today

I snapped a couple of pictures today because I realized I really don't take that many pictures of my little ones on a day to day basis. I think that will become something that I may regret, so I'm going to work on fixing that. As for the blog, I'm going to try and be a bit more diligent. Maybe I can post more than once every four months. For now we're doing really well. We're trying to get our house ready to put up for sale, in preparation for our move to Washington DC in the summer. We'll spend a year in the DC area and then it's off to China for 3 years. Maybe I'll have really interesting things to post about then. We'll see.

Just so I can keep track of it (because I literally have no memory), Ian is 8 and a half months old and is scooting around, or rather dragging himself where he wants to go. He has 2 teeth on the bottom, and he loves to eat! Incidentally, I think he's eaten more in his 8 months of life than Leah has in her 28 months of life. He loves it and it shows. He's much bigger than she was at this age. Leah is able to count to 10 in both english and chinese. Her english is edging out her chinese right now (just barely) thanks to her mother's day out program. Everywhere we go in the car, she looks out the window and warns me when there's a "big truck." And not to be too sappy, I love those two little children more than I could have ever thought was possible. Rocking Ian to sleep tonight (because he was WAY over the edge) was so wonderful. Having children is such a blessing from the Lord. I hope to have lots more. : )

bowling with the browns

We were invited to a good friend's 11th birthday party at a bowling alley here in Corpus last week. It was great fun and took me back to the days of dating and having to be all goofy in the big unflattering shoes (making my long feet look more like skies) and figuring out how to confidently return to my seat next to my date after some of the worst bowling turns in history. I figured out it's way more fun with your husband and kids!
Leah was in heaven as she was able to hold on to 2 ballons, wear a stunning princess crown, and bury her face in a delicious cupcake with 2 inches of icing on top.
Oh, and she also got a lei and star sunglasses. She was quite glamorous.

Her dad even helped show her the perfect form for bowling. It made for a great Saturday afternoon!

mother's day out

Leah and I decided we needed to take some time apart from one another so that we could fully appreciate our relationship. We decided as Leah moved fully into the terrible two's, that this was a phase of her life that I wanted to be able to check out of for at least a few hours a week. That's when we walked into the glorious doors of Yorktown Baptist Church and signed Leah up for a mother's day out program. It meets for two days a week from 9am to 2:30pm. Yep, it's pretty awesome. Leah has done great from day one. And I relish the opportunity to go shopping with only one little friend to get in and out of the carseat and shopping cart. The only person who seems to struggle with it is Ian. He is a bit out of sorts on the days Leah is gone. They have become pretty good buddies lately, entertaining each other underneath the kitchen table during the day while I try (mostly unsuccessfully) to get my household chores accomplished. They don't do much besides laughing hysterically at each other while Leah steals toys away from Ian the moment he shows any interest in them. She also says a very stern "no, no, no" as she takes the toy away. I wonder where she learned that from?


Anyway, so Leah needed a napmat for "school" so I whipped one up the day before she was to start. As I was making it, I thought "Yeah right like my daughter is going to lay down on this thing in a room full of kids and go to sleep. Good luck!". Day one, no sleeping but her "teacher" reported that she was quiet during naptime which I guess is acceptable. Then when I picked her up on her second day, her face clearly had the "I just woke up" look to it. And sure enough, they said she fell asleep no problem. I was astounded, but pretty glad about it. To put her down for a nap after she gets done at 2:30 in the afternoon means a very speedy drive back home to get in before the 'it's too late in the afternoon for a nap' time hits. All in all, I'm very happy with her going to this mother's day out program. She seems to love it and has no problems being dropped off. And I pick her up hours later feeling like a much better mother. Everyone wins.


Something weird seems to be going on with her hair in these pictures, but there's really no telling what since I spent this entire afternoon sewing her napmat. Everyone survived and I guess that's all that matters.

Happy Birthday Mee-shell

{The pictures are in random order because I haven't posted in so long, I've forgotten the correct way to load pictures in order here on good old blogger}

Ok, I realize I'm a month late, but here we are. We celebrated Michael's birthday with tickets to see the Nutcracker while we were in NC and a romantic date for two at a restaurant in Raleigh that we went to before we got married. Thanks to the babysitting skillz of my mom, we were able to enjoy a really nice night with just each other. On Michael's actual birthday once we were back in Corpus, we had the Kings and the Sillimans over to celebrate Michael's birth with some delicious pumpkin cheesecake. Michael doesn't look or act 36, but maybe he's starting to feel it??? Closer to 70 than to birth. Scary thought, huh?

The green beans won

Ian is getting bigger and bigger. He'll soon outgrow little Leah, I'm thinking. After such a long break from blogging (what can I say? I have no defense...) I thought I could climb back on the wagon with some pictures of my favorite little boy.