going to bethlehem

our ward party was going to Bethlehem. we were suppose to dress up and the boys loved it. they were shepard's and my mom and dad were in costume too. i had a head wrap but with olivia being so squirmy these days it did not last long. olivia wore her cute jammies that have angel wings on the back. the party was great and we had a good time listening to the story of mary and joesph.

the party people the boys with their gear on.mom and dad

S-N-O-W

so it snowed last friday here in houston. it actually stuck to the ground and was there for a little while. i had to take some pictures to prove to my dad that it was on the ground at our house. of course it was melted within a few hours but the kids enjoyed it and i was glad it ended quickly

the solar lights in the front yard

plus my cute gingerbread man! the side of the yard and some bushes.

santas helpers

one night we came up stairs to see the kids playing santa clause and his elfs. drew had somehow become santa and this was his sled. these are all the toys that are from the play room. my mom was coming up the stairs and gasped at the sight of all the toys in the hallway. the kids were great of cleaning it all up but it was so fun to see them getting excited.

santa and his sled

santa and his helpers

uh-oh

olivia is starting to say more "words" besides mama and dada. maya taught her to say uh-oh.. i caught it on video this week. ignore drew's constant talking..he just really likes to be included.

getting into everything

this little lady gets into everything now. my dad has these decorative stick things in a pot that the kids like to play with. when we got here we worked on keeping the boys out of the sticks and now its keeping olivia out of them. she is such a stinker that the minute i turned my back and this is what i found.

she was so happy

wait i dropped one

here is the fruits of my labor

frustration time a million and then some

so beginning two years ago we started to be concerned with drew's weight. he is a small kid and has not gained weight the way other 3 years olds have. in fact 99% of all 3 year olds are bigger than him. at 3 and 2 months he weights 26lbs with all his clothes on. so prior to moving to texas we did some testing with normal results and the next step was to see a gi dr. then we had no insurance for drew so we did nothing. finally we have insurance and we met with our pediatrician and he was open to my concerns especially since drew has some really toxic and interesting poop. we did blood tests last week for celiacs disease, and 2 other tests. the results of all of those tests came back normal. so now we are onto our appt with the gi dr in january. i have some major frustration b.c i just want to help him gain weight and not have the poop issues he has. he has grown in height which is encouraging but the weight has only been about 5 lbs between the past two years. its hard to not know what to do to help your little ones and have thought that something was the issue and realize that it was not that and be back at square one. anywho.. that is my frustration today..

lions and tigers and bears

we went to the zoo the day before thanksgiving. it was a great day. not too crowded and not too cold. we had a blast. all drew wanted to know was when we were eating and where the monkeys were. after we had done those two things he was ready to go. we had a fun time.

wyatt with the flamingos

drew trying to catch a squirrel

the kids in the bald eagles nest

wyatt-glenn-olivia (drew was pouting at this point in the day)

the giraffes b/c i think they are cute.

so comfy

one of my favorite things is my blanket that my grandma L made me many years ago. to this day i love to cuddle in that blanket. my mom made these blankets for all her grand kids and they are so cute. i hope that they all enjoy their blankets for years to come.

wyatt with his robot blanket

drew with his puppydog blanket

for some reason i can not take a good picture with my camera... sorry

gobble.gobble.gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

enjoy your family, friends, food and football!!

she finally

C R A W L E D...

yeah. i never thought it would happen but it did. last night she crawled from the kitchen into the dining room and then back around the kitchen. poppy got to see it too which was nice. he is usually one of the last people in the house to see her do new things. i, however, was the last to know that she could clap.

on a totally unrelated note, i had a few people ask about the elastic i used to make olivia's tiny but cute pony tails. they are goody brand and i got them at target. they are clear and the smallest size they make. i am on the look out for some small colored ones though. the clear get lost very easy..

amazed

two things have me amazed right now..
1) my daughter is 10 months old. she is official been with us longer than she was in my tummy. she is such a little stinker and a joy to have in our family. here are some things she has been learning lately. she can clap her hands, stand up and move around on things. she loves the shoe basket (and rightly so), she hates baby food but loves table food.

2) we were able to attend a dinner/silent auction for WeeDream Foundation on monday night. glenn wanted to golf but by the time we knew he would be home it was too late. they were all full for golfers. what amazed me the most about the night was the kindness that was so abundant. if you don't already know about WeeDream and what they are doing for a good friend of mine go here and you can learn about Elle and Whit. i made some bows and was actually shocked that someone bid on them and that they went for a pretty good dollar amount. in today's world i feel like people stopped helping each other the way they use to and this night helped me see some of that back in society.

of course being jessica my camera battery is dead and i didn't get a picture of olivia in the shoe basket but hopefully i will one day.

baby steps, baby steps

so i have decided that olivia will never really crawl. she can army crawl and can pull up on stuff and move around but real crawling not gonna happen. but something that did happen.....

PIG TAILS..

they are small and totally crooked but they were there and so cute..

So I put on my glasses and drew told me I look like poppy. I love how kids think.

h.a.l.l.o.w.e.e.n.

halloween was a great day. we went to our ward party and then out trick or treating with some friends and had a great time. the kids go so much candy that it was nuts. we were sad that dad missed it but thanks to granny and some great friends we had a good day.

brave knight drew.bear in a classic stewart look

bad knight wyatt

pretty pretty princess

another princess

happy birthday drew.bear!!

drew turned 3 on friday... it was a great day... our tradition for birthdays starts with breakfast of that persons choice. drew chose donuts and they were yummy. after wyatt went to school we went to have birthday lunch. drew chose chilis because he could get a blue drink... it was super yummy and they sang to him which he hated!. We made sugar cookies and decorated them with one of our neighbor girls. it was totally crazy and fun at the same time.. we ate pizza and opened presents.. he was in heaven and fell asleep so fast. i am still in shock that he is 3 but i am hoping that 3 is better than 2 because 2 has been HARD!!

birthday boy and his cake

the cake

birthday presents

wyatt-drew-maya

birthday boy