I promise to be better...

I know some of you have been anxious to see some new pictures of the kiddos so here they are... :) Well, actually, I am going to start off with a few from my trip to Las Vegas for the annual photography conference that I have gone to the past 3 years. My longtime friend, Tara, from Ohio, joined me this year. She is getting her feet wet in photography and decided to overwhelm herself with all of the amazing ideas the conference has to offer. ;)


The temperature in Las Vegas was rather bitter...surprisingly. We froze while we walked down the Las Vegas strip...we ended up taking a bus back to the hotel because we were so cold.


We made a quick stop here for our husbands...I mean, the kids. ;)


This was the New York, New York hotel...quite amazing.


...and a view of the Las Vegas strip.


This was the highlight of the trip for me and it didn't happen in Vegas. I was talking to Gabe while I was there and below is our conversation. :)
"Mommy, guess wwwhat?"
"What Gabe?"
"We have a suuurrrprise for you?"
"You do? Are you supposed to be telling mommy this surprise?"
Then I hear Jeremy in the background saying....Gaabe
Then Gabe goes, "We got you ffflooowers."

This doesn't do it justice, but it was the sweetest thing ever!


So, you may be wondering what Claire has been up to? Well, let's see...she loves wearing Gabe's shoes around the house...


She loves to climb into things...the drawers...


baskets...


even the dishwasher...yes, she is busy...but they are both as cute as ever! :)

And, finally, a short video of us trying to get Claire to give us her furrowed brow/raised brow technique (aka. The Carpenter Scowl)...it is too, too cute.

Sleeping...

I don't know what it is about children sleeping, but I just love it. It is not because we have free time when they go to bed or take a nap...it's because their sweet peacefulness melts my heart. I just want to crawl in with them and snuggle with them forever. Well, these pictures are from last summer, but I had to share...they are just too cute and sweet. :)

I'm pretty sure that my parents took a picture of me just like this when I was little. The only difference was that I had a baby doll and Gabe has Cranky the Crank. ;)

This one is just too funny! Claire loved the swings and was so comfortable she just fell asleep...love it!

When Gabe isn't chasing the dogs around the house and pulling their tails he does this...falls asleep right next to them.

Just a sweet moment of Claire snuggling with her little blankie...they grow way too fast.

A visit to Ohio...

Jeremy and I took the kids for a weekend trip to Ohio. My niece, Megan, just had her baby boy, Kobi, a week ago (pictures to come soon ;) and we wanted to meet him. My auntie (aka. Deanna) also came from Washington to visit. We had a wonderful time visiting with family...it's always good to be home.

My sister-n-law, Tamala, and I...

Claire and daddy...

My auntie, Deanna, and I...

My mama and I...

My niece, Megan, and I...

Gabe and his sweet, sweet smile...

Claire was rather tuckered after a busy weekend...she crashed within minutes of being in the car.

Gabe...back to normal

Before...

After...just a little bandage


I guess you could say that Gabe is back to his normal self...although I'm not sure that he truly ever needed to recover. ;)  We went to the hospital Thursday morning and Gabe was quite patient until we went back to the room that had the bed.  He told us that he didn't want to take a nap.  ;)  The nurse asked if he would like to ride in the bed or have mommy walk him back.  Of course, he said he wanted to go with mommy until we mentioned him treating the bed like a train.  That was all he needed.  He rode the "train" with ease and didn't rebel at all.  The anesthesiologist said that he did extremely well once he was back there.  They used a gas mask to put him to sleep and he didn't fight them with it at all.  Thankfully, the hospital had sent us a video to watch and that made all of the difference.  The doctor said that everything went well.  Once we headed back to the recovery room the nurse asked if he would like some crackers...Gabe said he wanted fries.  No, our children do not live on fast food.  However, we did tell him that he could eat whatever he wanted since he couldn't have any breakfast or lunch.  Before we left the hospital, Gabe had cheese crackers, teddy grahams and some sprite.  He was rather excited that he got to choose a prize for being such a good patient.  From there we headed to McD's and got him some fries, nuggets and a sprite...he ate everything!  We got home and he was ready to go...played with  legos, Claire and ran around the house.  He was good to go and we are so thankful!  A big thanks to everyone who prayed...your prayers were felt.

Below are a few shots from later that afternoon...Claire talking on her phone. ;)

Claire's favorite place to be...

Gabe was playing "king and princess" with Claire...she wanted to switch roles...or maybe that was Gabe. ;)