California!

...a much needed trip to California!  We have needed to go to California to visit our good friends and the godmothers to our children--Steph and Brandy--for a while, so it was great to finally make it out.  We spent

It was probably much too cold to be in the water, but when you have a child who asks about the beach almost daily you make sacrifices.

I am pretty sure she will go to school in California some day.  She loves the beach too much to be land-locked forever.

Jude wasn't too sure about the ocean.  He also was skeptical of how the sand felt on his feet.

I think he finally got the hang of the sand by this point.  Here he is looking dapper out in front of Hotel Del just down the street from his godmother's house.

Point Loma was beautiful.  We all really enjoyed the hike up to the lighthouse.  It was so pretty.  My parents really loved it too.

Me, Mom, and Jude looking at the sea.  (I also think we were discussing if we wanted to risk using the sketchy state park bathroom just down the hill)

There are so many things to post about this trip, but this is a start.  I'm so thankful to be able to travel with my little family and my parents.  It's so cool to share the joy of our kids with them.  I'm pretty sure they are some of the best grandparents anyone could ask for.

We Are Going to Disneyland!!!!!

(OLD BLOG--COULDN'T GET IT TO POST UNTIL NOW)

...Kate loving to add "wah, wah" after jokes or when something doesn't go as planned. Well, tonight we had a "wah, wah." We have been planning a trip with my parents to California for months. Not only are we going to Disneyland, but the kids' godmothers, Brandy and Steph, are also going to meet us there. I've been amazed at my ability to keep this a secret. If you know me, you know that keeping secrets about surprises is next to impossible. Well, I proved everyone wrong. I have not told Kate about our trip to Cali for 4 months. So, on the the "wah, wah" part. When I picked Kate up from school today she was visibly ill. The teacher said she coughed non-stop all day and shortly before pick-up had began to cry. She was weak and seemed to be having trouble breathing. When we got to the car she started coughing so hard she was throwing up. I decided she might be having an asthma attack to I called Michael. We could not get in touch with our pediatrician so we decided to take her to the ER where we learned she had a high fever which was causing the breathing issues. Now to understand why this was so frustrating you must know that Jude has also been very ill, but had finally took a turn for the better today. A doctor at an un-named pediatric urgent care gave him the wrong dosage of steroids which caused him to have a dangerously low body temperature on Sunday evening (2 a.m. to be exact). We finally had him on the mend, until next Friday when he finally is having his adenoids out and tubes put in, and now Kate is sick. Don't these kids know we are supposed to leave for California in 1 day? Oh wait...they don't. We decided it would make Kate feel better if we told her. Well, she is excited, but it wasn't the "bouncing off the walls" reaction for which we had hoped. Nevertheless, she is excited on the inside.

Wow, has it been a month???!!!

...[insert lame excuse for not blogging in a month here].  Our little family has been keeping busy just keeping up with each other.

Jude and Kate both love to go fishing, which is great with us!  Jude asks to go everyday, and as a good Dad, I try to take him as often as possible. He is such a funny little guy--you should really see him dance.

Kate has always loved pumpkins.  She was so excited that it was finally fall so we could start going to pumpkin patches.

She is really the sweetest little girl ever.  She is so good with her brother, and her laugh and good humor make my heart smile everyday.  She is also the most random kid ever, because she never forgets anything.  Sometime you should just sit down and have a conversation with her; she is truly fascinating to talk to.

Fish?  Fishing?  Pole?  Pease?  Pease, fish?  Go fish?  Come.  Fish Daddy?

Like his sister, mother, and daddy Jude has mastered the Guns Up and loves to hear the Texas Tech fight song.  We watched the Tech vs. OU football game; unfortunately, it was not a good outcome.

As you can see Jude had already eaten a little when he remembered to pray.  Actually, he prays between almost every bite.

When did she grow up???  Such a pretty little girl, and I have a feeling we are going to be seeing these looks for a while.  Sometimes those looks look like her mommy (see above), and sometimes she looks like her daddy (see below).  I think she manages to look like both of us, plus both of our moms.

See you soon!

Long and Lean

...Jude turning 15 months old. I took him to his 15 month appointment and they confirmed that he is, in fact, tall. He's in the 80-something percentile in length. However, because he only drinks almond milk, he is in the 20th percentile in weight. He is healthy for sure, but the doc said we need to pack on some pounds. He actually lost 2 pounds from his 1 year appointment. Jude really is the funniest kid ever. he is just so silly and physical with his humor. I hope everyone is able to get some Jude-time in because you will not be sorry.

So Much Fun We Can't Keep Up!

We have been so busy having fun lately that we just haven't had time to blog.  We can't say enough how glad we are to live closer to home, and because of that we are able to do more fun things.  Recently we took the kids to the Sam Noble Museum and the Tulsa Zoo.  Both trips were wonderful.  Kate loves dinosaurs and Jude loves fish so we were pretty great both places.

Look at this little girl.  I just can't get enough of her.  She is so great, sweet, and smart.  I'm so lucky to be her mommy.

Kate was teaching Jude where babies come from.  Just so you know, Kate adores her baby brother.  Sometimes it's hard to tell because if he touches her when it's not on her terms she flips, but if anyone else touches him...look out.  Just today he got a little cut on his foot.  I was trying to comfort him and she thought I was hurting him.  I thought she was going to climb over the table and tackle me.  We also can't take her to is doctors appointments anymore because she tries to keep the nurses from touching him.  

Jude ran around everywhere saying "feesh!"  It was hard to keep up with him.

That's one happy family.  We are so blessed to have each other and to have these 2 kiddos.  

15 years and going strong!  (and grey)

Yes, Kate wore the sunglasses the whole day.  She's that fabulous.

I love his face here!  Of course he's looking at a sea lion that he thinks is a big fish.

Will Jude Stay At School?

 ...the suspense of wondering if Jude would actually be able to be away from Mommy long enough to stay at his new school. I also wondered if I would be able to be away from my babies that much. Kate will go 3 days a week and Jude will go 2. Kate has always been so independent, but Jude loves his Mommy. He also has not been kept by anyone other than his Ginny since we moved to Oklahoma. Of course we knew Kate would love her new school. We only felt bad for her since it was her 3rd school in a year (due to the move and stuff). We were not too worried though, since the kids are going to preschool at our church. It's wonderful. I can't say enough great things about it. I feel as at ease as I did when they were at the CDRC at Tech and that's saying something. I know they love our kids and are so openly affectionate with them and genuinely happy to see them. Jude has quite the cheering section at church since he has the reputation as the the little guy who cries during church. They all know there's a funny guy in there, but he just misses his Mommy too much to show it. They were all delighted to see him do very well the first week of school with minimal crying. I'm so thankful.

Hey, I know you!

Jude is not so sure about this. He seems to have bounded with his teachers after the first week.

Kate meeting one of her teachers and getting used to the new classroom. She likes being one of the big kids that go to class upstairs.

So pumped for her first day of school.

Should I go in or take off running back to the car???

Look Mommy, I made it all the over here...by myself! I think I can stay here.

Our 4 year old

...Gulp! We have a 4 year old?! We must have blinked. Our little girl is such a blessing to us, and getting the chance to be her parents is more wonderful than we could have ever imagined. She is a sweet, insightful, smart, funny, random, and vibrant little girl who was practically dipped in pink and covered in glitter. It is amazing to watch her grow up and learn new things every day. We had a party to have a "celebration of the day I was born," which is what she called it all day. This was her first party in Oklahoma, so we had a family/friend birthday to celebrate the day of her birth.

Of course Uncle Bennie and Aunt Jamie brought Ian to the party. They wouldn't miss it. Our sweet neighbors also came. Kate loves Jessica, Kesley, Kylie, and Ryker.

Aunt Jamie always knows just what to do to be crafty.

Kesley was focused on decorating her treat bag for the pinata

Jessica was taking it all in watching the big kids

Aunt Tami and GG Debbie came to the party. How cool is it that we live close enough for them to be able to come?