Go Texan Day!!

So today was Go Texan day and Kate's school celebrated like most places around the Houston area. None of the kids in Wesley's class were dressed up probably b/c the hat, bandanna and boots would all be off before day started (trust me..we had a cowboy at Halloween last year!!).

We asked Kate if she wanted to partake in the event and she said 'Sure'. So I was on a frantic search for boots that would be comfortable for her to wear all day (especially since Friday is Sports Fun at school as well). Luckily I found these really cute/comfy purple boots on clearance. Kate was so excited to get dressed this morning she completely dressed herself. Normally she is quite needy in the morning when it comes to putting her clothes on but not this morning..she was ready to go.

In the end, Kate looked like the cutest little cowgirl ever. Her teachers, Ms. Lowe and Mrs. Grubbs were absolutely adorable and actually won the Best Dressed Teacher contest at Go Texan Day! They were super cute!

Spring is Just Around the Corner!!

I want to give a shout out to all the moms who have kids who LOVE being outside as much as mine. Its so nice now that its staying light outside later in the evenings. We could be outside for hours and hours on end. We've planted some pretty new flowers that are not freeze tolerant so please, Mother Nature, do not throw us a cold spell this late in the game. I remember before we had the little man, Kate loved to smell flowers and help me plant them. Wesley likes to take them off the stems..all of them...you have to keep a close eye on him or all the flowers will be bald. At this point in their lives if I had to look into a crystal ball and guess at what title they would get when they are in High School it would go like this:
Kate, Most Likely to Succeed, she's got a good head on her shoulders with just enough maturity to get make her a leader and just enough innocence to make her extremely sweet and caring..she's a true leader already..she even lets the older kids in her class know that its not ok to call Paige a baby. How sweet.

Wesley, Class Clown, makes everyone laugh without even trying. His old teachers Mrs. Piosca and Mrs. Cabilles took him the other day into their room b/c they missed him. They asked him what he wanted to eat and he proceeded to tell them 'Hot-Dog'.....they thought it was super cute. Once he realized he made them laugh, he repeated it over and over and over again. All the way home....'Hot-Dog'. He said it so much he finally got on Kate's nerves. She needed to change his mind so she took her socks off in the car and plopped her foot on his lap and asked him to 'rub her feet'. Kate likes her feet rubbed and her neck massaged. Don't we all?!?!

Here are some cute pics of them outside...last ones are them playing hide and seek with dad...Wesley thought he would mimic daddy when it came putting his head down and counting.

Our Weekend

As I sit her as the computer I'm just a few hours away from my 'usual' bed time. The kids are fast asleep, Justin is in the living room flipping through channels feverishly to find something 'other' than the Academy Awards to watch. I'm not a big movie person, so the fact that our Sunday night ritual of watching "America's Funniest Home Videos" has been altered by the Academy Awards was kind of a bummer. Don't get me wrong. I'll be on the UsWeekly site tomorrow reading all the headlines and looking at the dresses worn, but right now I'm more intrigued about hanging up all these clothes piled high on my bed so that I can finally crawl in bed in a few hours....
It was a pretty busy weekend. Tara and Brian and their so precious little girl Peyton were in town this weekend. Kaylee had a dance competition at Magnolia High School and they came in from Austin. Justin was on call this weekend so while he was working on Saturday, I took the kids with The Brunners to see Kaylee dance. Its been a while since I've seen Kaylee in person and wow, she is quite the young lady. She grew a foot since I saw her last and is such a sweet young lady. She's got braces but that doesn't stop her from smiling big and dancing her heart out. I've been watching Kaylee dance for a really long time now and she has improved so much over the years. Peyton loved watching her big sister dance and was even shaking her bootie throughout the music...Peyton will be officially be TWO in May but she is ALREADY POTTY TRAINED. She is super sharp and very soft spoken but can put words together like she's a teenager already....AND DID I MENTION THAT SHE'S POTTY TRAINED?!?! Poor Wesley is two months younger and while he can definitely chat it up with the girls, he only says 'tee-tee' after he goes and he says it whether he goes #1 or #2...so we aren't even going to attempt potty training until he's 2 and maybe we'll have it down by the time he's 3 (I'm being super positive on that account!!)
After Kaylee's dance, the Brunners and the Peters (minus Justin) had lunch at TGIFridays. Very very good lunch and I was trying my hardest to make having two kids look seamless and easy b/c I really really want the Brunners to have another one soon and I didn't want Brian to think we were a poor example of a two kid family with all the craziness that eating out with two kids and one parent can be. But luckily I didn't have to coerce the kids or anything...they did a super job and were very well behaved and just great kids!! All the kids did a good job! Somewhere in the middle of our meal, Brian, who typically doesn't get a word in edge wise when Tara and I start gabbing, tells me that 'Justin is going to have his hands full when Kate gets older.' I giggled and asked what he meant and he said 'She's gorgeous...she is going to be really pretty and she's so sweet.' Just hearing those words from Brian, brought butterflies to my stomach. As a mom you always think your child is the best..your supposed to...they are your life...you created them..wanted them more than anything in the world. But to have someone else tell you that your child is beautiful and sweet.....no need to say anymore. So on that note, Kate and I were playing with the camera while the boys were mowing the grass this afternoon and I got some gorgeous pics of my sweet little girl. And for the record, I forgot my camera in a rush to get to Kaylee's dance on time so I don't have any pics of Kaylee to put up right now but hopefully Tara can send me some and I can post them soon!

Random pictures of the sweetest moments

I don't have to write much..the pictures tell the story. Kate and Wesley absolutely love each other. We love them so much. And even our 'older' boy (aka Rex) loves getting a little lovin' from the Wes-Man! But with a smile as infectious as Wesley's, who wouldn't love a big hug and kiss from him!

Mommy Quiz

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born! Just copy and paste it in a new note for yourself!
1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes.
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes...4 years
3. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? Excited but shocked it happened so quickly!
4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 25
5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Pregnancy test at home when I was only a few weeks along
6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? I think Shannon...I needed to let it become 'real' before I could tell Justin the next day.
7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Always thought I wanted it to be a surprise until I actually got pregnant. Damn technology....I wanted God to surprise me!
8. DUE DATE? October 10, 2004
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not one bit
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Cheesesticks with marinara
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Nothing at all...I loved being pregnant!
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Sweet baby girl
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? I didn't wish for a boy but just thought we were having a boy (Justin is the youngest of 4 boys and everyone 'else' I knew was having girls.) God had a plan...Justin needed a girl first.
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 25ish
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? I had 3. 1 from work friends, 1 with family and friends, and 1 given by neighbors who just wanted a good reason to throw a party =)
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew about all of them
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? None...textbook pregnancy
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Memorial Hermann The Woodlands (Amazing place!)
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Not applicable
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Justin
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Justin and the O.R. staff (Mom and Dad Peters were right outside the O.R.)
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? C-Section
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Yes..not an option.
25. WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICED ABOUT BABY? Hair..tons of beautiful black hair!!
26. WERE YOU SCARED AT ANY POINT (BEFORE,DURING,AFTER) Not nervous before b/c I was so jazzed to finally meet her and my belly was so tight I felt like I was going to explode, I was nervous DURING the c-section b/c it went so fast and I wasn't expecting to meet her so quickly..plus the room was really cold. Not nervous after b/c she was sweet and healthy and ready to eat! Ironic how with baby #2 I was nervous BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER!!
27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7lbs. 8 oz.
28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? October 8, 2004
29. WHAT WAS DAD'S FIRST REACTION? Wow she's big! (I think he was expecting her to be about 4lbs since I'm so small..surprise surprise!)
30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Kate Addison Peters
31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 4 years and 4 months

Valentine's Day..It's all about love

We had a great week leading up to Valentine's Day. Kate had her first official field trip on Thursday to an assisted living home in The Woodlands to bring Valentine's cards and goodies to grandmas and grandpas. She loved the experience and loved riding on the bus...she just couldn't stop talking about the bus and who she sat by. Very sweet. On Friday, she and Wesley had their class Valentine's parties and she was all decked out in her Valentine's best and since Wesley didn't have a Valentine's shirt, she made him one. I painted the words and she put the finishing touches on it with all kinds of Thomas the train stickers and heart stickers. In the end, everyone at school knew that Wesley was Kate's Little Valentine. Man I love them so much!!

On Friday night, Justin and I got to go out to dinner..everyone knows that going out to dinner is my favorite thing...no cooking or cleaning-you can't beat that! So we had some great Outback steaks and dessert. We got to have an entire conversation without being interrupted. Made me realize how much I love Justin and how grateful I am for 13 Valentine's together and as much as we enjoyed being able to eat an entire meal without interruptions or little mouths poised to be spoon fed, we agreed that we missed them so much and headed back home. But not before we got them some little heart balloons to wake up to on Valentine's morning! Don't ask what happened to one of the balloons when Justin accidentally started the ceiling fan on Sunday morning and forgot about it....let's just say he had to get his ladder out and do some surgery on the fan blades (oops!)

On Saturday night we got to see Robbie and Marianne (Mary Grace and Cade), Charlie and Stacy (Elizabeth and Julia), Danny and Leah (Erin and Anna), and Wayne and Brandy (Jack--Boston Terrier) at Wayne and Brandy's new house. Gorgeous house....we are so happy for them. Their new house has an amazing hot tub which the girls thought was a blast. They had such a great time with their dads. So its been a weekend of much fun with all the people we love being with! We are looking forward to a great week ahead.

Super Bowl Sunday

And who are we cheering for in the Peters' household?!?!?!
Well the Dallas Cowboys of course....oh, maybe next year!

We actually would like the Cardinals to win...they've never had this before..it would be nice for them.

But here are some pictures from Friday when Kate and Wesley had to dress up in their favorite sports outfit to commemorate the Super Bowl.

A weekend of Firsts!!

You are probably wondering with a 4+ year old girl, how can anything be a first? Well right now I am typing this and BOTH Wesley and Kate and napping at the same time (and have been napping for 2 FULL hours simultaneously!!!) So what did we do? Yard work! But don't feel bad for us.....Justin and I LOVE yard work. And we love that both of our kids are now able to enjoy it with us. But in times when they are BOTH out of our hair, there are always semi-dangerous things we need to take care of. So that's what we spent the past 2 hours doing. Getting the garden plowed and ready for a few tomato and bell pepper plants in a few weekends. Removing all the dead leaves and pine needles from our Easter Lilly bulbs. And a few days ago Kate and I were removing dead leaves from our front flower bed and underneath the leaves, starting to bloom (possibly a bit prematurely) was one of our pink bulb flowers that Kate and I planted two years ago. She was more than ooberly excited! She called Wesley over and showed him..he also enjoyed it with much excitement. But unlike Kate who was happy just seeing it and smelling it, Mr. Wesley needed to try to reclaim it for himself and transplant it in the driveway right after he attempted to try it out for taste.

Another first....Wesley got his first 'real' hair cut at SnipIts...he cried at first but then found comfort with his favorite thumb. We basically paid just to get him acclimated to the hair cutting process because she didn't take much off at all. Wesley has the most beautiful hair that I don't know that he'll ever have a typical 'boy' haircut. The curls in the back are just the perfect little touch to his otherwise straight hair. Its like a constant reminder that his dad's genes are fighting to have at least one curly haired child. =)