Rodeo Time!

Howdy Partners! It's rodeo time in Houston, and we are going to wrangle up some animals for sure! Don't we just look tough??

Yeeeeeeee - Haaaaaw!


But seriously folks, the rodeo is one of our FAVORITE things to do each Spring.

This year, we did different things than we have before. This was the first year the boys were big enough to do the rides at the carnival.

We watched pig racing. This was fun! The pigs race around the track back to their cages where they get an oreo cookie. I could race for that.

We even watched a pig dive into the water. How's that for an action shot?

These wide eyes hardly blinked the hole time. We just might really have ourselves a cowboy/rancher here. He loves everything about cowboys!

Yeah for Spring!!

On St. Patrick's day, we did lots of things green.

I know this isn't the best picture of the boys, but I had to include it on the blog because you can see Braeden's broken finger here. He broke his finger at church in between the top and bottom half of a split door while waiting for me to pick him up. It was our first trip to the emergency room, and Austin was such a good big brother taking care of Braeden. He was so helpful. Let's hope we don't have to make many trips to the emergency room.

Say Leprechaun!


Green pancakes and green milk.

I don't know who is more excited about the perfect weather to play outside in, them or me. Look at that blue sky would you? So many playgrounds....so little time!

Fur Babies

We sometimes neglect to include anything about or original babies, Maggie and Jack. They are still very much a part of our lives, and we love them so much! Maggie just turned 10 this year and Jack is almost 7. Both dogs love the boys and tolerate so much from them. We are truly blessed to have these precious pooches!

Sticks and Mud....What could be better?

We love going to Daddy's dear lease. We get to go mudding in the Ranger, play with sticks, look for animal footprints, and play in the mud. There just isn't anything better than that is there?!

I don't know why I think this picture is so cute, but I love to watch my boys follow each other.

They were finding all the sticks they could find to throw in the puddles.

Notice the mud on the Ranger, even on the inside. Mud = Super Fun!!

Shhh, we might see some hogs!

We'll miss you....

Today an angel of a man went to heaven. My Poppy was exactly that, an angel. He showed everyone love and was such a strong man. The boys loved him so much, and I know this is where they get their love of cowboys from. He was a cowboy with a huge heart, and he loved deeply. We'll miss Poppy so much, but we know that he is in heaven with Nanny and all who love him.

Braeden and Poppy

Austin and Poppy

Mimi and Poppy

We love you cowboy!

"Cute"isms...

Ok, so I am calling this post "cute"isms for lack of a better word. It is just a way of writing about some of the cute things the boys have said lately. So here it goes....


"Cute"ism #1:

Austin: "Mommy, I bet the baby is really messy."
Me: "Why?"
Austin: "Because he's in there where all your food goes."

"Cute"ism #2:

While watching Star Wars together...
Braeden: "Who's a bad guy?"
Austin: "Darth Vador and the Storm Troopers are bad guys, and Luke Skywalker is a good guy."
Braeden: "What?"
Austin: "See Santa won't bring presents to the bad guys because they are bad. But the good guys will get presents from Santa because they have been good."
Braeden: "Oh"


"Cute"ism #3

Mommy: "I have your baby brother in my belly?"
Braeden: "I have a baby sister in my belly."
Mommy: "No, you aren't having a baby sister, you are having a baby brother."
Braeden: "Oh."
Mommy: "Where is your baby brother, Braeden?"
Braeden: "In here!" pointing to his belly.


"Cute"ism #4

This one is said all the time, and I have to write it down so that when they are older we can remember it.

Austin: "I love you, Mommy (or Daddy, or Braeden). You're the best Mommy (or Daddy, or brother) I ever had!"
Mommy: " I love you to the moon and back! You're the best Austin I ever had!"

Braeden also uses this one to tell us as well as the dogs that we are the best ______ he ever had. I love it! So sweet!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!

We are thrilled that our third little one is a BOY!! Yeah!! We already have everything we need, and the boys will have another wrestling partner. Honestly, it seems like everyone else assumed we were trying for a girl, but we were just trying for another baby. We were mostly thanking God for a healthy baby who had all the right parts in all the right places. He was fantastic to see. I will never get over how seeing and hearing that little heartbeat at my doctor's visits makes me feel. It is amazing to think that there is this precious little life in my tummy, and we can't wait to meet him when it is his time to join us outside the belly!

Here is the best shot we could get of baby boy number 3. He loves to put his hands up in front of his face (just like Braeden did when he was a baby), which somewhat distorts the pictures, but you can kind of get his face here. He was asleep by this time. It's hard to tell who he looks like.

And of course the cute little side shot. I love his little nose in this one.
We are horrible about picking a name out until we meet our kids in person, but we are leaning toward a name that starts with the letter C, and his middle name will most likely be Andrew.

Baby #3

Here is our littlest peanut. He/She is due on June 22, but will be one or two weeks earlier than that for my c-section. Unless like Braeden this little one decides to come extra early too. I haven't had to be on bed rest at all, but I have been nauseous 24 hours a day for the duration of this pregnancy, only recently changing to evening nausea with other times sprouting up as well. I finally got medicine to help with the nausea last week, but it knocks me out. I am not saying that because this nausea thing is so different than with the boys that this one is a girl (even though that is what everyone else is saying) because I had different sickness with both the boys. This pregnancy has been so much better than the last one, I can't complain about the sickness. I am just thrilled to hear that little thump thump heartbeat every doctor visit, and those little flutter kicks have started too! I can't wait to meet this little one, and I feel like time is flying by with this pregnancy. I am 16 weeks pregnant, and we will find out on Feb. 1st what we are having. We'll let you know when we do! The best part is that the boys are super excited as well. It is so different this time to share this with the kids, because they understand more than Austin did since they are so much older than he was.

Christmas 2009

The boys went with their Daddy to Bass Pro Shops, and guess who was their with his reindeer? Santa!! The boys were happy to see him, and told them what they wanted. Braeden was brave enough to sit with him since Austin was there with him.

Santa also came to school, but the only way Braeden got a picture with him was when he didn't know it. Santa snuck in behind him. I love this picture!

Austin didn't mind sitting with Santa again at school. He was quick to tell him that he wanted a transformer for Christmas.
Not sure who is enjoying the marshmallow gun more, Daddy or Austin.

This year, getting the boys to pose in front of the tree was much easier. I think it had something to do with that elf on the shelf, Ivy, who was sent here by Santa to watch over them and make sure they were being nice. Notice Austin's big bruise on his head, poor thing hit it hard on the bath tub.

Braeden (well both boys really) loves to sing the drummer boy song, and I finally caught it on video. Too cute!

Austin turns FOUR

The day started with a 4 shaped pancake of course!

For the party, we went to Jumpin' Joeys to bounce and jump and celebrate our big boy turning FOUR! I can't believe that four years ago, I held him in that hospital in New York for the first time. Time does fly and I wish I could slow it down and make it freeze every once in a while. Austin, you are such a sweet boy, and you are the smartest too! We love you so much, and we are so blessed that you are our son. Happy Birthday!

Lots of Austin's best buddies came to help him celebrate. After jumping, they were hungry for pizza and cake. I think everyone had a great time.

SNOW!!!

Austin and I were talking about his birthday and he said, "It's going to snow at my birthday." He was remembering last year when a few days after his birthday it snowed. I assured him this would probably not happen, because it just doesn't snow in Houston, and especially not two years in a row! Well, call me a liar, and I won't say anything about it not snowing again, because a couple of days before his birthday, it snowed. Big fluffy snowflakes that stuck on the ground and houses for almost 24 hours!

This was as far as we got with our snowman before we both were too cold and wet to finish. We did add a face, but sadly, I didn't get a picture of it.

Braeden loved the crunching sound it made when you walked on it.

When the snow first started falling, we went out to catch snowflakes on our tongues. The kids were pretty happy, can't you tell?

Big boy bed

In a few more months Braeden's crib will be occupied by another Giffhorn baby, so in preparation, we got Braeden a new big boy bed. He had a little rougher time transitioning into a big bed than his brother, but he did a great job. His new bed is a bunk bed (the ladder will be added later for obvious safety reasons), and will be able to be taken apart when baby #3 needs his/her own big bed. As long as his lovey is with him in bed, Braeden feels secure.

Not to mention the 15 other stuffed animals that he uses to fill the space in this big bed!
Of course, you can't go to bed without saying your prayers, and I just had to video the way that Braeden says them. He has to say them very emphatically, with lots of spunk, or he won't say them at all. Excuse the poor filming, I tried to hold the camera with one hand while holding Braeden with the other. The sound is really all you need.

Thanksgiving 2009

For Thanksgiving this year we went over to Aunt Tina and Uncle Chris' house. Poppy (mommy's grandfather), Aunt Judy (mommy's aunt), and Andy (mommy's cousin) drove in from Louisiana to be with us. It was wonderful to be with them for the holiday, and somehow Mommy only managed to get pictures of the kids. Oh well, they are some cute ones.

Austin and Hardt

All the kids had on their Aggie shirts, and we didn't even plan that! We were ready for the big ATM/TU football game, even if the Aggies did lose.

Gig 'Em Aggies!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Starting with living in Houston near our families. We are so blessed to have both sets of grandparents, and almost all of our aunts, uncles, and cousins living so close to us that we get to see them all the time. We are thankful that after 5 years of chemo and treatments Mimi is still with us. We are thankful that God has given us another child who will join us in June. We are thankful for the loved ones we lost this year, and we know that they are in heaven watching over us. Every night when I go in the boys' rooms to tuck them in one last time before heading to bed myself, I can't help but tear up at how blessed we are. Thank you God for all our many blessings and miracles!