A Visit from Old Friends!

We were SO SO EXCITED to have the Luig's come visit!! Our babies are all about the same age and we love hanging out with Josh and Brandi, and since they moved to Ft Worth and we moved to Lubbock, we never get to see one another. Last weekend, they came to Lubbock for the Red and Black game and just to hang out. It has been a really long time since Crockett and Cade played. They don't remember that they used to be great buds when they were little. We hadn't even met Brynn, who just turned one in April. Like I said, it had been WAY TOO LONG! They drove in late Friday night, so everyone was asleep when they got here. We did see Brynn who woke up for a bit and met Molly, the newest addition to their family. She is a blue heeler/akita mix and she is too cute. We all got ready for bed, and after a few barking noises from Brynn (hilarious!) we were all asleep. As soon as we got up in the morning, playtime was on. It took Cade and Crockett about 5 minutes to wake-up and warm-up to each other and they were off. They brought each other birthday presents (their bdays are March 18th (Cade) and March 22nd (Crockett)), so they had a couple of very cool new toys to play with, in addition to the 1,000 other toys between the two of them :) They played so good, and when we all got ready to go to the Red & Black game and they had to get in different cars, they were so worried they were going to be separated. They held hands the entire walk to the Tech Club. These boys were best buds. It was so much fun watching them play. We had lots of fun. Aside from a trip to the Dr. for Brandi and Brynn, it was a beautiful, relaxing, fun-filled day at the Stone household. We had a babysitter for Saturday night, which is quite a treat. She was amazing and did awesome with 2 4-year-olds, a 1 year-old, a 10 month-old and a puppy. That is a busy house. On Sunday, we got up and let the boys play for a while before it was time for the Luig's to head back to Ft Worth, but not before we set another playdate. We all had too much fun to wait another 2 years to do it again! We are going for a visit at the beginning of June, and have already started counting down!!!

Bowen Barrett - 10 Months

Another month has passed and I can't believe I am now beginning to think about Bowen's 1st birthday. This past month has been filled with LOTS of milestones and fun memories. He is still such a sweet baby, but just has such a funny, flirty, ornery personality. I love him more and more everyday and I can't even remember what life was like without him.

Bowen, You are growing so FAST!!! Luckily, this month, you have not really GROWN that much! You are still the chunkiest, squishiest baby, but you weigh 22.10 lbs, which I think is actually 1 oz less than last month. You started crawling, and although you started out slow, you are now quite speedy. You keep me on my toes! You are also pulling up, so we have lowered your crib, but everything else is fair game, and you love making a MESS :) We started eating real food. You never really liked baby food much, and you drive me crazy slapping it out of my hand and making a mess, so we are working on eating real food. You love mac and cheese, corn, yogurt, grilled cheese, chicken, ice cream, chocolate and most fruits :) You can't stand refried beans, actually, you grabbed them out of your mouth. So far, I am telling myself you are going to be a MUCH better eater than your brother! You have already said 'mama' and 'dada', but this month you actually say them all the time and I think you might know what you are saying. You make lots of sounds and I think you will start saying some other 'words' soon. You love to clap and we will spend entire days saying "YAYYYYY!" and making you clap. You can also wave bye-bye. It is adorable. Not always on cue, but most of the time you will do it. You are always SO proud of yourself... and we are too. It is so awesome watching you learn and catch onto new things! Crockett is still your best buddy, you want to be right in the middle of whatever he is doing. He doesn't love you playing with his toys that much, and one time he actually "trapped" you under the laundry basket. It was quite funny :) You know his room is the most fun, and just like every other boy I know, you find boxes to just dump out. You do love to play and are quite content just exploring all of the toys. You are still not sleeping too good, but some nights are ok. I am just used to be exhausted now! Ha! I would miss rocking you if you slept all night. That is the only time you are still enough for me to love on and just rock. You are so much fun and such a happy boy. You have added so much to our family. We love you BO!!!

Sesame Street Live!!

Last weekend we were so excited because LuLu took us to see Sesame Street Live!!!! Crockett has been talking about Elmo for the last few weeks and told just about everyone we came across that he was going to see Elmo! It was FINALLY here! LuLu, Mon, Crockett, Braidy, Quin and I all packed in the car and went to the show. We got there early and took a few (or maybe more than a few) pictures. That was a lot of fun and the boys got to run around a play a little. When we made our way down to our seats, Monica saw a friend she knew from church, who also happened to work for Select-A-Seat (who puts on the shows). She came up to Monica a few minutes later and asked us if we wanted 6 available seats on the 2nd row! Woo Hoo! How fun! The boys were all so cute! Braidy and Crockett had the cutest smiles on their faces and Quin kept yelling "HIIIIIII, ELMO!!" It was priceless. Braidy LOVED the whole thing and watched it so good, Crockett got a little antsy but had a great time, and Quinny LOVED Elmo and his cotton candy equally :) Thank you so much, LuLu, for taking us to see Elmo! We loved it and had so much fun with you. 

Crockett's Favorite Outfit

Lately Chris has been on a "I-think-I-want-to-start-wearing-suspenders" kick. I am not sure what brought it on, and I definitely never took him serious, until he came home with a pair, that is. And they weren't just any suspenders... They were the biggest, ugliest, old-man-est, pair he could find. After trying them on, he told me he was just trying to push my buttons (which he did). Unfortunately for me, Crockett found them and thought they were the coolest things ever. No outfit was complete without them, for several days, and it just wasn't a battle I was willing to keep fighting. I think they are hidden now, but he sure looked funny with those awful suspenders on... Actually, truth be told, he made them kind of cute (just a little) :)

John Turns 8!!

Last weekend we celebrated my nephew, John's 8th birthday! It all began with a fun party at Adrenaline City. The big boys played on a ropes course, Crockett and Braidy joined them all for a fun game of laser tag, then they all moved on to the trampolines! The big boys played dodgeball, while the little boys jumped on the trampolines. They all had SO much fun!!! After all the playing, we moved on to cake and presents! It was such a fun party. John was such a great big brother/cousin for watching Braidy, Quin and Crockett and including them in the fun!

On Sunday, we joined the Curry's for ice cream cake! John's real birthday was on Monday, April 8, and since he had a baseball game, this was his "real" celebration, with us anyways! It was a beautiful evening, so we all sat outside and ate the YUMMY cake! The boys played while we all got to visit. John opened a few more gifts. I think he must have had a REALLY GREAT BIRTHDAY!!

John, Thanks for being such a sweet cousin. Crockett thinks you are the coolest and loves getting to play with you. You have grown into such a sweet, polite, smart, athletic young man and we can't wait to see what this year holds for you! We love you!!

Happy Easter!

I can't think of a better way to spend Easter! We were SO lucky this year to be surrounded by the ENTIRE Stone clan! Chris and Crockett went to Holliday on Wednesday evening to get some WORK done, while Bowen and I stayed behind and spent a little one-on-one time together. We had a great time and enjoyed the peace and quiet, but missed Daddy and big brother terribly. It was just a little TOO quiet, so on Friday morning, we were ready to join them. Bowen did GREAT in the car and I jammed to some good music (which I must say, was quite therapeutic). Mummer couldn't believe how big Bowen has gotten and he LOVED getting hugs and kisses from her. Crockett was glad to see us, but he was very busy playing with Rich. They had SO MUCH FUN together. 

After we all got a good night's rest, we woke up ready to go on Saturday. We took Crockett to the Easter Egg hunt put on by the Holliday VFD. Rich, Bella and Wes were all there too! They divided all the kids up by age and there were only about 10 3 & 4 year olds, so we had an entire baseball field full of eggs! The boys got TONS of eggs, and little did we know, at the end we had to count them all for the CONTEST. Crockett had 54 eggs, which was the most for the boys that age! He WON an AWESOME Easter basket!! He was so excited! It had some very fun toys in it... mainly a Transformer, that he actually slept with last night. It was a lot of fun! They even got to crawl on the firetruck before we left. A good time was had by all :)

As soon as we got back to Mummer's house, KK and Scott were there! We were so excited to spend Easter with everyone, but the main reason we went was to see KK and meet Scott, who were coming to visit from D.C. We don't get to see her near enough, so we will take advantage of every opportunity we get!! Shortly after KK and Scott arrived, we were SO EXCITED to see Grandpa Steve drive up!!! He drove all the way from San Marcos to see everyone. It didn't take long for all the guys to load up and head to the Parish to see Hotshot and look for some hogs! Crockett was so happy to tag along with the big boys. Kelly, Bowen and I joined them after lunch and enjoyed some time outside. It was such a beautiful day! The guys saw a few hogs, but none close enough to shoot. After a nice visit, it was time to go home and rest before a big evening.

That evening, all the Stone's got together for dinner (Branding Iron! YUMMY!!!) and a BIRTHDAY celebration for Crockett!! It is something that we try to do for all the little ones, and it just works out so well for everyone to meet in Holliday. Mummer is always so nice to let EVERYONE come to her house. It gets quite chaotic, but I know we all treasure these times. Luckily, on this evening, it was beautiful outside, so some people ate out there and all the kids rode bikes and played. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening. Crockett loved his cake and got some really fun gifts. He is a lucky little boy (they are actually all pretty lucky little kids) to be loved by so many.

The next morning, Easter, we got up and got ready for Church. My nieces, Emily and Nathalie, were singing, so we were all going to watch them. I got the boys dressed up, and Crockett refused to wear his new shoes, and insisted on wearing his boots. Sometimes, it is just not worth the fight... this was one of those mornings. Cowboy Crockett went with Brenda and Rich to Sunday School while we got ready for Church. Bowen ended up staying home and taking a nap with daddy, But my boys sure looked handsome together!! At least I got a picture!! 

After Church, we all came back to Mummer's house for lunch and to hunt some Easter eggs! It was so fun and a great way to spend such a special day!

We are so thankful to celebrate the resurrection of Christ and his love for us with so many people we love. We are ALL so BLESSED!