Merry Christmas!

Rest Easy Sweet Jack Dog

This year Thanksgiving was bittersweet for us.

I was able to spend the whole week catching up on chores that needed to get done around the house. Sarah and I had a good time making some crafts. Evan crawled around everywhere so I could chase him.

Jack had been moving a little slow for the past few weeks. We thought it was just his age, he's 10 and from what I've been told that's old for a lab. The weekend before Thanksgiving he progressively became worse. His bed was the only place he wanted to be and when he had to get up he would whimper.

That Monday Aaron took him to the vet to get checked out. I had a really bad feeling about the whole thing. I laid on the floor next to him that morning and tried to talk to him. I would talk to him and he would move his eyes to meet mine. This was not my sweet Jack dog. The Jack I knew would have been up and wagging his tail like crazy. His tail was still that morning.

Aaron left to take him to the vet and the kids went with me to run errands.

I got a call a few hours later that brought tears and sadness. The vet had found a mass on Jack's spinal cord in his neck area. It was inoperable and although they could give him medicine to ease his pain, they couldn't fix him. The medicine was only a temporary fix for what we knew would eventually come and it would not have been fair to make him suffer.

My brave and strong husband stayed with Jack until he left this world and entered heaven. I can only imagine how fast Jack ran into the gates of heaven and how hard he wagged his tail when he saw Jesus. I could never have imagined missing an animal as much as I miss him. His dog bed has left our home but we can't bring ourselves to take away his dog bowls.

Sarah misses him so much and talks about him almost daily. She knows he's in heaven but asks when he can come home or when she can go to heave to see him.

Thank you Jack for being a loyal companion, guard dog and a member of our family.

New Pics!

Here are a few new pictures of the kids. Life has been VERY hectic lately with school starting. Sarah really likes school! She hasn't mastered the concept of nap time yet but we are practicing daily. So far she has learned to cut, hold her crayons correctly, and say a mealtime prayer. I am very excited about this experience and hope that she continues to do well.

Evan just continues to amaze us with how fast he is growing. He is doing the "frog sit" very well now and tries really hard to sit up by himself. He pushes himself up when he is on his tummy. You can see that he very badly wants to crawl or get moving. So far we have tried the following foods without any complaints from him: green beans, peas, carrots, and squash. He is wearing 9 month clothing, even though he will be only 6 months this week. I can't believe it!!

Evan asleep with his favorite monkey

Daddy's Future Red Raider

Sarah asleep on her new nap mat

Cuddling at bedtime

The first of many first days of school...

Yesterday morning Sarah started Pre-Kindergarten. We spent all weekend talking about it so that she would be excited about going. This plan actually worked! She couldn't wait to get to school and asked to go about every five minutes. It was really nice because there was no struggle to get her ready.

When we arrived to school I sat in the car for a moment and truly thought about just taking her back home. Then I realized that she would have to start school sometime and that I can't keep her my baby forever. So, Sarah and her entourage (me, Aaron, Evan, and my mom) walked inside.

Her classroom was kid friendly and the teacher had laid out some coloring sheets and brand new crayons so the kids could color. We put away Sarah's backpack and lunch box (filled with a peanut butter sandwich, cheddar bunnies, and grapes) in her cubby. The teacher led us to her seat and she began to color.

We waited about 5 minutes and then kissed her goodbye. Then we waited around a few more minutes until she was distracted again before we left the room. All three of us waited in the hall so we could have one more peek inside the classroom to make sure she was okay. Thankfully she was doing great.

5 months old!

Evan is now 5 months old and I can hardly believe it. He's probably close to 17 pounds and seems to be growing bigger by the minute. He can roll over with great ease anytime he wants. He loves to play with his toys and put anything and everything in his mouth. We've been feeding him cereal and green beans, peas, and carrots for about 3 weeks now. Evan is such a happy baby and for that we are very grateful. Here are a few new pictures, enjoy:)

Big Girl Haircut

Yesterday I became brave and decided it was time to cut Sarah's hair short. It's a little above her shoulders and it turned out really cute. I'm still learning how to fix it. She now looks like a big girl who is ready for school!

4 months old today!

This has been a big week for us! First Sarah turned 3 on Wednesday and now Evan is 4 months today. Aaron and I just can't believe how big he has gotten in what feels like such a short time. He is constantly munching on his hands as you can see in the first picture. In the second picture you can see how he can not turn onto his tummy...almost.

My 3 year old princess

Today is Sarah's 3rd birthday! I can't believe that 3 years has already passed. Today we went to Build A Bear with Maw Maw (Sandy), Grammy (Rosalinda), Papi (Manuel), Alison, Anjolee and Kenzee. There were so many choices of animals that it took Sarah about 4 rounds of looking to choose her animal. First she wanted a pink unicorn. I have to admit that I thought the unicorn wasn't the cutest animal there but it's her birthday. Thankfully, she changed her mind and ended up picking a Hello Kitty animal.

Then we came home to eat pizza and birthday cake. After that is was present time and she got her first bicycle. I can't wait for it to cool off a little bit so that she can practice riding it.

I am so thankful for my sweet Sarah. She has changed my life for the better and is truly a gift from God. I can't wait to watch her grow because she has been such a joy!

Evan is 14 weeks!

This is the smile that we are blessed to see everyday! He is such a great baby!

Evan's 2 month pictures

So I am a bad mother because I should have posted these pictures when I got them back 3 weeks ago. The terrible thing is that Evan will be 4 months in about 2 weeks. I will try to post them a little sooner than I did these pictures.

We did get a few smiles but I am hoping for more the next time.

Precious Smiles

Evan is 12 weeks old in this picture.


Sarah is showing off the new headband she picked out. I just loved their precious smiles!

The New Dress Code For Wal-Mart

Last week Sarah and I went grocery shopping at Wal-mart. I asked her to go to her closet and get her shoes. She took off running but was gone for too long. I went looking for her and found her in the closet going through her princess dress-up clothes. She then asked to wear her tutu, glitter shoes, tiara, and necklace. How could I say no? She does not ever make requests like that and I thought she looked absolutely adorable.

Once we got to Wal-mart I got a few looks that said "You are crazy for letting your kid come to the store dressed like that." However I got more looks that said "What a precious little princess!" Either way I didn't care because all that mattered was that Sarah was happy.

Smiley boy

There is nothing more precious than a baby's smile or the sound of their laughter!

How time flies...

Today Evan is 2 months old. It doesn't seem like it has been that long. He is getting so big so fast. We go for his 2 month check up on Friday and I am curious to see how much he weighs. He is sleeping better at night and only waking up once. I'm hoping he will follow in Sarah's footsteps and be sleeping through the night by the time he is 3 months old.

He likes to sit in his bouncy seat and lay in his play gym. He bats his little hands at the toys that hang down. Sometimes he just lays there and looks at himself in the mirror.

We are getting used to the changes of having a family of 4. It takes us more time to get ready to go places so I have to get up earlier and make sure to pack things ahead of time.

Unfortunately Sarah is still in diapers but I am hoping to work on that more when school is out. She has just about every kind of panties ever made but they sit in her drawer unused because she has no interest in wearing them. I'm not sure what else to try. We've tried stickers, m&m's, oreo cookies, toys, and a potty watch. They all work for a few days and then the novelty wears off and she regresses.

I am very excited for her to start swim lessons this summer. She loves the water. I am hoping that she will be able to doggy paddle by the end of the summer.

Here are some 2 month old pictures of Evan!

Sneaky

I love when Sarah comes up with new words for things. She has replace the word snack with the word sneaky. Once I figured out she wasn't calling me sneaky I tried to understand what she was trying to say. Then she took my hand and led me to the pantry. That's when I figured out that sneaky=snack. We are not sure why this has happened but about two days ago she just made the switch. We think it's so cute and smile every time she says it.

Starting to smile:)

1 Month Old!

New Sarah Pics!

I had to share these super cute pictures of Sarah!

Sleepy Boy

Our little Evan looks so sweet when he is sleeping. If only he would do it more at night.

St. Patrick's Day Surprise!

Here is the story of the day Evan was born. I had been having contractions since the weekend but nothing consistent so I figured I still had some time before he was born. However, Evan had different plans. Around 2:00 on Tuesday, March 17th my contractions began coming about every 8-10 minutes. I didn't worry too much but decided to call Aaron to put him on alert. He decided it would be best if he went ahead and came home.

By the time he got home my contractions were coming every 6-7 minutes so I decided it was time to finish packing the last few parts of my hospital bag. Thankfully my mom and sister came over to help. Aaron and I left for the hospital around 6:00 but after the long labor I had with Sarah I was fully expecting to be sent home.

Imagine my surprise when the nurse told me I was dilated to a 4. I couldn't believe I had made it to a 4! I was so proud of myself because I had been tolerating the pain very well. The nurse took us to a room around 7:15 and got us settled. By the way, my nurses were absolutely fabulous!!!!!I was offered an epidural and of course immediately accepted. 20 minutes later I was feeling no pain but lots of excitement.

From this point on this went very quickly. At 9:00 I had progressed to a 7. I can honestly say that I was not ready for this to be happening so fast. I wanted a little more time but I wasn't going to get it. The nurse kept telling me to take a nap but I was moving along so fast there ended up not being an opportunity to take one. By 11:00 I was a 10 and ready to push.

The nurse began to get the room ready. This actually takes a little while so I didn't actually start pushing until 11:30. Thankfully I only had to work on that for about 20 minutes. Little Evan came out screaming! Aaron had a huge smile on his face and I cried. I think I was in shock for a while that everything had happened so fast.

Now we are home and trying to adjust to our new life. Things are definitely different and I will admit that I am scared of what each day will bring. However, we are truly blessed. God has given us two healthy beautiful children, each other, wonderful family and great friends. I will post more soon on how things are progressing.

More pictures!