The big 3-0!!!

Sunday was my 30th birthday. For some strange reason this birthday has really hit me and I now realize I am getting old :( In order to cheer me up, Jason threw me a birthday party in which he completely planned and did such an awesome job! We started the evening at Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant downtown for some yummy food. Several of my family and friends came to help me ring in the new year.

My little boy LOVES to eat
Part of the crew that came to celebrate with me

Me and my girl

After eating dinner and cupcakes, my parents took the kids to their house and the adults headed upstairs to Lucky Strikes bowling. This is not your ordinary bowling alley. It is very classy with a dress code, full kitchen, bar, big screen TVs at the end of each lane and great music! It was so much bowling, drinking and eating with everyone.

The boys- Bruce, Jason, Chris, Craig and Rob
The girls- Tara, Callie, me, Melody, and Becky

Time to bowl!

Me and Melody-no clue what we were doing

It was a great night and I had so much fun! Thanks sweetheart for planning such a great evening and helping me start my 30s with a bang :)

Clayton is 1!!!!

Yesterday was my little man's birthday party! It is hard to believe that he is already a year old. I thought time was flying fast with Brinley, but with Clayton it is happening at warp speed! We don't go to the doctor until Tuesday for the official stats, but 2 weeks ago he weighed 21 lbs. Clayton, you are such a lovable little guy. You are crawling all over the place, pulling up to stand and cruising like crazy. You can't stand by yourself, nor do you have any interest in walking because you arch your back every time we try to make you practice. You love to eat and growl at us when we don't get the food in your month in a timely fashion! No more baby food for you because you love table food....especially blueberries, grilled cheese, bananas, and crackers. You have 8 teeth with plenty more trying to work their way in. You love chasing your sister and laughing at everything. You are so sweet and we are glad to have you in our lives!

We had his party last weekend to try and avoid the Christmas rush! I never realized how crazy it would be to try and plan a bday party and get ready for Christmas. I have already vowed that next year his party will be totally planned and supplies bought before thanksgiving! Overall it turned out to be a beautiful day and a good time was had by all! Clayton LOVED his smash cake and devoured it! It was quite a sight to see. Here are some pictures from his big day.





his monkey cake I made

let the Christmas festivities begin

We kicked off the holiday season, Thursday, with a trip to the mall to have our picture taken with Santa. Brinley had no problems going to sit on the big guys lap and she was sooo anxious to tell him she wanted a Cinderella castle and bike for Christmas. Clayton sat on his lap and let us get one picture before he realized he did not want to be there. I calmed him down several times and tried again, but he would get hysterical. So here is our Santa picture for 2009

Friday was a cold and snowy day. Yes it snowed in Houston and yes it snowed at our house ALL day long, but it did not stick. Other parts of Houston (including a friend who lives 10 miles west of us) got 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. Brinley was very upset that she couldn't build a snowman. We were able to scrape together enough ice off the sheets covering our plants to build two golf ball sized snow balls. Brinley threw her snowball at Daddy and Clayton decided to try and eat his.

Clayton eating his snowball
Brinley holding her snowball
Here is all snow that stuck

If you enlarge this one you can see all the snow falling

We also had Wyatt at our house on Friday, since it was not a fun filled day of playing in the snow, we made a gingerbread house instead. The hardest part was keeping them from eating all the candy before they put it on the house. They were also very rough in putting on the candies so it made the ceiling collapse. We pieced it back together with tooth picks so they could finish decorating it and we could take a picture.

Saturday evening, we bundled up and met some friends at the League City Christmas Parade. They had lots of crafts booths, amusement rides and yummy food before the parade. Brinley loved the parade (especially the dance teams, drill teams from high schools and cheerleaders). We braved the cold all evening but had to call it a night after 2 hours into the parade and still no end in sight. With pockets full of candy, frozen fingers and toes, we headed home for hot chocolate and bed.

Brinley with the blue Santa

Brinley had the best view of the parade

Me and my little man all bundled up

Brinley and Maddy ready to ride some rides

This week will be crazy with Clayton's first birthday party, Jason's company Christmas party and Christmas with Jason's family. I am tired just thinking about it :)