LOVE these guys!

We got to see some of our favorite people in whole world on their trip back to the states. We met these guys in language school and Vic and I were pregnant together (the first time around). She got to be at Kead's birth and I got to be there when Josiah was born. I feel like God gives everyone a precious few life friends that you know will just be around no matter what, that you can always relax with and that no matter how much or little you get to talk everything just picks up when you get to see each other. For us one of those couples is John and Vic. It was great to hang out, catch up and see little Josiah, even though it never seems like enough time. :)

gotta love west texas

when we moved to the middle east everyone kept telling us how bizarre and different it was to experience a sand storm...but after living in west texas for a couple years it just felt normal. maybe someday we will live somewhere that doesn't get more inches of sand per year than it does water.

Drew got this great shot of a sand storm moving over our house a couple days ago:

back in business!

Horray for Cyber-Monday! We finally bit the bullet and got a new computer! Drew is so sweet and will be taking the old one to work and I get to keep the fancy new one with me. Although I must admit that I am kind of stressing out about having to re-learn how to work my computer after having the last one for 5 years (which is really long in computer years!)

I am looking forward to being able to keep in better contact, and update the good ol blog more often plus help my rockstar sister with our kojo blog more than once a month!

all bundled up

and ready for the cold!!!

(for those of you who don't know- I LOVE cold weather!)

happy birthday to you...

happy birthday to you...


happy birthday my kirsty...


happy birthday to you!


happy birthday best friend, big sis, awesome mama, craft buddy, Godly woman...I love you so much!

thankful

we had a great thanksgiving/christmas with drew's family in dallas. I am so thankful for them!

three things

1) sayla is looking forward to a career as a gansta

2) as of thursday she is 12.2 pounds and is in the 85% for weight!

3) i love this little raider outfit from julie. (the first pic is sayla at 10 weeks, the second is Kead when she was almost 6 months. yep- same oufit!)

NOT amused

haha! girls with at-ti-tude!


sayla is still not into it...i don't think she likes hats.

beautiful

I love every picture of Kead in this fun hat that Evette made. It just makes her eyes pop. I am also excited that it is getting cold enough for hats!

october

As promised, here are some pictures of the last month (or so...)

carving pumpkins with roman and kead. about half way through roman was done (he wanted to play the wii instead) and kead was throwing pumpkin goo around the kitchen. fun times.

the finished pumpkins...minus the "double t" pumpkin that roman took home.

more pumpkin fun...we carved TWENTY pumpkins for the yummy seeds.

we got to surprise keje in denver a couple weeks ago. I love this picture of sayla. (is it weird that I love pictures of my girls crying??)

same trip...burkey baby hanging out with sayla.

the cutest little lion I ever did see

visiting the ranching hertitage center with dave and kate

baby k and uncle dave

family pic at james and janna's wedding (kead was the flower girl...she walked down half the ailse and then cried...)

excuses

for not blogging lately:

1- sayla grace.
2- we are down to one computer and drew takes it with him to work.
3-me and the girls have had a nasty cold for a couple weeks- it just keeps getting passed back and forth.
4- road trips to denver (two in the last two months)
5-weddings and showers. though I LOVE helping with weddings and throwing showers, both take time.

I am sure I could come up with more- but those are the big ones. Sayla turned 2 months old this week and I am just now getting to the point where I don't feel like my first thought every free moment is to sleep. I hope to get some pictures up of the past month soon.

sorry I have failed you (all 10 of you who read this!)

check out the free goodness

I know I haven't posted in over a week- but the whole fam came down with a cold and has been out of commission.

This post is actually just to point you to the kojo blog where we are giving away a set of free stationary! The give away ends next tuesday- so make sure to check it out and comment soon!

colorado

As I said earlier, we got to go on a quick trip to Colorado earlier this month. Here are some of the highlights:

moving mom and dad into their new home

seeing chach( aka chels), my best friend from...well all of childhood really

seeing family and introducing them to little Sayla

I have to mention the mountains in the fall again, it was just that beautiful

going to the zoo- twice

spending time with burke, the sweetest nephew in the world. seriously. (p.s. notice how burke at 4 months is paying attention to the book...and then look closely at keadryn... oh dear)

spending time with the gentrys

little chunky la-la

Sayla is now 5 weeks old and still doing great. She has such a sweet disposition (although she isn't a fan of photo shoots!) and is still doing wonderful eating and sleeping, which is pretty much all she does! As you can see she is also gaining weight like a champ and is quite the little chunka. I LOVE it! Her nickname around here is La-La...which is what Kead calls her.

bff

I have posted about our sweet friend Hays before...I use to watch him 4 days a week. I stopped watching him in May- but him and Keadryn have a bond now that is just precious. Every time Keadryn is talking on her phone she is always talking to Hays (I know because she always says "bye Hays" when she hangs up), she gets giddy when she sees him, and he is one of the only people she will hug and kiss on cue (it's cute for now....)

Yesterday we got to hang out with Hays twice and it was a happy happy day for Keadryn, until we got in the car to leave, that is. :)

first school pic

I laughed out loud when I got this picture from the Kids Day Out program that Kead is attending! Poor kid looks like she had been crying all morning before this. Keadryn started KDO one day before little Sayla was born and let's just say it hasn't been her favorite thing. Her teachers assure me that it is getting better and Drew says that when he drops her off she is crying less and less. Now most of her reports say she was "happy" and "friendly"- not "sad" and "irritable" like before. Lets hope the mood captured in the picture is a thing of the past and isn't indicative of everyday! Still- this is a GREAT first school picture.

happy birthday tricia!

I am so thankful for you! You are perfect for Aj and I love that you are my sister! Hope your day is fantastic!

p.s. I love this picture of you guys.

favorite place, favorite season

the view from granpa's yard

Of all the places we have been in the world, my grandpa's house is still my favorite. The view of the mountains from his front yard is engrained in my mind as the most beautiful place I can imagine. Not to mention the hundreds of happy memories I have of playing in the streams, sitting around the firepit, eating amazing food and enjoying my dad's huge family (he is one of eight kids!).

These days it is difficult to get up to see my grandpa more than once a year and we almost always go in summer, so it has been YEARS since I have seen views of Mt. Princeton in the fall. This year the staff (drew included) decided to take a little camping retreat close by, so I got to go see my favorite place on earth during my favorite season!

I got a little teary eyed watching Keadryn explore and enjoy grandpa's house, knowing that there are hundreds more fun memories to make in this special place.

big helper

I can't say that the transition to being a big sister has been an easy one for Kead. It hasn't been terrible, but there are definately more tantrums and overall uneasiness from her. Pair a new baby with a cold and fever, starting "school" two days a week, and getting her molars and you can guess it has been a rough couple weeks for poor little Kead.

What I CAN say though is that none of the acting out has been directed at Sayla. She LOVES Sayla. All Sayla gets are tons of kisses and "help". Help with her paci, help with her blanket, help burping, she even tries to help while I'm nursing. Eventhough it requires a lot of attention to make sure she doesn't hurt Sayla it is still super sweet and I am thankful that she doesn't take out all the change on Sayla.

where's sayla?

Can you spot sayla amidst all that laundry?

I forgot how easy newborns are in the sense that they don't move! If you put them on the bed they just lay there- no worries about toppling off the bed (not that keadryn has ever done that)

happy birthday mama!

Today we celebrate my mama. She is the mom and woman I want to be. Happy birthday mama. love you so much!

packin on the pounds

sweet sayla had her two week check up today. The doctor said and I quote "I am just ecstatic about her weight gain!" Sayla is a champion nurser and has gained 1.2 pounds since her last visit 8 days ago! At this rate she won't be in the 25 percentile for weight for too long. The doc also gave us the green light to let her sleep as long as she pleases at night...whoo hooo!

happy birthday adam!

One of the things I am SO thankful for is how much we love and get along with our family. My brother-in-law, Adam is no exception. He is one of Drew's best friends, he's fun to be around, he is such a servant (we wouldn't have a kitchen or bathroom without him!) he is kind, he is generous, he is smart, he is a great match for kirsty, and he will make a great dentist! It is also so fun to watch him in his new role as dad to little Burke. Happy Birthday Adam! We love you and are thankful for you!

more Sayla Grace

More to come in the next few weeks I'm sure, but so far things are going great. Kirst calls Sayla "the baby champion" due to the fact that she has already mastered nursing, sleeps great (we have to wake her up at night to feed her...the doctor says in another week we can stop doing that and just let her sleep!) and hardly cries.

We are settling in nicely and were blessed to get to come home from the hospital 24 hours post birth. It is so much more restful being in our own home and much less crazy for little kead.

Speaking of Kead she is doing pretty good with the transistion. A few more temper tantrums than usual, but she LOVES her little sis and is so sweet to want to always hold her and shower her with kisses. She calls she "la-la" , which is pretty cute.

I know many of you have been praying for us and so many have brought us meals, presents for the new one and called to make sure we are doing all right. We are so thankful for all of your love and support!