Merry Christmas

This is what Christmas looked like at our house this year. We had the scooter and the little push toy all put together under the tree from Santa. We had lots of fun eating breakfast, talking about the birth of Jesus and sharing presents.

Addison loved it all. She opened every one's presents for them. I loved that she wasn't at all selfish or greedy about presents. She was just so excited about each present, no matter who it was for. She would ride her little scooter over to the tree, put a present in the basket, and deliver it to whoever it belonged to.

Reagan was just a mess! She crawled all over the room, climbing in boxes, eating paper and getting into everything!

It was such a relaxing day. We walked to the park, ate a nice Christmas lunch, took naps and just played. It was a great day to reflect on our blessings and just enjoy each other.

Of course no story of mine is complete without a diaper disaster. My child held nothing back for Christmas! They were in carefully planned, well thought out, matching Christmas pajamas. However, Reagan had a giant blowout before Addison even woke up and ruined hers! Next year mama knows...save them till the camera is coming out!

Spillin' Santa's Milk

Well, Santa got his milk off the floor at the Guess house this year! Addison was having so much fun getting his milk ready, "ALL MY MYSELF!". Which, is the way she prefers to do everything these days. She was doing so well, then she got a little silly. She made a few precious faces and even decided to taste the milk. Up till now she has never liked milk, but I guess she decided anything good enough for Santa was good enough for her. She had us laughing like crazy all the way up to the point where the milk spilled all over the just freshly mopped floors!

I am not sure which incident had me laughing the most, Santa's spilled milk, or the unfortunate encounter that all the nativity scene animals had with the dog's water bowl. Not sure these particular animals were meant for water, but they seemed to come out no worse for the wear. Addison was so sweet about giving the animals a ride around in the basket of her new scooter. It was all going so well, until she crashed, tipped over the scooter and all the animals came tumbling down. Into the dog's water bowl. Which, just happened to be what tripped her in the first place.

The "My Little Pony" World Show

Here is Addison with the two things she delights in most, her babies and horses. She is riding "Rodney" with three babies in her arms and several other babies have ponies of their own. She was very specific about the instructions. They all had to put on their shoes, get on their horses and go to the horse show

A Most Reliable Babysitter....

Here is Maggie the Dog keeping a watchful eye on all of Addison's babydolls. The babies all have a name....from left to right....Baby Susie, Violet, Lucy, Pinkness, Christmas, Dora, Cinderella, Stripeness-Big-Sister, and Baby Do. Some names were suggested my Mom, some are Disney's. Can you guess which ones she named herself?

Here We Go

For those of you who haven't heard, we are moving to Denver! Tommy was offered a promotion with Coke and decided to accept. I am so proud of him!

Then, oh-my-goodness...my brother-in-law sent me these pictures from his apartment in Boulder, just moments after we agreed to go. I have never even seen snow...I don't think I am fully prepared for what we are getting into.

Lot's of winter cloths shopping in my future. I don't think my t-shirts and flip-flops are going to cut it!

A Weekend Wedding

We went to my cousin Jennifer's wedding in Dallas this weekend. The girls had a great time getting all dressed up. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to spend time with family. Addison loved the bubbles and the cake. The whole event just made Reagan really tired!

Merry Christmas

Santa was a big hit! Addison shook his hand, gave him a hug and talked and talked! She made sure he knew that she wanted a "two-wheel" scooter and that Reagan wanted a bike. Reagan just stared at him in awe. She wasn't scared, just mesmerized!

But with girls this cute....

...who cares if the house is falling apart!!!

Not one of those days where I smile and laugh about it all....

The day started at 3:00am, when I woke up with back pain so severe I was stumbling through the house looking for the Vicatin prescribed when I had Reagan. To clarify how bad the pain was, I don't even take that stuff after my C-Sections, which is why I had thrown it away. I have invested lots of time and money into chiropractics over the last two months, and am thankfully starting to feel some relief, but Wednesday was not good.

Fast Forward to 9:00am, I am now in the chiro. office, the moment they opened begging for help with my pain. My girls, who go to these visits with me multiple times each week, and are usually great, were NOT cooperative. Reagan didn't feel well, and wouldn't stop crying and Addison just bounced around the office, talked LOUDLY and climbed things. The doc did what he could for me despite the distractions and set me up on some therapy.

No luck on the therapy. No sooner then he gets me all hooked up, Addison announces she needs to go pee-pee. If you have a two year old, then you know. This prevails!!! I gave up some much needed therapy, took her to the potty and headed home.

At 11:00am a contractor shows up to fix the leak in our master bathroom. Not much good news there. The leak is a minor problem, but he has to cut a rather expensive hole in the dining room ceiling to fix it. Also, thanks to Houston and the humidity beautiful green mold had already begun to grow!

Sometime around 1:00pm the contractor left to go to Lowes for shower parts. I started the dishwasher and headed upstairs to play with the girls. Thankfully 20 minutes later I ran to the kitchen to grab something. The picture above is what I found. LOTS and LOTS of soap and water ALL OVER my kitchen and pouring from the dishwasher. This can't be good! Addison had a great time helping me "clean" everything up. Now, I am really anxious for the contractor to return and tell me what in the world is wrong with my dishwasher! Turns out, the pump doesn't work, and for this you get a new dishwasher.

I certainly have NO desire to wash dishes by hand for any length of time, so I made plans to meet Tommy at Home Depot after work. I can think of no better end to the day then the 2 1/2 hour trip with tired, hungry, fussy girls to get a new dishwasher. I ended up having to leave with the girls while Tommy took care of everything. God Bless the sweet lady in traininig who was trying to help us and three other people order new kitchen appliances.

Add to all of this, Addison took no nap and she pooped in the pull-up she conveniently put on OVER her panties and it made for an all around great day!

On a happy note, the ceiling was patched this morning and the dishwasher comes tomorrow!

Who is this Girl?

I LOVE these pictures.....so full of personality! However, I stare at them and wonder where my baby has gone? Sometimes, I see a little girl in pictures, and realize that I don't always recognize how grown up she is getting!

The Horse Drawn Carriage Parade

Each Christmas Market Street does a horse parade through the outdoor shopping mall. It is becoming a tradition for our family. We went with the Kuykendalls last year and again this year. The horses are pulling carriages and everything is decorated for Christmas. Addison, my horse lover, is mesmorized! She loves it. This year, for the finale they had a huge trailer with a giant Santa and tons of lights. He was led in and followed up by horses. Reagan was a little grumpy, although as long as there was something for her to see, she was happy.

Just Precious.....

My cousin sent me this picture of Reagan from her shower this weekend. She was so happy eating all the bows!!!

Quite Possibly the only Christmas Card we will get to this year....

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9619868483

Words for my next Resume

In case any of you out there are wondering what a "stay-at-home-mom" does with her time, here is a little piece from a conversation I had this morning.

Keep in mind this conversation occurred at 9:30am, three hours after Addison woke up. All three hours, of which, she and Reagan had my undivided attention. I had just put Reagan down for a nap and told Addison I was going to dry my hair......

Me: Mommy needs to go dry her hair now.
Addison: My babies are sick....them need you play doctor
Me: Soon, I can be the doctor again.
Addison: Mom, mom, I want that toy, way up top on that shelf
Me: (stop drying hair, get said toy) Here you go.
Addison: Mom I need some water.
Me: (stop drying hair again, go downstairs to get the water) Here you go, now Mommy needs to dry her hair.
Addison: Mommy, I want to go downstairs and watch Dora. Please go start my Dora (don't you just love that she says please.)
Mommy: Addison, I am not doing ANYTHING else until I dry my hair.

Okay, so now insert the funniest, sassy voice you can imagine. Not smart sassy, just cute sassy.

Addison: Okay, Mommy, you dry your hair, then you going to do your job???
Mommy: What is my job????
Addison: Just turn the TV on and off for me!!!

Well folks, there it is, my life's pursuit! A cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Science and I am little more than a remote control!

Little Cowgirl

We braved the cold at Pappy's house this weekend, so Addison could play in the barns. She is crazy about the horses! We went out a few times each day, so she could give them carrots, pet them and brush them. Pappy and Miss Debra have a mare in training, for Addison to show next year. We had planned for her to have her first actual ride in the saddle this trip, but it was too cold. She didn't mind though, she was happy just hanging out in the barns.

Let it Snow

It snowed!!! Yes, it sure did! In Arlington Texas, on Thanksgiving day, after having been 80 Degrees for the first part of the week, snow was falling! Big, fluffly white snowflakes.

Now, don't laugh at me....we are Texans through and through. I know many of you have yearly ski trips and frequently visit places like Utah and Colorado, but we have never even been to a cold state.

So, even though it didn't stick, it only lasted for a few minutes, and you can't even see it in the picture....we loved it.

Thanksgiving Day Milestones

We had a fun and busy Thanksgiving holiday. We started the day at my aunt's house, with my Dad's family and then went to Tommy's aunt's house to celebrate (eat more!!!) with his Mom's family. After all the turkey we headed to my Dad's to spend a few nights at his house. We hung out, let Addison play in the barns, braved the mall, and had a bridal shower for my cousin. The girls did so well, perhaps the best experience we have had traveling! We are happy to be home and resting (catching up on laundry!!!) today.

Reagan had the busiest Thanksgiving. She chose my Aunt Tressia and Uncle Bryan's house to display all manner of new tricks! First, I put her on her back on the floor, to play by the table while we were eating lunch. When I glanced down to check on her she was sitting up! Milestone #1, gets self to sitting position. Next she continued to play in the floor and worked herself over to their coffee table. I watched as, Milestone #2, she pulled herself to stand! Finally after I told everyone there that she refuses to eat solid food, she polished off plenty of Thanksgiving goodness herself. Turns out, she doesn't like baby food. Mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese, macaroni and cheese, bread....these things she loves!

Giving Thanks

This year I am thankful for.....

God's grace, love and salvation! I am so blessed to be a child of God, don't deserve it, never have and never will, but he loves me anyway!

My sweet husband and my girls' sweet daddy and all he does for our family.

Tommy's job, which provides for our family and allows me to be a full-time Mommy!

Our health!

Our extended family....our girls are so blessed to have grandparents who love them and who make time to be a part of their lives. Addison loves them so much, talks about them all the time, and counts down days when she knows she will be seeing them. In addition to the grandparents we have countless sibling, aunts, uncles and cousins who love us and our girls.

Our home, church, friends and neighbors here. We have truly grown to love this sweet town we are in. I can't imagine a more perfect place for our family to be.

In general I am just blessed, blessed, blessed! Life is just good. We are healthy happy and having fun! I am exactly where I always planned and loving it!

Saying Good-Bye to a Dear Friend

Addison gave up her beloved pacis last night. I am so proud of her. We didn't have to take them away, we have just been encouraging her to be a "Big Girl". Last night, she told Tommy to put them on the dresser. She made it through the night without them, and this morning she said she was giving them all to Reagan.

I can't even believe how easy it came! I truly thought that taking these pacis away was going to be the most difficult thing we have done as parents so far. She was in love. As soon as she was old enough to put her own paci in her mouth we started letting her sleep with tons of them, in hopes that she might sleep through the night. The habit stuck. She is used to sleeping with one in her mouth, one in each hand and many beside her. Each night before bed she asks for her "lot of pacis". She carries them with her when she comes to my bed in the morning, she wants them when she is hurt, and if she gets grumpy during the day, she might retreat to her room (or be sent there) and calm herself down by playing with them. They have most certainly been her security blanket!

This came upon us just like potty training did, because Addison wanted to do it. She has such a driven little personality. She wants to be a "Big Girl", she wants to please us, and she is always so proud of herself. Tommy and I are both very goal oriented and set high standards for ourselves. I guess she got a little of that.

She put herself to sleep in about 30 minutes last night. There was some crying, lots of chatter, begging for a snack and calling for Mommy. However, she never once asked for the pacis...I was ready to give them to her at the moments request! Tommy and I forgot about the technology of the baby monitor, which could have kept us comfortably on the couch, and sat outside her door listening to her. She sang, she counted, she talked to herself and then she finally got quiet and went to sleep. The verdict is still out on naptime. I put her down 30 minutes ago and she is still chatting away, quite loudly. I had to call Tommy and let him listen through the monitor...all the internal dialogue coming out is too funny!!!

While I am so proud of her, and happy to be over this hurdle, I am also a little sad. Pacis were the very last baby thing left of Addison. She is fully potty trained, in a big girl bed, dressing herself and becoming fiercely independent. I have tears in my eyes thinking that sometime right before my eyes, she became a little girl. She thinks I threw the pacis away, but I can't do it. They are in a baggie, safely tucked away with a few other treasures from her sweet baby days.

Kissin' in the Tub

This is what bathtime looks like around here these days! They both love it!!! It is usually the first time in the day that Tommy and I can actually have converstions with a few full sentences. We get them bathed and then can sit by them and chat while they play for awhile.

ZOO

We took the girls to the zoo on Saturday. Reagan had her first real ride on the carousel. I think she liked it, although she may have just been so excited because she was out of the stroller for the first time the whole day! We had a great time. Addison loved all the animals....a big improvement from this time last year when she thought the all the poop was the most exciting thing to see!

Life, in Complete and Total Chaos, Continues...

This morning, we headed to the library for storytime.

Ooops, Veteran's Day, no storytime.

So, we headed across the street to the YMCA to cancel our membership, since I basically have been just making monthly donations to them since the early months of my pregnancy with Reagan. We cancelled our membership and headed to the car. Addison wanted to go play at the mall for the rest of the morning. Great, right?

Wrong, the car won't start! Now I had a very similar problem a few weeks back at Chick Fil A. The car would try to start, idle really hard and then die if you put it in drive. On that particular day Sherry's sweet mom came to pick us up for a ride home and the good folks at Goodyear somehow managed to get my car across the shopping center to their building without a tow truck. They resolved the problem quickly and I walked the girls up there later that night to pick my car up.

All is better in car world, so I thought, until today, when the exact same thing was happening! Now, I am way to far from home to walk and I don't have the double stroller with me anyway. I sat in my car praying the Lord would intervene. No luck with the car starting, but at least my dear friend Michele called. She was calling to invite us to play, but instead she immendiatly loaded up her own kids and came to rescue us. I lugged my girls back into the Y to wait, while I called Goodyear and a tow truck.

When Michele got there, we began the process of transfering my carseats into her car. Thank goodness she has a TV in there, so at least Wesley and Addison were occupied. I manuevred the girls carseats into her 3rd row! This act was enough to again make me seriously consider if I ever want a 3rd child. Certainly not until Addison is big enough to crawl in the back and buckle herself. We loaded everyone up and I got instructions to meet back with the tow truck driver in about an hour. Let me also interject at this point that husband is in Dallas in meetings and unreachable, so when they ask me things like four wheel drive or two wheel drive and what was broken last time, I literally have NO IDEA!

Just as I am about to get in Michele's van to go somewhere besides the Y parking lot, I decide I should give the car one last try. What do you know? Conveniently, it works! Now I am glad that it worked, but seriously, couldn't it have been 30 minutes sooner.

I scramble to cancel the tow truck driver before I owe him any money and Michele follows me to Goodyear. She has ALL the kids and I have a nice quiet car! Michele told me later that Addison filled the ride with stories about how she cries when we spank her, which, let me tell you, is oh so often!!! I decide since the car is working just fine now, not to leave it at Goodyear and spend my life savings letting them explore the problem. At least not while Tommy is out of town. I handed Michele my garage door opener so she could take the kids to my house, while I picked up Chick Fil A for us. It is the least I can do, since she dropped everything to come to my rescue.

Well, all is well again, until I get to the Chick Fil A window and realize that I have lost both my AMEX card and my debit card. Now, I am a little embarassed. I have no money, no credit card, no check....nothing, just the eager lady trying to take my money and get me out of the way from the long line behind me. Thanfully I know the folks at my local Chick Fil A pretty well! Who and I kidding? I know them really well and they let me go on my word that I would come back to pay.

At home, I thankfully found the debit card in yesterday's pocket. And, there was a message on my phone from the nice lady at the YMCA telling me they had found my American Express on their floor. Now, how did I drop that while holding Reagan, the diaper bag and Addison's hand all while on the phone with the tow truck guy?

At least we got to spend the rest of the morning playing with Michele and her kids. And on a happy note, this weekend my house got accidently cleaned by my former cleaning lady, for free!!! Tommy accidently left the house unlocked and she accidently cleaned the wrong house. Few things could make me happier!!!

Picture This...

It all started out so well! The baby fell asleep in the car on the way home from our morning activities. When we got back to the house, Big Sister wanted to walk to the park. It is a beautiful day and I love being outside, so I happily agreed. Reagan never even stirred as we snapped her carseat into the stroller. We put Addison's "Baby Susie" in the doll stroller and we were off.

We had such a great walk. We stopped to look around, gather acorns and talk. We stopped at the turtle pond, to look at the turtle and to toss all previously gathered acorns into the water. Around this time, Reagan woke up. She smiled happily and was content to continue riding in her stroller. After Addison finished all she had to do at the turtle pond, we continued on our way to the park.

Now, this park is probably a quarter of a mile away and across a large street, so it is a big walk for her. Only recently would I even consider letting her walk all that way.

As we neared the park she was so excited, she talked about how we would park our baby's strollers and head to the swings. With her excitement continuing to build, we unstrapped our babies. First baby Susie then Reagan.

Here is where it all fell apart.....

I smelled the stench as soon as I lifted sweet Rea from the carseat. The child had vast amounts of poop all up her little back. More poop then you could even expect one Pamper's Swaddler to contain. And the bad news, organized mother that I am, I do not carry a diaper bag on walks to the park.

So, I realize I am about to have one sad little toddler on my hands, when I tell her we have to go home. She was already running for the swings when I broke the news. Just as I expected this resulted in all manner of fit throwing; tears, stomping, anger and general unhappiness. Now, I can't say I blame her. I also, don't like my plans being suddenly changed, or having something I looked forward to being instantly taken away. But, most times, I keep my tantrums contained inside!

You can imagine the walk back didn't go as well as the walk there. Addison continued to cry, cough and choke (result of so much crying). She begged to be carried and insisted her "Baby Susie" was too heavy for her. I coaxed her as far as I could, then did the only other thing I knew to do. I hooked "Baby Susie" and her doll stroller over the handle of my stroller. I picked up poop soaked baby under one arm, and tossed large for her age toddler into the infant seat of my stroller. With my remaining empty hand I pushed my packed down stroller home, while she cried that the carseat was too small (duh) and Reagan's poop soaked into my own cloths. I know we got some looks as we made our way home, but who cares! I actually was proud of my craftiness. I bet the folks at Graco never had this in mind when they designed that stroller!

Flash forward to the house 10 minutes later. Addison is still crying off and on. Still complaining of tiredness, hotness, thirstiness and discomfort. I am ignoring all fit throwing and tyring to deal with the diaper issue. I unsnapped Rea's diaper and Addison ran up, ceased all crying and asked, "What color is it?" All unhappiness forgotten

Proud to be her Mama

Addison is such a doll right now. My heart swells with joy and pride as I watch her mature more and more into a sweet young lady each day.

She is my little helper. It makes her so happy to wash dishes or clean house with me. And, she is the best big sister I could imagine. Reagan is lucky to have big sis' helping change her diapers, feeding her, delivering pacis and playing with her.

Addison is also really starting to learn more about the Lord. She is memorizing verses and praying each day. Yesterday, as we were exploring outside I asked her why we had so many worms on our street. Her response, "God just made them."

Most recently I have enjoyed walking to the park with Addison. I push Reagan in her stroller and she pushes her beloved "Baby Susie" in her doll stroller. When we get to the park we put our babies in the swings and take them down the slides. On the way home she often says, "Baby Susie crying....her just need me hold her." Then, she carries her baby with one hand and pushes her stroller with the other. She definitely has the nurturing gene.

Finally, the girl loves her Daddy! After a full two years of her being a huge Mommy's girl, it delights me to see how their relationship has blossomed. She crawls in bed with me each morning and one of her first questions is "Where's Daddy?" When I tell him work, she immediately wants to know if he is working at his office or at home. Often we wait outside for him to come home. When she sees his car, she runs down the street motioning for him to stop. Then, she jumps in the front passenger seat, buckles the big seat belt and rides home to the driveway with him. After dinner each night he wrestles her and then snuggles her to sleep.

I am so blessed with my beautiful children and with being able to stay home and watch them grow! Thank goodness I get to be here all day, because it is all happening way too fast!

7 Months

Reagan was seven months old yesterday. She is such a sweet baby! The poor thing was battaling an ear infection for most of the month, and is actually still not completley over it. That made her uncomfortable, unable to sleep and pretty much miserable for a few weeks, but she seems to be feeling much better know. We are so happy to have her smiling and cooing again. Lately she is able to get up on her arms and legs in the crawling position. She rocks back and forth and has managed a few forward movements. I think in the next few weeks, I am going to be really in for it!!! I spent much of the month trying to get her to eat baby food, which she will have no part in. I am amazed at the willfulness of a baby so young! She clenches her jaws and lips COMPLETELY shut the moment she sees the soon (we had much the same reaction with the antibiotic). I finally gave up the baby food and started letting her feed herself small finger foods. She loves it! So far she has had avocado, banana, strawberry, cheerios and crackers. I think we may skip the pureed foods, which is fine with me. This sweet little one still isn't sleeping through the night, but I think I have finally just accepted that she just doesn't need that much sleep, quite the opposite of her sister. Her favorite things this month are chomping on any kind of paper she can get her hands on, playing outside, watching sissy play, bathtime, and loving on the dog!

Dear Mr. PBS President

Dear Mr. PBS President,

I am writing to request, as a result of the recent time change, that your television schedule be adjusted accordingly. You see, my children do not participate in Daylight Savings Time, so at our house 6:00am is the new 7:00am. As a result, my child has been disappointed each morning when she crawls in bed with me, because, "Sunshine is out," and Curious George and Clifford are not on.

This recent schedule change has really caused all manner of difficulty on our morning routine. Typically the baby is just falling into a good sleep around 7:00 am after being up for the previous two hours. Supermom I am, I had gotten quiet used to tuning in to PBS and snuggling my eldest child, without every really having to open an eye. That additional hour of semi-sleep is a crucial start to a good day.

Unfortunately I must report, that said eldest child has no interest in Mr. Rogers. I loved him as a child, but she apparently has no desire to, "be his neighbor". And, the Teletubbies, well they are just frightening! I know you must understand my plight and are probably more than willing to move our beloved Curious George and Clifford up to the 6:00 hour now that this has been brought to your attention. I have asked around, and am certainly not the only mother experiencing the wrath of early risers! I speak for a community when I plead for this change.

Thank you.

Princess in Training

Reagan tried on her sister's crown while Addison was napping. She is a princess in training.

Candy High!!!

Here is she is after all the fun. As I type, her Daddy is chasing her around the upstairs. We only gave her 3 pieces of candy, but she is still crazy - hyper like I have never seen!!!

Happy Halloween

From a sweet little ladybug, Sleeping Beauty and two proud parents!!!