Murrells ~ Peter, Melissa, Joshua & Gabriel

We are still here!

2011-11-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

I have been out of the blog world for almost a year! I was checking a friend's blog tonight and noticed that she had a link to my blog, and I realized that I have not posted in a long time. If you are reading this right now, you did not give up on me (or you have blogroll and it automatically sent you an email).

Here are a few pics from this school year. We have been incredibly blessed with the opportunity for our boys to attend Children's Discovery Center at First Baptist Irving. It is a Montessori school with a 33 year track record in Irving. This is its first year to be located at First Irving, and I am so grateful. Both of my boys, preschooler and kindergartener are less than a football field from me all day long. I can sneak a peek of them throughout the day or help in their classroom during my lunch. It has made having a Kindergartener so much easier this year. Not only that, but the boys LOVE going to school. They are sad when it is an "S" day (Saturday or Sunday) because they don't get to go to school. That is a good problem to have!

Gabe got to take his class bear, Ranger bear, home for the weekend. Peter set up the tent in our backyard for them to camp out...it lasted a few hours until a storm rolled in.

On the weekend that Josh got to bring his class bear, Puffy, home, his school had a Fun Run. Puffy made it to the starting line and then had to take a seat so Josh could run the race. Josh did a great job and finished his mile in 8 min 42 seconds. He came in first for all of the preschool and kindergarteners in his school. We were so proud of his hard work of training and finishing the race!

The boys enjoyed a day at the Pumpkin Patch with their CDC friends!

The boys dressed up for CDC's Fall Festival...my superheroes were actually in the mood to pose!

Glory to God in the Highest

2010-12-24T22:52:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! We pray that this Christmas is a wonderful time of reflecting on the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us when He wrapped himself in flesh and took on the form of a man... "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

It has been so nice s pending extra time with our family this week. On Thursday afternoon we tackled making cinnamon rolls from scratch. It is quite a long process, but Pioneer Woman's cookbook walked us through it! It was great how much the boys wanted to help. We were baking them for Christmas morning breakfast, but of course we have had a few already!

Tonight after Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Euless, we came home and let the boys open one present...pajamas and slippers. Here they are w ith their new loot!

Visit with Santa

2010-12-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Grapevine (Christmas Capital of Texas, or so they claim) on Saturday. Peter's mom was in town, so we did a little shopping and enjoyed the decorations on Main Street. We walked in one store and Santa Claus was sitting there! Joshua was very excited to see him...let's just say that Gabe was not so excited. Santa asked Josh what his name is, how old he is, and what he wants for Christmas. My shy son, who does not usually give strangers the time of day, answered all of those questions confidently!

"I am four years old."

"Hmmm. I would like a pogo stick...a sleigh like yours...and a Christmas tree in my room." Santa gave Joshua a sleigh bell on a ribbon, and told him he can hang it on his Christmas tree in his room when he gets it.

And a final picture with Santa. We did not get any pictures with Gabe and Santa...he did not even want to go in the store!

Gabe-isms

2010-11-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

It is obviously time for a new post...my how this last year has flown by! I'm not going to try to recap 2010 on the blog, but I did want to post a few things about what the boys have been up to as we are getting ready for Christmas. This post is titled "Gabe-isms" because Gabe seems to have a way with words lately!

Since August, the boys began asking to play with a plush nativity scene and all of the people are finger puppets. They really enjoyed it last Christmas, but it has since been put in a box somewhere in the attic. They have continued asking for it several times a week, in which we respond, after Thanksgiving when we get our decorations down from the attic. The cute part is that Gabe asks for "the activity scene when baby Jesus was boring." Josh is probably the one who taught him "activity scene" but he is now able to say "nativity scene." We are hoping that Gabe learns this year that the nativity was anything but boring!

On Wednesday night we got all of the Christmas boxes down from the attic and Peter & I were so excited for the boys to find the nativity scene. I mean, with all of the anticipation built up since August, they should be ecstatic to finally have it in their hands! Here is a pic of them following Peter up into the attic.

And the moment we've all been waiting for...

See the nativity scene in the top left corner of the box? Yes, that is Joshua reaching for something else in that same box. They did not care at all that they were finally getting to see and play with the nativity scene! (Note: they have since played with it)

2nd Gabe-ism: When talking about the Christmas story last week, we were prodding the boys to tell us the parts of the story that they remember. We asked, "Who were Jesus' parents?" to which Gabe replied "Mary and Jo-fish"...followed by lots of giggles from Joshua and all the adults in the room.

3rd Gabe-ism: We were unwrapping ornaments to put on the tree and Gabe pulled out this ornament...Gabe said, "Dad, can you fix my 'cracker nut' please?"

And a few things about Josh...He has become quite meticulous in some things, like hanging ornaments. He loved it this year! Notice the high concentration of ornaments in that one area.

I walked in the kitchen to find Joshua had neatly organized all of the magnets on the refrigerator by color! Love it!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Gabriel!

2010-01-18T05:08:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday, to my sweet, baby boy! We can't believe you are already 2 years old. It seems like yesterday we were checking into the hospital at this time to wait for the c-section. You have always had a fun personality that attracts the stares and laughter of those around you. That has been multiplied in the last several months as you have learned that you can make silly faces or that you can dance a jig in the living room, and people laugh at you. Whatever you do, you are having fun!

Recently you have decided that sleeping in your crib is not so much fun and you prefer to sleep in bed with your big brother. It is very sweet that you love him so much and want to be with him at all hours of the day and night!

You are a smart boy and you love to talk! You repeat as much as you can from what you hear around you. You can count to five, know your colors (most of the time), and are very good at matching games. It is so fun to see each development you make!

You are a joy to our family, and we cannot imagine our family without you! Thank you for being our sweet, cuddly boy!

Love,

Daddy and Mommy

Note from Joe's Parents

2009-11-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. " 2 Corinthians 4:18

Continue to keep updated on the search for Joe at http://www.findjoehouston.blogspot.com/. Joe's parents are such a shining light in the darkness, as they are clearly putting their trust and hope in the Lord during this incredibly difficult time. On Tuesday, Joe's parents wrote this letter for the blog and I wanted to post it here as well:

Personal letter from Joe's parents, John and Glyndell Houston
Hi, I'm Joe's mom, and I speak for his dad as well. We wanted to share with you that our son, Joe, is not eternally lost, just physically lost. He gave His life to Jesus Christ and is living eternally with Him whether physically still on this earth or not. He is safe, secure, loved and kept by the hand of God Himself. It is our wish that anyone reading this blog or connected with this journey in any way have that same assurance from Christ that when you die you will be absent from your body, but eternally present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8If you cannot say this about your life and you haven't given your heart to Jesus Christ, please call one of us and talk to us. We will be overjoyed to discuss this with you. Contact Amy on this blog and she will help us get in contact with you. Jesus is pursuing His lost child even more than we are pursuing our lost child. Please take time to consider this for yourself. Read 2 Corinthians 4.

Love and prayers,
Glyndell & John Houston

Lt. John Joseph Houston

2009-11-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

Today is the 10th day in the search for our friend, Joe Houston, a Navy pilot. He and his co-pilot, Bret Miller, were on a training mission off the coast of Corpus Christi last Wednesday. Bret's body was found last Friday in the water, and a memorial service was held for him yesterday. Pray in faith today, knowing that God can perform a miracle and reveal Joe alive today. There have been many pockets of fresh water and wildlife found on San Jose Island, where they believe he may be. The civilian searchers will be covering the last 7 square miles of island today, and particularly an area where they believe he may be. Follow this link to the search blog, http://www.findjoehouston.blogspot.com/ where you can stay updated with search information and prayer needs.

Please be in prayer for Joey's parents, brother, son, and Jenn Todoroff, Joe's fiance. It has been an incredibly hard week and a half, but the Lord has sustained them. I have been amazed at the grace He has given them, and they are giving Him all the glory. It is a beautiful story of how God gives us grace in our weakness, and strength when we are in the midst of trials.

Fall-A-Palooza

2009-11-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

Josh and Gabe were scuba divers for our church's Fall-A-Palooza. These two pictures were taken during one of the five minutes Joshua wore the full costume. As soon as we walked inside, he saw a large inflatable obstacle course, and took everything off except his shirt and pants. Poor Gabe was not in the mood to be dressed up and fought every attempt at putting his oxygen tank, goggles and flippers on. It was fun to see how into the games they were this year. Even Gabe went "fishing", played bean bag toss, and ring toss. It was a very fun night!

Potty Training - Check!

2009-10-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

I have been pretty relaxed regarding Joshua's potty training, but secretly wondering if he would ever be out of diapers! Joshua finally decided that he was ready for underwear a few weeks ago. He has gone through phases over the last 8 months or so where he was interested in going potty and wearing underwear, but this time it is for real. He is very proud about wearing underwear. The other day, he saw his friend Tobias, and immediately told him that he was in big boy Wall E underwear. At KDO, he walked in his classroom, told his teacher that he was wearing Incredibles underwear and asked if she wanted to see. The funny thing is that as soon as Joshua made this switch, Gabe began asking to go potty. He has gone everyday at least once for the last five days. I haven't changed a poopy diaper in three days and I am seeing the light at the end of the diaper tunnel! Maybe little brother won't take so long to potty train!

Underwear & Tents

2009-09-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

The title of this post originates from about 15 years ago in the home of the Blume Family. Becky, a good friend of mine and Peter, has four younger brothers. Her brothers invited Peter, on several occassions during high school to join in on "Underwear and Tents" nights with the boys. I don't really know what went on, but I imagine that it looked like our house last night (replace diapers for underwear). We set up a tent in our living room, which pretty much took up the entire room. The boys loved setting it up and playing in it. They were having so much fun and couldn't settle down that Gabe had to go to his crib and Josh fell asleep watching a movie.

We are looking foward to many more Underwear & Tents nights in the Murrell house!

Summer Update

2009-08-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

What has happened that this blog title is "Summer Update"?! I guess a girl needs to update her blog at least once every two to three months or so. This post may be way too long with pictures, but there are so many cute ones to share!

Here are a few pictures promised from the last post. These are from Gabe's stay in the hospital. When I was taking the pictures, I told him that I had to document his first and ONLY trip to the ER/hospital. Somehow I have a feeling that there will be more trips in the future.

Here is Gabe in the ER...this tiny bottle of Pedialyte was the only thing that made him stop crying.

Gabe was actually feeling better in the picture, but it looks so sad that he had his hand with the IV in it and taped down to a splint. They had to do that because he managed to rip the IV out the first time.

And this was the exciting ride OUT of the hospital! Not bad to ride to the hospital in a red ambulance and out of the hospital in a cute red wagon.

Now on to happier moments in June. Father's Day was such a fun day. Sunday morning was packed with activities at church, but we had a nice lunch at our house with the Murrells. It was fun for Bill to have all of his kids in one place.

Peter and Joshua...

Peter and Gabe...

My dad's birthday is June 28th but we had a late celebration with him. We made him an Oreo pudding pie. As you can tell, the boys just couldn't wait to dig in!

A very fun part of our summer has been enjoying extra boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have been babysitting the Hendrix boys; Toby is almost two years older than Joshua, and Bear & Gabe are only 2 weeks apart in age. Here are some of our fun outings...

Toby and Joshua at our church's playground...

We enjoyed a mid-morning trip to a duck pond and park. By the time we left it was over 100 degrees and the car ride home smelled like sweaty boys! Bear was so sweet to share some of the stale bread with Gabe...

Toby and Joshua spotted a cute squirrel who also loved the bread!

Joshua showing off his new super big smile. I love it when he smiles so big it makes his eyes squint!

We also went to a cute sprinkler park...it was a short-lived outing because of an accident with Gabe. I have been wondering if I should even write about this because of some guilt I have felt over the situation...I am pretty sure every mom goes through this at some point when one of their children gets hurt. But, if this story helps another child avoid an injury, then it it worth telling! Gabe, Josh & Toby were running around the sprinkler park with no shoes on, and I didn't think anything of it because they were in water. Josh and Toby had run over to a nearby playground and sandbox, and Gabe followed behind. But Gabe happened to walk right over a metal grate that was on the ground in between the sprinkler area and the sand box. I guess as soon as he felt the hot sensation on his feet, he froze and began to scream. I immediately ran over there and realized what had happened. I felt the grate and it was burning hot, and this was at 10:15am. His feet formed blisters immediately and I took him to the doctor.

His feet healed even quicker than the doctor expected and has not had any permanent damage. Now, I am much more cautious about the environment we are in and check everything out before hand...I am constantly checking the temperature of the play equipment the boys are on and anything else around...and we wear shoes to sprinkler parks!

More updates to come!

Update from our world!

2009-06-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

I know, I know! I have wanted to blog many times in the last month, but there is always something that comes up. I am going to give you a quick update about what's been going on...each of these things should be a post in and of themselves. Sorry for no pictures (I got a new camera and haven't been able to figure out how to download them yet).

~One of the biggest changes for us is that we have stepped out of the role of being a CARES Team for Apartment Life and have moved to a house in Irving. It is bitter sweet to not serve in this capacity anymore, but we are excited to still be connected to Apartment Life. Peter is going to be the director for the 8 CARES teams that are members of our church. It is really amazing that there are so many teams from our church and we are excited to all partner together to impact the kingdom!
~We closed on our house the end of February and have been making changes/improvements to it ever since. Peter has been working like a dog on this project and has done an amazing job! When I get the pics off my camera, I will post some before and after pictures. We moved in the house the beginning of May and have been slowly getting settled in, amidst paint cans, ladders, and lots of tools! It is so nice to be just a few miles from our church and to live close to the students and families that we minister with.
~We celebrated Joshua's 3rd birthday on May 5th...how is it possible that he is already 3 years old?! He is at such a fun age, wanting to be so independent and explore everything. He and Gabriel are becoming friends and it is so special to watch that happen.
~Joshua performed in his first school program for Kid's Day Out. He was so precious singing four songs that they had learned throughout the year. I have video of that to post as well.
~Peter had surgery on his right hand due to tendinitis. He has been working so hard on the house and other projects with a hurting hand, so it has been nice to have some relief from that pain.
~Gabriel is bringing our latest news. He has had breathing difficulties for months now, having to be on breathing treatments when a cold sets in. It seems like he struggled with it often throughout the winter months this year. He hadn't had a breathing treatment in a month up until Monday night. He started having a runny nose and coughing, so we gave him two treatments. On Tuesday around lunch time his breathing became pretty rapid and shallow, so I took him into the dr, with Joshua in tow. They gave him two treatments in the office and they didn't make the difference they were hoping to see, so they told me that he was going to have to go to the hospital. Janelle came up to the dr. office and got Joshua. Peter had been in Decatur planning for an upcoming mission trip, so he was hurrying to meet us at the hospital. Gabe and I rode in the ambulance to Medical City in Dallas. We spent about seven hours in a room in the ER and then they determined that he was going to have to stay overnight. I thought he was doing much better, but he did have to have some oxygen throughout the night while he was sleeping to maintain the levels he is supposed to have. The nurse told me that he would have to be off oxygen for 24 hours before he could go home. That meant that we spent all day and night Wednesday at the hospital as well. Praise the Lord, he made it through the night last night without needing oxygen and we are just awaiting discharge papers! Please continue to pray for him and for us to have wisdom on what to do from here. Asthma does not run in our families, so we don't really have experience on how to deal with his symptoms or treatments.

So, as you can tell, it has been a busy couple of weeks, chaotic at times. The Lord has reminded me often that I need to rely on Him for strength. I have failed in that countless times and have learned some hard lessons. We are praising Him for this new day!

My God Is So Big!

2009-04-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like hearing those words from the mouth of my sweet boy! I started singing "My God is So Big" to Joshua last week and he chimed right in. Apparently he already knew it from singing it in Kid's Day Out or Sunday School.

80 Wonderful Years

2009-04-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Today is a great day...Easter AND my Grandpa's 80th birthday! Just wanted to send a shout out to my most faithful blog reader, Grandpa Ashdown. I love you and wish I was in California today to celebrate with you. Tell Grandma hi :) This picture was from last June...Grandpa and Grandma (Grandpama, for short) with their grandkids and great grandsons.

6ft Tall Rats

2009-03-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Six foot tall rats are not what I think of when I picture my Disney friends Mickey & Minnie. However, a friend told me about a comedian that says that must be the way children see them. Not all children have a horrified reaction when meeting Mickey and Minnie for the first time...but mine did!

My sweet friend, Molly, works for Radio Disney and she gave us, and Janelle & Ella, tickets to go see Disney on Ice last week. As if that wasn't great enough, she also gave us tickets to the special Radio Disney pre-show where a character from the show would make an appearance. There was a room full of kids and parents, waiting in anticipation to see which characters would come. Lucky for us, it was Mickey & Minnie! Janelle somehow got at the front of the line for our kids to take pictures. Apparently that wasn't enough time for Joshua & Gabe to get adjusted to the idea of seeing them up close, because they both burst out in tears. Joshua wouldn't go closer than 10 feet from them. All this momma wanted was a picture! As Ella and Maison took a cute, smiley picture, we headed back to our table. A few minutes after we sat down, Joshua told me that he wanted to take a picture with Mickey. We headed back over to see them again. Joshua began showing resistance again, so I decided to pick him up so he would feel more comfortable. As we got closer to Mickey & Minnie, Joshua literally climbed over my shoulder to get away and I had ahold of his knees. Janelle snapped a few pictures and I got what I wanted...just no smiles!

I love Mickey & Minnie's reaction to Joshua's exit strategy!

Maison & Ella's cute picture...

The show did not disappoint! It kept all of the kids' attention the entire time (except for Gabe's 40 minute nap). The Stitch (from Lilo & Stitch) snow cone also helped!

The car ride to the show...

After the show...

Thanks, Molly, for a fun night! They loved it!

Gabe's First March

2009-03-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

Gabriel has been toying with the idea of walking for several weeks now, taking a step one day, and then another one a week later. Sunday night was the first time that he took several steps together...right across our living room! He still does not seem very interested in using walking as his main mode of transportation, but at least he now knows that he can do it.

Our friend, Becky, was over at our apartment on Sunday night, and she was helping to entice Gabe to walk. Here is the video of the momentous occasion...

Happy 1st Birthday, Gabe!

2009-01-18T04:23:00.000-08:00

***Note: I started this post on Gabe's actual birthday, January 18th, but could not seem to finish it. I have come back to it a dozen times...so here it is, finally!

Happy birthday to my baby boy! I can't believe that Gabe is a year old today. Gabriel's birth was such a different experience than Joshua's, since we had a scheduled time to go into the hospital and get prepped for a c-section. I must admit that it was very convenient and nice to go in at 6am and have a baby in my arms at 8:33am!

He has brought so much joy to our lives this last year and it has been amazing to watch him grow from a newborn to a baby that crawls, babbles, and has a contagious smile and laugh! He is really the happiest baby...it does not take much prodding to get him to smile at you. If you haven't been around Gabe in a while, this is what he is up to:

-Speed demon while crawling

-Pulls up on anything that is around him and takes steps while holding on

-Loves to wave at anyone who waves at him first

-Claps along with others

-Babbles alot...says the sounds of the letters "G", "B", and "dada" and "mama". He says "B" for ball, balloons, and especially bottle!

-He loves his big brother and wants to be involved in everything Joshua is doing.

We had his birthday party in Houston the weekend of his birthday. It was fun to celebrate with all of our family. Here are a few pictures from the Baby Einstein celebration. (Note: We decided on the theme because Gabe has grown to love his Baby Einstein videos, Baby Noah in particular. This is the movie he watches EVERY time he gets a breathing treatment because it holds his attention.)

My mom and sister did a fabulous job on the cake. It was very special and super cute!

The table of cakes...

Gabe was not too sure about digging into the cake at first...

...but that changed pretty quickly. Joshua helped him with his cake by picking all the stars off the top!

Gabe received tons of cute gifts! Joshua was also interested in helping him open the presents.

Our families were so sweet to give Joshua "big brother" gifts.

Party guests were Uncle Phil & Great Aunt B:

Papa & Grannie:

Cousin Elizabeth & her fiance, Joe:

Great Uncle Numa:

Grandpa & Auntie Alicia:

Daddy & Mommy with our birthday boy!

Somehow we did not get pictures of Pop (Peter's dad) or Grandma (my mom)...but they were there celebrating with us! Thanks to our families for making it a special 1st birthday for Gabe!

Bumps, oh no!

2009-01-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I received a call from my sweet friend, Michelle, who watches my boys on Wednesdays. She said that she had just noticed a rash on Gabe with a few red bumps. She kept me posted throughout the afternoon about the spreading of the rash and that he was still happy, with no fever or difficulty breathing. Michelle brought the kids to church, and the consensus of people that looked at Gabe was that it was probably chicken pox. Immediately I started getting sad that he was going to have pox on his birthday (this Sunday).

When we woke up this morning, none of the bumps had white heads and had mostly turned into blotches. We went to the doctor around 11am this morning and the nurse determined that it was a reaction to an antibiotic he has been on for 9 days already. Bless, his heart! In the last 2 1/2 weeks we have been to the doctor three times for him...difficulty breathing and coughing (diagnosed with early signs of asthma), still not better (had double ear infection), and rash all over body (caused by antibiotic). He has gone through the ringer lately!!! He is such a good baby...the itching has not changed his happy demeanor at all. Well, here are the pictures that I took to document his first major rash!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-01-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Happy anniversary (and 30th birthday, yesterday) to my love! It has been 8 years since we said "I do" and we are more in love today than that warm January day in Houston. In looking back it seems like we were just kids, but what an adventure God has led us on together. Together we have matured, ministered, laughed, become parents, and enjoyed life. I love you and am so blessed to call you my husband!

Family Pics

2008-12-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

I have really been wanting to get family pictures taken for a while now, and our sweet friend, Amber agreed to take them...she did a really great job! I am just amazed at her talent and patience...taking pictures of two boys going in opposite directions most of the time. Thank you, Amber for some great pictures that we will enjoy for a long time! Here is our Christmas card...I was so excited to be able to use the pictures that she took.

These are some of my favorites, but with over 200 to choose from, it is hard to narrow them down...

...and finally, we hope you had a "Merry Christmas"!

Cuteness!

2008-12-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

I have too much to post that it is overwhelming, so here are just a few cute pics of Gabe from this week and a video of Joshua.

Gabe has mostly been eating baby food, but is starting to branch out into some solids...gnawing on bread, diced fruit, and his favorite below...Gerber's version of spaghetti-o's.

Here is the aftermath...

Josh is not to be outdown with the messy-ness! This was the damage done after Joshua devoured a piece of pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.

And an old picture of Gabe from his Kid's Day Out "Imagination Day". This was Oct. 31st, but his costume as a tandem parachuter didn't quite work out without his Daddy, so we improvised with this "costume" as a biker. Watch out, he is a tough dude!

I wish I would remember that I have to take videos from my camera going a certain direction...I did not remember this time, so you will have to crane your neck to see this. I took this video on Wednesday night at church. One of out good friends, Chantz, is always so sweet to play with our boys. He found the way to Joshua's heart by helping him swing in a creative way!

Fall-a-Palooza

2008-11-23T19:41:00.001-08:00

Each year on Oct. 31st, our church hosts Fall-a-Palooza. It has gotten increasingly exciting each year since Joshua was born. The first year he rode around in his stroller, last year he walked around not very excited about anything, and this year he actually participated in games and loved the bounce house! Gabe was a lot of fun too! All of the grandparents came up to enjoy the boys, so it was alot of fun. Peter and I also had our student ministry fall retreat that weekend, so they all watched and entertained the boys. I can't believe that I have not posted any of their cute pictures yet, so here they are.

Yes, he could be the next Tiger Woods!

Joshua was the cutest construction worker around! He even won 3rd place in the costume contest for the preschool category.

Joshua and I were construction workers, and Peter & Gabe were...

...tandem skydivers!

You can see their costume a little better in this picture...

Sam & Miles have arrived!

2008-11-04T09:45:00.001-08:00

My sweet friend, Kristin, had her twinadoes (as she calls them) on Sunday afternoon. We were able to visit her after she went into the recovery room, and then spent some time with her this morning. She will be posting pictures soon, so check her blog for all of the sweet pictures. Because they were born at 34 weeks, they will have to spend some time in the NICU. As you can imagine, no new mother wants to be separated from her babies, so this is very hard. Pray specifically that Kristin will have peace during this time, and that the babies will be able to maintain their body temperature and eat from a bottle consistently. Below are a few scriptures to pray over their family.

“Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” 1 John 3:22
Jesus, in Your Name we ask for quick healing for Sam and Miles, and believe that they will receive it. May your peace continually be with Todd and Kristin as they trust in You.

“…and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16
Lord, many believers are calling to you today, and we trust that you hear and answer those prayers on behalf of Todd, Kristin, Laney, Sam & Miles.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11
Lord, as much as Todd & Kristin want to protect their boys and give them good gifts, please show them that your gifts are even greater…pour them out on the Lewis Family today.

“Your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily (for Sam & Miles), and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.” Isaiah 58:8
Lord, we ask that you would bring a speedy healing for Sam & Miles so that they may go home soon. Thank you that your righteousness and glory surrounds them.

“But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2
Lord, we ask that you would arise today with healing in your wings…cover Sam and Miles with your protection and make them strong. Restore health to Kristin’s body as well so that she may be able to care for her precious family.

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psalm 127:3
Lord, thank you for the incredible blessing of Sam & Miles! We pray that they would continue in the godly heritage of Todd & Kristin.

Sweet Friends...a Heavy Heart

2008-10-27T14:36:00.001-07:00

This last week has been filled with hard news to take. Our family has spent a lot of time on our knees pleading before God on behalf of two precious families.

Our friends, Chuck & Kristi Walker received some incredibly hard news last week after the birth of their sweet son, Zane. After many days of tests, it was determined that Kristi has stage four cancer in many areas of her body. Amanda wrote about this on her blog in detail, so please click here to know how to pray specifically. They have three sweet boys: Cade, Mason & Zane. We love the Walker Family and are believing that God can perform a miracle to restore health to her body.

Today was a hard day as our church celebrated the homecoming of Ileeta Watson to her heavenly home. Ileeta was a full-time staff member at our church, so I have had the pleasure of serving with her and getting to know her well over the last year and a half. She was a genuine, selfless servant and has impacted so many lives. Even when she was sick, she always had a kind word to say and rarely even said anything about the pain she was in. I have learned so much from her during the time that we worked together and I have been blessed by her! I loved the stories that some of her closest friends shared at the funeral. Today has made me think about those I love and the friendships that I hold dear. I hope that we are even closer in 25 years and that all of our children love spending time together as well. They truly have a unique friendship.

Please pray today for her daughters, Candace & Natalee, her mom, Alma, and all of the other family members and friends that were so dear to her. It is hard to even think about a work day without Ileeta there.

Fall is in the Air

2008-10-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday while my mom was here, she took us to the Dallas Arboretum. I have only been there during the spring, so it was nice to see all of the fall colors and TONS of pumpkins. They had a big pumpkin patch, a pumpkin house, and all of the walkways were lined with pumpkins! It's no wonder Joshua kept pointing out the pumpkins while we were there.

Here are the boys posing for a picture in front of the cottage...

Joshua adopted the cottage as his personal playhouse. He invited us inside, played peek-a-boo by opening and closing the shutters and door. It was difficult to take this picture because he kept wanting to close the shutters.

Another peek-a-boo picture...

Gabe posing in the pumpkin patch...

...with the pumpkin house in the background.

Joshua loved the floating pumpkins...

At the end of our time at the Arboretum, Joshua picked out two pumpkins...one for himself and one for Gabe. He picked out small ones because he wanted to be able to carry them.

Here is Joshua's pumpkin...

And Gabe's pumpkin...

Josh & Friends

2008-10-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

We are making it this week without Peter...God has been good to give me and the boys some sweet time together, but man I was sure glad when my mom arrived after work on Monday! The reinforcement is here! We spent all morning today running errands to get ready for our apartment's National Night Out event. It was a lot of fun...thanks to some great friends...Ashley & Christian kept the bounce house in check, and Nate Smith was awesome entertainment. I will have to post some pics once I get them downloaded. The best picture of the night will be the four young girls who stood three feet away from Nate the entire time he was singing. It was as if they were at a rock concert and they had front row seats. They were swaying with the music, had an air microphone for themself, and there was even a little jumping going on at some points.

Back to Peter, I forgot how weird it is to not be able to hear from him. When my phone rings, I expect it to be him on the other end. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him...I am trusting that the Lord is doing some miraculous things through the team. They have two more days of building the pastor's house and ministering to the village, and then they will head back up river. Tonight I met a friend of one of our residents...we were talking and I told him that Peter was in Nicaragua. He asked if he was in Managua...I said that he flew in there and then went to Puerto Cabezas and then Wes Palm (not the spelling, that's just how it sounds to me). He said, "I know just where that is, is he working with the Palmers?" Hello! He went on a mission trip to the same region when he was in high school and worked with the missionaries that Peter's team is with right now. Isn't the Lord sweet to give me the encouragement of someone who knew exactly what Peter is facing tonight?

So the post originally was going to be about Joshua and his cutie pie girl friends, but I got side-tracked. My sweet friends Janelle and Kristin posted some pictures and stories from playdates we have had recently. Because those pictures are still on my camera, I am putting the link to their posts here. Grandpa Ashdown, this is for you! I know that you check for updates often, so here are some great pictures and videos of the boys.

Playdate of Joshua, Gabe & Ella at the park a few weeks ago. Click here for some fun videos of the kids singing as they play.

Playdate of Joshua, Gabe & Laney at the Lewis' house on Sunday night. Click here to see the best choke-hold picture (don't worry, there were no lasting effects on Gabe...he's just fine).

Mikitos and Mosquitos

2008-10-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

Peter is headed with a team of 13 to Nicaragua this morning. We made it to the airport at 5:30am and stuck around a while to see him off. They will return next Saturday night...very late! I am so grateful that my mom is coming on Monday to stay with us and help me keep my sanity!

Below is a very brief description from our pastor and trip member, John Durham, of the purpose of the trip:
Our team will be building a church and a pastor’s home for the Miskito Indians on the bank of the Coco River next week. We are partnering with IMB missionaries in Nicaragua and are going to a remote village called Tulimbila which is a 7 hour upriver trip in a canoe. Please pray for three things: 1) Safety and health of the team. 2) The seed of the Gospel to be firmly planted in the hearts of the Miskito Indians. 3) Completion of the church and house in the week we are there.

Pray for the team members: Peter, Jared, Daniel, Steven, Aaron, John, Daniel, Chantz, Phil, Will, Greg, and Cody.

Entertainment by Joshua

2008-09-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have been grabbing my camera a lot lately to video the boys...I'm trying to make sure we have some fun things documented. Since Joshua has been talking and singing so much lately, I wanted to share a few of those videos.

Joshua created his own medley of his favorite songs. In this video he started with the A,B,Cs, then went straight into Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and halfway through that song changed to Jesus Loves the Little Children.

Joshua Song Medley from Melissa Murrell on Vimeo.

Almost every night we read Goodnight Moon, sometimes more than once. Lately he has been reciting the words along with me. Here is Joshua telling the beginning of the book. He got distracted and wanted to look at himself in the camera as I was videoing him. I am just amazed that kids his age can memorize things...

Story Time with Joshua from Melissa Murrell on Vimeo.

Gabe's Officially Crawling!

2008-09-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

In my last post I said that Gabe's main mode of getting around has been army crawling. Well, last night he took three crawling steps toward me...then today he has been practicing some more. I went to his Kid's Day Out class today and grabbed my camera as he started to crawl across the floor. He is still going back and forth between army crawling and crawling on his knees, and I'm honestly a little worried about him getting around even faster than he has been. He is going to be keeping me on my toes!

Gabe Crawling from Melissa Murrell on Vimeo.

Gabe - 8 Month Day!

2008-09-18T07:48:00.002-07:00

Gabe is 8 months old today...where has the time gone?! He is such a sweet and happy baby, and brings us joy each day. Here are some of his recent developments:

-He cut two more teeth this week, bringing his total to four.
-He says mama, dada, and nana. Talk about melting my heart when he says "mama" repeatedly while "crawling" toward me.
-His main mode of transportation is army crawling.
-He enjoys standing up while holding onto toys or the couch.
-He is 20 pounds!
-His eyes light up when Joshua is playing with him.
-He laughs easily and smiles at everyone!
-He enjoys eating cereal and most baby food, but hasn't seemed too fond of the jarred meats...I don't think that I would like them either!
-The best development yet is that he has been sleeping through the night almost every night for the last two weeks!

Here is a video of "a day in the life" of our boys. Joshua was being sweet to entertain Gabe with a game of "Where are me?" (a.k.a. "where am I?" or peek-a-boo).

Ike, Missing My Boys & Grapefest

2008-09-12T19:42:00.001-07:00

All week long, Peter and I have been watching the weather channel, trying to figure out what Hurricane Ike was going to do. The boys went to Houston last Sunday to spend the week with grandparents. Our plan all along was to drive to Houston yesterday and spend the weekend with family and then bring the boys back Saturday. As Hurricane Ike continued heading toward the Galveston area, we decided to just drive down yesterday and turn right back around. We met my parents in Conroe just hours before I-45 got unbearably clogged. We were so grateful to not be stuck in that terrible traffic! And so glad to be reunited with our boys! That was my first time to be away from Gabe and definitely the longest time away from Joshua. Peter and I had a good time hanging out together and did a few things that we don't get to do often...like go see a movie and ride our bikes.

Now that Ike is pounding Galveston, we are glued to the tv. I am just so distraught over the fact that there are so many people that didn't evacuate Galveston Island. We are praying for their safety. I guess we will know much more in the morning.

I wanted to leave you with a few pics from Grapefest...it is going on this weekend in Grapevine. Last night we met up with Janelle & Ella, and Todd, Kristin & Laney . It was so much fun! We just walked around for a while, let the kids dance to the live music, and did some serious exercise in the bounce house.

Peter took on the responsibility of pushing the boys in the stroller...

My sweet Gabe...he seems like such a big boy sitting up in the stroller.

I love this picture because Ella and Laney are so excited to be dancing to the music. As you can tell, Joshua was not as excited. He did enjoy running circles around Janelle for a while.

This picture is so sweet as the kids rush over to give Kristin a hug...I like to think that they were all talking to the twins.

The kids loved the bounce house...Joshua was sweating and red in the face by the time we convinced him to get out.

Gabe Army Crawling

2008-09-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

We finally took a video of Gabe in his very fast army crawling mode! It just so happened that when I was recording this short clip, Joshua decided to show off his new thing also...making sure brother doesn't get any of his toys!

Papa's 80th Birthday

2008-08-23T13:33:00.001-07:00

I am slowly getting caught up on summer events, but one that can't go without mentioning is Papa's 80th birthday party. The party was on July 12th at a treasure of a restaurant called The Carriage House in Houston. They had great barbecue and neat antiques throughout the restaurant.

It was a surprise party, and he was definitely surprised when he saw that we had driven in from Dallas, and many of his longtime friends were also there. Papa has played in bands for a long time, and several of his band friends came to wish him a happy birthday. They were all so sweet, and I had a flash-forward moment of what it may be like when I am 80 years old and have lived a lot of life with my good friends.

There were a few tense moments at the party, which ended up giving us a good laugh. As you see in the picture below, Papa was blowing out his candles when the present behind the cake fell over on top of the candles. The tissue paper caught on fire and Papa threw the paper off the cake. He continued working on blowing out the candles, mind you. The paper fell behind the table by the paper tablecloth and wood wall. Luckily, Peter's mom ran over to the paper and started stepping on it. This was all caught on video and I wish I had it to post on the blog because it was very funny!

Gabe and Papa posing for a pic...

A pic of most of the family that was at the party...

Conversation with Joshua

2008-08-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Having a conversation with Joshua is a new thing for us, and I love that he can verbally tell me what is going on in his head...for the most part! This morning on our way to church, we took a minute to pray. After we said "Amen" this was the conversation...

J: I show God my raisins.
M: Did you know that God can already see your raisins? He sees everything.
J: I show God my water.

Minutes later...
J: I done pooping. I show God my poo poo.

A short conversation, but it had me laughing so hard! I'm sure it won't be the last time that the topic of conversation turns to poop!

Mission Houston

2008-08-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

Following our move in June, we headed to Houston for our middle- and high school mission trip. It was so great to be back in our "stomping ground" to serve. The students were great and worked very hard that week. They ran a VBS for a brand new Spanish-speaking church, sorted clothes for a clothes closet, served snow cones at an apartment complex, and passed flyers out in a neighborhood to promote the church. I am really proud of each one of them for being obedient to the Lord's call to go!

Here are a few of the sweet kids that we met in Houston...

While in Houston, the boys and I split our time with our families and the mission group. Each morning I went to help with the VBS and the boys spent time with grandparents. Josh & Gabe had such a fun time visiting the Houston Zoo and a children's museum. I also had the blessing to meet up with many of my Houston friends for a playdate. It is rare that I get to visit with friends on our short trips to Houston, so this was really great!

After their visit to the zoo, the boys posed in their Houston Zoo shirts...

We also had a birthday party our first night in town for Phillip and Elizabeth (who share the same birthday - June 8)...

The boys got to spend time with their great-grandpa (Papa)...

Josh and Gabe love swimming, so it was very fun to get to swim at Grandpa & Grandma's house...

Here are a few pics of our playdate at Memorial City Mall. Let me just say, that mall has the best play area. The only drawback, is that every other mother in Houston also thought it was a good day to go to the mall, so there were lots of kids there. It was so fun to connect with some of my wonderful Houston friends, but we need to do it again in a less hectic environment so we can visit more. I really wanted a picture of all the moms and kids, but it was an impossible feat.

Here is my mom with Gabe and Michelle with Jack...the boys are good friends already and holding hands...

This was the closest we got to a group picture...Kay & Jayk, Becky & Luke, Lauren & Ava, me & Gabe. Missing from this picture are Michelle & her boys, Amanda & Jackson, Becky's son Will, and Joshua.

Kay & Jayk having a good time...Jayk and Jackson hanging out together.

On Thursday of that week, the entire mission group went to Galveston for a fun afternoon at the beach. The students deserved a break because they worked so hard at each task they were given throughout the week! Our families went along, and it was fun to be all together at the beach. This was Joshua and Gabe's first time at a beach. As Lauren said, their beach experiences will only go up from there (meaning Galveston is not the prettiest beach) :)

Joshua's first feel of the warm Galveston water...

...and Gabe's first dip in the water

Grandma and Gabe lounging on the beach...

Oksana and Joshua looking for shells on the beach...

Grannie and Josh playing with boats in the shallow water...

Peter, Joshua, Tyler, and Ava posing for a pic...

Joshua was not very enthused about having to pack up and leave the beach...

We headed to the Kemah Boardwalk when we left Galveston. We all enjoyed the atmosphere of the boardwalk, even though it was sprinkling, and the great food at Joe's Crab Shack!

It was such a great week...fun with our students and families...wonderful opportunities for ministry and some very real, cool stories of how God moved in unexpected ways!

Our New Home

2008-08-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our apartment community to serve as a CARES Team, we decided to live in the smallest two bedroom offered to save money. It was perfect for us because it was just us and Joshua. However, when we found out that another baby was on the way, my thoughts immediately went to the need for another room. Did I mention our apartment was on the 3rd floor. It was already a challenge to drag Joshua up the stairs along with whatever belongings we had on that particular trip (diaper bag, purse, groceries, lunch kit, etc.). I decided that we needed to move around October or November of last year, which put me in the last trimester of being pregnant with Gabe. When the time came, we just didn't feel a peace about moving, so we kept putting it off. Once I realized I could make my big pregnant self go up those stairs, it wasn't as big of a deal. I was a little nervous though about taking two babies up the stairs once Gabe came. Somehow God gave me super powers because we we made it for 4.5 months...me, Gabe, Josh and all our gear.

I don't know why I am giving so many details except to say that it was a HUGE blessing when Peter told me on my birthday in April that his present to me would be a move into a 3 bedroom apartment as soon as one was available. We were able to move into a 3 bedroom in June and it is on the 1st floor! It has literally changed my life to be on the 1st floor, not in an eternal sense (except I don't curse on the way up the stairs), but in a convenience sense! Not only did my husband give me this great gift, he also packed our apartment while I was on vacation in California with the boys AND moved us while I was at work the day after we got back from CA. He worked so hard to give us this gift, and we are enjoying so much having more space, and not having Gabe live in our room anymore! Thank you, Peter...you never cease to amaze me with the sacrifices you are willing to make for our family.

Where to start?

2008-07-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

This blog has been silent for a long time and so much has been going on this summer! I am going to try to go back and post for the last two months!

The very first week in June I packed up the boys and we headed to Califironia with my parents to see my extended family. Peter wasn't able to go with us because of many things at work going on, and he was packing our apartment for our move the end of that week. My dad drove to Dallas so he could fly with me and the boys...let's just say it ended up being a necessity for him to help me! Here are a few plane pics...

Grandpa and Gabe got a good nap in together...

We had many great meals on my grandparents back porch while we were there...
Here is my sister, Alicia, Joshua, cousin Janet, Dad, Uncle Tim, and Grandpa

My mom loved getting to spend extra time with her grandsons that week!

Joshua had a dance party on the stage in the backyard (really just a part of the porch)...

Joshua ate all of his meals in a high chair that my dad used to eat in...let's just say that we're lucky the wood hasn't rotted! Just kidding, Dad, and Happy 60th birthday!

Joshua loved hanging out with his 2nd cousin, Stephen. They are walking along old railroad tracks behind my grandparents' house. I remember the trains going by when we visited as kids and waving to the conductor from my grandparents' backyard.

The boys got lots of kisses from Greatgrandma!

My grandpa loved playing with the boys and even spent some time on the floor with Gabe...

It was so fun hanging out with my Aunt Diane all week...

One morning Alicia and Joshua made donuts from scratch...it was pretty impressive and they were decent tasting. Joshua loved cooking with his Auntie!

One afternoon we went to a park and a duck pond. Gabe loved the slide and swing...

Joshua enjoyed feeding the ducks...

Alicia and I at the park...

My sweet boys humoring me for a picture...

My dad and Joshua loved the teeter-totter...

The second day we were in California, most everyone went to Muir Woods, which has tons of Redwood trees. Gabe and I didn't go because he had a fever. Joshua got to stand inside a tree!

My dad, grandpa, and Joshua looking up at the huge trees...

After Muir Woods, they went to this lookout point to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge...

Another day, we went to San Francisco for the afternoon and evening. We did all of my favorite touristy things while in San Francisco...Pier 39 Boardwalk and sea lions, and Ghiradelli Square. Here is Joshua looking at the sea lions that gather on the pier...

Gabe and I enjoyed a quick look at the sea lions, but it was very cold and windy!

Here is a small view of the sea lions. There were hundreds and they are very loud when they talk to each other. Joshua's two comments about the sea lions is that they were "noisy" and "smell like poopy diapers" and both of those things are true!

We then went to Ghirardelli Square and ate an "Earthquake" at Ghirardelli Ice Cream Parlor. It had about twenty scoops of ice cream and tons of toppings...it was wonderful!

Since all of my grandparents' grandkids and greatgrandkids were all together, we got a picture taken for them...

At one point Gabe fell asleep in Steven's arms, so we took this silly picture...

He was still asleep while we were waiting to pick out the pictures we wanted, so my dad laid him down in the mattress section of Sears. We think that we should get royalties for this picture..."sleep like a baby" on this mattress...

We had such a fun time with my family and am so glad that the boys got to spend time with them!

Night, Night

2008-06-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

It has almost been a month since I posted, and it's not because there hasn't been anything to blog about! We have vacationed in California, moved to a new apartment, and went with the middle school and high school students on mission trip to Houston. It has been a busy June, but I will have to post about all of that later.

Tonight, I just wanted to post a few pictures of my boys in their new beds in our apartment. This is Josh's first night in his big boy bed, and Gabe's first night in his crib. They have the same crib, but we decided that Joshua is ready to transition his crib into a bed. I wish that his was one that went to a toddler bed and then a full-size bed, but it just goes straight to full-size. This morning Peter and Joshua picked up his mattress (thanks, John!), and took apart the crib. Then the work started with figuring out how to rig it to make it into a full-size bed. Joshua was a big help...he collected the screws as Peter took the crib apart.

Here are the sweet "night, night" pictures. They both went to sleep without a fuss, so we're hoping that will last all night. I was brave (or stupid) and took a flash picture of Joshua after he fell asleep. He has never slept with a pillow before, so he really looks like a big boy!

I'm sure Gabe will sleep much better in his crib, rather than a pack-n-play!

Video Updates

2008-05-26T05:08:00.000-07:00

We are constantly saying, "I wish we had that on video" when it comes to new things Joshua says, or Gabe making a funny expression. So here are a few videos of short clips of the boys...

We have recently been working with Joshua on saying his full name...sometimes his middle and last name get switched around...

In a post last week I said that Joshua was singing "Jesus loves me so" and in this clip he added "Up above the world so high".

And here is a clip of Gabe laughing. Elizabeth Riddle had him giggling after church yesterday by tickling his toes. Of course by the time I got my camera out he was through with the good belly laughs. (Sorry that it is sideways...I forget!)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2008-05-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

I decided to update the blog from the last couple of weeks, so there are lots of posts and pictures to follow...

Friday night we had an apartment event at the Rangers game...it just so happened that they were playing the Astros. As we walked to the stadium, we caught a glimpse of our shadows...I love the pic of us holding Josh's hands. Gabe's shadow is melded into mind...he was in the frontpack.

Peter and I were pretty torn over who to cheer for, but we figured since we were sitting among many Ranger fans, we'd better cheer for the home team! Josh and Gabe were also torn...Joshua cheered for the Astros and Gabe for the Rangers. Little brother proved to cheer for the winning team, as the Rangers won 16-8. It was such a fun game with lots of hits and homeruns. Joshua loved each time the fireworks went off after a homerun.

Before the seventh inning stretch, Josh and Gabe both fell asleep. The excitement was too much!

Sweet Boys of Mine

2008-05-18T20:49:00.001-07:00

Here are some random pics of the boys this last week...

Last week at McDonald's Joshua enjoyed his first ice cream cone...it was a little messy. Don't worry, when it started to melt and drip down the side, I helped out!

Gabe's teachers at Kid's Day Out took some cute pictures of him and his friend, Bear. I'm so glad that they are in the same class together with Miss Lauren and Miss Sarah.

His other friend at KDO is Klaire. Today at a lunch after church, Klaire's mommy and I were talking about how much bigger Gabe is than Klaire. Krystal put Klaire in Gabe's arms...she immediately fell asleep and Gabe smiled from ear to ear. His expression in this picture make me laugh!

Outside

2008-05-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

Many times a day, Joshua requests to go "ou-side". So we try to make it a point on beautiful days to go to the park or at least take a stroll around our apartment complex. Recently Joshua had a fun park date with Laney and Ella. They played on the swings, slides, merry-go-round, and dug in the dirt.

With little prompting from the mommies, they grabbed each others hands as we were leaving and walked together for quite a while. It was such a precious sight! They were even talking to each other as they walked. Who knows what they were saying, but it was cute to hear their jabber form into a conversation.

Last weekend, we got to go to the park as a family for Savannah's 3rd birthday party. She and Joshua have spent a lot of time together at church. Savannah's mom has been Joshua's KDO teacher all year and is also a Kid's Care teacher. Joshua loves Miss 'Chelle (Michelle) and always enjoys playing with Savannah. She was a sweet birthday girl and just beautiful in her party hat!

Bluegrass & Blue Bell

2008-05-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

Our church held its 2nd annual "Bluegrass & Blue Bell" event a few weeks ago on a cool Sunday evening. It was such a nice time to enjoy our friends, music by the Shady Grove Ramblers, and ice cream! Joshua got a close up view of the musicians...

Gabe loved being outside and was enthralled by all the people...

Joshua, Ella & Laney enjoyed some time in the bounce house together...

The boys had fun being pulled in their new red wagon...

Picture Perfect!

2008-05-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

We just got pictures from Joshua and Gabe's school and wanted to share. These pics were taken a week before Joshua turned 2 yr and when Gabe was 3 1/2 months...

Gabe turned 4 months old today! He is a baby full of joy and he brings joy to our family each day. It is amazing how a smile and laugh from him can completely change the way I am feeling at the moment! He is precious and such a sweet baby. Gabe loves to grab toys and holds on to them with a strong grip. He enjoys tummy time and is starting to push himself forward when he is on his stomach. He has pretty good head control now, and he likes to sit up while we are holding him. He lights up when Joshua is around him, especially when Joshua is right in his face. I'm pretty sure you can tell from the picture, but he likes to eat! At his four month appointment last week, he weighed 16 lbs. 9 oz...that's in the 80-something percentile for babies his age! His height and head circumference were both in the 70-something percentile, so he's pretty much proportionate :)

It is hard to believe that Joshua is two years old, and we are not wanting to believe that the "terrible twos" have come to our family. There are some of those trying moments for sure, but we just love the personality that he is developing. He loves his family and friends and talks about them all the time! He loves hotdogs, ice cream, fruit snacks, and raisins. Those are the foods that he asks for on a daily basis. His vocabulary is developing every day, and he surprises me with what he says. He is putting three and four words together in short sentences, so it is much easier now to figure out what he wants. Joshua's first song to sing is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". He actually sings one line over and over..."Up above the....so high". Tonight though he surprised us with a new line of a song..."Jesus loves me so" and then immediately followed by "Up above the...so high". I will try to get a video of that sweetness...it melted my heart when he sang "Jesus loves me so".

Aren't boys the greatest?! I never thought I would say that, because I always wanted the frills and dresses that go along with girls, but apparently God knew better for this momma!

Joshua's Birthday!

2008-05-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I am just now posting about Joshua's actual birthday! It has been two weeks! We had a fun day on his birthday, Cinco de Mayo. He had Kid's Day Out, so I took cupcakes for his class to enjoy. He liked wearing the birthday crown, and even shared it with some of his classmates.

I'm not sure what Joshua was worried about, but here he is posing in his "Birthday Boy" shirt!

After we finished work, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for Joshua to have some fun and enjoy pizza! The Smiths joined us and Joshua and Campbell had a great time playing together!

Mother's Day

2008-05-14T05:03:00.001-07:00

Here is a late post for Mother's Day...

We spent Mother's Day apart from our moms, but had been able to celebrate them the weekend before when they were with us for Joshua's birthday. Our moms are so special to us and we are so thankful for them. It's amazing how much more I appreciate my mom and what I put her through, now that I am a mom. I realize the sacrifices that she made for me and my sister, and the godly example that she set for us daily. I know that Peter would echo those words for Diane, and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful mother-in-law.

Here are our sweet moms together with their presents from us...monogramed aprons...

Peter and the boys were so sweet to me on Mother's Day! After church we went out to eat and then had a relaxing day at home. The boys colored a card for me and gave me a new tv for my bedroom and new DVD player. Our DVD player broke last week and it was a long week of Joshua asking to watch Veggie Tales, so that gift is much appreciated! Peter also cleaned out and vacuumed my car for me which was definitely an act of service on his part. I am so thankful for my boys and for Peter making it such a nice day!

Joshua's Birthday Party

2008-05-07T11:45:00.001-07:00

Joshua's birthday party was on Saturday at our church. We had so much fun planning the construction-themed party, and even more fun seeing the kids have a good time. On Thursday, a small load of dirt was delivered to the "work site". Luckily, Foreman Josh was there to observe the dirt load being dropped off.

Ella gave Josh a sweet birthday hug when she arrived...

Joshua, Ella & Savannah were eating their brown bag lunch before it was time to work...

Joshua's Aunt Oksana and cousin Elizabeth were there for the fun...

After lunch, Peter and Josh explained to everyone what we were going to be doing. Each kid received their own hard hat and shovel...

All of the kids formed a "shovel parade". They each pushed their shovel on the ground all the way to the worksite.

The task of the work day was to have fun in and demolish the dirt pile..

Foreman Josh was making sure everyone was working...

...and they were!

Daddy helped Joshua push the dump truck to the top of the dirt pile.

Here are several pics of the tots hard at work...

Gabe wanted to get in on all the fun, but instead he just observed from the dump truck...

Of course Joshua couldn't let Gabe be the only one to sit in the dump truck!

What's a party without cupcakes?!

I think they enjoyed them!

Joshua's Grannie and Pop gave him this great red wagon. He loves it!

Gabe's Dedication

2008-05-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

The perfect ending to a fun weekend with our friends and family was Gabe's dedication at church on Sunday. It was so great to have our family here to celebrate with us. The dedication was special...there is just something about publicly commiting to raise your children in a godly home that is touching.

Birthday Bash

2008-05-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Kristin & Janelle are such sweet friends...they threw me and Laney a birthday party on Monday night with my favorite type of food...Mexican! Kristin made a yummy Mexican casserole, Janelle made guacamole from scratch, and yummy Sprinkles cupcakes. Laney's birthday was the 23rd and mine is the 27th, so it is just right that we have a fun birthday party together!

The cupcakes were very yummy...

Laney got some cute clothes for her presents. Here she is parading her cute dress from Ella.

They got me a movie giftcard and a coupon for babysitting so Peter & I can go on a date!

Busy Weekend

2008-05-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a busy one for our family...Peter and I had the privilege of going to the Love & Marriage conference at our church, my parents were in town watching the boys, and we got to celebrate Andy's birthday with a fun party...oh yeah, and it was my 28th birthday (that sounds so old to me right now!).

My parents picked the boys up from KDO on Friday and took them straight to The Tubes at Irving Bible. This is one of Joshua's new favorite places, so he had a great time climbing and sliding, and making Grandpa and Grandma climb with him!

They went to the park on Saturday morning and took a long walk. Joshua loves the outdoors and seeing nature!

Gabe is such a sweet baby and loves to play on his mat! That is where he first rolled over (which he has repeated now a few times!).

Peter and Gabe took their Sunday afternoon nap together...

Joshua always enjoys hotdogs. I made one for him this week and I was surprised at how he was eating it! It reminds me of the Reece's Peanut Butter Cup commercials and all the different ways people eat them.

Ask and you shall receive

2008-05-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

I believe very strongly that God cares for even the small details in our lives...such as how much sleep I get at night. In the last post I mentioned that I wish Gabe was sleeping through the night. Well, we have had 3 nights in a row of Gabe sleeping at least 9 hours straight! Last night he slept 9 hours, woke up to eat, and then went back to sleep for 3 more hours. I am a little afraid to even tell anyone or post about him sleeping so well because I would hate for him to change his mind and go back to waking up two or three times a night!

Milestones

2008-04-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well, really only one milestone to report here, but I wish I had others like Gabe sleeping through the night, or Joshua being potty trained. The milestone for the day is that Gabe rolled over for the first time last night! Peter and I both missed it though. We tried to get him to do it again, but I think it took all of his might to do it the first time. Maybe he'll do it again today!

Happy Birthday CJ!

2008-04-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

Joshua had a blast at CJ's birthday party last Saturday! CJ's family lives at the same apartment complex as us, and we love it when we all get to hang out.

One of the highlights of the party was getting to ride on all of the cars...

There weren't enough cars for Joshua to ride this time, so he decided to follow on his knees behind the trail of cars and tots.

They also enjoyed getting inside this car...CJ was the driver and Joshua was safely sitting in the back seat!

Joshua took a swing at the Scooby Doo pinata...

CJ and his birthday cake...

Sip & See

2008-04-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday some sweet friends from church gave a combined baby shower for three of us on staff at the church that recently had babies. Here are the babies and their ages at the time of the picture:

Gabe (11 weeks), Klaire (3 weeks), and Bear (9 weeks)

And here they are with their big brothers and sister: Joshua and Gabe, Karoline and Klaire, Toby and Bear

This is the beautiful spread...Michelle, Janelle, Jennifer, and Ileeta are so talented at making things special!

Here are the new mommies...Krystal, me, and Melissa H.

Cute pic of Kristin holding Gabe...

My sweet friend, Pat, holding Gabe...

The Tubes

2008-04-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we got together with Janelle & Ella and Cassi & Tobey for some fun at Irving Bible Church's Tubes. The last time Joshua played at the Tubes, he was much younger and couldn't fully enjoy the whole play area. This time, he had no fear climbing high and going down the fast slides! He had a great time and was very sad to have to leave.

Tobey and Ella made up a game of getting "stuck" on the pole and then trying to get "unstuck". They had more fun with that, than climbing!

Josh's Twin

2008-04-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

In September, the Martins moved to Texas. We had no idea how much we had in common with each other, but we are so glad to have gotten to know them and spend some time with them recently. As I'm sure will happen more in the future, our sons are the commonality. Their son, Tobias, was born on Joshua's due date (June 2), and he is a sweet boy...all boy! Joshua and Tobias get along really well. One of their favorite weekly activities is running around the sanctuary after the service on Sundays...their little heads bob up and down above the pews as they chase each other. They have many of the same mannerisms and even look a little alike.

The Martins second son, Jacob, was born just five days after Gabe. We are looking forward to

them becoming fast friends as well!

Last week to celebrate our last chance at a playdate before returning to work, Elizabeth and I took the boys to a park by their home. This weekend we all got to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon with the Martins at the park.

Elizabeth and Tobias...

Joshua didn't quite understand the concept of feeding the ducks the first time...

But he got much better the second time...

Tobias was so sweet to push Joshua in his wagon...

Then they got a ride together as Steven pulled them very fast around the park...they got big air several times.

Joshua and Gabe wore matching sweaters to church this morning that the Martins gave them as a gift when Gabe was born...so sweet!

Choo! Choo!

2008-04-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time last Saturday because the Murrells came up to take us to a surprise event! Who knew that Thomas the Train was in town?! Thomas was attached to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad cars, and we got to take a ride on the train. Joshua thought that it was really cool to see Thomas in person.

Joshua and Gabe both got conductor hats to wear...

There were trains everywhere...toy trains to touch and play with...

Model trains to watch...

Joshua had to take a pre-train ride snooze so he could be energized for the fun...

He loved looking out the window...

Easter Weekend Livestock Show

2008-03-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

We drove to Houston on Thursday to begin the long weekend with our families. Before we met up with everyone, we stopped by HFBC and I got to visit with my friend, Lauren. She had her first baby, Noah, two weeks before Gabe was born so it was really fun to get to meet him.

On Friday morning we went to the Houston Livestock Show. It was my first time to go since high school, so it was fun be back at that Houston tradition. Next year I want to actually go to the rodeo and see some bull riding and calf roping! Gabe stayed home at the Murrells with his Great Aunt B and cousin Elizabeth. Joshua loved seeing all of the animals and enjoyed sampling the food.

Before we left for the Livestock Show, we took some pics of the boys in their western wear...

Joshua loves tractors so he was very excited to sit and "steer" a real tractor!

He got to ride a pony and Daddy walked with him...

When the cowboy's feet got tired, he hitched a ride with Uncle Phil...

Easter with the Murrells

2008-03-27T15:29:00.001-07:00

Gabe got to meet a few more family members that he had not met before. Uncle Phil was in town, and Gabe immediately showed him some love! As soon as Phil held Gabe, he was all smiles and coos.

Gabe also met his great grandpa (PaPa), and was very happy to sleep in his arms.

Joshua opened his Easter basket from Granny and Pop on Saturday morning...

Gabe got in on the fun too...

What's Easter without a Joshua-size bunny?

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so we spent some time playing in the backyard...badminton, swinging, and flying kites.

Joshua got a Nemo kite for Easter. Peter, Phil, and their dad flew that kite for a while in the backyard. When they needed more of a challenge, they got Oksana's bigger kite out. There was no wind that day, so they started getting creative on how to "launch" the kite.

It was all a little much for Joshua so he had to take a water break!

Cousin Elizabeth and Gabe watched all of the action.

Joshua went on a great egg hunt, and was very excited to find eggs...

Here he is checking out his loot...

He had to take another water break after running all around the yard...

Definitely a posed pic...

Easter with the Ashdowns

2008-03-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

We spent part of Friday with my parents and Alicia, and packed in all of the Easter fun that we could handle in those few hours! Joshua got to go on an Easter egg hunt, dye eggs, eat a yummy dinner, and open a few more presents.

Auntie Alicia helped Joshua dye eggs. We made him do it in his diaper since he was dressed in his Easter outfit to be worn to church in a few days.

He got a little messy...and loved it!

Joshua got bored with dying eggs the traditional way and made up his own method to collect all of the dye that had dripped on the table.

Joshua and Gabe posing in their Easter outfits. Since we weren't going to see my parents on Sunday for church, they wanted to get a sneak peek at their outfits.

Joshua loved hunting easter eggs! With each one he picked up, he said "More eggs"!

He got a few huge eggs that really weighed the basket down! My mom made his basket to be used in years to come for egg hunts.

Gabe was chilling during the entire egg hunt!

Easter Sunday

2008-03-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was Gabe's first time in our church nursery. All of the volunteers in the nursery are great, but we were waiting to leave him until flu/cold season was winding down. Here is a picture of him with Mrs. Peggy, who also held Joshua a lot when he was a little baby.

We had to have a family picture since the boys looked so precious!

I managed to get Joshua and his buddy, Tobias, to stop long enough to take a picture. It looks like they are both saying, "Ah, mom. Don't embarrass us by taking a picture. We are way too cool for this!"

Here is Joshua's Easter basket (no picture of Gabe's basket). He loves his Horton elephant and now we are looking forward to seeing the movie.

On Sunday night we were able to eat dinner with Casey and Michael. Casey was in the Student Ministry at FBC Mansfield, but now she is in college. It was so fun to catch up with her, and for her to see the boys. She always played with Joshua at church and was a great babysitter!

Welcome Baby Klaire!

2008-03-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

Klaire Grace arrived on Friday, March 14th! She is so beautiful and tiny! She weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 19.5 inches long. Peter, Gabe, and I went to the hospital to see the Billups after she was born. Here are a few pics!

Jared and big sister, Karoline, were watching baby Klaire in the nursery window.

Zoo Playdate

2008-03-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we were able to take Joshua to the zoo for the very first time. Kristin and Laney invited us to join them. Peter was able to take the day off work and go with us...it was so much fun to be there all together! Needless to say, Joshua loved all of the animals, and especially enjoyed running around the zoo.

Here are Joshua and Laney checking out the elephant. Their favorite thing to do was to climb up on the fence to get a better view of the animals.

Joshua and Daddy checking out the ducks...

We saw lions...

elephants...

flamingos...

gorillas...

And Joshua's favorite sight to see was the construction workers building the new penguin house...

He got to touch a chicken at the petting zoo...

Joshua's GQ pose...

Gabe enjoyed spending the day getting fresh air outside!

He was completely worn out by the end of the day!

Houston Fun

2008-03-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, the boys and I packed up and went to Houston to spend some time with the fam. Peter drove us halfway to Houston and my Dad met us in Centerville to drive the rest of the way. They were nervous about me driving the boys by myself...with diaper changes, feedings, and me having to stay awake for four hours of driving! It was actually really nice to be chauffered. My aunt and grandma were in town from California, so it was great to visit them. This was their first time to meet Gabe, and they hadn't seen Joshua since he was three months old. We also were able to celebrate my mom's birthday while we were there. There are many pictures coming, so feel free to scan through them.

Here is the whole crew together...

My aunt Vicki holding Gabe...

My grandma with her greatgrandsons...

I love this pic of Gabe smiling at his grandpa...

Some time with Auntie Alicia...

One rainy day while we were there, we went to Memorial City mall so Joshua could play in their play area. He had so much fun!

After all of the playing, the boys were konked out, which meant that we were able to do some shopping in peace!

The rain clouds dried up and we were able to go to the park the next day for lots of fun on the slides!

While in Houston, we also visited the Murrells for an evening. Gabe got to meet his Great Aunt B, Great Uncle Numa, and Cousin Elizabeth for the first time! Since we weren't there for long, the boys got lots of snuggling time with their family.

Great Aunt B...

Great Uncle Numa...

Cousin Elizabeth...

Pop...

Granny...

Aunt Oksana...

The Many Faces of Gabe

2008-03-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Gabe turned 2 months old last Tuesday! Over these last few months, we have been getting used to having an infant in our lives again. We are enjoying seeing Gabe grow and do new things! Recently, Gabe has started smiling in response to our voices. It is enough to melt your heart when he smiles at you with his eyes open wide! He occasionally makes eye contact and can follow an object when it is moved slowly in front of him. Did I mention that we are enjoying seeing him grow? Well, at his 2 month doctor visit, he weighed 13 lbs. 3 oz. That is six pounds gained since we brought him home from the hospital. He is getting lots of comments now about being a chunky baby...I love those rolls that are forming on his legs, arms, and chin(s)!

Joshua at 22 Months

2008-03-04T13:54:00.001-08:00

I have not done a very good job of recording developmental milestones in Joshua's life. So I have decided that I am going to try to start recording each month something new that each of the boys are doing...here goes!

~Joshua is quickly learning shapes, colors, letters, and numbers. He received this puzzle for Christmas and knows and can say all of the shapes (except pentagon and octagon).

~He surprised us one night when we were stuck in traffic on Hwy 360S (yes, that awful traffic). It was actually on Valentine's Day when we were on our way to the drive-in movie. All of a sudden, he starts saying "i-n-gle" over and over. When I looked back at him, he was pointing to a sign with this logo on the side of the road. He was pointing out the triangle ("i-n-gle")!

~Also for Christmas, Auntie Alicia gave him this great Leap Frog alphabet set that is magnetic. He plays with it quite a bit, and has been spouting out letters ever since! He doesn't know them all and still gets them confused sometimes, but here is a cute video of him trying to name the letters (and throwing a few of them)! Sorry about my annoying voice that is also in the video!

~About a month ago, Joshua began to say our names alot. He enjoys going through the names of all of our family members and all of the friends that he can think of. It is really sweet! One day, he started saying "Hotdog Momma Hotdog Daddy Hotdog Gabriel" and so on with the long list of names. It was hilarious! Why he decided "hotdog" was the appropriate word to put in between the names I don't know. Peter then taught him to say "Hello Momma", etc. instead, so now he loves to say that.

~A reprieve from the constant "No" has come! Now Joshua loves to say "Yah!", with a very long drawl. It is such a sweet sound, and he will probably answer "Yah" no matter if the answer is yes or no.

~Another sweet thing he has been doing is giving an emphatic "Amen" or "A-en" as he does it, whenever we pray. He raises his right fist in the air when he says it...so sweet! He loves to pray before bed. That is the one sure-fire thing that will calm him down if he happens to not want to go to sleep yet.

Happy 22 months, Joshua! I can't believe you will be turning 2 years old in just 2 short months!

This and That

2008-03-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

Here is Gabe's one month picture! In a post a few weeks ago, I mentioned that we weren't too thrilled with them so we were going to get more taken. Well, with the busyness of life, we never got more pics taken...but this one is pretty sweet!

The last week has held a lot of craziness...some fun times and some not so fun times. Last week I had my final post-pregnancy appointment with Dr. Clark. I finally got a picture of him holding Gabriel! He is such a caring doctor and we will miss not seeing him every week for quite a while!

Our friends, Jared and Krystal, had the opportunity to go to the Mavs game last Monday night, so we had the privilege of watching their sweet daughter, Karoline. She loves her monkey, named "Dangles", and Joshua has a monkey that he sleeps with every night, simply named "Monkey" or "Ti Ti" as Joshua says it. Here they are right before bedtime enjoying their milk.

Last Tuesday and today, we were able to get together with Kristin and Laney for some mall fun! Both malls we ventured to have great play areas and Chick-fil-A...enough to make toddlers and mommies happy! Joshua always enjoys a good slide...

...and so does Laney!

Joshua is the captain of the tug boat!

Here they are enjoying their ice cream from Chick-fil-A!

So you may be wondering why last week was not so good...after all, everything this far has looked like fun. Well, on Tuesday night, an unwelcomed visitor came to visit our family...the flu! This was the rundown of how it ran its course...

Tuesday night - Joshua running a slight fever
Wednesday - Joshua still running a fever, but I didn't think it was worthy of taking him to the doctor...after all, he was still playing and wasn't too cranky. Peter woke up with the beginning feelings of being achy. By that night, he was feeling so bad that he got someone else to fill in for him at church...that's a big deal, because he never wants to miss Wednesday nights with the students!

Thursday morning - Joshua running a higher fever, and very cranky. I called the doctor and they were able to fit us in later that morning. The nurse saw us, and after the yucky flu test, she said that he definitely has the flu. She prescribed him medicine, and was kind enough to prescribe it for Peter also.

Friday - With two sick boys, I am just praying that Gabriel and I don't get it. Before going to bed, I noticed that Gabe was warm. When I took his temperature it was 100.4. The doctor said that they should be notified if he ever had fever when he was younger than 2 months. I called the after hours nurse at 10:30pm and she said that if the fever continued to rise and wouldn't come down to call again. I took his temperature at 3:45am and it was 101.6...yikes! I called the nurse again and she had the doctor call us back. She decided that since the fever wasn't too high and we knew that it was probably the flu, that there wasn't any reason to rush to the ER. She told us to go to the dr. office on Saturday at 8:15 am.

Saturday - Bright and early we went to see Dr. Dickey, along with lots of other sick kiddos! They did the flu test (which involves sticking a q-tip-like swab up the nose) which Gabe did not appreciate. Then they tried to get blood out of his heel...when that didn't work, they tried the other heel, which again, Gabe did not appreciate. I have never cried at a doctor's appointment before, but the tears were rolling! I tried to hide it at first because I was embarrassed, but then I wanted the nurse to see that she had a protective mommy on her hands and she should try to get the blood a little faster. With all of that, the doctor said that Gabe definitely had the flu, but no other secondary illnesses. There is nothing they can do for him because he is so young. The only line of defense that she gave me, was to nurse him more often so he would get the antibodies from the breast milk. Good news, Joshua stopped running fever!

Sunday - Peter was feeling worn out still, but managed to make it to church for a while to make sure everything was running smoothly for Bible study with the students. Joshua and Gabe stayed home with me and we spent our fifth day locked up inside the apartment. Gabe rebounded quickly and stopped running fever on Sunday.

Monday - We are back to normal...Peter went to work, Joshua went to KDO, and Gabe did his normal routine. We are praising God that the flu bug has left us and I managed to escape it!

Joshua did not have his normal appetite during those few days of feeling bad...he also did not take very good naps. Here is one of the better naps he had when he fell asleep in his high chair.

One other note...when at the doctor's office with Gabe, he weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs. 14 oz.! Just four weeks earlier, he weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. I can't believe that he gained so much weight in that amount of time...it is showing in his cute chubby cheeks!

Updates from Our World

2008-02-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

We had a lot going on last week, so here are several posts of pictures updating what has been going on. First, here are a few random pics that didn't fit with any of the other posts...

I was loading the boys in the car after church on Wednesday night and Gabe started crying really hard. I looked to see if he was okay, and Joshua reached over to hold Gabe's hand. It was really sweet and Gabe stopped crying!

Gabe got some good tummy time on his play mat...it turned into a good nap!

Joshua enjoyed his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese as we joined our old playgroup for some fun! There aren't more pictures because I was chasing Joshua around while holding Gabe...it was a challenge!

I just had to post this picture because Gabe's outfit is oh so cute...corduroy pants and a sweater vest!

Joshua has had a little jealousy over things that are just for Gabe...like this pacifier! He has new-found love for pacifiers that he gave up over a year ago!

Jackson & Ella's Birthday Celebration

2008-02-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a fun morning as we celebrated Jackson and Ella's 2nd birthdays! They were born two days apart and are great friends, so it was fitting for them to have a shared birthday party. It was at a really fun place called Pump It Up. They have lots of blow up games to bounce on and crawl through. The toddlers had such a great time!

Here are Jackson and Ella getting ready to dig into their Pablo birthday cake...

Laney and Joshua enjoyed some snacks...

Joshua wasn't too sure about the bounce house...

...but he did love the huge basketball

...and really loved the huge slide! He kept asking Daddy to go with him. He was very brave and would even turn over on his stomach halfway down the slide.

Yee-Haw!

2008-02-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Our church had a square dance on Friday night...who said Baptists can't dance?! It was a blast and everyone had a good time. Here are Ella and Joshua in their western-wear!

These are some of the kids that were there...

This is my sweet friend and coworker, Michelle. She is holding Gabe, who is dressed as baby cowboy in his boots and "Howdy" shirt...

Otto and Hot Rod (on the right) were the square dance callers. Every square dance that I have been to since freshmen year in high school (which is surprisingly quite a few), they have been the callers. Every year at high school camp, one of the late night activities is always a square dance. Peter carried on this tradition at the churches he has worked for. They are a really cute couple...hello, her name is Hot Rod!

Since Peter doesn't have a daughter, he is practicing his moves with Ella...how sweet!

Gabe danced with me all night because I put him in the sling. You can't really see him in this picture, but he is basically strapped to me!

Okay, Peter probably won't appreciate this picture being on the blog, but it cracked me up. Look how "happy" he and Pastor John look to be dancing together!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

2008-02-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

On Friday afternoon we had a quick birthday party for Ella. She turned TWO on the 15th, but Joshua and Laney were just now able to celebrate with her!

Joshua helped Ella display her new clothes...

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Ella and then she blew out her candles! Luckily, she did not have a meltdown like she did in Disney World when she got her first birthday cupcake! See Janelle's blog for that story...I don't know how to link to that exact post...sorry!

Ella and Laney enjoying their sweet treats!

Joshua has a game where he stands with his back to our front door, says, "Ready, set, go!", and then runs down the hallway to his room where the race is finished by throwing himself on his couch. I think this game started when my mom was in town after Gabriel's birth, and now Joshua enlists everyone to join in. This was the first time for his friends to race with him. Here they are, lined up at the starting line!

Laney decided racing wasn't for her, so she sat in the cheering section...

Joshua wanted his Daddy to race with him. When I race, somehow Joshua always wins...but that is not the case when Daddy races. He wants to make sure Joshua knows who is the fastest!

The cutest expression...

Messy is okay, right?!

2008-02-25T07:02:00.000-08:00

Joshua had a great time playing with Laney this week at her house! They rode her huge bouncing horse together!

After lunch, Kristin rewarded them for eating so well with Fudgepops! The only catch was that they had to get stripped down to their diapers and eat it outside. The next picture will show why that was a good idea!

Happy Month Day, Gabe!

2008-02-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

Gabriel turns one month old today! I can't believe that he is already a month old, and at the same time, I feel like it has been longer than a month since his arrival.

Here are a few things that Peter and I have learned about Gabe in the last month:
1) He is a great eater! He gained over a pound in two weeks after leaving the hospital. (I'm not sure what he weighs now)
2) He is a noisy sleeper! He grunts and groans almost the entire night. He sleeps for about five hours straight, and then in two hour intervals the rest of the night.
3) He is a strong baby! Even in the hospital he tried to hold his head up on his own. Now when on his tummy, he can move his head from side to side.
4) He loves to snuggle and sleep on Mommy and Daddy's chests!
5) He has beautiful complexion...clear skin and pretty olive coloring.
5) He loves receiving kisses from Joshua, but also lets him know (by crying) if he doesn't want Joshua to bother him.
6) We love him so much as the new addition to our family!

Many people have asked us if Gabe looks like Joshua when he was born...here are their newborn pictures so you can decide for yourself!

Gabriel on the left...Joshua on the right.

Here are their pictures at one month...

Gabe on the left...Joshua on the right.

This Weekend's Fun

2008-02-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

We decided to have a family Valentine's Day celebration this year...mostly because I am not ready to leave Gabe yet. We wanted to go see a movie, because that is a favorite date of Peter & I...but it is not too nice to other people who are paying to see a movie to have a toddler and an infant sitting next to them! Every trip to Houston, we always drive past a Galaxy Drive-In Theater in Ennis and have always wanted to see a movie there. So Thursday night was the night! We packed up the boys, including their pajamas, snacks, and books (for Joshua), and headed to Ennis. Y'all this is such a fun date or family night idea...you get to watch two movies for $6/adult and young kids are free. They have a concession stand with lots of junk food...so we enjoyed corndogs and nachos.

Joshua loved the idea of a drive-in movie. He got to sit in my lap in the front seat...he got to eat in the car...he got to watch a movie on a big screen! We were loving it too, until he figured out how to roll the windows up and down...up and down...up and down. Then how to unlock and lock the doors...unlock and lock the doors...you get the picture! At that point, he got put back in his car seat and he fell asleep for the night. Gabe slept almost all the way through both movies like a champ!

The picture didn't turn out too good...the screen and other cars are in the background, but you can't see it in the dark.

On Friday, Joshua went to KDO and Peter, Gabe & I spent the day together. Gabe turned four weeks old on Friday, so we went to get professional pictures taken. It was a lot of fun putting him in a different outfits and putting him in several poses. Even with all of the fun, we didn't end up liking the pictures too much, so we are going to try again next week.

If you live in North Texas, you know that Saturday was a wet, messy day...with rain and hail throughout the day, it was not a great day for going out. This meant that I had a bored 21 month old and husband on my hands by 4:00 pm. We finally got out of the apartment to go eat at Pei Wei, thanks to a Valentine gift card from my parents! On our drive home, we saw the most beautiful rainbows. That's right, rainbows...plural! The colors were so vivid...we could see the entire rainbow...and there were two (one inside the other). The pictures we took did not do God's display justice (and you can't see the second rainbow very well because it was pretty faint). The pictures are taken at our apartment complex and we had to take several pictures to try get the whole rainbow.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Here are pictures of my Valentines...my sweet husband, Josh & Gabe! The ladies that took care of Joshua at the church threw a Valentine party today. They were so sweet to invite us back, and included our whole family.

Joshua made his bag to collect Valentine cards in...

Gabe slept in a swing...too much excitement going on for him! Auntie Alicia gave him this shirt that says "Already Breaking Hearts"...it's true!

Then he woke up while everyone ate lunch...

Here is Peter & Gabe with Jared and his daughter, Karoline. Karoline is going to be a big sister in about five weeks!

Out on theTown!

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We have been getting out of the house to go to doctors appointments, shopping trips, to see friends, and to church. It has been so nice to get out of the apartment...Joshua needed it and so did I! Here are some pics from the last few weeks...

Gabriel at 3 weeks...

Gabriel at 3 1/2 weeks...check out the shoes...I have decided that even boys need cute accessories!

My parents came in town to hang out with us while Peter was busy with our church's Tour weekend (like D-Now). Joshua and Gabriel got showered with early Valentine gifts from them and Auntie Alicia. Joshua loves his new doodle...

and his new monkey lunchkit from his Auntie Alicia!

We went to the park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Joshua was actually able to hang on the rings...when his hands would start to slip, Grandpa caught him. He thought it was a pretty fun game.

Joshua and Laney have enjoyed some time together now that I'm on maternity leave and have some extra time during the day. This was Joshua's first experience in a sand box...

We went to the library for story time. Joshua and Laney were holding hands, walking up to the librarian to receive their Valentine gifts...so sweet!

They were a little overwhelmed by all of the other kids!

Thanks to Lori's blog, The Bargain Shopper Lady, we found out that IHOP was offering free shortstacks on Tuesday night for a donation to Shriner's Hospitals. I took that excuse to not have to cook, and we headed to IHOP. Gabriel enjoyed his first bottle while we ate...Peter was excited because this means we have some dates coming in the near future!

He is already a pro...holding the bottle all by himself!

Gabe chillin' in his bouncy seat and Pete...

Life with Two

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...is interesting! I knew it would be, and that it would be a challenge, and life this last week and a half has not disappointed! My mom has been staying with us and has been a HUGE help. She has helped cook, clean, do laundry, and oh yeah, take care of the 20 month old! I have pretty much been able to focus on Gabriel...feed him, change poopy diaper, change again because I started before he was finished, sleep for a while, and start the process all over again. Gabriel is a very easy baby so far, which is a huge blessing. He has been sleeping for 3-4 hours at a time at night and eats very well.

Joshua must have picked up a stomach bug last week, because starting on Wednesday he threw up a few times and then followed that up with loose diapers for three more days. I was so nervous that Gabriel was going to get it, but God protected his little body. Here are a few pictures of our time since Gabriel was born. I am starting to get major cabin fever, so once the weather is nice, we will be out and about with more pictures to follow!

Our first family of 4 picture...Joshua loved my water cup and refused to put it down!

Gabriel in his "going home" outfit. I want to have words with infant clothes makers. Gabriel was an average-sized newborn (7 lb. 9 oz.) and the newborn size from Target absolutely swallowed him up. We ended up getting some preemie outfits that are only supposed to fit babies up to 5 1/2 pounds, but fit him perfectly. He is growing a lot and will be in his newborn clothes soon!

On Wednesday we took Gabriel to his first pediatrician visit with Dr. Dickey. She was so sweet and helpful to us. We go back again this Thursday for his two week visit.

After the doctor visit, we gave Gabriel his first bath...as you can tell from the picture, he was not very happy with us!

...my sweet sleeper

Joshua playing in his tent...he has had lots of fun playing at home this week!

Peter spending some quality time with Joshua...

My mom with her grandsons...