Anna Grace's Baptism

Of all my memories, and favorite moments, watching our children be baptized is at the top of my the list.  Being raised going to church and having a love for God is one of the greatest gifts my parents have given me.  It's what keeps me hopeful, what keeps me grounded and, to be honest, it's what keeps me sane in this crazy thing that we call life!  Teaching our children to love God will always be our top priority.  So, celebrating this fabulous day with our friends and family is the BEST. DAY. EVER!

We started the day off at the church where Gordon and I were married in 2010 and where William was baptized in 2012.  Little Anna Grace did a great job.  She wasn't a huge fan of the cold water being poured on her head, but she recovered quickly and thought Father Walsh was pretty interesting.  Father Walsh is also the priest that married us 5 years ago.  It's kinda neat since baby girl was born on our 5th wedding anniversary.

Anna Grace is a special baby girl.  After having a miscarriage I prayed for peace, prayed that I could trust and not worry, and prayed that God would give us another little blessing.  Everything about her is perfect.  She has given us a lot of scares with her recent health issues, but we wouldn't change a single thing about her.  God made her just for us, and we all adore everything about her.

The Hattenbach Family  |  The Gooding Family  |  Mama and Daddy with baby girl  

Not too sure about this cold holy water  |  Baby girl just taking it all in  |  Papa and Nana 

Sweet baby girl  |  Picture with her Godparents  |  William rather hang out with Uncle G

After the baptism ceremony we headed to Rice Village for lunch at Punk's.  We couldn't have asked for better weather!  It was beautiful outside.  This location is extra special because it's one of Gordon's projects.  The kids loved playing in the open green area, the food was delicious and everyone got a tour of Daddy's recent work.  

Cousin love  |  Sweet face  |  Dressed in her mama's Feltman bubble

Three of the Gooding girls  |  A few of the guys  |  My favorite girls

I call this guy my honey bunny  |  Love some Rachel time  |  Hanging with Grandad  |  Dekkers!

After lunch we headed home for nap time and to get ready to party with our closest friends!  A few months ago, while we were eating at Dekker's, I grabbed the singers card.  I loved that he sang a little bit of everything....country and John Mayer....can't beat that!  Lucky for us, he was available on the night of Anna Grace's baptism celebration.  We had the best time with our friends hanging out outside playing games, watching the kids on the play set and listening to some live music!  After years of throwing parties I got smart and hired 2 babysitters to help us watch the kids.  Best. Decision. Ever.  The parents were able to have more fun, we were able to catch up with each other, and I honestly think the kids had more fun than normal.  :)  

February 27, 2016 is a day we will never forget.  Every part of the day was perfect!  William talked about how much fun he had for days.  He loves having all his friends over to play and eats up all the attention he gets when we have family in town.  Too bad we can't do it all again.  :)

Christmas In Midland

I should be embarrassed that I'm still talking about Christmas, with it being nearly Spring!!!  What can I say, these little cutie pies keep me busy.  To be 100% honest it's not even that.....over the last 6 months I've gotten back into a couple of my favorite TV shows (Grey's Anatomy and The Bachelor).  One day, I decided with all the running around I do (taking care of everyone else) that I deserved some ME time.  So there.  I watch trashy TV.  And. I. Love. It. 

Back to Christmas.....the week before Christmas Gordon's mom came into town to celebrate with us, since they were spending the next week in Chicago.  William had a blast with his mimi, Uncle G and Aunt Em.  His aunt and uncle know him too well.  They got him an awesome soccer goal for the back yard.  I swear they buy him better gifts than we do.  :) 

We got to spend Christmas in Midland this year.  Anna Grace didn't know what was going on but William was so much fun!  He was so excited about Santa bringing him a big truck, a firetruck and bunchums.  On Christmas morning we all gathered around the tree in our comfy PJs, with our coffee, and opened gifts.  William would pick up one and say, "This one says my name?"  If he saw a "W" any where on the package it was claimed his.  :)  After church that day, we were able to play outside and enjoy the nice warm temperatures (nearly 80 degrees!). 

After opening presents we headed to church for my favorite service of the year.  We've made it a point to constantly remind William that Christmas isn't about Santa, but about baby Jesus being born.  Every night when the Christmas lights came on William would proudly say, "It's baby Jesus' birthday!"  Yes sweet boy, HE is the reason for the season. 

Church with my sweet family of four | Playing with his toys after church | Family :)

These two! | Decorating cookies | He is so in love with "Fifi"

Tummy time and play time | This look of concern washes over his face when she cries | Cookies!

We had such a fun Christmas in Midland!  Gordon and I got to get out one night to see some friends.  We took William to a movie.  The cousins got to play together.  We got to see GG and Pop.  It snowed!  Gordon surprised me with an awesome Christmas gift.  Little lady went to her mama's favorite restaurant, Luigi's, for the first time.  It is a Christmas I'll remember forever!  There is nothing better than being "home" for Christmas with your favorite people, family. 

Snow Days

On our last scheduled day in Midland, over Christmas, we woke up to snow flurries!  By 10am our flight back home had been canceled and we found out we wouldn't be able to fly out until the next day at 7pm.  This gave us lots of time to enjoy the SNOW!  My mom woke up sick that morning.  :(  We made sure to take lots of pictures and videos to send her.

Since we knew we'd be trapped in the house for the next 40 hours Gordon and I decided to take William to an early movie.  The boys had already seen The Good Dinosaur, but William would never turn down going to "the big movies".  Baby girl went with us too and took a nice little nap.  By the time we got out of the movie a couple of inches of snow had fallen and it was COLD!

To say William had fun playing in the snow is an understatement.  He was in heaven.  His gloves were a bit big but he didn't mind at all.  Thankfully, Nana had bought some snow boots the day before, so is was all set to play!  Gordon played with him on the first day and I did day 2.  This kiddo is going to love skiing when we take him next year.  Not once did he complain about the cold.  He just played and played and played.  He really loved breaking up the big pieces of ice on the sidewalk and thought throwing snowballs was hilarious.  

These were two days I'll never forget.  It was so pretty, quiet and peaceful outside, and William was so happy.  It doesn't get any better than that!  We had spiced apple cider, made snow ice cream and did lots of snuggling by the fire.  Now when it's foggy and/or cold outside William says, "The snow is coming!"  HAHA, I wish we got snow this far south.

Gaylord Texan

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we made our way to Dallas for a fun night at The Gaylord Texan.  Gordon only hung around for lunch and a quick visit with my family (and then headed home to go back to work).  Since I was still on maternity leave, the three of us took advantage of the time off and stayed the night in Dallas and then went on to Midland the next day.
Last year William didn't do so great in the ICE exhibit.  So, this year we skipped ICE and did the tube rides since he was tall enough.  To say he had fun is an understatement!  He made this mama drag the double tube up the stairs 12 times!!!  Before we were even to the bottom of the slide William would be yelling, "One more time, mama!"  We were able to get William away from the tube area with promises of looking at the train.  The Gaylord, at Christmas time, really is a magical place for a child.  That evening we had a fabulous dinner at the steak restaurant in the hotel, and the next morning we did some exploring before loading up the car.  

{View from our room} {Say Cheese!}

{Look Papa!} {Choo, Choo Train Watching} {He made the cut}

{Tubing} {"This is my friend, mama."} {Breakfast with mama}

Last year was fun, but this year was much better.  I can hardly wait for next year! :)

Thanksgiving 2015

Well, Anna Grace's first Thanksgiving is in the books!  I took approximately 1,000 pictures of William on his first Thanksgiving....not so much with baby girl.  All of these pictures were taken with my trusty iPhone.  There's a few reasons not many pictures were taken.  #1 baby girl wasn't in a photogenic stage.  She really just wanted to be held, swaddled or have a paci in her mouth (if it was up to her she'd have all three at once).  #2 It rained the last two days we were in town.  #3 watching two kids in someone else's house comes with challenges.  I was doing good to pump, feed, change diapers and get everyone bathed and dressed everyday (not to mention keeping up with myself).  :)  Regardless, I caught some pretty sweet moments!
The boys hunted a lot while we hung around the house.  William, Anna Grace and I got some good walks in and one day we even made it to a park with their baby cousin, Katherine.  Gordon and I did sneak away for lunch one day and had dinner with some friends one night (Anna Grace tagged along for this trip out of the house).  I'll admit, I have a hard time leaving my tiny babies with other people. :)  It was a relaxing weekend spent with some of our favorite people!

This is what Anna Grace thinks of Thanksgiving | William and Daddy heading to the movies | Love this silly boy | My little turkeys | Feeding baby sister | Playing with Aunt Em | Boy time! | Fun at the park | Family of Four | Lazy mornings | Kids were both sleeping during Thanksgiving lunch! | Sweet baby smiles

I'm sure next Thanksgiving will be even crazier!  3 walking and talking toddlers and 8 adults under one roof.....that's how memories are made, folks!!

Bringing Baby Girl Home

The older I get the faster the time flies by.  I wish it would slow down!  Since I have no control over that.....I'll just take a million pictures so I can remember all of these precious moments.

The rest of our hospital stay was semi-uneventful.  Since I seem to keep everything "complicated and interesting" baby girl decided to follow in my foot steps.  Our first night with baby girl went pretty well.  We didn't get to sleep until after 1am, but luckily she was a good baby and we all got some sleep.  I learned early on that baby girl loves to be touched.  When she's upset you can just lay your hand on her chest or touch her forehead and she calms down.  #sosweet  Poor little baby did keep spitting up/gagging on clear fluid that the nurse said was amniotic fluid.  Being the nurse I am, I of course worried about her choking/aspirating.  Luckily, I would hear her making funny noises in time to get it suctioned out of her mouth.  {I say we got sleep....haha....I should say Gordon got some sleep and I closed my eyes.  Life of a mommy.}

The first thing I did Saturday morning was order breakfast!!!  I hadn't eaten since Thursday night, and this mama was hungry!  Around 9am the nurse came in to do Anna Grace's 24 hour bili check, her hearing test was done around this time and I finally got to take a shower.  She failed the hearing test in her right ear but the next day eventually passed.  Unfortunately, her bili level came back critically high.  They came in and told us the bad news around noon.  Soon after she was placed under the bili lights and on a bili blanket.  We weren't able to have the in hospital pictures done since she had to stay under the lights as much as possible.  :(  I had put so much thought into the outfits I picked for her hospital stay....instead baby girl could only wear a diaper while she was under the lights.  *Again, that's what I get for planning.*  I could still hold Anna Grace to feed her as long as I kept the blanket under her.  

As you can imagine, no newborn wants to be uncovered, unswaddled and not held.  This made the next 20 hours hard.  William had to be under the bili light as well.  The difference is, he was hooked to monitors that told us his heart rate etc so he could be placed on his belly.  Whatever made him happy we did (and he was negative two months old).  This was obviously not the case with Anna Grace.  I was able to keep baby girl calm most of the day but the night time was a different story.  Her stylish sunglasses were bugging her and her little arms were just flailing all around.  There wasn't much sleeping going on in our room that night.  Gordon and I did have a nice evening watching the Texas Tech game and eating our "celebratory dinner" from the hospital.  After some tears that night and lots of prayers that her bili level would be low enough to stop the lights, my prayers were answered.  At 48 hours old her bili level was actually the same but since she was older it wasn't in the critically high range {more on why Anna Grace's bilirubin was high in my next post}.  She also passed the oxygen test that they now do (to test for possible heart problems).  Once Anna Grace and I were each seen by our doctors we were given the okay to go home!!!!
 
William and I had a hard time saying goodbye to each other on Anna Grace's birthday.  So, we decided to not have him visit on Saturday.  Instead, he had a super fun day with my mom!  As soon as we got the okay to go home my mom and William headed to the hospital.  Seeing my little William made a great day even happier!
      

{A bili blanket is better than the NICU} {Our sweet baby girl} {Getting some sun}

{Baby girl in her first dress} {Proud big brother is ready to bring her home.} {Day 1: meeting sister}

{Packing up to head home} {My little helper pushing us to the car}

The drive home went great.  I think Gordon and I were in shock to be driving her home only 50 hours after having her!  Such a blessing.  My mom picked some lunch up for us and then we all laid down for a much needed nap.  It was one of the happiest Sundays I've ever had.  

On our drive home Blake Shelton's song Mine Would Be You came on the radio.  I love, love, love this song.

Baby, if I had to choose

My best day ever

My finest hour, my wildest dream come true

Mine would be you

What's the greatest chapter in your book?

I asked Gordon what his greatest chapter was....as we drove down the road with our two little lovies he told me he was living it right now.  I couldn't agree more!  I know it's weird that I refer to songs so often....for whatever reason they help me remember special moments, and this day folks will always be one close to my heart.  

You forget how tiny they are | My whole world in one car | Nothing sweeter than this!

Holding baby sister | Can you tell he's happy?!? | Night #1, night night angel 

To say that William loves this little girl is a drastic understatement.  I knew he'd like her but I had no idea just how much.  He was instantly in love with her.  It gives the saying love at first sight a whole new meaning.  Nothing has ever made my heart happier than seeing him kiss her and whisper, "I love you, Anna Grace."  Life is good.  God has been good to us.  The stressful pregnancy and scary delivery were so worth this precious little gift!!!   

4th of July Weekend

Well, I can't say our 4th of July turned out the way we expected....but it was still fun!  Our original plan was to meet my parents at La Torretta on Lake Conroe for the long weekend.  On Friday, we got all packed up and made our way up to Conroe.  We had a 2 bedroom villa on the lake booked for our stay at La Torretta.  Due to the cerclage I can't swim in lakes (I was even told to steer away from public pools).  With that being said, this lake trip was going to be nice because our jet skis could be pulled right up to the villa.  I'd be able to watch everyone, get a good lake view and we'd have the hotel pool to keep William occupied.  WELL....long story short, when we arrived we were told the people in our villa were refusing to leave.  So instead, the hotel put us into a villa on the golf course that had a sliding glass back door that didn't lock.  As you can see from the pictures below we ended up back at home!!  My poor parents drove hundreds of miles, with the jet skis, all for a long weekend in the burbs.  :)  Friday night we went ahead and stayed in the Woodlands because we'd scheduled a 3D ultrasound in the area the next morning.  La Torretta really messed up our plans!!

On top of all that Gordon and I had bought tickets to the Garth Brooks concert at the last minute.  So, after dinner on the lake and unpacking William at the hotel we headed into town.  After baby girl comes dates like this won't happen for a while....so, I'm glad we did it.  We didn't crawl into bed until 2am!!  But, it was worth all the yawns.  Mr. Garth put on a great show.  

The next morning, July 4th, we headed to our ultrasound (and got zero pictures of baby girl) and then back home.  We went to our local parade, had dinner at one of our favorite places and did some fireworks.  To say William had a blast is an understatement!  He talked about our firework show (which was mainly sparklers and smoke bombs) for weeks.

The boys went shooting on Sunday morning so Nana, William and I headed to The Downtown Aquarium.  William loved looking at all the fish, the train ride was obviously a hit and the stingrays were super fun to feed.    

It may not have been the weekend we envisioned but we still had a blast and made lots of fun memories!!

Rosemary Beach 2015

I'm always pleasantly surprised when the time comes around for us to board the plane for Rosemary Beach.  Time goes by so fast!!  It's hard to believe that this was our 5th trip to Rosemary Beach for the annual Gooding summer vacation (and our 4th year to take William).  This was, by far, the best year we've had with William at the beach.  His first year he was only a few months old.  I was pumping every 3 hours....as soon as I'd get down to the beach it was time to head back home to pump again.  William's second year wasn't much better.  He would eat the sand, we'd put him in the water, he'd be sticky and just cry from there.  Last year he finally started having fun, but this year he was a true beach bum!!!  This child would have stayed on the beach all day and night if we let him.  

As always, I took a million pictures.  So, I'll do a few "Rosemary Beach 2015" posts.  Here are a few of the family pictures we got!        

The 20 week baby bump was perfect!  Not too big and not too small.  At this stage I was getting a little restless about all that's included in "pelvic rest".  For a person that enjoys exercising and being in shape it's been hard.  In the end, it's obviously very worth it...but I'll be glad to get back into shape.  I'm sad to say that just our walks on the beach made my lower legs hurt.  LOL.    

This was how most of our days went:

8:00 Up and out of bed for breakfast, playing around the house and getting lotioned up for the beach

10-12:30  Beach Time

12:30-1:30  Home to wash off and then off to lunch

2-4:00  Nap time (this is super late for him..there may have been a few breaks downs during dessert :)

On the days we didn't have dinner plans away from the house we headed back to the beach after nap time.  Every evening, after the sun went down, was spent crabbing!  The little man rarely went to be before 10:00.  YIKES!  Every morning, when the sun came up, William would run in our room saying, "The suns up!  I go to the beach."  I'm sad to say the sun comes up around 5:30am in RB.  Luckily, he would lay down with us and fall back to sleep for a couple of hours.   

Too busy playing to take a picture |  Baby Bump  |  Kisses for AG  |  Again, more interested in the sand on his hand  |  Taking it easy out on our balcony  |  Breakfast and Bike Ride

I can hardly wait to get Anna Grace out there in a little ruffly bathing suit!  Here's to hoping she'll take her morning nap under an umbrella while big brother plays.

Trip to Midland

"Week 23" was full of fun!  William and I had Monday off together.  We spent the morning perfecting his potty skills and playing with play-doh.  For lunch, we headed into town to meet Daddy at my favorite place, Barnaby's!  This was the week I tried out bedrest for a couple of days.  I got some good Grey's Anatomy time in.  :)  

That Friday William and I headed to West Texas!!  I can't say how proud I am of William for being a super duper travel buddy.  He always minds so well and makes flying with a toddler seem like a breeze!  We had a pretty laid back weekend.  Lots of time by the pool and eating at some of my favorite places.  We even got to see Pop and GG (my grandparents),

As you can see, William thought his new baby cousin was a fun new play buddy!  I'm not sure if the feelings were reciprocated!  LOL.  Poor little Brecken looks terrified.  Good news is....William could care less about me holding Brecken.  He's too busy doing big boy stuff I guess!
That Sunday evening I head back home and left baby boy with his Nana and Papa for a fun week of getting spoiled!  Leaving him behind is not easy for me, but I know it's the best thing for both of us.  William learns that being away from home (and away from "mamadaddy") is okay AND fun!  He grows even closer to his family and Gordon and I get some alone time.
I still can't believe the next time we're in Midland we'll have 2 little ones!  Hopefully we'll make it back sometime during football season.  Just thinking about football season makes me giddy.....a new baby, COOLER weather, maternity leave, pumpkin lattes and of course FOOTBALL!    

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend seems like a lifetime ago for some reason?!?!  Here's a little recap of  "week 21 of 2015".  

We had just gotten back from our annual beach vacation in Rosemary Beach.  I started the week off with a trip into town for a doctors appointment.  My other day off work was spent with this little cutie at the zoo.  It was an extra special trip because the Houston Zoo had just opened the new gorilla exhibit.  They had a week when only zoo members could check things out....so we had to go (before it got crazy busy)!  As always, we had an awesome time.  William thought the gorillas "talking" was funny, we got to see the elephants get a bath, William got sprayed with water by one of the elephants (he thought this was hilarious), and he really took a liking to the fish (I liked the air conditioned room!).    

Where are you Mr. Gorilla?  |  There you are!  |  Crawling through the fish tunnel

Carousel time  |  My little elephant lover, drum player  |  Look Mama!  

On Friday night we headed to Texarkana for the long weekend.  Although we'd just been with the Gooding side of the family, we decided to make one last trip before baby girl makes her appearance!  Our trips out of town are numbered since AG could come anytime (if she takes after her brother).  We hadn't been to T-town since November, so we were over due for a trip to East Texas.  

We had a fun weekend being lazy!  William loved getting to fish.  He even got over his fear of touching them.  I was shocked to see him grab the first fish he caught!  He even touched the worms they used for bait.  He's becoming such a BOY!  This mama and daddy even made it out to dinner one night with some friends. :)     

It's hard to believe that we'll have 2 kiddos the next time we visit Texarkana!!  I can only imagine how loaded down our car will be when we add a newborn to the mix.  :)

Hot Diggity Dog 3rd Birthday

To say I have fun planning a party is an understatement!  This party was super easy to put together.  With a little bit of planning and help from family it all turned out perfect.  I have found that if I plan far in advance it all comes together nicely (with less stress involved).  It will be nice having William and Anna Grace's birthdays 4-5 months apart.  It'll give everyone a chance to recover from the crazy fun birthday weekends we tend to have!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from William's 3rd birthday party.  I'll do another post on the "birthday party details" for anyone that cares to know where I got things from.  I knew this was my last year to throw William a party without him having a real opinion.  So, I picked Mickey Mouse!  William loves "hot dog" but is slowly turning into a little boy and starting to show interested in Spider Man, Hulk and Iron Man.  .....let the super hero parties begin....next year...... 

William was in love with everything about "his party".  This little guy loves to have his friends over, so this was a much anticipated day.  

• Posing with Hot Dog and Papa
• Checking out the Hot Diggity Dog Bar
• Family of three, going on four
• He was one happy little boy
• Singing happy birthday
• Blowing out his 3 candles
• "Look Mama, it's my cake!"
• Laughing at his friends

{watching the balloon artist} {he loved his new big truck} {some of the guys} {William broke his plane and JB was figuring out the bean bag game} {playing on the new swing set} {tire swing fun} {family dinner at Dekkers} {fun with Friends} {being a superhero with Uncle G}

To this day, a month later, William is still asking me if he can have "his party" again because "it was fun".  He was so excited to take the leftover cupcakes and cookies to school with him on Monday morning.  His teacher said he told her all about his party.  This little boy loves having all his family around.  Uncle G is the best play buddy a boy could ask for, my parents brought his favorite puppy, Massy (aka "Fifi"), and everyone got to check out his fun new swing set.  He is such a loved little boy.  We can't say thank you enough to all of our friends that joined us.  We had the best day and I know that William felt extra loved!!!  There's nothing that makes a parent happier.  :)

Easter 2015

For the first time in probably 8 years we spent Easter in Midland.  We had an extra good reason for heading to West Texas this year.....baby Brecken had been born just 2 weeks before!  As always, we had a great time visiting with family, eating at my favorite restaurants and just relaxing.

William painted Easter eggs for the first time this year.  We had a blast, and of course, William had lots of opinions regarding what colors the eggs were.  #toomuchlikehismama

As you can see, this little boy is all or nothing with the camera!  He will either cheese it up or refuse to look at the camera.  Luckily, William was in a great mood on Easter.  Even without a nap he stayed cheerful.

It's hard to believe that we will soon be a family of four!  It's even harder to believe that Easter was my due date for the last pregnancy.  Time is just flying right by.  I still can't wrap my head around having a newborn in our home again.  ;)  It's exciting and scary all at the same time.  

Kisses for Brecken | Sweet baby | Grandsons and Cousins | 

Giving GG a check up | Walking into church | We are growing...family of 8.5 now!

We were pleasantly surprised when William handled me holding Brecken like a champ.  Over Thanksgiving, anytime I held baby Katherine William would have a complete meltdown.  Four months later, he could have cared less who I was holding and what the baby was doing.

We are so blessed to have all of these people that love us in our lives, to have our health and have the opportunity to spend time together.  Easter is the perfect day to remember just why we have all of these blessings.....Jesus!  

Brad Paisley at The Rodeo

We had two fun days at the Houston Rodeo this year.  The first was the carnival.....the second was the actual rodeo!  My mom was in town that weekend for the procedure I had that Friday and we had our Gender Reveal party the day after.  It was a busy weekend, filled with lots of fun!  Luckily, we had a good parking pass so the rain wasn't too bothersome.  William was super pumped to see the animals and wear his new cowboy hat and boots.  

Staying dry with daddy  |  Crazy guys  |  There's nothing better than ice cream in a cowboy hat  

Listening to some good music  |  The best family pic we could get  |  Telling Nana all about the rodeo

Having fun!  |  My little cowboy

I'm always shocked at how well William does at these type of events.  He will just sit and watch everything.  He loved the bull riding (not a good sign) and he couldn't stop talking about how fast the horses could run.  During mutton bustin he told us he wanted to ride....he's been practicing on daddy every night since.  LOL.  Brad Paisley did a great job performing.  William loved watching him play the guitar.  Basically, this night is William's dream come true.  Animals, music, guitars, ice cream, pizza, and popcorn.  It doesn't get much better than that!  The only thing we were missing was Papa.  He was out of town hunting.  As you can see, we took lots of pictures to send him!

Love Week - Week 7

After our relaxing weekend away to Lake Tahoe......we were thrown back into the real world the day after returning!  I had a doctor appointment that morning followed by a yummy lunch at Chicken Kitchen with my boys.  Then things got good, we picked up my parent's new puppy, Massey,  To say William is in love with her is an understatement.  This child was, and is, obsessed with little Massey.  He was so gentle and careful with her.  He really showed us what a great big brother he'll make one day.  When William tries to say Massey it comes out as "Fifi".  :)  Cutest.  Thing.  Ever.
That Friday, after work, William and I headed to the airport to fly little Massey to West Texas.  I was a little nervous about traveling so late with a toddler and tiny puppy!  But, they did awesome.  They were both passed out by the time the plane was off the ground.  Our weekend didn't slow down.  The next morning my mom and I got up and headed to the Lubbock area for my sister in laws baby shower.  All the traveling really started to catch up to me at that point.  Luckily, I got my yearly fix of Orlando's to pep me up!  William and I were passed out at the hotel that night by 7;30 pm.    

{My little heart breaker was in love with "his" puppy} {William insisted on holding "Fifi" during the car ride}  {He'll play in the sand all day long if you'll let him}  {Helping Aunt Skye open presents}  {Valentines for his friends at school}  {Professional traveler....he does an awesome job!}

When we got back to Midland on Sunday we took a long nap, had lunch at the country club, got to visit with my grandparents over dinner, and watched Cars on the BIG movie screen at my parents house.  We had a great weekend in Midland but were glad to see Daddy when we made it home.   

The next time we're back in West Texas William will have a baby cousin to play with!  

Week 5 of 2015

I'm back!  We have had a busy month.  Although vacationing can be much needed....it's rejuvenating but exhausting all at the same time.  The weekend before Gordon and I went to Tahoe we spent some time getting the house extra clean and doing yard work after our morning visit to Little Gym.  When William saw daddy outside mowing he just had to get out there to help!  It was the cutest thing ever.  :)  I'm guessing the chances of him wanting to help with the yard in his teens will be slim to none.  Just one more reason to keep a record of these sweet moments!

Sunday evening Emily and Grant came over to watch the Superbowl with us.  William played in his playroom most of the time but ended up watching some of the second half.  He's a pretty big football fan (who loves to make comments about all the boo boos the players are getting).  I was a little disappointed that the Patriots won.  I'm not a big fan of Tom Brady....he's a bit pouty for my liking.  Here's to hoping the Texans or Cowboys make it to the Superbowl next year!

Christmas Cards

I can't say how much I love getting Christmas cards in the mail!  It's so fun to see how everyone has grown/changed.  I love seeing all the outfits, the different backgrounds and the cute poses.  Of all the Christmas cards Gordon and I have mailed out, this years was my favorite!  Alison did a great job.  She was even able to capture a few smiles....from a little boy who really dislikes the camera.  It was quick, easy and they turned out perfect. 

I loved that the Merry Christmas was in foil!  #myfavoritecardyet

William's face is priceless!

Can you tell I like these two guys?!?!

William dusted his hands off, stood up and said, "BYE!" to Alison.  When you're done, you're done.

Thanks BFF for the precious memories!  * let me know if you live in the Katy/Houston area and need a photographer.  She's super! *