Abigail is 5 months old!

Abigail is 5 months old today! I thank Heavenly Father each day that she has been a good baby. I look forward to her sleeping through the night, but I'm not holding my breath. Zachary and Madison love to "talk" to her and love it when she babbles back to them or laughs. I have a feeling that she will not be the "soft-spoken" one in the family.

She started her day out by going to a birthday party for Madison's friend at Celina's Big Orange Pumpkin Patch. The longhorn kept looking at the feeding cups in the stroller's cup holders. We quickly moved after the picture.

Love those big brown eyes. Thanks dad for making them possible!

Abigail's 2nd attempt to eating oatmeal cereal. (Her older siblings didn't do well with rice cereal, so we went straight to Gerber's oatmeal baby cereal.)

Abigail's (6 weeks old) Photo Shoot

So I haven't blogged for quite some time. So this is a perfect way to come back.

Miss Abigail has started to smile and it just melts ya' every time! She is 6 weeks old already!!! I have been wanting to take some baby pictures, but baby acne has not been friendly to her. Hopefully this is not an indicator of her teenage years. Angela was great positioning her and editing the photos. I am trilled with the results! THANK YOU ANGELA! Here are a few of my favorites:

A photo shoot wouldn't be complete without some tears.

California Road Trip- Day 1 & 2

Off to California we go!!! My older sister Maryann was getting married during Lance's spring break, so we made a family trip out of the week leading up to her wedding. I am SOOOO grateful for Lance's insight and renting a minivan for us. My Honda Accord would have worked just fine, except me being 33 weeks pregnant. We were hoping that Hertz would provide a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey, since we were looking into purchasing one maybe down the road, but we ended up with a Kia. None the less, it was wonderful to have more space and have the ability to stretch out to lessen swelling issues.
Knowing it was a 20 hour drive, without counting the bathroom breaks needed for a pregnant woman, we knew the drive should be broken up on the way out to allow me to survive the week.

Day 1- We left Saturday afternoon and drove about 5 1/2 hours to Midland, TX. Our hotel accomadations at LaQuinta were interesting....

Madison loved wearing her "Tinks" (Tinkerbell sunglasses) during our drive.

Day 2- Leaving the Great State and heading into New Mexico and Arizona

We quickly ate breakfast and hoped into the minivan. It was going to be at least a 10 hour drive to Phoenix, AZ. I was excited to know that we would be sleeping in a home and seeing family by the end of the day.

Getting closer....


Zachary, not Madison, took regular naps during our driving days. So cute wrapped in his favorite blanket.

Madison loved "reading" from the US atlas map book. We are very thankful to some friends that let us borrow their GPS and saved me from buying an ink cartridge.

Phoenix, AZ was are stopping spot for Day 2. Zachary and Madison were so excited to see their cousins!

Going on a Dinosaur Walk

It is a rare moment when it is a holiday and Lance doesn't have to work or go to school. So we loaded up and headed to the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney today. The Dinosaurs Alive exhibit is there through the end of January. All of the eight dinosaurs along the outside path were life-sized and would move and growl.

The Sweeney family being served as the dinosaur's lunch. As you walked through it's mouth and neck, you could see the realistic size of its internal organs.

Zachary getting his dinosaur growl on.


Zachary being so brave in front of the 46 foot tall T-Rex.



Madison didn't mind the dinosaurs that were about her size. . .



but she didn't mind having daddy carry her as the dinosaurs got bigger in size and sound.

Madison wasn't as afraid of the dinosaurs after she found her fighting stick, but daddy was very afraid of it.

Family Pictures

You wouldn't think that it would take over 2 years to coordinate and organize a family picture. It seems to be the case in this house. I do have to laugh that there is a pattern that I must be pregnant to make it come to pass. The last family picture was taken when I was 3 months along with Madison. I wasn't really showing and black is a girl's best friend. Being almost 6 months along now, black wasn't going to hide much, so I went for color for the whole family.

Zachary kindly helping his sister look at the camera. Such innocence in those eyes!

Best friends!

the Queens of the house- Mommy and Madison

The boys in the house-Daddy and Zachary

The Sweeney Group, at least until May =)

Smart thinking

Happy New Year! The kids spent the day playing with all their Christmas treasures while I decided to clean out and organize their rooms. I had stayed in my pajamas, knowing that I wasn't going anywhere for the day. It was around 11 am and I asked Zachary to change out of his pajamas. He looked at me innocently and replied "But you are still in your pajamas." So I told him that he was correct and that we would both get out of our pajamas later. His thinking skills are getting scary.

It looks like candy...it must be candy!

Madison insisted that the foil-wrapped chicken bullion cubes were really candy. Zachary even tried to tell her from his experience with the cubes, but she had to make sure for herself.

But there was still the beef bullion cubes on the top shelf, and those must be candy- or so she thought. Funny girl!