Kids at Play

Now that Lane is at an age where she can "play" with Dutch and his toys, my days are even more interesting! She likes being in the playroom with Dutch when he is playing in there - Dutch, on the other hand, not so much. For the most part, they will play side by side with no complaints or crying, but every now and then, she takes his toy or knocks down his tower and he becomes furious. Oh, just wait until she can REALLY play...

Christmas Cookies

Gran (DJ's mom) came over to help us make Christmas cookies this past weekend. It was a fun time had by all and a big mess, I might add. With DJ's encouragement, Dutch had lots of fun blowing the flour all over the kitchen!

News I have been meaning to share...

DJ's sister, Meghan, and her boyfriend (now fiancé), Jed, are getting MARRIED!!! We are very excited for them and cannot wait to travel to Utah for the wedding in June. Congrats to the happy couple!

(Meghan, I hope you don't mind, I stole your pic from FB!)

Christmas is just around the corner!

Christmas is in full effect at our house - from Dutch's Christmas program at school where he sang Jingle Bells, to putting the tree up and decorating it and even just recently getting a few Christmas gifts already from friends.

Yesterday, we had our 1st annual Christmas party with friends & their children. Each child drew a name and we met at Gattitown to exchange gifts. They all had a really fun time. A big thanks to Macy for arranging the Christmas party! Dutch received lots of artsythings (fingerpaint, playdoh, construction paper) and Lane received a chunky puzzle and somepajamas.

Today, Jade, the girl that has kept Dutch since he was 9 months old and Lane since about 3 months, gave the kids (and us) a wonderful and generous Christmas gift - and something I have been needing for LONG time now! She got a sit & stand double stroller. I already love it and cannot wait to be able to use it. There have been countless times when I needed one of these and I know there will be many times to come! I can never say thank you enough for that gift!!!

Dutch singing Jingle Bells

Dutch, front & center

Lane is her new pjs

Dutch with the new double stroller from Jade

Thanksgiving 2010

This Thanksgiving we had dinner at our house. It was nice having everyone together and as chaotic as it was at times, we loved every moment!

A New Smile

Fall Fishing

DJ and our neighbor, David, decided to take the kids fishing and from the looks of it, they had a great time! Lane and I decided to stay home and stay warm :)

Carolina Football

We've been enjoying watching Gamecock football this year (even me, a Clemson graduate) especially after seeing them make it to Atlanta - even if they did not win that game. We debated all season whether we should take Dutch to his first football game and we finally decided we would for the Troy State game. Lane stayed home - as we figured she may not be as interested ;)

We went with my parents, sister and nephews. Dutch was excited at first, but the second the fireworks started, he was a little afraid - and let's be honest, there were A LOT of fireworks that game. He fell asleep in the stands in the middle of the first quarter and stayed asleep until halftime. I'm not sure how he did that with all the noise,but he did! At the half, Carolina was up by some ridiculous amount and it was so warm sitting directly in the sun so we decided to go back to the car, tailgate and listen to the rest of the game. Carolina won, so overall it was a good first football game for him.

Our new addition...

No, people, I am not pregnant. We have a KITTEN! DJ thought it would be a good idea to get a cat for the kids. More so for Dutch since he loves my parents cat, sister's cat, and anyone else's cat he has seen. He is a cute little thing, but I am not sure it was the best idea yet. I must admit, I am not super crazy about cats to begin with - especially living with me. Dutch seems to like him, but can't quite figure out that he is not a toy or rag doll. If the poor cat survives this first month, it will surely amaze me. Just kidding - kind of! Dutch likes pulling his tail, picking him up by one arm only or the neck and chasing him under beds, under the sofa, etc. We are constantly reminding Dutch that the cat does not like those things and would rather be left alone. Lane also loves the cat. She can't ever seem to catch him to play with him so she just watches him a lot and laughs at him.

He is 8 weeks old now and his name is Pawley.

Halloween 2010

This post is coming a little late because I am just now realizing that I never posted about our Halloween this year. We spent that Sunday at our neighbors Halloween party then finished the evening with trick-or-treating with my nephews.

Dutch loved going door to door. We practiced at home before going out just to make sure that Dutch understood what he was doing.

I asked him, "What do you say when someone answers the door?"

He responded, "Give me candy!"

We had to repeatedly tell him not to demand candy, but to say "trick-or-treat."

Then it became, "What do you say at the door?"

He would respond, " Not give me candy!"

He did eventually figure it out and he followed his cousins' lead. Lane, well, she just enjoyed riding in the stroller taking it all in!

Let Us Be Thankful

I have had a heavy heart this week. The sweet, little two year old boy that I have blogged about recently, Ezra, passed away on Monday after battling a ferocious cancer beast, Neuroblastoma. A friend in Tampa brought his story to the surface for me and it amazes me daily that a child that I did not even know would captivate my attention so. His story reached thousands of people from all over the world, taking us through the motions with his parents and loved ones of love, hope, joy and loss. I read Kyle's posts, each update I received, and you could certainly tell the amount of love they felt for each other and their children, but also the amount of pain and frustration they were feeling. He has such a way of writing, so transparent, that you can almost visualize being in the hospital room with them and feeling whatever they are feeling. He writes about the alarm monitors going off to alert them of Ezra's heart rate slowing, so they climbed into bed with him and held him, kissed him, hugged him and told them they loved him as he drifted off into Heaven. They laid with him a while, then got up, packed their things and left the hospital without their son for the second time this year. They witnessed him being brought into this world and unfortunately, witnessed him leaving also. No parent should ever have to bury their child, but especially not two in the same year (the Matthews family also lost one of their newborn twins a week after birth in March). It saddens me that a child so young, with so much life to live was taken too soon. I am sure it touches me also because my two children are the same ages of their boys. Ezra has touched more people and changed more people than a grown person may ever do in their entire lifetime. We are all better for knowing his story and knowing him - if only through reading his parents' blog. If you want to read their story, you can do so by going to http://thematthewsstory.com or by clicking on the link to the right of the page. You can also donate to them by visiting their blog.

So, let us all be thankful for everything we have, every person we know. I know I am. I am thankful for a wonderful, loving husband, family and my two healthy, happy children that are full of life that I get to see to see their smiling faces everyday that I am alive.

Bella's 11th Birthday!!!

Today, our chocolate lab, Bella, turned 11 years old. Lane, Dutch and I all played hookie today and in doing so, we made Bella a peanut butter carrot cake. When DJ came home from work, we sang to Bella, blew out her candles and gave her the cake to eat. She devoured it in less than 2 minutes!

And don't forget to notice the hat that DJ and Dutch made for her to wear!

Happy Birthday sweet Bella!

Niven's Farm

This past weekend we took the kids to Niven's Farm. It is a cute, little place that has farm animals, apple picking, a pumpkin patch, corn maze and water mining, for a lack of a better term.

Dutch had a fun time and as for Lane, she and I did a lot of people watching!

New skills and teeth!

I have also been meaning to post about a new development with Lane! The day of the infamous win against Alabama, Lane began crawling! In the same week, her two bottom teeth popped through also! Now that she is on the move, Dutch is beginning to realize his toys are no longer safe. Sometimes you will see him being really nice and sharing, but for the most part, he takes things away from her and replaces it with some boring baby toy that even Lane doesn't want to play with. She has just started pulling up on things this week and likes "crawlking" (the act of crawling, but with legs straightened and feet flat on the ground). It looks like she wants to walk with her bottom half in a walking position, but top half on the ground, butt in the air. She also has started eating a few table foods - she loves most things, which is GREAT!

Meghan and Jed's visit

I would have posted this sooner, but we have been unable to locate our camera cord to transfer any pictures, but at long last, it is found! DJ's sister, Meghan, and her boyfriend, Jed, came to visit for about two weeks. It was so nice to see them, as always! We spent time watching some football (going out to celebrate the big win against Alabama, then sulking about the loss to Kentucky), going to the park, playing soccer, etc. I am not sure when we will see them again, but hopefully it will not be too long.

Here are some pictures of their visit.