We arrived in Texas

Well we finally made our move from Virginia to Texas. We left Friday morning around 3 am; we were set to leave at midnight but Avery didn't want to get out of bed. So we finally hit the road and of course James went right back to sleep and slept until 7 am. Madison on the other hand talked for all dark hours and then fell asleep around 5 am. So after they were both awake we stopped for breakfast and then continued on our trip. The kids did great! James slept almost the entire trip and Madison talked almost the entire trip. We were making great time and had only 30 minutes left on our trip and ran into some construction work so that added an hour on our time but we finally arrived around midnight.

The night before we left we headed to the park for one more play date.

Lily, Madison, Stevie, & Noah

I was instructed to attempt to keep our kids up to midnight in hopes they'd sleep well in the truck. I tried very very hard. Gave them each a bubble bath and played for hours. However about 11:30 they were both sitting in the chair begging me to take them to bed. They were so sweet to each other and ended up falling asleep next to each other.

Madison & James's last night in Virginia!

Madison is out cold for this portion of the trip LOL

James was laughing at the way she looked

Playing Peek-a-boo through the headrest

Madison & James enjoying their first day in Texas...of course being spoiled already!

Time is disapearing in Virginia

Well it's getting close to that date when we leave Virginia and head south. I'm very excited to be going back home and getting settled back in Texas. However, I am very sad to be leaving the best of friends I could have ever met up here. I know they will all be moving soon too and hopefully we all stay in touch and watch our kids grow.

So today we attended our final play morning on Fort Lee. We've been going to play morning since Madison turned 2, so it's been awhile. The kids have loved going and always looked forward to Tuesday mornings and of course Tuesday afternoons when we all went out to eat and play some more LOL.

So instead of going out to eat today we all took the kids to the Play Room and they had a blast. Here's a few pictures from the fun times today...

James & Ava

My little man finally got brave and went in the bouncer!

Madison & Noah playing in the pet shop.

Wonder what the princess is pondering?

One of the many dress up outfits of the day

Stevie, Lily, & Madison

Lily & Madison

Well on Sunday night we tried to get everyone together to do one last girls night out (with me at least LOL). We managed to get four of us and it was a blast. We started the night out with dinner at Olive Garden then headed to Applebees for some drinks and laughter. They have Karaoke on Sunday nights and it is so funny to hear people attempt to sing. I will truly miss some of the most awesome people I've met in my life. Sunday night was wicked awesome! (That's for you Kim and Wendy! - I threw a bit of Yankee in there!)

Me, Wendy, Kim, & Jamie

I will miss you girls!

It's been awhile....

Well it's been almost 8 months since I posted on here and I'm getting tired of myspace blog so I'm coming back to BlogSpot. We've been very busy lately with all the moving process. We've almost go the whole house packed up and I'm just working on getting all the kids medical records and the rest of that fun junk to handle.

Madison at one of the Maymot flower gardens

Well the kids had their surgeries a few weeks ago and are doing great. They both passed their hearing test and no fluid in the ears. I think removing Madison's enlarged adnoids was a good move, I think she is talking better and not so much through her nose anymore. Madison is getting so excited about going to Texas and starting "big girl school" as she calls it. We have orientation on August 20th and she'll get to meet her teacher and see her classroom.

My handsome boy

My little James is not so little anymore. He'll be 2 years old in just a few months! My the time has flown by, seems like yesterday he was just a little baby. He will begin daycare (for the first time) September 1st. I'm scared...not because I don't trust daycare, because Madison was in one when she was younger then he is. I am just sad more than anything. I've enjoyed being home with my kids so much. I know that this will be a good experience for him though and hopefully he enjoys it.


Well as for myself, I've been getting so stressed over all this moving. It stinks that my hubby has been in the field for 2 weeks now so it doesn't help me at all when he's not here to talk to about everything. My main stress is wanting to be home with my kids in the afternoon. I tried to get on at the schools in Texas, but of course like everywhere now - it's "who" you know, not "what" you know. So they have field all the positions with people already within the school district. So that left me with two other options....go back to the law firm, or look for a different job. Just as I was debating my options I got a few emails from the firm asking when I was coming back and how much they wanted me back. So now I believe that is the option I'm going to take. I recently sent them an email to ponder about a possible just 8-2 position so we will see. I want to be home for when she gets off the bus, but then part of me thinks I should just work the 8-5 for more money (to make up for daycare and gas expenses). So I think, man parents do this everyday....kids are always going to afterschool care. So right now I'm just trying to figure things out. Well anyways, felt good to get that off my chest (sucks when I can't talk to Avery).

Back home

Well we had a great time in Texas for the past few months, but it is nice to get home. There were a few ER visits I could have done without, but other than those few we had a great time. Thanks to Maw Maw & Paw Paw for letting us stay at their house (I'm sure they are enjoying the quite time now). Here's a few pictures from when we finally got back home.

Family fun

Well lets see....we've all been very busy since arriving in Texas. We haven't even had anytime to really go and visit many people. As most of you know I started back to work for while I am down here. I started the day after we got here and been working 5 days a week. So for now I am deciding to only work 3 days a week so that I can spend more time with the kids. It's amazing how crazy I was going all day without them.




Well when we got to Texas of course we hit the grocery store to buy everything they don't sell in Virginia. Mainly gumbo, blue bell ice cream, GOOD Texas sausage.....you all know what I'm talking about. Well we decided to make poor daddy a little jealous (he's been wanting some Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream for quite sometime now) and we sent him a picture of Madison before she dug in. I know we are very mean. So of course he didn't really call us back right away!

Madison and her ice cream before it was all eaten!

Well, Madison has already started missing her buddies from Fort Lee. I saved Lily's and Steve's blogs on the computer so she can go to them whenever she wants. Well she was looking at Lily's blog and was so engrossed in the picture of Lily giving her dog a bath that my dad came right up to her and yelled at her scaring her to death. She had the look of "oh no - you caught me in the act!"

Poor thing thought she was in trouble.

Well, the kids are finally adjusting to being here. James is no longer getting up at 5 am, he's back to 6 am and finally doesn't scream for supper at 5 pm. He's been taking more and more steps everyday. He's getting braver and he loves to climb on everything. My mother dug out Madison's old little bike and he is hooked. It's the first thing he goes to every morning and plays with it all day long. He loves to sit on it and walk everywhere in the house. Madison is really enjoying all the attention she gets when we are down here. Took her to get her hair cut and she was so happy that her hair lady "cut her hair longer" because she doesn't want it short.

James and his new favorite toy (at least until his birthday party)

Madison showing her pretty smile like always.

We also had a "Collier" reunion this past week. We had it at a local park in which they accidentally double booked. So we also had a band there that day playing for open public. So of course my little angel who wants to always get a microphone and sing for everyone, was extremely upset when she was not aloud on stage to sing. So we finally talked her into pretending that her water bottle was a microphone and we placed her on the table to entertain us all. She sang us Twinkle Twinkle Little Star about 8 times. I caught the last time on video and she watches it everynight. Maybe we will have us a little star! Okay, so it wasn't letting me upload the video so you can go to www.myspace.com/jammiebertrand to view it because it is on my home page.

Madison, Maw Maw, and James Jr.

Well we finally had my sister's bridal shower (that goodness it's over). It was a very good turn-out and considering things have been very crazy we managed to get it all and have a great party. James loved being there since it was all women, he just got passed around and around, eventually passing out from all the attention he was showered with.

My handsome little man!

Until next post - miss you all in Virginia, but I am happy to be here in Texas!

First day in Texas!

Well we made it to Texas and the kids were thankful for that, they did not want to get back in the truck. Well I took a few pictures of Madison and her Paw Paw riding the 4-wheeler (and as soon as they got off it started pooring - what is up with this southeast Texas weather!)

Another fun family day

Well today we decided to take the kids to Swaders down the road. They have go-karts, putt-putt, arcade, batting cages and a few other things. They both had lots of fun mainly in the arcade area.

Madison bravely got in the go-kart with me and enjoyed the first lap around then ask me to go faster and that reunined it for her. She was fearful the rest of the laps and poor thing made Daddy ride by himself because she was too scared to go again.

After the go-karts we took the kids to play some putt-putt. Madison had a blast, in this video she was getting so angry that the ball kept rolling backwards (she was on a hill) that she finally picked it up and dropped it in the tube and actually made it in the hole. She managed to finish all 18 holes with her own unique style of golf.