9 going on 90

Today Michael and I celebrate 9 whole years!  I can't believe it!  I feel so blessed to have him in my life and don't want to imagine life any other way.  I love that we have enjoyed so many different seasons of life together, 9 to be exact!
1-We were church buddies, I love that our initial common interest was our faith.  We both believe we made a promise to God and each other on our wedding day and I love that it started when we were 15 sitting in Sunday school, going to life group, and Ranger games.   

2-We were dating and living in separate towns.  Of course we had to wait until I was in Abilene and Michael was in Tyler and then College Station, it would be too easy to date in the same city.  This was actually a huge gift.  We both loved our college experiences, and I don't think either of us would have been as happy at the other's school.  We learned a lot about communication on ridiculously long phone calls, and we also learned the value of friends besides your best friend.  I loved this phase as well.

3-We were engaged.  I loved and hated this part of our lives together.  Being engaged is really fun, planning and dreaming is exciting.  But blending families and expectations is tough, and we were not good at it.  Being engaged is weird, you are not married you are not dating....where do you fit?  But, I also loved this time.  We found ourselves showered with love and parties by sweet friends and family.  We felt so much love and support as we planned for our special day.  I also found myself in a new city working my very first real job and Michael was an amazing support for me during a very tough transition, I'm not so good at change!  We learned to lean on each other in new ways, another great time. 

4-We were newlyweds.  I am just going to say it.  It was probably very good that we were in College Station for this time.  I am sure we were icky and disgusting just like all newlyweds are.  But, it worked perfectly!  We hung out with Michael's friends some and had lots of fun learning to be married just the two of us and Cleo, who was not an unloved pug at this phase of her life ;)  What a great time this was for us to learn to be married and support each other.  Michael was awesome finishing out his last semester of grad school (completing undergrad and grad in just 5 years, I have to brag) and studying so hard that he was able to sit for the CPA and pass all 4 parts the first time (I have to brag again.)  This time to study hard and play hard was amazing!

5-We were grown-ups.  We moved to the big city.  We bought a house.  We SURVIVED remodeling that house while living in it.  This was a hard time, but I can now look back with some fondness.  I love our house, I love the blood, sweat, and gallons of tears we put in to it.  I love that we managed so many changes all at once growing together not apart.   

6-We were DINKs (double-income no kids), some friends taught us phrase and I love it.  This phase of life was fun.  We took trips.  We found a church home.  We made couple friends, we had a blast!

7-We were/are pregnant.  It was an adventure.  I have to admit, I am not so good at it.  I am a lot crabby and a little bit crazy.  I love that we totally change rolls and Michael is calm, cool and collected and I worry like crazy.  Michael has graciously weathered the storm 2 1/2 times.  It is a crazy time, but a fun time full of lots of excitement and anticipation.
 
8-We are parents.  I love to see Michael through our boys eyes.  They truly adore him and would always chose him above anyone else.  They light up when he comes home from work.  I love to hear their squeals of delight when he chases them and plays with him.  I love how much he loves them.  To see him work so hard for them at work, yet constantly attempt the balance of family time as well.  I hope and pray our boys know how very much they are loved.  I also love how much this has shown me about God's love!

9-We are survivors!  The past two years have been a roller coaster.  Michael along with 2 partners started a business.  As I have told you, building a business can be a beating!  But, in all honesty I wouldn't have it any other way.  Having your husband doing what he loves it worth so very much.  We have weathered some very tough family times, and I think we are making it okay.  We are again working hard to learn and grow and become better people throughout hard times we never imagined facing.  We have been blessed by wise counsel, great friends and great family to carry us when we needed, but more than anything we have again leaned on each other and God and will continue to do so.  I can't wait to see what other phases we get to go through between now and 90 years!! 

Christmas Quotes

We had a great Christmas!  I did terrible in the picture department, but here are a few of my favorite quotes from the weekend!

"daddy daddy we're stuck in our truck"     avery while attempting to drive he and hank in their new powerwheels F150!

"are we going to have a bounce party?" as we pulled into the church parking lot (you know to celebrate Jesus' birthday)

"mamma, mamma where's Jesus I can't see him" as the candle light service is about to begin

"but mamma i think i see a baby in that manger" after i attempted to explain that Jesus is in our hearts and always with us, but we can't see him.

"daddy, do you think the sun will shine tomorrow?" on the way to bed last night after a day too cold and rainy to drive the new truck!

hope you are having a very fun holiday season!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all the best from our family to yours.  We are so thankful for all of our blessings, especially the most important one we celebrate today!  Have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Part 1 and the Polar Express

Saturday we got to have Christmas with Honey and Granny.  It was a great way to start our holiday celebrating!
Honey fixed us a yummy lunch and then we had delicious desserts.  Hanky was huge fan of her little pecan pies.  They were just his size!

We had so much fun, but of course I forgot to take pictures.  Maybe by our 3rd Christmas I'll get it down. :)

Sunday we went to Palestine and rode the Polar Express!  Avery had a blast!  He loves the Polar Express movie.  He asks to watch it every day and reads the book all the time at Papa and LouLou's house.  I think he was a great age for this, not old enough to miss the discrepancies but old enough to be thrilled.  

He was soooo excited when the train started moving!

Avery proudly turned in his ticket!

(these guys were amazing!  they made our experience, singing dancing and helping the kids have an absolute blast!)

We got hot chocolate and cookies, too.  Hank thought the snacks were by far the best part!  Avery was too excited to eat his!

We read along in our book while they read the story to all the passengers, it was so great!  I would very much recommend this for a fun, family Christmas outing!

Trains Again

We have started a little tradition of going to the trains at North Park with my work buddies!  Sadly, Amie and her crew didn't get to come this year.  Avery and Charlie go to school on opposite days of the week next year.  And big kid Brady was at kindergarten.  But, Avery, Claire Ben and Hanky had a great time. 

 Well, I think if we are telling the truth Avery and Claire had the best time.  They are only about 2 months apart in age and had a blast together.  When it was time to go home Avery did all his best smooth talking to convince me that Melanie and her kids should just come live at our house.  I had to remind him the Brady and Donald would not be okay with that idea. 

 North Park trains are the coolest.  We went early afternoon, around 2.  I think most of the other kids were taking naps so it was a great time and our kids could look as long as they wanted. 

Hank, Avery, Ben & Claire.  It is crazy to think the first time we went to North Park at the holidays Brady was the only kid around!

December is delightful!

We have been having so much fun!!
It all started when this little cutie came to town!

COUSIN COOPER!!!  To say we had fun is the understatement of the century.  I absolutely love how bright eyed Mr. C is!  He always just staring at us and taking the craziness of our house in.  We had so much fun loving and cuddling with him, to be honest I regret that I didn't snatch him up just a little bit more!

This is my favorite picture!  Cooper thinks car seats/infant carriers are over rated just like his cousin Hanky.  We were SO glad because that meant we got to hold him at dinner Monday night.  Why I really love this picture is on the way back to the car Michael gave me a big hug and said he sure was glad that we were going to have another baby because sweet baby Cooper gave him the fever!!

Aren't those big bright eyes sweet, I wish I knew what he was thinking. 

And Courtney and I now know that getting a picture of 3 boys 3 & under is not a very easy task.  Oh well, the reality shots are always the best anyway!  How sweet is Avery holding Cooper's hand.  He would say "mamma can I touch his tiny little hand, mamma can I touch his tiny little feet."

We had so much fun spending quality time with Aunt Courtney, too.  I loved getting to actually talk to her when we weren't at a big family function trying to help out and keep our little families in check.  

We know Uncle Blake was sad not to come and that he really missed Aunt Courtney and Cooper so Avery made him a present!

Hank was going to make one, but instead he tried to eat the ornament so......

Avery and Aunt Courtney finished on their own and did a great job! 
We are so very thankful that Aunt Courtney and Cooper came all the way to see us and that Uncle Blake was a good sport about getting left behind. 

Poor White Trash

This is one easy cheesy, super yummy recipe that always makes it feel like Christmas at our house!!

4 c cheerios
4 c rice chex
4 c pretzel sticks
2 c peanuts
2 lb white almond bark
1 tbsp crisco
2 c pecans (I leave these out, I don't like them)

 Gather one cute helper and make him a recipe to follow!  Then dump all the dry ingredients in a big bowl.

 Make sure you have a really fun Aunt to help you make these yummy treats.

Then melt the almond bark and oil in a microwave safe bowl.  (Do it on half strength one minute at a time so you don't scorch it.)  Or you can do it on a double broiler if you are so inclined. 
Then stir the almond bark and dry ingredients together and spread out on wax paper to harden and cool, and then enjoy. 

My Babies!

Good news!  All went well this morning and Wee 3 appears to be healthy and wiggly.  The poor sono tech could not get a look at his or her face to check for the things she needed to there, but luckily Wee decided to cooperate for the doctor when he came in to look at everything.  (Again confirming that my it's a boy theory) I can now breathe, a little, easier!  Thanks for your sweet texts and prayers!

And my biggest baby boy, Avery Blake had his school Christmas show yesterday.  It was ADORABLE!!!  We had very low expectations, we just weren't sure what to expect or what he would do because he can sometimes get a little shy but he was awesome.
He smiled, sang, rang his jingle bell and was just too cute in our opinion.

 I loved that after every song Avery looked over and we got this HUGE grin.  He was so proud! 

 Jingle bells!  Jingle bells!

Being such a good boy singing and looking at the teacher. 

I didn't know this song, but it was hilarious.  They would say something about knocking on the door at the North Pole and then scream the highest little screams because it's a Polar bear.  Too funny!!

Please Say a Wee Little Prayer

Tuesday morning we go for our big 20 week sonogram for Wee 3.  Just like any mom, this sonogram stresses me out.  And I think as nurse who works with sick babies I have a few too many things that pop in my head.  So please say a little prayer for our little one and me this Tuesday morning. 
On a much more fun note, we will get the envelope!!!!  Aunt Linde will once again be the only one who KNOWS.  We are excited for another surprise, we won't find out if Wee 3 is a he or she until April!
I don't think Linde will open it right away because we haven't chosen fabrics or a starting point for a girl or boy room.  We will be reworking Avery's awesome giraffe room to have a new and improved 2012 giraffe look for this new friend and Avery and Hank are getting a big boy room to share.  We are going to have lots of fun work for Aunt Linde this spring!
Name negotiations are still under way.  For a girl, we will go with Sadie Jo again.  The boy name isn't quite nailed down, although I am pretty sure I have Michael convinced. 
That's what I know about Wee 3!  Hopefully we'll have more good news to share in a couple of days! 
And because there have been far too many posts without pictures lately, here are some pictures from the Nature and Science Museum a few weeks ago. 

 Avery cracked us up with the goggles at the Bob the Builder exhibit.  He wore them forever and would try so hard to get Hank to wear them, too.

I thought they boys were pretty hilarious digging for fossils.  The didn't have a clue what they were doing, but had a great time!

Thank goodness for some indoor fun with all this cold weather, courtesy of our passes we got for the boys' birthdays!  Great gift idea!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I love holidays!!  So of course Christmas is no exception!  We are already having tons of Christmas fun!!

The week after Thanksgiving we had a Christmas family fun night and went to see the trains at North Park as well as the REAL Santa.  Just ask Katie, she's 10 and says all the other Santas are pretend ones that help this one, the real deal.  I have to say I love him and his photographers, too.  Hanky was not impressed, but they managed a smile out of my nervous littler prince.  Thankfully he had his big brother with him and my pregnant self did not have to be in a Santa picture again. 
Sorry for the picture of a picture I was cheap and only bought one picture for my wall of Santa photos.

Last Friday night we got to host Michael's office and their spouses for a Christmas dinner.  It was so fun to see how the group has grown from Michael Jason and Jeff to a party of 14!  As I have said many times I am so proud of these guys and all their hard work and so many blessings all coming together!

I was kind of proud of my tables, too.  I didn't have enough Christmas place mats so I wrapped some I already had in wrapping paper and used it for a runner on my smaller table, too.  I thought it turned out really cute. 

I also have to say a huge thank you to the Pioneer Woman, I made her lasagna and olive cheese bread with a yummy salad and it was a hit!

Our December is off to a great start, I hope yours is, too!