Happy New Year!

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man." ~Benjamin Franklin

I wish you and your loved ones a blessed and joyous 2009!

Teefers! And Random Pet Photos.

Kimber has two more teeth coming in. I have been able to see her top two teeth for a couple days but they finally poked through yesterday. Lastnight I made Kinnison a PB&J sandwich. Luke and I were eating our dinner and looked into the living room and saw this....

I guess Kinnison left it on the coffee table. Kimber saw it and assumed that since she has 4 teeth now, she can handle a little sandwich. And, because I took a picture of Kimber with the sandwich I had to take a picture of Kinnison with the sandwich. LOL

Here are some more photos just for fun.

This is Lolly. She would be humiliated if she knew I posted this picture on my blog. Up until a couple months ago we had one cat. His name is Willow. He is the best cat. We love him dearly. Well, one day this little cutie wondered up to the school I work at. Somehow I ended up bringing him home. His name is Huck. This is how they sleep. It took me a couple weeks to catch it on camera. All of our pets accepted him from day one. And, he fits right in. He sleeps, eats and does strange things...such as sleeping on the dog. You can see the shame all over Lolly's face. She is a hunter at heart...and here she is with a cat sleeping on her.

Lolly does that strangest things.

Riding in the trunk

Sitting ON the picnic table.

Pooping IN the creek. (Has also pooped on the seat next to Luke while driving his truck & in the back of the truck driving down the interstate)
The photo Luke suggested I add.

Wearing my clothes.

This is Mag. He has lots of issues. We are lucky to still have him around. Thanks to Marty Nall and a couple thousand dollars...he is still kicking. Hey! Luke knew what he was getting into when we got married. Mag has injured his eye twice and lost about 20 pounds. So, this isn't the best picture. He has gotten much worse this year...but things have never been quite right with him.

This is what he used to look like.

This is KoKo. It is hard to capture a picture of her. She is faster than a speeding bullet. Santa brought Koko to Kinnison. Luke and I didn't like her at first. She is growing on us.

This is Willow. He is a fantastic hunter.

And lastly....

we have two monkeys.

Kinnison & Kimber

They are my favs!

Merry Christmas

We have had a wonderful Christmas this year. It all started last Saturday. I cooked dinner for Luke's mom, grandma and grandpa. Kinnison and Kimber got to open presents and play with their Grandma Robin. They got a lot of great gifts.

Sunday we had Christmas Dinner with my Dad's side of the family. The food was great and it was wonderful visiting with everyone. We don't get together often enough.

Christmas Eve we go to my parents' house to open gifts, eat dinner and bake! We made divinity and decorated sugar cookies...which is a tradition in our family. I tried talking my mom out of making the sugar cookies. We always have a ton of desserts and nobody eats the cookies. She insisted. I am glad she did. Kinnison and my nephew had the best time decorating those cookies. The kids got a lot of great gifts.

The girls got new PJ's for Christmas Eve. Here is a photo right before bedtime. They were excited about Santa.

This morning we got up and opened presents and ate waffles. A family favorite! After breakfast we went back to my parents' house to eat lunch with my mom's side of the family.

Thank you to everyone who shared this Holiday Season with us. Thank you to my mom for my fabulous homemade apron. I will cherish it forever. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you to everyone for the gifts Kinnison & Kimber received this Christmas. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

rambling...

It is a time to be thankful. I am so thankful for my girls. They are miracles and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I can't live without them. I know that. But, my heart aches. When we gather around the table or open gifts on Christmas Day, I miss my babies. I see Kinnison and Kimber and how they love one another and I imagine what it would be like if our other babies were with us. Medically it wouldn't be possible for all of my babies to be here together. I know that. But, I can't help but wonder. Kinnison was born November of 2005. I miscarried the first time in July of 2006. I misscarried the second time in January of 2007. Kimber was born February of 2008. I was pregnant or trying to get pregnant for over 4 years. To this day I have nightmares about losing each of my babies. I had to have a D&C with both miscarriages. I had nightmares that the baby had a heartbeat when they performed the surgery...even though I saw there was no heartbeat with my own eyes. ..a picture I wish I could erase from my memory. I felt guilty, confused, angry, sad and lonely. I didn't understand why my body let me down. What did I do to make this happen? Was I being punished? What little faith I had was gone. I am still not sure I comprehend WHY it had to happen. If those babies weren't meant to be, why create them at all? I guess I will never have answers to some of my questions. People were constantly telling me that God has a plan and that everything happens for a reason. I hated hearing that. After Kimber arrived, I understood. Kimber was supposed to be here. She has challenged me every step of the way. But, she has also brought hope and joy to my life. She has a very unique personality and I know that she is this world for a reason. So is Kinnison. They have both made the world a better place. Maybe that was his plan? My DD for our first angel was Feb 14 and my DD for our second angel was Aug 20. Kimber was induced Feb 20th. Isn't that strange? Maybe that is His way of showing me that everything DOES happen for a reason? I have known many people who have had miscarriages. Some could relate to me. Some couldn't. Sometimes when I talk about it, people get uncomfortable. I'm sorry if me talking about this makes you uncomfortable. But, it helps me. Tremendously. I do want to move on. I don't want to forget. My babies were real. I saw them. I loved them. I miss them.

HO HO HO

2008 Trip To Visit Santa

Today Kinnison got a letter in the mail from Santa!!!! I didn't get the camera out fast enough. When we told her santa sent her a letter she jumped up and down screaming! I video taped me reading the letter to her. It is long. I will spare you. HA HA ;) Thanks Grandma Robin

...and just for fun...

UH OH! I can stand up on my own!

UH OH! I found the purple princess lip gloss!

Pay Up

Sunday Luke and I celebrated our six year wedding anniversary. For those of you who thought we wouldn't make it...pay up! On Saturday we took the girls to Silver Dollar City to see the lights. It was ridiculously busy. I am pretty sure we won't go there again. We parked miles away from SDC. We were closer to Branson West than we were SDC. We had to wait forever for the shuttle bus and it was so cold. The girls were troopers! On the way to Branson Kimber peed through her diaper and all over her pants. I took a change of clothes, but it was freezing that day. So, we went to the mall and bought her a snowsuit.We also bought Kinnison a new coat. They looked adorable. We didn't get home until late. We were exhausted! Here are some photos of Kimber hanging out and Kinnison riding the kiddie rides.

Looking Back

The time has gone by so quickly. I met Luke in 2000. We started out friends and that friendship turned to love. He is my best friend. We have survived some very difficult times together. I look forward to our future and I look forward to more happy memories with Luke and our beautiful daughters. I am sure we will have more difficult times along the way. But, I know there is no one I rather have by my side. Here are some of my favorite photos of me and Luke.

Happy Anniversary Luke! I love you!