Happy Easter!!!

Our Easter Sunday was really nice. It rained in early in the morning while we were packing up the tents and then rained again just before lunch but after that, the weather was awesome!! The kids did an egg hunt in the backyard before dinner and then had fun with confetti eggs after dinner. James found the coveted golden egg which held $10. We went to Target today for him to spend his money. We had lots of really great food and even more desserts and candy. Here are some photos from the afternoon. If you're wondering where John is, he took a really late nap and missed all of the fun.

Gifts from the Easter Bunny.

John and his Easter presents.

Hunting for eggs in the backyard. James showing everyone the golden egg.

James getting Cameron with a confetti egg.

Another good one of James getting Cameron.

Another Family Campout

This past weekend, we went on another family camping trip. This time we went about an hour and a half away to Huntsville State Park. We really lucked out and got a great spot. It was big enough for all of our tents and still had plenty of open space for the kids to run and play. Plus it was close to the bathrooms. The park was really awesome. They have lots of trails and outdoor activities like horseback riding, paddle boating, canoeing, swimming, fishing, etc. I definitely think we'll be going back there in the future. This time we stayed three nights which was just the right amount of time. We really lucked out and had gorgeous weather up until the morning we left and even then it wasn't that bad. We had checked the forecast the night before so we packed up everything but the tents before going to bed. Here are some photos from the weekend.


The squirrels had no fear what so ever. This one jumped right up on our table and stole an Oreo right out of the package.



Brian took James and Cameron out on the paddle boat Friday afternoon.

John taking a turn on the big bike.

Katie teaching James to ride a two-wheeler. It's going to take a lot more practice for him to get it.

Latest Home Improvement Project

Well we finally broke down and had the interior of our house painted. The builder used really cheap flat paint and it got so dirty, so easily. We got a really good recommendation from some friends and after hearing his price, decided to take the plunge. They started early Saturday morning and finished up just before dinner on Sunday. The main color for the common areas is a light grey with maroon accent walls. We chose a really great blue for the gameroom upstairs. We're really pleased with how it all turned out. Brian spent Sunday night and Monday afternoon putting all the furniture back and hanging everything back up on the walls. The boys and I came home (we had been camping out at my parents' house since Saturday morning) Tuesday afternoon and I've been cleaning ever since. I should be all finished today. Here are some photos from before, during and the final product.

3D/4D Ultrasounds of Baby Jude

Today we had our second visit at Peek A Baby to look at Baby Jude. We went last Saturday with my family but he wasn't really cooperating. After about 5 minutes, he turned his face into the placenta and wouldn't let us look anymore. Today went much better. We got lots of really clear pictures of his little face. He looks a lot like John did during his 3D ultrasound. We can hardly believe that we'll be meeting this little bundle of joy in just a few more weeks.

We got a really good shot of his ear during our first visit.



He's got one arm up by his fact and the other under his chin.



A good profile shot.



Another look at his cute face.






Just for comparison, here's a picture of John during his 3D u/s back in 2006.

All About John - Age 3

This post is dedicated to our wonderful three year old son, John. John has had a mind of his own since before he was born. He decided he was done baking when I was 34 weeks pregnant with him. To make matters even more difficult, he decided to turn breech the night before my induction. Even though he spent 15 days in the NICU, he’s definitely a normal, healthy three year old. His favorite things at this point in time are Disney Princesses, puzzles, his puppy, chocolate, and books. While he loves Star Wars, super heroes and other typical boy things, he definitely loves his princesses. He was in heaven when we had lunch with all of the princesses at Disney World last December. For Christmas, Santa brought him a set of seven Disney Princess dolls. They’ve been played with so much their dresses are falling apart or are lost, their hair is a mess and their faces are marked up. For the first month or so, all seven had to go everywhere with him. John’s affinity for puzzles just baffles me. While he’s been slower to do some things – walking, talking, potty training – John mastered puzzles about a year and a half before James did. At two and a half, he was easily putting together the three 24 piece puzzles that James got on his fourth birthday. He can even do most of a 48 piece puzzle on his own. Unlike James, John has what most parents call a “lovey”. John’s is a stuffed pug puppy. It goes almost everywhere with him and must be present anytime he goes to sleep or needs to be comforted. A couple of weeks ago, John spit medicine all over Puppy so he had to be washed. Lord that thing was dirty. It took him an extra hour to fall asleep because he didn’t have Puppy with him. We know John is definitely my child as he is a complete chocoholic. He loves chocolate in any form – candy, ice-cream, cake, cookies, etc. He gets small pieces of a Hershey bar for going potty which he immediately asks for the moment he’s finished going. John is also a big fan of books. He asks me to read the same stories over and over again. The current favorites are The Mommy Book, The Daddy Book, anything Curious George, and any stories about princesses.

John had a wonderful birthday. We braved the cold and took the boys to the zoo early Saturday morning. Of course they boys wanted to ride the carousel and go to the children's zoo first. After that we went and saw all the other animals. For lunch we went to The Spaghetti Warehouse since John's favorite meal is "noodles". He really enjoyed his bowl of spaghetti. After lunch, we headed up to my parents' house to open presents and have ice-cream cake. Of course John wanted a Princess cake and was very pleased to have chocolate cake with chocolate ice-cream. The figures from the top of the cake have not left John's possession since he blew out the candles. Mommy and Daddy had Supper Club that evening so James and John got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese with Gammie and Poppa to end the day's festivities.

Here are some photos from John's third birthday.

Waiting for the zoo to open. Note Puppy is always present.


John's Princess cake.



Opening a a new floor puzzle from Aunt Jocelyn.



Blowing out the candles.



Very happy with is birthday cake.

Rodeo Pictures

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

This year has been a busy year for us at the rodeo. Brian and I went to two concerts together(Rascal Flatts and Brad Paisley) and he went to an additional one with his clients (I can't remember who he saw). All the shows were really entertaining, especially Brad Paisley. We also really enjoyed all of the rodeo action before the concerts. Then we had two visits to the rodeo during the day. The first was just John and I tagging along with some friends and then yesterday we all went as a family with Kristin and her crew. We enjoyed seeing all the animals and yummy food both times and during our family outing we also enjoyed the carnival. Both boys had an absolute blast at the carnival. Thankfully there were lots of things John could ride with a parent and even some things he could do on his own. James hasn't been to the carnival since he was two so this time around he got to ride a lot of the bigger kid rides. Both boys were completely worn out and slept the entire way home. We took quite a lot of pictures so I'm going to attempt to do a photo slideshow.