Attempting A Christmas Card

I decided to do my own card and pictures this year to save a little money. The kids are so difficult to get a good picture of. I put on their boots, went to Gruene, and bribed Callie with Adobe. I had Shane act crazy to keep Cade's attention and make both of them laugh. And we had to take breaks so Callie could get behind the camera and take some pics of her own. Callie snapped these two pics below...

And as you can see mountain man and I were in no condition to be part of our mass mailing...

This was the winner...

Viva Las Vegas

In the craziness of December we managed to fit in a short trip to Las Vegas. We met Rod Stewart singing in a piano bar... We had a ton of fun with some of our favorite couples...

A little too much gambling...

And that's what you get for waking up in Vegas. Shane is grounded from Vegas indefinitely.

Five Years Old

It is so hard to believe that Cade is five. Five sounds so old to me... no longer a baby, no longer a toddler, and growing way too fast. (the pic below was taken while my horns were winning the national championship, just to refresh everyone's memory)

I always get sappy on Cade's birthdays and I like to look back at all his old pictures and marvel at the many obstacles he has overcome. I remember sitting by Cade's bed in the NICU and PICU and wishing we were far away from that place and time. I couldn't wait for all the hospital stays, sicknesses, surgeries, medical devices and doctor visits to be a distant memory. I remember telling my mother that I wish he were five. Then I would know what he would be like and we would be done with all this hospital crap. My mother advised me to not wish his life away and to enjoy every minute with him that I could.

Well now at five years old we still aren't done with the hospital crap and I don't think we will ever be too far from specialists and surgical tweaking. But I do have a pretty good idea of what my little guy is like. He is a fighter, stronger than anyone I know, improving everyday, rowdy like no other, and the sweetest boy on the planet. I wish I could talk to the scared mother of the 5 day old Cade and let her know just how much she was going to love being his mom. When it came time to celebrate Cade's actual birthday, we didn't have to think too long. Cade's absolute favorite food is waffles. He knows the sign for waffles and asks for that about 400 times a day. We had a nice long dinner at IHOP with Cade's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin and a few friends.

We all love you so much Cade! We wish you a year full of continued progress and many, many more happy birthdays!

You're Invited...

My sister-in-law Robyn, who should have been a party planner, insisted that I have a theme for Cade and Callie's birthday. I never put much thought into decorations or themes but because I had already decided that it would be at the gym, the theme was obvious... Olympics. Shane helped me snap a few pics of our olympians...

And finally we got this one of our adorable children- Don't you just want to squeeze them?And then Robyn designed this card in record time because I do everything at the last minute. Thank you Robyn for putting so much effort into creating this adorable card!

Party Time

I think J&R is an awesome place to have a birthday party. The kids we invited ranged in age from newborn to school age but there was something for everyone. And they can just run wild and expend tons of energy which I'm sure their parents appreciated. The foam pit was very popular... But probably more popular was this long trampoline. It took the entire party for the kids to grasp the one-way rule (and some, especially Cade, never did)

Even the big boys got to play.

Callie enjoyed showing off her skills on the beam. She even got out her butterfly arms.

And it's not a party until Cade bleeds a little bit. He smashed Em on the mat at the end of the trampoline. Everyone was so concerned with her crying (Amy has exceptionally loud children) that we missed Cade's bloody lip. He's not one to dramatize anything, he just rubbed his head a little bit. No big deal.

Great pic of Cade with MeeMaw

This was the closest we came to a group pic. Kids these age just don't think these kinds of things are important!

Tammy you have adorable children, and I'm not just saying that because you are my boss, it's true.

Cake time always gets a little crazy

Callie put plenty of spit on the cake

Cade needed a little help

Starting to dip their hands into the cake...

and of course Em joins in.

Juliana and Chloe enjoyed the cake

Opening gifts was absoluetly nuts. I tried to hurry because party time was over and I had several helpers. I'm not sure who gave what but we loved them all!

Callie was the slowest opener ever. She wanted to oh and ah, thank each person individually and open and play with each gift. Carlee helped her hurry along.

A big thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate Cade and Callie's birthdays. They are such lucky kids to have an endless supply of playmates and so many friends and family members that love them to pieces. You have no idea how much you all mean to us! Thanks again!

Happy Birthday MeeMaw!

Charlin had a milestone birthday this year and we helped her celebrate at Sylvias.

The decorations were really cute

Yes she asked me to take her pic and then posed like this...

Bri thoroughly enjoyed the cake...

Callie and her Nel Nel

I think she had a good time...

We had a lot of fun with that hat

Callie thought Rachel should have these balloons.

We hope you had a fabulous birthday Charlin and wishing you many many more- Love ya!