Brandy Swimming Meet

Here is Brandy at her swim meet. She had 3 performances. The first performance was a 200 yard freestyle. The second was 200 yard freestyle relay. The third was a 400 yard freestyle relay, however, it was cancelled due to a swimmer not being present. So proud of her!

Kien Driving/Gabe's Indian Call

Here is Kien driving his own car! He did so well!

Gabe learns little things all the time. He learned that if I pat his mouth, he can make a noise and I guess he likes the noise! So cute!

Kien's first day of MDO!!

This is an exciting day for Kien! He is going to Mother's Day Out 2 days a week! Here he had his coat on ready to go when Jeremy gave him a snowball!! My friend Amy came over to watch Gabe while I took Kien to "school" so I didn't have to get Gabe out in this weather, and to have this special time with Kien. She is such a sweetheart, and even was the one who took this photo!

I was making sure I had all the stuff we needed for Kien, and he was showing the snowball to Rebecka, Amy's daughter. :) Then Amy took and put it in the freezer :)
Here we are! I had to bring all Kien's stuff and carry him to the front of the building because it was raining/snowing and didn't want him to fall or get too wet. So I had him pose once his backpack was on and he held his lunch box!
So cute!!!
Here we are inside the building. Kien was SO excited, although I couldn't catch him smiling! GRRR
Here is the entrance, Kien knew from our previous visit on where to go!
On our way to the classroom.
Around the corner down the hall.
So CUTE CUTE CUTE!!! I ended up having to carry his back pack because he just can't seem to keep it on with the coat.
Here is Kien's room!
We were standing outside of the room for a bit because we were a bit early.
The first thing that his teacher did was turn on the fish tank. It's plastic fish that when turned on the air blow bubbles and makes the fish swim. He was so interested in it! If you look on the left hand side there are some "cubby's" where the kids are assigned to put their jackets, backpacks and lunches. I am so glad we taught him what a cubby was at home for his shoes. :)
He was a bit hesitant at first. Clingy for sure. He kept walking to the toys and then coming back to me and holding on to my legs.
I think he knew I was not going to be staying.
Kien and I were the first people there, and so when the first little girl came to class, I left the room and watched him through the window. He was just fine! We go back and pick him up at 2 PM. I will have an update about that later!

Our first snow!

We woke up this morning to this view! I don't know if you can tell, but it is actually snowing still. They were some very big snow flakes too! Maybe this is a sign of a white Christmas! Typically there isn't any snow until latter January into February. Very nice sight. Being 2 hours since I have taken these photo's, it is all gone.

Bible Study Night

We meet every other week for either Bible Study night or date night. We really enjoy this "adult" time with our busy schedules. :)

Here is Kien getting ready to go play with the kids!

He LOVES going over to Mrs. Amy's house!
It was "comfort food" night. Everytime we meet we have some sort of dinner theme.
More friends! I just love watching the kids greet each other. It's an exact replica of how the parents enter in too! They are sooooo precious!
Kien found some fun rides while he was waiting for dinner.
And yet another one!
DINNER! He was eye balling his plate. I couldn't get it sat down fast enough for him to start munching on the tortilla chips that were green and red.
The gals watching a movie.
Brandy is the primary babysitter. She is paid to watch the babies for us. She is so good with kids.
And as we bring the night to an end the mens are of course talking about either cars or iPhone aps... lol
I didn't take further photo's but typically it is about 4 families. This evening our good friends the Lackey's couldn't make it. I love sharing our stories, our life experiences, receiving God's Word and being able to pray together. We are blessed!

Updates and Randoms

Daddy had fun teaching Gabe the "man's rules" on the remote!

After church on Saturday night we went across the street to the shopping center to pick up some dog food at Petsmart. Brandy, Jeremy and Gabe stayed in the car while we ran in with Kien. He and I loved the birds!
Daddy and Kien were watching the parakeets play.
Then we saw a snake! S is for snake .. sss sss sss
Here is a "I told you so" photo. I made claim to Greg that because of black Friday, the streets would be a mess! This was his drive to work... Yes, I ate crow...
Jeremy loves to entertain us with showing us his see food...
Brandy has been so tired from the swim practices and meets.
Greg wanted a photo of Gabe in a cooking pot. Why you ask? Sheeesh, I don't know! But it's cute!
So we received gift cards for Target during the "after the baby" bbq get together. So I pulled all three of them together and went and purchased this bouncy toy that Gabe was going to need soon. He isn't very sturdy yet, but with a bit of cushion to help keep him vertical, he LOVES the toys. I think mainly he loves sitting up. He also loves walking around with us so he is on the same level as everyone :) :)
Gabe loves baths! He never used to, but now he loves them.
He loves to smile lots too! I can't believe that the time awaited for these cute little smiles is over! How fast they grow!
We have a friend who moved and we went over to help unload and unpack what we could. The Barnes family was there so it was quite kid happy!
Greg thinks they look alike :)
Cutsie!
Gabe is NOT happy with tummy time. He is getting so much better though with lifting his head up. It won't be long. I have recently wondered why we get excited about all these milestones, but then soon forget that anticipation after they reach them. Time goes by so quickly.

"After the Baby" BBQ

Due to the fact that I was too ill to have a baby shower, I came to the realization during the final weeks of the pregnancy that we were going to have to be untraditional and have a get together after Gabe was born. Of course, I was going to wait until he was at least 2 months old if not hold off until he was 3 months. With the scare of the H1N1 flu going around, we most certainly do not want to expose anyone, especially Gabe.

My very good friend Mercedes told me before delivery that she would be glad to put something together for us. And that she did! Not only did she pick the invitations and get them printed and sent out, she also made our cake! What talent this woman has!!!!!! WOW-- she totally rocked my mind (and taste buds) with her creativity! I never knew she was such a cake decorator! She made the cake a split image of the invitations! Thanks again Mercedes!!! Love you girl!

We were so caught up in the fellowship of all those who attended that I completely forgot about taking photos!! I have seriously got to find a way to put "camera" on the brain for events! Either that or delegate someone to do this for me! :)

What I was talking about or to whom I don't know! Funny face!!
Mercedes parents, Janet and Zac came out as well. They just love the kids and such good good people to be around! Zac was ever so gracious to cook the burgers and hot dogs for us (unknowing of this chore) and did a fantastic job! Janet was just all over trying to help get things together. She was very helpful in the cake cutting, also!
Greg was eye balling the cake for more!!
All the kids played in the "petting zoo" (as Tim called it) area. Of course Jeremy had a friend come over and they played the Wii.
I don't think the family room has ever held this many kids! I didn't even think about pulling out more toys for the littler ones to play with :( I won't forget next time!
Greg shared some cake with Kien. He LOVES cake. As a matter of fact, he was given so much cake that Kien was bouncing all over the family room ALL NIGHT! I made a comment about how Kien is just a laid back kinda kid, but he was proving me wrong. Shannon informed me that Tim shared cake with Kien too, except didn't "share" he just fed him his own large piece. Kien would bounce on his trampoline, then run over and fall on his little couch hitting is head on the gate, but not feeling a thing and running back over to the trampoline so many times. He fell in between, but the child didn't feel a thing! He is NEVER getting that much cake EVER!!

I do have to say though, he did cry when we put him to bed after all our guests left. Once he stopped, he was OUT! Poor Kien was a bit over stimulated!
Kien loves his friends!
Someone purchased a little magna doodle for him, and it was a HIT!
Do you know what happens when you fall asleep in a house full of kids and bigger kids? I don't know what Stan was going to do to Tim! Just beware... fall asleep at your own risk!

Brandy is so good with the two little ones. She carried Gabe around for a while during the wildness!
Greg surrounded us with all the wonderful gifts people brought.
I don't believe that this sofa has ever sat this many people at once!

I have no idea what was going on here with the chairs, but it is cute!