9 months already??

Cambry's now officially 9 months and I'm officially in denial. I just love this age, but at the same time it just does not seem possible. Weren't we just bringing our little bundle home? She is such our little princess and clearly knows it. She knows exactly what she wants and how to get her way. Her latest trick is to get this most pathetic look on her face, arch her back and throw her head back in absolute sadness. It really is impressive. She's moving all over the place, and just last week actually started moving forward. She's been doing this kind of crawl with one leg up for a little while, but is finally making it easy on herself and crawling completely. She pulls up on EVERYTHING and even tries to let go and stand. She weighs 19.2 lbs and is healthy as can be. We have been so blessed these past 9 months with Cambry in our lives.




Colten and Cambry are outside kiddos. They love to be together in the backyard. One of our recent favorites is pulling Cambry around in either the big or little wagon. Colten loves to do both. The little one is just her size and they both get a big kick out of it!!!


Last week Granden (my dad) was Colten's "mystery guest" at school. He got to read to the class during story time, so we did the whole ranching theme. He was decked out in his straw hat and read a book all about the ranch. Colten was a little shy (and confused) at first, but talked and talked about Granden's visit. It was pretty special...



This past weekend we got to take two of our favorite families to the ranch for a little catching up and relaxation. The kids all had a great time and found lots to do. We got to feed many many cows, take jeep rides and play in the country. It was a great weekend with great friends!!!

Things around here

Colten had rodeo week a few weeks ago at school and loved every minute of it. The kids could dress up each day if they wanted, so of course the overalls, boots, hat and button down shirts came out (by Colten's request). He loved it. I got to help out on the final day and "worked" the roping center. It really was a blast.

Listening to cowboy storiesTrying his hand at roping

Cambry is now 8 months and is such a ham, she's just itching to keep up with her brother.

Sitting pretty

Crazy hair day, a normal occurrence

Colten also has been big into dressing up like anything and everything he can. One day he will be an Aggie football player, ALL day. He even fell asleep with the pads on, but I drew the line with the helmet. He gets into my clothes and boots and decides some days to be Hannah Montana (thanks to his cousin, Kalyn)!!! That one's pretty funny.

Some sort of "bad guy" with my salad bowl as a helmet He also got to go to the rodeo last week with just Mommy and Daddy. It was pretty special to just focus on him and he ate it up. It was really fun for us all.

Chowing down on the not-so-good-for-you rodeo food And Cambry is now making every effort to crawl. She takes a stride and then gracefully sits back down, not quite sure what to do, I guess.

Making an attemptLife sure is fun right now!!!

Playground talk

Last week we were informed that Colten has been doing some serious "talking" on the playground at school. The story goes that his teacher and the preschool director overheard him deep in conversation with a girl in his class. He was desperately trying to convince her and kept getting louder and louder. I assume, causing some kind of ruckus on the playground. The little girl made a statement that she had some kind of tools or toolbox, something like that at home. Colten, then went on to inform the girl that "girls do not have tools, only boys can have tools." Well, this little girl (from what I can tell) is just about as hard headed and determined as Colten and pushed the fact that she does have tools at home. Well, Colten had enough of that and loudly let her know that if she said that again, his daddy would have to come to school and spank her for saying that. Oh brother, can you just imagine. By then, the teachers were laughing hysterically. It didn't seem to bother the little girl a bit, so they continued back and forth for awhile, I understand. Funny thing is the preschool director, who we know quite well, was really laughing more because Colten's reaction and facial expressions reminded her more of Caleb than anything else. Oh...my boys are so much alike!!!

Catching up...again

Well, we are in full swing with the new year around here...back to school, work and just livin'!!!

Things are good, we are all finally well (at the moment), no more coughing, sneezing and whatever else we seemed to have picked up. Cambry was 7 months yesterday, and I realized I didn't post when she was 6 mos, I guess it was right before Christmas. She weighed 16 lbs 12 oz at her 6 month visit and dropped to the 60th percentile, no worries of course, and is doing wonderfully!!! She is so much fun right now. I do have to brag though...she's so content, she's sleeping great, taking two refreshing long naps, eating 3 meals a day like a champ, drinking from a cup with no problems and seems to be on the verge of taking off and crawling. She seems so anxious to keep up with Colten, it's great.

What a face!!!

Colten is movin and groovin. He missed school so much over the holidays and was more than anxious to get back and see everyone. He's been asking how soon before it's Halloween/ Christmas again, poor thing doesn't comprehend how many months are in between. I just keep reminding him of all the holidays, birthdays and summertime fun we have ahead of us. Really, he just wants to know the next holiday when he can get loads of candy, I think.

And...I have been meaning to post our "family" Christmas gift from the Chances.

Yes, a trampoline, so much safer than when we were young!!!

I must say it's pretty fun, and a great workout. We ALL are really enjoying it. Colten loves jumping, flipping and of course playing football ON the trampoline...

And Cambry likes to be bounced and to roll around (crazy hair and all)...

It's been a fun activity on these warmer "winter" afternoons. So you're all welcome to just come on over if you're looking for some trampoline fun!!!

Christmas in pictures

Wow...Christmas has come and gone, it passed by amazingly fast this year!!! And...we just finished our last Christmas this past weekend. We had our own Christmas here with the four of us then headed to Llano for a few days with my family. We had a great time just relaxing and being at the ranch. We celebrated New Year's Eve here at home and then New Year's/Christmas began with the Chance side. Everyone came down for a few days and we celebrated through yesterday. It was so wonderful to be with all our family and enjoy the holidays!!! Now for the pictures...

we started the holidays with our Life Group Christmas party in our home

the Life Group kiddos

a little Christmastime fun

at home before opening presents

true Aggie football attire

in Llano with the cousins on Christmas morning

one of Colten's favorite gifts

Cambry's Christmas smile

a few snapshots of the family

Cambry in one of her many new outfits

uncle Clark with the babies

reading with Uncle Clark, Aunt Lindsay and Jade

Such a fun season!!! One more memory I wanted to share. We have been talking and reminding Colten that Christmas is about giving as much as it is about receiving and being thankful for what we have. So...we bought presents and sponsored a little boy, Colten's age through Caleb's work. We also got together toys and clothes to give away. One morning he was with me getting ready and he was sitting in front of the mirror and said "Mommy, look at all my teeth"...yes Colten, you do have alot. "Do you think I can give some away to a little boy who doesn't have as many?" That's a great thought Colten, but that would be hard to do. "Well, what about giving some to Cambry?" It was priceless...at least he got the message, such a sweet boy (most of the time)!!!

Santa pics

I wanted to post these before Christmas was officially here. We took the kiddos last week to see Santa. Colten talked and talked it up, was so excited, and could not wait to tell Santa everything he wanted this year. Well...we got to the mall and actually planned on eating first, but he insisted that we see Santa first. So, we got to the counter and he was still very excited, but as we approached Santa it happened. That excited grin turned into a very anxious look of uncertainty. He definitely wanted to still see Santa, just not up close and personal. He was very torn, so after several minutes of persuasion (by both of us AND Santa), he agreed to stand beside him for a photo, and that was it. He could barely look at Santa and barely whispered his wish list, it was really too cute. In the meantime, Cambry sat happily on Santa's lap while Colten was being persuaded. They captured this precious picture, she thought he was great.

And here's the final attempt, not too bad I guess. Notice Colten's awkwardness. Oh well, maybe next year. At least I didn't have to sit on Santa's lap with Colten this year!!! (we missed you Whitesides)

Have a fantastic week everyone!!! Merry Christmas!!!

Tagged and Colten's words of wisdom

Alright, my lovely and dear to my heart sister has tagged me, so here goes...

8 Shows I Watch:
1. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
2. Handy Manny
3. Diego
4. Jon & Kate Plus 8
5. any design show on HGTV
6. NCIS
7. The Unit
8. What Not to Wear

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Chick-fil-A
2. Bill Miller's
3. Red Lobster
4. Olive Garden
5. Logan's
6. Taco Cabana
7. Babes
8. Papa John's

8 Things That Happened Today (this was yesterday):
1. woke up and got all of us fed and dressed
2. took Colten to school
3. drove to the office
4. did as little work as possible at the office
5. had an office Christmas luncheon
6. won a Starbucks gift card there
7. got a Christmas bonus from my boss :)
8. came home and have spent time with the kiddos

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. heaven and reuniting with loved ones
2. Christmas!!!
3. sleeping through the night REGULARLY
4. relaxing with family next week
5. a few hours on Friday to myself to shop without two in tow
6. finishing up wrapping all the gifts
7. Colten's excitement on Christmas day
8. watching my children grow

8 Things I Wish For:
1. my kiddos to have a strong relationship and foundation with Jesus
2. my marriage to be as wonderful as it has been these past 6 years
3. good health for our family
4. cold weather at Christmastime!!!
5. the very best for my friends and family
6. peace and happiness
7. my children to value their elaionship with one another and us, as parents
8. a very happy holidays to all of you!!!

8 People I Tag:
1. any 8 of you who feel up to it!!!

I also thought I would share a few of Colten's latest comments, as they are quite humorous and worth sharing. The other day I started to get onto him about who knows what at the time, probably talking back or being a little too rough with Cambry, the list could go on. In his sweet 3 year old voice he informed me...

"Mommy...why don't you just worry about yourself, and let me worry about Colten." Oh, brother, I had no response to that one.

After a busy morning running errands and getting things together for his Christmas party Friday, we had returned home and he looked at me and said...

"Mommy, come sit with me on the couch and let's talk about something." Ok Colten, what do you want to talk about? "Just something, you need to sit and relax mommy." Wow, is it that obvious, do I look and act that stressed? So funny...

In other news, Cambry has decided to take a sippy cup with no problems...hallelujah!!! This is wonderful for us, now we are not totally dependent on the medicine dropper. She enjoys holding it and trying to drink it all by herself. She is very independent it seems for a 6 month old!!! She also is sitting very very well unsupported, for up to 20 minutes at a time. She absolutely loves doing it!!!

Well, my next post may not be until after the holidays I suppose...so, a very merry Christmas to all of you and yours!!!