PaPa Comes to Town!

This past weekend ol' PaPa came to town to get his first up close and personal with baby Kate! I think Kate must have known just how far he'd traveled because she greeted him with open arms and a whole lot of her super sweet smiles. Those smiles were just the beginning to an easy breezy weekend full of great food, great weather, and some seriously great times. : ) Thanks for making the trip down, PaPa! We love you!

Love

The Rebel and his Paintbrush

Unfortunately, our little Bear is still not a fan of his lone school day each week. He still begs me not to go. He still cries HARD at drop off. He still layes down on the carpet until he decides he might as well go ahead and get up. And recently, Mr. Hayes has upped his rebellion anty by refusing to do any and all art projects. I'm not quite sure when the crafty guy first decided to go with the anti-art approach, but I do know that the 'Hayes' Masterpieces' folder is looking more than a little lean. And obviously, I can't have that. We have been trying our best to persuade him to get back on the artistic saddle, but he has met each and every creative plea with a very firm and decisive "I won't." I was just about to throw in the towel when I got the all important call this week...Gigi was on the other end of the phone and I could hardly believe my ears when she exclaimed "HAYES DID AN ART PROJECT!" Well, I guess "did" is kind of a strong word...more like the little turkey laid on the ground and pointed to the hearts that he wanted his teacher to glue on his paper. But hey, this momma will take it AND not only will I take it, but I'll put it on the fridge. : )

Baby Kate's Sip n See!

Some of our wonderful friends were nice enough to throw Miss Kate and her worn out parents a 'Sip n See' a couple of weekends ago. We were really looking forward to introducing Kate to everyone and the night turned out absolutely perfect! Who knew that just a sippin and a seein would be so much fun! And even though Grandad thinks that Kate should be grounded for staying out past midnight...I am proud to report that she is a little party animal like her mama!: ) We feel so lucky to have such great friends who are always up for a good ol' celebration! And boy oh boy (plus 1 sweet little girl), do we have A LOT to celebrate!

Goners

I think it's definitely safe to say that there's a new princess in town! All of my boys have been far from shy about telling AND showing me just how much they absolutely adore this sweet little girl of ours. Of course, we hoped that the boys would find a way to welcome our newest 'girly' addition but never could we have imagined just how quickly Miss Kate would make her mark on their hearts. Here are just a few of the clues that told us they were goners when it comes to their sister...I find myself saying "give your sister some space" no less than thirty times a day. Their many open mouthed kisses have left behind everything from sticky syrup to Cheetos crumbs on almost every inch of her cheeks, forehead, and hair. We have heard it all (sometimes at 5:30 a.m.) from 'she's darling' to 'she's beautiful' to 'she's my best friend' and there has been plenty of intense arguments over if she loves her big brother or her hugest brother more. They have spent plenty of hours 'fighting' the 'dragons' who have 'stolen' our baby and Jack will tell anyone who will listen about how he is going to protect Kate forever. I have walked in on a makeshift puppet show and overheard the sweetest rendition of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" all in their sweet baby sisters' honor. Jack becomes a little irate if anyone calls her anything besides her full name "Katelyn Drew" and you should have seen the proud smile on Bears' face as he showed his 'big brother' shirt to his teachers for the first time.
Sounds like a couple of goners, huh? Well, I'm definitely willing to put up with all of this mushy nonsense because I've heard that its the little goners who grow into the very best big brothers. : )

On the Move...

As if we didn't have enough on our plate...we decided that NOW is the perfect time for us to MOVE! On December 28th, we closed on on a piece of property in Friendswood and have now started the loooooong process of building. We are very, very excited but also very, very, VERY overwhelmed as we begin this latest adventure. Wish us much luck as we show our 'full of life' house to complete strangers and expect them to want to buy it! : )

Gettin' Acquainted...