Sisterly love

There is nothing more precious to me than watching my kids interact. Ava has been wonderful from the moment we brought Sam home. There has not even been a moment of hostility from her. She is dying to play with him - right now she has to settle for dressing him up in her play clothes and pretending to read him stories. In the morning, Sam wakes up first and I take care of his needs and then we both go get Ava. She is soooo excited to see him. We all lay down in her bed and she says "bye-bye Mommy" because she wants me to leave so she can lay there and play with Sam. She gives him hugs which actually looks more like she is smothering him, but he doesn't seem to mind. I hope they are close as they get older. Because I have my sister and I know how close we are, my wish is that Sam and Ava can experience that!

Hallelujah!!!

Something very exciting has happened today - I can now fit into my regular non-maternity jeans!!! Now they are very tight - I can barely zip them and soooo uncomfortable (it is kind of hard to breathe), but I don't care. I am so excited I may not take them off- I may sleep in them!!

Play Dates

Now that I am home during the day with the kids there is nothing better than having some adult interaction. We have had a couple play dates lately that the kids (and the Mommy) have enjoyed! Carla moved home recently and last week she brought little Lucas over to play. He is a great baby - sat contentedly and played on the floor all day! Ava was hanging around my neck and Sam was screaming in my lap - crazy kids!!

Lucas was fascinated with Sam!

Today we had over Amanda, Blakely and Brooks. Blakely and Ava are 3 months apart and Brooks and Sam are 1 week apart. Blakely and Ava may be opposites - Blakely is so precious and very outgoing and talkative. Ava is reserved and shy, but she generally comes around. Ava had so much fun - she cried after they left!! It was funny to see Sam and Brooks - lengthwise they are about the same, but Sam is definitely thicker. He is almost 17 pounds - Ava was 17 pounds when she turned one!! I am definitely scheduling more playdates soon!!

Professional Online Shopper!!

I just finished talking to a friend of mine with three babies at home, and she described herself as a professional online shopper. I laughed out loud only because I feel the very same way. Since Sam, I have bought EVERYTHING (except groceries, of course) online and I love it. I am too scared to go shopping with both. Because I do all of my shopping this way, I am always looking for a way to get a deal. I have found a couple good sites. First, http://www.anycoupons.comis a good site because it breaks down who is having a sale and at what stores you can get free shipping. It also offers coupons for various stores. My favorite is http://www.currentcodes.com. This site keeps track of all the different codes to enter when you are checking out to receive a % or dollar amount off of your total. I look at this site before I buy anything. Happy Shopping!!

Painting with Pudding

I am always looking for new projects to do with my daughter. I saw this done on an episode of John and Kate plus 8 and I thought I would try it. I just made some plain vanilla pudding and added food coloring. I put Ava in her high chair, gave her some paper and the pudding, and let her have at it. She doesn't like getting messy, so I don't have to worry about that. She did have a lot of fun, but when she figured out she could eat it the painting was over! Now I am worried about when she gets her hands on some real paint - will she eat it?

Those of you who know me well know that my favorite book of all time is To Kill a Mockingbird. I believe it may be the greatest book ever written and I can usually find a quote in it for every occasion. If you haven't read it an a while I encourage you to. We read it when we are in middle school, but it took on a new meaning for me when I had kids!! I wanted to share some of my other recent favorites.

OK , I am on the Twilight bandwagon. When my students first began telling me about it, I thought NO WAY!! It didn't sound like something I was interested in at all, but as soon as I started reading I couldn't put it down!

I recently read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I thought it was a great book. I know there is now a movie out which I haven't seen, but I plan to. This is such an inspirational story about growing up and friendship. I think every woman could relate to someone in the story.

A surprise hit for me was Love the One You're With by Emily Griffin. I could not put this book down - I think I read it in two days or something. This book is about marriage and reconciling that with your first love. I love the book and I love the ending!!

Welcome

I have been reading blogs for years and have never had the courage (or time) to start one until now!! I don't know how much I have to say that is worthy, but I want to have a record of our every day lives for my kids one day. I will write mainly about my little family and about the things that inspire me and that I want to share with others. Speaking of my family, my husband, James, and I have been married almost three years. He is a great guy - a workaholic, loves his kids so much and his home state of Texas!! Go Aggies! We have a daughter, Ava, who will be 2 in February. She has been such a joy. She is a sweet spirit and has the most beautiful blue eyes and a smile that lights up the room. We also have a 4 month old son, Sam, who is in a hurry to do everything. I think he is going to be a little firecracker!! He is definitely a Mommy's boy - he saves his best smiles for me.