Happy 5th Birthday Ralphie

Ralphie on his birthday - he is protecting his toy

The Munton's are going to end the year with a BIRTHDAY! I have said it before - we LOVE December birthdays :)

Ralphie woke up today with us singing Happy Birthday to him. He ate a quick breakfast and then got his toy. It was a orange duck that I thought would last an hour at least. Nope...Ralphie found the weak spot with in thirty minutes. However he did love on it for the first 10 minutes. I think he understood today was his day!

I can not believe we have had him for 5 years. I still remember the day we picked him up. My dad was becoming Catholic and the service was in Mobile, Al. On the way there Owen and I stopped in Diberville which is on the coast. I had no idea how we would pick. Ralphie had alot of siblings. One was already adopted by the owners and the rest of them came up to us and gave us lovies - except Ralphie. I thought well maybe that is the dog we need b/c he doesn't seem too needy and didn't bark a lot. *SIDE NOTE - In reality he loves attention and gets too excited when people are at the house and let's not forget the barking - our Ralphie likes to bark. * After we decided he was ours we told the owners we would pick him up that afternoon on our way back from Mobile. The lady still had her Christmas decorations up and this was in February. She loved those puppies and they were consuming her time. When we arrived hours later to pick Ralphie up - her Christmas decorations were down and the house was cleaned :) It was funny.

Here are pictures of our Ralphie Dog!!

Ralphie is the whitest one in the middle. This was 5 years ago today on his birthday

Here is Ralphie on the day we picked him to adopt

We took Ralphie to the Munton's on his first day. Nate and Wil were there and they could not get enough of him. Poor Ralphie was so tired. He slept really good his first night home.

Happy, Happy Birthday to our sweet Ralphie. We love that you are the protector dog with Andrew and Sam. We call him Safety Officer Ralphie. He is the best with our boys and gives Owen and me happy memories. We got so lucky with Ralphie!

Sunday Family Time

Lately we have started to go to Sunday night church and then to eat pizza at a local pizza restaurant -Bianchis pizzeria. Church is chaotic. Sam talks loudly and Andrew is all over the place. But after mass we go look for trains (there is a railroad within walking distance) and we enjoy yummy pizza. It is the best end to the week. We have been doing this for a month now and I think it is quickly becoming my favorite part of the week.

The view from the front seat - it doesn't get much sweeter than looking at these two.

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012 is the year that Andrew started to understand what the hustle and bustle of Christmas is about. He learned about baby Jesus all week at school. He asked Santa for gifts. He made cookies for Santa and said Santa wanted chocolate milk with the cookies. He went to bed on Christmas Eve without a fuss. We watched Christmas movies for weeks right before bedtime. It was truly a joyous time of the year.

Christmas morning came bright and early - not as bright and early as a school day which is a wake up time of 5:30 am. We woke up at 7 am when we heard Andrew stirring around in his room. Then we went to get Sam and my parents quickly followed.

Seeing Andrew so excited made my year! He got everything he asked for which was a tricycle and a Woody doll. Luckily Owen took some pictures of our morning.

Christmas morning - Santa found us!!

Stockings and more gifts from Santa

Andrew riding his tricycle from Santa

Sam playing his new piano Santa brought him

Andrew with his Goofy doll that was in his stocking

Andrew with his Woody doll

Trying to get the boys to take a picture together - impossible

I loved seeing Andrew so happy! And Sam...just followed suit and was a happy baby.  The boys played with their new toys all morning. Sam took a morning nap and then we headed over to the Munton's. Abby and Eric were there and we celebrated with them too. Mrs. Wanda's Christmas lunch was delicious and the company was too!

I would say Christmas 2012 was a happy, happy holiday!

Sam's First Birthday

Many Happy Faces from the One Year Old

M&M had the class Christmas parties on the 21st. I signed up to bring cookies to Sam's class so I could bring birthday cookies. He wore his First Birthday Shirt to school that day too.

He was so mad b/c I put him in this chair

Then he perked up realizing it was a party for him

 

 

Taking a bite of his birthday cookie

We saved his birthday presents from us for his actual birthday. Andrew woke up first so the three of us went to wake up Sam. All of us sang Happy Birthday - even Andrew. It was a sweet morning wake up. Then Sam got to open his gifts.

Sam at first was more interested in his morning bottle

Velveteen Rabbit and book from mom and dad

Moose from his brother - Andrew picked this out just for Sam

Happy Birthday Boy

Brother checking out Sam's present - this was his big gift from mom and dad

Taking it for a test ride

My parents came to town that morning as well. And later that day we got ready for church.

At church Sam decided to show us he can be in charge. I brought cheerios for Sam to help keep him quiet during mass. I have been telling Andrew that we don't eat or drink in church b/c he is too big now to be doing that. But my lesson is back firing now b/c Sam is at the age where a snack is appropriate to help keep him occupied. So with that said I told Andrew that the snack was for Sam but I did let Andrew sneak a few bites. However on one sneaky moment Sam caught it and with his finger pointing at Andrew said "No, No, No". It was loud and it was hilarious.

After mass we rushed home for a red beans and rice dinner. I thought of this meal because I could cook it in the crock pot and everything be ready when we got home. It worked out perfectly and even better is that Sam could not get enough of the red beans. So it has officially become his birthday dinner tradition. We had my parents and Owen's parents over for dinner and then sang happy birthday with birthday cake for Sam. It was a sweet day and fun festive Christmas Eve birthday for Samuel.

Sam's 1st birthday party

This past weekend we had Sam's first birthday party. We had it our house and invited close friends and family. I wanted Sam to feel as special as possible and I think that happened. We went with a football theme and asked our party guests to dress in their favorite jersey. I am going to let the pictures tell the story.

Here are pictures of the food and decorations. Each party guest got a balloon and a football to take home with them.

Here are pictures of some of the party guests

Mommy and her baby

Cousin Madalene

Davis Hayes and Andrew

Sam and his friend Matilyn from Mommy and Me

Chaden Britt

Singing Happy Birthday to Sam

Andrew enjoying a cup cake

Mary Neal Curry

Here is Sam with his cake! When we lit the candle to sing to him, Sam put the flame out with his hand. He looked confused and almost cried, but didn't. It was such a tough guy move. Sam was unsure of his cake at first but then got into it. He is a precious baby boy.

Here is the birthday boy before the candle was lit. He would not wear his birthday hat

Not real sure about the cake

Grandmom coming to help out

ok, it's official - he loves it!

  

Here are some pictures of Sam playing with the birthday balloons. I wanted to capture every moment of him during this fun day. He is such a sweet and special little boy and I am so blessed he is my baby.