Recent pictures

I finally was able to transfer pictures from my laptop to our other computer (the one with the internet). So...here are some recent pictures of the kids. They are doing so much now. I can not believe how quickly time is flying by. Now that we are all healthy, our days are back to being busy and filled with fun.

My niece had a Princess Birthday Party at the beginning of the month. Pumpkin had a great time. She got to wear makeup for the first time and drink out of real tea cups. It was so much fun to see her all grown up.
He woke up with his hair sticking up in front. Hubby got a big kick out of it, so we had to take this picture.
Still loving each other. He was SO concerned about her when she was sick. He missed playing with her. He LOVES to climb all over her on the ground. So far, she loves it. We will see what she thinks in another week.
Yes, that is Critter standing up on his own. He has a hard time pulling himself up on high things, but give him something low and he is standing in no time. At least he won't be walking as soon as his sister. That I am thankful for! :) Someone described him standing and walking like Elvis, he is a little shaky, but has quite a bit of style!
Critter is into trying food he can feed himself. I gave him this biscuit the other day. I will use many words to describe him, clean eater will not be one of them! He loved this though. He was not too happy when it was too slippery for him to eat anymore. Needless to say, I am washing MANY faceclothes in this house right now. But hey, isn't this what kids are supposed to do..make a complete mess!

Pumpkin's Summer Camp

Pumpkin has only one more day of summer camp tomorrow. She has LOVED it all summer. She even made her teachers sun catchers to give them tomorrow as a thank you. I decided that since this was the beginning of MANY craft projects that she was going to bring home, I would start to take pictures of each one and then would have that to cherish even if the craft itself did not last. So...here are some of the crafts she did the first half of camp. The rest of the pictures are coming soon.This is a really cool butterfly made with paint that ends up looking like glass. She used SO much paint that the corners took 3 weeks to dry...seriously 3 weeks!

Each day is a different theme, this was from sports day. She waved this flag around for quite awhile at home!

My little lion!

This was a beach in a bag. It is filled with dish soap and something else and the kids added glitter, shells, animals, etc. to make their own beach. Of course a little hole appeared in the bag, so this did not last too long. It is pretty neat though. She is quite proud of this one!

Interesting Week

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. I have had SO much to say, yet no time to be able to do it. Thank you all for the birthday wishes and the lovely party last weekend. I know I was not completely with it since the kids were sick, but I really appreciate all the hard work, love and time it took to do it for me. I was VERY humbled by everything. The kids are doing better, finally. We took them both back to the doctor last Monday. Pumpkin ended up getting an X-Ray of her lungs and turns out she had/has pneumonia. At least there was a reason she wanted to miss a party and sleep in Aunt B's bed! Critter was having some wheezing problems so has been on breathing treatments for the week. They are both "almost" back to normal. I never thought I would be so happy to have the strong willed, not listening, independent child back in action! :) Then of course, I ended up getting their lovely cold since I was taking care of them! The joys of parenthood. It was finally on Thursday that I could begin to get back to normal. It is funny how things pile up when you don't do them! :) At least it was finally obvious to me how much I actually do in a day, that is when I don't do it! I just wish it was cooler so I could open up the house and air it out. Gotta love the hot, hot summers.

The other reason for the lack of posts/pictures is I got a really awesome birthday present from Hubby. He got me a laptop! I am so excited. We have not hooked up the internet to it yet. So, for now I am downloading pictures onto it, trying to figure out my new photo program, and then transfering a handful of pictures to our regular computer. Considering that takes a little bit of time, I have not had a chance to do it much. I have some great pictures I will try to get up in the next few days though. Critter is now pulling himself up to standing. Yes, the child that likes to crawl backwards is pulling himself up! Once he is standing, he is trying to "walk". It is cute. If I can get video of it, I will post that as well. I think now that life is finally starting to normalize I will get a lot more done. At least that is what I am telling myself. So, thanks for your patience. We are still here and getting back to regular life. We are just getting there at a turtles pace :)

I am...

A friend of mine did this awhile back and I thought it would be fitting for me today. I have been thinking a lot lately about where I have been and where I am going. So...here I am!

I am...

30 years old today

A daughter of loving, caring, wonderful parents

A wife of the most amazing husband who loves me for who I am (for better or worse)

The mother of two precious children who make me smile everyday(and who happen to be a little under the weather today!)

Just starting to realize the potential in my life

Lucky to have people in my life who love me for who I am

Completely neurotic about random things

Slightly obsessed with having my closet organized, yet will leave my shoes around the house where I take them off

In love with my life

Looking forward to the future

At a point where I know in a few years I will be starting my "next" career, and I have NO idea what that might be

Someone who loves photography, scrap booking and reading

A runner who wants to run another 1/2 marathon in January

I am 30 years old and completely happy with knowing where I am in life. I am looking forward to this next year and seeing where it takes me. I vow to cherish the moments as they are given to me, take a little more time for myself so I CAN cherish those moments and be aware of them, and most importantly love those in my life and let them know it! Thanks for letting me share and loving me for me!

7 months already

Critter, I can not believe that you are already 7 months old. I realize I never got you a baby book like your sister's, but this blog is my way of keeping track of all you are doing. You have had a rough week this week. You are getting your first two teeth, front bottom. I am lucky that you are not like Pumpkin with getting ear infections, but you had two miserable days. Yesterday I could feel a little sharp point on one of the spots, so we are almost out of the woods. I do have to say, you are the happiest uncomfortable baby I have seen. While you are crying and grabbing your teeth, you will stop and just smile at me. When your sister was sick last week, you just kept reaching out to her as if to say "I am here, it is okay, I love you". Each morning when you wake up, you see me and give me your huge dimple smile. There is progress being made in crawling...just not forward. You can crawl mighty fast backwards, and spin yourself in a circle pretty good. It is the forward movement thing that throws you off. Yet...you can roll where you want to go. There is this determined look in your eye when you see something that you want, typically your sister's sparkly toys!


You melt my heart each day my little man. I am not ashamed to say that you are momma's boy. Pumpkin is daddy's girl, so I only think it is fair! I am so in love with being your mommy. I can't wait to see what adventure you and your sister take me on next. Happy 7 months my man!

Great times

We had a great weekend at my parent's house. We started a tradition a few years ago to go up there for the weekend of the 4th of July. The community they live in always have a little carnival, an F-16 flyover and then fireworks. We don't have to go and fight the crowds anywhere. We can either walk to the golf course and see fireworks or we can just stand in their front or backyards. It is always a nice time. We almost did not make it up this year though. We had a lovely adventure on Wed. night to the ER. Pumpkin was feeling a little under the weather all day until about 7 pm. She woke up from a little nap on the couch, threw up and had a 105.2 temp. So...off to the ER we went. The poor thing was so miserable. They gave her medicine, an IV bag of fluids and ran a bunch of tests on her blood. Luckily, they did not find anything and by midnight her temp was down to 98.5. Thursday she was still warm so I took her to her regular doctor. They ran a strep test which for me was luckily negative, I am VERY succeptible to strep...was not as a kid but am as an adult (I know, I am weird). Both the ER doctor and our doctor said it was just a virus and to let it run its course, with lots of hand washing for the rest of us!

So, with that...we then headed to my parents house. It was really nice to have an extra set of hands to help with the kids. Critter is teething and with Pumpkin not feeling well, they both wanted lots of cuddle time. I am so thankful we have family in the area to help! Luckily by Thursday evening she was feeling MUCH better and her fever did not get above 101. It ended up being a really fabulous weekend. It was filled with LOTS of swimming, crafting and eating yummy food. My dad had not seen the kids in almost 2 months, so he had a great time playing with both of them. Critter almost started crawling while there, any day now!

I hope that everyone got to celebrate this wonderful holiday with family and friends and remember ALL of those who are giving us our freedom both here in this country and around the world.

We go to the golf course and watch these fly right overhead. This is one of my dad's favorite things about this holiday. It really is a cool sight.

Critter LOVED the fireworks. I figured the noise would bother him, but not at all. He could not stop staring at the colors. Which was rather amazing considering he was hungry and tired!

She loves to run on the golf course when we see the planes. I think I have this same picture for three years in a row!

Critter's first taste of crackers, can you tell I am getting desperate for that tooth to come in!

She is now swimming SO well with floaties, I just need her to have confidence without them. She is even swimming on her back!

He takes after his sister and LOVES the water. He was "floating" on his back and kicking up a storm. It was really cute.

Happy 4th of July to you all!