Thankful

I just want to begin my post by recognizing everything the Lord has blessed us with.  Sometimes I just to write them all down, so here goes.
1. Aaron's job
2. The answered prayer that I have prayed for years: to be able to stay home and be with our babies
3. Parents that love our kids and make every effort to spend time with them.
4. Friends who love us for who we are, crazy and all sometimes. ;)
5. Healthy children (I just can't look at my kids and not recognize the Lord's grace)
6. The promise of hope, knowing that one day I will meet Jesus and He will have mercy on me.

Ok, I feel better... And happy after doing that.  We are so blessed and I never want to forget that.  I pray I continue to remember all the Lord had blessed me with, even when times get tough.

Onto our blessings:

Andrew Asa (aka Drewbers)
He is all boy and all two.  His favorite place to be is outside.  He loves playing/ trying to ride Lola, our dog.  He loves finding sticks and hitting things with them.  (we had to remind him that we don't hit people or animals, yes he is 2). He enjoys racing anyone, building "tall tall castles", and making a fort.  But, he is a cuddle bug.  He loves to give big bear hugs and kisses, which we absolutely adore!

Milestones: can count to 20, knows his shapes and colors, can recognize facial expressions, draw a circle, one to one correspondence counting up to five, going potty by himself (he hasn't had one accident in a week), put on his underwear and pants and sort objects according to their color or simple characteristic.

Leah Kathryn (aka Leah girl)
She is all girl and little sister.  Her favorite toys include anything that makes noise and has a face on it.  She loves to look and talk at any character or person she sees.  Recently, I have let her be outside and crawl around on our porch and she absolutely loves it.  She is mesmerized by everything that she sees outside.  As of right now, she will stay close to the same spot I put her in, but I don't think that will last long.  She has also taken a liking to everything Andrew has or is playing with.  She just likes to push his buttons and I can telling she already knows what they are.  They definitely embody the brother/ sister relationship: sweetness, wrapped in aggravation.

Milestones: eating solid foods like a champ, cruising, stooping down and standing back up(while holding onto something), climbing up stairs, and wiggles around to music or mimics us doing it.

Love our babies SO much...

This is normal life...don't we all feel this way at times?  :)

 Happy girl in the bath :)

 Happy times just hanging out...

 Eating brother's snack and feeling proud she stole it...

 Drew's favorite thing!

 Handsome :)

 Love...

 Brother...What did you do?  Just smile and mom won't know. he he.

 Spinning with daddy...

First painted toes...love having a girl :)

 What mom?  You want me to smile?                           Ok, here you go.

 Happy shopping buddy.

 Drew loves crashing the ducks and counting them.  I love that he is practicing his one to one correspondence. (thats for all my teacher friends)

Hitting the tree and ground with a stick in his underwear... love having a boy. :)

 Sissy loving her paci and night-night.  This thing will be a ball of yard by the time she is done with it. :)  

Who is who?  They are definitely siblings.  Love them so much!

                       Andrew                                               Leah

Summer Time- 10 months and 2+

The month of July has been busy, busy, busy, and not so busy.  What I mean is, we have gone and participated in a few things this summer, but mostly enjoyed hanging out at home and playing.  On one hand, our lives are super busy with a 2 year old and 9 month old, but we haven't been adding a whole lot of extras lately.  Part of the reason is the BAR... dun, dun, dun.  Aaron has been working hard at studying for weeks and the last couple weeks has studied around the clock.  Literally.  We all are ready for the Bar to be over and just get into a routine again.  Having him gone is a bummer, but we know it is only for a short time.  I mean, we made through law school having two babies, so we can definitely make it through the Bar.  Hopefully once it is over this week, we can enjoy some much needed family time!  I just want to say I am so proud of Aaron and how hard he is working! Love you honey!

Andrew-
Well this little guy is just like daddy.  We will see, but in most situations, they respond or react in the same way.  For example, we were sitting and having breakfast and both of them were looking out the window, just staring.  I just love observing them together.  They also, stop and look at the same TV commercials.  Weird, but too cute!  Andrew and I have been playing school while sissy takes her morning nap.  This is so much fun for both of us.  During the school year, we read to him a lot, but I didn't have a chance to actually teach him.  I am so happy to say that he knows most of his letters and sounds.  He still struggles with x, k, r, v, and h.  This really makes him proud of himself when I get excited about him "reading". I am hoping to teach him to read by the time he is 4.  Trust me, he is totally his daddy in memorizing things.  Simply amazing how he just remembers.  Andrew is quite the helper which is great, but he can sometimes be Mr. Bossy Pants.  I want to help him utilize this trait in a positive way and not in a way that would annoy his friends or teachers.  I have been in the position of having a student tell me what to do which is almost always taken in a negative way.  I hope Drew will develop more boundaries as he grows and that we will do that without stifling him.  Of course, Aaron and I just want what is best for him.


One of the things that Drew did was take swimming lessons for 2 weeks!  The first 2 days he was skeptical, which is normal for him, but then did great!  I can tell it has made him so much more confident in the water with us.  He jumps in, puts his face in the water and "swims" with his super man arms and kicking.  Here is a video of him during one of the lessons. :)  Thanks Grams and Pawpaw for sending him, he had a blast and still talks about his time there!


Also, our boy loves to sing!  Here he is singing with his fabulous 2 year old attention span. :)



Playing with markers, he loves watching this video of himself. :)


Leah Kathryn is a go getter! We always joke that Andrew is a mini Aaron and Leah is a mini me.  Leah started crawling one day before she turned 9 months old.  Now, she is into everything, including what her brother has.  She will crawl right to him and snatch the toy he has right out of his hand.  Andrew does NOT like it.  But, it is teaching Leah what the word no means and Andrew how to stick up for himself.  It is good for both of them, but can defiantly be trying at times.  Most of the time, I let them sort it out and step in if necessary.  Just from observing children during my career and my own kids, they really work it out on their own most of the time.  One thing that differs from Andrew is she cries and becomes really upset when you tell her no.  She gets her feelings hurt more so than Drew.  Maybe it is because she is an emotional girl. :)  Leah has also been pulling up for a little over a week.  She enjoys pulling up and seeing what she couldn't before.  She is steady just standing there, but still really wobbly when we help her take steps.  I wouldn't be surprised if it took her til a year to walk.  I am in no hurry. :)  She really is a sweet girl that loves to be held and talked to.  She will talk right back and smile so big.  She is a people watcher and will especially engage anyone while at the grocery store.  Her bright smile lights up her whole face and makes everyone around her smile back.  We love our spunky little girl.

First day crawling...


Here is Leah growling.  She has always grunted and growled, but I finally got it on video.  Very ladylike. :)



Crawling girl!


For the 4th of July, we just dressed up and stayed home.  We know taking our two little ones out for fireworks late is not fun for any of us.  So, we just watched them on TV and relaxed as a family. :)

                                      
                                     
Aaron and I took the kids to the Dallas Children's Aquarium.  Andrew loved it!  It was an affordable family outing.

Andrew checking out the sharks.

We went to the zoo with Pawpaw and here are the fun photos...

Hanging out at home, enjoying each other.  Daddy and daughter, she loves her daddy!

Our blue-eyed girl...

 Our sweet boy...                                                         Buddies...

                                                    Pulling up...

 My favorite boy...

 My favorite girl...

 Love his big blue eyes, one day a girl is going to fall in love with those. :)

 SOOOOO BLESSED!

Love you Leeroy Boy...

I just wanted to post pictures and say a few things about our dog, Leeroy.  He was put down today because of being hit by a car.  He could not be mended, so the vet made him comfortable, rehydrate him, and then let him go.  But, that is a hard thought for our family...letting him go.  He was my 6 month wedding anniversary gift and a companion for Lola.  We are so sad that she will not have a playmate or crate/sleeping buddy.  He was an awesome dog and was just a lover no matter what.  Petting him or seeing him run around while Andrew chases him will be the memories that I will always have, but the ones moving forward I will miss the most.  I go to bed knowing that he had a good life with us and hopeful God will bring peace to our family.  Here are a few pics of Leeroy to remember him by...

  

Summer Has Begun!!! :D (9 months and 2 and 3/4)

SUMMER HAS BEGUN AND WE ARE LOVING IT!  I made it through another school year.  That was year 5 of teaching for me.  But, now that count can stop and the stay at home mom count can begin!!!  Don't get me wrong, being at home is a lot of work, but I am so happy to be with my babies every day and support Aaron as he begins his career.  We have one more hurtle, the BAR!  I know Aaron will do great, but it is a 3 day test, which would be exhausting for anyone.  So, if you think about us, just pray that everything goes well with that.  It is at the end of July (during our 7th wedding anniversary, we will be celebrating double after he is done!)  :)

Leah is such a talkative girl, she babbles A LOT!  She say ya ya, da da, mmm, ga ga, ba ba and more!  She loves people and is so entertained by them.  She is extremely tactile, much more so than Drew.  She notices the tiniest things on the floor and analyses everything on a toy.  Andrew more looked at the entire toy and how it worked, but she looks at every detail.  I love seeing the differences in my two kids.  :)  She has learned how to sit up from a laying position, crawl backwards, and scoots forward.  I have a feeling she will be crawling full fledged any day!  She is already pulling herself to her knees, so who knows, we may have a walker soon after crawling.  She really likes anything that makes lots of noise...probably because she has an older brother who likes to make lots of noise.  She has taken to Drew and absolutely thinks he is hilarious and fun.  She will NOT take mistreatment though!  Anytime he takes and toy or plays too rough, she tells him about it by screaming.  It is a different kind of cry, a cry of injustice.  I already know the difference.  She is going to be a tough cookie, but I guess she doesn't have a choice. :)

Watch out boys, she has an older brother... :)

Andrew is potty training, which is going well.  We began a couple weeks ago and use a sticker chart as motivation.  He likes getting a sticker and putting it on his chart.  He still has accidents, but only about one a day.  I am hoping he will begin to tell me soon.  I think this will help with some of the accidents.

He is such a relational guy and holds his family and friends very close.  He LOVES his grandparents and asks for them daily.  I think he feels special when he is with him.  :)  He is also an encourager, he loves to tell others what a great job they did.  I love this about him and hope it continues.  He also loves tv!  I cant say I love this, but his favorite characters are Mickey Mouse, Elmo, Super Grover, The Count, Dora, and Boots.  I let him watch one show in the morning and one after sissy has gone to sleep (he gets some cuddle time alone with mommy and daddy which he loves).  Andrew is a kiddo who is observant is public and is not too keen on playing with others he doesn't already know.  He has always been this way, just like his daddy.  :)  Once he gets to know you and like you, he is very loyal.  Overall, he is such an awesome boy, with the occasional hitting and saying no.

A little funny story...
He was standing in front of the mirror in his underwear and told me he had a boo boo.  I asked him where it was and he pointed to his nipple.  This made me laugh out loud.  I didn't tell him the name yet because I don't want him going around saying nipple.  Ha Ha!

Handsome boy! :)

We love our babies and are so excited to watch them grow and learn!

Here are our babies with their grandparents...
Lovie and Pop Pops were here to visit from England.  It was so great to have them here.  We all miss them and can not wait to have them back home.

Here they are swimming with Grams and Pawpaw...

Just hanging out at home... WE ARE SO BLESSED WITH BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY AND HAPPY KIDS!!!

Pretty much the cutest kids around... :)