Surprise!

Last night we went to Monica's surprise birthday party at my parent's house. She had no idea, so it was a success! Benny did a great job of putting it all together and keeping it a secret. I made a chocolate cake and we had hot dogs and snacks. It was really fun to visit with everybody. Luckily, Jonathan wasn't working, so he got to come too! I loved that part!

Happy birthday Monica!

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My little helper

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Ethan's good at a lot of things, but he's especially good at reorganizing. This video is what happens when he gets loose at his grandma's house...and they think it's sooo cute. I bet if I did that they wouldn't be too happy. Why the double standard?

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He'll eat anything!

Ethan's been eating a lot of table food lately. He'll try pretty much anything we're eating and crawls as fast as he can to get to our plates.

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First, he eyes our food as if to say "Mmm, that sure looks tasty".

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Then, we let him try a little bit...

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but it tastes so good he won't let go!

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Are babies supposed to eat chicken?

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Baby Simba

Last night my family got together to carve pumpkins. We've been doing it every year for a while now and I really like the tradition. Jonathan didn't get to go because he was working, but Ethan and I still partied without him. Ethan showed off his Halloween costume for everyone and he looked so cute as a baby lion. He's like a baby simba off the Lion King! I love to see him crawl in it because his tail kind of wags. After a little while he started getting hot, but it was fun while it lasted!

Two Ethans!

Occasionally, I babysit for a friend and she has an Ethan too! He's a couple months younger than mine and very petite, so I call him Little E to cut down on the confusion. This past Wednesday, Little E came over and Ethan was so excited. When Ethan woke up and saw his friend was here, he couldn't stop smiling! Little E is a very good, easy going baby, so it works out great. I like this video because they just keep looking at each other and being really quiet, but I promise they really do have fun together!

Hysterical

I love when Ethan thinks I'm funny, or in this case, hysterical. His laugh is just too cute! I've already watched this video a few times myself, it makes me smile.

If you give a boy a cookie...

he'll make a huge mess!!!

Thanks to his aunt Rachel, Ethan had a great time feeding himself a cookie, as he strolled around the house. I'm pretty sure they found cookie smeared on their cabinets the next day.

Ethan and Little Jerry were eyeing Kelly's grilled cheese. They're both little beggars when it comes to food.

I gave Ethan some dry cereal to snack on and the little guy fell asleep. So cute!

Ethan's such a boy! He loves to climb over things or crawl under them if at all possible. I love that about him.

Surprise!

Jonathan worked a double yesterday, from 10 am to 10 pm, so we didn't get to see him much. He did get a little break, however, and spent some time at the mall. When he got home he surprised me with these fabulous shoes!


I just love 'em! I'm so impressed that he picked them out on his own. He said when he saw them, he knew they were the ones, and he had to get 'em. How cute is that! It was such a great surprise and it wasn't even my birthday! Thanks Jonathan, I love you!

Hurricane adventures

Ok, I know it's been forever since I've posted, but we've been without power at our house for 2 weeks, thanks to Hurricane Ike. So I thought I'd let y'all know what good 'ol Ike put us through.

We slept at my parents' house the night of the hurricane. We were a little worried a tree might fall on ours, so we didn't want to be home just in case. They had 2 trees fall in their backyard, but luckily nothing happened to their house.

We're standing on their front porch. There was water covering the road and some of the yard.

Me, Ethan, and Aaliyah

Rachel and the babies

Ethan and Aaliyah had fun playing together. I think they enjoyed being outside.

Since the power went out the night before, we woke up hot. There wasn't much to do other than sit outside and let the kids play with their shirts off. They liked being free.



Khalil pushed Ethan up and down the driveway. It was so cute! Right here it looks like he's telling Ethan not to worry, it'll be ok.





All day I was trying to think of where we could go, or who we could stay with because we heard power could be out for 2-3 weeks! I was barely surviving one day in that heat. Amazingly, my sister Jill got power at her house in Hemphill that evening, and she invited us and my parents to stay with her. I'm pretty sure it only took me 15 minutes to get packed and ready to go. All I could think about was air conditioning and a shower.



Well, it took about two hours to drive to Jill's house. It was dark and rainy, and the roads were slick. While crossing a bridge, our truck hydroplaned. We started slipping and sliding. Just when it looked like we were going to drive right off it, the truck would slide the opposite way, and I thought we were going over the other side instead. It seemed like I had five whole minutes to think about what was happening. So many thoughts went through my head about if we would survive...if there was water under the bridge...if we would be able to get out...and my poor baby in the back seat. It was probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me. Somehow Jonathan was able to regain control of the truck, and the only damage was to the back tail light, which hit the side of the bridge. We immediately pulled over to check the damage, calm our nerves, and hold our crying baby. We were so relieved that no one was hurt and the truck was still driveable. We safely made it the rest of the way, but we were still shaken up for a while. I was grateful for my family before this incident, but even more so now. I love my husband and my son so very much, and I never want to think about losing them. I would be lost without them and I'm so glad the angels are watching over our little family.

Well, on a lighter note, Jill and Johnny have a couple horses in their backyard. We got to pet them and feed them carrots. Ethan was definitely interested, but they'll never compare to Little Jerry (his favorite dog in the whole wide world).

I think their horses are named Jim and Jack. Jim's the friendly one on the left.

This is a huge tree next to Jill's house that snapped. It was pretty cool.

I want to make sure Jill and Johnny know how much we appreciate them letting us stay at their house for a few days. They fed us sooo well, and we had the best company. Ethan loved playing with all the kids. Thanks guys! We love y'all!

We are currently staying with Jonathan's parents and it's been great! They're always there to help whenever we need it. Thanks so much! I don't know what we'd do without family.

The party of the century!

Khalil turned 2 years old on May 19th, but he didn't get an official birthday party, so we decided to throw him one today! Better late than never, right? He's really into cars, so that was kind of the theme. I made him a cake with race cars on it and he got lots of great presents! He doesn't really know about birthdays, so it was fun to see the excitement on his face when he got to open his presents (which just kept coming and coming!). I know he had a lot of fun and his daddy wouldn't have wanted him to skip his birthday this year. Thanks to everybody who came and helped make Khalil's birthday the party of the century!

This is Khalil falling asleep after his party. For some reason, he likes feet! So when he gets sleepy, he wants to lay on someone's leg and hold onto their feet. Sounds weird, I know, but whatever works.

Ethan got to experience his first Oreo today (double stuf, of course). As you can see, he loved it. (Jonathan had to experience it with him, like father like son.)

Ethan's driving

Jonathan always lets Ethan sit in the front seat with him before we put him in his car seat, and Ethan loves it! He gets excited and immediately grabs the steering wheel and starts turning it. It's quite adorable. (Don't you love their matching jerseys! They were going to a fantasy football draft, so they had to coordinate their outfits.)

Rachel's makeover

Last week, Rachel decided she wanted a new do, so we did a little makeover! I cut it into a short pixie cut and it looks so cute on her! We forgot to do before pictures, but her hair used to be right above her shoulders, so this was pretty drastic. Of course we had to add a little bleach a few days later, but we didn't get pictures of that, so just imagine it a little blonder. She does a great job of fixing it herself by making it messy and spiking it. Sometimes she evens styles it into a faux-hawk! She's very trendy for an almost 12 year old. You look super cute Rach! (Ethan told me to say that.)

Toledo Bend

Last week we went with the Ochoa family to the lake. It was about a two hour drive to Toledo Bend where we were staying for three nights. It was a really nice cabin with four bedrooms and each room had its own bathroom. There was a pool, a paddleboat, and a playground for the kids. It was so much fun! We even got to spend some time with the Ratcliffs. They were only about twenty minutes away in Hemphill, so they came over one night to eat supper with us. They were nice enough to bring some Blue Bell ice cream! If you haven't tried the Southern Blackberry Cobbler ice cream, you're missing out, it's delicious!

That's Todd, Brian, and Dario fishing. I think they ended up catching a couple while we were there.

Nana and Granddad on the paddleboat.

Me, Jill and the Ratcliff kids.

Ava and Ella became pretty good friends. They were so cute together!

Baby Bryn and all her teeth!

Sweet little Ava.

Me and Ethan on the playground. We didn't really spin because I get sick on those kinds of things.

Me and Ethan on the see-saw. (We kind of needed someone on the other side.)

He loves the playground!

Jonathan and Ethan swinging.

The swinging put Ethan to sleep!

Jonathan spinning with Ethan.

Dario and Aiden rode back with us and Granddad. There's a dvd player in their car so they were very entertained.

Ethan watched baby einstein on the way there and, as usual, he loved it.