Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Pass The Torch Tuesday



Ashley has always been the most patient big sister with Alex. At times, I wonder if it's more than he deserves (the little toot!). They slept together just about every night, up until just recently, and still do at times, they still bathe together at times, and she's even allowed him to spend the night with her at a friends house on more than one occassion. She has been and still is, to me, a perfect example of what a big sister should be. Lately though, Ashley has been going through what we knew someday she would. Adolescence. Now, so far this has been nothing but a positive experience for all of us, different, but positive. She has done an amazing job of communicating her needs, which is essential in getting through this time. She's becoming less and less dependant upon me, and more and more she's becoming her own person. This is good. This brings me to my proud moment. My son. He can be a major high maintainence pain in the patootie at times, ESPECIALLY to his ever so patient big sister. Lastnight, Ashley communicated to us that she needs some privacy from him. We sat down and had a talk, Ashley, Alex and I (and daddy listening in from the kitchen). Ashley established her needs and we set some new ground rules for Alex, which are ultimately just common courtesies that Alex has somehow managed to dodge with miss patience. I was so proud of her for expressing her needs in a way that Alex could understand, although in the back of my mind I was seriously doubting that he would follow through any time in the near future. He proved me wrong. Shortly after our conversation I hear little Alex knocking on Sissy's door and ASKING to come in. Write it down, mark the calendar, this has never, ever happened. Yay Alex.

Today we had another bit of an awakening when Ash and Alex were both invited to spend the night with Kel. Alex loves to spend the night at Brian and Paula's, they adore him almost as much as we do and he is fully aware of that fact. Ashley expressed her need to have some "girl" time without Alex, and without missing a beat, he says "I really want to go Sissy, but if you want me to stay home, I don't mind."
It is now several hours later and he has yet to retract that statement. Looks like we have more than just one kiddo growing up on us. Could our kids be any more amazing?





Monday, March 12, 2007

Wittle bittle Keller trip

Nana and the kids and I drove to Plano this weekend to visit the Rogers. We left our house by about 4:00 and finally arrived in Plano just before midnight. It was a V-E-R-Y long trip. Apparently, every college student between Dallas and South Texas was out for spring break and decided to hop on I-35 and head North for home (?and not the beach?) at approximately the same time as us. Most of our drive was stop and go, bumper to bumber foot cramping traffic. Thankfully, the kiddos are old enough to succumb to bribery and did fairly well in the backseat. I think next time we take a trip the kids will be praying for traffic jams after the loot they scored in Waco when we decided to "stretch our legs" at Wal-Mart. (Thanks to Nana)

We had a wonderful visit and enjoyed hanging out with Mr. Keller Beller. He is just the sweetest most precious little guy and really couldn't be any more easy going. David and Cara were at a wedding most of the day on Saturday, so we got to babysit. We spent the day at the park playing with the kiddos and enjoying our time with Keller. It was a gorgeous spring day and perfect for being at the park and taking a bazillion or so pictures. I really need to make an album on picassa since there are soooo many pictures to share, but for now, I have to post at least a few.

We also got to see David's office. He started his own business, and has the copy machine loan to prove it. Ha! He told us that he has 3 bills...the mortgage, the car, and the copy machine. That thing is huge though, no telling what it can do. I fully expect it to spontaneously roll to your desk and ask what it can do for you.
But really, I was just so impressed and happy for him. He really has turned out to be such a go getter. It's just amazing to see how much he's grown and changed in the past few years.

Ok, now on to the pictures.