Who loves Chuy's?

I don't know about you guys, but my kids love Chuy's. After we picked Brandon up from work tonight we got to have a special treat for dinner. While sitting in the booth Sophie decided it would be fun for her to climb all over me. Well not touchy as I am, I was getting pretty overstimulated so Brandon took both kids on his side. We didn't realize that we would get such cute picture ops out of it. Check it out and see what you think.....

Merry Christmas 2009

So having all of our family living in the same city is really fantastic, especially for the kids. However it sure makes for some crazy busy holidays! We hit a total of 5 houses and Christmas eve service at Church, which included good laughs, presents, and of course good food! The kids were on their best behavior (most of the time) sleep deprived as they were.

Christmas @ Grandmommy & Grandaddy's house

Christmas @ Aunt Naomi's with Big Mema

Sophie & Teagan

Kaitlyn, Caden, Micah, Landon

Off to Nana and Papa's

...Back at home, the kids big Christmas present was a TV/DVD player. It's getting plenty of use!

The kids had a blast at Uncle Greg and Aunt Connie's house. They got to drive a truck, chase a cat, look at deer, and oh yeah sit on a fence to take pictures. How Cute!!!

Final destination...Uncle Josh and Aunt Theresa's house to hang out with Kaitlyn & Addison.

I'M BACK....AGAIN

*****Okay I really am going to try to keep up this time...I promise.

I finally got a ton of pictures downloaded so I'm going to try to keep up with the downloads so I have something to talk about and show you.*****

Here's a little update on the family.

Brandon: Working hard as usual. He just passed his 5 year anniversary as an "outside plant engineer" at AT&T. He is currently in training to run his first marathon in January 2011. He is also working on a website to help men stay strong in their spiritual growth even when surrounded by worldly temptations. What a great dad, though he usually doubts himself in this area, our children adore him!


Natalie: I've been working hard staying at home. Along with our beautiful children I have also been taking care of 3 other children. DonTerrius (5), Charlee (5), and Krisslyn (2 3/4). I love being able to take Micah to and from school, and going to story time is one of my favorite bonding times.



Micah: He's fantastic, and oh so smart. In August he started the K4 program at Humble Christian School. He is really thriving there. He has already learned to write his first name in print and cursive, write numbers 1-10, add single digit numbers, and he is memorizing a new Bible verse every week. He's been working hard at home too. I've recently taught him to tie his shoes. He got a new scooter for Christmas and is riding like a pro. Daddy is always happy to have him help outside because he is actually helping now, not just watching. He is also maturing as a big brother. He has learned to be so much more gentle and is sharing so well--most of the time;). His favorite show is Phineas and Ferb which he likes to watch on the computer. He has also found a new liking for internet learning games. Starfall and pbskids.org have some really cool games that he does very well. Sometimes he surprises me at what he understands. This fall he played soccer with a team from church. His last game he scored 2 goals. I was so proud. our next giant step- taking the training wheels off of his big boy bike.

Sophie: My little sopapilla. What a blessing God has given our family. I never knew how much I would enjoy having a daughter. She amazes me constantly. She has learned to spell her name, sing her ABC's and dress herself. She is completely potty trained (overnight and all) as of about a month and a half ago, that's right 2 years and 2 months old. Told you she's amazing! She is such a girly-girl. She definitely didn't get that from me, but it sure is fun to watch. My sister gave her a purse for Christmas complete with toy cell phone, lipstick, keys, and nail polish. She pretended to paint her toenails immediately after opening and has barely put it down since.

Esther: The new addition--our kitty cat that the children love and Brandon pretends to hate. I think he's just jealous because she gets more snuggles than him. He saved her from the side of the beltway and she's been agitating him ever since. Her favorite place (besides the Christmas tree) is on me so that irritates B even more.

That's probably enough typing for now. I'll add some pictures and try to keep updated on things as they happen from now on!

Check-up

Thursday was Sophie's 18-month well visit. Overall she checked out healthy. She did need some hormone levels checked, but they came back fine. She weighed in at 21 pounds and 33 inches. For some reason she is moving down the growth chart instead of up. Here's a little recap.
0-9 mos: 50% weight 50% height
12 mos: 45% weight 50% height
15 mos: 25% weight 75% height
18 mos 15% weight 60% height
Her pediatrician said we made a good choice by adding a daily vitamin to her diet a couple of weeks ago. But I don't get, it the girl eats a lot. Good metabolism I guess. Lucky her!
Micah has had a cough for the past couple of days and was not shy about letting the doctor know. He looked at his throat and said it looked good. Unfortunately that night he started running a fever which postponed a sleepover with his good friend Kaiden. No fever today, just moving a little slow.
Here are just a couple of cute pictures I've snapped this week hanging around the house with the kiddos. Oh yeah and a really cute video too!! ENJOY!

That's what friends are for!! (Olivia "feeding" Sophie)

Micah loves kissing cousin Olivia!

I wish I could look this cute on a bad hair day.

Look at this cheeks, you can tell he's not feeling well.

Just a little cutie!

NASA-failure is not an option

So today Brandon had the day off and we decided to take the kids to the Houston Space center. I've lived here my whole life and never been. The kids seemed to have a really good time, especially in the giant play place. We took the tram tour which ended up being 90 minutes long and included a total of 113 steps to view all of the prototypes. And hooray we forgot the stroller:) Sophie and Micah actually did a really good job not trying to run away. We met a really nice retired couple on the tram who have been on vacation since last summer touring the capitals of the US. Luckily they took some really cute pictures for us.

I'm back

Okay, so it's been a really long time, But I have a reason. Unfortunately both of our computers went out shortly after my last blog. Now we have a new one so hopefully there will be no time lapses anymore. A lot has happened so forgive me if this is a long one.
New additions:
Yeah-- Uncle Eric, Aunt Kelly and Olivia moved back to Humble!
Collin, Callie and Addyson were born!
No additions for us on the horizon-sorry if I got any hopes up:)
We withdrew Micah from pre-school, it was a very hard decision mainly because he loves his teachers, but it's what we felt was best for our family. We are taking a swing at seeing how home school pre-school will work and we have an awesome support group. He is learning things (not just academics) at an amazing speed, sometimes I just don't think I can keep up. He really has become a wonderful big brother, and takes pride in telling everyone that Sophie is his baby, just in case they didn't know. He has also recently found a new affinity for his daddy. It's amazing to see their bond and makes me so happy at my choice for his daddy!! His new favorite hobby is driving his jeep to check the mailbox, he's even learning which side of the road to drive on!
Baby sister isn't a baby anymore. She has become such a wonderful little person. Growing way to fast of course, she's making 3-word sentences! ("here go bubba," "what's that daddy"...) Her latest favorite is to respond with a "WHAT?" when we call her name. The last update was her newly walking, now we can't hardly keep her off of the kitchen counters. Even though she's always on the move, she is definitely a princess! She always has something exciting to say when we pass the jewelry counters at stores, and please don't touch her shoes unless she likes you! We recently found a pretty pink little purse which she adores! Oh yeah, sadly enough for Micah, Sophie found out what it means to tattle, she will come find me in another part of the house to tell me "bubba hit."
I have also begun watching my best friend Kelly's little girl Olivia. She is 7-weeks younger than Sophie, ad makes a good little playmate. I think they are learning a lot from each other. I'm dying to show them off, I can't express how proud I am of the little blessings God Has given Brandon and I!!