December 6 - Happy Belated Turkey Day

Greetings munchkin followers. I just got back from a long walk with Amelia and I feel invigorated. It is about 30 degrees here and I am LOVING the cooler weather. I hope it stays. There is nothing I love more than turtlenecks, hot chocolate and brisk walks with the pooch in the evenings. Of course, J.D. prefers to be indoors in front of the fire, but that's a Floridian for you! Although I will say that Jules seems to take after me and really enjoys the cold as well. We were outside putting lights on the bushes today and she did not want to come in. She was loving the chilly weather! It is still too early to tell with Luke, but I think he takes after his daddy. Anyway...wow-I cannot believe it is December already. Christmas is just around the corner. I'm usually done shopping by this time and I've barely started. I just started putting up decorations and we're getting the tree this week. So many things to do, so little time. 

So, we traveled to Florida for Thanksgiving and boy, was it an adventure. We left at 4am on Saturday morning and drove straight to Tampa (got in at 10:30pm). We discovered a few things on the trip: #1-Julia gets carsick when she is reading or doing stickers. #2-Julia is content watching Disney movies for several consecutive hours. #3-my children do not like fast-food (Luckily I packed lot so of snack foods). #4-Luke is fine in the car for about 12H...then he reaches his breaking point. #5-Luke loves foot massages and head massages. 

We stayed in Tampa Saturday and Sunday night (the weekend before Thanksgiving) and it was great seeing Grammie, Uncle Chad, Aunt Nicole, baby Leah, and of course-K.C. the cat. It goes without saying that Julia is in love with that cat. I think she believes he's a furry doll. He literally lets her do whatever she wants with him. 

After visiting with almost everyone in Tampa (Uncle Greg was unfortunately out of town working) we drove to Miami on Monday. That was just a "quick" 5H drive from Tampa. Luckily, the kids did well in the car again. We took a scenic route through Florida (instead of taking 75 to the turnpike...we took some back roads that the i-phone said would be faster...it was definitely traffic free however we were in the middle of nowhere). Greg, Jill and the kids drove down from Raleigh and we arrived at Uncle Brian and Uncle Craig's at almost the same time. We all stayed at Grandpa's house (he is in a rehab facility recovering from a leg issue) and the kids had a blast playing together. Grandpa has a fabulous, screened porch where the kids played, ate and had fun. It was also great seeing Uncle Brian, Craig, my brother Bryan (who flew in from CA) and Grandpa. Our resident chefs, Craig and J.D., cooked most of the Thanksgiving feast and it was delicious. Thanks guys! 

We started our journey back to Texas the Friday after Turkey Day and stopped overnight in Pensacola. It was the kids first night ever in a hotel and Julia did great. Luke...not so much. We checked into the hotel around 10:30pm and Julia immediately went to bed. Luke was up until around 1am..then the little stinker woke up at 5am. There was a young couple in the room above us having a party and we were near the staircase so there was a lot of traffic near our room. Hopefully next time we'll be in a quieter section and the little dude will sleep. 


Well-enjoy these pictures everyone and hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Julia meets Baby Leah for the first time with Grammie

Grammie and Julia playing Memory

The cutest little girls in the world 

Great Grandpa and the Kids

Cousins!

Silly Uncle Bryan

Uncle Craig and Luke

Uncle Brian and Julia 

Thanksgiving Feast

Mmmm...turkey bone!

Ready for the journey home. Amelia had a great vacation as well!

November 18 - Dear Luke

Dear Luke,
We love you bunches but we don't love when you wake up at 2am wide awake and ready for the day. You are 1 yr old-you should require a healthy 10-12H of sleep a night. Please remember this while we are driving tonight and while we are out of town for Thanksgiving. Sleep is very important. If you are rested you'll have more energy to play with your cousins. We also don't want you to keep everyone up all night!


Love,
Mommy


"Hmm...I really just like to sleep snuggled in your arms or daddy's arms. Are you sure you don't want to hold me all night like you used to do when I was an infant? Those were great nights mommy, great nights. I know I cried for almost 5 straight hours last night while you tried to get me to sleep in the crib...I'm sorry, but I really wanted my snuggle time!" - Luke


This is a picture of our gorgeous new niece, Leah. What a cutie! We can't wait to meet her on Sunday. 

November 10 - Can I Tell You a Secret?

Wednesday 11/9, around 8pm:

"Mommy, can I tell you a secret?" - Julia

"Of course." - Mommy

She leans in close and whispers:

"I love you." 

Mommy's heart melts as we hug and kiss good-night. 

Moments like these are the best parts of being a parent. 

I love you Julia Bean!

xoxox-

Mommy

November 8 - Little Jill

Happy November munchkin readers! The last few weeks have been crazy so I'll dive right in. Luke and I traveled to Florida a few weeks ago and it was a whirlwind trip. Luke had fun hanging out with Grammie and Uncle Chad in Tampa (they did a lot of buggy rides around the neighborhood!), while I was busy in Gainesville for my quarterly trip. It was great seeing my Gainesville friends and co-workers. Back in Houston, Julia had a fabulous time being spoiled by daddy. The first day they were solo, they went to the book store, out to lunch, craft store, birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and then a hot balloon festival. As if that wasn't enough excitement for one weekend, they went to Sarah Root's birthday party the next day where there was a bouncy house and carriage rides around the neighborhood with a unicorn! As you can imagine, Julia was very excited about the unicorn ride and I wish I had some pictures (J.D. might have some on his phone I can post later, sorry!). 

Luke and I flew back to Houston Halloween weekend (he was great on both flights) and we took a family trip to the pumpkin patch to find a pumpkin. Julia was more interested in running around the place (she really enjoys running and always wants to place 'chase me' or 'I'll chase you' monster games) and Luke seemed to enjoy just walking around. We eventually choose a large pumpkin that is almost as big as Luke!


Halloween quickly rolled around and the kids were adorable. There was a costume parade at school with trick-or-treating and all the little ones looks adorable. I volunteered to give out candy at one of the stations and really enjoyed seeing Jules and her little friends. There were a lot of princesses and superheroes. 



For actual Halloween night, Luke went trick-or-treating in the buggy while Julia pretty much ran from house to house. J.D. and I took both kids around our cul-de-sac and J.D. took them around the neighborhood while I manned the door. We had a lot of kids (close to a 100!) and several teens that didn't bother wearing costumes. The last group of the evenings was a boy (maybe around 10) and his 2 parents, who were dressed up with candy bags. I was pretty surprised they were trick-or-treating. I'm wondering, blog readers-do you give candy to kids without costumes? Would you have given candy to the parents (who I guesstimate to be in their 30s)? 

After the Halloween excitement, Grandpa and Becky flew into town, visiting from Hawaii. It was great to finally meet Becky and see Grandpa! Julia and Luke had a great time playing with Grandpa. Grandpa spent a lot of time running around the house after Julia (he couldn't believe how fast she was!), playing hopscotch, playing with stickers, going to the park and reading. Amelia also really enjoyed Grandpa (he took her on several walks every day) and Becky (she threw the ball for her several times a day). It was great seeing them!

In other fun news, Julia earned her first key at school for doing a great job with her rug work (they have different stations where they work on numbers, spelling, cutting, matching, etc.). The kids can earn different keys for integrity, honesty, etc. and she earned a 'commitment' key. To say she was excited is an understatement. She was thrilled and ran out of her classroom yelling "Mommy! I have a commitment key! Co-Mit-Ment. Commitment!"  We are so proud of our little bean!


Enjoy these pictures! I hope you are all having a fabulous week!

Julia found these toy glasses and insisted on wearing them for a few days recently (including to school). J.D. commented she looked like 'a little Jill' (one of my best friends in Gainesville who is blond with dark glasses). After he said that, she told us 'Hey, I look like a little Jill.'

Jules at the pumpkin patch

Luke vs. the pumpkin - still not sure who is bigger..

Halloween! 

They found the candy bowl (daddy couldn't resist either) when they came back to the house.

I moved it and the little man quickly found it again. Little stinker.

If Jules had been born with black hair...

Our little pirate was so tired he almost fell asleep on Amelia's bed

Swinging with Grandpa ("one more time again Grandpa!"

Reading with Grandpa

Tether ball at the park

Chillin' with Grandpa

Making homemade pizza with Daddy

Chair Fun

October 17 - Happy Birthday Luke!

Dear baby Luke,

Happy Birthday little man. I cannot believe you are already ONE. Where has the time gone? If I close my eyes I can still remember you exactly as you were one year ago-so tiny, so snugly and so precious. I know I need to retire calling you "baby Luke" since you are a toddler now (in fact, a running, climbing toddler that gets into cabinets, the freezer and whatever else you can find) but you're still mommy's little man. It melts my heart that you love giving me hugs and almost always want to snuggle. 

Happy birthday little dude-I love you to pieces! 

xoxo-

Mommy

**

Okay-sorry about the semi-sappy note above. I love my kids, what can I say? Luke's 1st Birthday/Halloween Bash was this past weekend and we had such a fabulous time. The birthday boy was a pirate, Julia was Cinderalla while J.D. and I were Caesar and Cleopatra. All of the kids came in costume and almost all of the parents too. The kids decorated pumpkins and did some crafts, plus we had some yummy treats and cupcakes. In case you are wondering-Luke ate the entire cupcake. He loved it!

J.D. and I were a little concerned about Luke the day of the party because he didn't nap that day. The airshow was over the weekend and we live very close to the air-force base. It's nice living close because we can watch the entire show from our backyard, but not conducive for naptime. So...Luke was very tired for the party was managed to stay awake. Julia had a blast and was playing so much it was tough to get pictures of her in costume. Overall-great birthday and fabulous party! (and just to clarify the wig situation..the thing did not fit me correctly! It kept popping up, I'm not sure if it was the shape of my head, the headpiece thing or a combination, but I tried to fix it repeatedly to no avail)

The Cinderella's: Julia and Hannah

Race Car Drivers: Nic and Tammy

The Zookeepers: Phil, Heather and baby Anna

The Queen and Angel: Caroline and Sarah

Tired Little Pirate

Batman! Baby Henry traveled all the way to Houston from Bangladesh and celebrated with us! Special thanks for Phyllis and Bob (Henry's grandparents who live in Sugarland, another suburb of Houston) who brought him.

Craft Time: Emma, Sarah, Julia and Hannah (they went through 300 stickers in about 10min flat)

Luke LOVED his first cupcake!

Presents!

The Girls

They quickly went from 'observing' to 'helping' Luke open presents

Of course, after opening all the presents he wanted to play in a box

Mommy-it's been a long day. Can we please go to sleep now? 

Special thanks to everyone who made Luke's day extra special. We love you guys!

October 9 - Where is Baby's Pumpkin?

It's almost Halloween and Luke is looking for his favorite Halloween book, "Where Is Baby's Pumpkin" by Karen Katz. 

Is it in the toy box?

No, but there are lot of fun toys to play with in here!

Is it in the freezer?

No, but there yummy frozen treats that Luke can eat when he's older.

Is it in the pantry? 

No, but that is where Mommy keeps lots of delicious snacks. 

Is it under the sink?

No, and after Mommy discovered Luke could bypass the child locks all the cleaning supplies were moved.

Is it in the tub?

No, but there is lots of fun water to play with!

Oh-there it is! Daddy had the book all along. 

 Now they can read together-happy Halloween!