Snow Much Fun!

Dallas hit an all-time record of 12.5 inches of snow! My kids think flurries are pretty cool, but 12+ inches of snow is just incredibly awesome. Here are some pictures of our snow fall on Thursday morning:

The kids were beyond excited to get home from school and play outside! The streets were filled with adult and teenagers alike and all were having a blast. I must say, some kind of bug got me Friday night and I was down and what felt near my death. My body hurt to move! But a mother's job is never done, even when sick, so while my kids (and husband and sister) played in the snow I had the job of laying out towels, handing out snowman gear and getting the fun toys the kids needed for their snow fun. I was okay with that though! I did get some good pictures but definitely could have used plenty more to capture the moment. Here more snow fun pics, including our bowls of snow for snow ice cream:

Poor sweet Colton. He got pegged with a snowball in his face, after which he was immediately done with the snow. He came in, stripped his snow clothes off and didn't go back outside that night. He was so over it! If you look closely you can see snow all over his neck, that poor sweet face almost had me in tears!

We woke up the next morning to see the record-breaking snow fall. I must say, I could not take my eyes of the snow. The scene was so surreal. Everything was covered in snow, everything. It was just beautiful. The kids woke up early and played outside for 4 hours or so and only came in because they were hungry. Sadly, by the time they were warm and ready to head back out the snow was starting to melt some :( It was definitely fun while it lasted though!

Happy 5th Birthday Colton

Which is harder to believe - that my baby has turned 5 or that it has taken me over a month to blog his birthday? Poor kid, that early January birthday is so difficult for me! His birthday happened to fall on a Kids Night Out at work, which I have to work once a month, and he absolutely LOVES this night! So we figured it was the perfect way to celebrate since all his school friends come for the night. We had dinner on his actual birthday night with the family, celebrated with his Pre-K class the next day on Friday and then again Friday night. He certainly wasn't lacking any birthday attention! Here is a picture of us at his school. Love this kid!

Boudoir Pic

I have all my boudoir pictures in my Little Red Book finally! I can't help but look at them each time I see the book. The experience was amazing, the pictures are timeless and the book itself is a treasure. I absolutely love them! Jason hasn't seen the book yet as I am trying to plan an evening to present it to him. Somehow the one night I am wanting to plan just isn't panning out right now. Poor guy knows the book is here and is waiting so patiently. I don't know how he does it, patience is not my virtue! Here is the picture I chose to have for my own personal use; it's about the only picture that is appropriate for the public eye. Thanks again Robin for this wonderful experience, I cannot ever remember a time of truly loving myself as I should and these pictures definitely brought me to appreciate all of me.

My Newest Addition

Meet Olivia, my newest daily addition. Addition, addiction... it's all the same! I haven't had a baby girl to buy for in so long and I don't have any nieces yet! And let me tell you - those baby girl things on clearance at Target call my name. LOUDLY! I've only bought a couple of things but it sure is tempting!! My coworkers and friends remind me often "she's not your baby!" If someone else holds her and she starts to fuss, I immediately take her back. She won't take a bottle for anyone else at work but for me. I sometimes have a hard time controlling myself when I see something she might "need". It's okay to revert back to being the stingy mom that doesn't want anyone to look at or hold her baby!! As a matter of fact, I'm certain her parents are happy to know their sweet baby girl is in the arms of someone who loves her as their own. It's okay for me to buy bows or a cute diaper bag with her name on it. My eyes are set on a way cute pacifier clip with a big "O" on it, I'm just gonna have to have one!

Olivia goes with me to work too. And because she loves only me, I am back in the baby room. Okay, so that's not entirely true. I'm in the room for other reasons, but it sure helps knowing I'm in there already when Olivia only likes me (I assure you, this is not a figment of my imagination). But there is another sweet baby GIRL in there too! This is Olivia's friend and her "twin" on school days. Yes, you guessed it. I like to pretend I have twins =) If I cant have anymore babies and I cant have nieces to spoil daily, then these girls are mine to love on and pretend they are mine. It's been interesting to say the least. It's a daily challenge to make sure they nap at the same time, eat at the same time, play at the same time. But sometimes this doesn't always work out - one may be cutting teeth, another is ready to move up to more ounces in her bottle, one doesn't prefer the same length of nap as the other. And these girls stare at each other when the other one isn't doing what they want them to do. It's very cute to watch them! Little A is 4 weeks younger than Olivia and it's so fun to watch Olivia do something new and sure enough A is doing it a few weeks later. I cant wait to see them interact with each other soon.

I know what you're thinking... that's quite a few pictures for two babies that aren't yours. True statement, but in my defense I send them to their mommies. It gives me an excuse to take pictures =) When I take them on a field trip for a professional photo shoot, then we have a problem! But I assure you I don't have plans to do this. yet.

I love these girls!! Even when they both want to be held all day long, we someone how find a way. That baby sling is a miracle invention!!

Conversation about Pregnancy

Colton: "Mommy, are you or Daddy pregnant here?" [as he points to a picture]
Me: "Daddy's can't have babies, that's you in my tummy."
Colton: "Did I just roll in a ball under your shirt?"
Me: "No baby, you were inside my tummy!"
Colton: "Did you just spit me out? That would be funny [insert boy noises] if you spit me way over there."

At this point I stay silent, not sure whether to correct him about how babies enter the world or to allow his idea of a babies birth to humor me. I opt to hear his version of childbirth! Duh!

Colton runs out of the room to tell Courtnie:
"Mommy had me in her tummy and she spit me out like [insert more boy noises]!"

Wordless Wednesday

Breakfast in Bed

I woke up this morning to three beautiful faces waiting for me to get out of bed. The kids were out of school today so we all had an extra day to sleep in and they were waiting for permission to make their own breakfast. Of course I said YES! The three of them together, without bickering, made cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, toast, fruit and glasses of milk. This is how they brought breakfast to me.

I was shocked - no shells in my eggs, my toast wasn't burnt, my oranges were peeled. Even if I happened to have chomped on something crunchy, I know it would have still been the best breakfast ever. What a great way to start the day together! I love those kiddos!

Hunting Adventures

Cameron took off with my Aunt and Uncle over the holidays and spent 6 days hunting. He has been away for this length of time on various youth trips but this trip seemed especially long for some reason. I was missing him crazy by the time he made it back home. Luckily, my aunt and uncle are also known as paparazzi and sent us pics throughout the entire week of what they were doing. Thanks Aunt Cathie and Uncle Jeff! I really do love picture updates :)

If you know my Cameron, you know he is a man of few emotions. Those few emotions include calm and content, angry and happily joking around. When giving him a gift, you will not know if he loved it or hated it, it's the same reaction. If you ask him a question, you get the answer and nothing more. Very few things get him stirred with joy. These last few months there have two moments we have seen him so excited he literally can not stop moving, smiling or talking. You quickly have to get in his mode of excitement just to keep up! Those two things have been youth group events and hunting.

This sweet baby of mine came home so thrilled at his week's adventures. He talked NON-STOP about all the fun he had. As he talked to us over and over and over again (and over and over) I cried. Seeing emotions spill out of him like that was truly amazing. I called my aunt that night and cried on the phone to her and thanked them for all they provided for Cameron and the memories he'll cherish. He was able to hunt deer, duck and dove in this one week. Here are just a few of my favorite pics:

Merry Christmas

Okay, so I'm a little late with my Christmas post. But give a girl some credit - I've been busy! I have babies to love on, a house to keep clean (or try to anyway), a part time job that is booming, boudoir pictures to take (totally worth consuming my time!), holidays to celebrate, Wii games to play and my sanity to maintain. Something had to give!

On Christmas Eve we traveled up north to visit my dad's side of the family. Okay, so it was only in Allen, TX but they received way more snow than Rowlett did! Here is Courtnie's picture in the snow. The boys wouldn't stand still long enough for us to snap a picture, imagine that!

Christmas was once again incredible. The kids woke up and called us to wake us via Cameron's cellphone. They arrived in the living room to FUN!

Later that morning, my Mom's side of the family came over. Us girls decided to wear matching pj's this year. That was really fun! We should definitely make this a tradition.

Later that day, Jason's mom's side of the family came over. We had a special celebration with Eric, Christy and Abbott being in town. This was our very first EVER Christmas celebration together and it was extremely wonderful. It is so incredibly special when the entire family is together at one time and we cherish every moment with them.

Merry Christmas friends! It is so nice to have a special time of year when families remember their blessings and cherish the moments we have with eachother. I sometimes get caught up in the "wants" of Christmas but I'm quickly reminded on His birth and the reason we celebrate this wonderful tradition. It's an amazing thing to drive home from Christmas Eve services and spend Christmas Day with my children are beginning to ask questions about Jesus' birth and life and what his time here meant to us as followers. Here's to a New Year!

Boudoir Beauty

A few weeks ago a friend of mine posted pics of her boudoir session and I mentioned to a friend how fun that would be. Within days we had decided to take the plunge and schedule pictures! That date came very quickly with nervousness and excitement all at once. When we got there the fun began immediately! Our photographer was awesome! I will say we did spend some time on the internet finding a trustworthy photographer, one that took classy pictures, had a good reputation, and was going to give the best experience. We found her! Thanks Robin! I obviously am not going to post all of the pictures but the few she put on her website are incredible. I still havent seen them all myself, I am patiently waiting, but am super anxious to get them in my hands. I have planned this big presentation to give them to Jason and that idea alone is killing me not to share with him. If you didnt know, I am a terrible secret keeper, especially with my husband. We are best friends and share everything with eachother. But that's another post to come!