Look Who Came to Visit!

Considering it has almost been two weeks since she was here, I guess I'm a little behind on telling you about my visit with Celia.

I was SO thrilled to have her come stay with me. It was an added bonus that she brought William to play with my munchkins... and of course, baby Gabriel! I actually got to hold him and cuddle on that sweet baby this time around! I haven't posted on my visit to go see her in the hospital after she had Gabriel because I brought my camera and forgot to make sure my SD card was in it. I was ticked! There I was meeting this sweet new baby and I couldn't even take his picture! Anyways, Celia has posted about it on her blog if you are interested in reading about it just click here.

Celia and I swapped babies for a while and just loved on them. Seth felt so big after holding Gabriel for a while! Well, I guess that could be because he is getting big...

These little boys...

...are going to be best friends and they just don't know it yet! Aren't they cute?!

The kids also had a blast playing together. They have become fast friends and Ansley and Eli were less than thrilled when William had to go home on Sunday.

This is kind of off topic, but I have mentioned in a past post that we recently got a new puppy named Winston.

Well, we got Winston two days before Celia arrived and I believe it's safe to say that he was very well received by all the children. (NOTE: Eli would not be still long enough for me to get a picture of him with Winston.)

Even Seth...

We also put Seth and Gabriel in the matching outfits that Sarita sent us while we were still pregnant with them. They looked so precious, but don't take my word for it. See for yourself.

Of course we had to get a picture of all the kids together along with Noah's tiger and Wyatt's elephant...

And these stuffed animals represent the two sweet little boys that brought Celia and I together...

It was a wonderful weekend. I am already counting down the days until we can get back together again!

A family portrait with Wyatt

I have been really bothered lately with the idea that I don't care for the one and only family picture we were able to get after Wyatt was born. I wish I had thought to hire a photographer to do family portraits in addition to the NILMDTS pictures we had taken. But, we all know there is no way to change those precious couple of days so I decided to make my own by compiling pictures together from that time frame. I'm pretty satisfied with the way they turned out. It's not the real thing, but it's better than what I had. I used a few different effects to give the picture some different looks...

NOTE: Seth is not in this picture because this is supposed to be a family picture to capture our family as it was last year.

Also, I wanted to do a picture to add to Wyatt's name gallery in honor of his 15 month anniversary of living and going to heaven. I added words into his name that had meaning to me like 2 minutes, elephants, son, brother, loved, missed, dear, heaven sent, life, cherished, and so on... This is what I came up with.

I'm still here!

Once again I have been away long enough that I have had some sweet bloggy friends email me to make sure everything was alright. Sorry everyone!

Let me start off with saying that my immediate family is fine. However, we've been dealing with some other tragedies as of late and it's kept me away form the computer.

First of all, my husbands nana (from his mother's side) had to undergo open heart surgery. We made a rushed trip down to Florida to see her before she went in. We originally thought it was going to have to be a triple or quadruple bypass but she ended up just needing a double. Although she is still weak and recovering, I am happy to report that she is doing well.

Next, my husband's other nana (from his father's side) passed away last week and she lives all the way in Oklahoma. That just so happens to be an 18 hour drive ONE WAY! It makes me sick to say that I wasn't able to go with Joseph because of the kids and Ansley's school schedule, but I've been down lately because of nana's passing. Is it weird that I am also slightly jealous that she is in heaven with Wyatt right now? There are so many people that I love that have gone to heaven already. It makes me long that much more for the day that I will join them. What a wonderful reunion day that will be...

Also, my 20 year old brother Philip was in a motorcycle accident on Friday involving a tree and no helmet. He's in a coma right now and they are not sure how much brain damage he may have suffered. We're hanging in limbo right now and saying tons of prayers for his recovery. Your prayers would be appreciated.

On top of all that, we're dealing with Ansley starting school and a bunch of possible changes in our family.

On a lighter note, not everything has been bad here lately.

Ansley is loving school. Here's some pictures of her first day...

And look who comes to school to keep Ansley company during the day...

As far as possible changes, Joseph is getting things squared away to go full time Active duty military instead of reserves. He's seriously considering an inner service transfer from the Marine Corps. to the Navy which means there is no telling where in the world our family will be 6 months from now.

I've just been a bit overwhelmed lately which is why I've stayed away. I didn't want to sound like I was whining. I've been trying out the tactic "If I don't think about it I don't have to deal with it", and it's not working. So, I'm back! Plus, I can't have you guys worrying about me!

The kids are doing good. Like I said before, Ansley is LOVING school. And Eli is LOVING that Ansley is gone during the day. And you wouldn't believe how big Seth has gotten. At his 2 month check up he was 9 pounds 9 ounces and 22.75 inches long. Oh, and guess what!?! Seth is smiling and cooing now! I can't seem to get a picture of his full smile. These are the closest I've gotten to him smiling.

I've gotten plenty of him making weird faces...

But none of that brilliant smile I love so much. I'll keep trying.

I'll do a more in depth update full with pictures soon, but for now here are some pictures of the kids.

And introducing the newest member of our family... Meet Winston! Our cute little dapple dachshund!