All things equal

Ella's stork


I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way, but I have this nagging need to do the same thing for one as I do, or in this case did, for the other. When we brought Nolan home from the hospital, his Aunt Amy and Uncle Brian (Craig's brother and sister-in-law) had a stork just like this one sitting in our yard. When the company picks up the stork, they leave the personalized bundle for you to keep.

Craig called the company after Ella was born to have another display put in our yard announcing the birth of Ella. Long story short, he never heard back from them. We were bummed out, but we didn't worry too much about it.

Now it is 11 weeks post-birth, and we've got a sign in our yard. Kind of crazy, I know. I'll spare you the uninteresting story that led to the sign ending up in our yard, but bottom line, both of our children now have a family picture in front of that silly stork. That's what matters, right?

The Fort Worth Stock Show

We went to the Fort Worth stock show this past weekend and enjoyed some family time, even though it was pretty cold outside. Nolan had such a great time! He loved seeing the cows and feeding the animals in the petting zoo. It' so fun to re-experience life through a child's eyes. What a blessing!

Hi, Elsie


Feeding the goats was a lot of fun!


Nolan enjoyed "riding" all of the tractors, too


Our little cowboy


It's hard to say who had more fun, Daddy or Nolan

Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

Today we visited Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. What an amazing experience! Our pediatrician sent us there to have a hip sonogram done on Ella. Since I was born with a displaced hip and Ella has some tightness in her hips, our doctor wanted to have her checked out.

Bottom line, all is well, praise God! Even though Ella has some tightness in her hips, the sonogram showed that her hips look normal. He feels that the tightness that's present will correct itself over time. To be sure, we are to take her back for another sonogram in four months to be sure her hips are developing normally.

Both Craig and I felt that our experience with the hospital was wonderful! We were greeted by everyone with a warm, welcoming smile. There were volunteers that escorted us to wherever we needed to go so that we weren't walking around aimlessly trying to figure it out on our own. The facility was very kid-friendly and had such a relaxed, comfortable environment. We were very impressed and appreciative they accepted Ella as a patient.

I encourage you to visit their website at www.tsrhc.org to learn more about the hospital and their services. We will always find a way to donate to this amazing hospital! We are forever grateful.

The Not-so-Great Picture Day

So we had our first in-home photo session about a week ago. The company that took Ella's picture in the hospital called and said that they would come and do a photo session in our home and give us a free 8x10 picture as a thank you for allowing them to take Ella's first baby pictures. Being the frugal one that I am, hey, why not let them come and take pictures of my sweeties and get a freebie out of it? Much less, I was excited that I didn't have to load them up and go anywhere. Sounds perfect, right?

WRONG!!!

Let me start by saying that Ella was such the little flirt. She was a doll pretty much the whole session; we couldn't have asked for anything better from a 2-month-old. Nolan on the other hand was not cooperating at all!!!! I don't know if the fact that a stranger was in his home changed his environment or what, but Nolan was not having anything to do with picture time. We tried just about everything to get him to participate, and he wouldn't have anything to do with it! The photographer that came out was very nice and patient. He told us he had 10 children of his own. Anyone with 10 kids has to be patient, right? Well, Craig and I had had enough of Nolan's charades that morning that we were on the verge of losing it with him and each other! It was time to call it quits for the day and make do with the shots the photographer got.

Boy, I'm glad I snapped this picture before the craziness unfolded and our almost 2-year-old emerged with a mind of his own! As nice as the photographer was, and as much as I do love freebies, we will ALWAYS have professional pictures taken outside of our home from now on!!!

Surely we're not the only ones that in-home photo sessions bring about meltdowns. What a bummer, though. What seemed like the perfect scenario did not work out for our family, at least not at this stage in our lives!

Play Ball

Last weekend, we had some special Mommy, Daddy, and Nolan time. He had such a great time playing catch and running around the yard with us.
Throw it, Nolan!
Good catch, Buddy!
He loves his Daddy so much!!! (His Daddy sure loves him, too!)

He's getting so big, I can't believe it!

Loving on Ella

Ella enjoyed her time with Mimi and Papa. She's full of smiles and is already a chatterbox to anyone who will listen.

Ella is two months old today, and she's telling Papa all about it.



Ella and Mimi are enjoying a few special moments out on the front porch together. Mimi's heart melts with every smile!

Rockin' Out

Nolan and his cousin, Keith, had so much fun playing the guitar this afternoon.

Fun at the Playground!

On Sunday, we went to Mimi and Papa's house for the afternoon. After naptime, we went to the playground, and Nolan and Mimi had such fun together!

Mimi and Nolan holding hands swinging.
Mimi taught Nolan how to climb up the chain-link wall.
Daddy's really just a big kid himself and enjoys playing at the playground, too!

Bringing in the New Year

We brought in the new year with some family and friends. The big kids played suffleboard, while the little kids entertained each other. It was nice to have people over and enjoy the hut for its intended purpose instead of living quarters this year!

cousin Alec and Nolan
cousin Brooke and Nolan
Brothers and their sons

Happy New Year!

From our family to yours, may God bless you this new year!