Chill out...

"Yeah! I am one year old!"

Big blue eyes!

Crawlin on the deck!

Look at those thighs!

Just chillin in the hot tub.

Look at those muscles!

My kids blowing kisses in the pool

So I say this a lot to Cooper, when what I mean is calm down or be patient. The other day I said, "Cooper, come here please!" His reply? Yes, he did say, "Chill out mom, I am." I had to stifle my laughter. He is such a big boy these days. He loves to be referred to as "Captain Cooper" whenever possible and will extend the same courtesy to you. "Captain mommy, what's for breakfast?" or "Don't cry captain Maggie". He still will eat almost anything as long as it is in a burrito or served with ranch. One of his favorite games in the car is to "get the girl to talk" (turn on the GPS) and repeat all her directions. "In a quarter mile, turn left, " says the GPS. Cooper says, "Mommy in a quarter mile turn left." And the game continues until they both say "Destination". It is really awesome (not really) to have an echo in the car and to hear directions even though you already know where you are going. Just yesterday I asked him, "How did you get so handsome?" He replied, "My daddy made me handsome and my mommy made me sweet!" I thought it was precious and totally unprompted by me. He is 90% angel these days and I hope he stays that way!

Maggie turned one and still is not walking. She can stand and will, but will drop to her knees and crawl off. I guess she will do it in her own sweet time. She says about 7 words. One new one came today when we were playing with plastic fruit...nana. Then again at breakfast I held a banana up and she said it again....totally verbally brilliant! The rest of her repertoire is mama, dada, bubba (cooper or brother), mary, nono, baba (bottle). She recently learned to blow kisses and uses both hands. She is often out of sync and the smack comes way before or way after the hand which only makes it more endearing. When you say to her "Where is Maggie?" She puts both hands over her eyes and plays peek-a-boo. She has also mastered the fake cry and tires easily of Cooper. She will swipe at him now when he is bothering her and fake cries for me to "tattle" on him. Kinda cute for now but I am guessing that will not last long! Her hair is getting longer and makes the sweetest curls. She is a precious, loving girl who loves to cuddle and play. We couldn't have ordered her any better!

We are still planning on moving to Dallas this summer. Shaun has a position at an awesome school with amazing athletic facilities and lots of room for advancement. I have had a few interviews and expect to teach third grade next year. The next big hurdle is selling our house. We have resigned ourselves to sacrificing all our equity to the sale. We even laid new laminate flooring to make it more marketable. I will be sad to leave because we have loved this home so much and have 4+ wonderful years of memories (both my babies came home here). I will not be sad when there are no more showings. It is such a pain to keep it clean all the time and to have to leave at a moment's notice for hours at a time (especially during nap time). I am also looking forward to buying in this market where you can get a lot more house for your dollar. Shaun and I are still plugging away at our Master's program. We are on track to finish by August, just in time to start school. I am thrilled to get this over with, make an extra 1k a year, and have a lot of extra time!


The pictures here have been taken over the past few months. We have been traveling back and forth to Dallas (4-5 hours) to look for jobs and housing. Pam (Shaun's sis) and Steve have been so gracious (thanks guys!) to let us stay with them. The fabulous backyard is theirs.