Megan's 30th.

Everything about my amazing birthday weekend was photographed and documented by the woman here in San Antonio that I don't know what I would do without! Thanks to Blake, Megan, Mike and our family and friends for making it a perfect weekend. This morning before we got up, Blake and I were laying there reflecting about my last 10 years and the setting goals for the next 10 years. I am so blessed to have achieved way more than I had wished for when I was 20 years old looking ahead 10 years. I know time is going to continue to fly by at an even faster rate of speed but I am determined to continue to make everyday count and remember that my family and close friends and the relationships I have with them are THE MOST IMPORTANT things in the next 30 years and beyond.

Thank you again Megan for documenting this.

Fun Afternoon With Aunt Erin

Meeting The New Swans.

The lake by my parent's home got two new swans delivered last week so we invited the Boerckel's to join us welcome them. Although the swans were not too thrilled with 3 toddlers invading their territory, we got to snap some cute pictures and feed the gigantic cod fish.

These two were constantly thinking, "How can we loose these up-tight adults and jump in the water?" Addie came close and Drew SUCCEEDED!

What We Are Thankful For.

Uncle Sean had a great idea this Thanksgiving. We wrote the things we are thankful for on a balloon and sent our notes to God to tell him thank you.

We have so much to be thankful for including our amazing family here and as well as in Dallas right now! We are praying for the rough few weeks our family is having there and pray for a fast recovery and healthy 2010.

The kids watched their balloons as long as they could see them.

Hey Perkins Family! Y'all are going DOWN!!!

Okay, well, probably not. But it's fun to pretend!

The things we do to keep Ya-Ya happy!

Christmas Tree Time.

This week it was time to get the Christmas trees out. We talked about how we are decorating the house for Jesus' birthday. Every time we drive up into our drive way and the outside Christmas lights are on, Carter yells "It's almost Christmas right?!" The first day was Carter's big day for decorating his tree. He was so proud.

Then it was Addie's turn. She has changed so much since last year (look at the difference in her hair.)

Such an Elmo's Girl.

I am so happy to report that Addie is finally LOVING books. As we know, each and every child is different, but after seeing Carter's love of books start at 12 months, I was getting a little worried about Miss Addison.

But I need not worry. In the last 2 weeks, Addison has become very attached her books. Of the more than 150 we have, I notice her gravitating to the same 7. I still remember Carter's first favorite 7!


She is infatuated with Elmo and the Sesame Street characters (4 of the 7 books include Elmo!) She has this habit of kissing every single character on each page before she turns it.


Last night, the four of us were in the living room watching Polar Express and realized Addie was no where to be found. Blake and I got up to look in her normal spots - our office, our closet or on her tricycle to find them all empty. We walked past Carter's room to see this....

She had crawled up in his bed ALL BY HERSELF WITH BOOKS and was just reading! One of the coolest thing we had ever seen. We love how she completely associates Carter's bed with the reading zone and this has become the VERY COMMON scene in our house. They will stay up there together 20 minutes just reading by themselves.

Picture of the Week!

Best friend LOVE.

18 Month Old Addie.

Tomorrow, Addie is 18 months old. Seeing her in this bouncer reminded me this month that Carter was HER EXACT age when SHE WAS already 1 MONTH OLD. WOW is all I have to say...

Opening and closing doors has been a major focus the last month.

Of course, she still absolutely LOVES her Maverick.

Honestly, Blake and I couldn't imagine a 3rd child right now and find it amazing that we felt so ready to have a 2nd child when Carter was so young. (It shows what one "angel-like" baby that sleeps 20 hours a day can do!) ;) So for all you family and friends that occasionally ask about a 3rd... you can stop asking because it's happening NO TIME SOON! ;) We are enjoying these 2 beautiful and healthy babies for a LONG TIME! I want to clarify that we LOVE how close they are in age but would be (for us) insane to make it 3 this close. :)

Time is flying and Addie has had a very eventful month. 3 ear infections, a diagnosis of asthma-like breathing problems (similar to this time last year), which called for breathing treatments every 4-6 hours for 10 days.

We wrapped up her 18th month with a trip to the ENT and tubes put in just this past Monday.

She is showing a little bit of interest in the potty. So we have started praising her for sitting on the potty if she wants to.

THE PROBLEM IS, having an older brother, this is what we catch her doing most often...

She thinks she can go standing up. This one might be hard to break.

Throw in being introduced to "time-out" for the first time and you could say she has had a rough 4 weeks. Her personality at 18 months continues to be very "head-strong." Many times in the evenings, she gets very "worked up" and it takes quite a while, as well as a major distraction, to get her to calm down.

But DON'T WORRY, she's had a ton of fun too! She got to feed deer several times this month out at the Boerckel's.

She had the most eventful entry into fall and Halloween festivities ever. She got a super relaxing fall weekend at the lake complete with lots of Jeep rides.

And on top of it all, she is doing it all looking so incredibly cute! I always had thought I would love having a little toddler girl to dress up... but it is EVEN more fun than I ever imagined!

Life is good and we are enjoying every moment.