Happy 2nd Birthday Lily!

 

Happy 2nd Birthday to our precious Lily Claire!

What joy and fun you bring to our family!

We can't imagine life without you and hope you feel very special today!

Look Who...

Look who...fell asleep in the 4th inning of the Rangers game a few weeks ago! 

A cold front blew in at the beginning of the game and our seats were on the top row of the stadium.  There was nothing blocking the cold wind and it didn't take long before we were all miserable.  After finishing his nachos and cotton candy, Parker climbed into my lap to try and get warm and before I knew it, he was sound asleep!  I enjoyed the extra warmth he gave me, but not as much as I enjoyed snuggling with my sweet boy.  Those moments are few and far between these days. 

 

Look who... learned to ride her bike! 

Addison looks like such a big kid riding her bike without training wheels.  I am so proud of her and hope this will encourage Parker to want to try to learn how to ride his bike too!

 

Look who... is not afraid of worms!

While we were outside playing last week, Eden found a worm and decided to make it her new friend.  This girl cracks me up!  She loves to try and catch butterflies and could spend hours playing with a roly-poly.  Out of all of my kids, she is the last one I thought would like creepy crawlies!

Look who... came and ate lunch with Parker at school!

Parker was so excited when Aunt MerMer and Addison surprised him with lunch last week!  He got to sit with them at the visitors table and felt very special!  Thanks Aunt MerMer for such a fun surprise!

A Weekend of Celebrating

October is a very popular month to have a birthday!  We spent our entire weekend celebrating with friends and family as they turned another year older.  First up was Cole's roller skating party on Saturday. Cole and Parker were in preschool together last year and although they are in different classes this year, they have remained good friends. 

Parker has never been roller skating but was excited to give it a try!  Thank goodness for walkers!  After a few minutes, he finally got the hang of it and never looked back.  He skated nonstop for almost 2 hours and I had to drag him off the rink to go home.  He had a great time skating and "racing" with Trip and Cole!     

Next was Matthew's birthday party at the park on Sunday.  Parker and Matthew are both in the same class this year and have become fast friends.  The weather could not have been more perfect and they had a great time running and playing during the party.  Again, I had to drag Parker away from the festivities- I think he could have stayed all day!

The two favorite things from the party were the monster teeth and glow sticks they got from the pinata.  They used the glow sticks as swords- such a boy thing to do!

(Funny story- Matthew's cousin, Marcus, is in Trip's kindergarten class in Grandview this year. Imagine our surprise when we got to the park and found out that Matthew and Marcus were having a joint birthday party and Trip was there to celebrate with Marcus.  Parker was so excited to have another afternoon to play with Trip!)

As soon as we left Matthew's party, we headed home to get ready for Grandma and Papa's birthday dinner.  Grandma and Papa both celebrate birthdays this week and we had a great time treating them to dinner on Sunday night!

Next up is celebrating our sweet Lily, who will turn 2 this weekend!  How did my baby girl already get this big?!?!?!  

It's Pumpkin Patch Time!

Fall is in the air!  Cooler weather, college football, salted caramel mochas at Starbucks, and most importantly... pumpkins!!!

The pumpkins arrived at the local church last week so Emily and I took advantage of the cooler weather and loaded up the kids for their annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

I would love to say that getting pictures of all 6 kids together is getting easier, but it still requires a lot of patience, low expectations, and candy!  Luckily, I am usually the one behind the camera so I don't have to jump up and down making a fool of myself trying to get smiles from toddlers.  My camera was on a different setting this year and a lot of the pictures came out blurry, but we were still able to get a few good shots of the kids with the pumpkins. 

In the past two years, I think this is one of the best pictures I have of all three of my kids together. Love it!

Emily's kids weren't quite as easy to get a good picture of (13 month old boys are REALLY busy!!) but I thought this one turned out cute!

After the required group pictures, we let the kids wander around looking at the pumpkins.  The favorite activity this year was wagon rides.  Parker, Addison, Eden and Aubrey all took turns pulling/pushing each other around in the wagons.  There were a few tears when the wagons got stuck but, overall, they had a good time.

We were excited that Aunt MerMer and Grandma were able to join us this year!

After we left the pumpkin patch, we went back over to my mom's for dinner.  After dinner, the kids went outside to play.  They started acting silly so I grabbed my camera hoping to get some genuine smiles from the kids and couldn't believe how good the pictures turned out.

This is my absolute favorite- the only thing that would have made it perfect is if Ryan was in the picture.  When I look at this picture, it makes me think that these girls are very lucky to have Parker looking out for them.  I hope that as the oldest cousin, he will always be protective of our girls.

We did manage to get one picture with all six cousins.  What huge blessings these kids are to me! I love them so much!!

Sweet Aubrey Kate!



What a great way to end a fun cousin-filled fall day!!

Aunt Enemy

Do you ever have one of those moments when you say something and then immediately want to take it back?

A couple of months ago, we were out running errands around town.  I had stopped to get a Sonic and the kids were all eating a snack of Scrabble CheezIts in the back seat.  Eden found an "N" on her cracker and said, "There is an N in my name" to which I responded, "Good!  Can you think of anyone else with an N in their name?".

From the third row, Parker joined in and said, "I know... Aunt Enemy has an N in her name.".

And that's when it happened.  (Parker has always called my sister, Emily, "Aunt Enemy".  It is one of my favorite Parkerisms of all times.) Without even thinking, I said, "Well, actually, Aunt Emily has an M in her name, not an N.".

"Hmmm, you mean her name is Emily, with an M?" he answered back.

That's when I knew that there was no going back.  Once Parker learns something the right way, he usually won't make that mistake again. 

I even tried using this tactic- "Yes, her name is Emily, but you can still call her Aunt Enemy if you want.", but it didn't work.  Aunt Enemy is a thing of the past.  (sniff, sniff)

Maybe I can convince Lily to call her Aunt Enemy!

Gig 'Em Aggies!

Last night, we had some friends come over and watch the Aggies BTHO Ole Miss.  It was a nail biter until the very end, but we finally won in the last few minutes of the game!  WHOOP!

The kids looked so cute in their A&M shirts and had a great time playing with their new friends.  It was a great evening and we can't wait for Nabeel, Julianne and their sweet kids to come back again soon!

Fall Ball

Parker started fall ball a few weeks ago and absolutely loves it!  He has improved so much since last spring and after lots of practicing with his daddy, he can now catch the ball like a big boy.  He has been playing first base and has consistently made 2-3 outs per game.  He loves hitting the ball off the tee and running the bases.  He even hit his first home run last week!

T-ball in the fall is much more relaxed than the spring.  They do not keep score and use this season as more of a teaching season.  Parker's coach, Coach Joe, has a lot of experience and has taught Parker a lot about correct form and technique.  He is very patient with the boys on the team and although he expects a lot out of them, he never gets upset when they make mistakes. 

Eden and Lily are Parker's biggest fans.  They are usually not paying attention to anything that is happening in the game, but will occasionally stop and cheer for him when it is his turn to bat.

  LET'S GO PARKER! (clap...clap...clap clap clap!)

We are so proud of Parker and can't wait to watch his baseball skills develop even more over the next few seasons!