Merry Christmas!

Thankful... We are so thankful that God loves us so very much that He sent a Savior into the world many years ago! We are grateful that we get to celebrate with our precious children and our amazing families!

It's funny to me that three of the last six Christmases we have not had the option to travel to visit family because we are about to have a child (what timing!). But, we always seem to love just staying at our own house. We always celebrate with both sides of the family somehow - sometimes our family comes to be with us on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day or they come before or after. It always works out perfectly!
This year we were blessed to have Matthew's parents, Aunt Judi and Aunt Mindy come and spend Christmas weekend with us. We had a wonderful time celebrating Christ's birth with family! Thank you for such a relaxing and fun Christmas celebration! This week we have my parents and my sister and her family coming to celebrate Christmas with us. We can't wait for another special celebration!
Oh, and one more reason this coming week is going to be special... On December 29th (or possibly before) we will be growing from a family of four to five. We can't wait to meet our little guy! Of course we will post lots of pictures of our newest family member once he arrives. In the meantime, we covet your prayers for a delivery free of complications and a healthy baby!

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Open House at Abby's School

Abby & Santa

Not to be outdone by big sister, Jacob hopped on up in Santa's lap too!

Abby showing off a Christmas present - Twinkle Toes shoes!

Jacob and BeBe reading a book that Jacob got for Christmas.

Abby & Aunt Mindy

Happy Early Birthday to Abby!

Considering I could go into labor anytime, we decided to give Abby one of her birthday presents in early December. Abby's birthday is January 12th and my due date is January 5th. We let Abby get her ears pierced, something she has wanted for a couple years now. Abby's dear friend Sara Kate (and her mom, my dear friend Tanya) came with us on our little adventure.

Me and Abby

Can you see her beautiful earrings (and maybe a few tears in her eyes - sweet girl was so brave but it does hurt a little)?

Me with Abby and Sara Kate

I just had to throw this precious picture in... This is Abby holding her new cousin, Mina Claire Haynes. We just love our newest family member. I can't wait to see Abby with her new baby brother next!

Catching up... at little randomly.

Welcome to the world, Mina Claire Haynes! It's sad that our new niece is already a month old and I'm just now blogging about her. Abby and Jacob love their new cousin and we are so thankful that all went well with her birth. We got to spend lots of time together over Thanksgiving and are already looking forward to the next time we can all be together.

Pop, Jacob, Abram, Abby & Hootsie just a few hours after Mina Claire was born.

Pop and Abby holding Mina Claire. Abby refers to Mina Claire as her sister, which is great because Abby is soon to be outnumbered by brothers:)

This picture makes me so very happy! In early November we met up with my best friends from Temple at a farm outside of Houston and had the best time. I will post more pictures of the weekend soon.

Babymoon!

Here we are on our babymoon! Matthew and I took a little trip to Chicago last weekend to spend some time together and relax before we have our THIRD child. We arrived before lunch on Thursday and stayed until Sunday evening. We had a wonderful time - eating, walking, taking in the sites, eating, shopping, eating again and as a bonus we got to spend some time with Matthew's brother Scotty. Although we loved everything we did during our time in the Windy City, Matthew and I agreed that our favorite thing was dinner at the Signature Room - a wonderful restaurant located on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building. The food was delicious and the view couldn't have been better.
We did miss Abby and Jacob, of course, but I have been told one of the best gifts you can give your children is a strong, healthy marriage and getting away together is part of that. I loved getting to spend the weekend with my best friend - I felt like we got to hold hands all weekend and that is something that doesn't happen too much these days as the precious little hands we are usually holding are not each others:) Thank you to my mom and dad for taking care of our babies while we were gone. They loved their time with you!

Me and the love of my life enjoying dinner at the Signature Room.

Abby the Fashionista!

Abby picks out her own clothes daily. I just had to document this one outfit...

Kiddie Land!

When we were little our family used to come visit my grandparents in San Antonio. One of my favorite memories was getting to go to "Kiddie Land" when we would visit. When we moved here a couple years ago one of the first things I did was look up Kiddie Land because I wanted to take our kids to this magical place. But, I couldn't find it... then one day Matthew came home and told me he had driven past this place close to the zoo named Kiddie Park. As he began to describe it I realized he was talking about Kiddie Land! I'm sure my silly Grandpa Bob just called it Kiddie Land all those years. I was so thankful Matthew found this wonderful little place from my childhood!

Abby and Jacob on one of the rides - I don't think anything has changed from 25 years ago!

On the ferris wheel!

Abby getting her face painted.

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Date night!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Our little man - full of joy and energy!

We love you, Matthew!

On September 12th my man turned 31! Matthew's parents (more commonly known as BeBe and BaBaw) came to celebrate with us. Matthew and I enjoyed a night out on Friday night and then on Saturday we celebrated all day long as a family. Abby planned a wonderful family party for her daddy, complete with a pinata and cascarones (confetti eggs). The children and I could not ask for a more amazing, loving, kind and selfless husband and father than Matthew - we love you!