Fall 2014 Memories

We had a pretty busy and fun-filled Fall!  Frank and I were able to go to a couple of A&M games... one at Texas Stadium where we BTHO Arkansas and then we went to Aggieland to watch the Ole Miss game, which did not go well for us, unfortunately.  Still, it was great to be back in College Station to look around and enjoy the Aggie hospitality all around us. :)

We made our annual visit to the State Fair of Texas despite the concerns of the Ebola crisis that we felt was impending.  I can't deny that I was concerned and mentally thought out a plan of action should an outbreak actually occur. :) I mean, goodness, the patient was in Dallas!  But when reading the facts on the disease it seemed extremely unlikely we would have anything to worry about and we went to the fair as planned.  The kids really enjoyed it this year since they had rides their size.  The weather was so nice as well.  And we love getting a Fletcher's corn dog!  After the fair the kids went to a carnival at their school and that night we celebrated my mom's birthday with everyone at our house.  It was such a fun family day!

For Halloween, I originally planned this super fun party, but due to my getting the stomach virus I had to cancel it.  I was sooooo sad as I think many of my friends were... so maybe next year??!!  I had already made Cameron's costume, which was a Kristoff costume.  It turned out so cute, I think anyway.  And Emerson was Anna, from Frozen, of course.  :)  Emerson is especially gaga over anything Frozen.  It was fun trick-or-treating on Halloween night.  They both ran up to doors to get their candy and were thrilled with the whole night.  My family came over and we had a party, of sorts, which was fun.  You can't go wrong when you have chili dogs, queso, meatballs and little smokies!  

I went to visit Glenn and Sarah in Myrtle Beach by myself while Dorthy watched the kids.  I enjoyed a few days seeing the sights... I especially enjoyed the quaint feel that Conway had with the old buildings and beautiful fall leaves on the trees.  It's was beautiful scenery.  I appreciate Glenn & Sarah showing me around as my personal expert tour guides.  I also enjoyed seeing their new house and look forward to seeing the final result of all of the remodeling!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Austin this year and the kids and I spent a week just visiting with Dorthy, and shopping around.  :)  For most of the week the weather was so pretty and the kids enjoyed going outside.  Frank came up for Thanksgiving and we had some family time together.  On Thanksgiving Day we got some great pictures of Dorthy and the kids as well.  

At the Ole Miss game

Hey, Big Tex!

Emerson trying to pop those balloons!

Could she be any happier riding that plane ride??

Happy kids!

A short video of them reading together.

A slightly tired Kristoff

Anna of Arendelle!

About to head out to trick-or-treat!

The morning after candy trading... well, sort of.  Emerson was being a sneaky big sister.  :)

Myrtle Beach

Just getting some pics of the kids

Love this sweetheart!

Playing outside at MomMom's on a beautiful day!

Big Frank would enjoy this a lot, I think!

MomMom and the kiddos on Thanksgiving Day 2014

Recap of Summer 2014

Oh dear, I have had a hiatus from my blogging and it has been almost 6 months since I posted anything (note, I backdated the publish date).  Woah, that went by so fast! So much has happened during the second half of summer so I will just do a highlights sort of thing to cover it all!

• My family (Chandler Family) went on a vacation to Oahu!  It was just an adult trip, so no littles.  It was a fun family vacation to a beautiful place!  We were able to all enjoy amazing views from the rental on the lanai, watched surfers try to ride the waves, had lots of good food, went to a neat luau, shopped, saw Waikiki, snorkeled Hanauma Bay, went to the Dole Plantation, searched for and finally found a sea turtle on the North Shore, visited Pearl Harbor and  Frank and I wrapped up the trip with some couple time alone at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore.  There we relaxed more, played some golf, and Frank enjoyed the water slides.  :)
• A few days after we returned home, our dear Virginia, known as GG, passed away.  We were very sad for the loss of such a sweet and wonderful woman.  She loved Emerson and Cameron as if they were her own.  We miss her so much.  
• July 23 was Frank and I's 9th anniversary.  I am so thankful for him.  He is the calm when I am the crazy.  Much has changed in our lives since the day we said "I do."  Our lives are so different than they were from the early days when we met in College Station.  We both look at our kids and just really don't have the words... these beautiful little people that we somehow created together.  Sometimes things can happen and make you feel unlucky, or at least  I have felt that way at times, but looking at the sum of the blessings in our marriage and our lives I know that is anything but the case.  We are more than lucky, we are blessed beyond measure.  Thank you, God, for our paths crossing and bringing the wonderful man that Frank is into my life.  

As always, I have pictures to share!  The first grouping is Hawaii, then some other pics from the summer.

Such a beautiful view from the house!

I just loved those rocks!

Lucky us... a double rainbow with an ocean view. 

Love this guy...

Hiking Diamond Head!

Pearl Harbor

Frank played golf at Turtle Bay

The big kid on a water slide!  :)

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Sweet Virginia... this was the picture used as her portrait.  An edited version of a picture I took of her when she, Dorthy and Big Frank visited when Cameron was just a little baby.  Cameron was obviously cropped out, but in the original photo she is holding baby Cam.  Such a happy day and visit that weekend.  

Before the funeral services the kids walked around the garden.  

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Big Cam learning to ride a tricycle... we need to work on this more still!!

Fourth of July Fun and Fireworks!

Fourth of July this year was a busy and fun weekend for us.  We started it out in Dallas with our neighborhood parade.  It was fun for us to decorate Emerson's car and the wagon for the kids to ride in for the parade.  The weather was great as we all gathered at the starting point for the parade.  Once the fire engine arrived it was time to start.  Frank pulled the wagon and I was walking along with Emerson as she drove her car.  At first she was pushing the pedal so it would move, but she would stop and then look back to see the gigantic fire engine coming up behind her.  This seemed to terrify her a bit and she just froze in her tracks.  So, the fun decorated car was no longer a good idea.  :)  As sweet Emerson cried, Daddy took the car to the house and I pulled both kids in the wagon to the area for the games and treats.  There Emerson was able to hold a fire hose as water sprayed out like a real fireman.  She thought it was pretty neat.  :)  Afterwards we loaded into the car to go to Austin.  We wanted to visit with GG, who was in the rehab hospital, before the fireworks that night.  After arriving in Austin we went to see GG, and had a really nice visit with her.  Then we headed to the grocery store before heading to the house. I needed to get supplies to make some banana pudding.  We enjoyed the fireworks with Carl, Barbara, Dorthy, Haley and friends and Milena.  The next day we stopped in Duncanville to have some good 4th of July food with my parents at their house.

This is the banana pudding I made (thanks Stef for the recipe!)

My little sweetheart!  (not sure why her cheek is so red in this pic)

Emerson's 4th Birthday!

Our little girl turned FOUR last month, which just seems crazy.  This means next year she will be in kindergarten, which means I am going to make sure we have so much fun this year before school steals her away from us!  :)  To celebrate, we had a pinwheel themed birthday swimming party with friends and family and I also took Emerson to get her first real pedicure at a nail salon.  For her party we had hotdogs, chips and some fun cupcakes baked into ice cream cups.  I hired the kid's swim instructor to also be a lifeguard at the party thinking it would be safer to have someone watching the kids to make sure there were no accidents.  The good news is there were no injuries during the party, though some guests did go under water briefly, and many of the kids were not sure about the lifeguard as he scared them. :(  Most of my friends were understanding and enjoyed themselves.  And most importantly, Emerson seemed to have a great time, especially when she got to open all of the presents.  Her favorite things were anything related to Frozen, which she got lots of!  The highlight for me was having my best friend from childhood, Melinda, in town with her sweet girls to enjoy the party, too.  

So, what is life like with a charming, creative, zealous, imaginative, loving and absolutely beautiful little girl??  It's wonderful and so much fun.  Everyday is an adventure if you play along.  I could just stare into Emerson's beautiful eyes all day and listen to her ask me a million questions, tell me how it is, and acting out her favorite scenes from Frozen.  If only I could bottle up this sweetness and save it forever.  Her explanations and reasonings are so fun to listen to, you just never know what she will say.  She is of course, very clever when it comes to convincing Cam to do things.  Usually it is getting him to help act out a scene from Frozen, or getting him to chase her, but she sometimes convinces him to give her his toys, which is not the nicest thing.  I have to hand it to her for her convincing ways, though... I think that skill will take her far.  :)

She loves to have her hair braided, something I will need to learn how to do even better.  For now we stick to the simple braid.  Emerson loves to dress up in play dresses, use her flashlight to explore, she always wants to wear dresses, likes Doc McStuffins from Disney, still loves cars, enjoys riding her bike, likes having her nails painted, loves swimming (even if she doesn't get far in the water) and really loves singing songs from Frozen.  

Her favorite foods are macaroni, rice (as in Rice-a-roni),  hotdogs, pancakes, cookies, snack crackers of any kind essentially, fruit, cheetos, chips in general and pizza of course.  

She is in size 4 clothes, not 4T as they are usually too short.  She also wears size 9 in shoes, which she lots and lots of.  :)

Emerson has grown up so much.  When she wakes up from nap time or in the morning she will get out of bed on her own, use the restroom and then will come downstairs.  It's handy that she has gotten even more independent.  

KK and MomMom took Emerson to her four year appt as we were on vacation with my parents and siblings.  Here are the measurements from her appointment:

Weight:  38.4 pounds  (75-90%)

Height:  42 inches   (75-90%)

Here are a few pictures from the party and some recent pics and videos of Emerson.

Emerson's first dance recital!

Yesterday was Emerson's first dance recital!  She began going to dance class every Wednesday starting last September and has really loved it.  She sometimes will show us some of the moves she has learned and we catch her doing some of them as she sings "Let It Go" from Frozen, which is her favorite movie and song.  We all enjoyed her performance yesterday and Emerson had several people in the audience to cheer her on... CC, PaulPaul, Uncle JP, Aunt Amanda, MomMom, Ron & Francis, and of course Mom and Dad and Cam.  After the finale, Frank went up to the stage to get Emerson and gave her some flowers he bought for her.  Her face lit up with the brightest smile when she saw him with flowers and she held on to him... it was so sweet.  Later last night she told MomMom that her daddy gave her flowers at her recital so we know she was so delighted to get them.  

Here are several pictures and a link to the video we got of her performance.  Enjoy!  

Our little ballerina before the performance

There is Daddy with flowers!

Oh my gosh... Queen Elsa came!

Here are Emerson's fans!

Cameron's Two Year Birthday!

Eek... talk about being behind!  Here it is June 8th and I am writing about Cameron turning two, which happened April 29th!  Better late than never.  :)

Our little charmer has grown so much over the last few months it seems.  I still consider him by baby, but he is definitely a toddler.  He is so determined at times to do things himself that it is so cute.  He gets mad at me for trying to help him, which is why I now try to ask him if he wants help.  (Thanks Dr. R for the tip on that one)  He is an even tempered little munch for the most part.  He wants to run and play, but enjoys the occasional snuggle.  His grin will get you every time and he flashes that smile all the time for us.  He and his big sister play so well together now, for the most part!  I have caught them holding hands many times.  Emerson will grab his hands and try to dance sometimes.  They do fight over toys at times as they both like to play with each other's toys.  He will go from playing with his cars and trucks to pushing her stroller around or grabbing her purse.   Cam loves to play with his blocks and stack and build things before he will knock them down with one destructive swoop of his hands that is always followed by a giggle and him saying "Ohhhh-No!".  Then he will rebuild it again.  He can be patient at times, but when something won't work he will yell out "No!" and has a tendency to throw whatever is causing him trouble. When he is eating a meal he is really good with using a fork or spoon.  He knows that is the right way to eat food so he tries really hard to do that.  When it is something that is tricky to get on his fork he will cheat and pick it up to place it on his fork and then put it in his mouth.  It is so funny.  We love watching him run around outside.  His feet hit the ground like they are weighted down in a full body pounding motion.  He hasn't mastered the art of a more graceful trot, of course that could be a boy thing.  He and Emerson like to have races and he will yell "Ready. Set. Goooooooo!" and comes barreling down the sloped yard from our neighbors yard across our front yard.  Emerson always beats him, but I don't know how much longer that will be the case.  Cameron can count to 10 and is always so proud of himself.  He follows it with a "Yay!"  He also sings his ABCs, though he does do quite a bit of his mumbly talk.  And he likes to sing along when we sing You Are My Sunshine and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  It is pretty darn precious, I must say!  He also likes to point out all of his family members in pictures and likes to point to body parts and say what they are.  He is so great about going with the flow and following requests.  His typical response to things is "Ooo-kayyyy" in his sweet and innocent voice.  For instance, if you need him to go take a nap and say "Ok Cam, it is time to take a nap, ok?" and that is when he will reply "Ooo-kayyyy".  He really cracks us up with some of the things he says.  He will look at my earrings and will grab them and say "I like it!".  Bedtime is around 8:30 and he is up around 8 or 8:30 the next morning.  We stopped giving little guy a paci right after he turned two, and he was so good about it.  He would ask for it, but did not get upset over it.  Seriously, he is just so darn wonderful.  We aren't going to worry about potty training yet.  I just don't think I want to worry about that right now.  I will target after Christmas (unless it seems like he is really ready before then) and then we will really get after it!  :)  Cam wears size 2T in most clothes now... he still can squeeze in to a few 18-24 month bottoms as well.  His shoes are size 6.5/7 and he is in size 5 diapers.

When we went to the doctor, we got Cam's measurements so here they are:

Weight: 28.2 pounds (50-75%)
Height: 35 1/2 inches (75-95%)
HC: 50 1/2 cm (90-95%)

And here are a couple of videos and pictures of sweet Cam:

Our Small Paul with his PaulPaul  :)