rooms are ready n waiting

well i finally got around to hanging everything and putting the final touches on the babies rooms. the whole process started back in sept when nana visited...we started in on the painting of the rooms both of them were plain white and we changed mila's to pink with one accent wall and the boys got changed to kahki with a stenciled border. mila's room is vintage chic and of course the boys room is sports theme. with the help of my sisters we picked out material for mila's crib and sarah and her mom (dennis' fiance) made the bedding......

here is the finished product.....i think it turned out great!

so the pictures are from standing in the doorway starting right panning left.....

kelly made the curtain and pink blanket for the crib

like i said before the walls are pink (hard to tell with the lighting)...i painted the letters black with a hints of red

the night stand still needs a little decor

i painted the canvas for above the bed and kelly has made some pillows to add pink n black to the bed to help tie it all together

the boys room still needs a little decor help but i suppose when i find the right thing i'll know it
so until then it'll just have to sit bare!

i am using deuce's old crib bedding (because i still love it) for dax

deuce's new twin bed....he had to make a little adjustment from his queen size bed that is now in mila's room (he only fell out twice)

and just for fun here's deuce playing with his funny glasses from sonic...to be honest i had one with him wearing the glasses but i accidentally deleted it and i'm not starting over lol

thanks to everyone who has helped me put these bedrooms together from the painting (diane) to the bedding (sarah n her mom) to the decor (kelly and even kevin who helped me wrap the pic in mila's room so it would survive southwest airlines)....now we're just waiting on mila n dax to arrive.....at my last appt mila was weighing in at 3lbs 5oz and dax was 3lbs 10oz...time is winding down!!!

luv mel, dave, deuce, mila n dax!

Deuce turns 3

so i know everyone says it and i prob say it every year but man time flies....i can't believe our little guy isn't so little anymore....he turned 3 a couple of weeks ago and i think i'm still in shock. since he's not really one for a crowd we decided this year that we would just keep it simple. the day went as usual and once dave got home from work and deuce woke up from his nap we started the celebration. i made a train cake and his favorite meal...spaghetti and then we opened gifts and cut the cake...pretty simple!

i took this pic a couple days before his bday...still trying to teach him how to smile for the camera

here was the starting product for the train

deuce checking out the train when he woke up from his nap (he immediately knew it wasn't thomas though) but still interested

not the best but the best i could do...lol

once i put it on the table he decided to get a closer look

he got an "enimly" train from the ellis' and toby from us...he was all ready to play

he got a "moo cow" (ut) hoodie from the chances'

then it was off to play with the trains on the tracks

he made it back to the presents to play with his handy manny truck from grandmar

we also got him a lightning mcqueen chair/fold out bed and the thomas tent in the background is from our friends katie and callie

once we unfolded it and showed him he could lay in it that's all he wanted to do....he says "sweep" and then tells us which movie he wants to watch

daddy n deuce testing out the bed with a little movie watching

then it was on to the cake

he's still not a fan of getting his hands dirty so i had to help him out with a little taste test
as far as everything else goes we are truckn right along...i don't think mila n dax plan on making an early appearance so i'm betting it will be sometime early jan. i finally finished mila's room and the boys room is basically done just missing a few wall decor that will come in time i suppose.

luv mel, dave, deuce, mila n dax

fall is in the air

well it's been the usual amount of time since i've blogged so of course a lot has happened and since fall is upon us some things are pretty much guaranteed like camp johnson's carnival and the marine corps ball add in there this year an extra trip to texas for a girlfriend's wedding and an always loved visit from nana!

nana was a huge help this last visit besides being deuce's right hand man for a week she also helped me paint both of the kids rooms. (those pics will come later once everything is in place)

deuce really loves his nana!

big hugs for nana

camp johnson's fall carnival was another adventure that deuce still isn't so sure about. he loves the openness and running around but as far as the activities go he really wanted nothing to do with them. he did play in the jumpy house for a little bit but of course no pumpkin painting or even really picking for that matter.

this is as close as he wanted to come to the "pumpkin patch"

riding on daddy's shoulders is always fun

i traveled to texas late october for my friend kerry's wedding. it was a quick weekend trip but i loved being a part of the whole thing. pregnant bridesmaid and all!

kerry and i at the reception

this was the entertainment for the night...kissing my belly!

the marine corps ball falls every year round the beginning of november in conjunction of course with the marine corps birthday! this year the marine corps celebrated it's 235th birthday. i was unfortunately really sick but i sucked it up for dave knowing everything he does and what this job means and this is his one chance a year to celebrate it. we were able to go for several hours and dave was able to visit and relax and enjoy his day!

all dressed up and ready to head out

the crew from combat camera

also to go along with the marine corps birthday dave re enlisted for another four years. i am so proud of him for who he is and everything he does for this family and country!

dave signing his papers

raising his right hand and swearing in

i also receive a certificate for basically being a supportive marine corps wife

and this would be our attempt to take one family photo at the re enlistment (have i mentioned deuce doesn't like photos)

well that's all for now .....stay tuned for deuces 3rd bday and hopefully finished photos of mila's room and dax and deuce's room!

luv mel, dave, deuce, mila n dax

(yes i'm saying mila first because that's what the doctors are saying "she is making sure she will be the older sibling")

texas sized fun

ok so this was supposed to be at the end but i accidentally erased it and now i can't get it back down at the bottom so i'm leaving it here! anyway this pic was taken on sunday after our night out where somehow we managed to have enough energy (or should i say kelly n kev had enough energy) to throw kenzie a 2yr old bday party and the kids actually cooperated for a cousin pic!
now for the real story!.......

in early sept we made (what will be our last trip till the twins are born) a family trip to texas to celebrate my 30th and spend some quality family time! the week was full of great adventures planned to a t by the chances! we started off with some down time at the chances and a little outside time before the tropical storm dumped all kinds of rain on us...

uncle dave chilln with klayton and kenzie

deuce playing ball

klayton and deuce chasing a cricket

here's a case of monkey see monkey do...deuce would never bite into the corn until he had lunch with kenzie and klayton and realized they were doin it...his quote was "yummy"

uncle dave coloring with klayton and kenzie (the $2 purchase made great entertainment during the rain)

on wednesday (my actual bday) the ellis made it in and we took the whole gang to chewy's for a little bday dinner...the wait was ridiculous but we survived with a little uncle kevin entertainment and snacks!

deuce showing off his "chewy's grin"

friday morning we were supposed to all head out to sea world but much to our surprise it was closed so instead we made a day of austin fun....we went to the park first and then for a ride on the zilker train and then the kiddos cooled off in the fountains and last we stuffed our faces with some salt lick where the kids proceeded to melt but i'm pretty sure we were all ok with it do to the happiness in our tummys!

all the kids venturing out at the playground

climbing up!

on the move!

wee!

once on the train it was serious business

it took deuce a little while to join in on the fun at the fountains but eventually he was full throttle

i think the quote when we left there was "that was fun...what's next?" by austin saturday was set aside for some family time and dancing...aunt linda and uncle lary made it in for some visiting before we all headed out to dallas night club for some good ol dancing (per my bday request)

deuce and nate dog playing together

aunt kelly reading before bed time....our plan was to get all the kids in bed by 8 so we could be out the door by 8:30 but during the bathing phase kenzie decided to leave a floater so kevin had to take emergency action and send nathan and kenzie downstairs with aunt marla while he sanitized the tub and then deuce got in...remarkably we walked out the door pretty much on time!

aunt marla and me at dallas

everyone got in on the dancing fun...yes i even got dave out there!

kelly n kev cuttn a rug

richard and carrie taking a few spins

the girls!

tammy n james even made it out....thanks a bunch!

i even got to swing dance with master himself....minus a few run ins!

thanks to my wonderful husband for taking me out dancing for my bday...it was a great night!

the trip was awesome and my bday turned out great...thanks to everyone for all you did! as for the twins i'm sure most of you know by now that we are having one boy Dax Eugene Charles Rakes and one girl Mila Michelle Rakes! we are really excited and busy getting everything in order!

luv mel, dave, deuce, dax and mila!