Meet Henley Louise!

The main reason for our trip up to Kansas was that my sister was being induced on Friday the 8th with her first baby girl!  

 My parents, the kids and I hung out in the morning at the hospital...you know just in case she delivered before we could hop in our car and get up there ;).  They had a cute little kids play area but my kids were wacko!  Clearly they have never seen a TV with buttons on the front...Coop wanted to watch cartoons and Laney kept turning them off.

 Showing off his reading (memorization) skills to Grandpa.

 Snuggles!  Thankfully I took my kids home to nap and my aunt Trish came over to take care of them the rest of the day.  Thanks again Trish and kids!

 Gunner snuggles!

 We took over the waiting room.

The grandpas dying to hear all the details from Rusty!

 She's here!  Henley Louise Galbraith!  She was 8 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.  Mom and Baby did great!!!

 My dad had to drag us out of the hospital that night...he had the kids in the waiting room ;).

 Souders Grandbaby #5!  The count is 3 girls, 2 boys...our baby will be the tie breaker or put the girls in a strong lead!

This kid loves babies!

The next day my parents kept my kids most of the day so I could spend it with my newest niece!  And then Bryson and Tara took them to their niece's birthday party in the afternoon/evening.  Thanks Bryson and Tara and Mom and Dad...it was so nice to be at the hospital and not be trying to entertain/chase down Coop and Doodles.  Instead I sat and held this sweet girl for as long as I could.

 Mary Louise with Henley Louise.  Yep, Allison, Rusty and Henley are officially her favorites now and we are pretty sure she updated her Will that day to give everything to Henley :).  Mama did let me know that Mary is still available :).

And this is as good as it got here, I do love how Coop has his hand on Baby Henley.

 It was KU Gameday so everyone was in their gear...well at least for pictures anyway ;).  I mean, how cute are these kids??!!!

There were a lot of outtakes but this one is my fave!  Imagine a hospital room with those 3 oldest running around...yikes!!!!!

Welcome to the family sweet Henley Louise, you are so loved!!!

More KC Fun!

Ok-back to our visit in Kansas...we had some more fun with cousins before the arrival of the newest!

 September is a big birthday month in our family, Grandpa was up first!

Grandpa with his 4 (soon to be 5) grandkids.  This was as good as it got for a pic...Gunner may or may not have his sister in a slight choke hold.

We got lots of visits from Mama Kelly.

 Laney Faith took quite the liking to Baby Landree.  She wanted to make sure baby girl was nice and cozy in her swing.

 Dinner Dates!

 We helped (?) Grandma babysit Gunner and Landree one day.  Cooper put on the Buzz face mask and asked the littles if they wanted a picture with him...obviously they did ;).  After this pic he told them, "ok guys, I need to go see what other kids want a picture with me."

 I supervised while holding this sweet, sweet baby girl!  

 We spent lots of time playing in the driveway.

 We went out to Jalapenos to celebrate Aunt Tara's birthday.  Grandpa, Bryson and Alli took these 2 anxious ones out while the rest of us slowly followed.  They were the 2 happiest 2 year olds in town with their ice cream and sprinkles...especially since this was after fried ice cream at dinner!

Not to be outdone, Cooper had to get himself some ice cream too!

It was also Uncle Brock's birthday, who the kids adore!

Smile Fridays - week 46

It's no secret I love me some Jimmy Fallon.  Here's another classic video featuring him and Justin Timberlake, love everything they do.  See it here!  

Read this on Miss Kansas, I love someone that crushes stereotypes!

To all my teacher friends, I adore this letter written from a mother of Sandy Hook victim to all teachers. Teachers are super heroes, thank YOU for all your hard work changing lives everyday!  

I love that he is always so willing to hold her hand!  You can't really see but he is rockin' Spiderman sunglasses and she is in Batman shades.  We were off to feed the ducks Wednesday morning before it got too stinkin' hot!

This is from our Sunday lunch stop at Sonic on the drive back from Kansas.  But what makes me smile is that we are on the road again today, headed somewhere super fun!  Stay tuned to read all about it :).

First Day of Preschool 2013

Well, it's in the books folks.  First day of 2013-2014 preschool year is complete and we all survived ;).  Both kids were up and ready to roll, I had promised pancakes and delivered.  They were both happy, ready to get dressed and even cooperated for pictures.  

As soon as pulled into preschool Laney got super excited and started clapping.  Cooper was insistent about dropping Laney off first.  She went in fine, wanted to carry her napmat and when her teacher put her name tag on she ripped it off and gave it back to her ;).  She was checking it all out when Cooper says, "Bye Laney, come on Mom!"  Thanks Cooper, so much for sneaking out after a quick kiss.  At this point Laney realized she wasn't going with us and started crying.  We just left, as a former teacher I know that being a clinger only makes it worse.  Coop went in to his class just fine, quieter than his usual self though.  I went back and peeked on Laney...she was all good, but still carrying her nap mat around ;).  

What did I do with my 5 hours?  Well, I dashed out of preschool to get to the gym in time for a class, had 2 Stella & Dot coaching calls with awesome team members, went to Target to grab birthday gifts without my kids ripping everything off the toy shelves, ate my PB&J alone (really missed my kids at lunch), showered (trying to make a good impression at preschool ;) alone (haven't done that in a while),  shipped off Stella & Dot stuff at post office and then time was up!  Just like that!  It was so strange to have empty carseats.  I seriously don't go anywhere without at least one kid unless it's a Stella & Dot show, they even went to my last hair appt with me!  It was a bit lonely but man did I get a lot accomplished and I will only be lonely for 13 1/2 more weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Bring on Baby!

At pick-up it was bit crazy in Laney's class...anxious parents wanting questions answered about their baby's day.  The teachers seemed a bit frazzled, only 1 of the 10 kids napped...can you imagine trying to get 10 2 year olds to nap in a new routine?!  They said Laney did good, I was happy with that.  She was happy to see me but nothing crazy.  Coop's teacher said his class just jumped right in, she said easiest first day ever.  She had Coop in the 2 year old room and said he was his typical laid back and happy self.

Cooper said he made a new friend Landon and the best part of his day was recess.  That was about all I got from him...typical.  I wish I spoke Laney's language because when I asked her favorite part, she jabbered for about a minute straight.  They both came home and I woke them up after napping for almost 2 hours so they would actually go to bed tonight!  

Overall a successful day for everyone!

 4 year old class - Zebras!

 2 year olds class - Ladybugs!

 Sissy's hair was a bit crazy this morning.

 The boy is always in some sort of super hero pose.

 It's almost bigger than she is!

Oh my gosh, this picture melts my heart!

Twas the night before the first day of Preschool

Kids are tucked in and Cooper finally fell asleep around 10:15...after being in bed for almost 2 hours.  The first day of preschool is tomorrow and they both tell me they are ready.  I know Cooper is, he has been asking when he gets to start school for the last month.  We'll see about Laney Faith, Coop and I have talked it up and told her how excited we are for her.  Pretty sure she is still clueless!  

 We had Meet the Teacher this past Sunday.  Cooper was insistent that we take Laney to her class first. She wasn't sure what to think, was attached to Adam or I the first few minutes.  She warmed up and colored and read books.

This is Cooper's 3rd year at preschool, he thinks he rules this school.  He knows the teachers, building layout, pretty confident.  Most of his buddies are in class again this year and he has one of his Ladybug teachers!  

 I had ordered Laney some new shoes from Zulily for school and they happened to arrive today while she was napping.  She was so excited to open them and the minuted they were on, she was running.

I don't know how many times she ran from the front door to the couch!

Of course he wondered when he was getting new shoes for school.  I reminded him that he did get some for his birthday and within 5 minutes he was running with Doodles.

Not only does she love her own shoes, she took to her brother's as well.  Nothing like some new Dora pjs, popcorn, and your brother's shoes to wrap up the evening.

At Meet the Teacher, Cooper's teachers gave him some Back to School Magic Confetti with a cute poem.  Love these thoughtful teachers!

Cheers to tomorrow!

Deanna Rose with Cash & Quincy

The kids and I spent last week up in Kansas.  The reason for our visit was the arrival of our newest niece/cousin...more on that sweet bundle tomorrow!  As usual we were busy bees throughout our trip, all so fun.  

First up was a visit to one of our faves to see some of our faves!  We met Aunt Cami, Cash, and Quincy at Deanna Rose the first morning we were there.  

 They were very into these animals!

 So sweet!

It was a great way to kick off our trip home!

On the way home we met the Stilley girls for lunch at Chick-Fil-A! 

Catching Up after Birthdays

Yep, we are still here.  I know it's been over a week since I have posted...a few of you have reminded me ;).  Here's the thing, I take so many stinking pictures in August and blog those birthdays like crazy that I put my camera away for a bit.  Honestly, I went to blog last Thursday night and I had nothing.  Nothing.  

Our Labor Day weekend was pretty chill which was awesome.  We are out of town for the next 3 weekends so it was nice to stay home for a couple days.  

Here's a brief recap of our lives in the last couple of weeks...

 We have been talking about cutting his hair for over a month now.  Honestly I kind of liked it longer but one day he woke up from nap and it was out.of.control.  I told Adam to grab the clippers and sent Coop to the back patio.  He came back a different kid, I swear he looks 2 years older now!

 Mamaw and Papaw Jones got her princess heels for her birthday and she is smitten.  Of course there have been a few spills but she gets right back up and clip-cloppin' along.

 That's right...Final Four tickets are secured!  Ok Uncle Bill, now you need to get your boys in it.

 Aunt Alli and Uncle Rusty got her napmat for her birthday and it hasn't left her crib.  Maybe she will nap at preschool??  I am betting on no.

 Sending goodnight pictures to Dad while he was out of town.  Yes, the kid chooses long sleeve shirts and pants for PJs when it's 100 degrees out...I am telling you, he is sooo much like me.

 Since Laney turned 2 she doesn't have to be in the 0-2 childcare area at the gym.  She gets to run with the big kids which made me kind of nervous....she's still a baby!  Coop assures me that he watches out for her.  One day last week when I picked them up she was sitting with him and other boys building Legos.  The minute she saw me, she ran to the table to pick up pictures they had drawn for me...made my day.

This pretty girl makes dining out a real adventure ;).

 She is reading aloud these days and it's hilarious...must get video soon!

 If you have a 4 year old or need a birthday gift, go buy Zingo!  We love board games and this one has been awesome!

 We are still rockin' the 100's here in Texas so the pool is still in our weekly agenda as we make our way into September.

I am an avid grocery store list maker/follower.  I hate nothing more than having to go there more than once a week.  However, we managed to go thru a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs from Friday night to Sunday night last weekend!?!  So Sunday night I went (blah) and Cooper was dying to go with me even though he was in PJ's and ready for bed.  "I promise I won't even get a cookie Mom."  How can I say no to that??  So off we went at 8:45 with him in his non-matching, too small pajamas.  On the way to the store he kept saying, "Are you kidding me?  Look at all these cars out so late!"  "I bet you are the only one with a kid Mom, I bet everyone else is in bed!"  Love life thru a 4 year old's eyes!

September is already off to a busy start with lots of excitement, stay tuned!!!!!