A Boys Best Friend

Harry and Hayden are good buddies.  Harry  has stopped filching when he sees Hayden and he'll even go up to Hayden when he wants attention.  Harry still sleeps in Hayden's bed almost every day.  I got some cute pics of the two of them today.

Hayden's New Boots

The last few weeks when we'd put Hayden's boots on him, he would say "They feel funny!" and I don't know why it never crossed my mind he'd outgrown them, but it didn't!  Hayden got some boot money from his Mamaw for Christmas, so we went to RCC in the mall to pick him out a new pair.  The first pair he picked out were a white snake skin boot.  I quickly realized I needed to just give him two options (that I liked) and let him pick between the two.  He picked the John Deere ones... they are really cute and he's just as into the new boots as he was the old boots!

Allie's Jacket & Hat

My mom called last week to say she had found the cutest jacket and hat for Allie.  She thought it may be sized wrong but she bought it hoping it would fit.  She said it was too cute and had to bring it over to see if it would fit.  It fits her to a T!  She knows she looks cute in it because she blows out lots of kisses to random strangers when they "awww" over her.  She also is very impatient and will say "HAT" when I'm trying to put the jacket on her.  I guess she knows the hat is what makes the ensemble so adorable!

Family Party Pics

We had 6 Christmas celebrations from December 23rd-26th.  Here are some of my favorite pics from them.

My sis & Allie at my parents cabin in Christmas Lake.

Hayden sure likes to pester his Uncle Kevin.

Hayden had so much fun playing with my cousins son, Cody.

Margaret had matching aprons made for me and Allie :)

She also had matching shirts made for Kevin & Hayden.

My parents.  Dad built the shelves in the background for mom for Christmas.

My boys

Papaw picking on Allie

That's my girl!

Allie looking super cute

Hayden with his "Dun" and "Towboy Hat"

Me & My sis - she gave me the stripy shirt and belt for Christmas!

Day 2 of Cowboy Hayden.  He LOVES playing with Addison!

Scooter rides through the house to wrap up our Christmas celebration :)

Christmas 2011

Sorry for the several day break in postings!  Kevin has been off work for several days and my sister is in town.  Between those two things, I've found no time to blog. I'm happy to report both kids were healthy and able to enjoy all the festivities.

Our schedule Christmas day was jammed packed.  I had envisioned Hayden not being able to sleep on Christmas Eve because he would be too anxious for Santa's arrival.  Boy did I dream that up!  We woke him up at 7:30am (he's usually up by 7) and he walked in the family room, made a face when he saw his gifts, then went and laid on the couch.  After I looked at Kevin totally confused, we asked Hayden if he wanted to open his presents.  He asked if we could bring them to him on the couch..... so I told him we'd just wait till he wanted to get up and open them.

The last few months I'd mentioned several times to many people that we were only giving the kids 3 gifts each.  Hayden was going to get his tractor, a book, and an ornament.  Allie was going to get her kitchen, a book, and an ornament.  The whole month of December, whenever someone asked Hayden what he wanted Santa to bring him, he's response was always "a red skateboard".  No clue where the came from.  The boy has never even seen a skateboard as far as I know.  Then the week of Christmas it was "a red skateboard and a red scooter".  I talked to Kevin about adding 1 more gift for each child because I had envisioned Hayden being crushed Santa didn't get him the "red skateboard or red scooter".  So, I caved and got him a red scooter and got Allie some play food for her kitchen (which I already had, just wrapped it separately).

Hayden finally warmed up to the idea of opening his gifts.  He was thrilled with what Santa brought him.  Allie seemed as happy as a 16 month old little girl could be.  Here are some pictures from our Christmas morning.

Presents

We told him Santa walked through the house to check on him... and he must have had snowy boots b/c there were footprints throughout the house.

Waiting for everyone to get excited to open gifts

Guitar ornament

Tractor

I wrote him a book called, "What Does Meow Do While You Sleep".  He liked it :)

The red scooter

He sure knew how to ride it!

Hayden helping Allie open her gift, but she just wanted to play on the tractor.

Allie's kitchen

Cutest girl ever.

Sneaking a bite of Santa's leftover cookies!!!

She climbed in all by herself.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time before he's pulling her around the yard in this!

Kevin braved the frigid temps to let Hayden ride his tractor outside Christmas morning.

Waiting

Isn't that a beautiful Stargazer Lily? (Actually, I had no idea what it was called.  I had to text the flower expert and owner of a floral shop, Amy, so I could sound educated!)  A couple nights ago after the kids went to bed I was tiding up the house.  I kept smelling this overwhelming flowery smell.  I had smelled it a couple times during the day but didn't think much of it.  When I received this beautiful bouquet of flowers from my sister last Friday, the lily's looked like the one at the top right of the picture.  Not yet ready to bloom, I had over looked them the first 5 days I had the bouquet.  Now in full bloom, I'm just amazed by their beauty! 

I started thinking about that flower in relation to the last week.  Last Thursday & Friday were hard, hard days.  {Refer to this post for the full story.} I know there was a reason why I miscarried but that reason hasn't shown itself yet (and I'm not expecting it to right away).  I feel like I'm that lily at the top right of the picture... just waiting for the beauty in this trial to bloom.  Kevin and I agreed that if we had it all to do over again, knowing we'd miscarry, we'd still do it all over again.  We have a beautiful little baby in heaven (that Kevin named Kelsey) waiting for us.  Why would we ever change that?  I know God wants my heart, mind, soul, willingness, spirit, attitude - my everything.  He has it.  That song with these lyrics, "Change my heart oh God, make it ever true.  Change my heart oh God, may I be like You.  You are the potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and make me, this is what I pray" - that is what I pray.  I'm looking forward to seeing what God makes of this situation and how He uses it to change my life. 

(When I YouTubed the Song "Change my heart oh God", I stumbled upon this video.  I thought it was really good and worth sharing.)

Alfredo Sauce

While trying to correct a misspelling, I accidentally deleted the entire post.  So, this recipe can be found at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I doubled her sauce recipe and added chicken to the meal :)  I have tried a lot of alfredo sauces and this homemade version taste the most like Olive Garden (which I think is the best!).

Kid Pics

I love little random photo shoots with the kids.  Here's the one from yesterday. 

My Milkshake Brings All the Boys to the Yard

Ok, that title may be the tackiest title I'll ever use.... but this post is about milkshakes and when I went type "Milkshakes" in for the title, I started singing that horribly annoying song in my head.

Last night I was trying to convince Kevin to make me a homemade milkshake.  He kept telling me no.  Then after asking about five times, he told me, "I don't even know how to make a homemade milkshake."  Excuse me, what was that!?  I thought that was a requirement when he married me.  After being married almost 5 years, I realized we've never had homemade milkshakes together and that was a staple in my diet when I was growing up!  (I use to beg my dad to make them for me, and after about an hour of whining he would finally give in!)

So, let's go over how to make a homemade milkshake.  Find a big plastic cup.  Fill it with ice cream.  Don't pack the ice cream in and don't fill it all the way over the top.  Next, add milk.  I usually fill the glass half full.  If you want it runnier, you can always add more milk once it's stirred.  If you want a chocolate milk shake, add chocolate syrup.  Slowly start stirring your milkshake.  This is messy and sometimes the milk spills out.   Make sure all the ice cream is well mixed then it's ready to drink (or eat with a spoon, which is how I prefer mine)! 

Kevin fell in love with me all over again last night after his vanilla milkshake and I think he said something along the lines of "this is why I married you" haha.  I love how easily satisfied he is with food I make :)

I gave Kevin step my step instructions :)

My chocolate milkshake - notice the milk on the counter!  I told you it's messy!

Confession:  I found the milkshake song on YouTube while I was typing this post and listened to it for inspiration!