The future Mr. and Mrs.

This is just a cute post of our friends Susan and Ethan's little boy Porter and our sweet Henley! We were pregnant at the same time again and her third and our second are just 11 weeks apart! Obviously, since they are opposite sexes we have betrothed them to one another! Do you think they would protest an arranged marriage?:) They are so cute and Porter speaks her name so cute and clearly! They all came over for dinner the other night and here is some video of them!

Typical Crazy Alabama Weather!

If I had to take a guess all the weather men in Alabama are giving each other high fives right now!! Why? Well, because for once in their lives and in the past four months they have been right about something! Here lately we have been threatened with the horrible, don't dare say it or the city might shut down...SNOWSTORM!!! Here in Alabama the whole city goes nuts and you can not find milk or bread anywhere to save your life! It is as if the world is going to end? I do not know why people react this way, but they do! Personally, I am disappointed every time they predict snow and nothing happens! I would not like to live in the North where snow is a constant expectation every winter, but I would like to have it on occaison! We have had some flurries off and on this past winter, but nothing that stuck around for any length of time! Finally, on the Friday before Valentines Day we got our wish! I think for about a week they were forecasting the weather and that a big snow was headed our way! Unfortunately, the weird thing about it was that most of the Southern part of Alabama was going to get the snow and Central Alabama might get a dusting to an inch! We were hoping for more if any at all! Midnight was when the snow was about to start and we were going to wake to a beautiful, white wonderland! HA! When we awoke Friday morning...Nothing! Oh Well, they were still saying, that the snow was coming later in the day, but expectations were not high for me! We had heard this before!

Brian headed out the door for about an hour drive North, which I thought he was crazy! We wanted him to stay home and wait for the snow to come..so we could play! I checked the school to find out if the kiddos were off for the day and of course they were not! Henley was with me because she has no school on Friday! I dropped Christian off and quickly realized he had no jacket! What if they went out to play in the snow if it started?  I ran home and got his jacket and got back to school, just in time for the snow to start! They told me school was closing in about 45minutes! Huh? They were supposed to have a Valentine's party and his teacher was in a  panic because she had nothing ready! I volunteered to stay and help...what else did I have to do? I was going have to be back here in 45 minutes, so why not stay and help with the party? Henley, played with the big kids (which she loved) and I helped get all the Valentines in the bags and set up for the goodies to eat! We had a quick party and then time to get ready to leave! The kids were so excited about the snow!They were jumping up and down and running around yelling, "It's snowing, It' snowing"! They were so cute!

We all headed out the door and ran across the street to the grocery store! I wanted to make sure I had dinners for the next two nights! I did not think the snow would be a problem, but the ice that was expected afterwards! Anyway, we got home and Christian was all about to jump out of the car to play in the snow! Henley thought it was fun and loved it, but her tiredness overruled the excitement and she had fallen asleep! While she took her nap, Christian and I played out in the yard. I taught him how to make a snowball and he has pretty good aim..I took one right down the front of my shirt...BRRR! Christian hates mittens and those are the only waterproof ones he has right now! He had on his regular gloves and they quickly became soaked with cold water! He wanted to go in and defrost for awhile! We went in and had some lunch and waited for Brian to get home and Henley to wake up to play outside some more! The only bad thing is that poor Henley does not have a lot of winter gear to wear! I did not want her out in the snow too long because she has what the doctor calls RSV. I know most moms have heard of this, but those who have not. RSV is just a respiratory illness, that though deadly for babies, it is just a bad cold for toddlers. The problem with this is that she just keeps a cough, runny nose and wheezes often! I know she feels horrible, but it is viral and there is nothing you can do about it! It is just a bad cold that settles in your chest and hangs out for awhile! I honestly believe that this is just the beginning of horrific, terrible allergies for Henley in the future! Anyway, we are watching her and making sure that it does not get any worse, so needless to say, she was not going to be out in this cold weather long!

Brian got home around 2:00 and Henley woke up around the same time! Perfect! We all got dressed warm and snug and out  the back door we went! Henley was not so sure about the snow. She watched her big brother from the door and pointed to all the snow! She knows the word HOT and uses it for everything. Whether it is hot or cold...to Henley it is HOT! She pointed to the snow and said, HOT? I have been trying to teach her cold, but no luck yet! :) Once  out the door she immediately fell on her behind! Thought it was funny and got back up to investigate this white stuff! I had her in tights because I did not think she would really be on the ground or rolling around in the snow. I just assumed that she would walk around, touch it and that would be it. I thought she would watch Christian and Brian build a snowman. Well, I was wrong! Henley mainly wanted to run around and of course slip and fall and then wanted to get on the swing set! All she wanted to do was go down the slide, which was covered in snow! No way! I told her that she would get all wet and there was no way she was going down the slide! Christian heard slide and off he went with little sister in tow! He kept telling her I will help you Henley! I was laughing because there was no way he could help her up the stairs! Brian convinced Christian to go down the slide full of snow and he did! Henley was soon to follow and they were both soaked before we knew it! It was time to go in at this point and defrost and have hot chocolate! We stripped the kids and got them in warm dry clothes and settled in for a fun night. We had bought v-day cookies and we made those after dinner. The kids were exhausted and asleep by 7:00pm! 

Most of the snow has melted by the time I am writing this blog, but there is prediction for more to come! Christian is more excited than ever for our ski trip in March! He keeps talking about skiing and playing in the snow and building snowman with us! We can not wait for the trip! We only hope he does not feel the need to pull his pants down and pee in the snow in Utah, like he did in our backyard! :)

Make sure to watch the video of the kids in the snow below the pictures!

To view the wide version of the video, right click and hit view all or go to you tube and watch it there!

Henley at a Glance!

Henley is 16 months old today and I am finally getting around to writing something about her. We can hardly believe that she is growing so quickly. At her 15 month check up everything went well and she was a whopping 22 lbs and 10 oz and measured 31 inches long! Now to the average person that means nothing, but here is what it means to us. Henley is in the 45% for weight and is closing in quickly on her skinny, no eating brother who weighs in at around 28lbs. She is drumroll please....in the 70% for height? Above average! Is it not crazy how genetics work? Henley is the polar opposite of her brother in every way you can imagine! We are not worried that she is going to be taller than her brother, but we know that she should be taller than me! :)

When I talk about opposites here are some of the things that Henley does well and her brother absolutely hates. She loves to eat and has just recently started to become picky. We are hoping that she will never be as difficult to feed as her big brother can be. Henley loves to brush her teeth and cries every night after her bath if we forget about brushing them. I know, but she only has four...and more are coming in right now so we should be better.  It is nice though that she is so diligent about it and I do not have to fight her! Changing diapers is not a chore like it was with Christian. She will usually just lay there and quickly get cleaned up. I love that I do not have to pin her down and sit on her like I had to with Christian. Last, but certainly not least is sleeping...what a  BREEZE! I hope I am not jinxing myself by saying that? We learned with Christian that rocking, holding and snuggling your child to sleep every night was probably the most stupid rookie parent mistake you can make! It is an issue we struggle with still to this day. So when are darling baby girl came along it was like this...we love you, kisses and hugs and then right in the bed she went...AWAKE! Self soothing, there is nothing like it in the world! Sleeping is probably what she does best right now. I think she is trying to completely transition from two naps to one long nap a day. Most days she takes a three hour nap in the afternoon, but occaisonally she will still snooze in the morning. All in all I could not ask for a sweeter little girl.

As far as personality goes she is definitely more laid back than her brother. She can get rambunctious, but it is in spurts not all day events! Henley is a daredevil! We are not sure if it is in her personality or if it is from having a big brother that coerces her into trying everything he does? Whatever the case she thinks her brother hung the moon so she follows his lead on any occaison. They have gotten to a stage were they play really well together. I just have to watch and make sure it is nothing dangerous because things can get out of control quickly! Brian was out of town the other day and we had all taken showers. I left them alone playing in the living room to go finish getting dressed. I decided a few minutes later to go check on them and I was glad I did because this is what I found! The kids got a table and chairs for Christmas. For some reason they like to move the chairs everywhere and stand on them to get into things they should not. Brian and Christian build forts all the time, so Christian had taken all the pillows of the couch and made a fort for him and his sister. They had pushed the table and all the chairs over by the stairs and the couch. I walked in to Henley standing in her shopping basket push toy trying to climb up onto the table to climb onto the back of the couch? What in the world are yall doing? Just in time because I think someone was about to take a serious tumble! So the morale of the story is do not leave your three year old alone with your one year old for too long! However, I must tell you that Christian was never a climber at 1 year of age like Henley seems to be. I catch her climbing up things you would never think a child would imagine to climb on! Our daughter might end up with a broken limb before her big brother does at this rate!

I know you all are probably thinking stop enough with Henley, but this is in honor of her and it helps me to journal things that she was doing at this stage in her life. She is talking up a storm these days and probably has a vocabulary of 20 or so words. The average person might not know what she is saying, but we do. Her first word was mama and it took awhile for dada to arrive, but it finally did around November. Some other things she says a lot are: Jetta (our dog), brother, baby, bottle, night night, bath, bye bye, hello and a lot of names of people she sees regularly. Henley, like her cousin Preston loves to chat on the phone too. She will grab it out of your hand and walk around just a talking up a storm. Singing and dancing are among her favorite pastimes too. The kids will sing nursery rhymes together sometimes and it is so cute! One day I will get it on video, but lately they have been shy for the camera! Every time the video comes out, Christian wants to see what is recorded, not be on the other end! We are so thrilled that they finally get along and play together. The big brother has finally realized that his baby sister is not so bad after all! However, I am not so sure she likes all the attention she gets from him now...

Henley is a sweet, sweet girl, but she definitely has a temper! We laugh all the time because she sure gets mad when things do not go her way. Brian is just smitten with her and can not stand to see her get upset, which will be interesting as she gets older! Brian and I laugh because she always tries to pull that card with her brother...you know the one where if he gets near her she screams! The type of scream that always get her brother yelled at because we are so sure he did something mean to her and we just did not see it! :) She has gotten so bad, that he can be a couple feet away from her and she will still scream.  Then look at us, like do something! Now, we just laugh at her and tell her he is not anywhere near you silly! Anyhow, it is never dull around our house and I would not have it any other way!

That pretty much sums what is going on in our house right now! Keeping the peace between loving siblings and trying to remember the funny things they do on a daily basis. I have some video of Henley and Christian that I am going to post. It just shows what a follower she is right now with her big brother and whatever he does so shall she!

A new year, a new DEW?

Right before Christmas Henley got her first hair trim. I would never think about cutting those adorable curls, so I had her bangs trimmed! They were so long and I could barely see her sweet eyes! It was driving me crazy, so off we went to hairdresser! Big brother was going for a cut, so it worked out perfectly. I thought that if she witnessed Christian getting his hair cut then she might not freak out! Well, it would have been fine, but Christian wanted her to go first! Girls first...right? It turned out fine and she just sat there and let Lani trim her bangs! However, she did get a little upset once at the end and I had to hold her to finish, but nothing big. No problems, no fits and she got a sucker after it was all over and of course I saved some of her hair for the baby book!

Christmas 2009!

Well this year we had such a great Christmas and New Year with family and friends! There was so much going on that I decided to make a fun video with my new computer! Bear with me because it is the first one I have done, but do expect more! It is addictive! The kids and I have been sick with colds and ear infections since Christmas, so there is not as much video of them playing. Not to mention the frigid temperatures we have had here in Birmingham. There has only been one day this week were it got above freezing. That is not the best weather for riding toys outside!:)

We just want to thank all our family and friends for the unconditional love they show us every year! Christmas to us is about sharing and being together with the ones we love! Everybody did too much for the kids...like always, but they sure enjoyed it! This video is a mixture of Santa coming to visit at our friends house one night to Christmas with the Mizerany's, our house Christmas morning and my family the Murphy's Christmas night! We love you all and thanks for always making Christmas fun, loving and enjoyable to us all!

PS I wish I could put video and pictures of everything on here, but than you would be sitting watching a hour video! I assume everyone will watch it because I am putting 4 blogs into one!

Love to you all and Happy New Year! Oh, which by the way our son Christian was up New Year's Eve to celebrate the new Year! He slept all day because he had a horrible ear infection return...and had gotten a few shots that morning...so that meant up all night and that he was! At least I got a picture with him because nobody took one of me and Brian! Ha Ha I swear we are married! :) I had to download the video from YouTube, so if you want to see it in full size just right click your mouse and pick show all!

Oh Christmas Tree!

This year I decided that I wanted a real live tree! As long as I can remember I have never had anything, but a fake tree! My family and I have had severe allergies to mold and mildew that can accumulate on a Christmas tree over time! However, this year I wanted to take that chance and see how our family would fair with a live tree! I must say, that I had no idea the work that goes into picking out a tree, getting it home and then getting it up in your house!

I must tell you that I am a bargain tree hunter because I refused to pay $130-160 dollars for something I would throw at the end of my driveway in a month!!! We have ten foot ceilings and I wanted to find something big and full to put in the house! Brian was out of town so I enlisted my dad to help Christian and I pick out a tree! I must tell you what a patient and wonderful father I have because I did not inherit those qualities. I drug him all over town trying to find a tree that was perfect and not too expensive! We looked and looked and then we found it! A big beautiful Frasier Fir from the Home Depot! The freaking Home Depot had the best trees and they were CHEAP! I bought a tree that was a little over nine feet for under $55 dollars! :) Yeah...now how were we going to get this thing home and into our house with little ole me and a three year old? Now, do not get me wrong my dad is in great condition and in fact training for a marathon as we speak! However, would I be able to help in this task? I had no idea what to do! Thank the Lord my dad seems to know it all! We got that tree home, in my house and standing straight in no time at all! HA HA...I think it took a good two hours to get that heavy monster in our house! We strung the lights on the tree or should I say, my perfectionist father did that honor? I cooked dinner for him and my mom as a thank you and I do appreciate the help! I had a great day with my dad picking out a tree it was a lot of fun and a wonderful memory for Christian! Christian actually put the star on the top of the tree with some assistance...of course!

On a final note, it is now the 19th of December and knock on wood there are no allergy problems happening in this household! The tree is beautiful and smells sooo wonderful every time I walk in the room! This is another tradition we hope to keep for a long time! Wow, to think what I was missing out on...I do not even mind cleaning up the needles daily! Somehow I did not get a picture of the final product? It was beautiful and took some time to decorate with two little ones! You can see a picture in the Christmas day photos!