STODDARD CLAN

New Years Day at the Zoo

2009-02-17T07:09:00.000-08:00

On New Years Day we packed the kids in the car and took them to the free day at the Zoo. I can only think of one word that comes to mind. CRAZY
We couldn't find a parking spot anywhere down town. We decided to finally park illegally with a bunch of other cars. Once we got in it was fun. The kids had a blast, afterwards we went to eat at 59Diner. Good food, fun, and family it doesn't get better than that.

Later that night we did fireworks, these fireworks were probably a couple years old. So some of them just caught on fire. It was pretty funny after letting a couple off the kids and I ran in the house and watched outside of the window.

New years Eve (better late than never)

2009-02-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

the Ladies

For New Years Eve we went to dinner with 8 other couples to a Japanese steak house. Lots of Fun!! We came home in time to get the babysitters home and break out the sparkling cider. Ande was the only one still awake, but as Wade and I ran around the house making noise and spraying each other with silly string Emily woke up and was wondering what the heck we were doing. Wade and I have so much fun together. We had a blast spending the evening with good friends, and each other.

The Men

More Christmas Pictures

2008-12-29T17:53:00.001-08:00

My Christmas present from Wade. I went out shopping on Saturday when the men from Best Buy dropped these off and installed them. I didn't see them until Christmas morning when Wade gave me some tide and told me to go put it in the laundry room. I knew he had something in store, but I never would have guessed this. We really did need a new washer and dryer, our old ones we got for free when we got married and they were pretty old when we got them. I love these and their RED. How cool is that?

Ande got a new high chair. He was soooo excited!:)
I think it's funny how his feet hang

Emily got princess shoes for her princess outfit.

Ande after eating his Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas Day

2008-12-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

Wade made his famous Chocolate dessert

Brenen so excited for his Yoda bobble head
His favorite gift was Indiana Jones lego game.

Emily got everything she needed to be a pretty princess.

Okay so Wade bought me some chocolate I opened the box and he had eaten all but one. I laughed so hard, it was so funny. I love that man

Brenen and Emily giving each other a hug after opening each others presents. Brenen gave Emily her princess dress, and Emily gave Brenen a spy kit.

The Temple

2008-12-29T17:25:00.000-08:00

We went to the Temple the Saturday before Christmas. We wanted to let the kids walk around the Temple grounds and see the Houston Temple. It was a good experience for the kids, and we were able to explain to them that this was the House of The Lord. It was a nice family outing and we went to Ben and Jerry's afterward for some ice cream.

Bowling

2008-12-17T11:52:00.001-08:00

Emily bowling, I think the last time we took
Em bowling she just ran around the whole time. This time she wanted to bowl.

Wade after getting a strike
Wade got, I think, 4 or 5 strikes. He beat everyone.

Grandma Badger after getting a strike

Brenen getting ready to get his game on.
It's on like donkey kong!

hiking in Nevada

2008-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

I miss the mountains in Nevada!

Sami, Tricia, David, Michelle, and Me

The Stoddard Family

The Badger Family

We flew into Reno Nevada, on November 15, We were met by Wade's family. We packed everyone up into three different cars and headed over to the Plaza Hotel in downtown Reno. Wade's folks were staying there. They had an indoor swimming pool, a hot tub outside, ping pong, and pool. We had pizza and played for a couple hours and then were picked up by my parents to go and spend the next 4 days with them. Brenen and Emily were so excited to see everyone, both their Grandparents were here, which was fun for them. We went to church with my family the next day, We wrote out everything we wanted to do while in Nevada, Wade suggested a hike, (It was more of a slow walk on flat ground). It was so nice to go out and see mountains and tall trees. These are the pictures from hiking, I figured I would have to do a bunch of different posts from our vacation, I have a lot of pictures. After we went hiking we went bowling, something Brenen really wanted to do, I will post pics of this later, I never know how much later, I haven't posted for almost two months. I know I'm lame, but I am going to play catch up now.

WEEZER ROCKS!!!!!!

2008-10-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Wade bought me Weezer tickets for my B-Day. It was so Awesome. That is one of the great things about living in a big town like Houston all the bands stop here. I have loved Weezer for so long. I am glad they came to Houston in concert who knows how much longer they will be around. Angels and Airwaves also toured with them and I was really excited to see them as well, however after listening to them I was a little dissapointed I thought they would have stuck with more punk rock like Blink 182

Wade and I pretending to be young again. Wade and I had to go sit down between Angels and Airwaves and Weezer. Our feet hurt, and my back was hurting afterwards. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen for another 15 years.

This was us driving in the car to the show. I was so excited.

playing catch up

2008-10-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

I am playing catch up right now, so I only have a couple more posts. I wanted to get these on here before Halloween.

Ande Four months old

2008-10-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

when ever I get the camera out Emily always seems to sense it,
wherever there is a camera there's Emily.

I love the look Ande is giving Emily in this.

Ande is the happiest baby. He is always smiling and kicking his legs.
He got his 4 month shots he had to get 3 different ones and after the first one he sat there for a moment and then started laughing. What the???... The next two he wailed. He just cried and cried and cried I held him out to the car and held him until he was able to calm down. Soooooo sad.
He has actually only gained 2lbs, coming in at a whopping 15lbs. 5oz. and 23 in long. I am going to start him on rice cereal this week, and see how he takes it. People are always surprised at how big he is, since I am still just nursing.

more pictures from camping

2008-10-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

This was the water park

Brenen is here pretending to be dead and Emily is saving him

Brenen trying out for baywatch. I think he has a good chance

The big yellow lunch basket on top fills with water when it's full a horn sounds and the basket tips over and all the water comes spilling out.

CAMPING

2008-10-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

Here we are getting ready to go camping.

Brenen who found a loose fine hanging from a tree and used it as a swing.

My little Emily and I while going for a walk around the lake.

Wade, Brenen and Emily found these long sticks to carry around with them (???)

Brenen and Emily sitting in the wagon full of hay, they were having hay rides that evening, but we had to leave so we got a picture of them just sitting in the wagon.

Ande was 4 months old on Sunday October 19. This was the best pic we got of him at 4 months. I love my chunky monkey.

Emily and Ande trying to keep warm the following morning.

Emily being so silly

They had miniature golf, so we thought we would play a round, as you can see from the picture it's not the best kept golf course, but we made it fun. Actually, everyone but Emily, who found some nearby swings.

This was before we made it to the camp ground. We found a local Mexican restaurant, which was really nice and really good. We got into Waller around 1:30pm.

of course my children don't like spicy Mexican food so Emily went for the Hamburger, Brenen actually did get a quesodilla.

We decided to go camping before it got too cold. We left on the 18 of October. Brenen had a soccer game that morning, and we left right afterwards. We drove up to Waller and ate at a nice Mexican restaurant I was surprised at how nice it was, since Waller is such a small town. After we ate we went to our campsite. We stayed at Jellystone. I was a little dissapointed at how close the campsites were placed together, but it was still fun. We set up our camp and went to the pool and the huge kids water park they had, after about an hour we changed and went to play miniature golf, the course was quite beat up. Brenen did very well, and kept going all 18 holes. Emily on the other hand found the swings and stayed there until we were done. We volenteered to show the outdoor movie, since we volenteered we got to pick the movie, we thought about playing a movie we brought from home ( The Davinci Code) but decided to go with Wallace and Gromit Curse of the WareRabbit. Also that evening they had a costume parade the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes and walked around the tennis court. (I did not know this was going to take place so we were without costumes) I did, however buy Emily rabbit ears and Brenen devil horns from the little store they had there both of there head bands lit up in the dark (that's always special). After we bought those we went trick or treating around the campground. The kids had fun even though they didn't have their costumes, they actually never even mentioned not having them. We watched the movie we picked out, and came back and ate smores Brenen actually fell asleep, before we even started them. Emily followed soon after. Wade and I stayed up and watched some of The Davinci Code and then tried to fall asleep with all the noise going on it was harder for me to fall asleep than Wade. Wade and I slept on our blow up mattress which was completly deflated by morning. We got up and went to eat the breakfast buffet they had to offer in their kitchen it was nice and warm inside. We went for a walk around the lake, cleaned up camp, and spent another hour in the pool area before heading home. We made it home just in time for church which is at 3pm. I am glad we were able to go camping together. This is what it's about, making memories with the ones you love the most.

Clowns in a fort

2008-10-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here is the story behind these frightening images. Wade and I were getting ready for church. I was doing my hair, and I really must have been in the bathroom for maybe 10min, when I came out this is what I found. Brenen and Emily took the ladder that goes to the bunk beds and made a "fort" in the hall closet. They then proceeded to take marker, yes marker, to their face. This is 5 min before we need to leave for church. They claimed to be clowns. We had to start all over getting them ready for church, The marker wouldn't come completely off of their faces, we were about 10min late for church, and Brenen and Emily were clowns that Sunday.

The Stoddard crue

2008-10-17T13:59:00.001-07:00

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

an expected present

2008-10-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

Wade wrapped up Emily's baby doll as a joke for Brenen. He wrapped it up really good and it took Bren about 5 min to unwrap it. He was so excited. The look on his face as he sees what it is, is priceless. The missionaries also came for Brenens birthday party and we were all laughing so hard.

Brenen after opening it was mad and tried to bite the babies foot off. As you can see in the background I could not stop laughing. The other boys didn't seem to know what was going on, they were probably just thinking "why did he get a doll?"

I had to post this because Wade always seems to find a way to keep the good times rollin'

Brenens Birthday party

2008-10-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here is Brenens Birthday party. He wanted Pirates. As the kids showed up they each got a bandanna, eye patch, and some ugly teeth. We invited about 9 boys, but only 5 showed up on time. One had to leave an hour early, and then we had three show up about an hour late, so we never did get a picture with all of the boys that were at the party. First we played pass the skulls, ( a necklace with a bunch of skulls hanging on it). Which was similar to hot potato. We then played musical islands (musical chairs). But all the boys had to be on an island. Also everytime someone got out on the games they had to walk the plank. So they weren't too upset if they got out. Afterwards. We did the cake and presents. So they boy who had to leave could eat. I didn't let the other boys eat cake since we were having hot dogs. We sang happy birthday and opened presents. Then we all ate hot dogs, I completely forgot about the chips so we had about 3 big bags of chips after the party that I forgot to put out. Afterwards we had a treasure hunt, which at the end was the pirate ship pinata. We did the pinata which didn't hold up too well, Brenen hit it, and then Nathan hit it next and knocked it down. The other kids didn't even seem to care that they didn't get to hit it. They just wanted the candy. Afterwards we ate cake. The cake was ocean and an island with pirates fighting on the island. After cake we split up into two teams and went out into our "pirate ships" they through "canons" (water balloons) at each other until they sunk each others ships.

This is the "Pirate Ships"

the party soon ended and the kids were still hanging around. A couple of the kids were from the neighborhood, so they just were hanging around until we either kicked them out, or there parents came to get them. We had about 3 boys from the ward who hung around a couple hours later while there parents were at volleyball. This is why they are sitting on the couch watching t.v. because I was done! They ate so much junk food. They are sitting on the couch eating all there candy from the pinata, which was mostly chocolate candy bars. I think we will only do birthday parties every other year.

Baby Ande 3 months old!

2008-10-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here Is Ande he turned 3 months on Sept 19th. I'm a little late posting. I'm playing catch up right now. I am sure he has already doubled his birth weight, but we will find out for sure the end of this month. I wish I could say he was sleeping through the night, but he is not. He was doing pretty good for a couple nights sleeping up to 6 hours at a time, but that all went down the toilet. In fact the last couple nights has been about every 2 hours . He is such a happy baby, he smiles all the time. He gets most excited in the mornings when he first wakes up, he kicks his legs uncontrollably and flairs his arms around, all with a big smile on his face. I love it. It always makes me laugh, which is amazing I can still smile that early in the morning with little to no sleep. I bought this baby einstien play mat which he just loves. He is reaching for the toys and if by some miracle he is able to grab it, there is no letting go he is hanging onto that toy for dear life, I would to if I had just spent the last 15 min staring at it and working so hard to get it. I know he is only 3 months but he may be teething already, either that or I am going to have one of those kids that slobbers everywhere. He naws on his little hand all the time (note the picture below). I'll sometimes wash my hands and let him bite on my fingure, he likes that too. It makes me a little nervouse if he is teething since I am still nursing and I am so afraid of getting bitten while feeding. He is doing much better about keeping his head up. He has also started to laugh, not a whole lot but in short little outbursts which sounds so funny. It actually doesn't even really sound like a laugh, but I'm his mother and I say it's a laugh!!! He brings so much joy into our home, I feel so blessed everyday to have not only Ande, but Brenen and Emily in our family.

Mornings at the Library

2008-09-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

So about once a week I will take Emily and Ande to the library. They read books, sing songs, (Emmys favorite) and make crafts. Em is sitting with her friend Cali from church.

A day at the Park ( I know I finally have a new post)

2008-09-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

We went to feed the ducks at the park. The kids also rode their bikes around the pond. After wards we went to get ice cream, actually it was frozen custard. (The best Ever) I don't know why Brenen and Emily kept running around this trash can and then when we told them to look at the camera and smile they stuck their heads in through the trash can.

OUCH!!

2008-08-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

Thursday evening Brenen went out to ride his bike. He was trying to do tricks on his bike. ( He just learned to ride his bike without training wheels a couple weeks ago) He fell off and got a little scrape on the side of his face (The opposite side of this picture) he hit his head really hard on the ground and said that he was feeling dizzy. I put him on the couch and gave him some juice and he was watching cartoons. I came in to check on him and he couldn't remember walking into the house or that he had even fallen off his bike. Wade was almost home, I was planning on taking him into the hospital since he couldn't remember what had happened. Wade came home and Brenen started to remember that he had fallen and he was telling Wade about it. So I didn't take him in. He put his shoes on and said he wanted to go ride his bike again. I didn't want to say no, because I didn't want him to be afraid to ride his bike. Well, I should have said no, because 30min. after he went out THIS happened. He was riding his bike really fast down the street and hit a basket ball that had rolled out into the street, he flew over his handle bars and landed right on his face. I was at the other end of the street with the baby. The kids came running up saying Brenen was bleeding all over his face. I ran down and yeah there was blood, and my poor boy laying in the street crying. I was panicky and the first thing I thought was to pick him up. But I wanted to make sure nothing was broken, after assessing the situation I picked him up and took him home. (Wade started school and was at the college for orientation) I cleaned him up and made him stay awake for a couple hours, even though he was tired and wanted to sleep, I told him he could stay home the next day. He woke up Friday and said he didn't want to go to school because he was afraid his teacher would get mad at him for his face looking the way it did (??????????) I said no she will be sad you got hurt. Then he said okay I want to go to school. I sent a note to the teacher telling her what happend and that if he seems tired or sore to call me and I would come pick him up. He made it the whole day at school. And I think he liked the attention he got. Also he does have helmet but wasn't wearing it. We have since told him if he doesn't wear his helmet we'll take his bike away. I feel like wrapping my kids up in bubble wrap before sending them outside. Maybe I will.

the rest of the family waiting for the bus

2008-08-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

We all wanted to go down and see Brenen get on the bus. So here we are waiting and waiting and waiting. If you can't tell in my picture I was getting hot and tired of waiting for the bus.
Okay... time for the bus to come
This one is funny of Ande. He is probably wondering why we stuck this toy in his face.

Brenens first day of school

2008-08-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Brenen was the first one to the bus stop. He didn't want to miss the bus.

The bus finally arrived after we stood there for about 30 min.

Brenen came back over to me to double check that this was in fact HIS bus
after being reassured that he was on the right bus to school.

He was the last one to get on.

He made it!

Bath Time

2008-08-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

Bath time for the baby. He loves his baths.

I got a couple pictures of him smiling here.

2 Months old

2008-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ande was 2 months old on August 19th. He went in for his 2 month check up and shots. I hate that part. Brenen and Emily came with me and they thought I was so mean for having him get shots. They were both sitting on the chair closing their eyes and covering their ears so they couldn't see or hear Ande crying. Brenen at one point looked like he was going to start crying.

They love Ande.

Ande is also gaining weight and I love it. He is my chuncky monkey. He is a little over 12 lbs and 22 inches long. He has roles everywhere and his stomach is dimply. One of my questions for the doctor was "can I feed him too much"? and she said not if your nursing, so that is good. He is just a healthy baby boy. He is just barely 2 months but he wears a 3-6 month clothes. He went from newborn to 3-6 months, and skiped the 0-3 months all together. I didn't even open the package of 0-3month onsies I bought.

Ande a couple of min. old

stay tuned comming soon Brenens first day of school Hooray!

The Bride of Chuckie doll

2008-08-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Emily's doll that looks as though it will come alive and slay you in your sleep.
Okay, so Emily has drawn on this baby, put desitin in it's eyes, been dragged through the dirt, and finally she poked it's eyes out. She got a new baby for her birthday we'll see how long that one lasts. She plays with her baby everyday, all day.

sleepy time

2008-08-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our sleeping babies. Wade took Brenen and Em out running in our jogging stroller. He usually goes around 8 when it has cooled down a little. I usually head on over to the gym as soon as he gets home around 4:30, that way someone is with the baby, who is too little to go to the gym for now. He came back after about 45 min of running and the kids were knocked out. As for our little Ande he still sleeps a lot during the day.

Texans vs. Broncos

2008-08-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

We went to the Texans vs. Broncos game Saturday night. Our friends Katie and Dan Toupes had a couple of free tickets in their companies suite. It Rocked! Wade's sister, Jamie took Brenen and Emily for the night. We just had Ande, but the women who were also in the suite held him the whole night. I've never had so much fun at a game. It was a close game too which always makes things more exciting we were tied 16-16 with 3 sec. left and the Texans kicked a field goal so we won 19-16. I didn't know the Texans were even that great of a football team. GO TEXANS!

50 things about me!

2008-08-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

-I like to watch CNN everyday. (I think it makes me feel less trapped in my house)
-I could eat pizza every day
-I like to watch old movies (Doris Day movies)
-I love to laugh (that whole thing with Tom Cruise about Scientology, I almost peed my pants)
-I love running (I sometimes get on a runners high where I feel like I could run forever)
-my favorite class to teach at the gym is spinning
-I wish I could be like Angelina Joli from Tomb Raider not on a movie but in real life (I want to be a bad A)
-I wouldn't say I'm a clean freak, but I'm on the verge.
-I miss living by Lake Tahoe
-I want people to like me (I wish I wasn't like this, and I have tried to convince myself I'm not, but I am)
-Oh my goodness I can't believe this wasn't more at the top but I LOVE PEPSI.
-Roseanne (the show, and I know it's white trash but it's freakin hilarious.
-I hate chain mail (don't send it to me because I won't do it)
-I'm afraid of spiders the spider on Charlottes web was disgusting
-reading mystery books is my favorite, if I have time (Mary Higgins Clark)
-I am on the 7th book of The Work and the Glory and it's only taken my 3 years to get this far.
-I love the smell of coffee
-Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate
-When I was little I was so shy I wouldn't ask my teachers if I could go to the bathroom, I would hold it until lunch.
-I hate mushrooms, peas, and seafood.
-I like to go hiking
-I love the Canyon in Utah
-I would like to go back to school and get a law degree
-I'm afraid of being a bad example to my kids (Emily said "oh, crap" the other day) at least it wasn't the other word right?
-I had my license suspended when I was 17 for a year. My Junior year of high school. anyone want to go for a ride? :)
-I would love to be an archaeologist, ever since 3rd grade and we learned about mummy's. It would be so awesome to explore Egypt and the tombs they have there.
- I was always horrible at math and science. I don't really care why things work just as long as they do.
- My favorite show when I was little was Pee Wee Hermans playhouse
-I thought one of my great talents was being able to talk like Pee Wee Herman
-I love bubble baths in candle light and enya playing while reading a good book or magazine. (this doesn't really happen anymore)
-my first job was at the movie theater (all the cool people worked at the movie theater)
-I think I am a better cook than a baker. I don't really like to bake and frost, I'm not creative enough for that.
-I have a nice sewing machine, but I don't really know how to sew.
-I always felt I wasn't Mormon enough because I can't sew, bake bread, scrapbook, or make crafts cute enough for others to see.
-here's a shocker for a lot of you I don't own a cell phone. The best place to reach me is at home.
-I don't like to talk on the phone even in high school I didn't like to talk on the phone
-I had my eyebrow pierced as soon as I turned 18. (the day after I got it done my parents picked me up from a friends house and we were going to a youth activity, my mom said that better come out before church on Sunday. a few days later she said she thought it looked cute on me. )
-I was in track in middle school I was really good in middle school and always placed in the top 3. -I did track in high school but it was harder and I was no longer in the top so instead of practicing and training more I quit.
-I was in gymnastics for 8 years.
-my kids think I am cool because I can do a cartwheel
-My favorite clothing to buy is probably pants, no, shoes, wait no, shirts, no purses yeah
-My husband surprised me with tickets to see the Cranberries, my favorite band. They rock.
-I like alternative music the most. puddle of mud, greenday, finger eleven, weezer.
-I like to watch Spongebob with my kids
-besides pizza I like Mexican food.
-I like kick boxing, and club box (where you get to wear wraps and gloves and hit on the bags.) So much fun. Come to my class Tues, 5:45 L.A. Fitness. It Rocks!
-My kids make me laugh every day. They say and do the funniest stuff.
-My best friend is my Husband followed by my Mom.
-I think that is 50 things if it's too few or too many then another thing about me is I can't count.
I would like to hear from others to get to know them a little better.

Emily's Birthday

2008-08-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

We had a family birthday party for Emily on Aug1. We did hot dogs and cheetos for dinner (Emily's choice). We also did cake, well what was left of it after Emily got her hands on it. We then opened up presents. We bought her a "big girl" bike, she rides it very well. We also got her a princess bubble wand, and my parents bought her a doll set for her baby that has a stroller, crib, high chair, swing, and diaper bag. Everything she needs for her baby. She plays with her doll all day and takes it with her everywhere, however the doll has seen better days. It has been dragged through dirt, it's head has marker all over it, Desiden rubbed in it's eyes, and finally Emily poked it's eyes out. It's really pretty scary a face only a mother could love. And Emily still loves it.

Emily's birthday party was the next morning Sat the 2. We had it at 10am, so I was up pretty early finishing with the last few things that needed to be done. We had a luau party for her we played pass the coconut (hot potato), limbo, and we learned the hula (kind of) and played freeze dance with the hula. We also made leis (which didn't work quite like I had hoped.) Kellie was such a big help during the whole party. Thanks Kellie. Along with some of the other moms who stayed. As far as the cake goes I'm not a baker at all. I usually stick with what I can do so cupcakes it is, and even some of those didn't turn out. I am always so relieved when it's all over. Emily is so fun and cute. I just love watching her grow and develop. She is such a wonderful blessing in our family and home. We went to the pool after Emily's party. Brenen can now swim (well doggy paddle) to the edge of the pool so he can go off the diving board and down the slides by himself without his life jacket on. He found a friend and he was playing and laughing. And Emily was in the kiddie pool going down the little kiddie slides. I stood there for a minute wishing I could just pause time for a moment and take it all in. I love watching my kids run and play, and enjoy life. Wade was in the shade with Ande. I felt so incredibly blessed to have my husband and children and that we could all be together not just here on earth but for eternity.

2008-08-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Random pictures of us adjusting to a new baby. He is so cute sleeping (well he is cute all the time) Emily is such a good helper. She likes to hold the baby, help get diapers and wipes, and help put his pacifier in his mouth if he starts to cry. She'll be a good little mommy.

The Patio

2008-07-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

I am going to brag about my husband a little bit.
Here is Wade building our patio in the back. You can see how ugly our backyard was. We really don't have much of a backyard. Just a bunch of weeds. So we decided to put in a stone patio. We wanted to have a design to it. So Wade had to cut some of the stones. He figured that he laid that same pattern about 400 times. In the design we have 3 different sizes. He was in the garage with the big saw table cutting away. You can see all the dust everywhere in the garage. By the time he was done there was dust all over EVERYTHING! It took a lot longer than we had thought it would to do this patio. (I think most projects do) First, we had to dig about 6 inches down. The patio is 9ft. by 25ft. The hardest part was getting the ground level. Wade and I wanted to get it done before the baby came so we ordered the gravel and dirt and had it delivered to our house on Friday. (I had the baby the day before on Thursday) So much for getting it done before the baby. It ended up raining all that weekend so Wade didn't get much done. Monday came and he woke up early and started on it again. He worked almost non stop until about 9 pm. I finally convinced him to come inside. He also took off Tuesday and worked on it all day Tuesday from about 6am until 8pm. He was able to get most of it done.
He finally finished it when my mom was here.
It must have taken him all together 50-60 hours to complete.
He is just such an amazing man. He did all the research on the internet and figured out exactly what he needed and how much. He continues to amaze me every day.

Our life with baby Ande

2008-07-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been very good at keeping up with my blog. I've been a little busy! Here is the story of how Ande entered to world.

I went into have my weekly checkup with my doc. I was dilated to a 3. He suggested that I go over to the hospital and get hooked up to the monitor to see if I was going into labor. (As if I wouldn't know if I was in labor)After they hooked me up to the monitor they said I needed to stay until the doctor could come by and check me again. I thought it would be maybe 30 min at the most. They said He would be in to check in a couple hours. I told the nurse I couldn't just sit around for two hours I had things to do like pick up my kids from the babysitters house. She went back and called the doctor, when she came back in she said that I could go ahead and be induced right then. Since the doc was going to induce me in another week, and I would probably go into labor that weekend if not that night anyways. I called Wade and told him what was going on. This whole time Kellie McArthy who was watching Brenen and Emily had no idea what was going on, since I didn't have her number on me and Wade was having a hard time finding her number as well. He finally called up Marie to get her number. Thanks Kellie McArthy and Kellie Stoddard for watching the kids! Also this was around noon and I was STARVING!! they wouldn't let me eat. they put me on the pit at about 1:00pm and after 3 hours of labor, and 3 pushes. Ande was finally here. When they told me it was time to push I started to panic all these thoughts of not being ready for another one came flooding into my mind. All at once I had never been so scared in my life. I never felt that way with the others. I kept thinking about the laundry and dishes and everything else I had planned to get done before he came. But once I had him in my arms all of that went away. I went from panicky to overwhelming joy within just a couple of seconds. He is such a blessing in our home.

Emily was really excited the first few days, but then that jealousy kicked in and whenever I was holding or nursing Ande she all of a sudden needed something or wanted me to hold her. It's now been 31/2 weeks and she is much better I have to just make sure to give her the attention she needs while Ande is sleeping. She loves helping get diapers for me and she loves to hold him. She is a good big sister.

Brenen is a bit different than Emily. He doesn't really even acknowledge that Ande is around. He just goes about his own business during the day. I ask him if he wants to hold Ande and he never does. He was pretty much the same way with Emily too. Is it a boy thing?

I go in for my 4 week checkup this Thursday, I hope the doc lets me go back to the gym. I am ready to start running again. I am signing up for the 10K run on the Kemah boardwalk it's September 27 (my birthday)If anyone wants to do it let me know. They also have a 5K.

I am going to try really hard to blog more often and keep it updated. Don't lose faith in me yet.

2008-07-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

2008-05-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last picture of Brenens mohawk. He took scissors to it the other day and cut the front off. Which was fine with me since I kept trying to cut and he didn't want me to. So I am glad he cut it first. I think he looks cute with the mohawk but he is handsome with out it.

2008-05-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

2008-05-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

six weeks left!!!

2008-05-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

Brenen and Emily playing in the pool during the week.
This was the first time putting the pool up this year,
and they made sure they had their life preservers on.

This past weekend we put the pool out again when the cousins came over.

Brenen and Dylan having a water fight.
Emily stayed out of the way as much as possible.

2008-04-20T09:12:00.001-07:00

Here are our easter pictures. Our camera broke so we didn't get any pictures of the egg coloring or egg hunt. We took these pictures at the church with Shad's camera.

2008-04-16T07:18:00.001-07:00

2008-04-14T10:51:00.001-07:00

Here is Brenen and Emily before church on April 13. Yes Brenen's Mohawk is back! He loves it, he always has people from the store telling him how cool it is. Then he looks at me with a big smile on his face like he is the coolest kid in the world. (which I think he is)

2008-04-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

2008-04-13T18:18:00.001-07:00

Emily and her body art. Let's hope it ends with a marker and not a tattoo when she is 18.

2008-04-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

Emily posing for the camera so cute!

2008-04-13T18:11:00.001-07:00

Here is Brenen and Wade when we all went to get ice cream at cold stone. UMMMMM.......

2008-04-13T18:01:00.001-07:00

Okay wait, before you jump to any conclusions about how we discipline our children, Emily thought this was so fun. Wade put her down and she kept wanting to get back up there.