Shalom had the best time with GiGi when she was here helping me with Eden. She was like Shalom's playmate the whole time she was here. And, when my mom left to go back home, Shalom would ask for GiGi all the time. :(
This was Eden's first bath....not too happy about it. (Now she just loves them!)
We gave ourselves a little photo shoot to get some generation pictures. I had a nice contrasting dress for Shalom to go against the blue garage door, but she HAD to wear her blue "Cinderella" dress.
Shalom was happy to go to Chick-fil-a on Chick-fil-a day to support them and their comment about not supporting gay marriage.
When it is too hot (or too cold) outside, sometimes we'll go to the mall in Odessa (which is horrible by the way) to play at the little playground. Shalom always has fun playing with Callie and Cara.
Mike holding Eden like a football getting excited for (LSU) football to get started.
We had to say "good-bye" to our friend, Amy, the end of August for her to go back to Oregon to be closer to her family and friends. Amy, Debbie, and I would walk our dogs together a lot or meet up in the courtyard of the apartment complex to visit while our dogs played. She was always so much fun to talk to. I loved laughing with her. When we would laugh together, our laughs would get louder. I sure do miss her!
This was Shalom's first day of Mother's Day Out. She didn't really know what was going on, but you really liked carrying her Curious George lunch box. When I took her to her classroom and showed her around, I gave her a kiss and told her "bye." She looked a little confused, and it looked like she should be crying too since most of the other kids were too. She didn't cry though. I was so proud of her. She acted like she really enjoyed it when I picked her up.
I had to get a better picture of her on her second day since the other one wasn't that great.
We got a free photo shoot with 1 free 8x10 offer from Sears so I took it. I went there thinking I would only get pictures of Eden, but I really ended up liking the one that was just for fun of both Shalom and Eden.
Mike and Shalom met up with some of our friends at the fair. I had to stay home with Eden because Eden had a really bad runny nose. It looked like Shalom had a lot of fun with her friends Callie, Austy, and Kate.
Most Wednesdays for playgroup we'll go to the UTPB park. These kids were having so much fun playing on the slide together...and taking pictures. They kept saying "cheese" and wanting me to take more pictures. They are so cute!
Debbie and her daughters, Bailey and Harbour, wanted to see us one more time before we moved out of our apartment and left for Louisiana for a month. I was really sad to say "bye" to them even though it was just for a little while. They really have become kind of like family to us. Bailey is so sweet Shalom and Eden. Every time we come over or if she is over at hour apartment she has to hold Eden and calls her her baby child. One night we were over at their house and all of Bailey's friends were kind of fighting over who got to hold Eden next.
Of all days it rained pretty bad the day I left. It NEVER rains in West Texas! I am so glad we were safe in the car and that the girls and Roxy were really good the whole drive over to Dallas the first day and then to Shreveport the next. I really think I had angels watching over us. The trip went so smoothly. I was so sad to be gone from Mike, out of our apartment that we made lots of memories in, and gone from good friends we've made, but it was so nice to finally be back in Louisiana and see family.
One our way to Sunset, we stopped in Dallas to see Brent's family (Shalom had so much fun playing with Annabeth!) and then stopped in Shreveport to see Amy's family (Shalom had fun playing with her other cousins, Brooke, Rylan, and Ava!).
One of the first things we did when we got to Big Daddy and GiGi's house was play in their hot tub!
The next weekend being in Louisiana, my mom, the kids, and I visited some friends in Baton Rouge! I can't believe I didn't take a single picture with them! Alas, I got Lindsay to take some pictures of the girls.
Right after we came back from Baton Rouge, we met my dad at the golf course. (Eden's first golf outing!) It was so nice to be back on the golf course and, of course, with my dad!
We visited Big Daddy a couple times at work. One of the days, there was some kind of business thing where there are business booths and a live band and food, etc. basically for businesses to get the word out (something like that). There was face painting there, and Shalom HAD to get her face painted. Neither of us had any cash on us, so it's kinda funny that my dad had to ask one of the doctors there for some cash....anything for MiMi I guess! ;)
After a few weeks of being in Sunset, we made it up to Shreveport for everybody to be there for Eden's baby blessing. It was such a special day! We were so grateful for the support we got from family (his mom came in from Virginia and his grandpa was there from Washington state), and, of course, we are so grateful for the blessings of the priesthood and how great it is to see all of the men holding the priesthood holding a little baby sent from our Heavenly Father.
The night before the baby blessing, we picked up Mike from the airport and we went straight to his parents's corn maze! It was so much fun! Eden stayed snug in my Moby wrap while we went through the maze and the haunted trail, and just Mike and I got to try a new activity of riding on a train type thing and use a paint gun to "kill" zombies. It was pretty cool. The corn cop person would shine a light and you would see "zombies" run across and you tried to shoot them with the paint gun.
After the blessing, we went to Strawn's to eat brunch with his family to be able to visit some more before we went to take family pictures with my family. Shalom always has so much fun with them!
Some of our Barrow family pictures!
We went to the Lafayette Children's Museum and had a blast!
We also made it to the zoo a couple times. It looks like toward the end of one of the trips to the zoo Shalom got a little tired. ;)
Eden had a fast love for Big Daddy!
Shalom had fun playing in GiGi's bathroom and closet! We always looked like the circus walking 4 dogs and pushing the stroller with the two girls!
The girls and I made it to Baton Rouge again and stayed the night at Sarah and Kip's house. That night, we went to the mall for a Halloween festival and the next morning made waffles and hung out at Lindsay's house with the Baeslers and Baums. Then, we saw Stacy at her booth at Perkins Rowe. Again, I wish we would've taken more pictures. Oh well. We have the memories of being together!
Eden and I went to the golf course and played 18 holes with my dad. (It was Eden's first 18 holes of golf! One day she'll realize how fun it is, especially with Big Daddy!)
Shalom's first haircut at a salon. She was surprisingly good the whole time, and the girl was so excited to have a little girl as a client. Earlier, we had a last lunch dat with my dad, and after the haircut Shalom went to the movie theater for the first time (well first really time for her to pay attention). We had fun watching Hotel Transylvania.
Shalom really wanted to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween so I made a tutu version of the costume. She absolutely loved it! My parents' neighborhood had a Halloween trick-or-treat night on the Saturday before Halloween (on Wednesday). She saw all the kids dressed up in their costumes and was too shy to dress up until the very end of the night and Big Daddy took her out on the wagon for a little bit. On Wednesday, Halloween night, she was really excited to go out. The neighbors across the street even let us use their golf cart to drive around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. She loved it even more!
Sarah and Helen came to visit for a little while a few days before we left. I'm sad neither had their babies yet. Oh well, it will be even more exciting when I come to visit again.
Our last weekend there, Amy's family came down to be with us before we left. Saturday morning, we went to Sesame Street Live which was kind of a mistake because the kids wouldn't sit still and it became more of a pain for us. Honestly, it wasn't really that great unless you had floor seats. I guess the only reason I wanted to go is because I didn't think any kind of show like this would come to Odessa. Oh well, we still had fun together. After the show, we met up with the guys at the park to play and let the kids run around. We later ended the night playing in the hot tub! It was a great way to end my month long stay there!
As I made my way to my half way point (Dallas), I stopped in Shreveport to visit my very good friend, Naomi. It was so nice to visit and catch up with her and also see her parents. They were so sweet to get us lunch. I always love talking with her and having long conversations. She knows me more than most of the people in my life.
About a week before we left, Mike was able to do the walk-through of our house. They put the red carpet out for everybody's last walk-through. It makes it a little more exciting. It was exciting knowing we would be coming to a new house instead of our old apartment.
Random pictures of Eden.
Soon after we came back from Louisiana, Mike was asked to join the youth with baptisms at the Lubbock temple two hours away. We decided it would nice to go as a family at least to be together in the car there and back and for lunch afterwards. I was outside with a friend, Emily, and her two girls, Austy and Taylor. Shalom loves playing with them and will still occasionally ask for Austy before she goes to bed...to cute!
Less than a week after being back from Louisiana I started teaching Spin again! I was a little nervous about how Eden would handle it in the daycare room with nursing and all, but she did great. Shalom on the other hand found herself a boyfriend. She loves rolling around and playing around with Joey. (Hopefully I won't have to worry about this when she gets older!)
Some time in the beginning of December, I took Eden to get her check-up and had the doctor look at a lump on Shalom's side. The doctor looked and felt and sent Shalom to get her blood work and an x-ray. Thanks to Doc McStuffins she was excited to get a check-up from the doctor and really brave while the techs took her x-ray. I was so proud of her. It turned out to be nothing...$900 dollars later! I guess better safe than sorry!
We celebrated Shalom's birthday on her actual birthday at 11:30, Monday the 17th (right after my spin class)! I stayed up late blowing up balloons and decorating so I could have everything ready to go once I got back from Spin class. Of course, I didn't! I had to make two stops somewhere before I made it home for the party to start. Whew! It was a fun party though! All of her friends that she plays with from playgroup came! We finger painted and made Santa faces out of paper plates. We could've done without the last one. The kids mostly had fun just playing upstairs in her room. She got two baby dolls from her friends plus two that she already has. I think her and Eden are good with baby dolls for a long time! She has names for all them: Rosie and Suzy (named by my dad) and Sally and Molly. I'm just glad she felt very loved on her birthday! (I would've taken more pictures, but it's a little hard to host a party, nurse, and take pictures.)
A friend and I took our friends to go see Santa at the mall a couple weeks before Christmas. We took them to Chick-fil-a beforehand so they would be happy for pictures while I'm going crazy making sure Shalom doesn't get her dress messy. Once we got to the mall, we had to wait a half hour for Santa to get off his lunch break. Oh man, the anticipation! The kids were getting a little stir crazy! Finally we got to see Santa. My friend just wanted her girls to see Santa and sit on his instead of taking and buying a picture. They wouldn't let her kids sit on his lap since she wasn't getting a picture....kind of lame! By the time it was all over, we were happy to be going home finally, but I had to go to the grocery store so Shalom was absolutely spent! Oh, the things we do for our kids!
A few days before Christmas, I was giving the girls a bath in the afternoon (trying to eventually get at least Shalom in bed early). As I'm holding Eden and turn my back for a few seconds, Shalom decides to stand on the top part of the tub and jump off. In the process, she hit the corner of the ledge leaving a gaping cut above her left eye. As soon as she saw all the blood she started screaming and crying. I just told her to take deep breaths and try to calm down. I took her to an urgent care center (did not want to go to the ER), but they told me to take me to the ER. They said she was too young for them to put stitches there especially above her eye where the skin is sensitive. So, do I rush to the ER?! No, I stop at McDonald's so we wouldn't be hungry stuck in the ER for who knows how long. We actually weren't there very long. She was so brave the whole time. They just cleaned her up and put super glue on her cut. The nurse we could just use glue from Home Depot or somewhere next time. More than $200 later (after insurance) that's all they did!! Ridiculous!! Lesson learned to do my best to keep an eye on her and teach her not to be so silly!
These are Shalom's Mother's-Day-Out (Preschool) pictures for the year. She doesn't look like she's happy at all. This just shows that if she's told to do something she does not want to do it...like smile. I even told her to show me her big smiles before I left her. Oh well. It's still pretty cute!
We stayed in Texas for Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve, we invited a family over for dinner and then went Christmas caroling to 5 or 6 houses. (I worked like a mad woman trying to make a bunch of goodies. Next time I think I'll just make simple goodies. I was working 'til the very end.) We definitely sucked at singing, but everyone really enjoyed have Christmas carolers come to their doorstep. I think it was a great way to end our night...well kind of. Mike spent the rest of the night building Shalom's kitchen that Big Daddy and GiGi got for her. She was so happy and excited when she got it! She had been asking Santa Claus for a kitchen. Roxy was happy too to get her big ol' bone! And, Eden was just a happy little baby! The missionaries came over for breakfast that morning and got to talk to their families. Then, late afternoon, we went to Debbie's husband's families house for an early dinner. We just sat around and relaxed afterwards. It was really laid back. It would have been nice to be with either or both of our families, but it was nice to just be together with our own little family. :)
One of the first things we did when we got to Big Daddy and GiGi's house was play in their hot tub!
The next weekend being in Louisiana, my mom, the kids, and I visited some friends in Baton Rouge! I can't believe I didn't take a single picture with them! Alas, I got Lindsay to take some pictures of the girls.
Right after we came back from Baton Rouge, we met my dad at the golf course. (Eden's first golf outing!) It was so nice to be back on the golf course and, of course, with my dad!
We visited Big Daddy a couple times at work. One of the days, there was some kind of business thing where there are business booths and a live band and food, etc. basically for businesses to get the word out (something like that). There was face painting there, and Shalom HAD to get her face painted. Neither of us had any cash on us, so it's kinda funny that my dad had to ask one of the doctors there for some cash....anything for MiMi I guess! ;)
After a few weeks of being in Sunset, we made it up to Shreveport for everybody to be there for Eden's baby blessing. It was such a special day! We were so grateful for the support we got from family (his mom came in from Virginia and his grandpa was there from Washington state), and, of course, we are so grateful for the blessings of the priesthood and how great it is to see all of the men holding the priesthood holding a little baby sent from our Heavenly Father.
The night before the baby blessing, we picked up Mike from the airport and we went straight to his parents's corn maze! It was so much fun! Eden stayed snug in my Moby wrap while we went through the maze and the haunted trail, and just Mike and I got to try a new activity of riding on a train type thing and use a paint gun to "kill" zombies. It was pretty cool. The corn cop person would shine a light and you would see "zombies" run across and you tried to shoot them with the paint gun.
After the blessing, we went to Strawn's to eat brunch with his family to be able to visit some more before we went to take family pictures with my family. Shalom always has so much fun with them!
Some of our Barrow family pictures!
We went to the Lafayette Children's Museum and had a blast!
We also made it to the zoo a couple times. It looks like toward the end of one of the trips to the zoo Shalom got a little tired. ;)
Eden had a fast love for Big Daddy!
Shalom had fun playing in GiGi's bathroom and closet! We always looked like the circus walking 4 dogs and pushing the stroller with the two girls!
The girls and I made it to Baton Rouge again and stayed the night at Sarah and Kip's house. That night, we went to the mall for a Halloween festival and the next morning made waffles and hung out at Lindsay's house with the Baeslers and Baums. Then, we saw Stacy at her booth at Perkins Rowe. Again, I wish we would've taken more pictures. Oh well. We have the memories of being together!
Eden and I went to the golf course and played 18 holes with my dad. (It was Eden's first 18 holes of golf! One day she'll realize how fun it is, especially with Big Daddy!)
Shalom's first haircut at a salon. She was surprisingly good the whole time, and the girl was so excited to have a little girl as a client. Earlier, we had a last lunch dat with my dad, and after the haircut Shalom went to the movie theater for the first time (well first really time for her to pay attention). We had fun watching Hotel Transylvania.
Shalom really wanted to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween so I made a tutu version of the costume. She absolutely loved it! My parents' neighborhood had a Halloween trick-or-treat night on the Saturday before Halloween (on Wednesday). She saw all the kids dressed up in their costumes and was too shy to dress up until the very end of the night and Big Daddy took her out on the wagon for a little bit. On Wednesday, Halloween night, she was really excited to go out. The neighbors across the street even let us use their golf cart to drive around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. She loved it even more!
Sarah and Helen came to visit for a little while a few days before we left. I'm sad neither had their babies yet. Oh well, it will be even more exciting when I come to visit again.
Our last weekend there, Amy's family came down to be with us before we left. Saturday morning, we went to Sesame Street Live which was kind of a mistake because the kids wouldn't sit still and it became more of a pain for us. Honestly, it wasn't really that great unless you had floor seats. I guess the only reason I wanted to go is because I didn't think any kind of show like this would come to Odessa. Oh well, we still had fun together. After the show, we met up with the guys at the park to play and let the kids run around. We later ended the night playing in the hot tub! It was a great way to end my month long stay there!
As I made my way to my half way point (Dallas), I stopped in Shreveport to visit my very good friend, Naomi. It was so nice to visit and catch up with her and also see her parents. They were so sweet to get us lunch. I always love talking with her and having long conversations. She knows me more than most of the people in my life.
About a week before we left, Mike was able to do the walk-through of our house. They put the red carpet out for everybody's last walk-through. It makes it a little more exciting. It was exciting knowing we would be coming to a new house instead of our old apartment.
Random pictures of Eden.
Soon after we came back from Louisiana, Mike was asked to join the youth with baptisms at the Lubbock temple two hours away. We decided it would nice to go as a family at least to be together in the car there and back and for lunch afterwards. I was outside with a friend, Emily, and her two girls, Austy and Taylor. Shalom loves playing with them and will still occasionally ask for Austy before she goes to bed...to cute!
Less than a week after being back from Louisiana I started teaching Spin again! I was a little nervous about how Eden would handle it in the daycare room with nursing and all, but she did great. Shalom on the other hand found herself a boyfriend. She loves rolling around and playing around with Joey. (Hopefully I won't have to worry about this when she gets older!)
Some time in the beginning of December, I took Eden to get her check-up and had the doctor look at a lump on Shalom's side. The doctor looked and felt and sent Shalom to get her blood work and an x-ray. Thanks to Doc McStuffins she was excited to get a check-up from the doctor and really brave while the techs took her x-ray. I was so proud of her. It turned out to be nothing...$900 dollars later! I guess better safe than sorry!
We celebrated Shalom's birthday on her actual birthday at 11:30, Monday the 17th (right after my spin class)! I stayed up late blowing up balloons and decorating so I could have everything ready to go once I got back from Spin class. Of course, I didn't! I had to make two stops somewhere before I made it home for the party to start. Whew! It was a fun party though! All of her friends that she plays with from playgroup came! We finger painted and made Santa faces out of paper plates. We could've done without the last one. The kids mostly had fun just playing upstairs in her room. She got two baby dolls from her friends plus two that she already has. I think her and Eden are good with baby dolls for a long time! She has names for all them: Rosie and Suzy (named by my dad) and Sally and Molly. I'm just glad she felt very loved on her birthday! (I would've taken more pictures, but it's a little hard to host a party, nurse, and take pictures.)
A friend and I took our friends to go see Santa at the mall a couple weeks before Christmas. We took them to Chick-fil-a beforehand so they would be happy for pictures while I'm going crazy making sure Shalom doesn't get her dress messy. Once we got to the mall, we had to wait a half hour for Santa to get off his lunch break. Oh man, the anticipation! The kids were getting a little stir crazy! Finally we got to see Santa. My friend just wanted her girls to see Santa and sit on his instead of taking and buying a picture. They wouldn't let her kids sit on his lap since she wasn't getting a picture....kind of lame! By the time it was all over, we were happy to be going home finally, but I had to go to the grocery store so Shalom was absolutely spent! Oh, the things we do for our kids!
A few days before Christmas, I was giving the girls a bath in the afternoon (trying to eventually get at least Shalom in bed early). As I'm holding Eden and turn my back for a few seconds, Shalom decides to stand on the top part of the tub and jump off. In the process, she hit the corner of the ledge leaving a gaping cut above her left eye. As soon as she saw all the blood she started screaming and crying. I just told her to take deep breaths and try to calm down. I took her to an urgent care center (did not want to go to the ER), but they told me to take me to the ER. They said she was too young for them to put stitches there especially above her eye where the skin is sensitive. So, do I rush to the ER?! No, I stop at McDonald's so we wouldn't be hungry stuck in the ER for who knows how long. We actually weren't there very long. She was so brave the whole time. They just cleaned her up and put super glue on her cut. The nurse we could just use glue from Home Depot or somewhere next time. More than $200 later (after insurance) that's all they did!! Ridiculous!! Lesson learned to do my best to keep an eye on her and teach her not to be so silly!
These are Shalom's Mother's-Day-Out (Preschool) pictures for the year. She doesn't look like she's happy at all. This just shows that if she's told to do something she does not want to do it...like smile. I even told her to show me her big smiles before I left her. Oh well. It's still pretty cute!
We stayed in Texas for Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve, we invited a family over for dinner and then went Christmas caroling to 5 or 6 houses. (I worked like a mad woman trying to make a bunch of goodies. Next time I think I'll just make simple goodies. I was working 'til the very end.) We definitely sucked at singing, but everyone really enjoyed have Christmas carolers come to their doorstep. I think it was a great way to end our night...well kind of. Mike spent the rest of the night building Shalom's kitchen that Big Daddy and GiGi got for her. She was so happy and excited when she got it! She had been asking Santa Claus for a kitchen. Roxy was happy too to get her big ol' bone! And, Eden was just a happy little baby! The missionaries came over for breakfast that morning and got to talk to their families. Then, late afternoon, we went to Debbie's husband's families house for an early dinner. We just sat around and relaxed afterwards. It was really laid back. It would have been nice to be with either or both of our families, but it was nice to just be together with our own little family. :)
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