A Walk at the Duck Pond

Yesterday, I took the kids to the Springdale duck pond and park for the first time. It's kind of surprising that I even know that it exists, considering we do so many things in other towns: Bentonville, Rogers, Bella Vista, Lowell, and Fayetteville. There aren't a lot of places that I frequent in Springdale proper, since we live on the outskirts of the city in Benton county (most of Springdale is in Washington county) with direct access to I-540. But, I did teach ballet class at the Springdale youth center for a while, and so I know where it is. It is in an area of town where the high school, youth center, public library, duck pond, playground, and aquatic center are clustered together. Since yesterday was one of the first days that we've had really gorgeous weather, (and since I've been really tired of being cooped up in this house all winter), I decided it was time for an adventure.

So, I loaded up the kids and the stroller, and off we went. Now, I'd seen the duck pond park in passing, but had never paid really good attention to it. It was wonderful. There was a really nice walking trail that led around the pond, the playground, the pavilions, and the swingset. The kids just took everything in. I think they were really glad to get out (we walk the neighborhood often, but I think they appreciated the change of scenery.) I noticed that the swingset had two baby swings, and I totally wanted to swing Alec and Emma in them, but these two other moms were hogging them the whole time we were at the park. I kept glancing over as we made our rounds, hoping that they'd make their way over to some other equipment, but it didn't happen.

After our visit to the duck pond, the kids were tuckered out. They went right to bed and took a good nap. And so did I. I think the duck pond will definitely be a place that we frequently go.

P.S. I did take the camera to document this momentus event, but the battery wasn't charged. Oops! I'll get pics next time!

O' For a Thousand Tongues to Sing...

Okay, so this post is mostly for my friend Natalie (see Ruth's Blog). Nat, I know you are a big proponent of "real church" with hymns. And though we attend an Open Bible church with worship that consists of mostly contemporary praise songs, we also sing hymns too. I have gone to both types of churches, and I connect deeply with both types of music.

The reason I am posting is that on Sunday, as we were getting ready for church, I had one of the "church channels" playing on TV. It was a rather traditional service (I'm guessing Church of Christ) because there were no instruments. The kids were playing in the octagon. Whenever the choir would start singing their hymns, Alec and Emma would crawl over to the side facing the screen, stand up, and stare...totally zoned-in to the singing of the hymns.

As Aaron and I watched them, I couldn't help but think of what Natalie would say. Probably something to the effect of "Now they know good church music!" in her beautiful native-Arkansan accent.

What is it about hymns that do the heart and spirit so much good? Is it the faithfulness of the words and melodies that remind us of God's faithfulness? Is it that so many are based directly on scripture, so that we can further meditate on the truth of the Word? Just so you know, Nat and others, my grandfather was a preacher, and we always sang hymns. In fact, I can remember many a time as a little girl, belting out Blessed Assurance...they always made me sing a special. And even though I love contemporary music as well, I agree that hymns have a timelessness about them. The seasoned saints who wrote How Great Thou Art and It is Well With My Soul not only understood trial and triumph and reverence, they conveyed it.

I'm glad that my children are drawn to music of all kinds, but I especially hope that as they grow their hearts take joy in worship, and that they find freedom in praise!

First Ear Infection

Well, I took Emma to the pediatrician yesterday because this cold has not subsided, and I don't like the wheezing and difficulty she's had breathing. Plus, she was sounding really rattley and coughing junk up. Her fever had been pretty steady since Sunday afternoon, too. So...better to be safe than sorry.

It ends up that her cold is probably just a cold (viral) that will run its course. But she does have a right ear infection. I had no clue. She hasn't really acted like her ear was bothering her at all. We did get antibiotics for that, however, and in the event that the cold is more like bronchitis, the antibiotic will knock that infection out as well. We also have an inhaler for her...to open up her lungs so that she can breathe easier.

I was surprised that Emma weighed in at 17# 7oz. at the doctor's office. She was at 16# 2oz. on Jan. 22nd at their 9mo visit, and I figured that her weight gain had been pretty meager this month, considering she's been eating less while she's been feeling bad. She's seeming a little better today...but barely made it through lunch. She is really tired. They are napping now, as is usual at this time of day.

Now I get to decide what to do with the next few hours. I need to clean, but have zero motivation. Also have bills to do and laundry...and the list goes on. I'm not feeling 100% either. Feels like I'm fighting off a cold. How could I not get one? I'm in the trenches with my kids and their snot, drool, and poop everyday! I'm not complaining...I'm fine with the trenches. Just saying that it would be pretty difficult for me to not catch any of their bugs.

Here's hoping that the antibiotics, etc...do their duty and make my pretty princess better.

Uh-oh, First steps, Pointing, and a Nasty Cold

This post is almost all about Emma. She has started doing lots of new things over the past week. First of all, her favorite new thing to declare is "uh-oh!" She says it when she drops something, intentionally or unintentionally, or when any of the rest of us drops anything. She also says it just because. It's hilarious, and she's been saying it a lot!

Yesterday, Aaron decided to really work on the walking thing with her, because she stands up on her own with great balance. She'll stand for minutes just kind of dancing a little or bouncing a little, and kind of waving her hands or a toy. So, he stood her up in the living room and pulled her hands from the front and then let go to let her try. I was amazed to see her take up to three steps several times on her own! So, I'm officially marking February 15th as the day Emma took her first steps. She still has a way to go before she's walking properly, but we are excited to watch her baby steps! Now, he did try this same thing with Alec, but he wasn't really interested. He was way too involved in other things!

Today, Emma started pointing. Mostly random objects. Who would've thought pointing could be so cute. While we're on hands, I do need to mention that both of them have been waving bye-byes...and sometimes they say "buh buh." I think that's pretty darn close!

Finally, my baby girl has had a nasty cold. Brother had a little one last week. She got the runny nose on Saturday, and then Sunday after church, she was totally wiped out. Normally, the kid won't hold still for anything, but she laid strung out on dad's lap for several hours yesterday afternoon. She looked so pitiful. She's been on meds for fever and wheezing. I'm hoping that it will run its course soon. Saturday night she was up at 3:30am and struggled for sleep the rest of the night without any luck. Last night was a bit better. I smothered the kid in Vick's and we've been suctioning her nose, and giving her saline drops. She did sleep more normally last night, but has been off and on today. She's just not her normal self. We're praying for rapid healing, and that she'll get back to being our playful Emma-doodle.

Valentine's Day & Happy Birthday Aunt Chrissy

Valentine's Day is special to us, not only because it's Valentine's Day...but also because it's my sister Christina's birthday. She turned 25 this year, and though I was bummed that we didn't get to celebrate with her in Enid, she, my neice Kylie, my mom, and nana are planning to come over here for the twins' first birthday. That will be great, and we'll all enjoy being together!

This Valentine's Day, Aaron and I didn't do any big gifts for eachother. Some of our friends, however, did offer to come over and watch the babies Saturday afternoon so that we could go out and have lunch together and run around for a while. A HUGE Thank-You to Melissa, Kim, Amanda, and Sarah!!! Not only did they keep the kids entertained for several hours, Melissa left us a batch of her out-of-this-world-totally-to-die-for brownies. Seriously, they are about the most sinful dessert on the planet. Frosted brownies over toffee Symphony bars. Holy smokes! They put me in a chocolate coma...and I love it! Ladies, we so appreciate your willingness to watch Alec and Emma. Each of you has blessed us more than you know!

So, on our little date, we went to eat at the Marketplace Grill. They had a Valentine's Day special for two: an appetizer, entree, and dessert deal. It was an enormous amount of food for a great price (those of you who know Aaron, know how excited he gets over a great deal!) We shared crab cakes and prime rib and brought half of the meal home. After that, we cruised through Ashley Furniture Home Store...been looking for a casual dining set for our breakfast nook for over a year now. Eventually we'll find the right one, but Saturday wasn't the day. Also ran through Kohl's and did a little shopping. The pictures are from when we got back home to our sweeties. They are wearing Mickey Mouse Valentine outfits courtesy of Jennifer and Marcia Woodside from WAB. Thanks again, Woodsides!

We hope that you all had a super Valentine's Day...and sissy, I hope that your 25th was spectacular! Lots and lots of love...the Davis Gang : )

Too Cool

What up, dawg?

Yeah, I know I'm cute! Why does everything look purpley?

Oh, that's better.

I'm pretending this is a saxophone. Groovy!
Daddy shelled out the big bucks for some $1 sunglasses from the associate store last Saturday. We actually kept them on for a little while while we had our bottles.

Saturday morning, we took the kids to a free trial class at The Little Gym in Rogers. They offer gymnastics, karate, and parent/child infant and toddler movement classes. It was a 45 minute class consisting of music/rhythm skills development, body/anatomy awareness, large/core muscle group development, simple gymnastics skills, and free time on the different apparati. I think that I just summed up the class better than their brochure! : ) In laymans terms...here's what we did: We started the class with hand held jingle bells (shake in rhythm to the music), and then rhythm sticks (in rhythm to the music and also with counting and tapping different body parts). Then we did assisted walking and running and holding them up on their stomachs to develop back strength. Then we did assisted wheel barrow and front rolls. After that, we got free time on all of the big soft gym mat equipment. We also got to help the kids walk on a balance beam and hold onto and swing on one of the uneven bars.

Alec absolutely loved all of it, and really had fun and did well with all of the gym skills. I was really surprised when he held onto the bar and let me swing him. He did the assisted wheel barrow walk, and even an assisted hand stand on the beam. Emma spent most of her time a little disconcerted, wondering who the heck all of these weird people were, and what the heck all of the weird stuff in the room was. She had fun when we just let her roam freely, but didn't like it when we tried to wrangle her in to do the group activities. She's a wild child. She did do really well with front rolls, and now loves to do them at home.

So, we really enjoyed our free trial class, and even left with complementary onesies and hand stamps for the kids. (You can see the stamps in the pics above...no, they didn't go clubbing the night before!) However, after reading the brochure and seeing how ridiculously expensive it is, we've decided that we're not going to enroll. I can't justify paying around $600 per semester for my two kids to take one 45 min class per week that (very hushedly and under my breath)...Aaron and I can do with them at home- remember, I am a dance teacher. I do like the idea of having them in a class with other children for socialization, but honestly, they didn't get to interact with the other children much.

We are planning to enroll them in the Walton Life Fitness Center parent/child swim classes when the new semester starts, though. It's waaaaaaaay more affordable, and they love water.

Ten Months

Lil' Miss Attitude

Mr. GQ


Ready for church!


It's hard to believe that it's already been ten months since our little rascals made their entrance. Here are a few pics of getting ready for church last Sunday.

Happy Belated Birthday, Uncle NuNu!

Dude, you're getting up there!

You're HOW old?!

ha ha ha ha ha!

But seriously...I love you, Uncle NuNu!

I love you too, Uncle NuNu!

We have to take a moment to publicly wish Aaron's brother, Andrew, a belated Happy Birthday! The big day was the 29th, but because last week was very unconventional with all of the illness and power outages happening, I didn't get his birthday post up. We hope you get your card soon, Andrew...and we hope that you had a wonderful day. We miss you lots, and can't wait to see you in March! Love and hugs from all of us!!!