Fun at the Zoo

As soon as I saw that it was supposed to be in the 60's today (instead of the 30's, like its been so much here) I knew I wanted to take my girls to the zoo! We were supposed to have a crafting morning with a few friends from our church community group but it quickly turned into a zoo trip. Here are a few pictures:



Abigail and her sweet friend, Anna Kate.


Excited about the ducks!





Abigail walking with Mommy


Sam and her sweet, adorable little boy, Finn.


Pictures with the elephant. Abigail wasn't super thrilled. Haha...


Sam and Finn



Jenny and Anna Kate


Aunt Jenny walking with the girls to see the lions.


They were resting under a rock but looked at us!


Looking for the sea lions.


Aunty Jenny carting the girls off! Haha...





Abigail and Anna Kate held hands part of the walk back. SO precious to watch! They are such little buddies!

Excited for more spring days to come!

Family Update

Wow! It's crazy to realize that it has been about two months since I last posted! Life is just moving right along as we stay busy with our little girls. Since it's been a while since I updated, I thought I'd tell you a bunch of fun, random stuff from our family.

• Kaitlin is 8 months old (almost 9 months!)

She is starting to get mobile. She just started trying to crawl this week and is doing really well! She's not fully crawling a ton yet, but is so very close. It's exciting to see her begin to become more interactive in her play, finally realizing that she can get into things. It made me realize that we need to do some more baby proofing around here! Not only has she realized her desire to move, but she has fallen in love with food. She has pretty much not liked baby food at all, except for a few things, but she's always loved real food. Now, she's eating almost everything we are! Meat, veggies, some fruits, cheese, bread, etc... She loves to eat!

Last night, she finally slept through the night for the first time in her life! I tanked her up for a late night feeding at 10:40, right as we were going to bed, and I didn't hear a peep out of her until a little after 7am!!! For those of you who know we've been struggling A LOT with her sleeping habits, you'll rejoice with us! Ever since we went out of town in October and again in December, she has woken anywhere from every hour to every three hours, basically every single night. (She'd never slept longer than 5-6 hours at once anyways and that was only a handful of times.) I have been so exhausted and worn down from over 8 months of little sleep. Lord willing, this is a start to much better nights of sleep! We are so very grateful!

• Abigail is talking up a storm now!

As soon as she hit 25 months, it's like she decided to come alive talking. I think being in Texas at Christmas and around her little cousins, family members, and little friends did a lot to help her communicate more! We can understand most of what she says now. She has such a little imagination and will have us cracking up with laughter as we listen to her. She can be pretty intense and serious at times as she talks, crossing her arms, and furrowing her brow. She is such a big sister to Kaitlin too, looking out for her, keeping things out of her hands that she thinks she shouldn't be holding. Haha... She loves to instruct her sister (a.k.a. She's a little bossy! haha) and we have to remind her that Mommy and Daddy are the ones who are allowed to get onto Kaitlin, not her.

Some of our sweet friends passed along their trundle bed for our girls so Abigail now has her own big girl bed. It took her a couple nights to adjust to it, but now she sleeps great in it! I still need to get her some cute girly bedding but for now she's using my old red quilt with some cute new polka dot sheets. I haven't decided if I'm going to make her comforter and pillows or buy them. We'll see how inspired I get as I look through Pinterest. :-)

• It's been so cold here in Kentucky!

We've been spending most of our days inside since the beginning of the year. It's just too cold to get these little girls out. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 67 though so we are planning an exciting trip to the zoo. Can't wait! One of the best parts about living on a school campus is the indoor rec center that has a kids play room. We enjoy taking the girls up there and letting Abigail play with their little kitchen set. They also have an indoor kiddie pool that is perfect for them to play in!

• We moved!

The day we returned from our drive home from Texas, we literally stopped by housing when we reached campus, picked up our new keys, and unloaded our car into our new apt (with Abigail being sick with the flu and 103 fever... thankfully friends graciously helped Kyle move our old apt over). We had previously been living in a second floor apartment (which does not have washer/dryer hookups). However, with two children, lots of steps and no washer/dryer, this was pretty much creating a vary difficult living situation for us. We have never had a washer/dryer since we got married and have done just fine working around taking laundry to on-site facilities. However, after Kaitlin was born, it just became too difficult for me to carry two kids and laundry back and forth. The Lord was so wonderfully gracious and housing was able to find us a first floor unit. We LOVE IT!!! It's the same size but we love being ground level and I feel like a new woman now that I can throw laundry in any time I need to! Praise the Lord for the simple things in life! :-)

Well this is just a small bit about life right now. Hopefully I can post more soon. For now, both girls are awake and calling for attention. Hope you are all doing well!

Fun Facts About Abigail at 2 Years Old!

I thought you would all enjoy knowing some fun little facts about Abigail plus it's a great way to record what she likes at this age. It's still hard to believe that we have a 2 year old! Wow!

For starters, she is incredibly hard to take pictures of. About 98% of the time she will not smile for photos and if you happen to catch one on camera, you feel like you've made a HUGE accomplishment! However, she is beginning to say "cheese" to the camera now (although usually looking away from it), so we're making progress! :-) Today, I tried to take some fun 2 year old pictures of her but this is what I got:


Even though it's hard to catch her smiles on camera, her little personality is so full of spunk and fun! She lives life to the fullest and while shy around others until she warms up, she loves being around other kids, especially bigger kids, whom she loves to watch and play like them!


Here are some fun facts. I'm having to guess on some of these since she can't tell me all of them but it's close! ;-)

1. What is her favorite color? Possibly Pink (although she recognizes the color purple)
2. What is her favorite toy? Her baby and new stroller
3. What is her favorite fruit? Grapes
4. What is her favorite TV show? Minnie Mouse and DOC McStuffins
5. What is her favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut butter and jelly
6. What is her favorite article of clothing/ outfit? SHOES!!! She loves shoes! She can put many of them on by herself now too.
7. What is her favorite game? Playing with her dolls
8. What is her favorite snack? Raisins and Freeze Dried Apple slices
9. What is her favorite animal? "Oofff... Ooos" (Dogs)
10. What is her favorite song? "Jesus Loves Me" and "Row, Row, Row"
11. What is her favorite book? "The Story of Jesus" She likes to point out all the doggies and kitties.
12. Who is her best friend? She absolutely loves to play with her buddy, Silas, and talks about him when away from him. It's just too adorable! They get along really well when they play together too!
13. What is her favorite cereal? There is a natural cocoa rice cereal that we've let her have before and she loves it! It's a special treat.
14. What is her favorite thing to do outside? Play at the park and slide
15. What is her favorite drink? She mainly drinks water but she does like apple juice and homemade hot cocoa!
16. What is her favorite holiday? Not sure yet... Probably Christmas! :-)
17. What does she like to take to bed with her at night? Baby, Pooh, and "Ooff-Ooo"
18. What is her favorite thing to eat for breakfast? "Cer-ral" (Cereal)
19. What did she have for her birthday dinner? Chuy's Bean Burrito and creamy jalapeno dip with chips!
20. What does she want to be when she grows up? When I asked her this, she said: "DOC" (from DOC McStuffins) Haha...

Kaitlin is 6 Months Old!

So, this post is a little late but I wanted to document this little sweetheart!


Kaitlin is such a little sweety! She brings so much joy to our family!


She is doing well sitting up although she can't do it for super long periods yet!


She is not a big fan of baby foods still but give her some ham or mashed potatoes and she's in heaven!! On Thanksgiving her little eyes got as big as saucers when she tasted ham for the first time!


Kaitlin is also pushing up onto her arms when on her belly. She rolls back and forth and can move around her crib or the floor, changing directions.


She is definitely teething and has cut her first tooth!!! The bottom right. :-) Daddy found it the day of Abigail's 2nd Birthday Party. Nov. 17th!


Abigail and Kaitlin are still best friends! Now that Kaitlin can sit up its fun to see them interact more!





We are so thankful for every day with our sweet baby girl!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Abigail Grace!!

Today our sweet little girl is turning two years old! It is hard to believe that she is already this old! My, how time flies!!

After church we took her to Chuy's were she enjoyed a bean burrito with chips dipped in their amazing creamy jalapeño sauce! Yes, even she likes it! Mmm... They brought her delectable sophapias (sp?) and honey for her birthday dessert. She literally drank the honey from the bowl. Haha... Oh my!!

I'll be posting pictures from her little birthday party soon and some fun facts about her! Stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This year we were not able to spend Thanksgiving with our families but we enjoyed a quiet morning together with our little family. I wanted to make a special and fun breakfast for us, so I whipped up a batch of pumpkin cream cheese streusel muffins and homemade hot cocoa with marshmallows. Abigail and Kyle were quite the fans of both!!




Kyle loves homemade cocoa and for the last few years I've always had to make a dairy free option for me. However, this year I enjoyed a cup right along with them! (Notice Abigail even got a real mug to drink hers out of!)




The pumpkin muffins I made were a recipe from a cookbook by the ladies at my old church in Texas. The recipe is by a fabulous cook (who made our wedding cakes), Diann Dunn.







Abigail loved the muffins, minus the cream cheese. Haha



Kaitlin got to try some apple/blueberry sauce for breakfast but wasn't a huge fan of the taste. Haha...




I just love her nose!!




At lunch time she got to try a tiny bit of ham and mashed potatoes and she LOVED THEM!! Especially the ham! As soon as she tasted it her eyes lit up and she gobbled it up! She has since continued her love for ham. She definitely WAY prefers table food to baby food! Haha...




Abigail finding a marshmallow!




Hmm... Mmmmmm...




She became a quick fan! :-)
For lunch we enjoyed the afternoon at some dear friends' home where they welcomed us in like family! I meant to take pictures but didn't. Their kids and our kids enjoyed playing together though!
For dinner, Southern Seminary hosted a big meal for any students who didn't have family in town, so we enjoyed participating in that!
What a blessed day we had! So thankful for where the Lord has us and the wonderful family and friends He has given us!
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Tis' the Season!

Tonight we set up our Christmas tree. The girls LOVE it! Here are a few pictures:




Growing up we always drank Egg Nog while setting up our Christmas decorations. We have continued this tradition in our little family. Even Abigail enjoyed some tonight!




Daddy and Kaitlin




(Sorry the pictures are a little dark!)




Kaitlin loved the tree especially!




Play time with Daddy!




It's the best!




"Helping" Mommy fluff the branches.




I sure do love this little girl!! It's so fun that she can actually take part this year!




Of course, we all wore snuggly clothes to set up the tree... and listened to Christmas music!




Abigail thought the lights were so cool and kept asking us to turn the living room lights off! Haha








Abigail saying "wow!!"




Kaitlin's turn! :-)








We ended our evening allowing the girls to stay up late and watch a new princess movie on TV. :-) Abigail enjoyed it and actually sat through the movie and watched it. Of course, we snuggled underneath our Christmas snowflake blanket!

Can't wait to capture more fun family times as Christmas draws near!