ALABAMA!!!

Hey, Everyone!
Sorry it's been awhile- summer is at the heighth of it's craziness...trips, packing, driving, cleaning....it's a whirlwind! We got back to Monroe yesterday evening from a trip to Gadsden, Alabama. It was Bray's Grandma's 90th Birthday, and we had gone to join the rest of Wendy's side of the family to celebrate. His Grandmommy took all of us to Six Flags over Georgia on Tuesday...and we all had a blast! Gotta love huuugeee roller coasters. To tell you how fun and crazy his grandma is, she also took them to Six Flags on her 80th, and plans to do it again for the big 100!!! What a great fam I've married into!
Anyhow, we are on our way to Moscow tomorrow, so I will just show you a few pics from our trip, and give you more details later. Love you all!
For the pics:
Here is almost all the fam. We're still missing:
Remy, Bethany, Archer, Jaiken, Jordan, Matt, Thomas, Emily, Samson, and Laurabelle.

Eating ice cream with Mom for the 1st time! Riding the Carousel with Gigi for the 1st time, driving the car...do it all the time;), playing with Pop and the Alabama basketball he won for Bray, and being cool dudes with Dad.

Bonne Anniversaire !

Hello, Everyone!
As you can see, today is our 2nd anniversary! I can'r believe it! Time flies when you're having fun...and moving, having a baby, working.....well, you get the picture. We actually celebrated last night, as it was easier to find babysitters (Wendy) and restaurants on a Saturday night.
We went to Canards, a fancy-schmancy restaurant in Monroe, where we had things like duck, filet mignon, sparkling California wines, creme brulee, and incredibly good bread!
After we could eat no more, we decided to walk around the golf course right across the street from the restaurant, and take some-interesting- pictures. Since we had no one to take them for us, we had to do our best. As you can see, Bray decided to turn his head at the last minute on one of the smooching pics....ahhh, crazy times.:) We finished up the evening by going and seeing Superman Returns, which by the way, we loved, and drinking some good coffee. We miss you all, and are glad you've been a part of our lives thus far!

WALKING!!!

Yes, it's true-As of July 18, Hobbes is officially walking! He is now in the 'bumps and bruises' phase, as he is still fairly slow and hasn't quite decided to bend his knees while walking.
However- he is on the move!! Watch out!


As far as staying busy goes, Hobbes doesn't stop!
He wrestles with Dad-and usually wins, plays Peekaboo ( or in the south, Pee-Pie) and, of course, still practices for his future career as a concert pianist. ;) Love you all!

One Day Old vs. One Year Old :)

Look how much he's grown!But still so sweet!

Birthday Cake and Cribs

Here are a few pics of the post-birthday cake eating...Hobbes was surprisingly neat about it- he didn't ever just 'smash' it in! The other pics are of some fun presents, and the lowering of the crib mattress for the big boy!( as you can see, he decided to crawl under the crib, and into the middle of it while we were lowering it.) Enjoy!

Happy1st Birthday, Hobbes!!!

Hello, everyone!
As of 2:10 pm today, Hobbes is officially 1 years old! Can you believe it? I sure can't. Today started out pretty normal. I had this whole plan worked out for Hobbes' birthday celebration. I spent a lot of time making his birthday cake in the morning (see picture) and then we were planning to go to Monroe as soon as Bray got off work, to celebrate with the fam. Howeer, Bray got off work an hour and a half late, and Hobbes had been non-stop cranky, hot, little fever all afternoon. So, we decided to go later this evening, but then Hobbes got the flu. Obviously, God is in control of even the most minute details.:) Anyhow, I don't know if he'll feel up to eating his cake tomorrow, but if he does, I'll put some pics up of that. We love you all, and are so glad you've been a part of Hobbes' life so far! God bless!
Here are some birthday pics: Hobbes in his turtle shirt making crazy faces/ Opening birthday loot from Grandma & Grandpa Garfield-I love you guys!/Hobbes' birthday cake

More Moscow Fun!

I just thought I'd throw a few more pics up before I head home...to show all the crazy-fun times we've had! I head out Tuesday mornin, so please pray that travels go well, and that Hobbes is cooperative! Planes and babies don't always go well together.:)
For the pics:
Grandpa scaring Hobbes, Hobbes flippin out, and then Grandpa laughing.
Me and my sisters downtown by the fountain...enjoying the weather.(Afterwards, Hobbes tried to jump in the fountain)

Hobbes and his friend Gus, playing at the park-for the most part, they tried to eat and throw the bark.

Jordan, Carolyn and I went and played bumper cars in the mall...which, of course, I won at, as can be seen by Jordan's reaction.;)

Last but not least, my dad and Hobbes, asleep on the porch after Hobbes played in the kiddie pool.

What Fun!

Hello Everyone!
Can you believe how long it's been since I posted? Believe it or not, it's not completely my fault...about a month ago there was a huge storm, and even though we had a surge protector, it shorted out the power supply on our computer...and we are still waiting on the part.:(Oh the trials we have had with this computer!
Anyhow, I shall put up some pics from past events, but for now, I thought I would show what we've been doing the past week! We are in Moscow, and we just had my brother Seth's wedding! It has been so fun, seeing all of our relatives, friends and family...there's truly nothing like coming 'home.' Unfortunately, Bray had to go back to work Monday, so Hobbes and I are here alone until next Tuesday...and we have been busy going to the park with our little buds, watching movies with the girls, having coffee with Uncle Jordan, and just going around Moscow, enjoying the cool breeze and lack of humidity! ;) So, we hope all has been well with everyone, and we shall keep you updated on all of our goings on! Love to you all!
For the pics: Hobbes looking out the airplane window/ The happy fam at the wedding!/ My dad and my grandma dancing at the reception/ My Aunt Jill and cousin Peter/Seth and Naphtali getting covered in birdseed/ me and my new sister-in-law, Naphtali!

YAY-Lots of Pics!

Hello, everyone! Once again it's been awhile..but that is mostly due to the fact that we're not finished till this coming Friday.:(
So, in order to keep you all aware of what's been happenin, I thought I'd try and sum it all up in one sitting.
This weekend we went to Monroe for Bray's youngest brother's graduation. Although we had to leave the next day, we had a wonderful time, and even got to see Hobbes' other great-grandma for the very first time!
If you're wondering what the pics of Bray and I are of...well, there's not a good explanation, but there's a funny one! Bray's sister Charity works at an ice cream store in Monroe. They were having a 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' competition to get business,etc, so we all came down to compete. In short, I beat all the boys, won our bracket, and then lost...to a 5 year old. Now I would not have been beat so easily had I known the first prize was free ice cream for a year and a $100 Target card! I didn't care about the ice cream, but, honestly, does a 5 year old need a Target card? Such is life.;)

The pool pics are of yesterday afternoon, when we actually took Hobbes into deep water, and swam around for several hours-he loved it! We had to take a dry-off break on the deck, and that's the pic of him and the umbrella.




Yesterday Bray and I had to do the music for the whole church service again, so we had Jordan come over to do a duet, and then Bray's mom, Caleb and Charity came to listen and stayed for Sunday dinner. It was a lovely day, and after they left was when we went to the pool! We have 1 more week, 1 week break and then summer school begins....but we shall see a lot of you in just a few weeks at my brother's wedding! We love you!
The last few pics are of Hobbes, loving his reflection in the balloon,Bray and Hob outside our house in his mini pool, and Hob and I on Mother's Day.:)

Fun Changes...New Phases

Hello, all! I'm sure that by now the May Madness has hit everyone- whether it be jobs, end of school schtuff or just the beginning of summer planning and events, this is a CRAZY month!
We have finished up a few things, but we still don't really see a light at the end of the tunnel yet.
As you can see from the first picture, I finished playing for the musical "Nunsense," for which I am very glad-although it was good for me musically, it was incredibly time-consuming. However, I thought we should show you all a photo, so that you may all have blackmail material on me for later.:)
It has been in the 70-80's here, so one evening, we popped over to the pool behind our house, and took Hobbes in for the first time. It was late, so we couldn't stay very long,but ohhh he loved it! He kept bending down to splash his hands in the water, and wanted us to walk him back and forth forever. Occasionally, he would stop and stomp his feet really fast in the water. We'll get more pics as we have (hopefully) more time to go swimming.
The plaid pic of Hobbes is to show what we call his 'crazy' pants...they were on sale, and I must add that it was Bray who picked them out...we're branching out into the crazy styles.:)
Last but not least, I had to put up the pic of Hobbes under the table. He is trying very hard to walk, but still has to have something to hold onto. He does do a bear-crawl, and one day, I was doing bills at the table, and all of a sudden felt a bump on my leg. I had put Hobbes in the living room, playing with his booster seat, and he had pushed it all the way under the table, gotten in it and sat down, and was playing with some papers I had thrown on the floor- tryin to do what Mom was doing! It was very cute. Well, I hope you all survive the madness...and have a wonderful Mother's Day! (Moms, I mean)