Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day has come and gone, and the time was treasured. It was fun to celebrate Jesus birthday for the first time with Presley, but each year Christmas has been more and more fun as we experience it with our precious Tucker Bear. Christmas is such a magical time for him! (This year he asked Santa for Gator Golf and Hungry, Hungry Hippos, and he asked Santa to bring a Ball Popper for Baby Girl.)

Christmas Eve he was so thoughtful in the cookies he picked out for Santa -- he only wanted the best of the batch! And then, oh the excitement, it was Christmas Day! I had woken up just a few minutes before Tucker, and I could hear the tiny footsteps coming around the hall to our room, and I have to admit I could barely keep my eyes closed to pretend I was asleep! I was so excited for Tucker! He came into my room and said, "Mommy! Santa came and gave me Gator Golf and Hungry, Hungry Hippos!" ("Santa and Mrs. Claus" were up very late putting Christmas together, and in our house Santa doesn't wrap, so the Santa gifts are always out, opened, in front of the tree.) I woke up Patrick and we jumped out of bed to see what Santa had done. He had in fact left the two games Tucker had asked for, along with Baby Girl's ball popper, as well as a huge fire station (Patrick would want me to tell yall "it's not a doll house!"). But as it goes with Tucker, he really only wants the things he asks for. So the big fire station, as well as all the other gifts he got, he was completely interested in! He just wanted to play Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Gator Golf. Oh, when will we learn! ha

The rest of the day we spent with my family as everyone congregates at our house, and we just enjoyed the kids and our time together. I wish I had take a ton more pictures -- I only snapped a few. (I especially regret not getting a picture of Tucker and Presley together in their jammies. We may have to do a Christmas-take-two photo shoot before I take the tree down!) Thankfully, my memory is very long. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

9 Months Old

Nine months we waited for her arrival, and nine months have past since she came into our lives. Nine months of waiting took an eternity; nine months of enjoying have flown by. Nine months of wondering how we could love another child; nine months wondering how we ever lived without her. Our sweet Presley Girl.

Today at nine months Presley is just as sweet and as easy as she could be. She continues to sleep between 17 - 18 hours a day. No joke! She is never fussy, rarely cries, and is content to just hang out. She loves Tucker Bear, baths, puffs, and her Elmo table. I've successfully kept her from crawling yet as I pull her up off the floor whenever she looks like she may make a move! I remember how busy I was when Tucker started crawling! I'll happily push that off as long as possible. Patrick insists she's said "dada" but I'm not totally convinced yet. She cut her first teeth on the bottom, painlessly, or at least, with minimal pain. She is by far the easiest baby I've ever been around. We always bragged how easy Tucker was, and Presley makes Tucker seem like a bear in comparison! Ha. We're definately spoiled.

We couldn't be happier that God gave us not one, but two precious, precious gifts. We love you sweet Presley Girl!

8 Months Old

Our sweet Sissy is 8 months old today. What a joy she has been! I can't even remember life without her.

She has really come into her own this month! Her little personality and discoveries have been darling to watch bloom. She is babbling a lot now -- we all swear she's said "Mama, Dada, and Bubba" at least once...even though we know they've never been said on purpose! She laughs and lights up when she sees Patrick, Tucker, me, and her Nana and Poppy. She smiles a big smile when any of the five of us show up, and she'll kick her legs for added excitement :o) It's precious.

Presley loves to play with toys now, and is really enjoying her play kitchen, her cube of shapes, and her lovies. She also loves watching Tucker play, and is completely mezmorized by his motorized Thomas trains when they're going around the track.

Presley Dallas is eating food twice a day now, for lunch and dinner, and she loves fruit and oatmeal. Vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes will do, but she hates green veggies and squash. She will turn up her nose at the thought of us offering these "undesireables" to her! She also loves, LOVES her puffs, or "poofs" as we call them. She sits with us at mealtimes and likes to be included in the conversations.

Presley is still has her baby blues. They are so light blue in nature and don't have a speck of brown in them that we're feeling confident that she'll keep them. Her hair has grown a lot in the past two months--her bald spot in the back is completely covered, and the hair on the top of her head is very long and wavy. She's been able to wear a bow with out a headband for quite some time now.

Presley is very social and still happily goes to all people. I think Tucker was the same until about nine months, so we'll see if that changes any time soon. Everyone that meets her and holds her instantly falls in love with our sweet girl.

Time is passing so quickly! I'm trying to savor each minute of the baby phase because I know it's gone before you know it. Knowing that she's our last baby and that this is our last baby-phase makes it all the more special. We love, love, LOVE our Presley Girl!

Best Friends

Tucker continues to absolutely adores his baby sister, and Presley lights up at the sight of Tucker Bear. I had Baby Girl sitting in on the floor of her room when I was folding laundry the other day, and Tucker wasn't home. Presley kept looking across the hall to his room and smiling, expecting him to be there. She seems to always be loooking for him. And when she gets up from her naps, Tucker races to see her.

Their bond is so precious to me. I am praying that they will continue to be the best of friends as they grow up together. What a joy they are to each other, and especially to Patrick and I. Watching them together is literally a dream come true for me. How great is our God to want to bless me this way!

Presley's Big Day

On Sunday we had Presley Girl baptized. It was a long anticipated moment, as we had decided around late March that we wanted to wait to have her baptized until our new church, Restoration Anglican, was established.

Our dear friends Jed and Stacy agreed to be her godparents, so it was special that Presley's godfather is also the one who baptized her.

It was a sweet service with family and friends, and Presley was great. She was dancing with the best of them every time the praise team got going, and when Jed baptized her she didn't make any fuss at all. My mom bought her the most beautiful dress -- she looked precious!

We love you to pieces Presley Dallas! We are praying that the Lord will help us 'train you up in the way you should go, so when you are older you will not depart from it.' All God's love and blessings to you, my sweet, sweet girl.

Happy Halloween!

We had such a great Halloween this year! My mom, my sister, my brother and his new wife, all came to our house to spend the day together. Tucker was so excited he could hardly stand it, and everyone really enjoyed being with the kids. Uncle Paul's coveted spot as number one in Tucker's life may be threatened, however, by new Aunt Stefanie! Which means poor Poppy has been bumped down to number three, an unbearable spot for him! :o)

Tucker had wanted for some time to be a fireman for Halloween, so I had gotten him a "Fireman Sam" costume that he was really excited about. However, on Halloween morning he said, "Mommy, I really like my Fireman Sam costume, but my Thomas one is still my favorite." So we returned the fireman costume, and Tucker was Thomas for the second year in a row! Presley Girl was supposed to be a princess, but we didn't have any luck finding a 9 month princess costume, so her daddy just dressed her up in her UT cheerleader gear, and she was set!

During the day Aunt Stefanie and Uncle Paul brought fruit to "dress for their Halloween party", so we all disguised our apples and melons in dress up. My melon was Michael Jackson, complete with black and white face. (I thought it very fitting that the white side of MJ's face fell off by the next morning!)

My MJ...

Aunt Stefanie's spider web...

Tucker's "Spooky" creation...

I still love Halloween like I loved it as a kid. Experiencing it through Tucker's eyes is a precious thing. I love being a mom to these sweet babies!

Happy Halloween!

Presley & Pink Bear - 7 Months

H1N1 Rears it's Ugly Head

So our little Tucker Bear hasn't been himself the last couple of days. One day his throat hurt, yesterday he had a headache, and at 5:00 this morning he had a 101.8 degree fever. So we took him to the doctor today and found out our sweet boy has the swine flu. Oh the irony. My child has the swine flu. My child, who first of all, never gets sick, and second of all, is home everyday with Patrick and Presley, and pretty much hasn't been out of the house in the last couple of weeks, has swine flu.

At first diagnosis, I found the irony humorous and laughed it off. But then it really started to turn over in my mommy-head... the swine flu. And even though I'm sure Bear is going to be fine, I had a moment of meltdown! I mean our guy really never gets sick, so it's odd to see him not feeling well. He's had three ear infections between about ages 6 months to three years, and one of those times he threw up. That's been our extent of sickness with Tucker! So today's been a little unsettling.

At the end of the day though, I've realized today, difficultly, that Tucker is God's child, and that the Father loves him even more than Patrick and I do. And while I have been more blessed than I deserve by being mommy to my precious, precious little Bear, I realize he's just on loan to me.

Heavenly Father,
Abba You stitched our Tucker Bear together before any of us knew he would come to be. You know the number of hairs on his head and every dream in his heart. You are crazy about him -- He is Your pride and joy! We praise You because he is fearfully and wonderfully made, and we thank you for letting him abide in the shadow of Your wings.
Amen

Sister Sassy - Seven Months

Hard to believe, but our little Presley is now seven months old! I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this age. Gone are the sleepless nights and stretches of time when they really don't do much of anything, and in come the days of discovery! I can tell Presley Dallas is just soaking in the world around her. She has recently become a little outdoorsy girl...clearly she didn't get that from her mother! My dad, Presley's Poppy, takes her out on long walks when she's getting restless, and it always calms her down. She likes to reach out and grab the tree leaves and bushes and feel her way around this whole new world.

In the last month Presley's little personality continues to emerge. She is happy and tenderhearted. She takes things in stride. She loves fruits and isn't so impressed with vegetables. She stinkin' LOVES to sleep, and continues to take three good naps a day. Her days fall into this pattern:

8:30 am Rise and Shine!

10:00 am Back to sleep

12:00 pm Rise and Shine!

1:30 pm Back to sleep

3:30 or 4 pm Rise and Shine

5:30 pm Back to sleep

6:30 pm Dinner time!

7:30 pm Good night world!

I know--I'm spoiled! She's up so little during the day that Tucker doesn't really see that much of her! When she is up, a favorite game for both kids is chase. Patrick scoops Presley up in her arms, and chases Tucker around the house. Presley reaches her arms out in front of her and grabs a hold of Tucker whenever she gets close enough. This throws Tucker into fits of laughter, which then throws Presley into fits of laughter. It really is the most precious sight.

I wish I could bottle up these moments and play them back for my children when they're too old to remember how much they adored each other. Each little laughter is etched into the folds of my memory, and I'm praying that little glimpses of the precious days will be stored away on the hearts of my children too.

Lady in Red

Hook 'Em!

Presley & Pink Bear (6 Months)

Six Months Old

Can you believe it? Our sweet girl is six-months-old. Happy Half-Birthday Presley Dallas!


Sweet Presley turned half-a-year old on her Uncle Paul's wedding day. If I'm honest, I really don't even know what to update here. I've been back at work the past month, and the beginning of the year is always long and hectic, so I haven't spent much time with her lately. I can tell you, however, that her Daddy has spoiled her rotten! She likes to be held all day now because Patrick can't seem to put her down! She is definately a Daddy's girl, but still loves her number one guy, Tucker Bear.

At six months, she's taken her first long car trip to Austin. It was a nightmare going there only because she barely slept...and the entire trip, from leaving our house, dropping off the car at the shop, searching three stores to get a cord for the DVD player, and Labor Day traffic took us SEVEN hours to get there! She held it together though, and even though she only napped for about 30 minutes in the car, she didn't lose it until we were about 20 or 30 minutes outside of Austin. She did much better on the way home. (It probably helped that we literally got home in HALF the time!)

At six months old she has found her tongue, and she is always sticking it out. Her favorite place to be, other than her Daddy's arms, is her excersaucer, for sure! She stands really firmly on her legs. She's also sitting up completely on her own, though she's still a little wobbly.


I can't believe in this much time again we'll have a one-year-old. Time is flying!

First Ponytail

...and notice she's found her tongue too :o)

Mommy Games

Tucker calls doing things like folding laundry, putting away dishes, cleaning up the house, etc. "playing Mommy Games". Well, today he wanted to play cars together, but I told him I had to play a Mommy Game first. He was like, "Okay Mommy, we'll play your game today instead." I was pretty surprised because he usually just says no and goes and does his own thing. So today we played that super-fun game called "Sorting and Folding Laundry". :o)

Tucker actually had a fun time!! He's so funny. First we made one huge laundry pile and he had to seperate the Tucker & Presley things from the "non-Tucker & Presley things". Then from those piles we sorted the Tucker & Presley things into their own baskets. Then we played "make a prediction about who's shirt it is" for the shirts that were inside out. We'd turn them right-side out and see if we were right. :o) We also played a "I-spy" type game, where I would give him hints about a piece of laundry that I was looking at, like "I'm thinking of something that we use after a shower that's soft and white." He was SO proud of himself when he would "read my mind!"

The funny part is, I had fun too! I realized if I let go of having to do things a certain way I could be having a lot more time with my kids! Once again Tucker has reminded me about how even our mundane routines can be made fun if we're just willing to look at things through the eyes of a child. I just love that kid!

Presley and the Pink Bear--5 mos.

These shots weren't great, but after the third picture Sissy toppled over, so that was the end of that! (I'm pretty sure she looks extremely annoyed in the first picture, and drunk in the bottom one...okay, maybe I will be giving this a second go!)