Handy-man

We ventured out for Jonah's first kids project at Lowe's. He was excited to use a real hammer and nails. To be honest, the ball toss was a little hard for him to make and for mommy too, but we did our best and after all- sometimes it's just fun to hit the hammer over and over!

this is Jonah showing Harper what he made- doesn't she have a good view of it?

the finished product- I'm sure we will loose those balls within the next 24 hours

Birthday for Rick!

The big 37 - and a big year for Rick- becoming Daddy for 2nd time, celebrating 10 years with his sweetie, starting a new job / career as a high school Counselor-- wow! Jonah helped me make come surprise cupcakes for Rick to take to school and we had a family celebration at Justine's house b/c our house is torn up right now due to water damage.

This is what we do after school

It's so hard to find things to do after school during the cold months. Jonah gets major cabin fever because he can't play outside and right now Harper is too young to be outside for long periods of time, especially just recovering from the flu. So here are some snapshots of what goes on after 4pm in our house....

Harper's 1st ER Hospital visit

Friday AM came a little rough for this household. Rick was diagnosed with the flu Thursday, Jonah has been battling a sinus infection all week and then Harper got diagnosed with the flu Friday AM. My mom & I got put on a preventative medicine since we are around all of the flu stuff. While I was out getting prescriptions for everyone, our washing machine busted and flooded our kitchen, media room, dining room and part of our living room. Basically, lots of water damage at at time in our life when we are a little busy with 2 kids, especially a 3 month old and now everyone sick.

Well Harper's fever would not go down all Friday and her breathing got real fast. So we took her to Children's Hospital in Dallas and she was taken back immediately where her fever was now 103. Poor thing- her cheeks were so red, so uncomfortable, so congested and just not feeling good. They ended up admitting her to the hospital to make sure she could keep her bottle down, to bring the fever down and to make sure her congestion was not going into her lungs. So we stayed there 2 nights and poor Rick was going back and forth between home and the hospital, my mom had Jonah almost all weekend (which he didn't mind getting spoiled by Grammy and Popo), and I was able to be at the hospital with Harper. She had an IV, was eating 2-4 oz and keeping it down and was a trooper when they suctioned her little nose to get all that junk out. Even though she was sick- she would still smile at us-- precious baby girl. So glad she is feeling better and looking better too. And now onto the water damage and all the mess that it made----

Harper ~ 3 months old

Our little pumpkin can:

• follow us with her eyes
• gets scared / startled when Daddy sneezes
• has a big brother who kisses her and talks, reads and loves on her all the time
• makes 'coo' sounds
• eating between 4-6 oz
• is sleeping from about 11 pm - 5 am
• enjoys spending time with Grammy & her teachers at Miss Julie's
• likes to hold our pointer fingers
• smiles all the time
• likes to sleep on her tummy during the day & swaddled at night
• still sleeping in our closet
• is wearing 3-6 month clothes
• can sit up right in the bumbo for up to 5 minutes
• goes with flow of this crazy family life that we have

Hangin' outside

Even though it's January, we can still go outside some days- depending on the weather. And even when it snowed, we went outside for a little bit so Jonah & mommy could throw snow balls at each other! Winter is a hard season for us as we like to come home from school and immediately go outside and play. So we certainly appreciate days where it's not too cold.

Brother & Sister Time

Jonah adores Harper~ he is constantly kissing on her, asking where she is, wants to sing songs to her, read books to her and just talk to her all the time.

Wedding time is family time

My Aunt married her high school sweetheart and it was a beautiful cermony for a beautiful couple. It was nice to see our cousins and catch up, dance and all. Congrats Auntie Loy & Rene.

NYE 2010

A new city to ring in the new year! In all, we counted a total of 8 cities we have spent NYE- pretty cool. All of our family go together and played games and ate tons of food and sweets (of course). It was nice to sit around and catch up with each other. I sure do miss those time of hanging out and it certainly makes me appreciate the times we do have. It's fun to see 3 generations of our family strong as ever regardless of the distance.

A park for those that are truly "special"

Morgan's Wonderland was AMAZING!!! It's an amusement park specifically for those who have special needs and the best part it's open to anyone. It wasn't too crowded, which was nice so Jonah and his cousins could roam around without the "death grip" like we had to do at Sea World. They had everything modified for any "need" that a person might have to get so they could enjoy an amusement park. Even the merry-go-round had animals that did not go up and down in case a person had a fear of that. They had modified cars so wheel chairs could go in there and the person could still drive. Too cool! Jonah enjoyed driving the cars and the water works the most. We will definitely be going back.

SEE/SEA World -

We thought really hard if we should go or not. It's soooooo expensive and Jonah would love the animals and such and he wouldn't remember it anyways, etc. So we found discount tickets, found out both kids are still FREE and headed out to see the sea animals. It was amazing- Jonah LOVED it. He really watched the shows, loved eating all the snacks, got upset with the dolphin splashed him, clapped so hard for Shamu and had the biggest smile when Elmo & Big Bird came out to sing! So glad we did it and it opened our eyes- that yes he and Harper will not remember the moment due to their young age, but seeing them in "that moment" enjoying and experiencing something so much fun for them was well worth any price (well actually just Jonah since Harper slept and ate during the time we were there).

San Antonio or Bust- hangin' with my cousins

We continued our road trip to San Antonio for a wedding, NYE, and to introduce Harper to all of her family! The kids did real well on the way down. Harper slept and Jonah was entertained with books, puzzles and his "music." And it was awesome for him to see his cousins Elijah and Noah- the Texas Tornadoes when they all get together ~

Roadtripin' to Austin

Our first road trip as a family of 4 ~ God help us. We are committed to traveling (local) for now while the kiddos are small. So off we go to see family & some friends in our favorite Texas city ~ Austin!

Random!

Not only does Harper do tummy time, we also do neck time-

gotta keep those chubby cheeks up!

Putting together a puzzle ~ one of Jonah's favorite past times.

Christmas all day long

A tradition that Rick & I started years ago~ to make Christmas last a little bit longer~ we check and clean out our stockings before we go to bed Christmas night! It's fun to end Christmas Day with sticking your hand into your stocking and seeing what "little" or "big" surprises await. So Jonah kept the tradition going.

This Christmas Jonah was fascinated with Frosty (the original one). We watched it everyday and sometimes every night! And the one thing he told everyone that he wanted from the 'Ole Jolly Man was - candy! So the little man got some lollipops.

Christmas AM ~ Santa came!

The kids actually slept in until 8:30- yahoo!!!! And then the "magic" began. We opened our gifts while Harper slept right there during it all. It was nice to wake up and be together as a family and not have to rush off anywhere. After Jonah wheeled his scooter into our room he immediately went to check and see if Santa ate his cookies- and he did!

Getting ready for Santa

A new tradition ~ Rick reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to Jonah & Harper. It was a little long and wordy this year and most likely the next few years, but hopefully they will get into soon enough.

Jonah putting cookies out for Santa before he went to bed. We didn't do any milk only because Mommy & Daddy forgot--- oops!

Santa delivered this new scooter for Jonah! And the best part of the story is that come Cmas AM, Jonah brings us the scooter into our room. I could hear him talking- "gotta show mommy, show daddy, show Harper, come on- just a little more, yea." So he wheels the scooter over to my side of our bed and says, "look what Santa got me" and then wheels it over to Rick's side of the bed to show him. He was beyond excited to have his own big boy scooter!

A traditional Cmas Eve

We host Cmas Eve with our friends and family joining in the fun. Everyone brings some food as we snack all night, laughing and playing games. We play Pictionary (and this year with a twist- only Cmas theme words). We had our white elephant game too (where the gift needs to be from your house- you cannot buy it). And the rule is - you must show us your white elephant gift as you leave our house so those "wonderful" gifts don't get left behind. It's a fun filled night as we laugh, eat, drink, eat some more, and make wonderful memories!

Harper's 1st Cmas Celebration

Cmas Eve Day

Waiting for family & friends to come over for some fun, food, games, drinks and more fun!