The Sanford Saga

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009

I wish I had to the time to just walk all over Brandenburg, Kentucky, and take pictures. Someday I will take the time to do that. It is such an adorable little town. Call me crazy, but I grew up in Austin and then Dallas, Texas, so I think little towns are full of charm and are awesome!!

I did manage to take a few pictures from the car as we drove around. This one was the sunset from my window as we drove into Nashville, Tennessee.

The Nashville skyline....it was a cold and cloudy day. These pictures were actually snapped as we were driving home.

Now to the gorgeous state of Kentucky...these next couple of pictures were taken as we drove to Nana's and Papa's house. I believe they are actually on the same road as their house.

Here is the high school that Eric attended and where he played soccer! We got to stop by and visit his high school soccer coach while we were there and it was so fun. I have heard sooooooo many Coach Dailey stories since I met Eric and I'm glad that we got to see him. He is now the assistant principal at the high school.

This is my favorite church in town, the United Methodist Church. I love the stained glass windows and told Eric if we ever renew our wedding vows, we have to do it there. It is adorable!

This was a favorite view of mine. We were in Indiana in this picture and somewhere in the middle of the bridge, we crossed into Kentucky. We stayed in a hotel in Indiana, since it is only 20 minutes from the Parr's home.

Now in Civil War times, Kentucky was a neutral state. Since the town that is now Brandenburg, sits on the Ohio River, as I said before, Indiana is on the other side of the river. There are several gorgeous large homes that sit on the banks of the Ohio, on the Kentucky side. I took a picture and then zoomed in to show you all this cool house with the even better history.

This house was in a swap several times between the northern and southern territories

when it was controlled by the northern army, that was where one of Abraham Lincoln's top war advisors lived. When it was controlled by the south, a southern army general lived there.

Apparently when the general lived there, he used to have cannons on the large front porch to harass enemy vessels that traveled down the river. I am not a huge history buff, but what a cool story, huh? This was the best shot I could get of the house. It is now a privately owned home.

Here is another picture looking across the river as we entered Kentucky. The house is one of the ones that you see...

Mike and Betty live in the country, so look what we caught a glimpse of running through their yard while we were there. We saw them run across the highway that they live off of, and I bolted to get my camera. I made it to the kitchen window just in time to get this snapshot.

And I couldn't resist posting a few pictures of my girls in their overalls. Who doesn't love a little kid in overalls?!!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Sweet Moments & Milestones

I guess hotel living was tough on the babies. They hated being in the same room with Mommy and Daddy and not being able to snuggle with them in bed. At home, we tuck them in, say our prayers, give kisses, and then leave. If they cry, it is just for a moment and then they fall asleep.

In the hotel, they knew we were still there. Plus, the room was fairly small and 2 pack-n-plays take up a decent amount of room. I put one of the pack-n-plays beside the bed so we wouldn't lose all our walking room. This also created a dilemma....

At night, instead of falling right to sleep, the girls would laugh, cry, and play until we went to bed and turned all the lights out. Therefore instead of 8 pm being the bedtime, it was more like 9:30 or 10pm.

I was keeping a list of all the new words the girls would say a few weeks back, but had to give up on that. They repeat almost everything out of our mouths and I just couldn't keep up. So while we were in Kentucky, Lexi decided to try a lot of phrases. AND, they have stuck. :)

Eric and I turned the lights out and the girls were not pleased. Next thing you know, I hear a whiny little voice beside me, say, "Mommy, hold you, Mommy! Mommy, hold you!" Then I see little arms sticking up in the air for me to pick her up. Of course, I melted and snuggled her in bed for a few minutes.

Well, the next night, she stepped it up a notch. She said the same thing in the same sad little voice, but then added this to it, "Mommy! I love you, Mommy! Hold you, I sleepy! Mommy, hold you!" So since we had been struggling to sleep for 2 hours when she said this, I pulled her in bed with us and everyone got a good night's sleep but me.

It was a king size bed, but Lexi and Eric managed to take up most of the room. At one point, Lexi had her arms laying across my face and when she slapped me in her sleep, I almost fell into the pack-n-play next to the bed. :) It would have made for a funny movie scene but it wasn't so much fun at the time.

Lexi has not only kept saying these phrases, but she is truly a little copycat. When her Nana told her that she was a stinker-pot while changing her diaper, she called Nana one too. :) She has called the dog a gooberhead now, and her sister a stinker. I told her we should go take a nappy-poo the other day and she now calls them, "nappa-poo-poo". She still signs the words eat and more, but runs to the kitchen saying, "Eat some food, Mommy! Eat food!" She also begs for milk, juice, and water by name. I love it!

Lilly's pronunciation has improved by leaps and bounds too. I understand her so much better every day. Today, she said, "Love you, Un Net!" which means, "Love you, Uncle Nate!" It was soooo sweet.

Eric and I spell a lot of things now. We have to spell snack, food, eat, lunch, dinner, cheerios, and most other food words. I am so excited to see these girls changing and growing. They are amazing!!

The girls turned 18 months old on the 9th and today they had a great check-up. They weighed in the 50th percentile and both measured in the 90th percentile for height! YEA!! They are just super happy and healthy girls. Here are their stats:

Lilly weighed 24 lbs, 8 ozs. and was 33 and 3/4 inches.

Lexi weighed 25 lbs, 4 ozs. and was the same exact height. :)

The girls heads even measured the same. Identical twins? I think so!

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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Time in Kentucky

Boy, do we love spending time with Papa and Nana in Kentucky! I am so truly blessed to have them, and it is really great to have in-laws that you love and look forward to spending time with. Lilly and Lexi eat up the lovin' and are still waking up from naps asking for them. :) That makes me so happy!

Lilly loves snuggling with Nana. :) I know that the girls are spitting images of Eric, but they sure do look like their Nana too, don't you think?!

"Papa, can I have another candy?"

- Lexi learned quickly how to beg for a Hershey's kiss.

Playing with Papa...

So tired from all that fun...

Hanging out..the girls got to spend a lot of time cuddling.

We exchanged Christmas presents and the girls loved everything! At first they weren't too sure what to do with the packages, but they had some help opening them.