what a difference a year makes

2008

AND

2007

Davis blows out his candles.

Davis helps pass out cupcakes to his guests.


Learning how to play croquet with Jes

Allison easily gets in the party mood too. She can't wait until it's her birthday party.

Landry prepares to be a big sister.

.....always hugging babies.

Davis loves the babies too. Let's see if Madison is ticklish?

I think Davis look like Cousin Billy here.

Making rounds to see that everyone is having a good time.

pretty darn close

to perfect.

Rio

Sept 25.1997 - May 5.2008

Thank you for all the wonderful memories.

practice makes perfect. we'll see....

allison and davis had their school pictures taken on thursday morning. so here we are practicing for a bit the night before. they each had an extra set of clothes for pictures that day just in case something happened. and of course, davis woke up with a bloody nose and allison spit up on her dress right before showtime. typical. last year, only one of davis' five poses turned out to be 'purchase-worthy.' thank goodness! those packages are so expensive! only this year with two kids, they take pictures of siblings seperately and together. we're going from 5 poses to 15 poses at a brazillion bucks a photo. i saw an ad in this week's paper for apply your 'summer vacation loans' now! what?! oh, i forgot - in the fall there will be ads for taking out loans to go to the fair. maybe i can call and inquire about school picture loans? ching, ching. or maybe we'll get lucky and davis will have a crusty, bloody nostril and allison will have spit up residue in all but 3 good photos.

pop quiz: allison? or davis?

ketchup

alright, alright...my last post date slapped me right in the face as i logged on to place some new pictures. looks like 'some' needs to be 'more than some' now. so tonight, i'll try my best to catch up.

allison and davis are both growing like little beanstalks. allison's legs drape over her car seat already. davis seems to be an entire headlength taller as he clearly can see over the bed without having to pull up on the mattress. i swear it wasn't that long ago when we only saw the top of his head in the mornings as he scampered into our room. now, he has 100% clearance and his shoulders meet the top of the mattress. as big as he thinks he is, he still begs for his pacifier a lot of the time. not so tough after all. i can't come to terms with the fact he will be two in less than two months. then, i gasp at the thought of allison being one year old just three short months after that. zach's probably in denial or at least trying to conceive a way to reverse time so allison doesn't get bigger. he would be happy if she stayed like this forever.

we are extremely blessed to have two good kids. davis was an easy baby. allison has set the bar even higher. i never thought this would be the case last august when she was giving me a heck of a time that last month of pregnancy. lucky us. (truly.) don't get me wrong. we do have those days that whining seems to be the only background music. but its the times davis voluntarily runs to hug allison and play with her in the exersaucer that makes it worth having the two so close together - without a doubt. or just to hear her squeal with delight when she hears davis barge into the room. tonight she stood straight up in zach's lap trying to find exactly where davis was when he came in from outside. too cute. sometimes we worry that he may have popped her in the face, arm, head a little too hard, but allison laughs it off with a look of 'i can't wait for the day when i can hit you back.' thatagirl.

okay, so here is a rundown of the pictures:

- you will see davis in his new camp chair relaxing. then, he will get too comfortable.

- davis (again) trying to look cool with his shades on. unfortunately, the pacifier reverses this.

- davis practicing for world cup soccer

- allison just being cute as always

- allison entertaining the idea of sitting in the easter bunny's lap

- davis wanting nothing to do with the easter bunny

- allison prefers to be in daddy's arms vs. the easter bunny's lap

- davis prefers the easter bunny to leave altogether so he can have the rocking chair

enjoy the pictures!

see what i mean?

davis posing again.
putting things on his head again.
well, see for yourself.....

beauty and the beast

"argh ha!ha!ha!" davis laughs. he is the silliest little boy in the world. he loves to say, "cheeeeze!" with the toothiest grin on his face. pull out the camera and he's already posing. in this picture we told him he could go crazy.


davis loves allison. he wants to check on her first thing in the morning and talk to her all through out the day. last week, i had to take him out of daycare in the middle of the day to go get his followup to his flu shot. because i always pick up allison first at the end of the day, he knew something was missing and headed straight for the infant room. we checked in on little sister and then the two of us started for the door. not okay. davis screamed and reached for the swing that allison was in. all the way to the doctor's office he cried as if we were leaving allison behind for good.






















but as much as he loves his little sister, we think she loves him more. no one can make her light up or laugh like big brother davis. she hears him come in the room and beams. "so what if he hits me a few times here and there. i actually like it when he bounces my chair too hard. he'll get his turn. i'm not THAT far behind...."