Playtime in bed

Abby loves when Brian comes with me to get her up in the morning. She
likes for him to get in bed with her and she gives him a toy to play
with AND one of her binkies. If you have ever spent any time with
Abby, you know that is a big deal! This is my babies this morning,
Abby is saying "cheese" BTW ;). I love them.

This weekend

So, I was going to post about our exciting weekend - it was Abby's second birthday and Brian was baptised - but Sarah did it for me ;)  Check it out here: sarahruth23.blogspot.com

Look how big she is!

Some pictures of Abby on her birthday ;)  

Abby's Second Birthday

Just had to let everyone know - today my baby girl is TWO!  I can't believe how fast she has grown . . . She is just so sweet and precious, I couldn 't have asked for a better little girl.  I am so blessed, my family is the best :)  Tomorrow we are having a birthday party for her (a pizza party, of course ;) ) and all the grandparents (and my brother and sister and Grandma and Clark) are coming in tonight and tomorrow to help her celebrate.  Unfortunately, we went for her 2 year check up today and she has an ear infection!  I gave her the first dose of Amoxicillin as soon as we got home, and hopefully she will feel like a new person tomorrow for her party.

On another note - it is FREEZING!!  It was 34 degrees outside at 11am this morning.  I know for some of you that is not all that cold, but for Charleston, that is crazy cold!  I need some more 75 degree days this month ;)

Cousins

All the Billian cousins got together for the first time this weekend!

Everyone needs a little domestic help

My maid is awesome!

Potty training time!

Two nights ago I told Abby it was time to change her diaper and she ran in and sat on her potty.  Let me add also, she has NEVER shown any interest in her potty before, although I bought it months ago thinking she would.  Anyway, I took off her diaper, she sat down, and she peed!  It was so exciting Bruce and I of course were all over her kissing and praising her - in fact, we may have scared her we were so excited!  So, I pulled the pack of Pull-Ups I already had waiting out of the closet, and we are off!  I have been trying to take her to the potty at least 1-2 times an hour, and she gets an M&M for sitting on the potty (although I think I may switch to stickers) and another M&M if she goes.  She has peed 3 or 4 other times since Monday night!  I am hoping she just gets it quickly and we can get some big girl underwear ;)  I might let her go to Target tonight and pick out some she likes.  A friend told me they just put their child in underwear and although they had a lot of accidents for a few days, their little boy got it pretty quickly.  I really have no clue how to potty-train a child, lets just hope it is easy . . . hahaha

Brian got a haircut!

Brian will be four months old next week, but boy did he need a haircut!  Sarah and I took him yesterday before she left.  He is still as cute as can be, but he looks so much older :(  I wanted to leave it longer so he would still look like a baby, but the rat tail/ mullet thing was getting on my nerves so I just decided to do it!

Some before and after shots:

Grandpa's Hunting Buddy

Just for Bullet

Brian in camo!

Christmas tree topper

Abby's class made these precious angels, ours will be on top of the
tree as soon as Daddy gets home to put it up ;)

Our house all lit up!

Oh, Christmas Tree!!!

We got our tree yesterday and Abby is so excited! I have yet to
decorate it (except for some candy canes and a few ornaments Abby and
Alana put on), but the lights are up ;)

Over The Hedge

In an effort to not be subjected to "Nemo," "The Little Mermaid," or "Cars" for a couple days I let Abby watch "Over The Hedge" a couple days ago.  I can now recite it.  I am just a glutton for punishment I think ;)

When do they grow out of this phase where they just want to watch/read/play the same thing over and over and over and over.  I swear the only words she says lately are "againt" (the "t" is important because it's really cute when she says it) and "Abby do it."  She is definitely turning into a 2 year old!  Oh, babies grow so fast . . .

She is so sweet!!!

Abby's first ponytail!!

I got Abby to sit still long enough this morning to get her hair up
for the first time! She is so cute!!

Brian and the Cardiologist

For anyone that doesn't already know, Brian was born with a heart defect called a VSD (that's ventricular septal defect), which means that he has a hole between the bottom 2 chambers in his heart.  Well, as you can imagine, its not really easy for me to talk about (especially at first) because I just don't want to think anything could be wrong with my precious child.  Luckily, it was noticed right when he was born so we have been seeing the cardiologist since September.  Actually, he had his first echocardiogram the day we left the hospital!  

When he was first diagnosed with the VSD, the doctor told us it was too big to close on its own (some smaller ones will close on their own) and he would have to have open heart surgery where they would close the hole between 3 and 6 months of age.  We have been going to the cardiologist every two weeks to keep a close eye on him and see if he has any symptoms, which would indicate we needed to go ahead with surgery sooner rather than later.

We had an appointment today and I have to update that he is doing great!  Brian still has a very audible murmur, and the hole has not closed, but he continues to have no symptoms and gain weight appropriately.  The doctor keeps telling us Brian is doing much better than he thought he would be doing!  I am so thankful for answered prayers!  I know that he still needs surgery, but right now he is doing so well!!

New Stroller

This was an early Christmas present, but I just had to share!  We got a new double stroller and it is great!  It's a Phil and Ted's Inline Sport (you can check it out at www.philandteds.com if you are interested) and it adjusts so we can use it with a baby and toddler or with two toddlers.  So hopefully we can use it for a couple years!  I am still trying to talk Abby into riding more because usually she wants to walk, and having a "new" stroller makes it a little easier since she wants to explore it!

The way to stroller is set up in these pictures, Abby is sitting on the seat above Brian (you can't see Brian unless you know he is there ;) ).  When Brian is sitting up, I will move the seats around and Brian will actually be sitting below Abby.

Family Reunion

This weekend we packed up the kids (including William) and headed to Sunset Beach, NC for a reunion with the Clark cousins (My Grandaddy's family).  It was a lot of fun to see lots of family that we haven't seen in a while.  I think it was our wedding 3 1/2 years ago when we last got together!  Although it was very sad to not have Grandaddy there it made me remember how great he was.  I miss him a lot, but it was fun to be reminded of him in his brother and sister ;)

I also got to introduce Abby and Brian to some of their extended family they had not met and they had a blast getting passed around and getting to meet new people.  I just realized how truly blessed I am to have my family!  I love them so much and they do so much for me.  

Of course, I forgot to bring my camera, but I will steal some pictures from Sarah later and post some ;) 

Taking care of them ALONE!

So, for the last two days Bruce has been out of town and I have had the kids alone overnight for the first time!  Just wanted to let you know . . . I have survived!  Bruce is on the plane coming home ;)

Honestly though, we have amazing children!  They are so good and so sweet!