Awwww!

Tonight I was getting Naomi in to her pajamas and Ella came in and asked "Do we have some kind of special Daddy?". So I replied "well, what do you mean?". She said, "well, he's just so sweet to us!".

Too Cute!

Ella!

Ella's turn!

Ella took swimming lessons at the YMCA this summer and generally spent a lot of time in the pool. She is capable of swimming alone, but doesn't realize it yet. She is 4 1/2 now, but she's as tall as a 6 year old, so we get a lot of double takes (why isn't she at school?). She is in her 3rd year of Mother's Day Out at a local church and she loves it! The only downside is that it is only 2 days/wk, so Kindergarten will be a shock.


First Day of School

This summer Ella donated 10 inches of her hair to Locks of Love. We were all ready for her first haircut, and when we realized she had enough to donate, everyone agreed to it! She loves her new do, and we showed her the Locks of Love website so she could see before and after pictures of children who received wigs from donations.


Before


After

Ella's favorite activities are working on her calendar in the morning, swinging, playing with friends, school, playing with Little People toys and entertaining Naomi. She is also a great helper in the kitchen.


With her Little People Toys

Ballerinas

This year both of the girls were ballerinas for Halloween. We didn't get the best pictures, but they were cute. Our next door neighbors gave Naomi a couple of pieces of wrapped candy and she held those for the next 30 minutes as she rode in her stroller. Ella, on the other hand, met up with her friends Katelyn, Ashlyn and Faith. I'm pretty sure they burned a trail across every yard around the block!

Paul

I'll start with Paul... The man of the house has been quite busy for the past few months! His client load at work has been a bit bigger lately. At times in the past, he had a lot of down time at work. He is happy to have more clients to work with. No travel lately, but plenty of "billable hours" which make the head hanchos happy!

He is also pursuing his PMP (Project Management) Certification. This required committing 5 full Saturdays in a row to class, submitting an application, and finally a test that he is studying to take hopefully before the end of the year. It has been time consuming, but it is a good investment in his career.

When our summer began, one of our few scheduled events was Paul's 20th HS reunion in College Station in July. Instead, he checked into the ER 2 hours after we arrived in town and had his appendix removed the next morning! Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa R. were already planning to babysit the girls and took care of them while I hung out at the hospital. Plus, Aunt Rebecca took the early morning shift with Paul at the hospital since I was with him in the ER late the night before! Another reminder of how blessed we are to have family around! He recovered quickly, and the girls were happy when he could scoop them up in his arms once again!

Paul is still serving on the board for our church and leading our Home Group. Our church is very tiny and facing a lot of transitions, so we spend a lot of time thinking and praying about what God has in store.

So, that is a summary of what Paul has been up to lately, from my perspective. Maybe one day soon we'll get him to post and get his perspective on life!

Oh yeah, we have a blog!

What can I say, blogging just has been low on the priority list lately. We had a great summer - busier and hotter than expected. Seems silly too even mention the summer now that it's almost November! But I noticed that the last time I posted was in May.

I've decided to re-vamp the blog for motivation. We've got a new layout and colors. And I think I will do one post for each family member to catch you up on what we've been up to. Maybe I'll even start adding pictures again...! But for now, it's off to bed. You didn't really think I was going to do any of that now, did you?

A good laugh

Before I forget, I have to recommend a very entertaining video. Watch the beginning of The Office, Episode "Stress Relief" (on NBC.com, on The Office page). It is the fire drill part. Oh my gosh, I have not laughed that hard in a long time.

You don't have to follow the show to get a laugh from this, and you don't have to dislike cats like us (although it might help, Carrie).

I didn't catch all of the episode, so I can't speak for the rest. Just had to pass this on.

Update

Spring! Isn't it funny how fast Spring flies by?

In April, we took a mini-vacation to San Antonio where we hit the zoo, riverwalk and Sea World. We had a great time. This was our first vacation with kids that did not include grandparents and we survived! It was also Naomi's first vacation. We spent Easter at home this year, then had Naomi's baby dedications at the end of the month.

Also during April, Naomi hit several fun developments. Within a week she started clapping, waving and saying "Uh Oh!". Yes, Uh Oh is her first real word. It is always delivered when she is sitting in her high chair or swing and has just thrown another hard plastic toy on the tile floor. She likes baby food, her favorite is green beans. She has not yet mastered feeding herself or swallowing finger foods, but she loves it when Ella feeds her. She has decided she is still not ready to crawl. Her preferred method if transportation is rolling to get a new angle at toys she can't reach. However, she would really rather just sit up and let Ella hand her toys!

On May 12th, we celebrated our 8th anniversary, Ella turned 4 and her cousin Kaylie turned 2. Within the same week, our God daughter and her mom had their birthdays, my sister celebrated her anniversary, and my dear friend had her baby. Oh, yeah, somewhere in there was mother's day, too! So, we toured the birthday party circuit and then promptly readied for Ella's last day of school.

Now today is Paul's mom's b-day, and his dad's is coming up in three days. Did I mention that day is also their anniversary? Whew! We LOVE May!

In the last week or so, I have noticed that Ella has started being much nicer to her sister (not yelling at her when she touches her toys, in fact, even offering her toys!). I even heard her mention Naomi being one of the participants in an imaginary activity she was planning yesterday! My theory is that she finds Naomi much more fun now that she is more interactive. It doesn't hurt that Naomi adores her!

The girls have a joint check up this week. I will try to post another update and some pictures soon!

Our little cuties

Awwww...!

Our bald beauty.

Hanging out with Mamaw.

Loving her Daddy, and her prunes...

Our neighbor asked when Naomi is going to grow in to her eyes.

Alright already, an update!

Chad and Shawna are married! OK, they have been for a month and a half. Their wedding day was the most beautiful day possible - 65 degrees, sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, not windy, just gorgeous. They were married at Chapel Dulcinea - a beautiful outdoor chapel just outside of town. I don't have any wedding pics with my camera, just reception pics. I will try to upload some pics from other folks soon.


A great picture of my dad with my grandma.


A great action shot of the flower girl cutting loose with lots of other little girls at the reception. Strikingly similar to a picture of my nephew Grayson catching air on the dancefloor at our wedding.


Our dear (pregnant!) friend Helen Catherine holding Naomi Catherine and looking beautiful!


Lisa (my sis - also looking quite radiant, but not pregnant), Grayson and Evan. Yes, they are teenagers now...


The bride off of her feet and visiting with her family.




I like this shot of Ella - the first time I've curled her hair. Won't be doing it again anytime soon, but it looked pretty.

Photo Dump!

This one goes out to the grandparents, aunts and uncles who have waited patiently for new pictures. This one's for you!











Naomi is 6 months old now! She is rolling over and we are working on sitting up. She and Ella crack each other up.

Still Here

We are still here. The holidays were busy for us as they are for everyone, but the next few weeks should be just as busy.

We spent Thanksgiving with Paul's family in College Station and then hosted the Rinehart Christmas in mid-December. Paul's folks were back a few days later for Ella's school program (I think her program is my new favorite Christmas tradition).

My grandparents had to cancel their trip to TX after my grandfather had a minor stroke. My mom spent time with them in MS the wk before Christmas. We hope to have them here for Chad's wedding in February.

My sister and her boys came for 2 weeks. Ella had a blast dragging the boys around Mamaw and Pop Pop's house. Naomi got sick while they were here - both ears infected and bronchitis. She recovered quickly, thank goodness. It is no fun to see such a little one so sick.

With the new year came new responsibilities. I resumed bookkeeping duties for our church. This usually takes only a few hours a week, but we are in the midst of EOY tax duties, staff changes and bank changes, so it is quite busy. Paul is joining the Advisory Team for the church. And we will resume hosting our home group in about 6 weeks.

We are looking forward to Chad and Shawna's wedding next month. We are so excited they are getting married. It will be fun to celebrate with them. They are having a small outdoor ceremony - pray for a warm dry day!

That is my stream of consciousness explanation of why I haven't been blogging and why I may not again for a while. I hope to get pictures uploaded soon!