Week 49

My little Hayden is on her way to becoming a toddler! She has started to walk back and forth to people so well. She has even let go a few times on her own and just taken off. She is so proud of herself that when she stops or someone catches her she smiles and claps, while looking at you waiting for you to say "Yeah Hayden!" She has also stated "talking" on the phone. She pick up my cell phone and will hold it to her ear and say "Hi ya!" It is too sweet.

Shelby had a fun weekend as well. After having dinner with the Purvis', we went to Mimi and Papa's house and Shelby was luck enough to spend the night. It took a lot of our twisting on our part, yeah right.

I also hit the dirty thirty this week on the 22nd. It was a hard birthday for me, I hated to see my 20's go, but if my 30's are as good to me as my 20's were it will be just fine. Chad did it up good for me, and got a cake and everything. We celebrated by having dinner with family and a few friends at BJ's Brew house. I think a good time was had by all.

Week 48

Oh what a busy week we have had. I feel like things are never ending. I had to work more this week to make up for our "Snow Day". I cannot imagine how hard it is to work full time and deal with 2 kids at home. I feel so blessed to be able to have so much time off with them. They grow WAY too quickly.

My little Hayden started saying "Uh oh" this week and also learned to sign puppy. She throws everything down and of course says "uh oh". When she signs puppy by patting her leg she also tries to call them now by makeing the kiss sound like I do. She is such a sweet smart girl.

Week 47

Another fun week with my girls! Some wonderful person, put the training wheels back on Shelby's bicycle recently and she is loving it. She rides and rides and would do it all day if she could. I think we fulfilled a dream of Chad's this past weekend as we all went on our first family bike ride. I rode a bike, Chad rode his bike pulling Hayden in the bike trailer, and Shelby rode her bicycle. We made the 2 mile loop around our neighborhood. I was so impressed and proud of her for it. I see many more family rides in our future.

Shelby started dancee class this week and is loving it. She is in love with the ballerina "Ms. Stacy" that teaches her class along with Ms. Jessica and Ms. Becky. She now always dancing around showing off all her new moves.

Hayden got to experience her first Valentines Day this past week. She was a lucky girl. Both of the girls got candy and a special surprise from Chad and I. Chad also was extra sweet sending me roses to work and bringing the girls both a bouquet of tulips. He is so good to us girls.

Week 46

So a huge freeze hit Southeast Texas this week, which caused all local school districts to cancel classes giving me Friday off! I had a nice little Winter break and was off for 6 days in a row due to the way our "Snow Day" fell with my schedule. They forcasted 3-4 inches of snow, but sadly it never came. There was ice every where with the temps dipping into the teens. It even caused the major roadways in Houston to be shut down causing Chad's company to shut down and give him the day off. It also caused Shelby's first dance class to be cancelled. She was kind of bummed but did enjoy breaking off the icicles from her swings and toys outside.

I had a meeting with my Pricipal this past week as well. I love that she allows me to be part time and is planning on it staying that way next year. She did tell me that I may have to possibly prepare to be full time next year though, as the state does major budget cuts. She said she will let me know ASAP when she hears something, but please pray that I do not have to. I love my job, but I also love having time with my girls.

Week 45

We had another fun week together of just relaxing and spending time together, until the weekend. My poor little Hayden started running a fever of up to a 104. So after a cool bath, rounds of Tylenol and Motrin she seemed to feel a little better. Poor Mimi took her to the Pediatrician on Monday and after 2 trips to her office and a few tests run they decided it was just a virus. Ugh!

Shelby has decided to stop doing gymnastics and to take dance class instead. This past Monday was her last day at Flips and will soon be starting ballet and tap class. She is so excited to be a "ballerina".

Week 44

It has just been another fun week with our girls. It is really starting to get the coldest it has been all year so far so we have just spent a lot of time hanging out in the house playing games, watching movies, and playing tea party, etc.

Week 43

Another week has past and another exciting post is needed. Chad got to keep the girls this past Friday as he was off from work while I had a day of staff development, woo hoo. As soon as I got home we all headed over to College Station to visit the McDaniel side and have Christmas, yes in the middle of January, with Grandma Sandy. The girls enjoyed playing with Pawpaw, the boys, Nana, and Grandma Sandy. After that we had a nice weekend at home as a family and then I was off on Monday. We attended a birthday party at Pump It Up, where the girls and myself enjoyed the afternoon climbing, sliding, and jumping the afternoon away. Hayden and Shelby both love the huge bouncy slides. Hayden has hit another new milestone this week. She takes a few step on her own but only while she is diving for someone or something. When she does take steps it is only one or two, but at least it is something.

Week 42

My girls are getting so big. I can't help but love them more and more each day. Shelby is so full of love for her little sister that it just warms my heart to see them play together and hear them giggle in the back seat as we go along. Hayden's little personality is coming out more and more each week. This week she started doing "Crazy Girl". That is known in the Gorman family as shaking your head back and forth really fast, like they are saying no, but smiling while they do it. So now whenever someone says "Crazy girl, crazy girl." Hayden just starts shaking her head. She loves the attention from it. She also learned to point at things this week and give kisses. To give kisses Hayden just makes the kiss sound by sucking together her lips. She just crawls around making the kiss sound all day. It is the cutest thing.

Week 41

I was sad this week as my Christmas break was quickly coming to an end. I took Hayden in on Thursday for her 9 month well check. This girl is growing like a weed! She is now weighing in at 19 lbs. (50%) and is 30 1/2 in. tall putting her off of the charts for her heighth. I have a feeling I'm gonna have another tall skinny girl on my hands. Hayden also finally said Dada for the first time this week. It was so cute. Chad was locked up in our room sick and Hayden would crawl over to the door and get on her knees and just keep banging on it. She was determined that she was going to see her Dada and when I finally let her peek in she got so excited. It was too sweet.

Shelby got to go to Nana's new house and spend the night for the firt time. We met half way on Saturday in the early afternoon and then Mom brought her and Drew home on Sunday evening. She stayed with the girls and Drew Monday while I was at work. Shelby had so much fun she was sad to see Drew go.

Week 40

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

We had too much fun this past week. My girls are so spoiled and loved. We started off the week by having a get together at the Locklears house where Hayden got to meet all of the Oxley girls for the first time. That was fun getting to visit and catch up with them. We then spent the night at Mimi and Popa's house and went to Great Grandma's house the next day, Christmas Eve. We stayed there and visited for a while and then later that afternoon went back to Mimi and Popa's house for the Gorman family Christmas. There was paper flying everywhere! It seemed as though all the grandkids had too much fun and Mimi went all out this year. Chad and I hung out there for a while and then headed home to our house so Shelby and I could make cookies for Santa and set out food for the reindeer. She was too precious this year and was so excited about Santa coming down her chimney. She constantly sang Rudloph the Red Nose Reindeer at the top of her lungs, so much so, I made it my ring tone on my phone. The next morning we had a blast as a family. Chad and I were up before the girls to set up the camera and then once Shelby got up we let her wake Hayden up. Shelby was SO excited to get a Dora Surprises Doll House from Santa and Hayden loved her Alphabet Train from him as well. After the girls opened up their presents they spent the rest of the day playing and playing and playing. The next day the McDaniel family came over and had lunch as well as another Christmas celebration. the girls once again got too much stuff and loved every minute of it. I loved watching them every minute of it as well. We are so very blessed.

Week 39

Hayden hit one of her biggest milestones this past week, she started crawling! As the days go on she gets better and better at it and faster an faster. She is such a cutie and I cannot believe she is mobile now. Not only does she crawl but she pulls herself up on everything she can and even walks along the coffee tables and couches as she goes along.

shelby participated in her school Christmas show this past week and sang her little heart along with all of the hand motions. We then got to go back to her class and have a little Christmas party with her friends. She then accompanied me to school and spent the rest of the day there being my shadow.

Shelby and I had some what of a rough start to the next week as we had a virus and I was up with her most of the night on Tuesday because she could not keep anything down. It seems to be going around because I have heard from multiple people that they have the same thing. I feel so bad for her when you can't do anything to make her feel better. It was not the way I wanted to spend the start of my Christmas break.

Week 38

What a fun and crazy cold week we had. On Friday Mike and Deloris came by and picked Shelby up to take her camping with them and Josh and Angie that night in Palestine. We drove up the next afternoon with Hayden and spent the cold night around the campfire. The next day the girls played around the campground and later that evening we went on "The Polar Express". It is an old train in Palestine where they played up the movie and served us cake and cookies along with hot chocolate on our way to the "North Pole". It was cute, they read the book and even did some dancing to the songs. Once we reached the "North Pole", Santa got on and gave everyone a jingle bell. Shelby was beside herself and had too much fun on the train in the 30 degree weather. Shelby rang her jungle bell from the sleigh the whole 3 hour ride home.

Week 37

Another week another post. The girls and I had to get back into our routine after being off for a week. It was not fun. Chad was off Friday though and got to spend some quality time with the girls. Then on Sunday afternoon all the Gorman Grandkids stayed with Mimi and Popa and Chad, myself, Josh, Angie, Bryan and Paola all went to see Transiberian Orchestra at the Toyota Center. It was fun to get out without any of our kids and the concert was quite an experience. We then went back to Josh and Angie's where Deloris had made us all dinner. We then got a big surprise that Bryan and Paola are expecting! We will have another Gorman niece or nephew around the 4th of July. We are so excited and happy for them.

week 36

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We had a great couple of Thanksgivings this year. We first went to Mike and Deloris' house where we had a lovely meal of Lasagna, ham, and turkey. It was all really good, especially the lasagna since I am not much of a turkey eater. We then packed up and headed to Retti's house for the McDaniel Thanksgiving. We had dessert there which was really good and then spent the rest of the day planning my all night shopping extravaganza. We took my cousin Ana home with us, and after the girls went to bed we met my friend Melissa and sister in law Angie outside of Toys R Us. We had a good time shopping all night and got a lot of great deals for Christmas presents while Chad stayed home with the girls. I ended up crawling into bed at about 7 am after leaving at 8 the night before.

My little Hayden reached yet another milestone this week and she started clapping. It is so sweet to have us say "Yeah Hayden" and she will start clapping. You can't help but love her.

Week 35

My baby girl has a bigger reason to smile! She got her first tooth this week and then my niece, Callie, stuck her finger in to feel it and found another one a few days later. So, she now has two too cute bottom teeth.

We went to my Mom's house again this past weekend so that we could see Gran Gran before she left to go back home. We had a "Christmas Decorating Party". It really turned out after 20 minutes of Drew and Shelby decorating the tree and 3 broken glass balls later they quit and went and made cookies. It was a fun to see all the McDaniel kiddos play together. I also got out for Thanksgiving break this week. I am so grateful to have the whole week to spend with my girls.

Week 34

This was a pretty easy going and realxing week. The girls kept me going this week as always on my days off and on the days I work.

Hayden's friend Aubry loaned us her old Jeep walker this week. She has too much fun in the thing. She is all over the house in it and got the concept to make it roll where ever she want to almost right away. Her little busy wondering hands now get her into a lot more trouble because she is constantly unplugging things or pulling the laundry I fold on the table down or things off of the refrigerator down. It's a good thing she is such a cute sweet girl.

Week 33

Time continues to fly by. The girls are doing great and growing too quickly as I say all the time, where did the time go?

This past weekend we relaxed at home together after a crazy past few weeks and then went to Pasadena for the Annual South Main Baptist Church Thanksgiving luncheon. All the Gorman grand kids made it and so we got to spend lots of time together and allow Mike and Deloris to show them all off.

Hayden hit a few more milestones this week. She began rolling everywhere to get around. I think she may never crawl because she is getting so good at just rolling around everywhere. Se also started waving "bye bye" to everyone, and I think she may just be a left hander.

Week 32

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We had so much fun this Halloween. The girls looked adorable Shelby dressed up as Jessie from "Toy Story" and played the part very well. Hayden was her trusty horse Bullseye from "Toy Story" as well.

The Friday before Halloween I met up with a friend of mine and her kids. Her son was "Woody" and her daughter was "Cinderella". We went trick or treating at a shopping center in The Woodlands and the kids got all types of good candy. We then went trick or treating again on Halloween and had a good time with all the Gorman crew plus my Mom and Gran Gran. Great fun was had by all and the kids were all on a sugar high for days.

Hayden also began to sign this past week. She has really gotten good at signing "more". She lets us kow when she wants more food which is pretty regularly since she is loving food.

Week 31

Another crazy week has come and gone and my girls are growing faster and faster each day. This past Friday my Mom picked the girls and I up after work and we traveled with her to Hobby airport to pick up Gran Gran for her month stay. Her and Hayden finally go to meet. We all then drove to College Station together that night where the girls and I spent the weekend. Kelli and I decided to go have the kiddos pictures made all together for Mom and on the way there I ended up getting in an accident in my Mom's car with the girls. I "cracked Nana's car" as Shelby says. Everyone was fine except for Mom's car and a few seatbelt burns on my chest from the impact. Believe it or not the girls were still on happy moods so we went ahead and had their pictures made. They turned out so cute. I got great christmas card pictures.

Week 30

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe my baby is seven months old! She is the sweetest thing and such a happy girl. We are so blessed.

We had another crazy week with the girls. Shelby finally got over her virus on Thursday and started to get back to her old self. On Friday she started Soccer Camp that went on till Sunday afternoon. She was so excited to play soccer and her Daddy and I were just as excited to see her play. She is not the worlds best soccer player, but had a lot of fun and learned a lot about soccer and team work. After practice on Saturday we jumped in the car and headed to Friendswood for Jillian Ricketson's 1st birthday party. After that we went to the Locklears for a McLoxley get together. Shelby then had her first official soccer game that Sunday afternoon, and it was hilarious to say the least. Shelby made sure Chad and I, along with all of her Grandparents, were constantly cheering for her and she even would take the time to wave at us all. :)

My poor Hayden had her Ear Tube surgery this week. I felt so bad she didn't know what was coming. She did well through it all and woke up really fast afterwards. She just cried for a few hours afterwards which we knew was coming because that is a side effect of the anesthesia. Other than that she did great and hopefully we will not have any more ear issues.

Week 29

My poor girls. On Thursday I took Hayden to the ENT for her to have her ears checked out. She has had 4 infections in her short little life already and when her ears were both infected at her 6 month well check appt. the Pediatrician recommended that we visit him. Even after a 10 day round of antibiotics they were still both infected and with the family history of ear issues, he scheduled her for surgery to have tubes put in. That evening the Koller kiddos came over for a while that evening and we had a good time playing. Then on Friday night Shelby started running a fever and ran a fever until Wednesday and was also covered in a red rash. My poor baby had to miss Callie's birthday party and she told me, "But Callie is my Best Friend." It was so sweet and sad. Hayden and I went to the party to represent our piece of the family and made sure we brought her home the goodie bag which was a Beta fish she named Rover. I took her to the doctor on Monday and we were told she had a virus that caused the rash along with an ear infection and a sinus infection. Chad took off on Tuesday and stayed home with the girls in hope that Shelby will fell better soon.

Week 28

So this was a fun week because as a family we did the Houston Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure 5k. We joined the Sara Strong Team in memory of Angie's sister, Sara Sullivan, and other family members that have fought the fight against breast cancer. It was a lot of fun and it felt good to help raise money for such a wonderful cause. Both girls had a lot of fun and looked cute doing it.

After the race we went to Ansley and Callie's soccer game. Chad and Popa along with Callie and Shelby ended up on an empty field working on the girls soccer skills. Shelby had a lot of fun and looked cute doing it.

We also celebrated cousin Callie's birthday! Our Callie girl turned 4 and we celebrated by going to Lupe Tortillas. The kids all had a lot of fun playing together and helping Callie celebrate.

Week 27

Another week, another adventure for us. Hayden turned 6 months old last week, I cannot believe it. So, on Thursday I took her to the Dr. for her well check appointment. She now weighs 17 lbs. 8 oz. and is 28 inches long. She is in the 75% for her weight and the 95% for her height. She is growing like a weed. She is now even sitting up in grocery carts all by herself instead of just in the carrier that she is SO heavy in.

Shelby had a lot of fun in school this week like always but especially this week because they had a foam party. Angie took pictures for me and said she wasn't too into it. The funny thing is that after I picked her up that day that is all she talked about. We also had a "Nacho Movie Night" with all of the Gorman kiddos this week. They sat at side and had nachos for dinner while we watched the new Tinkerbell movie. They had a lot of fun and were so cute. On Saturday we had Ava's birthday party and the girls played and played for hours on the waterslides and pools with a bunch of little friends.

Week 26

We have a had a really busy fun week. Chad worked late one night this week and while the girls and I were at home hanging out Shelby started to play with Hayden. She was acting like she was falling off a stool and when she would fall Hayden would laugh and laugh. They are too cute together and Shelby loves playing with Hayden.

Callie came over on Friday and hung out with us. We went to Pump It Up and enjoyed ourselves. Callie and Shelby play so well together sometimes and laughed and played while Hayden and I watched.

This past weekend Mimi and Popa had gone camping right outside of Huntsville, so we went up and spent the day swimming, fishing, and kayaking. Shelby even had her first motorcycle ride on Popa's motorcycle around the campground. Shelby then stayed the night with her Grandparents while Hayden got to hang out with Chad and I.

Nana came on Monday and kept the girls while I worked, and then we all went to Deer Park on Tuesday. We visited with Mom's friends and then went and visited little Wesley Locklear. After that we headed on over to Casa Ole and had lunch followed by shopping with Nana.

Week 25

This was, thank goodness, not too crazy of a week. We cleaned out most of our junk and had a garage sale at my friend Melissa's house. Shelby was so excited because I told her the more toys she sold the more money she would make. She has been begging for a big Buzz Lightyear toy so we said she could use her money from the garage sale to buy it. She was beyond excited to get her "Big Buzz".

Week 24

They both look like they are up to no good in this picture.

Happy Birthday to Uncle Josh this week. The whole Gorman clan went to celebrate at Lupe Tortillas. My little Hayden is growing up too quick and is now sitting up in a high chair all by herself. She is still getting use to eating baby food and is still not a fan at all. We also spent Labor Day weekend in Austin with the McDaniel group including Grandma Sandy. We enjoyed good food and good company and did a lot of hard work trying to help Grandma Sandy get her rent house on the market.

Hayden has become very flexible over the last week and I had to stop painting her toe nails. She has a new obsession with trying to suck on her toes. I know, gross! We also tried Hayden for the first time on a sippy cup. She didn't care for it too much.