Catching up with good friends

Our friends, Lynne and Simon, came to visit us last night with their daughter, Kate. She is a week older than Maddie. It was fun to see the girls together and to catch up. Even though they live so close to us we just don't see them as often as we should! And I have to mention that Will was so good with the girls. He really is never in a situation where he is the older kid and has no friends to play with. Good thing Daddy and Simon are big kids!

Here are some pictures of the kids together.

"Why did they put us down here? Are we supposed to play together?"

All three kids together. Look at that hair!

Sweet girls!

First Last Day of School

Will's first year of school is over. I just can't believe it! He went one day a week - on Fridays - from 9am to 2pm. His class was kids that were 18mos to 23 mos as of September 1st. He loved his teachers - Ms. Jenny and Ms. Tara - and all his friends. It's been amazing to watch the children change over the year. Will's teachers made them photo albums of the year and when you look at pictures from the early days of school they look so little! I remember thinking he was such a big boy on his first day of school. I copied my friend JulieAnn's idea and dressed Will in the same clothes he wore the first day of school to compare how much he's grown. I'm not sure the shirt is the same (since we've had this shirt in almost every size as he's grown) but I think it is. And the shoes are a size larger - but the same. Can you tell we don't like change around here?

Will has loved school this year. He had a couple weeks of crying early on in the year, but after that he pretty much ran to the class every day and didn't look back. I did tell him bye and make sure he got a kiss, but he often didn't notice. His teachers call him the "yes man" because he is up for anything. He loves to do anything they suggest and is excited about it. I think he's been one of the most talkative kids in the class and they learned quickly they were going to have to sit by him a nap time until he fell asleep. My little social man. In the front of his book they created an acronym using his name:

Willing

brIght

Loveable

Little chatterbox

Next year, Will is attending school 3 days a week! He is in the 2.5 year old class. I think he'll love going more. While today I was a little sad that we are finished and we don't have school over the summer, I find myself even sadder thinking of him going more days next year. He's growing up so fast! We have fun activities like swimming lessons and church camp 2 days a week this summer. I know it'll be September again before we know it!

Will on his first day of school

And today...telling us he's 2.

Happy 6th Anniversary!

Chris and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this weekend! Six years ago I know neither of us knew where we'd be six years from that big day! And as I reflect I just think WOW! A lot happens in a short period of time. We moved across country, bought a house, added another puppy to our lives, had Will, bought a 2nd house, had Maddie, and here we are! Those are some major changes! And lots of laughter, love, screaming and crying in between I am sure! :) It has been a wonderful six years and I look forward to so many more! I love you Chris!

Chris surprised me with dinner on Friday night at Wolfgang Puck's restaraunt, 560, at the top of Reunion Tower (or as Will calls it "the BIG ball" in downtown Dallas). Here are a couple pictures. I only had my point and shoot camera with me and after I found out where we were going I so wish I'd had my SLR. But then again, that might have been annoying to the rest of the place!

Landscaping is complete!

We've been working on having the front of our house re-landscaped for some time now. We started the planning back in the fall before Maddie was born. We had a lot of trouble with the grass growing because of the huge trees and the roots. We also had a mini mudslide to the left of the walk way. Plus we just wanted to spruce up the outside! Work started in December with new flower beds, new posts on the front of the house, a new walk way and front porch and some of the plants that could with stand the winter. We then had the rest of the planting done last week, bought planters for our front porch, replaced our house numbers, and finally had the new sod put in this week. We also redid the beds on the side of the house. We LOVE it and are so happy. I have to admit that I drive by the front of the house a lot more now to just see it. It makes such a difference! I've been waiting to post pictures until it was complete so I could do a complete before and after. A huge thanks to our friend Dan and his entire crew at From the Ground Up. They did an amazing job!

Here is what the house looked like when we bought it:

And the work begins...

First they took out the old steps, which were the long, large steps that were strange to walk up. They removed the posts and put lovely 2x4,s up to hold up our covered porch. They rebuild the porch to make it larger and stoned it and the new steps, which are configured much better! We had Oklahoma Flagstone laid in a "natural" pattern and a border of the same flagstone to trim it out.

We also extended the beds around our two huge trees to help the grass grow.

And used the same stone to build new beds. There are two levels of flower beds now that are much larger than before.

Here is a picture of the new posts before they were painted (on Christmas Eve - and Carrie on the porch)

Here is a picture with the posts in and painted on the porch

And TADA! It is complete!

Lower beds planted with inpatients, hydrangeas and a Japanese maple

Walkway, front door, new planters and house numbers

Planter up close

Another shot. I'm pretty proud of these since I actually did plant them! :)

Looking off our front porch! It is so green and lush. We love it!

Maddie is 7 Months Old!

Our little princess if 7 months old! Like always, it is going WAY too fast! This month has been a big one from a developmental perspective. Maddie is sitting up on her own and loves it. She is also rolling and moving all the time. She often wants to just be put on the floor so she can move. I can tell she is so ready to be mobile. It'll happen soon, I'm sure! She is also finally eating some solids. She likes her apples and pears. We've been going pretty slow with them because she was really not liking them at first. But we're getting better. They fill her up quite a bit and she doesn't want a bottle anywhere near when she eats them (and will only eat them when she's really hungry) so managing getting all her nutrients in from formula is still our main focus. Maddie has a lot more hair. It seems to grow daily and looks like it could be wavy. With all the humidity the last week it has definitely shown its waves. It is still thicker in the back...so I'm patiently waiting for the front to grow in so she can wear hair clips! She is wearing size 2/3 diapers and is moving into 6-12 month clothes. She can sit up in the bath tub now and plays with toys a lot more. I'd estimate that she weighs around 17lbs. She had a tummy bug a few weeks ago and didn't have a great appetite for a couple weeks, but we are finally past it. She does seem to have pretty bad allergies and has been really congested. We are trying Singular to see if it will help. Right now she has 2 ear infections as well. She doesn't seem to fuss a ton about them but you can tell she is uncomfortable. We still don't have any teeth, so we're patiently waiting for them. She loves her big brother, still laughs at him all the time, and loves to watch him run around the backyard. Soon enough she'll be chasing him!

It is just amazing to me how much she seems to have grown and developed this month. It does really go so much faster with your 2ND child. She is a sweet, sweet girl.

Mother's Day Dinner with Granny Bobbye (Maddie's great gma), Dee Dee, and Aunt Carrie. 4 generations of women.

Plotting something for sure. Looks like Maddie wants fruit snacks!

Maddie with her Grandma Halpin (Chris's mom) at Karina's first communion.

Big girl in her high chair

Moving around and pushing way up. Just have to get those knees under her now.

Here is Will at 7 months, for comparison.

Mother's Day

We had a busy Mother's Day weekend that included a surprise spa appointment for me on Friday, our niece, Karina's, first communion Saturday morning, Chris and Will going to a baseball game Saturday evening, Maddie and I going to East Texas to see my grandma with my sister and mom on Saturday afternoon, and finally Mother's Day at our house on Sunday. Whew! It was a busy weekend filled with everyone we love. I couldn't have asked for more.

I was a poor picture taker, but I did get a few of Will playing with his cousins, Karina and Brennan. They had so much fun! Once I get pictures from everyone else on the other events, I'll post those.

Karina is like Will's little mommy...

And he loves her!

Tackle Karina!

Siblings having fun

Will and Murray getting Brennan!

After everyone left on Sunday, Will took an early bath (and went to bed early since he was having too much fun to nap earlier in the day). Here are just a few cute pics from us hanging out at home before bedtime.

The family hanging out in the living room

My PJ boy

"Seriously, Daddy?"

Of course, I didn't get a picture with the kids on Mother's Day. It was just too crazy. I'll add that to the list to do next weekend! I hope you all had a wonderful day. I did. I am blessed with a WONDERFUL mom of my own and two precious babies! I'm a lucky girl.

Family Fun

Will's school had their end of year picnic today. It was fun to hang out outside, have dinner, and play. Will got his face painted for the first time - although it was not complete. He was too fidgety, but you can tell it is a dinosaur. After we came home we all played in the backyard for a little bit. I didn't take the camera to the picnic, but did get a few shots at home after. I can't believe it is the end of Will's first school year!

Big Cheese!

Chasing the pups around

Maddie thinks Will is hilarious!

Ruffled backside!!

Come on Mom, leave me alone!