Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday! Happy birthday to the best Dad and Paw Paw in the world!!!!!! We love you so much!

Happy Anniversary!

Husband,

I could never have imagined, dreamed or prayed for someone as wonderful and loving as you are. I can only count this marraige as a sheer grace from God because I don't deserve such an amazing man. You are truly one in a million. I have no doubt that we were made for each other. You are and have always been my rock, my best friend and my true love. In our 11 years together and 5 of those as a married couple, we have experienced so many things together. I can't express how honored I am to call you my husband. Thank you for being you; for believing in us; for giving me the beautiful children we have; for always being on my team; for making me laugh and for never forgetting that we're in this together. I hope our love continues to flourish for the next 95 years.... you are my heart.

I love you!

Fun with Family

Just a few random pictures of us over the last few weeks! Enjoy!!

How sweet is this? She LOVES her Daddy!

Cousin, Elizabeth; Jaxon; Cousin, Hallie; Blake and Aunt Cindy

Watching THE BOYS with Mommy & Daddy while Blake napped.....

Closet CleanOUT!

So I decided last week to clean out both kids closets and drawers to get rid of everything that doesn't fit and is out of season since we are entering the FALL now. Yay for Fall!!! My all time favorite time of year! :) I had to do it while Blake wasn't home because she would never let me take everything out of her dress up closet. Years ago Eric added a third rod to the closet to accomadte all of Blake's clothes because they were overflowing everywhere. (imagine that!) I snapped on picture of the barest side of her closet where there are two rods and you can see all of the empty hangers that once were FILLED to the gill with clothes for the DIVA! When she returned home and went to find some shoes in the closet, she was devestated! I heard her from the hallway.... "Ohhhhhh NO!" "My stuff fell off here!" She thought that her clothes had fallen off the hangers.... not sure where she thoght they were since they clearly were not in the closet still. I couldnt help but giggle. She's SUCH a girl! I told her that the fun part is that we get to go shopping and get NEW clothes and shoes since her hangers were empty. We are on our way to filling it again! Eric and I did some shopping over the weekend and got a few things. I'll update the "new" clothes filled closet later. ;)

I can do it by myself.....

Well, there is ALOT of that going around at our house these days! This is the most recent "I can do it by myself" event....... she will kill me when she's 13! It was so darn cute though! I couldn't resist. She was "washy washy" BMS;By My Self (which coincidentially are her initials) after going potty; BMS.... oh heavens!

Everchanging Jaxon!

The most wonderful trick that baby Jax has learned thus far!!!!!!

I have been trying to teach him to recognize his name and it's working. Yay! BUT, the best part?! When I call his name and he looks at me I will say MAMA to him and he immediately turns on that perfect, toothless grin and smiles as big as his whole little face! This baby KNOWS his Mama and he tells me he does with that grin!

Since we started signing to Blake at about 6-7 months old, we plan to do the same with Jaxon. I am 1,000% certain that her sign language has been a crucial part of her being so advanced in her speech, vocabulary and converstaion skills. I can't wait to hear my little man begin to call for "Mama" and sign to us like Blake did.

On another note, this little guy LOVES his exersaucer! I mean, he REALLY loves it! He plays in it alot and he jumps like he's wearing springs for shoes! We have affectionately nicknamed him "Jumping Jax" because he will jump himself silly in that toy. I have to admit, he is THE only baby I've ever known that actually likes that type of toy. LOL! Blake was never interested in it. ;)

....Blake says....

Oh my funny little girl! She can talk your ear off if you'd let her. She doesn't miss a beat and she hear EVERYTHING! These are a few of the latest things she has said that keep Eric and I rolling in laughter... Enjoy :)

The other night she was in the tub. I was getting things ready for baths; towels, pj's, lotion, diaper for Jax, etc. Eric stood in the bathroom holding Jaxon while Blake played. As I came into the room to get the baby and myself into the shower, our conversation went like this:
Blake - You gonna take a bath with me?
Me - No, not this time.
Blake - Are you gonna take a shower?
Me - Yes.
Blake - With Bubba?
Me - Yes, I am.
Blake (very serious face....thinking hard about what I had said)
Me - Maybe Daddy will take a bath with you?
Blake - WAAAAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!! (arms in the air and a huge smile)
I looked at Eric in disbelief that she A)just screamed Wahoo! And B)Where did she learn that? Funny girl!

Blake is going thru a stage where she like to repeat the same question over and over again until I am about to burst. Ahhhh 2 year olds! :)
So usually our conversations go like this:
B - Mommy, where are we going?
M - To Nana's house.
B - Where?
M - Nana's house.
B - Where Mommy?
M - We are going to Nana's house.
B - Where?
M - Blake, did you hear me the first time I answered you?
B - Yes.
M - Ok, then don't ask me the same question over and over when you know the answer.

SOOOOO, the other day she was in the back seat and Eric and I were in the front. She was just chatting away about everything under the sun. Eric asked her a couple of random questions like; Did you have a good day? Did you play with Dad Dad?
And all of a sudden Blake says to Eric, "DADDY, DON'T ASK ME ANY MORE QUESTIONS." AHHH HAHAHAHA!!! I can only assume that was her version of my response to her 50 questions game. Where else would she have heard something like that?! LOL!!!

Blake and I were just playing and talking & having a fun time when I had a "mommy moment" and I was consumed with emotions of how blessed I am to have such a bright light of sunshine in my life that is my precious little princess, Blake. So I said this to her:
M - Blake, you have the sweetest little voice.
B - You sure are cute, Mommy.
Ohhhhh my heart just melts for this angel! I LOVE HER TO THE MOON!!!

My little guy is 5 months old!

I can't even hardly believe that my baby boy is FIVE months old. Time has FLOWN by this time! I can still VERY vividly remember the days right before he was born and how absolutely miserable I was being 9 months pregnant. It seems like yesterday.

This little man has completely stolen my heart! He is such a good baby and he's a HAPPY baby too. I am so incredibly blessed to have such precious and joyful children. Praise God!

Meet the Teacher Night @ MDO!

We had a yummy dinner and then loaded up the stroller and walked to the church to Meet The Teacher in Blake's Mother's Day Out class. She was SO excited to take us to her "school"! She showed us ALL around the preschool area and into her class. She kept saying, "Ok, follow me..." and then she would walk off to show us something else. How cute!

I am also VERY proud to share with you that yesterday's paper she brought home said that she did a great job being the leader for the day! AWH! She got to wash her hands first, potty first, be the first to sit for lunch and lead the line. She was so proud of herself too. Adorbale!

Her teachers said that she was "very bright for her age" and that she was "so easy" in class. She's such a good girl! We knew that though, LOL! This is only the first week and Blake has laready thrived in her new surroundings in class. We are thrilled to see what God has in store for us to learn through this experience. What a blessing this is going to be! Here are some pics of our evening....Enjoy!

Blake Mackenzie

Jaxon McDaniel

Whoaaaa it was windy!

CHEESE!!

...Just playing while we wait for the family to get there.

She had to show us this BIG BIRD on the wall!

This is in her classroom by the papers she made for Mommy & Daddy!

Blake was so glad that Rylee was there too....they had to play in the kitchen together for a bit.

Blake was building a tower for Paw Paw!

Our BIG GIRL!!!

Handsome Baby Boy!

Look at this drop dead handsome lil man!

Blake goes to "SCHOOL"!

Well, today was a milestone in the Staggs' household! Our first born & our sweet little PRINCESS, Blake, started her first year in Mother's Day Out. We had been talking about "school" for severael months and she was SO excited to finally be going to class. She's turned into such a big girl! Where has the time gone with this little angel?!

I went in and woke Blake so she could get ready for SCHOOL this morning and she was in a terrific mood! She was telling Jaxon all about it while she brushed her teeth and hair with her Daddy. Then she had breakfast and got dressed for her BIG day! We all FOUR loaded up to take Blake to class. It was a great way to send her off on her first day. She had her fancy new nap mat, her "pack pack", her blanky and her juicey so she was set for success. =)

When we got into the church (its a nearby Baptist church, the biggest one in Forney)she was thrilled to see all of the activities and things to do. She wanted to stop and look at every little thing! She couldn't wait to see what was going to happen at school! So we walked her to her class, met the teachers and other kids in her class, then Eric, Jax and I said our goodbye's and told her to have a great day! I was a little saddened to hear her cry a bit as we walked away but as you all know, she IS a social butterfly, so she was fine before we even got to the parking lot. =)

When I went to pick her up this afternoon, she was so glad to see me!!! Her teacher said she had a great first day and she did very well. She ate most of her lunch, played well, went potty and took her nap just like a pro! That makes me a PROUD MAMA!! As we were leaving she said bye to her teachers and said "Thank you for my school"......Awwwwwhh!! Precious girl!

We went over to Nana's to share the day with them. When she saw Jaxon she went up and hugged him tight & said "I'm so glad you're here!" How could she BE any more adorable?!? So overall, school was a wonderful success! She is looking forward to going back and learning more. She brought home a necklace she made with her thumb print on it and it says, "I'm THUMB body special" ........YES SHE IS!!!!

Take me out to the ballgame!

We went to see a RANGERS game - up close and personal.....ROW 3!!! Fun times! Blake and Jaxon had never been before and Blake was amazed with the grand-ness of the Ballpark and all the lights. She was on her feet clapping and cheering everytime the crowd went wild! It was ADORABLE! Jax did great too. He dozed off a few times after he got his belly full and he did well with all the noise. He's a good baby!! We got to enjoy the evening with our friends, The Chapman's, and baby Addison. So sweet! It was a good night and a good treat for Blake on the eve of her first day at "school"! Stay tuned for the details on that....

Just a little random fun...