I Gave Birth to a Jumping Fish!

My flopping fish girl!

I feel like the worst mother in the world.

Natalie has become very clingy lately. She wants me to hold her and no one else. It's ridiculous! Anyway, last night she was in the bath. I turned my back for two seconds to put her bow in her closet, which is in her bathroom. I hear a thud! Natalie had jumped out of the bathtub! The poor thing was wet, naked, and crying. She had bumped her head. I was so worried that she'd have a bruise on her forehead for her first Christmas. Luckily she has a very faint one that I can hardly see. You would have to be really looking for it.


On another note, she is standing up a lot. Actually she prefers to stand. She's even standing on her own some and has taken a step on her own. She doesn't crawl, so I guess she's going to skip that!
Natalie had her second playdate with Kelly's daughter Ellee. She was still obsessed with touching her face. We also invited Staci's daughter Addison. She's the oldest. They were too cute.





I hope that everyone has a great Christmas. I will update with new pictures soon!

What a Week!

You know that feeling when you wake up and it's light outside? Great feeling right? Only if you know you don't have to be anywhere!

Jeffery stayed in Odessa last night for work and the kids spent the night with my parents. I got home around ten and managed to stay up past midnight doing stuff around the house. I set the alarm for five in the morning hoping to get up early to clean the bathrooms before I got ready for work.

So, when I woke up and saw the sun blazing through my windows my heart stopped. I sat up as fast as I could, turned my clock around and saw that it was 7:58! I have to be at work at 8:15! I called the front office and started rambling on about my alarm clock. I forgot to tell them who it was. Our secretary was laughing really hard as she said "Is this Danielle?"

Needless to say I didn't get the bathrooms clean. I got to work about 9:25, just in time for second period. I figured everone would be mad at me because they had to cover my first period and scramble around for me. Complete opposite. I've been picked on all day. Do I have matching socks on? Did I even change my underwear? They have been calling my room and saying that they have my wake up calls lined up for next week. Jeez...I guess I'd rather be picked on than everyone be mad.

What a great ending to a crazy week. The last two weeks before Christmas are the worst as far as kids behavior goes. I think they have multiple personality disorders. On Tuesday I was ready for a whole bottle of Crown when I got home. By Thursday they were fine. They've even been good today.

Tonight we have a formal party for the Home Builders Association. I'm excited that I get to get dressed up, but my mom just called and said that Natalie is trying to get sick. Great, now I get to worry about her the whole time I'm out tonight. Tomorrow morning my sister graduates from Tech at nine. Then I have Addison's birthday party that afternoon and the Polar Express tomorrow night. We are taking the kids to look at lights in the motor home on Tuesday.

The holidays are so crazy, but it just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't.

Oh, and someone spilled the beans about my saxophone. Now I have been asked to play it at our faculty Christmas party next week. So sometime this weekend I have to practice.

Random post, I know.

Santa!

We took the kids to see Santa today. My dad's retired math teacher is the Santa at Holland Gardens. He's great. He's seen Noah every year now, and until this year Noah has cried. He is so excited about Christmas this year. It's kind of nice. As an adult I think some of the Christmas traditions lose their "glow" so to speak. With kids all of the excitment comes back. It's great!

This is Noah getting his first glance at Santa

This is Natalie with a little half smile while we were waiting in line.

Noah getting his Candy Cane. I love the look on his face.

Of course Noah wouldn't smile for the camera with his sissy in Santa's lap too.

What a sweet Santa!

We had a great time with the kids today. I hope that everyone takes the time to realize how blessed we all are. The more I talk to my students the more I realize how easy I have always had it. I actually have one girl that I want to come live with me. She said she would love to, but she would be scared of Jeff. I asked her why, and she said she was scared of all men. That comment made me my eyes sting as they filled with tears. That means that every man she has had in her life has abused her in some way, shape, form, or fashion. I wish we could protect them all.

Thanksgiving 2008

Well, I'm just way too busy these days. We are finally settled into our home and now it's time for the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Luckily we are done buying. All I have left is a few stocking stuffers.

This is Jeff and I on Thanksgiving Day!


Thanksgiving was great. My parents took the kids the Saturday before and headed to the lake. Jeffery and I met them down there when I got off on Tuesday. Most of my Dad's family was able to make it. It was nice for all of us to be in the same house. I don't get to see them enough. This is a picture of Noah playing on the boat while the men were fishing.

On Friday we went to see Jeff's sister's new home in Aledo. I took some pictures of Natalie and my nephew Bennett. They are just five days apart.

This is Natalie playing on the floor at Heather's.
Natalie became increasingly clingly during the week of Thanksgiving. Now when I leave her side she screams like I'm leaving her for life. When I walk by she reaches up her little arms begging me to pick her up. Instead of this being frustrating, I like it. It's nice to know I'm needed...

The men spend the entire week fishing. On Saturday Noah caught his first fish. It was so much fun to see his face. He looks like he's crying in this picture, but he wasn't. Jeffery is going to have so much fun this summer with Noah.

Noah also got so spend time learning to drive his new Power Wheel Jeep. It's going to stay at the lake this summer.



Over all we had a great time. I'm really looking forward to Christmas. We are taking Noah and Natalie on the Polar Express on the 13th. I'm sure I'll more pictures to post then.

Oh, I also had the kids Christmas pictures made. I think it's not too shabby for a two-year-old and and infant...

Until next time...

Growing Up and Other Stuff

Over the past ten years I have definitly felt like I am older than everyone else my age.

Jeffery and I will be celebrating our ten year anniversary this February. We started out living with my parents. We didn't go on some lavish vacation after the wedding, we saved our money and put a down payment on a house. Three years after moving into that small, nine hundred square foot house, I get a call from Jeffery. There was a shooting three doors down and he was putting a for sale sign in the front yard! We sold that house fairly quickly and had enough equity to move to a decent side of town.

In our second house we worked hard to make it the best it could be. Cute house! Soon we realized that it wasn't a place we wanted to stay. We were surrounded by renters that could care less about the property they were living in. Not saying that all renters are that way, but you know what I mean...Jeffery was working for the appraisal district making a very small salary and I was about to start student teaching, but we took the leap and went for the third house.

I can remember the day we closed on the house on 71st. That 1730 square feet seemed so big! The house was repainted, new flooring, and new light fixtures, and we were good to go. GORGEOUS back yard with a hot tub. Something you would see in a magazine, or at least I think so. Then we had Noah and two years later, Natalie. The walls started to shrink. It was mostly because of the way the house was layed out. A lot of square footage in places that weren't used such as the dining room. Anyway, we put the house up for sale. On Monday I went by that house to get something. It was totally empty and for the first time I saw that house as small. It was kind of emotional. We had a lot of memories in that house, including bringing both of our children home to that house.

As most of you know we closed on our most recent house on the 23rd of October. We live in a neighborhood with successful people and tons of kids. Last night as I was shutting down the house and getting ready for bed, I realized how much of an adult I really am. Married for ten years, two kids, a nice home and two nice cars. It's real, official. It's been that way for a while now, but for some reason this new house is making it more concrete.

Now I want to take a second to brag. I don't do this much but I am now, and I'm sure I'll do it again in February. To all of those who said that Jeff and I's marriage was a joke, you can crawl in a hole and insert your foot in your mouth, among other things. I'll have another post later on how I feel about true love and how age doesn't always make a difference, but like I said, that is for a later post. I'm so proud of Jeff and I, two college degrees, two beautiful children, a great marriage, nice cars, and a nice house. We have worked hard for what we have, not only for us, but to be honest, to prove everyone wrong. WE MADE IT WORK! I'm so proud of Jeffery and the title that he has at work and how successful he has become.

On another note. Kid update. I just heard from my mom and Natalie now has two teeth that have broke the skin. She didn't sleep much last night so that must have been why. We have a play date with Ellee and Kelly on Saturday and I'm really looking forward to it. Noah is sleeping well in the new house, but he must be having some adjustment issues. He is so cranky, mostly at night. It could be due to the time change too.

I'll have address cards out soon! Kaci made them and they are soooo cute. If I don't have your address email it to me. ttubutterfly@hotmail.com

I feel like I just did a lot of rambling. Oh well, I'm on my conference period and I better get back to work...

Where did the time go?

When I talk to my eighth graders about passing their TAKS test so they can go to high school, they all look at me like May is so far away we'll NEVER get there! Little do they know huh? I can remember being that age and sometimes it did seem like the weeks just crawled by. Now that I look back, we all know how fast life is.

Anyway, I was packing up Natalie's clothes that she has already outgrown. This includes her preemie stuff. When she was born she was right at six pounds and so small that newborn clothes would not fit her. She was sitting on the floor playing so I held the pajamas up to her. They were smaller than her back! Natalie is our last baby so it made it even harder to put away those clothes. Hopefully soon my sister will be getting them out!

When Noah was an infant time went by fast, but not this fast. If you have kids, but you haven't had a second one, just wait! It will bring you to tears. We should NEVER take for life granted.

Anyway, we close on our new house this Thursday! I'm so excited I could burst. I can't wait to post pictures. Don't expect much from me for a while.

Noah and Natalie's proofs should be done in about a week and I can't wait for everyone to see those too. I have one back and I think it's just to die for, but I guess I'm a little bias.

Until next time...

I'm Crazy!

It's as if I don't have enough to do on the internet. I've been blogging on myspace and facebook now for a while, but I'm now crazy enough to join blogspot.

Anyway, the Sweat family has a lot going on. We close on the house we currently live in this Friday. Natalie has her six month pictures on Saturday and Noah is getting his done on Sunday! I should be packing this weekend but I'm really excited about these pictures.

We close on the new house on the 23rd, and week from Thursday. We won't be able to move in for a few weeks because we have a little bit of remodeling we need to do. We are really excited about having more room to spread out.

Noah and Natalie have really grown fond of eachother. Some of you may have seen my pictures from last night of them in the tub. Natalie takes a bath in a blow up duck so Noah got in the BIG tub next to her to play. The pictures are funny because he's in his clothes but it looks like he's in the bath.

Anyway, I should be packing or grading papers, but like I said I'm crazy and I decided I needed on more place to keep my blogs!