2 years and 4 months!

So Mark and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary yesterday! And Vance turned 4 months old last week. I was just thinking how one year ago,this week, we were telling everyone that we just found out we were pregnant. Now we are out getting family pictures taken! It's so crazy how your life can change and your priorities change from one year to the next. Being that its Thanksgiving tomorrow, I thought I would say a few things that I am thankful for.

• I am thankful for my husband Mark and our joyful son Vance, I don't know what I would do without my two boys. They both keep my laughing, smiling, and loving life.


• I am thankful for my siblings. I am SO blessed to have the best sisters in the world. Without them, I would go INSANE!! Life would be so much harder without them.


• I am especially thankful for being able to stay home with Vance. Watching him and teaching him every day is the best job I have ever had in my life.
  
• I am thankful for our health, the roof over my head, and the food in my fridge. Its tough out there for some people and I am grateful we have all those things.

Like I mentioned at the beginning. We went and had family pictures taken. Cassie Feo, with McFeo Foto, took our pictures. Isn't my baby precious? Look at that face, it just melts my heart. Cassie did a great job!

Vance is 4 months old now and he got his first tooth this past week. It was a piece of cake, it didn't bother him one bit. He just can't get enough of rubbing his tongue over that tooth. He is finally starting to bring things toward his mouth. He got to try rice cereal this week. We went to his check up and he weighs 14 lbs 8 ounces and is 25 1/4 long. He giggles and makes lots of gurggle sounds and is SUCH a good baby. He just never fusses, he is spoiling us!

Here is a cute article I found:

32 things that change after you have a baby:

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms. 2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid. 3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices. 4. You respect your body ... finally. 5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way. 6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own. 7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child. 8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago. 9. Your heart breaks much more easily. 10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day. 11. Every day is a surprise. 12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!) 13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself. 14. You become a morning person. 15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power. 1. "You discover how much there is to say about one tooth." 2. "You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth." 3. "You now know where the sun comes from." 4. "You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have." 5. "You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers." 6. "You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night." 7. "Silence? What's that?" 8. "You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having." 9. "You discover an inner strength you never thought you had." — 10. "You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule." 11. "You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one." 12. "Your dog — who used to be your 'baby' — becomes just a dog." 13. "You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late." 14. "You learn that taking a shower is a luxury." 15. "You realize that you can love a complete stranger."
16. You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place.
17. If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do!

Cute shots of Vance over the last couple weeks!

Who doesn't love a baby in just a diaper?

(love the thumbs)

Vance was taking a nap and when I came to check on him, he had his arms up like he was just chillin! SO FUNNY!

I meant to get a picture of me holding him, I dressed up as a soccer player and he was a soccer ball, we made a cute couple!

Vance can't stand laying down, he is learning to love his bumbo chair.

Vance is just such a funny baby. He is always making me laugh. He is trying to talk all the time and makes different sounds every week. Last night it sounded like he was trying to tell me a story, all these sounds I had never heard him do before.
He is also fascinated with the TV, if the TV is on, he will do whatever he can to turn his head or body toward it. I will turn him toward the screen and set him on my lap, he will just sit there and stair. Mark always jokes that he is a couch potato already, like me! I need to buy some of those baby Einstein videos for 3 month old and up. I bet he would love them.

Mark and I finally went on a date this weekend. We dropped Vance off at Julie's and she watched him for us for a couple hours. We went out late so that he would just be sleeping while we were gone. We went out a like 9:30 at night, and 10 is usually when he falls asleep for the night. We came to pick him up at about 12:15ish, he was still up! I was cracking up, I guess he was wondering were his mommy was. I put him in the car seat and he was out like a light before we pulled away from their house. But Mark and I had fun, we haven't been alone like that since Vance was born, I just hate to be away from my baby, but I am a little more comfortable with it now. Julie said Tori was acting like a little mother all night, helping change his diaper, feeding him his bottle.
I look forward to another date, we needed it!

Family pictures

Our attempt at a family picture!

Vance is now 3 Months old! Can't believe it! He loves to sit up and stand on my lap, he is just so happy all the time. He loves all his toys that make noice and giggles a lot. He is still a little copy cat to. I will make a sound and he will make it back, then I will make a different sound and he will make the different sound back. Thats one of his favorite things to do.
He is getting to be a really good sleeper. He usually stays a sleep for about 4-5 hours at night. But last night he slept for 7 hours!! Ya for me!!! It would be a miracle if he did that again though. This is a picture of him this morning in his swing. He likes to take his morning nap in his swing and stare at the fish tank. SO CUTE!


This is Jr. the Flemings dog. I like to call him Mr. Bigglesworth. He is a pretty lad back Chihuahua. He has TWO Halloween costumes, the devil and a bee. Mark has this obsession of wrapping him up like a baby and holding him, Jr. LOVES it!!

Mark has been working SO many hours lately, it seems like the only time he see's Vance and I is when we are sleeping. He finally had a half day today and we got to spend some time together. We slept in and then went to lunch at the Villa, we needed our chicken murphy fix, yum! It was nice to have him home and he was able to get some play time in with Vance. I finally got my battery put in my car, so I am no longer a kept women! hip hip hooray! I went grocery shopping tonight because I had NO food in my house, I was starving and going to the grocery store starving is never a good idea, but I resisted all the tempting food, I still have 10 pounds to go till I am "pre baby" weight, so junky food is out of the question. I did however buy one small pint of Ben and Jerry's Vanilla Toffee Crunch, I am sure Mark will devour it before I can even get a spoon full. Probably better that way.

I had a fun day today. Vance and I headed down to downtown McKinney to eat lunch with my mother-in-law and my two sister-in-laws. We ate at Poppy's and then walked over to Spoon's to eat pie. It was a lot of fun to get together, we have never just hung out like that and I hope we can do it more often.

Family is very important to me and I am lucky to have my wonderful siblings and their spouses and Mark's family as well. I am glad that my family is bigger and will continue to get bigger as the years go on.

Here is a photo that my sister-in-law Lisa took of Vance today. What can I say, I make cute babies (guess I'll just have to have more of them)

I want to take a moment to pay tribute to a couple of friends, whom are now my angels in heaven.
2 years ago on October 5th, a very dear friend of mine, Trisha, passed away. I can still hear her contagious laugh, I can still feel her big bear hugs, I can still see her beautiful smile. Even though I can not pick up the phone and talk for hours and hours about nothing with her, I know she is still listening to me talk about nothing. Trisha was one of my most favorite people in the world! We loved each other as if we were sisters and with unconditional love.

11 years ago on October 7th, we had to say goodbye to an incredible guy. Shad was a big teddy bear with a big heart. I can remember him totally making fun of me one time when I picked him up in a truck that was a standard. (I was still learning how to drive) I picked him up and we were going to hang out at my house, I kept stalling and stalling and he kept laughing and laughing. As much as he wanted to take over driving, I was determined to get to our destination....
My favorite past time with Shad, just cruzin' in the Green Beast and listening to Sublime!

There is not a day that does not go by that I do not think of my two friends and thank God that I was able to know them in their life. I know I take life for granite sometimes and I should be more thankful for every day that I am here on earth with my family and friends. Now that I am a mother, life is definitely so much more precious to me. My Angels are always close to my heart.

"May the words I say and the things I do make my 'life song' bring a smile to you." ( a quote found in Trisha's purse)