Jane, the gymnast again :)

Jane has been taking gymnastics for the last few months at HEB gymnastics. Last Saturday was parents day so Jay and I got to see her class, they usually don't let the parents watch. Here is Jane with her friend Ali. I officially LOVE Ali, and here's why... The first day of her new gymnastics Jane was super excited to go until we actually got there, then it was a different story. As soon as I turned to go Jane starts crying, like bawling. Saying she wanted to go home and she didn't want to stay. I gave her a quick kiss and said "Be brave, you'll have fun!" and turned to go thinking that if she didn't see me she would recover and go in to the class. Instead, I could hear her crying from around the corner. I waited a few minutes and when the crying didn't stop I went back. She was hysterical. The teacher saw me and said, "Look! Is that your mom?" with a look of relief. Jane comes running towards me and hides her face in my stomach. Just as I was about to give in and take her home I see this little girl waving her hand rapidly from across the gym yelling Jane's name. I motioned for the girl to come closer and when she did I could see it was Ali from Jane's kindergarten class. I said, "look Jane Ali is here!" Jane turns, sees Ali who is holding her hand out to Jane, and without so much as a goodbye Jane grabs Ali's hand and happily runs off with her into the gym. She didn't so much as bat an eye every week after that. Thank you Ali!

We had a bit of time for roughhousing after class, which Jena very much enjoyed!

Resolution

Where to begin? 

How about here:

That was me this time last year. Seriously!?! How come nobody told me!!!! I didn't even realize that it had gotten that bad. Having kids packs on the pounds anyone can tell you that and having babies close together like I did makes it worse but... seriously! I told myself for a year too long that I was hanging onto baby fat that would disappear on it's own. HAHAHAHA!! That picture above was taken almost a year after Jena was born. And actually it wasn't even that picture that brought me into reality. It was one I had taken with my team on Earth Day (which somehow I don't have a copy of) that made me realize I needed to take action. So, May of last year I joined a gym with the help of my wonderful friend Rachel. She and I encouraged each other to go several times a week and somehow I became one of those people I didn't truly think existed, someone who likes to work out (like I'm not kidding when I say I thought people just said that to sound cool). So, January came around and it was time to make a resolution and I had pretty much already reached goals that I wasn't even sure that I had set for myself because truly I was just going to the gym because I liked to. I decided that my resolution would be to run a 5K. (really long story on how I came to that decision fits here). I have NEVER been a runner or liked to run and thought people who did races for fun were insane. So my resolution of completing a 5K was actually more about wanting to do a 5K than completing a 5K, if that makes any sense. Anyway, I told Rachel about it and right away she was on board and urged me to start looking for one. I was thinking more along the lines of the Turkey Trot in November, after all you get a whole year to complete a resolution right? But she was insistent that I start looking and low and behold I found one at the end of January. Turns out there are races like every weekend you could do if that is your thing. (which again those people are insane!) So, Rachel and I signed up for our 5K. It's actually called the Texas Half because the real race is a half marathon but for those wimps like me who have never even pictured themselves running a race for "fun" they tack on a 5K. So, yesterday morning at 5:30 I woke up, dressed, picked up Rachel, drove an hour to Dallas, and ran (mostly) a 5k! New Years resolution- CHECK! Here are some pics...

You've got to watch this video of me finishing. It's probably the highlight of my month hearing my name being called as I finished with my new friend Amanda (met her on the race). And Rachel actually sprinted ahead of me to finish early so she could video me coming in... seriously who has friends like that? I do. 

Just after that video, that's me trying not to throw up. and I didn't! I posted this on Facebook with a caption that said, "dying" and my friend Allsion replied "No, living" and that just about sums it up!

Jillybean turns three!

 For Jill's their birthday my mom and I took the girls to Six Flags for Holiday in the Park. First we went on the Frosty Snow Hill for sledding. Jena went down with me and she loved it! Jane went down by herself. I got a picture of her at the bottom. Mom went down with Jill. Everyone had a great time. Jill said it was scary but she was smiling really big when she said it.

After the snow hill the girls got some ice cream while we waited for a show to start. Here's Jena and mom inside the theatre waiting for "All I want for Christmas" a singing and dancing show at the Palace Theatre.

The girls got cotton candy!

After the show, we headed home. We met everyone at mom's at 7:00 for Jill's birthday cake and  presents. Everything was Dora themed. Jill had a Dora cake.

Jena liked the cake too!

Here are some of Jill's presents: a Dora guitar...

Dora bath paints...

She also got a big Dora pillow, Dora toothbrush, toothpaste, body wash, etc. a great train set from my mom which Jill loves. But what really took the cake, so to speak, was the Dora dollhouse!

After Jill opened the doll house everyone and everything else kind of disappeared as far as she was concerned. She just played and played in her doll house.

Happy birthday Jillybean!!!

Christmas Morning

Ahhh the calm and peace at one o'clock in the morning, just after Santa has finished working...

Jane was the first to wake up, dragging everyone out of bed to come see the presents. Here is what she asked for from Santa when she saw him at the mall, a first bath baby.

Jill was still sleepy and moving kind of slow so Jane helped her open most of her presents.

This is Jill with her baby Alive.

Jena got some stacking blocks which she loves...

...and a shape sorter...

..and this cool gears toy that the girls played with her. Jena LOVES gears!

Jill asked Santa for a dinosaur and...

...a car. Here she is mastering her remote control car controller in a matter of seconds and racing it all around the house to torture/entertain Jackson who chased after it or was chased by it all while barking.

This is my favorite! I had to take a picture of Jane's Baby Alive (yes, Allison they ARE kind of creepy looking!). Look at the baby's foot! Think Jane has seen Toy Story enough times?

Good times!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we spend at my parents' house. Here is a brief look at the chaos!

 

My mom decided to be a bit more festive this year...

My dad was in hog heaven surrounded by the grandkids.

The boys love their baby girls! Here's Jill and Cameron.

Preston and Jena

Yep.

The girls are IN LOVE with their new baby cousin Clara. When she started crying they sang twinkle twinkle little star to her until she stopped crying. She stares at them in wonder.

What a great night! Gosh, I love my family!!!

Christmas with the Sparks family

We spent the few days before Christmas with Jay's family down hear Houston. These pictures are all kind of out of order so bare with me...

When we first arrived at Pops house the girls were told that uncle Jeff's Bulldog and Pops' Lab had puppies!! They are only three weeks old but are just old enough to pick up, crawl around, lick, and climb. This is pretty much where the girls could be found (especially Jill!) during most of our visit. Jill would look at me with pleading eyes and say, "Can we take one to our house, PWWWEEEEAAASE!!" (no we did not bring home a puppy!)

Jill loves Gus almost as much as she loves his puppies and he was tolerating her laying on top of him without growling or snapping at her so I like Gus too.

Pops was giving Jena some ice cream, a rare treat since Jena is lactose intolerant (or something along those lines). It was so cute I actually forgot Jena isn't allowed to have ice cream until she was a few bites in!

On the night of the 23rd most all of Jay's family came over to Pops and Nikki's house to have dinner and exchange presents. Here is a cute one with Jay's mom, Meemaw Janet and Jay's dad, Pops.

The Sparks Family

Going from left to right: Me, holding Jill (who literally fell asleep during this picture taking session), Jay's dad and mom with his brother Jeff behind them, then Cassandra, (Jon's girlfriend) Jon, (Jay's youngest brother) holding Alazae (Cassandra's little girl), Jay holding Jane. Jena was already asleep upstairs.

Jay's grandma, Meemaw Georgie is just about the coolest grandma around. We are able to keep up with her on Facebook in between her trips with her groups of friends from the retirement community where she lives. (I swear her social calendar is busier than mine!)

Jay's aunt Jenny and cousin Ashley. We are all squeezed in by the fireplace because we were all freezing. Jay's dad likes to keep the house at a nice comfortable 60 degrees. I kid. But seriously we were all grateful when Jenny snuck over and adjusted the thermostat!

Cute pics of Pops and his girls....

The girls did some baking with Jay's stepmom Nikki. They made brownies and decorated cookies!

It was a fulfilled few days! Thanks for having us!!