Growing Kids

Chaney is GroWing so fast! She started crawling this week. Really Chaney? She's only 5&1/2 months. We started feeding her baby food, and so far she likes anything we'll give her. She also likes to shake her head no and then crack up laughing at herself! She laughs all the time :) I wish we were a little closer to family so we could share her more, but for now pictures and videos will have to do. She and Layton have a regular lovefest going on - they absolutely love each other (hopefully that will last a while).

I love this picture!

Layton is doing great in school! He comes home with "awards for the day" for knowing the most letters in his class and for being able to count the highest. He also likes to tell time. Teaching him what the minute hand on the clock means has been a bit of a challenge, but we're working on it. He's really found his sense of humor too - we asked him to replace the word "poop" with ANYTHING else and now he walks around calling us "cheesehead" or "breakfast drink face". Kind of silly but quite funny. Did I mention he talks constantly? On the way to his school in the morning we get a full trip's worth of questions and observations about the cars and people around us amongst other tidbits.

He has one more soccer game this Sunday, and next January he wants to play flag football. I think he'll do really well at sports if he finds something that he really loves! He's soooo fast! I'm sure his grandparents would like him to stick to cross country ;)

We celebrated Layton's 4th birthday a couple weeks ago, and we had a great time! He sure is getting old quickly, and I hate to think about him getting too old for hugs and back scratches (which he calls "petting").


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Matt is still loving his job, and he's doing a great job there. He was just voted employee of the quarter! Yeah, he's kinda a big deal! School is a little challenging for me with two young children, but I LOVE IT! I'm really enjoying my classes, and I finally have some great teachers this semester. I can't wait to see everyone for the holidays!!

She is here!

Chaney Annabelle is here! She was a tiny nugget weighing in at only 5 pounds and 7 ounces, born April, 27 around noon. The labor went much smoother with her than it did with Layton (thank goodness I didn't have to push for 3 1/2 hours again!) I chose to be induced so that we could make sure someone would be around the Houston area to help out with Layton. My mom, her husband Will, my sister-in-law Mattea, my brother C.W., and Matt's parents were all here to welcome her into the world! What a blessing! My family was able to come down the week before she was born in case I went into labor. Then, Marci and Mitsi came a few days after she was born to help with Layton and clean and cook! After they left my cousin Linda came for a few days so that I could take my final exams, and she also did some cooking! I was very sad to see everyone go. Poor Layton has had to spend more time inside lately - hopefully that will change when summer comes around! Layton really loves Chaney! He likes to kiss her and wants her to be on the couch with him when he watches a movie. He also wants her to come in the car with us if we go anywhere. He's always telling us to be easy with her! I'm sure this won't last long, but I hope it will! We're going to Abilene soon to show her off to our friends and family there. I can't wait!!

So much is going on!

Let's start off with Christmas.

We had Chirstmas with:
Our little family. 3 1/2 of us
Linda and Andy (my cousins)
The Pairs (Matt's immediate family)
The Smiths (My dad's side)
The Fenters (My mom's immediate family)
The Chaneys (My mom's extended family)
The Holts (Matt's mom's extended family)
Holy Moly!! We were busy!!!

We drove to Temple to visit with my cousins Linda and Andy before making our way to Abilene. It's pretty awesome to have them halfway between here and there (especially now that we have a little girl on the way). We always have great food and conversation while we're there! From there, we went to Clyde to see Matt's family, whose house has been under construction and is finally starting to all come together - and it looks great! There will be tons of room for the kids and grandkids once everything is finished. I was very excited to see our family, especially my mom, since we might not be going back until after the baby is born (due May 4th). Layton received soooo many great presents, but I'm pretty sure he plays with a frog we got him on clearance for $2.00 the most!! Of course!!



Since we've been home I've had one check-up. Everything looks great. I've gained 9 pounds (I had already gained well over 20 by this point with Layton). Her heart-rate was 143. As of today I'm 24 weeks! We're about 95% sure we're going to call her Chaney Annabelle. Chaney is my mom's maiden name and Annabelle was my father's aunt's name. On top of getting everything ready for her, I start school next week. Yikes! I'll be going to the University of Houston to get my undergraduate degree in communication disorders. I'm SO excited to go back to school. I'll just have a lot on my plate! Prayers are welcome!

Love this!!

Our new niece, Mae!

The Pair grandkids

Our niece Shayla, 5 months old

23 weeks pregnant

OCTOBER IS HERE!

It's been such a long time since I've put anything on our blog. So much has happened. Let's start with Layton's 3rd birthday. We celebrated in Galveston because my mom got married to her boyfriend Will. I was so happy to see everyone! And so happy that my mom found someone that she wants to be with for the rest of her life!

My mom and Will at the beach house in Galveston.

Birthday cake #1

Birthday cake #2

Layton's new p.j.'s that he got from the Bennetts.

His tiger mask from Tia.

Bubble machine from the Ungers

We're so thankful for all the gifts that Layton received for his birthday and for everyone that was able to make it down here to celebrate! Oh, I almost forgot, Matt and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary on the 3rd! I can't believe so much time has gone by. I'm so glad that I get to spend my days with him!

Here are some pictures from this afternoon. We went to Dewberry farm in Brookshire, TX. It was so much fun. Perfect for Layton! They had a petting zoo, train ride, pumpkin patch, big slides, and pony rides. He's already asking to go back.

My mom, brother, and sister-in-law

My family just left this morning to go back to Abilene. I'm pretty sad about it. I miss how loud my house was. I don't think I've spent that much time with my mom and brother since I was in high school. I LOVED having them here. We spent most of our time in Galveston. Turns out my mom is a bit of a beach bum! Layton wanted to be right in the middle of whatever my brother C.W. was doing. C.W. clearly was not used to having a two-year-old all up in his business for several days, but they did have some good times playing together. God bless Mattea (my sister-in-law) - she's 36 weeks pregnant and she made the trip to Houston to hang out with us! AMAZING! I mean really, who does that? And she never complained the whole trip......but don't worry, I complained enough about the heat for both of us!

My brother, mom, and me!

Mattea and C.W. at the University of Houston campus.




Layton is becoming more and more brave in the ocean. He doesn't like us to hold him anymore when we go out in the waves. He likes to walk out like a big boy! More notes on Layton: he can count to 5 in spanish, count to 20 in english, sing the alphabet song, really enjoys helping in the kitchen when I cook, LOVES to sing songs with Matt. Sometimes the terrible two's are in full force in our house! I feel like a teenager lives here. Layton has gotten much better about not hitting people-thank goodness! He's doing great with potty training! He rarely has an accident. Overall I think that he's getting used to our new city and new house :)

Tonight I'm packing for our trip to Abilene for a kinda family reunion with my mom's side of the family! I'm super excited! I love my family!

June 11th

This past weekend we celebrated my 27th birthday at Galveston Beach with my cousins Linda and Andy and their grandsons. Apparently my love of water was passed to our son. He jumped waves, ran on the beach, and destroyed sand castles for hours! When we left on Saturday he told the beach bye-bye in the saddest little voice....



Layon started the day out with a hat, swim shirt, little swimmer, bathing suit, and water shoes. He didn't want to keep his little swimmer on either. Geez...nudist!


This week I thought a lot about my mom and dad. They were only 16 and 18 when I was born. I have no idea what I would have done with a child at that age! My mom delivered me breach, with no pain medicine. Yeah, she's amazing! I remember so much love from them as a child.

Memorial Weekend=FUN!

This past weekend our little family traveled to West Texas to spend time with our families. It took us about 6 1/2 hours to get there -not too bad. We have been potty training Layton so I wasn't sure how many extra times we were going to have to stop, but he did a great job! The 3 day potty training guide is AMAZING! Totally worked for Layton. He didn't have an accident all weekend! I really can't believe that we aren't changing diapers anymore! We made it to Abilene late Friday night and stayed with Matt's parents. Saturday we spent the morning with The Unger's just hanging out outside and letting the kids play. Layton went with Matt and his parents to see Shrek 4 at the movie theatre Saturday night. It was his first time to see a movie at the theatre, and I think he really enjoyed it! His Nana really loves taking her grandbabies to the movies. I think they're going to have some really good times in the future. I went out with two of my favorite ladies Saturday night to see Sex and the City 2. I had such a good time! I probably had more fun than Layton did at his movie!
Sunday morning we went to Lake Brownwood. We had a baby shower for my brother and his wife. She's due at the end of July. WOW, they received plenty of stuff to get them started! It's a little crazy to think about my younger brother as a daddy. I know that he's going to just melt when Miss Shayla gets here. I can't wait to meet my niece!! After the shower we took Layton out on the boat. Which he LOVED! He even swam in the water. I feel like I don't even know who he is anymore! He's definitely growing up a little bit.
Now we're back in Pearland getting ready for the upcoming week. Matt's really loving his job. Traffic is pretty awful, but besides that everything is going great at MD Anderson.