Random

I found these pictures that I took but hadn't posted. Lilly loves to swing! In fact, we now have two toddler swings because sharing one swing just was not going well. Lilly now has a "pink one"...I put it in quotation marks because she always says she wants the "pink one".

This particular day, she put her baby in the swing...

and then proceeded to "pooooooshhh" her.

Miss Sassy Britches

There is that sweet smile.

Reid just loves to carry his plastic golf clubs all over the yard.

He is a happy guy!

He is pointing at everything these days and jabbering up a storm. He actually says lots of words--not just jabber-talk! Sunday, just he and I went to church and he "sang" the whole way there. OHMYGOSH it was the sweetest sound.

These two are playing together a lot lately. Lilly is also starting to be a little bit meaner and Reid is starting to fight back. We are really working on loving each other, sharing, and being sweet. We will get there! I just love this picture.

And, because Tank is just plain blog-neglected, here is a picture of Tank. Those of you who had smelled him recently will be happy to know he finally got a bath!

Bible Study

Well-I fell behind on blogging about my bible study and we have our last meeting tomorrow. So, I decided everyday I would just blog a couple of main points that way the posts wouldn't get too long or cover too much material. Normally I will just attach it to the bottom of my regular post but since I already did one this will stand on it's own. TMI already so here we go!

1. I may have already mentioned this first one...I can't remember...but I think this is key not only in dealing with the hubby but in ALL relationships and situations. So, in other words, it is worth repeating either way.

• Phillipians 4:8 says, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise--DWELL ON THESE THINGS. (Your bible might not have the last phrase in all caps. (c:)

There you have it folks-God tells you to be optimistic! In all seriousness, most times you have a choice to either focus on the positive and praiseworthy or to focus on the negative. For example, say the handsome hubby watches the kids so the frazzled mommy can get out of the house. The mommy has a great time while relaxing and just not being needed for a short amount of time. Upon returning home, she sees that the hubby and children are safe and happy BUT the house looks like an F5 tornado hit it and there isn't a clean anything left. You have two options--focus on the happy, healthy hubby and kids and the fact that you had a night to relax OR focus on the messy/disaster of a house. (FYI Menfolk--this doesn't mean that you need to destroy the house just to give us womenfolk the opportunity to take the high road. I'm just sayin'.)

2. Always be building your guy up. (Again, this works with all other relationships as well--who doesn't want to be built up??)

• Try not to speak negatively to your husband. Now, my husband is perfect so I don't have this struggle. (Matt, please note my suck-up points and add them to my total. Thank you.) However, if he wasn't, I could tell you that this is one way in which the Lord is revealing to me that I could trust in Him (the Lord) more. He (the Lord) has tried to reveal to me that I don't have to tell Matt every little thing he isn't doing perfectly (again, totally hypothetical). One-because I don't want someone pointing out every "mistake" I make. But, two, and more importantly, because Matt is capable of figuring things out and God is capable of revealing it to him if need be.
• Try to purposely find something praiseworthy in your man everyday and then tell him!
• Don't talk negatively about your husband to others--catch yourself and then brag on him instead!

That is all for today! I know what you are thinking--is it possible to do all of this perfectly?? From my experience....nope. I mess up several times every single day. BUT I am trying and improving and I know that it will take a while for it to become natural habit and even then...well, let's just say that Matt didn't marry "the perfect wife". (c:

Happy Monday!!

I will be posting more this week...and probably today...but I just wanted to get a "quick fix" in for the grandparents! They are probably already experiencing "withdrawals". Haha. So I am just putting up a couple of smiling pictures of my cuties to start the week off right! Hope everyone has a great week!!

OOPS! My Friends!

Okay--I am going to blame it on having one/possible two sick kids...but I totally forgot to mention my AWESOME friends for setting up a Girl's Dinner to celebrate my birthday!! I am SO SORRY ladies! I love you all and really appreciate you guys taking the time out of your busy lives to show me some love and spend some time with me fpr my birthday! Had a blast!!

My Happy Birthday!

Monday was my 28th birthday! I had a GREAT birthday! First of all, this was my first "facebook" birthday...sah-weet! So many birthday messages sure makes a girl feel loved! My cousin Rachel called me and said that she was taking her 3 year old twins over to see my Grandma Odie and wanted to know if I wanted to meet her over there. I had been meaning to take the kids to see her so I told her we were on our way. Grandma surprised me with lunch and a cake!! It was her special strawberry cake with strawberry icing. OH MY! It was definitely a birthday treat!

Plus, the kids enjoyed spending some time playing together.

Matt came home and helped me get the kids down for naps because he is super sweet like that.

Then for dinner we went to Red Robin because they sent me a birthday burger and I am all about the savings these days! It was yummy!

My handsome hubby and I....I was printing some photos recently and realized that we were not in any of them. Haha. So, I had the waitress take this one.

Since I went on my actual birthday, they brought me a birthday sundae too. Lilly ate most of it....in fact, she might have insisted that it was "mine!".

Reid, on the other hand, preferred drinking water....I should have known he was sick then. I took him to the doctor Tuesday after naps and it turns out he has the hand, foot, and mouth virus. He is feeling much better today! And Lilly still hasn't gotten it....pray that she doesn't get it either please.

I was so blessed by so many sweet friends and family members with calls, messages, cards, and gifts. Matt and the kids got me the stuff in the picture above. I was SO IMPRESSED by their thoughtfulness--I LOVE LOVE LOVE it all! Matt noticed that my hog t-shirts were too big so he got me some new ones. He also picked up on the fact that I really enjoyed wearing the jewelry that I borrowed from my sister and mom to go to Dallas so he let the kids pick out some jewelry for me--a necklace, earrings, and a bangle. I cleaned out the car really good last week so he got me a new air freshener. Then, I am always complaining about how heavy my purse is on Sundays between both of our bibles, both bags for the kids, and other purse junk so he got me a small bible and a highlighter specially made for bibles. Oh, and Lilly picked out the brown fleece jacket for me. Do I have the best husband and kids or what??

While I was taking a picture of their gifts Lilly kept saying "cheese" and then I went to take the picture and she held the baby up and said "baby cheese". So here it is!

Then, Bubby walked in and said "cheese" for the first time and we got this one too! All of this picture taking is paying off!! Thank you so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! I felt so special and loved all day long!!

Reid's First Haircut

Well...Lilly has never had a haircut...so even though I have two babies, I had my first child's hair cut yesterday. I have been putting it off--I wanted it done but I just couldn't make myself make the actual appointment. Luckily for Reid, my friend Brittney cuts my hair so she suggested that we just come over to her house so she could cut it one night. The front of his hair is still growing in so it didn't really need much cutting....

The back, on the other hand, had turned into an official mullet. I think my sister had secretly started calling him Billy Ray Cyrus behind my back. I can't prove it-just a hunch.

Here we go! His hair is all wet and ready to be cut. For the fun sake of pictures, she styled it into a mohawk as she wet it down. As I suspected, Reid could even look handsome in a mohawk.

In the chair with his toys--he is ready!

Action shot of the first "cut".

He was SO GOOD. He just played and ate some yogurt melts!

Starting to take shape...some mentioned looking like a "little boy" instead of a baby but I refuse to agree with that statement. (c:

Almost done!

Checking out the finished product. Yep-still as handsome as ever! Since he had hair on him, we decided to just bathe him over there. Reid and Cruz played with the toys in the tub...I am not sure either one of them realized the other one was in there too.

Lilly, on the other hand, noticed that they were in the bath and she wasn't. She wanted in on the bath tub action to...

and she pretty much gets what she wants. Haha. We had a great "first hair cut" experience. Thanks Brittney!

Pictures and Dallas

I figured I couldn't do a post without some pictures of my cuties. Today I took the kids outside and snapped a few photos. They turned out so good! Again-my cup runeth over!

Handsome!

I think this picture captures his sweetness.

This is my favorite one of Reid--like a dream picture!

Sooo laid back.

Literally saying "cheeeeeeesssseee".

Precious!

Laid back. Our family has no problem getting "comfy".

LOVE this one. You can just tell she livens up a room, can't you?

The money shot! We are soooo blessed!

Dallas weekend recap: Since Matt and the kids left on Thursday and we didn't leave for Dallas until Friday--I had a night to myself. That sounds nice but I kind of didn't know what to do and didn't want to be at home alone so I called my friend Sydney and we went to see her husband Tom's "performance" in a local gridiron production. It was funny! Then, my mom and Ray had made it into town by the time I got home. Good times and good timing!

My mom and sister came over to help me get ready for my trip. They put together cute outfits and jewelry and shoes so that I looked presentable while I was out! It was nice to be pampered for a little while before I left!! It was also nice to spend a little bit of adult time with my mom and my sister--it isn't often that we get to hang out without being distracted by our little cuties. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE those little distractions but every once in a while it is nice to be able to give someone else full focus.

We got to Dallas just in time to have a later dinner Friday night. Debbie surprised me and my cousins with tickets to the Arkansas vs Texas A&M game!! We were SO EXCITED to be able to get to go. The game was at the Dallas Cowboy's stadium (AWESOME) so it was an extra special treat! I don't think there is a bad seat in that place!! I kept texting Matt pictures and he said I was just rubbing it in--I just wanted him to feel like he was there. Hehehe.

Rachel, Michelle (or Chel-Chel to me), Debbie, and me all geared up for the game!

The Razorbacks taking the field!

Ryan Mallet getting serious...

Celebration after the first touchdown!! Go HOGS!! Wooooo pig sooiee!

And the extra point is good too! This was a fun game to be at because Arkansas fans are INTO the game and Texas Aggie fans are INTO the game...the stadium was LOUD.

In the end, the razorbacks WON 24-17. WAHOO! That made the game that much more fun to be at!! Thanks again Debbie--we had a blast!!!

After the game, we headed back to the Condo to get ready to go to dinner. Aunt Theresa game both Rachel and my hair some serious POOF.

All the girls! Michelle, Rachel, Debbie, Oksana, Theresa, me, Cindy. We ate at a yummy Mexican place. Then we headed to the Ritz Carlton (over-rated). Some of the girls went dancing but I am an old fuddy dud and went to the Condo and went to bed.

The next morning we all got up and went and had a DELICIOUS brunch. This was mine...OMGOSH. Delicious.

Rachel got their "french toast" and she was sweet enough to share--it was SO GOOD too. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed the girl time and bonding with my family but I was also so ready to get home and see my husband and babies!!