Happy Birthday, Erick!

Happy 33rd birthday to the best thing in my life! You are a marvelous husband, father, son and friend! I adore and cherish you and I am so thankful to God for seeing fit to "pair us up" on this wonderful adventure. You are a blessing to me, Natalie, Will, Spencer and so many countless others. May you be richly blessed in the year ahead!

A few more pics for Will's bday...

First haircut...bye bye curls!

Handsome chub-master!

2nd Birthday...Trains...Blow 'em out!

Wish I could get this one to show up bigger...face of an angel!

I sure can have a temper sometimes (but not often)!

Happy 4th Birthday, Will!

Four years ago today, my precious Will was born at 12:38 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long. I cannot believe how fast these 4 years have flown by.

Will is my loving, helpful & kind son. He is so sweet-natured and always has an "I love you" or "You're the best Momma" for me. He is athletic...running everywhere and throwing everything within reach....we even think he's gonna be a lefty! He is funny in his own little quirky way...dancing around all silly or he'll hum a tune as he runs about.

He worships his older sis (she insists upon that)...no, but he really does love her. I must say he hasn't been that interested in baby brother quite yet, but he is getting more used to it. He hasn't been mean to Spencer, but he's been disinterested. He has started giving Spencer little kisses all over when he's near...so sweet!

Will is a Momma's boy, but him and Daddy sure have fun wrestling, cooking pancakes and working in the yard.

He loves to watch movies...good luck getting his attention if he's into a movie. He LOVES the Star Wars movies (the first three) and will watch them over and over acting out the scenes. He has a penchant for memorizing lines from all the movies he watches. He'll say something so out of character or so funny and I'll immediately ask him what movie it came from!

I decided to do a little interview with Will the other day in honor of his big day. Here are my questions and his answers:

Favorite food- Bacon and donuts (he also loves BUTTER...he'd eat a stick of it if I'd let him)
Favorite thing to say- "Actually"
Favorite animal- Curious George
Favorite sport- Football
What do you want to be when you grow up? "Buzz Lightyear so I can fly"
What's the best part about turning 4? "I get to have a party"
Why do you like taking baths so much? "I get to splash"

Now, I'll share some pictures of Will. I may add some more to another post later...there are just too many cute ones of him!

This is him "just born"...of course. Sorry for the gore...but I feel like this picture is angelic in a way...like the light is shining down on him from Heaven. : )

Meeting Big Sis Natalie for the first time...

First Halloween...Little Froggy...Ribbit!

First Christmas...lounging at Grandaddy Lacy's house

Bath time! To this day, Will loves his bath. He begs to take one every night!

I got my first tooth!

YEA!! I got my first tooth yesterday (Mar. 31st)! I had been gnawing everything in sight trying to get that sucker to break through!

Can you see it? It's a little white dot in the lower left side of my mouth!
Solid foods here I come!!!

I Losth My Firsth Topth Toof

Natalie lost her first "top" tooth at school today...biting into a grape! They gave her a little treasure chest to bring it home in. It had been barely hanging on for a week or so now. She would flick it back and forth with her tongue (making her momma nauseous in the process). She has the cutest little lisp now (hence the way I spelled things in the title of the post). This is her third tooth overall. We're planning on a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight!

Gorgeous!

Here is Natalie and Erick's official portrait from the Daddy/Daughter Dance in February! Natalie is beaming...you can tell she is so proud to be with her Daddy! (had to scan it in so it's a little "grainy")

Easter Sunday

We had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating Easter. We actually made it to the 8:00 a.m. service at our church...that in itself is a miracle!! We had brunch/lunch with Mimi and Papa and Granny and Grandad. The Easter Bunny payed us a visit and left the kiddos Easter baskets and hidden eggs. What fun! Spence had a great 1st Easter (though he wished he could have eaten some of the chocolate bunnies). : )

Of course, there had to be coordinating outfits...harder to do this year with three kiddos and various sizes!

Checkin' out the goods!

Good Will hunting...(ha!ha!)

Nat's favorite part...cracking confetti eggs outside!

The closest we could get to a decent family picture

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

"He is not here. He has risen just as He said."

-Matthew 28:6

Baby Dedication

Yesterday was Spencer's baby dedication at our church. What a moving ceremony of commitment and love! As Christian parents, we vowed to:

• Demonstrate for Spencer Christian integrity in our personal lives
• Teach Spencer the meaning of fidelity in our marriage
• Show Spencer the meaning of fellowship and servant-hood through our church
• Model faith in our lives, in prayer, and in the application of the Bible's truth as we teach Spencer to follow Jesus as Lord
• Promise to give Spencer every possible benefit of home, school, church and community
• Ask God to bless Spencer and to guide and guard him through all his years

Our family with our Pastor, Chuck Swindoll

Our family of five

Enjoying a meal after church with Mimi and Papa & Granny and Grandad

Celebrating Spencer Bishop!

Spencer was WORN OUT!

5 months old

Spencer turned 5 months old this past Wednesday. A friend of our's took these candid shots of Spencer while he was sitting in his carrier...I think they are just beautiful!

He is rolling all over the place and even drawing his knees up some and pushing forward. I am NOT ready for him to start crawling! He is enjoying his bumbo seat (he enjoys being upright) and he has started a Kindermusik class. Everything he grabs goes straight into his mouth.

He has transitioned to his crib from the bassinet...he just got too big ...I think he likes stretching out in the crib. He is enjoying rice cereal and he is really starting to chub up!! I love a chubby baby!

He will be dedicated at church tomorrow so there will be more pics coming soon!

10 Years Ago Today...

MARCH 7, 2008

Ten years ago today, I married the love of my life. Alot has happened in the past 10 years and I would not have wanted to experience any of it with anyone other than my dear Erick. He is the most loving, helpful and dependable husband I know (I'm partial). On top of that he is a devoted dad, faithful Christian, compassionate friend, amazing athlete and all-around great guy!

Our last 10 years in a nutshell...

March 7, 1998
Snow! Flight Cancelled!
Cruise
Walt Disney World
Tyler, Texas
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Hogg Middle School
Glenwood Church of Christ
Winter Park, Colorado
Mansion in April
Transfer
Summers/New Mexico/Mountains
First House
Frisco, Texas
Barbara Bush Middle School
High Pointe Church of Christ
Walt Disney World - Millenium
Galveston
Turning 25!
Road Trip Summer 2000
Yellowstone
Glacier
Seattle
San Francisco
Napa
L.A.
Grand Canyon
Loss of Grandmother "Merm"
Pregnant!
San Antonio
Natalie Born
Stay-at-Home Mom
Explorer
September 11, 2001
Guidant Corp.
Forerunner
Hot Springs
Loss of Grandfather "Tata"
Maui
Pregnant!
Rough Creek Lodge
Will Born
Kidney Stone
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Again
Turning 30!
Moved to West Frisco
LCA
Soccer Games
Italy
Walt Disney World with Natalie
Pregnant!
Stonebriar Community Church
Hyatt Hill Country
Kindergartner
Spencer Born
Dallas Whiterock Marathon

...WHEW! What a ride! I can't wait for the next 10 years! I love you more than anything, Erick.

SNOW (in March!!!)

We have had 2-3 inches of snow today! We picked Natalie up early from school (there was some sleet coming down) and we had some fun playing out in the snow. This is the first time Will has really played in snow and it's the first time Natalie will remember playing in a good amount of snow (the last time it snowed this much, she was 2 1/2). We're supposed to get some more throughout the night, so I think we'll be building a snowman tomorrow! Here are some of our wonderful memories...

Rice Cereal...Take Three

Things are going better with the rice cereal. We tried it for a second time this past Wednesday...not too interested once again. However, when we gave him some today, he was "all over it!" He enjoyed gnawing on the bumbo seat as well. Can you say MESSY?!?

We got stripped down for the occasion!

I know I'm biased, but look at those gorgeous blue eyes!!!

"Yummy! This bumbo seat ain't too bad!"

Grandparents' Day

Every year, Natalie and Will's school hosts a Grandparent's Day celebration. This was Will's first year to celebrate with his Mimi and Papa and Granny and Grandad. Poor Natalie was sick on Friday, so she didn't get to attend...she was broken-hearted.

Will enjoyed singing songs and saying scripture for his 4 grandparents. He also had craft time with them and spent some time in his classroom showing them around. Afterwards, they took him to eat some mexican food. I think he really enjoyed having them all to himself! Here are a few pictures from the day...

Rice Cereal...Take One

This past Monday (Feb 25th), we made a first attempt at giving Spencer some rice cereal. I think you can tell what his reaction was from the pictures. Oh well, there's always tomorrow!