Julia's Family Birthday Party

My Baby is 3!!! While we were in Bartlesville, we had a small family get-together for Julia's 3rd Birthday. There was cake, ice cream, and family...enough to brighten Julia's day. Ruth was attempting to read to the girls.

Lydia celebrating her older sister.
Dave posing as Groucho Marx

Mimi and Aunt Aubrey celebrating.

Julia got to blow out candles twice. Once here and once on her actually birthday.

This is Julia and her cousin Mattisyn. Julia loves and looks up to this sweet little red head.

Julia and her present from Aunt Aubrey and Uncle Andy. This was a combined Christmas/birthday present, and she loves it. Even she knew what it was before it was unwrapped. (Pictures of her riding it on earlier posts.)

Uncle Andy and Julia with her new bike.
We miss all of the family and friends we got to see while in Bartlesville!!

*Here is a picture of the girls turkey shirts with out them in them. Someday I'll know how to stitch the edges of these little home-made shirts.

Hopefully I'll get the chance to make some Christmas trees for Christmas too!! Love to all!

Germs

Dave has bronchitis, and I haven't been feeling particularly whippy, but we're all getting better. Anyway, I was sharing this information with Julia as the Stewart girls drove to the library today. I told the girls that Daddy had germs that his body was fighting off and that he needed to rest. Julia and I discussed a bit further and then she said, "Oh Jesus, please don't let my daddy have germs in his bottom". It was really sweet and pretty hilarious. I have been trying to explain to her that body and bottom are not the same thing....

Thanksgiving

Well, I have a lot of pics to share, but these are definitely not representative of everything we did or everyone we celebrated Thanksgiving with. We had a GREAT time in Bartlesville, and only wished it could have lasted longer. Staying in Houston for Christmas will definitely be bittersweet.
Here are the girls in their turkey shirts I made for them. I stole the idea from a friend at church, Sarah Craig. I have some pics of the shirts without the girls in them, but they aren't accessible right now. Anywho, it was fun to dress them in something so festive. Julia got a bike from her Aunt Aubrey and Uncle Andy over Thanksgiving break. Her birthday is this Friday, so she got some gifts a little early. She loves it!

This was Thanksgiving day at my parents.

We helped my Mom put up her Christmas tree on Thanksgiving day as well. It was a lot of fun and somewhat therapeutic for me because I will not really be able to put up many decorations around our house this year. It was really cute that both of the girls were involved in hanging ornaments and hanging lights. They really enjoyed it.

The girls also got one early Christmas gift. They are both pros at opening gifts now.

This was the finished Christmas tree product:

We also went to Woolaroc the day after Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun and so much better than the Galveston's Festival of Lights. In comparison, there was tons to do and see. Julia loves buffalo, and they were very close to us. (We were in the car still.)

Julia loves this playground.

Lydia loved the animals!! She stared at all of them, and was only willing to move on when she saw there was more see.

Here's the Woolaroc Santa Claus. When I posted pics of Julia with this Santa on facebook last year, my friend Lela said "this was the scariest looking Santa" she had ever seen. Lydia obviosly agrees with her. Julia loves Santa, but Lydia was only gung ho about him until she was actually in his lap. They both enjoyed the candy canes though.

There were also a lot of characters at Woolaroc this year. Here is Julia with the gingerbread cookie people. She loved all the characters and hugged several of them more than once.

And, here is Lydia's reaction. She was in my mom's arms, and seemed happy to go, but not so happy once she was there. Poor kid, all this fun is so torturous.

Here's one last pic of my parents with the girls after the hay ride. We were in the Frank Phillips lodge in this picture.

Well, like I said, we had a lot of fun with family and friends over the last week. I know that I have some pics of some celebrating at Ruth's house, but they are on our external hard drive, so hopefully I will get to post some of them soon. Happy belated Thanksgiving to all and Merry Christmas!

Bartlesville

It officially feels like the holidays now that we have seen family and friends and are having such a nice time with everyone in Bartlesville. We are so excited to get to stay for the week. Turkey, here we come! (I'll post some pics soon.)

Sleep, Slumber...Zzzzzs

Sleep is such an interesting concept to me. Some people are so prone to it, and other's fight with it and for it. I've never been a person who can go to sleep in 2 seconds, and I've always been a light sleeper, but ever since I had Lydia, I have definitely fought with and for sleep. It takes me at least 30 minutes to sleep at night, and if one of the girls wakes me up at night, it usually takes longer. Also, I can hardly sleep through movies or in the car, like some people. It's a rare occassion for me to catch up on sleep like that.

I had some crazy insomnia when I was pregnant with my little Lydia, and ever since then, I don't go to sleep easily. I was attempting to sleep for two hours right before going into labor with her. Those hours of sleep would have been precious to me.

I usually go to sleep listening to Dave snoring beside me. He can go to sleep instantaneously. I'm the kind that can't get myself to go to sleep, while he's the kind who has to keep himself from going to sleep. It doesn't matter how exhausted I am when I go to bed- I can hardly ever fall to sleep quickly. I've tried to convince Dave to rub my feet every night before he goes to sleep (as this usually helps), but he just murmurs something about getting up and 6 a.m. while drifting off into sweet slumber.

The problem is that when I am laying in bed trying to sleep, I think more clearly than ever! Maybe it's the only time I actually think all day! I wish I could invent a machine to hook up to my brain to record my thoughts as I am going to sleep. I can write an awesome to-do-list, design a whole house, and have real revelations about God, all while I am trying to go to sleep. All of this thinking is wonderful; but I am always so tired. I wonder how I could keep these two events seperate during my day. I mean, I would love to be able to adequately think and sleep daily. I'm pretty sure my brain invention is the only way to go. Then, I won't have to fret about whether or not I will remember what I am thinking about. We'll see how that goes. :)

This is Dave sleeping while holding Lydia on the chair over a year ago. He just closes his eyes, and he's asleep. I have a lot of pics like this one. He always hiked his leg up for extra support in holding Lydia, just in case he took a little nap.

You are Stupid.

Chocolate!! Lydia almost always goes to sleep in the stroller when we go for walks. I guess she gets that from Dave.

Today Julia walked into the room that I was in and said, "Mom, you are stupid". And then, as quick as she said it, she walked away. I called her back to talk to her about this lovely new word she just used, and could tell as she came back to me that she was just trying it out to see if it was acceptable. She has no idea what it means, accept for now she knows not to say it. So, now she has been saying, nearly continually, "Mom, I won't say stupid. Stupid. I won't say that anymore. I won't say stupid". She's getting the hang of it, I guess.

We just discovered today that Lydia has her first few molars! No wonder Dave and I have been sleepless zombies lately!! Why do teething children sleep so much better during the day than they do at night? It's a great mystery to me!

Other than these little updates, we don't have a lot more to share. We are excited to go to Bartlesville and see family and friends over Thanksgiving week! Julia has been talking about going to Woolaroc daily. Her Papa promised her, and she can't wait. She daily says, "We're gonna go see the buffalo with Papa. We can go right now, if you want to." Thanks for reading!

Uppercase Living

Hey everyone. The holidays are here in full force, and the pressure of Christmas is already on. I personally love all the hype and everything that goes along with it, but I definitely also realize that I am an odd duck. I just wanted to remind those who know and enlighten those who don't know - I sell Uppercase Living. I too am wondering if you would like to purchase some of your Christmas presents through me. :) My business has been pretty slow since I moved to Houston, so I would like to get back to consulting others on how to make their homes more beautiful. I just got in new catalogs and Christmas flyers if anyone is interested in them. You can order personally or have a party. Of course, the parties are fun because you get a lot of free of stuff. I know you all know the drill. I just think that Uppercase Living offers something a little unique and fun. So, please give me a ring or shoot me an email if you would like to. My number is (918) 440-7977. www.uppercaseliving.com (You can also order online.) -Amber

A Day in the Life

I hope this video loaded correctly!! I love these girls.

Daylight Savings Time

So, I officially detest Daylight Savings time. Before having kids, I hated springing forward, but loved falling back. Now I equally dislike both! Lydia woke up at 5:55 this morning. How am I suppossed to gracefully deal with that? You know, I really don't like the sun before 8 a.m. Why would anyone need it to rise any earlier? (Rhetorical question.)
Anyway, I don't know why I'm complaining. The fact that Lydia woke up super early is beside the fact because I was already awake. I mean, it's always a pleasure to awake to traffic traveling by your house at 5:20 a.m.
Well, while Dave and I contemplate putting sheets over the windows to keep our room and the girls' room quiet and dark in the morning, I keep praying that we will just move soon and forget about having to do all that.
Here's a pic of the house we would like to purchase in Sienna Plantation. Here's the fireplace. It's a 2 -in-1; it goes through to the other room too.

Here's the dining room that I can't wait to get my hands on....

So, please know that this post was not written just to complain or vent, but to continue to ask for prayer requests. :)

I took some pics of how "packed" things are for us at the Chetman place:

I miss all the stuff in those boxes. I mostly miss my muffin tins and my crock pot.

I decided to take these pics about a week ago...I wanted to have something to look back on and to remind me to be thankful- after we move. Well, I hope that daylight savings time is treating the rest of you well, and that our family is the only one that was negatively affected. Hopefully today is the last day it will bug us. Thanks all! Tootles!

First Fest

We had a great time tonight at the Houston's First Baptist Church's First Fest. We spent most of our time in the Preschool room (for obvious reasons). There was tons to do though, and we had a great time. We actually left, got some dinner and a free treat from a fun place called the Chocolate Bar, and came back to play some more. By the end of the evening, the girls were filthy, happy, tired, thirsty, and still wanting candy....(Dave and I were feeling mostly the same things.) Julia enjoyed her free small ice cream. You got one just by coming dressed up.

Lydia also enjoyed her ice cream. She looked so cute here because the table is so large compared to her.

The petting Zoo!

Julia looks so cute standing by this painted clown.

Julia loved, loved, loved riding the pony. Maybe her daddy will get her one.

Lydia loved the bubble machine, and I love this picture!

Julia is ready to party!

Lydia is ready to party!

My girls look so cute in their costumes....my little fairy princesses. Even Beth Moore said they looked adorable. You read that right. I saw her!!! I was totally star struck, but very excited. I wanted to gush on her and tell her how much I loved her...but I didn't. I just smiled and stared like a happy golden retriever. I'm sure she'll always remember and love me for it anyway! (I did sputter a few thank yous on her as well.)

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that I made the tutus for these princesses and had fun doing it. How much do you think I can sell them for? I could start selling them on this blog for $80/tutu. Let me know if you think that price is too low. Haha.

Thanks for checking out my blog. I plan to post some pics of the house we have an offer on and the place we are in now. If you have some time, make a comment and let me know that you all are out there!! Love ya!!

Still waiting...

Well, we seem to be waiting and waiting these days. First of all, we're waiting for the Fall Fest tomorrow at Houston's First Baptist. It promises to be tons of fun. We're also eagerly awaiting our trip to Bartlesville over Thanksgiving. We can't wait to see family and friends and eat turkey and we are so excited that Dave is off the whole week! We are also waiting on getting an offer approved on the house in Sienna Plantation. Our realtor did call the selling realtor and he said that the bank hasn't even figured out the minimum amount they need before they sell the house. There is still 4 or 5 offers on the house, but we have no idea if they are better or worse than ours. After the bank figures out how much they need, they will contact the people who made offers to tell us what the situation is/counteroffer....etc. Anyway, I am praying that the bank will get everything figured out quickly, that we will find a different house or that the other offers will drop off soon, and that we will be patient and seek the Lord's guidance. Thanks everyone. -Amber

Not our house.

These are some pics of our Greystone house after it was all fixed up and on the market. We closed on it on Tuesday. These are just the rooms with the biggest changes. We painted every room and cabinet, switched out all the hardware, took out a wall, added a pantry and the bar, replaced lighting fixtures in most rooms and landscaped a little. It's not ours anymore (sniff, sniff). I miss you house. Bye, bye.

This Crazy Life

We had a nice evening. Houston First Baptist Church hosts a Parent's Night Out every so often..and tonight, we took them up on it! I signed us up for it the second I saw it was available! Dave and I had our first date since my birthday in August. Julia and I need time apart...it really does make our hearts grow fonder. Just 2 hours apart leaves us feeling refreshed! Lydia, our shyish one, is always happier to see Dave, Julia and me after we've been away from her too. Dave and I had a nice time, but we still miss having babysitters that come to your house and let you stay out until the wild and crazy hours of 10, or dare I say, 11! Someday soon....

Also, I had to get on here and report that I did see Beth Moore's daughter at Parent's Night Out. Her and her husband came at the same time we did to pick up their kiddos. I was dieing to talk to her about Bible commentaries and such, but I chickened out. I could tell she was ready to go, and seconds after I saw her, her husband and son came down the elevator to take her and her daughter away. :( My kids really needed to be in bed anyway, so, maybe next time!!!

Closing on our Greystone house has proven to be dissapointing. We were suppossed to close yesterday, and then today, but our home buyer's lender needed stuff signed...blah, blah, blah. They should know how to take care of all this stuff. So, we close Wednesday. At least we are going to be able to put a new offer on the house in Sienna Plantation that doesn't have the sale of our house as a contingency. Our Houston realtor said that we have seven days to change our minds about an offer without reprecussion, so if we don't actually close next week, we won't be in super hot water, we'll just have to back out of our offer. However, I am most sure, and hopeful that we will close next week!!!

So, here are some random pictures of us at the end of July at Matagorda Beach. We went with the Ottens and had a great time. I just decided to add on a little more back-up blogging to this post- I always love a blog with pictures, so I try to provide that for all of my wonderful readers!!!! Ha! The picture at the top right is me with the girls just before we left. I couldn't have run my fingers through my hair for a hundred dollars. Salt water and wind will do that to you.

I'm planning to post some pics of our finished Bartlesville house and our last few days there soon. Thanks so much for reading, love to all. Tootles!



Right: The girls were reveling in the time they had with their dad. We were apart from him so much this summer.

Above: Julia actually enjoyed being buried. She just made this face for the picture.

Right: Julia loves the Otten kids, and I love when they keep her and Lydia occupied.

Above: See, the Gulf of Mexico beaches aren't all that bad!! Please, come visit!

Right: Little Lydia enjoyed the sand and the water, as long as it didn't touch her face. She actually slept most of this trip.

Lydia turned One: More Back-up Blogging

I thought I would add some pics of Lydia's first Birthday Party. Lydia loved the cupcakes and we had a great time with friends and family in our finished home before we left for Houston. Dave gave her a second cupcake...I guess she doesn't mind sweets.

Our smiling one-year-old.

Lydia had a Cupcake Party. The decorations, the invitations, her dress and everything else I could think of had cupcakes on them. She is just such a little cupcake herself!

Daddy and Lydia on the her big day! :)

Mr. Pleasterman

Well, it's October and Houston is hot! I just checked weather.com and it says that it is currently 82 in Houston but that it feels like 90. I just can't get over this! I find it sad and hilarious. I hope the pumpkins outside don't rot before halloween! At least I won't be craving chili or potato soup like I usually do. It doesn't feel like fall, but we'll do all the fun Fall things we can anyway. :)
Well, we are going to close on our Bartlesville home very soon. We have all of our stuff out of the house and it is ready for the new owners. I hope they love the house. I still do.
It feels good to have at least one more part of our move accomplished. This Friday, we are moving things into our duplex until we get the house in Sienna Plantation. (Still no word on that at all.)
So, Lydia has her 8th tooth and is working on her 9th and is currently whining and sitting on my arm and whining....now that she's had a short cuddle, maybe I can finish this post really fast. What a cute little munchkin!
Also, we have another funny story about Julia. Dave often meets me at First Baptist Church on Tuesday nights so that I can go to Beth Moore's Revelation Bible Study (amazing). He takes the kids home from there and I take his car home. So, last night Dave took the girls to the playground before it was time for them to leave. Julia didn't want to leave, so Dave said, see that policeman over there (directing traffic), let's go tell him what a great job he's doing. Julia was all for it. So, they loaded in the minivan. When they got to where the policeman was working, Dave rolled down Julia's window and Julia yelled, "Thank you for working so hard, Mr. Pleasterman". Dave said that the man was surprised and talked to Julia a little while until it was their turn to go. That was all the attention Julia needed. She continued to sing about how hard the "pleasterman" was working all through dinner. Dave videoed her on his phone, but it's hard to make out. Anyway, if there's any Pleastermen reading this, We thank you for your hard work!!