The story of Adam and Eve told by Lori.

I think one of my favorite things about being a mom is seeing the world through fresh and pure eyes. In the 3 plus years I've been learned so much about God, and how he must view us. My faith has grown as well. When you have to simplify the Bible enough to explain it to a inquisitive three year old, you realize just how simple God has made it for us, and how COMPLICATED we as humans choose to make it.
I am blessed to have two kids that LOVE going to church and learning about Jesus. This morning while I was reading my Bible, Lori asked me to read her a Bible story. So I told her to go get her Bible and then SHE read to ME. I asked her to do it again so that Jorge could see it, but figured it was just too precious to keep to ourselves.

Kinda excited... just a bit...

and so that's our news. I hope that someday, when Lori is about 12 and her new little brother or sister is buggin' her, she'll be able to remember that at least at one point, she was VERY excited to have them in her life.

Silly with Celine

A few months back there was a Celine Dion concert on T.V and (don't judge me) I watched it... again. (Yes again... don't judge, she's awesome!) Anyway, chalk it up to being loopy from lack of sleep from having a new baby, but I got a little silly when she sang "My Heart Will Go On" Lori thought is was hilarious... her squeals were just too funny, so I had to ham it up a little more so we could get it on film. It seems to work.

enjoy!

*sorry for the poor quality of video, it was filmed on a cell phone. :(

What does a cow say?

Lori is getting smarter by the minute. It seems like everyday she's learning something new and we are just adding those to her bag of tricks. You know she can say "wow" (in a whisper) and that she can dance and spin on command, say "Da Dtoo" (thank you) among other thing.

Here are 3 of her more recent "tricks", one of which isn't so new but it's fitting that it be in this video... you'll know what I mean when you watch it.

enjoy!

(for those of you who don't know... according to Lori, a cat/kitty says "tsss tsss" cause that's what our cat says to her daily.)

WOW! She speaks!

Here is a fun video of Lori saying her favorite word!

WOW! Isn't see cute??

Where's Lori?

Lori is getting bigger, and smarter by the minute, and with that come more fun! The other night when we were getting her ready for bed we took a break to play some peek-a-boo! It makes us giggle every time we watch this video, and I hope you like it as much as we do...

6 adults +2 babies +10 day +1 birthday = a whole lot of fun!! (part 1)

Because so much has happened over the last 10 days I'm going to be doing several posts over the next few days in order to avoid one HUGE post and having to drag all the pictures I'm going to be posting...

so stay tuned.

My WHOLE family flew in to Houston on April 23 so that they could all be here for Lori's Birthday and Birthday party! I was beyond excited to see them, as was Jorge s




ince he hadn't met our nephew Wyatt yet.

After picking them up from the airport we all went to lunch at a restaurant called Prince's where we were able to trade babies (I needed to get my hands on Wyatt and Megan/Ryan/my Mom/my Dad all needed their Lori fix)


The cousins got a chance to "bond" as well...

The next day was Lori's FIRST Birthday. She had her 12 month check up, (she now weighs 17 lbs 2 oz) and we got the green light to start giving her Peanut Butter. This will make my lunch making much easier, since I often make Jorge a Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich for lunch. Here she is enjoying her first Peanut Butter sandwich.

That night we had Lori's Birthday dinner at Chacho's. As always, the food was delicious. We enjoyed a FULL order of the King Kong nachos, an order or nachos that can EASILY feed 6 people with some left over. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them.






Kisses for the Birthday girl!

THUMBS UP FOR BIRTHDAYS!!!

Yay for good friends!

Our good friends the kuykendalls joined us in the birthday festivities... here are four of the five of them. Samuel was there, he was just sleeping in his little seat...








They gave Lori an very sweet Curious George ball for her birthday.

Barnes and offspring

My sister Megan and her precious boy Wyatt!!

This time around Wyatt passed on the nachos, I don't think that will be the case next time.

BABY SWAP!

After dinner we came home and gave Lori a taste of Birthday cake.

Rodeo time!

Everything is BIGGER in Texas! This includes the Rodeo. Every year Houston hold the largest Rodeo and livestock exhibition IN THE WORLD!! It's held in the Reliant Stadium, the home of the Houston Texans, and spills over in to the Reliant Center and the parking lot surrounding it. It's not just a rodeo and livestock exhibition, there is also a carnival and concerts every night.

For me, a girl from the suburbs, and Jorge, a boy from the city, it is quite an experience. This year we were given tickets from a family member in Houston (yes I have family in Houston) We would have stayed and seen Brooks and Dunn in concert but I figured getting my city boy husband to the rodeo at all was good enough, (baby steps...) and this way we were able to take Lori with us. She had a good time, a great time actually, she was so interested in all the people and animals that she wouldn't eat much.

She wasn't very excited about the Texas size turkey leg we got... or the Texas sized curly fries we got. (bottom right)

After lunch we made our way to the livestock exhibition, complete with shops, petting zoo, livestock auction and new this year, a birthing center! Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like, livestock (cows, sheep, goats and pigs) who are about to give birth, in one area. There were T.Vs mounted above the cages,a camera man roaming around to get live shots and bleachers so that people could sit and wait to see a live birth. (only in Texas) We missed the birth of a calf by seconds, as gross as it sounds, it was actually pretty neat. (I may have been in Texas too long!)



We also took Lori to the petting zoo, which she really enjoyed. She's always trying to "pet" our cat (more like grab) so to actually be able to touch an animal was like a dream come true!

After that we walked past all the livestock that's up for auction. Lori was able to pet a cow...

it was a BIG hit!!

Of course we couldn't leave the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with out trying something fried. They fry up pretty much EVERYTHING! Twinkies, Oreos, Moon Pies, Snickers, and M&M's (huh?) This year we tried the Oreos, and all in all, it wasn't half bad.

so on that note...
God Bless Texas!

Takin a stand and doing a dance!

I've mentioned before that Lori is not walking yet but is really really trying too! She wants so badly to be able to move much faster than she already can, which is hard to imagine since she's in to everything enough as it is! So far all she can do is stand up and take one or two steps.

Here is a video of her "taking a stand"




In previous posts I've posted video of Lori dancing. She has since perfected her technique! A month or so ago I was asked to record a track for our VBS CD, it has since become her favorite song, we'll be driving in the car with the CD on and once my track comes on she starts "dancing". It's quite flattering really.

Here is a video of her dancing to one my track, getting in to trouble with the toilet paper, and playing with her buddy Ryan!

Lori's dedication

This post is LONG over due, almost embarrassingly so but it's such an important thing that it feels wrong not to post it at all.

On November 22, 2008 we had Lori dedicated at Grace Presbyterian Church, our church here in Houston. My family was able to be here so that was really awesome. It was a first for Grace. They had never dedicated a baby before, they have always done baptisms. Jorge and I decided that we would like to give Lori the choice to be baptized someday when she is old enough to understand what she's doing and what it means. This was also a first for our pastor, Doug Ferguson. (Doug married us in Menlo Park four plus years ago, moved to Houston a few months later and then we came out a year or so after that...) In all the years that Doug has been marrying couples and dedicating/baptizing babies he's never dedicated/baptized a baby who's parenthe'd married the parents, until now. :) Lori was the first!



We were really excited that our very good friends Ben and Jenna Kuykendall also had there daughter Rachel dedicated that same weekend!! It was SO special to be able to share that experience with them. We love "doing life" with them out here.





Here are some shots of Doug dedicating the girls.

My mom filmed the actual dedication for us so we can share with our family and friends who weren't able to be there. (i.e: most of you.)

So with out further adieu, here's the dedication...

Dancing Machine!

Over the Holiday Season while visiting my family, Lori learned a new trick. She learned to dance. Now she's a far cry from Micheal Flatley but I think she's on her way. Here's a little sample of Lori dancing to the opening song from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I never paid much attention to the song before but I can assure you that I will from now on!

(That's my mom in the backgroud singing along and talking to Lori.)

Splish Splash!

Bath time has become a lot more fun since Lori has been able to sit up in the bath. (thanks to a borrowed bath seat from our friends the Kuykendalls) She seems to really enjoy splashing and playing with toys. We even busted out the James Brown CelebriDuck which we have had for years now but never have taken out of it's box. To be honest, I am somewhat leary about letting my daughter play with such a hidious and almost frightening toy, but so far she hasn't had any nightmares. Its so much fun to watch Lori splash around in the bath, it never gets old. The video below is just a snipit of the fun. Keep your eyes open for the James Brown CelebriDuck... the ugliest duck you've ever seen)

Enjoy!

Here are some pictures of bath time!

Lori and her Laptop

When my mom came to visit us in October she brought her old laptop with her to give to us. I am enjoying the laptop, it's been fun, but Lori has been slightly jealous. All she seems to be interested in are the laptop, the mouse (yes, I use a mouse with my laptop... don't judge) and the remote control. So I got out her "laptop" for her to play with, and she's been enjoying it immensely. It's a toy that I think is intended for a much older child, but she likes to push the buttons and hear the sounds. She also likes to push it around the kitchen floor, whether that's intentional or not I am not sure, but either way, it's super cute! Lori learns something new everyday. She is the most curious child I've ever met, as well as the most diligent. She will not let anything stop her, nor will she take no for answer. Yikes... saying that out loud makes me kinda scared actually.

Here is some video of Lori and her laptop.

It's a little long, I'll admit, but it picks up around minute 4, (I said it was long) so hang in there. You're in for a treat. :)

We hope her smile in this video will brighten your day as much as it brightens ours. Enjoy!

New dog, new trick

On August 2, 2008 Lori rolled over for the first time... on purpose. (We knew it was on purpose because she did it twice) She had accidentally rolled over before but this time she meant to. It was a Saturday so Jorge and I were able to experience it together. It was amazing. I was able to film this clip a few days later... after she became a pro at it. She is yet to roll over form her back to her tummy, but she's getting very close now! It could be any day now, so stay tuned!

The Grand Tour

Here's a tour of our new apartment...

The Arrival