New Beginnings

Well since we don't have our computer hooked up yet I guess tying this entry from my phone will have to do. We have officially moved into our new house. We love everything about it. Saying goodbye to all our old neighbors was hard. They have watched us grow and were wonderful neighbors for an amazing 10 years. They watched my kids grow up and were like grandparents to them. One of the hardest thing for me as a mother was Emma having to leave her best friend. They are only 2 weeks apart in age so they have grown up together only 2 houses down. Another hard thing for me was really just leaving our old house. That house was where I brought both my babies home and had Christmas, birthdays and many more memories were shared there.
As far as our new neighborhood we absolutely love it. One of the most exciting things for me was watching Emma ride her bike freely down the road and not have to worry (in our old neighborhood people would fly down our road and I wouldn't let her ride her bike without me). So she is excited about that. She gets on her bike and rides and rides. The girls love their rooms and love their playroom. Eric and I love all the space we have in this house. We doubled in size so that is amazing to us. We are very blessed in many ways.
On another note since we have been moving and packing my summer is almost over. BOOO!! I will post pics as soon as we get out computer together and I can download them. Until then God bless!!

Falling Down on my Job!

WOW, it has been 2 years since I have updated my blog.  Last time I wrote on my blog Emma was turning 6 and Avery was having her heart surgery.  Now Emma is 8 years old and Avery will be 3 at the end of July.  BUT the most exciting news is we had another baby, Ali, yes I said another little girl.  I feel awful because Ali is 19 months old now and I didn't blog about being pregnant with her or anything.  BOOO on my part.  But my goal is to start keeping everyone up to date on the fam again.  So in a nutshell we now have 2 healthy BEE-autiful girls, Emma 8 and Ali 19 months. 

To sum up the last year of our lives would take forever so here it goes in a brief description.....Emma is now going into the 3rd grade and Ali is still going to a babysitter.  Emma had an awesome time in 2nd grade as she always does in school.  She made the A honor roll all year long.  She has continued to play soccer and softball every season.  She did play basketball this past winter and ummm I don't know if it was her thing as she says but she did great.  Emma really loves soccer and softball the most.  Ali on the other hand is growing like a weed and is (for the most part) a sweet baby.  She loves to play outside and loves anything Elmo.  We have also bought a new house in another housing edition here in Paris.  We put our house up for sale but didn't think it would sell so quickly and to our surprise it sold in 2 days.  Sooo.. the Layton's are moving and starting a new chapter in our lives.  It is such a bitter-sweet time because we love our neighbors and our girls have grown up with them.  As I was packing the girls' room up the other day I just sat and cried because this house is where I brought both of my babies home.  I am so glad they both got to come home, have holidays, open Christmas presents and much more in this one house on Ridgeview.  Well it is time to continue packing up the house as we are moving next Tuesday.  Good-Bye for now and I am making a promise to myself to blog often.


Emma waiting on her sister to arrive



Such a proud BIG sister






Great Start to a New Year!

It's hard to believe but my once little baby is turning 6 in only a couple of days. I remember when she was born like it was yesterday. I get a little sad (no not a little, a lot) when I think about how big she is getting. And the most shocking part is that she is not even having a big birthday blow-out!!! I know your shocked right. For those of you that know me well know that we (and when I say "we" I mean "me") do birthdays up big around our house. Emma wants to take a couple of her girlfriends to Sweet and Sassy in Allan. So she wants to have a "girls only" party which means she is really growing up. I just hope she understands doing that means no big party which in turn means not a lot of presents. So this year is the first year that I have not already bought all kinds of party supplies and had homemade invitations (that Coco does an awesome job on). Emma has changed so much in the last year from starting kindergarten to learning how to read and tying her own shoes....it's like now she doesn't need my help anymore. She is so independent and as much as I know that is a good thing it's hard. Stay tuned for more on b-day party.....
On a great note....Avery's surgery went wonderful. She had her surgery on Tuesday and was at home by Saturday. Her surgery took a while but we have a healthy baby girl now that is "fixed." I thought waiting during the surgery was going to be the worst part of this whole ordeal but I was wrong...it was seeing her in ICU that night after surgery. It was so heartbreaking and I had a hard time seeing her like that. She looked so bad hooked up to all those machines and wires and I felt so helpless like I couldn't do anything for her. Oh how I wished I could take her pain and discomfort away. BUT she is doing awesome now and is eating like crazy. Avery is growing, moving all around and going to be crawling before long. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts during these times.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year Everyone!! I know I haven't blogged about our life in a while so here it goes... We have had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Me and Eric went to see a Stars game with Becky and Rodney and had a great time! It was especially fun because we had "VIP" treatment thanks to Becky's step-dad and mom..thanks guys!! We did our usual Thanksgiving family visits around to all the families. The month of December always seems so busy for us as we have families to see, Christmas parties to attend and tons of things we like to do with Emma. Our Christmas break begin with a trip to the Gaylord to see ICE. The theme this year was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." We didn't stay at the Gaylord this year, we ended up staying in Frisco and went shopping the next day. We had a great time and traveled with Becky, Rodney and the boys on this trip. Christmas came quickly after that and ended just as fast. Before we knew it the new year was upon us. With each new year brings new challenges which brings me to my next subject....on November 13th we found out that Avery (my sweet precious 5 month old niece) has a heart condition called VSD (otherwise known as a hole in her heart). So after many visits to the doctor and a stay in the hospital for RSV here we are today in a hotel awaiting her surgery to fix her heart tomorrow. We are all staying positive and trying to get through this the best way we know how...a lot of prayers!!! You can visit her caringbridge website at www.caringbridge.com/averyrudisill and read all about it. One of my goals this year is to try to keep up with my blog a little better than I have been..so keep checking back with me. Emma's birthday is coming up so I'm sure I will have lots to tell you guys about that and lots of pictures to show off. I can't believe she is about to be a big 6 year old...it seems like only yesterday she was a baby like Avery. My how time flies :) I hope you all have a great rest of the day and I will update on Avery's surgery tomorrow!!! Stay tuned..

With Love,
Kerri

Fall Days!

We have been busy these last couple of weeks. We have had a soccer game every Saturday and sometimes on Sunday which keeps us running to the soccer fields a lot. It has been doing nothing but raining which makes it nice and muddy for the games but thank goodness for rainboots.
Emma spent the night with a friend for the first time a couple of weeks ago and that was hard for mama. Does this mean she is growing up? I hope not!
Eric and I attended the annual Gala that PRMC has every year to raise money for scholarships and it was a great one. We had so much fun with many of our dear friends. It was great for us to get all dressed up and go to an adult only function. We enjoyed great food and wine.
To get Halloween started off the right way by carving pumpkins, me, Eric and Emma went over to the Jones' to carve some pumpkins. We usually carve pumpkins every year as a family but why not do it with some good friends....and it was FUN!!! We carved pumpkins, ate soup and made cookies while the kids played. Last night was Halloween night and Emma dressed up as a butterfly and I must say she was the cutest one I saw. Eric went racing while me and Emma went over to some friends house and went on a hay ride trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with a group of our friends and their kids. We had a great time and decided we should do that every year. Hopefully next year Eric will be able to join us. So now that Halloween is over it is time to start preparing for Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of the year, not only because my birthday is coming up in December but I love Christmas traditions with my family. We are planning lots of fun things like going to the Gaylord ICE exhibit again this year, riding the Polar Express in Grapevine, shopping and going to a Stars game in November. Stay tuned and keep checking back to see what we are going to be doing next.

Soccer Star!!

Last weekend was Emma's first soccer game of the season. This is her 4th season and I must say that she is getting pretty good. She scored 4 goals the first game and I have never been more excited. She played awesome!! We haven't been doing much of anything around our house except going to school and enjoying the nice cool weather. We haven't got to go riding in the jeep lately because it has been too cold. This week is our homecoming week so Em will have dress up days so hopefully I will get to upload some pics soon of her outfits. Besides school and soccer she will start back to tumbling soon. As far as me and Eric we are simply working and running Emma where she needs to go. Racing is over for a while so we have Eric again on Saturday nights and are loving it. For our near future we plan on going to the Gaylord to stay a night and taking the train ride in Grapevine during Christmas. Enjoy the rest of the week and God Bless!

New Chapter In Our Lives

Well Emma started kindergarten 2 weeks ago and it couldn't be any better for her. She absolutely loves it. Since I teach there in the same building as her I had to be in my room to greet my kids so her daddy took her to her first day of school. I knew Emma would be fine but her daddy, oh not so good. Poor Eric he was so upset seeing his baby girl start school. That was a major milestone in our lives. I, on the other hand, get to see Emma all day in the halls, cafeteria and she comes to my room before and after school so I do have it good. I guess you could say that is one of the perks of being a teacher and being in the same building as her for the next 2 years. I did a lot of crying the night before school started but on the first day her daddy was the one crying. She has came home everyday telling us what she did at school which lets me know that she does enjoy it. She wants Eric to take her to school every morning but I am not so certain that it is not for his benefit or is it to get to ride in the jeep...don't know??? On the other hand, I have started back as well and my kiddos are wonderful as usual. I really do enjoy teaching and know that this is what I am suppose to be doing in life. Eric will be leaving on Sunday to go to Iowa to race so it will be just me and Emma at home for a week by ourselves...really sad about that. I will be glad when he gets home and he is not even gone yet but I hope he does good. September is a busy month for us. We have a lot of birthday including both my sister, my moms, a couple of friends and ERIC WILL BE 32 on September 27th!!! Me and a couple of my friends are also going to Grapefest in Grapevine so that is what I am looking forward to. This has been on our calendar for a year so I am ready! Emma is about to start playing soccer again so we will be busy with practices every week and games on Saturday. I will try to post some soccer pics real soon. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!