Yes, Fred Savage. I invite you all to take the challenge...strange yes. I will take Jackie O!!

"The Swaddle and the Pacifier= Happiness"
The art of Swaddling: Precious Mackey needs to be swaddled in order to maintain "happiness" as she knows it. Every child in the beggining has the thing you cannot leave home without...Mackey has to have the swaddle tool. With Paxton we just used blankets to swaddle...but baby stuff has improved in 19 months and there is now this blanket especially for swaddling with Velcro and all...the child cannot bust lose and it comes in small, medium, and large. So when swaddled she only cries 70% of the day instead of 100%. If she is crying she is either: hungry, without pacifier, or not swaddled. She still is precious.

Update on Life and having 2 children under 19 months:

*Paxton's eye healed and tonight we fell and hit the exact same spot causing yet another cut in the same general location.

*Rusty was out of town Mon.-Wed. as a warm up and next week will be gone Mon.-Fri....we will be having SueSue as our overnight guest several nights:)

*My hooter hider (yes, another new invention...no pictures to follow) has arrived and Mackey is going through a growth spurt. She is now 7 lbs. 8 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. She already has gorgeous blue eyes and is an awesome snuggle bug...just want her momma wanted.

*Paxton now takes a pacifier and EVERYTHING with wheels is a "CAAAR" and we say "DAAWG" with a huge Texas draw.

*Boone is not adapting well to the Invisible Fence and has left for boarding school. Ellie however is scared to death and refuses to leave the garage...she cannot even walk 5 feet to poop outside the garage.

*Life is full of playgroups, bible studies, and NAPS:)

Happy 28th Birthday. Top ten Reasons why we love our Daddy/Husband:

1) Who would bundle us up and take us outside to walk the dogs in the mudd. Did I mention the dogs are in-training with the electric fence.

2) Who would do little complaining about all the honey-do list. If you know his wife you know that the projects never end.

3) Who can fix just about anything.

4) Who would sleep with us in our big boy bed just to show us how cool it is.

5) Who is very sympathetic to every bump, bruise, or cough. It is a good thing we have mommy though or he would take us to the ER/Dr. all the time.

6) Who gave mommy a generous sum of money to buy new clothes after Mackey was born. Even though she is back to pre-prego weight something very strange occurs in to the body.

7) Who wakes up before each night-time feeding and changes our diaper.

8) Who has bugeted well and allows our mommy to stay home (in a beautiful house) all day and play.

9)Who very patiently excuses us from the dinner table to "talk" when our behavior is not so pleasant.

10) Who loves us like no other daddy/husband could!!!

2 Bonus:

Who would get us off/on the hobby horse a million times before getting frustrated.

Who trys to get us to say "Gig em" and "Football" all the time.

Big Man! Lately my little Paxton is becoming a toddler. It seems that I woke up over night and now he is a typical guy. Sitting on the bed with food and drink in hand. Notice the crossed legs...gotta love the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

So I decided to post a picture of the house despite the fact that we will never get grass. Everyday that the grass was to be delivered in the last few weeks it has been raining/sleeting/snowing. Gotta love Texas weather. There will be another post after the landscaping/grass is put in.

Well, I know that all you folks up North think that we DFWers are NUTS... the news is ridiculous!!! Rusty's work was called off and this afternoon we all bundled up and headed to McDonald's to play. Mackey was dressed in her cold gear and was so warm she was sweating upon arrival. Paxton was thinking he was such a big boy until he fell and hit is eye on a chair in the play area. Play time was over:( We hope that it clears up fast. Rusty was so worried we should go to the ER to prevent scarring and was frustrated that I was an RN and was unable to determine whether a trip to the ER was worth it. I continue to tell him that ICU RN do not know bruises and stitch stuff, we only know how to keep you alive!

Hope everyone is bundled up and enjoying all the sleet/snow.

Paxton and his good buddy Brant. These two love each other...Paxton was showing Brant how to chase the outlaws on his horse. Hold on Brant!!

The pediatrician said prior to Mackey that God would give me a laid back child because Paxton is so exciting. Well 4 weeks later at the 1 month appt. I let her know that she is mistaken. God must think that Rusty and I can handle anything. Our HOME-GIRL Mackey is high maintenance. She literally cries all day long unless she is being held. If anyone just really wants to hold a baby...I have one that you can borrow not have. I am still thankful everyday that God blessed me with healthy, cute children...but for crying out loud must they cry/whine all the time. Paxton is in a frustrating stage where he knows what he wants but cannot say the word...we are working on this though. He is doing very well with adjustment...there is only so much holding/crying of Mackey that he can take. I know that I should feel honored that Mackey wants to be with me all day:) Here is a picture were I tricked her, she will tolerate me carrying her in the sling (she hates the swing and vibrator chair) and I carried her and then put her down when she was asleep...it worked awhile until she realized I was not attached. I will brag on Mackey and say that she has excellent head control and sleeps very Well...I won't tell you were she is sleeping because I am embarrassed. I only documented this to remind myself of her high maintenance stage because I am sure this is the only one she will ever have:)

We enjoyed a Liberty City class of 1997 Reunion last weekend. The new house was semi-ready and it was exciting to show everyone. The house loved:) being broken in by 6 kids under the age of 2. Toys Galore!! We are so blessed to have such great life long friendships.

Moving In

Mackey in front of the portable heater.

Ok...so Dec 31st is the official last day that we live in 9208 Water Tree. We officially live with SueSue and Grandpat. All of us: Rusty, Paxton, Mackey, me, Boone, and Ellie... we are hoping that Boone and Ellie do not tear up the yard/garage before we are able to move. The boxes are slowly being unpacked and we are making home at 22 Brookhollow Circle. I am so excited and ready to be settled, it will be so nice to sit on the couch and hold baby Mackey. We had the whole gang here to help move... the Melissa and Liberty City parents. Also, thanks to Jenn Russ's instructions we were able to get better organized through her direction...thanks Will for carrying boxes to all the rooms for us...I will be over to paint the twins room soon:) We hopefully can reside at the new house Tuesday/Wednesday when TXU installs the permanent meter. I/Everyone has been unloading boxes in an extremely cold house. I have had my ski coat on. I thought an appropriate picture to document Mackey's 3rd week of life is her sitting in front of the portable heater. Paxton has been such a trouper...helping unpack, disorganize, and reorganize:)!!

We hope that everyone will come visit us and enjoy the little piece of serenity that Rusty and I have found together at 22 Brookhollow Circle.

Cox Christmas

We were blessed to have Christmas with both sides of the family this year. The Saturday after Mackey was born Grandma, Big Daddy, Grandma Kal, Cheryl, Cori, Randy, Tonya, and Drew came to McKinney to have Christmas with us. It was such a blast to watch Paxton and Drew open presents. After the first dump truck was opened Paxton was content. Randy and Tonya gave Paxton a 9 ft tunnel to climb through and that entertained Paxton and Drew for the afternoon. We loved getting to watch Grandma Kal hold precious baby Mackey too!!!

P.S. Where is Rusty looking??? And yes, I do have a tank top under the sweater and I do not have a see through sweater on.:) Thank you Randy for pointing that out!!

Hanging with the BIG boy 4 Generations of Elizabeths

Grandma Pigg (a.k.a. Piggly Wiggly) came to visit to see Mackey. It was great to see the Center group. The Center Piggs- Mary, Analeise, and Neil came up too!! I had so much fun, I actually got to go to the mall since Mary was there to help me with two children. It is really hard to figure out where to feed Mackey and keep tabs on Paxton all at the same time. I thought about doing it in the bathroom and then remembered Paxton's joy in playing with/in commodes and decided against it. Luckily with Mary and Neil's help they keep control of Paxton. I was so happy to finally get a picture of Grandma, SueSue, Mackey, and me. There are four generations of Elizabeths in this picture...I will treasure this picture forever.

Christmas 2006

Paxton loved his vet kit...it came with stethoscope, dog scale, and brushes for pets. He loved it. He wore the stethoscope every where Christmas day.

Her mom is having way too much fun with "BOWS" The kid table-Sydney, Brinley, and Paxton The beautiful Hobby Horse

Due to being in boxes/homeless we stayed the night at the Melissa grandparents house. It was so relaxing... there is no place more comfortable and Christmas spirited than SueSue and Grandpat's house. Santa came around 9:00 a.m. and brought Paxton a hobby horse...we are not sure if he enjoyed climbing up the horse or rocking better. The hobby horse is beautiful just like the one that Rusty and I had growing up. Paxton did very well this Christmas...he got lots of trucks, an art easel, a giant bean bag, and lots of little gadgets. Mackey got pretty pink coat hangers!! Christmas afternoon our neighbors from McKinney and our friends the Russes came over to my parents house and we all celebrated with a Christmas dinner together. Paxton, Brinley, and Sydney all enjoyed sharing their new toys and playing outside. Christmas was great and cannot believe how much God has blessed us this year. Happy New Year!!!

2 week B-Day

Mackey at 2 weeks...she likes to swing but is still not sure about the vibrator chair.

Is she smiling or is it gas???