A busy couple of months!!

Well, I am WAY overdue for a blog update, the past 2 months have been crazy busy. After coming home from our extended stay in OKC, we had a 2nd birthday celebration with Daddy at home. I made chocolate cupcakes that Shelby very much enjoyed....as did Daddy & I. Oh the sacrifices we'll make for our children. :) We did a little birthday shopping with gift cards & money she received and bought her a slide for the house. She LOVES this thing and calls it her "happy birthday slide". She & Abby have had a ton of fun on it. She also got a baby stroller from Abby, which she LOVES. She loads it up with as many stuffed animals, dolls, and blankets that she can and pushes it all over the house. It's really quite funny because animals will fall off it and she'll look at them like "hey, where do you think you're going?"; then picks them right back up and shoves them back in the stroller. I always think of the movie "Toy Story" and wonder if her animals & dolls complain at night when she's asleep about how she treats them. HA!
At her 2-year checkup in August, she was still on the high end of the charts! She was 32.6 lbs and almost 37 inches tall. She got a flu shot and one finger prick, but didn't cry. I was so surprised! I expected at least a few tears, but she just took it and moved on. I bought her some Lightning McQueen stickers afterwards as a reward. I went away for a scrapbooking weekend retreat and after a weekend with Daddy, came home to find my daughter all about Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train. HA! Drew is determined to make her a car chick yet! Drew also took her to the zoo that weekend on the DART rail ~ I thought that was very ambitious of him to take her by himself. They had a lot of fun and she enjoyed petting stingrays and running all over the place. Daddy was pretty tired. :)

In September, Shelby started preschool at our church. She did well, no tears just a tight hug around Mom's neck. She settled in quickly and after just a couple of weeks was running into the class and just leaving me behind at the door. She talks about her teacher a lot and wakes up most days saying "go to school". She seems to be enjoying it and I am working at making it a productive use of my time as well ~ I've been able to do a few things for my church, take care of appts. and my bible study time. Need to get motivated to do some house projects, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe soon. :) We also went to California to visit Drew's family and go to his cousin's wedding. Shelby was the flower girl and had a great time participating. We were pretty hesitant about it, we thought she was just too young. (I think kids under 5 are risky!! Never know what they might do!) But we got there early enough to practice with her a few times and she walked down the aisle with Dawn's nephew, Richard, who was 9,so he guided her along. It was funny though when she would drop some of the petals out of her basket, she'd stop to pick them back up. She stood up front with the bridesmaids and was still the whole time. We breathed big sighs of relief afterwards! Shelby also loved the ocean ~ she thought the waves were so fun! We also went back to Oklahoma last month to visit everyone and enjoy "A Day out with Thomas". Oh my goodness, were Shelby & Mason excited. They had SO much fun. Shelby got a Thomas tattoo and we checked out all the booths (they had storytelling, DVDs showing, etc.). Nana bought them each a t-shirt and a few other souvenirs. Then we went on a real train ride ~ They had Thomas hooked up to the OKC railway cars. It was a really fun day, well worth it.

Let's see, other than all our activities, we have been spending time at home enjoying football, playing outside (it's such perfect weather now!) and just adjusting to these phases that come with age 2! I can see it is going to be a challenging year, but also really fun. I so enjoy Shelby talking and the funny things she'll say & do. About 2 weeks ago, she woke up early on a Fri. I tried laying her in bed with me but she didn't go back to sleep; just read a few books, then went to the kitchen and climbed in her high chair. I got up and asked if she could have some cheerios in a snack cup and come back to bed, just for a few minutes. She cocked her head to the side, looked up at me and said "How about breakfast." Very emphatic and sounded like a teenager telling her Mom "Whatever". I had to laugh though, and realized that nope, she was up and she wanted breakfast, so I'd better get with it.....and just get the coffee going. :) She still repeats much of what we say, and lately has started asking actual questions. "Who is that?, Where is Abby going?" She is also singing songs, which is so sweet to hear. She sings 'Jesue Loves Me', 'Wheels on the Bus', 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' and her ABC's. She gets all the letters from Q-Z, but up to Q is a little mixed up. But as I've learned thus far with every age/stage, with all the fun & joys, there come the challenges & frustrations too. You Moms know of what I am speaking about. Shelby's napping is pretty inconsistent these days ~ in fact, many days she is just not sleeping during naptime. She usually sleeps at school, but when at home, it just depends. I still put her down for rest time, and if she sleeps, she sleeps; otherwise, she just plays in there or looks at her books. As long as she's not crying, I just let her be. I hope she will get back to sleeping consistently because you can tell she still needs it ~ the days she doesn't sleep, she is pretty cranky by evening time and usually ends up going to bed early (7-7:30). We're also seeing more of the acting out when she doesn't get what she wants, saying "mine" all the time, very possessive with certain toys. She's been in some timeouts lately for discipline; the first couple of times she didn't quite get it, in fact didn't seem phased by it. But now she does, she knows what it means and she doesn't like it. Her Dr. gave me some good guidelines on discipline, so we're trying it where needed. I will say, being a mother is by far more difficult than my previous job. Negotiating with a 2-year old is much harder than with developers and business people that are unhappy with the project. :)

Well that is just about it for us here ~ we are looking forward to the OU/TX game this weekend and going to Tulsa in a couple of weeks to cheer on Uncle Russ at his bbq competition. Other than that, we're just waiting on the fall weather and enjoying the gorgeous sunshine we have now. Hope everyone is doing well!!

Petting stingrays @ the zoo w/Daddy.

1st day of preschool ~ would NOT look at the camera of course.


Swimming in the ocean in Carlsbad, CA.




I'd better just look under here, make sure everything's ok.

Gettin' my Thomas tattoo!

There's Thomas!!!


I took several pictures and this was the only one where they both were looking at me.

It is SO hard to get them to be still for a picture!!
Wearing their "Thomas" shirts. Aren't Mason's boots too cute??! He is a real country boy! :)

Returned home from OKC

Shelby & I have returned from OKC where we've been the past few weeks visiting & helping care for Papa post knee replacement surgery. Shelby had a great time playing with Mason, they really seem to enjoy each other's company, chasing each other and spinning around being silly. She also loved spending time with Granny & checking in on Papa, sometimes going over and holding his hand (which he thought was very sweet). Dad is doing great with his recovery, so we headed back home this week. While we were there, Shelby had her 2nd birthday. I took her & Mason to a water park for some fun, and then on that Sat. we celebrated, opening presents & having some "Happy Birthday Cake" as Shelby would say. She really liked the cake this year, in fact ate all of Uncle Russ' piece so he had to get a whole new one! We thought she'd just scam a bite or two, but oh no, she ate the WHOLE thing by herself. Then she was on a sugar high for the next hour; needless to say we went to bed a bit later that night, but she went down easily, she was one tired little girl. We celebrated again this week with Daddy when we got home; he couldn't be in OK for her birthday, so darn we had do it again and have more cake. The sacrifices she'll make for us. :) We also had her 2-yr pictures made while we were there; Kellie has a friend who just opened her own studio. I've posted a ton of pictures to catch up, enjoy!!

Could someone tell Shelby to stop squeezing me so tight?!?!

Mason trying to push down the water; he was laughing so much!

Oh, I think water got all in my eye!!

After cousin John Matt's wedding ~ goldfish are a good bribe to be still. :)

Take a BIG bite!!

Hmmm, chocolate cake is yummy-yum!

Checkin' out my new chair from Granny ~ perfect for football watching!

Going grocery shopping in my robe!

Playin' in my tent from Papa! I love getting in it & watching some Olympics!

Summer Fun

Well time has really gotten away from me....these summer days are just a flyin' by. We've been pretty busy and it's hard to believe that July is already here. In May we went to the annual Git R Done camping trip and had a lot of fun ~ it was also more tiring than I realized it would be. Shelby & Mason were constantly exploring....I think Kellie & I walked a few miles that weekend following them around and ensuring they did not get hurt. It was pretty hot, so napping was a challenge but they slept ok at night. I think it might've been better to wait another year, but all in all it was fun. Shelby really loved Kim's boat, she'd say "Speedboat, FAST!". We came home and set up Shelby's kiddie pool in the backyard ~ boy does she love that! She likes to sit on the side and fall backwards into it. She loves to play with her fishing pole & wear her sunglasses that Uncle Russ got her. She's putting quite a bit of words together to make small sentences and has been counting to 2. We're working on 3 & 4 ~ sometimes she'll have 3 animals in her arms but she'll count to 4. :) Oh so fun to see how they learn. She does quite a bit of imaginary play, offering her stuffed animals drinks of her sippy cup, putting her baby dolls & animals to sleep (she'll line them up on the couch and cover them with blankets). We've also entered that "fun" (and I use that term lightly) first adolescence known as the terrible two's. I realize with each new phase there is as much fun as there are challenges. Shelby has been really clingy with me lately, something I didn't experience much when she was younger like most babies do, so that's been a challenge. It's gotten better the past week, so hopefully we're coming out of that. Some days are tougher than others because there's a few meltdowns for no apparent reason although I know to her there is a reason. I just try to remain calm & remind myself she's just growing up and eventually will learn how to control her emotions better. Yea, well some days that's easier than others ~ sometimes I need a time out. :)

I worked in vacation bible school this year and took Shelby with me ~ I was assigned to the nursery/preschool class and boy was she jealous of the other babies in the nursery if I was holding them. That surprised me since she has never been jealous of Abby, but guess it was because she didn't know these kids. We've been going to the park a lot, Shelby really loves going down the slide & doing the swings. There is one near the house that has shade, which is really nice. Today we went to a water park where there are fountains and that was a lot of fun. Other than all our playtime, I've been keeping busy working as the facilitator of our meals ministry at church It has been really good for me ~ a great way to use my project management skills in the Lord's ministry. I'm really enjoying it and back to doing spreadsheets & all that fun, organizational stuff that I love! Drew is keeping busy with work, especially busy this week checking up on surrounding towns & their explosives for the big holiday. At the end of July, Shelby & I are headed to Oklahoma for a few weeks when Papa has knee replacement surgery and then the kiddos' birthdays coming up too. A busy July & August ahead of us too. Hope everyone is doing well ~ I know I wrote way too much, we were so behind!

Why wear just one hat when two is clearly better!

Doin' some work, gotta move these animals!

Mason & Shelby hangin' w/Papa at camping trip ~ believe Papa was explaining about canoes & boats on the water. Clearly they are listening! :)

Daddy, how does this redneck golf game go anyway??

Shelby ready to drive the boat! Everyone look out!

Fillin' up my swimmin' pool!

She put this swim diaper on all by herself ~ she wanted to get in the pool that badly the next morning after we had set it up. Too funny.


Practicin' her fishing technique for next year

Don't I simply look mahvelous?!?! (Gotta be an old SNL fan to get this!)

Just loved this whole ensemble ~ cape, sunglasses & purse ~ too much!!