can.

First time in their highchairs.

Landon "helping" with the girl's breathing treatments. They had RSV last week, but it was very mild...like a little cold. I only ended up having to do one treatment each.

Allie getting her treatment.

Emily getting her treatment.

Emily Grace is getting around!

And so is Allie Kate!

Grandma Sabrina got us these cute outfits with furry boots!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-25T21:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was so special this year. Not only was it my girl's First Christmas, but it snowed, too! ALOT! Landon had a blast rolling around and playing football in it with Daddy. We spent the entire afternoon and evening over at Sabrina and Amedeo's house (the in-laws). We ate lots of great food, opened tons of gifts, visited with friends and family, enjoyed watching the snowfall, and even got a surprise visit from Santa! I will always remember this White Christmas.

This is one of MANY attempts at a family picture. The 2 that I posted on here are the only two that were worth saving. I can't get anything out of Landon lately besides this little scrunchy grin he keeps doing. Oh well...he's still precious :) Getting 3 young children to look at the camera at the same time is pretty much impossible. I don't even try for smiles these days...just all 3 looking in the right direction. Did it happen? Not so much...

Another attempt...I think Landon had just run off across the room at this point. I had to bribe him with Christmas treats to get him to sit back down. He gave the camera this little innocent look.

Great Grandma Anda and Allie...She speaks to the babies in Italian and they LOVE it :)

Sweet Boy

Emily, cousin Olivia, and Allie...Again, getting 3 babies to look in the same direction...impossible.

Sweet Sisters

I wanted to get a pic of Landon in the snow before it melted...little did I know, there was MUCH more snow to come!

Landon pelted Grandpa with a snowball!

Oops...I cut Grandma's head off!

Presents! and Bows!

Grandma and Grandpa got Landon a new tool bench!

Landon with Uncle Beau and Aunt Jessica

Working hard on his truck.

Landon and Caleb having some Christmas treats.

Santa and his elves came by bearing gifts!

He LOVES Santa this year.

SNOW!!!

Rolling all around in it :)

Mommies big gloves.

I think he was frozen by this point...right after this, we went in for a nice hot bath :)

Leaving food for the reindeer on the snowy bushes.

Love the jammies tucked into the boots :)

December Fun

2009-12-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

We've been staying very busy this month! And as usual, I'm behind with my blogging! All of these pics are from last weekend...Enjoy :)

We went to ICE at The Gaylord Texan with Grandma Sabrina, Gigi, Uncle Shaun, and Aunt Stephanie. Landon had a great time! Brrrr...it was freezing in there!

Landon's cousin Olivia turned 1-year-old last weekend! Her party was held at The Mansfield Activities Center and the theme was The Very Hungry Catepillar. Aunt Jess and Uncle Beau went all out and the party was a huge success. The kiddos had a blast!

Our friends, Derek and Andrea had a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party last weekend, too. The outfits were wonderfully hideous :) Chris won 1st place for his beautiful turtleneck & vest.

Fun-filled Thanksgiving weekend!

2009-11-29T20:21:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is Sunday night and I am wiped out!! This has been a very fun, but super busy Thanksgiving weekend. I started out the week baking and cooking and cooking and baking. I'm used to cooking because I cook dinner for my family all the time, but this baking thing...not so much. I have never seen so much flour, sugar, eggs, spices, etc. all over my kitchen. What a mess! And it didn't help that Landon was right in the middle of it every time I started on something new. At one point, he poured an entire cup of powdered sugar all over himself and said "It's snowing!" Nice! Oh well...he had a blast helping me with all of the pies, cakes, and goodies, so it was all worth it :)

On Thanksgiving day, we headed over to Chris' dad's house for our first Thanksgiving. It was very nice and relaxing. We stuffed ourselves full of all the traditional Thanksgiving food and then plopped down on the couch to watch the game. Here's a pic of the kiddos right before we went over there. I wish I could get one with all 3 smiling, but at this point, I'm lucky if I can get one with all 3 just looking in the right direction :)

The next day, we enjoyed Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family at my grandmother's house. Nommie (my grandma) just recently found out that her cancer has returned from years ago, so she isn't quite feeling herself these days. The chemo is really taking a toll on her body, so I took on quite a bit of the Thanksgiving dinner this year. My aunt Valerie and I did lots of cooking and baking (as you read earlier) so Nommie could just sit, relax, and enjoy her grandbabies. Even though she wasn't supposed to do anything...she still insisted on doing some of the cooking. That's a grandma for ya! All of the food and desserts were wonderful and we had a great time visiting with everyone. Here are the girls sitting on Nommie's quilt. Landon ran away from me every time he saw me getting out my camera, so unfortunately I didn't get any of him. Little stinker! And oh yea...please say a little prayer for Nommie. She is very optimistic about this and has beat it before, but your prayers are still greatly appreciated.

Saturday afternoon we took Landon to the Texas Tech vs. Baylor game at the new Cowboy Stadium. Johnna and Heather took care of the girls for us while we went. Thanks ladies! I hope the divas didn't give you tooooo much trouble! We went with the in-laws, Chris' brother and wife, and his other brother who goes to Tech. We had great seats, the stadium was amazing, and Landon had a blast. College football games are so fun! I love watching the band, cheerleaders, and dancers the most :)

Landon and Grandpa...and half of Grandma

My attempt at a family pic. Chris would not be serious...therefore, neither would Landon :)

Sunday morning, Stevi had a brunch for all of us girls and our kiddos. Emily is about to have her baby boy, Nicolas...so she was wanting Sophia to get some play time in before they are homebound for a while. Plus, Kendra was in town for Thanksgiving, and this was a perfect chance for her to see all of our sweeties. She lives in San Antonio so she misses out on most of the kid's events like birthday parties and stuff. We drank mimosas and chit-chatted while the kids played and played and played. All three of mine passed out the minute we got home. Here is our attempt at a baby group shot. It was absolutely hilarious trying to keep them all on the couch for enough time to take some pictures. There are 14 kids here, and that's not even all of them! Some of the mommies couldn't come. Wow! We are some baby-having chicks!

When the kiddos got up from their nap, we decorated for Christmas. The girlies just sat and watched while Landon not-so-carefully placed ornaments on the tree. He was SOOO excited about decorating the tree. But, he doesn't get why we have to wait to open presents. He says, "But it's Christmas time?" And then I say, "But it's not Christmas DAY yet." And then he says, "Then why do we have Christmas decorations?" I just don't think that he gets that it's a month long thing leading up to Christmas. He just thinks since the tree is up, it must be Christmas now. I'm sure he'll be asking me everyday if it's time to open presents :)

The sisters watching brother decorate.

Yes, he is decorating for Christmas in a Halloween shirt....the hubby's doing.

There's that cheesy grin...

Sweet Baby Girls!

2009-11-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

The sisters are getting so big and sooooo fun these days!! Don't yall think they are looking a little more different now? They have really developed cute personalities. Chris, Landon, and I are having so much fun with them lately. They are sitting up on their own now, so they are able to entertain themselves much easier. I can just plop them down on their bottoms, give them a few toys, and they're happy for a good 30 minutes. They are alike in so many ways, yet so different as well. Here are a few characteristics of each twin:

Allie (left):

*very much my "go with the flow" baby .

*doesn't like me out of her sight for too long. If she see's me walk across the room, she'll shout out trying to get my attention.

*getting very mobile...she rolls all around the living room. I bet she'll crawl before Emily.

*has one itty bitty bottom tooth that just broke through.

*loves most anyone...not shy at all.

*HATES loud noises...I have to vacuum when she is sleeping or in another room with daddy.

*loves all baby food...I haven't found one she doesn't like yet.

*she is the smaller of the two girls.

*laughs hysterically at Landon and Haley (the dog)

Emily (right):

*Although she is perfectly content in familiar environments with familiar people, I think she might be my "slow to warm up to new things/people" baby. She seems nervous when random people ooh and ahh at her at the mall, while Allie smiles at these people.

*not quite as mobile as Allie yet, but has better balance when sitting independently.

*she would sit in the bath all day if I'd let her...maybe she'll be my little swimmer :)

*always wants to be first...she gets PISSED if I hand Allie her bottle first. It's seriously hilarious.

*has two itty bitty bottom teeth that have recently broken through.

*like her sis, she too HATES loud noises. She has a nervous breakdown just at the sight of the vacuum cleaner.

*she is my picky eater so far...she prefers fruit and gags with most green veggies.

*adores her bro and dog sister

These two baby girls have Chris and I wrapped around their little fingers. Honestly, I never thought I could love another child like I love Landon. Even when they were first born...I knew I loved them, but I still questioned myself. I remember feeling guilty about spending so much time with them when Landon was used to my undivided attention. I must admit...it did take a few weeks to FEEL the same love for these girls that I had for Landon. Like I said, I knew I loved them with everything in me...that is motherly instinct. I just hadn't developed yet what Landon and I had. But, let me tell you, the bond has been made and I love these sweet baby girls more than life itself now! It absolutely melts my heart when I walk in the room and their faces light up with joy and excitement. I mean...these girls stiffin up and literally shake with excitement when they see me! It is the best feeling ever! It's funny how God puts just the perfect amount of love in your heart :)

Fun weekend with my boy!

2009-11-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

I got to spend some good quality time with Landon over the weekend. It's few and far between when he gets me all to himself, so we soaked up every minute of it. Friday was super busy for us. I picked him up from school, we went as fast as we could to the haircut place and Target, zoomed home to get into our party clothes, and headed out to Grapevine for Hayden Bella's 3rd Birthday Party. I must give props to Cara (Hayden's mom) for the place she chose for the party. It is called Paradise Pond. It is in downtown Grapevine, and it is PERFECT for a 3-year-old birthday party. Landon, along with every child there, had a absolute blast. Sorry about the large amount of pics, but I am totally impressed with this place and I have to show you why!

Party room

Tunnel

Mini rock climbing wall

Room full of blocks

Room full of dress-up clothes

HUGE climbing aparatus

Bounce House/Slide

Basketball video game

5 kid bike thing

little bikes that went down a slanted track

climbing toy

a room full of car and truck stuff

We stayed at the party for a few hours, and then headed back to Arlington to go to Johnna's house for Thanksgiving Craft Night (aka Mom's Sit Around and Sip Wine and Gossip While Kids Run Around Unsupervised Night) Just kidding...we watch them while we drink our wine and gossip :). The kiddos made cute little handprint turkeys and had so much fun playing in the backyard. They played till about 10:30 or so. By the time we got home and Landon got his bath, he was wiped out! Thank you for another successful craft night Johnna!

The rest of the weekend was spent Christmas shopping, cleaning, relaxing at the house, and selling our dining room table! We were given this dining room table (and hutch that you don't see in the pic) by Chris' mom about 6 or so yrs ago. It is very nice, but we just NEVER use it. Now that we have 3 kiddos, we are slowly running out of room for toys, baby stuff, etc. A few friends of mine use their dining room as a play area, so I decided that was a pretty good idea. Not to mention, it is my only choice. I don't "love" the idea of our dining room being full of toys, but it's much more functional for our family than a big huge table sitting there that never gets used. We just have so much kid stuff and nowhere to put it. So...we sold it and it's now a play area!

Before

After! (the hideous rug will be removed as soon as I find a replacement)

October Fun!

2009-11-01T18:57:00.000-08:00

October was a very fun month! We stayed pretty busy the whole time, and now that it's over...November is gonna be even busier! I just love fall and all of the hustle and the bustle that comes along with it!

A few weeks ago, we went to Southlake's Fall Festival. Landon had so much fun jumping in all of the bounce houses, getting his face painted, and eating junk.

The child LOVES Spiderman!

Weeeeeeeee!!!!!

After the festival, we went to my in-laws lot in Southlake where their brand new house is about to break ground. It's going to be AMAZING! Here Landon is sitting on a tree stump. I think this pic of him is too cute!

Heather and Scott had a Halloween party on Friday night. It was so much fun, complete with spooky decorations, tasty munchies, delicious Witch's Brew (trashcan punch), and fabulous costumes! I had a great time with all of my besties! You won't find Chris in any of these pics...he refuses to dress up :( Party Pooper!

Me with my Rock Stars, Johnna and Amy

Me with my Navy Girl Kara and Starbucks Chick Nicole!

BFF

Most of the girls minus some.

Me and the dead prom queen Kimmie

BFF

Cute Costumes!

Halloween was a pretty busy day for us this year. Chris let me sleep in (Thanks babe!!) because I was feeling that witches brew for a little while Sat. morning :) We started the festivities at Ben Teague's (Johnna's son) 2nd Birthday Party! It was in a big gym inside a church. All of the kiddos and some of the parent's dressed up in their Halloween costumes. I LOVE the costume idea that Johnna has thought of for Ben's party each year. It gives us all a chance to see all of the kids dressed up b/c we all do our own thing on Halloween night. Everyone was super cute! They had balls everywhere to play with and a huge bounce house. I think my hubby had just as much fun as the kids. He played basketball with the kiddos and some of the other husbands the whole time. Everyone had a blast and Ben got some great gifts! Thanks for inviting us BFF's! We love yall!

After the party we came home, napped, ate, and got Landon back in his costume. We then headed over to Nommie and Poppy's house (my grandma/grandpa) for some trick-or-treating. I like going over there b/c it's much calmer than my neighborhood. My neighborhood is totally packed full of kids (lots of teenagers unfortunately), and since my babies are so little, I just wanted it to be more low-key. It turned out perfect for my family. We let Landon go to about 10 or so houses and the girls followed along in the stroller. He loved saying "Trick-or-Treat" and loves that he has a big bucket full of candy even more.

I took about 432374278 pictures trying to get a good one of all 3. Here are a couple that made the cut and weren't deleted.

My precious little Spiderman. I learned this year that the days of being able to pick Landon's costume are over. I'm NOT a fan of Super Heroes, but Landon insisted on Spiderman this year. I had this precious little outfit that my mother-in-law got in China. I was gonna paint on a little mustache and he was gonna be a chinaman. Well...he had a different plan and wanted nothing to do with my precious (and authentic I must add) costume. Oh well! It's a kid's holiday and I let him win. I must say he makes an ADORABLE Spiderman! Don't you think so?

My girls had such serious expressions the whole night. Not much smiling going on. I think they were either in shock from all of the weird masks and stuff they were seeing that day or they were just totally dead bread from lack of naps!

Ha! Chris put his hat on Allie, and I thought it was too cute!

About to head out for the prize...CANDY!

6-months-old!!!!

2009-10-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

Wow!! I CANNOT believe Emily and Allie turned 6-months-old yesterday!! That is just crazy to me. It honestly feels like it was just yesterday when I was sitting on my couch on bedrest waiting for these little luvies to get here. And now they are halfway to a year??? No way! I have really started to grasp and embrace this whole SAHM thing. It took a bit of getting used to, but I am loving it now! I have taken on what I call a "part-time part-time" job. I am mentoring new teachers for the AISD. It is only a few hours a week, so it's not even enough to be called part-time, but it's a nice little break for me and I get to still be in the classroom, which I LOVE.

Soooo...the sisters had their 6-month well check yesterday and everything is perfect, but I knew that :) They are very average sized baby girls, which is great because a lot of times, twins are small for their age. Here are their 6-month stats:

Emily:

weight: 15 lbs. 11 oz. (50th percentile)

height: 26 1/4 in. (50th percentile)

head: 17 1/2 in. (75th percentile)...big noggin :)

Allie:

weight: 14 lbs. 15 oz. (30th percentile)

height: 25 1/2 in. (40th percentile)

head: 17 in. (50th percentile)

Here are some pictures of us at the Dr. yesterday, which was an adventure. I had to RUNNNNN through the parking lot in the POURING rain carrying two carriers by myself. We were all soaked :)

You can't tell, but they are all wet here, after dashing through the pouring rain. Those carseat cover things didn't do nothin!

Happy to be naked and dry :) Allie on left...Emily on right.

Chubbers.

Waiting for Dr. Hull

That's one unhappy camper :(

Some catching up to do

2009-10-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Wow...it has been way too long since I've blogged! I think 3 weeks to be exact...and that is unacceptable! I'm gonna do my best to be better at this :)

We've been staying pretty busy around here. The girls are growing up so fast...they are already almost 6-months-old! And Landon is a big 3-year-old now :) I love watching my kiddos go through all of these fun stages, but I just wish it would slow down a little. I swear it seems like it was just the other day when I was taking down all of the Christmas decorations, and now it's already time to put them all out again! We aren't having anymore kiddos (Chris thinks otherwise, but I guess he's been smoking crack or something cause he's got another thing coming), so I'm trying to take in all of this sweet baby stuff while they are still little chubby joy bundles.

I'm really enjoying being a SAHM. It's definitely a very hard job, but we've got a little routine down now that's working great. I've taken on a part-time job as a mentor for new teachers with the AISD. The school district called me out of the blue one night wondering if I would be interested in mentoring. We had been thinking about getting a part-time babysitter anyways so I could get things done like grocery shopping, errands, etc. I'm sure you can imagine what it's like trying to do ANYTHING with two infants. IMPOSSIBLE! Sooo...we hired Amy (who is amazing) to come over twice a week while I meet with new teachers and run errands. It's a nice break, as well.

Landon still goes to preschool from 9-4 everyday. He LOVES school and learns sooooo much while he's there. I've tried keeping him home with me a few times just to see what it would be like with all three kids, but by the time 10 am rolls around and the girls are demanding so much of my attention...he is asking to go to school :) I've been asked by a few people, "Why does your son go to school if you stay home everyday?" My answer to them is, "Have you raised twin babies and a toddler? And do you know how important it is to me for my children to be exposed to education at an early age?" Landon thrives on attention and being entertained. There is no way I could give him the attention he receives at school when I'm constantly feeding, rocking, strolling, bathing, changing, etc. not one, but two infants. Plus...whether I had my girls or not, I think by age 3, all children should be in some type of school environment. Being a teacher, I know how beneficial it is to their future success in education. Anyhow...I am thrilled about how much he loves school and how much he learns everyday :)

Enjoy some pics of my perfect children.

These first 7 pictures are from a few weeks ago. Chris and I took Landon to Incredible Pizza for a day of games, rides, candy, food, all kinds of junk :) He had a blast! It's like a huge Chuck E. Cheese, but wayyyyy better and lacking Chuck E. who Landon is terrified of.

This was THE SLOWEST car track thing ever. Landon was less than thrilled about the turtle-paced red car.

Although he LOVED the miniature bowling!

The camera did something weird to his eyes in this one...it looks weird to me.

Landon and daddy played several arcade games.

And they played a round of miniature golf, too! It was lots of fun!

A few random pics of the girls. Emily is on the left in every picture, and she's the twin in the single pic, as well. Girls are becoming quite the chubbers.

My mom (Nana) and I took Landon to his very first movie today!!! It was quite the experience :) We chose to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs...mistake. I should've known it would be over his head considering it's in our 3rd grade reading book. I was less than impressed with the movie (or the small portion that I saw). I have read that story like 678 times since I taught it every year for 7 years, but the movie is NOTHING like the book...and when I say nothing, I mean ABSOLUTELY nothing. They should have called the movie something else. Anyway...Landon had me laughing the whole time. He kept shouting out, "It's dark!", "Where's the meatballs?" and "Where's my movie?" And I mean SHOUTING...over and over again. I was like, "This is your movie." He didn't get it...I guess he was expecting Dora, Diego, or Wonder Pets. Then he wanted to have a long discussion about the turkeys he saw at the ranch with Nana that day. He didn't get that there is NO TALKING in a movie theater. His body kept getting folded up into the chair, too. He would shout (in his very hick accent),"Momma...this chair is like the Rangers!" because they folded up like the ones at the stadium. Mom and I got a kick out of him the whole time :) He lasted about 45 minutes and then we went to the arcade for a minute. It was a fun first experience :) Check out his cheesy grin he keeps doing for the camera...

Wow...what a scary day it was...

2009-09-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, today is September 11...a day that has gone down in the History books as one of the most devasting days our country has ever had. I wanted to blog about what happened on this day, so I will never forget and so that my children can read about my experience. Although...I don't think it is possible to ever forget exactly what you were doing when the devastation occurred......

It was around 7 am in the morning and I was getting ready to go to class. At the time, I was 22-years-old, living with Chris in our first apt, and attending the UTA School of Education. I have always drank coffee and watched the news while getting ready in the morning, and that is exactly what I was doing. I remember a Breaking News story coming on saying that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings in NYC. I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, that pilot must have fallen asleep or something. How do you miss a building that big?" I went to get Chris because I knew he would want to watch this story. I thought it was so sad because lots of innocent people where going to die from this mistake. So, we watched. And then, all of the sudden...another plane crashed into the OTHER World Trade Center building. Chris and I were in shock. At that point, the News reporters started speculating that this was the act of terrorists. They determined that both of these planes where bound for Los Angelos, but had more than likely been hijacked.

Then it hit me! Oh my gosh!! My mom was supposed to be leaving that morning for a trip...TO LOS ANGELOS!!!!!! She was and still is a flight attendant for American Airlines. I frantically started calling her. She wouldn't answer...wouldn't answer...wouldn't answer. A little while passed by, and by this time, they had determined that the 2 planes had been hijacked by terrorists and purposefully crashed. Finally, my mother called me back. THANK YOU GOD! She was like, "What's wrong? Do you know of something going on because we have been grounded on the runway and are not aloud to take off." The only thing the pilot had told them is that there was a "National Emergency" and that they would not be taking off. So...I broke the news to her and she told the other flight attendants. Of course, they were all devastated and very scared. As I was talking to her, I watched as the 3rd hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon. And then the worst part...the 2 World Trade Center buildings collapsed, killing just about everyone in sight of them. She really couldn't believe what she was hearing...as I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Sooo...they sat on the runway for hours waiting for approval to exit the plane, and when they finally got off, the employees where directed to go to the blood bank to give blood. My mother did just that...and returned home. I continued watching the coverage (which lasted for weeks), and needless to say...did not go to class.

I remember it being one of the saddest days I had ever experienced. It was also one of the most frightened I have ever been. Until I heard my mom's voice, I just knew she was in one of those hijacked planes. Luckily...they never even had a chance to take off because it all happened right before take-off. It was so weird...it was like the world stopped. Every single tv show stopped, and there was nothing but coverage for atleast a week or two. Air travel completely stopped for so long...I don't even remember how long...I think like a month or two. Everyone...and I mean everyone was just so sad. Thousands of people lost their lives due to these heartless terrorists. To this day, I still can't believe it happened.

Two months after this happened, my mom and I made a trip to NYC. As crazy as it sounds, the buildings were still smoking. And the smell...the smell was horrific. And as much as I hate to say it...it was the smell of death. It STILL smelled like burning bodies. There were devastated people everywhere frantically searching for their loved ones. I mean like hundreds and hundreds of crying people. Visiting during this time was definitely a life-changing experience. I am very thankful that my mom gave me the opportunity to experience history in the making.

Today is the 8th anniversary of this terrible day. As I was driving Landon to school this morning, I drove past a police station where all of the officers where outside having a moment of silence...heads bowed, hands on heart. It was very humbling to see. I just pray that the families of the loved ones who were killed have moved on from this and are in a better place than the way I witnessed them that day in New York.

I took some pictures of the weekend we spent in NYC. I'm gonna try to dig them up and post a few. So stay tuned...

The ups and downs of being a SAHM

2009-09-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well...I think I've had my first official meltdown since deciding to be a SAHM.

My little luvies have been under the weather for over a week now...and it's beginning to take a toll on me. Emily's cold has been very mild, but Allie has been super congested with an awful cough. She coughs so hard that she ends up gagging and then throwing up. I ended up taking her to the Dr. after several days of no improvement. Like usual...she said it was just a cold that had to run it's course and advised me to use the aspirator, incline her mattress, and turn on the humidifier...all of which I had already been doing. They also aren't eating like they usually do. Emily usually scarfs her bottle down like she's never eaten before...and she just seems uninterested as of late. Same with Allie. Chris and I think this could either be because they aren't feeling up to par or maybe they are teething. Landon wasn't as interested in his bottle when he began teething. Either way, it is stressful to me when they won't eat well and they are feeling sick.

So when Allie puked up her ENTIRE bottle plus some while I was making dinner and Emily refused to drink anymore than 2 ounces of her bottle...all the while Landon is running around nude refusing to put on is jammies and shouting "I have a penis!!" at the top of his lungs...I had a bit of a mental breakdown..............

Don't get me wrong...I wouldn't trade this opportunity to stay home with my kiddos for the world, but let me tell ya...it is THE HARDEST job in the world. It's 10 million times harder than teaching 3rd grade. It is just so repetitive and neverending. And you get zero compensation. I remember thinking a few years ago when I had the "kid from hell" in my class, "I sure am glad they pay me well or I sure am glad this kid only has a few more months left of 3rd grade!" I bust my butt everyday to take care of two newborns...high maintenance newborns at that, keep the house looking somewhat clean or atleast tidy, clean the toilets that have Landon pee all over them, sweep, mop, and vacuum the floors, keep up with the neverending loads of laundry, make a balanced dinner for my family most nights, run what few errands are possible to run with two infant carriers in tow, and on top of that...try my damndest to get in a shower and a little make-up so my hubby doesn't walk through the door at night only to see me looking exactly the way he left me 8 hours ago. I have always promised myself that I will NEVER turn into one of those frumpy housewives. Once I am done with all of this and the kiddos are in bed, I have a few hours before it starts all over again. Sometimes it just feels like there is no end in sight. I think what I'm missing is the adult interaction I had when I taught. Or maybe it's the "Thank you!" or "You're doing such a great job!" that I miss about being a working mom. Being a SAHM is, in a way, Thankless. I just do what I do as a housewife and mother and that's it. There's no principal or team member here to give me kuddos or give me money.

I guess I have to give myself a little credit being that I'm raising twins. I mean...I have it double-hard, right? Most all of the SAHM's in my StrollerStrides class tell me they feel this exact same way, but I have it doubletime! And girls at that! These divas are harder than Landon would have ever thought to of been.

When I think to myself, "Did I make the right choice quitting my job? Was I meant to be a SAHM?", the answer is ALWAYS yes. Even when I'm having a tough day, there is still nothing I would rather be doing than staying home with my girls. These girls ADORE me! They light up when I walk in the room and scream at the top of their lungs when I leave :) Those little luvbugs make it all worth it. Even though on some days, I want to pull my hair out...I know that this is what God wants me to do. I was given this opportunity for a reason, and I'm going to embrace it for everything that it's worth.

I think my little meltdown tonight just stems from the super hard week we've had due to the girls being sick. We've been off sleep schedules, feeding times, and they have been very fussy and iratable. Hopefully, they will start feeling better soon so we can get back into our routine. Routine is my life these days, and without it, there's chaos. Chris is such a sweet husband, though. He was trying so hard to make me feel better, and all I kept saying is, "You'll never understand!" (in a super whiny voice). Poor guy :(

Thanks for listening to me vent. Taking time to write it all down has made me feel better. Now I better go check on my sweet baby girls and make sure no one's throwing up or anything of the nature. Then it's off to bed for a good night's sleep. Awwww...nothing like my comfy cozy bed :)

Long overdue.....

2009-09-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

Landon's 3rd Birthday party was a huge success!!! It was at Pump it Up in Arlington, and all of his little buddies were there to help celebrate! Instead of uploading a million pictures, I just attached a link that you can click and see all of them. Thank you so much Stevi!!! She was my personal photographer for the day, and she captured some great shots! Enjoy!

****Once you click on the link below, just click on each picture to enlarge each one.*****

http://www.ritzpix.com/net/Albums/ListImages.aspx?s=3D67C425029436290E3DC1C8E31ED511A51327F06B51CD1A9ADA9E774218A0C6&e=BD1EC28881EF38F14E949F627DF746FE46216CC5F40F25FB013CB55AD528F55C41B6A9104F062CBDE306EDD60D474F45E599BD2570607763E12759CA879363DE

My baby boy is 3-years-old!!!!!!!!

2009-08-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today, August 20, 2006, I became a mother to the most precious, loveable, smart, energetic, funny, all-boy, athletic, fun, sweet, perfect little boy ever. I can't believe this day has actually come. My baby is already 3? No way. It seems like just yesterday when we were pulling into our driveway bringing our joy bundle home for the very first time. But, yes...it's true. Three whole years have already passed. My mom wasn't lying when she said time goes faster the older you get.

A lot has changed in these three years. Landon now has two baby sisters who he absolutely adores. I was worried that he would be jealous or rivert back to acting like a baby to gain attention, but I was wrong. The transition has been as easy as pie. He loves his babies to death!!

Landon's looks have changed significantly. He has always been very chubby since the day he was born...always in the 100th percentile for weight. As a 3-year-old, Landon has become rather skinny. I'm anxious to see what percentile he will be in at his 3 year well-check.

Landon has been doing great in preschool. He recently moved up to the 3-year-old class where he is learning TONS of stuff. The summer activities end tomorrow and "school" starts on Monday. I have to have him there by 9:00 every morning which works out perfect for my Stroller Strides (workout class) schedule. His school goes along with the AISD calendar, so it'll be time to get to work next week. They will start out learning how to write their letters and numbers and how to write their name. Being a teacher, this is my nitch, so I'm very excited for him to get started on all this school stuff :)

Landon loves all things sports. He loves loves loves baseball. Chris played baseball in high school, so maybe that's where he gets it. He's pretty good, too! Landon can whack the ball clear across the yard. He really doesn't care about toys that much. He'll stack blocks (or chunk them across the room rather) for a while, but he would really rather be outside playing baseball, riding his bike, swimming, throwing his frisbee, swinging his golf clubs, playing basketball, or running around at the park. I guess all of this outdoor play explains the loss of his chubbiness :) Or maybe it's the picky eating (I'll get to that in a minute). He also loves artsy stuff too...play dough, finger paints, coloring books, water color, etc.

Landon loves cooking with me, although getting him to actually eat the food is another story. He is pretty picky these days. The only veggies he will eat are green beans, carrots, black-eyed peas, and asparagus, but in very small amounts...like just a few bites and he's done. He likes most types of beans. He loves cheese. He HATES all types of potatoes. He'll eat little tangerines, bananas (sometimes), watermelon, and strawberries (again, sometimes). He loves penne pasta...he would eat it everyday if he could. He loves Italian sausage. He loves Chicky Lay (chick-fil-a) nuggets. He hates most other meats, but he'll take a few bites of my meatloaf. He doesn't care for sweets, and he definitely didn't get that from me. He loves Sunkist fruit snacks and Quaker granola bars. I'd have to say his favorite food would have to be cheese pizza or a dish I make with penne pasta and Italian sausage.

I couldn't ask for a better son. He is so loving, so well-behaved (usually :)), so cute, and so smart. I love you so much Landon! Happy 3rd Birthday!!!!!

1st Birthday!!!

2nd Birthday!!

3rd Birthday!! (cupcake face)

Birthday Party #1

2009-08-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

Landon's about to be 3!!!!! And he has several birthday parties lined up this week to celebrate the occasion!! The first celebration was at my grandma's house on Saturday afternoon. I had to miss my friend Stevi's baby shower that day because it was scheduled at the same time...Sorry Stevi :( Nommie and Poppi (Landon's great-grandparents) went all out!! They had delicious food, baseball decorations, a very yummy cake, awesome goody bags, a kiddie pool, a pinata, and lots of presents including a new bike!! The party consisted of my dad's side of the family and some close family friends. The kiddos had a blast and Landon got super duper spoiled...as usual :) Enjoy the pics of the fun party, although they are all out of order. I was in a hurry uploading them to blogger and didn't pay much attention to the order.

Two 4-month-olds and a baby!

2009-08-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

No, no, no. HELL no...it's not what you're thinking. There is not another baby joining our family (and you must be smoking crack if that crossed your mind)...well, not a human baby :) I sent Chris and Landon to get Pei Wei for dinner a few weeks ago and they came home with more than just dinner. Petco or some pet store is right next to Pei Wei so Chris got Landon his first very own pet...a blue beta fish named Paytle (pronounced pay dull in a hick accent). How he came up with that random name, who knows?? I'm curious to see how long the excitement lasts. I told Chris that HE'S the one who is gonna be cleaning and feeding when Landon loses interest...so far the boys have taken complete responsibility for their little friend.

Emily and Allie will be 4-months-old on Thursday! My how time flies these days! They have their well-check on Thursday, so I'll post some more pics and stats that day. Do yall think they are looking more alike or more different as they get older?

Fun with our boys!

2009-08-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Stevi and I decided we would take the boys out for a day of fun last Wednesday. Stevi and Grayson came by to pick us up at 9:45 and we headed straight to Pump it Up for an hour worth of jumping. After that, we jumped back in the car and went to Creative Hands. Actually,we did stop at Starbucks for some energy first :). This was the coolest place ever! There are hundreds of different things for the kiddos to choose from to paint. They are plaster paris (have no idea how to spell that) figurines in all shapes and sizes...The boys loved being little artists! Lastly, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and games! We spent a lot of time there and Landon did great. As you know from reading my blog, he is terrified of people dressed up with big huge character masks. He says "Their big heads scare me!!" The big rat only came out once and Stevi and I were able to hide Landon from him until he went back to his "snuggle hole". That's where Landon says Chuck E. lives :) Is that not so cute? The day was perfect and much needed. Landon and I have VERY little time together when it is just him and I. That is the one thing I worried about when thinking of having more children. I knew that my one-on-one time with Landon would be pretty much gone...and I was right. That's okay though, that's just the way it is now. It was nice though...to have a day for JUST US :)

Ready for some serious fun!

Let the jumping begin!

We made them sit for just a second to snap a pic. Stevi had to snap fast!!

Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!

They had some very important reading to do in between the fun.

Getting ready to paint!

Landon painted an alligator and Grayson painted a fish.

Proud mommies of two precious boys!

The finished products! These boys have talent!

We let the boys stand on the b-ball machines cause they were a little too small still :)

Landon hangin out with his old-school BFF. Diego is his main man these days.

Grayson peering through the window of this climbing thingy.

Pizza!!!!! If you click on the picture, you can see that these boys have a mouthful!

Riding in a GIANT rocking horse.

They got their picture scetched!

Awww...what a day! Two tired boys ready for a nap.

Look how long these boys have been kickin it! Grayson-12 months and Landon-8 months. This was at The Little Gym class they took together.

Daddy's Work

2009-07-21T09:45:00.001-07:00

The girls and I went to visit Daddy at work last week. He wanted to show off his girls to everyone at the office. Everybody thought they were adorable and they enjoyed getting spoiled for the afternoon. Maybe we'll go visit his other office this week! Thank you for working so hard for your family, Daddy! We love you so much!!!!

The girl's 1st swim!

2009-07-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

We got the girls into their bikinis today and took them for their very first swim. They were both a little shocked when we first dipped them in, but began to love the water right away. Emily continued to love the pool the entire time we were out there (which was all of 15 minutes since it's so stifling hot here in Texas!), but Allie was over it in about 5 minutes. Landon loved watching his sisters take their first dip, although he was a little concerned at first. He kept saying, "They're not big enough. They're too small to going swimming." Such the protector! I snapped a few pics of the girl's first swim in our pool. Some turned out okay, but of course my camera went dead before I could get any super cute ones. Enjoy!

My three little fishies!

Me with my sweet Emily.

Big Brother keeping a close eye on his sisters :)

My very horrible attempt at a family shot...it's just too hard with 5 people!

Me and my beautiful luvbugs!

4th of July

2009-07-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

This year, we had a great 4th of July! We stayed very busy, but had a blast. Every year, Chris has all of his buddies over for our annual 4th of July party. This year, we had it on July 3rd since everyone was off work. There were about 20 adults and about 10 or so kiddos. The dudes spent the ENTIRE day in the pool very involved in their water volleyball tournament, grilling, and beer drinking. All of us women spent most of our time either working on our tan, chasing kiddos in and out the door, grazing in the kitchen, or just visiting in the nice, cool house. The party was definitely a success!

On Saturday, I spent the early afternoon hitting the mall for all of the July 4th sales and bought way too much stuff :) That evening, we dropped off the girls with my grandma and took Landon to the Ranger game. We had great seats...right in between home plate and 1st base, about 20 rows up from the dugout. He absolutely LOVES the Ranger game. He will actually sit and watch the entire game...those baseball players put him in some sort of a trance. He literally just stares at them for hours. He wasn't near as impressed with the Ranger mascot, though. He was TERRIFIED of that horse. When we asked him why he was so scared he said it's because "his head is so big!" Oh well...hopefully he'll get over his fear of dressed up characters soon...but for now it's a good excuse to stay away from Chuck E Cheese atleast :) After the game, we stayed for the big firework show. Landon really liked watching the "Big Lights." I liked watching all of the players with their families down on the field. We went to pick up the girls around 10:30, got home about 11:30, and Landon was out like a light by midnight. It was a late night for him, but he never fussed once...such a good boy! Sunday was a very lazy day...we did absolutely nothing and I loved it. Enjoy the pictures...of course I forgot to bring my camera to the game, so there are none of Saturday night :(

Icing his 4th of July sugar cookie!

Cutie with flour all over his arm :)

Rolling out the dough with his hands...the little balls he was supposed to make looked more like little worms.

My boys!

This is what my living room looked like during the party...filled with babies!

Watch out when you're in this backyard...you could get pelted with a volleyball or drenched.

Claire, Landon, and Adianna watching their daddies play volleyball.

This is what the girls did during the party (if they weren't being held :))