Let's Rodeo!

On Friday my brother and I took the kids to the rodeo. Having him along made things so much easier! The kids had a absolute blast! It's been a while since we have really spent the day out because of how I've been feeling but everything ran smoothly and it was a lot of fun.

Valentine's day and such

I'm really trying to get caught up and I'm getting close. Hooray!!!
Valentine's Day was really fun this year. The boys were still on the Christmas/birthday high so when I told them about another holiday they were ecstatic!
We decorated little mail boxes this year and when the kids were in bed I would put little treats or toys in them so they were able to look in their mailbox in the morning. I didn't take any pictures of this but it is something we will do again next year. It's fun to start my own traditions finally!
The kids helped me make a heart shape pizza the Friday before Valentine's Day and Camy helped me make cookies. She thought she was so important. It was fun to do something with just her.


Here are some more fun pictures from the last couple of weeks.



The kids were playing a game with masks and Camy wanted to play. Before we know it she had fallen asleep with a mask on. My sleeping baby giraffe.

What could be better than hanging out and eating popsicles.

Pizza+popsicles+outside=definate bath

Camy fell asleep standing up the other day. I was pretty impressed with my little fighter who didn't want to finally give up.

Preschool

We have been doing a rotating preschool for Parker this year and he loves it. The last two times that I did it they went really well and we all had a lot of fun. The letters were M and then Q. I knew that M would be easy but was a little worried about Q. We focused on Valentine's Day on the Q day and everything went smoothly (or as smooth as it can go with 6 preschoolers and my little monkeys).
The gang with their monkey masks

Decorating and eating valentine cookies

I talked about how Q has a best friend and he is always with him. "Q is never seen without U". A couple days after preschool I walked in the room and found this and it made me feel so good. Parker really got it and could write them too. A proud parent moment!

Carson's 3!

It's been over a month since Carson's birthday but oh well. I guess that's how things are going for me right now.
Carson is my little sweetheart! He knows he can get away with almost anything because all he has to do is look at me and say, "I love you mom", or "you are the best mommy ever" and I melt. He is so sweet! He also loves to yell. It's usually all happy yells but still, if I have a headache it is probably because of him.
Carson wanted dog cpucakes for his birthday so that's what I did. They turned out pretty good too. Because of the recent trip and me feeling sick we didn't do anything big. We had a little party for him and my dad (Carson's birthday is January 13th and my dad's is the 16th) and he had a great time.
I love my Carson boy so much! I don't know what I would do without him. He is such a special part of our family.

Camy

I really need to do a post on Christmas and Carson's birthday but right now I'm lucky to keep up with the present. Maybe we will just have to have Christmas in July!
Anyway, on Monday I took Carson into the ENT for his 6 month checkup after his tubes/tonsilectomy and things looks great! The doctor was impressed that he hasn't had any ear infections since and everything looked good. He was really excited to ride on the chair up and down. He seemed like a pro at the whole doctor thing. Poor kid!
Camy went in too because back in August she started acting like she had an ear infection. (My pediatrician asked me how I knew and I just told her with how many Carson has had, we just know.) Well, I took her in the beginning of September and they put her on antibiotics and wanted us to come back in a month to make sure everything cleared up. October we took her in, more antibiotics. November, more antibiotics. December, more antibiotics. They just couldn't get rid of the infections. In January I took her in and my doctor wasn't there but the other one saw her and gave her the antibiotic shot and I had to bring her in 3 times that week so she could have more shots and they didn't help whatsoever. One of her eardrums burst at this point so I was refered to the ENT again.
Well, after Carson hopped down from the chair Camy immediately climbed up there and was ready. She is she little that the doctor was pretty impressed that she just sat there. She acted like a pro too. They scheduled an appointment for tubes and I guess I am going to have another kid go through that. At least it's only tubes and not tonsils at such a young age. It will only take a few minutes to do and it's something that they do everyday but it's still a little scary. I hated seeing Carson knocked out and now I will see Camy that way too. I hate seeing her in pain though and anytime she hurts herself I ask if she has an "owie" and she points to her ears. It's pretty sad that she has been in pain so long but hopefully this will help and she will feel better. March 3rd is the day and we will be home that evening so it's really not a big deal, I'm just a worried mommy as usual. At least it's nothing big.

Me and the bathroom...

Well, I obviously have been horrible about the blog lately. I haven't even done a Christmas entry and it's February! I know, it's bad! Well, I hope to be able to conquer that soon but my life has been centered around the bathroom lately. For those who don't know, I am 15 weeks pregnant. I know, Camy is so little...wow, you're brave...you're going to have your hands full...etc...believe me, I've heard them all. Camy will be 20 months when this baby is due. All of my other kids are 22months apart so it won't be that different. We are really excited to have another baby but the being sick part stinks! Camy copies me when I throw up and Parker is terrified by it so it's always pretty interesting around here.
Also, thinking of having another baby, I realized that if I don't potty-train Carson now, I will have three in diapers. No thank you! I can handle 2 in diapers because I've always had two in diapers, but 3, nah! I got Carson excited about it the end of last week and decided to tackle it Tuesday. Well, it's been two days now and we haven't had a single accident! Parker got potty-trained right before he turned 3 and he was a piece of cake! Carson just turned 3 and could care less but obviously he is ready. We will see how it keeps going but so far so good! He thinks he is so cool now!
Although my life is centered around the bathroom right now, at least there are good thinks to look forward too because of my time in the bathroom!

Christmas in Arkansas

On December 19th (our 6th anniverssary) we all packed into the van and headed north. In Dallas I dropped Keeper off at a North Carolina/Texas basketball game where he met his brother and brother-in-law with their boys and I continued driving until I got to Bentonville, Arkansas. Keeper had a blast at the game and luckily Texas won. Go Horns!!! He hopped on a plane and was back in San Antonio by that evening because he had to work in Monday. The kids and I hung out in Arkansas for a week until Keeper was able to join us on Christmas Eve. We had so much fun with Keeper's brother, Dee and his wife, Melanie, and their kids. I had forgotten how fun and easy-going they are. For the first couple of days we were there Keeper's sister Malee and her family was there also. It was a wild house but a lot of fun. Camy was pretty worn out from all the traveling and one night I realized that I hadn't seen her in a while. Melanie found her asleep in their bathroom laying on a cat toy. It was probably the only quiet place in the house at that time. Poor baby! The day after we got there one of their little girls got the flu and was throwing up all night. I hoped that it was something that none of us would get because we had just gotten there but of course the next evening Carson woke up from a nap throwing up and then Parker woke up saying his tummy hurt. A few minutes later Camy woke up throwing up too. By this time I was thinking that I shouldn't have come. How was I going to handle this while I am feeling sick myself, without Keeper. Melanie immediately had a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear (which is what I needed most at that moment.) Throughout that night Dee and Melanie helped with my sick kids even though they had another kid of their own that got sick too. Halfway through the night I got the flu too. They were so supportive and gave up their room to me. Luckily by that time all of my kids had stopped throwing up. It was hard and not something that I would like to go through again but I am so grateful to Dee and Melanie for the love that they showed me while I was at their house. Later during the week although the flu went through everyone in the house we were able to have some fun. The kids played really well together and my kids absolutely loved their cats. (I think at some point we might have to get a cat. Not anytime soon but sometime.) We went to a jump place and Carson was hard to find because he was running non-stop. He loved it! On Christmas Eve Keeper flew in and it was fun to have him with us. We had a really nice dinner and a fun night. Although we missed him, I think he missed us more. There is nothing fun about a quiet house if your family is away. Here are a few pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas. Christmas Day it also started snowing! Hooray! We were able to do a little sledding on boxes and the kids had a blast!

After Arkansas, we all headed up to Keeper's sister's house in Missouri. We had a little reunion with all the grown siblings and their families and just enjoyed being together. We went to an indoor pool and the kids really enjoyed that. Parker was ready to go home (to our house) and he wouldn't swim but Carson and Camy had fun.


After Missouri, we headed to Keeper's other brother's house in Kansas. They have cows and chickens and this was where Parker was the happiest by far! He is my animal man and would live with animals if I would let him. He was out helping feed the animals and anytime anyone had to go outside he was right with them. Keeper's brother's oldest, Mikenna, took Parker under her wing and was so nice to him. He talks about her all the time and he can't wait to go back. We built snow forts and just hung out. I think we were all pretty tired by this time and it was REALLY cold outside so we kinda just hung out and enjoyed being together. Lee and Traci are really easy-going and their girls are so helpful. It was a great way to end the trip.