The Sheheane Family- Chris, Dana, Wells, and Claire

what to do....what to do

2012-01-06T21:02:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but we have had tons of family time and tons of "what are we going to do today" moments since the Christmas season is over. We have enjoyed EVERY moment of it, but I am a little tired!! The kids are just about ready for school to start back and so is mommy! Here are a few things we've done the past two weeks...
had pajama parties with friends, played outside when warm, fostered a precious puppy who is now gone (yes, i cried), gone to the carousel, played dress up, gone to the zoo, had lots of dance parties, read LOTS of books, gone to birthday parties, watched Christmas movies some more (over them :), and the pictures tell the rest! We are ready for another fabulous year!

On another note, poor Chris hasn't had the best start to the new year. He has dealth with head/neck pain for as long as I've known him, but migraines have now accompanied that pain. He is really having debilitating days. Please say some prayers for answers and relief for him. He works, eats, and goes to bed :( We are trying acupuncture next week and praying for good results. He has tried EVERYTHING else and gone to numerous doctors. We are praying for God's healing hand and we know if it is His will, it will happen. In the meantime, pray! thanks!! :) It's hard to watch and the kids miss their smiling and fun daddy!

December/Christmas Fun!

2011-12-26T19:23:00.001-08:00

WARNING...This.is.long.
(I put all of the pictures first. So if you don't want to read all the details, you don't have to! :) They are all in order of our activities except this first pic. I had to post the anticipation pic on the steps. Didn't your parents make you do that when you were little?? also, half of these pictures are iphone pics so I apologize in advance )

Okay, since I didn't post the entire month, I have tons of pictures and information to share. I'll make it as brief as possible! We've had SUCH an exciting month. With the children being 3 and 2, December was magical this year...and completely WILD. We started off the Advent season by joining the Advent Wreath Family Celebration night at church. We participated in this last year and decided it would be a tradition. We all eat dinner, then make the advent wreath together with tons of different families. Everyone shares greenery and decor! The night ends with what the advent season really means and we all light the first candle (hope/prophesy) and sing christmas carols.

Next up was the live Nativity at Briarwood. We had never been before and we LOVED it. Briarwood does an incredible job of retelling 13 scenes of the Christmas story and the resurrection using people and animals. It takes 800 members to make it work! If you haven't ever been and you live in Birmingham...go. The kids were totally in awe.

Up next...who could forget Zoolight Safari?!? All the lights make the children hyped up for quite some time. Of course with Chick-fil-A sponsering the whole event, the children were more impressed with seeing the chick-fil-a cows up close and personal. Zoolight Safari is a big hit around here!

We rested for about a week in between all these events, but the excitement at home continued to build. The Grinch became a daily ritual while I showered so the children can pretty much quote it. Of all the Christmas movies, I was shocked this was a favorite. Frosty was a close second. But for all of you out there thinking, "did they really sit and watch the whole thing while you got ready?" the answer is no. One morning (before pics with santa) I came down before drying my hair (as I do everyday to check on them) and it was eerily quiet in the house. I walked into the kitchen to see green sharpie on claire's cheeks, arms and neck. Wells proudly walked up to me and said, "mama, I colored claire with make-up. Isn't she pretty? She looks just like the grinch!" I was furious and didn't take any pictures, but really wish I would have. It only took 30 minutes before I laughed for a LONG time. And just so you know...we didn't go get pictures with santa that day. The next morning, I came downstairs before drying my hair to find chips ahoy cookies spread all around the house. Again, I ask wells in a frustrated tone, "Why are cookies all over the floor?" He responded with, "mom, we are getting ready for santa." Needless to say, my showers are now taken before they wake up or during their naps. If you see me on a day where I didn't want to wake up early...sorry!! We did eventually get pics with santa and ride the reindeer carousel. Claire's eyes tell you how excited she was about that santa's lap experience. We also spent many nights riding around looking at Christmas lights. EVERY night before bed we read Wells favorite book, Born in a Stable. He had the story down pat by Christmas. It was so sweet!! And Claire continued to make us laugh by talking about Mary and "Jophus" all season.

Back to the activies...

The 23rd was spent with Chris' dad's side of the family. David, his brothers and their families and his sister all went to Chris' parents lake house. I sadly had to stay home and rest because I had 103 temp for a couple of days, but the kids and Chris had a blast!

I rested all day on the 24th (except we HAD to make cookies for Santa!! the kids did it all :)) and then we headed off to a children's service at my parent's church where the children dress up as angels, shepards or lambs. It is so sweet. They help to tell the story. Baby Jesus was the big hit of course! From there we went to my mom's side of the family christmas where we had crock pot soups and TONs of fun with all the kiddos. By the way, soups are the way to go! Everyone got to visit and have fun and no one sat over the stove. The kids totally passed out on the way home.

Finally, Christmas Day was upon us! The children really were beyond thrilled and their faces were priceless. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and played with toys all morning! We then ventured over to my sister's for brunch with just our immediate family (where the kids all have matching pj's of course). After coming home to more playing with toys and naps by all, we headed off to chris' parents for his mom's side of the family Christmas. Chris' mom made the kids an awesome circus tent which was the hit of the night!! Then after MORE food and MORE presents we headed home with children who were completely spent. With spinning heads and exhausted bodies, chris and I decided it was our favorite Christmas season we could ever remember. What joy and excitement children bring to the season. Not only was it magical to experience it all with the kids, but we honestly celebrated Jesus more than I ever have. I saw Him through the eyes of a child this year and it was fascinating. I hope yours was equally as awesome! Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!!

Thanksgiving and half marathon!!

2011-11-27T12:30:00.000-08:00

We had the best thanksgiving that I can remember since we've had kids. We've always had so much to be thankful for, but honestly the last two years have been tough trying to schedule everything around naps, bedtimes, and illnesses. If you've read this blog for a while, you know we haven't had the easiest of babies!! And although we have still felt so blessed and thankful, this year was just THE BEST!!! The kids were old enough to play with each other (which they do so well anyways), played with their cousins for hours, and the adults all got to really catch up and enjoy one another. We had my parents' thanksgiving last weekend so that we could enjoy one weekend with each family and no one has to miss! Last weekend before thanksgiving day with my parents, I ran in my first half marathon!! I've always wanted to run in one, but honestly thought I couldn't do it. Well in July I decided it was time to train! A best friend and I have had tons of fun together over the years and knew we would do this if we held each other accountable. So we did it!! We were so proud! We didn't worry about time as much as sticking to our plan. For the most part it was such a blast. I was definitely sore, and a little loopy afterwards, but it is something I want to try to do once a year. And laura is such a trooper doing it 20 weeks pregnant!! I ate plenty of calories that night to reenergize myself!! :) Then we did Chris' parents family on Thanksgiving day. It was so relazing and just so much fun for all of us. We thank God for all His many blessings, but especially our families.

Halloween fun!!!

2011-11-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood has an awesome cookout/potluck for an hour and then we all go trick or treating. Not only do we have lots of kids, but we have three couples that are close friends of ours from church! The boys had a BLAST running around. And Claire tried to keep up for sure. By the time Trick-Or-Treating came around they were CRAZY!! :) it was such a fun year with Wells getting it!!!

The cowardly lion Wells! He LOVED his costume!

Trick or Treating at Mrs. Hayley and Mr. Jimbo's house! (some of our best buds)

Trying to get 6 kids in a picture....fail the blairs, matteos (joined our neighborhood for the night), and our kiddos. We are so blessed with so many fun friends from church with boys that LOVE each other! I wish I had gotten more pics with the Tucker and Dorman kiddos! sorry friends!

And here is Dorothy Claire, Toto, and her new smile :)

Checking out the paws

Wells "waking" Claire up from nap (scared her to death)

Claire showing us her ruby red slippers!

Loving on Toto

My sweet little lion! He definitely isn't furocious!

Can you tell we had a fun night?!?

Open Invitation!

2011-10-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

What: Doodles Artwork on canvas using children's hand and footprints

When: Sunday, October 16th from 3-5 p.m.

Where: My House (email me if you don't know where it is danacsheheane@gmail.com)

Why: She's fast and they are the Best Christmas gifts for grandparents and it's different. I also love supporting local businesses. Carla is great and I'm not even getting anything. I did all these last year, but wanted to help support her and give you all a great gift idea. Our parents LOVED theses!!!

Look on her website to get ideas for what you might want to do.

http://www.doodlestogo.com/ and look at her doodles to go kits (she brings them like this so all you do is hand and footprints and she finishes them at home. i'll get them to you later) also, look at all the different tabs on there for ideas. She is great!! We did my kids plus my nephews last year to make the manger scene above and gave it to my mom. she has kept it up all year!! :) And we did angels for Chris' mom. We did Alabama football players, Big Al and a cheerleader for my dad for his office. They were all a big hit!

Just let me know if you are coming so I'll have an idea for Carla. And honestly, come one come all! I didn't have a chance to send out invites. I just love her stuff! And the kids can't break it :)

Old Baker Farm Pumpkin Patch!

2011-10-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

This morning we headed off to the Pumpkin Patch! It was a BEAUTIFUL morning with awesome weather. We love Old Baker Farm in Harpersville if you are looking for a good one to go to. We went last year as well. They have a big cotton bed for the kids to play in, bands playing, old western shootouts (the kids wanted to go home at this point), corn cob toss, petting zoo, tons of hay to climb on, and the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. It was a blast! I took lots of pics that look very similar to last year. It will be fun to compare them over the years! This year did take a LITTLE bit longer trying to pick out those perfect pumpkins. And i'm pretty sure we ruined a few throwing back the ones we didn't want. oops... It was also Western Cowboy day so Wells was THRILLED to get to wear his cowboy boots that he thinks makes him "Woody" from Toy Story. Poor Claire wanted to wear hers that she got on her birthday, but they are about 3 sizes too big! The girl LOVES to dress up!
Here are the pictures from the morning! Now Wells and Chris are at Alabama's homecoming while Claire and I hold down the fort. I think it is fair to say that Wells is going to be asleep when they get back tonight!
We LOVE the fall around here!!!! :)

The pumpkins that we got made it safely to the front door. Now, let's see how long they last!!

Chris wanted big, I wanted a more flat one, Claire wanted white and Wells wanted green sprayed all over :)

Claire turned 2!

2011-10-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

We already had the joint birthday party, so Claire's birthday snuck up on us!! On October 1st, Claire turned 2!! Selfishly, I used to dream about the day when Wells would be 3 and Claire would be 2 because all of the parents of children close together would tell me...."Just wait until they are 3 and 2! It is so much fun then!" And I can't even believe it's gone by this quickly. I tried so hard not to wish away the precious baby phase, but it was hard not to when Claire was colic and we didn't sleep for 6 months. I can honestly say that to me, the magic age was when Wells turned 2 and Claire turned 1. It was just so much easier and so much fun!! They have played great together ever since!! I LOVE these funny and energetic ages. I feel so blessed that I get to be home with these two for these 5 quick years. At the same time, it's not ALL roses by any means!! We have Wells still having some terrible two moments and Claire is in full swing of them! So this creates lots of drama! But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Claire is EXTREMELY independent these days. She says, "I do it" about everything! She also loves to dance and loves to sing. But let's just say we aren't holding our breath for her to become the next big star. It is so precious to hear her sing, but boy is she off key!! It's hilarious!!!!! And she sings LOUD. Now the dancing...she can move those hips! It's almost scary. She still loves her daddy something fierce. I often look like the evil stepmother out in public because she refuses to come to me when he is around. Oh well, at least Wells loves me! She is talking ALL the time. She is starting to play dress up, which is really fun!! Her Yaz gave her a basket full of tiaras, boas, outfits, cowboy boots, etc. and she is LOVING It! My mom also gave her precious clothes. This girl loves her clothes already! We truly can't believe she is 2 and we can't imagine our lives without this little spitfire! What joy and drama she brings on a daily basis!! We love her so much! Happy birthday to you sweet Claire bear!!

In true Sheheane fashion, we spent the weekend with Chris having bronchitis and Claire having ear infections, but here are pics.
She got a new kitchen for her birthday (the old plastic one kept falling on the children...quite the safety hazard)

The kids have played with the kitchen and play food nonstop since saturday.
They love it!!

Here she told me, "I want to cook dinner!" Sister, go for it! :)

My parents, chris' parents, and Robyn and the kids
all went to breakfast for Claire's birthday. It was a blast!
Poor Chris stayed home and coughed all morning.

The cousins...Elliott, Wells, Maxwell, and Claire

I love this pic! I wish there wasn't a glare on those glasses!

Wells didn't get left out. He received fireman gear from yaz and papa!

First Alabama Game!

2011-09-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

Call us crazy, but we were determined to take the kids to a game this year. We've tailgated with them on the quad once a season, but this year we decided to take them in! It was early enough that we could leave by halftime for naps, so we went for it! It was hot, but really not that bad at all and the kids LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!! Wells was intent on the game and the band, while claire was excited to watch everything going on around her. The first quarter we never got up once!!! The second quarter we made lots of trips to the bathroom and to see Big Al and the cheerleaders. And Wells...he just wanted to get close to the band members! That child LOVES music. I was really impressed during the game because he would ask who had the ball or which direction each team was going. It made this football loving mama VERY excited!! Chris laughs and says I'll be his little league football coach one day! All of us were exhausted and ready to head home by halftime, but it was a GREAT day. The kids shook their shakers all around and we all yelled "Roll Tide Roll" plenty of times! I'm sure our friends sitting around us (who are almost all 70 or older) loved us! ha!

First Day of School!

2011-09-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was our first day of 3's for Wells and Mother's Day Out for Claire. He will go three days a week and Claire will go two. We are ALL excited! :) I believe I have two class clowns in my future. I'm going to have to have lots of teacher talks I'm afraid. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

The school bus for spain park pulled up as we were taking pictures,
and it was hilarious! Wells went darting up the sidewalk, and yelled,
"Wait guys I'm coming! It's my first day! Mom, see you later!"
The whole bus was howling. I grabbed him and convinced him that
my minivan was his school bus! He then turned around, sighed, and said,
"okay guys, maybe next year!" what a hoot!

Our Bubble Birthday!

2011-08-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well, the double birthday was a success! We had a blast and the kids did too!! Because their birthdays are so close, we decided to share the love and do the party together. And because they are obsessed with playgrounds and bubbles, we just combined the two! The weather was perfect for us and I didn't even sweat! Wow!
The first picture was on their invitation and is the only picture of them together (and obviously it is spliced).Beware....there are tons of pictures!

Wells was really sad here because the bus didn't really take him
and his school friends to their class!

My mother-in-law made these PRECIOUS and DELICIOUS cakes!

it's her party and she'll cry if she wants to :) (welcome to my life)

Can you tell he had fun? a little hot!

now we are talking!! she was ready to eat folks!

Can you do it?

2011-08-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Okay...can you do it? Can you really think Christmas this early?? Well, if you have your favorite picture from the beach or any other favorite family pic ready, i suggest you get your christmas cards now! :) On our online store, the Christmas cards are 50% off for the month of august!!! This makes these cards cheaper than tiny prints, shutterfly, etc! And some of the cards are front and back for no extra charge!! If you don't have your picture ready, you can buy the card already set up where you would tape the picture on the front when you are ready. Just a thought! I'm doing mine now for sure! Go check them out! But you have to get your order in by August 31st. Check out our other sales as well. Type in "summer" to get an extra 10% off

http://www.paperwithpurpose.myspstore.com/

by the way...i try to keep business on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/paperwithpurpose , website and business blog, but i couldn't resist posting about this one on my personal blog! )

Wells is 3!

2011-08-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here we are leaving the hospital with him August 7, 2008
Those hospital hats just kill me! I love this pic! Already looks
like a thinker at the age of 3 days!
This was his first birthday...the outfit was also his daddies at
that age! I thought he looked big then! :)

And here we are at our 2 year old birthday party.
The "it's all about me" mentality kicked in!

This is today. Is he really already 3? Where did time go?
His aunt Robyn gave him play ice cream. He has yet to put it down.

The McWane Center...their favorite place on earth!

We gave him all "Woody" toys and dress up gear.

He LOVES toy story. And I LOVE this pic with his daddy!

Happy Birthday to Wells!! I Can't believe he is 3!!! Boy, I hope those terrible twos go away with the age, but he is so much fun at the same time.

Like Mother, Like Son is a mild understatement. The child may look just like his daddy, but he acts just like me! He is EXTREMELY social, loves to have a good time, and LOVES his birthday! It is his birthday month for sure! He's been telling everyone for weeks that he will be three on August the "fourst". He was READY! And this morning I heard him waking up on the monitor singing "Happy Birthday" to himself! And it continued. All. Day. We had a very special day. He had his favorite breakfast, muffins, we went to his favorite place, the McWane Center for the morning, and had dinner at Johnny Bruscos Pizza for dinner and cake. I must also point out that he wanted to go pick out his own cake at Publix. He lOVES publix and all the workers know my kids by name. Again...we are all social. So he was very tired tonight, but loved it all. He got all Sheriff Woody items from us, got a guitar from my parents, ice cream play toys from his cousins, and tomorrow he will get Buzz Lightyear toys from Chris' parents. Yes, we are continuing the celebration tomorrow at a Mexican Restaurant of his choice. To top it all off, we are having a joint birthday party for Wells and Claire at the end of the month. So it is his birthday month!

Wells really is such a JOY! He can be tough, tough, tough and at times I don't know how to handle his tantrums. But he can also be such a sweetheart. He is extremely sensitive and loving. And he LOVES his mama! yippee for me! :) We laugh a lot!! I know...hard to believe. People often tell me that he acts like he is 40 at the small age of 2! He is a thinker for sure and shares ALL his thoughts. He never meets a stranger (which I will have to work on) and speaks so clear that it is just humorous to listen to him! He loves to tell us about "the Word of the Lord" and every big book is the bible to him. We have dance parties on a daily basis and we are pretty convinced the glee club is calling his name. Chris' dream of him loving baseball might not be in the cards. :) We will see! As must as we both love sports, we are sure God will humor us and give us a child totally not interested!! We are just so thankful for Him and cannot thank God enough for choosing us to be His parents. I really had tears many different times today just thanking God for our children. (i'm going to re-read this post on the days where I want to run away:) Just so I can remember, here are his favorite things right now:

Music- Justin Bieber (not kidding), Roger Day, Cedarmont Kids, Any worship music, and ANY KID SONG EVERY MADE

Song- "I've been working on the railroad" and "How Great Thou Art" (claire sings that one too! sweet)

Books- Bible, Corduroy, Goodnight Gorilla, Down By the Station, Any book Sue sends from Australia gets read 100 times a day

Food- Pizza, corn, chicken nuggets, shake shakes (my tricky spinach creation), and ice cream

Movies- Toy Story 1 & 2, Frosty the Snowman (all year), Robinhood, Cedarmont Kids, Veggie Tales

TV Shows- Little Einsteins (still..), Backyardigans, Wiggles, Sid the Science Kid

Places to Go- McWane Center, Zoo, Library story time, school, Friends' houses, and....Publix

Restaurants- johnny bruscos, moes, tazikis, chick-fil-a, milos (i probably influenced the last 3)

People- EVERYONE! He hasn't met anyone he doesn't like:) even his pediatrician. he loves him

Orlando Anniversary Trip!

2011-07-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

We landed in Orlando on Tuesday and a best friend of Chris' picked us up and took us straight to Amway Arena where he works and the Orlando Magic play. We got the royal treatment and were taken on a full tour. It is an amazing arena, just built last year.

We then had dinner with his family and it was off to our hotel in the heart of Disney World.

Wednesday, we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and experienced the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (completely unreal and we are not harry potter fanatics) and all the amazing rides there. The first picture is the Harry Potter World, and somehow it got moved to the top of this post....sorry. We did it ALL and most things twice.

Thursday, we got up and headed to Animal Kingdom for the Morning. We experienced The African Safari Ride for 10 minutes and it seemed like we were there! It was awesome.

This would be Expedition Everest...maybe my favorite roller coaster of all the parks.

And all around Animal Kingdom, you would just see animals like the monkeys below! They were all over the park. So fun!

For a late lunch and the afternoon, we headed over to Hollywood Studios. Again, we did it ALL! We ran to each and every ride to fit it all in (and beat the 80,000 plus folks to all the rides). We have secrets for all of you who go in the future.

Around 6, we rushed over to The Contemporary Hotel, tried to freshen up and change clothes, and then went to the California Grill for dinner. A MUST! This was our view from our dinner table...

Notice the anniversary pins they made us wear! It got us the pure royal treatment along with champagne and dessert...so we wore them! Please look how tired we are! ha!

Here was our yummy dessert!

Sorry...couldn't get this one to go vertical (somehow blogger changed and i can't get my vertical pics to work) Friday we went to Epcot. Probably our favorite park overall. And you guessed it...we did it ALL

Finding Nemo...totally a kid ride, but with an aquarium at the end with a manatee, so we did it!

This was my favorite simulated ride (besides the harry potter forbidden journey ride), called soarin. You flew over California and it even blew the scents at you while you dangled in the air. So cool.

Here we are in the China part of Epcot.

We were supposed to go to dinner with Chris' friend Phil again, but his little boy got sick. So what did we do? Go to the Magic Kingdom for the night! It was open until 3 a.m.!!! Trust me, we left at 10 and we DIDN'T do it all! 4 rides in and we felt 31. It was time to go!! Again, sorry for the sideways pic.

We ended our night and our time at Disney on the oldie, but goodie...Space Mountain!

Our ferryboat ride back...I'm surprised we could even stand. We truly sprinted for 3 straight days.

We are back from a GREAT week! We forgot that we weren't 16 anymore and we did all 4 Disney Parks plus Universal Islands of Adventure in 3 days! Needless to say, we are exhausted!! We knew that in about 5 years when we take the kids, it will be all about the shows, the characters, etc. so we made it all about the rides this time! We definitely missed the kiddos, but we needed this BAD! It's been three years since we got away by ourselves on a trip and this was just what we needed! Tons of laughter and just plain old fun! :)

on a side note...please pray for claire tomorrow as she is having eye surgery (to probe her tear ducts) in the morning at 5:45

Last Minute Encouragement!

2011-07-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for something to do for the next 90 days, I strongly encourage you to do the Reading Through the Bible in 90 Days with www.momstoolbox.com I wrote several posts from January-April talking about my experience. It was awesome. If you are like me and a year is a daunting task, then do it this way! You will NOT regret it! I am considering doing it again! It starts tomorrow, so go for it if you have been wanting to read the Bible all the way through and just need to do it with others. The accountability is great and you will see Jesus like never before.

I still have pics and a post for the 4th, but it will have to wait. Chris and I are going away this week for our fifth anniversary trip to a trip I've wanted to take for years!!!!!! I. CAN'T. WAIT!!! Pray for health for Chris (he always gets sick when we try to get away) and pray for the kids while we are away! Happy Five Years to us! Thank you both grandparents for keeping the kiddos!!!

Vote!

2011-06-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Pride aside, I am going to post a link for you to go to. Long story short, I am not "that mom" that thinks my children are the cutest, smartest, etc. etc. out there! All our kids our, right?! But basically I watched Kelly and Regis a while back about a contest. So I entered wells and claires pictures (hers didn't download) and days later I got an email and call stating wells made it to some "round". Who knows....probably thousands. But it's a chance to win college money! So...will you vote for him and pass it on?! It takes two seconds and you don't sign up for a thing. You can "like" it if you want on facebook, but you have to click the "VOTE FOR ME" sign under his pic. by the way, the picture isn't even that cute but I told you, i did it on a whim and from my cell phone none the less! you can vote once a day until July 3rd. I'm pretty sure it is a lost cause because i refused to talk about it for two days so i missed out on those voting days! But my family said to ask for votes if it means money for college! ha! so here is the link:
http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/950960

thanks and i'm humiliated i did this :)

Better Late Than Never!

2011-06-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

Chris and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on June 17th! Thanks to our sweet and precious friend Jupie, we went to dinner and a movie, which I'm pretty sure we haven't done both in one night since before kids! It was so nice and so much fun! I really can't describe in words how blessed I feel with having Chris as a husband. He is WAY too good to me and God definitely knew what He was doing by sending Chris to me. We laugh...a lot! We are going to Disney World in July by ourselves for 4 days to really celebrate!! We can't wait! We haven't had a vacation since before Wells! And isn't Disney World right up my alley?? See...Chris is a GREAT husband! :) This trip is all for me. He said he'd even go just about anywhere for four days if we could just get away!

And on June 19th, we celebrated Father's Day!! I don't know how I got so lucky to have so many awesome men in my life. God for sure gets all the glory. My dad was my true hero growing up (i was a true daddy's girl). He really could do no wrong then and still can't now! I was blessed with a FUN FUN dad while in Australia for 6 months who took me in as a daughter from the get go. After three boys, he was ready for me I think! :) I gained a precious father-in-law five years ago who I don't think has a mean bone in his body and has treated me like a true daughter from day one. And last, but certainly not least, I got to see my hubby become a dad almost 3 years ago. And they are all beyond compare. I don't know any dad in the world more hands on than Chris. From day one with Wells, he changed more diapers than me, took on bath time like a champ, dropped everything when he came in the door from work, and spends every weekend with them. Guys often tease him for not taking up golf, hunting, etc. but his response is always, "I'd rather be with my family more than anything else". And I admire and respect him more than words express. We all love you Chris!

this first pic is my aussie dad, Graeme! He is now an Alabama fan as well!! :)

This is when they came to visit us in April for two weeks. We took them to The Club.

Here is Papa (my father-in-law) who the children adore!

And the next pictures go back and forth between Chris and my dad. I don't even need to share this, but the first picture is really telling of how much Claire is a daddy's girl. She wants to be with him at all times...even when he is asleep! She is laughing on his chest is this pic.

I have to say Wells is quite the momma's boy, but here lately we are seeing him attach to Chris big time!

Here is dad on Father's Day reading a story. Wells and Max are all into it, while Elliott ran around spilling water and Claire must have had a phone call.

Attempt number 2 at Dandaddy with all four grandchildren. We were just proud they were all looking our way and no one was in the fish pond!

Again, better than never! Happy Anniversary and Happy Father's Day to the best husband and dads in the world!

VBS Week!

2011-06-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to put into words how great this past week of VBS was. I have helped our church in many different ways over the past 7 years, but this year was my ABSOLUTE favorite!! The children were in awe all week, the adults truly enjoyed it, and we all really tried to have a "child-like faith" that Christ calls us to have. It was beyond any of our expectations. I had to post some pictures so you all could see how much goes into our VBS and how much work our children's ministry puts into it. There were over 200 kids involved, and countless volunteers who either worked behind the scenes or during the week. Even though my kids were in the nursery, our church allows the 3 year old class to join us for worship and for the preschool bible stories. Wells LOVED every minute of it and thankfully we have a cd of the music because Wells sings the songs ALL day and ALL night (we hear it over the monitor until the wee hours of the night:). Thanks to everyone who helped out. What a blessing it was to everyone!

I had to show y'all this picture. It was the "big fish" in the story of Jonah and the children had to enter it after Jonah was tossed into the sea. It was a really cool experience! They even had opened cans of tuna to make it smell like fish. This is what I mean when I say, it is very detailed and very hands on for the kids!

**anniversary and father's day posts to come this week! i'm behind!

BEACH!

2011-06-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

We had such a blast at the beach!! We just got back from a week in Panama City at Chris' parent's place. It was perfect weather, the children were healthy, and good times were had by all! We went to the beach each morning, came in for lunch and naps, and swam in the pool in the afternoons. The kids LOVED every minute! I was shocked they both loved playing the sand so much because they surely don't like it stuck to their bodies! They must get that from me :) The ocean was a little scary and neither child wanted to go in it, but that is why the pool is such a must! And I think I'm going to kiss whoever invented the puddle jumper floaties that go across the arms and chest. Both children would swim all over the pool with those on! They also jumped off the side, which was a huge accomplishment for wells considering he wouldn't do a thing last year unless we were holding him. We are so glad we got to go. Thanks Yaz and papa! We had a blast! :) Wells is already asking to go back!

What a couple of weeks!

2011-06-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

We have had a rough couple of weeks. As Chris puts it, "always an adventure with the sheheanes"
In a nutshell, Claire had pneumonia (and kept it for 7 days), Wells got hand, foot, and mouth (don't ask me how because we were going nowhere with claire being sick), and after two more doctors visits for breathing treatment and a strep test for wells we came home to a house that was 87 degrees. Our two-year old ac unit had gone out. lovely...
Both of our parents live in bham, but we couldn't use either house. So off to the beautiful Drury Inn and Suites down 280. No sleep for anyone and I'm sure our neighbors had a cozy stay. After five days, we finally are back in our house tonight and I AM SO THANKFUL!! Both kids are healthy again, our house is feeling great, and now we are off to bed. Through the tears, we could laugh as well at our crazy life. We could write a book. We also praised God that we had a house to come back to and thanked Him for giving us some perspective. After all these crazy tornadoes displacing people, we tried not to complain too much about not having air. Now, we are ready to hopefully enjoy summer! We are off to the beach this weekend, so hopefully we will have a relaxing time if we don't melt :) Will have a better post next week I promise!! :) Here are some pics of what we do at home :)

Grand Re-Opening!

2011-05-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Paper With Purpose now has a new website, therefore, we are having a Grand Re-Opening! Please go to http://www.paperwithpurpose.com/ and check it out! Also, in honor of this, today only is 10% off everything. Our online store already has some great deals this week and we will add 10% more off of that! Also, go "like" our facebook page www.facebook.com/paperwithpurpose and send others to "like" it too. Have them comment that you sent them. The people with the most friends sent will get a free beach bag for the summer. It's our biggest seller! The contest ends sunday, so send your friends! You can also get free stationery if you send brides to buy their wedding invitations from us. Thanks for being so supportive this far. We appreciate it so much! And in case you didn't already know, 10% off all our earnings until October will go towards tornado relief.

Adventures with Sue and Graeme!

2011-05-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Because of the tragedy Alabama endured this week, I'm behind on this post. But I need a bright spot and hopefully some others want some fun news, so I think it's time to tell about my adventures with my Aussie family! I could write this post for DAYS and it could be REALLY long, but I'll try to keep it as simple as I can. (it is still pretty long...just a warning!)

WE HAD A BLAST and made memories to last a lifetime. This first picture pretty much sums up our 10 days together. I know Chris and I are absent in this photo, but this picture says it all. Look at the joy on Sue and Graeme's faces to have their Alabama grandbabies in their arms and look at the faces of Wells and Claire. They loved each other! The rest of the pictures will be in order of our adventures. Sorry for all the collages, but there were hundreds of photos.

After 9 years of waiting, we finally got to see each other!!! We cried at the airport and then came home to a birthday party for Sue as her birthday was the 12th of April! I think it helped the kiddos attach REAL quickly! Claire and Wells loved them instantly. The phone calls, pictures and gifts worked wonders we think :)

We wasted no time once they got here. They arrived Wednesday afternoon, and the three of us left Thursday morning for Memphis. Thank you Mom and Dad for helping with the kiddos and thanks to Chris to being number one Dad and husband so we could get away for a few days. We went to the famous Peabody hotel and watched the ducks, went to Rendevous for ribs and bbq for dinner, strolled up and down Beale Street and ended up at BB Kings Jazz club for the night (well...9:00...we were tired!). The most fun part of the night was our p.j. party afterwards in our Westin hotel room! I felt 21 again, and truly felt like no time had passed since I lived with them in Australia. And I must say, their jammies were way more fun than mine! :)

We woke up on Friday morning, went to good ole Denny's for breakfast and then we were off to Graceland. I didn't know what I would think, but I really enjoyed it. It was just so interesting to see Elvis' house, and really just learn a lot more about him. I've just never really cared!! But honestly, now I do! It was so fun! And hilarious to see how much people WORSHIP the king of music. I enjoyed people watching :). ( I know the pictures are hard to see, but click on each collage and you can see the pictures close up). It was even more fun going with Sue and Graeme because they were fans and really excited to see it all.

We were on a tight schedule to get home as tornadoes were scheduled to hit Tennessee down through Alabama from 2 on, and were set to hit birmingham around 5. Well, guess when we got into Birmingham...4:50. It was HORRIBLE the whole way home. There were many times I couldn't see in front of my face and once we got into Birmingham I was very scared. Poor Sue and Graeme didn't know what a tornado was, but they got a little glimpse. Praise the Lord they were in New York this week and didn't have to be here in the midst of the worst tornado our country has ever seen. After returning to my parents' home safely, my sweet mom and dad had cooked and we had a YUMMY dinner at their house. They were AMAZING while Sue and Graeme were here. They housed them since we had no guest bedroom and did so much for us all so we could have sweet time together. My parents fell in love with them too! :)

We woke up Saturday morning, put on our red and white, and headed to Alabama's A-Day game. I think I was more excited about this day than any other day they were here! I was so proud to show them Tuscaloosa, my dorms, my house, my sorority house, and of our course our stadium! :) Those who know me well know that I. Love. Alabama. Football. So I was THRILLED to find out they were going to be here during A-Day. They couldn't believe we had so many people at a spring game (against ourselves I may add) but it helped them to understand the passion for college football in the south, and especially at Alabama. They LOVED it and Graeme caught on to football pretty quickly. In one picture below, you will see Chris teaching some plays and rules on a napkin! I tried to explain it to Sue, but we decided we would just have fun seeing all the sights! ha! My sweet parents again kept the kids and let Chris and I take them to the zone area of Bryant Denny. Dad was a champ for giving up those tickets. So we got to enjoy drinks, food, and cool air inside! But it was a gorgeous day and perfect weather so we just sat out and got a little burned (notice the picture of Chris and Graeme with napkins on their heads). I'm so glad they got to see Tuscaloosa before the devastation. We went to hear Saban speak before and check out the picture of Graeme behind his podium on the top...hilarious!!!! (No alabama fan would dare do that without permission! we all died laughing!)

I don't have pictures of Sunday and Monday but they were packed as well. Graeme and Chris went to an Atlanta Braves game on Sunday. They are both huge baseball fans and they loved it! Sue and I also loved the fact that our hubbies got along so well. Chris truly loved him. Sue and I were going to go to church, but Claire got croup, so that was out! We went around Birmingham a little and I showed her around. We had dinner with Melinda (Chris' mom) that night and she enjoyed meeting Sue as well! Monday, my dad and Graeme played golf at The Capstone Club in vance. After many laughs of my dad picking up clubs for the first time in three years, they had a blast. That night (thank you Yaz and Papa for keeping the kids) we went to The Grill at The Club. We couldn't wait to show them Birmingham at night and we LOVE that restaurant. Tuesday we were off again! This time it was a vacation for six! Chris, the kids and I took them to Mentone, Alabama. If you are from here and haven't been, you are missing out. Although the city is full of camps and only a few restaurants and shops, the views are amazing at the mountain tops. It is just like mountains anywhere in the south. GORGEOUS. We loved our 3 bedroom cabin with a hottub. And Wells slept in a big boy bed the whole week and did great!!!! We will have to get one for him at home:).

We spent Monday afternoon and night enjoying our cabin. Tuesday, we headed up and drove 45 minutes into Chattanooga. The Tennessee aquarium was as spectacular as everyone has said. I cannot say enough positive things about it. You just HAVE to go. Chattanooga is a GREAT place to take kids (even a 1 and 2 year old). We can't wait to go back when they are older and enjoy the hands on museum and chattanooga choo choo! And don't worry...both kids came away with a prize. Wells got a shark (that he named chattanooga because he liked to say that big word) and Claire got a turtle. They are still cuddling with them at night!

Thursday we went on a drive through Little River Canyon and got out at the 8 lookouts. It was gorgeous. Who knew we had an area like that in Alabama? I went to camp in Mentone every summer for years, but of course didn't care about site seeing! Friday we headed back home to another fun grill-out at my parents house. It was a bitter sweet night as we were reminiscing on the last 9 days, but we knew the next morning was the day they would have to say good-bye. I hated it for my kids as much as I hated it for myself. In that short amount of time, they already felt like they had gained a third set of grandparents! It was precious to watch. Everyday one or both of the children still chant their famous cricket cheer, "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oy! Oy! Oy!", at any given moment!

Saturday morning brought lots of tears, but sweet memories to keep in our hearts forever. These pictures are of our last morning together.

Thank you so much Sue and Graeme for coming all the way from Australia to Alabama to spend such precious and meaningful time with us. We loved every minute with you and pray that God will give us more sweet time together in the years to come. I will leave this post with your favorite saying in the south, "Y'all come back now!"

Wells' First School Program!

2011-04-23T18:16:00.001-07:00

Wells had his 2 year old end of the year program at school Tuesday, April 19th. He was so excited about this program and talked about all of the songs he would sing for days and days leading up to it. He LOVES school!!! Mrs. June (his music teacher) is quite the hit and he just loves music class. He only goes to school Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I love that they have music on Thursdays because it is the highlight for Wells! I wasn't quite sure how he'd do because he really loves Mommy and when I am around, he is stuck like glue! I'll let the pictures tell the story...

It all started out so precious as the children held hands walking in to greet the audience (by the way it was just his class of 7 children)
He was all smiles saying, "hey mommy! hey daddy!"

Then he realized he was singing for Mommy, Daddy, Gaygay, Dandaddy, Uncle Kyle, Sue & Graeme (my australia parents), Yaz, and 20 other parents/grandparents he didn't know. And he began to think, "this won't be so fun after all".

Both hands went as far in his mouth as they could go and then the tears flowed and he ran to me a couple of times. But I was proud of him that he went back for the rest of the program. Oh...and every other child sang and smiled :)

Then his best friend in the class, Hill, started to cry and he figured ,"Oh yeah! I'm not the only one who thinks this is too much to handle!"

Then a smile came on the very last song while he barely shook his rattle and tried to make Hill laugh.

Once the program was over he ran into my arms and said, "mom, are you proud of me?" And that melted my heart! I felt so bad for the little guy crying the whole time in agony while his friends sang! But of course I said I was proud with a huge smile! And on the way out the door he yelled, "mom, I sang great!" what a hoot!

(****I will be posting all my adventures with my australian parents once I get all the pictures in. I dropped them off this morning at the airport and lots of tears were shed. we had a BLAST!!!!!!)

The Aussies are Coming!!! :)

2011-04-12T20:03:00.001-07:00

For those of you who don't know, MY FAMILY FROM AUSTRALIA IS COMING TOMORROW!!! I've told anyone and everyone for the last 6 or so months. Spring of my senior year in college, I opted to leave tuscaloosa and enter the world of oz to do my student teaching. It was the best decision I've ever made!!!! It was absolutely unreal. Not only did I get to teach in an incredible school, but I travelled all over my favorite country in the world (besides ours of course!). It truly was surreal. I lived in Geelong, Australia (which is about 45 minutes from Melbourne). What made the experience even better is I got to live with one of the greatest families out there. The Ross family (the librarian at the school was the mom) took me in and treated me as their daughter. There were three boys and I LOVED it! I always wanted a brother and while I was there I got three! Sue and Graeme are the parents and Cameron, Stuart, and Andrew were the boys. I see them as a second mom and dad. We have talked a least once a month since I left 10 years ago. And NOW they are coming to see me! They have already gone to LA, Palm Springs, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and tomorrow they travel to Bham. People have repeatedly asked them, why? I laugh, but am beyond thrilled. They are staying for 10 days so I will have tons of posts either while they are here or when they leave. Here is our itinerary while they are here: Wednesday- arrive at 4:00 and we will celebrate Sue's birthday (which is today) Thursday- Just Graeme, Sue and I will go to Memphis for the night Friday- Graceland! I'm sure this is the only time in my life i'll go, but why not! they were dying to go! Saturday- Alabama's A-Day game and a luncheon where Saban will speak. I can't wait to show them what football is all about Sunday- Chris and Graeme will go to a braves game in Atlanta Monday- My dad and Graeme play golf Tuesday- Friday- Mentone, Chattanooga to the aquarium and choo-choo Saturday- they leave:( Do you think we will be tired? These were all their requests so we are pumped! Now here are Graeme and Sue! This is a sign at the Birmingham Zoo in the "Kangaroo Kountry" area. How fitting!

****There is another new post after this one****

Spring Fever

2011-04-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

loving our snacks outside

smelling (and picking) any flower we can find

wearing our lightweight spring outfits!!

wrapping up so mom can take walks (in the not so lovely weather)

and loving on our doggy....this is ALL the time :)

We are LOVING spring, but we want it to stay consistent! I feel like a terrible mother dressing my kids in shorts for school then pulling up to carpool to find out it's freezing once we open the door!! But I really shouldn't complain, as it is one of the most pleasant springs I can remember! Yes, we are having the weekly tornado watches/warnings, but all in all it is great! Until summer comes to melt us away, we are having daily picnic lunches in the backyard, playing tee-ball in the front yard, taking daily stroller AND wagon rides, blowing LOTS of bubbles, and going to every playground we can find! Needless to say, we are living it up!!

90 Days Bible Reading Completed!!

2011-03-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

I.AM.SO.EXCITED! I thank God so much that He gave me the time (which I swore I'd never have) and the discipline (which I've failed to have the other four times I tried) to read the bible all the way through. I thought 90 days sounded crazy and didn't understand why you would want to cram so much in such a short amount of time. But now I get it. It was the most amazing experience I've ever had in bible reading. It is sad that I based my life and faith on a book that I had never read all the way through. It is something I so badly desired, yet never did. It just flowed like a novel (with some really tough parts here and there) and I honestly looked forward to reading every day. I feel like I understand so much more than I did before and it is just amazing to see how the prophesies from the Old Testament were fulfilled in the New Testament. I just never put it all together before. There is just SO much I want to learn, but I know that is all part of God's plan. There is so much in the Bible, that we could never feel that we had it down! I just pray I can do this many more times while I'm still on this side of heaven. After reading through Revelation today, I am SO much more excited for Christ's return. I would encourage ANYONE to do this. I thought this would be the "hardest time in my life" to read 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours each day, but when will it ever be easy? God didn't say anything in life would be easy, but it WILL be good. So go for it!! It also helped me to really set aside the same time everyday for my quiet time. I was having a tough time before trying to figure it out when you aren't sleeping normal hours! The next session that Amy will lead will be starting on July 11th. To find out more about it, go to the 90 days bible reading schedule. Let me know if you have any questions. I want to do it again! I'm not sure if I'll do this one or the one she will do in the fall, but I promise you won't regret it! My next goal is for Chris and I to do this at the same time. Thanks for my friends who prayed for me and encouraged me while I was doing this! Now I just pray that God will constantly give me the desire to read even when I don't "feel" like it.

Funny Kids!

2011-03-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while so I wanted to share what is going on with us. We are crazy busy with these two, but loving every minute. There is nothing exciting or new going on, but we love our little family and just take one day at a time!
Okay, Wells and Claire are really funny these days!! We are truly LOVING the 14 month gap now that they are 17 months and 2 1/2. She just does everything he does (including trying to talk all the time). I LOVE watching them play, laugh, etc. with each other. They both love to pretend read and they love to be read to. We sit in his room lots of mornings or late afternoons and just read!! We also spend lots of time outside trying to soak up the spring weather that we know is a tease! We go to the zoo, mcwane, and the library just about every week!! And because their mama is social, we spend lots of time playing with other friends!!
Here are some funny things they do right now:
1) Wells gets confused with the difference between women's chests and bellies and often asks anyone that is blessed up top, "Do you got baby Jesus in your belly?" nice...
2) We have caught him sneaking the kitchen chairs around the kitchen trying to get into the tall cabinets where his treats are (yes we know we are in trouble since he is doing that at 2 1/2)
3) He sings in bed for at least 2 hours every night before falling asleep (he's doing it now at 9:51 pm and he went down at 8). quite the night owl
4) Claire is bypassing saying individual words and is trying to say phrases. She is real good at "here ya go" and "what's that?" but everything else sounds like pure jibberish. She sounds foreign
5) Claire peers over her glasses when she is mad at us...so funny! haven't caught it on camera yet
6) Claire has my laugh...yikes! Here it is....

I'll post again when I get a chance! I'm on day 65 of reading and still loving it!! So i'll get back to more frequent posts and catching up with all of you after the 90 days! Hope everyone is great!

Lately...and more snow!

2011-02-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

First I wanted to let all of you know that Claire's surgery went GREAT! It was a rough first two days, but she was great after that and actually started walking on Thursday, only 6 days after the surgery!!! She is so proud of herself and so are we. So thanks for the prayers and hopefully we are finished with doctors for a while! I had the flu last week as well so we are ready for health. In other news, our house went on the market yesterday! We are just going to pray and see what happens. We have LOVED our neighborhood so much and will miss being beside two of our best friends!!! We are hoping to move to Vestavia (now is the time to laugh Vestavia High School friends!!! You all knew I'd be back one day!). Last bit of news, the reading is going great! I'm on day 41 and still loving it!!

Now onto the snow. Well, since we couldn't play in the last two snow days because it was pure ice/sleet, we decided to make the most of this one! Both of the kiddos decided to wake up at 6, so we took advantage! We ate breakfast, threw their coats over their jammies and away we went to play! You definitely will not find Chris or me in any of these pictures, but the kids...of course! We stayed out for about 30 minutes and that was enough for my babies who HATE to be cold! We had a blast. Here are the pics. I think these are the first pictures I've taken since Christmas...sad! This first one is my best attempt at one of both of them.

Claire loved walking around in the snow, but she really wanted to
keep up with wells...it didn't happen!!

Notice I only have one of Wells where he is even close to me!

This child LOVES to run, climb, jump and just be a boy! He is also extremely social...

go figure! He talks to all the neighbors and knows them by name. He cracks us up!!!

The Bible in 90 Days

2011-01-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

I've slacked a little on blogging lately, but for a very good reason! I have ALWAYS wanted to read the bible all the way through and have tried every year for the past couple of years. I always seem to fall away come April and it is so frustrating. I love doing bible studies and learning more about God's word, but there are some really confusing parts. I'm sure this is due to the fact that I don't have a good grasp on the Bible as a whole. SOOO...in light of that I decided to jump on board with http://www.momstoolbox.com/ and read with 1000 other ladies all over the country for 90 days. It started January 3rd and will END in April. Yeah!! It is NOT and I repeat, NOT a new year's resolution, but it's something I've always wanted to do. For me, 90 days seems way more feasible than a year. My cousin did this twice last year and really challenged friends and family to do this. You can read all about the Bible in 90 days ministry from her website/blog. She did not start it, but has taken the ministry to the blog mom world. Let me tell you it is AMAZING. I have never understood more about the bible than I am understanding now. Now don't get me wrong, there is always going to be tons more to find out and God is never through with us. I just finally feel like the covenants, stories, history, and prophecies are all connecting and making tons of sense! This is not a time to study the Word, just simply read it and get a good overview for when you do study it in portions. It is so much easier for me to get into the stories and let God reveal truths to me while reading it more like a story instead of in small chunks. It takes about 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours everyday. We are held accountable to our group and check in every Monday. Amy, the momstoolbox writer, coordinates it all and leaves a devotion for each day if you have time to read it. She just started it last year, but plans to do it twice a year from now on. Some moms in my group are reading it with their husbands and older children! Isn't that amazing!! Fun goal for the future. Anyways, go there to learn more, but I STRONGLY encourage any of you to do it with a group or with her in the future. I am on day 19 and truly LOVING it! Now that I've written this I know I will get more accountability and I am thankful for that. I have found the time that works for me everyday and I try not to break away from it. Therefore, my social life through blogs or telephone has become pretty much non-existent. But it's worth it. I've also found that God is truly blessing my time and showing me more creative and productive ways to use it. I am writing this post to encourage others and not to get a pat on the back because it has nothing to do with me...(I'm 31 and just now reading it through)!!! But I'm excited so I wanted to share this with others in hopes that maybe in September you can jump on board with her next 90 day reading. I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year! Ours has been awesome except that Claire is getting tubes in and adnoids out in two weeks!! oh well...it's MUCH better than last year at this time! :) Pictures will come when I start taking them again!

All Things Christmas!

2010-12-28T19:20:00.001-08:00

Warning...this is a long post!! it's way overdue of all our Christmas fun from last week!!
It started out on the 22nd going to see Santa at a house in tanglewood (the roddams if you are from vestavia and know them) and it was SO fun! They have dancing elves, snowmen, etc and you drive through to see santa! He even gives stuffed animals to the kiddos at the end! precious!! The elves give him a heads up about the names of the children so by the time you come by, Santa is talking to them and knows them by name. Precious!!! These first pictures are when we got home...Wells slept with his reindeer for the week!

Next up was Christmas Eve night at my Mom and Dad's house. We went to a children's Christmas service at 4, then went to their house to do gifts with the cousins. So fun! Max (my nephew) was thrilled with his T-Rex and Iron Man gifts!!

Here is Wells riding his BIG FOUR-WHEELER from mom and dad. He LOVES it and rides all over the house all hours of the day. He is getting good at steering!

Claire got her own princess ride-on toy. She loves it when her brother isn't stealing it. I'm thinking she is not going to be the princess type since she squeals when football comes on the tv and she pushes trucks all over the house! My girl!

This collage is Christmas morning!! Claire's big gift from Santa was her new chair! She always wanted Wells' so santa brought her a chair too! They got a kitchen to share and Wells got a laptop (leap frog laptop...not a real one, don't worry!) They also got placemats, and some other fun things! Santa is a little more practical at our house!! :) Chris laughed that there were bandaids and glasses cleaner in Claire's stocking! Hey, needs vs. wants, right?!

The next collage is from brunch at Robyn's Christmas morning. We always go over to her house to let the cousins play and match on Christmas morning! They share their santa stories and go crazy with new toys! The only way we could get pictures of all four together was to put on a Cedarmont Kids music video (and if you've never heard of these you need them! precious and the kids could watch them 100 times over...or at least we have...they are found at Lifeway Christian store). You can see them doing the motions to "wheels on the bus" in some of the pics...even claire does them! It's hilarious!!!

Next up, was Christmas night at Chris' parents house with his mom's side of the family. We always have a blast. Uncle Kyle gave wells these awesome cowboy boots. He loves his uncle kyle and is in love with these boots! They are REALLY nice boots! He hasn't mastered walking in them yet though.

Yaz and Papa gave him all sorts of goodies, but his favorite was the Llama that he named Captain. He has a slight obsession with llamas. It all started with the "Llama, llama red pajama" book series and it carried on to "captain" the Llama at the Birmingham Zoo. Captain knows Wells since we go once a week! Thank you Yaz for our zoo pass!!! So now he sleeps with his own llama.

Claire got two different dolls and LOVES them. She says "baby" to any doll she sees and hugs/kisses all of them. These are twin dolls that hug each other. That is papa holding her.

Here is Wells with Dance Star Mickey. This is a HIT in our house. Claire and Wells push him all day and they dance right along with him. He sits on our fire place and truly gets played with most of the day!

Here is Claire with her doll that bounces up and down and giggles. Perfect for Claire! Claire giggles often! (does that remind you of anyone?!)

And of course, how could I show you all these pictures without some WHITE Christmas photos!! This is at my parents house on Christmas day. It didn't stick at our house until the 26th, but 5 miles up the hill, here is my parents' house! That cool swing set/house was just built for all the grandkids! They are pumped!!! What a fun Christmas gift for us all! I'm afraid mom and dad won't be able to get rid of all the grandkids now!

Here is our house on the 26th. Claire was still asleep and we didn't get her out in it anyways b/c of ear infections. Wells played for about 10 minutes and that was it! He said it was "too cold!"

They decided to sit in their chairs to watch the snow outside instead!

Claire was in total awe of the snow!

Then our Christmas festivities ended last night when we went to Zoolight Safari at the Birmingham Zoo. It is always so much fun! There are TONS and TONS of lights throughout the zoo. The train becomes the "holiday express" and that is the highlight for the kids. We went with Robyn (my sister), Charles and the kids. What a freezing, but fun night! Oh, and of course the petting zoo was open and we got to see Captain, our precious Llama friend....who spits!

This was an amazing Christmas! We thank God for all the many joys of this Christmas season and we are so thankful that Wells looked forward to reading about Baby Jesus every night and he loved the advent wreath! We pray each year the kids will really "get" Christmas a little bit more. We hope you had a joyful Christmas as well!

Weeks Two and Three of Advent

2010-12-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

Sorry I didn't post last week...some little hands misplaced my pamphlet from church! I got another today so here we go!
Last Sunday was The Shepards' candle- JOY
"The Shephards' candle reminds us of the joy and celebration of the shepherds, as they shared the experience of Christ's birth. Our joy does not depend upon our circumstances, but rests in our relationship with God through Christ Jesus." Here are the readings for last week:
Luke 2:1-10, Psalm 103, Psalm 150, Luke 1:46-55, Luke 2:25-38, Psalm 100, Revelation 5:11-13

This Week is the Angels' candle- LOVE
"The Angels' candle remind us that just as the angels were messengers proclaiming Christ's birth to the shepherds, we are God's messangers proclaiming Christ's presence to the world. Because of the deep love Jesus has for us we can be messengers of Christ to others."
Sunday- Luke 2:8-14
Monday- Philippians 2:5-11
Tuesday- Luke 3:15-18, John 1:29-34
Wednesday- Acts 13: 16-39
Thursday- 1 John 1:1-10
Friday- Matthew 28:19-20
Saturday- Revelation 19:11-16

Enjoy! And I hope everyone is enJOYing their Christmas season so far! We are around here for sure! Chris and Wells go looking at lights for 20 minutes every night before bedtime and both kids are obsessed with everything Christmas! Wells tells us every morning as soon as he wakes up that Jesus is born and that he wants to see Santa. At least he gets the reason we celebrate a little bit! :) Hopefully each year they will both understand more and more. We LOVE it and are really enjoying this month. It's by far my favorite Christmas thus far. I feel like a kid again! :)

Advent Begins today!

2010-11-28T19:57:00.000-08:00

An "Advent" is the coming or arrival of something. We had a very neat opportunity tonight with our church family on this first Sunday of Avent. This is definitely starting a new tradition with us. The children's department of the church, which is amazing, put on a night to make Advent Wreaths for our homes. We had pizza, made the wreaths (with little help from Wells), sang some Christmas songs (which the kids loved), and the children's minister gave a brief description of what the candles meant and the importance of starting the Christmas season focused on Christ. It was SO much fun! The kids loved just being around other children, singing, putting in a few twigs, eating (claire), lighting the hope/prophesy candle, and seeing the dark room light up! For those who are not familiar with the candles and their meanings, there are five candles. There are three purple, one pink, and one white. The first candle is a purple candle and it symbolizes hope/prophesy- The promise of Messiah and of His return. The second candle is pink and is the JOY candle- God coming down to dwell with us. The third candle is purple and stands for love- Proclaiming the coming of Christ to all people. The fourth candle is purple and stands for peace-"God is with us", and the fifth candle in the middle is white and stands for the purity of Christ and that when He returns it will be as King and Lord over all. Each Sunday begins the next week of Advent and you light the next candle. The fifth/white candle is lit on Christmas eve. I strongly encourage you to study this further and talk about it with your kids. It can be a time of celebration for the entire family to remember those who longed for the Messiah, to anticipate Christmas Day, and to look forward to Christ's bodily return to earth. It was so exciting for me to focus on this with my family today and I got teary tonight realizing how truly blessed I am. I do not deserve all that I have. My biggest prayer daily is to focus on CHRIST this season and all that He does and has done for me...beginning with His birth. Here are the scripture readings our church suggests for this week if you want to look at(i'll post new ones each week of advent):
sunday/today: Genesis 12:1-3,
Monday: Isaiah 7:10-14
Tuesday: Isaiah 9:2-7, John 14:27
Wednesday: Isaiah 11:1-5, Revelation 5:5
Thursday: Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:14-21
Friday: Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 2:1-7
Saturday: Matthew 24:36-44, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

here are some pics of the night (from the phone unfortunately)
claire is clapping to the music...notice the glasses are gone. another pair down the tubes! off to get new ones tomorrow!

Wells had a blast, but was hard to contain!

Here is the advent wreath. It looks much better
than we thought it would!!

Merry Christmas everyone! The decorations
are up, the gifts are wrapped and under the tree (for now!)
and I only have two to go. I told you I'm enjoying the
Advent/Christmas season!! I pray we all do!

new post below and hopefully a thanksgiving post soon... i know, out of order!

A Visit With Friends!

2010-11-28T19:27:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time last Sunday catching up with good friends who live in Boston. Mike, Sandi, and Avery Reinold visited from Boston with Birmingham friends all weekend. Mike and Chris used to work together and Sandi and I became fast friends! They are so great and we were so sad to see them leave, but they were excited to get back "home" in Boston where they grew up. And Mike has a really cool job there as well!! We were so honored that they chose to spend some time with us as they were only here for a quick weekend. Avery is only a couple of months younger than Wells and they played GREAT together! We would have weekly playdates if they lived here! She is tiny just like him and they had funny/spunky personalities! Thank you Mike and Sandi for such a fun Sunday and it truly made our week!! :) We love y'all!

Okay...so we staged this one, but how hilarious!
They both love the iphones so it worked!! :)

Big talkers...just like their mommies!

Lots of FIRSTS in November!

2010-11-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

This has been a CRAZY, but exciting month around the Sheheane household! Last week, Claire began cutting FOUR teeth (three molars) so there was no sleep. Then she decided she was going to talk some and started saying mama, dada, baby, dog, and even thank you somewhat clearly! It was hilarious! She is trying to talk up a storm (just like her brother and yours truly). This week, she jumped right up on her walker and pushed it all over the house! I thought surely she'd lose her balance or get going too fast....but nope! Here she is so proud of herself! Maybe she'll really walk on her own soon. I don't really care either way :)!

Then we have Wells who also has BIG firsts! He really wanted to bring his tricycle indoors and since it's gotten cold and I am just worn out, I said "sure!" So just as I thought he would use his feet to push around the house, he started to pedal! We were so proud! He's getting really good at turning too. So fun!!

He also decided no more diapers for him! He has been using his elmo potty for fun for a couple of weeks, but really wanted to try pull-ups since they looked more like his big cousin Max. Well...these weren't good enough.

So....we were onto big mickey mouse undies!! And I thought, "well, if he wants to go with it, I'll just go with it too and try not to stress about accidents." The first two days he had about 8, so I was already over it. But he pushed to keep trying and I loved the attitude of not giving up....

So now he is really potty trained!! He has gone to church, school, and a total of 6 days now in big boy undies!! He only had 1 day of a couple of accidents (when mama wasn't around). I am SO PROUD of him! I was shocked he got it so early, but I love that i didn't do the rigorous training and just let him go with it. All in all it was a good month of going before he did it all the time, but to me that is great! We still use pull-ups at nap and night but they are usually dry. fun times!! His favorite part is washing his hands (by himself of course while standing on the elmo potty) afterwards. Check out that proud face!

Now, I think all the excitement wore us out because this weekend all four of us are hit with the stomach bug or high temps. Prayers again please as we hit fall and winter!! :)

Halloween Week!

2010-11-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well, last week was CRAZY! It was such a blast, but crazy! Robyn and I had three Christmas Shows, it was my birthday, and we had four different halloween dress up parties! By Sunday night, the kids were over it and totally fussy. Happy Halloween to us! Claire was a butterfly and Wells was the itsy bitsy spider (his favorite song in the world) for halloween, but we were Charlotte's Web for our family parties. Chris and I were the Zuckermans and Claire was wilbur, while Wells was charlotte (yes, i know wrong costume for male and female....that is the costumes they had though). Oh well, after Wells got some candy in him, he was ready to go! My little spider socialite didn't just knock and say trick or treat, but he walked right three or four homes and sat on their couches! Not only that, but he talked and talked like that was the right thing to do! :) Oh well, he's only two, right?! Claire didn't trick or treat this year, but went right to bed after the neighborhood block party. We really did have a blast, but we are glad the week is over! Now onto the month of many thanks!

Pictures Galore!!

2010-10-20T12:26:00.001-07:00

Well, this has been a month for pictures!! A sweet friend from high school has just moved to Birmingham from Huntsville and her photograpy business moved with her of course! Her name is Elizabeth Bailey and it's ebaileyphotography.com. So she was so precious to do some "samples" for her Christmas promotions with my kiddos. So we used her for Claire's one year pics, and our family pictures since we have none! She did a FANTASTIC job and is SO laid back. We had a blast!! Now, it was a bit stressful for us parents since the kids were 2 and 1, but they were definitely GREAT pictures with what she had to work with! If you want to go see them (obviously one is at the top of our blog) go to this website: www.ebaileyphotography.com/Photocart (you don't have to login) go to access gallery. Then put in these codes to see these pics:
to see claire's 1 year: claire1
to see family pics: sheheane2010
Thanks Elizabeth and we are so thrilled and pleased with these pics of our kiddos! You are awesome!!
Just to warn y'all....Wells does not like to smile in pics! :)

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to go to the Pumpkin Patch this year! We went to Old Baker Farm in Harpersville, Al. With Claire being brand new to the world last October, it just didn't happen, so we couldn't wait to go this year. We went with the Barrows and had tons of fun! Wells and Emily Kathryn love each other and play well. Wells LOVED the petting zoo part. I am almost convinced that he is Dr. Doolittle himself. All the animals came right up to him wherever he would walk! It was hilarious! The goat even licked his lips...disgusting I know. He is just obsessed with all animals and obviously they can tell! His favorite part of the place was the part where you washed your hands. He could have stayed there forever and yes, he was soaked when we left. We also ran into other close friends from church while there! Very fun! Nathan is in the washing hands picture with Ek and Wells. Claire just loved observing it all! We can tell that she really wants to walk like her brother though. She is ready to move! It was a gorgeous, but hot morning so we only lasted about 2 hours. But that was plenty of time for a 2 year old, a one year old, and two parents holding them or chasing them. And Wells got the perfect baseball sized white pumpkin (that was totally soft). He threw it about 4 times when he got home and it was history. But hey, he picked it out! Claire just got what we thought was cute. We look forward to going to different ones every year and it is definitely going to be an October tradition! So fun!

Claire's Birthday Party!

2010-10-07T12:44:00.001-07:00

This picture pretty much sums up the evening...she LOVES cake!!

But she hates anything on her face or head!!!! Notice the glasses are off!

Her cake! Yaz made it!

Her new pink driving/walking toy with music. she "shakes it" just like her brother!

She loves standing and wants so badly to walk. soon ......

Her "1" shirt from Alice Kathleen (a friends clothing company)

this is the "aren't I just so cute that you can't get mad" face

Attempt at a family shot! maybe next party!!!

Claire kissing sweet Pawpaw!!

All the cousins on my side. We are super close and the kids LOVE each other!

Thanks Kim for letting us borrow this fun pinata to display!

this is this morning....quite the happy camper!!!!

Claire's party was a BLAST! We just do family for 1st birthdays and to me, it makes it even more special. Wells was truly confused as he thought it was his all over again. He greeted everyone, wanted to open all her gifts, and even asked where the Little Einsteins were! After a while, he got it...but wasn't too happy with Claire getting all the attention! She, on the other hand, had a blast! I think she knew it was all about her! She let everyone hold her (and feed her) and she hammed it up all night. It was so special because Chris' grandfather Pawpaw was able to join us! He is such a PRECIOUS man and we love him! He just moved to a nursing home here and we consider it a huge blessing to spend time with him finally!

We did a pizza dinner and cake. Chris' mom, who we call Yaz, made her cake. She did a great job! Thanks so much Yaz!! And I kept all the decor with the butterfly, flower, and 1 theme. I didn't make myself all stressed out about it, and it was really so much fun! Claire got the cutest clothes you've ever seen, three precious dolls (which she holds and kisses constantly) and a nursery rhyme book. Gosh, it's so fun to have a girl!!! :) I love having one of each! Again...Wells just doesn't get it that dolls and pink aren't for him. Oh well...one day!! It was a perfect night!

Happy 1st Birthday to Claire!!!!

2010-09-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Claire's first birthday!! WOW!! Most people say, "I just can't believe it's flown by that quickly" and that is true. But I really want to be honest and say "We survived It and really ended up loving every minute of it (the last six months)!" Ever since claire's really hard start to life, she has been an absolute dream. But we wouldn't take back a minute of it. God made us stronger and she was worth all the sleep deprivation, dr. appts. and more! She is such a blessing and JOY to be around. Chris and I stand in awe just amazed at what God has given us. We NEVER would have dreamed that we would say we are glad they are so close in age!! :) They love each other and we love watching them. They both think each other hung the moon! We are having Claire's family party next wednesday, so you'll see all the pictures then.

Claire is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, and walking along the furniture. She took a while to crawl, but it looks like walking will definitely be in the next month sometime. She still LOVES to eat and doesn't waste any food! I just want to squeeze those thighs and cheeks all the time. She is very kissable!!! Claire is also really a funny baby! She tries to copy everything Wells does, so it's hysterical what she comes up with. They play hide and seek in the curtains, she makes a "freeze" face that makes Chris and I cry we laugh so hard (sorry i couldn't get the video to load) and she just laughs all the time. We could not ask for anything more! To fit in with our family, you just need to laugh a lot!

Happy Birthday sweet Claire Bear! We love you and could not imagine life without you! Our cups runneth over!!!

We are loving Football Season!

2010-09-14T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we are already two weeks into the football season so I have to do a post! My kids are both being good sports right now and both throw their hands up for touchdown, and Wells has got "Roll Tide" and touchdown Alabama mastered! He loves "ballgames" of any kind! He takes after me and really does enjoy watching football! I took him to a Vestavia Hills High School football game a couple of weeks ago and he LOVED it! He constantly talks about going back.

Chris and I have been lucky enough the past two weeks to actually go to the Alabama games alone! Yaz and Papa have so graciously kept the kiddos for the day AND night so that we could enjoy our first two games. THANK YOU!!!! This is the first season I haven't been pregnant in a while so it was a BLAST!! We had so much fun and as much as we missed the kids, it was a needed break and such a fun time. I just LOVE fall for so many reason, but football is definitely number 1!! I hope you are enjoying it too! (The pics above are at Yaz and Papa's. They love playing their piano, eating spaghetti with them, and just playing with all their fun toys! They love Yaz and Papa and love it there!)

(On a side note...All the great birmingham consignment sales are coming up in the next two weeks! Mountain Chapel's Kids Korner is thursday night from 4-8 and Friday morning from 9-2. There is tons of stuff! I'll be working so come see me!)

Wells LOVES school!

2010-09-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Wells started 2 year old preschool this week!!! Everyone asked me if it made me sad and my answer was NO! I of course miss him, but he LOVES it and it really makes me appreciate my time with him that much more!! Because he's such a mama's boy, I was afraid of tears and not wanting to go, but boy was I wrong!! He walked right in the door like a big boy and met his cousin Max at the door. Max was so sweet to walk him down the hall and show him the ropes at preschool! He couldn't wait to go again today and actually sat at the garage door with his bag waiting on me for an hour! He played with is toys there just in case I decided to leave without him!!! :) He goes tuesdays and thursdays and Claire goes to Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays so I have one day from 9-12 to get a ton done!! This first Tuesday was awesome but extremely tiring trying to cram in so much into those hours. I really am sooooo proud of Wells and love that he loves his teacher "Echols" (miss is just left out!) so much. He physically shakes with excitement when he talks about her!

This first picture is what Wells now loves to do...hit the baseball off the tee! Check out his face!

He also LOVES putting on his shoes, especially his rain boots!

Here is the infamous "Echols". His school is so precious. The 2 and 3 year old teachers come and visit each child in their class before the school year begins. It definitely helped Wells because he was in love at first sight!

Here is his bag that every child at his school carries until they are 5 and leave for big school. It is hilarious to see the difference between the big 5 year olds carrying the bags and these babies!! But he is determined to carry it and put it on the hook at home and at school.

Here is our "First Day of School" picture. It will be a tradition from here on out! I can't wait to look back and see just how tiny he was when I sent him off to school!

Can you believe it??

2010-09-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

Claire turned 11 months on Wednesday and she came alive this week!!! She would like to tell you a few things!

"Y'all are not going to believe it! I'm crawling!! Mom is so proud. I think she was afraid I'd never move. I'm also really good at it!"

"I'm just so amazed with myself! Mom, I seriously don't know where I threw my glasses. I know you said they are expensive, but aren't I worth it?"

"Not only am crawling, but I'm pulling up and standing all day long! I've really been holding out so that all my tricks will come out at once! Everyone is giving me all the attention! Sorry Wells...not really :)"

"Okay mom, I'm trying to be humble here...no more pictures. I'll fill everyone in on more accomplishments at my year mark. But just so y'all know, I only weighed 20 pounds at my appointment and was in the 40th percentile for weight. Mom and Dad were worried about that one. Dad keeps kidding mom that she is going to put me on weight watchers. I don't know what that is, but if she takes away my bananas and goldfish, we are going to have serious problems. Oh, and I was in the 85% for height!!! I am going to totally tower over my brother. It's going to be awesome!"

The Wiggles!

2010-08-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a late post! I promised pictures to my friends who laughed at Chris and I for taking Wells to ATLANTA for his birthday to see the wiggles!! Yes, we really did! So here are pics of Wells. He was a little confused as to why there were 10,000 dancing children and parents. After about 30 minutes, he joined right in and kept shouting "again!" It was hilarious!! Chris and I decided it was definitely worth it all. He slept the entire way back to bham. He now proudly owns a shirt that says, "I'm the Fifth Wiggle." Yep, we were those parents! And if you aren't familiar with The Wiggles, turn it to Sprout from 6-7 any morning because I'm sure you'll get a HUGE laugh! (by the way, his birthday month is almost over! whew...and claire is coming in October!)

E-Mealz!

2010-08-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is officially the best idea out there for busy, couponing, weight losing, etc. moms!! Jane DeLaney, our associate pastor's wife and a good friend of mine, started this business a couple of years ago. She has a website where the meals are created for every night of the week and she gives you TONS of different plans to choose from. She has different plans for couples, plans for families, plans for weight watchers (using points), vegetarians, etc. and she even allows you to choose the grocery store! She gives you every price for every item and uses the sale items to make your meals. So for all you publix fans out there, she uses the BOGO items or advantage buyer items. I've done the weight watchers plan before, but since Chris lost more weight than me, we're going with the Publix family plan now. It even tells you exactly where to purchase the item in the grocery store and what the brand is that you buy of each item. So detailed and easy! It's 5 dollars a month!! It saves you time, major money and gives you ideas! We LOVE it! I've just started getting on the routine again and trust me, it's fun and yummy! I have put the link on the side bar on the right side of my blog so go check it out! She shows you a sample of what it looks like. If you start to use it let me know what you think. She started getting endorsed by Dave Ramsey! She is big time now and so precious! Happy meal planning! :)

Little Einsteins Party!

2010-08-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Wells' Birthday on Sunday with his favorite cartoon, The Little Einsteins. He is truly obsessed with music and this show is so cute and really a bright way to teach kids. I have to say I know NOTHING about music, but I better learn! He had such a blast. He was quite the little host. For the first thirty minutes he said "hello" to each and every person by name as they walked in. Everyone just died laughing. He is EXTREMELY social and I wonder where he gets that...ha! He didn't want anyone else to hold him, but he loved talking to everyone over and over. I had so much fun decorating for it and getting everything ready for him. It was worth it all to see him on cloud nine the entire party and night. We stayed up late with him so he could play with all his new toys! What a special day and what fun memories we will have for a long time. Here are the pictures from the day. (Check out the amazing cake made by a friend from church. It tasted wonderful as well! I highly recommend her for birthday cakes! http://www.artbytheslicecakes.com/)

Happy Day!!!

2010-08-04T19:01:00.001-07:00

Today Wells turned 2!!!! Wow!! I cannot believe it!!! He had such an amazing day and so did we. He tells anyone who is having a birthday "Happy Day!" So we made sure to tell him that same phrase all day. He still didn't quite get it as everyone was saying Happy Birthday to him either on the phone or out and about and he would say Happy Day back. Oh well! At least it's not all about him for now!! :) I am HUGE on birthdays so I wanted to pack as much in as I could. Before I explain all of them, I'll tell you some fun things Wells is doing at 2. He is talking up a storm and repeating EVERYTHING we say. Quite scary and hilarious. He still wants me all the time, but at least he conquered some fears this week. He now rides his horse all the time, plays on the playgrounds alone and can spend lots of time with his toys alone in the den. This is HUGE considering last week none of these things were happening. He runs everywhere, adores music, and could watch Little Einsteins and the Wiggles all day. (His real present from us is going to see the Wiggles August 18th...Chris' idea!!!!!) He sings songs all the time and we often hear him on the monitor for an hour to 1 1/2 hours just talking, laughing and singing. We laugh so hard!!! We just love him so much and feel so blessed that God picked us to be his parents! :) He just makes me smile and brings so much joy to this house. And what a fun age!!! Okay, on to the pictures from today (they are in reverse order):
We went to dinner at Maria's mexican in Vestavia. We LOVE this place and really love Maria, the owner. Wells loves it too and eats a ton there. Chips and cheese dip are really his fav! Notice, his poor face...he is allergic to strawberries and had a reaction to jelly today. poor guy!

That's my boy...just lick the bowl!

We went to get Bruisters after dinner...yum!! Wells

favorite food!

Sorry for the blurry picture, but this was hilarious!

We gave him a rock guitar so he could sing and play

all his favorite tunes. He was rocking out...that is why

it's blurry!

He looks like he was crying, but he was dying

laughing at the songs.

Watching "Happy Birthday Moon" before going to bed.

Books on the computer are the best!

This morning after Claire's nap, we went swimming

with his cousins: max and elliott (my nephews) and

Hayden and Porter (my first cousin's kids). we had a ball!!!

Hayden and Claire...the only girls on this side

of the family of cousins and Hayden promises

to teach her how to be a princess! Hayden is AWESOME

with my kids!

Just had to show some cute pics of claire too!

Wells sitting with "potter" as he likes to call him.

He makes Wells feel so big!

Wells is finally swimming a little by himself with swimmies...

it only took all summer!

We went to the library to check out his favorite books

and they are pretty true to Wells' feelings!! We read this

and talk about these day after day!

We rode the horse while Claire napped. And we clapped and clapped at

how proud we were!
Wells LOVES to show me how he can finally get on and off

his horse alone and he RIDES it over and over

First thing this morning he told "mutsy" his sleeping buddy

all about his "happy day" and then put him in sissy's jump up!

He is really loving playing with cars so we also did this

while claire napped. We get about 2 good hours to play alone

every morning while she naps. While I often feel trapped at home,

it is such a blessing to spend this much time with him alone.

We really did have such a great day!! I just want my kids to know how special they are and that God made this day for them very very special!! :) ****new 10 months claire post below***

ps. NO MORE PACIS!!!! We threw them away....literally...sunday and it's been brutal for the past three nights and naps, but finally on his birthday he decided to be a big boy (after I spanked him for screaming at the top of his lungs to tell me he NEEDED the blue one) and he is over it. He told us before bed, "I'm 2...I'm a big boy...no more pacis...they hurt my mouth!" hallelujah!

Happy 10 Months Claire!!!

2010-08-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Happy 10 Months Claire Bear! She is still as sweet as a button and getting chubbier by the minute!!! She is STILL not crawling and really doesn't act like she is close at all! Hilarious! I guess she just likes to sit, look cute, and watch her brother!! Or...maybe all her rolls are holding her back! Either way, I'm really not sad because it allows me to only chase her brother and when I have her alone she is super easy!!! This is a far cry from my posts during her first 6 months of life! :) We are blessed and extremely thankful! She is saying mama and dada very clearly and yells them when she is crying or needs something. She also loves to make any noise that wells makes. He is truly her favorite person in the world...next to her daddy. Man...she cries when he walks in the room and just goes bananas until he gets her. She is in LOVE. Claire also now has her two front top and bottom teeth and is working on two more at the moment. Her favorite toys are the B-I-N-G-O dog that used to be Wells, she loves the train that sings (she dances and shakes so hopefully i'll get it on video soon) and she could play with them for hours. Her other hours are spent eating and sleeping. She'd eat all day if we let her! We just can't get over how fast these past couple of months have gone. We love our little girl!

Back to School Open House and Christmas in July Sale!

2010-07-27T06:09:00.000-07:00

For all our birmingham friends, Paper With Purpose is having our back to school open house tomorrow, Wednesday, July 28th! It will be at Robyn's house from 9-1 and 4-7. Her address is 3452 Coventry Drive, Vestavia Hills, 35243. EVERYTHING will be 20% off for Christmas in July! We will have personalized backpacks, water bottles, tons of baby items, new gift items and then all of the stationery items you could think of! Remember that we do all your wedding invitations, programs, napkins etc. and you can schedule an appointment for that anyday. Please bring any friends or family!

If you can't come, or live out of town, you will still shop our online store and get 10% off. Go to http://paperwithpurpose.myspstore.com and type in the promotional code CHRISTMAS when you are checking out. You can use your credit card and have everything shipped directly to you! All stationery options are on there, but if you need sippy cup labels, they are the only things not on there. Thanks and We hope to see you tomorrow or at our online store!!

The Beach...Round 2!

2010-07-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to be able to go to the beach twice this summer!! And we actually survived the car ride again! We went with Chris' parents this time and we had a blast. It was so nice to have some extra hands and eyes to watch these kiddos! Wells loves to run from pool to pool and not so much stay in it. So you can imagine what our days are like. You may be wondering, "why stay at the pool when you are at the beach?" Well, both children cry...a lot on the beach so it's just not worth it! You will see from the pictures that Wells only enjoyed watching and feeding the seagulls. And yes, we were THOSE people who fed the birds. We did anything to keep him from thinking about the sand being all over his body. He is my child for sure! I hate sand being all over me and I hate being cold! Check out the picture where he is wrapped in the towel. He begs to be in the towel like this! Sweet Claire just did whatever we did. She was a trooper and just stayed laid back the whole trip..Praise the Lord!! We won't be back until next summer, but we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to enjoy the beach (with no oil)! Thanks Yaz and Papa!

9 months, 23 months, and a HUGE blessing

2010-07-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

Claire turned 9 months today...wow!!!! Cannot believe it! And Wells will be 2 next month! Both are at a very fun point and LOVE LOVE each other! Claire isn't moving so it's beautiful!! I know that sounds terrible, but it's so nice to just let her sit up and play with toys or watch Wells play in the den with whatever he has!!! She isn't even trying to get on all fours and I LOVE it! She is just so content and smiling all day long. Today she clapped for the first time and was so proud that she did it ALL day...even in her carseat! Wells is in love with music and just loves to dance and sing all day so we are guessing she is trying to clap to the beat of his music! He can be a total toddler at times, but he is still very sweet natured and loves his time with mama. He also loves to talk to anyone and everyone at the grocery store, mall, etc. He's pretty good at holding a conversation too! It's a hoot. I keep trying to video him in action, but once the camera comes out he clams out. Both of my kids hate the camera I've decided! One day....
As for now, I decided to post a video instead of pictures. Wells is obsessed with the VBS soundtrack from our church last week so that is what he is listening too. He usually does all the motions and sings but once he realizes I'm taping him watch how he freezes! And please ignore my voice! Enjoy! (the huge blessing is below the video)

As for the blessing (besides my kids of course), it is awesome! Chris and I have really been trying to be good stewards of our money and truly want to glorify God in how we spend, give, and save, but the saving part has been hard with two in diapers, one in formula, and well...life itself. So we were having a discussion about formula and how we just can't believe how much it is and how we will feel rich come October. We really want to be able to pay off our van, give more, and save for Wells and Claire for the future and the 150 a month we would save not buying formula would help a little. Well, ten minutes after our conversation my phone rang. It was a sweet friend (who I can't name) who is a Similac Rep. She said that this never happens, but a hospital had just contacted her and said that their similac sensitive cases were expiring september 3oth and they had no use anymore. They asked her if she wanted them back or could they throw them away. Well...she knew I used this for Claire and called me. She said she was down the street and was on the way to drop them off. She had no idea that Claire would be 1 in October and we would only need it until September 30th! Ya'll this was the EXACT amount of cans we will need to make it until October. Is God unreal or what! I mean...look at the details of all of that. He provides in ways that we could never imagine and He is FAITHFUL!! I just had to give Praise where praise was due! Let us never forget all that He does for us on a daily basis...the small and the big!

Beach!!! (no oil...yet)

2010-06-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

So, we just got back from the beach a couple of hours ago. WE.ARE.EXHAUSTED!! It was so nice to get away as a family of four, but very challenging. Chris and I decided it was worth every bit of trouble just to be with our family. We LOVED it! We got lots of stares (as usual) and lots of "how close in age are they?" (as usual) but we know this is what God had for us all along and we are embracing it to the best of our ability! We love our two and they LOVE LOVE LOVE each other! We pray this continues throughout their lives. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but just know that most of our hours were spent in the room with one or both of them napping! The pictures you are seeing are one of two times that we would rush to the pool or beach to play. Oh...and we were out at the pool or beach in the same amount of time as it took to get prepared to go out there! :) The joys of two babies!! What a blessing though that we got to go! Thank you Yaz and Papa for letting us go to your beach place!

ps. Claire isn't in her glasses because she broke them the day we left :)

(so those of you who said, "i can't believe she keeps them on her face"...she doesn't anymore and chews them. makes.me.crazy)

Happy 8 Months to the New Claire!

2010-06-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've already given you an update earlier in the week so here are pictures of our sweet Claire in glasses and I really can't believe she is 8 months (except for the fact that she now gets her thighs stuck in the bumbo seat :) And don't you love that she looks so smart while watching the computer! I just loved that picture!!! (Wells 22 month post will come later. He hasn't cooperated for any pictures lately!)

So Much To Say

2010-05-28T18:26:00.001-07:00

Okay, so you all know that I always have too much to say!! This post really is just a summary of what all has gone on the past two weeks. Every night I sit down to post about something and just get too tired. So here were the posts I never got around to:
1) Shake Shakes- These are what Wells eats at least once a day. See, Wells has become really really picky with food and somewhat of a vegetarian(as do most almost 2 year olds) and I'm tired of fighting him. Soooooo, I make "shake shakes", as we like to call them at the Sheheane household. These contain blueberries, bananas, frozen fruit that comes in a bag from costco, ice, water or milk, spinach, and sometimes protein powder or peanut butter. Before you tell me how mean I am, you need to try it. I usually drink what is leftover in the magic bullet. It is GOOD! And Wells loves them. Try them! Just add whatever food group you think your child needs!! :) My mom used to put brocolli in our pancakes, so I guess I am becoming my mother. I'll take a picture sometime and put it on here.

2)The New Claire (and possibly Wells)- I hope you thought the post of Claire in her sunglasses a while back was cute because you're going to be seeing a lot pics like that! Yep, at 7 months old we are getting glasses. To make a long story short, Claire had craniosytosis when she was born. Her left side of her skull didn't develop like it should have because of the way she sat in my womb. I was really disturbed a while back because I always noticed her left eye, ear, and side of her head a little bit lower. After lots of x-rays, worry, and doctors visits, they decided it would eventually grow with the rest of her as she got bigger and would look totally normal. The only thing to worry about after that was her sight and alignment of her eyes. We went on Monday and he said she definitely isn't using her left eye to see and if we'd waited any longer to come to see him we would have noticed a major lazy eye. So she will have a blank lens in her right frame and a strong lens in her left frame. I was really distraught as I wasn't prepared for this, but then God revealed to me that this is a MUCH better option than surgery and I just needed to get over it. Reality is that I always think kids are cute in glasses! It's just hard to think that anything is wrong with your child. Wells is probably getting them in the fall as well. They both have astigmatisms inherited from my dad and I, but they are much worse than mine. I strongly suggest going to get your child's eyes checked if you haven't already because there are so many things that the Doctors can fix now that could be potential dangers or set-backs later in life. There is a program called the infant-see program for 6-12 month olds that is free. Eye Care Associates everywhere have this program. I saw a pediatric opthamologist for Claire though and he is AWESOME. If you want his name and number, just leave me a comment.

3) A sickly household- so we went 4 weeks of NO SICKNESS and I was elated!! But the fever virus struck this week with a vengence. Wells had 103.8 for two days and we are now at 100 even with tylenol and motrin. We are off to the doctor at 8:15 in the morning. Please pray it's not strep...he is holding his throat. We Praise the Lord for the 4 weeks of good health and pray that we will get healthy again!!

Now onto random pictures:

Claire is finally sitting up!!!! Her brother is loving it!

Claire LOVES to jump in her jumperoo (thank you Carrie)

We are taking lots of early morning walks before the

heat settles in for the day. Usually I take both

kids (obviously or I'd be leaving one kid at home)

but Chris took Wells to the office for a little bit

to give me a break this morning! Claire loves the stroller and

also loves to eat! check out those arms and if you could only

see her thighs!!! :) Gotta love baby fat!!!

Another pic of her sitting up. Can you

tell I'm excited!

Wells is just a wee bit jealous of Claire, can you tell?!

He wants in her booster seat to eat (which is exactly like his)
in her "pink" swing, in her jumperoo, and he sits in her bumbo

all the time. He is definitely a hand-full, but I love every minute

with him. (except when he locked himself in my bedroom

today for 20 minutes while I panicked and he terrorized the

room)

Late Mother's Day Post!

2010-05-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, I had to post this even though it was late!! I know it's not the best picture, but I'd like to take one of the three of us every mother's day and one of Chris with them on Father's day every year. So we know these next few years we will just be lucky to even get them in the picture!! And the beautiful flowers were from Chris. He also got me some clothes from Ann Taylor Loft that he didn't even know he got me!! :) It was a SWEET SWEET Mother's day and I just couldn't feel more blessed. I am also including a video of Wells laughing (which he does a lot of!). It's just too funny and I'm thinking he has a little bit of my laugh, poor little guy!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, 7 months and 21 months!

2010-05-05T17:52:00.001-07:00

There are lots of reasons to celebrate this week! Sunday Claire turned 7 months old. Yesterday Wells turned 21 months old (i promise i'll quit the months when he is 2), today is Cinco de Mayo and tomorrow my mom turns 60!!! We have already celebrated a little with mom, but tomorrow night the 6 adults are going to Hot and Hot! Yeah!!! My mom deserves the BEST birthday ever as she is the best mom, grandmom and friend anyone could have. Honestly, she has the biggest servant's heart of anyone I know. She is ALWAYS doing for others and loves it. I pray I become more and more like her.
Now onto what the kiddos are doing these days! First we have Claire. 7 months has been a big month for her! She is really a happy kid almost 98% of the time and if you've been up to date on my blog, you know that this is AWESOME! She is rolling over both ways, almost sitting up completely on her own, grabbing everything in sight and eating like a champ (notice the thighs and cheeks!). Claire LOVES to be around Wells and she lights up as soon as he looks at her. I pray this continues! She loves to be held and she wants attention all day. She definitely doesn't want to be left alone. She also loves to be heard as she talks in a high pitch all day long! I don't know where she gets that :) So here is Claire in her summer shades and hat:

Now onto Wells...He is really getting close to those terrible twos. I actually think we are there! He is a true joy and I LOVE him to death, but boy is he trying us right now! He likes to dare us in more ways than one. His temper is quite strong and he gets really frustrated when he can't do things. Maybe it's the little man syndrome more than terrible twos...we'll see! Wells weighs 22 pounds so he has only gained 2 pounds in a year! Wow...tiny, but tough! With that being said, he is spunky and tons of fun. He is trying to talk in sentences and this is hilarious. He really wants us to understand him and we do most of the time. My favorite things he says are "I see you" (even when he doesn't...like in his crib in the mornings when he wants us to come get him), I sleepy, night night (which means you better take him quickly for nap or bed time because he is ready and this is a blessing I know!), "kiss it make it better" when he gets hurt, and he likes to say his colors all day long. Unfortunately, pink is his favorite at the moment and only wants to swing in the pink swing! Chris is disturbed, but I'm sure he just wants Claire's things!! So here are pics of wells

Here he is with his tricycle or "c-cycle" which he cannot yet ride but loves to push. He is still too short, bless his heart!

So this is the result when the c-cycle doesn't turn like he wants. If you could have only witnessed the tantrum...

He LOVES to eat believe it or not! He definitely eats great at times and picks other times. But when he does want to eat, he chows down! Corn is a favorite at the moment.

His obsession right now is his "more" or mower! I cannot get his attention at all when he has the mower in his hands. We are just working on staying out of the street at the moment.

This is what I got when I asked him to smile for the camera....exactly, I got his back!

So, in order to get a smile and his devoted attention, I have to strap him in his "num num chair"

Here is a sweet kiss that Wells gives ALL day to Claire. Wells is definitely lovey dovey and this may get him in trouble next year in preschool!!! We will see! As for now, I love it! Have I mentioned he is a major mama's boy at the moment?! maybe pink being his favorite color gave this away. Chris spends every night with him i promise!

And now, Happy Cinco de Mayo!!! The sombreros and maracas were worn and used almost all day by wells! And Claire joined in on the fun once she was strapped in the swing. She did love her maraca!!

Daddy and Claire

2010-04-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

On a rainy and thunderstorm filled day, I thought I would have a little fun with Claire and daddy. Claire is quite the daddy's girl these days and LOVES playing with him! (excuse the quality of the pictures. they are from the iphone)

Here is Claire saying, "Oh, daddy where did all of your hair go?"

"Wait a second...You're telling me that I look like this too???!!!!"

"That's okay daddy, we're both pretty cute!!"

And poor claire won't have hair for a while if she is anything like me! I didn't have hair until I was about 3! Oh well, we will just make sure she wears really girly clothes so no one mistakes her for a boy!! :)

What we've been up to lately

2010-04-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

No one has seen or heard from us lately so I'll show you random pictures, so you'll remember what my children look like at least! And I'm so sorry that we've been MIA from the world, but until we can build their immune systems up a little bit it's not worth it. We love you all so much though and miss our friends, church and neighbors tons!
Other than the fever virus, croup, allergies, and the worst cold ever keeping my kids sick for the last 18 days (but who's counting), here is what we've been up to lately:

A lot of swinging...check out Wells trying to get Claire to love it like he does
"Push" he tells her...she isn't thrilled with the idea

"Does he really think that I'm big enough to want to fly through the air?"

And Wells loves wearing his sunglasses (thank goodness) because his daddy tells him he is cool...so Wells runs around saying "I cool" all day long. It's going to be fun teaching him humility!

And I've been able to spend much needed quality time with one of my best friend's Katie! It was an honor to be a part of her wedding and all the festivities leading up to it. We share some mutual best friends and her other friends are just amazing. And her sister-in-laws couldn't be any better, so I've had some good girl time! Isn't she gorgeous??! Love you kady!

Garage Sale! Updated with times

2010-04-11T19:10:00.001-07:00

Okay friends, I love good garage sales, consignment sales, estate sales, etc. What about you?? There is just nothing more fun than finding a great deal!! With spring weather feeling so good, it is especially fun to go. I know of a lot this weekend. So I wanted to tell you all that live in Birmingham about one coming up this Saturday from 9-4 and Sunday from 12-4. A best friend of mine is having it with her parents. Her dad works estate sales, and has worked with antique dealers, etc. He has TONS of stuff. Trust me, I saw them getting ready for it today. There are rugs, sofas, tables, chairs, lamps, paintings, mirrors, day bed (cute for any of you with a girl needing a toddler bed), dressers, side tables etc. You name it, it's there!! It will be this saturday at 223 Sheridan Lane, Vestavia Hills, 35216. It's right off of Shades Crest Road, near Vestavia Country Club. Again, when I say tons, I mean rooms and tables full!! It will take them all week to get ready for this. So if you get a chance this weekend go! You won't be disappointed!! :) Just thought I'd share that secret. Also, it's Laura's birthday Saturday. So if you go, tell her Happy Birthday!!

Awesome Easter and 6 & 20 months!

2010-04-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Easter Morning

Easter Afternoon

Claire loves her food!!!!!!!!!

Wells loves his friends and finally plays with them! He really loves Jack (shown here) and Char Char (we'll show him in another pic!) He plays with them the most! He also LOVES his play group buddies from church. I pray they all grow up together! So fun!

Claire in her first tutu! A precious family friend

gave this to Claire so that we would have something

girly in the wardrobe! No problem there!! :)

Get ready for a longer post...

Happy Easter to Everyone! We had such an amazing weekend and day. We have been crazy (as always) the past few days, but have really tried to focus on what Christ went through for us and somehow relay this to a 6 month old and 20 month old through our love for them. I always read the Jesus Storybook bible to Wells before going to bed and the past two nights I have skipped to Jesus death and resurrection. Of course I know it's over his head, but he loves to look at the pictures and say "Jesus Bible" while I read. After reading the last two nights, he sweetly and earnestly said loudly "Jesus Bible" when I closed it for the night. It made me cry because I thought even though he doesn't understand yet, he is longing for me to show him more pictures and read more. Isn't this how God wants us to be? He wants us to yearn to read more about Him and be excited to read His word each day. It was just a precious picture and an Easter I'll never forget. It's amazing how precious words and facial expressions from our children can point us to Christ. What a miracle He is and what miracles our children are!!! Back to today... we had an awesome day!! We had an amazing church service, went to lunch with my family, nap, and then off to Chris' parents for the afternoon. It was again...beautiful chaos! Those will be my famous last words about every holiday until they are over 5! But I wouldn't trade a second of it! I love every minute of the chaos because it reminds me how blessed we are!!

This weekend was also Claire's 6 month birthday and Wells' 20 months. This was a HUGE month in milestones for Claire and Wells! Here is a summary of both of them:

Claire:

started rolling over

holding her own bottle!! (early I know...it's a second child thing!)

got her first tooth!

began eating and boy does she eat!!!

Loves her exersaucer

Loves for me to read to her and will sit still staring at the pages forever!

Loves her johnny jump up!

She started mommy and me swim lessons

She plays with every toy she sees

And she has become a daddy's girl!!

I feel like she is doing TONS more than Wells did at 6 months

Wells:

-Talks ALL day long! Here are our favorite new sayings: "Mommy, Are you???" (where are you), "Jesus Bible", "Awwwww, sweet!", " I see you!", "I coming!!", "Roll Tide!", and "I drop it" (everytime I ask where something is, even if it is something he can't carry)...so cute!!!!!

-he is running everywhere

- he no longer sits still except when I read

- he loves to close his eyes and pretend we can't see him

- he is definitely getting into the terrible twos!!! wow, major meltdowns and tantrums....no fun for us!

- he is a mama's boy!!!!!!!!!! I love this...most of the time!! :)

It's amazing how much Chris and I love these kiddos. It is kind of love that I never knew existed! Thank you Lord for my precious and fun children!

1st Easter Egg Hunt!

2010-03-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!! Wells participated in his first Easter Egg hunt this morning with kids in our sunday school class. We have had a mom's group for the past two years and decided to do a hunt with all 10 of them today. It was precious and just so much fun. The children are all 2 and under so it was chaos, but beautiful chaos! Wells was really good at it and clearly understood the eggs went in his basket! Claire spent the morning with my mom because she only naps in her crib (fun fun) so Wells and I got to enjoy some one on one time enjoying spring and gathering eggs! Check out some of the precious kids above!
This is one of my favorite holidays of the year!!!!! I love springtime, I love going outside, and I LOVE the cold weather going away until next year (hopefully)! These children need a break from the cold and flu season! It has been a ROUGH winter with everyone being sick all the time. I think all mothers can give an "Amen" to that! But more than anything I love the reminder of Christ's death and resurrection and why we have hope and a purpose. I am reminded each day through the eyes of my children of what our God gave up...His only Son...so that we could be forgiven of our sins and one day join our Lord and Savior in Heaven. What a gorgeous, amazing, and truly unbelieveable gift. I pray our children will learn this and truly grasp it from a young age.

We have a new CUTE line

2010-03-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

I told you I would periodically post business stuff on this blog, and this one is a must! We try to pick up one new line or two a year and this one is so FUN and cute, especially for those of you with kiddos or for those of you who need gifts for kids! We have picked up the "Notably You" line from "Notably Inviting" out of Dothan, Alabama. They have PRECIOUS personalized designs that can be put on tons of items!! Here are some examples (not the bests pics because they are our pics) and soon their website will be up and running so that you can see all they offer. For now, you will have to see our catalog and schedule an appointment with us or better yet...come to our spring show! We'll be announcing the date soon. Here is a list of what they offer:

Backpacks

Water Bottles

Plates

Chore Charts

T-shirts, onesies, daygowns, rompers

Bibs and burpcloths

Lots of stationery items (bag tags, calling cards, notepads, stationery, etc.)

More!

The pictures don't really do justice to how cute this stuff is! Email us, leave a comment on our blog http://www.paperwpurpose.blogspot.com/ or call us if you want to come see the catalog, get prices, etc. As soon as we can see their website, we will post it and post prices so that you won't have to come over. You can just email or call us with your order and we'll call when it comes in! That is what we do most of the time with all of our other companies. We hope you think this is as cute as we do!!! If you know anyone getting married, having babies who need announcements, or if you just need stationery or gifts, please give us a shout! Thanks!!

The New Claire!

2010-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, I just had to share these pictures of Claire. She has always been precious to us, but now that she is so much happier, calm, and relaxed, she is so much fun to be around!! I just Praise the Lord for how He has healed Claire so far. Of course we praised Him in the midst of all of this as well, but we are so thankful to be on the upside of it. Just thought you might want to see the sweet faces of Claire that we now get to see "most" of the day! Thanks again for the prayers! By the way, Yaz (chris' mom) made this sweet dress! :) Isn't it precious?! And my parents gave her the sweet white "frilly" outfit! Thank you grandparents!! We LOVE you!

Paper With Purpose Spring Sales!!

2010-03-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hey Ya'll! Okay, well i have an AWESOME post below if you haven't read it yet, but I'm going to start doing a post for our business every now and then. During the spring, lots of our companies have great sales for mother's day gifts, graduation, father's day, weddings, etc. So make sure you check our company blog frequently to see what is new! It is easy enough that all you have to do is go to our website www.paperwithpurpose.com or our blog www.paperwpurpose.blogspot.com and just email us with your order (paperwithpurpose@gmail.com) DO NOT ORDER from the websites we send you to b/c then we wouldn't get the credit or give you the fun deals! Anyways, go to our blog to see the latest sale and my sister is updating it everyday this week with the newest sales for the spring. Also, if you or anyone you know is getting married, send them our way! We LOVE to do weddings with people. We carry tons of unique invitations, but we also do thank you notes, programs, napkins, etc. And we will meet with the customer one on one. If you refer a wedding and they order, you get FREE STATIONERY! :) Okay, here is the latest post from today and remember to check our blog frequently. www.paperwpurpose.blogspot.com I have a link on the side of this page as well. thanks!! Dana

Hallelujah!!!!!! And Happy 5 and 19 months!

2010-03-02T17:41:00.001-08:00

Okay...let me just scream HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Claire is better and she is sleeping most of the night as of 3 days ago!!!!! This 5 month mark has changed our lives! I want to praise God for the changes in Claire. It is like a light switched on in her little body. We have been going to a chiropractor (nicole at balance chiropractic) twice a week for the last month and it is has done wonders. We have been able to go to bethanecol alone and drop two medications. We have also basically hired the baby whisperer in the flesh. Sandra Harris agency is a babysitting agency and she specializes in baby bootcamps (getting babies on schedules and sleeping through the night) and she knows EXACTLY what to do with bad reflux/GI babies. We hired her service and have talked with her several times over the phone. I will not reveal what she told me to do b/c that would be illegal, but she put us on a strict schedule, gave us TONS of things to try with Claire (and it has not been easy) and they all worked. She is like a new baby. Claire is so calm it is amazing. She was supposed to come to our house 24-7 from today through thursday but we got to cancel her since claire is only waking up once a night (which i can deal with for sure!). So as I do think these two women have changed our lives, of course I give God all the credit for putting them in our lives. Nicole is a good friend and Sandra was recommended by my sister who uses her for her babysitting service. So PRAISE THE LORD. Not only is she a new baby, but we are a new family. We feel like we won the lottery! She still has some allergies we think to the formula but we are working on that. So continue to pray!
Okay as far as the monthly post goes, here are updates:
Claire: obviously a new baby!! she blows bubbles, and makes the motorboat sound with her mouth which is hilarious b/c it's all day! She also laughs a lot more and is SLEEPING!!!!
Wells: He is putting words together, copying the words in the books he has memorized, running everywhere, climbing into the sinks from the toilet (fun for me), using his manners saying please, thank you, yes mam and sir, and I'm sorry. It's very wild and cute all at the same time! and thankfully he is still loving his "sissy" and kisses her all the time.
We are one happy household and THANK the LORD for everything he has done and again even though we aren't totally through it, we are thankful for where we are. And as I have said before, as hard as it has been, we are thankful for God taking us through it because we know He has taught us A LOT and will use us for others in the future. Thanks for the prayers!!!!

Sound Familiar?

2010-02-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

Okay all of you reflux moms, I need your help. To make a long story short, we are still battling all of this with Claire. You know from my post a few weeks ago that they put Claire on 3 or 4 meds after all of her tests at childrens. I do see that her reflux is a little bit better because she does not scream during feedings as much and is pretty happy for an hour after the feeding. BUT...she is still having major GI issues. She is not able to sleep more than 30 minutes at a time for naps or night. We know about the "45 minute intruder" and trust me, this is not it. This is ALL NIGHT LONG. She hasn't slept in months, but it's just getting worse. She will go 1 hour to 1 hour and 1/2 at most and that is on a good night. She just is so uncomfortable, clawing at the sheets, grunting, pulling her stomach in, etc. And it doesn't seem to be gas at all because we know what that used to be like. It is just something happening when her food hits the digestive track. She has been constipated for weeks now and goes every couple of days even with miralax. And sorry for TMI, but I just need advice. It's always green. We thought the nutramigen was the answer since it helped with fussiness and gas, but it is still not doing the trick once it hits an hour after the feeding. SOOOO... does ANYONE have any similar experience with this? Some sweet girls from my community group at church seemed to think since the reflux was getting better, it was probably an allergy. BUT we cannot have an allergy test this early. Is there any other formula that would be better than nutramigen or the similac version alimentum? We are just wondering if anyone has any experience and maybe could enlighten us. We are at 4 1/2 months and it is so sad to watch her in pain so much and I'm really losing it with no sleep trying to take care of two kiddos! Poor Chris doesn't even know me at the moment! So I just thought I would throw it out to the blog world because surely somebody has either heard of this or been through it. In the meantime, please help us pray that God would heal this (of course in His timing and not mine:) and pray that we can stop the meds, the search for the perfect formula, and remember what getting sleep feels like! :) Thanks for all the prayers so far! Keep them up! We do go back March 1st to the GI and the next step will be to do an endoscopy where they put Claire to sleep to put a tube down her, and we would also spend the night at children's while they run test all night and watch her sleep, toss and turn. So any advice?

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2010-02-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

Claire LOVED her first time in the snow. She would smile when it hit her face! It is amazing how much we see smiles out of this little one who feels so rotten all the time. Nighttime is a true nightmare for all of us, but we do get fun moments at times throughout the day. Wells had a blast playing in the snow! This was the perfect snow day since it didn't mess up the roads, it didn't create power outages, and we all got to play in it! So fun!!! Below is a picture of Wells' first snow on March 1, 2009 and Claire this year. He was 7 months and she was 4 1/2 months. I just thought it would be fun to compare the two pics! I love that they have their own "look" but still look like siblings. We hope you had a great snow day as well!!

Mother of the Year

2010-02-08T19:26:00.001-08:00

I win!! Yeah Right! Before I get into that, Let me update you on Claire's tests and GI appt. today. Thanks so much for everyone's prayers, texts and emails about it. We got some answers thank the Lord, now we just need to get it fixed. And many thanks to my sweet friend Kathe Patterson who went with me! Her son had this when he was a baby so she knew what to do, where to go, and what to see on the screens. There were no problems with her organs and they did intensive xrays and ultrasounds. They did see tons of gas bubbles and acid in the tummy. Then we had the Barium swallow test. It was soooooo sad. She screamed bloody murder as she drank on her back. We watched the liquid "constipate" as they put it and then travel right back up her esophagus. The liquids went all the way up to the throat. The ladies replied "wow...major reflux, poor girl". And they do these tests all the time! So it broke my heart. She has been taking some reflux meds and they haven't done any good. So when we went to Dr. Mestre to read the results and after many hours of waiting, he said we need to address four different situations going on. 1) Try different reflux medication 2) put her on buthanicol to get her digestive track moving all the liquids down instead of coming back up...it also deals with all the acid. 3) miralax in one bottle a day for constipation and 4) some other medicine to be the bandaid to coat her stomach while she is on all these meds. We are praying all of this will make a huge difference if I can remember when to give her all these meds. If not, we go back in three weeks for and do more intensive tests where they put her to sleep. So PRAY that these meds work. Poor baby....I just can't stand to put her on all this medication, but I also want her to feel well. Now i know why she screams all the time. She has TONS going on. She still has fluid in her ears as well, but that appt. is Feb 25th. So much going on with poor Claire. But after being at Children's all day and seeing some of the kids and what they are going through, it made me so thankful that she didn't have anything worse.
Now onto being Mother of the year... so with all of this going on I caved and went to Mcdonalds for Wells and he LOVED it. Devoured the whole hamburger!!! So I said I would never go there with him, and now I'm doomed. But here's the best part...so Claire had already wet through one outfit on the way to the hospital. So I changed her into this precious warm outfit. After all the tests, the nurses said "Be sure she has a bowel movement in the next two days to get all of this out of her system and if not, go to your pediatrician." So I am praying for this since it's been so hard for her to go to the bathroom period. I hear her all the way to the GI and say YES! And then the smell is HORRID! So as I walk into the doctor, people stare because she smells. There was nothing I could do until we went into the room. So we get to the room and I take her out of the seat and it was disgusting!!!!! Mess all over her, it, the pacis, etc. Then I realized I only had four wetwipes left. So the nurse gives me a look, but helps. I get her all cleaned up and I almost puked. She is smiling the whole time. Then I go to the bag for a new outfit and realize that I already used it at the hospital!!! After the doctor came in and it was time to go, he and the nurse said to get her dressed and head home. So I told the nurse I would get her dressed and be right out. So I quickly got her into her nasty seat, wrapped the blanket around her the best I could and ran out of there! Yes, it was freezing out, and yes, she looked at me like I was crazy, and yes, I laughed all the way home. So yes, nominate me for mother of the year and check out the pics below! Wells is loving life with his "Hamburder" and Claire looks just thrilled with me, right?! As my friend Sarah put it, "Hey, at least she has on a hat!":)

by the way...can you tell i'm ready for SPRING with this blog design!!!!

Happy 4 months and 18 months

2010-02-01T11:31:00.001-08:00

Yeah! We are now 4 months and 18 months! And I am praying that these two continue to love each other this much as each month passes. Wells always wants to "see me", which means he wants to hold her! I would LOVE to say that things have gotten so much easier and we are just sleeping all the time! But no way!! Claire has backtracked! She is now waking up every hour ALL night long. So reflux and colic are still in full swing. She is getting better during the day though and we are having lots of fun! She seriously smiles the entire hour after she eats. It is precious!!! She loves looking at herself in the mirror and pulling on toys. She looks ready to roll over, but right now she stops on her side. Naps still aren't the greatest, but again...hopefully we'll what is going on soon. We are going back to get x-rays, take a barium swallow test, etc on February 8th. We will see if more is going on.

Now onto Wells! He is a ball of fun. Temper tantrums are in FULL swing, but we try to focus on the fun times!! He loves to hide and have us find him, he loves to get into the cabinets, he loves to kiss us and his sissy and he is ready for spring!! He stares at the door and longs to go outside and play. I am quite ready myself! All these colds, viruses, and being stuck inside is making me stir crazy!

I was able to go on an amazing women's retreat this past weekend and it was awesome!! We left friday afternoon and came back saturday afternoon, but it was packed full of fun times with girls, tons of laughs, and lots of truth from our speaker, Frances Worthington. She was awesome!! It was all about thriving and not just "surviving". This is EXACTLY what I needed. My response to people when they ask "how are you doing?" is usually "we are in survival mode!" I am tired of saying that and really want to be able to be positive and be a light despite how tired I am. So Frances just brought us back to the basics of getting into God's word DAILY and really learning how to thrive each and every day. What a blessing that 24 hours was!! Thanks mom and dad for keeping Claire and thanks to Chris' parents for keeping Wells so that Chris could get a good night's sleep as well!

Trusting God

2010-01-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

Okay...Well, I am again writing as I have a sick family. Wells has the throw up virus and so does Chris. And I know you want to see pictures, but I need to share this. If you have been reading my blog, you know that the last four months have been incredibly tough on our family. And we still have the black cloud above our house!! But in the midst of all of this I have prayed and prayed and prayed for God to heal our house and allow us to get some sleep. And I have worried myself sick almost daily. I can even hear Claire crying when she is not! Sleep deprivation = crazy me! Anyways, I was sitting rocking Claire tonight, in tears, praying over her to not get the throw up virus. She had a temperature and didn't eat well today. I was all alone with Wells in the next room. Chris was at his parents and my mom had thrown her back out a few days ago. So I had no one to help me. And then it hit me, this is exactly where God wants me. He was waiting for me to reach out directly to him and not to chris, my mom, his mom, or friends. He wanted me raw and he wanted me broken. He wanted me to not ask him anything, but just to be still and TRUST HIM. It was as if I could hear his voice asking me, "do you really trust me? do you trust me to take care of your children? Do you trust me to take care of your husband? Do you really believe that I love you and your family more than you do? If so, you must give it all up." So I sat there and said "i give." I said, "I trust you God" and I meant it. I just needed to quit feeling sorry for myself and quit worrying and trust God. Now, I am not saying I am just completely at peace and that I am done worrying (that would not be normal for a mom not to worry about sick kids and hubby). But I am slowly giving it to God and giving him control. I so often take control before I allow God to and I allow my mind to wonder. I am praying now for God to guard my thoughts and my mind and trust God minute to minute of every day. Please pray that I can continue to do this and just live for the moment. I know that "this too shall pass" and I will be stronger because of it. It is just so hard to wait when we want our trials to end. To me this has been way too long, but God will close this trial when He chooses. And for that I am choosing to be thankful. Not that I want to be thankful, but I am choosing to be. Thank you God that I don't have to go through this alone.

National Championship Tervis Tumblers!

2010-01-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, quick post!! For those of you who don't know, my sister and I own a stationery/invitation business called Paper With Purpose. We started out with stationery and invitations and now have baby items and gift items. We have a new blog, www.paperwpurpose.blogspot.com, and a website http://www.paperwithpurpose.com/ (you don't order from it, you would just tell us what you want through email after checking out our website). I will do another post on that later, but for now this is all about an order we are about to place!

We sell Tervis Tumblers and if you don't know about them they are the best glasses ever!! They don't sweat! We sell them year-round, but we are about to place an order for the National Championship 24 oz. tumbler next week. It comes with a lid and straw and it fits in your car cupholder. I it! They are super cute and tons of people have asked us to order some for them. So if you would like one, let me know in the comment section or email me at paperwithpurpose@gmail.com have one that I used to make myself drink water all day and it is the ONLY way that I do it!

And if you aren't an Alabama fan and want one with your college symbol on it, let me know! They carry almost every team out there! You can also do your initials or name, just let us know the color. We are ordering these on Tuesday of next week, so please let me know asap if you want one. Again, we do sell these all year, but we have to place a minimum order so we like to group our orders. The tumblers are $20. You can pay when you pick them up from us! Thanks so much!!

I will post about my kids again soon i promise!

3 months, 17 months, and a haircut!!

2010-01-09T11:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is way late, but life is CRAZY!!!!!! Claire turned 3 months on January 1st, and Wells turned 17 months on January 4th. I have tried to post everyday, but haven't had a chance. I'll give you an update on both and give an update on their health.

As far as Claire goes, she is giving you the number 3 in her picture to represent 3 months! We thought that was too funny. She is smiling and talking to us ALL the time...when she is not crying :). Poor thing still has major reflux and tummy issues that we just can't get straightened out. We are going to the pediatric GI doctor on January 19th to see what all is going on. She definitely has colic as well. She has just gotten worse as time has gone on. So continue to pray for the sweet girl. I just hate watching her scream out in pain and selfishly, we need sleep. We are talking maybe two hours a night right now. She still has fluid in her ears as well and we are trying to put off tubes with her at least until 4 months or prayerfully none at all if we can get the fluid to move out of her ears miraculously. Her bed in her crib is ramped so high that we are afraid we are going to find her in a ball at the bottom as some point! Hopefully next month we can give a better update! She is getting dedicated at church tomorrow and we pray she is happy for that! :)

Wells is showing you in his picture that he had his first haircut this month!! Chris got to take him so I could stay home with Claire and I was really sad about that, especially when he got home and all his baby curls were gone. :( He looked like such a big boy that I almost cried!!! But it was definitely time. His hair was turning into a mullet for sure!! He did well at the haircut because sweet Connie (who Chris has always used as well) kept feeding him smarties!! Wells is cracking us up more and more. He loves to repeat everything we say, so we are really having to watch what we say! He also loves to tell us "no" about everything showing his independence. So Chris and I are having to discipline a lot! And he is ALL BOY!! He climbs on EVERYTHING, gets into everything around the house, and has so much energy. He is a ball of fun!!! And he still LOVEs his sissy and often tries to stick his own paci in her mouth when she is crying. I guess he is worried or frustrated as well!! His ear infections are gone, but he does have a yeast infection behind his tubes so continue to pray for him as well.

Our new year's resolutions were to get our children well!!! We just know that 2010 is going to be a year for health for our family!! At least we pray it will be! We really do ask that you continue to pray for health for both children and that we can get Claire's tummy well and that nothing major is wrong with her. Thanks for the sweet emails and comments and for all the encouragement!

Christmas and Health!!

2009-12-26T20:00:00.001-08:00

I hope all of you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!! We got our Christmas wish as both children were well enough to go to both parents for Christmas! Claire is still congested, but we haven't had to do the breathing treatments in two days and Wells ears aren't leaking anymore!! Praise the Lord!! They are both still not completely well, but this is soooooo much better than our previous post! Claire's tummy issues are still horrible and reflux has kicked in even worse with all the different meds going in her tummy. We really do appreciate all of the prayers, well wishes and concern. I am a new person today! Christmas eve was a bit of a nightmare as both children were up between 12-5 back and forth so Chris and I were up the entire five hours...awful. BUT...the fact that they were both doing pretty well on Christmas Day made up for it!!! Our families did so much for both of them and us. We all spent awesome family time together and Chris and I truly felt the peace only God can give. HUGE blessing!! The pictures above are of Christmas and the SEC championship since i never got to post those! Continue to pray for health as we go for rechecks in the next two weeks. We pray all ear infections are gone and Claire is cleared from bronchialitis and RSV. Of course we always pray her reflux will clear up as it makes her cry...a lot! Have i mentioned that we are finished having kids???!!! We have already made one step in that direction and will do another step in the spring!!! Thanks!!!! I'll keep you all posted on the kids' health!

they wer

All We Want for Christmas

2009-12-21T19:12:00.000-08:00

...is great health. As you can tell the blogging world and computers in general have been nonexistent for the past three weeks. We have honestly had the hardest three weeks of our lives. Chris will tell you it has been the hardest 11 weeks (Claire is 11 weeks old). So before I even tell you what all has been going on, please know that this email is not for pity because we know that God will not give us more than we can handle. It is 100% for prayer and for all of our friends, family, etc. who read this to know what is going on in our lives and why we aren't calling and emailing. We REALLY plead for your prayers. We cannot tell you how thankful we are for them. So here goes the last 11 weeks and I'll expand on the past three weeks.

week 1: claire is born oct.1 and went to the NICU for 6 days
weeks 2 and 3: we are going back and forth to the pediatrician every other day for claire's bili
week 4: wells gets the fever virus and it goes to 104 for two days. extremely scary
week 5: I get the fever virus. wells goes to my parents and chris stays home from work and takes care of claire. I didn't leave the bedroom.
weeks 6 and 7: Claire has horrible stomach issues that they think are gird (silent reflux) and she cannot sleep through a nap without wincing in pain and same goes for night. I can no longer breastfeed and have to pump before every feeding (just to add 20 more minutes to every feeding). Wells is getting 6 teeth at one time and not sleeping at all at night
week 8: Claire gets her first ear infection and not sleeping anymore. Chris has had chronic neck pain for 4 years now, but it gets unbearable this week. He lays out on the floor one morning this week and can't move. I call a best friend who comes to get him to take him to the only doc chris hasn't seen in birmingham and he gives him 3 shots in the trigger points to relieve pain.
Here comes the worst part and where we are now:
week 9: Wells gets croup. at 1 in the morning we hear him barely able to breathe over the monitor. chris rushes him to children's hospital er. They came home at 4 with steroid medicine. I wisk Claire away to my mom and dad's for three days while Chris has wells here at home alone. As soon as we return, Wells is still not better, but we could not keep chris home from work anymore and no one could keep claire besides me (breastfeeding,etc). So Wells is still running low grade fever so Chris took him to the pediatrician. Croup is still in effect and he now has double ear infection and drainage coming out of tubes in his ears. He went on another medicine.
week 10: Claire starts coughing, sneezing, and I start freaking. Wells is still sick. I took Claire to the Pediatrician for them to tell me she no longer has ear infections and probably just has a cold from Wells, but no croup. 4 days later, Claire is coughing like crazy, weezing and just not right. Wells is now miserable and not sleeping at night. Chris takes Friday off work and we load both kids up to go back to the doctor together. We stay for 3 hours. Claire has bronchialitis/RSV and double ear infections. The doc tells us how dangerous this is...I freak. Wells has double ear infections still and more drainage. We do breathing treatments for claire and cultures on Wells ears. We take turns holding Claire all day and night because she has lots of trouble breathing when you put her on her back, even sitting up. We give her breathing treatments every 4 hours, medicine for the ear infections and watch her like a hawk (and i cry...and pray...and worry...and pray more). she doesn't eat much
week 11: Where we are now...still holding claire all the time and praying for her to recover and eat normal again. I took wells to the ENT today to flush out his ears and they could only get 1/3 of fluids out. They cultured his ears to look for the cause of why he is still getting infections with tubes. They keep him on ear medicine, medicine by mouth, and tell us to come back in 2 weeks. And he is still crying out at night and we are up all night with Claire. Chris' neck...no better. Doctors visits and medicines = over 1000 dollars.

So this is why you haven't heard from us if you've tried to call or email. We love you dearly, but honestly don't have a second to talk to anyone. We barely talk to each other at the moment. We pray together, get frustrated, cry (well, that would be me), and press on. We know that we are SO blessed to have these precious children who don't have terminal illnesses, etc. but it is so very scary to deal with sick children for this long. We just want to see them healthy and happy and we pray that this will happen soon. Not getting sleep really plays a toll on you as lots of you know if you have children. And with them only being 14 months apart, my days seem like they will never end sometimes when they are both crying and in pain. Praise the Lord for my mother who has come almost daily to help me out. Praise the Lord for awesome friends who have brought meals even when I say no, who call knowing we can't call back, and who constantly offer services. Praise the Lord that I have a husband who helps me EVERY HOUR that he is home and splits the night shifts with me. Praise the Lord for Chris' parents that come to help and play on the weekends. And praise the Lord Chris works with my dad and he understands when he needs to leave or stay home with me. God is really taking care of us and ALL of our needs. So please help us to praise Him for what He has given us and pray that He will take care of chris, Wells, and Claire with their health. Feel free to come prayer walk around our sick house whenever you'd like!!! :) We really want to be able to focus on Christmas and Christ's birth this week and maybe He is just helping us realize that what He came to accomplish on earth is far more important that lights, shopping, gifts, etc. We have had no time to do any of that so we don't have that "christmas feeling", but we have had more time to reflect on prayer and praise for what He has done. Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks so much for your prayers!! God is good ALL the time, even if it seems like your world is falling apart!

2 Months and 16 Months!

2009-12-02T14:10:00.000-08:00

Claire after bathtime...so sweet!

As you look at these next three photos, notice that this is what

happens when your children are 14 months apart.....

here is wells trying to feed "sissy" her bottle! I had to go to the

bathroom quickly and when i ran back into the den this is

what I found!!

And this is my personal favorite...Wells, reading

to himself while Chris and I are in juggling nighttime duties (chris bathes them

while I rock them to sleep and fill humidifiers and we do all

this at the same time! so wells decided the other night to just

read to himself and not wait on us!!! hilarious!!!!! He has become

very independent at the young age of 16 months!!! SAD!!!!! but

funny!

These next photos are just recent ones from thanksgiving

and pics around the house.

Claire on thanksgiving

Wells and "nemo" (elmo)

Claire tailgating on the quad! she was excited!!

Wells and mommy before the LSU game

(don't worry...i didn't take them into the game!)

Wells and his "weef" (leaf)

My blog readers are lucky that they only have to read one sappy monthly post for both children each month!! Claire will always change on the first of every month and Wells' monthly birthday is on the 4th, so I'll do them together! I know people without kids think, "why do they have to post monthly pictures with updates? so cliche!" But it's simply for us so when we go to print these off we'll remember the montly milestones and how much they've changed!! With that being said, we have had another hectic and fun month!

Claire's tummy issues are still in full swing, but I keep hearing that 3 months is the key! So hopefully she'll have a more mature digestive system by then! She still smiles constantly. It is just so much fun to have her stare at me and smile! I never got this from Wells as a baby! She is also going anywhere from 6-8 hour stretches at night already! yahoo!!! We are still swaddling her and she is sleeping on her side, on a boppy!! but hey, it works!! I dread the day that we have to unswaddle her, but I'm happy for the sleep for now! Not much else to say for her at 2 months! I had to put the sweet bathtime photos of her. I just love those of her all content after a bath!

Wells post is another story! Wells changes daily!!!! He is hilarious, but starting to get in some major trouble. He LOVES dogfood and milkbones. I know, sick! And pops don't scare him because he goes right back to it. He also likes to tell me "no" in a very funny, but demonic tone. amusing for now, not so much in the coming months. As a former teacher, I can assure you he is going to get lots of reprimanding!! We have had to already start spankings!!! sad day!!! On a much more fun note, he is obsessed with elmo, my dad's guitar, looking for airplanes, and picking up leaves. Sometimes when it isn't freezing, I will stick him out back to pick up leaves for an hour!!! I just sit there with claire on the backsteps. It's wonderful!! He is quite the entertainer for anyone and everyone with his dance moves and his ever growing vocabulary. He is at a fun age! I will soak it all in, as I'm weary of the coming months and his attitude!!!!!

Diapers.com Deal!

2009-11-25T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends! I know everyone is getting excited about the Iron Bowl (y'all know I am!!) But I am also excited about Black Friday deals!!! I am going to share one with you and please share any online ones you know with me in the comments section and maybe it can help other folks as well!! Diapers.com is having a 40% off sale on all their toys today through the 27th. They have great toys too!! And remember it's tax free and free shipping when you spend over $49. If you haven't ever shopped this site, it's the best place in the world for diapers. They always have ecoupons to just click on and save and everything you order comes to your door in 2 days!! I can't tell you how thankful I am for diapers.com since I don't ever get out anymore and don't want to get two babies out!! Also, if you have never shopped here before, use my referral code Dana8344 and you will get 10 dollars off your total. If you have used diapers.com before, tell all your friends about this deal and let them use your code!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!! And share any great deals with me!

We LOVE the fall!

2009-11-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

I just cannot put into words how much I LOVE fall!! It is my favorite time of year by far. Luckily for me, my children love it too!! Claire is happy as can be just sitting outside in my arms or in her carseat. And good thing because Wells would live outside if I would let him. He honestly stands at the door and points or cries to go out all day. Praise the Lord that November has been such a fabulous month for the most part. We have gone out for at least 2 hours a day. Wells just walks around and picks up leaves, pinestraw, and sticks the whole time! It is wonderful!! The pictures above are right after church. Soon we will get pictures of them together, but it is impossible at the moment! Claire is wearing a dress Chris' mom made her. Isn't it so sweet?!!

Claire turns seven weeks old tomorrow and we are on a great schedule with her. She eats every three hours and goes for 5 hour stretches at night. This makes for pretty easy nights! Don't get me wrong though because we are still extremely tired. Poor Claire is still having major tummy issues. But when she is not hurting, she smiles ALL the time!! I love it because Wells never smiled that much!!! We went to the doctor today for her first round of shots and 7 week appt. We told our pediatrician about her problems and we now are considering getting x-rays or even going to a GI specialist. Chris and his mom have severe digestive issues, so we are praying that Claire doesn't get those and we want to stay on top of things as much as possible. She has silent reflux for now, but she is also not going to the bathroom...not even with a suppository at times. So there are tons of tears and lots of screaming during the day. Thank goodness she sleeps at night! I think God is giving us a break! Honestly though, God is supernaturally keeping me calm through it all. It's just hard to watch her scream out in pain. Sweet Wells kissed her on the head several times today when she was screaming. I pray he keeps this sweet demeaner. Please pray with us that we can get this figured out. I am back to eating basically bread, water, and meat until we figure this out! As far as weight gain, etc. she is doing great! 10 pounds 12 ounces today (75%), 21 inches (25%) and her head was 50%. She is following the caldwell plan of being short and stocky!!!!

As far as Wells goes, he had his 15 month appointment last week. Poor thing is shrimpy at the moment!! He is in the 10th percentile for everything mentioned above!!! He only weighs 22 pounds and is 29 inches. But he is my child so we weren't expecting a giant! :) He is so much fun though and I think God gave him an awesome personality to make up for the lack in height!! He is truly a mess!! He talks ALL day and we understand about 5 % of it. He says new words daily so that is really fun!! And he laughs nonstop...again, my child!!

All in all, we are doing well and enjoying the "beautiful chaos" as Chris likes to call it! We know we don't have it very easy, but we also know how blessed we are. God is so good! :)

Newborn pictures and One year pictures (a little late)

2009-11-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am so excited about these!! Stella Schreiber (who is fabulous) is a photographer who took pictures of Wells last year and this year took Claire's pics as well as pictures of both of them together. I wanted to do a combo christmas card/birth annoucement so I waited until Claire was a month old to have these made. I was thrilled with how they turned out because let me tell you, Wells didn't want to stay still for one second. I couldn't believe how amazing Stella was to get these shots. This way you can see Wells' funny personality and at least see Claire with her eyes open! Check them out! www.stellaschreiber.com (go to client proofs and the password is sheheane). turn up the sound b/c the music makes them better! :)