Kit Kats and Oreos....

Can I just say we have been busy around here. We are moving, and by moving I mean this Saturday will be the last day in our house. So I have been trying to spend every moment getting things in boxes and packed away. To add to all of that we have had a cloud over our heads this year when it has come to sickness. Every time we have had something big going on we all get sick. So with this week being the last week in our house we of course got sick. It started over the weekend with the kids throwing up, then of course it followed with me throwing up at the start of the week. Now it is just lingering in our little love girl with a nasty cold. Seriously I was excited to have a baby in June so that it wasn't sick season, but that hasn't seemed to matter with little Brookie. 4 ear infections later and now I'm thinking this cold with follow with another one. So as you can see the title of my post today I have eaten nothing but Kit Kats and Oreos to keep me going. Gotta love it!

On a lighter note our little ball of sunshine turned 9 months last week. Gosh we LOVE her. She has such a sweet little personality, maybe that's a girl thing? We all can't get enough of her funny, spunky, giggly personality. And maybe someday a little dancer??? I can't get over her perfect feet and turn out.. he he! We couldn't imagine what life would be like without her. So a little shout out to her today... mostly because she is sick and miserable, I miss my happy little baby!
           9 months stats:  Height 29 1/2  >100%(she is taller then her brother was when he was 1) Weight: 17.6 25%

And a shout out to us for nothing but boxes, boogies, chaos, Kit Kats.... and a whole lot of change coming our way! 

Mexico

Mark and I got to spend the week together in the Mayan Riviera. It was a pretty awesome trip... We spent most of the time just hanging out at the pool and beach. The week before we left the kiddos were pretty sick so we were looking forward to getting out the the cold and sickness. We definitely got out of the cold but the sickness seemed to follow us.... we couldn't complain though. It seems like every time we go somewhere I always wish I would have taken more pictures so this time I tried to remember that... It didn't work.

We were able to take a couple of naps a day... and we each started and finished a book. Both of those seem to be few and far between back home. I had to laugh at the towel designs our room cleaner did everyday on the bed. They even put googly sticker eyes and lips on them :) I wish I would have taken a picture up close.

We walked down the beach all the time and ended up finding a gem of a place. It had this old abandoned boat along the way that we thought made it all the cooler :)

The water was so clear and the sand was like powder... not to mention the pier of hammocks. Seriously it was like paradise. Mark liked to snorkel around here, one fish just sat right next to his goggles just checking him out.   That freaked me out a little, to think that the fish were just fine hanging right next to you so I wasn't much of a snorkeling buddy.

 

We seemed to always eat at this buffet because it was right on the beach. Mostly in the morning it was beautiful.

The pools were big enough... too bad they were a tad on the chilly side so there wasn't a whole lot of swimming going on in them.

We spent one day at the spa. It had 14 stations you went around to and they each did a different relaxation, massage type of thing... Mark was in heaven.  

We spent another day in Playa Del Carmen. The beaches were amazing there... I don't think I have ever seen that clear of water.

French dinning and late night jaunts to the beach.

We had a really awesome time together but all good things must come to an end... and we were sure missing these two little squirts! 

Christmas 2010

Caden with Santa... He was pretty excited... I think mostly for the candy.

Live nativity on Christmas eve... Mary and Joseph were pretty cute!

Christmas morning was pretty exciting... Caden kept saying, "Mom, Santa come"

Brooke was in heaven buried in all the paper!

Christmas at the Stallings...

Like father ... like son

 While Mark and I were dating I kept hearing how he always slept in the most awkward positions. I found that to be true after we were married... .With that being said Caden has fallen into his foot steps on this one.

A couple of Sundays ago he woke up at 7 in the morning wanting water. Mark took him downstairs and gave him water and put on Curious George then came back up to bed. I woke up at 8 and walked down to find Caden like this.... And this is how he slept for the next 2 1/2 hours!!! We all just did our thing around him and he just stayed sound asleep in this position. 

Those two sure do crack me up...

 I thought I would do a little update on some things we have been up to around here....

Lots of lovin' with these two little love bugs!

Brooke's favorite things at the moment are dancing with mom, flying in the sky, tummy blows from her big brother and blowing bubbles with her lips.

 Caden's favorite things are asking mom what she is doing and telling her "Hi" at least 50 times a day. Playing with his friends and cousins...especially "Yum" (Liam) and Na nah (Savannah)

My family and Marks mom all ran a 5K on Thanksgiving morning which was crazy because it was 0 degrees. But it ended up being a lot of fun and it was nice to get out and run again.

 And after 20 years I finally chopped my hair. Seriously I think I was 4 years old the last time my hair was this short... I felt like I was finally ready for it :)

Also a shout out to Mark... today is his BIRTHDAY and I just wanted to let him know how much we love and appreciate all he does. He adds lots of fun and laughs to our family! We all just adore him around here!

Brookie

Our little cupcake is 4 months... she has been such a sweet little addition to our family and we cant seem to get enough of her smiles! She is 26 inches (100 percentile) and 12.5 pounds (25th percentile)

There is something to having a little girl around... she evens our family out a little... not so much testosterone running around! 

 I have to admit that some-days I feel like a crazy person and I honestly sit and wonder how people have more then 2 kids.... hearing them laugh and smile make it all worth it!!!