She's 3!

Of course the one day I choose to do her pictures outside, it is OF COURSE seriously about 35 degrees outside. The day before it had been about 70 so I also picked all sleeveless outfits. Being the mother of the year that I am, I stuck a coat on her between pics, promised her M&Ms if she would smile, and stuck to my guns that we WERE taking pictures, in these outifts, THAT day. I'm so glad we did, because I think the photographer captured her perfectly, and I'm a little biased, but that is a beautiful little girl!

Beckett (as usual) really didn't want his picture taken. We managed to get one shot. Blake likes to call this his Steve Jobs pic.

Pony Party!

Another year has somehow gone by and it's time to get way out of control for Emmy's party again. I found this place last year when I was researching places and really wanted to use it. That and I REALLY wanted to get her some pink cowgirl boots and a pearl snap shirt(If I'm being honest). Hithcin Post Stables is like a 3 year old heaven. There's bouncy houses, playscapes, pigs,horses, games, a train and stagecoach, and of course, the pink and blue ponies Sugar and Squirt. The kids could just run around and around and do whatever they wanted and basically just wear themselves out!

Here's the money shot right off. Emmy LOVED Sugar and still talks about her.

The most amazing thing I've seen in a while is all of these three and four year old standing here for about 20 minutes patiently waiting for their turn. It was kind of amazing.

Coming in a close second had to be the train. We kept that sucker busy. I have no idea what is so magical about riding around on a train, but they LOVE it. They also have a stagecoach they can ride on that they pull like a wagon. That was a hit too.

Emmy can count this as her best day ever because we made the food all of her favorite snacks. You can see the giant thing of cheese balls in the back of the picture here. It sat in our kitchen for about a week and she would beg for cheese balls every day. I told her she could have as many as she wanted at her party. She took me up on it. Not exaggerating she probably ate about 50 cheese balls AT the two and a half hour party. When you add in fruit snacks, suckers, queso, and PBJs, you can guess who was a TAD strung out. On the way home she told me "I have a LOT of energy." That was about three minutes before she passed out cold. All the familiar faces were there this year along with some new friends from her class at school. She got to slide with all of her besties, Caroline and Bianca.

And of course the cousins were there.
Since we were in an actual stable, we kept the decos to a minimum, with an AWESOME cake and smore's on a stick for favors.

I feel like it was an episode of "My Super Sweet 16 " onMTV because look what Emmy got when she got home. Gandi and SuSu surprised her with her own "Fat Car" as she calls it. She was so excited! She still hasn't quite gotten the concept that she needs to steer AND push the petal, but we'll get there =)

Yeehaw Cowgirl Emmy! Happy Birthday

Bon Bon (x800)

It's a testament to JUST how out of control Bon Bon day has gotten over the past few years that when Courtney did the final count this year and came up with ONLY around 700 bon bons, everyone felt a tad deflated. "There's NO WAY that could be right!" we pouted, but it was! And we STILL had tons leftover. Every year we say that we're going to take it down a level and we never do. We've decided, right or wrong, that this year our bon bons were significantly bigger and we would've made a lot more if they weren't. Whether that's true or not, who knows, but I guess it made us feel better!

Emmy has officially been promoted to Jr. Roller, her first official position. The guys spent the day trying to figure out a role that would make them look busy but really just let them watch football all day. Ok, so maybe not ALL the men, just the younger husbands in the group. Sean found the ultimate maintenance role retaping the paper on the floor when it came up and watching a lot of football in between.

Pops took the Beckett-wrangler position, but I think he was ok with that. Beckett has ultimate authority over Quality Assurance, and he determined all bon bons acceptable, after drooling on several.
This year's bon bon also spun off multiple second bon bon days in locations across Texas. Subjecting yourself to TWO bon bon days a year is pretty sadistic. One is enough for me =) It's always good to have a day with family and no matter how crazy it gets, I'm happy we have a tradtion that we can all share together.

The Best Friend is Here!

Welcome to the world Easton Castille! Beckett stopped by the hospital to welcome his new best buddy. This is their first (of many many many) pictures together.
Had we tried to plan this, it would've never worked! Over 20 years of friendship, two beautiful baby girls within 6 months, and now boys within 3. We are so blessed with such a wonderful set of friends and now the second generation of besties!

Congrats Sean!

We're proud of you! Saturday marked the culmination of a long journey for Laura and Sean. Sean has officially graduated from PA school! We all gathered to watch him walk (Down the church aisle! since there was a Uof H championship football game that day) and even managed to snag a few cute family pics as well.
This officially makes Laura and I the slackers of the family. We are the only two in the imediate family without an advanced degree. Now that we've put our hubbies through, I guess it's time to go ourselves.... nah...

Cupcakes: 3 months

My Big Boy is 3 months old!

At three months Beckett is:

* easy to smile. After he's eaten he'll smile and coo at you for a good long time untill he starts getting sleepy. He's not really picky about what's funny. If it semi-entertaining he'll give you a smile.

* coos and talks and talks. He's much more vocal than I remember Emmy being

*Still going about every 3 hours to eat, sometimes he'll get crazy and stretch it to 4. He's only gained about a pound to be around 13 pounds
*STILL not sleeping more than about 3 hours at night. We'll get a stretch with 2 or 3 nights of 5 or 6 hours and then it's back to waking up every few hours

*Really starting to get control of his hands. He can get them up to his mouth to chew his fingers, which is his favorite activity, but he's also starting to bat at things and will reach out to touch your face if you get close enough to him. This is pretty amazing as you can actually see him concentrating so hard to get that hand to move.

*Starting to drool, and drool, and drool

He is a cutie and we're also pretty sure he's going to be a little stink, or a "stink booty" as he's referred to in front of Emmy. He is pretty good at getting what he wants already!