To Infinity and Beyond...

I had been searching for the Toy Story DVD (thinking that Bear might love it, and in turn, love the characters at Disney World), but I couldn't find it anywhere. So, when I found out it was because they were showing it in 3D at the theaters, we thought it would be a fun family outing. Sweet Pea has seen 2 movies, but we had never taken the boys. Needless to say, we were a little nervous...


Well, the kids did great! The boys fell asleep 1/2 way through Toy Story 2, but Sweet Pea lasted through both and even asked if they were going to show a third! And N and I were just excited to go see a movie! I think we have seen 4 in the past 5 years. Who would've thought that the more kids we have, the easier it would get? Have I mentioned what a good baby, Baby A is? Does this mean a fourth would raise itself???

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch... Twice

A couple of weeks ago I took Sweet Pea and Bear to the pumpkin patch with a group of friends. It was organized as a field trip, so the kids got to do a lot of fun things in a short amount of time (they went on a hayride, went through a corn maze, had wagon races, painted pumpkins, fed goats, ate homeade ice cream and picked flowers). They had a blast!

Then we decided to go back as a family to pick out our pumpkin. Daddy found a good one...

And we tried to get a good pic of the kids, but Baby A was tired and Sweet Pea and Bear were preoccupied with finding the biggest pumpkin (thanks Daddy ;) ). But we had lots of fun and Bear even fed the donkeys.

Little Mia... Or maybe not?

I had one of those "love burst" moments a few weeks ago (I have had SOOO many of them lately)...

It was a Saturday morning and Sweet Pea was running around in the grass chasing after a soccer ball on the soccer field. I don't think she actually touched it, but it didn't matter, my little girl was playing soccer. If you know me, you know I am crazy competitive. But ever since I had kids, everything has changed, especially since my kids are usually on the sidelines when I play. Anyways, there isn't a competetive bone in my body when those 4 year-olds take the field. I cheer when they run towards the ball! I honestly don't care if she ever plays again, I'll never forget the times she did!

She has played in 3 games now and she gets better and more interested each week. She is so proud when she kicks it and she looks so cute doing it! This past Saturday a parent from the other team told me her dancing on the field was the best part of the game :). I wish I had more pictures, but it's impossible for me to take them since I am running around the field with them. And Daddy is pretty busy with the boys.

Here she is with her "after game treat".

I have to add that I am growing so attached to other kids on the team. They are so fun and adorable!!!

Has it Been 6 Months Already?

Baby A had his half birthday last Friday. There isn't much I can say about this angel baby that I haven't already said. He continues to be an unbelievably fabulous baby. At his 6 month check-up, he weighed 17.5 lbs and he was 26.5 inches tall (and that's from exclusively nursing for 6 months). Here's how much he has grown:

We fed him rice cereal for the first time last night and he gobbled it down! Sweet Pea and Bear were so excited to feed him, he had two spoons in his mouth a few times :). At one point he was even feeding himself!

I read in his 6 month check-up papers that he shouldn't need a feeding in the middle of the night, so I am guessing he doesn't need 2. We are going to try to get him to make it through the night without eating ~ we'll see how that goes...

A friend of ours came to our house and took a few pictures on his actual half birthday:

I love the look on his face in this one:

Almost Heaven...

We finally decided to brave an Aggie game with all of the kids. We started taking Sweet Pea when she was 5 months, but we knew Bear couldn't do it the past couple of years. We would take him with us to College Station (aka Aggieland), but one of us would walk around campus with him while the other took Sweet Pea to the game. He's grown up so much the past few months, that when we started planning for the first Aggie game, I just knew he would LOVE the whole experience (it helps that we have 4 tickets this year :) ) And Bubs is such a great baby, we knew he wouldn't be a problem at all.

So, we took off for CS and everyone was excited. We practiced the Fightin' Texas Aggie War Hymn and slept a lot on the way there.

As soon as we drove onto campus, I felt like I was home. I have sooo many great memories of that place. I mean 6 years is a long time to live in one area :). And that is where I met my soul mate and we had so many good times there. It also is nice to see maroon everywhere, rather than orange ;). And everyone is so friendly.

Well, we all had a great time at the game. Bear and Bubs loved it! And of course, Sweet Pea loved it, too. They won, which always makes the trip a little better.

Then, on our way home we stopped by Freebird's. I think N and I ate there atleast 3 times a week in college! For some reason, the burritos taste so much better in Aggieland?!?

Two weeks later, we took Pappy to the game with us. We watched the band before the game and walked around campus and took some great pics. Again, I felt like I was home. Although, walking around campus makes me feel soooo old. I swear those college kids keep getting younger and younger.

This is Quackers, the class pet from Sweet Pea's school. It was her weekend to show her a good time and I think she succeeded :).

I was glad to get some picture of the kids and my dad. There's no pressure, BUT, if any of them decide to go to A&M, they would be 4th generation Aggies. My grandpa was class of '43, my dad was class of '64 and I was class of '98. N's dad played football there for a year and N was class of '99 and his brother E was class of '98. Needless to say, there are a lot of Aggies in the family. I love how Sweet Pea is so proud to tell all of the longhorns around here that she is an Aggie. She's excited to know that people are longhorns, too.

And I know Bear has already been brainwashed because as we were watching the Cowboys' game, he kept saying, "Gig 'Em Cowboys". Man, I love that boy!

And lastly... Here's a picture of our family in front of the century tree. This is where it all began when N proposed 8 years ago, tomorrow. (It's a tradition for men to propose under the tree).

Another First

The first day of school was bittersweet this year. Sweet Pea was excited to go back (after not wanting to go for the first two months last year). She has six of her friends in her class and she has two great teachers. On the other hand, it is her last year of pre-school :(. While I am relishing in the fact that I have one more year with my sweet baby girl before she goes to kindergarten, I am sad that I only have one more year.

To make matters worse, it was Bear's first (ever) day of school. Sometimes I forget that he is only 2. He's not the family baby anymore, so I tend to think of him as older. But, when it came time to send him to school, I quickly realized that he is growing up. My first sad moment came when we went to "Meet the teachers". His sweet teacher wanted to take his picture, so he said "cheese" and did his picture dance. He always does the same little dance when he poses for a picture - it's just Bear and I love it. His teacher didn't appreciate it as much and said "stand still, like a statue". All of sudden, I felt sad. I realized that he would no longer be the carefree and always silly little boy. Someone else would be influencing his personality. So the next few days I contemplated keeping him home. But, the fact that he is going to a Christian school with sweet Christian teachers and will be learning to play with kids his age, makes it worth all of the emotional mom stuff.

So, the first day of school went off without a hitch. Daddy stayed home to go with us (I made him take Bear in to class) and MeMe came over to go with us. Sweet Pea was so excited to go see her friends. Bear cried when Daddy left, but he was fine five minutes later when we checked on him. And he was doing great when I called to check on him halfway through the day :).

The best part of the day (and every school day) is when I get to pick them up! They are so happy to see me and they tell me all about the fun they had at school.

Here's my little boy, after his first day of school...