This weekend my sister's friend, Neiman and her fiance, Adam came into town so that I could take their engagement pictures. They are so photogenic and I had so much fun photographing them. Adam, here's a slide show of Neiman's favs since you did not get to see them today. I hope you guys enjoy!!!
I think Kohen is getting ready to take off walking. Last Saturday she stood for the 1st time in the living room unassisted. She just pulled her self right up and was like look at me guys. I went to grab my camera to take a pic and the battery was dead:-( I immediately put in on the charger and caught her the next day pushing the shopping cart around upstairs. Today while we were playing outside with her new sprinkler pool she perfected bear crawling. It was too funny. She hated the feel of the wet grass on her knees so she bear crawled. I can't wait to see her walking. Everyday she gets a little braver and before I know it, I know she will be taking off and then there will be no looking back. What a huge milestone!!
My awesome friend Tabitha aka Parker's Mom, who also happens to be my fabalous hair stylist, gave Kohen her very 1st hair cut today. Tabitha and I have been friends for over a decade and over 5 years ago I approached her and told her that I would be honored if she would consider giving Kaden his 1st hair cut. She agreed and then several years later I asked if she would do the same for Kensley, and then today we kept with tradition and she gave Kohen her 1st hair cut.
Snip Snip
So pretty!!
Time to dry
Kensley 3-11-2007
Kaden 9-9-2004
It did not hit me until dinner this evening that our sweet baby, Koko is 1!!! I was recording her opening some presents from Nanu and Papu after dinner and then it just hit me when I saw her looking back at me on the video screen. I just cried and said, "My baby is not a baby anymore." My Mom chimed in and said, "That Kohen would always be my baby" and then my Dad spoke up and said, "Well don't get any crazy ideas to have another one." Ha ha, that pretty much took me out of my sappy moment. We had a fabulous day enjoying Kohen's 1st birthday. We celebrated all day long!!! I loved every minute of it and I'm looking forward to celebrating Kohen's 1st year of life with everyone in a few weeks. Here's a glimpse of Kohen's 1st birthday.
I set my alarm this morning so I could wake up at 5:05 to sing happy birthday to Kohen. She slept through the entire song. This is a tradition we started with Kaden on his 1st birthday and we do this every year at the exact time they were born for each kiddo on their birthday.
Several hours later Kohen woke up and I got to tell her happy birthday again. My baby is offically. I love seeing her happy smile every morning.
Around 8:30 we met Papu for breakfast and he gave Koko her birthday kisses. Koko adores her Papu
After breakfast, Kohen napped, we shopped, and then eventually met Daddy for lunch. 
After lunch we did some more shopping and then headed home for a nap. After nap time we then headed back out again to see Tabitha. She gave Kohen her 1st hair cut. This is also another tradition we started on Kaden's 1st birthday. Tabitha gave all 3 of our kiddos their 1st hair cut's. There will be a another blog posting dedicated to this special event.
Nanu and Papu holding the birthday girl sporting her fresh new do. Doe she look like her brother or what???
After Kohen's haircut we then proceeded to Chuy's for dinner since Kohen is a huge fan of their food(refried beans) and so is Mommy and Daddy. Auntie Chur Chur and Eric met us for dinner to also help celebrate Kohen's 1st birthday. Kohen fell asleep on the way to dinner. I guess she needed a power nap before she ate.
After Kohen woke up and had dinner she was ready for cake
She went right for it and love it!!
After a fun filled birthday dinner, we headed home and Kohen went for round #2 of gift opening, then bath, and then bed
At 10:30 exactly one year ago, I started having contractions and little did I know that in less than 7 hours I would be a Mommy to 3. How is it possible that our baby girl is already one?? I am truly amazed that a year has already passed and our tiny newborn is now a toddling toddler. I love this little girl to pieces and I am beyond blessed to be her Mommy. Here's a year in rewind...
1 month old
2 months old
3 months old
4 months old
5 months old
6 months old
7 months old
8 months old
9 months old
10 months old
11 months old
2 days shy of 12 months old
okay, I've gotta go to bed because I have to get up at 5:05 to sing Kohen happy birthday!! Our sweet baby girl is going to be 1 year old!!! Hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend. We had a great weekend and spent most of the weekend on the lake. Kohen took her very 1st boat ride this weekend. I can not believe that it has taken us this long to get her out on the water. Kaden's 1st boat ride was at 9 months and Kensley's was at 4 months. At first, Kohen was not a huge fan of the life vest, but got over it as soon as the boat took off. She did really well and I'm betting just like her brother and sister she will develop a love for being out on the water. Today the lake was prime for skiing and we all got our fair share in and will be hurting tomorrow. Ken probably will not be able to walk tomorrow because we dragged him and the kids all over the lake in the tube today. Not sure that Kaden will be a fan of the tube anymore. He was riding with Ken and we hit a rather large wall of water and Ken and Kaden both got tossed out of the tube and Kaden got his 1st bloody nose. Thankfully all was well, but it did give us all a scare and Kensley even cried when she saw that Kaden's nose was bleeding. I guess you can never be too careful.
At the last minute Ken and I decided that we would host a Memorial Day Weekend kick off grill out/happy hour. I love entertaining and will find any reason to have people over. There something always worth celebrating right?? We ended up having a pretty good turn out for it being pretty last minute and I think everyone had a good time, especially all of the kiddos. I think we had around 14 kiddos running around here ranging from 2 weeks to 5yrs old. I'm definitely looking forward to many more Summer grill outs. Nothing beats grilling out with friends and having happy hour in your own backyard. Here are a few pics. There would have been more, but I was busy making sure everyone was taken care of and my photog assistant(Ken) was slacking on the picture taking between grilling and taste testing margaritas:-)
Does it get any better than having a picnic lunch in the backyard on a beautiful day?I think it does when you add in a little Slip-N-Slide action.
The baby gates have been up for sometime now, but guess who crawled to the top of the stairs today??? Yep, Miss Koko made it all the way to the top today with big brother cheering her on. Just look at how proud she is......
Based on my title, I'm thinking that we own way too many toys. Kohen has a little leapfrog lion that sings this song and it is always in my head. I thought it would be appropriate for this blog post title because yesterday we visited the Waco Zoo with several Moms from my MOPS group, along with Nanu and Diana and Leslie. The weather was awesome and the kids had so much fun running from one exhibit to the next. I think the highlight of the zoo trip was not an actual animal exhibit, but this cool slide they have near the bear exhibit. The kids wanted to do it over and over again. Kohen was such a trooper. She rode in the stroller the entire time. I really think she enjoyed just being out and watching all of the kids. After all that walking at the zoo we worked up quite the appetite and had a yummy lunch at Ninfas with Diana and Leslie. It was great getting to catch up with Diana and Leslie and Kaden just had a ball. They are so much alike it is SCARY!! Their imagination was running wild at the table. Their napkins were magic carpets. Yep, as you can imagine they were not sitting down eating,lol. After lunch, I was completely stuffed and wanted to take a nap, but instead had to load the kids up and head towards home so we could make Kaden's Kung Fu class. What a great day at the zoo!!
Leslie, McCade, and Anna Claire Exploring
The Elephants, my favs
Kaden and McCade making fun of the Rhino's large booty
"THE" Slide
Nanu and The Girls
TROBULE
Kohen Enjoying The Ride
Kaden is a brownie addict. He loves brownies and is always begging me to make them. Since I love brownies as much as he does, I'm always happy to comply with his brownie requests. Kaden and I can put the hurt on a pan of brownies. I guess he gets his brownie obsession honestly. YUM!!!!
Yesterday we had our end of year MOPS pool party. I braved it and attended since I only had Kohen and Parker. Thank goodness Kohen crashed out because let me tell you Parker is a FISH!! He absolutely loved the water and hated the fact that I had him on a short leash(my hand firmly wrapped around his wrist.) I was not about to let him get out of my sight. Kohen and Parker along with all the other kiddos and Mommies had a great time splashing in the water. I'm glad our pool party was yesterday because today it has rained all morning long. I would love to see the bright sun today, but I do not think that is going to happen.
Last night we had Kaden's Kindergarten round up. It was a bit overwhelming, but at the same time very exciting. It is so hard to grasp that almost 6 years has already gone by and it is time for our 1st baby to start Kindergarten. Our lives are about to totally change and I **think** we are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives. Kaden was a little overwhelmed and he totally turned into a shy guy. Those of you who know Kaden know he is anything but shy. I joked with the teachers last night that last night was probably the only time they would ever see him so quite,lol. I know once he feels comfortable he will soon drop the shy act. His elementary school has 4 Kindergarten classes and there can be up to 22 students per class. We will know the Friday before school starts who his teacher will be and how many students will be in his class. The Kinder rooms are quad style so all of the rooms are connected and that is pretty cool. Each room has it's own bathroom, tiny tables, and a ton of learning centers. They really do have their own little Kinder world within the elementary school. I almost cried when I started talking to the teachers about the 1st day of school. It that pathetic or what. I think the 1st day is going to be harder on Mommy than Kaden. Last night I also met all of the gals on the Parent Teacher Committee and I've already volunteered for some of their openings. I'm excited about being involved with Kaden's school. We also saw our neighbor that lives a few houses down and her son and Kaden are the same age and will both be starting Kinder in the Fall. We have planned a playdate and I'm hoping we get to know them a little better before school starts because I think that seeing a familiar face on the 1st day of school will help with any anxiety that Kaden may have on the 1st day. Well we are officially registered now. Watch out Kindergarten, here we come!!!
Happy Birthday Gigi!! We hope you have a wonderful birthday. We are looking forward to seeing you soon!! Love you!!!!!!
Today we joined the Browns for a dip in the pool. I'm loving that Summer is pretty much here. I can tell that Kohen is going to be a fish just like her brother and sister. Thanks for having us over Sarah. Looking forward to many more swimming days this Summer
I had an incredible Mother's Day weekend and I hope that all of you fabulous Moms out there had an awesome weekend as well. Being a Mom is a true blessing and I thank God each and everyday for my 3 little blessings. One of these days I WILL get a pic of all three kids smiling at the same time and not acting silly. That might be 20 years from now, but I WILL EVENTUALLY get that one prefect snapshot.
This was about the 6th attempt and I gave up
I feel just like Maria in Westside Story, I feel pretty, so pretty, oh so pretty. My day of pampering with my Mom at She was fabulous and I feel totally rejuvenated. I so wished I could be pampered like that everyday. It would NEVER get old!! I had the best facial, a rocking full body massage, a wonderful lunch in the healing garden, and best of all I got to share all of this with one of my best friends in the entire world, my AWESOME Mom. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful Mother and I am so happy we got to share the day together. I love you Mom!!! Looking forward to doing it again soon!!
Andrea had a chance to post this morning and Rylynn is progressing very well after her surgery. What a miracle!! I can not wait for all of those firsts that Andrea and Gilly are so looking forward to. This is such an exciting time in their lives. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Today the Hubbards invited us over for a splash day and boy oh boy was it loads of fun. The kids were wild with excitement. The kids officially wore themselves out. They had so much fun playing in the water and Courtney made an awesome lunch for us, which we enjoyed out on her deck. I love days like this and so do the kids. Thanks Courtney for having us over and hosting our 1st official splash day of the season. Looking forward to many more this Summer.
We had a little down time and then Sarah and her crew came over for an afternoon playdate and Kaden wanted to play in the water again, but we had one tiny issue. No kiddie pool or sprinkler. We had to improvise a bit. I turned on our sprinkler system and the kids loved it. Kaden then emptied his sand box for a make shift pool and the kiddos were all set. Hey, I guess you've gotta do what you've gotta do. I am so happy that Summer is just right around the corner. Summer by far is my favorite season of the year. I love the smell of sunscreen, spending the weekends on the lake, the laughter of kids playing in the water, pool parties, cookouts, and you name it. Summer ROCKS!!
Okay if you saw my facebook status this morning you already know what I am going to blog about. The phone, the phone is ringing. It's some baby birds that fell out of their nest and are being chased by some cats. This is serious, we need to help them. I know I watch too many kids shows(Wonderpets) and seriously I'm not going nuts because well I'm already nuts. Ken called me outside last night and we rescued 2 baby birds from hungry cats. The rescue was actually pretty comical because we were both in our pajamas. The neighbors came over to help and then proceeded to introduced us to a friend they had over. Can you say em brassing!!! Ken in his t-shirt and boxers and I in my capri pj pants sporting a white tank and braless I might add. Good thing it was dark outside. Long story short, I contacted a rescue group and emailed over some pics and the baby birds ended up being Mockingbirds, the state bird of Texas. The rescue center took the birds in for us. The kids and I delivered the baby birds to the rescue volunteer this afternoon and she was going to start them on antibiotics. Once well they will be rehabilitated and then released back into the wild. She told me if we had not rescued them they would have surely died. They kids really enjoyed seeing the baby birds and I'm also glad that they got to witness a random act of kindness. I think they thought it was pretty cool that we saved their lives.
If I would have only know the happiness the kids would find in a make-shift tent made out of a sleeping bag and a few clothes pins gosh, I would have never spent the money on the Disney Princess pop up castle . I loved seeing the anticipation of greatness as I secured each clothes pin to construct their tent. Their eyes just lit up. As soon as I had completed the tent, Kaden turned to me and said, "WOW, Mom you're awesome!!" That totally made my day.
Today the kids and I headed to Chick A-Fil to meet up with my BF from high school. Deanna and her hubby just relocated back to the area and this was the 1st opportunity we both had to meet up for lunch. This was an extra special visit because I got to meet her sweet baby girl, Sophia for the very 1st time. Sophia is 4 months old and is so adorable. I just loved all of her tiny little features. Looking at her made me realized how much Kohen has grown and how I miss that tiny baby phase. It was so nice seeing the both of them and the crazy thing was that even thought it has been forever and a day since high school and 4 babies in between it really felt like no time had passed. It was great catching up and now that they are back in the area I hope we have more get togethers.
I got an email from Andrea's sister, Tammy, around 3:00 and she said, "Baby Rylynn is out of surgery. Everything went as planned and all of her vital signs are stable. The next 24-72 hours are still very critical, so please don't stop the prayers! :)." Please continue to keep Rylynn as well as Andrea and Gilly in our prayers.
We need lots of prayers for baby Rylynn tomorrow morning. My sister's best friend from high school, Andrea just had her 1st baby and while in utero, Rylynn was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. She was born on May 1st and will be undergoing her 1st surgery tomorrow morning. Please keep Andrea, Gilly, and especially baby Rylynn in your throughts and prayers.
Sometimes I seriously crack myself up. Yesterday after MOPS I had this brilliant idea that I would take the kids to this wild flower patch and I would take their pictures. Yes, me, my camera, and 5 kids. I've driven past it a million times and really it is a beautiful spot for wild flower pictures and just like the bluebonnets, (which this is the 1st year since Kaden has been born that I did not get blubonnet pictures,boo hoo) if I do not hurry up they will all be gone. So, yesterday was the day and I was going to seize the moment and caputre all of this beauty. Ha, what was I thinking. As soon as I pulled over the kids were like, you want us to get out in this field?? Trenton(Parker's brother) said I was putting him out in a field with snakes and he started crying. Kaden was telling me there was a sign that said there were snakes in the field. Kensley was crying because she wanted to get out of the field. Eventually, I took a couple of shots and just said FORGET it. I did not even attempt to get Parker or Kohen out of their seats. Oh well, so much for attempting to capture nature's beauty. Maybe another time!!
Yesterday the kids and I enjoyed chatting with some of our local firefighters at our MOPS meeting. The firemen were our guest speakers and thay talked to the kids about fire safety. Kaden was not shy at all. He was all about handing out high fives to the firemen and climbing all inside the firetruck. Kensley was pretty stand off, while Kohen on the ohter hand was telling them bye-bye and grinning away. Parker even got in on the action too. We all had a great time. However, Kaden was a little disappointed when he did not get to go for a ride in the firetruck. See, Kaden has gotten the royal treatment when it comes to touring a fire station becuase our cousin, Tommy, is a Fire Capatin and he gave the kids a ride in the fire truck and they got to sound the sirens, blow the horn, extend the ladder and so forth. Well, it looks like we might be due a visit to Tommy's fire station in the near future so the kids can get their firetuck ride.
