Thinking back...

Now that 2010 year is over (yes it's been over for a couple of days) it's time to sit back and reflect. We lost a member of our family three days before Christmas last year, but weren't really able to feel the effect until the new year. It hurt. Cujo was a great dog and one of Keira's best friends, but it was time to let him go.
Austin Allen Benge was born on January 4th

and made our little family complete.

 

 

He did have a few issues for the first couple of months with gaining weight. 

Little Starving Ethiopian Baby

 Come to find out he was tongue tied and a little snip and he was good as new. And then he began to thrive !!!

He took the whole thing to a new degree and has ended the year wearing 18 month clothes and weighing  25lbs !!! Shane brought home "the brat" on Cinco de Mayo to help Keira. She was really missing Cujo and would even still cry about it. Now keep in mind (if you don't remember Tikaani came home to us at 7 weeks old and weighed 11 lbs.)

Shane and Keira were thrilled, me, I was less than thrilled. All I really needed was another thing to chase that would eat and poop, oh and NOT sleep through the night because she didn't want to be alone. Then she started to grow and grow and grow and grow. We are now sitting at over 80 lbs. and she goes to doggy "disobedience" school once a week.

We had the house up for sale, but after the first initial 6 month contract was up we decided to not sign it up again. Thus brought in the "era" of remodeling.

It started with the kitchen...

Then he moved onto the backyard..

Then he went into the spare bath...

June brought our little girl to her 4th birthday. I can't believe it's been 4 years, but it has. She had a Minnie Mouse birthday party and whole bunch of family and friends came to help up celebrate. Austin was thriving, but having serious sleeping and teething issues. He is not a napper, so there is not a lot of free time in the day and his teeth were really bothering him

She finally got her a bike that made
her want to jump on it and ride.






We made it through the summer in tact. There were no major adjustments, changes or life altering occurances. We went to a few birthday parties, played outside and enjoyed the deck. The kids (and dog) grew A LOT. Austin was still having problems with sleeping during the day and his teeth. He just couldn't catch a break.

 He is a very happy baby. His teeth would really bother him, but he would still have a smile on his face.

4th of July was spent at PaPa's house for the annual parade and then Abby's birthday found us spending time in a "pool"

Tikaani got really big REALLY fast. Almost as fast as the kids..ha ha ha..This picture is Keira's 4 year pics. My dad took us out to a park and took them for us. She has turned into such a little "girl", the baby is definetely gone now.

 Then it happened. Keira started school.

Everyone told me I was supposed to cry, nope couldn't get her there fast enough. ha ha ha..Actually I was very happy for her and excited at the same time. She needs other people to play with other than me and her little brother. I took a ton of pictures bcuz Shane couldn't get off work to take her. She had a few issues settling in, but finally found her groove. Austin had a really hard time with it. For the first week at least he would walk around looking for her. He always gets her up in the morning (even back then, I would carry him to her room to help me wake her up) and she just wasn't there. If I got him down for a morning nap it was even worse, he would wake up and run to her door and bang on it looking for her. It was very sweet, but sad.

Keira was in school for one week before we left. Yes, we pulled her out of school to go to Disney World. We spent a fun filled week in Disney World with my dad. There are so many pictures and so many stories that I will be here all night. Needless to say she still talks about it, still dances to the music and talks about going back.

Keira got to have dinner with the princesses and even Monkey got some loving'. Austin got his first haircut at the barber shop on Main Street which included special ears. It was a magical time that can never be duplicated.

After Disney we settled into a routine. School three days a week and adventures the other 2 days. Austin was still not napping and having problems with his teeth. He got his first earache right before we left for Disney and it's a problem we are still fighting. Something very exciting did happen on Columbus Day. Austin TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS !!! He was officially 9 months and 1 week old. We were at Mom's and he was standing there looking at me and then just walked to me. He was so eager he didn't take one step, he took THREE !!! Mom was there to see the whole thing too. YAY, that makes moving across town to be closer worth everything.

The holidays rolled around and we were on turbo drive. Keira wanted to replicate the Halloween Party we went to at Disney so we had "Keira's Not So Scary Halloween Party", lots of family members showed up, we had a good time, good food, some jello shots and a lot of candy handed out.

We took Austin trick or treating, but he didn't last near as long as Keira so we sent her on with both Grandma's and headed back with him to lay him down. It was still a good time and she still talks about it.




Thanksgiving brought family together again and it was another whirlwind. We did two families in one day. Dinner at MeeMaw's and dessert at Grandma's. The kids had fun and we had lots of food.

Shane always works on that Friday and it was no different, but we did fly out to Moody Gardens for our annual "start" to the holiday season, The Festival of Lights. Aunt Kellie and Uncle Shannon were with us again and Austin was more interested in just walking than the lights.
Since he found his "legs" he doesn't want to stop. I thought I was gonna have everything done early this year. NOT. It was crazy. Every weekend we had something to do trying to fit it all in. The kids did enjoy doing everything, but it seems that the reason for the season was lost on us.

Spending time as a family is wonderful, but pointless if most of it is spent in the car. I did enjoy some things this year. Watching Christmas through the kid's eyes is amazing. Keira has become obsessed with the "baby jesus" story and Austin is just fascinated by everything. So there were two different viewpoints of everything we did. Keira was in her first play at school, she was a twirling angel.

They actually made the Angels twirl for Keira. Lots of stories and lots of pictures. Christmas weekend was NUTS. There was too much to do and too many places to go. We didn't get to enjoy time spent with most of the people bcuz we were either exhausted, trying to fit everything in, or headed out to somewhere else. The kids got completely spoiled this year and not just by me.

We are blessed that so many people care about them enough to buy them something at Christmas time. I started taking videos of the kids opening presents and doing all these different things and realized I was video taping to watch later, but was missing out now. So it would be nice to see in a couple of years, but I wanted to enjoy them. New Year's Eve was very mellow, especially for us. Keira did make it to 12:00 to wish us a Happy New Year. Our resolutions for this year...be healthy, happy and slow down. We want to do so much with the kids, but we don't ever get to enjoy doing it with the kids.

 I lost 52lbs. (officially on New Year's Day),and still have more to go






Shane has bypassed the Rodeo this year to be home with the kids and wants to relax more at home and not bring work home with him. Keira will be starting kindergarten in the fall and there is no telling what is in store for Monkey. He went from 8.5 lbs. to 25lbs., 21 inches to ? (not sure, they haven't measured him yet), no teeth and having problems eating to a mouth full of teeth (10 or 11 at last count including the bigger ones in the back) and out eating Keira. He refuses to be fed, he has to feed himself and will eat anything, but his favorite..CHEETOS..lol..just like his sister. Tikaani has gone from 11lbs. to 80lbs. and still the "big stupid dog"..lol...We are blessed. We have two beautiful, happy children that really do love each other. This upcoming year will be our 10 year anniversary and I am lucky enough to be married to a wonderful man that works hard so I am able to stay at home with the kids. Happy New Year to all our family and friends.

Shane, Erin, Keira, Austin and even Tikanni