Christmas Eve 2010

We went my parent's house for Christmas Eve day to have a big breakfast and to get together with family from Austin.

 All the kids (minus Jillian) eating a yummy breakfast!

 

 My brother and Cooper

 

 My honey

 Waiting for present time!

 My cousin, Aaron and his son, Cale

 My Aunt Terri and cousin, Jarrett

 Jillian got the hang of tearing the paper off pretty fast, but she got about this far and gave up!

 The twins got cute little backpacks with little animals in them from Aunt Terri! 

They were a hit! (Kaitlyn)

 Kennedy modeling her backpack

 We did out annual Christmas "play".   Kennedy was Mary (holding baby Jesus), Kaitlyn was the angel, Cale was Joseph, Cooper and Jillian were shepherds and Jarrett was the narrator.  It always makes us laugh to see how this turns out with so many little ones.

 My mom had a cute Christmas craft for all the kids to do too!

Jillian was a little bit too young to do a Christmas craft, so she was happy coloring a picture of Cookie Monster.

Later that evening at home, we read Luke 2 and let the girls put together the Fisher Price Little People nativity that I had gotten earlier this month. They loved arranging all the people and it was a nice visual for them as we read the Bible. We sang some Christmas songs, put out cookies for Santa and got them in bed!  We are excited for tomorrow!

Christmas break week 1

We started our week with all 3 kids having colds, but they are all doing better (minus a cough here and there) and we are having lots of fun!  Last night we went to look at Christmas lights. We got all the kids fed and bathed and then loaded up the van.  Jillian was quite confused as to why we were getting in the van after bath time, but she was a trooper!  The girls were super excited and we saw some pretty lights!

 

 In their pj's ready to go!!

 Jillian was ready too! (still with wet hair from her bath)  She really enjoyed the lights and kept saying "Whoa!"  "Wow!"

 

 This house was really decked out!

Today, we took  the twins to see Tangled.( My parents kept Jillian for us.)  The movie theater is still a new experience for them and they were a little bit weary, but once they were settled in and eating their popcorn, they loved it. The movie was soooo cute! We all loved it.
Later, the girls got their dress up scarves and tied them on their heads to pretend that they had long hair like Rapunzle. They kept their "hair" on for the rest of the day.

 Kennedy in the blue "hair" and Kaitlyn in her USA colored "hair" (and tutus of course)

 We have been playing outside a lot this week too! (Since the weather has been so warm!) Jillian is having a great time playing with all the outside toys.

 Kennedy

Kaitlyn, taking a break

We have lots more happening this week and next! More pictures to come soon!

This week

After Jillian's crazy week, we were hoping for a calm one this week! But, what do you know...Kaitlyn's tummy started hurting on Sunday and the poor thing threw up. (Her first time to do this in 4 1/2 years!) Luckily, it was a super fast bug (just like Jillian's) and she was pretty much back to normal by bedtime. In fact,she ended up loving all the attention she got...laying on the couch, watching movies etc.  She was eating it up!

Sweet thing laying on the couch watching GiGi, and Strawberry Shortcake

 Jillian went to her 18 month appt on Tues and Dr. Bornstein told us that we could remove her bandage permanently! Yea! It was looking great!  She got her bloodwork back and everything was normal (Yea again!) She got weighed and measured and was 75% for weight and 95% for height! I think little one just may get some of her daddy's height.  Overall a good appt and the best part.....no shots!! 

 On Wednesday, the twins had their Christmas party at school. They got to wear their Christmas dresses and they loved getting all dressed up! I promise, Kennedy is NOT that much taller than Kaitlyn...I think Kaitlyn was slouching! :)

 Thursday, like always, we went to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).  I wanted to snap a picture of the twins in their outfit that Grandma gave them before we left, but they didn't want to get closer together or smile very much..they basically didn't want to take the picture.  I couldn't help but laugh, though,  when Jillian went and stood right in the middle of them!!  It's such a random picture of all of them, but it just makes me laugh looking at it!

Here's just a silly picture of the girls playing together...Kennedy in her pj's and Kaitlyn in a dress up dress. They all were rocking on Jillian's little toy!

 Today, (Friday) was our last day of school!  We are excited about our Christmas break and today we were given an awesome gift! 2 sweet families (students of Tony's) from FBBA went in together and gave us a free deep cleaning for our house! I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to come home knowing that the house was completely clean, from top to bottom!  We are sooooo thankful!

Today also brought more sickness....Kennedy and Kaitlyn both are coming down with colds. (Boo!)  Kaitlyn, especially felt bad today.  I'm ready for all my kiddos to be well!  Hoping that we will all be better by Christmas!

18 months (and a hard week!)

Today our sweet little Jillian is 18 months. I can hardly believe it! Here are the things she is doing/saying at this age:

She says too many words to write out (she is getting so verbal!)
Her newest word:  blanket
Her most used words (aside from family names): Uh oh and off
Most used sign: more
Newest sign: blanket

-She absolutely LOVES Sesame Street....especially Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby (She says all of their names and just learned how to say Ernie and Grover)
-She still loves Barney and Signing Time.

-She climbs on everything-including the couch!
-Very independant
-Loves taking DVDs out of the DVD player (sigh) and knows how to turn the TV on and off
- Loves puzzles and can do them independently
-Loves to play Ring Around the Rosie with her sisters!

-Loves milk and is a great eater! Especially fruit!
- Blows you kisses and often hugs her sisters just because. She loves them to pieces!

Size 6 shoe
Size 18-24 month clothes
We go next week for her check-up!

I had her appt scheduled for today, but after the week she had, I changed it to next week.  About 3 weeks ago, we noticed a little red spot under her chin. We wondered what it was, but didn't think much about it. Then we noticed it was getting bigger and very very red. We watched it and it kept getting bigger. Finally, this past Monday, we took her to the dr. We didn't know what it was. It kinda looked like a very red mole.  The dr said that it was an abscess...like a mosquito bite that got infected or a cut that got infected. The dr. removed it and it was very tramautic for her. It was infected and there was a lot of blood! She came home with a bandage from ear to ear. It made her cheeks puff out like she had the mumps.....it looked just pitiful and she kept saying "off" and pointing to her bandage.

 Poor thing came home with blood on her outfit!

You can see how her little cheeks were all puffy.

So, the story continues. The next day, Tues, she woke up and her bandage was filled with blood. The dr had said that if the wound started bleeding again, to see him again.  So, back to the doctor we went.  He had to cauterize it and replaced the big bandage with a smaller bandaid. (Yea!) He was a little worried about how much she was bleeding so he gave us instructions to have her blood drawn to test for clotting problems etc. 

The rest of the day, she was not herself. She didn't want to eat and kept crying and holding her stomach. I hated seeing her like this!!!  I put her to bed that night (hoping she would be better in the morning). I didn't hear anything all night from her and assumed she was better.  BUT, come to find out, she had thrown up during the night and it was all over her bed, hair, clothes etc. ( I had to leave for work early that day, before she got up for the day,  so my poor dad found her this way!!)  

Wednesday, she was all better though! No signs of that yucky stomach virus...so glad it was over! We did have to saga of needing to wash her hair, but had been given instructions not to get the bandage wet! Fun times!!

Today she got her blood drawn so we will hopefully get the results of that soon. I'm not too worried...I don't think anything is wrong..just doing this as a precaution.

SO....that is why I changed her 18 month appt to next week. I couldn't bear the thought of her having to go BACK to the doctor and get shots!!! 

We love our little Jilly and we are thankful that we have been given this sweet little girl! Sure hope next week isn't as eventful as this one was!

Christmas party at Chick-fil-a

Since Tony is working at Chick-fil-a part time, we got to go to their Christmas party. It was actually in the Chick-fil-a restaurant on a Sunday, so no one else was there except staff and families. They gave away lots of prizes and the twins had a fun time making crafts and getting their faces painted!

It was a potluck dinner! Lots of yummy food!

 

The twins enjoyed the fun and food too! 

 They LOVED getting their face painted. They even went back and got the other cheek painted after awhile. (Kennedy)

 Kaitlyn

 Making a craft! They made the candy cane into a cute reindeer! (Kaitlyn)

 Kennedy concentrating on hers...

Jillian stayed home and played with Aunt Jenn, Uncle Chris and Cooper. She had a great time and we appreciated them watching her for us!

Decorating the tree

The twins have been dying to put up the Christmas decorations! We usually put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, but this year we put it up the day before Thanksgiving. We had some very eager little girls!

 

 My two little elves! (Kennedy, Kaitlyn)

 Kaitlyn, my little detailed organizer

Kennedy, my creative little diva :)

The tinsel was a big hit! 

 Kaitlyn took the name tree "skirt" literally!

 Once the lights were lit and the tinsel was on, it was time for the decorations. I don't think these girls could have had any more fun. They put up every single ornament by themselves! (Kaitlyn)

 Kennedy finding just the right spot for her ornament.

 They rearranged the ornaments over and over. (And still do every day!)

 Jilly woke up from her nap and got in on the fun too! 

 She helped by dumping out all the ornaments! :)

Daddy and Jillian posing by the completed Christmas tree!!  (Notice, the top of the tree has no ornaments! Their little arms could only reach so far! ha!)
The girls have been asking me every day "How much longer until it's Christmas?"  It's fun to see their anticipation! They are sooooo excited!  It's going to be a fun month!

Thanksgiving Day 2010

 We were so excited to have the whole week off from school, but, boy, did the week start differently than expected. This past Sunday night, Tony and I got either food poisoning or a stomach bug and it wiped us out! Thanks to Grandma and Pa for coming to the rescue. They came and got the kids for us Monday morning (we couldn't even get out of bed!). We also didn't want to expose them if we did have a stomach bug. We  recovered and slowly got our appetite back....just in time for Thanksgiving day! :)
We went to my parent's house and had a yummy meal!  We spent a lot of time outside, letting the kids run around.  I didn't get any pictures of our wonderful lunch, but I did snap some photos of the people I am thankful for!

 

Our sweet family

My brother, sister-in-law and nephew, Cooper!

 My Jilly Bean (17 months)

 

 My wonderful husband!

 

 My parents!  (This was quite a task trying to get two 4 year olds, a 2 1/2 year old and a 17 month old to pose for a picture!)

And my two twinkies! 

(Pa raked A  LOT of leaves for all the kids to jump in!)

We are also very thankful for all of Tony's family that lives near Ft. Worth! We missed them today, but we will be seeing them at Christmas!  Can't wait!

Playing in the leaves!

 

Get ready......

 

 Get Set.....

  

 Gooooooo!!!!

  

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! 

(That was fun Uncle Chris!!   Do it again!)

Halloween 2010

The evening before the 31st we got together with our neighbors for some good food and good fun! Here are some of the kiddos eating dinner. (Tanner, Meagan, Madi, Kennedy, Kaitlyn)



Yummy frito pie! (Kennedy, Kaitlyn, Audrey)


All the girls on the cul-de-sac!! (minus Jillian...she didn't want to pose for the picture!)



Kaitlyn wanted to be a ballerina.



Kennedy wanted to be Sleeping Beauty.



Jillian was a pumpkin! She wouldn't keep her little hat on that went with it...and I could never catch her smiling either..but she looked so cute! (This was the same costume the twins wore when they were this age)


And I also dressed her up in the cow costume our neighbors gave us! I just couldn't resist.


There was no trick or treating this year for the girls. The twins are still terribly scared of masks and scary costumes so they didn't even want to leave the house. That was ok with us! I didn't buy new costumes (knowing that they wouldn't be used) and they were completely content choosing from the many dress up clothes they already had. We did have a couple of visitors who came over halloween night to see the girls and they gave them some candy. They loved that. We had a special night inside on Halloween night and the girls had a fun time just hanging out with good ol' mom and dad! :)