I Am An Aunt!!!

I became an aunt for the first time on Wednesday, January 20th! My sister and brother-in-law are adopting and baby Parker finally made his appearance. I was awoken in the middle of the night to a phone call that he was here and it was tough to go back to sleep!

The kids and I waited and drove to my mom's house on Friday morning to meet their new cousin. They made it there just about 15 minutes after us. He is just precious! He just snuggles and sucks up all the love out of everyone in the room! What a sweetheart! I'm so excited to finally be an aunt and experience this awesome time in my sister's life! I can't wait until we see them again! They grow up so darn fast! Won't be long and we'll be sitting him with our new little blessing to get their picture together too! I just know they are going to be best buddies growing up.

Lillian was WAY in to the baby thing too. She hovered for a while over him wanting to bring him her blanket and stroke his head and give him kisses. Andrew, on the other hand, could care less! ha ha....something to look forward to.

Here are some sweet pictures of baby Parker:

Class Pictures

We just got the kids' class pictures back for preschool so thought I would share:










Here is Mrs. Char's class with Andrew...cute!













Then we have Mrs. Tina's class and yes, Lillian is just smiling up at the teacher...ha ha

Oldest and Youngest

My mom's side oldest and youngest men in overalls!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Among all the other things going on this past weekend, my dad's birthday was Saturday! So after the morning of baby shower festivities and going back to mom's to get the kids a nap and put my feet up (I didn't notice how much I had been on my feet all morning until I got there and they were aching!), we went to Nacogdoches to meet my dad for dinner at an Italian restaurant.

We had a great meal and visit with everyone, but our server was a little overwhelmed with our big table and our service was very slow! We waited and waited most of the time, but the food was still great. My sister, Katy's nephew on her husband's side, Jackson had to wait for everyone to get their food and then another 10 minutes before he got his kid's cheese pizza! It was sad! I had ordered my kids' food with the appetizers knowing how hungry they were and how long we had waited just on drinks.

Thanks for dinner, Dad! We had a nice time and it was great to see you! :)

Katy's Baby Shower

My sister, Katy has a baby boy on the way! He is due February 2nd and with his adoption coming so soon, we wanted to make sure she and Clay were ready for him!

So, since we were all planning on coming in for Mom's celebration this past weekend, we decided to go ahead with having a baby shower the same trip. I have never planned a shower before and it was definitely a learning experience for me. It came together well though. I'm so thankful for all the hostesses and help I had. I think Katy had a great time and is very prepared for Parker's arrival now!

Katy with her MIL, Lisa, and our mom, Teddy

Katy with the hostesses

The girls playing: Piper, Lillian, and Kate

The gifts

Lillian was Katy's little helper opening gifts

A Celebration for Mom

Through her first and this 2nd round of cancer and treatments, my mom has been so lucky to have so many people that love her and support her. Her first time with breast cancer, she luckily had lots of sick time saved up through her job with the state, but used it all up with her treatments and surgeries. So when it came back a few months ago, that is all gone and she is having to miss lots of work for her surgery and now doctors visits and treatments.

When the word got out, the town came together and had a celebration for my mom this past weekend to help her get through this tough time. It was called Spa-getty for Teddy...since my mom's name is Teddy. We knew how loved my mom was, but didn't really see it until we came in to the party. It is indescribable how amazing it was too see so much of my hometown there to support her. She is very blessed and I'm so glad she has so many wonderful friends there for her when me and my sisters can't be. Thank you to Alto and all of these great people from the bottom of our hearts!

Ringing of the Bell

We went Friday morning with my mom for her last radiation treatment! It is a tradition when you finish to ring this bell to celebrate. We were happy to be there for this milestone in mom's journey. As you can see, Lillian and Andrew were a little more excited about the candy bouquet she received too! Congratulations, Mom!

80's Dance Fashion Show

I have a friend I know from the gym that told me yesterday she is moving into a smaller house and getting rid of a lot of stuff since she is down-sizing, so we went to her house this afternoon and she gave me a bag full of her daughter's old dance recital costumes! Lillian was in love! She tried them all on, twirled around and said she LOVED her new outfits! ha ha....I guess I may have to look into getting her into dance!

Little Movers

Andrew got his tricycle from Santa and then his other battery powered vehicle from Grandpa JD and Jamie, and the kids got bicycle helmets from Granny for Christmas, so when we got home, they were ready to try them out! That Monday afternoon after getting home, we got out and did some riding. They were all over the place loving their new gear.

Then we looked up and our neighbors' kids Tyler and Audrey came along in their new Mini Cooper. Ha ha! Tyler still wanted to try Andrew's new ride though and Andrew was happy to share while he got on his tricycle. Here are some pictures of the kids out riding.