Christmas Parade 2010!

This year Brady was in the Downtown Christmas Parade. For once, the spotlight was on him, and he didn't have to share the attention with big brother. He rode on the Bouncing Bears float from St. Paul's CDS. The theme for their float was "Away in a Manger." I was one of the parents who helped decorate the float. One of the fathers actually built a manger (he did a fantastic job) and we decorated the trailer over at our house. It turned out great, I think. Anyway, Brady was a shepard on the float. Brady is one of those kids who doesn't like to be in the spotlight, so I rode with him to ease his anxiety about riding on the float. He did great though. He and his buddy Gene yelled at the top of their lungs "Merry Christmas" to everyone. Unlike last year, we had great weather for the parade, and it turned out to be a really nice evening to spread some Christmas cheer.

Our little shepard boy

Brady sitting next to his good buddy, Gene


Brady sitting next to Catherine

8 Months Old!

It amazes me how much a baby can learn and do in only a months time. Nate seems to be learning something new everyday. He is growing so fast and wants to be such a big, independent boy. He gets so irritated when he can't do something that his big brothers are doing. Don't rush it Nate; you will catch up to them before you know it. At 8 months old, Nate:
*pulls up on anything and will try to let go to stand by himself for a few seconds.
*walks behind his little toy walker he got for Christmas.
*has completely given up on eating baby food. It is table food or nothing for this little guy.
*has pretty much weened himself from nursing.
*has started bouncing up and down when he hears music being played.
*loves to go into the bathroom and unroll the entire roll of toilet paper. He can do it in record time too.

Soccer Season 2010!

Kade played soccer for the second time this year. Dane and Cody Stelter coached their little team again. They kept their same team name as last year, "Rampage." The boys had an awesome season; they only lost one game out of eleven. Kade scored his share of goals this season. You could tell he was one of the oldest ones this year. Soccer seems to be a sport he really enjoys. Great job this season Kade. We are so proud of you! Until next season...

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Thanksgiving was pretty laid back for us this year. Thanksgiving Day for lunch, we had Popo Loewe, Uncle Joe, Aunt Lolo, and cousin Coy over. We cooked the usual Thanksgiving meal: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, rolls, etc. That evening we went over to Nana and Papa Rau's house along with Hardy's to enjoy another round of some home cooking. That night we all watched "the big game" against the Aggies and Longhorns together. Friday morning we and the Hardy family loaded up for a weekend trip to Fredericksburg to visit Wallace and Delores on the Longbranch Ranch. We did a little hunting, and ended up getting a pretty nice 8 pointer. The kids loved it. They played hard all weekend. We did everything from a scavenger hunt to a jeep ride looking for deer. Thank you Wallace and Delores for another great trip to the ranch.

Mommy's big 8 pointer

Brady and Mommy


Kade and Mommy


Hanging out at the camp house


Daddy and Brady


On our scavenger hunt


Taking a break for a picture


Getting ready to go on a jeep ride


We're loaded down


Feeding the catfish


Brady loved playing with all of the deer horns


Nate enjoying the jeep ride


Nate catching a little snooze while we rode around

7 Months Old!

Nate was 7 months old back in November. I feel like I blink and he is doing something new. He is getting so big and trying so hard to keep up with those two big brothers. At seven months old now he is:
*pulling up on everything and standing while holding onto something.
*finally getting some teeth. We have two bottom teeth.
*loving bath time. He moved out of the tub that you sit in and gets to sit and splash in the big tub all by himself.
*still not a good night sleeper. We really hope that is going to get better.
*not liking baby food very much anymore. I have had a hard time finding something he will eat. He doesn't want baby food, yet he thinks he's choking to death on mashed potatoes. Who knows?
*still an avid thumb sucker. He is going to be the hardest one to break of this habit.
*completely attached to his blanket. We can't leave home without it.

Halloween 2010!

This year for Halloween we went back and forth about what the boys would dress up as. We knew that Nate was just going to be Nate wearing his "My First Halloween" onesie, but couldn't decide what to dress Kade and Brady up as. Neither one would really tell us what he wanted to be. Brady still loves bull riding, and Kade will, for the most part, go along with anything. I decided to dress Brady up as a bull rider and make Kade the rodeo clown, or bull fighter. I think their costumes turned out pretty well. We ended meeting cousins Jenna, Leah, and Luke over at some friend's house in Scenic Estates to do a little trick or treating. The kids all had a blast and got way too much candy. As you can tell from the pictures below, we had a sad bull rider on our hands for awhile. He got woken up from his nap, and well we woke him up on the wrong side of the bed; nothing a little candy didn't cure eventually.

Pumpkin Carving!

Remember those pumpkins I said the boys picked out in the pumpkin patch at Dew Berry farms? Well, they went from pumpkins to Jack-O-Lanterns a week later. We sat out on the porch one evening and got our pumpkins ready for Halloween. The boys favorite part was digging all of the seeds out of the pumpkins. I think they turned our pretty well.

Camping Out!

Dane and Kade have been saying forever that they were going to "camp out" down at our tank one night and fish for catfish. Well, back in October they decided to stop talking about it and actually do it. They invited Cody Stelter and his son Ian over for some camping fun. They set up the tent, built a fire, and threw out their fishing poles. I went down there when it got dark to enjoy some homemade smores with them that we made over the fire they had built. They were delicious. I went back up to the house and left them to continue their camp out. I guess it was about 8:30 that night that the boys made their way back up to the house. The next thing I know, they are taking a bath and putting on their pj's. I suppose our king size bed looked a little more enticing to sleep in that a tent, because that is where they ended up watching some "Tom and Jerry." At around 10:00pm and few catfish later, the camp out came to an end, but those boys thought that was the best camp out ever.

Kade's 6th Birthday!

I can't believe my baby is six already. Time is really flying by way too fast these days. On Kade's actual birthday, we told him that we would take him out to eat in College Station and then take him to pick out a birthday gift after dinner. It was totally up to him where he wanted to go eat, and he chose Red Lobster. Nana Rau decided to come along with us to help celebrate his birthday. That made the night all the more perfect for him. When we got to Red Lobster, I told the waitress that it was his birthday, and she said that they would do something "special" for him. Before they brought us our food, the waitress took Kade and Brady up to the lobster tank where they got to pet and hold the lobsters. Brady wasn't so sure about holding the lobster at first, but once he realized they couldn't use their "snappers" he was o.k. with it. Before we left, a group of waiters and waitresses came to the table, sang "Happy Birthday" to him, and gave him a dessert. He was surprised and quite shy. After dinner, we went to Target where he picked out a DSi and a new game for his birthday.

Kade and his good buddy Eric Aschenbeck had a birthday party together at Mount Aggie in College Station. The boys invited some of their best friends from school to come celebrate with them. They all ended up having a blast. Mount Aggie is basically a fake snowhill that you can sled down, so we ended up doing a winter snow theme for their party. Happy Birthday Kade! We love you more than you'll ever know. We wish you many, many more birthdays to come.