More Christmas Card Picture Outtakes

Long Time, No Post- I know!

My excuse? We only had our laptop while we were in our temporary house and it was hard to upload pics off of it. For a while after moving things were just too crazy and honestly, I have forgotten to take pics at all!

Now I am realizing that the Christmas season is here and I need to get the Christmas cards done! Trying to get pics, professional or otherwise, of a 1 and a half year old and a 3 and a half year old is just not easy! We did manage to get, with a camera timer no less, a decent one with Jason's family on Thanksgiving. Oh, and what does Braden remember from our yummy thanksgiving lunch? That he got to eat ramen noodles for dinner that evening.

There Are No Words...

I happened to catch the girl "accessorizing." Oh, what a diva! Love the new way to wear the shades!

A Girl and Her Pearls

She may not be able to wear big bows yet, but she can put on the jewelry! Allison LOVES to wear bracelets and necklaces- as many as she can find- the girl can never have too many! Usually she puts them all on one arm, so bracelets can easily go from her wrist to her elbow- she is all about the accessories!

She is showing that she can be very diverse in her interests. If Braden is playing cars or trucks or tools, she wants to be right in the middle, which causes screaming, fighting and usually tears. If he is not around, she is happy playing with jewelry or dolls. Seriously, girl!

Also, notice Allison is now walking! Took a while, but she is finally getting the hang of it, and now prefers to walk over crawl. About time, kiddo! Everyone says I will be sorry, but I don't think so- I am tired of watching her get caught crawling in dresses!

Sorry for the red eye- working off Jason's old laptop (for only about 6 more weeks!), but I don't know how to edit on this computer.

Preschool Take 1

Okay, really it is Mother's Day Out for right now, but Braden doesn't know the difference! Braden started today and was so excited! He had trouble falling asleep and then he got up earlier than normal. He was ready! He will be going here for a couple of months, and then when we move, he will go to a new Preschool that has a spot already reserved for him.

I dropped him off just over an hour ago and I already miss him! Funny how kids can totally drive you crazy, but the minute you are away from them, you miss them!

New House

I have had lots of people ask how the house is coming along, so here are a couple of pics so you can see. Coming right along, but still a ways to go. We are super ready for it to be done so we can move in and actually get settled!

Wordless Wednesday

Don't try this at Home!

Speaking from personal experience:
It is not a good idea to drop a full glass jar of orange baby food (mixed vegetables) on a tile floor.

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Allison!

She has no clue what a big day today is!!! This time last year my sweet little girl was just a few hours old- what a difference a year makes! Now this baby is all over the place!
Allison didn't really crawl on hands and knees till almost 11 months- she was content to watch her seriously hyper brother.
Allison hasn't quite figured out baby dolls yet, although she does have some super cute ones (thanks mom and dad), but she totally knows how to make a truck go and talk on a phone.
Allison is very attached right now to a play stethoscope and 2 plastic shovels- Always wears the stethoscope (makes Braden very mad) and always carries the 2 shovels.
Still loves her taggie blanket, especially at night. Never took a paci
Still gets 3-4 bottles a day. Eats almost everything, but still very much eats fruits and veggies baby food- mostly my doing b/c I know she is getting some good stuff that way.
Can stand alone for quite a few seconds, but hasn't taken first steps yet.
Don't know how much she weighs (we go for her 1 year appt. tomorrow) but she has to outweigh her brother judging on how MUCH she eats and how LITTLE he eats.
Kinda going through a Mommy phase right now, but smiles and waves to everyone.
Still almost bald, but has just enough hair to get a TINY bow in (only a specific kind) but if she finds out it is up there, she rips it out.
Has a love/not so much love, relationship with Braden- they play happily together till he wacks her or takes something from her, then she screams (literally), he screams (literally) and the fun is over.
RARELY cries- can't really remember the last time she let a good cry out
Love her to pieces! Sweet, happy baby and her first year has gone by too fast!

The first couple of pictures are of her and her birthday cake. We had a small family party (just my parents and Jason's parents and siblings). We let the kiddos swim and we grilled out and had cake and presents. Allison puts EVERYTHING in her mouth- except cake apparently! Once I finally put a piece in her mouth, she was all about it, but I had to get her started.
The last picture is at our old house when her room was packed. We are now officially no longer in Illinois and we miss our friends so much! We are still in transit, renting till we find the right house.

Fun in the Tunnel

Here we go!

Yes, it has been a while since I have posted. Seriously, does anyone read this anyway?
For the few of you that do read this, you probably already know all this but, here it goes.
We put our house on the market exactly 3 weeks ago on Monday. Monday we signed the contract to sell it.
We are very thankful, since we didn't have an option to sell it, seeing as Jason's new job is in Little Rock, but it is going to be very hard to leave our life here. We have so many good friends here and have started and completed our family here- kid wise I mean.
We close June 5, just a little over 3 weeks away, so it is going to be totally crazy around here!
Hopefully I will get back to post picts soon! Allison never mastered crawling any way except on her belly, but she has almost given it up for cruising and oh yes, she is standing alone for a few seconds. Dad said he thinks she will be walking by June 1 and I totally disagreed, but now I am not so sure...
Braden is just Braden. Probably shouldn't admit this, but addition to his obsession with tools and yard equipment he has now decided he likes to play "Sports Clips" as he calls it and "cut" and "blow dry" hair. I got tired of having my hair yanked on so I gave him an old doll (yes, Jason would kill me for this.) I went in the other room and came back and he was telling the doll he was giving her a hair cut - with a toy chain saw! He is still totally boy!

Thought this picture was cute and it didn't make it in the last post. Can anyone tell me how to get blogger to take more pictures in one post? Mimi (Mom) thanks for all your hard work while you were here!

Easter

Easter post is a little late, but we have had a lot going on around here! We had a fun Easter weekend! Mimi was able to come up to visit, but Papa had to stay and work since April 15 was right around the corner.

Saturday we went to an Easter Egg hunt in a park that was great- tons of eggs to hunt. Braden grabbed a few and then wanted to just play on the playground. Oh well, we at least we went! We also colored Easter eggs, but Braden got a little crazy and had more fun splashing the eggs in the color- needless to say, most of the eggs ended up cracked.

We are about to have some major changes around here so keep us in your prayers. Jason has taken a new job in Little Rock, AR and the kids and I will be here until the house sells. We are glad he has a job, but it will be very sad to pack up our life here and leave our friends. It will also be hard to have our family separated until things are finalized here. It will be nice to be closer to both our families though!

3 Year, 9 Month and a Family Picture

The Lean Mean Mowin' Machines

Jason has a t-shirt that says "The Lean Mean Mowin' Machine" that my parents had picked up for him somewhere. This describes him perfectly b/c he is TOTALLY anal about our yard! Now look who is following (literally) in his footsteps!

Braden has decided that the lawnmower is too loud so he wears "earmuffs," as he calls them.

They actually mowed the lawn last Thursday before the 2+ inch snow on Sunday- go figure- That's Illinois weather for ya!

Allison's Crazy Faces

Allison has this crazy face that she makes where she squinches up her eyes very tight - sometimes if she is objecting to something and sometimes I think just to be silly! Excuse the sweet potatoes all over her face- she doesn't like the "orange" vegetables so it is all I can do to get it in her mouth without her swatting the spoon away. Some of you may know that Braden recently had to have his tongue clipped b/c he was tongue tied. I feel pretty safe in saying that this baby won't have to have that surgery- she can lick the bottom of her chin if she tries! And no, she doesn't have more than 2 teeth- the first picture looks like she has some in the back, but just two teeth- AND STILL NO HAIR!