Delicious!

Houston's new favorite phrase.... "MMMM "Licious"!!!! Obviously he is enjoying his chocolate here!!

Big Boy Bed!

Well, Houston has officially graduated to a big boy bed!!! 2 weeks ago we decided Houston was ready and we should convert his crib into a toddler bed. I had mixed feelings about the whole process.... there was that part of me that wanted him to be in his crib because then I would feel like he was still a baby and there was that other part of me that knew he would enjoy the "big boy bed". I was nervous still though if he was going to fall out of the bed or worse not sleep in it and sneak out at night... I didn't want to go through the whole repetition of chasing him back into his bed at night and refuse to have him sneak in our bed! But our little man has done amazing!! He never has fallen out, calls for me to come in and let him come out of his room in the morning and loves hoarding blankets and stuffed animals all over the bed! He actually has begun calling it his "nap" and has been excited to show everyone when they have come over. Yesterday my Mom came by and he burst with excitement at the door to see "Nana" coming, when she got inside he said "ome (come) on Nana... my nap!!" Mom followed him to his room Houston bounced all over that place showing her his big bed... He is so proud! He also loves for McKennon to lay with him in his bed and listen to stories!

Busy, Busy!

I can't believe how busy life has been for us lately! Last Wednesday Brooks underwent orthoscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The surgery went well and he took a week off of work to recover. He is still hobbling around with a swollen knee and in some pain but hopefully he will get a good follow-up from the doc on Monday. Since Brooks has been out of commission I have had to go into super mode and I have to admit I have been quite exhausted. This experience has just shown me how much we work together to get things done around here! On top of Brooks' surgery we also had a project started in the backyard. The retaining wall around the patio had been falling over for some time now so we finally bit the bullet and are having it replaced with a new rock wall.... Here is just some of the mess in our backyard right now.

Along with building a rock wall comes sand and lots of it! Houston has thoroughly enjoyed the big piles of sand and for hours has been entertained. He also has enjoyed looking out our bedroom window watching the men work.... he gets so excited and yells through the house, "Momma yook they fix it... hamma Momma hamma!!!!" ... The man doing the job has called him his little supervisor!

I'll have to post pictures of the finished product next week!

Confessions of Motherhood

Okay so I have a confession to make... well maybe not a confession just a tidbit of what I did this morning.... you may ask why I am sharing this little story but it is only so one day I can see all the crazy things I did as a Mommy.... I woke up before the kiddos this morning absolutely famished. So I made myself a large bowl of raisin bran, used the last of the milk and proceeded to watch the morning news. The kids woke up soon after, and we went along with our normal routine; changing diapers, chasing Houston around the house with his clothes (one of his favorite and mommy's least favorite games), brushing our teeth... you know normal morning things. Houston soon alerted me that he was hungry so we went to the kitchen and I began offering him all of the breakfast foods in the house that did not require milk... oatmeal, waffles, eggs, pancakes, granola bar... but he insisted on cereal with milk... I kept trying to offer him something else with no luck and as I stood looking in the fridge "yogurt?"... "no, cereal, milk!" and then I saw it shining bright, like a beacon of hope guiding us away from the oncoming tantrum, a 4 oz bottle of pumped breast milk! Now in my mind I thought should I do it? No... well, he did nurse for 7 months, No that's weird... well no its not, some people breastfeed till their kids are 2 or older...still no... and then I just did it... I poored 4 oz of breast milk on Houston's cereal, stuck him in his highchair and stood there wondering if he would notice. Well, he didn't, he ate the whole bowl and when he was finished proclaimed "ALL DONE!". After spin class this morning I did buy cows milk and don't plan on feeding Houston "Kemma's milk" as he calls it again...although it could be a funny trick to play on Brooks... hmmm. Just kidding!!!

Too Cute!

After enjoying dinner out with our friends the Bakers these two hams cheesed it up for a picture. They held hands the entire way out of the restaurant catching the attention of most of the people enjoying their meals... I heard many "oh how cute are they... and ohhhh look they are holding hands!" Hilarious! Houston and Riley you two are just TOO CUTE!

3 Months

Happy 3 month birthday to our sweet little girl! 3 months ago today Brooks and I became the parents of 2, Houston became a big brother and Elizabeth McKennon stole all of our hearts! Her little personality has quickly become apparent and my little diva has arrived! We definitely have a momma's girl on our hands... She prefers for Mommy over all and recently graced us with a little bottle strike... so that meant I couldn't be too far! She is smiling and cooing, oohing and grinning.... she even has a little dimple just like Mommy! She adores her big brother and watches his every move... he loves her too... his "weet girl" and "Kemma Sis"!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Daddy's Helper

Houston loves to do whatever Daddy does.... so this week he helped Daddy with the leaves and pushing the garbage can to the street. I also caught Houston taking a sucker break in a pile of leaves!!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was such a blast this year!! We started the weekend off with a costume party at our friends Philip and Rachel's House where Brooks and I went as a couple bunches of grapes! I really wanted to do something silly and creative for our costume and this is what I came up with. We looked ridiculous but had a great time and Brooks was such a good sport about the whole thing! Saturday turned out to be a perfect fall day for chili and trick or treating! Years ago Brooks and I started making chili on Halloween, friends would come over and we would pass out candy. As the years have passed, we all started having kids and Halloween at our house has become a tradition. Every year our numbers are multiplying!! Houston was so much fun this year, I don't think he totally understood what everyone was doing dressed up in their costumes but he enjoyed the whole night none the less! Here is our little man after he passed out candy to our first trick or treater... he was so proud!

Making sister smile and telling her she looked pretty in her flower costume!

MeMe, Aha, Aunt Kadi and Eric also joined in on our Halloween fun!

Aha and his sweet little flower!

Our annual picture on the front porch before heading out for treats!!

Charlie and Kelly came along too! Charlie's mask made Houston a little uneasy!

Some of the crew traveling up to see if they were going to get a trick or a treat!

Houston and Cowboy Jonathan rode from house to house in the wagon.

UT Cheerleader Lainey took a ride too!

My sweet little chicken with his pumpkin bucket!

After getting lots of treats we posed for a quick family pic!

Happy Halloween!