poor mans Christmas card

Okay, so here is our poor mans Christmas card...posted online is free!!
If you want one printed to hold in your hands, put on your fridge or to frame for your mantle, let me know and I will GLADLY send one to you...a nice 8x10 will look good over the fireplace...
Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!
We wish we could be with all of our friends and family for the holidays, but I think we'd have to rent the conference hall at the Hilton!
We are so blessed to call you our friends and/or family and hope that you know how much we love you!
We pray you know the love of our God who sent His son to earth to die for us so that we can be forgiven of our sins and be with Him someday...the true meaning of Christmas!

spoke too soon and some catch up

I spoke too soon on the sickness being gone...it's not nearly as bad, just Brock and Reagan with colds and Reagan got cellulitis again for the third time...sooooo painful for her and it needs to GO AWAY!!!

So, I realized that I forgot to get our halloween pictures on so here are a few:
Reagan kept showing up with candy (I guess people thought she was cute so they kept giving it to her!) she has two suckers here ready to give one to her friend Zac...Zac's a little shy...I think he likes her...

or it's the other way around...Reagan gave him the red sucker and the sweetest hug!

Here is Brock and Rick and little Zac and Sam both came as penguins! Stinkin' cute!


Reagan with Grandma and Ti-ti Carmen

little mischievous grin

always the little ham! She wore this costume last year, but it still fit and nothing was as cute! (Sam will wear it next year!)

Samuel was done at this point in the night!

nobody tell...Sam wore tights!


And here are a few to get December started...by the way, I know I said I would be posting once a week, but I've failed miserably and will again with our vacation coming. I ask for grace as we finish the year and I'll start again fresh in 09!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

The sickness has stopped!

FINALLY! The sickness in our house has stopped! My last post, asking for forgiveness was just a few hours early. That night, the flu hit Reagan, HARD! All night long (literally with hardly a stop) the "adventure" endured, then early Saturday morning, Sam got his second round of it, and about an hour or two after his hit, mine hit! Oh it came with a fury! The carnage was unbelievable! I'll spare you the details, but let's just say that diapers and buckets don't catch all that exits the body when kids have the flu!
Sam had the bug affecting his "southern end" for about 10 days! It was so awful for him...he had the worst rash I've ever seen from the constant "irritation". Thank the Lord he is better now as of yesterday and the rash is almost gone already. Thanks to all who have been praying for us!
I have to give a HUGE thank you to my amazing husband, Brock who played nurse/maid to the three of us for a couple days. It was non stop messes, laundry, soup making, drinks, baths, diaper changes, bucket washing, etc. He certainly rose to the occasion and did EVERYTHING! He was really awesome and I thank God for such a great man. Let's face it, not every dad/husband would do the things he had to do. He didn't complain once, I don't think he even sat down more than once all of the first day. I couldn't have handled it better myself. So thank you Brock and I love you more than words could say!
Okay so on to more pleasant things...here are LOTS of pictures...again!
Here is the month of November...it might be long for you so take a few minutes and enjoy! (click on picture to see bigger slideshow)

I need forgiveness...

I need forgiveness from you all who count on me to blog, all you who actually check our blog and all you who just enjoy the occational laugh and pictures of our family. It's been over two weeks now since my last post and I'm suppose to be posting every week! I'm really not doing well!!
I've had family in town, I worked a couple days, Brock's had the flu, both kids have had colds for over a week and Sam has the flu this week, (just got done cleaning up a MAJOR puke 5 minutes ago! sorry that's gross.)
So I'm not just lazing around eating Bon Bon's and watching General Hospital, I've had my hands full!
I PROMISE a good post soon...like in the next couple days, so please don't give up on me. Check back and you'll be pleasantly satisfied with a handful of pictures and maybe a comical commentary.
Thanks to all our "followers"...we all love you and covet your prayers for our family and right now for our health, (especially for mine since I haven't gotten any of the nastiness yet!)
Love, Esther

lots to catch up on

Wow, it's been almost a month! Time is just flying too fast!
Samuel is graduating from high school now...we are so proud of him. Of course I'm kidding...

Here is the month in 15 seconds:
-Brock's mom came to visit from VA, had a GREAT time.
-multiple visits to Disneyland
-Reagan fought off cellulitis...twice.
-Sam has two teeth
-Halloween = 1 skunk and 1 penguin
-Sam fell (more like flipped) down 6 stairs...his mother almost had a heart attack! (he's perfectly fine)
-Reagan calls us by our first names...or she calls us "babe"!
-Sam says "da da da" and "ma ma ma" and "duba duba duba"...oh, and he has learned how to scream...louder than any girl I know!
-Reagan has had the flu
-Sam stands up a lot...not quite cruising yet though.
-and we have a new president and have witnessed a truly historic election.
I'm sure I've missed something, but I think all the big things were covered...

Just a couple quick stories:

1-you know you use your voice commands on your headset for your cell phone a lot when your two and a half year old quite often says, "Call dad, mobile....yes." it's really funny!

2-Disneyland is MAGIC! I went with the kids and my mom and grandma and we were sitting down to have corndogs (best on the planet...and biggest!) and we saw Mary Poppins and Bert signing autographs and taking pictures. My grandma simply said her dress was lovely and she would love to take a picture with her. I told my grandma that the line was really long (they always are to see the characters) and that maybe we would try to catch her next time. We were sitting where they pass by to leave Main Street and they walked by and were gone. My grandma said once more how she would have loved to have taken a picture with her. Not loudly, no one was around (we were sort of in the back), just voicing her wishes. Well, they were gone for about 2 minutes when all of a sudden they reappeared and headed straight for us! Mary Poppins said to my grandma, in an English accent of course, "I love your hat (she had a big red hat on) and I simply must have a picture with you." I was sitting there with my mouth open stunned because we didn't ask or tell anyone to have them come back...Disneyland is MAGIC!!! (I think they listen) We took pictures and then they went back to "the back". They came out just for her! After they left, I sat there staring at the buildings looking for the microphones!!

3-When I went to vote, I was putting Reagan into the stroller and she asked to play in the rain (it had been raining). I said, "no, Mommy has to go vote right now." She got a big smile on her face, and said, "yeah, vote...Obama?" I simply laughed and said, "NO-bama baby." Walking in I hoped she wouldn't say it out loud again...who knew today he'd be our next president. (As with past posts, this in NO WAY says who I voted for for president)

Here are lots of pictures to catch you up on our ever-growing, changing, amazing kids!


pictures from Halloween will be on the next post...I have to get the pictures off of the camara, and quite frankly, I just don't have the patience to sit here any longer.
Love to you all! Thanks for your patience in waiting for this late post!

okay, so I'm late...

Yes...I'm late...late to blog! What did you think I meant??!!!
Well, here is the second slew of pictures promised:
My AWESOME mother-in-law got here today and will be here for 9 whole days...so I may be late again (to post!).

We're ALL officially moving!

No, we're not moving...but we are ALL moving!
In other words, SAMUEL IS CRAWLING!!
YIKES! It's awesome and frightening at the same time. It's been a couple days. He started crawling last Thursday, the 18th and so far he's been really easy going. It's scary having two mobile children though! But, so far, so good!
Here are some videos...I didn't do a lot that day but sit and try to get video of him crawling and try to encourage him to crawl.
Anyway, it's cute!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

1st slew of pictures

Even though I've been posting approximately once a week, I still seem to have a plethora of pictures! I have soooo many to share, so I will just post them in increments.
Here is the first slew! (new way to post the albums...to see bigger, simply click on the picture and click slideshow or scroll through)

Remembering Gramps

I can't believe it's been a year since I lost my grandpa. I miss him sooo much. It was a year ago this last Saturday and yet it feels like yesterday I was sitting next to him listening to one of his stories. I would give anything to hear his great deep voice again. Or hold his enormous hand. Comb his hair. Make him a peanut butter sandwich. Help him transfer from his wheelchair to his giant recliner. Drive him to the ocean. Anything...just to see him one more day...just for a moment.
Thanks to what Jesus did on the cross for our sins, I know I will see him again some day...until then, I can only look at pictures and remember that wonderful man...my Gramps.
Sorry for the sad post, but this was one of the greatest men who ever lived and I just needed to share it.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Reagan and Abby

We went to my friend Amiee's to play with her girls, Abby and Hannah. Finally Reagan and Abby played together. They have always played next to each other, sometimes shared a toy or two, but this is the first time both of them purposefully played together. It was really funny to watch...see for yourself. (Yes, some of these pictures were in a previous post)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Teaching the "Golden Rule"

The other day Reagan was taking a bath. I had my back to her for a minute and when I looked at her she had something in her mouth.
Mommy - "What's in your mouth Reagan?"
Reagan - "Poop"
Mommy - "POOP!!??"
Reagan - "yeah"
After freaking out a little, I realized what it really was. She had pulled a piece of caulking off of the drain and was sucking on it. So I used this opportunity to teach her the "Golden Rule"
Mommy - "Reagan, take it out of your mouth please."
Reagan - "yummy"
Mommy - "Reagan, that isn't poop, but we NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER eat poop! Poop NEVER, NEVER goes in your mouth! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER eat poop! okay??!!"
Reagan - yeah
Golden Rule = NEVER EAT POOP!
**************************************************
Same bath, different "meal". She was pretending to eat with her little plastic spoon and gave me bites too.
Mommy - "what are we eating?"
Reagan - "soup"
Mommy - "mmmmm, it's yummy. What's in the soup?"
Reagan - "Bacon"
Mommy - "Bacon? oh, yummy. what else?"
Reagan - "Waffers (waffles).....noodis (noodles)"
Mommy - "oh yummy."
So we dined on bacon waffle noodle soup...mmmmmm, I love 2 year old cuisine.

Our liberal daughter and everybody poops

A couple days overdue on this post but it is worth the wait...

We have the news on very infrequently, but if you have it on for any short amount of time inevitably you are going to hear something about the upcoming election and the candidates. Well, there is one in particular that is fairly easy for a two year old to say...I'll let you hear for yourself.
(This in NO WAY indicates who we support for our next president, it's only our little 2 year old parrot)
Our liberal daughter:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

One more funny. For a while now, Reagan has become a bit modest when it comes to her bodily functions (still done in a diaper...don't judge me!)
So when it is time to change her and there is a fragrancely challenged present for me, she gets embarassed. So I have come up with a way to get her to not be embarassed about it. I simply tell her that everybody poops. Then we proceed to go through the list of everyone we know (mostly related to) who poops. So if you are reading this, you have probably been mentioned as one who poops. I appologize for disclosing what goes on in your most private of times to my two year old! But my motto these days seems to be, "You gotta do what you gotta do!"

Here are some pictures to enjoy: (click on picture for album)

The "Mick-icks"

Mick-icks = Olympics
Reagan is loving the "Mick-icks" as much as we are. She asks to watch them and she likes Michael Phelps!! And Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson!
Go USA!!

2 year old vocabulary part 2 (and of course a few pictures)

Part 2 of our 2 year old's vocabulary:
wad = wand
Dabo = Pablo (from Backyardigins cartoon)
teeble = table
awmum = awesome
ferk = fork
boon = spoon
myfe = knife
beef = leaf
mameea = camara
cake-cake = pancake
merk = milk
en-din = fire engine
bub = bib
moth-meedo or mee-dos = marshmallows
a-nane = airplane
muth = mouth
cowkth = couch
goo-een = green
woo = blue
gayk-hew = thank you
O-on = on (yes, on is a two syllable word)
ging-key or bee-key = binky
di-diss = princess
And some of my favorites:
Sami-yer = Samuel
mums = drums (which she pretends to play with everything!)
oh doot = oh shoot
farur-workth = fireworks
neenee-nand = Disneyland
kurch = church
oat-not-na = oatmeal

and no post can be complete without a few pictures,
click on picture for album:

Aug 08 #2

watching the hula dancers at Granny's luau...Reagan LOVED them!! she just kept asking for "mer" whenever they stopped.

beauty runs in the family! Granny and Reagan

twins!

waiting for "farur-workth" at "Neenee-nand" with our good friends Melanie and Andrew.

lots of fun and an appology

I must start by appologizing to everyone...I committed to posting at least once a week and here it is two weeks have past since the last post. So I publicly appologize to you all.
Okay...getting on to this post.
Here is an album to check out...lots of fun stuff!

And for those with trouble getting to the album, a few highlights:

Mommy and Reagan


goofing off

Mommy and Samuel



Reagan shaving just like Daddy

Sam loving his play mat

you do what you gotta do to get a hot meal (instead of having to hold a bottle while your food gets cold)

Reagan and Daddy playing with dry ice

here is why we had dry ice...Mama Bea overnighted two dozen or so Maryland crab covered in Old Bay seasoning for daddy's half birthday. Never had it? it's definately an experience!!

we needed help with all those crab...so we called a few friends...Rick had a blast, Christine...not so much, and Phil...notice his distance

Samuel's first spoon fed meal...mmmm...rice cereal


gorgeous Reagan

Like a fish and time with Daddy

Samuel took to the water like a fish! He was so comfortable he just floated there sucking his thumb kicking his little legs completely relaxed. I only held his head because he kept turning it side to side and getting water in his mouth, but he can totally float all by himself! Soooo cute! I suppose babies just have a knack for the water. I'll try to get a video next time.


My two little fishes!

Love Auntie Ta ta ta (Jessica)


So happy


Daddy and Samuel time:

"Hey mommy, isn't it crazy how much he looks like me!?"

Teaching him the facts of life

Happy boy loves his daddy

I love to suck my feet

just chillin' watching Modern Marvels

That's quite a look

That's mischief if I ever saw it!

Nice butt

Two posts in a row! I'm getting good!
This is worth posting at midnight!

Brock bent over to open the blinds behind the couch today and his rear end peaked out a tiny bit...I said, "you have a nice butt" (I know this is too much info to share, but #1-he's my husband and he does have a nice back side and #2-it's hilarious what happened next).
Mommy - "you have a nice butt"
Reagan - "Nice"
Mommy - "Nice?"
Reagan - "yeah, nice.....butt" little laugh..."daddy, nice butt"
A whole LOT of laughter followed!

P.S. for those of you who read the post about our trip to get "doo-dits", we came home close to 11:00pm tonight and we were almost home when Brock and I reeeeeally wanted Krispy Kreme again. So we passed our street and headed over to K.K. again...Reagan enjoyed 1/3 of her beloved "doo-dit" at like 11:45pm! (does that make us bad parents...doughnuts before bed and a bedtime of close to midnight for a two year old?)
How do you like our new look? LOVE it!

purple crayon on the couch

So this is what happens when a two year old takes a purple crayon to your couch cushion. The craziest thing is that I was sitting right next to her while she did it!! I suppose I was so absorbed in my show and nursing, I never saw it happen. (Note to self: always keep your eyes on the two year old when crayons are involved!)


We really want to be proud of our little artist!