I have not had the motivation to update our blog in the past few weeks even though there is a lot to update y'all on. I guess the lack of motivation was because of spring break for Madeline and Rebekah and they want my attention exclusively. I have also been distracted by trying to get our new house in order and get everything out of boxes.
(moving in to the new house)
Our biggest news is REBEKAH IS WALKING!!! Finally, she is 3 days shy of 16 months and I was beginning to think she was going to be content with us carrying her. She has been trying for a couple weeks but was unwilling to let go of fingers or furniture. Just last week she would take maybe 2 steps and then it was back down on her knees and crawling. Then just yesterday she began to be adventurous and she was off. She is definitely excited to find her new freedom but prefers crawling. I was going to put a video up but did not bring the right usb cord for the camera so you will just have to wait.

We love our new home. It is definitely bigger and there are still 2 1/2 rooms that need to be furnished if you do not count boxes. It took me a while to put the first hole in the wall to hang a picture and now that we have carpet we do not wear our shoes in the house (lets see how long that lasts). Kelly mounted or new TV (courtesy of the home builder) on the wall and it has not fallen off yet so I think we are good to go. Madeline has claimed the upstairs room as her official playroom and thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread. I love it too becasue all her toys are up there and not in the living room. Our new neighborhood has a lot of young children in it and Madeline has already made new friends. She loves to yell over the fence to her new friend Grayson to come out and play. The weather cooperated with our move and a cold front (cold for Texas) blew through 4 days after we moved and we were able to have our 1st fire in our fireplace. Madeline was very excited and wanted to roast marshmallows.
Our first fire in the new home and our backyard
our empty living room and partial master bath
We celebrated our sixth month Gotcha Day anniversary with Rebekah on March 11th and Boy has she changed! Six months ago when we first held her she was very quiet with very little emotion. She was either quiet or screaming. She would not take her bottle and was a picky eater. She was not clingy and liked to be left alone in her crib. She has definately come out of her shell, so to speak. She is now very animated and vocal, crawls all over the place, is beginning to walk, and eats like there is no tomorrow. Really the only thing that has not changed about her is her crib behavior, the crib is a "safe haven" and no REAL crying is done there. If she is fussy or crying you can put her in there and she stops crying almost immediately. She still goes down for nap and bedtime very easily.
THEN NOW ~ check out the chubby chubby cheeks
Madeline went ice skating for the first time a few weeks ago and proved to be quick study at it. By the end of the 2 hours she had let go of the railing and set off all over the rink. NO, I did not go ice skating because of my weak chicken ankles.Some friends went with us so I was the official picture taker.
I cannot skate with my tonge in my mouth

Well that is all for now. We hope all y'all are doing good. We love you.