32 Is the New 25!

Maybe I have a few more gray hairs, I've recently purchased some Dove Pro-Age body wash and lotion, and I can't remember where I put... uh, whatever it was I was looking for! I'm not old though. It's strange how my perception of "old" changes as the years go by. The thrill of a birthday isn't what it used to be, but I'm grateful to have been blessed with another year. It's just not a childlike anticipation anymore. Now I anticipate my boys' birthdays and enjoy planning parties and buying and wrapping their presents. Actually, this is probably my best birthday ever. You know why? It's my first birthday with all my boys. Last year, even though I tried to coax him into arriving for my birthday, Spence was not here. I stared at the full moon and ate Mexican food, but he stubbornly just stayed curled up in his little safe haven. It's good though since he gets his own birthday. And this year Coleman is so much fun. We have the most interesting conversations and he says the funniest things (I could insert a comment he made in the intimate apparel section of Macy's, but I'll save that for another time). And there's also Brian. I am so blessed that he loves me. So I'm older than I was yesterday, but it's all good. I've stopped to count my blessings, and well, I don't think I can count that high. Know that I count all of you as blessings in my life. And just realizing all that God has blessed me with makes this a happy birthday.

My guys took me to dinner last night. Mexican food just like last year, only this year I had no excuse for eating enough for two!

After dinner we had ice cream. This is the same Baskin Robbins we took Coleman to for his first birthday, so this was an early birthday treat for Spence.

As you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed his ice cream.

And I enjoyed some whenever I could get it away from Coleman. He's a mint chocolate chip lover like his Mommy.

This is a family picture Coleman's Sunday School teacher took of us this morning.

Halloween!

Carving a pumpkin with Daddy

Our Halloween tradition is going to our church carnival. This was Coleman's third year and Spence's first! Actually, Spence attended in utero last year. It was exactly one week before he made his grand entrance! Here are some pictures of my little football player and pirate.

Spence the Pirate and Coleman the Texan

We finally talk him into putting on the helmet.

Spence wore his pirate hat for a whole 2 seconds!

Just try to rip this Crunch bar out of my hand!

Mmmm, tootsie roll in one hand, sucker in the other!

Spence's eyes are opened to a whole new world - one where candy flows free!

Wyatt, Coleman, and Spence at the bean bag toss.

Will, Wyatt, and Coleman

And just in case you were wondering what Spence and I looked like last Halloween:

My shirt says "Bottom of the Ninth."
Get it?

2 points down, 2 seconds to go, what do you do?

We Meet Again...

Spence's head and the coffee table, that is. Back in July I vowed to keep Spence's head away from the coffee table. Today I failed, and there is a purple knot above Spence's eye to point out my failure. I don't know what went wrong! Coleman was being so sweet. I had just changed his diaper (let's not even stop to discuss his complete lack of interest in the potty) and left the room to go dispose of the diaper and wash my hands. Suddenly I heard that familiar banging. That unmistakable bang that a little head hitting a coffee table makes. Good gracious me, not again! And just in time for picturepalooza! You know, Halloween. I'm going to look at it this way: My oldest is normal, and my youngest is tough. That sounds a lot better than my oldest is mean and my youngest is a drum stick!

The Toot Is Sweet

Oh, these are the moments I love. After I wrote yesterday's post, I took Coleman and Spence to the park. They were both having a blast. Spence and I went to sit on the swing and Coleman came and joined us. I was marveling at the gorgeous day and enjoying it with my boys. Coleman and I were having a conversation about his best friends. He informed me that Wyatt, Ryan, Sarah from Bible Study, Spencey, Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Poppa, Grandma, and Grandpa are all his best friends. Then he concluded, "I have a lot of friends." I started feeling bad about calling him a toot earlier! I was also feeling bad because I left my camera at home. Oh well, that just gave us an excuse to go back today! The weather was once again perfect. We took a picnic and I remembered the camera! Here are some shots.

Two sweet brothers!

Helicopter Pilot

At the Controls

Spence enjoying the park

Can you believe my Mommy called me a toot?

I'll never be a toot...

If This Doesn't Work, It's Off to Boot Camp!

Coleman has been being extremely two lately. Yes, I know he's two, but he's been REALLY two for the past few weeks. You know what I mean. He's been saying no to us, pushing every limit, refusing to do things he used to do, basically just being a toot. I say that with love, for I love him dearly, tootiness and all! I've been reading Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel (Blair on The Facts of Life). Every time I pick up the book I break into song, "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life." Get out of my head crazy 80's sitcom theme song! Aside from that annoying fact, the book is great! Most of it is geared toward kids a little older than Coleman, but she has some great toddler ideas too.

Yesterday we started a sticker chart in the car. Yes, IN the car. It is taped to the back of the passenger headrest, right in front of Coleman's face. Every time he gets in the car and hops up in his seat without making a beeline for MY seat and grabbing my sunglasses and opening and closing the garage door 17 times, he gets a sticker. When his chart is filled up, we go get ice cream. This is working for the time being. Our last 4 car-loadings have been stress free! I'll spring for Haagen Dazs for that! He's told me what kind of ice cream he wants: ice cream with chocolate candy and it's blue. We should have a time finding that!

I'm also starting a responsibility chart soon. It's a magnetic board that I got at Target. We're just starting with a few responsibilities: be nice, share, put away toys, and brush teeth. Those are some of the things that he gets into trouble for not doing. When he's caught doing one of those things, he'll get to add a "dot" on the chart. I haven't worked out all the details, but I'm sure good things will happen if he has lots of dots, not so good things will happen if he doesn't have dots.

The third thing I'm doing is praying. You know, that should be the first thing! I'm praying that Coleman will obey and that I won't go crazy, but I'm also praying that I will be the parent God wants me to be. That I will discipline correctly. That I will obey. That I will show love more. I know before long it will be hard for me to remember why I thought the terrible twos were so terrible. I may think it was all pretty trivial. Thank God that He doesn't view any of our situations as trivial! And thank you for listening to all my ramblings! That's all for now. I'll let you know how it all works.

Down on the Farm

Saturday our Sunday School class had an outing to Dewberry Farms. They have a corn maze, hayrides, farm animals, and play areas for the kids. There were so many people there, and so much to do, that we didn't get to do everything, but we had a great time.

"It's time to go! Do you have your football helmet and sunglasses on?" Essential gear for any farm excursion.

Behind us is the barn with turkeys, chicks, roosters, and pigs.

Between sneezes and nose-blowings, I was able to get some good shots of Coleman on the big bales of hay.

I'm sure there were some safety violations here, but boy was it fun! No seatbelts, no handlebars, just a good ole' country girl recklessly driving a tractor with 20 "corn cars" hooked up to the back. Spence was with me two cars ahead of Brian and Coleman.

Thank goodness Brian agreed to take Coleman on the Roller Slide. I don't think my bum could have handled it!

This is the corn "maize." Many go in, few come out.

Sweet Spence. He may be too little to go down the slide or vanish in the corn maze, but he sure does look cute posing with the pumpkins.

Fun at Nana and Poppa's House

Coleman, Spence, and I just got back from Nana and Poppa's. We had a great visit. Here's some of the things we did, and didn't do:

• Built a tent in the living room with chairs and a blanket.
• Didn't watch any DVDs because Mommy left them at home.
• Went to Wal-Mart and talked Nana into buying TWO toys, a motorcycle and a Hummer.
• Didn't get to play with the motorcycle after bonking Spence on the head.
• Walked around Nana and Poppa's neighborhood.
• Didn't go see the goats because "they might bite my new finger that I got at the haircut place."
• Swung on Nana and Poppa's swing.
• Didn't take naps!
• Ate LOTS of brownies.
• Didn't get half as many brownies as asked for.

We love visiting Nana and Poppa! We always have a wonderful time, and if we're really nice Poppa will fix his famous fajitas for us! Now we're anticipating the trip to Grandma and Grandpa's in about two months!

"Fall" in Houston

We love the "Fall" season in Houston. It's nice enough to eat popsicles on the front driveway and we can go to parks without getting drenched with sweat.

Coleman's Funnies of the Week:

I have to roll over so I don't mess up my pretty hair.

I don't want to wear my new shoes. They might get dirty.

I don't see that tree in my house! (He's been obsessed with going to Montana, but we're not going until Christmas. So Brian told him when we got a tree in our house it would be almost time to go.)

And our thrill of the week...
Coleman has decided to start using the potty again. I've tried not to show too much excitement. I'm using a new angle this time. "You need to know how to use the potty and wear big boy underwear when we go to Montana! Grandma and Grandpa will be so happy!"

Cereal Enthusiast

What do our tile floor, the bottoms of my feet, the seat of Brian's pants, the kitchen table, and Coleman's entire body have in common? They are all covered with cinnamon and sugar. Coleman has discovered Cinnamon Toast Crunch . And I have discovered that when a 2 year old eats this particular cereal, everything becomes coated in a thin layer of cinnamon and sugar. It's like a toast crunch bomb exploded in here! We all survived, we're just messier than we were before.
(PS. This is Brian's post.....Amanda claims no responsibility.)

(Amanda's response - OK, so I did write the post and I did find the YouTube video, but it was Brian's idea to actually post it!)

Very good video on YouTube.
High school kids giving props to the CTC.

You got that cinnamon?
Yea we got it.
You got that toast?
Yea we got it.
You got that crunch?
O man! Yea we got it!
What you got?
(Yea Yea)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch!

12:00 on the dot,
Need the food that hits the spot,
I eye up some cereal,
Like, "Oh my gosh!" Fo-realio,
Thank the Lord for General Mills,
It's the stuff that pays the bills,
My school friends give me props,
Cuz I cut my box-tops!
WOAH!

You got that cinnamon?
Yea we got it.
You got that toast?
Yea we got it.
You got that crunch?
O man! Yea we got it!
What you got?
(Yea Yea)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch!

Trust me this stuff will change your life,
Cuz you know it's got cinnamon and sugar in every bite,
9 out of 10 Americans don't get enough whole grain,
I know General Mills got me covered in that way,
They're here to stay,
To brighten up my day,
I'm not trying to watch my weight,
No I don't do that,
But if you are it's only got,
5% transfat.
C-I-N-N-A-M-O-N T-O-A-S-T C-R-U-N-C-H
You know it's straight to your face!

You got that cinnamon?
Yea we got it.
You got that toast?
Yea we got it.
You got that crunch?
O man! Yea we got it!
What you got?
(Yea Yea)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch!

Presents or Presence

This morning on the way to school, Coleman said, "I want presents!" I couldn't figure out what made him think about presents until I heard the song that was playing on the radio: "And I can feel Your presence here with me. Suddenly I'm lost within Your beauty" (Here With Me by Mercy Me). He had mistaken presence for presents. I thought it was pretty cute, but it made me realize how I know the words to a lot of songs, but I don't really think about what they are saying many times. Can I feel God's presence with me even when I'm just driving down the road listening to my 2 year old talk? The next song that came on was Show Me Your Glory by Third Day. The line that caught my attention was "Send down Your presence, I want to see Your face." Later in the afternoon, I sat down to do my Bible study. What do I read about but the bread of the Presence. And the scripture for the day: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies..." Psalm 23:5. OK, Lord. Are you trying to tell me something? Maybe one thing is that You are present with me every moment of every day. Sure, I know that, but do I feel it? Do I live like I believe it? I want to! I thank God that He uses the most unusual ways (Coleman wanting presents) to get my attention!

Here's Coleman's cute saying today. We had finished eating our popsicles and Coleman said, "Let's sit down here and talk about my day." Unfortunately, when asked what he did today, he replied, "I don't know."

Update: Libby is out of ICU. There has not been much drainage from the chest tube, but her mom says she is not out of the woods yet.

Have You Met Snaggles?

Spence has a new nickname: Snaggles. Then there's Snags, Mr. Snagglesworth, and any other variant of Snaggles. He has one front tooth that is really coming in, and another that is just poking through. He looks like a snaggletooth, therefore the nickname. It took us a while to get a picture, so the snaggletoothedness is not as pronounced as it was a week ago. Take a look for yourself!

And yes, he's as sweet as he looks!

eBay Addicts

eBay is a wonderful thing. Brian and I often wonder what we did before this online auction and shopping website. I of course LOVE to shop, but if I need something specific, or don't have time to drive all over looking for that perfect something, eBay is the way to go. Brian, on the other hand, prefers eBay to any form of shopping. Need a part for the electric VW? Surf eBay. In the market for a pair of Kenneth Cole shoes? Click on eBay. Got a hankerin' for a designer suit at a not-so-designer price? You know where to go. Want an original map of Montana while it was still a territory? eBay's got it. Looking for an antique fireman's helmet to match the nursery decor? eBay! eBay! eBay! So you get the point. Coleman is no stranger to eBay. If not for Grandma and Nana, his entire wardrobe might have been won on eBay. This week, I looked all over the mall for a pair of navy tennies and couldn't find any in his size that didn't cost $30. I'm sorry, but I'm not spending $30 on shoes for someone who drags his toes, plays in the mud, and might hit a growth spurt soon, leaving them virtually unworn. So what's a mommy to do? If you've been listening, then you know...eBay! So today we won a pair of super cute Osh Kosh shoes! We also won a child's Baltimore Ravens football helmet and pants. This will be altered and used as Coleman's Halloween costume. He is insistent on wanting to be a football player for Halloween, but the costume he saw at Party City is quite cheesy. The plan is to pull off the Ravens stickers on the helmet and purchase Texans stickers at Academy to replace them. Then we have to remove David Carr's name from his Texans' jersey, replace it with Matt Schaub's (fortunately they both use #8), and he'll be all set! We have not, however, been able to find Spence a costume on eBay. We've got a few weeks though.

Footnote: Brian would like to defend himself and his eBay addiction. He says that everything purchased on eBay is something we've needed (or would have bought elsewhere anyway) and were able to get a deal, or otherwise we could not find the item elsewhere. Thank you for your understanding.

I Want That For My Birthday!

For all of you that have been praying for Libby I wanted to give an update. She came through the surgery and is recovering. As of this morning, she was still on the breathing machine, but they are going to try to take her off that today. The family feels your prayers!

Coleman is still taking his medication. He doesn't seem to feel bad, but he's still coughing. Spence is also developing a little cough. Aaahhhh!

Here's a bit of humor for today. Lately when we can't drag Coleman out of the toy department, we'll say, "Maybe you'll get that for your birthday or Christmas." So his birthday has been on his mind. Now he's decided what he wants! It is the backpack leaf blower that he sees the neighbor's yard guy using. He calls it a "backpack mower." I'm just not sure they make it in his size...

Counting My Blessings

Coleman has had a cough for about a month now. Brian took him to the doctor a few days before we traveled to Iowa, so we thought it was probably a good idea to take him back and see what the doctor had to say about this not going away. He prescribed a bronchiodilator and a steroid, but he also wanted to get a chest x-ray to make sure it wasn't anything besides croup. I was a little nervous as I stood there wearing a big lead apron, holding my baby's hands as he laid on a cold, hard table. We had to turn him on his side for one of the x-rays and he said, "It hurts Mommy." I just had to hold him down and try to assure him that it would be over quickly if he'd be still.

As all of this was going on, I was thinking about a 3 year old girl named Libby and her family. I don't know Libby, but I've been praying for her for years. Her parents were members of our Sunday School class before Brian and I were attending, so our teachers have mentioned them for prayer. Before Libby was born the doctors discovered heart and other defects. She has had many surgeries and spent much time in hospitals. Tomorrow she is undergoing a major heart surgery where it's not a question of whether there will be complications, just how severe they will be. I was just reading her mom's latest post and she was saying that they have a peace that passes understanding. Libby made it through a rough day of blood tests, x-rays, and tests and everything is in order for surgery tomorrow.

I'm so in awe of God's grace. In whatever we face, He gives grace as we need it. Please pray for Libby and her family. There are so many things that could go wrong, but there is only One who is in control and knows what the outcome will be.

As for Coleman, his x-ray looked clear. Thank you Jesus! He started his medication tonight, so hopefully he will start feeling better soon. And Spence made it through his flu shot! I have so much to be thankful for. I've got to go count my blessings...

Bilingual Baby

Spence has one word - Dada. He loves to say it. He'll even say it on command when Brian asks him. On the way to church today he started saying "dada dada dada." Coleman of course wanted to join in. Then Coleman started saying "muffy" over and over. Yes, that enigmatic word again. With every "muffy" Spence would respond with a "dada." Coleman finally said, "No dada, just muffy!" Coleman is trying to make him bilingual. I use that term loosely since Spence isn't even really lingual, and the second language isn't a real language.

And on a completely unrelated note: I was going upstairs to get Coleman up from his nap and I stopped to pick up a package of diapers that hadn't quite made it to his room. I was thinking to myself, "I wish Coleman would regain his interest in using the potty. I'm tired of all these diapers." I opened his door and he sat up in bed and said, "I wanna go potty!" Wow! Talk about ask and ye shall receive! Excitedly I said, "You want to go potty?!" He looked at me and said, "No, I want to go party." Brian had told him that after he rested we would be going to a party at church tonight. Oh well. At least he's excited about going to church! Anyway, I wouldn't want that package of diapers going to waste.

Chicken Saves the Day

We had just arrived home from a day of shopping and dinner out. Spence was happily playing in the kitchen, so I stepped out of the room to take a look at some of my purchases. I walked back into the kitchen, but Spence was not there. I turned, only to see him already up to the third stair. (Yes, we have a gate, but no, it was not up.) As soon as I started for him, he started falling back. I knew I couldn't get to him before his head would hit the tile floor at the bottom of the staircase. As I was moving toward him, I was expecting to hear a loud thud and then wailing cries, but there was no sound at all. I reached for him, and lifted him off of Coleman's stuffed chicken. Chicken had broken his fall! That ridiculous animal that Coleman carries all over the place and sleeps with every night had saved the day! Thank you, Chicken. No more jokes about making you into nuggets.

Put On Your Listening Ears!

And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Throughout this time of uncertainty with Brian's job search, I have never been overwhelmed by fear or anxious thoughts of the unknown. Praise God! I've known that God would take care of us, no matter what. Today Brian began doing contract work for a company. This company wants him to continue working for them even if he goes back to work for his former boss. I thank all of you who have been praying for us. It is so important to have friends and family who are lifting you up in prayer.

I'm doing a Bible study by Beth Moore about the Old Testament tabernacle. I had my concerns before starting, but my mom assured me this was her favorite Beth Moore study. I wanted to get back into a women's Bible study group, and I think I've picked a winner! Girls, if you've never done a Beth Moore study, let me just say that YOU MUST! It is a big commitment, but well worth it. She has a way of making things just come alive and bring out truths that seemed hidden before. She said something in the DVD that struck me as strange, and then true. She said, "You can never get to the bottom of God's word." What??? Oh.... I'm realizing that now. The deeper you dig, the more you find. And that leads you to something else, and something else, and, well, you get the picture. I'm praying that I leave this study changed. A lot of the reading is from Exodus. At least it's not Numbers! Actually, I'm enjoying it.

I'm also enjoying my boys these days! Coleman has a new word: muffy. No, I don't know what it means. I'm pretty sure it's an adjective, but tonight I tried using it as a noun. I think I confused him. He wouldn't tell me what he wanted for dinner so I asked, "Do you want chicken nuggets? Pizza rolls? Peanut butter? Turkey sandwich?" To which he replied, "No. No. No. No." So I said, "Do you want some muffy?" Sounding intrigued, he asked, "What's muffy?" I wanted him to tell me, but he wouldn't. He decided that he did want muffy for dinner. Great. Anyone got the recipe? I tried to convince him that muffy was chicken nuggets with ketchup (he usually eats them with Ranch - a.k.a. Daddy dippin' sauce). He wasn't buying it, but he eventually ate it.

Our family is trying to cut back on M&Ms, so I bought popsicles for dessert this week. Every evening Brian, Coleman, and I all pick our flavors and go sit on the driveway. We each take a bite of each others, and we all share with Spence. It's been fun, and swatting the mosquitoes away has been good exercise! I love Fall, when it's finally nice enough to eat a popsicle outside! Ha!

I do have to mention one other cute thing Coleman said this week. It's only hearsay, so I hope I get it right. Brian was reading Little Elephant's Listening Ears, a book Grandma gave Coleman, the other night before bed. Coleman is very familiar with this book since we've read it every day at nap and bedtime since we've been back from Iowa (that's roughly 20 times). It's a cute book, but let me tell you, Elliot the Elephant is quite the brat. He definitely needs to put on his listening ears, and Mommy Elephant needs to learn some disciplining techniques! Nonetheless, it is a cute book. Back to my story, when Brian was reading it the other night, Coleman asked, "Where's his Daddy?" Brian said, "I don't know where he is. That's probably part of Elliot's problem." Coleman, obviously not picking up on the humor, replied, "Maybe he went to work to look for a job." Isn't that funny? He thinks if his Daddy is looking for a job, everybody's Daddy must be looking for a job! I love it! And I love all of you. Thanks for coming back every day and reading my stories!

I Give It a 10!

My favorite show is back! Yes, I'm talking about Dancing With the Stars. I love it! Did you see it tonight? It's one of those shows that I get so hooked on. I'm rooting for Jennie Garth, because I was a big 90210 fan. But the best dancer tonight was Sabrina Bryan. Tomorrow night the men dance. The only bad thing about this show is the time it takes to watch it. They dance one night and then have a results show the next. Once I get invested in it though, I just can't miss it!

Brian just walked by, saw this post, and said, "Boy, that's pathetic." But hey, everyone needs one guilty pleasure, right? This is mine!

Silly Boys & Mommy and Daddy are Big Spenders

Today we have a guest blogger. Welcome Brian!

Now that we've recovered from traveling to and from Iowa, we're thinking straight again. We stayed at The Renaissance Savery Hotel in downtown Des Moines. Don't knock it 'till you try it, Des Moines was a very nice area.


Saturday before the wedding we went to a very nice and LARGE farmer's market and had some very good breakfast burritos and coffee. It was even a little cold! Very nice compared to Houston. Back regarding the hotel; on our way out, I grabbed a shower cap thinking Coleman would enjoy it in the bath. He did. And it is affectionately called the "Silly Hat".


The weather is getting better down here. The heat index is now below triple digits. We went to the park yesterday and Coleman "rode" his trike there. Actually, I pushed him with a painting extension handle. We had a good time.






On our way home from the gym today, we saw a sign for a garage sale in our neighborhood. We usually do a drive by to see if it's worth it to get the boys out. They just moved in a couple of weeks ago and were getting rid of some of their boy's stuff. We found a great Leggo/Car/Train table for Coleman and Spence for $15. Mommy and Daddy are big spenders. ;-) The boys already had fun with it today.

You're in Radiator Springs, the Cutest Little Town in Carburetor County

If you haven't seen the Disney Pixar movie Cars then you may not get most of the references in this post. I just had to share Coleman's new hobby of reenacting movie scenes though.

great wikipedia article on Cars

Coleman's favorite movie is Cars. It's really a good movie. He has almost all the Cars cars and has seen the movie so many times that he can reenact many of the scenes. The cars race, Lightning McQueen blows a tire, McQueen jumps over an overturned Leak Less, McQueen falls out of his trailer, and my favorite, Mater takes McQueen tractor tipping. For this scene Coleman tips his tractors backwards and sets up Mater and McQueen in front of them. (This is like cow tipping, but with tractors.) His new favorite scene now is toward the end of the movie when McQueen helps all the townsfolk fix up Radiator Springs. They turn on the neon signs and Sh-Boom by The Chords starts playing. I sing along with it every time. "Oh, life could be a dream, sh-boom..." Coleman says, "I want to watch loppa dream!" I'm guessing that's his version of "life could be a dream." All I can say is thank goodness for DVDs and scene selection. I can select that scene and he's happy. We don't have to watch the whole movie (yes, it's a good movie, but I've seen it in its entirety several dozen times) and no fast forwarding or rewinding. Sometimes I've wondered what toys we'd be playing with and what movies we'd be watching if I had girls. My friend Theresa informed me that her 2 year old daughter loves Cars also, and is now obsessed with tires! So rock on Cars fans!

A bonus fun fact! My favorite line from the movie:
You know, I once knew this girl Doreen. Good-looking girl. Looked just like a Jaguar, only she was a truck! You know, I used to crash into her just so I could spoke to her. (Mater, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy)

I'll be good, for a price.......

For Coleman to be still for the rehearsal, pictures, and wedding we bribed him with M&Ms. It was incredible the power Brian had with those tiny little candies. Below are pictures of Coleman "behaving" for a treat (click to enlarge).

Also, here's a little poem I wrote for the occasion:

I’m two and a half I’m sure you can see

I think the world revolves around me

You know that I could act much better

If you’d give me the candy with my favorite letter

I’d stop running and whining and climbing the wall

I’d be an angel, the best 2 year old of all

I know you’ve got a bag of them handy

Go ahead and hand over some of that candy!

The Wedding Continued

OK. I'm somewhat recovered from the trip. Haven't quite caught up on sleep, but I'm getting back into my normal routine. Well, things aren't completely normal since Brian is home everyday. It's been nice having him here, but I'm trying not to get too used to it so I won't feel overwhelmed when he goes back to work.

Coleman enjoyed sleeping in Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room. They read lots of books, played with lots of tractors, and made a "snow mountain" out of the big fluffy pillows on the bed.

It was great seeing Rita's family. Her two sisters and their families were there. Here is a picture of all the girls. We should really leave the guys behind and go on a little vacation sometime. I keep hearing about this Mall of America. Sounds like my kind of place!

Sherrie, Dre, me, Jeani, Rita, Mary, Rhonda, and Roz

Coleman thought that the reception was a birthday party. He was amazed by Grandma and Grandpa's awesome dancing! It took him awhile, but we finally got him out on the dance floor with Roz. He partied hard until 11:30!


All this fun, and we added another member to our family. I know we'll have many more happy occasions to celebrate together! I can't wait!