Josh Cobbs Photography...

We found this photographer, Josh Cobbs, through his blog and website. He is a member of the same church we go to and he advertised that he was doing a special. A group from our church, including him, are going to Sudan next week on a mission trip and sharing the gospel with villages of people that probably have never heard "The Good News!" Josh asked for a donation to his trip and he would take a few pics for us. It was a little difficult, of course, to get both kids to smile and look at the camera. But I wanted to try while Anna Lou was 2 and Graham 6 months. And Graham wasn't in the best mood since we had to wake him up from a nap to go take these pics. It was a fun attempt and I am glad we got to meet Josh and Jenny Cobbs. They were awesome! Here is his website http://www.joshuacobbs.com/

Graham's Half Birthday!

Our little Graham Haggard is 6 months old! How can that be? He is changing too fast for me! He is a great baby and is happy most of the time. It's funny how things change when #2 comes along. We dont have a true schedule since each day is a little different with mdo, bible study and other activities for big sis. Basically, when he is hungry, I feed him. When he is tired, I put him in his bed. Isn't it funny how I stressed so much more about getting Anna Lou on a schedule as a baby. Was she sleeping enough, was she eating enough? Schedules are good, but aren't always what works once you have more than one bambino.

WARNING- Information overload! The grandmas and I care about this!

He is now 16 pounds (25th percentile) and 26 inches long (50th percentile). I just knew he was so much bigger than that but turns out he is about average. I think I was comparing to little Anna Lou who was always in about the 10th percentile. Graham takes 3 naps most days and normally at least one of those is 2+ hours. He still eats about every 3 hours during the day, and isn't too fond of cereal or baby food yet. At night, he sleeps from 7pm until about 5 am, then eats and back to sleep til around 7:30am. He has been stuck at that one feeding at 5 for a while, so I am hoping he starts to skip it soon! But I can't complain since he sleeps about 10 hours straight every night. He smiles so much and has a funny little giggle when tickled. He loves to sit in your lap and even cuddles sometimes. He is pretty easy going and will let anyone hold him, so far:). Favorite toys are his sophie giraffe, a teething ring and anything that will fit in his mouth, although no teeth yet. He loves watching Anna Lou run around and she still is pretty fond of her baby G! It's pretty fun watching her love on him. Just wait til he is on the move toward her toys. Watch out! Things might change. I cannot imagine our life before Graham came along. He is a such a joy and a precious gift from the Lord! We love our little blue eyed carrot top!!

This is a pic of G that a guy from our church took. He took a few more of A&G that I will post later. Here are a few pics from Graham's half birthday party with our fam.
Blurry kiss from sis.

Help from sis.

Poor G didn't get to partake in the cupcakes.

Can't believe we are half way through his first year! What an amazing 6 months it has been!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Tomorrow, April 15th, is our Honey's birthday!! Our Honey is in Doha awaiting the birth of our niece, Georgia! We miss you Honey, but are so glad you are there with Aunt Sissy, Uncle Nick, Brooks and Barrett!

A message from your other two peanuts at home:

We love you very much Honey and wish you the very happiest birthday!!

Cake Balls!!!

I was awarded the task of making cake balls for my cousin's shower last weekend. Cake balls are such a fad right now and rightfully so! Who doesn't love cake and frosting smashed into a ball and covered with more chocolate! I got a few tips from friends and the internet and practiced on a batch and came up with a little recipe. I by no means am anywhere close to Paula, Martha or Giada. I try to be a little more like Sandra and do things the semi-homemade way. If I can do it, you can too. Some have asked about the recipe and how to construct these little bites of heaven, so I thought I would share. Here is what you will need plus the ingredients to make the cake- eggs, oil and water. Duncan takes the cake, ha!, with cake mixes so I always go with DH! Almond Bark works a little better than chocolate chips for melting. And I normally go with Pillsbury frosting in the can, but couldn't find the classic chocolate, so DH will have to do. You can use any combination of cake, frosting and almond bark that you like. I made two batches. One chocolate and one red velvet.If you need a side kick, get your own. He's mine!
Follow the directions on the back of the box and make the cake batter.

Pour into 9x13 and bake. Be careful not to overcook at all! Notice my not so pretty cake pan. I sent my pretty 9x13 Caphalon cake pan (wedding gift) with goodies to my husband's office and it did not make it back home. Not his fault, but note to self about sending the goods always in throw away pans!

Wish I had a pic of the baked cake, but you know what that looks like. Allow the cake to cool til it is just slightly warm. Cut off any corners or edges that seem a little crispy. They will not crumble well. Crumble, dump, scoop or whatever the cake into a bowl.

Warm the frosting in the micro for a few seconds to soften. Pour into the bowl of the crumbled cake and stir and stir.

It will resemble something like this. Sneak a taste of this deliciosness!

And you might have to let the toddler in your house sneak a taste too. I couldn't resist my sweetness with a little sweetness.

Roll this cakey mess into balls a little bigger than a golf ball. Your hands will be a total mess, so every once in a while wash and dry them and continue to roll. I placed them on a cookie sheet covered in foil, but wax paper would be perfect. Then FREEZE them for at least 30 minutes. If you are like me, this takes all day because you cannot stand in the kitchen working for a super long period of time before being interupted by the 2 small people living here. So...if you need to do it in steps, this is a good stopping point. When you are ready to dip...melt the almond bark in the micro. It is important to keep the almond bark smooth and thin so some reheating may be needed as you go. Also, add a little bit of vegetable oil to the bark. This helps to keep it thin and not clumpy. Here is my assembly line from right to left.

I like to use one spoon to do the dipping. Work quickly. Reheat the bark if you need to. If the bark get thick and goopy- the cake ball might look like this. Not pretty! But still tasty:). Here they are covered in the bark ready to refridgerate.

But not before a little fancy drizzle. Fancy drizzle means you need to add vanilla almond bark to the ingredients list. Melt a little in a bowl in the micro.

I use a fancy ziplock bag for the fancy drizzle. Snip the corner off and drizzle away. Go fast. Doesn't look good when you go slow.

Complete yum! And looks so impressive!

Here is the red velvet with cream cheese icing and vanilla almond bark coating and choc drizzle on the left and the choc cake, choc icing, choc bark and vanilla drizzle on the right. You may need to take a sharp knife to trim up the extra melted almond bark that "puddles" a little underneath each cake ball. But wait until they have been refridgerated and completely harden to trim.

Store them in the fridge, but serve at room temp. Here they are at the party all ready to impress, but most importantly taste awesome!

My litte contribution to the right.

ENJOY!!

Eggs, Bunnies, JESUS!

We had an amazing Easter weekend! Easter is one of my favorite holidays with lots of fun things to do with the little bits, but of course because we celebrate our risen Savior!! My pics are a little out of order. But these are from before we headed to church as I attempted a couple of pics of A & G. Not much luck!! So difficult getting Anna to hold Graham, both look somewhat in the direction of the camera and to get a smile would be awesome!

Our fam at church. We met Honey and Papa there and snapped a few before we sent the babies to the nursery and went to a wonderful worship service.
We went out for lunch with H&P and then both kids crashed in the car on the way home and went straight to their beds when we got home. After naps, since they napped in their church clothes, I again attempted sibling pictures. Ha!

This grass is way more interesting than looking at the camera.

Later Anna enjoyed some treats from the Easter bunny in the backyard.

Silly string which Daddy enjoyed more than Anna.

Sunday night we went to visit Mema and wish her a Happy Easter, but I forgot my camera. Boo! Saturday we went to a huge egg hunt and cookout hosted by Dave's Dad's Cousin, "GiGi." Get that? Dave has lots of wonderful extended family in Plano and it was so fun to see so many of them! Anna really enjoyed drinking from this water bottle all by herself.

Daddy and G

Graham with the other babies, Hayden, Lilly and Abigail.

GiGi had lots of favorites...icecream!

Bubbles!

and Animals!

I couldn't find Dave and Anna anywhere and then I looked across this field and saw them with the horses. That's them in the distance:).

G is a snuggler.

The kids could feed them grass right out of their hands.

This is about as close as Anna got. She loved them, but wasn't interested in feeding them!

Anna with the hostess with the mostess, GiGi! (A&G's Great Aunt Linda)

G getting some lovin' from Mearl.

Papa and G. (By the way- I am so glad that both kids will go to anyone these days! Hope that sticks around!)

And now time for the egg hunt! Here are all of the kids lined up ready to go!

And they're off!

Daddy helping guide AL a little.While G and I watched. (Yes, I attach this "Sophie the Giraffe" to G. He loves it and goes most everywhere with us!) More hunting of the 300 eggs!

Showing me the best part. The chocolate!

Awesome weekend!!!