Run the Highlands

The Lake Highlands Junior Women's League hosts a 5K run and 1 mile family walk each year. It is a great way to support the community. The LHJWL puts the funding from the race back into parks and the rec center in Lake Highlands. They've done great things to make LH parks better for our kids.

Chris walked in the family walk with us and then ran the 5K. While he ran we checked out the carnival that included a bounce house, ponies, a fire truck, and the Chick Fil A cow!!! Will had a great time and Maddie enjoyed just hanging out with mom and checking everything out.

BUTTONS!!!

On the front of the Fire Truck!

First pony ride

The Chick Fil A cow

BIG slide

Bluebonnets

Disclaimer:

I took 270 pictures and really did not get that one picture of them together I'd hoped I'd get. Partially my fault for not having my flash with me and really needing it. Partially the 30 mph winds. And of course, coordinating 2 kids under the age of 3 is just easy as can be! But they are fun and there are some cute ones. I so appreciate professional photographers and their patience!

I love BABY FEET!

Will is 2.5 Today!

That is right. He's just getting so big. It makes me want to cry and makes me so proud all at the same time. 2.5 has its challenges, don't get me wrong. But he is a really sweet little boy. He has his moments where he throws himself on the ground because he is just SO emotional and doesn't know what to do. Actually had one today because he wasn't ready to leave Chick Fil A. Great...that is a nasty floor to throw yourself on. But he got over it. I can't complain too much. He loves his mommy and daddy, loves to read books with us for hours, wants to go places with us, and thinks we're kinda cool. I know it won't last forever...so we take what we can get now! He still loves to rock in his chair in his room and I think that is the most precious time of our day. SO glad I got Maddie her own chair and kept his there.

Some people push their kids to grow up and hit milestones and do things fast. It just isn't my style. Trying to cherish every moment and let him develop as he's ready. And he is doing very well at that. I think we're getting close to really trying to tackle potty training. That should be a fun experience. He's more interested and talks about it more since several of his friends now "go on the big potty". He is smart and completely understands the process, I just don't think he gets the NOT going in the big boy underwear yet. We've let him wear them for short periods of time but I haven't gone as far as to let him wear them long enough that he has an accident. For a while he didn't seem ready and with Maddie being so young I was ok with diapers. But I can tell he is more interested.

Things Will can do at 2.5

• Knows his alphabet, how to spell his name and Maddie's name. He sings the alphabet a lot but I think it is more impressive that he identifies letters in random places and can put them together to spell things.
• Counts from 1 to 20. Sometimes we loose a 15 or 16 in there...but he's pretty good at it.
• Knows all his colors
• Puts sentences together quite well. The funniest one lately - that I tried NOT to laugh at because it should have bothered me "Mommy, stop talking!". We were driving down the road and I was talking to Chris and HE wanted to talk to us.
• He says about 10 things a day I didn't even know he knew.
• Brushes his teeth pretty well. We of course still help, but he likes to do it. I think it is more the opportunity to play in the sink and with the little Sesame Street Dixie Cups. Whatever it takes! (He did go to the dentist for the first time for a check up and it went really well!)
• He knows books from front to back. We really don't have to read them to him after we've read them a few times. It amazes me. Like I said earlier, he loves to read. And he will stretch out bedtime as long as he can by asking for more and more books. We've started limiting it to a few and reading other times of the day, too. It was just taking TOO long to get to bed!
• He knows all the kids names in his class and will tell me what they said to him at school or what they did. It is funny to hear him tell his 'stories'.
• He gets tongue tied A LOT. His brain is moving faster than his mouth can - if you can believe that.

Will, we love you! You make us proud every day. You're the best BIG BOY and BIG BROTHER around!

Maddie's 1st Half Birthday!!!

WOW! 6 MONTHS OLD!

As Will would say "How that happen?".

Well...it did. And we are doing just great! We went for Maddie's 6 month checkup today and the doctors seem to agree. She is growing and developing and a happy baby. Maddie is falling in the average (50%) for all her stats - although we think she is much more than average, of course! She weighs 15lbs and 12oz. She is 25 1/2 inches long. While at the doctor she showed off her abilities of rolling by almost rolling off the table when we flipped her over. That was a close one! She grabbed for the doctor's pen and smiled and made her favorite screeching noise for everyone. The doctor also told her she really was a pretty little thing...which of course we told her she NEVER hears from mom and dad! We have to agree. She's beautiful! She did have to get 2 shots and one oral vaccine. She LOVES the oral ones - they are this cold and sugary liquid. What isn't to like. The shots are a completely different story. Luckily she really likes her thumb these days and shortly after the 2nd shot she found her thumb and the tears stopped. She's been a little cranky this afternoon/evening, but that is to be expected. Hopefully the tylenol at bedtime will do the trick.

Things to note:

• Maddie is ALMOST sitting up. She does a good job with the boppy behind her and I make her sit up as much as I can.
• She prefers her doorway jumper over anything else. She loves to jump and it is the best!
• She is taking 32oz of Alimentum formula. We tried to make the switch to good ole similac, but she was fussy so we stopped. We'll try again in a few months
• She just started solids (as you can see below). Three days of rice cereal didn't change her mind on it, but we'll keep trying. She had sweet potatoes today and wasn't too thrilled about them either. I need to go buy some apples. SURELY those are good, right?
• She loves to watch Will and giggles at him a lot (he LOVES her too)
• She's getting more hair! I can't wait to clip the front back with a bow, but it isn't coming in up front as much. She may have a baby mullet, but if so it'll be a cute one! It looks to be dark blond/light brown at this point
• Eyes are still BLUE!
• She sleeps 11 to 12 hours a night and usually takes 2, 1.5 to 2.5 hour naps each day (still swaddled, which we have to stop)
• She loves to be outside. With the weather so nice these last couple weeks we have all been out more. She loves to sit in her bouncy seat or jump in her jumperoo outside.
• She is wearing 6 month clothes and I am LOVING dresses and bubble outfits because you can see all her thigh rolls (poor girl may take after her momma).

I know there is A LOT more! But that gives you a brief idea of our sweet baby girl! We've loved every...okay, well most moments. She is a great baby and is so much fun.

NOT a fan

Maddie tried rice cereal today for the first time. It would be an understatement to say she didn't like it. She already has the move down of turning her head when the spoon comes near her mouth. Oh well, we'll keep trying!

Painting with a Twist!

We had a fun girls night with my college friends this week! We went to Painting With A Twist and had a private painting party. Basically, you show up with food and wine, they give you a private room, and you eat, drink, and PAINT. Now, we are not painters, but we had fun and I think everyone did a great job! Here is a rundown of everyone's masterpieces!

Our instructor's painting. He painted along with us and walked us thru the process step by step.

My painting

Liz's Painting

Amy's Painting

Kim's Painting

Melanie's Painting

Kelli's Painting

Emily's Painting

Coloring Easter Eggs and Easter lunch with family

Easter started out with a very early wake up call from sweet Maddie. She was ready to start the day! When we woke up we found that the Easter Bunny had visited our house and left the kids a lot of goodies! I didn't get pictures of the baskets, but Will got a scooter and a lot of fun little things in his basket - including several Yo Gabba Gabba things. He was thrilled! Maddie got her first Easter Bunny, her first "purse" toy, locking links, a teether, a cute outfit, and her first sippy cups! They both loves their goodies! Maddie took and nap and Will and I dyed Easter Eggs. We never did get around to doing it before, but I am so glad we did. He loved it and was very entertained taking the eggs in and out of the dye.

We had Easter lunch with Chris's family and although it wasn't the picnic we'd planned (because the weather was so nasty) it was a lot of fun. Will LOVES his cousins and gets so excited to see them!

I have to say, again, how special this Easter has felt. We've had a lot of celebrations over the last couple weeks and they have all been wonderful. We are very blessed.

We hope that you all have had as good of a holiday as we have! 2010 has been a great year so far, and I look forward to what is next. We are thankful for our family and our friends and know how lucky we are to have each of you in our lives!

Will with his eggs. He is so proud!

The eggs!

Paul with the kids

Cousin! They love each other so much!

Grandma and Maddie

The Halpins

Brennan & Karina - such sweet siblings!

God Bless,

Chris, Courtney, Will, Maddie, Abby and Murray

Silly Little Rabbits

Our sweet little girl bunny!

Will just a couple Easters ago. (He is actually a month younger here than Maddie because I took these pictures early for Easter cards.)

Happy Easter Everyone!