Surprise!!!

Winona Faye Hennigh...My Grandma

On Saturday night we had a surprise birthday party for Grandma. She is 80 years old and amazing! I am so thankful that she is MY grandma, that she is in my life. I love her so much and it was so great to see her surprised by over 40 family members. Grandma is loyal, loving, peaceful, kind, and overall one of the best women I have ever known.

We tried to snap a shot of Grandma with SOME of her 27 great grandkids. This is the best we could come up with. It was chaotic but so fun celebrating such a wonderful life.

Waco Weekend

A couple of weekends ago we headed down to Waco to celebrate two of my nieces' birthdays, Skyler and Chloe Grace. They had such a fun party at the local children's museum. We had never been before and we were so impressed. Claire's favorite part was the bubble room and I think Jacob just enjoyed being loved on by family. I don't feel like I saw the birthday girls all that much, but when I did it was fun to see them so happy and loved by so many people.

After lunch and a short nap time we headed to the circus. It was a one ring circus put on by Barnum and Bailey but it was still magical for Claire and if Jacob would have had his way he would have cuddled a few lions and elephants. It was really cute to watch him reach for the animals with excitement. It was such a fun evening spent with my brother and his family.

Partying at the Mayborn Museum

The Circus!!

Bright Spot

This little man makes me happy. He is one of the bright spots of my life every single day. I love you Jacob Allan!!

Today

This has been a good day. I was able to get my bedroom deep cleaned, finish a craft (that needed to be finished last week, oops!), take a short nap, and most fun of all play outside with the kiddos. We spend a lot of time in our driveway this time of year. I love the little moments of watching my kids explore outside. They both played a little golf, went "scootering", and went on a walk with Leo the Lion. Check out Jacob's crawling form in the right middle picture. I don't think I have documented it on here and it cracks me up. That boy can move pretty fast in a half crawl half sitting position. It has been a good day!

A Trooper

My mom does not love to go in circles, but yesterday she made Claire's day by riding the carousel with her. Thanks Mom for giving up your comfort to make a memory with Claire. It is seriously the little things that make the biggest impression on kiddos. Today Claire has said a few times "I miss Poppie and Gibbie. Do you remember that time Gibbie rode the carousel with me? She wouldn't sit on a horse but she was very brave and held on to my horse." It was a great three minutes.

Special Day

Yesterday was a good day, Mother's Day. It was very simple and relaxing. I got to sleep in a bit, I actually could have slept a lot more, but I had a houseful of people waiting to eat breakfast which Allan made and it was delicious as always. I also got to open up a couple of gifts which were very special. Another fun part of the day was spending it with my parents who were in town for the weekend. After lounging around most of the morning we all headed over to the mall to do a little shopping and for an all important carousel ride that Claire was certain her Gibbie and I would love on Mother's Day.

I am so thankful that God chose me to be the mommy of Claire and Jacob. They are truly the best gifts I could wake up to every morning. I am thankful that I have a husband who appreciates what I do as a stay at home mom everyday and validates my job often. I am blessed!

A few highlights of the day...

Claire and Jacob loved playing with their Poppie and Gibbie. I think their favorite part of the morning was time spent swinging outside on the beautiful morning we had Sunday. I love all four of their faces in the pictures above!

It was really nice celebrating Mother's Day with my own mom. Thank you Mom for setting such a great example of what the unconditional love of a mother looks like!

This is a picture from my phone so the quality is terrible, but the moment was worth capturing and sharing. Both of my boys ended Mother's Day rubbing my feet. There is no better treat in the world, I LOVED it!!!

New Babies

We have been feeding the horses near our house for about three years and it is always exciting when their are new babies in the pasture. Two were recently born so we took a walk up to love on the new babies and feed their mommies some carrots. Claire and Jacob are fearless around these beautiful animals. I wish we could have enough land to buy them horses of their own. Until then I guess we will continue making the trek up the street to our neighbors horses and love on them.

Bubbles

The other day I heard squealing and laughing and splashing and when I turned the corner this is what I saw. Allan had turned our bathtub into a bubble wonderland with a little water, a lot of soap, and the jets turned on high. They were all having such a wonderful time, it was so fun just watching them.
Bathtime is one of the best times of day in our house. The kids get really excited as soon as I turn the water on. They are getting to a point that they are actually playing together and not just beside each other. I love watching them interact and become friends.

For Your Entertainment

My new favorite video.

Sweet Ava

Our sweet friend Ava just turned one. We had so much fun celebrating her at a great park nearby. We love her and her parents and are so thankful that we have become friends with them over the last year. It actually just occurred to me this last week that it has been almost a year exactly since I first met Ava and her mom, Hannah. We are looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays with each other's kiddos in the years to come.

Butterfly Kisses

Allan and Claire had fun playing with a butterfly a couple of days ago. It was so sweet to watch them work together to capture this little guy. Claire is really into bugs and animals right now so anytime she can get her hands on them she is in heaven. I love that Allan encourages her in the things she is interested in whether it be princesses, Littlest Pet Shop, bugs, or dollhouses. He is a great daddy and she is a wonderful daughter, they make quite the team!

Big Boy

Jacob Allan is growing up way to fast right before my eyes and there is nothing I can do about it. I am so in love with this little guy and it really is fun to watch him learn new things and become a bit more independent. I cannot believe that he is almost one. Where is the pause button for life again? I am really treasuring every moment of my baby's life I think since he is my second I know how fast it all flies by and I have made up my mind to let some of the non-important things in life slide for this season and just focus on my two gifts that God has given me...Jacob and Claire.

I documented a couple of things Jacob is doing these days- feeding himself and getting a "big boy" haircut.

Jacob is a huge fan of feeding himself. I get the food on the spoon or fork and he does the rest. He is always so proud of himself when he is chewing up his big people food. I cannot believe he is already big enough to eat like this.

It isn't always clean though. I was trying to make dinner the other night and gave him a bowl of baby food mixed with cereal and a spoon and this is what happened. He had a blast and although it doesn't look like it he actually got quite a bit into his mouth. It was so fun to watch him squeal and bang the spoon and just figure the whole thing out. I love this little guy!

Awww, the first haircut happened a week ago. I was so torn on taking him in because I wanted him to still look like a baby and not a big boy. I gave the lady strict instructions not to cut too much and leave the length on the top. I actually really love the cut. I was so impressed with how great Jacob did through the whole thing. He didn't even move when the clippers turned on. It really helped that he was in a cool firetruck which he played in for about ten minutes after the cut was finished. The picture of him laughing/screaming with excitement in the middle of this collage cracks me up. This is his signature exciting happy sound and I love it!