2 little Silverthornes jumping on the bed

Happy 33 Sweetheart

For Bryan's Birthday, we got up at the crack of dawn and went to McDonalds! (his favorite place to go for breakfast) I think he really enjoyed it - we may make it a birthday tradition! That morning we gave him a goody basket filled with coffee beans, random toys that Aubrey picked out for him, gum, oreos (ya know, just a few of his favorite things) We also made him a chocolate cake later on that day and enjoyed it along with chicken spaghetti (Debbie made) for dinner. It was a good day.

I created this post simply to recognize that the love of my life turned 33 this past weekend. Okay, "love of my life" was a little cheezy, but true. And, it is a bonus that he is the most awesome dad to our children!

Sometimes in the hustle/stress of life, tending to kids and taking care of basic things, it is easy to overlook that he is also my best friend.

NOTE TO BRYAN:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEST FRIEND!
I plan to grow old with you so I guess we are on track.

Your devoted wife,
Andrea

"We could have a whale of a time"

Last weekend we went with Darrell & Debbie (AKA Grandad & Nana) to Dallas and stayed a couple of nights in a hotel, went to fun restaurants, swimming at the hotel, fun at the Dallas World Aquarium AND it was so awesome because Angie & Aaron (AKA Aunt G' & Uncle Buss) met us up there.
The DWA (Dallas World Aquarium) was awesome. It seemed to never end! We saw all kinds of interesting, exotic animals. We all had a great time. Pete kept saying "wow" and Aubrey loved seeing all the interesting creatures.
PICTURES FROM DWA








Before we went, we created a little Aquarium Scavenger Hunt to add to our visit. Aubrey really was into it and was so excited to check off things she discovered. I was pretty impressed that all of the sea creatures we came up with were there!













AUNT G'
Aubrey just loves her Aunt G' - She was so excited to see her! AND Uncle Buss.
They really are awesome with kids and I appreciate them so much for taking such and interest in our kids lives. LOVE YOU GUYS!
Gotta love those beautiful blue eyes.

We also had the privilege to hang out with Angie and Aaron while D&D kept the kids one evening. We went to see the movie District 9 and had an enjoyable time (NOTE: Bryan & I really liked the movie).
I cracked up at this picture posted on Angie's flickr account just days after we saw the movie. (YOINK!)
She noted that Aaron made her some Alien Prawn glasses. (If you have seen the movie, you might see the humor in this as I did :)


NOTE: The title of this post is a catchy song I got in my head from a movie I watched a long time ago called Hello Down There. Richard Dreyfuss sang "Hey little goldfish"


THANKS DARRELL & DEBBIE FOR TREATING US TO A WONDERFUL TIME!!!

Reid's 1st birthday!!

I just love my sweet niece. It seems like just yesterday that we were anticipating her arrival. Then she arrived! A beautiful, big, bouncing, baby girl! Her smile just lights up a room. I look forward to doing lots of fun stuff with little Reid.
We went to Lufkin this past weekend to a pool/patio/pizza party to celebrate her birthday and had a great time. She got lots of gifts and we all had plenty of sun.

LOVE YOU!! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!

Our Professional Photo Shoot

A friend of mine, Christina Massey, specializes in fun photography for families, children, pets & events.
She was trying to build up here group of portfolio pictures and thought my kiddos would be good models (I agreed - as any proud mom would ;) Since this shoot (which was about a month ago) she has had plenty of business to so she has plenty of pictures to had to her repertoire. Check it out!

I was happy with how our pictures turned out. We actually invited Harper & Jennifer to come along with us which was loads of fun.


I the pictures from this session on my flickr account but I will post a few of my favorites Here:
I saved this sweet picture of Harper for last. I love it!


If you are interested in getting some photos done, I would recommend Christina Massey Photography. She did a great job! Here is her info:

Christina Massey Photography
christinamasseyphotography.blogspot.com
903-806-5732
christina.massey@rocketmail.com

Happy 16 months Pete!!

My how you've grown!

AND YOUR BIG SISTER WILL STILL PUSH YOU AROUND :)

I am smitten by Pete (as most mothers are with their sons)

To me, he is the most huggable/lovable little man.
I thank God for him. Pete is growing like a weed. He now weighs 26 lbs. I am not sure his height right now but I will let you know on his 18 month check-up.

I gave a little blurb about his little personality and the things I love about him when I posted his 1 yr blog post. However, I will fill you in on some things in case you haven't seen him lately.

1) new development for him is that he LOVES the quack, quack song by the Wiggles. Even though we do not watch them, we introduced him to their song on YouTube and he was an instant fan of this song (like Aubrey)

2) He is infatuated with cords! I would say he takes after his dad on this one. He loves pulling cords out of walls, finding a wad of cords (good thing Dad has a large collection) & loves to drag cords around. This just kind of happened but he pulled the baby monitor cords out of a drawer one day and got them all tangled up but I decided to keep those knotted up cords in the drawer for him to play with every day.

3) I work with his class at ACA for one day a week this summer and I love to work and have Pete with me (although there are some drawbacks because he can get a little clingy at times when I am trying to assist another child).
It has been fun to watch his interaction with other children. I would have to say the #1 reason he and another kid clash is if they are wanting their personal space because Pete just wants to go up and hug everyone; I guess I would rather have a hugger than a biter :)

4) He still gets a kick out of playing with Aubrey (he calls her Oggin) & LOVES to hug her!
She is an awesome big sister and is always looking out for her little bro. I am very proud of them both. This is a picture I took last week when it was wet outside. They loved playing in the water puddles and getting dirty. I didn't mind that - they seemed to be having so much fun together and I think they were just happy to get out of the house for a little while. It had rained a lot last week and we didn't get out much.




5) Pete recently has grown fond of his little yellow blanket. He usually will grab it and follow me around the house when he gets sleepy. He also loves to just get it and lay with it on the floor.
Words/Sounds Pete can now say: Momma, Dadda, Aubrey (Oggin), Nanna, Grandad (Gaandaa), Buck, apple, quack-quack, moooo, shhhhh, Jump (Juuu), Bubble, Banana (Nanna), Back-Pack
There may be others but I am drawing a blank.

I will leave you with a few pictures of Pete and a few of his friends at school:

(left to right - Trenton, Pete, Cole, Sam)

Show some PDA!!

Public Display of Affection that is:

I read the book "Baby Wise" before I had Aubrey and don't totally agree with it but I believe it is good to read just because it is thought provoking and I think parents should talk about how they will establish routines for their children so they are on the same page.
The one thing that stood out to me in that book was actually in it's preface. It was talking about the importance of a mom and dad showing their kids that they love each other. This has always stuck with me. I know it is easy to get sucked into focusing on your children and their needs but it is good to remember that one of the most important things for your child is giving he or she the security of knowing that mom and dad are on the same team and love each other. So with that said...

I LOVE YOU BRYAN!!