A multipurpose swing

We have a nice moveable swing, a favorite of Logan when he was a baby, and now Kayleigh's favorite.

Apparently, it's still one of Logan's favorites...

As is his timeout chair...

Baby smiles

Last night, Kayleigh was sleeping while I held her on the couch. She was so sweet, her right hand was under her head, and for a while, her left hand was hooked over her right elbow.

Shane is such a good photographer, he got a picture of her when she was "smiling". Okay, I know, it's probably gas, but it looks so cute, and she really does make a lot of faces in her sleep.

Strawberry picking

After the wildlife park, Logan was not tired enough for a nap, or perhaps he was over energized and over tired. But anyway, he didn't want to take a nap, so we went strawberry picking at Froberg's Farm, a farmer's market about 12 miles away.

Logan did a great job of picking only red strawberries. He didn't pick any green ones or any blossoms. Of course, he was not so good at putting the red strawberries into his basket. They ended up in his mouth. He would eat the strawberries, green top and all. I guess it just added a little fiber to his diet.

Grandma did some great strawberry picking while Shane and I chased Logan through the patch. The kid could make it down one row in less than a minute. At one point though, Logan got caught behind Kayleigh's stroller and couldn't get to Daddy a row over. He tried to push the stroller out of the way, but wasn't quite strong enough. So he cried until Grandma moved the stroller and Daddy could get him. Yes, Logan is coming to be known as Daddy's Little Shadow.

When you eat alot of strawberries, strawberry juice tends to run down your face and arms and hands. So Grandma told Logan to wipe his hands off on Daddy's pants. Good thing Mama carries Tide-to-Go in her bag! We found out later that strawberry juice comes out, but blueberry juice does not (nor does clementine cutie juice).

Anyway, we've finished off over half of the 3 buckets we picked. Logan loves strawberries! That's pretty much all he had for breakfast yesterday.

Bayou Wildlife Park

When Grandma was down, we went to the Bayou Wildlife Park. We had a great time, but it was amazing how expensive it was! It was over $50 for our truck full of 3 adults and 2 free kids. So needless to say, we'll only go about once a year.

After we had parked the car and Kayleigh had eaten, we went to the petting zoo. Logan enjoyed this even more than at the Rodeo. He was headbutting the goats (even those with antlers), "petting" them, and feeding them pellets of food. There were about 5 bus loads of elementary kids there, but Logan was by far the youngest kiddo there (well, besides Kayleigh, but she was sleeping in her carrier).

Once we had washed our hands from being at the petting zoo, we got on a tram ride. We got to see European white elk, Egyptian deer, bison, ringtailed lemurs ("I like to move it, move it"), wallabys, Zebu cattle, giraffes, two kinds of zebras, two kinds of camels, and a more! Most of these animals were in large areas of land that were fenced and cattle guarded off. But basically, they could roam free. Here, Logan and Daddy feed the bison. They REALLY liked the food pellets.

I think my favorite animal was Thunder, the longhorn cow. He was pretty old, 24 years old is what I remember our guide saying. He had super long horns. I was almost afraid that he would knock someone off the tram!

Logan also got to go on a pony ride. He wasn't scared of it at all - just sat on the pony, grabbed the bars, and he was ready to go. Daddy walked beside him, but he really didn't need much help. What a trooper!

Kayleigh pictures

Well, apparently Bapa thinks my name is MUD - I have not posted pictures of his newest little Texan. Sorry! That would entail having everything together, and yeah, like that's happened yet.

But here are some pictures of the little cutie. She's a sweet little girl with a full head of curly hair!

This is Kayleigh in the "going home" outfit Daddy chose for her (April 16).


Kayleigh with Mama and Logan before going home from the hospital (April 16).

Kayleigh looking all summery today (April 25).

Cutie-pie! (April 20)

Cuddle bunny

Kayleigh is a cuddle bunny. Aren't they sweet?

Still a stinker

Logan might be an older brother, but he's still a stinker. Today, Daddy made some blueberry muffins for breakfast (super yum!). Logan crawled up on the step stool and grabbed the last one. I asked him to go share it with Daddy - so he walked into the living room, showed the muffin to Daddy, put some of it in his mouth, and walked back to the kitchen.

Kayleigh was sitting the "time out" chair today during breakfast. Logan liked to look at her, play with the fish on the front, and covet the Nukky that was in the chair. Once the chair was on the floor, Logan petted his little sister (yes, he was gentle), then took her Nukky.

It rained really hard today (so hard that the news said they closed down some of I-45 due to flooding). But Logan had to be out in it - with or without his Daddy. After having to change outfits twice and taking a warm bath once, we locked the doggy door. Needless to say, Mama and Daddy's names are now "Mud".

Being outside is so freeing - Logan took off his diaper while he was out there, and we think he made a stinky somewhere in the yard. Oh well - one less stinky diaper. While he was outside, Logan enjoyed drinking from puddles on the plastic bench.

Kayleigh's fan club

Although we only stayed in the hospital for two nights, we had a few visitors to see us at Christus St. John hospital.

Well, of course, there was Grandpa, who held Kayleigh for like 2 hours while Mama took a shower (cleanliness is next to godliness - or at least it feels that way when you can smell yourself).

Then there was Pastor Brett who came by for a while. Happily, Kayleigh was in the room when he stopped by. Last time we had a kiddo, he was in the NICU.

Then our friends, Khris and Shelby Norwood, stopped by for a visit. It's been a few years (almost 13) since they've had a newborn!

After two days in the hospital, we were both released. By Thursday at 1pm, we were all home. Very nice, since I really didn't get to see Logan on Wednesday at all, and I missed him. Heather, Brett's wife, stopped by on that afternoon to meet Kayleigh. An added bonus, she brought yummy Hershey's kisses with her!

Today, Auntie Hope and Auntie Phil came over (and weathered a huge thunderstorm with us). They must have bought out the girl's section of Babies R Us, Target, and WalMart. Goodness, they were so generous! And, they gave Logan a "big brother" present, though it is a toss up between who likes it more, Daddy or Logan. It's a little truck with nails that can be hammered down. So sweet of them!

We are so blessed to have such great friends!

30 lbs in 15 min plan.

Ok peoples. This is my first time blogging, so if you don't like it you will have to deal with it. After all what choice do you have. As you all know as sexy as she is, Karen has gained a little weight in the past year. Just recently, she has taken a notice to the weight she has gained, and decided to do something about it. This plan isn't for all people, but it will work on a few. However, before I get to the actual details of the plan, let me first show some pictures to back up what I'm saying.



As you can tell she has gained a little weight, though she still looks great. Again this plan isn't for everyone, it is quick, and initially painless. I like to call it how to lose 30 lbs in 15 min plan, as pictures speak louder then words, let me show you the pictures and if you have questions feel free to ask Karen. I didn't feel the need to post the pictures of her preparing for the program, just the ones actually preforming in it. They are limited anyway, so this is the first one I could get.



And after 15 min the Dr. shows us all his wonderful work in reducing weight. We like to call the weight gain Kayleigh Shayne, who weighed in at 8 lbs. 6 oz., and reached heights of 21 in. long. A whopping 2 oz. bigger then her older brother, though they were the same height. While cleaning the mass up, we discovered 7 lbs. of what we call hair.



As you can tell the parents and brother are all doing well, and happy to have the addition.


Logan is happy, though very tired. Karen and baby are doing great, though Karen is a bit tired as to be expected. Kayleigh was born about 8:08 this morning. If all goes well both will be heading home Friday sometime. One last one for the road so to speak.

Happy Easter!

Well, y'all Happy (late) Easter! We had a blast! The music on Sunday sounded great - it just all came together that day. Which is so awesome, since I've only been singing backup for a few weeks. The song "Giver of Life" gave me goosebumps - God was so present and praised! He truly is RISEN!

Before the service, the kiddos had an Easter egg hunt. Logan, after some nudging from Miss Gwen and Daddy, was able to find some eggs and put them in his basket. Sometimes, they had to be pointed out for him, but he had a good time. Daddy kept some of the big kids out of the little bush garden so Logan could have a chance at some eggs.

Then after a quick lunch and a long nap, we picked up Grandma and Grandpa Hileman at the airport.

When we got home, Logan got his Easter basket, and we "hid" some more eggs in the yard (hoping the dogs didn't get them first). Logan loved looking for the eggs - but he has sneaky grandparents - they would take eggs out of his basket and rehide them. So he was looking for eggs for a while! They would just "spontaineously" appear.

It was all over when Logan learned that there was CANDY in the eggs! At one point, he apparently needed a pick-me-up and opened up an egg for some sugar relief. Hilarious! He really enjoyed the Starburst jelly beans.

New Baby's room

Well, we're finally getting somewhere with New Baby's room. There's nothin' like waiting to the last minute to get things done. It's all good.

Anyway, Shane painted all the walls a really light blue (which covered all the black scuffs on the walls). He was super speedy - took him about 30-40 minutes a wall. Amazing.

Then today, we put up the Finding Nemo posters and decals. It's starting to take shape. Okay, if you're wondering about Finding Nemo, it's because we love the lamp - it has a nightlight on the bottom in addition to the actual lamp. Sweet. So we decided to do the whole room in Nemo. Besides, we love the water anyway.

Even big brother Logan got in on the action. He put a couple little decals on the wall for the new baby without completely decimating them.

Then he had to cuddle with his favorite Daddy. Guess he'll be fine when I'm in the hospital next week - as long as he has his Daddy.

It's all starting to come together.