Rylie's First Birthday - March 22nd

Rylie had a "small" family get together for her first birthday party.  Rusty fried up some yummy fish and french fries for everyone, and of course cake and ice cream were served!  It was such a fun day with the kids playing on the swing set and jumping in the jump-jump :)

The birthday princess receiving her very own cake.  I love the look on her face :)  It's as if she's thinking, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Ok, maybe I could get into this cake thing...

Now she really has the hang of it...she's so silly with that grin!

Testing out one of her gifts!  They have come in really handy.

Presents!!  I think she enjoyed eating the paper more than pulling it out of the bag.

It is so much fun to be ONE!











Thank you to all of our family for making Rylie's day so special and so much fun.  We are so blessed to have you in the lives of our children!!

Spring is Here!

We welcomed Spring with cousin Cody's 16th birthday.  These young men are so good with our kids, and gracious too.  They certainly don't mind sharing the spotlight with the little ones!  After celebrating we headed out front for a game of chase around the tree, some races and some pictures of the kids with Beeba's Easter decor.  Never a dull moment with these six busy kiddos!

Yet another attempt at a group shot.  Brody and Jackson get the prize for the best cheese face!

Rylie showing off the piece of grass she was eating.  Gotta love this age.

Jamie and Lane contemplating the trouble they can get into with the fountain...

Such a serious face.  I'm not sure if he was serious about the football, taking the picture or me not taking the picture :)  Yes, that is Rylie eating more grass in the background!

CHEESE!! My precious Rylie-Roo posing for a picture. She is such a ham!

Spring Break 2012 - The Zoo & HLSR

Everyone looks forward to Spring Break, at least if you are a student or a teacher you do!  Spring Break means more memories to be made with our wonderful cousins, Aubrey, Lane, Brody, Jackson and Gavin!  This year we hit up our two favorite Spring Break hang outs...no not Cozumel...the Houston Zoo and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo :)

Jamie and Rylie getting ready to join their friends at the zoo...

Checking out the elephants with Aubs

Trying to get everyone's attention for a picture...we are always a sight to see, and I'm talking about the adults!!



Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of photos from our zoo trip this year.  I have learned that trying to keep up with a walker (Jamie) and a stroller is super difficult!  We also were traveling without half of our entourage...it was every mommy for herself that day!  Jamie has a tendency to run far and fast, so I only got a few shots at the very beginning of the day :(

Mommy and Jamie all dudded up for the rodeo!

Thanks Aunt Jan for snapping this picture for me.

This picture sums up most of our family outings...the backs of little heads :)





Gavin's cousin got to hang out with us at the rodeo, he's the little guy on the left.  The man in the 10 gallon hat is L to the D...Lane.  I lucked out on the weather this day, Jamie was in her most rodeo looking outfit.  If it had been cold, I would have been in big trouble!

The gang's all here minus Aubs who had a bit of a tummy ache the first half of the day.  I just noticed the AWESOME background we chose for this picture.  Nice...  The trip from the farm to the market is a favorite of the kids and the parents.  I love that the baskets are as big as the kids.

Still making their way to the market.  We had a long detour in the corn.  Jamie and I had to go to battle in order to move on to the next attraction :(  I was THAT mom...

As the sun began to set, we made our way out to the kiddie carnival.  I am so happy that Jamie is starting to branch out and try some new things.  I think that I was more stressed out letting her ride with this without me than she was!  I love this picture too, Lane and Jamie look like they are really trying to fly that plane somewhere!



Being silly in our very first Cowgirl hat!

I am impressed that she was still standing at this point.  Although, she had traded her boots for flip flops.  That fact alone made the hat even more necessary.

Aunt Jan, you stole my hat!!  This picture is adorable if I do say so myself!  We had such a fun time at the rodeo this year.  I can't wait for next year to see my two cowgirls really getting into the animals, rides and other attractions!

It's Been A While...

So after beginning my little blog last summer, I completely fell off the wagon and haven't posted in almost a year!  So here is a little peak at what has been going on in Jamie and Rylie's World!

First, we started back to school and took the CUTEST fall pictures ever!

Jamie, October 2011

Jamie and Rylie, October 2011



Rylie, October 2011

Before we knew it, Christmas time was here! Of course there was no shortage of presents to be found ;)

 



Even in the winter, the beach house is so much fun!

Rylie had as much fun as she could in her pack 'n play...

Cousins and best pals cruising in the jeep!

Timid little Jamie has been getting braver and braver...she loved playing at Chuck E. Cheese for Brody & Jackson's birthday party.

She even made a new friend while visiting the country...

Rylie kept growing and growing...

There are so many other things that they did, that I have to make some separate posts! 



Father's Day Weekend 2011

Father's Day Weekend 2011 kicked off with a birthday celebration full of crabs and crawfish.  We spent Saturday visiting with my cousins, Tucker and Meredith, who were in town for Tucker's birthday.  He was kind enough to bring his inlaws from Louisiana so we could enjoy a true Cajun crawfish boil!  All I have to say is...YUM!

Jamie decided to cool off with Tucker & Chrissy's dog, Paris.  She was so excited about the pool that she didn't even wait to put her suit on!!

 Father's Day started off with a trip to Academy with Daddy.  Jamie thought she'd drive herself :)

 While Jamie and Daddy were gone, Rylie posed for some pictures in her cute outfit.  If only the hat had cooperated!

After lunch with my Dad, we went to see Pops.  While we were there Jamie had a music lesson from her Daddy :) 

All in all, we had a great weekend celebrating with our fantastic family!

Father's Day Weekend 2011

Father's Day weekend started off with a...crawfish :)  We celebrated my cousin, Tucker's, 26th birthday by making him work!  He brought his lovely wife and in-laws in from Louisiana and cooked up some awesome crawfish and crabs!  It was delicious!

Cooks hard at work :)

Meredith and I learning how to crack crabs!

Jamie served as the entertainment for the day.  Her biggest act took place in the pool sans bathing suit!  No she was not wearing her birthday suit...she just got so excited that she jumped in before I could get a bathing suit on her!  By the end of her swim, her diaper weighed as much as she did!

Having a blast

 

The Father's Day celebrations began with a quick father-daughter trip to Academy while Rylie and I finished getting ready to head out to lunch with my dad.

 She's ready to go, keys and all!

 We decided to take some pictures while we waited for Daddy and big sister to get home

Dad's day lunch took place at Del Pueblo with my Mom and Dad and my grandparents.  As usual, Jamie was the entertainment.  She actually stayed happy through the entire meal, including dessert...Tres Leches with her Daddy!

 After lunch with my family, we headed over to see Rusty's dad.  We spent the afternoon just hanging out and playing with Rylie and Jamie.  It was a really relaxing way to finish up the weekend.  Jamie and Rusty even put on a little concert for us :)

The Cousins' Trip to the Zoo

Today we braved the Houston heat and visited the Houston Zoo with our favorite friends and cousins Aubrey, Lane, Brody and Jackson.  Aunt Cassie, Alisha, Gigi and Pat-Pat came along too.  We had so much fun despite the heat.  Here's a little photo array to show our day...

Some monkeys escaped :)

Miss Independent...

Aubrey leading Jamie in the right direction

Even the orangutan thought it was miserable...he dipped his blanket in the water, then wore it!  Too funny to watch :)

I had never seen one up close before...beautiful!

 Jamie has been talking about elephants all week, but by the time we got to them all she cared to do was push the stroller...

Double Trouble!

Can you feel the love?

Pat-Pat and Rylie hanging out at our picnic in the park! 

We finished the day by feeding the pigeons & ducks (they like French Fries) in Hermann Park, then rode the choo-choo.

Fun times were had by all...we can't wait to go back!