Happy New Year

Brooke actually stayed awake until after midnight to ring in the new year. She had no fear of the fireworks and loved that she had a magic wand of her very own. She bibbity, bobbity booed everyone all night.

cute couple

Ben never wants to go inside and today when they were riding their bikes Ben told me he was ready to go in and went and sat on the front step. I couldn't resist this photo op. Everytime I would take their picture, they would run to the camera to see.

scooting along

Brooke loves her new scooter and is doing really well scooting down the street.

this food is really good

Jack is doing great with all the veggies. He has tried sweet potatoes and peas. As you see, it's a very messy process.

Christmas Morning

Santa was especially good to the kids this year. Brooke loved her scooter and Jack was definately ready for his exersaucer. That Santa is really smart

twas the night before christmas

This has become Brooke's favorite story during the holidays and she loves to have Poppy read to her.

cookies for santa

Just like Daddy and Yia Yia, Brooke would rather eat the dough than wait for the cookies to be baked.

We love Uncle Jim

Uncle Jim always gives the best presents.

Santa's Wonderland

We went to see Christmas lights right outside of College Station. Everytime we turned the corner, you could hear Brooke say "WOW"

not scared this year

A lot has changed in a year. Last year Brooke was terrified. This year she actually sat in santa's lap and told him that she wanted a scooter for Christmas. Jack was just content to be held.

4 months and growing fast

Jack had his 4 month checkup and all is well. He is 18 lbs, 11 ounces (98%) and 24 inches (19%). Doctor says that all is well. He is growing faster than Brooke, not surprising since he started out bigger. She was 15 lbs, 5 ounces and 23 inches at her 4 month checkup.

little eskimo

Brooke wanted to ride her bike outside and it was a little chilly. Jack didn't like to wear his hat but he sure looked cute.

getting close

Jack is almost rolling over. He gets about 1/2 way and then gets stuck.

tummy time

Jack is really doing well on his tummy. He will even stay that way for about 15 minutes then starts screaming.

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we had breakfast with Santa at the "Quarium" (as Brooke calls it). She loved her waffles with syriup.

sprinkle, sprinkle

The kids had a great time with the gingerbread house. Again, they were really more interested in eating the candy than decorating the house. Sprinkling the candy on the roof turned into throwing the candy at the house.

teaching jack

I came into the living room today and all these balls were piled up on Jack. Brooke told me that she was trying to teach him how to play ball.

snowing in houston?

When it started snowing, Brooke was taking a nap. We woke her up to go outside and she really wasn't interested. However, Brooke did know to stick out her tongue to try and catch the snowflakes.

an aggie family

yummy in my tummy

In an attempt to help Jack sleep thru the night, we started on rice cereal. He loved every bite.

chugga chugga choo choo

Brooke and Ben were especially excited to ride both the carousel and the train today.

it's too bright

The sun was brutal today, but it was beautiful and the kids always love the zoo.

happy baby

Jack loves to be outside. Today was a perfect day to spend at the zoo.

it takes such concentration...

...to color such beautiful pictures. Brooke colored turkeys for everyone on thanksgiving.

I'm not afraid this year

Last year when we tried to have school pics taken, Brooke was too afraid of the male photographer to let him get anywhere near her. This year we talked it up for weeks and you see the result.

such big kids

It seems like only yesterday that Brooke was trying to learn to ride her tricycle. She now has perfected her bike. When Ben came over to play she insisted that he bring his bike. He is a lot faster than she is, but they both had a great time.

leaning tower of Jack

We have been working on sitting up with Jack. He is still really wobbly.

little bit of personality

Jack is really coming into his own. Just like Brooke he is very happy baby.

Little Pumpkins

At the Halloween Party we went to, there was a professional photographer. Theses are the pics he got.

Family Traditions

For many generations my family has followed the same recipe for making homemade raviolis. I remember that the whole family would be in the kitchen together...Gina and Aunt Lanie would eat the stuffing as fast as we could make it and Mamaw popping us on the knuckles with the rolling pin if we weren't doing it right (we never did it right). I hope to continue that tradition with Brooke and Jack. this was Brooke first time.

my friends

Brooke loved playing with Emily and Nathan today.

birthday cake in the park

Brooke had to sit next to Ariel, aka Anastasia, at Hunter's birthday party.

future divers

a day at the aquarium

Since the weather was so nice today, Gina and I took all the kids to the Aquarium. This was Brock and Jack's first visit and they loved all the fish and especially the rides.

shark attack

Caught red handed!

DaVinci & Michaelangelo

These two loved painting outside today. Brock was more interested in squishing the paint in his hands than actually painting. He couldn't figure out why I didn't want him to touch anything but the paper.