New Traditions: Part 1 of 2

This year we did a couple of things that we plan to turn in to family traditions. The first happened while we were vacationing in Arizona. What the first thing you do when you get to your room while on vacation? You jump around on the bed, right? You're basic tomfoolery. We jumped a lot. Threw the boys on the bed a lot, just plain ol' fun. We caught some of the action on camera and decided from now on, hopefully once a year, we will get family pics like this of everyone jumping on the bed together. Things should get pretty interesting once the boys get older and bigger! The last pic was perfectly timed with Holly and Jeremy in mid-flight! You should be see this more soon...

6 Month Update and Stuff

The boys are 6 months old! Going in reverse order on the July going-ons. On Thursday we took Jordan to the nose/throat/ear doc (forget what they're called) to get his throat looked at. When he coughs, sounds like a goose...kind of a croup type cough. Hes not sick and doesn't seem bad...just playing it safe. Doc said it didn't seem like anything, but he can't see past the vocal chords. In order to do so would mean putting Jordan under and sticking a little camera down his throat. Don't think its anything to worry about and feel like putting him under isn't worth the risk. Jordan next goes to the doc on Monday to get his eyes (tear ducts) looked at. Poor guys hasn't gotten over his blocked tear ducts. They been pretty goopie since we left the hospital.

Sorry...this looks like its going to be another long post. On Monday we took the boys to their 6 month check up. Jordan weighed in at 16 lbs 3 oz and Jeremy tipped the scale at 19 lbs 2 oz! After a quick look over it was time for their shots. This time the boys got their shots at the exact same time. So no one had to go 2nd and listen to his brother's cries and realize something wasn't kosher and he should probably bail. Like before the shots were a shock at first and after a quick cry it was all over. Best of all, boys did NOT get sick after going to the doc...first time in their life!! They did get a fever and felt pretty cruddy from the shots for a day, but they did great.

And...one last entry...last weekend we had the Mills/Chisums over for a cookout. Grilled some chicken and ribs. I botched the chicken and pulled it off the grill too soon. I was worried about burning it because last time the grill was dirty and there was an extra grease fire going that cooked the chicken too fast. This time was worried about them burning and they weren't cooked to perfection. The ribs were delici-oh-so! Highlight though was just hanging out...Holly and Cin played with the boys in the pool and everyone else got into throwing themselves down the Slip n Slide. *Note to self, do not attempt sliding down the ramp on your knees again.

So here is a photo album for the month of July that has random pics of the boys and the cookout last week: PHOTO ALBUM

Make sure you check out the series of pics at #62! Jordan discovers himself in the mirror in the new exersaucer Jessica lent us. Holly got great shots of him admiring himself.

Oh I lied...one more thing. Last month the boys started eating solid foods. So much fun. Jeremy loves it. Jordan REALLY loves avocado and bananas, but not much of anything else. He does like the kids cereal (kinda looks like the grain pieces in lucky charms) and Kix cereal. Jeremy pretty much likes it all and opens his mouth wide for food. Here is an album of the boys eating: PHOTO ALBUM

And finally, we leave you with a video of their very first time eating solids and some other shots. Bye!

The 4th (and 5th) In EPT

July 4th and 5th came and went. Spent the whole time with family and it is still not enough. Saturday morning it was off to Great Grandma Licha's for breakfast. Food never tastes as good as it does at Grandma's kitchen. We got a pic of her and all the great grand-kids. There was one...and only one pic that came out where Bella wasn't making a funny face. I don't know if she always does it on purpose or by accident, but she makes the most hilarious faces in front of the camera. In the photo album you will see one where it looks like Jeremy is choking the life out of her.

After eating at Grandma's, it was off to Grandpa Andy's for more food! Gotta have a 4th of July cookout. Pops grilled up plenty of BEEF! The weather wasn't bad if you stayed in the shade. It was just about as hot indoors as outdoors, but the breeze outside was fantastic. After eating too much, we headed out yet again over to Tia Esther's for, you guessed, another cookout. Man oh man, so many kids in our family who were just lil' tikes the last time I saw them and now they are mini-adults...just flat out weird to see them after all this time.

We really got to get back home more often. We really miss you guys! Miss the El Paso sunsets and mountains too. Austin is beautiful and we love it there, but I do miss the mountains. These were the last 2 sunsets of our trip.

Today we hung out with the Chisums (Poppy and Pops) and went to church at Westside. Our old family home. Miss them too. They were a huge blessing for us when we had the boys with all their prayers and support. Got to see Jim Leeah too who I haven't seen in a long. He helped me get into guitar and showed me a lot. He is playing in 2 bands now, NarroPath and The Polynomials. Nice!

After church is was off to lunch the the Chisum's wacky crew from church. Funniest bunch of ol' folks you ever did see. Delicious lunch at The Magic Pan and then back home to finally chill out. The boys were WIPED OUT and slept almost the entire afternoon. I headed out to my dad's again and took the kids to Peter Piper Pizza. Holly and the boys relaxed with the Chisums. Jordan helped Poppy out with her crossword puzzle.
And now...some final packing and sleep before the long journey back home. Hopefully we get some clouds and/or rain along the way to keep the sun from beating us down. Sleep boys...sleep...

EPT Photo Album #2

Happy Easter!

A very memorable Easter weekend for us. Had to cancel our fajita cookout and tell family to stay away from us. Jordan's evil plan for world domination was launched this weekend with the spread of his virus. First mom was hit. Then he attacked dad and now Jeremy his sick too. We really thought it was going to pass quickly...but things seem to be getting worse for me. Mom seems to be getting better though and that is really good. Jordan is still coughing pretty bad. Jeremy is too and is real snotty. Our Easter egg hunt was everyone passing out and going to sleep. Except for momma...she'd wake up anytime a boy coughed and took care of all of us.

Would love to give more details about my Dad and Mandy's visit and then Mari and the family's visit...but I'm ready to go to bed again. So I will just let the pictures do the talking. This album [CLICK HERE] has all the latest pics of the family visits and our happy, but sick, boys.

And here is a vid of Jordan with nebulizer...

El Paso Visit in October

So last month we hit the road and headed back home to El Paso. This was the last trip for a while, Holly is no longer allowed to travel. We visited with Holly's Mom and Pops, my Grandma and my Pops and the kids. Everyones doing great...we miss them all. :(  Didn't get a chance to see the rest of my family. You guys all need to move to Austin soon! Until then, you always have a place to stay here.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to watch my lil sis (Randy) playing volleyball. They lost, in fact, I think they said that was their worse game of the season, but it was still great watching them play. Got some great pics with the pics, Holly and my Grandma and Holly and her mom, pops and Mike. Here is the PHOTO ALBUM for our El Paso trip.

We've been busy and sick, so thats why its taken me a while to post. We gotta get back to working on the baby room. We've got 2 baby showers lined up the next 2 Saturdays in a row! Both came up with great invitations...

And tomorrow night is part 2 of our wacky birthing class. Please, oh please, no more birthing videos! Ewww...