Sooo excited to see what 2010 will bring.  Our 2009 was filled with changes - for one, a new little miracle entered our lives and completed our family with a bang!  It’s also been a year of ups and downs, but I’m happy to say we survived it all . . . maybe not with grace, but with our very own style, and I couldn’t be happier to see what will come our way next year. Bring it on!!

Santa forgot to put the candy canes in the stockings!!  Oh well, I guess Santa had a lot on his mind trying to pull Christmas together.  Thank goodness I found where Santa had left the candy canes in his rush to leave all the packages under the tree and fill all the stockings.  And boy was Kasen happy about that!!  Not only that, but these aren’t just ordinary peppermint candy canes, these are strawberry Starburst ones - tasty!

Happy, happy girl ~

And look who’s eating REAL baby food ~  Yes, I know, he doesn’t look happy about it, but trust me, he is!!  Those feet start kicking and he tries his hardest to grab the spoon from me to feed himself.  LOL

See ya’ later!!

I took a peek in on story time last night and this is what I found.  Be still my heart!!

See ya’ later!!  I’m off to rest my knee - having surgery next week, so hopefully I’ll be back to walking normally again and WITHOUT pain!! *fingers crossed*

Amazing- our first white Christmas since 1929,which means I’ve never seen one in my lifetime!!  We’ve had flurries before, but no accumulation.  I always laugh when I pull out some of my first Christmas pictures and I’m sitting in the front yard with a dress on, not even a sweater, and the sun is just shining.  Anyway, we saw the snow coming down hard on Christmas Eve, but being Texas, we certainly didn’t think it would last.  Well, I peered out the window Christmas morning and it was all white . . . snow covered bushes, snow covered yards, beautiful.  Kasen was THRILLED - little did she know she may never see a White Christmas again in her lifetime.  And Holden’s first Christmas - white - incredible.  I know, I know, all of our Canadian relatives and friends are probably laughing right now, but it was a big deal to us and FUN - just see the joy here on Kasen’s face!!

See ya’ later!!

I hope everyone had a VERY Merry Christmas.  We certainly did, albeit a little too early thanks to this little dude - who is SIX months old today!!  Where does the time go????

And check out those teeth ~

See ya’ later!!

for the big red guy to show up tomorrow.  Great day today, lots of fun, but even more fun to be had tomorrow . . . presents, stockings, birthday cake for Jesus, dinner at Brad’s Mom & Dad’s house, and lots and lots of fun and love.

Wishing you all the joys of this holiday season.

Here she is - waiting, waiting, waiting.  She picked out the plate and the mug for Santa, the special red plate for the carrots for Santa’s reindeer, because she knew Rudolph would love it.  What joy!!  We’re enjoying every minute.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

you better watch out, you better not cry,

you better not pout, I’m tellin’ you why,

Santa Claus is coming to town!!

And look who’s SUPER DUPER excited about THAT!!!!!

The excitement, the magic, the wonder - it’s the BEST!!!!!   Holden doesn’t have any idea what’s going on yet, but I have a feeling he’ll be loving the wrapping paper and the ribbon the best.  He’s already snagged a few ribbons and put his signature drool all over them. LOL  Kasen is beside herself in anticipation of tomorrow morning.  She keeps thinking of new things to request from Santa, but she asks us to ask  Santa for her.  Too funny.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays.   I have been slacking on the blog, yet again.  My Mom is here now, which I’m thrilled about.  It’s her first Christmas with Kasen and with Holden of course - since it’s his first one.  Anyway, everyone has colds, but doing well.  I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting around because I’ve injured my knee.  I’m still holding out hope that I *may* not have to have surgery.  I’ll find out the results of my MRI on Monday.  It’s not easy taking care of two little ones while limping and hobbling around, not to mention the pain.  More than anything, it’s just SO annoying and frustrating.  Oh well, it could be a lot worse, so I’m counting my blessings.

Bless us Lord, this Christmas,with quietness of mind; Teach us to be patient and always to be kind. ~ Helen Steiner Rice

Kasen had her first official hair cut on Sunday.  I’ve trimmed it once, but that was it . . . and boy, was it overdue.  She had tons of split ends and she had so many tangles every morning that buckets of tears were cried.  We decided it was enough torture for her - time to get it cut, get it healthy, and reduce the stress every morning.  So, Kasen and I hopped in the car and headed to Snip-Its - the Chuck-E-Cheese of children’s haircuts!!  Thankfully, it wasn’t crowded.  I guess too many people were Christmas shopping and there were Sunday football games to be watched.

After we entered the salon, we were greeted so pleasantly and it was a wonderful experience for Kasen.  She jumped right up in the chair ready for her big cut.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen her sit so still. LOL  She did tell the hair dresser that she wanted it short.  We settled for a pretty major trim.  It was hard enough to talk her out of ALL PINK HAIR in the car on the way to the salon. LOL   Not only that, but she did ask me if scissors ever hurt while they cut your hair.  And then she asked me if the scissors ever hurt your skin while getting your hair cut.  It was so cute to see her mind working overtime.  While there, she was polite and did I say, quiet??!!  In the middle of her hair cut, she said, “Excuse me, excuse me, my hair is in my eyes.”  LOL  She did not like not being able to see around, especially the cartoons that were playing on the little TV in front of her chair.

Kasen asked the hair dresser for pink hair, and thankfully, she did have an alternative.  She had some red hair gel and told Kasen that she could make a red streak on either side of her face after her hair was dry.  Kasen was thrilled with that and she now calls them her “red strips.”  She wouldn’t let us wash her hair last night because she was terrified she would lose her “strips.”  LOL  And, she wasn’t too happy that Brad washed her hair tonight and it came out.   She has already asked that I put them back in tomorrow - yes, we did buy the red hair gel AND glitter spray for her hair.  I guess I’m thinking that she’ll get this out of her system before she’s a teenager and wants to dye her hair purple!  Really, who am I kidding?! - this girl is going to keep us on our toes every single day of our lives.  It’s a good thing we adore her.

Oh yeah, she was none too thrilled with me when we were in the car heading home.  She said, “I wanted it SHORT, like Sadie.” *sigh*  She really has a mind of her own, knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to say it.  She DID tell the hair dresser that she wanted it short, but I think it looks precious just the way it is.  She IS happy with it now, thank goodness.

See ya’ later!!

I had NO idea that it had been so long since I last blogged.  I guess life got in the way.  Well, to catch up quickly - we have attended birthday parties, we had a great meeting with some special members of Holden’s birth family, Thanksgiving was wonderful, we’ve been decorating for Christmas, and both children got to meet Santa and get pictures taken.  One liked him, the other didn’t  - I’ll let you guess which one wasn’t fond of the big guy.  That’s the short version of where we’ve been- there’s lots more, but those are the highlights that came to mind right away.

Anyway, little dude wants you to know he’s been working hard on getting these new teeth - two now . . . and many more to come, which means a LOT more drool.  Whew, those bibs just get soaked all day long.  Not going to miss that.

Since it’s been SO long, I can’t exactly post without sharing a pic too!  Here’s one of our silly little man - and yes, he’s as mischievous as he looks here. LOL

See ya’ later!!