off the bandwagon

So, another holiday season gone unblogged...I just get so behind that I never want to get back on! I hate it. I miss it. I want to do it! Like whoa, where do I begin!?!  I know I am not alone! :)  I really like reading everyone elses blogs and then my time is up by the time I get to mine.

Seven Months

 Awww my lil punkin. Seven Months! Cant believe you are so big...and you are pushing it with all this crawling business, pulling up, two teeth, eating food and drinking out of a cup...making this momma hold you even tighter. 

 love coming to get you after naps...you greet me at the foot of the bed squealing with delight

 Sorry kid, but we had to contain you this month. For your own safety and my own sanity. You don't seem to mind it too much...but you let me know when you are ready to be free! I think its a really nice addition to the living room too, dont ya?! We are high style here.

 You love the back door mat and looking out the window.

 I took a little 6 1/2 month photoshoot of you because this has to be one of the cutest and most photogenic stages.

 my assistant says, turn your head this way a bit

 you can see how well the basket pictures went

 would rather be free and moving!

 oh boy, I have a feeling we have a little charmer on our hands

 and he is off

 you love to play toys in the playroom and can be quite content there even by yourself

 

this is what my house looks like a lot of the time, just for the record. its a three ring circus.

 

drinking cups with brother, Alex thought that was cool

how I see you most of the time, up close and cute as a bug

WHOOP!

It is football season and that means Aggies on Saturday and Texans on Sunday! And you better believe it that Alex knows.

Bonus that both are teams are kicking booty this year!
 
Love that my kids can be heard humming the Aggie War Hymn while playing and Alex always says his "Aaaaaaaaaaaa Gig Em... Aggies" when "kicking off" while playing front yard football and Ellie prefers to walk her puppy Reveille

 this looks like we are playing football but it was actually just a total group picture fail

Travis went to College Station for work and got the kids new Aggie garb...I would say he did a great job! The kids were thrilled to wear their new clothes to school on Thursday- school spirit day. 

 Alex's shirt might look a little funny because he got himself dressed and I didn't notice in the rush that his white shirt is on backwards...also didn't know that it was really cold that day and that Ellie's spaghetti strap dress was way less than appropriate so I had to throw on a sweater at the last minute....super mom! 

Moving!

We have been watching the houses that are for sale in the neighborhood for a year now. Knowing we need more space but wanting to find the exact dream house to make it worth it. My family laughed at me saying I was too picky but I am so glad we waited! We LOVE our current home and really hate to leave it. Since having Jacob, it just hasn't been a good time for us to move. We had cleaned out and got a storage unit to make it work a little better for us and it totally help us stay even longer than I thought I would be able to. The kids shacking up was working okay too- notice the word choice OK there. ;) It was going to take the perfect house to get us to take action and really do this. Well, it finally popped up in the adjoining neighborhood and we jumped at it.  We were one of three offers that first day, so we were so excited to get the house! It happened to be a friend of a friend that was selling that sealed the deal!
The house is just what we wanted and the yard is a dream. It's is really special. The lot next to it is a Karst preserve (wooded lot because of an underground cave).

So in a matter of two days we had decided to buy a house and had to put ours on the market. We worked around the clock for a week to get the house staged, moved out all the extra clutter to the storage, and cleaned. The house has never looked so good and we had never been so tired. My parents and Travis' helped out with work, taking the kids, and even brought stuff from their houses to stage the house and we couldn't have done it without them. If I loved the house before, I really love it now. The one thing I truly have enjoyed is that we took the screens off and Ruth and Steve cleaned the windows. It is so much lighter and prettier now!  Wish I would have done this a long time ago. Along with cleaning out the pantry :)

Well, apparently we aren't the only ones who love the house. We had a ton of showings the first two days on the market and multiple offers. Praise the Lord! We have a wonderful buyer who even wrote us a letter to show how much she truly wanted the house. I was so glad it sold fast not only so that it was a financial relief but I am not sure I could handle keeping the house so clean with the three tornadoes. Getting the house show ready in the morning and getting us all out the door was not easy!

When I asked Alex last night if he wanted to move he said no. I asked why and he said "because I like it here." Yes, baby, I like it here too. Both kids have been asking if we get to take certain things with us to the new house...ie. the car, the toys, their clothes. Originally they really liked the new house because they have really cool toys and they thought that those came with the house.   


 

 Planting flowers with Honey

Blowing in the cornucopia horn that Honey brought over as deco

So come November we are moving!!  Still in shock that it is actually happening. There are gonna be lots of tears to leave this special house where my babies were born and grew up in. Lots of memories. I am also crying about losing the special friends we have as neighbors. The memories of afternoons playing down the street with such sweet friends will forever hold a very special place in my heart.
The only thing keeping me going is the thought of all the wonderful new memories to be made in our new house.

Fall Activites

 As school begins, along with it comes fall extra-curricular activities. We are officially a scheduled family! It was crazy there for a while because we had soccer for Alex on Monday nights, Karate on Tuesday nights, and Ellie started dance on Thursday nights. I know it is only a glimmer of what is to come, as the kids grow up and get more and more involved. Karate only lasted a few weeks and we dropped it. Not too impressed with the YMCA karate program and Alex surprisingly wasn't that into it. But it was fun to try and he sure looked cute! :)

 Me- "Alex, we only do Karate at class." (as he came home "hi-ya"ing)
Alex- "and on bad guys!"

 Ellie starting dance was a last minute decision because we felt like she needed something of her own to help her feel special and she gets to spend some quality time with cousin Kalyn. She was very excited!

 It's hard to get pictures because we look through a tinted window as parents. They do very simple cute stuff like wear crowns and walk on tippy toes, wave scarves up and down, practice jumping, and stretching with a stuffed animal friend.

 The girls may love coloring before and after in the lobby just as much.

 I love seeing the cousins together because I have fond memories of taking dance with my cousin Brie as young girls.

 One night I made her come pose

 And another soccer season! This time team name Clash. Travis is coaching again and we have a team full of friends! There are only a few new people and they are really sweet. We are blessed to have a really fun team! And everyone is doing really well too!  They play really good defense and so many of the kids have been scoring!
Alex LOVES it all. He has gotten extremely good and the light bulb has officially gone off. We have had two games and he has scored about 8 goals each time. I think he has a true passion and talent and I love to see him excited about something so positive. 

 I didn't make it to the 8:30 pictures, and this is what I get. Alex is the only one not smiling. Thanks Shelby for the sweet picture even if my child is goofy :)