Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

First, spending time at our grandparents house!

















A sick baby boy in his Grandma's arms


And now in his Papa's


Dallas World Aquarium

Yesterday we met up with Jammie, Josh and their daughter Jaycie in Dallas. They're moving at the same time we are, and happened to be in the same town at the same time! It was great to get to see them!
I have a lot of pictures of our friends, but I'm only posting pictures with our family in them for now.

Kairi




Alex


Kairi and Jaycie


Penguins!




Kairi watching the penguins


Alex LOOOOOVED the penguins!


Kagee



Axis



Kagee's favorite animal was the otters!


Jaycie and Kairi -- At first Kairi wasn't thrilled w/ her.

But she eventually warmed up to her!















Alex!



Jammie, Jaycie, Alex, Kairi and I!




And a last minute addition-- Kairi emptied her toy box into Uncle Micah's lap! Wasn't she sweet?

An Adventure .....

*We = Gramma (my mother), Me, Kairi, Alex, Aslan (cat)


We were doing fairly good time-wise on Monday, despite my debit card being stolen. It had been canceled. A new one ordered. And a fraud alert put on the account.

We got to Abilene around 2:00 or so. Stopped at Denny's to eat lunch. Got back in the car about 3:15. It was a hot day -- in the hundreds. Turn it on, start driving. But the ac doesn't immediately kick in. We decide that it just needs a few minutes b/c it's so hot. Surely it'll be working by the time we get to DQ to get iced drinks before we go. But it wasn't. We stop in the parking lot trying to decide what to do. We can't leave Abilene w/o an ac. Aslan was already starting to dehydrate. So we call Daddy to ask him to look up some place that we can take the car. Just as he answers, the car starts to overheat. I shut it down before it redlines.

We let the car cool down for a few minutes. Then we drove across the street to the hotel parking lot b/c there was actually shade and grass over there. Called a tow truck to get it to the dealership. When we realized that it was going to be an hour before they got to the car, we agreed that we had to check into the hotel that night. There was no way that the car would be fixed that night since it would be almost 5 before we even got it to the dealership.

We checked in, pulled EVERYTHING out of the car. All the bags off the top, everything inside it -- pain in the butt. Oh, except Alex's carseat was stuck in the VW, b/c Micah put it in w/ the LATCH system for us. There was no way that I was getting it out. We decided to buy a $50 carseat at Walmart to put in the rental we were going to get.

The tow truck finally arrived. Took me to the dealership. Then they called Enterprise who came and picked me up. We got a Kia Rio for the night/next day. It was a stressful day. That night we enjoyed our stay in the hotel room -- at least we weren't hot anymore. The next day when we woke up, we realized that Kairi had DESTROYED the room w/ her playing. But at least Aslan used the litterbox and not the floor! We were trying to get packed up when they called saying that the car was ready.

The left electric fan had overheated and burnt out that motor. That in turn overheated the engine and caused the fuse panel to blow. $535 and some odd change for the car. I haven't even totaled up the other. I keep telling myself that emergencies like this are what we planned our savings account for, but it doesn't make me feel any better.

Anyway, we get to the dealership to get the car at 11:30. Then we got to drop off the rental car. Once we get there Mama realizes that the car needed to be gassed up, so she goes and does that while we stay w/ the VW while I nurse Alex. Kairi was sitting in the front passenger seat since we were just sitting in the car. The conversation went like this:
Mommy. Mooooooommmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeee. (Real softly)
What baby?
Mommy. Mommy, look.
Not now baby, Brother's eating.
Mommy, Mommy look PEASE. Mommy, UH-OH!

I look down. There is poop coming out of her diaper. All over the seat. All over the cd case she's sitting on. All over her clothes.

Poor Alex didn't get to finish eating. I put him back in his carseat and start stripping my daughter. That's when I realize that we don't have the diaper bag. I find a spare diaper, but nothing to clean her up w/. As soon as Mama gets back w/ the rental car, I gave her Alex and ran inside Enterprise. I had her stand up in the sink while I cleaned her. It was GROSS.

We finally left Enterprise around 12:45. We gave one of the men there the extra carseat b/c he has a 7 month old so he'll be needing a convertible carseat soon. I did tell him that he could NOT turn his son forward-facing until 20 pounds and 1 year ... I hope he listened.

We got to the hotel around 1 and had it packed up by 2.

Got out of town eventually. I swear, though, that if it could go wrong, it did. We got the wrong order w/ our lunch. Kairi had diarrhea. Aslan got out of the car twice. blech -- It was a rough trip.

We got to Chris's parents house at 2:15am. I'm tired. We went to bed as we were -- clothes, makeup, etc. Didn't care.

Then at 3:30 or so, Kairi woke up, and in the process of trying to get out of the bed to take care of her, I fell out of the bed. My knee is super swollen and hurts to put weight on.



Anyway, that's our adventure. And I'm happy to be in one place for a little while. I'm glad that Mama was with me b/c otherwise I would have panicked and had a hard time w/ both kids and the cat.

I have taken several pictures with Chris' parents and will get them loaded and posted soon!




As a side note, I still get to meet with Jammie! We moved our plans from Tuesday to Friday. HURRAY! :D

It's all shipped!

Every box I needed to ship is currently en route. Well, I guess that that's not completely accurate. It's paid for and ready to ship, but they're waiting to ship it until Tuesday so that it doesn't get there before me.

Would you believe that w/ all the shipping options out there, that the absolute cheapest way to get my stuff home is to send it through UPS?!? I was shocked, but happy that it all worked out.


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I just looked over and Kairi was playing (nicely!) with Alex! It's very sweet. :) She was shaking a noisemaker above his head and he was reaching to get it. They both thought that it was hilarious. :) *sigh* I love seeing them enjoy each other.


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I got to talk to Chris yesterday! We didn't get to talk for very long, but it was awesome to hear his voice! Not long now .................


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Alex's new nickname is Axis. That is what Kairi has named him. :) Of course, her name is Kagee b/c that's what she named herself. Both are extremely cute to hear.

Bye Ya'll!

Kairi's picked up saying something new recently. My mom loves it and tries to get her to say it as often as possible -- apparently it's a sign that she's a Texan at heart, even if she wasn't born here.

She likes to pretend that she's going bye-bye. But recently bye-bye has turned into ... you ready for this?

Bye ya'll!

LMBO ... It's hilarious! She doesn't do it every time, but when she does she has the thickest Texas accent with it.

:D :D :D

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mamas, Moms, Mothers, Mums, and Mommies out there!

Today it hit me that I was given the greatest blessings I could have ever been given when God gave me my daughter. I cried the day I found out I was pregnant. And I cried for the rest of my pregnancy. She wasn't in my plans, and I was upset that God was changing my plans. I could never have imagined the joy that would be brought to me through her smile, laugh, and sweet pats. Life with Kairi Hope is NOT easy. She's a diva to the ninth-degree. But she is MY diva. She can also be my sweetheart. And when she laid her head on my shoulder and told me nighnigh this evening, I was overwhelmed w/ joy, love and gratitude.
You would have thought that I had learned something from my first child and pregnancy and would have known what a blessing another child would be. But I apparently didn't realize what an amazing gift I was being given, because I once again bawled when I saw the positive pregnancy test for Alex. Timing wasn't right again. I was afraid that I had stolen Kairi's babyhood from her. I felt like I was never going to be able to be myself again. I didn't realize that God was sculpting me into the woman I am becoming by giving me my second child. I also didn't realize how much I would enjoy a second baby. He is my snuggle bug, my little man. He wants to touch and talk and play together. He is rarely upset. He smiles and laughs when I walk in the room. His face lights up when he hears my voice. I was blessed beyond belief when e came into my life.


When you become a mother, so many things change.
I can no longer watch television shows that depict a child being hurt, otherwise I don't sleep and have to stay up all night long sitting by a crib.
I haven't slept more than 4 hours at a time in two years.
When asked to do something, I immediately plan it around nap time (or during nap time if I'm blessed enough to have someone to stay with them).
I almost never consider leaving the house after 6:45, because that would equal Kairi meltdowns.
I have no qualms about discussing poop, throw up, nursing, or drool at the dinner table.
I don't have the time or energy to beat around the bush with people, so I've become much more direct.
I smile when I hear a newborn's cry.
I know better than to touch a baby without their mother's permission.
I stay up at night to watch my babies sleep.
I can sympathize with those mothers I always swore I would never be when I see their Terrible Two throwing a chicken bone across the table at Furr's (not that my daughter did that today -- nope, nu-uh :) ).
I can pull hair into a pony tail of a wiggling princess in less than five minutes and it be secure enough to stay all day, even through a nap.
And I have learned that I can carry, two babies, a purse, a diaper bag, Kairi's purse, a Bible, and three blankets into church without help. Not to say that if you see me doing such that you shouldn't offer to carry at least one child. ;) But I CAN do it if I have to.



I'm sure that there's much more that's changed, but in my sleep-deprived state those are the ones that stand out to me. :)


And before I go, here are a few pictures of the babies when they were first born.
Kairi




Alex