July 5th at Brandy's house

Since the July 4th festivities were rained out at Lockhart we went to Brandy and Bryon's house to make our own fireworks. Beau, Dylan and Robert put on a really good show and shot off some cool ones. The girls stuck to the sparklers and smoke bombs that they danced like genies in. So, here's me with Bristol, Jeff with the boys, Brandy with Beck watching the show, and Madalyn with cousins Brenah and Makayla - more worried about posing for the picture than anything else.

Bristol and the Spoon

One day this week Bristol decided that he wasn't done eating, and he thought it was a good idea to eat the spoon. Unfortunately it wasn't as good as he hoped it would be....

MaMa's Birthday in Burleson

Okay this was actually last weekend, but I can't figure out how to rearrange the posts on here. We went to Burleson for MaMa's 81st birthday. We were lucky enough to find a Burleson High School Band car wash to get the Suburban washed while we were there. Here's a pic of Jeff's nephew Zachary and his friend Anthony posing in front of the car. MaMa got a really cool gift in the next picture that is a lap quilt made of fabric squares from each person in the family. It turned out really nice and MaMa really liked it. We grilled that night at Gay Lynn's and played Mexican Bingo or 'Loteria' thatMaria had given Maddy.
The first one is of the boys crashed out at Aunt Pat's house. Too cute!!

Happy Fourth of July

We went to the zoo in San Antonio with Kim and Eric, Julie, Jessie and Ella and enjoyed seeing all of the animals. After we saw all of the animals and rode the train around the park - which also provided a welcomed breeze.
Everyone met up at our house later to grill hotdogs and enjoy the holiday. Although the fireworks got rained out in Lockhart we still had a great day.
The pictures are of Bristol and me on the train, Madalyn Eric and Beck on the lions, and Maddy and Ella checking out the elephants.

Bristol - 4 months

I absolutely can't believe that Bristol is 4 months old. That also means my maternity leave is 2/3 over which is too sad. Bristol's checkup went really well, he is 26 inches and 14lbs 6 oz. His head and length were 75-90 percentile, but his weight was 25-50 percentile. Which means that my baby is a string bean with a big head. He he! He is eating rice cereal, bananas, apples, and sweet potatoes. Maybe by the next checkup he might be a little more evenly proportioned- either way he is his own little man. He rolls like crazy now and can make some pretty good time around the living room floor. Bristol is very laid back and loves watching Madalyn and Beck as his favorite form of entertainment. He is so sweet and cuddly and we want him to stay little forever!

A slice of Heaven

It was a busy weekend, not only did we make it to Cars but my dad brought the tractor over to shred the Raymond Ranch. Beck was so excited to get to ride around with my Dad and they even spotted a coyote while they were cruising.

101 Uses for a Happy Meal Box

We were in line first thing Sunday morning for the opening weekend of the Pixar movie Cars. We went with my parents, Cody and Julie, and our cousins Danny, Kim and Eric. The boys liked it a lot ~almost as much as the adults. Of course that means we've been making a record number of trips to McDonalds to get the all of the toys. I'm just impressed that Beck figured out new head gear and more reasons to go than just for the toys.

And for those of you that are detail oriented- yes that is a Simpson racing car seat. ;)

Longhorn Boys

Here is a random picture from one morning last week with the boys. Didn't realize I was already dressing them alike - they'll probably hate me for that later. =)

Madalyn's Dance Recital

Madalyn had her second dance recital in San Marcos at Texas State University last weekend. She's been taking classes at Miss Dianne's Dance Unlimited for two years and is doing really well. She was all too pleased to be the prima ballerina for the day, dancing ballet to the Spanish song Canta and tap to La Poisson.
The pictures are of Maddy waiting to dance, the whole Raymond crew, Maddy with my brother Cody and his girlfriend Julie, Maddy with my parents Arlene and LC, and with her Aunt Tara and Louis. We celebrated with a trip to the Grist Mill in Greune where Madalyn ended dinner with a well deserved and fabulous strawberry shortcake.

A Week in Burleson

Since Jeff was slammed with his mini-mester class, I took off with the kids to Burleson to visit his family. The last picture is Bristol (16 weeks) with Ma Ma, also known as Mrs. Watts and who Bristol is named after. We enjoyed getting to see her so often since we were there for the week. She was in great spirits and liked the kids running around they are definitley a break in the calm of the nursing home. (Sylvie - if you are reading this in France, she wanted to send a special hello to you!)
We went to the zoo in Fort Worth, I highly recommend it - it was a great zoo. Beck and Madalyn's favorite was the monkey house when they were literally inches away from the gorilla while it sat on the other side of the glass. I was also overly excited to find a Panera for lunch (Milana we NEED one in Austin!). Along with the zoo, we spent a day at Chuck E. Cheese, and got to swim at Aunt Gay Lynn's. Madalyn's cool swim suit was chosen on a shopping spree with Lea and the icing all over Beck's face was courtesy of Tara's birthday cake. I won't say which one.
The week went by really quickly, and I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

Marjorie's Wedding

One of my best friends from college got married Memorial Day weekend. This is the UT crew from the PPA program and Phi Chi Theta. She may look familar since she is one of our Ernst & Young client contacts at UTIMCO.

Rattlesnakes R Us

One of the downsides to living in the country - rattlesnakes. This is my brother Cody holding the snake (with 13 rattles) he recently shot outside of our back door. A definite big end to our Wednesday night Girls' night. Thankfully my mom heard it before she stepped off the porch, especially since Jessie and Ella were right behind her. Regardless, Jeff and my cousin Danny built a lighted walkway the next weekend. Upgrade!

Bumbo-liscous

Not sure if everyone's heard of these new things called Bumbo seats, but they're all the rage with the baby set these days. My godmother was kind enough to send Bristol one and we've been enjoying it a lot. He doesn't quite have the hang of it, but is working on getting strong enough to really sit in it. Thanks Aunt Diane and Uncle Jimmy!

Bristol - 14 & 15 weeks

Bristol is changing everyday, and rolled over last week! In perfect third child form, I was wrestling Beck after bathtime and Madalyn was the only one that got to see it. So I'm sure she'll treasure the memory always. ;) He also figured out how to suck his thumb - not sure if it's good or bad, but he's slept through the night 5 nights this week since he can put himself back to sleep. I'm voting for good right now, plus he looks so sweet when he does it.

Kindergarten Graduation

I can't even believe I'm typing this, but Madalyn graduated from Kindergarten last Thursday, May 18th. It is amazing how quickly the year went, and how much she has changed since last August. She's learned how to read, learned basic Spanish vocabulary and common phrases, and matured so much it's astounding. Madalyn has always been 'little miss independent' but even so much more so now. At the graduation ceremony she received her Kindergarten completion certificate and a Perfect Attendance certificate from the Assistant Principal. (We all worked hard on that one.)
We are super proud of Madalyn and looking forward to first summer break.

Field Day at Tobias

May 11th was Field Day at Madalyn's school. Complete with a football water race, Tug-O-War and a game where you carried a ball on top of a little plunger. I guess the egg toss is out dated. Her class had a great time and Beck and Bristol enjoyed cheering her on. At the end of the day she had gotten 6 stickers - whoo hoo! Here are pics of her and her good friend Abbie, her victorious with the plunger, and with good old mom after the festivites.

Thunderstorm Damage

This was the driveway fun we were met with after last week's storms hit. Two of the big trees that border our driveway were struck by lightening and fell, blocking the way.

We still fared better than my brother Cody, whose roof was ripped off the back of the his house. They suffered pretty sever damage as well as some boards that are now permanently stuck in his yard. Personally, I think the blue tarp that now covers his roof makes a statement and definitely ups his redneck street cred.

Being home with the Boys

For some reason, I think this picture captures most of my days. The boys are challenging, but I'm really enjoying my time with them. Im this case I was trying to take pictures of Bristol and Beck had to get in on the action. Always doing something crazy and very 'Beck'. Apparently he needs at least 2 binkys to keep him quiet. I'll remember that for tomorrow.....

Bristol Updated

Well, at 13 weeks Bristol's favorite thing to do is sleep. Last week he really started smiling and cooing. It will absolutely melt your heart, no matter what else is going on it puts everything in perspective. He is so happy just checking everything out and especially watching the ceiling fan. These are pictures of Bristol at 11 weeks on the cool blanket my friend Peggy gave us, sleeping in the morning sun at 12 weeks, and checking out the camera at 13 weeks. He is so amazing.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

The Dual Language Kinder and First graders had their Cinco de Mayo party last Friday. Madalyn's class did an amazing job singing 'De Colores' and performing the Mexican Hat Dance with her buddy Cade. My mom sewed Maddy's beautiful 'twirly' pink skirt which has been twirled all over our house. The DL kids finished the day with a full fiesta including a feast with traditional Mexican food.

EY Babies Everywhere

There were 4 of us that were pregnant at the same time at EY. Several of us were together at a recent party (thanks Anna & Adam) - this is Heather B with Natalie, born February 1, me with Bristol, February 14, and Leigh with Celia born December 6. Bristol doesn't seem thrilled to be surrounded by all the ladies, but it may have been because Beck was having all of the fun throwing rocks in the pool (sorry Anna & Adam).