Celebrating Bryce and Laney's 1st Birthday

Even though the babies' real birthday is February 21st, we had our celebration on Sunday. Laney was cleared to be around other kids so their cousins Cade and Jace were able to come to the party! It was so fun with all four kids there!

Here's Laney looking at her new book. This is just what I like to see...being a teacher and all!

Bryce looking at his new book too! Both of them loved their books from their mom and dad!

Getting ready to have their cakes! How cute do they look in their hats! Surprisingly they kept them on long enough for all of us to get pictures!!!
So...they both were very curious about the cakes at first...however, neither one was thrilled with the feeling of the icing on their hands! Laney just looked at us like "Please get this off of me!" and Bryce (as you can see here) was trying to wipe it off his hands on the tray!
Maybe next year they will get to the yummy cake part and enjoy it a little bit more! We got them all cleaned up and they head to bed for a nap! When I talked to Rita later she said they woke up and were happy as can be! It was such a blessing to get to celebrate such a wonderful day with our family! Bryce and Laney truly are little miracles!

My 27th Birthday

We went to Mom and Paul's for my birthday. I tried out some maternity clothes since I'm starting to show some. Here's Jeff and me!!

Me with the babies!!
Bryce and Laney with Rita and me playing with the table Jeff and I got them for Christmas! They both love plaing with it!

Laney started pusing herself some on their little car toy and Bryce had pulled himself up on the table! He was quite proud of himself!!
It was a great day!

Mom's Birthday

We got to have Mom's birthday get together at our house because Laney was cleared to be out! Here's Mom, Rita, me with Bryce and Laney!!!

Just Mom and me with the babies!Laney's sweet smile!
Bryce looking mischievous!!!

Bryce started pulling up this weekend as well! How fun is that!!!

Babysitting the Babies!

A little while ago I had the priviledge to babysit the two sweetest babies...Bryce and Laney! We were playing on the floor for a while and had fun singing songs! What happy babies!! Love Laney's smile...always brightens the room!!!

Bryce only thought he was getting away until Laney grabbed on! He didn't get far! Getting ready to have some food! They take turns very well already! :)

Catching up a bit!

If there is anyone that checks our blog on a regular basis, you know that it's been a while since we've posted anything. However, there have been many changes since our last post. Let's start with Valentine's Day.

We decided not to do much for Valentine's Day this year. We went to eat at Olive Garden the night before and Jeff had his first track meet on Valentine's Day. While Jeff was gone, I decided to make him something instead of buying it. When Jeff got home he had brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers! Of course there were Stargazer lilies...my favorite!!! Here's a picture of the flowers and my gift!

Take a closer look at the frame!

Yep...that's right...we're having a baby!!!!

We made an appointment with the doctor to confirm and the results came back VERY pregnant! We were thrilled! The embarrassing thing for me about this visit was when they drew the blood I passed out in the chair while trying to make the next appointment. I really scared Jeff because my eyes were open and I was white as a sheet! They told him I was ok when the color started coming back in my cheeks! He told me I could never do that again! :) I had memorized 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind" to say to myself while they were drawing the blood. After passing out, I decided I should say it out loud next time!

On March 5, we went for our first sonogram at about 7 weeks! It was amazing to see the little heart beating already. What a little miracle God had started to knit together already!!! Here's what Baby J looked like then.

They said everything looked great for 7 weeks! As we were getting ready to leave, the doctor checked with the nurse and I had to have more blood drawn this time! Yikes! However, this time they had me lay down and I said 2 Timothy1:7 out loud. I didn't pass out!!! Praise God for the little things! Jeff was very glad that I did so well and said he was proud of me!!!

Today, April 10, Good Friday, we had our 12 week appointment. They did another sonogram and a quick blood draw. I don't want to be too proud, but I didn't pass out again. Having Jeff there, laying down and saying my scripture out loud really is the trick! Here is what Baby J looks like today! It's amazing to see how much has changed in 5 short weeks!

We are so looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us! Please join us in praying for Baby J along the way! We are confident in the Lord that He will continue to grow and develop this sweet baby until our due date...October 21! And yes...that is the middle of Football season! I keep reminding myself of Isaiah 55:8-9 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3

New Additions to the House!

This is our new kitchen table! We've been using Jeff's table from college since we got married and we were very excited to find this table and chairs on sale! So exciting! Piper was sad when she figured out she couldn't see the food on the table anymore! Poor puppy! :)

These are crosses that I've collected. Jeff has given me two of them. I finally was brave enough to put holes in the wall of our house. These were the first 6 holes. We really like the way it turned out! The shelves still need filling, but one step at a time!

The crosses close up!

Christmas 2008

Jeff and I went to Christmas Eve service at our church and met some of our sweet friends to worship together. Here is our picture from before the service!

On Christmas day we went to my sister and brother-in-law's house to celebrate with my side of the family. We loved getting to see them! It had been a while because I had been sick and we couldn't go over to see all of them with Laney going through Chemo right now. It was one of the best Christmases yet! Here's Rita and me with Bryce and Laney! Gotta LOVE Laney's sweet smile!!!

Here is Rita, Kevin, Laney and Bryce with Jeff and me. Look at Bryce's smile in this one! So funny!

This is Jeff and me with the babies!!! I love their pj's with matching hats!!! We were surprised when Santa showed up at their house! This was the perfect picture of Santa with his little elves! Some of us thought that Santa looked a bit like Grandpa Paul!!
Here we are opening presents! This is what Jeff and I got for the babies. Aren't their little Christmas outfits so cute. I love Laney's red bow and Bryce's red socks! So festive!!!This is a picture that Rita and Kevin got on the camera. I just loved it and wanted to share. Laney is the sweetest little girl ever!!!

Bryce and Laney

Here is my newest picture of sweet Laney Bug on the way to my cousin's baby shower! Isn't she such a cute girl!!!

Here's Mr. Bryceon the way to the shower! He's such a sweet boy!
They are both getting SO big!!! I just don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like to. I can't get enough of them!!!

Scaredy Cat

So I've been looking for over a year for pillows to go on the love seat in the front living room and I finally found then at target today. I put them out while Piper and her friend Dixie were outside so they had no idea they were there. This is what I saw when they wandered in there and found them! Such scaredy cats!

Finally...close enough to sniff!

Chocolate!!!

Well, once again it's taken me quite a while to get another post up. I've got to get better at this blogging thing! A few weekends ago, some girl friends from church and I went for a "Girls Night" at this awesome chocolate factory in Grapevine, TX. We had such a blast. Here's some fun pictures of the night! Hope you enjoy!

Here's the girls that were able to go! We missed those who weren't able to make it!

We're getting ready to dip some marshmallows in some yummy dark chocolate...my favorite!!

My sweet friend Leah dipping her marshmallow!

We also had a contest to build a house of chocolate! Both teams assembled them in the same amount of time and both stood up to the shaking test! We tied!

Here's our team!

Our finished product!

We had such a great time! If anyone who sees this and wants to go sometime, just let me know and I can get you the information! You'll love it if you love chocolate!!!

Football Season has Begun!

Yesterday marked the first day of the 2008 Football Season! 2-a-day practices started this week, which means early mornings for my awesome husband. Here he is leaving with his coffee in hand at 5:15 am!!! This was quite a shock to both of us after being able to "sleep in" a bit over the summer. However, he was ready to get started no matter what time it meant getting up!

Here he is rolling out at a not so bright, but definitely early 5:15! Did you know it was this dark in morning?!?! :-)

Silly Piper!

On Saturday, Piper and her friend Dixie did not play together so Piper wasn't sure what to do with herself. While I was watching a show on HGTV she went in her crate to take a nap. When I went to check on her this is what I found. You can see the door is wide open and she did not have to be in there, but this is how she chose to take her afternoon nap! Silly Piper!

Sweet Babies!!

Here's sweet Baby Bryce and sweet Laney Bug! I got to hang out over at Rita and Kevin's house with my mom to give Kevin a little break the week before last. It was such a great day! I will have to get better about posting pictures more quickly next time!

Mom and I gave Bryce a bath while I was there. This was the first time I've ever given a baby a bath! It was challenging, but it was really fun!All clean!
While Bryce was getting his bath, Sweet Laney Bug was falling fast asleep! Look at her dainty little hands...I see dancing in her future! :-)
I'm getting to hold both of them at the same time in the glider. This is the most comfortable chair ever!

I can't wait to go see them tomorrow! I get to help take care of them and I absolutely can't wait!!