Pictures of the House...

Here are a few pictures of the house now that I found my camera.

I've been waiting a long time for these babies! =)

Lulu turns 6 months...

Whenever I write Lexie's name I usually call her "Alexis" or "Lexie" but we actually call her "Lulu" most of the time. When she was born I started calling her Lexie Lu and then Jared shortened it to Lulu and now that's what we call her 90% of the time. Anyway, our little Lulu turned 6 months old this week and I can't believe it. She is seriously a little ball of joy with the cutest cheeks and thighs I've ever seen. It makes me so happy to see how well Katy and Lexie get along and how their little relationship is developing. It reminds me of how close I was with my little sister, but then I remember how much we fought when we were little and I start to worry about what's in store for us! Here are a few pics of our little Lulu.

I put Lexie under her little play gym and left the room. When I came back Katy had built a tent around them. (Yes, Katy is finally potty trained - well mostly potty trained =)

Try to guess what book Katy is reading

Bloom Where You're Planted...

Sorry I haven't posted since we moved, but we've been extremely busy. I have to say that having movers was so nice especially when you have two small kids running around. I'm definitely looking forward to never having to move ourselves again! So far we love the house and can't believe how nice it is to finally spread out! The girls finally have their own rooms, which I would have liked 6 months ago when Alexis was born! I eventually want them to share a room, but unfortunately Lexie still wakes up in the middle of the night and I don't want her waking up her sister. One of my favorite things is the backyard. I love letting Katy run around outside while I'm cooking or cleaning. The whole back of the house is windows so I can pretty much see her anywhere in the yard from the kitchen or living room. My second favorite thing is that I get to park in a garage. This might not seem like a big deal, but for the past five years I've had to park in a parking lot and trek all the way to my apartment and then climb stairs (all with groceries and small children in tow). Now I can just pull into the garage let Katy out and carry everything straight into the kitchen. It's fabulous! One of the hard parts about buying our first house is we didn't realize how much you have to buy just to move in. For example, in the last couple of weeks we have purchased a fridge, a washer, a dryer, blinds for the whole house, drapes/rods, a twin bed, a lawn mower, hoses, sprinklers and about a billion other things! Moving is expensive! We're pretty much unpacked, but we're not all the way organized yet if that makes sense. I was going to post some pictures, but I can't find my camera, so those will have to come later.

So far we really like the area we live in. There are a lot of parks and shopping. We just enrolled Katy in a sports class at Gymboree and are trying to get her into swimming lessons (I'll let you know how that goes). We went to church last Sunday and that was quite interesting. I kept being reminded of what a coworker told me when she found out I was moving to Baton Rouge. She knew I wasn't that excited (to say the least), but she told me, "you know, you just have to bloom where you're planted". I really thought about that and it's really changed my attitude about where we live. We feel so blessed that Jared had the opportunity to go back to school and that he finished with a great job in a struggling economy. I'm also so grateful that I get to stay home with my two precious girls and be a full time mommy!

Congratulations Jared!

Happy Graduation Day! He finally did it! Jared graduated with his MBA on Friday and we are thrilled beyond words. It's been a long two years, but definitely worth all the pain. We're just glad to be done with school forever. Congratulations honey on all the hard work and on you're awesome achievement! Here are a few pics from the big day!

Here's Dean Glick putting the hood around Jared's neck.

The only "happy" family photo

Katy watched "Lightning McClean" throughout the ceremony. She was an angel!

Here is the amazing cake Jared's mom made for him.


The proud parents

Teaching Kids is Always Fun

So, Jared was teaching Kaitlyn the name of our church the other day and I thought I'd share their dialogue.

Jared:  "Katy, can you say, 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?'"

Katy: "Amen"

I guess I can see how she would think he was ending a prayer. :)

Here's a pic of Katy wearing Jared's graduation cap also!