Grandparents are the Best!

We have spent the last two weekends making quick trips to visit each of our parents. We spent July 4th (and 5th) with Wade's parents, and then we went to Houston this past Saturday & Sunday to see my Mom & Dad. We crammed a whole lot of fun into each of those overnight visits!

I love watching my kids with their grandparents! Both of my grandfathers passed away before I was born, and my grandmothers went to Heaven when I was ages 4 & 13. So, I know all too well what a treasure grandparents are! I hold my few memories of my grandmothers close to my heart and will always wish that I had had just a little bit more time with them. I feel so blessed that my kids have 4 wonderful grandparents and 3 great grandparents (who are also amazing!). I will never stop telling them how lucky they are!

We celebrated the 4th in East Texas. Wade's parents live on the 18th hole of a golf course and it is so beautiful in their neck of the {Piney} woods. Wade (a.k.a. "fun Dad" - my nickname for him) stopped along the way and bought some smoke bombs, a cone fountain, and some HUGE sparklers. They were a big hit!

Drew spent some time swinging and rocking with his Grammie. :)

Wade & Papaw took Clayton out to practice with his new golf clubs. Male bonding at it's finest... ;)

This past weekend we went to Houston for my nephew, A's, birthday party. He turns 7 on the 20th. Becca & Jeff threw him a really fun Spiderman party. I got some really cute pictures of A, but I'm still not at liberty to post them. :( Hopefully, A & J's adoptions will be final in the fall and then I will have GOBS of pictures of their sweet faces to post. Thanks to everyone who has asked about them lately. You all are so sweet to care about our family! Their adoption has been a long process, but it seems that Becca & Jeff will be through all of the red tape in the next few months. Please keep them in your prayers!

My parents got a chance spend lots of time with the boys while we were there. Clayton & Drew just ate up all of the attention. :)

Drew & Gran

Papa D & Gran with Drew

Drew was a big fan of the birthday cake. Ha ha!

Drew is a bruiser, for sure! He LOVES to wrestle in the floor. If you are laying in the floor, then he considers you fair game. He will just run up and tackle you out of nowhere. Well... my Dad got a taste of our little linebacker's rough housing ways. I'm pretty sure that being the father of 2 girls didn't prepare him for the tackling that he was in for!

We got in some swim time yesterday afternoon before we headed home. Wade "launched" Clayton and J about 146 times each. :) They both loved it! They made the funniest faces and poses as Wade tossed him in the water.

Drew was content just relaxing by the side. Next year, I have no doubt that he will be smack dab in the middle of the launching action. ;)

Thanks Marsha & Terry and Mom & Dad for loving on our kids! We are soooo thankful for all 4 of you!

Goin' to the chapel...

On Saturday, my sweet Katie got married! I was/am so excited for Katie & Wes and their new life together! I have blogged before about how much I adore Katie (see HERE or HERE). She really is such a sweetheart. She has definitely found her match in Wes, and I couldn't be happier for her!

Katie & Wes asked Clayton to be one of their ring bearers (they had 2 flower girls and 2 ring bearers). What an honor! He was very concerned about his role and constantly said he was "nervous" about the wedding. He wanted to know exactly when he was supposed to go down the aisle and how exactly he was supposed to ring his bell (the ring bearers had bells to ring instead of a pillow to carry). It was funny to see how much he has changed since May of 2007 when he was in Becca & Kelli's weddings. Back then he was just so stinkin' cute in his 2T tuxedo, but he didn't really grasp his role. He just knew that there would be a big party with all of his favorite people!

This time around, he wore a size 6 tuxedo and seemed much more serious about his job. He practiced over and over again how he would walk down the aisle. I thought that he would walk calmly down the aisle and ring his bell just like he did every time that we practiced. However, his "happy feet" took over and he sort of skipped/galloped down the aisle. Ha! Oh, well, he looked cute and rang his bell all the way down. That's the part that counts, right?

Katie with Clayton & Claire at the Rehearsal Dinner

Clayton took a liking to my friend Emily's little girl, Claire. He was very concerned about where Claire was at all times and danced with her through the whole reception. It was too cute to watch them!

Practicing his walk before the wedding.

One word - Stunning!!!

My little dapper darling. :)

Then (May 2007)...

& Now (July 2010).

Pronoucing Mr. & Mrs. Baker!!!

Grammie & Papaw gave Clayton a Fisher Price digital camera for his 3rd birthday (remember THIS post?). He still LOVES that camera. He grabbed it as we left the house to go to the wedding. We were in a hurry, so I didn't stop him. I figured that he would just leave it in the car. Oh, no, he brought it into the vineyard and snapped a gazillion pictures while we were there. He would pose people and tell them which way to tilt their head.

It's like he's been followed my the Mamarazzzi for his entire life! Ha ha!

Me & Hay

The photographer was changing lenses, so I snapped a quick pic of Clayton with the bride and groom while we were waiting. :)

I know that I am a bit biased (since I am friends with all of the children's mothers), but they were a pretty darn cute group of kiddos!

Me & My Hubs - It's hard to believe that we were in Katie & Wes's shoes 10 years ago!

My boy danced the night away with Miss Claire! He was twirling her around the dance floor like a pro. They had so much fun!



If they ever have So You Think You Can Dance the Kindergarten Edition, I know what couple would win the first season! ;)

L to R (top): Andrea, Cindy, Halie, Katie, Laura, Me
L to R (bottom): Emily & Traci

Katie & Wes did the dollar dance to score some honeymoon fun money. Wade gave Clayton some cash so that he could dance with the bride. He thought he was big stuff!

All of the guests lit sparklers to bid farewell to the bride & groom.

What a fun wedding! Clayton stayed up waaayyy past his bedtime that night. When we put him to bed, he said his bedtime prayers. He said, "Dear God, thank you for Ms. Katie & Mr. Wes. Thank you for helping them to have a good wedding. I hope that you help them have a great marriage! Amen."

I couldn't agree more!

Sadie Rose

Well, I am about to commit a big blogging faux pas. One of the cardinal rules of blogging is "Thou shalt not blog about someone else's news before they themselves blog about it." Errr... maybe I made that up. ;)

I do agree that one shouldn't share news that isn't theirs to share. However, I am busting at the seams to blog about my friend, Leah's, new baby girl! She gave me permission to blog away, so that makes it okay. Right? ;)

Just do me a favor, and no one tell Emily Post. K?
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Sadie Rose Hunt was born last Tuesday (June 29th) at 1:10 pm. Leah did such an amazing job bringing Miss Sadie into the world!!! I have a whole new respect for my sweet friend, for sure. She was sitting up, laughing in bed (and looking beautiful, I might add) within minutes of having Sadie. I was so impressed! She has made the transition from 1 child to 2 seamlessly. She honestly made it all look so easy (even though I know that it isn't!).

Sadie is a doll baby! She has the most beautiful peaches and cream skin with lots of dark hair. When I saw her through the glass in the newborn nursery, I said, "She looks just like Snow White!" She is such a beauty!

I texted Wade with all of Sadie's stats & a picture as soon as she was born. His reply was "Awwwww, so sweet. Grab her and run." Ha ha! Believe me, if I thought that I could get away with it, I would have followed his advice. ;)

Just a couple of hours old...

Can you say "new Mama glow"???


The Carpenter family is pretty smitten with Miss Sadie!

1 week old today!


So sweet...

I have exercised extreme restraint by not spending every waking moment over at the Hunts' house. It has taken LOTS of willpower. :)

I can't wait to watch this precious baby girl grow up. I know that she will be such a blessing to everyone that she meets. In the mean time, though, I am going to hold her and breathe in that sweet newborn scent as often as possible. Man, I love newborns...

Happy Independence Day!

God Bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.