Thanksgiving 2011

I've been desperately trying to blog about Thanksgiving before Christmas makes its debut and I think I've finally done it! Phew! We really enjoyed a relaxing, easy going Thanksgiving this year. Mike's Mom came in from out of town and she was truly a breath of fresh air! Our kiddos REALLY love their Gramby and she helped out so much around the house. She gave me a much needed break and extra pair of hands. Thanks so much Brenda! Come back soon!
We had a delicious meal and later that day Mike and I decided to do some black friday shopping. We love a good challenge. So Mike got in line first at Target and then I came and relieved him for a while so he could go home and eat and rest. We were some of the first shoppers at Target's black friday sale and we got a much needed new camera. It was so fun. Here are a few pictures from our wonderful Thanksgiving.

It's an All Boys Clubhouse under the kitchen table. Mason thinks Jake is so cool. He has even named his favorite stuffed dog "Jake" - previously he was just "Dog".
Our little Thanksgiving meal! I had already carved the Turkey. I didn't think to take the picture first!

The next day Mike, Brenda and Mason ventured out into the cold and wind to put up our Christmas lights!! It was FREEZING. I made them all some hot chocolate to keep warm.

All bundled up drinking some hot chocolate!We had such a great time. I will try to get a picture of our Christmas lights here in the next few days and post it. Mike did such a great job! He even wrapped the tree trunks and they look so cool!

Just for Fun

Here are some fun pics of the cousins!

Marine Corps Ball 2011

Back in the middle of November we headed out of town for the Marine Corps Ball. We decided to make it a mini getaway (like we did last year!) and left the kiddos with my parents. It was so nice to sleep ALL night, sleep in the next morning (although my internal clock still woke me up at 7...but I did lay there for a while!), and enjoy breakfast in bed...twice! We took advantage of our time without the kids and went out to 2 movies, to the cheesecake factory for some dessert, and out to lunch at Brio's. I even got to do a little shopping just for me! All in all we had a great time. We also celebrated my 30th (eek!) birthday with my family that Sunday. Here are some pics!
Here are all the recruiters


I went simple this year for my hair! Chalk it up to two babies at home and my never having time to do anything for me! haha. Still cute though!
The recruiter wives

7 Month Sweetheart

Here is our baby girl. She won't be a baby much longer! It seems like toddlerhood is quickly approaching so I am soaking up every "baby" thing she does. Eva is really starting to get a personality now. She gets upset when Brother takes a toy away, and even "yelled" at Mommy the other day when I was busy with something else. She isn't crawling yet, but we know it won't be long. She is also starting to pull up on things, so baby proofing is in full effect! No teeth yet, but that's not a total surprise. Mason was 11 months before he got his first tooth!
Eva, I love you so much. I love how you smile and squirm every time I come in your room to get you. I love how you grab my face and give me slobbery kisses. And I mostly love how you have added so much more love to this family. You are such a blessing, baby girl.

What a cutie!
Sweet Hugs

6 Months, Baby!

Holy Cow! Eva is 6 months old! It's time for baby food, baby proofing and baby fun! Eva, we are having so much fun with you. You and Mason are really starting to interact more...and with that has come the introduction of sibling rivalry. You two can really duke it out over a toy you both want!
I came across a book of baby names in a store the other day and thought I would look up "Eva." It is a Hebrew name that means "Giver of Life." And, girl, you sure have brought life to this house! We smile twice as much, laugh twice as much and live twice as joyfully as we did before you were here. We love to laugh at you laughing - which mainly happens when Mason does anything even halfway funny. He loves the attention you give him, too - and can really ham it up for a laugh from his kid sister. At six months, you are wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes. You weigh 16 pounds 12 oz and are 26 and 1/2 inches long. That puts you in the 70th percentile for weight and 50th for height. Atta girl! And you are definitely NOT sleeping through the night. What the heck happened!!?? You used to be such a great sleeper...not so much anymore. The last few nights have been better but for a couple of weeks there you weren't sleeping longer than 2 hours at a time at night. You still do a great job of putting yourself to sleep initially and at nap time. I think once you get some solid food and quit turning over in your sleep so much things will get better!
You are trying SO HARD to crawl. Even your pediatrician was impressed with how you pulled yourself around on her table! You are pretty mobile even without crawling, and if I lay you down on a blanket within 5 minutes or so you will be clear across the room! You try to get those knees up under you but usually end up doing a face plant in the process. You are also getting better at sitting up on your own, but you still need Momma to stay close to catch you when you lose your balance. Dearest Eva, happy 6 months! I can't wait to share your first Thanksgiving with you!

Our Angel hanging out before church


Look at those sweet cheeks!
And Eyelashes!

Halloween 2011!

Halloween was so much fun this year! We got lots of celebrating and dressing up time thanks to three trick-or-treating events. It made such an impression on Mason! He still thanks God for trick-or-treating and candy every day in his prayers. That kid is so funny. We started out getting to trick-or-treat in Houston with cousin Isiah (see post below), then we participated in Trunk-or-Treat with our church on Sunday, and then went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood on Halloween night! So much fun.
Here are our Halloween pictures!

Mom and Eva gear up for Trunk-or-Treat!

Here is Eva and her boyfriend Liam. No really, they love each other. The nursery workers at church even noticed and like to joke about it. Liam was part of the display at one of the Trunks!
Mike, Mason, Eva and Sydney. We love these kiddos!

Of course we had to get a picture with Jeb, the Human Lego BoyMason had such a good time painting his mini pumpkin. He really takes pride in his art!


Waiting to stick his hand into the bowl of eyeballs

Pumpkin Bowling!
Here is Mason and his sweet babysitter Paige. He loves this girl! (and her little brother Jared!). He prays for them often at night, and anytime we drive even remotely close to their house he begs to see them!
Heading home from Trunk-or-treat! Miss Eva is all smiles
Happy Halloween Everyone!! We dressed up in some Halloween themed clothes until it was time for costumes! I made this little onesie (and the jack-o-lantern one she wore to the pumpkin patch) for Mason when he was celebrating his first Halloween. Hand me downs!
Taking pictures before we head out for some candy! We were trying to take pics and answer the door because those trick-or-treaters came out early!
Trying again...

Sweet Girl
It's Candy Time!

Vacation in Mosquito Paradise

Well, we had a near perfect vacation to Houston a couple of weeks ago. And what, you may be asking, was the imperfect part? One word: MOSQUITOES. Thousands of them. Scratch that. Millions of them. It was almost unbearable! Mike ended up with 38 bites and I got a mere 24. It doesn't sound like that many bites, but when you know that those bites were sustained in short sprints from the car to the house it seems like a lot!! It was really like a plague. We had planned to take Mason to the zoo on Monday, but we quickly realized that wasn't going to work. Plan B: the Downtown Aquarium! And plan B turned out to be awesome! We also had a great time celebrating Mike's Grandmother's (Pita's) birthday with his Dad's side of the family, trick-or-treating with cousin Isiah at his physical therapy clinic, and snuggling with Gramby at nap time.
Here are a few pictures from our trip!
At the Aquarium!

Checking out some fish with Dad and Paw Paw
These Rays were so pretty
Attempt 1 at a family picture...
And we agree to give up and let the 2 year old do whatever...
We ate lunch at the fancy aquarium restaurant. It was SO delicious. There is a HUGE aquarium in the middle of the restaurant so every table has an incredible view of all the fish. Check out this grouper! They get much bigger than this in the wild!
Family Photo Op!
Riding on the Shark Adventure Train with PawPaw
One beautiful baby
We got to see them training this tiger. He was impressive! Mason enjoyed watching him stand up on his hind legs.
In the tunnel on the shark train
Sword nosed shark
Here's the aquarium!
We decided to head over to the Hard Rock Cafe after the aquarium for some dessert. Mike snapped this pic of an iconic downtown building.Playing with Paw Paw at the Hard Rock

Mom and Mason at the Hard Rock.After dessert at Hard Rock we went over to Pita's to visit. She got to hold Eva and play with Mason. We had a great visit with her and Tia Mary.


Trick or Treat! My cute baby witch and her daddy. She was such a hit!

Here's the gang! A pirate, a witch, and Buzz Lightyear!
Gramby and Eva

Back at the hotel, laughing and playing before bed.
Sweet kisses!
Eva's teething is getting out of control! She tries to teethe on just about everything...even her brother's head!
All Smiles! Except for that little mosquito bite on her cheek! Poor baby.
We had a great time with family. It was such a relaxing, easy time. We already miss everyone!