a brief hiatus

It has been awhile since I last blogged.  Mostly because we now have two children,  but also because I have early on-set of technology inability and haven't been able to get any pictures uploaded on the blog- and who wants to read a blog post with no pictures?  Poor Knox is really going to have his work cut out for him in 20 years with his dear old mom.  Only 31 and I can't operate a computer- imagine how bad it will get...

Well, nothing too terribly exciting has been happening around here. Isla is just about 8 weeks old and we are still adjusting to life with two children and what that means for us.  Really it just means no time to yourself and less rest.  But we're adjusting.  Isla is an exceptionally good baby (our only complaint is that she screams in the car- ALWAYS) and that makes going anywhere very unpleasant. But other than that minor snafu she really is a wonderfully easy baby.  Thank the good Lord for that!  

Here are some pictures of our life over the last month: 

Knox thinks it's funny to wear Kyle's ski helmet around

I promise that he asked to wear this bow- really

Some time with Dad

Knox has been my little cookie helper this holiday season and surprisingly enough he is actually helpful! 

We drove out to Elgin to cut down our family Christmas tree

the men with the tree :)

Here are some of the pictures from our family photo shoot that didn't make the Christmas card cut: 

Knox in what he calls "Knox Bus"

i love this one!

three generations :) 

Daddy & Daughter- so sweet

my little lady

 We're spending Christmas in Austin this year because of little Isla. But we're excited to be heading out to Spokane next Friday for a week with Kyle's family. Fingers crossed for an airplane trip with 2 children!  We'll definitely post again after that trip for an update.

-Stacie

Knox is two!!

Well our little Knox is finally two! I say finally because it seems like he should have already been two by now, I'm not sure why...His b'day was really fun this year because my parents got to be here for it!  We made a whole weekend celebration out of it for him.  He is old enough now that he really enjoyed opening his gifts and kept saying "more presents", oh how fast they learn!

Knox opening some of his gifts 

"more presents!"

Two years ago when I was in labor with Knox, Kyle & I ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then we drove straight to the hospital.  So, in honor of that night we have taken Knox to the Cheesecake Factory for his b'day dinner the past two years.  Last year he couldn't have cared less, but this year he had fun! The waiters sang to him and he LOVED his cheesecake!

what a ham...

Sitting by baby sister

Getting sung too...he kept asking for more, ha!

On Saturday afternoon, we had a b'day party for Knox at a local playground.  Since he loves our family's VW bus we had a bus themed b'day party for him.

The family in front of the bus

Knox with his bus t-shirt from his buddy Blythe!

Hanging out with Avery at his party

the adults...

Mana & Grandpa with their grandkids!

It was a special weekend for all of us to get to celebrate little Knox and to have Isla and my parents here with us.  

-Stacie

She's here!

Isla (eye-la) Charlotte Sale was born at 1:29 am on October 30th. She weighed 8lbs 9ozs and was 21 & 3/4 inches long. We are thrilled and enjoying every minute with our new baby girl!

big brother knox
 

dorothy & the scarecrow- happy halloween!

blythe changing isla's diaper

our sweet isla

October 27th- a ring bearer and no baby...

Since the spring we have known about our friends Taylor & Rebecca's wedding.  Their special date was scheduled for October 27th and although I was disappointed,  I was certain that I wouldn't be able to be there to celebrate with them.  Of course this baby would not be late like Knox was.  Well, as usual with parenting I had no idea what I was talking about and we were able to attend their wedding last night.  I'm so glad we were too! Knox was the ring-bearer and his sweet friend Blythe was the flower girl.  I was nervous about how he would do- would he even walk down the aisle when the time came? Would he get shy and refuse to go?  Well, I shouldn't have worried. Blythe & Knox literally stole the show! Here are a few pre-wedding pics, it was hard to get any good shots because they were running around so much...

...The mothers were seated and groomsmen and bridesmaids had already walked down the aisle. All that was left was Knox, Blythe and the beautiful bride.  Knox let out a squeal and starting sprinting down the aisle. Blythe followed him and they ran all the way to the alter with the crowd cracking up at their antics.  Whew!  It seriously could have gone either way and thankfully it went really well.  

Knox starting his sprint

Running to his promised lollipop at the alter

Oh, what a 2 year old won't do for a lollipop....

Once we made it through the ceremony (iPhone aps and 3 lollipops later) Knox had a blast dancing it up with everyone.  I have never seen him dance so much in my life but he literally had the time of his life.  Needless to say, I was very glad this baby decided to be late and we were able to have such a fun evening celebrating with Taylor and Rebecca! However, the wedding is over and I am tired of waiting so she can come out now...

-Stacie

A smorgasbord before the storm...

Kyle & I keep referring to these last few weeks as the calm before the storm. It is a strange state to live in with the awareness that your life could and will change very soon and never be the same again.  We're excited to get to meet our little girl and anxious for her to arrive for sure, but a little apprehensive as well.  We've really enjoyed these last few weeks with Knox getting ready for her arrival. 

As requested by a few friends, here is the belly at basically 40 weeks and ready to pop! 

40 weeks! 

My mom came through again this year and made Knox the most adorable Halloween costume ever! It took some convincing to get him to wear it and not be afraid of it, but we finally convinced him.  He is going to the be the Scarecrow from the 'Wizard of Oz' and his buddy Blythe is going to be Dorothy. I don't have pictures of them together yet, but I definitely will...

These two clowns are always making me laugh! 

I mean, could you find a cuter scarecrow?

A few weekends ago we had our annual Halloween Extravaganza.  Basically, it is my excuse to get to make lots of halloween treats, go to a pumpkin patch and watch 'Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin'- all of which are some of my favorite things.  Unfortunately, it poured down rain while we were at the pumpkin patch, but we still had fun!  

Knox checking out the petting zoo at the pumpkin patch in Elgin 

I made him pose in his costume at the pumpkin patch too- man he is going to hate me when he's older :) 

Finally, I have been trying to continue to practice my photography and got the chance last weekend to take some family shots of our good friends the Assuntos. Here are my favorites from their shoot:

This should definitely be my last post before the baby arrives.  My official due date is Saturday and then I go back to the doctor on Monday to talk next steps in case she decides to be late like her brother was- exciting times!! 

-Stacie 

Obsessions of an almost 33 year old...

The title is kind of a joke (Kyle is almost 33- not me let's be clear here!!) because if we are being completely honest there is a special place in both Kyle & my hearts for Volkswagens.  Don't ask me why but we both love them.  Kyle also loves other old cars, but I confine my appreciation to only VWs.  We are on our fifth VW as a married couple if that tells you anything :)  And like all parts of your family they have to have a name....Our first was Stewie (2000 Jetta), then we had Bailey (2002 Beetle), Abba (1973 Beetle), Old Si (1970 Camper Bus) and now Gloria (1974 Camper Bus). I could lie and say that Gloria will be our last but we all know that simply isn't true.  We plan on buying another old school beetle once our lovely 'Old Girl' (the super sweet 1993 Nissan Altima that Kyle drives to work) dies.

All that said we have taken to making our affinity for Volkswagens part of our family culture.  Knox in his almost 2 years here on earth has already been to two VW shows.  And as true to his DNA he LOVED them!  This past weekend was the annual VW Harvest Show in Leander, TX.  It started with a cruise (basically a line of lots of old VWs traveling together) from Leander to Top Notch Burgers in Austin where we all had dinner and they played the 'Herbie' movie on the projector.  There were about 60-70 old VWs crowded into the burger drive-in on Saturday night, it was definitely a sight to see! On Sunday, we headed to the actual show at a park in Leander.  We entered our bus (just for fun, she is not quite show quality- but we love her) got to walk around and see all the other VWs.  There were about 170 or so at the show or so the announcer said.  It was a fun weekend of seeing cool cars and watching Knox have a blast!

The photo-montage:

Just a quick pregnancy update- we are at 18 days and counting down to the due date!! Crazy!!! 

-Stacie