It's been over a year...Lots of old stuff in this post!

It has been a long time, I'd say this blog is in need of a serious revival :) Since I'm up and the house is quiet, and I actually have no dishes in the sink @ this time I thought I'd blog....it's been months!

A lot has changed in our lives since I last posted. Hopefully I can hit all the highlights.

Back in January, the paperwork went through on the house! We became homeowners sometime around the first week of January...or last week of December I don't really remember! Anyways, after that started home renovations which included repainting everything, redoing baseboards and trim, and ripping up the carpet and installing laminate wood flooring and tile in bathrooms. A HUGE job that we somehow got mostly done in a matter of a month, all while Guy and I were both working full time. A crazy time for sure. I told Guy (100% jokingly!) that once we got the house done, we could decide who was going to get half of what-good grief! Home renovations are SO stressful, and I am so glad they are almost over! I think we almost drove each other nuts, or more like I drove him nuts :D I am forever grateful for my husband, who spent many sleepless nights making our house into our home. He did an amazing job, and all the stressful days and some bickering back and forth @ times paid off. We moved in the first part of February, and I love it! However, Shelby has lately decided she is ready to go back to her 'old house' that we were renting. I think she misses having carpet...which Guy definitely does not! His allergies are so much better!

Shelby is now a 4 years old (it has been so long since I've blogged!), and is getting more beautiful each day. She is such a caring and considerate little girl, and a GREAT big sister. She totally enjoys teaching Leah everything she knows about everything...it's very sweet to watch! Leah's 2nd birthday is coming up on the 7th, and I just can't believe it. By the first of next year I will have a 5 and 2 year old...life is just flying by! Shelby's favorite number is 5, and she just can't wait!

Life is pretty hectic for us these days. Instead of just working 2 days a week, I am now working nights FT and it has been an adjustment to say the least! When I first started working nights, I did something I SWORE I would NEVER do, and put Leah in daycare for a few short weeks. YIKES. Let me tell you, that my experience was just what I expected it would be, exactly what I was scared of...and that was NOT a good thing. Needless to say, after I showed up unexpectedly with a few unpleasant surprises sprung on me and pulled her out that day with no plans for childcare whatsoever. It made for a long couple of weeks while I was working nights and staying up with kids during the day...I don't think I have ever had to function on so little sleep! I hate that I went against my better judgement, and I felt so guilty for weeks! That pretty much made me feel like I was the WORST mother in the world for even trying to take her. I was just appalled. Next time I will definitely be more selective in my decision. You love you learn...and I learned!

Life is hectic for us though. Guy works days and I work nights and we have two very busy little girls and it makes for some stressful days. I used to think I was busy when I was a stay at home mom, but now I'm really busy! There is hardly any downtime around here.

I have to admit that since Leah was born and we learned she was a girl every step of the way I have been expecting her to be like Shelby. Shelby was laid back, happy, an EASY baby. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of her, and I don't remember a time before she was 2 1/2 that I didn't enjoy her! Leah, to my surprise, is a challenge every. step. of. the. way. I now people say that their children are stubborn, but this kid is HEAD STRONG. Every expert will encourage "redirection" instead of discipline, which never worked with her-not once. She knows what she wants and when she wants it and she wants it done now. I hate to admit that I used to see kids who were stubborn and threw fits about everything like Leah does and think that it was the parents 'fault' (for lack of a better word)-and I know that is totally judgemental of me. Leah is humbling me. I learned quickly after Leah turned about 18 months that even though you do influence your children, they are who they are. There was a wonderful sermon on Focus on the Family a couple weeks ago about parenting the strong willed child-Just what I needed to hear! I am now the mother that has the toddler who screams the whole way through walmart, cant go to showers or social events due to the fact that her daughter will not sit still and will test and defy me every step of the way. There is no redirection or soothing. If she's going to throw a fit, she will and she doesn't care if you pay attention or not. It's not abnormal to have 4-5 meltdowns every time we leave the house. (this blog was a draft I wrote a few weeks ago and never posted, and I have to say in the past few weeks the fit throwing has gotten much better! We have had a huge melt down @ a wedding shower, too many to count in stores, and our latest melt down in Hidalgos was the worst, and I had to take her outside several times. I probably should have forseen this when I stopped taking the girls to church Wed. nights due to Leah fussing constantly @ 8-9 months old. Parenting Leah is definitely much more challenging, which I don't look at as a negative thing. I have to admit that it is frustrating @ times. There have been several times that I've been on the verge of tears.

Here are some milestones of the girls in the past year or so just for my own records :)

Shelby:

You now can write your ABCs, and have been able to for months now! You are so smart and have such a sweet and considerate spirit. I can't get over how attentive you are to your little sister. She is definitely your best friend. I love watching ya'll play together. The numerous hugs and kisses and books you read to her just brighten up my day. You are so beautiful, I just can't get over how fast you are growing!!

Leah:

You are now saying many words...
Translations:
Fabby-Shelby-you say her name constantly! She is definitely your favorite I think.
Dapes-grapes
TahToo-Thank you
You have started saying colors when you want to, and know your body parts. (and have for a long time, again its just been so long since I've posted!) You are very stubborn though, and if asked you will not show off your smarts! You only do it when you randomly decide you want to, so we have to listen closely :)
You now can say "Got it!" when you get something
and "Rye deh" when you are looking for something and it's "right there"
and last but not least, your favorite foods are "pipples" and "wahoos" (pickles and waffles!)

I love that my children are totally different. God has given them many distinct qualities that make them "them"...and they're beautiful! There really is nothing more rewarding as a parent than watching your children develop into young people with their own ideas and ways of doing things.

Grab a DP....This could take a while!

Whew...it's been a long time since I've blogged! I have SO much to blog about, just no time to do it! Here goes, sit down with a DR Pepper cause it's gonna be a long one ;)

I'll start off by showing you what happened to my living room this morning while I was on the phone. You'll see who I was talking to below. Came back from my bedroom and this is what I found.



Since I posted last I have gained a brother in law!!!! Probably the most exciting news of this post (except for Leah walking...sorry Chey ;)) I don't have many pictures yet, but here is a pic of me putting on my sissy's veil! She made a BEAUTIFUL BRIDE!! Wish I had been a good Matron of Honor, but I think you drop down to being a pretty bad one when your forget the Grooms ring for the ceremony :( Go ahead and laugh. I'm not joking. When Cheyenne slid the ring on Kenny's finger, it was Kaley's senior ring with a pink stone on it. Yay for senior rings and last minute improvises! Ha! I was MORTIFIED when I looked down at my bouquet and realized I had left the ring sitting on the counter in the bathroom right before the ceremony. Yeah....




So I lied in a previous post. Turns out I am taking courses this semester...couldn't bring myself to not enroll this semester. But looks like I have easy classes for the Summer semester, so that's a plus. After this only 3 more classes to go before I'm done with Pre-requisites...FOREVER!

Some exciting news-We've added a new family member. Brownie, the gray kitten (Shelby picked the name??)



We have swam quite a bit. Last Friday the kids got to put their new floaties to use as we headed to the Coleman Pool. Leah LOVED the water. She just kicked back in the pool and relaxed the whole time, and when I got her out she kept dunking her face in the water and would laugh every time she took it out. It was so cute, but for some reason being in the pool with 2 kids kept me from taking pictures....but here's some of the girls swimming her at the house w/ their friend Journey!



And Friday night we headed to Coleman's graduation to watch several people graduate. Here are some pics of us girls all prettied up:)



We also have som more exciting news....LEAH IS WALKING!! Well, not totally. She takes 3 or 4 steps here and there, but it's so cute!! She just walked 6 steps in a row as I was typing this, looks like she's getting the hang of it ;)

Chey and Kenny got back from their honeymoon, and brought the girls back lots of presents! Here they are sporting their Playa del Carmen t-shirts before VBS the other night.



Speaking of VBS, VBS was this past week. Shelby loved it and had a lot of fun.

And now for the bad news. We had bought a house that we thought was PERFECT, and turns out it wasn't. Yesterday I got on the phone with insurance agencies trying to get insurance for it, and figured out that it is in an A1 flood zone because there is a drain from the city that goes in the front yard. We had thought this wasn't really a big deal, but the more people I talked to the more I realized that it is a pretty big deal. And I also found out that when the market rebounds, the price of that house will not go up because it is in a "high risk" area. We loved the house, and hated to let it go, but we backed out of the deal (I was on the phone with the Realtor when the Cheeto incident happened!) It just wasn't for us. So now, we're back to looking.

And I got the second hole in my ears Saturday night. I'm not gonna lie, it hurt. Here's a pic of me signing the consent form :)



More exciting news. I've decided to start RN school next May. I'm really excited about it, and hate to not stay home with the girls all at the same time. Shelby will be in Pre-K, but I'll be needing a sitter for Leah from next August until the next May if you know anybody who stays home and might be interested in making a little extra money ;) Not really, I know that's like over a year away. But seriously, I will be needing a good sitter! I just won't put my kids in daycare...

I'll leave you with a pic of the girls in their "boat" trying to catch the "pirates" that stole Shelby's jewelry. "Arrgh Matey!"



I hope you were able to sit through all that, bet you finished your Dr. Pepper. I did about half way through ;)

Ta ta for now :)

1 month away!

Well, things are in full swing for Cheyenne's wedding...we're 1 month away! I'm so excited for her and Kenny, and can't wait to see my lil sis (JK! I've never let her forget that I'm 10 minutes older than her :)) be a BRIDE!! I truly hope their big day is VERY special-of course I'm a sucker for weddings since I didn't really get one of my own. I used to HATE the fact that Guy and I got married on the courthouse lawn with the feed barn in the background...but I must say I love it now. It is so...old fashion I guess! Back then we just couldn't justify paying for a wedding when we had a year of both going to school full time ahead of us! The plan was to have a wedding ceremony after we left Sweetwater, but as you know life gets in the way of things. Ha! Anyways, I've gotten off topic.

Last Friday us bridesmaids (Me, Kaley, Julie, and Kylie) went to go shop for her Bachelorette party and got some really cute stuff, as well as some not so cute stuff that is sure to make her blush...that's the point, right ;). I can't make this post without saying that Spencer's has some pretty...abstract products. Ha! The highlight of the day for me was going to eat lunch at Chili's, which is my all time favorite restaurant!. I had forgotten what it was like to sit down and eat with the girls w/o kiddos! Had lots of fun and got to catch up with old friends that I haven't talked to in FOREVER.

Leah has some exciting news too...she has said her first word and had her first swing in a swing. Her first word was "Num Num", which she says when she wants another bite. She no doubt got this from copying me because after I give her a bite I say "Yum, Yum, isn't that good!" Below is a video of her swinging for the first time! Sorry, you gotta tilt your head!



A couple weekends ago, me and the girls headed to the park in Brownwood for the Great Mom's Walk. Shelby and Leah got to spend the day with Sweet Addi Dawson. Shelby had a good time, and insisted that we blow up her own bounce house when we got home. It stayed in my living room for a few days, then we decided to put it in Leahs room so I could have my living room back. Needless to say, it is still in there and just about takes up the whole room!! My daughters are spoiled...;) Here are some pics of the day @ the park!













Shelby is also so excited that Leah can now ride in her Barbie Jeep with her! I believe we are gonna have to invest in a double seating jeep SOON!! Shelby has her eye on a big green one @ the John Deere House, sounds like a good Christmas present this year ;).





I'm amazed at the things Shelby's coming up with these days. Since there has been SO much wedding talk around our house lately, she's decided she's going to have her own wedding. And not only that, but I'm supposed to have a "boy baby to be her fabulous partner (AKA: husband)". YIKES! I tried explaining to her that little girls can't marry their brothers, but she's pretty set on they idea. I told Guy "She's smart. She knows all men are a pain in the butt, so she's gonna have me make her a perfect one!" LOL We'll continue to try to make her understand she can't marry relatives!

Hope everybody has a good weekend!! Ta ta for now :)

-Brittany

Might make more sense...

I'm not sure what happened to my post, but it got all jumbled up! So, if you re-read it it might make a little bit more sense this time!! Keep in mind, I'm new to the whole blogging thing. :)

It has been a long time since I've posted!! Leah is cruising around furniture now, and Shelby is getting to be smarter and prissier everyday. Yes, Shelby has a very prissy attitude. It is SOO cute, and SOO irritating all at the same time! Here are some random quotes from here this week:

-"Mom, Leah can borrow my doctor. I don't like getting shots, but sister does! She needs the medicine, right Mom?!?!" To Shelby's disappointment, Leah didn't get any shots that day.

-"This is BOOOOORING" *eye roll*...One of her new favorites!

-"MOM, you are ANNOYING me!" *Complete with eyeroll* She got a time out for this one (but not until after I went into the bedroom and laughed until my tummy hurt!)

-"UGHH, you are aggravating me!!" - Talkin to Guy, who is always aggravating her!

-And every time Leah is crying, Shelby does not hesitate to tell me "Mom, NURSE HER!" This is very nice when we are in a public place and Shelby half way shouts it over Leah's crying...

Yes, Shelby is quite the smarty pants these days. She has even learned how to put her own books back up at the library by looking at the letters on the books. I try to take her to the library at least a few times a month because she LOVES it! I was very proud of her the other day when she said "Okay mom, since we're leaving let me put this book up!" Of course, she also enjoys checking one book out at a time. I was kind of scared to let her check one out, since all of ours have been colored in and pages have been ripped out! However, we're on our second checked out book and there have been no instances yet! *fingers crossed*

I'll end this post with a picture of Guy and the girls doing the dishes. Shelby LOVES doing the dishes with Daddy, however, I don't like it so much because now I wait till nap time to do the dishes so she doesn't ask to help! Guy, unlike me, is not bothered by the water splashing and whatnot. I let Shelby girl help with a lot of things, but dishes isn't one of them!

A LONG week...

This past week was spring break, even though it didn't feel like it! We were very busy ALL WEEK LONG! My sis came down to wedding plan. We went to Abilene 2 days in a row, then to Brownwood one day. We got a lot done, including finding Shelby's flowergirl dress on clearance for 30 bucks! Needless to say, the girls were tired of going, and were fussy pretty much all week. Each shopping trip included a few melt downs...especially from Shelby! The Terrible THREES have hit at our house...and they are NOT fun! I am so ready for Shelby to grow out of it.

On a brighter note, last week we had some very nice weather! The girls really enjoyed getting to play outside!

Here's the view off of our back porch. Shelby is SO ready to be able to go swimming in the tank!





Shelby really enjoyed pushing Leah around in her walker.




Here are some pictures of Leah's nursery. It has been done for a good while, but I'm just now getting around to taking and posting pictures!




In this pic, notice the picture frame on the right. Shelby got ahold of this one...and added her own design. I was going to fix it, and then my Dad told me to leave it alone. He said that I'll love that picture frame later on down the road, because Shelby painted it for her sister.




On Saturday, we were on our way to the in-laws house to visit with Guy's half-sister and her family, when our Australian Sheppard fell out of the back of the pick up. Guy took her to the vet, and she had to have surgery on her broken femur. A hefty vet bill and a few tranquilizers later she is laying in the laundry room recovering as we speak. Poor Daisy!! I hope she heals up quickly.
Shelby is very concerned about her. She really wants Daisy to feel better, and keeps trying to get me to give Daisy more medicine off of the top of the refrigerator (where we are keeping Daisy's pain pills and antibiotics). She is not really understanding that it will just take time for Daisy to heal, but we're working on it. She is definitely like her Daddy and wants to fix everything right now. We were blessed with a very considerate and caring little girl!

I will leave you with a few more pics, as if this post doesn't contain enough!

Tata for now!!

Jump Up!

Well, this past weekend Guy and I got to go on a date 2 nights in a row. Saturday night, Mom gave us some tickets to "Kitchen Witches" a play showing at the Abilene Community Theater and she watched the girls so we could go. Afterward we went to one of Guy's buddies' house and had a good visit with a fire and friends. We really enjoyed the play, and had a good time with friends-it's been a long time! I didn't get any pics of us together, but here's one of me.



Our second "date" was on Sunday afternoon when we got to go to WalMart-without the girls! Thanks Kim! For most, Wal Mart doesn't classify as a date-but it sure does for us! Outings w/o the girls are few and far between, and we enjoyed our weekend. :)

I am so excited tell you that Leah learned how to actually JUMP in her Johnny Jump Up this week. I've always heard that they are the best babysitters ever, but Shelby never would jump in it so I had no idea! They truly ARE great babysitters when you're doing the dishes. ;) Here's a video of Shelby and Leah's favorite thing to do lately-playing Ring around the Rosie!




Leah has found where we keep the canned goods, and is totally fascinated! She always finds her way into the kitchen to look at them.
Leah has also developed a love of being upside down, or at least laying down with her head thrown back. Everytime we sit in the chair, we are doing this (Notice Shelby beside me copying Sister):




I'll leave you with some pics of the girls before church last night!


TaTa for now! :)

Up at 3 a.m.....

Well I am up...at 3 a.m....AGAIN! Shelby will NOT sleep through the night!!! I am so so SO exhausted!! I can not wait till the day arrives that I can finally get some rest. But, anyhow, I thought since I was up I'd fill everyone in on what's going on lately.

Shelby has decided that she LOVES the number 4. Anytime she eats she wants 4 fries, or 4 pieces of cheese, or 4 pancakes. She is getting so big and getting her own ideas about things, and it is so amazing to see! Yesterday, as I was fixing her hair before church, she said "Mom, I don't want you to fix my hair poofy." When I asked her why not, she said "Moooom, I don't want to look like a poodle!!" I busted out laughing. The things she says is SO cute!!

Miss Avery puts EVERYTHING in her mouth nowadays! I know all babies do, but Shelby had absolutely NOTHING on this girl! And, with a 3 year old running around it is hard to go around and pick up everything! Leah loves to put paper in her mouth...and if she sees anything white laying on the floor you KNOW where she's headed to.

I just realized last night that Leah is almost 8 months old (on the 7th!) I just now got used to saying 7 months old instead of 6!! And she has finally cut her first tooth!! YAY!! It is her right bottom one.

She's pulling up now and crawling in and out of different rooms and exploring the house. Sunday night Guy was in the bedroom and called me back there, so I went back there to see what he wanted. Of course, Leah started fussing and before we knew it she was in our room! She had followed me from the living room into the bedroom, and let me tell you that girl can book it when she wants to!! Here's a pic of my sweet baby pulling up for the first time!!!


And here is one of Leah in the bath!

We also bought a new couch last week! While me and the girls were at church last night, Guy went to Abilene to pick it up, and when he got it home I didn't think we'd be able to get it through the door! With a lot of pushing and turning we finally got it inside...and I LOVE IT! It is tan microfiber, and goes perfectly with our dark brown microfiber recliners. We gave our old couch to Grandaddy Bill. His couch had just about had it, and he was really glad to be getting rid of it I think!

Just gonna clean today and get things done around the house I imagine. I've gotta study 2 chapters in Gov't too. Needless to say...I will be counting down the hours until nap time!! I sure do hope Shelby will start sleeping through the night....and soon!