cousins

here we go again! {another catch up post}

March 31, 2015celebrations, cousins, kids, pregnancy

here i am! i promise i wish i could write up each day we have together, but it might get a little repetitive 😉 and you boys and a very growing baby girl take almost all my energy. i miss staying up late. i miss playing around with all of our pictures. but for now we can just get a big post of like three weeks in one! 🙂 unfortunately it’s not that exciting because by the second week the stomach bug caught our house and clouds filled the sky. this mama almost thought there wasn’t an end in site, or even a glimpse of sunshine.

we have been to houston and back a few times. first trip was to celebrate samuels one whole year in glasses. samuel your doctor could not have been more pleased! she said she wishes all her two year olds loved their glasses as much as you do. you got a slightly different prescription in the right eye. we ordered you a new pair of glasses, as you were definitely ready. the first pair of glasses has seen better days. we don’t know how you saw through all those scratches.

back home, we are still loving every bit of library, especially the story time that you boys attend. you mainly love checking out movies but we still do enjoy a few good books.

our so called spring break week was spent very close to home. we were suppose to see our cousins but the bug got us and got us good. it took a good week plus a few days for everyone to get it and get over it. the only excitement we saw was on st. patrick’s day – which included a trip to the near by sonic and our neighborhood park.

jack it was your first time to swing on your own! you did not want me to push you at all. i was very excited for you.

samuel, sweet thing was just so happy to sit and swing, just a little. it has been so long since we had our swing set, everything is new to you again.

daddy was hard at work on a beautiful weekend. he made two gates for our deck to help keep the kids safe and the animals off 😉 i am so proud of him! now we’ve got some painting to do. 🙂

the bug continued to drag on… so there was a lot of this…

and this when we were feeling a little better…

then finally… after a good nights rest in our own beds, the sun came out and you kids were finally back to your sweet, silly- selves!

since we survived … {and i missed the wonderful halfway- twenty week – pregnancy picture} i was able to get a twenty-two week picture 🙂

oh girl, i am growing. i would love to say it’s you growing sweet girl, but i am feeling it everywhere. i am so scared of this hot summer ahead of us. i may be caught playing in the sprinkler with the boys. they are so excited about you. jack is so interested in what you might look like and what you can hear and feel. i am one lucky mama…

your big brothers are 24/7 entertainment…

and finally to end this extra long “catch up” of a post 🙂 another tee-ball game on a beautiful saturday morning….

and a quick little trip to bc for bailey’s f i f t e e n t h birthday!! so much fun!

it was a fast trip for just mama and samuel ( and anna kate 😉 ) but as soon as we got back, you brothers were inseparable….

and ready for new adventures again! or maybe just library 😉

xxoo

little trips and little visits

February 10, 2015celebrations, cousins, friends, kids

ohh how can our sweet erika be 17? we made a little trip out to bc to celebrate with her! she is so blessed to have such wonderful friendships. i just love watching her grow up!

oh did the boys love your party, erika! chocolate cake and endless oreos…

we enjoyed a little r&r at gramps and grannys and on the day we packed up to leave we had a surprise visitor …..

yeah i’m pretty sure you four babies were melting our hearts by the minute. thanks for the surprise visit/play date abbie! the boys enjoyed it and it was just enough to have them fall asleep on the trip home 🙂

we are getting more and more settled in to our new home. the weather has really turned the corner this past week and it’s been nothing but sunshiney days! i’m hoping to take pictures of the house soon, but for now i feel like we are guest ready 🙂

last week papaw and nana came to visit. the first day the weather was a little gloomy but the boys wore them out inside the house just as well. the last day the sun came out and it was beautiful. we went out to show them the park and the boys explored their little hearts out. thank you for visiting papaw and nana the boys loved every bit of it!

xxoo

the joys…

January 26, 2015celebrations, cousins, firsts, kids

of you boys…

the new house, the new surroundings, the new adventures: through it all, you guys are growing and exploring so much. i have hardly been able to catch up and write down all the new things you two do. we started attending the library time here and it is a great one! you are already excited to go back this week. this is a big deal, as jack never liked going to the one in our old area. could be that this one has a young cute teacher, who is great with the kids. 😉

“p is for pig” oh you two participated so well! the teacher in me was loving every bit of it 🙂

we have loved having visitors since the weather has been so nice! your oldest cousin, michaela, came a few weekends ago so daddy and i could go to the movies. we love that she lives so close! she is a huge help. we also love that she lives near great shopping. {well maybe just mama does} we followed her back and got to meet her new “kitty” then she stayed with us to help jack pick out some new kicks.

this last weekend gramps and granny came to stay with us and we enjoyed making a birthday cake for gramps. {i sure wish i could have been there on his actual birthday but i was really excited to have him at our house} 🙂

we hope you get to visit again soon gramps and granny!

other than having our favorite visitors and exploring outside our neighborhood, when the sun is out we are exploring the backyard. the boys absolutely love it! i know they will make so many memories here.

samuel, you love being outside. you run to the back door saying “oosh! oosh!” meaning “shoes.” you are more than happy to be out there whether someone is there or not. you spend most of the time with maudie. you also love putting leaves between the deck spaces. you are starting to play football with daddy and jack, always on daddy’s team. you have mastered the stairs in the house. you also say “up-tairs!” oh there are so many new words you are saying, i might have to make a new post to share. you love cuddling in the morning with cartoons just like big brother. you and jack are doing a great job sharing a room. mama or daddy still needs to stay in there till you guys fall asleep, but we will work on that. 😉 i keep telling myself, we won’t have to do this one day. so i just enjoy the extra quiet time i get with you while i can.

oh my big boy jack! this football season has made you fall in love. you know every team. you ask daddy who won against who and to look it up on his phone. every evening daddy comes home you challenge him to a football game. daddy said the other day, he is starting to have to really run to catch up to you! it could be your new shoes that make you go so fast 😉 you have the peyton manning “nationwide is on your side” commercial down to a t. you randomly sing parts of it around the house. you love patterns and numbers. you are helping around the house more and more. you are participating at mass more and more too. so much so, you can sometimes be heard singing along with father. we are so proud of you for being a good example for samuel.

you will have to have your own post soon too! but for now these little memories will do. 🙂 you goofy boy.

xxoo

christmas 2014 {highlights}

January 4, 2015celebrations, cousins, kids, sisters, vacation

christmas and new years break has come and gone so fast, as always. boy did we soak up every day and create such great memories. we spent the last weekend of advent preparing goodies and getting all packed before our trip out to bc.

daddy even ran out and got us one of the last trees in town. it was perfect!

sunday we headed out to bc and met all of our cousins there. the power wheels gave gramps’ yard another treatment for the winter 🙂

we had a few nights leading up to christmas eve to enjoy everyones company. we also ate a lot of really good food! thank you dana and granny for feeding us all week 🙂

christmas eve mass came and many little children fell asleep 🙂 it was a silent night after all. when we got back home they were ready for a christmas celebration like no other 🙂

sweet emily was even so excited, she shared quite a few smiles that night.

our family pictures are getting a little crazy. not everyone is always happy and not everyone looks at the camera. but they are all so darn cute! i think the outtakes are the best to remember …

emily grace’s very first christmas! it has been so long since we had a little girl in this family. we had to get a picture of granny’s girls ( – camryn and taylor) to remember this…

the kids gave us all a gift to remember! they performed the nativity for us. complete with scenes from the visitation of mary to her cousin elizabeth. little elizabeth was beyond excited to hear the news!

{we may have a little actress on our hands}

our parents made our christmas complete by giving us the first gift….our very own copy of the texas monthly celebrating george strait. no ads, just george. they spoil their girls! oh we still can’t help but smile we when think of our magazine!

after all that excitement 🙂 we let the kids take turns opening their presents! as tradition goes… emily went first 🙂

the adults opened gifts after…

we learned some gifts were not what we thought they were. it’s okay we created the best memories over having the longest laughs.

christmas morning we sang happy birthday to our sweet jesus and enjoyed all the toys santa clause brought….

we said goodbye to our cousins and headed over to papaw and nana’s for christmas day.

boy did these boys get spoiled…

we opened presents and had a yummy lunch. then it was off to play football. almost the entire afternoon!

we had such a special time with our families. we had one more good nights rest before packing up two vehicles worth and heading back home… we have been so blessed at our new home. two of my sisters inlaws are near by so they were able to come by for a visit during their stay…

we were so excited to have them visit and see our new home!

loved having so many loved ones here! right before new years kindle’s family surprised us by staying three nights with us… they along with dana’s family helped ring in the new year with us… it was so perfect!

we came home to sleeping babies and teenagers laughing like crazy…

daddy knows how to pour his toasts evenly….

we had lots of laughs and sad goodbyes…

i still can’t believe our house could hold so many boys… it was the perfect way to end 2014 and a perfect way to start 2015. already looking forward to next december!

xxoo

let’s go back…

December 16, 2014celebrations, cousins, field trip, friends, kids, well checks

oh you know, a whole month! i could break it down post by post… but i don’t know if i have the patience. it was hard enough to be away this long. so i came up with the top 10 events that can happen in just a month. it may be picture over load but that’s what i love most anyways 🙂

10. before halloween weekend we met our sweet friends out at blessington farms! i want to go back already. we could have spent all day on those slides!

9. jack attended his last cgs class. oh such great formation he received. we are sure missing these great people!

8. we went trick or treating one last time in our neighborhood. we sure missed daddy this time. we even had our pumpkin pizza. mama found out it is very hard to trick or treat and hand out candy at the house at the same time. our little referee was blowing the whistle and taking all the candy he could get.

7. sweet samuel turned the official t w o .. we celebrated with getting a birthday blessing at gramps and granny’s church and then meeting nana and papaw at the park. he was so excited they brought maudie along to play 🙂 we headed to san antonio to spend the weekend celebrating with daddy! so proud of our big boy!

6. we had our 4 year and 2 year old check up and a sad goodbye to the only doctor the boys ever knew… he was a great one 🙂

5. we said goodbye to the best first house we ever had. such wonderful memories! we moved in as a family of 2 and moved out as a family of 4 🙂 it couldn’t have been more perfect!

4. we lived in bc during our transition time thanks to gramps and granny and dana and mike for putting up with us so long. it just made pulling the band-aid off that much harder..

i also was blessed to spend a weekend retreat with the best friends a girl could ask for… it was not so silent but we had a number of excuses 🙂

3. on november 17 we closed our our new home! we feel very blessed for this smooth transition and beautiful house we can now call home!

2. luckily once we moved, it was only a week before we went back to bc to celebrate the baptism of sweet emily grace!

1. we celebrated a wonderful thanksgiving with the new sweet addition to the family!

*bonus news*

our new house is looking a little cozier with christmas decorations instead of boxes galore 🙂 i don’t have many pictures of it because around this crazy month my camera lens has taken a turn for the worse. however, i have a wonderful sister who let me borrow hers after thanksgiving… so a new post will follow soon!

until next time… promise it won’t be as long as last 🙂

xxoo

emily grace

October 27, 2014celebrations, cousins, sisters

well we did it! in all the craziness going on around here, we were able to see aunt holly at the hospital with her baby girl! it was a fast and furious trip but so worth it to see that sweet little love. we finally had a day with all four sisters in the hospital to celebrate the arrival of this sweet girl. can you believe, with n i n e t e e n nieces and nephews, this is the first time we have ever been able to do that?!?

happy birthday sweet emily grace! it was worth the drive and back to get to meet you and welcome you home! you are loved by so many!

xxoo

welcome to the neighborhood

September 2, 2014cousins

well it’s official! gramps and granny got new neighbors…. the best kind too! family 🙂 we kicked off labor day weekend with a few football scrimmages and then went out to bc to welcome dana and mike into their home. we had a good ol’ back yard bbq, complete with banana pudding for dessert. so bummed i didn’t get a picture, it was pretty amazing. i’ll just have to make it again just to take a picture you know 😉

an extra reason to love the fall season, little boys in football jersey’s …

the boys loved playing a little ball with their gramps. i’m not sure anyone caught the ball but they sure loved showing him their tricks.

and you know when you can’t always catch the ball out there… just hop on a four wheeler 😉

looking forward to many more memories here knowing cousins are just down the road.

xxoo

sweet smiles

August 6, 2014cousins

well my sister just texted us that she is back home… she was able to spend almost t h r e e weeks here in texas. it was a wild and crazy ride but so many memories were made! the kids are all completely over tired but the smiles for t h r e e weeks were so worth it. we sure are going to miss her and her cuties being here!

braedon kyle

{age 9}

andrew michael

{age 7}

sydney anne

{age 4}

seth robert

{age 2}

can’t wait to get pictures of baby girl 🙂

{due early november}

thank you holly for making the trip down here to create such great memories for all of us!

xxoo

another graduate in the family!

June 17, 2014celebrations, cousins

on the last weekend in may, samuel and i made our trip out to chad and mendy’s for taylor’s high school graduation. it seemed like such a fast trip, as my little lap buddy was on my lap, hip or bed almost the entire time. oh my samuel, how we all learned a little more about you this weekend. you are very head strong and you can get louder than everyone thought you could 😉 you also ended up not feeling so well. as excited as we were to get away, we were ready to get you back home to where you are most comfortable.

our stay was so wonderful. i love love love seeing all these girls together and it makes my heart so happy to hang out with chad and mendy like old times! mendy always knows how to host her guests. the graduation was so special and the party was just wonderful! taylor, you are such a beautiful young woman! be so thankful for what our lord has blessed you with. this weekend proved He surely has blessed you!

taylor, seems like yesterday you were the size of a carry on 🙂 can’t believe you are college bound… even if you still feel ten. you will do so great! continue to make us proud! thank you chad and mendy for hosting all of the family. we wouldn’t have missed it. we made great memories…love and miss you guys more than words could say! even though i was ready to get samuel home and happy, it was so hard to leave you guys!

xxoo

friday fun day…

May 18, 2014cousins, firsts, kids

last friday was quite a big day… we started off with mass at mama’s old school. it was the eighth graders last school mass. this eighth grade class was super special to me because it was my first class to teach! i have so many memories with them. seeing them again was so great! they hadn’t changed one bit! they just got a little bit taller. oh how i wish i could have gotten pictures with them, but for now that day is etched in my memory. they were my first babies before these babies. i couldn’t have asked for a more special morning.