Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Birthday Party

My original thoughts about Eli and Landon's first birthday party were: we'll have a small family party and keep it simple. That didn't last long. So my next thoughts were: This is a really big deal and I'm going to celebrate as big as I want to. So that's what we did.

If you know me, you might know that I really like to plan things. So, I had a lot of fun getting ready for this party.

The invitations:






I made a birthday banner (that is still hanging up by the way...I'm not quite done celebrating):











I made the boys some t-shirts (even though they ended up wearing other ones I had ordered):




I made the centerpieces:




I made cupcake toppers to go in each of the cupcakes:



And Dustin made me this cupcake stand. He spent a lot of time on this and I love it!



The party hats (that they didn't wear...what was I thinking?)



Eva came in Thursday afternoon and we baked/decorated/cleaned/cooked all day and night on Friday. I had the best time!

We had mostly family here on Saturday. Dustin's family all came up from Iraan and Midland and my family came from McKinney. We had a few special people from church drop by. We were so blessed to have so many people help us celebrate Eli and Landon's first year of life.

The sad news is, once the party started, I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was so distracted. Eva did, so I'll have to get some from her. Here's what I have though:

 Opening gifts:


This is the leather jacket Nana and Papa got for the boys.


Eating cake:









Landon
 


Eli


Hanging out with Aunt Katelyn after the party.


Grammy, Kate, Madison, Eli, and Landon Sunday morning


What a fun weekend!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Dear Eli and Landon,

These past few weeks, as your birthday has been approaching, I have done a lot of reflecting on and remembering of the last year of our lives. I think about the shock and excitement and fear we felt when we learned of your very existence. I think of the worry and hours spent in prayer when we thought you were in trouble. I think of the heartache we felt as we dealt with our reality hundreds of miles apart. I think of the excitement and happiness we felt as we prepared for your arrival. I think of the thousands of people that prayed for us and it humbles me with gratitude.

And then I think about this very night one year ago. I laid in the hospital bed waiting for the night to pass, knowing of your arrival in the morning. I think of the next morning how I sobbed and sobbed in fear of the unknown and how your dad and I prayed together that you would be okay.

And then I remember your cries as you entered the world and how I sobbed even harder because if you could cry, that meant you could breathe and I've never been so relieved. I barely got to lay eyes on you as they whisked you away to the NICU...our home for the next 26 days. I remember leaving the hospital in tears most nights because I couldn't stand to be away from you.

But most of all, I remember the joy I felt when we finally got to bring you home. We were together as a family at last and I can't remember a time I have ever been happier. There is a peace and contentment that I cannot explain that comes from the rise and fall of your chest on mine.

I almost always end up in tears when I think of the rough start we had. It is a flood of emotions that just overwhelms me. I think of you both now and the indescribable blessings you bring to our lives and it is a sobering thought to think that you might not have been. I just can't imagine life without you. I love you so deeply it hurts.

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory..." - Ephesians 3:20-21

God has certainly blessed us beyond our imagining and we give Him glory for the way he has worked in our lives.

Thank you for the immense joy you bring to us every single day. Happy birthday my sweet boys.

All my love,
Momma




 

 






Monday, October 5, 2009

A Little Randomness

We've really had quite a bit going on lately.

For starters...last Thursday, October 1st, Eli and Landon got their first haircut. A friend of ours helped me cut it and taught me how as she did it. The boys did great. They weren't scared and they didn't cry. It's amazing how much older they look without that mullet that was developing.

Eli




Landon


That same day, we also had the first of several birthday parties. The Posey family won't be here for the boys' birthday, so they brought a party to us Thursday. They brought chocolate cupcakes for everyone and a big present for the boys. Eli and Landon got bubbles, bubble bath, new books, John Deere tractors, and a big bouncy ball! It was so sweet of them to help us celebrate!

Here are the boys enjoying their very first cupcakes:

Landon



Eli


I think they liked it!


We are officially into our birthday week. I'm really struggling with the reality that my babies are one year old. This time is just passing too quickly.

Here are a few other pictures from that last week:







 

Monday, September 28, 2009

Football, Gas Gages, and Mystery Appearances



I haven’t written a blog in a while so for your entertainment and pleasure, you get a different perspective of how things really run around here. 

Football
The boys went to their first football game this past Friday night and there’s no better way to start your football career than to see your dad’s high school football team, the Iraan Braves, put a whoopin’ on their opponents (my apologies to any Forsan fans out there).  It was a blow out.  I got to show off the boys to some of my old friends back home and Eli & Landon got a little taste of West Texas culture and how high school football should be played.  Maybe someday we can go back to Amy’s home town and they can see… well we just won’t go there.


Pa-Pa going over the wishbone formation with Landon


 
Nana asking Eli what just happened


 
This may seem uneventful to some but it is a proud moment for me.


 
Eli in the hands of the Braves Head Manager after the game.  
Easy Lance that's not a water bottle your squeezing!



Gas Gages

A few weeks ago we were going to my old roommate and friend’s wedding in Bowie, Texas.  As we passed through Roby, the first town on the way, the low fuel warning signal came on and gave us how many miles until we were empty.  I did some quick calculations and came to the conclusion that we were safe to keep driving on to Anson, where I was sure gas would be a few cents cheaper, so I could save a total of at least 20 cents when I filled up.  Besides the gas gage was still showing a quarter of a tank so the computer had to be mis-calculating.


Amy wasn’t happy with my decision to keep going and her unhappiness came to a high when our car rolled to a stop seven miles outside of Anson for lack of the liquid fuel.  We sat in that spot for the next two hours calling everyone that you could call.  Many cars passed by, none willing to stop, one of which was a police officer.  Finally we received aid from the Anson police department and were able to get on the road.  Now the bad thing about this situation is that Amy was able to add a mark on her “You’re stupid and you should have listened to me” account and could use this against me when making any kind of simple decision.  It is a long account, and this one is worth at least 100 points.


But don’t worry, since the occasion Amy has ran out of gas twice and she even knew about the problem.  At least I can claim ignorance.  Luckily our car is still under warranty and so Amy took the car into Midland Friday to get it fixed, boys in tow.  Nana (my mom) met her there and they spent the day in Midland.  They went to the park, I’m sure they went shopping, and they actually went to a movie.  So Friday was a busy day for the boys… football, park, and first movie at the theater.   Too bad it was a chick flick, and from what I hear it was a bad one at that.  Better luck next time boys.


 Eli and Landon at the park... or a park


Mystery Appearances

Some mornings I wake up and beside me, or really right up against me, will be a warm, little body.  When he got there I don’t know.  How he got there I do know or at least I thought I did.  For the past week the boys I have been kind of under the weather and have been waking up and staying awake at night, coughing and crying, especially Eli.  For this reason the boys have been ending up in bed with us.  Needless to say, Amy and I did not get much sleep this week and so by Saturday night we were both exhausted to say the least.  So when I woke this morning there was the little warm body next to me and I don’t remember when he got there.  So I asked Amy “When did you get Eli?”  “I didn’t,” she replied.  I responded “Oh, that’s amazing.  Last night He learned to crawl out of his crib, find his way through the dark, and crawled into our bed which he can’t reach the top of.”  “ That can’t be right,” she said, “if he crawled from his room to ours he would have stopped in the bathroom and unrolled all the toilet paper.”

That left me with only one other option.  Amy slept walked and got Eli and put him in bed with us.  Then I began to wonder how many times has this happened and if there was any reason for them to be in bed with us at all?  What if she was dreaming that one of them was crying and got up and brought them back to our bed in her sleep when they were actually sleeping soundly and most important quietly? Some of you may think that this might sound a little crazy but anyone who knows Amy well might just go along with it.

Well I guess there could be one other option.  I could have been so tired that I don’t remember getting up and getting the little guy myself but I don’t think that is likely.  So how Eli got in bed with us is still not known and so goes under the TM file… Twin Mystery file.

Here are some extra random pictures. The weather here has been beautiful and the boys love to be outside.





Wednesday, September 16, 2009

11 Months

I am going to go ahead and apologize now becuase I am totally suffering from complete nostalgia these days as we approach the big first birthday. I'll try to keep the emotionally loaded posts to a minimum, but I make no promises. 
Each month, I like to go back to the previous year's pictures to see what we were up to a year ago. Here's what I found...
Now excuse me while I break for a moment of silence and say a prayer of thanksgiving that I'm not in that state right now.
Okay...moving on. We've been busy (do you ever get sick of hearing that?) We've been out of town a lot on the weekends, I've been getting ready for Eli and Landon's first birthday party, we've been teaching Bible classes, and as if we weren't busy enough...I decided to have a garage sale last weekend. It was my first garage sale ever, so I of course had the camera out to document the blessed event.
We kicked off the day with a big box of doughnuts. Matt and Dustin ran a "Daddy Day-Care" inside (which ended up outside most of the morning) while Eva, Sabra, and I did our best to rid ourselves of a LOT of junk. We talked, laughed, people-watched, and begged people to buy something. It was actually a lot of fun and we made a few dollars in the midst of it. Not bad. I'm already searching the house for more junk to sell at the next one.
It was fun while it lasted, but I sure was glad when it was over.

If you keep track of things like this...you might have noticed that my babies are now in their 11th month. Here are a few things for the record book.

Eli
*Eli has become quite the snuggler lately. He will just burrow himself deep into your neck/shoulder and tuck his arms underneath himself. It's enough to make me sigh with great contentment.

*Until...he bites my shoulder. That is his other latest and greatest trick. I have convinced myself that he means it with the utmost love. He thinks he's giving me a kiss. But it's not a kiss. It's a full-fledged bite, complete with redness, swelling, and teeth marks afterwards. He doesn't do it to anyone else - that's why I'm certain it's meant as a communication of love just for me. And that's why I'm having a hard time breaking this new habit :)

* Eli has a temper. He and Landon are now discovering the joys of sharing and Eli is NOT a fan. When Landon takes a toy away from Eli, he immediately turns bright red and spirals downward into a fit of anger. It's not amusing. Especially when it's in public. Ugh.
*Eli has learned to blow kisses and I think it.is.absolutely.precious.

*Eli is standing on his own, taking about 5-6 steps at a time, and has mastered the sit to squat to stand move. He just seems too little for all of this. His biggest problem with walking is that he would rather run and he's in too big of a hurry most of the time.

*This happened several weeks ago, but just for the record...Eli ate a scorpian tail. He survived.



Landon
*Landon is just a little more vocal than Eli and he really seems to be trying to make words. We work on "thank-you" a lot and I really think I hear him trying to say it. He says "dad, mom, bye, hi, and uh-oh" on a regular basis, but I've also heard him say boot and thank-you.


*Landon is a little better at sharing...or at least he doesn't get quite as upset about it. He might fight for a toy for a few minutes, but he is usually content to just move onto something else. He's such a sweetie.

*Landon is also taking about 5-6 steps at a time, standing up on his own, and doing the whole squat/stand thing. He's a little more steady on his feet than Eli mostly because he's a little more patient.

*Landon has also gotten a little more lovey and clingy, which I LOVE. I was beginning to think that they could just take me or leave me most of the time, but they are giving a lot more hugs and even kisses sometimes too.
Both Eli and Landon love bath time, eat like champs, give high-fives, have a lot of fun in Bible class, would rather sleep in our bed than their own, and bring a tremendous amount of joy to me and Dustin.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Happy Birthday Grammy!

We were able to go to Dallas for the long weekend to help Grammy celebrate her 50th birthday. We spent all day Saturday hanging out, watching movies, and cooking. Saturday night we had a small family party for mom, ate a big meal, played dominoes, had cake and homemade ice cream, and just enjoyed being together.







The rest of the weekend was just laid back and really enjoyable! We had such a good time.


Friday, September 4, 2009

He Growls

Eli has growled from very early on.

Now...he does it on command.



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