~Davis Doodlebugs~

Avery & Kenadee's 3rd Birthday Party!

2011-07-11T01:49:00.009-05:00

I'm playing catch up, but Avery & Kenadee celebrated their third birthday by having a Mickey & Minnie Mouse birthday party! We had the party at our church, and we invited lots of family and some of our closest friends who live near enough to come. They had a great party and everyone had so much fun! I can't believe they're three years old. Time goes by WAY too fast. My babies are growing up. :(

A little of this, a little of that...

2011-02-07T00:10:00.014-06:00

I'm not even going to start by apologizing for not updating in...well...forever...I've given up on the idea of keeping this blog updated. My life is just too busy, and I never have time! I do take pictures often, but getting them uploaded and keeping this thing updated is time consuming so...I've come to terms with the fact that it'll just have to get updated when I get a chance to update it, haha. Sadly, I have not updated since April of last year...ugh...so, I'm just going to briefly catch everyone up on our lives...

We are all doing really well, we've all stayed very healthy (Praise the Lord!), and we are in utter disbelief that Avery & Kenadee are about to turn THREE next month. Where oh where has the time gone? Time passes so quickly, and my babies are simply not babies anymore. They are two precious, smart, sweet "big girls". They talk way more than we do, they play better together than ever before, and they have totally different personalities, but are equally sweet, friendly, and loving.

We have had a new babysitter this year (Megan), and I can't even begin to tell you how much we adore her. The girls have had an absolute blast with her and her fiance Allan this year. They truly love our babies, and would do anything in the world for them. That is such a wonderful feeling to know that the people who are taking care of your children love them as much as anyone else ever could...we are very thankful to have found them, and we count them as "family" around here. Our school year has been great, and is going by quickly. Which brings me to the next topic...

After much much MUCH prayer, I have decided to leave my teaching career permanently. I have needed a change for quite some time, and have put it off for a long time. I have turned in my resignation, and have decided to be a stay-at-home mom for the next two years until Avery & Kenadee start Kindergarten. Staying home with my girls is something I've wanted to do, prayed about, and cried over, numerous times since their birth, but it was just never an option for me until now. I will be staying home with my girls, and in the meantime, I will be working toward earning my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) online. I would ultimately like to be a NICU nurse in a large hospital. If you'd asked me five years ago what my dream job was, I would probably have never said (or even considered) nursing. However, from the time the girls were born, as you know, we've spent lots and lots of hours, days, weeks, etc in medical facilities. I don't think there was a single hospital stay at Cook Children's that I didn't tell Jason on the drive home that I had chosen the wrong career, and that if I could go back and change it, I would become a nurse. Nearly three years later, I still have the desire to be a nurse, particularly in the capacity that we have witnessed over and over...NICU/PICU/Pediatrics. After all we've been through, I have far more than admiration and respect for nurses, especially at Cook Children's. I want to do my part to be able to give back to families in the ways they have given to me and my family. I think I will be good at it because I have been on the other side...I've been the mother watching her baby nearly die, and I know the profound impact they have on the families as they are going through the hardships of stress, worry, fatigue, and the like. I'm really excited for the opportunity to begin a career in a field that, because of my own experiences with my own children, I have a genuine, sincere love and appreciation for. I will begin my coursework this summer, and I should be either finished or almost finished in two years when my girls start school.

I'm sure there are many more changes to come for my family. I am absolutely overjoyed to have the privilege of getting to stay home with my girls for the last two years before they begin school. And, Jason and I are both thrilled with my decision to go into nursing. We are excited and anxious to see what all the Lord has in store for us! Here's a "highlight" of the last 10 months...I'll be sure to update again next month after we have our THIRD birthday party! *tear* Okay, I think that's it! Enjoy! :)

Two Years Old! :) :)

2010-04-22T15:13:00.017-05:00

Kenadee, Avery

Kenadee, Avery

Avery, Kenadee

Avery, Kenadee

Avery

Kenadee

Avery

Kenadee

Avery
Kenadee

Kenadee, Avery - Birthday Princesses

Madilynn, Kelly

Pictures were "TuTu" much for Kenadee (ha)

Sweet Rylee (She traveled a long way to visit us for Spring Break and come to our party!)

Avery

Kenadee

Avery

Kenadee, Avery

Avery and cousin Ava Claire

Kenadee, Daddy, Momma, Avery

Looking at the princess cake

Three TuTu Cute Girls

Ryan, Kelly

Ryan, Maddie, Kelly

Kelly, Madilynn

Madilynn, Kelly

Kenadee

Avery

Avery, Maddie, Kenadee

Kelly, Ryan

Avery, Kenadee

Avery (Top), Kenadee (Bottom)

Avery, Kenadee

Avery, our little ball player

D.J. Kenadee, our little dancer

Kenadee, Avery & their friend Lizzie the Lizard (who might also be a gecko)

Kenadee, Lizzie, Avery

Ryan & Jenn

Family - Easter Sunday

Avery, Kenadee

Kenadee

Avery

Kenadee

Uncle RyRy and Avery

Jenn and Jason

Kenadee, Avery

Ryan, Jenn, Jason

Gran and PawPaw

3 Sets of Twins!

L to R: Janna, Carra, Kynle, Kasey, Kenadee, Avery

Tessa, Avery

Sweet Miss Rhyse

Tracy & Rhyse

Avery Kissing Rhyse

Kenadee Kissing Rhyse

Avery Hugging Rhett-Rhett

Well, once again, I've taken a million years to update our blog. Life is moving too fast right now for me to have adequate time to get this thing updated. So, sorry! We've been busy, but we are all doing well.

Avery & Kenadee turned two on March 19, 2010! "It's TuTu much! They're TuTu old! Avery and Kenadee are now 'Tu'!" So to celebrate, we had a TuTu party! They actually had two parties in one day. Their morning party was a tutu party with friends, and their evening party was a big family party. It was a very fun day and the girls had a blast! It's so hard to believe that they are two. My babies aren't babies anymore! :( They had their "2 Year" appointment with the pediatrician a few weeks ago and everything was great. They got an excellent report. Kenadee is now weighing 31 lbs, and Avery is weighing 28 lbs. I can't remember their exact heights right now, but Kenadee is still towering over Avery by about 2.5 or 3 inches. :)

Avery & Kenadee are at a really fun stage right now. They're busy, busy, busy -- very energetic and into everything. We have so much fun. The weather has been beautiful lately, so we've been able to spend a lot of time playing outside. We got a privacy fence put up, which has been wonderful. The girls have free reign in our back yard to run and play. They love playing in their new cars that Mammaw and Paw got them for their birthdays, drawing with chalk on the back porch, blowing bubbles, and playing chase. We are all ready for summer where we can play together and enjoy ourselves all day long!

We've been staying busy during the week, and have been able to spend some of our weekends with friends and family. We went to Gran & PawPaw's house in Gilmer for Easter, and had an awesome time. The girls really enjoyed getting to hunt Easter eggs and looked so pretty in their dresses. Then the following weekend we went to Eastland to see Mammaw and Paw, and lots of our very good friends that we rarely get to see. The weekend was a blast, but it went by way too fast! We are looking forward to going back soon!

This weekend we are heading to Gilmer / Longview again to go to Madilynn's birthday party. That is something I haven't mentioned, but Ry-Ry has a new girlfriend named Kelly (there are pictures attached of them). Madilynn is Kelly's beautiful 3 year old daughter. All three girls play really well together, we love spending time with them, and we are excited that we get to see all of them again this weekend.

Hope all of you are doing well. I'm not going to make any promises to keep this thing updated any better because I think I've said that the last several times and so far I'm making zero progress in that area. All I can say is I'll try! It's hard without home internet. I should be able to update more frequently once we get home internet...which should be fairly soon since I'll be starting back to school in June. I'm beginning my Master's Degree in Library Science through UNT. I'll be doing my coursework and earning my degree all online. I'm hoping to become a school librarian in a few years.

One final thing...we no longer have a home phone number, so if you need to reach us, please call us on our cell phones. We would love to hear from each of you, and would love for those of you who live far off to come see us!! We miss you guys! :) Ok, that's it for now...later alligators! :)

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's Day, and Happy Snow Day! LOL :)

2010-02-16T14:34:00.013-06:00

Well, I know it's been WAY too long. But, I do feel like I have a good excuse. We've been so busy, had MAJOR health issues, and have had what seems like a million holidays, gatherings, hospital trips, doctor appointments, etc, that we're just now getting a chance to catch our breath! We had a big-time scare with our babies, particularly Avery. Both babies were diagnosed with H1N1 and RSV (one right after the other). Avery's was extra bad because of her adrenal issues, and as a result, we almost lost her. Her levels were all over the place, she seized several times due to the rapid increase in her body temperature, and she stopped breathing. She had to be intubated, and breathed on the ventilator for 3 days. She got to stay at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth from Wednesday, December 30th to Friday, January 9th. Needless to say, we didn't have a very fun Christmas break, but we are very grateful to have made it through this terribly difficult time, and VERRRRRY grateful to still have our sweet girl. Avery and Kenadee were BOTH sick, but because Kenadee's health is better in general, she had way less of a difficult time than her sister. Avery's ICU doctor called in meds for Kenadee and we were able to keep Kenadee with us at Ronald McDonald House (across from Cooks) and spend time with both babies while they got better. We had TONS of people praying for all of us, and we are so blessed to have such awesome friends, family & prayer warriors! Anyway, I'm attaching a bazillion pictures to this post. I haven't had time to update this blog in ages, and I have pictures from my trip to the Mavs game, our Christmas pics (before health issues really picked up), and misc. other pictures that I need to put on here. So, I hope you enjoy them & I'll do my best to update on somewhat of a regular basis (unlike the last 3 months)! :)

Havin' a Ball in the Fall...

2009-11-01T13:34:00.009-06:00

Well, this is long overdue again...but all is well. We have been reallllllly busy, but life is good. Daddy's football team made the playoffs as a result of Friday night's win over Canton (woohoo!) so we are pretty excited about that. We had a super fun Halloween. We took our little ladybugs over to Nanna & Popa's house and to Great Uncle Sandy & Great Aunt Pam's house to trick-or-treat, and then we came back to Van to trick-or-treat. In Van, they shut down the downtown area and all the businesses on the strip hand out candy to all the little kids. They were just starting to get the hang of it by the time we were nearly finished. Kenadee would go up to them and just hold her basket up close to their candy buckets and flash a smile, haha. We tried to teach them to say, "Trick or Treat!" and when that didn't work, we tried to teach them to say, "Treat, treat!" but they didn't say that either. They just wanted to hold their buckets up and smile. It worked though...they got lots of candy!! Not much else has been going on around here. Just the same ole same ole. I'm attaching several pictures...Halloween pictures first, and then some miscellaneous stuff...a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, bath time, play time, relax time, etc. Enjoy!

Rah! Rah! Ree! Kick 'Em In The Knee!

2009-09-29T16:15:00.005-05:00

Well, I finally had a second to sit down and update this blog. I know some of you had given up on the thought that I'd ever really get it updated again, but here goes! We are all doing GREAT. We are staying so busy that we don't know if we're going or coming on most days, but life is good. Football season keeps us busy and missing Daddy, but we see him as much as we can. The girls are growing and growing (too fast). They are both very mobile, and they have both developed the hobby of "climbing". They are into EVERYTHING. It's hilarious. They are talking a lot more, and doing funny things every day.

We had their 18 month pediatrician appointment this morning (9/29), and Dr. Everett said they were perfect (but we already knew that, right?), and he was very pleased with their progress. Avery weighed in at 23.2 lbs (31st percentile) and was 31.75 inches tall (49th percentile). Kenadee weighed in at 26.8 lbs (79th percentile) and 34.5 inches tall (99th percentile!!). We are hoping Kenadee gets a little athletic ability because wowwwwww...that girl is tall. They are both progressing perfectly, and overall, it was a great visit to the doctor. They don't go back to the pediatrician again until they turn 2. How in the world is that "not so far away"?? I swear it seems like last week that they were born. Amazing.

The Vandal football team has suffered injury after injury after injury. At one point we had something like 11 injuries, mostly starters. We won the first two games (big blow outs), suffered injuries and more injuries, lost the next two games, and then won again this past week. Hopefully we are over the "injury hump" and can get back on our feet again. We are open this week, so we'll get a little break, and a little extra snuggle time with Daddy, which will be nice. We're also off from school the rest of the week for Fall Break. What a great concept!! We have never been to a school who let out for a Fall Break before, so we are super excited. We had school Monday and Tuesday (today), and then Wednesday is just a teacher workday, and then we're out for the rest of the week! Woohooo!

Well, it's time for me to go relieve the babysitter, so I need to go. I'm attaching some pictures that we took at the Vandals' awesome new stadium. Hope you enjoy them! Later alligators!

Back in the Groove!

2009-08-25T13:42:00.003-05:00

Well, I am FINALLY updating the blog! I'm sorry it has taken me this long to write a simple little update! Life has taken on a new form of BUSY. Wow. We have no time to sit. No time to think. No time for ANYHING other than the bare necessities! Pure craziness!

Let me first start by saying (for those of you who don't know), AVERY IS WALKING!! She still crawls quite a bit, but the child can walk. :) She got so used to being carried everywhere that she just flat "preferred" it. BUT, she has suddenly decided that she can walk, and she's getting braver and braver as the days go on. She can walk clear across the room at times, and other times she falls after a few steps. But, she's getting the hang of it, and she's doing great!!

We have been doing very well. Summer ended so fast, and school is upon us. Jason and I started last week, but yesterday (Monday 8/24) was the first day with students. I literally thought my feet were going to fall OFF. My entire body aches, LOL. I've decided I need to go shopping for some comfortable shoes and a huge bottle of Advil. I'm not used to being on my feet this much, and I'm a baby! haha I'm used to having roughly 65(ish) freshmen, and now I have 147! I'm also used to having 4 classes of English each day, and now I have seven. I'm used to having roughly 15-20 in each class, and now I have as many as 26 in some classes! Waaaaaahhh. LOL Today is a much better day. The first day is always the hardest.

We are LOVING Van, Texas. Everything about it! Life is crazyyyy and hectic, but life is good. I'm only attaching one picture. This is the quick snapshot that the journalism department took of our family on "Media Day." This will be the picture that is in the football programs every Friday night at the home games. We did get our family pictures made, but I don't have those pictures yet, so I'll have to post them later. I also have some snapshots of the girls that I will upload later. I'm in a time crunch at the moment (imagine that, lol). Hope everyone is doing well! More later...

Warning: LOTS of Pictures!

2009-07-02T20:19:00.012-05:00

Our New Home

Back View

Entry

Living Room

Living Room (new sofa)

Kitchen

Utility Room

Half Bath (off the kitchen)

Half Bath

Avery & Kenadee's Bedroom

A&K's Room

Play Room

A&K's Bathroom

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Kenadee, Avery in Pool

Avery, reading her Elmo book

Avery & Kenadee, watching TV in their Elmo chairs

Kenadee, eating her "big girl" food (chicken, pork-n-beans, goldfish, fruit)

Avery, thrilled about her "big girl" food

We are all doing very well. Summer is FLYING by. But, we're having a good time with friends and family. We are loving our new home, and the girls are loving their new swimming pool! :) We put their bath toys out in the pool and they play and play and play. In fact, it's a fit when we try to get them out! Last week, Avery got her stomach button out and although she was in major pain the day they took it out, she has been perfect ever since. It left a little darkened circle on her belly, but it gets lighter and smaller each day. It has already healed up nicely. :) She may not ever want to wear a bikini, but Daddy says that's just fine with him! :) Avery & Kenadee had their 15 month appointment with Dr. Everett, their new pediatrician, and everything was wonderful! They love their new doctor, and their appointment went great. Kenadee is nearly two inches taller than Avery. Avery was in the 25th percentile in height (30 inches) and Kenadee was in the 95th percentile (31.75 inches)! Dr. Everett said Kenadee was the starting center on the 15 month old basketball team. :) As for weight...Avery weighed 21.4lb and Kenadee weighed 25.5lb...which puts Avery in the 25th percentile again and Kenadee in the 75th percentile (both of which he was thrilled with). They both eat like little pigs and are eating big girl food now. They are not eating ANY baby food anymore, and they are completely off the bottle! Wow! :) Sure makes life easier!! Okay, I am in a hurry (as usual) so I am putting this to a close. But, we are all doing great. We love hearing from you, so please email us any time! And, I'm attaching pictures of the girls and of our new house! Enjoy! :)

Quick Update...

2009-06-15T19:40:00.002-05:00

This is going to be QUICK. I'm on a borrowed computer & time is limited. My camera batteries are dead (and I keep forgetting to recharge them) so the pictures of our new house will have to be in a later post. Things have been good. We are all settled into our new home in Van and we LOVE IT! We are doing great & the girls have adjusted well! The humidity, which many would complain about, has been wonderful for the girls. When we lived in Henrietta, we had to run the humidifier every night so they could have some peace! But, in Van, the humidifier is no longer necessary! The girls have been doing GREAT since the move. We all have. We're still waiting on the delivery of our new sofa, so when that gets here and I get some pictures of the house, I'll be sure to update. The thing is...we have no home internet. We only have internet on our phones because there's no decent internet service in our new area. So, we can still do email, facebook, etc, but it's all from our phones. The updating of the blog has to be done on a regular computer, so we can only do that when we're at someone's house or at the school. I'll try to get it updated as I can, but it's going to be few and far between for a little while. But, we are doing great & enjoying our new home! Sorry there aren't any pictures this time...I'll do better. Gotta go charge my camera batteries! Later alligators!

March for Babies & Ryan's Graduation!

2009-05-19T22:56:00.004-05:00

March for Babies: Team Davis Doodlebugs

Ryan Mark Hood, Graduate of Texas State University

"Ry-Ry" and his girls

Jenn, Kenadee, Ry-Ry, Avery, Jason

Jenn & Ryan

Again

It's been pure craziness around here so I apologize for not updating sooner. Two weekends ago, Mom, Jason & I participated in the March for Babies put on by March of Dimes. This is the first year we had ever participated in a walk, but this one hit home with us. It helps the millions of babies born prematurely every year who have to stay in the NICU. We were a team of only three, but we raised a whopping $1,030.00!! What an accomplishment!! We would like to thank each and every one of you who donated to this very worthy cause! We will most likely be hitting you up again next year, so beware! :) HAHA

This past weekend Ryan graudated from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Exercise & Sports Science (BESS). He is going to coach and teach history. We are VERY proud of him. He is currently looking for a job, preferably within a fairly close proximity to family in East Texas. He has two job interviews set up already. Congratulations, Ryan! We all love you & are so proud of your accomplishments! :)

We have been incredibly busy around here. We've been trying to pack up here and there when the girls allow us to. We have a lot of it packed, but still have plenty more to go. We have also been having to pack up our classrooms as well, and that's a LOT of stuff. Plus, Jason's been gone for Regional Track Meet this week so Ryan's here to help out (Thank you, Lord!)...Ryan is great with the girls & they love when he's here because he'll sit in the floor and play with them for however long they want! They already have him wrapped around their little fingers (all 20 of them)! :)

I guess that's it for now. The next time we update the blog we probably will have already moved. Our last day of school at Henrietta is Friday, 5/29, and then we have a teacher work day & luncheon on Saturday, 5/30. We will be packed up the night of 5/29 so that when the luncheon is over on Saturday, we can leave immediately. We'll update again when we can! Until then...take care! :)

Going once, Going twice, SOLD! :)

2009-04-26T13:48:00.003-05:00

Avery & Kenadee (During the garage sale)

Avery, Kenadee

Avery & Kenadee playing with their musical table

Avery, Kenadee

We had a garage sale yesterday and it went great! We sold out completely! We sold everything we intended on selling (all the big stuff and a lot of the small stuff), and then a very nice man came by and paid us for everything we had left AND hauled it off for us! YAY! We were so excited that we sold out, had everything cleaned up, and were eating lunch by 1:30pm! Yippie! Thank you, Lord! The girls enjoyed their weekend as well, even though they haven't felt great lately (Pink eye, fever, and tons of snot...it's been a blast, lol). Gran & PawPaw came down to help with the garage sale and the babies so that's probably why it went so smoothly! Avery is a BIG PawPaw fan! She teared up when I got her to give her hugs and kisses after she woke up. She started crying and reaching for PawPaw...made me feel sad, lol, but it sure made PawPaw's day! Anyway, we had a great weekend, a great garage sale, and now we're looking forward to another super crazy & hectic week! They've all been that way lately! I'll update when I have more to report...but that's it for now! :)

Family Update & Easter Weekend :)

2009-04-13T22:47:00.005-05:00

Avery & Her Easter Basket

Kenadee & Her Easter Basket

Kenadee, Avery

Instead of Waldo, .... "Where's Avery?"

Playing Sweetly (This has been happening more lately!)

First of all, some updates. We are moving to Van, Texas! Van is a 3-A school in East Texas where we have LOTS of family (and friends)! YAY! Jason will be teaching Biology, coaching the secondary in football (like he does now at Henrietta, which is a 2-A school), and coaching track in the Spring. My job is not completely nailed down yet, but we're pretty certain it will be Freshman English (which is what I'm teaching now). We have already found a house and are in the process of buying! We will close on our new house at the end of May! We're really excited for several reasons. One: It's our first home to buy! Two: It's a brand new house (only been lived in for 2-3 months).

We went to East Texas this past weekend for Easter, but also because they were doing our home inspection....a great excuse to get to go back to our new house and look around (and plannnnn, lol). Being Easter weekend, we were excited to get to spend the weekend with Gran & PawPaw, get to see Uncle Ryano, and go to church! We got to do two of the three! We got up Sunday morning, got completely dressed and ready for church, got one baby loaded into the car, and realized we had a flat! Gran had already left for church in her car, PawPaw had to drive his company truck because he was on-call, and could have been called out....which left us STRANDED. On Easter. Two years in a row that we didn't get to go to church on Easter (last year we were at Cook Children's with itty bitty babies)...it seems so...strange and sacrilegious to not be in church on Sunday...but what can you do? :) We were grateful that the flat happened in front of Gran & PawPaw's house though, instead of on the road somewhere! And, we were able to get it fixed that day and get back home safely, so it turned out okay.

Regardless, the Easter bunny (not that he's sacrilegious at all, LOL) did come and bring Avery & Kenadee some goodies :) And, before I close, Uncle Ryan found out today that he passed his teacher certification test! We're sooo excited for you, "Ry-Ry". We love you! Ok...that's it for this one! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Birthday Party: We're One!!

2009-03-28T15:59:00.009-05:00

We just absolutely cannot believe it has been one whole year since God gave us His most precious gifts, Avery & Kenadee. The time goes by way too fast. Every single day that passes, we know how blessed we are, and we are eternally grateful for our two angels. This has truly been the best year of our lives. We look forward to many, many, MANY more!!

The girls had a fantastic birthday party! We had a Sesame Street theme, really cute cakes and decorations, very yummy food, lots of presents, tons of friends and family, and most importantly, two VERY cute guests of honor! :)) There are tons of pictures, and they pretty much tell the story! By the way, if you missed the Spring Break post below, go check it out. Tons more pics there! ENJOY!!

Spring Break 2009

2009-03-28T15:18:00.003-05:00

We had a great Spring Break this year...the very best ever!! We took the girls to Dallas for a few days, and while we were there we went to the Dallas Mavericks game. Oh, and while we were there, we ate at Hooters before the game...we bought the girls some cute little baby Hooters shirts, lol, and our waitresses came to our table and asked if they could please have their pictures made with Avery & Kenadee! So, while they were huddled up, we got one with our camera too! We had an awesome trip, and the girls did great! When we got back home (Wednesday), we began the final preparations for the big birthday party! On Thursday, Avery & Kenadee turned ONE! Since their birthday party wasn't until Saturday, we took them to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. They had a really good time. We weren't sure if they'd really be big enough to do anything there or appreciate it, but surprisingly, they were able to ride some rides, and they LOVED Chuck E. He came by and held them for a picture, and despite my many efforts, I could not get Kenadee to look at me. She was completely enamored with Chuck E. :) I had so many pictures of Spring Break & Birthday Party that I am splitting them into two separate posts. Birthday party pictures to come! Enjoy!!

Chillin' with Uncle Ryano!

2009-03-16T01:24:00.006-05:00

Kenadee, Uncle Ryan, Avery
Kenadee Doing Some Serious Driving...Watch Out!
Avery...Smiling as Usual!
Kenadee With A Mohawk

Kenadee, Avery (Mohawk Babes!)

The girls had a great week! Uncle Ryan was on his Spring Break so he came to visit and kept Avery & Kenadee for the first three days of the week while Jason and I went to work. The girls had so much fun (and we're pretty sure Uncle Ryan enjoyed it too)! While he was visiting, we had a little fun with the girls' hair. We did mohawks and boy did they look good!

As for updates, Avery is now crawling all over the place and today for the first time she pulled herself all the way up to a standing position. She's been pulling up for a while now, but only to her knees and then would just look at you, pleading for help :) But, today she pulled all the way up by herself. Kenadee is now trying to walk everywhere. She's still pretty wobbly, but she can walk clear across the room by herself. You just have to be very closeby because at any point, she could hit the floor. :)

Kenadee is now freely giving kisses to Momma and Daddy. It's our favorite thing ever! We say, "Kenadee, kiss Momma!" and turn a cheek toward her and brace ourselves for LOTS of wet sloppy slobber :) We tried getting Avery to give them, and she will sometimes, but it's usually head-on instead of on the cheek, and it's only when SHE wants to. LOL

Tomorrow (well, actually later today, considering I'm updating this at 1:30am!) we're taking the girls to the Fort Worth Zoo! They LOVE animals so it should be a lot of fun, and we are going to do a little "early celebrating" for their birthday. Then Tuesday we're all going to the Mavericks game! We got cute little shirts made for them (Thanks, Aunt Patsy!) and they'll be the cutest little Mavs fans there, no doubt! :) We can't believe our babies are about to turn ONE! They'll be the big ONE on Thursday (3/19). We'll be having their first birthday party on Saturday (3/21)! Lots more pictures to come! That's it for now...ENJOY!

Sesame Street Live!

2009-02-23T15:03:00.004-06:00

So excited about Sesame Street!
"You mean, I get to see ELMO???"

Kenadee loves Sesame Street!

Miss Blue Eyes Loves Sesame Street Too!

Big Bird, Bert, Abby Cadabby, Grover, Elmo, Count, Telly

We had such a great time at Sesame Street Live! The girls' attention spans were not as long as the program, so we ended up leaving early. But, they loved seeing all the bright lights and all the characters dancing and singing all over the stage! We will definitely go again sometime...maybe when we can sit still longer than 30 minutes or so! :) But, it was a fun family night. We went and ate at Mazzio's and then went to Sesame. Super fun! :) More pictures of Sesame Street Live and our attempt at some Valentine's Day pictures are below.

More Sesame Street & Valentine's Day...

2009-02-23T14:58:00.006-06:00

Telly, Oscar, Cookie Monster

Bert, Grover, Count, Cookie Monster, and Ernie

Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster

Valentine's Day Picture...Kenadee says, "PEACE Y'all!"

Avery & Kenadee in their Valentine's Day dresses

Just some snapshots...

2009-02-12T11:36:00.004-06:00

Kenadee (Left), Avery (Right) All Dressed For Church
Avery All-Smiles in the Tub

One of Kenadee's MANY funny faces...Enjoying Bath Time!

Avery was so sad that I had her in an Aggie shirt! haha

Kenadee, So Precious :)
There's not much going on around here lately. We're all completely healthy (finally)! That "crud" took hold and didn't want to let go. But, we're all well now! I don't have anything new to report...we've just been doing the usual routine. I just wanted to update and put some pictures on here. We are taking the girls to Sesame Street Live on Tuesday night. They're coming to Kay Yeager Coliseum in Wichita Falls so we're going to go. The girls LOVE Sesame Street so I think it will be a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll get to take some pictures and I'll post them on here when I can. That's it for now!

Dedication & Gran's Visit...

2009-02-02T12:05:00.002-06:00

We had a really fun visit with Gran this weekend, and we were very glad to see Daddy when he got back home too! The girls were dedicated in church yesterday. They were really good through it, but it only took a minute. Here are some pictures from yesterday and lastnight! (More pictures in the post below too).

Kenadee (Left), Avery (Right) -- All smiles in their dresses!

They really love this pose (and each other)!!

Family Picture at Church (2/1/09)

Daddy and his girls (Avery on left, Kenadee on right)

Momma and her girls (Kenadee on left, Avery on right)

More Pictures...

2009-02-02T12:00:00.004-06:00

Avery (Left), Kenadee (Right)
Kenadee (Left), Avery (Right)
(In the outfits Uncle Kenny & Aunt Kim gave us for Christmas!)

Avery, waving & showing off her top and bottom teeth!

Kenadee, being precious!

Avery (Left), Kenadee (Right) playing together

10 Months Old...Some Updates!

2009-01-28T11:59:00.003-06:00

Avery & Kenadee (Can You Tell They Love Each Other??)
Kenadee & Avery in the Tub

This one's blurry, but I love their expressions! They love playing together!

Avery & Her Friend, Delana

Kenadee, All Smiles in Her Exersaucer

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. We've all been battling the "crud." The girls still have runny noses, but overall, we're all doing great now! YAY! I'm just going to give some updates this time b/c a lot has happened since the last post.

Avery and Kenadee are both talking away...they both say "Momma", "Da-Da", "Hi", and "Hey". Mostly, the "Hi" and "Hey" are when they're in the mood, but we hear "Momma" and "Da-Da" all day long! It's awesome! :) Both babies are mastering the art of waving. It looks so cute! They love to wave "Hi" and "Bye-Bye" to anyone and everyone! :)

Kenadee is very mobile. She is all over this house! We spend our extra time in the day chasing her from one end of the house to another, haha. She is pulling up on all the furniture and walking down it (cruising). She has to hold on, of course, but it won't be long until she's walking on her own...she really wants to! Avery is not crawling yet, but she's showing major improvements. She was behind in the "motor" department because of having her arms in arm boards for 5 weeks. So, she has had to really work to strengthen her arms and legs. She is getting much stronger, and will now stand up (if you put her up...she can't pull up on her own yet) for extended periods of time holding on to something. She loves jumping in the jumperoo and we think that has really helped to get her strong again. She's showing the desire to crawl. She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. So, it won't be long. She had a lot of catching up to do, and she's done GREAT!!

Both babies are still eating stage 2 foods. We tried stage 3 baby food, but they have big chunks of peas and whatever else in them and they tend to gag on every bite. So, we have stayed with stage 2 foods for the most part. We've started giving them little bites of our food when we eat, and as long as it's really small bites, they can/will eat it. They love to eat those little Gerber puffs. It's their weakness, haha :) They could eat an entire container at once if I'd let them, I think!

Daddy is leaving tomorrow to go to a football coaching clinic, so Gran is coming to stay! We will be sad to not have Daddy around, but we are excited that Gran will be here!! The girls are going to be dedicated at church on Sunday so Gran will still be here for that! We will definitely post again afterwards because they will be all dolled up in their beautiful new dresses! So, stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T23:13:00.006-06:00

2009 is here! I can hardly believe it. 2008 went by so incredibly fast. It was the single best year of our entire lives. God truly blessed us this past year, and we give Him all the glory for the many blessings he has given us. Avery & Kenadee are the joys of our lives. And, they continue to grow and change so fast! Where did the past 9 months go?? We are looking forward to a wonderful New Year. We hope and pray that 2009 is a very blessed year for you as well.

Avery & Kenadee had their 9 month appointment with our pediatrician, Dr. Yap, on Tuesday, 12/30. Everything was just fine and dandy! Avery weighed in at 17lb 4oz, and Kenadee weighed 20lb 2oz. Avery was 29 inches long, and Kenadee was 30 inches. The girls really love Dr. Yap. He is so good with them, and they just smile and stare at him while he talks to them and examines them. Kenadee was really funny at the doctor's office. She has gotten to where she's a little shy and bashful from time to time. While Dr. Yap was talking to me and Jason, Kenadee started smiling and waving at him. And, when he said, "Are you waving at me Kenadee?", she smiled and then buried her head into my chest. It was the cutest thing.

Avery is quite a bit behind Kenadee in the motor skills department, but Dr. Yap said that is perfectly normal considering her circumstances. Having had those arm bands on her arms for 5 weeks, it put her a little behind, and they're going to help us get her back up to speed. As far as their updates go: Kenadee has 2.5 teeth (two bottom, and a half of one on the top) & Avery has 4.5 teeth (two top, two bottom, and one more coming in on the top). Kenadee does not only say Da-Da now...SHE SAYS MOMMA!! Yahooo! I never thought I'd see the day. And, the best part is, Avery says it too...only when she says it, she doesn't say the first "M". It sounds more like, "Omma", and she mainly says it when she's crying or fussing (go figure!). But it IS awesome to hear BOTH my babies say my name. I love, love, LOVE IT! Kenadee also says something that sounds an awful lot like "Sissy", and she waves bye-bye when she's in the mood. Kenadee surprised us the other day also by pulling herself up from a sitting position to standing all the way up! It happened just all of a sudden, and NOW every single time we go in her room after a nap, she's STANDING there to greet us! My babies are getting so big. I don't want them to grow up ... yet.

Everything here is going great. School is starting back already which we're not quite ready for (the Christmas break flew by way too fast, but what do you expect when you take a ten-day trip?). But, we had a wonderful Christmas, got to visit with lots of family and friends, had many changes with the girls, and made many wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. From our family to yours....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Christmas 2008!

2009-01-01T23:02:00.003-06:00

This was the best Christmas of our lives. We had God's most precious gifts to celebrate with! Avery & Kenadee had a wonderful first Christmas. We went to Waco first to celebrate with all of Daddy's family. Then we went to East Texas to see Gran & PawPaw and celebrate with all of Momma's family. Then we headed to Eastland to spend time with Paw & Mammaw, and then we finally made it back home! It was a tiring ten day trip, but we had a lot of fun visiting with our family and loved ones.

Santa Claus was very good to our angel girls. They must have been really good this year :) Hope you enjoy the pictures! And, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did! :)

Marathon Post...LOTS of Updates!

2008-12-06T23:34:00.003-06:00

We have been a little out of pocket lately, and I've been unable to update our blog for quite some time, so this is liable to be the longest post in history! This has been one CRAZY month and a half for us!

On the weekend of October 25th, we had a wonderful family visit! Gran, PawPaw, Great-MoMo, Aunt Joyce, and Aunt Patti all came down to visit us. They got here on Saturday morning and left Sunday. We had such a great time playing, visiting, and going out to eat. It was a short visit but we had a lot of fun. Avery & Kenadee love to have company! Here's a picture from Sunday, October 26th when our company was about to leave: The very next day, on Monday, October 27th, Avery had to go to Cooks to be admitted for observation. Since she was about 5 months old, she had slowly quit drinking her formula. It was gradual at first, only wanting a little less than usual, so it wasn't too alarming. But by the time she was about 6.5 to 7 months old, she'd basically stopped drinking her formula altogether. Only receiving approximately 10 oz per day (regardless of how much we tried to get her to drink it), she wasn't getting enough calories with her jar food alone, and she began losing weight. While we were in the hospital, her GI-tract doctor ran test after test trying to find a cause for her refusal to drink milk. After an Upper-GI and an Endoscopy (EGD), he said there was nothing abnormal or anything to be alarmed aboug health-wise that could be causing her not to want to drink her milk. Knowing that Jason had severe allergies as a child, and couldn't have any milk products until the age of 7, the GI-tract doctor said he was pretty sure it was probably just a milk-protein allergy. His solution was to send her home from the hospital with a feeding tube down her nose, put her on a special hypo-allergenic formula (that costs 60 bucks a can and lasts 2.5 days!!!!!) and see how she did. He said that if it were a milk-protein allergy, once she realized that this new formula wasn't going to hurt/upset her stomach anymore, she'd begin to drink it like she used to. Her follow-up appointment with this doctor was not until Tuesday, November 25th, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Based on her progress or lack thereof, he'd make a decision that day as to what we had to do next. Here is a picture of Avery on the day he released her from the hospital (which was Halloween):

Since Avery & Kenadee were at Cooks on Halloween (we got to go home late that afternoon), and their original costumes we'd bought were at home, Cooks donated some costumes for them to wear (we got to keep them). They had trick-or-treating in the atrium at Cooks for all the kids. The costumes they gave us were "Two Peas in a Pod". Here's a picture:

Once we got home that day, we were able to go to part of Daddy's football game that night, and since it was Halloween, we wore our original costumes to the game. Here's a picture of Avery and Kenadee dressed as little lambs:

After being home for a month with a feeding tube, we went to the follow-up appointment with the GI doctor. Avery had made zero progress with her eating. Every feeding, we would first offer her the bottle by mouth. She would only drink an ounce or two and then refuse the rest. So, what she wouldn't drink by mouth had to be put into the feeding tube. At the follow-up appointment, her doctor said that since she hadn't made any progress, and since she has to have the formula, he was going to have to surgically put in a stomach button. We went back to Cooks for another 3-day visit this past week and her surgery was on Wednesday, December 3rd. The feeding tube could only be down her nose approximately 4-5 weeks because after that long of a time, it starts to mess up your nasal septum. The stomach button that she now has is more long-term. The doctor said he would leave it in a minimum of a year, even if she only uses it for the first 6 months. Avery made it through the surgery just fine, and her stomach button is not infected or anything, but she was in a lot of pain afterwards. With the exception of a few short naps, she screamed her head off for the first day and a half. Now that it's been in for a few days, she's doing much better, but she's still extremely sore. The soreness should be gone in a week or so, and then life should resume as normal (if we remember what normal is). The stomach button works a lot like the feeding tube. We have tubing that we use to feed her. When it's time for a meal, we offer her a bottle and what she doesn't drink we put in her stomach. It has a cap on her tummy that we open, plug a tube up to it, and pump the formula in. She seems to be doing great now, and I'm sure it'll be a whole lot better when she is less sore.

Avery & Kenadee have had a lot of changes the last couple of months. Avery has four teeth! Two top, two bottom. Kenadee has two teeth on the bottom. Kenadee has started saying, "Da-Da" and is crawling all over the place. Well, it's more like an army crawl, but she can get from one side of the room to the other in 0.2 seconds! The girls also really enjoy playing with each other and taking baths together. They've started kicking and playing in the tub and smile and squeal all the time. Here is a bath picture:

Well, I know this has been a really long post, but I wanted to explain to everyone what all had been going on with us, and let you know why I hadn't updated. Truthfully, I thought of updating several times, but I couldn't quite bring myself to have to post pictures with Avery in her feeding tube. At least now with her stomach button, she gets her face and arms back (she always had tape all over face holding the tube in place, and arm boards on her arms to hold them straight all day and night so that she couldn't bend her arms and reach her face to pull her tube out). Now she gets her face and arms back and can play and learn to crawl as good as her sissy.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us. God has heard your prayers and has truly blessed once again. I'll do better with updating from here on out! That's it for now...

Reasons to Smile: Birthdays! Cake! Boyfriends!

2008-10-23T21:47:00.008-05:00

Well...we have all been doing really well. Avery's been feeling a lot better and her blood pressure is PERFECT! She seems to have gotten her appetite back on most days. She's not back 100%, but she's doing a LOT better! Thank you, Lord!

We helped Daddy celebrate his birthday a couple of weeks ago. The girls helped Momma make the cake (red velvet with cream cheese icing...Daddy's favorite)! They even got to sample it when it was done and even had a little taste of icing! There's a picture of that....

We've been really busy lately with football & school, as is the norm this time of year, but things have been going well. We've been trying to spend as much time as possible together as a family when we can. We've been going on walks at night, even though it's been cold lately. The girls love to get all bundled up for our walks. There are several neighbors who have tons of lights and yard decorations for Halloween. Big blow-up ghosts, pumpkins, witches, etc...and the girls LOVE just stopping in front of these houses and staring at their decorations! Kenadee even thinks she needs to TALK to the ghosts, haha. Speaking of Halloween...Avery and Kenadee are going to be Little Lambs for Halloween this year! We have already tried their costumes on them and loveeee them. We'll definitely post some pictures of that in a week or two.

Avery & Kenadee already have boyfriends! There is a picture of this above. Their boyfriends are Matthew & Caleb, who are also fraternal twins. They are 3 months younger than Avery & Kenadee but that's ok! They had a really great time on their first date, and they're hoping they get asked out again sometime :) haha

The little purple outfits the girls are wearing in the pictures above were from Great-Great-Aunt Doris & Great-Great-Uncle H.L. Thank you!! We love them!! :) Well, that's about it for this time...I'll update again when I can! Enjoy!

6 Month Pediatrician Appt & Some Medical Updates...

2008-10-09T09:03:00.003-05:00

Avery & Kenadee had their 6 month check-up with the pediatrician a couple of weeks ago. Everything in their growth and development checked out perfectly. Avery weighed in at 16lbs even, and Kenadee weighed a whopping 17lb 2 oz! Avery's appetite has greatly decreased, therefore even though she's gaining weight, she's gaining at a lower rate than Kenadee is. They are both very much in the healthy range though. They don't have another appointment with the pediatrician until they are 9 months old (end of December).

A few medical notes on Avery...

Over the last several months when we've been at various doctor's offices, we've had Avery's blood pressure checked and it's been really high. For the average 6 month old, blood pressure is supposed to be roughly 80/50. Her top number got as high as the 140's and 150's at times, and her bottom number pretty much stayed in the 90's. It wasn't an "every now and then" type of deal. It was chronically high. So, after speaking with her pediatrician and endocrinologist, we decided to get an appointment with a nephrologist (blood pressure doctor). He ran some tests and did some blood work, and ordered an ultrasound on her kidneys. He believes it is her daily doses of hydrocortisone and florinef that are causing her blood pressure to go up because they both have significant amounts of salt in them (which she needs). So, he put her on blood pressure medicine (a low dosage), and within 24 hours, her blood pressure was down to 82/68...right in the normal range for a baby of her age and size.

Then, we had her regular check-up with the endocrinologist and her blood work showed that her sodium levels were low and her 17-hydroxyprogesterone level was extremely high. This will happen from time to time because as she grows and develops, her levels will change. As her levels change, her doses of medication will be adjusted as well. The decision has been made to up her doses of hydrocortisone & salt tablet because it is necessary in order to get all her levels back into normal range. The endocrinologist believes that the change in her levels is what has caused her decrease in appetite, and that with the adjustment in her medications, she should gain her appetite back (at least, we are hoping!). The increase in those two medications, however, will likely cause her blood pressure to go up again, but we are monitoring her blood pressure regularly, so when it goes up, the nephrologist will up her dosage of blood pressure medicine to accommodate.

Both babies have been eating baby food so well! They LOVE to eat "real" food. Avery, however, has decided that she doesn't want/need her milk. We've been basically forcing the milk down her because she needs it. The endocrinologist said that if her appetite doesn't go back to normal after a few days of adjusted meds, then it's a "taste" issue and she may just need to be switched to a different kind of formula b/c she may just not like the taste of it anymore. She has NO trouble eating real food, but she seems to never want her milk. I guess time will tell...

I guess that's it for this entry. I mainly just wanted to update everyone on the medical stuff. Life is good here...we're just staying busy with football & school. The girls are growing so fast! They are rolling over and over and over and over and OVER! They can get from one side of the room to the other super fast! Kenadee is really close to being able to crawl. They are playing more with toys and more with each other. It's really fun to watch them interact with each other. I only have one picture to put on here this time, but I'll post more when I can. That's it for now!

6 Months Old!!!

2008-09-23T11:00:00.002-05:00

Well, we are officially 6 months old!! Where does the time go?? This has been the best 6 months of Momma & Daddy's lives. It has gone by so fast...seems like just yesterday we were just getting home from Cooks with our brand new babies. Boy, it goes by fast!

Avery & Kenadee are now eating 3 meals a day. They have a fruit for breakfast, a vegetable for lunch, and a vegetable AND fruit for supper. They, of course, still have their formula too, but they are eating "real" food like champs!

Avery now has 2 teeth centered on the bottom row. They are SO cute (and as sharp as little steak knives, lol). Kenadee drools like a little maniac, but she doesn't have any teeth yet (or even the start of teeth as far as I can see or feel).

They have their 6 month check-up with the best pediatrician in the world, Dr. Yap, on Thursday of this week. So, we will update the blog again after that appointment. The pictures you see are the 6 month pictures we had taken at Sears the other day. Hope you enjoy them!

Video of Chatter & Laughs!

2008-09-16T18:58:00.005-05:00

We wanted everyone to see how much fun we have together and see how much we like to talk! :) Enjoy the video!

Growing like weeds...

2008-09-08T00:18:00.005-05:00

Let's see...there's not a lot to report from this past week. We've just been hanging out and having a good time. Daddy's been working extra long & hard, and we miss him a lot. We try to spend as much time with him as possible, and when he's gone we try to find ways to entertain ourselves until he's back home with us.

Both babies have been drooling (teething) for a while now, but only Avery has any proof of it. She is cutting two teeth. They've been visible for about two weeks now, but they haven't broken through the skin yet. They are side by side in the middle of the bottom row. They're going to be sooo cute when they come all the way in. I did take a picture of them as they are right now, but when I tried to post it on here, it was too small to actually see. Maybe I can get a better one when they're a little more visible. Kenadee actually drools more than Avery, but we can't see or feel anything coming in just yet on her.

Avery & Kenadee are both BIG fans of applesauce and pears! YAY! Fruits we actually like!! And, Momma & Daddy tasted both...and they are DELICIOUS!! It's not that they don't like fruit (as we had previously worried when they turned down peaches & bananas), it's just that they have GOOD taste in fruit. haha

Our new babysitter is AMAZING. We love her to pieces. The girls have a great time with her & she is so good with them. God has a way of working things out...that's all I can say!

We're getting very close to being 6 months old (19th of this month). We will be going to get our professional 6 month pictures done soon, so we will post those when we get them done. Hope you enjoy the snapshots from this past week. They are growing like weeds!! And, they are such happy, sweet & precious baby girls. That's it for this time! ENJOY!

Busy Little Bees...

2008-08-31T23:54:00.005-05:00

What a whirlwind this last week and a half has been! Now that school has started back, and football is in full swing, we are running ourselves ragged. Everyone is doing well though, and trying to re-adjust into this busy lifestyle that we almost forgot existed during our relaxing summer!

This past week we started fruits. It didn't quite go as we had expected. We started with peaches because that is something that both Momma & Daddy like, so we assumed that the girls would love them too. WRONG! Then we tried bananas & they hated them too! They take after their Momma on the bananas...ick. We were beginning to think that Avery & Kenadee were just going to be veggie lovers, but when we tried the applesauce, we hit the jackpot. They loved the applesauce! YAY! We still have pears to try, but we're having applesauce for the next few days first. So far, both babies like and dislike the same foods. The veggies they love are squash, peas, and sweet potatoes. And, so far, the only fruit they like is applesauce. Hopefully they'll like pears too. We'll find out pretty soon :)

The babies have both turned into little chatter boxes. It's hilarious. They talk constantly. They love to chit chat with each other, with Momma & Daddy, and with anyone else who will listen. They've been rolling over more and more and more. Sometimes, it's at the most inopportune times. They like to turn their little tricks when they're supposed to be sleeping. Turning over tends to ruin nap time, as it wakes them up when they roll.

Today, Kenadee made Momma's day. She was in her exersaucer (which they both LOVEEEEEE...thank you Gran & PawPaw!) and I thought she might be ready to get out, so I went over to her and said, "Are you ready to get out of there, Kenadee?" And guess what that little toot did??? She REACHED FOR MOMMA!! Wooohooo! I was so excited that I took a few steps back, walked up to her again, and asked the same question (getting Jason's attention first so he could watch), and she did it again. What a smart girl. :)

The last couple of weeks have been a very busy time and have gone by so fast. School has started back, football is going on, and we are constantly on the go. Oh, and ... ta duh ... our babysitter quit. Luckily, we had a backup plan in case that happened, and our new babysitter (who will be fabulous and better not quit or I'll kill her, lol) starts on Tuesday. We've been really busy & the girls are growing up so fast. It's hard to believe they're nearly 1/2 a year old. Where does the time go?? Well, anyway...I guess that's it for this entry. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...

2008-08-20T23:17:00.010-05:00

Avery & Kenadee are now five months old!! They are enjoying all kinds of activities these days. Life is so much fun! They love sitting in their new Bumbo seats. They can sit up on their own when they are in these seats. It helps them with their balance, which is good because they will probably be sitting up on their own sometime very soon. They are getting stronger and stronger each and every day. They like to scoot all over the floor (practicing for Olympic Crawling Events, haha). They're not crawling yet but they really enjoy wiggling all around, especially when getting their diapers changed. :) They've also really been enjoying bath time lately. When they were first born, baths were horrendous. But, lately they are tons of fun. We get to see a lot of laughs and bubbly smiles. They both really enjoy books at night. Momma & Daddy have fun reading to them, and they just smile and look at all the pictures. They really focus on the books that we read to them. It's neat to see how interested they are already! Both babies are eating like champs. Kenadee has decided that she likes squash after all. We're going to start fruits this coming week so we'll be sure to post some pictures of that later on. Avery & Kenadee got to meet their cousins, Beau & John Michael, for the very first time. They enjoyed getting to play with them. They can't wait to see them again soon so Beau can hold them again!! I'm attaching some pictures for your enjoyment. The patriotic picture was on their 5 month birthday. There are also some bath pictures, one of Daddy reading to the girls, and one of them in their little purple Bumbo seats. Enjoy!

Cooler than the other side of the pillow...

2008-08-13T14:57:00.003-05:00

Well, the babies are just growing and growing! I cannot believe they are about to be 5 months old already! Time is going by so fast. Both babies are enjoying getting to eat "real" food. Avery loves peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, and squash...Kenadee loves peas and sweet potatoes ONLY. Both babies absolutely DESPISE carrots. I would have thought carrots would have tasted sweet to them, but they both did nothing but make terrible faces and gag when we tried to feed them carrots. They were pretty sure Momma and Daddy were trying to poison them, lol. So...we won't be doing that again. We will be starting some fruits in a couple of weeks probably. They'll probably like those a lot better. We'll see...

Avery & Kenadee got to play with their friend Delana Friday night! She is only 3 weeks older than they are :) Uncle Ryan came down on Thursday & then PawPaw & Gran came down for the weekend on Friday evening. We had a great weekend visit. We took the girls to church again Sunday (their second week of going to the nursery) and it was great! They even had a Sunday School sheet in their bag about "Helping Others" haha :) We took the girls to On The Border after church on Sunday and they proved to Daddy that they could be really good girls in restaurants. They did great! YAY!

I'm posting some pictures from this past week. Hope you enjoy! :)

Live, LAUGH, Love...

2008-08-02T00:16:00.004-05:00

This has been a really busy week for us! Last Sunday we had to go to Eastland for a funeral, so we took full advantage of the trip and visited with friends and family. Then, Daddy had to start back to work on Monday for football meetings. It's hard to believe that it's already August and that school and football are just around the corner!

Tonight we went to a get together with some friends and Avery & Kenadee got to play with their friends too (Sadie & Aubrie). I wish I had some pictures of that. It was cute how the babies would talk to each other. Sadie is 4, but Aubrie is only 4 months older than Avery & Kenadee. They were really looking each other over and cooing and "talking". Sooo cute.

Avery and Kenadee are really turning into professional eaters. This week's vegetable has been sweet potatoes. We're pretty sure that Avery will eat just about anything we put in her mouth (lol), but Kenadee LOVED the sweet potatoes and was very grateful for something other than peas (although she really did start liking peas after a few days last week). I think next week we are going to start green beans and see how that goes.

Both babies have started laughing this week! Their giggles are sooo cute, but you really have to earn them...making a complete idiot of yourself with the goofy faces and sounds. But, it really is adorable to hear them giggle.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. They are just some snapshots of the past week. The one of Kenadee with the ring on her arm needs some additional explanation...that is one of those toys where you link all the rings together. We had her on her mat in the middle of the living room floor & we were in the kitchen. When we went back into the living room, she had that on her arm. She had decided that she needed some bling bling, haha. I told Daddy that he was going to have to take her (and Momma of course) to Sam Moon to do some jewelry shopping, but I don't think he liked that idea too much. Since then, we have found BOTH babies several times with those "bracelets" on their arms and they've just put them on themselves. Too funny.

Well, I guess that's it for this entry. Hope you enjoy the pictures :)

4 Months Old & Ready For Hollywood!

2008-07-23T00:24:00.003-05:00

Well, Avery & Kenadee are now 4 months old! Momma and Daddy can hardly believe it. Time has gone by so fast! They had their 4 month appointment with the pediatrician on Monday & he said they were doing great! Avery weighed 13lb 4oz, and Kenadee weighed 13lb 6oz! They measured right on target in every category & Dr. Yap was very impressed with their excellent head control. He recommended that we start giving them rice cereal (the box kind that you mix with formula) and that we introduce new vegetables to them (one veggie per week to watch for potential food allergies). We were so excited and went straight to Wal-Mart to buy them some food! We got the cereal and for week one, we chose PEAS. Let's just say Kenadee is taking after her Gran & her Uncle Ryan. She absolutely, positively HATED the peas. She made some of the funniest faces when we tried to feed it to her. She wasn't too crazy about the cereal either but she didn't make "as bad" of faces with the cereal as she did with the peas. Avery didn't act like any of it really tasted bad, but she didn't really know what to do with it either. She'd hold it in her mouth for a little while and then eventually she'd spit it back out. I guess we just need to keep practicing. But, I'm pretty sure that Kenadee is just ready for us to move on to something else...like maybe chocolate, haha :) The pictures I'm including are from their food experiences with the peas & one of them in their sunglasses on their 4 month birthday! Hope you enjoy! :)

Visit from Nanna & Pop...

2008-07-17T16:14:00.004-05:00

Nanna & Pop came for a visit! They got here Wednesday afternoon and left about lunch time on Thursday. They said they just needed to come get some "sugar." :) We had a nice visit & Momma and Daddy got to go out on a date Wednesday night! YAHOO! Thought you might enjoy some pictures that we took of the girls with their "Great" Nanna & Pop. They had a great time playing with them. It was a very nice visit!

Welcome!

2008-07-12T02:19:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for visiting our new blog! I'm trying to get a grasp on how to do everything so please be patient with me! The purpose of our blog is so that all our family and friends can keep up with how we're all doing! Look for weekly posts (hopefully) & pictures! Thanks again for checking out our page!

Jason, Jennifer, Avery & Kenadee