Happy Halloween!

My two little kiddos were such cute little football kids! Kenna was an A&M cheerleader and did a great job saying "Gig 'Em" and "touchdown." (You can watch the video from my previous post to see her practicing doing the thumbs up). Dane was an adorable little football. I was trying to get a picture of Dane where you could see his entire costume but he was not interested in looking at the camera. Doesn't he make a great football!?!

Kenna LOVED shaking her pom-poms and only gave them up after the first two trunks when she realized what was being put in her bucket. After that Mommy held the pom-poms while Kenna trunk or treated. She became quite the expert!

Dane just chilled in the stroller - well, he wasn't actually chilling, he was roasting! - We didn't leave the football costume on too long because it was 82 degrees outside.

One more picture of my two cutie-pies!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Gig 'Em Aggies!

As I have posted previously, Kenna is in LOVE with her sunglasses. She recently decided that Dane needed to wear his glasses too and she was going to be the one to put them on him. He wasn't as big of a fan...

Kenna has been practicing the last few weeks saying "Gig 'Em Aggies." She has had the hardest time learning how to do the thumbs up. For the longest time, she has been sticking her pointer finger out instead of her thumb, and, when she does get her thumb out, her finger doesn't stay in and she does the guns up instead. But apparently she has finally figured out a way to get it done (And you even get to hear one of the two phrases most commonly heard at our house these days..."I don't need help"...the other is "I do it all by myself!")

On the Move

Dane Oliver is officially on the move. He started rolling over a few weeks after he hit four months old but was very content to roll from his back to his tummy and then just stay there (and vice versa). But that all changed this past weekend. He has now figured out how to roll from one spot to another and does not want to stay still. Diaper changes have officially become fun!

Tonight I was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner and looked up to find Dane exploring the entertainment center. He had started off in the middle of the living room floor. He was so proud of himself!

"Hmmm...how do I get this thing open?"

Kenna saw me taking pictures of Dane and said that she needed to take a picture too. This is how she wanted to take it...right next to her "brudder."

One of my favs...She decided he needed a little help because he would not look at the camera when she did. I'm sure this is the first of many times to come where he does not do exactly everything she wants! :)

Mercy's Birthday

Yesterday was Mercy's 16th birthday...can you believe it! We all met up for dinner at a restaurant in Allen and had a great time sitting out on the patio. Daniel came with us (his first outing that does not involve a dr appt of physical therapy since his surgery 3 weeks ago) and had fun showing Kenna and Mercy how to wear two party hats. Kenna also had fun blowing the little horn.

Since there were balloons floating about, Kenna decided to pretend like she was blowing up the balloon.

Part of the party crew....what fun! The weather was perfect!

Mercy loved her Thomas the Train chocolate cake....and Solomon really got into wearing more than one hat.

JD and Kenna really liked being able to run around and not sit at the table the entire time we were there. I think they really wanted to escape though.

It was a great party! Happy Birthday Mercy!

And the Winner Is.....

Several weeks ago, I posted as a facebook status that Dane and I were officially in a war over whether or not he would suck his thumb. I was really, really pushing the paci (a much easier habit to break when the time comes) and was SURE that I would come out of this victorious. Take a look at the pictures from this week and tell me who you think the winner really is....

I don't think it is me!

Daniel's surgery

As most of you know, almost 2 weeks ago, Daniel had some pretty major surgery done to his knee. He had a procedure done that is called autologous chondrocyte implantation or ACI. In a nutshell, they take a cartilage sample from his knee (they did that in March when they scoped his knee), grow the cells in the lab, and then go back in and insert them. They also lifted his knee cap to give him some more room so hopefully everything will quit rubbing together. If you want a more detailed description, along with some cool pictures, here is a link that does a great job describing ACI.

Because of the extent of the surgery, we spent three nights in the hospital. Kenna and Dane went to spend some quality time with Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Mercy (Thanks guys!) so I could stay in the hospital with Daniel. The pain meds that they were giving him were making him very hot. We had the thermostat set down as low as it could possibly go and I was sitting around wearing a sweatshirt, socks, and covered up with 3 blankets and he was STILL hot. So the nurses went to find a fan and this is what they found....

...it loudly got the job done! :)

After three days we got to come home and Daniel was very glad to be able to sleep in own bed. He has to wear a lovely brace and be completely non-weight-bearing for 6 weeks.

For the first week, his foot was HUGE! They had wrapped is leg so his knee wouldn't swell and mess up the incision so all of the extra fluid went down into his foot. Once they took the original bandage off of his knee, his foot and leg got MUCH better!

His has to use the CPM for 8 hours a day every day. He has done this before but I am sure it is still pretty boring!

We got him all set up with snacks, books, TV, computer, etc.

After Kenna came home from the Boyd's, she went to spend the week with my parents in Muleshoe so Daniel could have a little time before he had a two year old wanting to kiss his "owie". Hopefully they will post some pictures of their adventures soon! Thanks everyone for all of your help during this !

Meeting Cousin Keaton

My cousin, Leslye, had a precious baby boy on Monday. She lives about 2 hours from here , and since Kenna was in Muleshoe with my parents, we all took this as a great opportunity to go meet baby Keaton and exchange my daughter!

Once we got there, Gran had to get in some Dane loving. He was supporting his Texas Rangers. He looks so cute and round! :) Mr. Keaton Reese

It doesn't take long to forget how little they are when they are born....and he was NOT a little baby (9lbs 6oz)!

Gran had gone shopping at the Dollar Store and Kenna and Abbye had a blast with the finery that she acquired on her shopping spree!

We tried to take a picture of all of the kids together....this is definitely going to be a process to ever get a good picture with a bunch of little ones! I love how Dane is just looking at Keaton...what is that?

Here is our attempt at a picture of the boys. Dane was too busy watching the Rangers on TV so he didn't want to look at the camera and Anson was looking at his Mommy....oh well.

An attempt at a photo of Gran and her great-grandkids. Kenna was not interested in smiling and it appears that Anson was trying to escape the grasp of his big sister, Abbye. Fun times.

This morning, Kenna was very glad to be home and helped Mommy make some Birthday Waffles for Daddy (just a day late). She had had to be all accessorized to stir.

Fun day!

Keaton is absolutely adorable and I am so glad to have all of my family home under the same roof!

Go Rangers!!

This weekend, we got to celebrate my grandmother, Mama's, 80th birthday. Almost all of my extended family on my Dad's side made the trek to DFW so we could all go to a Ranger's game together on Saturday night. We had so much fun and even got to hear her name announced on the radio broadcast and go across the jumbotron!!!!


Dane just got so caught up in the excitement that he couldn't stand it and had to take a nap to refresh himself. :) I did get him a Ranger's shirt once we went and did a little shopping but I never put it on him. (Bad Mom). He is going to wear it tomorrow though to support the team!Kenna loved sitting between Mama and Papa. She was telling them all about it! We got her a shirt too....

Kenna and Abbye had a blast! Kenna was very excited about her new Ranger's t-shirt and decided that she needed a hat to match. It is precious! It has a little Minnie Mouse on the front next to the T. She was a little upset that she had to take it off when we got home. We had to promise her that she could wear it later.
Kenna loved joining in all of the chants with the crowd. As soon as we walked in the door, she walked up to Daniel to tell him that she yelled Go Rangers. She also like yelling for Josh Hamilton. :)

Once Dane woke up he spent some time just chilling with all of the family. He loved relaxing in Papa's lap. You wouldn't guess Mama had hit the big 8-0 would you?

We did take a group shot but not with my camera. Hopefully someone who has a picture of the entire group will send me a copy....such a fun time! Daniel had to miss out on everything because he had just gotten home from the hospital that day and was hanging out with his brothers while keeping his leg propped up on the couch...more on that later! Thanks to the boys for keeping him company while the rest of us went out to play.

GO RANGERS!!