Is it really already Christmas Eve? This is one of my favorite times of the year and the only thing I don't like is that it goes by way too fast. We had so much fun celebrating the season last weekend. Friday evening I spent time with my girls from work. Shelly hosted us at her lovely home in Caddo Mills and the 5 of us had a time playing spoons and other festive games Shelly had organized. We ate, and exchanges gifts and enjoyed each other out side of the office. Saturday we went to Tyler to do some more shopping and then to my Pa's side of the family Christmas dinner. Bree was such a ham at the party. She played with all the kids and thought she was as big as them. Although, they were all way older than her. Nona brought her a present to open and she was so good at opening it. She really has it down, now. She got a tea party set and loved it. Her and the other kiddos sat there playing tea party for the longest time. This was a very good time and then Kerry and I left Bree to spend the night with my Mom and went to Lannie and Amie Dugan's for a party with some of our friends. Sunday we relaxed and worked on wrapping the presents. I noticed at this time that at some point Bree decided to add some decorations to our family tree. She had hung her pink bracelet on our tree and left it there. I guess she wanted to add her touch to the tree. I thought it was very sweet and left it hanging there too. This week has been flying by. Bree is really into the presents and last night while I was wrapping some she pointed and said, "Mine, mine, mine". I explained that at Christmas we give gifts to those we love just as gift were brought and given when baby Jesus was born. We celebrate his birth by giving. I could tell this was all way over her head because she pointed again and like a broken record was saying, "Mine." We will continue to work on the meaning of Christmas, but I am thrilled she is big enough this year to open presents and really get excited about everything. I am so excited about Santa coming. I use to love this as a child and I love sharing it with Bree. Kerry and I layed awake in bed talking last night til like 1:30 am about it. I couldn't sleep I was so anxious. This morning I asked Bree, "Who is coming to see you tonight?" She replied so sweetly, "Santa Claus, he brings presents." I just love the excitement in her face and voice. And, yes I know there is a much more important meaning to what this special day is about and we teach Bree about that, too. But I also love the magic of Santa. And it is way more fun playing Santa and sharing it with our daughter than I ever knew it would be. As A child it was a tradition for Malena and I to fall asleep in the same bedroom together listening to 106.1(they play nonstop Christmas music on Christmas Eve). We had a deal that whoever woke up first would wake the other person and we would run into the living room together to see what Santa had left for us. I remember the glow of the presents under the Christmas tree and the magic of the unwrapped gifts Santa had left for us sparkling in the dark. Malena and I would usually wake up around 3 or 4 and our 'Santa" almost always came really early, so we would look at all our gifts and play with them for a while and then around 5:30 or so we would go wake Mom and show her what Santa left. Then around 7 or so Mema and Pa always came over to see what Santa had left for us and share this special time with us. This was so much fun and Malena and I enjoyed it so much that my Mom told us that as long as we believed, Santa would come to see us. So we "believed ", and even today Santa still comes to Mom's to see us. The magic of Christmas morning is something I can still feel in my heart and I can see the glow of our tree in the house we grew up in. I am so excited to share this magic with my daughter in our own home. I hope everyone has warm memories that feel your hearts at Christmas and share the magic of the season with those you love. Merry, Merry Christmas!!

I absolutely love Christmas time. Last Friday and Saturday night we spent with friends at holiday parties. Saturday was the "Magnificent 7" as my girlfriends and I were called in high school, party at Audra's house. We gathered around 4:30 with all the children. There are 5 girls and 1 lonely boy. We are working on a second generation of Mag. 7's. All the girls are really close in age so it is so fun to watch them interact. And Hardy, well he is our ladies man!! One day he will appreciate being the only boy, but for now he is surrounded by dolls, pink toys and girly bows. Poor thing!! The kiddos had fun exchanging gifts and enjoyed decorating sugar cookies Audra made for them. Then the little ones all went with their Daddy's or grandparents so the 7 of us could enjoy an all adult dinner. We ate at Posados in Lindale and man was it good. I had a blast spending time with the girls. We went back to Audra's and played the white elephant gift exchange, which is always interesting and enjoyed our time visiting. As always the night flew by and the next morning it was sad to say farewell. I really love these girls and we all share a very special relationship that seems to thrive even with us all living in different areas and in different stages of our lives. These girls and I have been friends since elementary school and are the kind of people who I know I can always count on...good or bad. We are so blessed to have each other. Sunday we celebrated my SIL b-day at Kerry and Debbie's. I am also very fortunate for my in laws. I am definitely surrounded by wonderful friends and family. We took Bree to MSBC Festival of Lights. The program was great, but Bree is still too little to really enjoy it. She slept thru the whole thing. Little doll!! We have had a pretty busy week. I have officially gotten all my presents wrapped for Christmas. Lets just hope I haven't forgotten any one. Bree has helped us do a lot of baking and candy making. She loves to help. She is so funny. I just love this stage in her life. She is talking so well. Wednesday was my office Christmas lunch and our theme was mexican food. I made 7 layer dip and we all enjoyed our party. The staff all exchanged gifts which was fun and very entertaining. While I am counting my blessings, I am fortunate to have a career I love and to work in a lovely office with wonderful people and a great doctor. I really do still love scanning and it is nice to get to know my patients and their families. Tonight Bree is spending the night with Bebe and Gramps, so Kerry and I can have our weekly date night. Thursday nights are officially are time together as a couple. We usually have dinner somewhere or do whatever we chose. I am not sure what we will decide to do tonight, there are a couple of movies out that interest me. So I guess we will see. This weekend I have a party in Greenville on Friday evening and then we have a family party and one with some of our G.S. couple friends on Saturday. I can't wait! I love all the festive parties. Have a great weekend!! XOXOX

Christmas Memories

Well I am copying this from my girlfriend Holly, thanks for the great idea. I loved reading your memories. Now, I am going to tell you about some of my favorite Christmas memories. Christmas in my house was always so much fun growing up. With Christmas music loudly playing in the radio my Mom would let my sister, Malena and I help decorate the tree and put up the lights outside on the house. We had theses lil wood characters and so many lights I use to think it looked like a Christmas wonderland at our house. And then we would go inside and spend the evening making Christmas sugar cookies from scratch. We would cut out trees, bells, gingerbread men, santa claus, and stars from the most delicious dough. So good we would get into trouble for eating it raw. Then we would cover them in our choice of sprinkles and bake them to perfection. We also helped Mom make peanut brittle, fudge and my favorite, peanut butter balls. These memories are so precious to me. My mother and sister both love to cook and are very good at it, I must say. As for me, well I didn't inherit that gene, but I do love to make Christmas cookies and candy with some of my favorite people. This is one of my very favorite memories and I was so thrilled to include Bree in the baking this year. May we have many more wonderful memories.

Holiday Fun

We spent the weekend getting caught up on sleep and settling in our home. Bree enjoyed relaxing around the house in her Christmas pj's. We read her at the time fav. book for the gillionth time. It's the Princess Fairytales. She picks that book every night to read. Talk about getting old, but she won't have anything else right now. Saturday we had some family pictures taken and Bree was such a lil ham. She really likes to have her picture taken..wonder where she gets that from? For those of you who know me, you know I don't go anywhere with out a camera. I am very picture happy! Cara at Magical Memories gave her a candy cane when we were done and she ate the whole thing before we pulled into our driveway. I think she might have liked it! Now when she sees them hanging on Nona's tree she thinks she has to have one. I told her no, and she asked me "why?" I had no idea that all would start this early. She has been asking me why a lot this weekend. It makes me laugh, I just had no idea she would start that so early. Kerry got our closet shelves finished so I unpacked the boxes in our closet. It was so cool finding all my clothes, shoes and purses that I hadn't seen in 6 months. It's like I have a whole new wardrobe. I love it!! Saturday afternoon we took Aubree to see the Christmas parade downtown. Bree loved the tractors and horses and of course the candy she picked up. We asked if she wanted to go see Santa and she said,"yes"with a smile. So we followed the crowd to the depot to see Santa but when we got to the front of the line and it was our turn Bree started to panic. She held on to me as tight as she could and started to cry hysterically. There was no way she was going to sit in Santa's lap. Needless to say I had my picture made holing Bree next to Santa. We really enjoyed the Winter Bizarre and all the fun Christmas activities. Sunday we started our holiday season off with the 1st Christmas Party. We had the Miller Family Christmas. This is my Mema's mother's side of the family. It was a big turn out. My Mema's Uncle Timmis Miller who is 91 was the only sibling who is still alive of the 8 siblings of my Mema's mother. It is really neat to see all the extended family from my Mema's side and I am blessed that everyone is so close. Bree enjoyed lunch and playing out on the slide with all her distant cousins. But I must say I think her favorite part was present time. Mema gave her present to her and she immediately tore the bow off and started to unwrap it. This year Christmas is going to be so much fun for her. She knows all about presents now and how to tear into them. It was so fun to watch her tear into the package. Sunday evening Bree and Nona made Christmas cookies. Bree actually ate mor than she made, but she was still a good helper. Nona always makes the best Christmas cookies and candy and it was fun for Bree to help her like her Mommy use to do. I can't wait for the rest of our Christmas activities. We have 2 parties next Friday, 1 Saturday, 2 the next weekend and then who knows what all we will be doing the week of Christmas. We always have a very busy holiday season and I wouldn't want it any other way. I love seeing all the friends and family for the holidays! Speaking of family, Kerry's Grandmother Burnett received some, plain out BAD news from her oncologist this last week. She has lung cancer again. For those of you who know Gigi, she is one of the strongest women I know. Please pray for her as she will be going thru a lot this holiday season. May everyone have a blessed week. XOXOXO ( Oh, I found these pictures from Bree's 1st b-day and decided to post them since I never did. I can't believe how much she has changed in just a few months.)

We had such a blessed TG. Bree was such a joy. I was fortunate enough to have Thursday and Friday off to spend with my family. Wednesday night we ate supper at Kerry's parents with the family that had already made it to town. Kerry went duck hunting with his brother and family early Thursday morning and amazingly, Bree and I slept in til 10:00. She is such a good snuggler and we both enjoyed the time of resting together. Bree and I got ready, Bree wore her turkey shirt that Aunt Jen made for her. Talk about cute. Then we met Kerry at my Mema & Pa's for lunch. Bree was such a joy at lunch. She loved all the food and especially loved to share a piece of Mommy's favorite, million dollar pie. My Mema does most of the cooking for our family and as always it was delish. Bree really was entertaining. She is such the talker these days. We watched some football and then went to the Kindle's for supper. Both sides of Kerry's family were there so it was definitely a full house. Bree had a blast playing with all her cousins. There are 3 little girls now...so they are making a come back to catch up with the boys. We are so blessed by our family and really enjoyed spending time with them. Lights went out at our house around 12pm and I was awoke by my alarm at 2:30 am to enjoy a family tradition that was started with my sister. We love bargains, so we would always get up super early for black Friday deals. Every year the stores open earlier and earlier and if you don't get there when they open, chances are you won't get what you want. So Mom and I left GS at 3am to arrive at JCPennies at 4am when they opened. I know it sounds crazy, but it is really a lot of fun and something my family has been doing together for about 15 years. We look thru the sale adds and make a list of where all we want to go on Thurs. night so we can be prepared for the big sales. It is exciting to see all the good sales and then to try and cross people off my Christmas shopping list. We got all our shopping done ( we hit like eight places) by 8:30am. I was so thrilled we were able to get everything we went for. Mom and I had such a wonderful time and are still laughing at the memories we made. Once we got home I was going to go take a nap when Bebe called to see if I wanted to go to 1st Monday with some of the family that was in town. Not wanting to miss out on a girl shopping trip I decided to join them. Aunt Beth, Aunt Julie, Allie, Bebe, Jennifer , Kate and I had a good time shopping and I am almost all finished with my Christmas shopping. That's what I love about black Friday, the bargains and getting most of my shopping done. The sleep deprivation hit me Friday evening around 7pm and Bree and I were asleep on the couch by 9pm. Poor Kerry, we had rented movies, and he was the only one who stayed up to watch them. I just could not stay awake any longer. Sat. Mema took Bree and I to Ivan Smith Furniture to get a new breakfast table. The two tables from our other house are too big to fit in my new breakfast area. So for Christmas Mema offered to get us a table that will fit. We found a really cute one and Mema didn't even make me wait til Christmas to unwrap it. Bree actually did help us pick it out. We were looking at tables and it was between two and I ask Mema which she thought would be best. Then I walked over to the one we didn't pick and was looking at it and Bree said"NO, no, no!" and that was that I knew she liked the other one best of all. Thanks Mim! It looks great in our breakfast area. I also put up the tree in our family room and Bree's room and most of our other decorations. The ones I could find anyway. Bree loves the trees. The one in her room is a white tree with pink and silver girly ornaments. She thinks it is so special to have her own tree in her room. I tried to do some wrapping too, but Bree wanted everything I was wrapping so I decided to do that at a later time. Our house is 90% decorated for the holidays. I love this time of year and can already tell it is going to be so fun for Aubree. Sunday was baby/child dedication at MSBC. We committed in front of the congregation and God to raise Bree in a Godly home and do our best to teach her and train her up for the Lord. It was very special time for us. It is very important to Kerry and I for Bree to know the Lord and to some day commit her life to Him and be saved. Bro. Ronald did a really neat dedication service and gave the 7 children personalized Bibles. It was very cool. Kate was one of the other babies dedicated, so it was even more special for us. Also, every year Mom sends flowers to the church to set out on the Sunday after Malena's b-day in honor and remembrance of her. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and I know the congregation enjoyed them. After church we had lunch with Kerry's family and then spent the afternoon relaxing. Bree has been using the potty like such a big girl. She tells me almost every time she needs to use the restroom. She is such a big girl. She loves our new house and is so proud of her room. She has already discovered how much fun it is to jump on her bed. We put it on the toddler bed this time instead of the crib. It is low to the ground with a side rail so she can easily get up and down. Every time I go in there she is on her bed either playing with her dolls or jumping on it. I can usually tell when she is jumping by the loud laughter coming from her room. She is just a bundle of joy for sure!! Happy Monday to everyone!XOXO

We have had a wonderful week of moving in. Friday the Phiillips' and Dugan's came over and all the girls had so much fun playing. Bree especially loved doing flips with the girls through our, at the time, empty den. The guys moved a load while Bree was entertained with the company. We moved the rest of our stuff on Saturday. Now for the fun stuff...decorating the walls. Kerry especially loves this. Just kidding. I am such a pest trying to get him to help me hang everything. But I must say at this point in time I am completely happy with how the house looks on the inside. It has been a challenge trying to fit the furniture we had in a 2500 sq. foot home into a 980 sq. foot home. This has been very tough, but Bree's bedroom furniture all fit in her room, as did our bedroom furniture and our den furniture fit as well. And to top it off, I even have as much cabinet space as before. After putting all my kitchen boxes away, I still have 2 empty cabinets. So , I must say I am very surprised at how well everything is fiting. The one thing I do miss though is all the extra closet space I had. I guess I will just have to get rid of a lot of the junk we don't use very much. That should be a fun process. We are still working on unpacking the boxes in our closets, but other than that it is coming along very well. Hopefully we can hurry up and get the inside decor done so we can start fixing up the outside. You know how it goes, there is always a project when you own your own home. On a high note we had a great time at the Dallas Cowboys game last Sunday. We got started early with Breakfast at IHOP and then went straight to the game. It was a fun game. Audra and I sported our pink jerseys that we decorated with rhinestones. Since the boys played great we were proud to be wearing them. After the game we stopped at Northpark for dinner at Maggianos. Talk about delicous. Then we did a lil shopping and headed back to GS. What a great day. Go Cowboys!! Monday, Nov., 24th was a very special day for my family. It would have been my dear sister, Malena's 31st b-day. I spent the day remembering all the good times we had and found piece knowing she wouldn't want me to be sad but to celebrate the 26 years we did have together here on earth. Birthdays are huge in my family so it was hard for me not to think about what we would have been doing for her birthday. Actually, I can probably guess. She would have wanted to go out to eat and then my grandmother would have made her favorite, Italian creme cake. I miss her so badly. This time of the year is always very tough on my family. Although, I must tell you Bree delighted me the other night when I got her out of the tub, we walked thru the hall by my sister's picture and Bree pointed to it and said, "Nina." I was so proud. We always point to her pictures and tell Bree about Nina so I was thrilled that she was absorbing it. Malena loved children and I can only imagine how much she would have adored Bree. Sometimes it hurts me when I think of all Bree is missing out on by not getting to know Malena. In so many ways Bree reminds me of my sister. I love it when she does something to remind me of her. Not that I need reminding, I think of her everyday. I tell Bree stories of her and want her to know her thru me. Mom and Bree took a vase of flowers to the cemetery to honor Nina's birthday. It is a very special day to us all. We are super excited to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with all of our family and friends. And we can't wait to see everyone. Happy Turkey Day to everyone...please have a safe and happy holiday and know that I am very thankful to have u in my life. Please take this oppertunity to tell your family and friends what they mean to u, u will never regret sharing your feelings with them. XOXOXO

Moving In!!!

We are thrilled to say the inside of our house is finally ready and we will be moving in this weekend. Yeah!! Kerry has done an amazing job on getting everything ready and with some help from his Aunt Beth, Gramps and Bebe and Lannie and Brandon(actually getting this house ready has been quite a project for everyone) it looks great. Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard and donated ur precious time to help us out. Thanks too, ladies for being kind enough to lend us your husbands. I know everyone is so busy and we greatly appreciate all the help. I am so excited. We still have a lot of work to do on the outside, but the inside looks fabulous. Bree loves her room. aunt Beth did an amazing job painting it. When Bree goes to show someone her room she always walks in and says "EWWW" as she enters. I think she definately loves the pink design Aunt Beth did. I have been preparing her to sleep in her own room when we move in. That is the plan. So I tell her about her own room and how she will have her own bed and dresser and toy box and her own book shelf in there. Then I usually ask her if she thinks she will like sleepin in her own bed in her own room? She usually smiles real big and with the sweetest voice says"Yap." Although the grin she gives me kinda seems a little like she may be fooling me with her answer. I guess we will see how that all turns out. At bedtime she has to have Mommy and Daddy both there and then she will usually lay right down and go to sleep. sometimes she does a lot of flopping in her sleep or as she is going to sleep. We have to hold the laughter in sometimes. She flips all over. The girl is such a snuggler though. I love it so the transition will be tough for me too. This week has been very rapid. Yesterday we ate supper at Moms for my Grandfathers 75th birthday. We are so blessed by what he means to our family and enjoyed his day of celebration. Speaking of celebrating, I bet Gramps and Bebe will be doing some major celebrating now that we will be moving into our own home again. Thank you to everyone for being so kind and giving us somewhere to stay during the remodeling process. We greatly appreciate it so much!!! I do have to mention that we had a great time last Sat. night. It was our highlight of the weekend. We went to Shoguns(Mmmm) with Eric and Jen Tolar and Lannie and Amie Dugan. Talk about a wonderful night. Yummy food and a great time with friends. We also enjoyed church on Sunday and then lunch with Kerry's family. Bree loves her cousins so much. Crew and her are especially fun to watch. They love to sit right next to each other and at lunch Crew was so sweet to Bree. He was feeding her faster than she could chew. Talk about sweet. Bree loves all the attention the boys give her and she is so fascinated by Kate. She always wants to give her big hugs and kisses. Thank goodness Kate is use to it from her brothers so she tolerates Bree well. Other than that we have just been fiercely working on the house and enjoying all the football on tv. Which I must say I am super excited that we will be attending the Dallas Cowboys game this Sunday with Justin and Audra Phillips. I will definitely let you know soon about that experience. Bree is talking so much and has just the cutest personality. She is so much fun to be around. She lights up our lives so much. She loves to dance and is such a girly girl. Life must have been so boring before her. Mom and I took her to a GS high school basketball game which she loved. She kept saying "ball" everytime it would go by her. And the nochos we got at half time were a huge hit with her too. It is the little things that are so fun to experience with her. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Meanwhile, come see us in our new house if you are out and about GS. XOXOXO

God is SO Good! After much agony and prayer we went yesterday to Medical City Children's for Bree to have her VCUG and renal ultrasound. We arrived at 7:30am for the renal ultrasound. Thankfully Nona(my mom) and Bebe(Kerry's mom) both came with us. We were all really concerned about the procedures. The sonographer was super nice and being that I have 6 years of experience in scanning pediatrics I kinda knew what works best when scanning little ones. I always had my patients parents lay down with their children and talk calmly to them during the entire procedure. So that is exactly what I did. Bree actually layed on top of my stomach facing up and I held her hands and talked to her about what we wre doing. Amazingly this works so much better than holding your child down on the bed and trying to get them to lay there being still. So the sonogram went well. While waiting for the next procedure Bree was getting so hungry. She kept digging through her diaper bag saying "Eat." But I could not give her anything..it was so hard to explain to an 18 month old that she could not eat yet. Next we went in for the VCUG(Voiding Cystogram). The staff was wonderful!! The anesthesiologist walked us through everything and the pediatric radiologist let Kerry and I stay in the room for the procedure. Bree has had breathing treatments before so wearing the gas mask was no big deal to her. She sat there on the table wearing the mask so big like. Then when she was out of it the radiologist got started. She talked us through everything. Seriously she made it so much better for us than we anticipated. She showed us right where the reflux was and we got to see it all. Then she explained the best ways to treat the renal reflux and said that we caught it early and there was minimal damage to Bree's kidneys so her reflux could be managed with medication. She would not need surgery at this time. Thank you God for letting the nurses ans doctors be so great and for us discovering this when we did. When it was over Bree was so sweet. She woke up in recovery and looked around and seriously the first thing out of her mouth was "Snack!" So of course we got the baby some juice and gold fish. She came out of it beautifully. We were so glad. As I said before, God is so good! So now we are just thrilled that we know what we know now and we can treat it. We will be taking Bree to see a pediatric urologist in the near future and will be addressing the renal reflux and our baby is going to be okay!!! I am so relieved we did the testing and can go forward from here. Thank you for all the prayers and words of concern. We are so blessed by our friends and family. XOXOXO

Bree really got into her 2nd Halloween. She was a cheer leader. We met Audra, Justin, and Finlee downtown. Finlee was the cutest spider ever. The girls walked the entire town and loved getting the candy. They were so much fun to watch, we were rolling just watching them. After trick or treating we headed to Austin. We stayed with Kerry's Aunt Beth and Uncle Steve in Austin. We had so much fun shopping and enjoying Austin. The three of us went, along with Brandon, Jennifer, Parker, Brett, Crew and Kate as well as Gramps and Bebe. Beth and Steve had a neat omelet breakfast with waffles that we all loved. Bree mainly filled up on whipping cream. Healthy I know! They also hosted a wonderful fajita dinner Sat. night. We enjoyed seeing all the family so much. The kids enjoyed Inflatable World and playing on the playground at WaterLoo on Sunday. Taylor, Ashley and Abigail Rogers met us at the mall and the three girls were so cute together. Bree loves her cousins. Beth and Steve were wonderful hosts and we had a great trip. This week we got the cabinets all finished and the doors hung along with all the hardware on. Kerry also got the tin back splash hung. Aunt Beth came to town and painted Bree's room and we got the base boards down and I painted the shelves for her closet so other than hanging her chandelier (which is in storage) her room is ready. We are going to start laying the tile tom. after we go pick our appliances up at Lowe's. Things are getting really close to being ready for us to move in. Yeah!! Poor Bree has had another cold this week. This time she has had a real raspy voice and a lot of congestion. Her fever only lasted for about three days and the lil doll seems to be getting over it. Her procedures were rescheduled to next Thursday, Nov. 13th at Medical City Dallas. She will be sedated for the procedures and we are hoping it is not as bad as it all sounds. Please keep us in your prayers. On another note, Bree has started to really sing out loud. She loves to sing Old Mcdonald and Jesus Loves Me. She has the cutest little voice. And she is such a prissy girl. If I haven't got a bow in her hair fast enough, she will look at me and say, ''bow?". She also takes off my jewelry and wears it. She loves baby dolls and purses, too. The girl also has to have her nails painted if she sees Mema painting hers. And she loves to shop. What can I say, she gets it honestly. She is such a lil Diva. She loves to try on new shoes, too. I love it!!!

Fall Fun

We introduced Bree to one of my favorite fall activities last night. We had supper at the Dugan's and Lannie had a wonderful treat planned afterwards. He built this really cool fire pit and the girls roasted marshmellows and made smoores. Which happens to be one of my favorite treats. Who doesn't love gooey marshmellows melted on rich chocolate and smoothered between two graham crackers? MMMM......my mouth is watering just thinking about it. And ofcourse Bree loved them. She was eating them just as fast as Addison was making them. They were a great team. Addison enjoyed making them as much as Bree enjoyed eating them. Ofcourse they were a little messy, but definately worth it. Bree wouldn't roast her own marshmellows because everytime she got close to the fire she would say"hot, hot" and didn't want to be too close. However, she did like sitting in the chairs and watching the blazing fire. It was a perfect night for a marshmellow roast and we all really enjoyed it. As for myself I love sitting around a fire on a cool night with good friends and the smoores were just icing on the cake.

Our First Cold of the Season

The bug struck Aubree last week and she generously shared it with both her Mommy and Daddy.  I started feeling sick on Friday and by Saturday it had hit Kerry too.  I guess it is just a little cold that is going around, but it sure has made us feel terrible.  We have all been coughing and sneezing like crazy.  However, on Friday Bebe met me in Mesquite with Bree at Babies'R'Us where we had Bree's 18 month pictures taken.  This was not the funnest thing for Bree being that she was still sick and had a runny nose, but the pictures turned out good.  She just didn't have as much fun as usual and she was a little less cooperative.  But, now that I know how she felt, I really think she did excellent.  After having her pictures done we took her to see Dr. Holt her pediatrician.  He thought she looked well, but the little runt only weighed 19lbs 6 oz which put her in the 3rd percentile in her age group.  This was a little concerning to us all.  She was 29 3/4 inches long which put her in the 6th percentile.  Aubree has always came in low in the percentiles, but this is the lowest she has ever been.  However the girl is a big eater.  She is not picky what so ever and will eat anything and everything.  So we are hoping there is nothing wrong and she just has a good metabolism.  However, we did schedule her for a sonogram of her kidneys and a VCUG test to check her out, given her recent urinary tract infection and now the low weight.  Please pray with us for the test to be as painless as possible and for everything to turn out okay.    After the appointment Bebe and I took Bree straight to Abuelos for some fine mexican food to try to fatten the girl up a little.(I wish I had that problem!!)  Then after we all got our tummies full we went to the mall to walk it off and do some shopping.    Bree especially loved playing on the indoor playground.  She ran around as if she were as big as the 5 and 6 year old kids there.  We finally called it a night when the mall closed and headed back to G.S.  Saturday Bree and I rode with Pa and Mema to the Golden Sweet Potato Festival.  They had a great parade and Bree really got into running after the candy that was thrown her way.  She had both her hands as full as possible.  It is amazing at how fast she picks up on things.  We all had a good time at the festival.  Saturday night Kerry kept Bree while Mom and I enjoyed a night at the American Airline Center watching the Dallas Stars play.  Although I haven't had as much time lately to watch the Stars play, I really enjoy watching them.  Talk about a good game, too.  It went into overtime and sadly the Stars lost 6-5.  But Mom and I still had so much fun.  On Sunday the colds really set in and we were all very tired.  We spent the day resting and Kerry and I worked a little in the afternoon on painting the trim in our house.  Kerry has this week off from work and has been working really hard on the house.  I will post pictures soon of the house and Bree's 18 month beauties.  Happy Halloween to Everyone!!!  

I have been tagged!!

Below are the rules.

1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP



I was tagged by Katy @ Our journey


Here goes:
1. I am a very passionate runner. I have ran 2 26.2 mile marathons and numerous 13.1 mile half marathons. I also have ran in several 5k's and team events. I love to run long distances. It is a therapy for me and is how I relax.


2. I am very sensitive person and cry when I see someone else hurting or crying. And you better believe I always cry in sad movies. It's just who I am.


3. I am very OCD. I am a cleaning fanatic. Everything has to be in its place and my house clean before I can go to bed at night.


4. I Love being a Mommy!! I never knew how wonderful it would be. Kerry and I have been so blessed by Aubree. She makes our lives so much more meaningful.


5. I love to garden. I grew up helping my grandparents in their large garden and am very excited to have some land where we are going to have a garden next season.


6. I have had the same close friends since I was in elementary school. There are 7 of us who have been close friends all through school and who still get together often, talk weekly and are the best of friends. We have shared high school graduations, college graduations, then weddings and so much more. This group of friends are true and have been there for each other through so much. I am so blessed by my life long friends.


I am tagging : Rachel @The Kaiser Family
Ashley @ rogers neighborhood
Jennifer @veryfullquiver

Another fast paced, yet wonderful week!

We went last week to see Baby Olivia once she got home. She is so sweet! Well done, Eric & Jen!! Justin, Audra, Finlee and Mom rode with us and we met Katy there. Needless to say the guys were highly out numbered. We all took turns holding the baby, even Bree and Finlee. They both liked to give her hugs and kisses. It was very cute. On Friday Bree spent the night with Nona. Kerry and I went to Pappadales and had supper with Chris and Donya. It was great to have some adult time and catch up. We also enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday. Although we both missed Bree, it sure was nice to get some rest. Mom hosted her 35th class reunion on Saturday, so of course Bree and I helped her with that. Most of her classmates brought their grandchildren with them. Bree had so much fun playing outside with the other kids. It was such a perfect day. I love this time of the year. Although, it is difficult to get my daily run in, being that by the time I get home from work I barely have time to change before dusk. Yes, I am a chicken and don't like running in the dark. Although, my running time has gotten better since I am trying to beat the dark. Sunday Kerry and I worked in the nursery and realized how rotten Bree truly is. I don't know if it is the fact that her great grandparents and Bebe keep her , or the fact that she is an only child, but she sure is bossy and she likes to have things her way. (Who doesn't, right?) But seriously we have got to schedule more play dates and teach her to be a little less aggressive. One thing is for sure, the girl is very expressive and has a way of getting her point across. Which is very cute, but I won't think so if she is known as the school bully. I guess we have some time to work on it, but seriously call me about the play dates....we both need them. Mom(Nona) and I introduced Bree to the simple game of ring around the rosie tonight. She thought it was hilarious. She chuckled the whole time. Except for when she was trying to tell Mom and I where to fall. See what I mean about bossy! It is so amazing how the simplest things can bring so much joy. We all enjoyed it. Thanks too, Mom, for the great supper. One of Bree's favorite things to do is "dip" food. She will eat anything if she has something to dip it in. It is so funny. If it can be dipped, she wants it. Mema made her sausage links and gravy to dip them in for breakfast this morning. From what I hear they were very yummy and Bree loved them. Bree is still doing pretty good with the potty training, although her sickness did set us back a little bit. It is hard to remember when she was the size of sweet Olivia. She has grown so much. Everyday she learns something new. These are definitely the best days of my life and I love that I have such a wonderful husband and daughter to share them with. God is so good!! What a blessing he has given me and Kerry. I hope everyone has a good rest of the week. As Bree would say, "Wuv Eww!"

Bree is on her way to recovering. She is feeling way better, however she has broken out in a horrible rash from the antibiotic. I guess she is allergic to the sulphur. So we have switched her medicine and she is seeming more and more like herself everyday. Hooray! She has been such a Momma's girl since she has been sick. sadly, I have loved how much she clings to me. But I am so glad she is feeling better. Monday, Oct. 13th Jennifer and Eric Tolar welcomed Miss Olivia Paige Tolar at 5:42pm. She was 7lbs 11oz. 19 3/4 in. She is absolutely beautiful! Bree has been saying baby a lot since we saw her at the hospital. Maybe she is ready for Mommy to have a baby??? Probably not. She doesn't share so well here lately. We really need to work on that more. She surprised Kerry and I the other night, we were playing outside in her wagon and she pointed to the sky and said "moon." The girl was pointing to the lite shadow of the moon that was coming in. How she knew that I have no idea, but she is talking and learning so much. She loves to read and color so much. She has also started to watch movies in the car lately. I mean really watch them , not just stare at the screen. she loves 101 Dalmatians. The other night she got so mad because the tv was not working and we had to drive home from Baylor Dallas home with out the tv. It was really sad. She just didn't understand. Well, we are hoping to go see baby Olivia again tonight, which I am really excited about. Although it does give me the baby blues. Which, if you need really cute baby accessories or bows, or outfits, check out my sister-n-laws page veryfullquiver.blogspot.com. She is super talented and has some adorable items for your little one or for a gift. Have a great evening! XOXOX

The past two weeks have been so busy. Oct. 3rd was Grand Saline's Homecoming.  It was a lot of fun to take Bree to the homecoming parade downtown.  Bree loves to people watch and the cars throwing candy really amazed her.  Friday night we dressed her in her cheer leading suit and tried to get her to wear the adorable mum Mema made for her, although she wasn't too happy to wear it.  I guess it got in her way.  She loved the game and kept trying to go through the gate to get out on the field.  This became a horrible fight, she didn't understand why she couldn't get out there and play.  The child is very strong willed.  I wonder who she gets that from???  We enjoyed seeing several friends and visiting with everyone.  And Bree slept like a rock that night.  Sat. morning Kerry , Bree and I went to Terrell to G& S to pick up the doors for our house.  Then we ate pizza at Cic's.  Hamburger pizza is one of Bree's favorite foods.  She ate a whole piece, including the crust.  She is such a big eater.  We went on Saturday afternoon with a big group from MSBC to see the movie Fireproof at the Carmike theater in Tyler. The church had a theater reserved all to our selves and it was full. The movie was very touching and seemed to be very beneficial. It really makes you think about how you act and react to situations in life involving you and your partner. I definitely recommend it to everyone, no matter what stage you are in in your marriage. After the movie we had dinner with three other couples at Roadhouse. Then Kerry and I went to Marble Slab for dessert. Mom kept Bree for us and we enjoyed our date so much. We worked some more on our house on Sunday and then spent the night relaxing at Mom's. Bree has been doing so well using her big girl potty. It is amazing how smart she is and how fast she learns. We are now spending some time staying with Bebe and Gramps at their house, and will hopefully be in ,our own home soon. Bree started running a fever this past Thursday evening and by Friday was definitely not feeling well. Her fever on Friday was up to 103.7 under the arm. I took a urine sample to Dr. Sherbert and he found blood and pus in there. So we started her on Bactrim for a urinary tract infection. However, we could not get her fever to break so we wound up taking her to Dallas to Children's ER based on advice from 2 different pediatricians. This was a very scary process for us all. Bree was very lathergic and burning up. She wouldn't eat or drink very much at all. Luckily as soon as we got there her fever broke for the first time in 30 hours and she seemed a lil better. We decided to get a hotel and take her to her pediatrician first thing Sat. morning. Good thing we stayed because as soon as we got into bed, boom her fever went back up to 103.4 under the arm. Her fever persisted and at the pediatricians office she got a white blood cell check that was elevated and they did a cath to get another urine sample. This was not fun for Bree, but in a few days we should know more about what is going on. Meanwhile we are still piggy backing motrin and tylenol to try to keep her fever down and giving her the antibiotic. On Sunday morning she awoke after finally getting some sleep and for the first time in three days was thirsty and hungry. Maybe the sweet girl is starting to feel a lil better. I sure hope so, this experience was very scary and hard on us all.  In the midst of all Bree's illness, Mom and I gave Pa and Mema a surprise 75th birthday party at the church. We were successful in keeping it a secret and very pleased with how it turned out. They enjoyed it very much. Please pray for Bree and for her recovery. Have a great week!! XOXOX

Making Progress

We worked so hard on Sunday afternoon on our house. We had a painting party and were amazed at how much got accomplished. We painted the entire house including the ceilings all except for the kitchen and family room ceilings. It looks great. The kitchen, main room and bath are painted kilim beige and our bedroom is done in hopsack. I am not sure as to what I am going to do to Bree's room yet. Her nursery in our old house was done in pink and cream stripes, which I absolutely loved but I can't decide if I want to do them on her room now. It is a smaller room and I just don't know how it will look. I have posted some pictures of her old room, and would love to know what you think. For now I did her room in the cream , which is actually antique white and am waiting to decide what else I should do. I have played with the idea of doing a chair rail and doing stripes half way down the wall. I know I am going to hang her name and do the same bedding and window treatment. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Kerry's talented Aunt Beth is coming in November and is going to help us again, so we have a lil time to decide. She did an excellent job on the stripes in the nursery, so I know whatever we come up with will be beautiful. We took Bree to the State Fair of Texas on Sat. and had a wonderful time. My Mom, Gramps, Bebe, Aunt Alice and Uncle Charlie went with us. Bree especially loved the bird show. Her favorite part was when a bird took a dollar out of her hand. She laughed so hard. She also enjoyed the rides and games. The ducky game was so fun to watch her play and we let her pick out her own prize. For those of you who know Aubree you won't be surprised that she picked a brown puppy dog. She grabbed it and instantly started kissing and hugging it. Probably not the most sanitary thing, but it was so sweet. The fun house was another one of her favorites. We all enjoyed watching her discover all the wonders of the fair. Kerry and I have been going to the fair since our first year together in 2001. We always enjoy all the neat shows and booths and loved sharing this special event with our daughter. Another highlight this weekend was the Marcus vs Lee football game in Tyler. We went with Justin & Audra to meet Katy Cranfill. Her husband, Greg is the quarterback coach for Marcus. What a game! We enjoyed it just about as much as we enjoyed visiting with Katy. Thanks for inviting us, Katy...hopefully we will see you again at Homecoming. Thanks for checking on us. I will try to post some house pictures soon. XOXOX

Bree is the silliest little girl. She loves to play and laugh. The other day she was laying on our bed and started saying "Binky" and had her hands turned up as if she didn't know where it was. so I started saying "Binky" too and looking for it. After searching for it for a few minutes she went to her secret hiding place and started laughing hysterically and grabbed her binky. I realized at this point that she had hidden her binky and was pretending that it was lost. It was too cute. And of course she wanted to do this about four or five more times. But it was worth it to see her get all worked up laughing at herself so hard every time she "found" it. She also loves to dance and sing and she finds it very amusing to have me dance and sing with her. This is pretty hilarious as I am sure you can imagine. Last Friday the 19th was Mema's 75th B-day and we enjoyed taking her out for dinner and having cake and ice cream with the family. We are so fortunate that Kerry and I have both sets of our grandparents still living. Saturday Bree and I went with Mom, Mema and Pa to Dallas to my great aunnt Doris' house for fun and then we went to lunch with my Pa's brothers and sisters and their spouses. It was great to spend time with everyone. That night we went to Gramps and Bebe's for supper and to watch the UT football game. And of course on Sunday we watched the Cowboys game with everyone at Bebe's as well. Bree especially enjoyed the pizza and playing with her cousins. Although, she is a bit jealous when her Mommy or Bebe or Gramps hold lil Kate. She instantly wants in the lap of whoever is holding Kate. We have had a pretty uneventful week. However, we did enjoy supper at Cecil and Sue's house on Tuesday night. They had the whole bunch over and Bree colored with the boys and played like she was as big as they were. I did see her running from Crew a few times. He likes to give her these huge bear hugs and she gets mad some times if they last longer than she thinks they should. I have been getting ready for a garage sale that Mema is having and Bree just doesn't understand why all our things are out in the carport. Kerry & I have been benefiting enormously from the marriage serious going on at MSBC. We are excited about seeing the movie next weekend, Fireproof. This weekend we are taking Bree to the State Fair in Dallas, so I will let you know how that turns out. Enjoy your weekend !!

Blessings beyond measure!

Blessed beyond measure is how I would describe my life. This past week has been one blessing after another. Bree has continued to talk non stop. Amazing me everyday with new words. She even said "I love you" to me today. Of course I said it to her first but it was still priceless to hear her say it back. She has recently started pointing her finger and saying "No,no, no." I don't do this too often, so I'm not sure where she picked this up, but she loves it. It is cute, for now. I still have to remind her not to say it to Mommy or Daddy, but its cute when she says it to our dog, Alex, or her babies. She also loves to play with her pretend camera and say" Cheese" as she takes a picture. She is at such a fun stage. We went to play with Finlee last night, Justin & Audra Phillips' daughter who is about a month younger than Bree. The girls have such good imaginations. They played with pots and spoons for the longest time. They would stir the invisible food and then take the biggest bites. They were such good sharers too. They had so much fun and we had as much fun watching them play. We spent the weekend mostly having family time. Mostly watching a bunch of movies together. Saturday I helped host a house warming for Lance & Jennifer Davis. They are good friends of mine from high school & also our soon to be neighbors. They have an amazingly beautiful home. Saturday night we hung out with Gramps & Bebe. Bree says "Gamps" for Gramps. Too cute! Sunday was another great message at church and a beautiful song by Bebe. Bree was waiving at Bebe from the congregation the entire song. I still don't know how Bebe kept from laughing. As for our house it is ready to be primed and painted which is what we intend to get done this next week and weekend. Having the walls textured really made a big difference on the looks of the house. Last Wed. the 10th was my 28th b-day. I had a wonderful day and felt like royalty. Kerry & Bree sent me a beautiful basket of flowers and Mom & Mema & Pa sent me a vase of flowers to work. Bebe brought Bree to the office and we had a yummy lunch at Red Lobster. After lunch the sweet girls in the office gave me presents and a delicious chocolate cake. That evening Mom, Mema, Pa, Uncle Kurtis, Kerry , Bree and I had supper at Papadales and then had cake and ice cream at Moms. I then went to pokeno at Cara's house where I had a great time and managed to escape with three lovely gifts. What a wonderful b-day, thank you for all the sweet cards, calls and gestures everyone did to make my day special. Then to keep the celebration going, Debbie(Bebe) had supper for me on Thursday night at their house with the family. This was very uplifting as I spent most of Sept. 11th remembering what tragically happened 7 years ago. My heart goes out to all of America for the pain we all experienced on that day. It was great to spend time with family and thanking God for all that he has done to rebuild the lives that were shattered on that horrible day. May we never forget 9/11. On a brighter note, we had so much fun watching Bree play with her cousins, Parker, Brett & Crew. She adores them and I think they are pretty fond of her too. She can't wait for Kate to get a lil bigger so she can really play with her too. Bree has mastered the art of climbing. She climbs on everything. And thinks she is so funny doing it. She really has a good sense of humor and can really laugh out loud at herself. She really likes to go riding in her wagon lately. That is a daily must right now. She is also getting good at the potty thing. A few times this past week she would take her diaper off and run to her potty to go the bathroom. Talk about exciting. We are so blessed by this precious little girl and all of the other wonderful people in our lives. May you all have a blessed week!

We love because He first loved us. I John 4:19

The sermon at church today was another wonderful message that moved me greatly. It was from I John 4:07-19. Bro. Ronald did an excellent job conveying the message. He spoke of how in order for us to truly love our partner, family and friends we must first accept and love God and rely on on the love God has for us. Very moving and has made me focus a lot on how I need to work on displaying God's love in my everyday behavior and actions. Bree has really grown to enjoy going to the church nursery. She loves to go in there and play and the past two Sundays she has not cried when I leave. This is such a blessing. I can really focus on worship and not worry as much about her because I know she is happy. Her latest is to say"Me need that." Talk about sweet...and hard to resist. Although I keep reminding her that she does not need it, she wants it, but she insist that she needs it. She also loves to play with her camera and say "cheese". It is precious! Friday night we went as a family to the Grand Saline football game. We met Gramps, Uncle Brandon and the boys and uncle Charlie and Martin. Bree was all decked out in her lil cheer leading suit along with her pom-poms. She had so much fun watching the boys run up and down the football field. She was definitely a tiny cheerleader clapping along with the cheerleaders and the band. Friday night football games are just one of my favorite things and I am so glad we get to experience this back in our hometown. What a fun night! Saturday was Jennifer Tolar's baby shower at the MSBC Hub. The old gang, Audra, Katy, Holly, Hollie, Jen and myself met at Papadales for lunch. After a nice visit we headed to the church to set up for the shower that was given by us girls. The shower was so much fun and Jen definitely got "showered" with gifts and love. It was so good to see all of my girls and I was reminded of how wonderful it is to have lifelong best friends who are such caring, wonderful women. It has been awesome to take our friendship to yet another level and experience raising our babies together. What a blessing! These extraordinary women have been close to my heart since elementary school and truly define what friendship is all about. We spent Saturday evening at the Phillips' residence with a few other wonderful couples. Mom took Bree with her and my grandparents to Tyler to a homecoming for my cousin Brad who just got back from serving in Iraq. We hated to miss this but it was definitely great to hang out with our friends. As for our house, it is being taped and bedded this week and will be ready for painting this next weekend. Then we have to tile & carpet the floors, put in the new doors, bathroom vanity and cabinets, light fixtures and appliances and a few other lil things and we should be ready to move in. Hurray!! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I want to say thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family for all of your unconditional love and for being such an inspiration in my life. Hugs & Kisses to all!!

Always give thanks to God the father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20

I have really been feeling a sense of gratefulness lately. From the moment I wake up in the morning my heart is filled with warmth. Usually the first thing I see when I open my eyes is this precious little 16 month old girl laying next to me sleeping so peacefully and my wonderful husband on the other side of me. Immediately I am overwhelmed with a sense to thank God for the joy and pleasure Aubree brings to our world. As I watch her sleep I am amazed at how beautiful and perfect everything about her is. God has graciously given me a wonderful family. Everyday I am amazed at how much Aubree is learning and changing. She is talking so much. She started say Uhh ooh this week and just last night we heard her singing Old MacDonald Had A Farm. Although we weren't sure what she was singing at first. The verses of the song are kinda gibberish but then when it comes to the ee-i-ee-i-o part she sings it loud and proud. It is so precious. She is such a delight to be around. She can also say and point to almost all of her (or your) body parts. Careful though she does poke your eye pretty hard and it'll hurt if your not paying attention. Bree is really at an independent stage. She wants to be such a big girl. Specially when it comes to eating. She wants to feed herself with out any help. This gets pretty messy! She loves to play with her babies and feed them their bottles too, although most of the time she ends up trying to drink their juice from the pretend bottles and doesn't understand why nothing comes out. She has her own sign language. When she is looking for something she turns her lil hands up and walks around looking so lost. It is so cute. Being that time flies by so fast and we are usually so busy, we have been spending any free time we have at home as a family enjoying Bree. Kerry and I have agreed that our time with Bree goes by way too fast and we need to start spending more time enjoying the simple moments in life. Although I am so grateful for the time we have together, I do feel that the time with Bree has gone by way to fast. I am happy to see her grow and learn, but also a lil sad when I think of how fast she has changed. In church today Bro. Ronald started a new series on Fireproofing your Marriage. Kerry and I greatly appreciated the sermon and it is our prayer to remember to submit, love and respect each other as we face the trials of daily life. We usually try to follow this anyway, however in the crazy everyday world we don't always remember to honor each other as much as we should. The series is shadowed by a movie coming to theaters at the end of September. From the clips I have already seen it seems very beneficial for all couples. We are looking forward to the upcoming sermons and the movie. For now we are trying to enjoy each other and remember to thank God for the blessings in our lives and enjoy our precious gift from God.

Well as the summer is coming to an end we have been trying to get back on track with everything. Kerry has been working a lot on our house this past week. He and his Dad have finished the plumbing and installed the new water heater. They also finished the sheet rocking in Bree's room, the bathroom and the ceiling. So now we are trying to get it taped and bedded and then we can start painting. I have been sanding the cabinets and getting them ready to be painted. We still don't know what color we are going to paint the cabinets though. I am considering doing them like my SIL Jennifer's. She did a white-wash finish that looks really good. You can check them out on her blog veryfullquiver.blogspot.com. The house is a big mess right now, but the yard looks pretty good. All the rain was great for the elephant ears I inherited. They were really drooping from the heat but have perked right up. The grass is nice and green too. To take a break my Mom and I went out with some of my girlfriends and their mothers again this past Friday night. We went to the Dallas Studio Movie Grill to see Momma Mia. Talk about a great girls movie. Its like a modern day Greece. Atleast I liked it almost as much and it is one of those you want to watch over and over again. We had a great time. Bree stayed with her Daddy at his parents house and I know they all enjoyed that too. Kerry had another night with his daughter Saturday night. Bree went with him and Gramps to Lindale to eat and Shop at Lowe's for Gramps' B-day present while I went to a progressive dinner with The Womens Minestry of MSBC. The dinner was like 40 something women who met at the church then went to a lovely house for appetizers. Then we went to Debbie's for the main course. She made an excellent lasagna with green bean bundles. Then we went back to the church for homemade pies and to put together gift bags. The food was fabulous and the fellowship was even better. I really enjoyed spending time with some of the women in the church. That is another thing we are trying to get back in the swing of. We would like to become more active in the church. Sunday was Gramps' birthday so we ate with him and the family after church. Don't worry I won't post your age Gramps.(Ha! Ha!) We are so fortunate to have such loving, considerate, caring Gramps. He has been such a big motivator for us on the construction of our house. He really devotes a lot of time to his family. And we thank him for everything! Well, Bree has been using so many new words lately. She loves to say "outside & if you get in her way she'll tell you to move. The lil stinker. Instead of saying yes when you say something she likes, she claps. It is so sweet. She loves to go to our house and feed the fish in our pond. She thinks she has to every time she goes there. We have also been enjoying spending time with Parker, Brett, Crew and Kate, and of course with Brandon and Jennifer. The boys are so much fun for Bree. She loves to pretend she is as big as they are. She has been trying to color a lot lately. She really likes for some one to color with her. Of course it is just scribbling, but I think it is great. Thanks for checking on us!

Such A Big Girl

About six weeks ago I noticed that if I said to Bree, "Momma has to go to the bathroom," she would run to the bathroom and pat the potty. So I thought to myself, she knows what we do in the bathroom. So I got her her own "Royal Potty" that plays assorted music when she potties in it. Being the sweet girl that she is, she almost always follows us around the house when we get up to do something. She doesn't want to miss a thing. So she usually goes to the bathroom with us and while we use the restroom she sits on her "Royal Potty" in her diaper, mind you. Well, Monday night while i was running her bath water, she was waiting anxiously as always and then when I took off her diaper she turned around and went to her potty chair and sat right down. I could see her lil tummy straining as she tee-teed right in her potty. I was so impresses! The chair started playing music and in ran her Daddy and Nona. We were all so proud and she smiled the biggest smile ever. Then she waved and in her sweet lil voice said, "Hi." Talk about a moment to remember. Our lil girl is growing up so fast. Now I know we still have a long way to go with the potty training thing, and this seems like such a small deal to some, but to me it was huge.

Still Homeless

Well as you probably know we are still working on our new house. This remodeling is quite a process. I must be honest though, lately we have been slacking a bit. The house has not been one of our priorities. We have been busy spending time with family and friends. Kerry's sister Emily was in town and we have just been preoccupied with a family wedding and lots of other family fun. Congratulations to Mike & Ashley Baker!! Your wedding was absolutely beautiful! We spent the day recently visiting with Katy and loved her new house in Corinth. Holly and Emma met us there and we took the girls swimming in Katy's pool. It was go good to hang out with some of my dearest girlfriends from elementary school. Bree and Emma are 6 weeks apart and they played so well together. They kept hugging and kissing each other. They are both very lovey girls. They were even holding hands a lot. Talk about cute!! I was also so glad I got to stop by The Medical Center of Lewisville and say Hello to all my old co-workers. I miss you all so much and it was great to see you. Well we have had an up and down time with Bree's new kittens. They disappeared from Mom's on Wed. morning and were gone all weekend and then on Sunday nite Kerry and I were on the back of our land putting out some deer corn when we heard a meow. We both started calling the kitties and out of the woods ran Spice. How she got to our land is a mystery to us. sadly we have not found Sugar, but Bree was so glad to see Spice when we brought her home. She was looking for Sugar the rest of the nite though. Which saddens me. But what can I do? We are thankful though to have Spice back safely. Well Bree is still a doll baby. We were in the Miss Canton pageant 2 weeks ago and the beauty received 4 awards. We were so honored. She got plaques for Best Dress, Most Beautiful, The Red, White & Blue Modeling Category and received a crown for the queen of 12-23 month age group. We had so much fun and she walked across the stage like such a big girl. Aubree loves attention and will put on a show whenever the chance arises. Needless to say she was not scared and laughed when her time to go onstage came. Although her Daddy and I are not big pageant people I think there is a lot children can learn from them and as long as they have the right attitude going into it then there is no harm done. I prayed a lot the week before the pageant that God would give me the right attitude going into this and that no matter what the outcome I would still think just as highly of Bree and the other contestants. Bree and I love to dress up and that is exactly what the day was all about. Bree wore a beautiful dress and had fun running around playing with the other kiddos. Thanks Amie and Hollie for all your help getting ready for the pageant. And thanks to all my family and friends for coming to the pageant and supporting us. What a blessing you are in our lives.

Where Did July Go?

We have been so busy enjoying our summer and working on the house and land that this month has flown by us. Bree is so fast now. She is all over the place. Last week Bebe & I took her to have her picture taken at Kiddie Kandids. They take amazing pictures and always seem to capture Bree in her best momments. The photographers are so good with her as well. Although I must say Bree really hams it up for the camera. We took her to stride rite for some new shoes and the lil stinker went from being a size 3 1/2 in May to noe a whooping size 5 1/2. We then took her to Flower Mound to see Dr. Smalley for her 15 mo. well baby visit. She is still a munchkin, but he was impressed with her steady climbing growth. She weighed 19 lbs 2.5oz. was 29 3/4 inches long. She remains in the 5th percentile in her weight and the 25th for height, but he was pleased overall with her steady growing. He said she was developing wonderfully. Afterwards we took her by her old school to see everyone. It was so nice to see Ms. Cookie, her teacher. We miss her kindness and smiling face so much. Bree showed her all of her new tricks, too. She winks, holds up one finger when you ask how old she is, blows kisses, gives huge hugs, Eskimo kisses, butterfly kisses and much more. Next we met Aunt Kathy at The Galleria for a lil shopping and dinner. What a perfect day!! Bree has a huge vocabulary she even says thank you now. She loves to ride her car and horsey & is still in love with all animals. We proudly welcomed Bree's 4th cousin into this world on July 15th, Miss Kate Marie Kindle. She is beautiful. Bree loves playing with her cousins and the boys are so good with her. We have truly been blessed by her in so many ways. Thank you for checking on us.. Much love to everyone.

We have been so busy lately chasing Bree around and getting ready to close on our house and 19 acres. We close on Tuesday the 10th of June and then we are going to start a complete remodel on the house. The land is beautiful. It is 19 rolling acres with 3 ponds and is in a nice , quiet area just about 2 miles from my Mom's place. Kerry has already started to mow the land and clean the ponds up. It is very peaceful out there and in the future we hope to build a new home on the top of the big hill in the middle of the land and rent the house we are remodeling. We are very excited about the possibilities of our new home. Bree had a wonderful 1st birthday. The theme was "Pink Poodles in Paris". She had the cutest pink poodle shaped Birthday cake w/ iced bone shaped cookies. She loved the cake. She demolished it into a million lil crumbles. She liked to play in it more than anything. She enjoyed all the attention at her party. Thank you to all of our family and friends for coming to celebrate such a wonderful milestone in our lives. She has two bottom teeth now, so she thinks she can eat anything we are eating. However, mashed potatoes are still her food of choice, and Mema makes them for her just about everyday. They spoil her rotten. She definitely entertains them. She is talking a lil more everyday. She says a new word all the time. She loves animals. Kerry and I took her to the Tyler Zoo not long ago and she loved feeding the birds and the elephants. She also loves to swim and do anything outside. She is the huggiest child I have ever seen. She gives the best, biggest hugs ever. At her 1 year check up she weighed 17 lbs. and 13 oz. and was 29 inches long. She is a petite lil thing. Over the Memorial Day holiday she came down with the chicken pox. This was not a fun time. We were at the Whispering Pines Resort with the Lee and Phillips family and I was so afraid that we had exposed Zander and Finlee to the pox, but as of now, no one else has gotten them. Bree had a ton of bumps all over her body, but the majority were in her hair. She never ran much of a fever and didn't really scratch them either. Most of the pox are gone now, there are just a few scabs left. I guess that is one thing we don't have to worry about again. God has blessed us tremendously and we enjoy every second with our families and friends. May God Bless you always.

Our Baby Is Turning One!

This past year has been an amazing blessing from God. Our lives have been by far enriched by Aubree Malena Kindle. She has constantly amazed us with her sweet personality and persona. We could not love her more. She is running around every where. Everyday is a blast to experience with her. She finally has two teeth on the bottom that are just about to break thru the gums. She is the biggest hugger ever. When she sees us she comes running and has the biggest hugs to give. She is definitely an outdoor girl. She loves to go out to play. It is so hard for me to believe that she is turning 1 this Saturday. The year has flown by. Along with all the wonderful joys she has brought to our lives, we also have some more good news. We close on our house in Lake Dallas on May 12th. Once we do that we can get more settled here in Grand Saline. We are definitely looking forward to that. I hope everyone is having a great spring & hopefully we will see you soon. Thanks for checking on us...God Bless.

Country Livin

We have been back in G.S. for two weeks now. My new job is fantastic! Everyone in the office is super nice and I think it already feels like home. We are still staying with family, as our house is still for sale. Bree stays with Mema & Pa and Bebe during the week. Although, we all really miss her teachers at CCLC we are loving that she spends so much time with our families. They are really enjoying it, too. Bree has started to walk short distances at a 0time. I guess she has been doing it for about a week now. She is so funny. She will walk across the living room or from one thing to another from time to time. But sometimes she gets so excited and falls. She loves to dance and play the piano. She is so good natured. Although, we have found one thing that she does not care for at all. The Easter Bunny. Audra and I took Bree and Finlee to the Tyler mall on Friday to see the Easter bunny. We got the girls semi-matching Easter dresses. Bree's is green with big pink flowers trimmed in pink & white polka dots and Finlee's is yellow with big pink flowers trimmed in yellow & white polka dots. They even have custom made hair bows to match. Way cute!! They had such a cute set up for pictures in the mall. The girls were playing and when we sat them down on the bunnies lap, Finlee did great, as for Bree she started shaking and screaming. The poor baby was terrified! We tried to play and sing and I sat there next to the bunny, and she was fine but every time I would hand her to the bunny she cried. So Finlee had her picture made in his lap and then we rearranged the set and set the girls on the bench and had the bunny sneak in behind them. But Bree kept her eye on him the whole time. Other than that she loves everyone. We are so happy to be back around all of our family and friends. We enjoy seeing everyone so often and all the convenience of having everyone right here. Thank you for checking on us...God Bless & Happy St. Patty's Day and Easter.

Coming Home to G.S.

After much consideration we have decided to put our house on the market and move back to our hometown Grand Saline. I have accepted a position at Dr. Zeb's cardiology office in Greenville, Tx. Kerry will continue to manage the company he is with, the drive is actually shorter from G.S. than from our house now. Bree will be staying w/ my grandparents and family everyday which we are very excited about. We are hoping to find some land and build a house, but until then we will be staying with family. Although this will be a big change after being gone for 9 years, we are very excited and look forward to raising Bree around her grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, great aunts & uncles, cousins and many of our long time friends. We have been talking and praying for this move for a very long time and we feel like it is now God's plan to move us back. Thank you for all of your prayers on this matter. We will greatly miss all of our friends and neighbors here, but it will be so nice to be back with our family.

On another note, Bree is really growing fast. At her nine mo. check-up she was 16lbs 2oz. 27 3/4 in. and her head was 42cm. She is long and skinny. She is doing great. She likes to clap & sing, play ball( throwing the ball back & forth), and stand. She is such a fast crawler. She is really into everything. She is such a sweet girl! She loves to give big hugs & kisses. She even hugs Alex every chance she gets. Bree is the light of our lives. She makes everything fun. Last weekend we had a girls day w/ our friends from G.S. and we took the girls to the park after lunch. Bree & Finlee loved to swing. This was Bree's first time and she would kick her legs & laugh when she wanted to go faster. Sooo cute! They also liked to slide. It was so much fun exploring the park w/ these sweet lil girls. Bree is also a big eater. She wants anything we are eating. The other night at Jason's Deli Kerry was having brocolli & cheese soup and Bree wanted some so he was sharing it w/ her. I got some ice cream and figured she would love it, so I gave her a bite. She got so mad she pushed the spoon away, started crying and then spit it out. She was expecting more soup and didn't want the ice cream. Kerry gave her soup and she stopped crying and was happy again. I think we may have found one of her favorite things! Atleast for right now anyway. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family life. I hope everyone feels the true love and joy that a family can bring. God Bless!