So Thankful!

I am so very thankful this year.

Thankful for my amazing husband. Who is so caring, loving, and thoughtful.

Thankful for my sweet oldest son, Noah. Who is full of spunk and can always make us laugh.

Thankful for my sweet baby Andy. His smile seriously lights up the room and makes me melt.

Thankful for our amazing families. Our fantastic parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts & uncles, etc. Our lives our full because of you.

Thankful for my faith and belief in God.

Thankful for the opportunity to love our children and teach them God's word.

Thankful for the roof over our head, the job that produces the paycheck and the time at night when our little of family of four is together.

Thankful for the local park that wears the kids out and gets them good naps.

Thankful for new friends. Old friends. All my friends. You keep me sane.

Thankful for our health. It may sometimes have blips, but not bumps. Thankfully.

Thankful for the mounds of laundry. Because it means we have mounds of clothes.

Thankful for the toys everywhere. For they mean my children had fun playing.

Thankful for good books. Sometimes checking into a fantasy world is good medicine.

Thankful for crafts and projects. Hobbies are good for me.

Thankful for Thursday night TV and watching shows at night with my hubby.

Thankful for date nights. (maybe I should list that one twice!)

Thankful for quiet moments with each child.

Thankful for those noisy moments too.

I am just so overwhelmingly thankful.

I hope that all of our friends and family have a very Thankful, Blessed, Loving, Fun Filled, Thanksgiving too!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

Belated Posts...

I am so sorry I am so behind on posting pictures! Our computer has decided it does not want to recognize our camera card...meaning I need to load up the kids, go to either Walgreens or Wal-Mart and put the 800 pictures on discs....but instead of doing that...I have been shopping for crafty supplies for ALL the presents I have been making! I am having so much fun this year making things. :) I am even hoping to enter some craft sales soon!


My biggest project right now is Andy's stocking. Yes, he has already had one Christmas, but used an adorable First Christmas stocking...now I am trying to make him one as fabulous as the one I made Noah. Only with Noah's, I only had one kid to chase around, not two...so let's just hope this thing gets finished prior to Andy's tenth Christmas:) Kidding aside, if I have to stay up all night four nights straight, this thing WILL get finished. Really. I mean it. :)

Our boys are doing great. Noah is hilarious as usual. I have so many funny things written down that he has been saying lately, but Andy is getting into everything, so I keep getting distracted from posting them!

I guess some of the funniest stories...

*Every night Noah calls us back into the room and says "There are robots in here!" or "I just saw three tigers" or "I hear the birds, will the tree fall?" Something crazy. He cracks us up with his imagination.

*We drove up to Josh's jobsite the other night and Noah was so excited to see a forklift and it was "moving!" Imagine the squeals from my child as he realized it was his Daddy driving that forklift. Noah kept yelling "MY Daddy is Bob the Builder?!?" "MY Daddy!" It was the CUTEST moment ever:)

*Noah has some funny names for things. Sandwiches=maychurch; smoke=smilk; skunk=stunk... if I say, "Noah, do you want a sandwich?" He will reply, "Yes, maychurch please." But if I say, "Noah, do you want a maychurch?" He responds with "hahaha, Mama said maychurch!" Meaning, we know he knows the difference, but is just being silly and insists upon his pronunciation. It cracks us up!

We have lots going on right now! I finally finished the buffet I was refinishing. Josh and I are about to refinish our kitchen table, I am making lots of crafts for gifts and maybe to sell, doing Andy's stocking, going through the boys clothes, and attempting to keep up with our laundry, mail, etc. Sometimes I think I need a clone of myself:)

Well, the monkey (Andy) just got INTO a kitchen chair...gotta run!

Our pirate and our little walking boy!

Noah's MDO class had their Halloween party today. He was SO excited to wear his Captain Feathersword pirate costume today. He woke up many times last night wanting to know if the sun was awake so he could go to school to the party! All the kids were so cute all dressed up. Noah really was tickled by it all. They even trick or treated the other class rooms.

Andy is really trucking now!!!!!
He made it up to 20 steps earlier today!!!!!

A funny story...Noah fell out of a chair earlier this week (no, that is not the funny part...) once he was happy we got out his Lightning McQueen ice pack to put on the side of his head where a huge knot was coming. He was sitting on the couch with it on his head and Andy crawled over. It took me a minute to realize what Andy was doing, but I busted out laughing when it dawned on me...Andy was holding one of Noah's little matchbox Lightning McQueen cars up to his temple....he was being just like his big brother. It is so cute to see them together, especially when they want to be just like one another:)

We hope you all have a very happy Halloween!!!

Some Videos!!!

Andy walking!!! This was taken this past Sunday. Since then, he has taken 11 consecutive steps - but I did not get it on video:)

Noah golfing. We had so much fun that day!!!! He loves golfing with his Grandma Judy, Granddaddy, & Kelly!

Andy's First Birthday!!!!

October 7th....the day before Andy's first birthday:)

Andy's first birthday definitely ranks up in some of my favorite days ever. We had such a good day. Playing, laughing, opening presents, cooking, and eating cake. It was so fun!

Josh had a big meeting Friday, so he was sadly unable to take the day off. We talked to him on the phone during breakfast so he could wish his littlest boy a happy birthday, then we packed up and headed out to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. It is a fantastic zoo. Small enough that it was not overwhelming. Being that it was a Thursday, it was pretty empty too, which made for a relaxing and fun time.

Andy riding in the front of the stroller, looking back at me :)

Probably thinking, "Are you still there Mom?"

Noah and the really cool teepees. He definitely thought those were fun!

Much bigger than ours at home!

Andy pointing at the jaquar. SO cool.
Any time you ask Andy, "Andy are you one?" He proudly holds up one finger. Except on his birthday! I asked him about twenty times how old he was and NOTHING! Then the next day, I asked him and sure enough, up went that little finger!!! Here is my Mom and Andy in the aquarium, one of the twenty times I tried to get Andy to do it!

On October 7th we did a rare thing and let Andy have an early gift! We thought it was best for him to play with it a bit prior to Noah seeing it, otherwise he might not have gotten a turn. Here is that present....

Andy was about as excited as I was! I had NO idea my Dad had designed and made this for Andy. I also had no idea Andy could get on and off a toy like this without falling and proceed to know exactly how to make it "fly!" It was so cute to watch him so quickly figure it out and squeal with joy! Needless to say, both boys LOVE this and play with it many times a day each!

Andy and the craftsman:) Oh - and if you can tell, there is writing on top, it says ART (for Andy's initials) and 08, for the year he was born!

Josh and I got Andy a couple of fun toys. One of which is this ball popper that most little ones seem to have. Noah plays with it at all our friends houses and when he and Andy opened it, Noah yelled "like everybody has!" The boys have had so much fun playing with it. Andy got so wrapped up in the fun, he started standing without holding onto anything, which was a first!!!

On October 7th Andy took one step. He repeated that the night of his birthday!

For Noah's first birthday he got a red chair from my Granddaddy. Andy loves that chair. Here he is showing off his new blue one, just like his brothers!!!
Andy excited over another one of his presents!

Andy picked his cupcake up and took a huge bite, like he knew just what to do!

It was SO cute!!!

Finger licking good!!!

My other two boys:)

Happy First Birthday Andy! We love you!

Happy First Birthday Andy!!!

Our Sweet Andy...

One Year Old and full of laughter.

Trying so hard to walk.

Eleven months old.

So excited to try big boy things! Like riding in this wagon!

Ten months old.

Learned to throw his arms in the air when you say "How big is Andy!"

Talking a lot more...saying block and once he even said basket!

Nine months old.

Learning to clap and play pat a cake!

Drinking out of a straw like a big boy!

Made your second move to a new city!

Eight months old.

Waved for the first time!

Started cruising behind one of big brothers toys!

Seven months old.

Started crawling, sat up on his own and even got his first tooth!
Six months old.
Rolled across the room, sat up in the bathtub unsupported
and reached for Mama to pick him up!
Five months old.
First tastes of real foods, like squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes.
Loved them right away!
Four months old.
A month full of more firsts. Rolled over his left side,
laughed with his brother, and tried rice cereal!
Three months old.
Really honed that sweet smile. Started a new year!
Two months old.
Made your first move to a new city!
Continued to steal every ones hearts:)
One month old.
Smiled for the first time. Stole my heart.
Two weeks old.
Dressed up like a pumpkin for the first time:)
Spent a lot of time snuggling!
Just born. 10/08/08
4:24 pm (24 minutes past the hour, just like your big brother)
7 lbs 3 ozs of sweet baby boy.

Dear Andy,

My sweet little boy. Words cannot even express what you mean to me. When I found out you were coming into this world, I could not understand how I could love another child as much as I loved your brother. The moment the doctor placed you into my arms and I felt your beautiful soft skin, smelled your sweet smell, kissed your forehead, I knew. I was taken. Completely smitten. You were my sweet little second born son. The younger sibling, just like me. I vowed then and there, to always give you the best chance. To love you with all my heart, just like your brother. To show you that you can do anything you put your mind to. Your Daddy and I have so many hopes and dreams for you and I cannot wait to hear what hopes and dreams you will come up with. Especially those I cannot even think of. You surprise me every day. From the deep looks you give, to your gentle touch and your soft spoken little voice. You give out hugs and kisses every time I lift you up. You love your brother so dearly. Even at such a young age, the way you chase after him and squeal with delight and how you hand him the toy you were playing with. It makes me so happy to see you loving him as your Daddy and I do. You are so special to me. I love you so dearly and although I am sad to see the true baby times go, I cannot wait for all the adventures we have ahead. Happy Birthday, my little Andy-Man:)

love, Mama

Energizer Bunny...

I am still working on the boys Halloween costumes. Noah said he wanted to be a pirate...meaning he wanted to be Captain Feathersword from the Wiggles. The costumes you could buy were sold out, so with my limited ability, a pirate he will be. Andy has outgrown the costume we borrowed from friends when Noah was about his age...so I am still trying to figure him out. Either attempt to do a scarecrow or a fisherman. But, I am really thinking he should be the Energizer Bunny. Seriously, this kiddo barely sleeps! He woke up this morning at 7:30, napped for thirty minutes and is still going strong...and I guarantee he will be awake at 10 p.m. and fighting going to sleep then. NUTS!

It was cute though, last night when Josh told Andy goodnight, Josh said "Night, Night Andy" and Andy looked right at Josh and said "Nigh, Nigh!" and lunged at Josh and planted a big kiss on him! It was absolutely precious!!!!

I cannot wait for this evening. We have a nice dinner cooking in the oven and when it comes out, we are going to bake sugar cookies! Pumpkins, cats, witches hats and stars are what Noah has decided on. And he said orange sprinkles too! No twisting of my arm. I SO love October:)