William is 1!!!

How can it be that my sweet little baby is one year old already? It's strange because it feels like the year has flown by but it also feels like William has always been with us. His birthday was actually Sunday the 24th but we had his party the day before. It was a really nice gathering of friends and family. Thundercloud Subs made some awesome sandwich trays for us (sad you missed out, aren't you Alison?) and then we enjoyed some cupcakes in celebration of little William.

Will wasn't sure what to do with all the attention. He crawled here and there checking on what the bigger kids were doing and then also enjoyed being held. When we sang happy birthday to him he stared at everyone in wonderment. Matt later asked me why I had to help him blow out his candle. Maybe he thought I cheated Will out of his b'day wish by blowing it out for him. I don't know, but I do know that Will liked his cupcake. He shoveled it in until there was nothing but a bunch of sad little cake crumbs on his tray.

Since it was a lovely day we headed outside to open gifts. Will wasn't interested in the opening so much. Not that he had a chance with all the other kids fighting to "help" him open them all. Those kids were tearing into them so fast I had no idea what went with what or who they were from, it was a mess. You can barely even see Will in this mix.

I know, how could that baby cry on his birthday??? He doesn't like his nose wiped, that's why.

I'm pretty sure Will had a great birthday. I am so thankful for that boy. What a joy he is. I can't wait to see how much he grows and changes in this next year. Speaking of growth, at his 12 month well check this week he is weighing in at 16 lb. 9 oz. and measuring 25.5 in. He's still off the charts but is staying on his own curve he's created. My teeny tiny baby man!

Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of helping host a shower for Joy & Katy who are both due to have their little boys quite soon. It was a great party and both those ladies got some serious loot. They should be all set! And that is the point of a shower, is it not? It was great to see everyone and get excited about these babies!

There were several little girls there as well. They were so well behaved and such a big help to their mommies ( & Aunts!). But, I just laugh at the thought of having Matthew at a baby shower. It would have been a totally different experience!

Caroline's Birthday

My sweet little niece Caroline is not so little anymore. She turned 8 years old this past weekend. Just about every time I see her now she predicts when she will be taller than me. And truly, it won't be much longer. I bet she can start borrowing my shoes here in a few months. To celebrate her birthday she had a fabulous party at GattiLand. Even though she had several friends in attendance you can see that her cousins Ava & Matthew wedged their way in right next to the birthday girl. What I love is Matt's face once he got a piece of that cookie cake handed to him...

That's my boy! William enjoyed himself at the party as well. I would say he was a big fan of the pizza buffet. He cleaned my plate.

Matthew definitely enjoyed all the games that the place had to offer, although he was greatly disappointed to not yet be big enough to ride the bumper cars. Next year, buddy.

This guy is about to have a birthday himself... How can that be?

Dallas

Matthew sat and listened to his music for a long time the other day. He busted out the old discman and hooked it up with his new headphones he got for Christmas. He also scored a really cool license plate cd holder from the Olivers for his birthday. It holds all his favorites. I still love how he arranges everything.

We watched our Longhorns lose a tough game the other night. We're all left wondering what might have been. To ease our broken hearts we had the company of good food and friends and family. Matt & Ava's happy moods were never shaken! They played great all evening.

Saturday morning we drove up to Dallas to attend Josh Brown's 3rd birthday party. I'm pretty sure both our boys had a blast running and crawling all over the place. There was a great area for the wee ones to crawl around, so Will was all smiles scooting around.

Alison made not one, but two amazing cakes. That woman is seriously talented. The race track cake was Matt's favorite, and he politely turned down numerous plates of the Lightning McQueen cake being passed around until the race track cake was sliced.

After we were stuffed with pizza and cake we enjoyed the rest of our evening back at the Brown's watching Josh open all his cool birthday presents and then playing some Beatles Rock Band. The kids were worn out. Thankfully I didn't have to go through with any of my threats I posed to Matt before he went to sleep with Josh in his room. Matt fell asleep immediately, and I'm told he was snoring. Sure signs that he had a big day!

We enjoyed a nice breakfast out with our friends the following morning before heading back home. Matt probably only asked when we'd get to Austin about 50 times. I think he was tired of the car.

Look at this little thing. He loves those pantry sliding shelves. And so do I! After a yucky cold last week he's back to his happy, chipper self. Cutie pie.

Hello 2010!

I suppose I should wrap up the end of '09 before moving on, shouldn't I? Matt received a large set of Legos for Christmas, and together he and his daddy had fun building a house and a car. Steven decided it was time to get down his large box of Star Wars Legos and contribute them to Matt's new collection. It was a big moment for Steven. They were played with and then disassembled. But, the instructions on how to build them were kept. We'll need those in a couple years.

We also celebrated Ken & Joy's birthdays last week--they share a birthday on Dec. 30th. We had enchiladas and played some Wii bowling. The kids insisted on playing first of course. It took a lot longer to get through their game than the adults' game. Joy still has awesome bowling form even though she's got that baby sitting right in front of her.

I love this picture of the kids. Ava has the best poses. And Matt is totally in love with Mary Claire.

Steven's parents have been around for a few weeks now, and it really has been nice. It's a glimpse of what life could be like once they make the move to Austin--wink, wink! The other day Steven & Ken worked out in the garage replacing the shocks on Steven's '91 truck. Yes, he still has it. No, he's not ready to get rid of it unless we can immediately replace it with a shiny, new Toyota Tacoma in a yet to be determined color. We'll see if 2010 has that in the cards.

My little Will. He's growing up. And growing lots of teeth. He's working on making 4 on the top with two already on the bottom. He still claps and tries to take my hands and make me clap, too. He's a terribly picky eater and gets really fiesty in the high chair. He loves to play with Matthew and follows him wherever he goes. He likes to be chased all over the room while I try and put clothes on him. When I put him in bed he immediately rolls over and crawls for the corner of the crib where he face-plants into the bumper. He loves his new ball popper and laughs and rocks in place whenever it turns on. He crawls lightning fast and thus far shows no interest in walking but pulls up on anyone and anything. And he brings so much joy to this family. I love that little baby!