Aunt Tara, Dresses and Baby Showers...

Well I'm a little behind on posting only for the fact that I tried twice to upload pictures to post and it messed up twice! Sheesh. Once it messes up, and because it takes forever, I get flustered and end up moving on to something else. SO! Finally it worked today :)

Aunt Tara went back home to Virgina, which we were sad to see her go, but excited for her to see Robert, who is coming back from Iraq this week! Yay for Tara and Robert! Now we have another Aunt and Uncle that will keep us posting more regularly so they can see what craziness the kiddos are up to :) We love you guys and we are so thankful for your serving our country!

I met the neatest family through etsy (if you have never been on Etsy.com, check it out...they have awesome stuff and it's all handmade) Laura and her daughter Mily have two CUTE CUTE shops and I bought a ring (super cute and vintage style) from her daughter Mily, who was raising money to go on a mission trip. Her mom makes some of the most fabulous dresses EVER and we got one...(Many thanks Laura!!) and I am so eager for her to grow into it. It won't be long because girlfriend is growing up fast! Check out their esty shops...You won't be dissapointed and they are a wonderful Christian family :)

http://www.icandie.etsy.com/

http://www.foidesigns.etsy.com/

SO many people are having babies!!! Seriously I have like 10 people I know having babies! Which means lots of baby showers :) I love baby showers! Well any shower really! Here is a sign for a friend and a couple of burp rags. I can't wait for her to meet little Carlin! Babies are the best gifts from God ever! So amazing and such miracles.

Well! I am busy painting some more signs and I'm doing a new thing this week...a bow holder! I'm excited about that one :) You know how I like bows!!! :)

I better go get some orajel for miss Teagan. Girlfriend is getting a mouth full of teeth since she waited until 11 months to start! Her first one in is the side tooth which is kind of like a bubba tooth right? I mean normally they get the top two or bottom two but Teagan likes to keep us on our toes so she got the side one in first. Ha! That girl is hilarious! I will be glad once they are all in though and she starts feeling better and not so cranky...poor thing!

Fun times tomorrow! Lovely Tiffany is taking me to get a pedicure at Woodhouse spa for my bday and then we go to dinner with the MOPS gals. That sounds like a terrific Tuesday if you ask me!! :)

Sign for Mr. Carlin's baby shower

Oh my love! She is so funny!

Is that not the best packaging ever?!

Like Father Like Son

I love how Gauge wants to be just like Chris. We go shopping for shoes or clothes and if I just say "You want some like daddy's big boy shoes? or big boy shirt?" He gets a huge smile on his face and gets excited. So he loves Chris' visors and we think he looks good in one ;) See below...

We are in bow training with Teagan right now. She has figured out that I put them in her hair and quickly tries to pull it out. I have to just continually put it back in over and over but I will not give up. She will wear bows!

Paul Washer

If you have never heard of Paul Washer you should 'YouTube' him. Heck 'YouTube' "sermon jams" I have watched several and they are so powerful for such small snippets. To think if we could just show these in church on Sundays, man people would be seriously convicted and maybe we would start living radically like Jesus did instead of living for ourselves and our own comforts. After all aren't we supposed to be like Jesus? Watch this video. It's only like 3 minutes. Watch it all the way through. It will make you cringe and possibly aggitate you but I will guarentee when it is over you won't be the same. I need to watch it daily... because this world IS NOT MY HOME...So why am I living like it is? Like it's the fiber of all we say and do and have....Lord change me...CHANGE ME...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYsClDclvf0&feature=related

Papi's and Blankies

Those two things are like gold in our house! I can't tell you how many paci's we have lost and I search endlessly until I find and how many times I have to sneak blankies away so I can wash them :)

The new funny thing is that Teagan gets a kick out of stealing Gauge's papi and blankie! She will tun over to where ever he sits them down, snatch them quickly and take off running as fast as she can, which is really slow but oh so stinkin' cute! She will also do a giggle like she love's him to come chase after her. It's such a cute thing to watch.

Other than that we are just again trying to stay out of the heat and in the AC! I am counting down the end of summer! I can't wait for just a little relief from this heat!

My little man is going through some attachment things wanting only me most of the day and I am the only one that can rock him at nap and bedtime. But I sure do love the loving from him though. I know it's just a stage so I am just soaking up the time he wants to just have me cuddle with him. He also is giving real hugs. He will run up to Chris or I and give us a squeeze hug and it is so cute! And it melts your heart!

I gotta start thinking of things for Teagan's birthday! I can't believe in a little over a month she will be one! My goodness time flies when you are having fun :) I know I want to do a "Tea" party for Miss TEAgan....hehe So I am planning and thinking and of course Googling!

If you don't read the Living Proof blog that Beth Moore and her daughters blog on you should go check out this post from one of her daughters Melissa. It was such a good one! http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009/07/oh-yes-jesus-loves-me.html

Lovin' her new blankie from Aunt Boog!


Teagan LOVES the silky side and Aunt Boog gave her this big silky Little Girraffe blanket and that child is in love...(and so am I when I cuddle in it when she is not using it! ha!)

So handsome. This face makes me break out into the biggest smile!

Grabbing blankies!

Notice she has his papi in one hand and his blankie in the other! Stinker!

He has a double cowlick and how do you like that Dennis the Menace hair! Ha!

This happens after nap! :)

Haircuts and Double Stroller...

Whoohoo! We got our new double stroller in and it is a dream! I am going to sell the Double Sit and Stand stroller I had orginally bought because it wasn't working out for us. I love my friend Tiffany's stroller and went on an internet search for it and found it for a super bargain! I love bargains! As you can see in the pics below, Teagan loves it and so does Gauge because he sat in it while I read him his bedtime books... :)

We also took Mr. Gauge to get a 'real' haircut today. Chris and I thought maybe I should stop butchering the poor child's hair with my craft scissors :) Well I watched closely as they did it today and I can totally do it ;) I just need some hair scissors and a razor thingy majig. Sally's here I come! He did SOOO good and sat there with the funniest face. He throughly enjoyed looking at his handsome self in the mirror the whole time. When he was all done he was just smiling away as we told him what as handsome big boy he was. Such a cutie! (these pictures are backwards. I'll get it right one of these days!)

And then of course there are some pictures playing on daddy's new boat. They love playing on that thing! So funny. I guess it's like a fort to them. That's one expensive fort! ;)

Enjoy the cuties being cute. It's what they do best!

OH I could just eat him up! I love that sweet face!

Mrs. Big Stuff...

Loving those sweet legs in her cute sandals!

Good times...

A classic Teagan face. My little goober!

Good golly I love that child! Note the world's tinest clip in her hair. I know it's a shocker! They are usually huge. But I like variety!

Yup she approves of the new stroller!

More frequent posts for Aunt Layne!

One of my favorites for my older sister. It's a quote from the book "Safetly Home" By Randy Alcorn...(a must read!) That's in Mandarin and translates "Real gold fears no fire."

Fun Uncle Jon!

Toes done!

So I told Layne I would post more frequently so she can still feel as though she is still here visiting :) And of course because she does an amazing job of keeping us updated and I feel as though I am right there in Portugal with her! I love you Layne!

So I have finished a few more signs and still working on a few. I have a little problem of not knowing when to stop...For instance I will paint and then think "Is that too plain? Should I add something?" And then over do it...Chris is such a help though and usually helps me figure out just what it needs. I want to take an art class and figure out how to shade and such. I also need to figure out how to use my camera! Sometimes I will take pictures of the signs and they come out ok but other times they come out all wrong and the colors are off. I have a friend who said she would show me (Jade I am going to get with you!! :) ) and I really need to do that! :)

Other than that I am obsessed with making flower hair clips for Teagan :) I heart accessories for little girls! I will post some pics of them soon.

And Monday night my girls bible study group started a new study! It is "Me, Myself and Lies" by Jennifer Rothschild. I am really loving it and I have a feeling I'm going to be getting ALOT out of it. It is about our 'thought closet' and how we need to replace the lies we tell ourselves with the TRUTH of God's word. I also really enjoy just having a study book to work through. I am a school person at heart. I love pens, pencils, notebooks, anything schoolish. (I made up that word) And it really helps, especially with my two wild munchkins, to have a book to follow in and actually write in.

Well as I am talking about that book I better go get busy on Day 2 Week 1 while my sweet babies are snoozing. :)

Seriously! It's been since May 30th since I posted?!

Well! That's a long time! Let's see if I can recap what been going on...

The biggest news is that Miss Teagan is walking! And not just a little, but like she doesn't crawl anymore. And that little girl is fast! Within three days she went from a few steps to almost running and going from sitting to standing and walking all by herself. She definately keeps us busy now! Good thing is I always know where she is at, right by Gauge. She just wants to do everything he does. I finally got her walking sandals so she can walk outside but you won't believe what happened....While in the mall she dropped one! So now we only have one and let's just say they weren't cheap. Dern it. I am praying that it will show up in the lost and found at the mall by tomorrow....And it didn't so Target shoes are now our friend :)

Gauge is really trying to talk alot! He will repeat or try to repeat most words you tell him to say and he is a pro at the sounds of each letter in the alphabet. He recognizes and says the sound...I'm one proud mama! His new thing is his cars. Chris took him to Toys R Us to get him a little Hot Wheels suit case thingy to carry them in and they had one that rolls like a mini little suitcase. Let's just say he is in love! Rolls and carries his cars=one happy boy! I am also so proud of how he is becoming such a little book worm! I thought the day might never come! He loves to bring us books to read and his favorite (well right now that is) is The Wheels on the Bus. Can I just say you thought the regular song was long...well you should read this one. Holy smokes singing through that book is exhausting! ;) But I can't resist his little smile so I read it over and over.

Layne and Jon are here in town for the week and then they are off to Portugal for language school. We are super excited to be able to spend some time with them before they leave for several months. And having them was extremely fun! We already miss you guys!

Other than that we are just trying to keep cool and stay indoors because of this dern heat! My goodness it is hot!

Here are some pics for fun!