Team Davis

Basketball

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Eli started a small fry basketball team a few weeks ago and Daddy is coaching.

He loves practice when he has his own ball and gets to shoot endlessly.

The coach giving instructions.

Dribbling drill.

Shooting during the game.

He doesn't seem to like the game as much as practice. He also doesn't seem to care about trying to get the ball during the game. He just runs back and forth with the crowd of kids until someone gives him the ball. He is a tad spacey but we are working on it. He is only three but wearing Dirk's number...we have hope. :)

Mavs Game

2012-01-30T22:11:00.000-06:00

Stephen got to take Eli to his first ever Mavs game last season so this year I wanted to go too!

(Please excuse the picture quality...had to use my point and shoot.)

Eli still hated the loud intros but loved the rest of the game.

Eli and Daddy got on the jumbotron!!!

We walked by the Channel 8 studios on our way out. Since we left a little bit early there was no one around. Eli kept saying, "It's Good Morning America!" Ha!

Gloria Campos even waved to us before we left! I know you are jealous!

Tired boy. We had a great time!

Because I knew you needed this...

2012-01-20T14:02:00.002-06:00

and this...

You're welcome! :)

Fickle Pickle Designs

2012-01-16T10:15:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! My good friend Brittany just opened a new Etsy site with the cutest accessories!! She is super crafty and cute! Check her out on Etsy at FicklePickleDesigns and like her facebook page! I know she would appreciate the love!

Jilly Faces

2012-01-13T10:32:00.004-06:00

We've been seeing a lot of this lately...

Love her "cheese" face! But sometimes I catch a real smile when she's not looking!

Christmas in Arkansas - Part 2

2012-01-07T11:52:00.000-06:00

I got a few shots of the kids before the Christmas Eve service.

They were actually happier than usual to pose for me. Daddy helped me get some smiles.

Jilly and Aunt Meredith after church.

Eli leaving milk and cookies for Santa! Daddy helped him write the note.

I just love Christmas PJ's! They were getting fussy by this point and not really wanting to get together to take a picture.

Christmas morning!

Cooking breakfast in their new kitchen from Santa! This was the first year Eli really understood that Santa brought him what he asked for. So fun!

Sweet girl...and her CRAZY hair...checking out her new matching game.

Eli said, "Santa ate my cookies!!"

Stocking goodies!

Jilly got a lot of dress up stuff in her stocking.

She loves to load up with all her accessories. Bracelets, necklaces, gloves, sunglasses, shoes...she wants to wear everything at the same time!

Time for presents!

Eli's new book from Aunt Meredith. He has it memorized already.

Eli was SO excited about his new drum from Papa! He plays it everyday and even sometimes shares with sister.

Sister and her new shopping cart from Meemie and Papa! She put her new baby in front. So cute!

We had a wonderful Christmas and the kids are having a great time with all their new gifts! Thanks family!

Christmas in Arkansas - Part 1

2012-01-01T16:44:00.001-06:00

We started out our visit to Meemie and Papa's house with some baking.

Poor Meemie trying to help both kids cut out cookies. They loved helping but made a big mess!

What a ham!

Eli helping Meemie roll out the dough.

Time for drum lessons from Papa!

Jillian and Aunt Rachel.

We went to the square in Fayetteville to see the lights. It was so cold!!

Aunt Rachel and Josh.

Aunt Meredith and Eli.

Eli with Meemie and Papa.

Eli loved riding the horses!!

Eli riding on Uncle Marty's shoulders.

This was the best family picture we could get. I don't know why I always wait until the end of an outing to try and get a picture of the family. You would think I would know better.

Davis Christmas

2011-12-30T13:35:00.001-06:00

We had Christmas with Stephen's family the week before Christmas. We had a morning brunch and it was SO good. Aunt Liz made sure we had our sweets covered though.

Perfect little Christmas tree cookies!

Grandmommy giving Jillian a taste of monkey bread.

The kids played and laughed all morning! My boy looks so old in this picture! Jillian and look-a-like cousin Kymberly.

Sisters-In-Law

Baby girl.

Jillian and Grandpa. She has him wrapped around her finger!! He was feeding her every bite even though she is perfectly capable of eating on her own. Stinker! (he was loving it though.)

Eli opening his bowling set from Grandmommy.

Jillian holding tight to Uncle Scott. She wasn't sure she liked Santa.

But Eli loved him!

Concentrating on opening her scooter!

Grandmommy opening her canvas of the kids on campus. Sic 'Em! (excuse the plastic wrapping)

The girl cousins in their tu-tus! Jillian has been wearing hers every day!! Thank you Aunt Carrie!

Carter and his Daddy.

Eli LOVES his scooter!

Someone was starting to lose it.

Sadly, we waited until the end to try and get a picture of all the cousins. This was the best one. :(

More Christmas to come!

Dedication

2011-12-28T11:00:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we dedicated Jillian and her life to the Lord. It was a great day at church with our family! We had been meaning to do it for a while. She was so fussy as a baby that I was too nervous to do it then and we just hadn't gotten around to it.

Me and my boy before the service started. The kids were CRAZY while waiting in the library!! They ran all over the place and had to sit in every chair.

Luckily, they were perfect angels once we were in the sanctuary! Here is the pastor talking to us after handing Jillian her little pink Bible.

She spotted the family sitting right up front!

Eli praying. He has to work so hard to keep his eyes closed! :)

Special thanks to Aunt Liz for taking the pictures!

Johnson Family

2011-12-20T14:00:00.000-06:00

My sweet friend Amy wanted me to take some family pictures for her Christmas card. Her two sisters were in town so we got some of all the cousins together too. All the kids did great and the mommies were wonderful at keeping the kids happy and smiling! I just love this family!

Visiting Santa 2011

2011-12-14T08:30:00.000-06:00

We headed out on Black Friday to go see Santa. We started doing this a couple of years ago because we figured with everyone out shopping that no one would be in line for Santa and it has worked out really well. Unfortunately, this year Mommy was a little mixed up about what time Santa would arrive and we were there an hour early.

Eli did a great job waiting and was very happy to walk around the mall and look at Christmas decorations.

Little Miss was less than thrilled.

This is the front of the line waiting to see Santa. Willow Bend does a great job of having lots of things for the kids to look at while they wait.

Jilly's "cheese" face.

After a while we found the play area (thank goodness!!) Jillian loved this tongue slide. She would climb inside and stick her tongue out at me and give me a look like "how can I be sliding on a tongue?!?

There is a small room right before you see Santa that has "snow'' falling from the ceiling. I'm not sure getting snow all over the kids right before taking a picture is the best idea, but they LOVED it!

Mrs. Claus was great! She talks to the kids and puts them at ease before they see Santa.

Eli did great, as expected. I promise he was happier than he looks in the picture. He went right up to Santa and sat on his lap. Jillian was unsure at first but after she saw brother sitting on his lap she decided to try it. As soon as I stepped away she got upset and reached for me. She did better than expected too. I really thought she would scream! :)

And for comparison...

2010 2009 2008

Fischer Family

2011-12-09T14:32:00.000-06:00

I was SO excited to take some family pictures a couple of weeks ago for our good friends. They are some of my favorite people and we had fun trying to get good pictures of the littlest model! I know people say this about him all the time, but Caleb is seriously the most easy going baby I have ever met! Mommy, Daddy, and 6-month-old Caleb did such a great job! We had some harsh sun conditions at first but it got better as the day went on. Here are some of my favorites!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-07T01:30:00.000-06:00

I didn't take many pictures on Thanksgiving this year, but I made sure to get one of all the great food!! :) We were at Stephen's brother and sister-in-laws and had 18 people including lots of kids this year!

Eli hanging out with Uncle Scott.

Aunt Carrie and cousin Carter, who just turned one!

Jilly and Uncle Scott.

Carter and Jilly playing after dinner. Aunt Liz has the best toys!

About to open presents for Carter's birthday. Eli can hardly contain himself! :)

Daddy and son.

Jillian suckered Grandpa into giving her ice cream! :) She was in heaven. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks to everyone who helped by making food and playing with the kids!! We love you!

Thankful

2011-12-06T15:49:00.001-06:00

Grandmommy took Eli to buy all the canned goods needed to fill grocery bags for some families that needed food for Thanksgiving.

He got distracted at first and bought mommy a poinsettia.

But then he got right to work. Each bag had a list of items that needed to go in that bag, so Grandmommy would tell Eli what they needed and he would find the right food.

He was very good at finding each food and counting how many we needed to fill the three bags. We found green beans, carrots, yams, beans, mac & cheese, tuna, chicken, cake, and frosting.

Fake smile at the register.

Then we went to Grandmommy's church that night to deliver the food and have a pre-thanksgiving dinner. He liked putting his bags of food on the steps with the others. He kept telling me the food was for the families. :) Sweet boy!

Caught red handed. He found the pie before we even got dinner.

Sister high-fiving Uncle Scott.

Little poser.

Thankful we have family that help teach our little ones about giving! Thanks Grandmommy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

We hope you are having a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends!

My sweet friend Brittany made this card. If you like it you can visit her here and she would be happy to make a card for you!

Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-21T22:07:00.001-06:00

Eli and Jillian had a Thanksgiving Feast at MDO last week.

Here is Eli with some of the girls in his class. Not sure whey he posed this way but it's cute! They are wearing their Indian shirts and hats that they made.

Here they are lining up to go outside so we can set up their feast! (Eli is third from left messing with his hat.)

Eli's turkey hand placemat, as he calls it. I don't think the eyes are in exactly the right place. lol

The teachers asked all the kids what they are thankful for and here is the list. Eli is third from top.

Pilgram artwork!

Eli eating with his friends.

Eli and Hannah. The kids had so much fun eating together (all three older classes.)

My sweet girl. She was the youngest one in there so they had her in a chair with a tray. Smart teachers! :)

Little turkey cookies I made for the kids classes and teachers!

Trunks, Tricks, and Treats

2011-11-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

We went to Trunk and Treat at church on Sunday.

Eli loved being a baseball player and playing games!

Our little Ranger!

Eli playing a basketball game.

Eli playing a soccer game.

Jillian trying to play the same soccer game. She didn't really understand what to do.

But she had fun picking out her candy after playing!

Eli LOVED the pony ride!

Even though she stood in line with brother to take a ride, Jillian didn't want anything to do with it!

Playing a fishing game with Daddy. He caught a whole ziploc bag of candy!

Sister playing a game more her speed. She didn't exactly toss the bean bag, but close enough.

Eli and his friend Brennan.

Eli (fake smile) and the firefighters.

When it was our turn to hand out candy, sister was a big helper. She would grab a big handful of candy and put it in the kids buckets!

After all that work, she decided she needed a (much too big for her) sucker.

Then she was done.

Until she got her very own bag of popcorn. Isn't that what we all want?

The kids had a great time. And even though us parents had a panic attack when we couldn't find Eli at one point, we had a great time too!

Monday night we took the kids Trick or Treating.

This is how we started out. She's a watermelon and she can cry if she wants to.

But the baseball player was ready to go.

It was pretty dark by the time we got out there.

First stop was our neighbor across the street. She always sits outside to greet the kids.

Jillian got the hang of it very quickly. She insisted on holding her pumpkin bucket with one hand and putting the candy in herself with the other hand. She soon discovered she couldn't get her hands to meet across her belly! As you can see, she finally decided to put the bucket down and invite herself in.

Eli was the official bell ringer. He would ring it about 6 times.

Jilly still taking her candy instead of letting someone else put it in her bucket. Maybe she thought they would take her bucket.

Last house. Very festive.

This little watermelon was walking very slowly by the time we finished but she was determined to walk. The kids got TONS of candy and Eli asks to have a piece several times a day. Gotta get rid of it soon so he will stop asking about it and eating it!

Fall Happenings

2011-11-02T13:20:00.001-05:00

Carson and Avery invited us to the Arboretum last week. It's really beautiful this time of year with all the pumpkins and the weather was great!

My sweet boy. I had to keep reminding him that pumpkins aren't balls and we can't throw them.

They had so much fun running around looking at all the pumpkin houses.

Little miss.

Sweet Avery!

The only problem with the Arboretum is there is lots of room to run! This is Eli after trying to run away from the group.

After a while, snacks were the only thing that made her happy.

Trying to get a picture with all four babies. Can you tell J is in a mood?

Another attempt at a group shot.

I told him not to pick the flowers...and this is what he did.

Later that week, we went to a pumpkin patch at a local church. It was hot and really sunny!

Meemie and Eli

Meemie, Papa, Jillian and Eli.

Eli after getting his face painted! I didn't get very many good pictures because it was so sunny and sister was in a terrible mood...again!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Weekend Recap

2011-10-30T18:15:00.000-05:00

Friday:
We started off the weekend by watching the Rangers in the World Series on Friday night. Eli loves baseball and pretends he is playing while watching the game.

Sister had to have a bat since brother had one.

It was hard to get Eli to look at me while the game was on. He watches sports almost as well as he watches cartoons. We were all so sad when they lost. At least Eli got to go to bed before the horrible ending.

Saturday:

This is my niece Krystyna, who turned ten-years-old on Friday!

10. Can't believe it!

She had a great part at a place in downtown Plano where all the girls painted their own canvas. They had a teacher who taught them exactly how to paint the picture that Krystyna picked out. So cool!

The birthday girl in concentration mode!

Posing with her finished painting. Isn't she talented??

The Davis Family

Sunday:

My girl posing before church.

Lots of Halloween pics to come! And I promise I'll play catch up on everything else soon!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-07T21:07:00.000-05:00

We went to the pumpkin patch on Daddy's day off (fair day.) Yes, I dressed them like it was cool even though it was in the 90's. Couldn't have pumpkin patch pictures in shorts and tank tops, could we? Don't answer that.

Eli warming up with his fake smile. Jillian not really sure what the pumpkin things are and if she wants to touch them.

Sweet boy! He had a blast and I couldn't believe he was such a good little model! He usually runs screaming from my camera.

I got a lot of shots of this. Miss J's cute booty!

Poor J running the maze alone. Brother was way ahead of her! She ended up going under a lot of the tarps to get where she wanted to go. Stinker.

Sweet brother! Sister was in a terrible mood. She definitely didn't want him touching her right then.

Couldn't get them both to look at me at the same time. They were so distracted!

The one thing she really liked was playing with the hay. Yuck!

Daddy taught Eli that throwing the hay was fun!

Throwing more hay.

Jillian just stood there, holding her feed, and making these faces at the ravenous goats. She was NOT going to get close.

This one on the other hand LOVED it! He let the goats eat the feed right out of his cup and then out of his hand. He laughed the whole time!

Daddy trying to get Jilly into it. I can't blame her. This particular goat was a little scary!

Did I mention that she was in a bad mood?

Mommy had to sing to get this smile but we got it done!

Sweet boy climbing.

Daddy & Eli

Daddy and babies!

Don't they look so big here??

Happy Fall everyone!

Playdate

2011-09-16T09:25:00.000-05:00

My kids love playing with our new friends Carson and Avery. Since Kelly and I are such nice mommies, we usually let them play together at least once a week. No, it has nothing to do with us wanting to hang out too. We are completely selfless when it comes to the needs of our children.

Well, now that I think about it, maybe we do ~~want~~ CRAVE adult interaction! :) But the kids benefit too.

Win-Win!

We played outside this week even though it is still H-O-T outside. Avery is driving with her cowgirl hat.

My girl puckering again.

Eli loves to swing high. I love that his hat matched his shirt! :)

Look how sweet she is!

Carson was so willing to pose! Love him!

The girls sitting in these tiny chairs! So cute!

Trying to "cook" nicely together.

Relaxing!

Taking turns on the slide.

Eli loved this bike!

Jillian trying to figure out how to get out of the car.

Avery is thinking about going for a spin.

So handsome!!

Happy boy after a snack.

Thanks for playing Carson and Avery!! Can't wait for next time!

Friday Fun

2011-09-14T10:15:00.001-05:00

Daddy went down to the Friday night Baylor game a few weeks ago so we had friends from Waco come see us so we wouldn't be lonely. And so the kids wouldn't drive me bonkers while Daddy was gone. :)

Friday morning we met at a bounce house play center in Plano. Here are all three kids in some kind of trampoline.

Sweet Avery!

Trying to get in the bounce house witht he basketball. Easier said than done.

She likes basketballs almost as much as her brother.

Avery taking a turn.

The future star taking a shot. Is it a shock that this was his favorite inflatable? :)

The girls trying to climb up the obstacle course. We ended up having to help them.

Here comes Avery!

All the kids LOVED the slides! We had to help the girls some so we got to experience them for ourselves and those slides are seriously fun! :)

Climbing up the big slide!

Amy coming down the slide with my babies. I just love Eli's face! Don't let Jillian fool you...she loved every second!

We played outside Friday night. They are always happier outside.

The girls taking turns on the slide.

Love her little pink cheeks!

J's new facial expression. She loves to pucker her lips!

Eli and Jillian love to spot the airplanes. They can hear one from miles away!

We had a great weekend with our friends. Come back soon!!

Mother's Day Out

2011-09-06T19:15:00.001-05:00

My babies started Mother's Day Out today. Eli was so excited this morning and surprisingly willing to have his picture taken. Jillian was in rare form and hardly ate anything at breakfast so she was definitely not in the mood for a photo shoot. :(

My boy looking so grown up with his back pack!

About to walk in and still smiling!

Eli holding the door for sister. She took a step or two and then freaked out and wanted me to hold her.

He looks like such a big boy! *sigh* Eli helped me put his water and lunch where it needed to go and walked right into his class. He hardly even said goodbye. *sniff* *sniff*

Jillian cried off and on during the day, as expected, but Eli did great and was all smiles when I picked him up! Jillian's teachers said she napped for a hour (which I consider a complete success since she was on a cot.) Eli is in the threes/fours class and they don't nap so he was exhausted on the way home. I call that a successful first day!

Piggies

2011-08-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Jillian finally has enough hair to do pig tails!

Well, sort of.

They aren't perfect.

And I am definitely not the world's best toddler hairstylist.

Don't look at her extremely uneven part.

But I still think the piggies are cute!

Now I just need two bows the same color. Don't pigtails need bows? :)

Birthday, Splash Pad, and Baseball

2011-08-17T14:31:00.000-05:00

This post is a little late, but while we were at my parents house a couple of weeks ago we also celebrated Eli and my Dad's birthdays since they are only a day apart.

Eli wants to play drums just like Papa so they had a snare drum cake!

Eli - 3 years Papa - 21 years

We also went to the Bentonville Square splash pad. Jillian doesn't really like pools but she LOVES splash parks and sprinklers!

Eli had a little collision with another boy. He got a little scrape and was very proud of his bandaid.

Sharing a snack.

Sister loves it when Daddy twrills her around!

My thoughtful boy.

We also fed the ducks at the park. We actually did this twice because Eli likes it so much. These particular ducks are slightly aggressive and will come right up to you if you have bread for them so we had to keep Eli from getting too close.

Daddy trying to keep sister from getting in the water.

Eli thinking about climbing across the bars on the playground.

Holding on for dear life!

Getting some help from Papa.

Eli loved going to the Arkansas Naturals game. One of the players from the other team gave him a baseball. He was in Heaven!

He was so excited about his balloon hat! Unfortunately, the people sitting behind us were less than thrilled.

The whole family at the ballpark. (minus Jillian who was with a sitter.)

The kids got to run the bases after the game. We weren't sure if Eli would make it that long but he was so good! Here he is running the bases with Daddy.

Running from second to third.

Coming home! See the huge grin on his face! He had a great time! We can't wait to go back to Meemie and Papa's house!

Edits

2011-08-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

Of course, I could not resist editing a few of those manual pictures. I always tell myself I'm just going to touch it up a little bit, but I end up trying lots of different combinations and not being able to make decision about what I like best. Sometimes I like the edited pictures to be more drastic than the original, and sometimes I like the pictures to be softer. That being said, I somehow managed to pick a few edits I liked and posted some Before/After pictures below. What do you think??

Manual

2011-08-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

So I've had my new camera since February. Yes, I still call it my NEW camera. lol I have taken ~~hundreds~~ thousands of pictures since then, most of them on the auto setting. My camera takes beautiful pictures on auto so I wasn't concerned with learning how to take pictures manually. Plus, the manual setting was kind of scary! Most of my pictures are of my kids, and if you have kids you know you only get once chance to get a shot. I was always afraid I was going to miss my kids doing something really cute while fiddling with my camera settings. Well, I'm getting over my fears! Or at least I'm trying to. I've been practicing using the manual setting and I couldn't believe I actually got some decent shots (and by decent I mean it isn't way over or under exposed and looks at least semi-focused!) Ha! Take a look!

These are all SOOC

Of course, there were also many not-so-great shots. Here are a few.

I'm going to keep practicing. I'm sure there will still be lots of times where I revert to the auto setting because I'm scared I won't get the shot. But I'm going to try to leave the camera on manual as much as possible because for some reason I almost feel like auto is cheating now. Happy shooting!

Today

2011-08-04T23:02:00.000-05:00

Safari

2011-08-03T13:15:00.000-05:00

We had a great visit with my family in Arkansas at the end of July. We went to lunch with Meemie on Thursday at McAlister's. Mmmmmm.....Sweet Tea!

On Friday we went to a drive through safari about 30 minutes away. The kids did great and we got to see so many animals!

Lots of the animals would come right up to the car, but the camels would have gotten in the car with us if they could! We had to keep the windows rolled up so they wouldn't get too close!

Eli & Aunt Meredith

Everyone stuffed in the back of the car.

Fight Fight!

There is also an area where you can feed the animals. Eli loved it!

J wasn't sure if she wanted to give the stale bread to the goat or eat it herself!

This goat really liked Daddy!

Jilly just stood and stared at this pig for a while. She didn't know what to think. Ha!

See the baby in the sack? SO cute!

More pics to come!!

15 Months

2011-08-01T16:34:00.000-05:00

Can you believe our sweet girl is 15 months old?? Time is really flying by. Seems like just yesterday I was writing this post about her big brother turning 15 months. It is so fun to see her learning new things. Big brother teaches her a lot too.

15 Month Stats:

Height: 33 1/4 inches - 99%

Weight: 22 lbs. 11 oz. - 50%

(she only gained one pound in the last three months but grew two inches!)

Here is what our girl is up to:

-She can point to her nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and hair.
-She knows what the doggie and kitty cat say.
-Words she says: Momma, Dada, hi, eyes, mouth, nose, done, more, water, meow, ruff-ruff, no, hello, alright, wee (when sliding), shine, all, town. (last three are from songs.)
-Favorite songs are Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, If You're Happy and you Know It, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, This Little Light of Mine, I'm a Little Teapot.
-She can sign 'more' and 'all done.'
-She recognizes lots of toys and will go get them when asked, including book, baby, car, ball, paci, blanket, water, and shoes.
-She LOVES to be outside and gets very frustrated if the door is opened and she can't go out.
-The doctor said this should be the height of her seperation anxiety and I sure hope so! She always wants me to hold her and hates when I leave the room!
We love you little Jilly!

Rough Riders

2011-07-26T14:19:00.002-05:00

Last week we took Eli to the Rough Riders game for his birthday (without sister.) He is SO good at baseball games and is very interested in watching the game.

Daddy and Eli walking in.

Getting his ticket scanned. He loves holding his ticket.

Eli got his picture with one of the players!

Behind home plate before the game started.

Stephen's friend Scott let Eli play on the field before the game.

The wind-up.

The pitch!

Daddy and Eli in the dugout.

Eli the catcher.

Time to read the program.

Eli & Daddy - July 2011

Eli & Daddy - July 2010

Eli's first dip-n-dots.

Eli and Mommy.

It was really hot still and the game was moving a little slow so we decided to leave in the 7th inning. Eli was great the whole time!

Eli got to play this game and throw a few pitches. The fake catcher was a little too far back but Eli still had a great time. He can't wait to go back!

The Party

2011-07-21T09:00:00.002-05:00

We had a little family party for our boy today. It was very low key and Eli had a blast!

Playing with Aunt Liz

Mommy and Daddy

Eli caught raiding the gifts!

Cupcakes I made. Stephen and I left Eli in the room with them for a few seconds before the party started and when we came back he had one in his mouth! I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I need a cupcake." I guess he did!

Baseball cake I made for Eli.

Sister doing her best to be cute and steel brothers thunder.

Playing some baseball with Grandmommy.

Having a water break and reading with Grandpa.

Mommy, Daddy, & Eli.

He loved opening his gifts! This was the first year he didn't really need help opening things so he had a lot of fun with it! He can't wait to play with his play doh from Grandpa!

Eli with his new Handy Manny from Uncle Keith and Aunt Liz!

Sister steeling Handy Manny while brother opens another gift.

It took him a few tries, but he loved blowing out his candles on his own!

Yum!

A really big bite from Uncle Scott!

Everyone helping put together Eli's new toy from Grandmommy!

Jillian was really good even though it was Eli's day.

Eli with Uncle Scott.

Grandmommy reading Eli's new book to Jillian.

Jillian and cousin Kymberly (her look-a-like!)

Jillian finally let Grandpa rock her. :)

Thanks family for making it a great day for Eli! We love you!

Three

2011-07-18T13:46:00.002-05:00

I feel like this was just yesterday.

7.18.08

We can't believe our little boy is three-years-old!!

Eli is so fun to hang out with at this age! He constantly asks questions and must have a great memory because he almost always remembers our answers. He LOVES sports...basketball, baseball, and football are his favorites but he also likes soccer and golf.

He loves to play with and chase his sister but is also really starting to like doing activities without her. He likes doing flash cards, playing memory, and playing with play-doh. He also loves to read and play drums.

Eli loves to wrestle with his Daddy (or sister, or Pita.) Sometimes he gets a little too rough with baby sister. He also loves to listen to Daddy's country music when they ride in the truck together. Eli and Daddy also watch sports together and Eli will cheer for whatever team they are watching (Go Rangers, Go Mavericks.) He is definitely Daddy's boy but sometimes he still wants Mommy to hold him, which I love!

Eli did great at his three year well visit! It was the first time he got to use the stand up scale like a big boy and stand by the wall to check his height. After that they checked his blood pressure. He sat on the table with is bottom lip out trying so hard not to cry. So cute!! He was also really brave when they pricked his finger to get blood.

We can't wait to see what fun things year four brings!

Three Year Stats:

Height: 39 1/2 inches - 97%

Weight: 34 3/4 lbs. - 75%

Baylor Pics

2011-07-14T14:36:00.001-05:00

We took advantage of our time in Waco and headed over to campus to take some pictures of the kids. It was late the afternoon and still SO hot! The kids were really good considering the heat.

Daddy, Eli, and Jillian in front of the bear pit.

Prissy Jilly

Eli with one of the bears.

She loved running around the bear pit.

Daddy showing Eli the bears. I couldn't believe both of them were actually out!

J watching the bear. Do you see him (maybe her) on the left?

Sic 'Em!

Eli's fake smile at it's best.

Running in front of the SUB.

I love this one of J walking from Pat Neff toward Judge Baylor.

Sweet babies!

He loved every minute of this. After wearing this jersey and walking all over campus, he kept calling himself a Baylor Bear. :)

I love this little hiney!

The next morning Jillian and I went with some friends and got some more pictures!

This is sweet Avery.

What a good little model!

Someone refused to wear her tu-tu.

Avery loved the swing!!

My favorite shot of the day!

Besties! I love having pictures of them on campus! Can't wait to do it again!

Showering Tate!

2011-07-12T13:34:00.001-05:00

We had a great time Saturday helping Alan and Candice get ready for Baby Tate!

Taco bar and ice cream sundae bar!

Cute canvas and banner made by the talented Lauren Stephens!

My girl loved playing with all of Avery's toys.

Sweet Dean. Isn't he so handsome??

Dad-to-be Alan clapping with Jillian

Eli trying to escape outside...with no shoes of course.

J was SO excited when Daddy gave her a big cup with water.

Avery being snugly with Lauren. Don't they look like they could be mother and daughter?

Candice and Alan (and Tate!)

The newest addition to our little Baylor group...Caleb Paul! He is only six weeks old.

He is super laid back! Don't you love his little sleepy smile?? I miss this sweet newborn stage.

Avery is wondering who all these people are and what they are doing in her room!

Jillian was tired after playing outside. Can you guess whose paci that is?

After a great sermon from Pastor Chris on Sunday, we went over to the Dairy Queen for lunch. Avery was a ham!

Sister is obsessed with Daddy's sunglasses.

More pics to come!

A First

2011-07-08T12:56:00.001-05:00

This is our boy. He was SOOO excited to be going to his first Rangers game!

Daddy, Eli, and Grandpa about to head out to Arlington!

Grandpa and Eli at the home of the Texas Rangers.

Looks like Eli is telling some kind of story. I'm sure it was about baseball.

Taking it all in!

Sweet boy trying to smile in the sun.

Grandpa, Uncle Chris, and a very distracted Eli. Daddy said he kept his eyes on the field the whole time!

That ice cream is as big as his head! And he is still talking about it.

Uncle Chris and Eli with ice cream face.

Daddy and Eli (and his fake smile.) Eli loves his new shirt, bat, and baseball cards...thanks Uncle Chris!

Eli took his turn batting. He hit the ball off the tee five times.

Here's a little video of the last hit.

Looking up at Nolan.

Tired boy. He stayed awake all the way home and had to tell me all about it before he went to bed. He is still talking about it two days later. I think he will be going back very soon!

Father's Day!

2011-07-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

We had a great Father's Day (sorry this is late!) We had several family members out of town so Grandpa, Uncle Keith, and Uncle Scott joined us for dinner. We had homemade lasagna, salad, bread, and cake! I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do, but here are a few.

Eli loves when Grandpa is the tickle monster!

Uncle Keith and Eli.

Silly faces with Grandpa!

Definitely not ready for this yet. And yes, she can open it! :(

What a character!

Daddy was out of town. The kids were anxiously waiting for him to get home!

Daddy's here!

Sweet girl giving Daddy smiles.

2011

Eli's first Father's Day I took pictures of him holding wooden letters that spelled DAD. Here are this year's pictures. Stephen has a frame at work and replaces the photos every year.

2010

2009

I also made one for my Dad this year (Papa.)

Happy (late) Father's Day to the best Dad's around...Stephen, my Dad, and my Father-In-Law!

4th of July Weekend!

2011-07-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

We started our weekend by swimming with Grandmommy!

Jillian is very fond of drinking pool water from buckets.

My little fish.

Eli loves to be thrown. I wonder if J will be as fearless.

Silly Jilly. A rare moment of happiness in her float. She really wants to be able to swim around like brother.

Eli's favorite thing...jumping in with Daddy!

Baby girl was done with swimming so she thought she would garden a bit.

Strutting her stuff with a death grip on Daddy's sunglasses.

After swimming we had one of Stephen's favorites for lunch, Burger House.

We actually went swimming with Grandmommy July 4th weekend last year too so I thought I would do a little comparison.

July 2010 July 2011

Monday we played outside with Grandpa and I took lots of pictures!

We had a great weekend! It might take a couple of days to recover! :)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T16:58:00.000-05:00

We hope everyone is having a fun and relaxing 4th of July!

We love Daddy!

2011-07-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

We love having Daddy home this summer! We all went to the library Wednesday morning for story time. Wylie's new library is so nice and pretty! Eli loved picking out books and reading them at the little table.

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?

Mommy and Jilly during story time. She did not want to sit still...as usual!

Eli loves listening to the stories and music!

Then we went to lunch at Chick-Fil-A!

He pretty much only likes to play if there aren't a lot of kids in there so it's a good thing we got there early!

Miss J being brave. She only went to the third step and came back down.

Then we went to our community pool. She was not in the mood to pose.

She hates to be in her float. She really wants us to let go of her so she can swim on her own like brother. I'm looking forward to next summer when she can wear the same floatie as Eli.

He hates to have his picture taken. I pretty much have to bribe him to get anything good.

Best pictures I could get of them together. It's a rare moment that they both (sort of) agree to take a picture. It is so much easier to take them places with Daddy home!

100+

2011-06-17T18:31:00.002-05:00

We needed to get out of the house this afternoon. REALLY needed to get out! It was over 100 degrees outside but I couldn't think of anything that was free and would wear them out like the park. So after a layer of sunscreen and gathering ice cold water, off we went!

This is my ~~baby~~ big girl walking up on the playground all by herself. So independent!

Doesn't she have a pretty head?

Are you seeing a theme here? Now that she is walking I get way too many shots of her back. Luckly she is cute from the front and the back! :)

The only time he went down the slide. I wish someone would make slides and play equipment that never got hot.

Jillian with her "J" and Eli with his "E."

Their favorite...swings!

Baby girl.

Sweet boy.

He climbs everything!

Saying "Horray!"

This guy jumps off of everything! I think he looks so old here! :( Can't believe he will be three next month!

Another jump! Love his cute curls when it's hot!

We were only there about 15 minutes. It is just WAY too hot out there.

They both drank every last sip of their water.

I love their little hot red faces!

Here come the Dallas Magarits!

2011-06-16T11:12:00.001-05:00

That is what Eli always says. :) Stephen was BEYOND excited to get a call from his friend with a ticket to Game 5. He did a great job taking lots of pictures.

Rowdy - Proud - Loud

Warm-up

A very blurry Alonzo Mourning sitting a few rows in front of Stephen.

National Anthem

Stephen and Ronnie

Game 5 Intro...

Stephen got a couple of extra shirts so we could wear them to watch Game 6.

Eli having shooting practice in his oversized shirt. See the ball in the basket?? :)

Keeping one eye on the game!

Eli and Daddy in their shirts for the title winning game! We are so proud of our Mavs!

Pool Fun!

2011-06-14T13:07:00.001-05:00

We have been doing a lot of swimming already this summer! Eli absolutely loves the water!

He got really brave the other day and wanted to jump off the diving board.

Jump!! The first thing he said when he came up was, "I want to do it again!"

Don't let this smile fool you. She isn't very happy when we contain her in this float. She thinks she can swim around like brother.

Taking a little snack break.

Eli trying to give Jillian a kiss. I'm sure there are lots more pool pictures to come this summer!

Lady Antebellum

2011-06-11T08:30:00.004-05:00

Mom, Meredith and I got to go to the Lady Antebellum concert while in Arkansas. They were doing a free concert for the Walmart Shareholders Meeting and since my mother works at the home office in Bentonville, we got to go to the free concert! This worked out GREAT for Mere and me since we are such huge Lady A fans!

It was first come first serve. As you can see, we were pretty close to the front of the line.

The poor people in line behind us! lol

Us again!

Darius Rucker opened for them. I have seen him before and his performance was almost exactly the same. His new country songs are ok but everyone loved his Hootie and the Blowfish stuff (Hold My Hand & Only Want To Be With You) and covers (Family Tradition & Purple Rain) so much better!

Can you tell it was warm inside the arena? :)

Dave playing piano. Hillary and Charles singing.

Hillary on the big screen. Isn't she so pretty?? She had her hair down with 3/4 length sleeves and pants and she never looked hot or sweaty! Maybe she can teach Darius Rucker that trick. lol

They came out on the catwalk to sing a few songs.

This is the actual view from our seats (no zoom.) Sorry the pictures aren't that great. They wouldn't allow cameras with removable lenses so these were all taken with my point and shoot. They actually turned out better than I thought they would.

If you like Lady Antebellum, I highly recommend getting a ticket to their concert! It was AWESOME and they sounded just as good if not better in person. Don't use the vidoe below to judge the sound...acoustics weren't the best.

2011-06-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

The kids and I spent last week visiting my family in Arkansas. Jillian and Eli were so happy to see everyone!

Aunt Rachel teaching Jillian how to play the piano.

The kids loved the blow up pool Meemie got for them.

The water was a little cool at first but they got used to it.

She probably drank a gallon of this grassy pool water. I promise I tried to stop her but there was no getting that bucket away from her.

Sweet girly (who refused to take a nap earlier in the day) fell asleep on Meemie in the shade. Isn't a nap in the shade after swimming the most wonderful thing?

Getting my tan on with my sister!

Sister playing the drums with messy hair, PJ top, and no pants. lol

Eli, Jillian, and Papa playing the snare drum.

Eli really loves to play the big drum set upstairs!

He knows all the names of the drums and cymbals.

Mom's birthday was Friday so we ordered this beautiful cake! Eli LOVED it!

My almost three-year-old. *sniff* *sniff*

Eli and Meemit were playing a little game. :)

It was so funny!

Sweet boy!

Can't believe I actually got a shot of Eli smiling!! He never wants his picture taken anymore.

Meemie and Jilly girl.

Papa and Jillian

Mommy's sweet boy!

We had a great time visiting! See you soon Meemie and Papa!

An Afternoon at the Park - Part 2

2011-05-24T09:00:00.004-05:00

After a while, we headed over to the splash park. Eli...who loves to take baths, swim in pools, have water dumped on his head in the bath, etc...didn't even want to walk over to the edge. Jillian...who likes baths but HATES to have water on her head...ran straight through all the water and didn't stop!

This is her first pass through. She had no fear!

I couldn't believe she liked it so much! She kind of took over the place and didn't let the big kids bother her one bit!

She ran through the water with her hands in the air like this a lot, while screaming! Ha!

This is what Eli looked like most of the time. There was no convincing him to get anywhere near the water.

Having the time of her life!

I was hoping she wouldn't want to sit and touch the yucky ground, but no such luck! I love her face though.

Running!!

The only thing that would get her out of the water was a snack break. See the tiny cracker in her hand?

Someone was very upset that brother got to ride, even though she had no idea what it was.

He liked this much better than the water. :)

Daddy helped sister have a turn too. Cause that's what Daddy does. :)

He finally got out there and got a little wet. He liked spraying the water, but did NOT want to be sprayed.

Turns out the other kids liked spraying him. This is him running for his life.

In case you weren't convinced that Jillian really loved the water, check out these videos!

An Afternoon at the Park - Part 1

2011-05-23T17:39:00.000-05:00

We went to a park Sunday afternoon in Allen with a HUGE playground and spray park! We have been a few times but it isn't that close to us so we don't go a lot. The kids just LOVE it! Here is part one - the playground. Eli loved running on the large play equipment. It was hard to keep track of both of them so we had to divide and conquer. Stephen chased after Eli and I helped Jillian stay away from the areas that were too big for her.

Sister trying to get up to the slide without falling on the ramps. I just love watching her little legs move!

Eli sat on this slide for a few minutes before deciding he wasn't ready. I don't blame him...it was one of the tallest at the park.

My big boy!

This is what baby girl did most of the time over at the playground. She loved walking on the wood chips! I think she also liked just liked the freedom of walking around outisde,which she hasn't experienced that much since she started walking due to our dog and her need to use our backyard for...well...you get the idea.

Ready to try a big girl slide!

Assume the position.

Wee!!!

I have no idea why she slides this way. Maybe she has figured out that her legs might stick to the slide and prevent her from getting to the bottom. If so, I think she is highly intelligent. :)

The red slide was much more his speed. Look at that smile!

Not yet sister...someday you will be big enough for the orange slide. :)

Toilet paper tackling

2011-05-18T15:03:00.001-05:00

Has anyone heard of this new sport??

It involves getting a bunch of toilet paper from Sams. Then you have to convince Mommy to let you destroy the toilet paper.

Then you do your best to tackle/hit/throw your body over the toilet paper.

Be sure not to land on your head like this.

Oh yeah...don't forget to jump off of it too!

When you are done, you can try to squeeze your body onto it and take a nap while sister watches. Anyone else want to play? :)

Conversations with Eli

2011-05-16T12:16:00.001-05:00

(while I was putting on mascara)
Eli: Mommy, you are doing a great job with yours eyes!
Me: Thank you Eli. You are a funny.
Eli: No, you are funny. I'm a big boy. And she's a baby girl. (pointing to sister)

(while running errands)
Me: Are you ready to go home and eat lunch?
Eli: No!! I need to go to Target!

(while driving)
Eli: It's Daddy's school!! It's so beautiful!
Me: It's so beautiful??
Eli: Yes, it's so beautiful.
Me: What else is beautiful?
Eli: Um.....the trees are beautiful!
Me: Yes! What else?
Eli: Um..................
Me: Is baby sister beautiful?
Eli: No.
Me: Am I beautiful?
Eli: No. Eli's beautiful!

One Year

2011-05-03T21:18:00.001-05:00

Jillian's one year post is way past due. Well, 23 days to be exact but who's counting? Oh yeah, me! Guess I'm a little behind. :(

Now that our baby girl is O-N-E, she seems to be picking up new things so much faster! I'm sure it's my imagination but I think they really start to seem older when they start walking. She wasn't really walking on her birthday, but she definitely is now! She actually seems to prefer walking to crawling now. It's crazy how quickly that changed!

Baby girl is doing well with trying to get rid of the bottle. She is down to just a bottle before bed and she drinks water and (some) milk from sippy cups during the day. She has three meals and a snack during the day and is eating so many new foods!

Food she likes: cereals, blueberries, cheese, crackers, chicken, turkey, beef, toast, waffles, pancakes, pears, bananas, oranges, pasta, peas, carrots, corn, eggs, potatoes.
Foods she hates: yogurt, cottage cheese, strawberries, grapes, nutrigrain bars.

Miss Jillian is talking up a storm! She can say Mama, Dada, and Uh Oh. If I ask her to she can find her pacifier, water, ball, brother, Pita (the dog.) She also likes to pretend she is talking on the phone. She prefers to play with my phone but she will also find things and pretend they are phones...like the monitor, remote, her hand, etc.

Sister has gotten a new tooth in the last two weeks bringing the total to eight (four on top and four on bottom.) She is in size 4 diapers, 18 month clothes, and size 3 shoes.

Jillian is constantly trying to keep up with her brother, and walking is helping in that effort! She will quickly get to any toy he has just put down, which frustrates brother to no end! They inevitably want the same toy at the same time.

Our newborn girl!

12 Month Stats:
Height: 31 1/4 inches - 97%
Weight: 21 lbs. 11 oz. - 65%

We can't wait to see what the next year has in store for our girl!

Busy Day

2011-04-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took a little trip and met some friemds for lunch and play time! The kids did great on the hour drive and they just love getting to see "Baby Avery" and "Miss Amy!"

We got there early so the kids could play for a while without a bunch of other kids in there. Avery had no fear on that slide!

Do you think she liked it? :)

Both girls had fun trying to climb up the slide. I think Avery almost got to the top!

Jillian showed off her walking skills.

When a girl came in the play area who was about ten years old and blazed past Jillian with her brother following behind her while kicking Jillian in the face, we decided it was time to eat. We (Amy and I) weren't ready to go home yet so we went over to Target with our tired babies. We scored big on clearence kids clothes and 50% off Easter candy. Very productive trip! :)

Jillian in her big girl carseat! She LOVES facing forward! She slept almost the whole way home.

Then we went home and learned body parts from the puppy.

And we read.

And we sorted shapes. She LOVES this toy!

And we watched brother...

He was being silly (with bat in hand!)

We had a great time playing Avery! See you soon!!!

Walking and Hitting

2011-04-27T22:42:00.001-05:00

That's what we've been up to lately....

A little wobbly still but getting the hang of it!

Three hits in a row while also keeping an eye on the Rangers game. Like father like son.

He knew I was taping him and wanted to see his batting skills. :)

Watch out baby sister!