Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

AND I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT...MY HEART BEATS JUST A LITTLE BIT FASTER ONCE THANKSGIVING WEEK GIVES WAY TO THE "ROAD TO CHRISTMAS"! I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!

SO...to share a bit of our "road to Christmas" with you, I say, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

...On my front door,



...And in my living room! I just LOVE my tree!



...On Main Street in Boerne with buddies for the kick off weekend of "Dickens on Main Street". Its a great time where they shut down Main Street, all the shops stay open late, Christmas Music is playing, there is snow for the kids to play in, food booths, horses, dogs, people, babies, its just awesome! It happens every weekend from now until Christmas!


My baby LOVES "orsies". I grabbed a pic of this horse strolling down Main and then turned around to see...


...One mesmerized little boy whose Daddy had already pointed it out! Got both shots!



Matthew meets Baby Jesus...he was SO confused.



Main Street all lit up. All the shops put up white lights all the way down Main Street! Like something out of a movie! Have I said I love this time of year yet?!?!



Another view of another "orsie" - could not get enough! They just kept coming and he was about to come out of his skin.





Playing in the snow...it was a small little area, but the kids seemed happy enough! We take what we can get as far as snow in Texas! :)



..And, I ordered my Christmas cards and cannot wait to get yours! :)

MUCH to Celebrate!!

We have much much to celebrate! So many birthdays and so many lives...

So, first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS PAST WEEK TO...Brian, Craig, Jen, Lindsey, Phillip and all who I have missed! :) We had a fun week of dinners and lunches!

AND, YAY for all the babies who are coming and have recently come! Congrats to our friends The Kings on their new baby girl! Congrats to my friends (and there are SO many) who are expecting! Brian and I counted and we have 14 friends all having babies in the next 4 and 5 months! WHOA! Lots of little lives! And we have many friends on the verge or trying to get pregnant or adopt. We are praying...for all the families that we trust Jesus to grow and form in His perfect timing!


I got to have lunch with my friend Jamie...who is prego and on bed rest! We celebrated Jen's birthday over a much needed Chinese fix! Thanks for a fun lunch girls and Jamie...hang in there - you are doing GREAT little Ellie...keep cookin!

For those who don't know, we are expecting baby number 2! This time, she is coming to us through biology and not adoption...either way, we are BLESSED! SHE is set to arrive at the end of April...the 26th to be exact! We had our big sonogram on Monday and all is well. I am almost 18 weeks and she looks great. Praise God. We are excited to grow our family, and although we want to adopt again, we feel incredibly blessed to be growing our family through biology for baby number 2. God willing, we will have the opportunity to experience growing our family in 2 ways...through biology and through adoption...both such miracles...we are blessed, blessed beyond measure.

My friend Amanda gave me these yesterday...our baby girls very first pair of ballet slippers...and the VERY first pink to enter our home! I am sure there will be much more where that comes from.




Melissa and I are prego...not lindsey, but I think Jason looks like he may have a little baby bump..Hmmmmm! NIce Jas!


We had a fun dinner to celebrate Craig. He is surrounded by birthday boys here! What a month November is! :)


Sweet Braden LOVES Matty! As does Emily! How can you resist that face? The kids had fun at Craigs party too! :)


We went to STEAK NITE at The Waring General Store to celebrate Brian and Lindsey's birthdays! 34 and 28! Young Pups!




So glad The Crockers made it out to Steak Nite! Thanks to everyone who came!



The Steak Nite gang (minus Linda and Randy who were the photogs)! Fun Night. If you havent been to "Steak Nite" on a Wednesday night, you need to go! Its so fun! Live Music, great food, fun Texas atmosphere! Good Times!


And of course, we celebrate our sweet boy who is 19 months old! Look at that grin! Every time we tell him to say "cheese" to the camera, this is the face we get! PRECIOUS!!!!!


Daddys favorite Birthday gift...a card from his boy! All colored just for you Daddy!

Love you all! What a month!

Then..a Hot Dog! Now..A LION!

Just like last year, we went to The Fall Festival at The Loft this year! IT was so much fun! Matthew had a blast and surprisingly LOVED his outfit! The cutest lion I have ever seen! Sadly, I forgot my camera! I KNOW...what was I thinking..so these pics are not that great as they are off my phone, however, thank goodness for Nama and Jenny who took pics of my Lion and are going to e-mail them to me. I will post more of my Lion (who did a great job roaring on cue) when I get them!

When we pulled back in to the neighborhood, we ran into a cute Pirate (Jackson and Jason and Lindsey).

I downloaded the photos off my phone and looked at last years pics...look how tiny my Hot Dog is!!???

Cutie!

ONE YEAR AGO...




TONIGHT...

A political statement ACTUALLY worth reading!

My friend Ross wrote something I liked. Honestly, I try to stay out of political banter, for the most part. I think mainly because I just cant pump up one person over another without reservation. I know who I won't vote for (I think). I think since I have been of age to vote, I find myself voting for someone because I really think they may be the better choice of two not so great options. Now I am NOT saying I could or would do or know better, I am just saying that I have no stickers on my car or signs in my yard...and I don't know if I ever will. Anyway, its worth a read, so check out what he wrote here.

A few Summer Adventures...before its all over!

First, this is what my living room looks like most of the time...well, at least every waking hour for Matthew if we are inside. Wouldnt change a thing...



Everything is a "orsie" if it is bigger than a dog and stands on all 4's. Here, we were at the Zoo and Matthew saw this "Dragon Lizard" and said "orsie, orsie" and hopped on. He was a little disappointed that it didnt take off or go anywhere.




Trying to get another swin in before summer weather is gone. Matthew found a pair of blue goggles in my pool bag (if anyone who has swam with us is missing them, here they are). IT was hilarious. He would NOT take em off. And, by the way, I think we may have the next Michael Phelps on our hands...he is SO natural in the water...holds his breath, has great balance, blows bubbles, etc...BUT, he has no fear which can keep Mommy on her toes around the water.

Missing Daddy!

We are missing Daddy while he is in Israel and Turkey (check on his trip here...it will SO worth your while. The trip is amazing me!) so I thought we'd show off what Daddy and Matthew do EVERY day when Dad gets home from work.

Here is how it goes...

Matthew hears the door open. Matthew runs to the door saying DA DA. Brian gets down on his level and they hug. Matthew giggles and takes off running around the dining room table. Brian crawls after him and lets him go for a few minutes...all the while, Matthew is giggling so loud and hard, I think he's gonna choke. Brian catches him, they fall to the ground, hug and we all move on with the night.

It is one of my MOST favorite times of the day! And Matthew NEVER fails to do the exact same routine! I really need to get it on video so you can hear it too...you should click on the pics to see their faces up close...you can totally hear it with your mind if you see their faces :) We love you babe and we miss you! :)

In the Last Week...

We had a fun week...post stomach bug that made its rounds from Matthew's school, to Matthew, to Brian and finally, me! The runny nose and stomach bug is almost enough to make me want to take him out of school. But, its now or later, right?!?

We also had a few messes, that I know you'd rather not hear about, but let me just say this...combine a kid with a stomach bug with a sick Mom changing a stomach bugged diaper and a kid who LOVES to grab his diaper and swing it around...well, lets just say, Mom ran to the bathroom, Matthew was covered...as was the wall in his room. Okay, so maybe that was an over share, but there you go. This blog is about life right?!?! That is my "real life" right now! :)

Young Life had its annual golf tournament this week. Good thing for Matty, Brian is not much of a golfer and they had a blast just driving around on the cart for hours.

Here he is hanging with some Young Life kiddos in the golf cart.


Here is Matthew with some of the other Young Life kiddos...having his very first chocolate chip cookie :) Happy Boy!



We could not peel Matty off the golf cart. He was in the drivers seat making car noises the whole time. THinking he is showing the bog kids how its done.

Brian said at one point, he jumped out of the cart for a "split second" (Dads terminology) and he turned around to find Matthew pressing the gas, with the break off and rolling forward. He made it about 6 feet before Brian caught him...way too tempting for a 1 year old is all I can say!




We always get a few good play days with the neighbors outside. Jack and Matty in a pink Barbie Jeep...cant you just see this same pose 16 years from now after a mudding trip? And likely not in a pink Barbie Jeep...




We totally have a golfer on our hands! He LOVES the small set of clubs Brian bought him..rain or shine!



MOST IMPORTANTLY!!! Big hugs for Daddy as he took off this morning for Isreal and Turkey. We are VERY excited for all the wonderful things he will learn and see, but there were LOTS of tears (mainly from Mom) before sending Daddy off for 17 days!

Praying for a great and rich trip babe, and that you will come back to us safe and sound! We love you more than you know.