Skylyn is 1

Skylyn after birth

Skylyn 1 month old
Skylyn 2 months old

Skylyn 3 months old

Skylyn 4 months old

Skylyn 5 months old

Skylyn 6 months old

Skylyn 7 months old

Skylyn 8 months old

Skylyn 9 months old

Skylyn 10 months old

Skylyn 11 months old

Skylyn 12 months old

Today my baby turned 1 year old! Wow! This past year has flown by. Staying busy with two other kids and moving made time fly. We have been through a lot in one year, but that little girl has just brought the greatest joy to our lives. She is full of smiles and loves to hand them out to everyone. God has made me a rich woman in so many ways, but the riches of motherhood are beyond explanation! My life is three times greater than I ever imagined it could be.

Here are some things about Skylyn:
-She LOVES to eat. I spend most of my day feeding her. She isn't walking yet do to the fact that she never has time. She always wants to eat. Seriously, she eats more than my other two kids combined.
-She loves playing peek-a-boo and doing the hand signals for the songs Patty-Cake and The Wheels on The Bus
-If you ask her she will give you a high-five, kiss, or hug
-She signs the words more, milk, all done, and she has tried I Love You and bath
-She stands up by herself with no assistance and has taken one or two steps by herself.

- She likes to climb
-She is a strong little thing. She sits straight up from laying flat on her back.
-She loves to smile

Da Boys - Recent Trips Part III

Aaron's Ma (Albert's mom) invites everyone to turn in a bracket to her every year during March Madness. She is the biggest College basketball fan I know. For a while now she has awarded the winner two tickets to a sporting event of their choice (or course nothing crazy like Rose Bowls or Super Bowls). Aaron finally won this year and asked for two tickets to a Dallas Cowboy's football game in their new stadium. He has been excited all year for this game. The game was last week on Sunday after Halloween. Aaron's brothers both decided to join the fun and also bought tickets to attend. Well, actually, I think Adrian, Aaron's youngest brother, won tickets from Ma as well since he picked the overall winner where as Aaron won the entire bracket with the most points...something like that. Aaron's parents were so kind as to keep all the kids (my three plus my sweet niece, Cosette) while the six of us enjoyed the game (Aaron and myself; Alan and my sister in law, Kristina; and Adrian and a college buddy). The day was beautiful, the stadium was awesome and huge, and the game was fun and a pretty easy win. A great memory and a wonderful one to share with the biggest Cowboy fan I know...my great husband. Thanks for sharing your prize with me Aaron.

Pumpkin Carving '09

Pumpkin carving this year was so enjoyable. I just had to cut the tops off and let the kids go at it. Aaris pretty much took charge and dug right in. After she had cleaned out the first pumpkin herself, so finally convinced Titus and he jumped right in on the second one with her. Skylyn liked sticking the pumpkin seeds in her mouth. Aaris and Titus designed their own pumpkins and I think they came up with some cute ideas. My favorite part was that I just set them out on our new deck and could watch all the action through our great big windows as I cooked in the kitchen - just like I was right there with them. It was a fun family night.

'Incredible' Halloween

Upon Aaris's request we were the Incredible's family for Halloween this year. God has a sense of humor because I was actually able to find the whole family set for sale by another family on Craig's list...otherwise it wouldn't have been financially possible. God just must have thought we would look so fun all dressed up in tights. :) And, with the fabulous help of my mother, the costumes were able to fit us all. We ended up being in Grapevine this year because we needed to be at the Dallas Cowboys game the next day by late morning. So, I and the kids flew up with my in-laws in their plane he pilots and got there early evening Friday. Aaron drove up after work. Aaron's brother, Alan, his wife, Kristina, and my niece, Cosette, just finished getting their new custom home built and had just moved in on Monday. We stayed with them. It is just a beautiful big home that we were all able to enjoy together. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time relaxing and hanging out. The kids spent Saturday morning learning how to take pictures with my camera, so I added some of their shots into the slide show. Aaron's younger brother, Adrian, also came in that day with a friend to go to the game with us the next day. Alan, Kristina and Cosette live next door to a neighborhood full of million dollar homes, and that is were we took the kids trick-or-treating. My kids were of course Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack (yes, Skylyn went as a baby boy to fit into character), and Cosette was an adorable mad scientist. The adults had a great time enjoying the weather and enjoying the breathtaking homes. The kids had the best time getting all the awesome candy. These people were handing out full sized candy bars of the 'good stuff', and even some gormet sugar cookies!!!! It was a blast. Even Skylyn enjoyed getting to pick out her candy at the doors. Almost everyone commented on our costumes and told us we won the best costumes award. When we got home Skylyn also decided that that night was the first time she was going to start standing up all by herself in the middle of the floor. Maybe she was filling a little incredible. Afterwards when all the kids were stuffed with candy, worn out and asleep we were joined by some more great cousins of Aaron's, C.C. and Kimmy, and we got to enjoy a fun Texas Longhorns football game. It really was an incredible Halloween.

Corpus Christi - Recent Trips Part II

The weekend after Labor Day we headed down to Corpus Christi with some dear friends of ours - The Collins. Jillian and I were due on the same day (I think) and our babies (Skylyn and Tristan) are 2 days apart in age (Skylyn's older). Ava is almost 4 and both Aaris and Titus (especially - little crush) love playing with her. We left on Saturday morning (after picking up some Round Rock donuts of course) and came back Sunday evening. Wow, did we ever have a great time!!!

While it down-poured rain here at home all weekend we just got an afternoon drizzle that didn't slow us down in Corpus. Andrew was the man and got us a hotel on the beach on Padre Island. That made it so convenient for the kids to go to the beach with all of their stuff. We got to the island just in time for lunch. Then we got changed and headed to the beach. This was Skylyn and Titus's first times ever to go to the beach and see the ocean. But, I must tell you that Aaris just ate it up. One time I finally had to just force her out of the water because otherwise she wasn't going to leave. She now says that when she grows up she is going to live at the beach. It was funny because at one point we saw rain clouds on all three side of us, but we were spared. We did finally get a little drizzle but the kids kept going and just moved their activity to the swimming pool. We all had dinner with some other great friends, the Johnstons, who now live in Corpus. Their daughter is 5 and in Kindergarten, and their son is 18 months. They only lived in Austin a short while, but they are such loving, caring people that they made a big impact and developed a lot of friends. We had a great 'fish and chips' dinner on the water. Afterwards while we were on the deck talking Andrew spotted 2 dolphins just swimming by. So fun! We then moved the fun on to a shaved ice place and refreshed ourselves with shaved ice cones and ice-cream. We got back in time for the kids to go right to sleep, and myself, too. I can't tell you the last time I fell asleep by 9:00 pm!

The next day we all woke up and just headed straight for the beach again, and then on to the pool again to get warmed up. Aaris's lessons really paid off this year and she was swimming by herself so wonderfully. After washing up and checking out we headed to lunch at a historic Cafe and then headed to the Aquarium to meet up with the Johnstons again. It was really fun and the kids had a great time seeing the fish being fed by scuba divers, shark tanks, touching stingrays, and watching a dolphin show. Fun, fun memories. We all agreed that this needs to be a yearly event! Thanks again Andrew for navigating our way there and finding the great hotel. And, Johnstons, y'all are so much fun and took us to the best places in Corpus! Again, we are just overwhelmed with the riches God has given us in our friendships!

(Oh, I must add something I don't want to forget. When we were getting ready to go to the Aquarium, Aaron was telling the kids about everything that would be there. He asked Titus if he liked fish. Titus's response was, "I like fish in my mouth!" Oh, my goodness, we just all cracked up. That boy makes me laugh every day!)

Brownwood Lake - Recent Trips Part I

I think that since we were so wrapped up in the move this summer I went crazy and booked up our schedule almost every weekend this fall on trips and outings. I must say that I didn't consider how this would effect the progress of unpacking and decorating a new house! No matter what I must say that we have made a lot of fun memories. One of our first big trips was to Brownwood Lake. Our dear friends, James and April Cogburn asked us to join them and 4 other families for a weekend at her parents lake house...or should I say resort. WOW! This place was amazing. It had at least 6 hotel suit (but even better) type of rooms, a HUGE main lodge with kitchen, living room (alone it was about the size of my house), soda pop room, loft, and two HUGE bunk-rooms. And then it had gorgeous patios everywhere with massive rocking chairs, a playscape/sandbox area, a complete other lodge for April's parents to stay in, a gazebo that has 8 removable extra large hammocks right beside an outdoor fireplace and waterfall. Oh, and then of course there was a dock with rope swing, slide, jet skis, and boats. We didn't get on the boats, but the kids really loved the jet skis. I felt like I was at an amazing retreat lodge. But, I must tell you that the best part was the company!! The Cogburns, Steven, the Pollards, and the Mills are just the most relaxing and fun people to be around because they are so genuine and true. It was great to spend the whole weekend in lake clothes with no make-up and not worrying about doing my hair. We just got to eat fabulous food (thanks Briana), swim, play, and fellowship. Thanks again James and April for allowing us to share in your blessings.

Daddy/Daughter Banquet

Our church annually holds a Father/Daughter Banquet as a memory making special event for the Daddies of our church to bond with their daughters. Aaris went for the first time last year and absolutely LOVED it! She had been asking to do it again all year long. And ever since she knew it was going to be 5 days after Titus's birthday she has had a countdown going. Last Friday was the big day. She got all dressed up and had to wear her princess crown since the theme was 'Beauty and the Beast'. All she kept asking was if Daddy was going to bring her a rose. Last year her had gotten her one and she was really looking forward to it. Well, he did and more. He brought her 2 roses for this being the second year that they get to attend the banquet. That means that with this new tradition she will be receiving a dozen roses by the time she is 15 years old. That Aaron. He is always making everything above and beyond special. She had the best time telling me about all the fun they had when they got back: she got to ride in a limo, she came in forth in a Beauty and the Beast quote contest, she got to dance with daddy, she got to eat the yummiest food, and best of all she got to be pampered and doted on by her Daddy.