Home for the Holidays!

This year we went to Holliday the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with the Stone's. I was quite bummed because Chris wasn't able to go with us... he had to stay behind and work in Midland, so it didn't really feel like Christmas, but we had a great time anyways! We had a big Christmas lunch consisting of Branding Iron BBQ and all the fixins (if you are from Wichita Falls, you know how yummy this is!) on Saturday and opened presents after lunch! Crockett couldn't stand the wait... he kept saying "I open presents now, momma!" He couldn't wait to tear into his gifts! He got lots of fun stuff, Thomas the Tank Engine books, play-doh, clothes, a Bible, a big ball to bounce on, and a couple tractors. As soon as he opened the tractors, he told me "I need dirt, Momma!" A couple minutes later Emily, my niece, came in and told me Crockett was in the sand box by himself... with his tractors :) All of the kids got to play, Mimi was there and got to see all of her grandkids and we all got to spend some time together. It was so much fun!









After all the fun had been had, Crockett and Rich (and their mommas) had to go take naps. Little boys without naps are no good! After a great nap, Greg took Crockett, Rich and I for a ride on his tractor. I didn't intend on going, but Crockett wasn't going without me! He loved every minute of it! We drove around for about an hour and looked for cows and finally found them! That made Crockett and Rich VERY happy :)





It was such a pretty evening, so we decided to go to the Fantasy of Lights. It is at Midwestern State University and just a lot of Christmas scenes made up of different characters and LOTS of lights! Crockett really enjoyed it and I enjoyed watching his face light up when he recognized Mickey or Dumbo, and especially Baby Jesus :)

We had to go visit Hotshot while we were in town too! It is so precious to see Crockett with Hotshot... he just loves him and I have to imagine that is how Chris was when he was younger. We went outside (despite the freezing wind) and walked around, with Crockett leading the way. He knew exactly where he wanted to go (to the water and to the tractor) and what he wanted to do (throw rocks, "drive" the tractor and swing). Hotshot got a kick out of his newfound independence :) After a little outside time, we went inside and Crockett played with Hotshot and Maryann's train they have under their tree. He loved it last year, and knew it was supposed to be there. He even got to open another present, which made him SO happy! I love that Crockett and Hotshot love to spend time together.







We had such a great time in Holliday. Grandmaw is always so wonderful to let us stay at her house and pretty much take over... Crockett takes over, anyways. We love being around all our family there. Makes us miss being closer and so thankful for all the time we get to spend together.

Merry Christmas from Holliday!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From our family to yours!!


Oh yeah, a little news too :)

Two Peas in a Pod

Chris and Crockett are SO ALIKE these days, it scares me a tad bit! Not only do they have many of the same traits and characteristics, Crockett looks like Chris's mini-me a lot of the time! The other night I looked at them and they are looking at tractors, set to music, on YouTube. They are both biting on their bottom lips and furrowing their brow... OMG. This has become Crockett's favorite past time... Thanks Chris, you have created a monster :)

Last Day of School.

Despite the look on his face, he REALLY LOVES Mrs. Lindsey and Mrs. Carrie!!

The Kangaroo Christmas Party!

Lots of FUN goodies!!

The BIGGEST babies in the 'Turtle' class :)

Crockett's buddy, David

The past week was such a whirlwind! It began with Chris leaving town for the week (it is always a whirlwind when I am completely on my own!), Crockett had his Christmas program at school and in addition to Christmas parties on Thursday, it was our VERY last day at FBC CDO :( It was such a bittersweet day for me. I have made so many dear friends up there and just LOVE all of my 'Turtle' babies! I also LOVE LOVE LOVE Crockett's class and teachers. Although he does not understand that it is his VERY last day, I was pretty much broken-hearted to tell his teachers (who are my sweet friends) good-bye. He has learned SO much and loves all of his classmates. He is pretty much completely potty-trained, thanks in part to their help, and he was just so comfortable and happy in their class. Carrie and Lindsey, you girls are the best and Crockett's next teachers have some mighty BIG shoes to fill! I have been working in the nursery and must say that it is one of the MOST CHALLENGING things I have ever done! I love each of those babies dearly, but oh my goodness!!! If it weren't for Stephanie, my partner, I would never have made it! She became such a special friend and we definitely learned to lean on one another. Teamwork in that room is SO necessary!

Crockett had a great time at his Christmas party! They had some yummy food and got lots of presents from each of their classmates. It was pretty crazy in the room, but they all had fun!

I cannot say enough about all of the people we love up at CDO. Crockett made great friends and so did I. CDO at Fist Baptist has been the highlight of our time in Midland. Don't know what we would have done without such a wonderful place to come each week.

Tiny Tots Christmas Party!!!

Crockett and I have been going to Tiny Tots Music Class at First Baptist in Midland for the past few months. He has had such a good time learning songs, playing instruments, hearing Bible stories and running around with his new friends. We celebrated the end of Tiny Tots with a Christmas party. The kids got to play at the Activity Center, do crafts, open a gift and eat lunch and learn about the birth of Baby Jesus. Miss Shane did such a wonderful job and made the class so special for each of these kiddos.

So Very Thankful

We were feeling very homesick, so we were espcially THANKFUL to get back to Holliday for Thanksgiving. I did forget my camera... so no pictures, but many wonderful memories! We arrived in Holliday very late on Tuesday, after a somewhat eventful drive. We stopped outside of Abilene to let Crockett go to the potty (we are potty training!) and when I pulled down his pants I found his entire body covered in hives! It scared me to death, but after a little detour to get some meds, he seemed fine. Anyways, we made it to Holliday and were so happy to be there! Chris has LOTS to do while we were there, and I had to help Grandmaw cook. Luckily, Amie and her girls came to help too, so we all got to hang-out, which is one of my favorite things about Holliday! We got so much accomplished on Wednesday that Thursday morning, we woke up and heated everything up and were ready to go! On Thursday morning, Chad, Sara and Rich arrived... Crockett was SO happy to see Rich! They love playing together these days :) Kyle, Marla, Kylee and Dylan got there and we were ready for the feast! We had a wonderful time eating, chatting, watching football, looking at the Black Friday ads... it was a great day, just being together! Amie, Casey and their girls came by later and everything got a little crazier! The kids just have so much fun!

It was a great Thanksgiving, and being away from our family this year has made us even more THANKFUL for the time we get to spend together! There was one thing that happened... One trip to the ER for Rich (and Chad and Sara), that put a damper on our celebration... but luckily Rich was fine! It really was a great Thanksgiving and we are so blessed to be a part of such a special family!

After Thanksgiving, we headed to Lubbock to celebrate my sweet nephew, Quin's 1st Birthday!!! I cannot believe how quickly the past year has gone by. He has gone from a teeny baby to a chunky, lovable, snuggly, mobile little boy! His birthday party was a football theme, so we all wore our Tech gear and ate nachos and popcorn. Quin had an AWESOME football birthday cake, which he LOVED! It was ALL chocolate and was ALL over him when he was done... it was straight to the bath for sweet Quinny! It was such a fun birthday party! We loved celebrating this precious little boy. Happy 1st Birthday, Quin Joseph!!(Sorry I have no pictures :(

Trick or Treat!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This was the first year Crockett has really been too interested in Halloween (And all the "cany" that comes with it!). So we were so excited to make plans to go trick or treating with friends! All week Crockett told me he wanted to "Treat with Gak"! Since Crockett is not too big on dressing up, so we decided to stick with what we know and go as BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!
He kind of fussed as I tried to get him dressed, but once it was on he was good! He liked it even better when mommy figured out that his wings lit up!!!

As soon as daddy got home, we headed over to a friend's house. We met up with several of my teacher friends from First Baptist CDO and their kids. Crockett and Jack (or "GAK" as Crockett calls him) are the same age and they are great buds. They really loved each others costumes. We also went with Jack's big sister, Lexie, and Poppy and Chloe. All of the kids had SO MUCH FUN and really got into it... they RAN from house to house and got TONS of candy! It was such a great time and just so much fun to watch the kids have such a good halloween!!

T-Pa's 90th Birthday!!

Last weekend, Monica, Ryan, Braidy, Quin, Crockett and I got up bright and early on Saturday morning and drove to Temple, Texas. It was such a quick trip, but such a special celebration. T-Pa, my dad's dad, was turning 90!
The drive was fairly uneventful. We drove through more rain than any of us had seen in a year... it was nice, but would have been nicer if we weren't driving in it! Ryan did much better driving in the rain than I would have! The boys watched lots of movies to help pass the time. Quin was the best baby ever and didn't hardly cry at all! Ryan was SO INCREDIBLY EXCITED about eating at Underwood's in Brownwood! He must have talked about it most of the way there! He was a happy man :) We listened to the Red River Shootout. All in all, it was a really nice drive. We were SO happy to finally get there though!
Once we all got cleaned up, and dressed in our Tech gear :), we headed over to the party. T-Pa, D-Ma, Poppa, JJ, RiRi, Uncle Mike, Matthew and Aunt Susan were all waiting for us. Aunt Anne and Harris got there shortly after we did. It was a pretty good group, but we sure did miss those who couldn't be there!!
As soon as we got there, the boys found a hole with dirt in it and played there most of the evening! Crockett managed to get pretty dirty, Braidy found a roly poly, and then lost it, and we spent the rest of the evening looking for the "roly bug". D-Ma had a basket full of toys and two flashlights, which kept the boys occupied the rest of the night. They also had a great time with T-Pa's walker :) Fun times!! We ate a dinner of yummy lasagna, salad and bread while we all watched the TECH vs tamu game (GO RAIDERS!!!). And then T-Pa's DELICIOUS chocolate cake! It was soooo good.... the little boys went back for seconds! (And were bouncing OFF THE WALLS :) After T-Pa opened all of his cards and gifts, he was exhausted from all of the excitement. It had been a great party! After D-Ma got T-Pa in bed, Crockett went and told him nite-nite and gave him sweet kisses on his hand. It was so sweet and brought tears to my eyes <3
When we got back to the hotel, Crockett and Braidy came into our room to jump on the beds and wear off some of that chocolate! They sure were being funny and having TONS OF FUN! I bet our neighbors didn't like us too much. We got up early the next morning and drove back home... it seemed like a much longer drive home. We were all so happy to get out of the car when we got home!
T-Pa has always been such a great grandpa and great-grandpa. He has been to so many graduations, games, recitals, birthday parties... So it was so wonderful that we were all able to get together to celebrate him!

Two and a Half

Where has the time gone???

On September 22, Crockett turned two and a half! I know it isn't exactly a birthday or anything, but I just feel like this has been a turning point. He is no longer a baby, maybe technically a toddler, but ALL little boy! He is so many things right now... busy, talkative, friendly, shy, tender-hearted, tough, ornery, a hugger, a hitter... just all those wonderful things that make little boys so special.

Crockett ~

- You are: 30 lbs, 36 in, in size 5 diapers (on our 1st box of 5's and hopefully one of the last boxes of diapers...) and in 2T clothes

- You STILL DO NOT SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT... always wind up in bed with momma or momma winds up in bed with you.

- We have been traveling SO much lately and you are AWESOME in the car! You look outside, watch movies (Mostly WoowyBuzz and The Baby (Ice Age)), and look at books. You do say Momma or Daddy about 500 times every time you see a tractor or cows... and we usually see LOTS of them! You are a great travel partner!

- You are the pickiest eater! You have gotten a bit better recently. You eat weinies, lots of cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, yogurt, fruit cups, cantaloupe, watermelon, oatmeal, waffles... not a whole lot else... You would drink TONS of apple juice everyday if I would let you (I still mix it with atleast 1/2 water) and now you will drink milk. YAY!

- You are a very talkative little boy. Some of my favorites are: drink = wink, Grandmaw = Mummer, Rachy = Riris, Ma = Mon, RuRus = LuLu, ew too = I love you too, mammies = jammies, oohies = horseys, tows = cows, meemeek = Mickey Mouse, Soso = Oso, boppel juice = apple juice, tactor = Tractor, ShaSha = HotShot, sheshe = fishy, Bumbo - Dumbo, DD = Braidy, When = Quin, hoooouuuusssse = House. You have begun to say so many words and are even putting 5 and 6 word sentences together occasionally. I will be so sad when you can say everything correctly :(

- Your favorite things to say lately have been "Yep", "Puppies HUSH!", "Sing Songs" (as in the songs we sing at Tiny Tots & Tunes)

- You love to play with all of your cars, trucks and tractors. You would stay outside in the dirt all day if you could. You love looking at and reading books. Your favorites are still all of the Llama, Llama books. Recently you have become pretty good at puzzles too. You are a very social little boy and do great at school most of the time, but you also play by yourself very well.

- You have learned most of your colors. We are working on your numbers... today, everything was 2, 3, 9, 10!! You change the numbers and pattern almost daily. You are almost able to spell your name, you just need a little help. At school you are also learning your shapes. You know circles really well and can pick out squares and triangles.

- You are going through the "NO" phase right now, and you are very good at ignoring your momma. Maybe it is selective hearing already... you learned that from your daddy :) You can through a huge fit, but you almost always make it better by giving sweet little kisses.

I could go on and on about the wonderful things you are doing these days. Each day I am surprised and amazed at something you say or do. You are my best buddy and there isn't anyone else I would rather spend my days with (aside from your daddy!). Your daddy and I have had the time of our lives watching you become YOU! What a special little guy you are and how thankful we are for the blessing you have been to us!