you're a travelin man ... (picture overload)

you've made a lot of stops in this month of january.  we've been all over the place together buddy!  celebrating some very special occasions and creating the best memories along the way!

we took a day trip to austin to celebrate your two new cousins, liam and riley.

we were able to celebrate your great. great aunt and uncles new home in frelsburg.  it was referred to as a house "cooling" party as the warming was previously done by the fires that took their last home, last fall. 

gizmo is saying "welcome"

we celebrated gramp's birthday back in brazos country.

he's the best.

then we took a big trip to see your cousins in oklahoma!   we traveled there by plane and were very busy from the time we arrived to the time we said goodbye.  you loved playing with sydney! 

this trip was eventful to say the least.  you were a trooper. you caught what they call "the croup" and with a night trip to the er to get breathing treatment, you were diagnosed with croup with a mild case of "strider."  it was so scary to see you like that.  you did not like the breathing treatment or the steriod medicine the doctors gave you, but the more you cried the more you were able to take in.  your breathing became much more relaxed and i will never forget your silliness when the medicine kicked in.   my mind wandered about how much i wanted to do for you or get you just to make you feel better.  after finally falling asleep at 5 am in the morning you slept for almost the whole following day.  when you woke up that evening you were a happy little boy.  

you loved "buuu."

when things settled down, the last day, mama was able to play photographer out in their back yard.

braedon kyle

sydney anne

andrew michael

the last night we celebrated with smores outside.  the kids had so much fun!

  

right now we are happy to be home, getting over the croup and just enjoying time with our little family.  

we are so happy with all the blessings of this last month.  God is so good!  

xxoo 

forty ...

yep he's forty alright... 

happy birthday to the best big brother a girl could ask for.

seriously i've been thinking about this all week.

the list of reasons why you are the best are endless. 

so for this momentous occasion let me just list a few...

you gave me my middle name and i actually like it.

you play guitar.

you were the cool older brother that had a band in our garage.

your band members were really cute.

your name when the first letters are switched is mad chickan.

you taught me the words to my first songs.

my first songs were not nursery rhymes. they were "purple rain"  and "knock knock knocking on heaven's door." 

you had a shiny, red, sparkly weight-lifting bench in your bedroom.

you had a life size cut out of rambo in your closet. 

you made me dream of growing up and having zits just like you.

you were never mean to me.  ever.

you let me hang out in your room.

you, at times, were way to huggy for me.

you gave me nick-names after a supermodel.

it was cool to have the sacker at the grocery store be your brother.

as a college student you came home and hung out with me in the afternoons before going to work

when 90210 came out, it was pretty cool to have a brother that looked almost exactly like "brandon" 

and who also sported sideburns like "dylan."

you wrote me letters when you moved off to college.

you worked at toys r us 

you really did hang up my art in your college apartment.

you got married, giving us the best sister- in- law we could ever ask for.

you took your then awkward fourteen year old sister to an r.e.m. concert and we stood in the front row.

you have given me some of the cutest nieces and a very handsome nephew.

you have always had great taste in music.

you have always dressed really nice.

you took aikido in your thirties and showed us your moves.

you sprinkle holy water around your house when you feel the need.

you have only wanted the best for me.

so much so, a few months before my wedding you still offered to pay for me to take a trip to alabama to visit mother angelica's convent.

you are a great uncle.

you make sure to take time to talk, or play with all of your nieces and nephews individually when we are all together.

you are still cool to me, even though your kids don't think you are anymore.

you have finally accepted the fact that i have my license to drive.

and this year i will work on accepting the fact that my cool big brother is

forty.

happy birthday

i love you!

fifteen months...

and you seem like such a little boy already!

just busy pretending to be whatever you want to be.... or whatever involves hats. 

you love any kind of object resembling a ball.

you try to throw them all for fun.

you love waving hi and bye.

you are always signing "please," "more," and now you will sign "thank you" in your own unique way.

your jibberish cracks us up.

we understand a few things you are telling us:

"ball" when pointing to two of your favorite books "let's do nothing" and "the boys"

we are asked to read them on an hourly basis if they are in your sight or reach. 

"booball" when you see any ball.

you point out every football on tv, in pictures and at the store. 

"booball" is the ultimate word every day any day.

"ab- ble" for apple sauce

your doggie sounds and truck sounds...it's very clear what you are trying to show us.

you  love your slide.

you still love your bath and are enjoying the water being dumped on your head.

you still twirl your hair or someone's hair while sucking your thumb.

you know the nap and night routine very well.

clean up. pray. read. insert thumb.   

you are the sweetest thing in the world.  

xxoo

hanging around....

with all the holidays behind us, it's been really nice just hanging out together at the house...

we've tried cutting back on all those sweets and yummy foods that consumed us...or rather we consumed.

but we had another celebration around the corner....

papaw's birthday!

we celebrated at a favorite mexican restaurant!

''

of course there was great singing involved! 

with a big texan game that evening, the boys were all smiles!

happy birthday papaw!

another year has gone by.....

we celebrated our last night of 2011 with a friend's wedding celebration!

it was a beautiful ceremony and reception, and we spent it with so many good friends!

the beautiful bride!

the adorable newly weds themselves!

yummy cake!

a date night out with daddy was so nice!!

happy new year 2012!

a special thanks to your baby sitters :) nana and papaw!   we were told you were quite the entertainer

 mr. jack!

we are very excited for a whole new year with you!   

 you are quite the charmer!!  xxoo

happy new year to all!!

a little extra . . .

cousin time was needed before they all left!

so since they made a special cake for their uncle richard...

...and since my brother's family hadn't headed back home yet, I was able to snag a couple cousins to come to over for a night!

camryn and bailey 

they loved playing with you jack!

we could not stop saying how much you are just like camryn, from the puppy eyes, right down to the thumb sucking, calm buddy you are.

when we took them back the next day, i think you were ready for a dose of the boys...

you were so happy to see them in their "booball" jerseys.  plus the fact that the boys do not pick you up nearly as much as the girls... 

i have absolutely adored watching you play with your cousins,  it's like you know they are yours... instantly!  it is so sad to see them head back home now because they are almost all out of state.  we just hope and pray we can try our best to let you have some good cousin memories... you have too many cousins to miss out on any of them!