A kitchen makeover...

I have wanted to redo my cabinets for some time now and after a crash course in glazing with a new laundry room cabinet I decided to redo the entire kitchen... 6 days later I finally finished.  Whew, it was a lot of work; sanding, priming, painting and glazing.  Maybe a smidge more than I bargained for but don't tell Trip :).  He told me, via text message, that he just didn't think I knew what I was getting myself into.  He might have been right but hey, it turned out great in the end.

We had a few bumps along the way, I thought I might have poisoned myself, did you know that not only did they put lead in paint in the 1960s but they put it in wood varnish.  Who knew?  But after all was said and done the cabinets look great!

FYI... it takes a whole day just to take off the cabinets and put them back on.

Thanksgiving...

We spent Thanksgiving in Austin this year, it was so great to get out of Dallas and hang out with GiGi and Pappa B and the rest of the family.  Linley and Caden spent a lot of time playing outside, luckily, we caught some of it on camera.

2 min photo session... not bad.

the whole crew

On the run!

Who knew a brown box could be so fun?

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween... we sure did!  Trip was a little late unfortunately, issues with the heater, but he made it just in time for the trick or treating!

As usual, we headed over to Shelley & Gabe's house to partake in turkey chili and cornbread before embarking on our evening of Trick or Treating in their neighborhood.  This year, instead of a hayride we had a wagon trail!  Lots of little ones who needed a ride!  Caden wasn't too thrilled about his lion headdress  but after a little distraction with car keys he completely forgot about it,  Linley on the other hand was a trouper, her hoodie never bothered her a bit.

Our little lion

Our little lamb

Most of the kiddos on the wagon ride

Sarah, Adam and Emma

Kelli, Chris and Jenner

Shelley, Gabe, Nancy, Quinn and Bennett

One full weekend!

This past weekend we headed to Houston for a wedding... Originally our plan was to stay with Byron and Sherry and visit Cason & Ashtyn.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out exactly as we planned... we still stayed at Byron & Sherry's but the Wilkinson's were in Dallas for their annual fair trip so we just borrowed their house.  It was really sweet of them and made it so much easier for Trip and I to bring the babies down without having to worry about hotel challenges.  It was really a fun weekend and the kiddos did very well with the car rides... the stroller ride was a different story.

** Weak stomach advisory... read the next paragraph at your own risk.

Poor Linley Grace didn't seem like she felt well Saturday morning, she was really fussy and kept wanting to sit on mommy's lap (I love that when you become a parent you can talk about yourself in the third person and it doesn't seem weird... or does it?).  MM and I decided to take the kiddos on a walk to pass the time until their morning nap, about a 1/3 of a mile into the walk I heard a weird noise and looked down to see Linley Grace throwing up, and I mean throwing up... it was like a fountain that just kept coming.  Yuck.  I ended up stripping her down on the side of the road and carrying her home in a blanket.  Poor Caden, he was such a trouper.  He rode all the way home covered in throw up and was such a good sport about it.  It took 2 full stroller "baths" to get the strawberry yogurt smell out.  None-the-less, she spent the rest of the day avoiding food (which I don't blame her); she stuck with saltines, bananas, mum mums and peanut butter crackers.

I have a uneasy feeling that she may have a sensitivity to milk because the last few throw ups have come after she has finished her milk bottle, which she hardly does.  Let you know what the doctor thinks later this week, they have their 15 month check up!

I am sticking with crackers mom!

I am tired, take me home.

Holden's Birthday Party

Last weekend Caden & Linley's friend Holden turned one!  We had a busy Saturday, 2 birthday parties and the Tech game over at Kelli & Chris'.  It was a long day but the kiddos did really well!

Oh, and Caden is finally walking!!!!  He has taken up to 8 or so steps by himself!

Happy Birthday Holden!

Courtney helping Caden push the chair around
at Kelli & Chris' house.  Go Tech!

September Updates

Our sweet little babies are 14 months old!  Linley Grace is walking up a storm, more walking than crawling now!  Caden still could care less although I am seeing him stand up on his own more and more.

They both have more teeth!  Linley Grace has 2 molars and Caden has 1 bicuspid that has come in.  Makes them a bit grouchy on occasion though.

The kiddos enjoyed their first trip to Oktoberfest in Addison this year!  We had a great time with Bennett and Quinn... they were crawling, walking and running all over the grass with one another.  Caden really enjoyed the music, he kept crawling to the stage to watch the singers and lights.  We thought they might dose off when the started getting tired but no such luck, they ended up staying away until almost 11 am... luckily, they slept a little later the next morning!  I will say, it was definitely a different experience for mom and dad though... not quite like it used to be.

We are so close...

To walking!  I can't believe it... they are both standing up on their own and pushing the toy cars all by themselves.  I can just see Linley thinking about taking a step every time she stands on her own... those wheels are turning!  I can't believe we are about to have Toddlers!  It goes so fast.

Caden pushing his car.

Linley clapping and playing "peek-a-boo".

Cabo 2011

Just thought I would share a few fun pics from our trip to Cabo 3 weeks ago with our dear friends the Simdons and the Bachmans.  We had a fantastic time, it was just the right amount of days... we were all very happy to come home by day 5.  We stayed at this amazing hotel on the pacific side of Cabo, the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica.  It was beautiful and the food was great!  I don't think it was supposed to be a "party" hotel but we met a group of people from Marshall, TX and turned it in to one.

there is always at least one of these... Chris, you are
so cute!

The Office

We are one!!!!

I can't believe it is already come and gone, the twins turned 1on July 6th!  It is truly amazing how quickly the time has flown by... 1 year ago we were in the NICU watching our early birds grow and now they are healthy 1 year olds.  Linley Grace is weighing in at 17.3 lbs (5th percentile), and 27 3/4" (10th percentile) while Caden measured 19.6 lbs (10th percentile) and 28" (10th percentile).  They are semi eating table food... Linley will eat anything you put in front of her and Caden will eat some of what you put in front of him if he feels like it.  We still eat a little bit of baby food and we are drinking 50/50 whole milk and formula... Linley Grace thought she liked the whole milk for 2 days and then changed her mind so we had to move to the 50/50... soon we will try the 75/25 and then hopefully we will be on to 100% whole milk.  Such big kids!  They are also amazing furniture cruisers... Linley is even trying her hand at standing on her own.

Caden LOVES his daddy... much to the dismay of all others in the room who he refuses to be held by if daddy is around.  Thank goodness Trip is gone in the mornings or Caden would never come see me.  Linley Grace on the other hand is definitely a mommy's girl... thank goodness one of them is on my side!

We had a first birthday celebration the following weekend with family and a few close friends.  We had a great time, amazing how much entertainment can come from a few blow up pools in the back yard.