Carson's Baby Dedication

This Sunday marked a very special day for our family.  We had Carson's dedication at church with lots of family and friends there to celebrate with us.  Before Connor's dedication we took a class that helped us define what our family valued and what our goals for the future were.  We put all of that together in a family covenant.  Before Carson's dedication we had a chance to look back at what we had written and were reminded of the great responsibility we have in raising our boys.  It is such a blessing to know that we have a church family that will love and support us along this journey of parenting.   

I loved that Ryan was the pastor that dedicated both of the boys.  Bannockburn has always been a special place to Cole and I (since it is where we met) and it made it even more special to have someone in our family dedicate our boys.

 I was SO nervous about how Connor would act while we were up on stage.  I even took him up on stage the week before so he could practice.  Thankfully my prayers were answered and he did great!  He hid his head on Cole's shoulder most of the time, but I love how he took a peak during the prayer. :)

Connor loves to clap and wasn't going to miss an opportunity to join in as we left the stage.

After the service we got to celebrate another special event.  Ryan's new book Walls was released and as a church we were able to celebrate with him.  Connor enjoyed his slice of cake!

Lunch with our family was at Brick Oven where they have a great room to hold our large crowd.  We were so thankful for all of our family that traveled lots of miles to be with us.

Mimi and Carson

Nana and Poppa

Momma Lou and Ed

Grandmommy

Pop & Saundra

Amy, Kate, and Hannah also were able to join us.  Their timing of Hannah's first trip to Austin worked out perfectly.  Thank you Amy for taking pictures for me!

It was a sweet day that we will never forget.

Hannah's First Trip to Austin

We were so excited to find out that Amy and the girls were going to be headed our way.  Cole and I had not seen Hannah since the day she was born so were eager to hold that sweet baby girl again.

Hannah and Carson also got to meet for the first time.  It is amazing how much busier it gets going from 2 cousins to 4, but I love having all these precious kids around.  We had a great time hanging out and can't wait for their next trip down!

Valentine's Party

Well, sickness took over this week and our guest list went from 4 to 2 very quickly.  We were so thankful that Amy and the girls were in town to come or Connor and I would of had lots of cookies to eat! :)  

Sweet cousins making some Valentine's with stickers.

After the fun of stickers wore off we enjoyed a Valentine's lunch.

The kids also decorated sugar cookies for dessert.  We loved watching their different personalities shine through while they decorated.

I made them aprons to wear while they decorated, but completely forgot to get them until the very end. 

Sweet Kate modeling her apron

Hannah was so content just hanging out and playing on the activity mat.  I was so happy to see this sweet baby again!

Carson managed to sleep through the whole party, but got to play with his cousins later on that day.  It turned out to be a fun day spending time with family.  Thanks for joining us Amy, Kate, and Hannah!

Snow Day 2011

Last Thursday morning we woke up to snow on the ground!  Connor and I were very excited to go outside and enjoy the beautiful snow that Austin rarely receives.  While we were waiting for the sun to come up (mornings start early around here) we made some "snow themed" breakfast.  I had seen a blog a few months back where a mom had lots of fun treats for her kids during their snow day. So on Wednesday we picked up a few things from the store to make our own treats.  I knew Connor would love it and it would give us something fun to do while being stuck inside. 

Connor and I quickly put on our warmest clothes and headed outside.  We didn't have a ton of snow, but it was just enough for us!

Connor loved making foot prints with his Thomas boots.

And of course the snow didn't keep him from finding sticks.

Later that afternoon we made some Snowball Cookies.  They weren't as good as I thought they would be, but still were a fun thing to make on our snow day.  I also learned that 2 year old + Powdered Sugar= HUGE mess! :) 

Later that night we were getting a little stir crazy so headed over to Mimi's house to get out and burn some energy.  It was the perfect way to end our snow day!

L-O-V-E

February is here and we are busy getting ready for Valentine's Day.  Yesterday Connor helped me start getting out the decorations and he even made a few himself.  Give him some stickers and he is a happy boy!

 Next week the boys are having a Valentine's party with a few of their friends so we started by decorating the playroom.

 Decorating was only fun for so long  so C quickly came up with his own game... 

 Can  you guess what this might be?....  If you know Connor it is an easy guess.   Yes, we spent the rest of the afternoon riding this train.  Mimi taught him how to set his chairs up like a train several months ago and he has been playing this ever since.  For the past several weeks when I pick him up from the church nursery I find him sitting in the first seat of a row of chairs while directing everyone else where to sit.

Today he wanted to be the "train-boose" (aka- caboose)

We also have been working on memorizing short bible verses.  In honor of Valentine's Day we learned "Love one another."  John 15:17

It snowed here this morning so I will be back soon with some pictures from our snow day!