He's a Terrible two now!!

We held Caleb's Veggietale birthday party this weekend. He had a blast. We played pin the nose on Bob, hot tomato, threw water balloons at the giant pickle, and took home goodies in a Pizza Angel box. It was a lot of fun and he loved his cake. I didn't realize how difficult it is to make truly red icing. Does anyone have any tips?


Here's Caleb at 6 months with his aunt angela, arent' they adorable!!

Kittens, Kittens

So Bubo (pronounce boo- boh, like the bubonic plague) has finally hatched her kittens. THe boys are over the moon about the 5 new kittens to play with. If anyone is in the market for a kitten....

Introducing Nathan Andrew

So I'm sitting there in Wed night Bible class and I begin to feel really uncomfortable, no it wasn't the spirit convicting me folks, it was early labor!! We went to the hospital at 2, and once they finally broke my water we quickly had a baby. Nathan was born around 11 that morning and weighed 7 lbs even!! I was so shocked when the nurse told us he had red hair. My dad had a red beard and Stephen has some reddish tint to his beard too. Anyway, pictures are much more interesting than my sleep deprived ramblings, so here they are!!
Proud Papa
Caleb is totally taken with Nathan, he likes to call him "mine" and "baby", here he is with Grandma Brenda too!
Micah is so proud of his little brother!!
I layed Nathan down on Micah's bed while we got PJs on. Micah decided to give him some of his stuffed animals and it grew from there!!

We're almost there!!

So i'm dialated 4 cm and scheduled to induce on the 17th. Happy St.Patrick's Day to me. I was given shamrock fake tatoos so I could be sure I had green on, just in case!! I don't think I'll make it but who knows???
Here's a pic of me in my ripened state. I've gained 40 lbs so far (hey, that's 10 less than with both Micah or Caleb)
So keep us in your prayers as we look forward to meeting baby Nathan.

Katy Rodeo

The local FFA puts on an amazing rodeo in February. I think its a level C PRCA event but either way I was very impressed with the riding, roping, and wrestling. There was even sheep riding for small children. The youngest was 4 but the winner was a 6yr old girl!! She rode that sheep half way around the arena!! We went with my folks and my aunt and Uncle


Next week the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo begins so there will be even more opportunities to wear our cowboy gear. It was pretty cold that evening so I didn't have an opportunity to wear my maternity spurs :) The other big hit of the weekend was the boys and I went to watch the parade the next morning while Stephen was at an all day church service project! this is just one more thing I love about Texas!! We stood next to a family from France on vacation and I got to keep explaining our odd culture to her. FFA, mascots, etc. We had a blast and now the boys expect candy to be thrown at them from slow moving vehicles!!

Catchin up! Look who's 4

Micah turned 4 a few weeks ago and I completely obsessed about his party and it went Great. Half way throug the party he turns to his friend all bubbly and says this is a good party!! I think he had just been handed candy so I won't give my party planning skills all the credit. Anyway- it was a pirate party and so much fun. Here is a photo run through
We decorated treasure boxes for all the loot they plundered throughout the party!! Notice throughout how everyone has eye patches...but no actual eyes are covered in the course of the party. We played walk the plank, fishing, treasure hunt, ;irate ship pinata etc. The weather was gourgeous!! Definitly bettwe weather than when we took him home from the hospital in an icestorm in Dallas! We have been fortunate to reconnect with friends from ACU Cory and Christina and thier boys. You'll notice her pregnancy with her 3rd boy as well.
This is Titus their oldest and he was awesome in his pirate get up, you may not notcie the rubber snake they had to get past by walking the plank, ohh very creepy!!
Micah and Titus leading the pack in the treasure hunt. I had taken photos of various locations in the back yard so they went streaking from spot to spot until they found treasure.
The rest of the crew caught up to dig for treasure. We added jewels, pirate coins, and rings to the sand. Now the sandbox seems tame so we keep a few coins in anyway.
I can not tell you how I obsessed about this cake but it actually went off pretty well. Although I was very wary of blue icing ever since Micah's 1st birthday!! We had one episode of crying b/c I was one short in passing out the whopper cannonballs to the kiddos. But enough blue bell heals all wounds!!

Here's the birthday boy blowing out his cannons. HE has been such a gift from the Lord and we are so grateful to have him. The next birthday on our list better be baby Nathan's or so help me..... THe doctor did tell me I probaby won't be going late with this one but we'll see (I have finally started washing baby clothes and packing a suitcase. 22 days to go!!


This is a random tack on but Micah and I have taken to planting a garden. This is my dad helping us plant tulips and daffodils in the front yard. The boys and I planted carrots (for the bunnies), radishes b/c they're quick,yellow squash and green beans. Even after the swampy rain we've been having they are all looking good. I'll be sure to photo our green thumb results for you soon!! Maybe this will get Micah to eat something that is not beige (okay ketchup on chicken nuggets doesn't count)

Josc in a tube slide???

Do you ever have those moments when all you can do is trust God? We're are in a stage of life where we are really exercising those trust muscles. It is truly amazing how I keep having to relearn the same lesson over and over, trust God. I guess I have a lot in common with the Isrealites from Exodus!!
Seriously though, we would really appreciate your prayers for Stephen's mom. They've found some cancer spots behind her eye and in her brain this past week and so she has begun radiation. She was diagnosed with Breast cancer when Caleb was only a month old and now she's gearing up for another battle. So please lift her up and pray for strength and courage.
On the baby front-- we had another clean scan for baby Nathan and the doctor laughed as he told me he was still a boy. Somehow he thinks that is way funnier than I do. We're 34 weeks now so we're in the home stretch. On a side note we believe the family cat will be littering the same time I will be! So please don't be shocked if when you ask Micah about the baby he starts talking about how fuzzy they are.
One photo I truly wish I was able to post for you to cheer us all up is the sight of all 160 lbs of me at the very top of the biggest McDonal playscape the other day. Caleb had gotten to the tallest point and decided he couldn't get down. SO in I went wending my way through the switchback platforms to the THIRD level of the playscape and then through the tunnels, past the 2 year old with only one sock, through the train engine to the tallest point to rescue my Caleb. I wasn't about to go out the way I had come so I asked a helpful 2 year old the way to the slide and with wide eyes he pointed. At least I recieved a round of applause from the other moms when I slid out with a tearful yet smiling Caleb!! (I bought myself a well earned ice cream too)
Caleb had backed himself into a corner and he trusted that I would find a way in to rescue him. How many times does the Lord rescue me and guide me through obstacles of my own creation?? thankfully he is a little more patient and graceful than I am!!

Oh, and we started potty training Caleb this week....pray for patience....and stay tuned for plenty of "it'll be funny someday" stories.

Travelin'

cake by the giraffes
I know I've said this before but he is adorable, God has richly blessed us!!
Micah too!!
3 buddies!
We're doing a lot of traveling these days so we are extremely grateful for our DVD player for the car. We just went back up to Dallas for one night so Stephen could have another dental treatment and the boys and I tagged along to spend the night with Jaxson and meet my mom at the zoo for her birthday. Keep Stephen's teeth in your prayers, it looks like it will take longer than expected and we REALLY want to get to Africa this summer. So, pray for a miraculous movement in his jaw!! We'll be back to Dallas for a friend's shower and to visit a church the next weekend. We're becoming quite the experts on the roadside parks and bbq restraunts all along I 45!!