The Warren Family

EAisms

2012-02-15T14:09:00.001-06:00

Anna:

*"Uh Oh. I dropped Jesus, Mommy." (in reference to dropping the bible.)

*"Look mom. Birthday fire!" (in reference to birthday candles)

*"Lets pick up emails" (in reference to picking up mail from the mailbox)

*Lately she's been calling Todd, "Daddy-O". We love it : )

*Every time we read a book to her she then has to repeat her version back to us.

*The other day I was singing and she looked at me with a stern look on her face and said, "No. M'am."

Eli:

*Back in December I told Eli he needed to dress up for his Christmas program. It took him a while to figure our what that meant. He went from wanting to Dress up like Santa, to wanting to dress in Christmas pajamas. I guess we don't use the term 'dress up' in this house unless we are referring to costumes : )

*Also during December while all the Christmas tunes were filling the radio waves Eli heard Lois Armstrongs version of "Zat you Santa Clause?" and asked if it was Elmo singing. It seriously does if you just close your eyes and listen : )

*While watching a commercial intently Eli said, "mom! Anna needs that!" I look over and it's a commercial about a college savings plan : ) (By the way, yes you are right Eli. She does. )

*One night at bedtime Anna was throwing one of her new 2 year old fits while Todd was tucking Eli in. Eli told Todd, "Dad, could you go and get Anna? Her crying is hurting my feelings".

*For my birthday he was dreaming up what my cake should look like. He said, "I know...you can get a cake with FAMILY icing". He knows what I love : )

*He has two ages he does not want to reach for various reasons. He's frightened to turn 5 because he thinks that's when his teeth will start falling out. He's says he doesn't want to turn 11 because ONE TIME I said, "Eli please don't ever turn 11"...{sigh}.

*His occupational therapist is reevaluating him (more on this another blog) and she asked him to draw a person. This time he DID draw the outside of a person (unlike last time when he drew the heart and lungs) but when she asked for him to describe the different parts he pointed to the fingers and said "those are the phalanges".

*** Hope this made your day! Especially you, Jewels : ) ***

Lets Roll!

2012-02-09T14:06:00.001-06:00

Sorry dear blog. It's been awhile. I have a lot of ideas brewing in my head to share with you, but before I move on I want to make sure I document a monumental event in my son's life. HE LEARNED TO RIDE A BIKE!! Todd and I always heard that if he learned to ride on a skuut first he would be able to go straight to a bike without training wheels. As he was outgrowing his skuut (quite literally he was too tall for it!) we new it was time to see if the rumor was true. After dragging our heels for a few months we finally bought him a bike for Christmas. We took him to the neighborhood school parking lot and 5 minutes later he was riding a bike!! We are all elated!!! It is our new favorite thing to do...every day. He has 2 lightposts that he is allowed to ride between on our street and he can do it for over an hour! : ) Way to go buddy!!!

P.S. I am also tagging this as one of my "Favorite Things" because I highly recommend if you have a toddler/preschooler that you go out and get a skuut!!!

December Photos!!!

2012-01-30T13:58:00.001-06:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Thought I'd get these up before the end of January : ) Remember friends & family this is where you can click on the picture and download a full size photo to your computer. Enjoy!

On the SIXTH (and final) day of Christmas...

2012-01-27T07:47:00.000-06:00

...Anna and I got the stomach flu : ( There was at least period where both of us were feeling alright and were able to end our trip with some final great memories. This final Christmas was at Todd's sister, Karah's house. We celebrated with our Grandaddy and hoped to ring in the new year together. They might of, but I was down for the count : ) Todd was able to capture some great moments with the kids playing outside in some more unseasonable weather.

Hearing the story of Jesus through the eyes of Isaiah

Nailing Grandaddy

Sluggers

I printed this picture for Eli's room...it captures his awesomeness

Making Jesus' birthday cake

(hope everyone likes sprinkles)

I love this picture of Aunt Linny just enjoying life : )

Having fun!

This one kind of frightens me...my life in 11 1/2 years?!?

Thanks for bearing with me as I told the story of our Christmas! We spent time with some of our most favorite people and I wanted to make sure I documented those memories for our family. Thank you everyone for your laughs, love and hospitality! We will be back....

On the FIFTH day of Christmas...

2012-01-23T20:30:00.000-06:00

...we headed to Nana and Michael's farm. This is one of the many views from this remote retreat in Missouri country. This place was breath taking and we loved experiencing it!

Eli and his cousin Jameson could play with mud and sticks to their hearts content and be a part of a whole new world...

...the kids could pet and help feed the horses...

...Anna could play dress up with her great great grandmothers jewelry...

...and I could play games (with a spectacular view) to my heart's content.

As always with this side of the family we kick off Christmas by reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". This year was extra special because my hot husband read the story....

Every time the word "THE" was read we passed around gifts and anxiously awaited opening the gift that was destined to be ours once the final "THE" is read with "THE END". We always wind up with something cool, and the kids even today were playing with their "balloon cars" that one of us received. I love this tradition. But of course there are other Christmas traditions that the kids love, like opening even more gifts : )

By far the best part (as in every celebration thus far) was being with those we love and love us so well.

The whole crew


The great grandkids with their Great Grandma Mary

The cousins

The crazy duo

Thank you Nana & Michael for opening up your beautiful home to us. One more stop, and then it's back to reality : )

On the FOURTH day of Christmas...

2012-01-18T20:56:00.000-06:00

...we realized that our kids had slept in 4 different places and had at least 4 more to go. I don't know why I never thought through that and how exhausting it would be. Just the packing/unpacking alone was enough to make me want to stay put. So we had to cancel a sleepover with the Petersons, but that didn't stop us from having a good time the following day. We already had plans to reconnect with some of our college friends, and it was just a bonus that is was a MU bowl game day (although none of us really watched it because MU was that awesome...) It's always a good time seeing everyone, and it makes it even more special to see all of our kids together.

Warren/Peterson Crew playing BINGO

Katelyn rocking out

The boys doing what they do best

The girls doing what they do best (two floors AWAY from the boys)

The adults doing what they do best : )

Todd and Jim

After the girls put on a dance recital (in which no photography or "kids" were allowed) the boys put on a rock concert

Eli and Micah

The next morning, Anna and I went to one of my "oldest" friends Catana's house. To read about it from my mom's perspective click HERE. Since my Mom's retirement she has really dug into one of her passions...genealogy. She discovered that Catana and I are 5th cousins...so, of course, my Mom came along so she could see her 4th cousins. Not only was I able to hang out (once again) with my 2 dearest friends, but we also let our daughters play together (yes 3 best friends each had a daughter the same year and we each named them some version of "ann"...that's not all that's annoying about us, but I'll leave it at that for now.) I love these girls dearly and am thankful that our friendship has stood the test of time.

The girls eating breakfast at the "kid" table

Gianna, Anna, & Annie

Catana, Me, & Julie

We had another Christmas celebration while in St. Louis with Todd's Dad's family. We were able to reconnect with our great grandparents, aunts and cousins. Thank you guys for spoiling us so much!! That night Eli was able to have a sleepover with his Grandaddy and go "bumming" with him the next day.

The kids each got their own chicken

Our landing ground for this portion of our trip was my parents. Apart from buying iPhones together (!!!) most of our time was spent getting R&R while we were there. I did happen to get some photos of our time with them.

Amidst the unusually mild temps we were able to see snow!

One of Anna's (and Grandpa's) favorite spots

Playing with our new gifts.

Are you still with me?!? There are still TWO more major stops before I am done documenting Christmas!!

On the THIRD day of Christmas...

2012-01-13T14:12:00.002-06:00

...no worries I am NOT going to take this all the way to TWELVE : ) So our next stop on our Christmas adventure was Kansas City, home of my sisters (and one of Todd's!). We first landed at team Twenter. We had a great time reconnecting with them after 8 months of not seeing one another! I especially liked watching Anna and Libby doing "girl" stuff together.

Eating dinner

Libby reading to Anna

Eli and Davis playing Wii

We snuck upstairs and found Libby and Anna having a tea party : )


The girls made cookies while the boys went swimming at the YMCA.

After a mere 24 hours at the Twenter house, we headed north for church with Team Lewis (late.) We walked in about 20 minutes late to the service when our usher (a.k.a. Roman) walked down the aisle to greet us : )

The kids in their Christmas attire (before the boys went out to play in the mud)

Silly pic (although Eli thinks EVERY pic needs to be silly).

The stockings hung with care (above the doorway...)

More wii...

Anna LOVED all the pets we were able to see along the way.

Warren Family

Twenter Family

Lewis Family

"Morgan" grandkids


Dressed in PJ's and ready for Santa to come!

Some Christmas Cheer via You Tube, brought to you by the Morgan Grandkids:

Thankfully Santa received the memo that we were in Kansas City!

To view the Kansas City trip from my Mother's point of view click HERE.

On the SECOND day of Christmas...

2012-01-09T14:15:00.000-06:00

After our intimate family Christmas, the kids and I headed to St. Louis. I had prepared myself for one of the worst days of my life having to drive and entertain the kids all by myself, but the Lord was very gracious and actually made the trip quite enjoyable (despite NEITHER of them sleeping). I am very thankful for our new car with plenty of room and a built in DVD player...it was a life saver.

After a brief stop at Aunt Kara's, I took the kids to their Nana's house in Windyville, MO. It was our first time at her new home and after I saw all of the land, the views AND the horses I knew they would have a good time. I then headed BY MYSELF to St. Louis for 5 days of ME time. It was wonderful, yet exhausting (if you can believe that). I not only had fun filled days with my parents (which included thrift shopping and working out) but every night was a fun filled night with friends that I miss terribly.

My first night was pretty low-key seeing "Breaking Dawn" with 2 dear friends. After the movie we (of course) chatted until almost midnight outside of the theater : )


(Since I didn't take a photo with the ladies, I thought one of Robert Pattinson would suffice)

The next day I spent some time with some other awesome women just catching up and spending time in one of my favorite places (The Watkins/Janous home in Maplewood...they shared a 2 family a few blocks away from us) This visit was bitter sweet because the Janous' were packing up (literally the moving truck was there) to take them to Seattle. Their house is actually "for sale" if you are interested, and you would get awesome renters (the Watkins) built in!

(just click on the HERE if you are interested in buying their house...it's AWESOME!)

That night I met with my sorority sisters (plus Krista!) at my pledge mom, Kim's house. It was a great night filled with fondue, champaign, white elephants (of which my friends don't understand the meaning of a white elephant...I walked away with Starbucks coffee and a Banana Republic necklace), and plenty of laughs.

Krista (who wishes she was a Tri-Delt) : )

Our "White Elephant" exchange

Group Photo A

Group Photo B (Can you spot the difference? )*

My Camera was on continuous shoot so we had some fun with the final photos : )

*Answer: Amy! She decided to hide during all (most) of this. I guess she was afraid I'd blog about it later : )

The next night I met with my RUF girls (the campus ministry Todd and I were apart of while at MU). Once again late night, laughs, etc., etc. (see what I mean by fun, yet exhausting? I felt like I was in college again!) Thanks Katrina for hosting!

RUF girls (minus Christi and Emily)

The next (and final) night I was joined by my handsome husband and we went out on the town with our dear friend the Mohrs. We didn't bring our fancy camera, but we did have our new i phones : ) We went to Sasha's and enjoyed a fancy dinner and had a great time catching up (until February when they are coming for a visit!)

Bailey and me

Tim and ... his beer ?!?

Before we picked up the kids on our way to Kansas City, I decided to fit in yet another get together for breakfast with some more sorority sisters that I was unable to see previously. It was great to see/meet all of their little ones (minus Evie)!

As you can see my week of being "single/kidless" was all that I'd hoped it would be (and more!) Usually after a period without the kids I am rested and ready to jump back into motherhood. This time I was just ready for a nap!

On the first day of Christmas...

2012-01-06T13:44:00.002-06:00

I was going to TRY to fit all of our Christmas celebrations into ONE blogpost, but I it would be so large no one would bother reading it (unless of course you needed something to put you to sleep). So to spare you I thought I'd break it up a little bit.

I going to begin with our little family celebration before we skipped town...a party for Jesus. After celebrating the Advent season almost every night as a family, Todd and I felt like we needed to wrap it up before the hustle and bustle of family and friends.

We started by baking a cake (for our kids, it's not a true birthday party without cake).

Eli really thought that Jesus would like blackberries and strawberries on his cake and I agreed. So the kids carefully placed each berry...

...and voila! A birthday cake fit for a King : )

Before we cut into the cake we opened presents to each other, from each other. We let the kids shop for one another, and either they were too young, or I was too young for this to work out. I just couldn't buy what they wanted to buy...I just couldn't!! An Elmo book for $18? No way! So I may have manipulated this process more than I would have liked...maybe next year I can practice a little more restraint : ) Each person received 3 presents, just like Jesus did on his birthday. (The kids didn't even notice I had switched out some of the gifts they had picked, thank you Jesus!)

After presents we sang Happy Birthday and read the story of Jesus' birth.

If you have 5 minutes, you can listen/watch from the Jesus Storybook Bible too (by far the best version for kids and adults : )!! Such a great story, no matter what time of year.

Happy Birthday Jesus! We are more thankful than we'll ever know that you were born!

A Whole lot of Happy

2011-12-12T16:05:00.002-06:00

Before the busyness of Christmas is in full affect, I wanted to share Anna's "happy"s. It so magical this time of year, and to add a child's birthday to it makes it even more magical and joyful!!

She started her day with a birthday kiss from her brother.

Then she went to school and shared donut holes with her friends. I tried to go early to take pictures but she put on a grumpy face and stuffed all the donuts in her mouth when I pulled out the camera : )

We then had Anna's favorite dinner...(she's a cheap date!)

We opened presents, with the major gift being the Loving Family Doll House (shhhhhhhhh don't tell her I bought it at a garage sale, unless of course she ends up being a freak like me and appreciates garage sale gifts).

We ended the night with a trip to Ben and Jerrys! Yummy!!!

On Saturday we went with our Aunt Lynn and Uncle John to the Gaylord Texan to see all of the Christmas decorations. This. was. a. hit. (and we captured great photos to boot!)

Looking at trains

Eli teaching her how to make a wish

Playing their favorite game...chase!

We wish you this same kind of happy-ness for the rest of the year!!!

2 Cute.

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Do you remember this little girl? I do. That's Anna Davis, born on December 8th 2009. Her name means "full of grace" and two years into it I believe it. The Lord was so gracious to bless me with her. I don't deserve to be her mommy, and yet I am. She loves to dance, sing, accessorize, kiss, hug, sit, cuddle, play chase, go down slides and be held by her daddy. She loves grapes, ice cream, sour cream (I think she thinks it's ice cream) and salsa. She hates the cold, and loves the water. She loves carrying around any/all her stuffed animals and God help anyone that tries to take it away from her (I'm talking to you Eli).

Anna, 1.

We are celebrating you tonight with your favorite dinner (grapes) followed up by Ben and Jerrys. This weekend we will take you to see Christmas decorations at the Gaylord. While I know this isn't as big of a party as last year (that may have been the biggest party of your life apart from your wedding), trust that I will help you accessorize your little heart out.

I love you, Anna D.

November Photo Album

2011-12-04T21:42:00.003-06:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Holding on to Gratitude

2011-12-02T14:25:00.001-06:00

We had a simply wonderful Thanksgiving. My mom and dad came into town which is always a treat! (to read more about it click here, here, and here ...my mom is clearly a better blogger). It was a great time to sit back and look at my life and realize how thankful I am for so many riches in my life.

The kids enjoying Aunt Jane's train display

Anna and Uncle Rich feeding the ducks

Inhaling pumpkin pie

Crafts with Aunt Jane


Riding in the "Candy Cane Express" pulled by they're favorite elf (a.k.a. Grandma)

While we are so thankful for our life, friends and family here in Texas the reality of being so far away from our life, friends and family in Missouri really hit us during the holidays. Thank you to all that keep in touch with us; it helps us not feel so far away : ( That being said I'm trying to go back to the meaning of season and be thankful for what I DO have instead of missing what I DID have.

So today my focus is being thankful for the advent season, and a family to enjoy it with. Seeing the excitement of Christmas through my kids eyes is one of the many blessings of being a parent. Todd and I this year (with the encouragement of our church) are really trying to focus on Advent. Each night we are lighting the representative candle (this week it's HOPE) and going through the Big Picture Story Bible (which I highly recommend to parents of toddlers/preschoolers or the Jesus Story Book Bible for older kids) We are having a blast together reading stories about hope and talking about why we celebrate Jesus' birthday. To be honest I love how it's keeping me focused as the shopping/planning for the holidays sometimes distracts me from the big picture. We hope you enjoy getting excited for Christmas as much as we are and are holding on tight to what you are most thankful for.

Drinking Egg nog : ) (not me...yuck!)

Our make-shift Advent wreath and candles

Anna reading to us out of the Bible : )

EAisms

2011-11-24T08:18:00.001-06:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought I would share the latest insights from my thoughtful children.

Eli:

*He saw a hot air balloon and asked if he could ride it to Kansas City (to see his cousins)
*When we told him we were going to downtown McKinney he asked if he was going to lose his teeth there. (?!?!)   There was awhile when he was obsessive about losing his teeth (like freaked out). I think a kid in his class "lost" one.
*He asked if he could have a beer that floats. "That's my favorite kind of beer."
*Todd told Eli that bats use echo"motion" to talk to one another.   Eli corrected him and said, "No, Dad. It's echo"location"." (Eli's right).
*His therapist asked him to draw a person.   When she looked at his final result she couldn't quite make out his drawing.   She asked him what was what and he said, "Here are the lungs, the heart, the stomach..." (He had drawn the INSIDE of a person).
*When Anna sings the alphabet she leaves out a few letters. He feels like he needs to correct her, "No Anna. Wee Wee is NOT in the alphabet".
*On Halloween when he saw a skeleton hanging from a tree he said, "those are Jesus' bones".   He was really trying to fit Jesus into the holiday.   I tried to explain while Jesus likes having a good time, he is not in EVERY holiday.
*He started put random objects around the house (pillows, toys, etc). I asked what he was doing and he said he was building a "popsicle course".
*When I declared Saturday morning a cleaning morning, he said, "why? Who's coming over? "
*During "rest" time he said, "Hey Mom! The boat is floating in the toilet because I put it there on purpose".
*When there was static on the radio he said, "the radio is farting".

Anna:
*She decided to pull out the word "boobies" when the painter was here and she was sitting on my lap.
*Her Halloween joke went like this: A, "Knock Knock".   Me, "Who's there?".   A, "heeheehee".   She thought that was the joke.   It actually was hilarious.
*When we left the house she pointed to some dirt on the floor and said, "bye, bye dirt".
*Normally she gets a squeaky clean report from school. One day she did not. They said she threw a fit (uncontrollable crying) because they made her take off her bracelets. (Don't MESS with her accessories.)
*She said , "I like this song, Mommy" for the first time while listening to a Derek Webb song. She makes her daddy proud.

Thank you Eli and Anna for making me thankful EVERY DAY that I get to be called your Mommy.

Favorite Things + Deal!

2011-11-21T08:17:00.001-06:00

A lot of you already know this, or don't care, BUT this by far is the best family magazine (once your kids hit about age 3...). It has the best craft, book, tradition, video and recipe ideas. I wanted to post about it because there is a deal going on where you can get 10 issues for a total of $3.50* (a $29 value). Just click HERE (or www.tanga.com) It will say it's 9.99 and during checkout enter coupon code DISNEY. This would also make great Christmas gifts for those special Moms in your life. I went ahead and maxed it out at 3 years because I love it that much and I rarely see "deals" on this magazine. Enjoy it, I know I will!

*Keep in mind that the way TANGA works, the more people that buy it the price goes up, so hurry and snatch it up if you are interested!

Texas Tuesday

2011-11-15T15:05:00.000-06:00

Oh, the Texas State Fair. If you want to read about it from a more personal stance you can click my earlier blog post here. But this one is devoted to all things fried. There was 1 commandment the wise men gave us upon entering the gates to the glorious fair....

"Everything we eat today that is not a liquid, must be fried" ~ Todd Warren, David Peterson.

So, we set upon a journey to enjoy the riches that deep fryers had to offer us.

This boys and girls is chicken fried bacon. It was a close contestant, but not quite our favorite.

lunch for the kids

tempting, I know.

Fried Alligator: the men's choice for lunch

The Texas State Fair Winner

Fried Banana: The Peterson/Warren declared winner. This thing was out of this world (and it did have SOME nutrition)

P.S. The Fried Snickers and the funnel cake MAY have come close to the fried banana, but I'm too embarrassed to share all that we ate and enjoyed. Oh wait, I just did.

October Photos

2011-11-09T16:38:00.001-06:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

For those of you that like to see lots of pictures (or want to download some full size ones), this blog is for you! We had a fun 266 photo type of month : )

Peterson-palooza Day 2

2011-11-03T16:55:00.003-05:00

The second day of Peterson-palooza was just as fun as the first AND it was a day I was looking forward to! After going to the Dallas Arboretum with my parents, I knew this was the perfect place to take the girls. So I instructed them to bring their best princess attire for a magical day.

They rule a pretty cute kingdom.

The royal line up.

Fairy Godmother

Snow White

Handsome Prince

Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty

The royalty and their royal servant

The King and Queen

In awe of the glass slipper.

Riding in the royal carriage

Fighting off the bad guys.

And they all lived happily ever after...until about midnight when the magical spell wore off... (and they all got the stomach flu.)

Peterson-palooza

2011-10-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

Where to begin? Oh...the Petersons. To let you in on how deep this relationship runs, Todd and Sega (David...whole 'nother story) met in middleschool BEFORE Todd even moved to St. Louis on a youth trip. I met Sega and Tricia (who had already been dating for 3 years) when Todd and I first started dating (it was kind of like meeting the parents). So as couples we've been friends for 13 years and going strong. Sega was Todd's best man and Tricia is a dear, dear friend of mine. When we told them we were moving they pulled out their calendar and committed to coming as soon as they could. We love them. Needless to say we were giddy to see them.

We started out Peterson-Palooza running...well riding. We promised the kids a train ride to the good ol' Texas state fair.

We HONESTLY thought this would be the quickest/cheapest/most fun way to go. Well 45 minutes later, the kids became less and less enthused.

Finally we arrived and were greeting by Big Tex!

This thing was BIG, Texas BIG. We didn't know where to begin. Ok, so we did. We ate A LOT of fried food (so much that it won it's own Texas Tuesday blog so stay tuned). Then we finally let the kids have their fun.

We saw pot belly pigs, kangaroos and lots of pick up trucks. Even with all that this fair had to offer we had the most fun just hanging out and having fun with some of our favorite people.

Peterson-palooza, Day 1.

What is art?

2011-10-23T21:09:00.001-05:00

Art is : "the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect."

My 4 year old has become quite the little artist. I love SEEING what he is thinking. He is such a cool kid, with cool ideas and I'm finding it hard to part with some of his finest especially because they are so symbolic of him and they have a story behind them. So, I decided to throw them up on the blog so that I could share them here AND they will then have a permanent home.

Exhibit 1 "Mom in the Garden"

Don't you just love my makeup?!? He definitely captured my beauty and favorite hobby ; )

Exhibit 2: "Star Wars Battle"

To the left we have Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker with their light sabers (and a tie fighter in the corner) and to the right....can you guess? Look at the hair...look at the gun...you guessed it. Lando!

Exhibit 3: "Man with the Angry Face"

When picking him up from school, we are greeted first thing by their artwork from the day. I see all of these smiling faces looking back at me and then I find Eli's. I believe they were asked to make a face...very well done I might add. (His teachers promise me he loves school)

Exhibit 4: "Picture Hunt"

While painting in the backyard he brought us both pictures of the St. Louis Arch and asked if we could find the DIFFERENCES. We had a hard time...I'll give you a hint. There's more than 1 difference.

Exhibit 5: "Family Portrait"

No commentary necessary...just a great picture!! He even remembered belly buttons for him and Todd (or are those not belly buttons?)

Exhibit 6: "Speed Train"

I love this one because this is one of those things that is constantly on his mind. I love seeing what it looks like on paper and I think he did a pretty good job. He really wants to master the "steam engine" next, so we'll keep you posted : )

Texas Tuesday

2011-10-18T07:40:00.000-05:00

I just want to reiterate that this particular blog theme is not just what is purely Texan, but what is different about our life here in Texas. Not that everyone experiences Texas in this way, but what WE experience in Texas and scratch our head at. Sometimes in a good way, and sometime in a....surprised way.

So today I want to point out our trash collection. Yes, our trash. We have yet to follow the rules correctly. We've received notes, comments and neglect. Here are some of the rules we have to follow:

Have your cart(s) curbside by 7:00 a.m. on your collection day. {ok. I can do that. But, yes they are there and if you snooze, you lose.}
Place cart(s) at least three feet apart; includes mailboxes, utility meters, poles, fences, etc. {So, we have 3 carts...all 3 feet apart...not close to poles or mailboxes...Todd and I think we need to just scatter them up and down our driveway}
All trash must be inside the cart! Items outside the cart will not be collected.{A little harsh, but it sure does look pretty on trash day. They don't mention it here, but it has to be THEIR cart. So not hodge podge cans hanging out. One blue, one green. My sister would be sorely disappointed at the lack of dumpster diving opportunities.}
The front of the cart (side with the serial number) should be facing the street. {No comment...but come on, seriously?}
All contents should be bagged with the cart lid closed to prevent spillage.
An overloaded cart will result in non-collection. {yep. That's us}

Insert Maplewood, MO. Land of the free (in the context of trash day). We put out carpet, appliances, wood, drywall, toilets, etc. I was even tempted to put Eli out there once because I knew they'd take him away. Did it look fancy? Nope. But I'm just giving you some insight into where we're coming from.

So tomorrow I'm armed and ready. I have my rules printed off and highlighted, my tape measure, and my super soaker in case they give me any more c$#*.

"Fall"ing in love

2011-10-18T07:39:00.001-05:00

Wayyyyy too long since a blog post. We've been sick, sick, and sick. Now that there's a break in the action I thought I'd share what we've been up to OTHER than being sick.

I LOVE fall (who doesn't) and it's been fun experiencing this season in a new place and with my favorite people. Here are some of my favorite things thus far this season!

Owens Farm

Hay Ride with Grandma at Owens Farm.

Picking Pumpkins...we have some sad looking pumpkins on our front porch : )

Dallas Arboretum

Ducks on a Stream!

I love how they labeled all the different kinds of pumpkins.

They seriously had the most beautiful displays I've ever seen.

They even had Cinderella's "pumpkin" carriage!

One of our craft projects...went on a nature trail to find sticks, and then came home and made play dough leaves. They turned out really cute!

The kids can play with play dough for hours.

Making pumpkin jars.

Again, they turned out really cute, and with a candle inside they look "spooky" on our front porch.

My fall line up...Pumpkin waffles, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin creamer and a pumpkin candle.

Sept Photos!

2011-10-05T15:26:00.001-05:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Hoch Hoch Hoch!

2011-09-28T13:38:00.002-05:00

Some of you don't know this, but I am certified to teach German. Scary, right? One thing I do remember about all of my German classes was our "birthday" song, "Hoch soll sie lieben" (Long may she live). We would raise our juice glasses high and chant "Hoch Hoch Hoch" (which I believe means 'cheer'). Anywho...that was all to interpret my title : )

Up in our little slice of Texas (down for most of you) we celebrated Oktoberfest this past weekend. {Mom, you have to come next year.} Now, not everything was up to the Germans standards BUT all in all it was "sehr gut" (very good). They had a live German band, that even included the necessary German cheers (to toast one another with our beers).

Anna may have even been "discovered" there. She was so moved by the music, she just had to dance! You can't tell from the video, but she drew in quite a crowd around her (you can hear the hollers and 'you go girl' in the background). At about 55 seconds she finally stops to look around her and gets a little stage fright : )

After Anna took off her dancing shoes we checked out the market, and even watched a train go by!

Adults weren't the only ones that partook of the beer. Root beers all around for the kiddos. (or as Eli put it, "a beer that floats")

There were even local animals for the kids to pet. (Again, I don't know how German this was, but we sure had fun!)

This where is starts getting REALLY questionable. They served sno cones out of a pirate ship (this is typically down the street from us, but they must of moved it for the big event). Given a choice between a Streusel or a sno cone Eli chose a sno cone....wonder why.

Regardless of some questionable attractions, we had a good enough time to shout, "Danke Schoen" on our way out : )

FUN!

2011-09-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

"Fun" is a word that Anna has used quite a bit the last couple of weeks.   Why? Because we've had tons of FUN, of course.   Now that they are both in "school", I may be on to something.   With 10 hours to myself every week, I've been able to reconcile in my mind that the time I do have with them needs to be somewhat purposeful.   (and then the time I don't have with them I can do the 'chores', selfish indulgences, etc. that sometimes conflict with FUN).
So like any teacher, (yes I was one at one time, and like to feel like I always will be on top of being a mom), I've started to do lesson plans on Sunday nights.   I map out the "have to's" that week (school, dr. appointments, therapies, play dates, etc.) and then with the wiggle room (typically the afternoons) I try to plan something FUN, and with purpose (even if the purpose it to just have q.t. with my kids).
One pitfall I want to be reminded of is, I used to be VERY schedule minded.   So schedule oriented that if anything or anyone got in the way of my schedule, GOD HELP THEM. This stressed everyone around me out, so then I went the exact opposite direction the last couple of years. We'd wake up and just...live. Instead of living, I felt like we were just chasing our tails and we were directionless and I would never have the drive or energy to do any of the activities I wanted to do with my kids.
This time around I am going to try to find the happy medium. I will have something prepared/planned to do with my kids, but if something were to come up I will just let that activity go, or save it for another day. I will also try to be gracious with myself. My role is more than to just have fun with my kids. I also have other responsibilities that may need to take priority and the kids will I'm sure have their own fun...I think being bored is good for kids and allows them to be creative. Eli has had some great ideas while I've been busy doing something else ; )
So I thought I'd share some of the activities we've done the last couple of weeks that my kids (and I) have thought were "FUN".

(Video of us having fun)

*Pillow towers. We took all the pillows we could find on the first floor and piled them in the living room. Then we climbed/jumped all over them.

*Rainy Day activities. No, we haven't had too many actual rainy days, BUT I mean activities that you have that you pull out when the kids are bored/ have nothing to do. Presents they received that need some work putting together or something you typically keep out of site is what I use. For example, last week we put out their circus tent!

*Sidewalk chalk: we made a town on the driveway and practiced writing peoples names.

*Cooking: This week we are making granola!

*Nature Walk: We found sticks & are planning on making trees with play dough leaves.

*Blocks: We made a river using construction paper and then built a bridge/town around it using our blocks.

***Fall back ideas: when I don't have enough energy/time to plan something, some great fall back ideas are the Library, and a playground!***

Elisms (+ a little Anna)

2011-09-14T20:53:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry. I've been TERR*I*BLE about posting this particular blog theme and I know it's a fave. Some of these are so terribly old, but I still have to share them.   If nothing else, I would love to go back and laugh at these with the kids some day.

Elisms:
*Upon entering our car (where at times it feels like we live...) Eli sniffed with his nose and said, "It smells like zoo animals".   Gift cards for car detailing are welcome anytime.

*Before Eli's birthday (like months before) he was describing what he wanted his cake to look like.   He said, "I want Hans Solo and Lando on top".   I said, "Who? Who's Lando?" Well...this is him.

(In case you didn't know he is Hans Solo's 'wing man' in the movies) I was wondering where in the world I was going to find a Lando cake topper and honestly felt I may need to put a gun in Obama's hand, but thankfully found a figurine on ebay : )

*Some times he gets his measurements wrong and says things like, "Miles and miles ago I went to my friend Grayson's house."   Or, "I weigh 576 inches".    He's trying.

*This one makes my heart melt a little.   At @ midnight I hear Eli race out of his room, down the hall, down the stairs and then open the front door.   I hopped out of bed and went after him and found him distraught.   He must of messed with his clock and the alarm was going off in his room.   He thought it was the fire alarm.   (I still am so proud of him!)

*We saw a preview for the 'Little Mermaid' and he said, "when Anna was a 'big' girl that was her favorite movie".

*We've had some QT with Grandaddy a lot lately and Eli adores him.   He's even started to pick up some expressions from his Grandaddy.   When he's doing well on the Wii he say, "yeah, baby".   He also has said, "I'm going to get that bad boy" and "holy smokes!" .     Still makes me giggle.

Little Miss Anna is communicating her little personality too : )   I'm looking forward to the next year!

*Instead of saying the word slide she says, "Weeeeeeeeeee", whenever we see one.
*She started using the words, "fun" & "cool" right around when she went on an all day shopping spree with her Aunt Reebs and me.
*She says "OK" to pretty much anything you ask her.
*We've always told Eli to give her "space". She finally is speaking up for herself (other than crying) and is saying, "base, brover. base."
*I've said this before, but she likes to sit...a lot.   She will make ANYTHING a seat and will drag and plead for anyone to sit beside her because that just makes it even more enjoyable.   In her pleading she has learned the word for "sit", only it comes out like "s*it".   So if you didn't know any better, you'd see a little girl pointing at you and saying "s*it".   Poor little thing; at least she's cute.

Photos?!?

2011-09-10T14:46:00.001-05:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

I just realized that so many of you don't have a facebook account/ don't use facebook and that is the predominant place I post pictures. Even for those of you that do use facebook you may want a full size copy of something to print/download and the shutterfly account is the place to do that*. There may be more pictures than you will ever want to see there but ever since I lost Eli's first year photos I've stored them online, so deal with it. We are now updated through August (which is also the above album if you just want to stick with that)

*Click on the link to the right of the page (the shutterfly link) and use the password "warren".

Texas Tuesday

2011-09-06T12:58:00.000-05:00

Ever since we've moved here there have been so many times that we've said the phrase, "only in Texas...". I thought I'd keep a running log on our blog of all the things we've discovered here. NOT that they aren't this way anywhere else (although most of the time they aren't) but these will just be things we've noticed that are different from our life in St. Louis. The first one is dentistry. Yes, dentistry (not that we didn't have dentists in St. Louis). Dentists seem to be EVERYWHERE here, almost more than doughnut shops. For that reason, they advertise like crazy to get your business and offer promotions, groupons, you name it.

The first time we noticed it was while we were living in Plano and we received numerous postcards int the mail telling us to get "FLOSSED". You can check out their website here . It seemed so edgy and cool, why wouldn't we want to get flossed? They also were offering free teeth whitening for life! If you think that's awesome, then what about VAMPIRE VENEERS? Next time you are trying to impress or spice up that love in your life, they can help. (Every woman wants their own personal Edward) I ALMOST was on board with driving to Plano every time I needed to get my teeth cleaned (or meet cool people, or get fashion tips, or to just be awesome in general) until I realized that they were not alone. There are other dentists here that make it cool to have your teeth done by them. Since there are so many not all of them take this marketing approach; others make it seem like they are a kid haven, and others make it out to be a spa experience.

So, what have we decided on? After much analyzing and comparing (and double checking with insurance) we decided on one that takes multiple approaches. We are going to a family dentist that ALSO provided teeth whitening for life. SO next time you see me, if I notice you staring at my gorgeous smile I'll recommend that you too, "get flossed".

Sensory processing revisited

2011-09-01T16:16:00.000-05:00

Its been awhile since I first posted about Eli and his Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). I found the above video while I was looking for some specific advice, I think it does a pretty good job of explaining the basics. I wanted to give a mini update on Eli since so many of you have asked about him and how his therapy is going (and so I can document his progress!) He was reevaluated here in Texas which was actually really helpful. They did 2 separate evaluations on him: 1) Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) and 2) Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI). I'll break up his results on both: (if you want to skip this mumbo, jumbo just go down to the **** when I give you Eli's specific recommendations)

MAP: The MAP is designed to identify children who exhibit mild, moderate, and severe pre-academic problems which may affect one or more areas of development.   It first tests 27 'academic' items and then tells us how he performs compared to others his age.   Eli's overall score was "GREEN" meaning he is within 'normal' limits. {I knew he was pretty stinkin' smart, but it's nice to have it affirmed}

It then tests 17 categories within the Foundations and Coordination Index. This had to do with neurological and neuromotor aspects of basic development, including a child's sense of position and movement which they believe are basic building blocks necessary for successful learning and the development of complex skills.    This is where he is a little off and where they hope to work on improvement so he is able to reach his mental capabilities.

His specific problems (which a lot of us can relate to) are
*Foundational and Coordinating Movements: he struggled with performing tasks with his eyes closed (touching his nose, stepping in place, walking a straight line, marching his feet quickly while sitting in a chair)
*Complex Tasks: It took him longer than most to get a bead through a flat maze after it was demonstrated to him.

VMI: This test is a developmental sequence of 21 geometric forms, which are copied with paper and pencil.   The primary purpose of the VMI is to screen for learning and developmental problems in the area of motor skills.   Eli scored a 55% which is slightly above average : )

The therapist then tested his reflexes which if poor in conjunction with other delays indicates poor sensory integration.   Eli did have some concerns in this area (the bug pose and the superman pose in particular).

****All in all he was average/above average.   This is GREAT news.   So you may think (like I did) that we were done. No problems. I'm just an over reactive mother.    But, no.   His therapist was concerned about how scattered he was across these tests. On some tasks he was way above his age level, and then on others way below. That is why we had an average. She also was concerned by his sensory behaviors he exhibits at home (as am I) such as movement sensitivity, and the way he's under responsive/ seeks sensation (hitting, throwing, yelling, pushing).   His arm flapping is becoming more frequent as he is processing new and more advanced information and while his imagination is taking off.   Since adequate processing skills are prerequisites to the development of important feeding, motor and social skills she thinks therapy is recommended. She's afraid (as am I) that with his exposure to more areas of heightened sensitivity (i.e. school and sports) that he will be mislabled and misunderstood due to his sensory processing difficulties. In therapy she will use a combination of neurodevelopmental, sensory integration and cognitive strategies.

My personal goal is to assess how he does in "school" this year. If he is behaving normally and not disrupting other students/the teacher, AND not coming home completely unglued after holding it in all day, I will reevaluate his continued need for therapy. At home we are setting up a "therapy" swing (or one like it that I found at Ikea) that helps to "repave" the roads to his brain. We also want to get a swing set for the backyard (didn't you see the 'homework' in the video?).   I also hope that his participation on a sport team (starting soccer this fall!) will help with his hand/eye coordination (ok, maybe not hands but feet) and motor processing. While I still don't understand this disorder fully, I do know that my gut/instinct is telling me to continue with this therapy.   I want him to be as freed up as possible to be Eli without any traffic jams : )   Thank you all for your continued support.

Here are a few of my favorite things #6

2011-08-24T14:38:00.000-05:00

E-Mealz. I'm so glad you are reading this because if I say it out loud it sounds like "e-mails". Anyway on to why it's one of my faves (if you already haven't heard it about a bagillion times from me). Just in time for those of you that are busy with back to school schedules or are just wanting to get organized/back in control of you life, this website has been EXTREMELY helpful to me for the past 5 months. This is a website that does all of your menu planning for you. Not only does it do all of your menu planning, it even does your grocery list. Not only does it do your grocery list, it prices everything out for you. Not only does it price it out, it includes any diet restrictions you need. So, let's say you are on a tight budget. You would click "Aldis meal plan" and it would come up with a meal plan for you in which all of your food was from Aldis. Lets say you wanted to eat healthier and eat more fruits/veggies but need some help with recipes (that's me!) they have a Portion Control plan that is HEAVY on the fruits and vegetables. They also have gluten free, low carb, low fat AND vegetarian. I have found so many new, easy ways to not only buy food but prepare it! The best part? It's $1.25/week. If you use the coupon code "DAVE" when subscribing its even cheaper. Why Dave? For those of you that know Dave Ramsey (he's a financial guru), Dave Ramsey says it actually SAVES you money. If you're like me you either end up ordering out/going out because you didn't think ahead OR you ending up grabbing anything that looks good at the store and buy WAY more than you need. If you are at all interested just click on one of the banners or go to e-mealz.com. Hope you love it as much as my family has!!

Flashback Friday

2011-08-19T14:36:00.000-05:00

I was uploading pictures to iphoto yesterday and it said I didn't have enough room!!   I think there are 2 reasons for this:

1) We bought a new camera in January and while the pictures are AWESOME in quality they are ginormous.
2) I need to clean out my iphoto storage.

So, I'm going to not only upload them to shutterfly so they are in cyberspace if I need them, but also download them to DVD as double back up just in case : )   Before I do I wanted to share some photos from a year ago with you!!

Anna helping Grandpa at our annual (not anymore...sniff) garage sale

On a hike at Castlewood Park

ugh...makes my stomach grumble. Eli and I made "cograts on potty training" cookies and both got really sick after wards : (

Meeting baby Gianna (my BFF Catana's daughter)

Eli draws a person for the first time!

The girls (aka my sorority sisters) and their girls weekend.

Eli and cousin Jameson being...boys.

I scream YOU scream

2011-08-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

We ALL scream for Ice Cream! Team Watkins is one of our favorite families and we were so excited when they came through Dallas. These are people we have "done life" with the past 6 years. We've lived down the street from them, led a House Group with them, been in bible studies and raised our children with them. They've cried with us, prayed for us, encouraged us, cleaned with us, eaten with us, studied with us and celebrated with us. One of Eli's 'happy places' was "Casey's house". They weren't even here 24 hours, but in that short amount of time we were able to show them around town and reconnect. What a reminder of how the Lord constantly provides for us...even when we are miles away from our closest friends and families. The best part? Ice Cream for breakfast before they left!! Such a sweet reminder of how true friends can help you throw rules to the wind and just encourage you to enjoy life to the fullest.

Emma

Eli

Abigail

Casey

Anna

"There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate."
— Charles Dickens

Feeling the love

2011-08-09T15:16:00.000-05:00

We've been really, REALLY spoiled. There have been so many visitors since we've left, y'all are making it so we don't need to come back for a visit ; ) One of the biggest blessings about our location is that we are close to my Aunt Jane and Uncle Richard (Eli calls him 'uncle Rich') who are 25 minutes away, and my cousin Lynn who is 1 hr away. Since we've been here they've really reached out to us and welcomed us with hugs, kisses, dinner and ice cream : ) My Aunt Jane has many toys and activities at her house. Eli already is asking when we come in the door "what is my craft today?" (and sure enough she has an airplane project for him) He also gets to pick a prize just for cleaning up his mess!

This is my cousin Doug's mom, stepdad and sister. A lot of you know Doug from his stint in St. Louis when he married one of my BFF's...Christi!

Todd and Doug...yes they're being annoying.

Christi and me

They also have a daughter, Ashleigh, who is only 2 months younger than Anna. So, an added bonus about this location is I get to see them more! (they moved to AZ 3 years ago) Here are some pictures from our short, but sweet, visit with them.


The girls did this themselves...we didn't even plan the desert sc	ene on the TV in the background

I love this next sequence of pictures because it reminds me of our sisters (Lynn and Rebecca) when they were this age : ) They've always had a love/hate relationship. Anna and Ashleigh seem to be following in their footsteps.....

Ashleigh mad because Anna has the baby bottle.

Now Ashleigh has the bottle and has her eye on the sippy cup.

Ashleigh now has both and Anna looks P*I*S*S*E*D

Our Aunt Lynn is wonderful with the kids and will do anything for them! She's even been known to get in the wagon with them just to be awesome. (FYI the wagon is a HOT commodity while we are there.)

Probably because Aunt Jane decorates it for us (it's called the Star Spangled Express right now) AND we get to go and feed the ducks with it.

We love you all and thank you so much for loving us so well! Team Provost, come back to visit soon, ya'hear? These girls need some quality time...

I love this picture because it appears that they are sweetly holding hands. However if I know Anna, she is actually pushing Ashleighs hand away : )

Moving on...

2011-08-03T14:54:00.000-05:00

I know some of you have been chomping at the bit to see a glimpse of our new house here in Mckinney. Yes, we're here!! We have been in our new house/town (we were in the city of Plano since we left St. Louis) for exactly 12 days and I have to admit...I like it. I know some of you don't like hearing that because it means I like something other than St. Louis. Notice I haven't said I LOVE it, yet. Here are some of the things I "like" already:

*A garage. Need I say more?

*A back yard that I can just send my kids out to and see from the kitchen. Yes, it's hot here. (Record breaking, even for Texas) However, my kids STILL go out there and have a good time. We are saving up for a swing set!

*A family room attached to the kitchen. In our old house the kids either played upstairs while I cooked, or awkwardly got in the way while I cooked. Here it is so open that we all can be together without (too much) annoyance : )

*The kids have a bathroom and we have a bathroom. We have always shared with them and while I don't NEED my own space, I really like it. I even have my own SINK! (although I did notice a booger in there today and realized I couldn't blame that on anyone else...sorry to gross you out.)

*A neighborhood pool. Even though it feels like bathwater, I love it.

*Grocery stores that have TV's built into their carts. I am not joking, isn't this ridiculously AWESOME?

*Todd's work is only 15 minutes away. He even came home for lunch last week! There is hope for a new building in a few years that will only be 3. miles. away. That's would be nice.

*Sweet tea. I am a believer! Nothing sounds better on a hot afternoon. (as I'm sipping some right now)

I've been pretty horrible about taking pictures. My parents were my saviors last week and watched the kids while I unpacked, unpacked, and unpacked! We then had visitors all weekend/week so we've taken a bit of a break. Here a just a few photos to hold you over ( a lot of them borrowed from my mom, with cousin/aunt and uncle in them)

Keys to our new house

Kids Play Room. We are disgusted at the volume of toys we have.

Eli updated the look of his room

This room (our office) is on hold. This is what they all looked like before we started.


Anna's room is almost done! I am in love with her window seat!


Our entryway

A sewing nook! We'll see if I'm able to keep it here...may be VERY wishful thinking.


Ahhhh...need I say more?

Our Living Room

A GINORMOUS island in the kitchen...I love it. You can see the family room behind me, and the window lined wall looking out to the back yard.

Family room (kitchen is attached)

Anna's new favorite spot...the fireplace in the family room. (she's obsessed with seats of any kind)

Eli's ParTAY

2011-07-26T14:52:00.000-05:00

I'm going to mooch off my mom's blog, just like I'm mooching off of her in general this week. Thanks Mom (and Dad) for making Eli's bday and my moving week extra special!

Click HERE

Let his 4th be with you.

2011-07-21T05:00:00.003-05:00

Get it? (Let the FORCE be with you. ~ Star Wars) Kinda a stretch I know.

On your way home from the hospital.

This little jedi came into the world with big brown eyes, curiosity and a love for life.

Being silly celebrating your Dad passing the CPA (1 years old)

Our prayer for you at your baptism was that you would live up to your name (know that the Lord is your God) and that you would take joy in people.

Your Second Birthday

You've not only shown a knowledge (and excitement) for the Lord, but your joy in life and people at such a young age amazes me.

Playing with new toys from your 3rd Birthday.

My new prayer is that nobody (not even your mother) takes away even an ounce of that joy. We need your giggles, silliness and plain zest for life to remind us that life is good (and worth fighting for).

Warding off evil powers with your fellow Jedi, Gavin. (just before your 4th birthday)

So, E-bug/E-man/Brown Eyes/Brother/Bubby/Bubs let your FORTH be with us. We love you!!!

Surprise Visitor

2011-07-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

We had a surprise visitor last weekend. And his name begins with G. GRANDADDY!!! On Friday morning I called to set up a visit, and by 3 pm he called to say he was on the road : ) There are so many reasons we love our Grandaddy, but the way he enjoys us and our kids (in a crazy out of the box way) is at the top. There's not too many that would hop in a car on a whim, with out looking back, and drive 8 hours to spend less than 48 hours with us. Not that y'all don't love us, don't hear me say that. This is the "crazy out the box way" that only our Grandaddy can do. It plays against my "planned is better" mentality, but we (pretty much) ALWAYS have a good time.

We started the weekend with a walk to Dunkin Donuts (which Eli calls D for Donuts). After pumping us up with sugar we headed to Todd's office to see where the reason for all of this takes place. This was the first time the kids and I had seen it. (I don't think the kids have EVER seen where he works, so this was a treat.)

Headed to Dad's office

Dad's office.

Eli pretending to take a call. (notice the badge?)

After we had enough fun at the office (read: the kids wrote with marker on Todd's wall) we decided to head downtown McKinney to show Gregg "The Square". We walked around a few shops and landed at the Pantry for lunch. They are located in the old courthouse and are well known for their pies (actually featured on the food network for them!)

Next stop...Mom and Popcorn nostalgic candy store. Needless to say, this was fun and dangerous all at the same time : )

Lego candy that you can actually build!

We rounded out the weekend with showing Grandaddy the new house (we close on Thursday!), swimming in the pool and just "bummin" (famous term of Grandaddy's). Thank you for such a great time Grandaddy and good luck on your new job...you'll do great (out of the box great!)

Not that exciting...yet.

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

I feel like I may have built up our "new Texas" blog post but there really isn't anything too glamorous to share. (Although I did glamorize the actual look of the blog to make up for it). So far this still feels like a vacation...where my husband works and I still have to run errands and pay bills. O.k. So maybe not a vacation, but not reality yet. Possibly it's because we live in a 2 bed apartment that is furnished without our belongings. Or maybe it's because we have to ride the elevator to go outside. Or maybe it's because Anna sleeps in our closet. Or maybe it's because we have cable t.v. for this first time since we've been married. No, it's probably because we have a cleaning service that folds our towels into random creatures. Regardless, this definitely isn't home and we are trying not to get used to it, yet trying to find a routine somehow. I'm caught between trying to plan our life in McKinney, but also trying to live it up at our posh urban apartment at the shops in Plano. So we go back and forth each day trying to find a new adventure and or a new routine. Here are some glimpses into our life (although to truly experience it, y'all need to visit!)

Our Elevator Man a.k.a Elijah James

Our Door Man (a.k.a Elijah James...he's a big helper. I should tip him)

Waiting patiently for Mom to open the car

My saving grace for bringing groceries and 2 children up 7 stories.

Our daily walk takes us around this lake approximately 8 times which I'm hoping is 2 miles : ) Eli rides his bike. Also our apartment complex is the one behind the fountain! We are on the top floor.

We have begun scoping out the local playgrounds.

And YES it's hot. 100 degrees hot. BUT, I do think it is hotter in St. Louis. There is no humidity here so you can actually breathe outside!

Eli reading to Anna. It has been really sweet to see their relationship grow as they're forced to hang out with each other : )

Our journey "home"

2011-07-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

A few last thoughts/pictures before I introduce our life in Texas.

*Saying good bye was much more difficult than I expected. The level of intimacy and depth in our relationships with others made leaving actually hurt. Thankfully it is that same level that makes me believe those relationships will not be shaken (at least too much)

*While hard, I couldn't wait to just rip the band aid off. With an expected June 5 move date pushed back a few weeks we said some good byes way too early, so we had to say them again, and again, and again.

*Using a Meyers Briggs reference, I don't have much "F" (feeler) while a lot of my friends do (opposites attract!) so watching them shed tears was very hard to watch and made me feel like I wasn't a good friend because I didn't SHOW my emotion. Instead I "T'ed" (thought) a lot about you and still do, processing how I am going to stay connected, how you've been great friends, how I will see you again!

*Todd was sad and experienced a lot of the weight of the decision of moving us to another state. He constantly analyzed and processed whether this was right for our family.

*I finally cried/let it all out (alone) when I put the key in the lock of our house for the last time. So much that I had to go back in and walk through each of the room, touching them, remembering Christmas', rehabs, birthdays', bringing each of our children home, card games, Halloween parties, house groups, play dates, ect.

*Don't worry I finally cheered up when it was just the 4 of us in the car driving on our way "home". A sense of calmness and freedom went over Todd and I when all the goodbyes had been said, business done, rooms cleared out and boxes packed. It really just comes down to us...the simplicity of our family. We are not leaving each other. We will still have Christmas', home projects, birthdays, card games and play dates. More importantly, we still have our faith in a God that promises never to leave or forsake us. And last time I checked he reigns in Texas too ; ) (some would say more!)

Here are some happy memories shared before we left!! (If you don't see one that I shared with you, then I was having too much fun to take pics!! Send me one if you have it...)

A Texas size party hosted by our friends the Blazers/Mohrs. (there were better photographers than me there, so I'm hoping they send me some more pics! Rachel did a fantastic job setting the scene)

Playing at Tower Grover park with Arie

Dinner with the Petersons

Cardinals Game with Grandaddy

Light Saber action with Gavin

Leah and her sorority sisters (sorry Kris, you're lumped in with us!)

High school friends!

Stop in Springfield, MO to see family...

...and have an early birthday party for Eli! (Notice the AWESOME death star cake made by his Aunt Kara and Jody)

More on our life here in Texas in my next blog post!

Our first baby...

2011-06-15T08:05:00.001-05:00

...before we had babies. Some people get a dog. Others get a cat. We bought a rehab. When Todd and I got married this was something we talked and dreamed about. We both wanted to take something old/dusty/ugly and make it new again. He wanted to tear things apart and build, and I wanted to make something beautiful.
We wanted to do this before we officially had children for obvious reasons. We started looking in January of 2006 and found our project almost immediately. Maplewood was a community that we'd heard about through people that lived there and were trying to draw more people in. It was a community of new beginnings and tons and tons of rehabs. It was perfect! The house we found was located in the heart of Maplewood off of Sutton where life was beginning to reappear in the storefronts. This house was previously a single family, converted to a two family and then somewhat converted back to a single family (meaning they made 1 entry door instead of two). Everything else about it was a still a 2 family. It had 2 staircases, 2 decks, 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms, 2 water heaters, 2 gas gauges, etc. We thought it was a perfect house to do a rehab in! We could actually live on the second floor while we worked on the first, which we did. For 1 1/2 years : ) I'll let the pictures now do the talking (with the help of some captions)

Here she is! This pic was actually taken directly after new windows and roof.

This is the entry way before we bought it. Notice the radiator heating! The radiators were not functional when we moved in, in February. We were without heat until our HVAC was installed 3 weeks later. Also notice the wall next to the staircase (for those of you that now know our layout).

The first floor kitchen (which is now our breakfast nook)

Upstairs living/family room before we moved in

Our 2nd Floor Kitchen which we used the first 1 1/2 years. (and our AWESOME realtor, aka my good friend Carolyn)

The first morning after we moved in I woke up to this. Todd couldn't wait to get his hands on the house, so he just started taking down a wall...any wall : )

He was having so much fun he decided to invite some friends over to help.

We decided to make some priorities for wall "teardownage" and so began to focus on the kitchen. Todd was back in business.

Taking down the 1st floor bedroom walls and adding a header for support.

I helped too! (unknowingly pregnant with Eli in this picture)

Adding electrical boxes and changing size of window to make it counter height

Evening out the walls (They were pretty slanted)

My last dish in the upstairs kitchen! We had to cut the pipes directly below it so we ended up eating out... a lot. (no dishwasher OR disposal) (don't worry I knew I was 7 months pregnant in this picture : ) )

WALLS!

Todd mesmerized by how it looks with walls and floor!

Moving on to other rooms...taking out carpet.

Taking off wallpaper (yes that's a steamer! It worked well.)

Opening up the stairwell, again.

Making the 2nd Kitchen a bedroom.

We did finally have to take a break to have a baby, a.k.a Elijah James...

....which turned into another baby so we finished the third floor and made a playroom and bedroom.

I realize this is getting rather lengthy so I'll get to the punch line...the finished product, 5 years later.

Refinished hardwood floors in Family Room, enclosed upstairs living room with glass and French Doors to make a bedroom.

Our Bedroom with a functional gas fireplace.

We converted the small bedroom next to now our master into a walk in closet!

Anna's room

2nd Floor kitchen now our study/2nd Floor Laundry.

3rd Floor Playroom

3rd Floor Bedroom

Entryway with new wood floors, opened up wall and new banister!

Living Room with gas fireplace and new wood floors.

Dining Room

Kitchen! We converted a bedroom into...this.

We then eventually painted the shutters/front porch. And yes, it's sold. Sniff. Cheer. Sniff. Cheer.

If you think this blog was exhaustive, just wait for the photo book I'm making ; ) A big thank you to ALL of the people that helped with their expertise, tools, muscles, $, and encouragement. There is NO WAY we could have done it (and still have a solid marriage) without you! Now onto our next rehab...psyche! (yes I just said that) We pass the baton onto the next naive couple who thinks, "this won't be much work or cost very much. Let's go for it".

Yee Haw!!

2011-06-01T15:26:00.000-05:00

In case you haven't heard we're moving. To Texas. Mckinney, Texas.

Mckinney is approximately 30 miles north of Dallas, 6 1/2 hours from Springfield, 8 hours from Kansas City and 10 hours from St. Louis.   Apart from good BBQ and cowboy boots, why are we doing this?
When Todd signed up for his awesome job 2 1/2 years ago we agreed to 2 things: Todd needed to get his MBA (check) and Todd needed to move at the end of his position/degree (soon to be check).   We love his company and he was called about a job in Mckinney that seemed to fit his strengths to a T. Todd visited back in April and interviewed for the position and the next morning he was offered the job. (yep, he's that awesome.) A couple of weeks ago I joined him for a house hunting trip for 5 days and 4 nights.   Lets pause here.
You tell a husband and wife of 2 small children that they can go anywhere without their children for 5 days 4 nights and they will love it.   Then you tell them that you will fit the bill for everything and they might just call it their second honeymoon. (that is actually what I've been calling it).   I can't tell if it was the whole second honeymoon thing, or if McKinney is really going to be awesome or not, but I loved it**.    What did I love about it (apart than the above reasons?)

1.) Ikea.   Do I even need to explain?

2.) McKinney Square. This is one of the things we love the most about Maplewood. We love an old downtown with mom and pop restaurants and stores. We were down on the square daily and met some cool people and experienced yummy food and cool stores.

3.) Providence Church. I am definitely not saying we found a church home, but we visited this church and really liked it.   When I think Texas, I think Mega.   I'm not saying Mega is bad, but we just prefer a smaller church community.   This was was the right size and had good teaching.   I'm sure there are other great church's that we will check out once we are there.   (There sure were a lot of church planters at all of the coffee shops we visited...some wearing MU shirts!)

4.) The people.   At pretty much every restaurant we were greeted by friendly people that wanted to tell us all about their town!   This was a great, warm, welcome.

5.) First Baptist Learning Center. After a lot of preschool hunting we finally settled on this one for BOTH of the kids : ) Yep, lil' Anna will be carrying a backpack 2 days/week next year.    We loved the facility and the curriculum.   Both kids will have Spanish, Music and Fitness built into their day and Eli will begin learning to read, write, and beginning Math....seriously (this actually was everywhere...it's the Texas standard).

6.) Shopping. Ikea is it's own category, but shopping deserves a shout out too! Not only do they have everything that I frequent in St. Louis but a ton more. Here's a fun fact...there are more shops per capita than any other place in the U.S. Yep.

7.) Corporate Housing. To piggy back on the above...look where we will be staying for 30 + days while we continue to look for a house? This will probably end up being terrible with 2 young ones in tow, but we are sure going to give it our best effort...urban style apartment by all the shops! http://www.shopsatlegacy.com/

8.) Family. Not only do my Aunt and Uncle live 15 minutes away, but my cousin lives 1 hour away! There are also a lot of second cousins, etc. in the area that I have yet to reconnect with and some sorority sisters and old friends in the area that I'm excited to see again! (but yes, I'm going to miss the rest of you terribly...please visit).

That about sums it up!

**In case you are wondering this blog is not only for informational purposes, but an attempt to cheer myself up about the move in the midst of being extremely sad about leaving loved ones. Love you all!!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T05:00:00.001-05:00

***WARNING, this is a serious blog. If you would just like a surface-y blog then skip to the previous blog or come back another time : ) ***

This year I am seeing Good Friday in a whole new "light".   A lot of you already know this, but Todd and I just miscarried our 3rd child.   Why am I sharing this on my blog?   A few reasons:
*privacy is not my forte'...most of you know that
*I want to document all that I've learned so that I can look back and remember all that God has done for me
*I want to offer some encouragement to someone who may be/was/or will be in a similar place

Believe it or not we were not expecting our 3rd child quite yet, or at all.   We knew it would be a discussion, but we have so much going on and Anna is still pretty young that we just had not visited it yet.   Well 3 1/2 weeks ago we found out that we indeed were expecting at 6 weeks.   We had a lot of mixed emotions; shock, and joy being the most overwhelming.   I went in for my first appointment at 7 weeks and sure enough there was a baby growing inside. I was feeling pretty sick, tired, ect. and wasn't able to get much done around here but was happy to have a reason for it : ) When I went into the doctor again at 9 weeks I had an ultrasound (this is standard procedure at my Dr.'s office) and the baby was gone.   There was nothing inside me.   He/she had just...disappeared.   I was alone (there was no reason Todd needed to be with me) and was completely shocked (yet again).   I had no signs of a miscarriage and really didn't see this coming after 2 healthy pregnancies.   I think my Dr. thought I was pretty heartless because I just sat there.   I don't even think I cried.   Just completely taken off guard.    He said I had 2 options.    I could 1) Pass the baby on my own, or I could 2) have a D & C which is essentially where they go in and remove it for you.   I asked what he recommended and he said option #2 because it was less physical pain and my body could get back to "normal" sooner.   Also because I had not even spotted he wanted to make sure there was no clotting going on.

I called Todd and then the tears started pouring and they haven't really stopped.   I have never experienced something so heart wrenching in my life.   Death, of any kind, is sad.   Death of a child inside of you is not only sad, but is so personal as a mother.   That was MY child.   I was his/her mommy.   I never got the chance to meet them or tell them I loved them without condition. This was never part of the plan, any plan. It wasn't part of our family plan, it wasn't part of God's plan. God never smiles on death or "does it for a reason". There is no silver lining.

Thankfully God is good. He is more than good. He is love. I have never felt so carried by Him in my life. Did he allow this to happen? Yes. He controls everything. Am I angry about that? Not yet. While I've been sad, I know that the Spirit weeps with me. Even when Jesus knew he could and would raise Lazarus from death (John 11:1-45) he was deeply moved by their grief and wept with Lazaurs' family.   He wept with them!!   That is incredible to me.   That means that as I am grieving, he is grieving with me and I take comfort in that.   He also has chosen to not leave me in this place of grief.   Through family, friends, and his Spirit that lives inside of me I honestly feel like I have been hugged, kissed and given the ability to brush off my hands and put one foot in front of the other.

I have also reached a place of thankfulness. How often do I complain about being a mother and the work that comes with that? It is hard work, absolutely. However, it is such a blessing to be called a Mommy. If you truly feel like you want to be one, then please don't let a miscarriage get in the way. A friend's doctor once told her after recurring miscarriages, "do you want to be pregnant, or do you want to be a mom?" That is a question you truly need to ask yourself. If you want to be a mom (which I already am) then be a mom!    My husband has always wanted to adopt our 3rd if we were to have one. I've always brushed him off because that seems like more work than pregnancy (which I'm sure it is) but I've thought about that a lot. Little lives are so precious...if you want to be a Mom, then be a Mom. That is so much more important than being pregnant (It's not all that fun anyway...).

So how does this tie into Good Friday? As many of you know, Jesus experienced death on Good Friday. He was killed. God, His own Father, allowed that. Why? So that each one of us could LIVE.    So that my baby that never knew me as his/her Mommy could LIVE. Do I believe I will eventually meet him or her? Absolutely.   Jesus did so many amazing things while he was here but ultimately this was his purpose...to die for us. Wow...that's love.

Thankfully the story doesn't end there. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead...JESUS CONQUERED DEATH. That's how we can live...that was the master plan. When it's time for us to leave this side of heaven, perfection awaits. No more dieing, no more sadness, no more pain. Thankfully He gives us glimpses of heaven while we are here. Thank you all for giving me a glimpse of that through your encouragement, your prayers, your food and just being a good friend. I hope that when you process death, that you will also remember how much you are loved.    This Easter (the day he rose from the dead) is a perfect time : )

Happy Easter,

Love Leah.

Family Photos!!!

2011-04-21T14:35:00.000-05:00

Once again, my friend Bailey of Beautiful Mess Photography did an amazing job!

Click on the link below to view pictures,

http://www.pictage.com/1029814

Eli-isms

2011-04-13T20:46:00.001-05:00

After a hard couple of days, I could use a little laughter.   Maybe you can too. I know I've said this before, but this is SOOOOOO not a complete list.   Due to all that's gone on in the past month my mommy brain has become worse.   Eli we are laughing WITH you : )

*Due to some sensory therapy (see earlier post) we are doing Theraputic Massages with him.   Eli came down one morning and said, "I'm ready for my MaSausage".
*He's constantly wanting to put $ in his "PENNY bank".   (That would make more sense since his is a dinosaur)
*While farting and peeing at the same time, he giggled and said: "I Peeted"
*When asked what he wanted to be when he grows up he replied with, "Hans Solo"
*After a couple of messy days around the house he told me, "you need to get these rooms back together."
*He told me, "My feet are tired" when his feet were asleep
*He's been told he cannot come downstairs until he sees a 7 on his clock.   One morning he came down distraught (before 7) saying, "Mom! My clock isn't showing a 7 yet."   (ummm...yeah that's the point).
*He's resorted to calling me names when he doesn't like what I'm doing (like put him in time out). What names has he chosen? Bad Baby, and 'you farted mom'. Don't worry, we are not taking this lightly. (although I do think they're kinda funny when he's not around)
*During rest time one day he was really upset.   I thought it was a ploy to get me up there.   When I finally decided to check things out I heard him calming himself down saying, "It's ok.   That bug can't hurt you. God is here."

SPD...

2011-03-25T16:29:00.000-05:00

...also known as "Sensory Processing Disorder".   Some of you have heard of it, others have not.   I'm still learning more and more about the disorder every day!   Eli has been "diagnosed" with SPD. How did this come about?   Well over the past 9 months I've just felt that there was something more that Eli needed than I was providing at home.   His constant need to hit, push, throw, squeeze and pull things was starting to affect our life at home.   I guess before Anna was born it wasn't as much as a problem, but with a newborn in tow things became a lot more glaring and I couldn't provide him with what he needed.   I asked around a bunch to see 1) if other parents struggled with this with their boys and 2) if anyone knew what what could be going on.   I received several different answers from, "no. My kids never do that" and "he's acting like a 3 year old boy" to "I think he may have some sensory issues".   I was referred to a book called, The Out of Sync Child, and checked it out from the library. Some of the examples and children in the book seemed so familiar. He didn't seem 100% in any box, but it was worth looking into. They recommended an occupational therapist that specializes in SPD to have him evaluated. I called a friend Kim who's degree was in this very disorder and she was extremely helpful. She worked with us and gave us a ton of tips a lot of which are included on this list.
http://drzachryspedsottips.blogspot.com/2011/02/calming-activities.html

A lot of us can sit in a room and hear the noises, smell the scents, look at the lights, feel the couch and we process it all normally. To kids with SPD one or all of these senses doesn't quite come in clearly to the brain and they need help organizing it. Eli jumps, flaps his arms, screams or worse squeezes his sister or throws an object across the room. Sometimes this fixes the jam but other times he just needs more. I'm sure you know this but this is not Eli all of the time, but it is enough that I believe it gets in the way of productive things and it really wears me down. He loves learning, playing with friends and is truly a loving little boy and I would hate for him to get a label based upon behaviors that are somewhat out of his control.

We decided to bite the bullet and go to doctor weekly to help us and to help Eli. They have access to activities (and time) that we do not have at home to work with him. We are going to a place called Sensory Solutions.

http://www.sensorysolutions.org/ot.html

From his evaluation with Sensory Solutions they feel like he gets "tripped up" in processing all that is going on around him at times and seeks "Proprioceptive" experiences to help him process them.   The proprioceptive sense is in the stem of the brain and it basically describes what Eli seeks.   He seeks pressure/tension/movement on his joints to help him process information.   So, before we need him to sit down at dinner an example of what we can do is have him wheelbarrow or crabwalk to the table. Same for any time we need him in a "calm state" (ALWAYS! : ) ) However the most helpful thing we can do is work on his "Vestibular" sense before we work on the "Proprioceptive".   The Vestibular sense is the control panel for everything we do and it is located in the brain.   Basicially it is best to start with this sense and then work down to the others for the greatest effect.   Major motion is what this sense requires like swinging in circles on a tire swing (but for Eli this would be stimulating) or swinging back and forth in a linear motion(for Eli this would be calming).   Another example would be sliding, climbing a jungle gym, crawling through tunnels, and riding on a seesaw. So for those of you with a swing set in your back yard...awesome!   That is what most kids esp. SPD kids crave! We unfortunately do not.   Something we do have is a trampoline and Eli now will have trampoline time built into his schedule directly followed by "heavy work" (his proprioceptive sense).   We also will walk to a playground any time we can.
Whew. Sounds easy enough, right?   Well I wish I could say that we could do this perfectly but unfortunately my job as a mom/wife/friend isn't limited to serving only Eli and his needs so while I am very thankful for the knowledge and the applications I can do at home I am also thankful that there are trained people that are working with him every week to help rewire his brain so information isn't so overwhelming for him. Their hope is to see progress in 6 weeks! I am excited for him!

The "big" 1-5!

2011-03-10T13:57:00.001-06:00

Alright, so it's really not that big of a milestone, 15 months. BUT when there is a wellness Dr.'s appointment involved I feel like if they say it's a big deal, we're making it a big deal. So here's where Ms. Anna Davis "stands" at 15 months.

*20.14 lbs...just under the 25%! We can finally move her car seat!!

*30 3/4 "....just under 50%! (Everyone asks if she is short...I think because she's still crawling while a lot of her peers are walking. It's hard to judge when they aren't vertical : ) )

*Double ear infection. : ( This is the second time she's had one, and the second time they've found it out at the wellness visit. She doesn't tell me these things!!! She must have a high tolerance for pain. Good thing she takes the medicine like it's candy : )

Some other fun facts....

*She crawls up and down the stairs like it's her job.

*She's finally dishing it back to her brother.

*She's taken up an interest in painting. (ok. Not really, but she gets offended when I don't let her do the things her big brother is doing.)

*She's pulling up like a pro. She can even stand without much support (like holding on to a wall), and walk with a push toy. I'm so proud of all the "strides" she's made!

Happy 15 month birthday, baby girl!

Outside the Looking Glass

2011-02-28T20:06:00.000-06:00

Well the time has come, Anna's (and Annie's) birthday party is posted on St. Louis At Homes website. Bailey Mohr of Beautiful Mess Photography and Christy Marshall from the magazine did an incredible job of capturing the magic of that day. What a gift for our little girl...thank you!

Click here to view article and pictures

Miss Itsy Bitsy

2011-02-25T17:02:00.000-06:00

...seriously. She couldn't be cuter. (ok maybe a hair bow and bloomers could help)**

**Please act as if I'm not there. I am aware that I am annoying.

Eli-isms

2011-02-22T08:31:00.001-06:00

*While talking over breakfast about possible places we may move with Todd's company, Minnesota came up. Eli asked, "do I get a soda?"
*Eli is pretty into playing I Spy, but not so good at finding something for me to spy.   i.e. A good I spy ? would be, "I spy something red".   Eli however says, "I spy something truck".   When we tell him it needs to be a little bit more difficult he says, "I spy something TRICKY."
*When I told him he was a "smart cookie", he responded "I'm NOT a cookie". (I told you he was smart)
*As I spotted a firetruck outside I commented, "you have a fire truck like that at home".   He looked down, clearly disappointed and said, "yeah, but mine doesn't have hoses."
*During one of his numerous colds he told me part of his throat was coming up. Once I registered that he meant phlegm I told him he could spit it out.   Two seconds later a loogey landed at my feet.
*In the car he needed a tissue. We keep a stash of napkins in our glove box so I gave him one of those to use.   He became really excited and said, "MOM! Thank you for my McDONALDS tissue!"
*Upon giggling while going potty he said, "I have bubbles in my pee!"
*After sticking a pencil behind his ear he told Anna, "Look I'm your daddy!"
*One morning I heard him yelling, "My room is on FIRE!" After I raced up there I realized the heat had just kicked on.
*If he's ever over and tells you his mouth is "hot", it just means he's thirsty : )

What a LOVEly day!

2011-02-15T15:31:00.000-06:00

Not only was yesterday Valentines Day, but it was a BEAUTIFUL day in St. Louis after such dreary snowy/icy weather. (That is definitely one thing I will miss about St. Louis...the unexpected surprises we get in weather! ) So we made the most of it!

First, the kids and I went outside and drew with sidewalk chalk. They both loved playing outdoors, but I think Anna forgot what it was like! She giggled at the birds and marveled at the sky.

Next, we went indoors for our annual tradition of making pizzas! Eli is getting rather good (esp. at beating the dough...) Anna loved getting involved in the mess too!

Finally we gave the kids cards and presents to let them know how much we LOVED them!!

We hope your day was just as LOVEly!

What to do?

2011-02-01T10:54:00.000-06:00

So, there's talk of a blizzard starting any minute.   With a romantic ski trip on the horizon, Todd and I shipped our kids off to Nana's early.   Although I was up until 4 am worrying about them and missing them, I am now looking on the bright side of things and have come up with a list of things I can get done while they are not around.

Thing that I've accomplished:
1) Check facebook.
2) Have the TV on as permanent company and background noise.   (This is a big no no when the kids are around...it would cause them to have distractability issues or something.)   (No wise cracks, please)
3) Worry about my crazy husband who went into work today.
4.) Check facebook.
5) Pass around Groundhogs Day trivia with my BFFL, Julie.
6) Sell old textbooks online.   I sold an old Child Development book from 9 years ago for $20...wahoo!
7) Go to post office to ship off #6 b/c I only have 2 days to send it or I lose the sale and $20 seems to be worth more than my life.
8) Share small talk with crazy people like me at the Maplewood Post office.   There were some real characters there...people that like to push the envelope.   (no pun intended)
9) Check facebook.
10) Look around for more stuff around my house to take pictures of and sell. (but may wait to post until after this crazy storm so that I don't have to go through #7 and #8 again)
11) Check facebook.
12) Spackle all the holes in the walls around my house.
13) Call my husband to tell him he's crazy and he needs to come home.
14) Remember to eat breakfast.
15) Update blog but waited until #8 was done so that my mom wouldn't worry.

Things I still need to do:
1) Paint areas of house that were patched.
2) Patch kitchen island and stain.
3) Stain trim work.
4) Pack.
5) Call husband to tell him he's crazy and he still needs to come home.
6) Not worry about my kids.
7) Clean up and clean out as much as possible.
8) Make my chidren's rooms look absolutely perfect so that I don't feel so guilty.
9) Relax.
10) Stop making this list so I can start getting the above done.

December Photos

2011-01-27T13:51:00.005-06:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

These took awhile but look on the bright side:

*You get 2 for 1 (2 photo albums at one viewing, if you visit November as well) (Although for many of you this doesn't count because there are so many you wont view either)

*You get a view in this album from our sweet new camera...at what photo do you think we started using it? (hint: none of the Wonderland Party shots are ours...)

November Photos

2011-01-27T13:51:00.004-06:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Yep, you heard right...we're just a little backed up.

Here are a few of my favorite things #5

2011-01-19T13:42:00.000-06:00

#5:   MINT.COM

Money management has always been something that excites me. Yes, you heard that right. I LOVE everything about it.   I love the control involved, I love the planning, and I love the "game" (trying to make more of it/save it). I was really on cloud 9 when I used to teach personal finance to 12 year olds, starting the foundation of THINKING about $$ and some of the basics in managing it.

At home, Todd finally gave over the books at some point in the first year of marriage.   Yes, I know he's a "finance guy" but he does a lot better with making the big decisions and is happy to hand the details over to me (with some reigning in at times).   We have always gone with QUICKEN, but it was always so much work!   A few people recently have told me about MINT.COM and we were finally willing to give it a try.   This is a FREE money management website that keeps all your records in one place and keeps it simple.   I am only a few weeks into using this site, but already am very impressed and wanted to pass on the the information in case you were interested.   Hope this helps some of you with your resolutions for this year...happy managing!

Let's Get Physical

2011-01-10T20:22:00.000-06:00

Name: Anna Davis Warren

Age: 12 months (well 13 months now, but at the time of diagnosis...)

Diagnosis: Gross Motor Delay

At about 11 months our Parents as Teachers representative checked in on Anna and decided that we needed to look into why she was not yet crawling. She suggested I call First Steps and my Pediatrician to start working to find out why there was a delay, and to start closing the gap between her and her peers.
A First Steps representative came out and she was FABULOUS. I loved working with them so much and was really bummed/relieved to find out that we did not qualify for this free service.   Based
upon her observation, Anna was not experiencing a developmental delay but rather a "lack of experience".   Pause.   Let me go into why there was such a lack of experience just so you don't make this same mistake (& you don't think I am a horrible mother).
Anna and Eli are EXTREMELY different in temperment.   Where Eli always required constant stimulation, Anna is content just sitting by and letting the world pass her by. Where Eli squirmed when we snuggled, Anna always hates when we stop.   Where Eli loved being swaddled, Anna was fine without it. Where Eli loved the bottle so much I had to stop nursing, Anna never took one.   So at 3 years (Eli) and 6 months (Anna) they were worlds apart, yet adore each other. From the first week that I brought Anna home Eli couldn't resist laying on her, pulling on her, or hitting her with an object.   (We STILL struggle with this). While some of that is aggressive, I am beginning to see that perhaps it is his way of showing her that he loves her. Regardless we were all happier (and safer) when she was in my arms (and NOT doing tummy time). When she learned to roll over (developmentally on time at 4 1/2 months) she then learned to sit up (at 6 months). Once she sat up I just never laid her down...(this is where my ignorance comes in)...I just thought tummy time wasn't necessary any more so we'd just skip it : ) Anyway 6 months turned into 11 months and there was still no sign of creeping, crawling, etc. (although she was beginning to scoot on her bottom).
Resume. The First Steps therapist gave me some tips for Anna (and Eli, but that's another blog) and that was that.   We worked on the exercises and Anna was doing a great job army crawling, backwards. At 12 months we had a wellness visit with our Pediatrician.   She was concerned as well that Anna was not crawling and referred us to a Physical therapist.
At the initial evaluation we found out that her ability to do the splits, and to manuver in and out of frog like position is not "normal".   They said she, "has full range of motion throughout all joints" which also means she has low muscle tone.   We walked out of the appointment with more excercises, biker shorts to keep her hips from jetting out, and were asked to come back for weekly visits.
Anna has proven to be more driven than I thought...she started crawling one week later : )   Now she did need the right motivation at first...oranges and shoes were the best bets.   Now she does not motivation. She loved it so much at first that she squealed with delight as she practiced her new skill. At her follow up appointment she was congratulated given some more tips (she was still getting into crawling position from the splits) and she showed so much improvement we are down to only once a month.
So next time you see her give her a pat on the back (or bottom) for all of her hard work!   You GO girl!

Christmas

2011-01-02T11:03:00.000-06:00

Christmas time for us always seems to go on forever. Not that I'm complaining, but for the past few years we celebrate for at least a month! So, when people ask "how was your Christmas?" my response is always, "It was good, and it's still going...". That statement is true today as well; Christmas was good but it's still going.

We start every year celebrating with Todd's mom in Republic, MO. We always have so much fun playing with our cousin, Jameson, and now we have 2 new cousins! Kohen (above on Jameson's lap) was born in October to Todd's sister, Cassi. While we were in Republic our second nephew on this side of the family was born, Caden! Anna is still the lonely girl for now, but Eli sure has a lot of cousins that would love to wrestle in the mud with him (well, at least in the near future). I wish I had more pictures but we did not have a working camera (unless you count the one my mom let us borrow from the digital stone age). As always the weekend would not be complete with out "The Night Before Christmas" being read, and games being played. Anna helped make it extra special by learning to crawl!!

Our next Christmas was here at home with just the 4 us on Christmas Day. This was such a fun year to spend Christmas morning in our own living room, starting our own memories and traditions. Eli had made cookies for Santa the day before and was so excited that Santa had enjoyed them!

Anna enjoyed destroying wrapping paper, taking presents out of boxes and stealing her brothers toys.

It was such a great morning celebrating Jesus' birthday with 2 such joyful kids. After a slow morning we took "naps" at Grandma and Grandpa's house and then headed over to Memaw and Papaw the Great's (Todd's grandparents) house for some Christmas dinner.

The next day my sisters came in with their families to celebrate the Morgan Christmas. The kids are all at such fun ages and play so well together. Sleep is always an issue when we hang out with our cousins but who has time for it when there is so much fun to be had?

Brett in his new pilot's jacket that I don't think will ever be removed

Grandma being silly with the grandkids.

Our only view of Anna now that she's crawling

Libby opening presents

Eli showing off his new hat

Roman showing off his new Pirate costume

Davis playing with new toys

Grandpa reading to the girls.

That week Todd's family was also in town so we had them over for dinner and a game night.

Anna and Grandaddy

Whooping the family in cards

Todd with his MeMaw and Dad

Christmas will have to come to an end in mid January when we celebrate for the last time with Todd's dad (and his sisters) in Kansas City. It will end just end time for another important birthday...

Twas' the Night Before Christmas...

2010-12-24T23:17:00.000-06:00

...when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes St. Nicholas would soon be there.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

Eli-isms

2010-12-23T10:05:00.000-06:00

This list of Eli-isms is LESS than comprehensive because the last few weeks have been...hard for this mama.   Todd had finals and so things maybe just didn't feel funny in the moment (even though I'm sure to someone with a full tank they were hysterical) nor did I have the brain space to remember to write them down.    These however stuck with me...

*Anytime he takes a toy away from Anna, I always say"give her something else to play with" (because she doesn't really care at this point) He always comes up with interesting alternatives...like his dad's dirty socks.   Anna is always thrilled (again because she doesn't care) but sometimes I need to draw the line.
*His vocabulary is so incredible at this point that sometimes I forget he still needs some help.   He told me one day he needed his muffins before we went outside. It took me awhile before I realized he meant his MITTENS.
*Piggy backing on the above...Todd was talking to him about snow angels.   Eli said Todd and I could make big ones, anna could make little ones and he could make "big-little" ones (because he is not big and not little, just big-little)

*Upon seeing the above sign Eli said, "LOOK DAD! It says, "Look there's a car! You better run..."

*Eli knows that I am not ready to see him in the morning until 7 am.   At 7 am SHARP he is at the foot of my bed, every day, without fail.   One day he said, "come on mom, get up!" I said, "you know how sometimes you don't want to go to bed? Sometimes I don't want to get OUT of bed." His response (after a few moments of lulling that over) was, "Noooooooooo" (as if that wasn't possible)
*Over the past month we've been working on Anna's crawling (this will be a whole other blog). One day I put her down next to me to play and then I looked up and she was gone.   I was pretty scared at first (Like she was kidnapped or something) and then realized she had MOVED.   Jokingly I said to Eli, "how did Anna get over here?" He said, "I don't know. I guess she flew." (He was NOT joking.)
*He asked for a TROMBONE (?!?!?!) for Christmas
*After helping me carry in some groceries he said in a prideful voice, "yeah...I'm strong like Jesus."
*For Anna's birthday we went to go and see the light display at Tilles Park.   It was awesome, but Eli's response was not as excited as I predicted. At the end of the park there was a guy directing traffic. With excitement in his voice he said, "LOOK! That guys has an AWESOME light saber! "

Message from Santa

2010-12-17T06:00:00.001-06:00

Santa heard all about Eli, and wanted to send him a special message.

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/9XgrgqI6Yy7XToLC8BACiA#

WONDERful!

2010-12-13T21:53:00.001-06:00

Anna's next party was Wonderful!   After throwing my friend, Bailey, an "unshower" in October I just had to do a Madhatter Tea Party/Alice in Wonderland party for Anna. I thought it would be fun celebrating with my sorority sisters since Anna's friend, Annie, would be turning one as well! I was envisioning "Adults Only" (except for Anna and her friend Annie, of course) with a proper tea, fancy dresses and my china. Well, we had all of the above AND MORE.

One of my sorority sisters, Lindsay, works for a local magazine and pitched the idea of covering our party. They loved the idea and after much prodding (o.k., absolutely NO prodding) I enthusiastically agreed for them to feature the tea party in their magazine!

So, the party grew into something even more amazing and fun than I imagined.    Once I started gathering ideas of what I wanted the party to look like, what food I wanted to make, ect. friends and family helped work their magic.   I don't want to share too many more details, because after all I wouldn't want to be redundant when you read about this in the magazine (details to follow), but lets just say I am in awe over how talented, creative and beautiful the people in my life are!   They volunteered their time, decor, and gifts to give my "baby" girl the most WONDERful first birthday party.   Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The following pictures were taken by my friend, Krista (thank you! She also made the cool cake), these are not taken by the photographer...those will have to wait. These are pretty WONDERful though!!

One year ago today...

2010-12-08T06:00:00.002-06:00

....

Anna Davis Warren

5:06 pm

8lb 0oz

21"

We love your giggle, your hugs, your sass, your twinkling eyes, your contentment and your loving spirit. We can't wait to see how many more ways God has uniquely created you! We love you so much...

...and think you are 'tu-tu' cute. Happy 1st Birthday sweet pea!

Love,
Mom, Dad & Eli

Anna's FIRST first birthday

2010-12-06T14:29:00.000-06:00

No, I didn't stutter. Anna will have multiple first birthday celebrations. No, she isn't spoiled. (o.k., well maybe a little but the experts say that doesn't matter until after one!) Her Mom just likes celebrating and thinks everyone else does too! Before I get ahead of myself I wanted to share about Anna's FIRST first birthday party in Kansas City with my side of the family. We (I) decided that while we were already all together, why not celebrate? Besides, you ALWAYS need more sweets after Thanksgiving, right?

After waking the Birthday Girl up from her nap, she couldn't wait to get her hands on the cupcakes!

Unlike her brother Eli, she approached the cupcake very carefully.

She finally went for the gold!

Sassin' her Dad for more ice cream.

Opening presents

This girl goes giddy when you put a baby in her hands.


When she saw the baby, she even said "Babeeee" (yes, my family will attest to that!)

So after cupcakes, pumpkin gooey butter cake, cherry pie, TCBY and leftover desserts from the day before we...celebrated again 1 week later : ) (and stayed off the scale)

Gobble Gobble

2010-12-01T10:47:00.001-06:00

For Miss Anna's 1st Thanksgiving we trekked to Kansas City, just as we did for Eli's! We had a blast playing with cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunt, great uncle and grandparents. I'll let the pictures do the talking... (Ok, & my captions)

Mr. Thanksgiving himself, my Uncle Jim.

Miss Thanksgiving, my niece Casey.

Jason (and Todd) fried 2 turkeys...yum!

The hostess with the mostess (my sister, Reebs) served us with delight!

Anna loved her first Thanksgiving meal!

...and a kiss from her cousin, Brett.

Todd and me

The kids decorating turkey cookies

Seriously the best cousin shot I have, little boogers (minus Brett who opted to play Wii)

Eli was THRILLED to see Thomas.

Making Christmas lists.

Practicing crawling

Bowling

Seeing their GREAT, GREAT Grandma Moody (yes, Todd's Great Grandma is pushing 98 and going strong!)

After such a fun 1st Thanksgiving she is resting up for her 1st Birthday.

Thank you for...

2010-11-24T07:53:00.001-06:00

(GUESS WHO SAID WHAT THIS YEAR!!!!) *

1) Movies
2) Cheerios
3) 23 days of school left
4) George
5) Babysitters
6) The week "off"
7) Babies
8) Coffee

(e, a, t**, e (can you tell what he was doing while I asked him?), l, t, a, l)

*OF COURSE, we are most thankful for Jesus, Family and Friends!
**No, he was not a part of this so will not be held responsible for any of his answers.

Eli-isms

2010-11-15T16:25:00.000-06:00

Whew. It's been awhile & I have soooooo many I am sure this is not an all inclusive list! He's become more "grown up" in his Eli-isms. I hope this means he isn't going to out grow them : )

*The past few months "we've" had some poop issues.   He wonders where it comes from, where it goes, ect.   One way to make it less scary (I think) was for him to ask, "Does God poop?"   My response (after a giggle). "No, but Jesus sure did!"

*He is wanting to talk ALL*OF*THE*TIME.   He is now using filler words when he really doesn't have anything to say. "Anyways...." is his favorite!

*Whenever I ask Anna a question (i.e. "do you want more?") Eli now responds for her. In a really high voice he says "yes, please" or "I want my baby doll". He is almost always dead on : )

*At a restaurant one night he kept on staring at the table next to us.   Finally he said, "Dad, I want a mustache."

*His "Knock Knock" jokes really took off last month due to Halloween.   Most of them make NO sense.   "Knock Kock". (who's there?) "Potato." (Potato who?) "Potato bed."   (and then he laughs at his joke....and no one else does.)

*At restaurants he asks for "sweet" beer.

*One tactic we tried to get him to go poop in the potty was to tell him he could make snakes! This worked for awhile.

*After explaining to him that he needed to be quiet in a library, he then spotted a fire alarm.   He proceeded to beep really loud and explain to me that it was just a test, not a real fire.

*After saying really confusing things, he responds with "it's just a joke, mom."

*Driving to school he says the SWEETEST things to Anna.
**"Anna, sorry I can't play today. I have to go to school and work hard."
    "Anna, don't worry I will come back. I ALWAYS come back.   I will miss you more!"

*Piggy backing on the above statements, one day he ran up and hugged Anna and said, "don't worry Anna. I will 'tect you and care for you. "   (no, he is not winning a brother of the year award any time soon).

*We've been meeting Todd for lunch once a week to make up for the nights we don't see him. Eli is still putting it all together.   When we dropped Todd back off he asked, "where are all of your kids?" (I think he thought Todd was a teacher).   The next week an older man walked by and he asked, "Dad? Is that your teacher?"

*While raking, Todd decided to find a teachable moment and explain the seasons to Eli.   When he got to Fall, Eli cut him off. He started telling Todd all about the story of Humpty Dumpty.

*This one was a little scary for Todd. While on a hike, Eli said, "Let's pretend like we're ponies.   You'll be the pink one and I'll be the purple one."   While galloping he said, "I'm beautiful!" (Shhhhhh....don't tell Todd I watched My Little Ponies with Eli.   It's one of my faves.)

oct 2010 photos

2010-11-09T15:31:00.002-06:00

Click here to view these pictures larger