Brayden's birthday party

We had a sportball party for Brayden's birthday this year. A coach came to the school and lead the kids in various sporting activities. All the kids had a blast, esp. Brayden who kept saying all day that it was the best birthday ever. We did a Star Wars theme for the invites, decorations and cupcakes. It took me 7 hours to make these little babies, but they were worth it! R2D2, light sabers, Yoda, red, blue and black clones, C3PO and some with just plain stars.
Brayden and Walker - great shirts!!

Big smiles!

High jump.

Getting ready to score.

Listening to instructions, I think Patton was the only one paying attention :)

Make a wish

mmmmmm.

Chocolate icecream too?

Maybe this is why it was the best bday ever - Brayden got his long awaited Nintendo DS and star wars game of course.

Addison

Where has all my time gone? Having three kids is more overwhelming than I originally thought. It seems I am doing a lot less playing and a lot more parenting and fighting fires. The shining light though is that I have 3 amazing kids, the last of which is the girl I always wanted. She has become my personal Barbie doll, I LOVE to dress her up everyday and try out new outfits and bows. The bows have not gone as well as I would have liked. It seems that all the hair she has sort of gets in the way. Here are just a couple of new pictures, some with bows and some without.January 4, 2010January 9, 2010January 20, 2010 - 2 months oldSitting on the cat, he seems to always be in her bed. January 24, 2010

January 30, 2010 - Cutielicious

The best of 2009...

Wow, what a year, I have so much to be thankful for this year and we were blessed in so many ways. I still can't believe they all happened in one year. Here are just a few of the biggest highlights.



Addison Ann McDaniel - what a beauty and such a good baby

2008 Ford Expedition - gotta have something big enough to drive these 3 kids around

Our new home - What a great experience, we have a new beautiful home built just for us! Now if someone could please come decorate it for me.

Bill's promotion - He amazes me everyday with what he is capable of and how many people he empacts

Walker Boyce - My brother announced he is going to have a 4th baby in June!

Cody starts mother's day out and loves every minute

Brayden starts his 4th year of preschool, we have some rough moments in the beginning but by the end of the year he has really changed and is the greatest kid.

New Year's Eve

I am not a big fan of lighting fireworks. I love watching fireworks when someone else lights them, like the 4th of July off my parent's back deck or at a Round Rock baseball game, but not in my own backyard. Bill bought a bucket of fireworks for the kids for new year's eve this year and the boys had a blast lighting them. Cody was a little scared at first but once he saw Brayden having fun he jumped right in.

The sticker says "PYRO bucket assortment" which I thought was fitting. throwing those little white things that pop

partners in crime.

Three Beautiful Kids!

Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was again a little crazy. You would think I would be used to the excitement by now but it still catches me off guard every year. I think especially this year with a new little baby added to the mix. We spent Christmas eve at a friends house for a little party. Santa showed up and gave each boy a toy from his sack which both boys thought was really neat. We came home and starting preparing for Santa to come again. Christmas morning was super fun, I have never seen so many toys, Santa out did himself this year. We packed everyone up after opening presents and headed to my moms house, where we were met with 5 other children and their parents. What a great time having all the kids together. The next day we left for Angleton bright and early and spent the day with Debbie, Joe, Josh, Kristy and Zoey.

And the following day it was off to JoLynn and Johnny's house

and then to my grandmother's

before a long trip home. The car ride home was a disaster, I am not sure it could have been much worse with all the bathroom stops and spills and crying and yelling. It was the longest 4 hours Bill and I have ever spent in the car and we vowed to never do that again...until next year. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without all the crazy travel schedules and famliy events, I know if we didn't do it all Bill would have to listen to me complain about how bored I am :)

Our New Addition...

So this is the first time I've ever contributed to the blog, or actually submitted a blog period, but I guess this moment was just to much not to share with everyone. Friday, November 20th, at 3:47 pm, April and I welcomed Addison Ann McDaniel to our family. She was 8 lbs 8 oz and 21" long. Everything went very well and April was awesome as usual. It actually went well enough that the hospital let us come home on Saturday evening, barely 24 hours after Addy was born. She is absolutely beautiful. It's hard to describe, but it was different a feeling for me when she was born. Not that the boys were anything less, but I guess I just had the "Daddy's little girl" feeling as I couldn't help but feel she was the most special thing God had ever created. A few other dads I've talked to can relate. They also told me to call them when she turns 15...

I hope this finds you well and that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Halloween 2009

The boys made good use of their costumes this year, wearing them many, many times before actually trick or treating. We even went to a haunted house - which by the way is NOT a good idea for a 4 year old and two year old. We had to run through the place holding the kids and closing their eyes while they screamed. I of course was REALLY pregnant and had a balloon tied to my diaper bag and I am holding Cody. My balloon got caught on a spider web right next to the guy cutting off his hand with a loud chainsaw. It took me a couple of minutes to get it untied and I thought I might have to take Cody to therapy after the whole event. Once we finally got out we laughed and laughed and laughed. We will do it again - when they are in high school.

We had a blast in our new neighborhood this year, I bet there were 150-200 kids. I went through 6 bags of candy! We took the boys just around the loop in our street and their bags were so full and heavy when they got back. They will be eating candy for a whole year I am sure.