Aloha Summer!

We had our first taste of summer last weekend and it was so sweet and sunny. I woke up with a summer hangover on Monday - meaning I wanted to go back in time and redo the weekend it was so good! My friend Julie however, might have experienced a real hangover....but that's another story!

We started Saturday at the Memorial Park Train - Connor's favorite place - to celebrate Emily's 2nd birthday! It was a fun morning. Then we headed down to Galveston for William's 3rd birthday at the beach. It was the first time for Connor and Parker to go to the beach. And, unbeknownst to me, it was also Jeremy's first time at a Galveston beach. I can't believe he's been in Houston 15 years and he hasn't been to the Galveston beach. Anyway...Connor LOVED the beach. We held hands and walked into the waves and he would giggle and jump each time one came. Back on shore, he would jump up and fall onto his bottom in the sand - it was hilarious. Then he spent time scooping up wet sand and dumping it into his bucket, over and over again. We had the best time. I even brought Parker into the water to sit and splash (his latest trick!). We had a blast!

Parker - 7 months old (he got a few bug bites...eek!)

After the beach, we kept the party going and went to Tiki with some of our friends. All of the kiddos enjoyed playing in the pool together! After this day, these kiddos were worn out (and so were the adults!) We spent time in the pool again the next morning and seriously had the best time. Such a fun way to kick off the summer!

Love these girls!

Hey -- it's 8 kids, pretty much the best we could do!

I have realized lately that I make this face in a lot of pictures...hmm...

Connor loved when "Mista Will" threw him up, up, up!

Connor loves to give Parker kisses. "I kiss baby right there!" So sweet!

Excited for a long, hot summer!

Memorial Day at the Ranch

We took our first vacation with my family for Memorial Day and headed out west to a dude ranch resort. Total Texas Move, right? We rented a house at a ranch in Bandera where they had a water park, golf, horseback riding, putt-putt and probably some other amenities I can't recall.

Connor went up a day early with my mom and stepdad so that he could go to the Memorial Day parade in Bandera. He loved it, and has toted around his red, white and blue beach ball they threw him like its a prized possession. On Saturday, we all arrived at the house, along with the crazy storms that hit Texas that day. We spend most of that day inside playing pool, sitting on the back porch and playing games.

On Sunday, we hit the water park! Connor loved the water slides and the bigger kids enjoyed either laying out or floating the lazy river. Alex (10) had the best time with Connor on the slides and swimming. She is so great with the littles! That evening, we had a round of family putt-putt which was fun. 

Parker spending some quality time with Daddy!

Leslie, Mom and Heidi bonding during the rainy day!

After the failed attempt to ride a pony. Remember how much he loved it at the rodeo? Apparently, he forgot.

My birthday cookie cake got a little squished!

We can't wait to go back next year!

Our Easter

Easter is probably my favorite holiday. I like it even more than Christmas. There, I said it. I've probably lost a few readers now. But to me, Christmas has become so rushed, commercialized and overbooked that it's just too much freaking work. For Easter, I don't have to decorate a tree, buy presents for everyone that interacts with me or my kids, and go to parties. My radio stations aren't hijacked for six weeks with holiday music, and I don't have to be politically correct when wishing folks a Happy Easter. And don't get me started about that Elf on the Shelf. Easter is simple, and on behalf of all the moms who don't live next door to Hobby Lobby -- let's keep it that way. 

Now, where was I? Oh yes, Easter. 

Connor had an egg hunt at school on Thursday. He is so methodical about egg hunting, and it cracks me up. He picks up an egg, opens it, surveys (or eats) the candy, hands me the egg and then moves on. In the time Connor hunted 4 eggs, the older kids had already collected their 12 allotted eggs and had moved on. 

Connor's class. E-tee (Ethan), Tess Mer Clr (Mary Claire) and their teacher, Ms. Chely

Pondering what he thinks about the jelly beans in the egg...

On Saturday, our neighborhood had an Easter Egg hunt that was a blast. We have 50 kids in our little neighborhood, many that are right around the ages of Connor and Parker. The dads went and hid all of the eggs at 8:30 and then at 9:00 the kids were free to hunt. The 0-3 year olds hunted eggs on the opposite side of the street than our house and this time, Connor got more in to it. We practiced picking up eggs, putting them in his basket and then opening all of them at the end. He caught on and would run to each egg and say, "Oh my egg!" So cute! After the egg hunt, there was an appearance by the Easter Bunny (one of the dads on the street was suckered in to wearing the costume). Connor wasn't sure at first, but then he finally wanted to take a picture with him and kept giving him high-fives!

That's Connor's cheese face!

After the neighborhood egg hunt, we spent the rest of our day out in Deer Park with Grammy and Paw Paw. My mom put together an over the top Easter basket for Connor. I wish I had a picture of it before Connor tore in to it. Mom puts a lot of effort in to the presentation of gifts and I love it. His basket was adorable and filled to the brim with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, books, Veggietales, and an ambulance and firetruck that both make noise (thanks, Mom!). He had a blast hunting for his eggs in their backyard and playing with his new bubble gun. Then while Parker napped, we took him to the park to play. It was fun for us to just do something with Connor and give him our undivided attention!

Hunting his eggs to put in his choo-choo basket!

He loved shooting Paw Paw with the bubble gun!

We had a blast with him at the park!

Parker was there, too! Parker Man...you'll get to run around with big brother and hunt eggs next year!

On Easter Sunday, we ended up at Urgent Care with Parker and missed church. This was heartbreaking for me, as this was my first Easter morning to not spend at church. There were tears. But, Parker was okay and that's all that matters. We had lunch with my family at Lupe Tortilla and then went to Tiki for a crawfish boil. Connor did his first crawfish races and went on a boat ride with Uncle Pete.

We had a great Easter weekend celebrating Jesus and celebrating our family. 

He is risen, indeed.

Houston Rodeo

To say that Connor had fun at the rodeo would be a gigantic understatement. He had a blast! It was one of my favorite days I've ever had with Connor, and I loved that my mom came along to share in the fun with us (and let's be honest...I needed all the help I could get with both boys in tow).

When we got there, Connor said he wanted to "ride horse"...but knowing him, I knew we would get up to the pony rides and he would refuse to do it. WRONG. He was game for it! He even let the worker pick him up and put him on the horse. All I could think was, "he is going to lose it at any moment!". But, he never did. He had the best time and kept smiling and saying, "My ride horse!' and petting the horse. And he also asked me where his cowboy hat was...sorry, buddy. I don't even have a cute rodeo shirt to put you in like baby brother. Next year, I'll be more prepared!

The Houston Rodeo does such a great job catering to little ones. We had fun wandering through their farmer's market, pretending to ride the tractor, and petting all of the animals at the petting zoo. Connor did this adorable squeal when he would pet one of the animals. He wasn't timid at all. He would get in their face and greet the animals. "Hi, goat, hi" he would say. This kid of mine is hilarious! The best part was when he was saying hi to the llama, he went ahead and gave it a kiss. Are   you kidding me? My mom and I about lost it!

Parker came with us, too, and was a champ. He stayed in his stroller most of the time and loved just looking around. This little one does not like to be bored, so he enjoyed being out and about. I love this picture below. Connor at his first rodeo in 2012 and Parker at his first rodeo. How cute is this outfit? (Parker had already kicked off his boots before the picture was snapped).

What a fun day with my boys! Can't wait to do it again in 2016!

15 months!

Little man is 15 months old. At his checkup this week, he weighed 30.5 pounds and was 33 1/2 inches long. He wears 24 months/2T clothes and he still only has 6 teeth. He's growing so quickly, and time is passing by too fast! Since I'm not updating the baby book monthly anymore (and I'm a little thankful for that, let's be honest) I need to still keep up with documenting what Connor is up to these days! His favorite thing to do is walk around, no matter where we are (parking lot, restaurant, etc.)! He is so busy! He walks and shrieks and screams happy sounds. So fun!

His favorite toys:

Balls

The Fisher Price dog that he can pull

Wooden knob puzzles (really just so he can bang the pieces together)

Toilet paper

Wooden spoons

The sprinkle shakers from Connor's own shelf in the pantry

His words:

Dada (first word)

Mama (my favorite word!)

Ball

Dog

Bye-Bye (with a wave toward himself)

Up (he usually says this while he's laying on the ground and he puts his legs up in the air!)

Nana (as in banana)

Out-ide (outside...his favorite place to be)

No (he usually says it when we are reading the Find Spot books)
All done (and he puts his arms out to the side like he's motioning "I don't know"
Hello (and pretends he's talking on the phone by putting whatever object he's holding up to his ear)

Connor is a busy little man, and he keeps us on our toes! Not many quiet moments around our house anymore. But, we wouldn't have it any other way. I'm amazed at how smart he is and how much he understands. What a blessing to watch him grow up and discover his world!

Here are a few recent pics from the past couple of months!

Sliding at the park...I think we did this 20 times that day!

Celebrating our friend Preston's birthday! Blurry picture because he was SO busy walking all over the place!

During the first Houston "snow" day we went to Wonderwild to get some energy out!

Think he has enough bath toys?

First trip to the Zoo in January. He loved the petting zoo!

What a fun age! We are having a blast!
B

Our Merry Christmas!

Whew - I need a vacation to recover from our Christmas. Or a spa day. Hubs, are you listening? Our little man is wild, let me tell you! But these are some pretty fun times, I must admit. Connor starting walking just after Thanksgiving and he hasn't slowed down. When he walks, he still kind of waddles like a penguin. He also squeals and screams and shrieks as he walks, and it's so cute. And so loud - we're going to be deaf here pretty soon! I need to get a video of this, but I swear he's camera shy. Every time I press record, he freezes up. We're going to have to work on that.

I digress. Christmas was fun and filled with lots of family and friends. We headed to North Louisiana to see my dad's side of the family, and then back home, and then off to BR to see the Fords'. Connor got more than we could have ever asked for or imagined. This is one spoiled rotten boy. The third carload of gifts are coming back to Houston from BR this weekend. And I'm not kidding.

So, here is an overload of pictures from Christmas.

A picture from his Christmas card.

Throwing his annual Christmas tantrum after the Christmas Eve service at church.  

Adams cousins in matching shirts! Beck (1), Elizabeth (1.5) and Connor.

Checking out his new chair from Santa on Christmas morning!

Look at all of his presents from Grammy and Paw Paw. Like I said - spoiled rotten. He was mildly interested in tearing the paper off of the gifts, and VERY interested in putting the paper in his mouth. 

The theme of Christmas for my family was tacky sweater!

The Ford cousins. Look at C's expression! So funny!

My favorite picture! Big boy is riding on his new Buzz Lightyear car! Thank you Nana & Pops!

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!
Brittney

Connor's First Halloween

Connor dressed as a puppy dog for his first Halloween! We had a fun time celebrating with him, and he didn't seem to mind his costume too much. It was nearly impossible to draw a nose and freckles on him - of course! He doesn't stay still for much of anything these days!

The day before Halloween we joined our sweet Sunday School friends to trick-or-treat in a nearby neighborhood. Connor and Kate (his future bride) enjoyed riding around in the wagon while the bigger kids actually got to trick-or-treat! J took Connor up to one house so we can say he has officially trick-or-treated!

Connor and Kate!

So precious!

On Halloween day, he went to school wearing his cute new shirt from his Nana! He has so much fun playing at school!

He still loves clapping!

He's "talking" to me!

After school, we hurried home to get in costume! Grammy and PawPaw came over to see our cute little puppy dog. He had fun playing throw and catch with his grandparents!

So happy!

Looking at his PawPaw!

Love my boy!

This was Connor's last first holiday....sniff, sniff.
Happy Halloween to all!
Brittney

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Raise your hand if you took your kiddo to a pumpkin patch for pictures on Sunday? With the beautiful weather we had, it was absolutely the perfect time to take our 11 month old to his visit first pumpkin patch. We went to the one at our church, which makes the visit all the more special.

He did great, and enjoyed pulling up and cruising around the pumpkins. He loved hitting the pumpkins in his typical "bam-bam" fashion. He's just so precious!

Happy boy!

He is so funny!

So sweet!

Tried to get a mommy/son pic, but only one of us smiled. But, look how good he's doing a standing up on his own!

Taking a break. 

And just for reference...we took our maternity pics in this same pumpkin patch last year. I was 35 weeks pregnant here. I think Connor was already 7.5 pounds. Whoa.

Happy fall to ya'll!
B

Connor's First Tailgate Party

Disclaimer: I did not attend LSU - I am a graduate of HBU. But, I did marry LSU. For more details, please visit www.fordfamilytailgating.com. Enough said.

Many weekends in the fall, J and I can be found in the armpit of Louisiana - Baton Rouge. We are third generation season ticket holders to LSU football games. We are huge Tiger fans in our family, and couldn't wait to introduce Connor to the fun traditions of Ford Family Tailgating.

FFT began in the 90's as a true tailgate. One cooler, some food, and around 12 people tailgating out of a van while the kids tossed a football in the parking lot. That simple idea has since morphed into a 60+ person party complete with games, TV, a sound system, trailer, signage, a full four-course menu, t-shirts, a cookbook, a twitter account (follow us @fordfamtailgate), a strong presence on Facebook, and a website. It's quite the production, put on by J's parents, family and friends. But, I can't stand to imagine Connor growing up without tailgating. I guess it's because that's how I "grew up" into the Ford family.


This past weekend we took Connor to his first tailgate party before the Auburn game. J was so excited to get our little munchkin out there he could hardly stand it. It was really sweet, actually. I love watching how proud J is to show off Connor.

Connor's laugh is my most favorite sound! J was dipping him down in front of the fan and back up again - Connor thought that was the greatest!

And this is what he spent most of the day doing...crawling all over the porch, and attempting to crawl down the steps! His knees were some kind of dirty!

This is Connor's gameday face....he will do it on command. It's absolutely hysterical!

He loved pulling up on Pops' toolbox and pulling the handle up and down. 

This is Andrew. He's the son of Jeremy's lifelong friend (literally, they've been friends since birth). Andrew is seven and he LOVES Connor and hardly let him out of his sight at the tailgate party! They're making the gameface...but really Connor is making the "I didn't take a long enough nap and I'm cranky face."

Our friends brought their puppy dog to the party, and it loved giving Connor kisses. Connor tried following the puppy all over the place! Excuse me, I just need a moment to bask in all of Connor's adorable-ness in this picture. GAH! I canNOT get enough of him!

Sweet boys! How cute is Connor's lil tailgate chair?

Well this is embarrassing...how did my adorable front porch decoration end up in here?

Geaux Tigers!
B