Just a couple of kids...

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband.
(I will post more later about our date and what an amazing 4 years it has been.)

Our Christmas

It was a lot of fun waking up in our house and being able to get Joseph Christmas morning and open gifts as a family. The night before, we set up his race track so when he came into the living room Christmas morning, it was all ready to be played with. We were able to get really cute footage of his reaction on our other camera, but don't have a memory card to be able to post on our blog. But, Joseph was making a bee line towards Jeff who was sitting in the recliner taping and when he saw the track, on went the brakes and right to the track he went. So cute. This was by far the best Christmas with Joseph...just seeing him open his gifts and get excited about all his new toys was so much fun for me. It is only going to get better from here.
Thank you to all our family for blessing us this Christmas and holiday season.

Didn't take him long to figure out how to race his cars.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas with Marnie and Poppy

We were blessed at Marnie's and Poppy's this year. It has been such a joy to see this family grow. When I first came into the family, we just had Mark and Jack. I can't believe next year we will have two new babies. Joseph had a lot of fun opening his gifts and playing with everyone else's. Thank you Kirklin's for another great Christmas.

An end to a great weekend

On Sunday night, we thought we should take Joseph to do something for his actual birthday. We have heard a lot about this train ride and display of lights at Livingstones Church in Alvin. We attempted this last year, but the wait was over an hour and it was way past Joseph's bed time, so we decided to head out. This year, we went about 10 minutes before it opened and only had to wait maybe 20 minutes. Joseph loved the train and the several tunnels we went through. It was a very chilly evening, but very festive and a great way to end a busy weekend.
He was able to sit with Grammy and they got all bundled up...so cute. Joseph is on a grandparent's kick right now. It is really special to me because I always had a special bond with my grandparent's, so it is really neatl to see him do the same. I really hope he keeps the special bond that he has right now with them his entire life...it is just so awesome.

A look of enjoyment, but freezing!

Joseph and Grammy bundled up

His newest thing: he will disappear for like 20 minutes and then bring me towers of legos. I am really impressed every time with the design and effort.

Having just showed Grammy his tower and turning around for a quick snapshot.

Christmas with the Ellis'

Since I can't travel for Christmas, Jeff and I hosted it down here this year for my family. Yes, we had Joseph's party Saturday morning and then did our Christmas in the evening. It was a very busy week of preparing and a very busy day. We were blessed once again!
I received a new bed comforter and some awesome sheets. Watches, perfume, gift cards, glassware and an iron were some of the other things I was blessed with. Jeff got hooked up clothes wise and received several gift cards...which he loves!! Joseph was blessed with books, cars, animals, playdoh and of course his John Deere backhoe loader. It is so awesome. He isn't too sure about pushing the pedal to make it go, but he does enjoy getting on it and moving the loader up and down. Once I get him on video riding it, you can be sure that you will see some footage on the blog. (He might need some encouragement from his older cousins Mark and Jack to show him how to ride...so please come over anytime to show him that it is okay and fun once you start moving).
The highlight of receiving the backhoe loader was Sunday night. We arrived back home from Livingstones Church and his tractor was in the garage. He jumped out of the car and ran over to his tractor and hopped on it. Totally not expecting it, he hit the pedal and off (in the garage) he went. He ran into everything. Me having my hands completely full (with dinner, camera, diaper bag, etc) was trying to get him turned around to the outside. I quickly shifted everything I had to one arm and grabbed the tractor, pointed in the direction of the driveway and off he went...smack dap into the truck. I was trying to not seem scared because I didn't want him to get frightened. So, I caught up to him and turned him around real quick again and off he went into the grass. He came to a stop and then was done for the night. It all happened so fast and was so hilarious, so I am hoping that he will get back on it soon and realize how much fun it can be.

This is how he ate his dinner Saturday night.

He looks bored here, but he was pretty excited about his big gift when it came out of the box. He said, "Papaw's tractor," when we opened it.

Resting from all the gift opening.

The Big One!

A very cute book from Aunt Stacey. Magnetic farm animals and story.

Lovin' the Aunt Stacey this weekend.

His most favorite thing...Safari animals!

Joseph's Birthday Party

Between my blogging and Facebook, you might have thought Joseph had three birthday's. We had his Safari themed birthday party on Saturday morning and his actual birthday was on Sunday. We had a great turn out for company and as usual, Joseph was blessed gift wise. He really enjoyed running around with Mark, Jack and John and playing whatever they were playing outside. Poor little June just sat and watched the crazy boys....we really need some girls for her. Tilly will be right by her soon and I bet June is going to love having another girl to play with. Thank you to all who came and helped us celebrate another year with our Joseph.
I would like to send a big thanks to Lindsay, Carol and Anna for helping me out on Friday. Lindsay (the next Cake Lady) decorated Joseph's cake. The cake in the pictures doesn't really give her justice for what she can do...I didn't really do any detail work on Saturday morning (like she had instructed me to do) to make it look as pretty as if she would have done it. She was a real angel for helping and by helping, I mean she did all the work. Carol and Anna for watching Joseph so I could go to Lindsay's to decorate the cake. That was such a big help. Thank you girls.
And my family on Saturday morning...entertaining Joseph and helping with all the food preparation. You were all a blessing.

Houston....we have snow

Okay, I am going to be like every other Houstonian and post a little about the snow. Lately I have complained how it is always hot in Houston and never wintery (is this even a word) enough. Living in Dallas for 20 years, we had cold Novembers, Decembers, and January's. Jeff doesn't believe me, but we really did. I remember wearing a heavy coat a lot more than I have ever done down here. Anyhow, it was nice to see the snow falling and actually sticking....and actually being really cold!! I hope the snow brought a sense of merriment to your families as it did ours.
Oh, Joseph didn't want anything to do with it. I think he might still be traumatized from our very chilly Spring Break trip from last year. He didn't want to touch the snow or walk on the snow covered yard. He is for sure a southern boy. Maybe the next baby will share my love for snow and frigid temperatures.

" 'Tis the season to be Merry."

Yesterday, Lindsay came over with her new toy and took some pictures of Joseph for our Christmas card. She did a great job so I wanted to share a few of my favorites. I won't spoil it and tell which one or one's I chose for our card, but I hope you enjoy.

New Game

Jeff and Joseph have this game where Jeff takes our exercise mat and unfolds it. Jeff will then take off and Joseph chases him down and plops down on it and then is taken for a fun ride. I am only nervous when Joseph is running in socks around the cabinets and sofas...only one mishap since this game was started. Joseph ran head first into the front door....a little set back for that day, but as you can see, it hasn't scarred him. The last video is a normal reaction when the game is over. Jeff always has really fun games for Joseph. (Sorry for the dark videos, I literally had every light on in the house, but it still didn't help. Hopefully you can see something.)

Christmas party #1

This weekend, the Selby's hosted their annual Ginger bread house contest party. It is always a blast and so much fun to see what everyone comes up with. The last 3 years, Jeff and I haven't had much success...we are determined to get better though. The first year, we did a Bait Shop, last year was an RV, and this year was an igloo. I think this was the first year we didn't score a single vote. Oh well, we will start planning on next year's and maybe get the top prize.

Jeff and I did an Igloo (well, mostly Jeff did the work...I took care of the candy...eating mostly), but my job was to add accessories to our igloo, but I didn't do a very good job. I came up with a canoe and a Christmas tree. As you can see, no one voted for us *sniff*.

These 3 would be of Buccees Convenient Store. That would be Buccee in the first picture, bathrooms in picture #2 and aerial view for #3.




Another group did different Bible stories. This is the group that won....we did what the title of theirs told us to do.

(L-R) Jesus at the temple with a whip and tables turned over, cross with a crown of thorns, Jesus feeding 5, 000, Manger scene, and in the middle, Jesus and His disciples at the last supper, and the last one, Jesus with the woman at the well.