Breakfast with Santa

We had our first exciting event of the Christmas season! The Jr. League in Waco puts on a really fun Christmas market called,"Deck the Halls". Of course, the shopping is great, but they also have special events for the kids. My sweet friend, Brooke, invited us to come to the Breakfast with Santa Saturday morning.

Clark was a little angel and let AnnMarie and I enjoy the breakfast!

Mrs. Claus stopped by just as we were writing our letters to Santa...

And then the man in the big red suit arrived! AnnMarie was so excited and nervous that she could hardly look at him!
The kids heard a Christmas story...
Even the H.O.T. sweethearts were there to paint faces (and hands).
We gave our letter to one of Santa's elves!

AnnMarie with Niyah---one of Brooke's PRECIOUS daughters! She and AM do lots of giggling.

AnnMarie and Niyah's little sister, Alayna---preschool buddies!

(aren't these two sisters the cutest things you've ever seen??)

The best part about the breakfast for her----the Baylor cheerleaders!!!!!!!!!!! (random, I know---still not quite sure why they were there, but they made my little girl's day!) :)

On our way out of the convention center we stopped to take some pictures by a Waco landmark that I've been meaning to come and see. Friends had told me that they had seen our name on the "Freedom Fountain" downtown.

The fountain is very large, and has the word "freedom" in many different languages all around it. Since Svoboda means freedom in Czech, we made the cut!

Guitar Hero

Aka: Brooks

The other day I had the priveledge of keeping my Aaaaaaaaadorable nephew, Brooks. It was so fun because my kids were asleep so I got him all to myself! :)

He took a liking to AM's guitar:

Sorry it's pink, buddy. How does it taste?
Ok, Aunt Katy, that's enough pictures. I could just squeeze him!!

He is so funny because he loves to babble! He will just squeal and scream---it's hilarious. Very different than his cousin, Clark, but reminds me alot of his older female cousin....hmmm...

Clark's dedication

Last Sunday was one of the most special days in our life as a family. We dedicated Clark to the Lord. Now, of course, we did this in our hearts since the minute we knew he was in there "cooking', but this was our opportunity to really declare what our intent was for him and his life. We are so thankful for the children God has blessed us with, and we know that we have a responsibility to raise them up in a home that honors Him.

Pictures got a little out of order here, but oh well:

Most of our family was able to come in for the service. What a blessing!

Sorry about the quality of this picture, but here we are proudly showing off our little man with Pastor Toby.
Clark and Brooks checking out each other's church duds

Wittle buddy... nothing beats those knees... :)

Our great grandparents were there too! Didn't get a picture at church, but we snagged one at lunch afterwards. (of course Gigi prepared a delicious meal!)

Princess Manners

Recently I bought AnnMarie a Disney princess tea party cd full of syrupy sweet songs about minding your manners, having tea, meeting your prince, dressing up, etc. (aka: songs that get annoyingly stuck in your head for hours on end) Why did I buy it again?????

Anyway, as we were driving along the other day listening to it quietly, AnnMarie piped up and said, "Mommy, how do you let your pinky extend?".

:)

Clark is 4 months old!

Sigh.....I'm having a hard time writing this post. I'm not my usual cheery self. I'm so sentimental! Clark is the sweetest angel baby in the world. It breaks my heart that he's growing up so fast! aaaaaaaahhhhhhh it kills me. Anyway, here are some shots from the past month. :)

baby duckie

big boy
Clark and AnnMarie with Julia and Charley (Lauren and I have two arranged marriages.) ;)Gigi made this beautiful quilt for Clark using the fabric scraps from his bedding.

so cute and such a treasure!

Awww... (sorry---a little crooked)

I love my quilt and you, Gigi! Thank you!!!!

Little bear, Clark, with Uncle Josh

First time in the excersaucer---he loves it!

Snuggling with sissy in her bed

happy boy

Big sister loves him so much.

Today we went to the dr. for his 4 month checkup. Stats time:

weight: 19 lbs, 11 oz. (sooooooooo, after I fed him he was up to 20) :)

height: 26 inches

head size: 43 centimeters

Clark:

-still LOVES bath time

-giggles and coos (in his soft little voice) it's so sweet!

-is a big time drooler

-loves sucking on his fingers (and thumb)

-is a big cuddler

-is sleeping from 8pm-ish to 7am-ish more and more often (hallelujah and praise the Lord!)

-is the best baby in the WORLD

Wow. I can't believe how fast the time with Clark is going. Lord, please help me to savor every moment!

My life

...but they should have drawn in a little princess running circles around me too... :)

October Fun

Ok....warning...there are alot of pictures here because I wanted to capture all of the fun events we had in October. Here goes:

We "tied a yellow ribbon on our old cedar trees" in honor of our neighbor, Jason, who just returned home from Iraq. He's in the airforce, and had to serve a seven month term.

His wife and my friend, Jenny, also tied yellow ribbons and made a sweet welcome home banner for him. Our little block all tied on yellow ribbons to welcome him home. Thank you, Jason!
The weekend before Halloween was Baylor homecoming. Now, let it be known that of course we are not BU grads, but all the festivities are just so fun, and let's face it---all of my friends are BU folks!! :) The fam at the parade:
My favorite part is running into old friends here and there. Here we are with the March family. Ramsey and I went to Jr. high and High school together, and Haley is from B'ham, AL and she and I sort of "switched places" when we went to college. My HS friends were her college friends, and vice versa.

We also saw the Logsdons (who we miss VERY badly!). AM and John Andrew were in a prime candy catching spot.

After the parade, AnnMarie made friends with the cutest, teeniest little puppy. Notice her BU sweatshirt! haha

Ok, so this wasn't an event, but I just had to document my babies in some smocking. :)

Mommy lovin on her babies

Daddy lovin on his babies

The Tuesday before Halloween was my dear Mimi's birthday. We had the whole family over for dinner and fun fall activities.

Brooks was ready to run!

First we made some caramel apples. yuuuuuuuummmm

Julia getting in on the action

The finished project (they were really good!)

Brooks and Clark sharing some cousin talk

We finished up by carving our pumpkin. I didn't get a picture of the jack-o-lantern, but you get the idea. :)

At dance on Wednesday, the girls got to wear their costumes. Big hit! Here is AM with her little buddy, Caroline. Excuse me, I'm sorry, Snow White and Belle.

All the little cuties in a row

Thursday we were invited by my sweet friend Lesley to a playdate in the park to paint Turkey shirts for the season. Here are some of the kiddos on the merry go round. Lesley's son, Rowan, is in the hoodie.

Ok, blogger was acting up on me here, but just turn your head to see the shirt. :) The kids used their hands and fingers to make the turkey. So cute!

Thursday night I went out with some girlfriends to celebrate (and say goodbye) to my friend, Stephanie, before she left to move to GA. Her husband, Jimmy, just returned from a tour in Afghanistan, and now they will be stationed at Ft. Benning in Columbus. I am so sad she's leaving and will miss her so much!

Friday AnnMarie had her preschool Halloween party. She and her little friend, Ella, are so cute together!

This little bit of preciousness is AM's friend, Wade. I mean, can you get enough of that mustache??? I love it!

This little hour long party didn't seem that much to me, but what did matter was this precious angel telling me how excited she was about me coming to her party and being at her school. She always says, "Remember when you came to my class, Mommy?". "Can you come to my school today, Mommy?". It's the sweetest thing. So I guess that hour long party did mean alot to me! :)