January

Wow, I can't believe January is almost over. You can call me the worst blogger ever. I deserve it. What have we been up to?

Ryan & Jackson took a quick road trip to Dallas to go to another Cowboys game. Ben & I had a wonderful weekend together at home.
(don't worry- he didn't ride in the front seat- this was just a snack break)

We celebrated my friend Ambre's birthday at Carrabbas and cheered for Texas to win.

Ben turned 8 months old on the 14th. He is a crawling machine and is pulling up on anything possible.

We enjoyed a perfect 70 degree day outside

GranMartha came over to play

We got a Wii! Ben is working on his balance.

We played.

We also hosted several playdates, got together with friends, watched American Idol, went to a preschool open house, started back up with Ladies Bible Class/Sonshine Class, installed a new fan in the living room, and went on a wonderful date. 2010 is starting out great!

The most exciting news this month is the birth of our future daughter-in-law, Ava Reese Campbell! Congratulations Jason & Lindsey!!!

Christmas in Dallas

We've been in Dallas since Tuesday visiting Ryan's family. We were welcomed with a perfect White Christmas (well the day we celebrated anyway)! It was so beautiful to look out the window and see the snow falling. We've enjoyed hanging out together, eating too much, playing on Nana's new Wii, playing games, watching movies, etc. Ryan and I even got to go on a date! We went to the mall to do some exchanging, got coffee and looked at books at Barnes & Noble, and saw The Blind Side. Loved it! Today the guys are at the Cowboys game. I don't think Ryan's ever been this excited...ever. :-)

Cheese!

Jackson always wants to be just like daddy.

Uncle Morgan & Ben

Playtime with Papa John

Ben got a Texas outfit!

Sportin the new jersey

Finding out they're going to the Cowboys game- they got awesome tickets!

Cool jerseys to wear to the game

Ben took a little nap in the middle of our party

Papa John & Nana gave Jackson a new bike!

We found a box of wigs and hats...
Ryan's shirt just makes the picture that much better!

Uncle Morgan joined the fun

Out to dinner

Our little Cowboy

Today

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Isn't it the most wonderful time of the year?! I love Christmas. This year was especially fun being Benjamin's first Christmas and with Jackson somewhat understanding it. We spent Christmas here in Sugar Land with my fam. (We're celebrating with the Davis crew next week!) Thursday night we went to our special Christmas Eve service at church (pics below). Then we all went to my parents house for dinner-so yummy. (I think I'll have to do an entire post just about the food later!) Christmas morning we opened gifts at home and got to see what Santa brought. Santa even surprised me with some goodies from Williams Sonoma! :-) Pops & GranMartha came over to show Jackson his present. Then we spent the rest of the day at their house eating amazing food, watching Christmas movies, opening gifts, playing, and relaxing. It was just about perfect! The pics are all out of order, so I'll try to explain.

Jackson playing on his new mountain climber from Pops & GranMartha

We got him this construction sand/water table- it's a hit!

Aunt Kathryn (Kaki) and Norma Jean

Uncle Ryan & Baby Ben

The boys playing with their stocking stuffers

Ben liked to eat the wrapping paper and bows.

cutie

a little confused - he's super excited about his new wagon!

Jackson was a good helper to Ben

so excited about snacks

love his hair in this one

Santa brought him a dump truck!!! Jackson has been saying for a month that's what he wanted from Santa.

This is what he walked out to Christmas morning. You know what he was excited about? The umbrella! ha

Pops has a new nickname for Ben. He calls him "Slim"

happy in the church pew

Our family helped out with the candle lighting part of the service. The boys went on stage with my parents while we (Ryan, Kathryn, Ryan, and I) lit candles. Jackson was holding a candle (not lit) with a cup thingy over it...he thought it'd be funny to put the cup over the microphone while my dad was in the middle of his "light of the world" sermon. Nice. He also repeatedly said "I wanna get down, Pops." Don't be surprised if you see another family lighting candles next year!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

7 months

We've been dog-sitting for my parents this week...the boys LOVE having Charlie around!

My little sunshine is 7 months old (was on the 14th). He is absolutely the most precious baby boy. He's so happy! He continues to sleep well, eat well, and play hard. He takes 2 naps a day and sleeps around 12 hours at night. He eats 3 full meals. He loves to play with toys and watch/laugh at Jackson. He waves hi and I think he's said it a couple times. He claps. He knows to clap when we sing "if you're happy and you know it", and he claps whenever I feed him! :-) He is doing better in the car. Thanks to Papa John & Nana for getting him his big boy car seat...he likes it so much better than the infant seat. Ben is scooting all over the place. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. No official crawling yet. I've started to put him in restaurant high chairs and shopping carts when we're out. This makes me feel like he's really growing up! He has just gotten a little heavy (21 pounds) to wear in the baby bjorn for an hour at the grocery store!!! He went to the church nursery for the first time last week. They said he was so much fun to have, and he was perfect! :-) I think I'll start sending him there more often. Well I could go on and on about my sweet Benjamin, but this will do for now. I love this kid.