Cry Out Method makes me cry!

Yesterday when we went to the doctor, he suggested that we may want to start letting Brady get to sleep on his own for naps and night. So, I tried the cry out method this morning. I am not really sure how it went... Brady hated it. He screamed the loudest I have ever heard him scream even though I was right there comforting him. He did finally go to sleep, but not without a fight.
It is a really really hard thing to do- after a few days it works though, and then you never have to do it again! I just have to keep telling myself that.
I am also hoping this may help eliminate his new habit (yes it is a habit) of waking up in the middle of the night. I think that if he will learn to get himself back to sleep it will be easier in the middle of the night too. Wish us luck for the next few days.

Brady's Four Month Dr. Apt.

Today was Brady's 4 month appointment. YUCK! More shots... He had to get four shots today which was terrible. He didn't handle these shots very well either. Last time he got his shots he did much better than this. The good thing was that the appointment was late in the day so he is able to get to bed early tonight and hopefully sleep it off. I want my regular Brady back- he has been super cranky all evening...understandably though.

Here are his stats:

15 lbs/14 oz

27 inches

I love having BOYS!

Ok, I know all of who have girls definately have things that you love about your babies, but I am so thankful for my little boys. Lately Luke has been SO protective of me. It is so sweet. The other day he walked in the room and said "Are you ok mommy?" just for no reason. I replied, "I am fine Luke". He said, "Good Mommy, I lub you". That just melted my heart! Another thing he has been doing a lot lately is telling me several times a day that he loves me. Oh- so sweet! I know he can sure be a little stinker sometimes, but he can also be the sweetest thing. Oh the joys of boys! Don't get me wrong- I know girls can say that stuff too, I just don't have any at this point to know how sweet those words are coming from a little girl's mouth. For sure they are sweet as honey from my little Luke's mouth though!

Now on to little Brady... He is really starting to show his sweet sweet personality. At this point as a 4 month old, he is so mild tempered and easy going. I realize that could all change since he is still so young, but that's how he is now. He is starting to chuckle lately too. He has tickle spots under his arms and under his chin which make him laugh like no tomorrow! So precious. He loves to play peek a boo as of today too! I guess that will be our new game...
There is no mistaking that he is a momma's boy all the way. He loves Daddy & Bubba, but there is no body like mommy. I have to remember to cherish that about both of my boys because I know it won't be like that forever!

Allen Christmas 2008!

Luke checking out what Santa left for him.


Brady enjoying his gift from Santa... A new exersaucer!



Luke's new Lincoln Logs & Train Set from Grammy & Papa.

Batman, Batman, & more Batman. He really wanted to wear the three pack of underwear, so...we found a few ways he could do that!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We started off the morning with breakfast with our neighbors who have a little girl who is Luke's age.

Then, my dad came over to give Luke his new train set which he loved. After that, my grandma came by to see what all the boys got for Christmas.

Next- off to Grammy & Papas for Christmas with them and lunch. Everthing there was lovely. All of our Christmas wishes came true.

Finally, we ended the night at the Allen's house for Christmas & dinner. Wonderful Mexican meal with presents afterwards. By 8:3o, Brady was completely spent! He needed his bed asap- so we took him home to get to bed.

We were supposed to leave today for Austin to have Christmas with Caleb's extended family, but due to Brady's off & on fevers, we felt it was best to stay home. We really hate that we had to miss a great time with all of them- we just don't want to take any chances on Brady getting any worse.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Luke still not sure if he really wants to leave those cookies for Santa or eat them himself!


After Santa left our house...



I guess he liked the cookies???

Mr. & Mrs. Clause!

Our family at our Christmas Eve Celebration.

I am not sure if Christmas is more fun for the kids or the parents! WOW! We had a blast getting ready for Santa. Luke is still really unsure if he wants Santa to come tonight or not. At one point he said he didn't want him to come. I think he is still a little young for this (especially since he is terrified to even sit with him). Maybe tomorrow morning once he sees what Santa brought him he will like him a little more. Hope you like the pics!

Birthday Girl

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. Everyone kept asking the typical birthday question..."do you feel older?" well, not really. Just the same.

I had a great birthday.

My favorite gift of all was the flowers Luke gave me.

He was so excited to give them to me too- it was super cute.

That is one of the many wonderful things about having a little boy.

Those moments are priceless.

Here is me with my little gentlemen!

It Snowed in Pearland AGAIN!

Well, Kinda! Our Church had our annual Christmas Eve Eve Extravagnaza! It was awesome! The service was amazing, then the kids got to play in snow and make s'mores. Fun times were had by ALL who came. Way to go Crosspoint- what a great way to celebrate Jesus' birth!

We are still payin' for letting him have this s'more- he is wired! It's 10:00 pm- YIKES

Today is Brady's actual 4 month birthday.
This is a picture I took of him- I couldn't get him to smile...I think it was because he couldn't get comfortable in the tea cup. Who knows!



Last night we celebrated Christmas at my grandmothers house which was the first of four Christmas celebrations we will have this year. It was so much fun for Luke. I can't wait for him to be able to sit down and play with all of his new toys and really enjoy them!


Here is Grammy with Brady.

17 Week old Brady!

Hi, I'm Brady!


...and I can roll over now!


This is my dad & silly bubba...

Bubba was so proud of me when he saw me roll over.

Johnny Jumpers are the best!

Today Brady is 17 weeks old. He now rolls over right as you lay him down-he's an old pro. I heard that he can roll back from his stomach to his back, but I have not seen him do it yet.

Here are a few pictures from the week.

Luke's Christmas Party

Luke with his teacher.


Luke by our Christmas tree.

Today was Luke's last day of Mother's Day Out for the Christmas break. They had a party complete with a book exchange! I bet that was interesting with a class full of two year olds! Imagine all of the "mines" that were said!!!



Anyway- I took a few pictures. I hope you like them. My little boy is growing so fast.

Hay Ride

Luke & Chloe. Luke's new thing is to smile with his eyes closed for some reason...


The whole gang!

Mommy, Daddy, & Luke

Tonight we went on a hay ride with a group of friends. It was a little drizzly and cold but lots of fun! We all bundled up and sang Christmas carols. Luke had a blast and wants to go again soon. Brady stayed with Yaya & Papi due to the weather.

On the first day of Christmas...

One of our Christmas traditions is 12 days of Christmas. Every day for the 12 days leading up to Christmas we get a little gift in our stocking. Well- today (in case you didn't know) is the first of the 12 days!

Santa brought Caleb a jogging shirt and Luke a firetruck book. Caleb got me a new laptop in October, so I will just be on the giving end of 12 days of Christmas this year. Brady is still a little to young to really know about this tradition, so we will start with him next year. It is really a lot of fun.

Here is a picture of our stockings with their gifts in them. What will tomorrow bring???

A visit with Santa!

We went to visit Santa yesterday which was a real adventure! The whole way there Luke was so excited to see him and sit with him, but once we got there- NO WAY!

Brady on the other hand, didn't mind Santa at all.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Our house covered in snow!

This is my neighbors snowman...isn't it awesome!

Luke has a mustache!

After much consideration, Luke decided to go ahead and grow a mustache.

Brady's 16 week accomplishment...

tired little 16 week old!


Go Brady- Go Brady- Go!


This is him getting pumped up to roll!

Well, he finally did it! After MUCH hard work and determination Brady rolled over last night. Unfortunately for me, I was not with him on the first time he did it... He was with my parents. Oh well! I tried to take some action shots of him rolling, but he would not perform for me like I needed him to in order to get a good picture. I got some good ones though.

The interesting thing about this whole rolling over thing is that Luke was also 16 weeks old when he first rolled over. I have been watching to see if Brady was going to do it around the same time and for a while there it wasnt looking like it was going to happen- but then... ONE DAY before his 16 week birthday he did it! I think he realized he needed to step it up if he was going to keep on the same track as his big brother!

I have snow pics too that I want to share, but I will have to post those later- my house is still in shambles due to the floors.

Messy Messy Messy!

We have spent almost a week preparing to get a new floor. We are replacing the floor in the kitchen and living room, but we had to remove the old floor before they could come in to put the new floor in. I say we had to remove the old floor, but Caleb did all the work...

Our ENTIRE house is COVERED in dust! I mean there is dust everywhere... Unfortunately for me, I had already put our Christmas tree up, so it is also covered in dust. How do I dust a Christmas tree??? If you have any suggestions please let me know-

Another thing is our furniture- I removed all of the covers off of the furniture to have them drycleaned. Thank you Ikea for removable covers!

I will post more pics after the new floor is put in. Here's what is all looks like now-

Karly Is Home!

Thank you for praying for our cousin Karly. She is now home after a LONG nine days in the hospital. We knew she was feeling much better once she started smiling again. She is such a happy baby, I hated to see her go through this much sickness. Thanks again!

Busy Busy Weekend

Brady & Aunt Kaitlen at her Party


Luke & Kennedy at the game



Baby piggy at the Christmas Festival petting zoo


Amy, Ford, Luke, & Mommy

Brady practicing his roll over skills...

You can do it Brady- you can do it!

It has been such a busy weekend that I haven't had much time to write on my blog, so I decided to combine the whole weekend into one big post.

Friday we had a birthday party for Aunt Kaitlen- she turned 21! That was lots of fun and the food was really good. Chicken fettucine & cake balls!

Saturday we went to the Oilers game... so sad because they lost. They put up a good fight though. We are very proud of the Oilers and look forward to next season- even though Uncle Sam will be graduating this year :(

Sunday Luke & I went to the Sagemont Church Christmas Festival with Amy and her baby, Ford. It was lots of fun. I am so glad that they put so much hard work into the festival- Christmas is my favorite time of year. We will definately go again next year!

Today we have just been cleaning up from the weekend and trying to catch up on the boys naps that were missed over the weekend. Brady is really trying to roll over, I had to get a picture of him to at least acknowledge his efforts...he tries SO hard!

Happy 15 Week Birthday Brady

Brady's 15 Weeks Old!


Luke likes to be RIGHT in Brady's face when
he talks to him for some reason...


From Luke Michael Tunnel to Charlie Brown-
I can't keep up with this kid!

We have been super busy yesterday & today. It seems like the days just flew by. We have a busy weekend ahead of us too. Tonight was Steph's birthday, tomorrow is Aunt Kate's birthday party, Saturday is the big game, and Sunday is the Christmas festival...
I will post pics so you can see how it all went.

It's finally Christmastime!!! Merry Christmas- here is our Christmas Card for this year. I guess it was just a dream of mine where both kids were actually looking and smiling at the camera...Maybe someday!

Luke Has Changed His Name

OK, so Luke has decided to change his name... The first I've heard about this was this morning. We were watching a cartoon together and the character on TV said "Say your name" and Luke replied "Luke Michael Tunnel". I looked at him and asked him what his name is- he replied again, "Luke Michael Tunnel". I said I thought your name was Luke Michael Allen and he informed me that he changed it from Allen to Tunnel because he likes tunnels...
Hopefully he will change it back.

Please Pray for Karly

Please keep my cousins baby Karly in your prayers. She is 5 months old and in the hospital with RSV. She has been in since Friday night and is still running fever. I will keep you posted on how she is doing.

Allen Family Pictures

Here's Uncle Nonah, Luke & Benny the Turtle


Brady's turtle ride- right before he fell off! Long Story...

Our whole family

Friday after Thanksgiving we went to take our Allen family picture since we now have three new members of our family since our last picture (Erin, Luke, & Brady)- yes it's been a while since we took a family picture.

The Oilers Win It AGAIN!

Today the Oilers won ANOTHER playoff game! We are so proud of Uncle Sam-
he ran 65 yards the first play
of the game and got a touchdown!
Woo Hoo!

PHS 35 Katy Taylor 7

We will play next week for the region championship against Hightower.
Go Oilers!