Goodbye MDO...

Little Darlin's first day of MDO in September. Miss Priss' last day of MDO in May.
Two little peanuts on the first day.

Two big peanuts on the last day! (Bro insisted on being in this pic! I'm glad he did!)

Little Bro gets to go next year to MDO!

The most loving, nurturing, encouraging and just plain amazing two MDO teachers, Ms. Cindy and Ms. Paula! I love them and Anna Lou loves them!!! We will miss them so much!

HERE WE COME PRESCHOOL!

fountain fun...

Twice already we have been to the Fountain at The Village in Allen.

A good time had by all! Sometimes G likes to observe from the side.
Other times he is all about it!

We met some friends there last week.

I am sure there wll be many more trips there this summer!

30 pounds of precious!

Our little Graham Haggard weighs 30 pounds, actually 29.5 to be exact! He is 18 months old and growing up too fast for me! He is in the 85% in weight and 76% in height. I think he may catch big sis soon. I see a bright future playing linebacker for Daddy! Graham is a little chatter box saying new words all of the time. He will try almost anything and some come out right! Some of his favorites are Mama, Daddyyyyy, Anna, Okie (oskie our dog), Papa, Mimi, Honey, Uh oh, Oh no, OH MAAAAN, Amen, tank you, peeees (please), mo (more), muk (milk), tuk (truck) and lots of animal noises. He is a climber and trying to run so fast. Got to keep my eye on this boy!

He is still a mama's boy but that's ok! ha! Mama can make everything better every time! He loves his Daddy too! He runs with arms up to greet him when he gets home. Graham loves a routine! He has such a sweet heart and loves to hug and kiss. He definitely has some "all boy" characteristics like throwing everything that resembles a ball and holding anything that resembles a bat like he is up at the plate ready to swing. He loves trucks, animals and anything outside. His little personality is coming out! He can be the sweetest, easy going little thing and then on the floor, red-faced screaming the next minute. This boy can throw a tantrum with the best of 'em! Enough to wear Mama out! But those hugs and kisses and quirky little smile will melt ya!

He still LOVES the nursery at church and the sweet ladies that care for him say he doesn't make a peep. He especially LOVES Ms. Shirley in the nursery! She is an elderly lady that has him every Sunday and also had him on Wednesdays during bible study this year. She comes with open arms to get him when we show up each time. I am always a little nervous that 90 lb Ms. Shirley might fall over with Bubba in her arms:). But she loves him to death and he loves her!! What more could I ask for!?

G is good eater! I would say he eats an average amount and likes most things. He sure loves the condiments and dipping. I thought I would never be that mom, but hey, I get it now! He has been very interested in our food lately. I've noticed him passing on plain, kid food and wanting whatever Dave and I are eating. And this boy still loves his milk! He thinks juice is ok and water is for the birds. We'll work on that.

G is careful in new situations. He likes to "take it all in" at new place or with new people. After a few minutes, he warms up, but mama's arms or lap is the best place until then. Loud noise and chaos are not his favorite. This makes sweet thang a little nervous. He doesn't care too much about tv. He might stare at Baby Einstein or Praise Baby dvd for a few minutes or occasionally Elmo.

G adores his sister!!! Anna Lou absolutely hung the moon to him! He wants to play with her, follow her, copy her and just be with her. Most of the time she is great with him and wants him to play with her. I hear some funny conversations, mostly AL telling G what he is supposed to do. He wakes up before her most days and after naps. (Working on that! Not sure why my 3 year old sleeps more than my 1 1/2 year old.) He cries and reaches for her door when he sees that it is shut and she is still in bed. I have to do some major distracting or he will run in the hallway, cry and wake her up.

G has been a very healthy little boy. We have had very few illnesses during his 18 months, but then I went out of town and came home. Seems he was waiting for me to come home to get a sinus infection, ear infection and stomach bug all during that past two weeks. Oh well! If that is it, we are so thankful for our overall healthy boy!

Graham Haggard melts my heart! He is such a joy and not sure what life looked like before he joined the Hall clan. Love you little G to the moon and back!!!

boys and girls...

Desperate for a few minutes to get dinner together, I gave the kids a cut up egg carton to decorate their own caterpillar. G tore his into 20 pieces and tried to get every cap off of every marker. AL sat for 30 minutes and diligently colored each caterpillar "hump" with a different color. (I did the face.)
Although she is 3 and he is 1 1/2, wowzers to the difference between little girls and little boys!

Mama's Day...

So thankful for the moms in my life that make such an influence on me and my family! We were thankful to spend Sunday evening with Honey and Papa. Honey is the absolute most wonderful, creative, giving, warm and just plain amazing Mom and Honey anyone could ever ask for!!! So glad she is mine!!!

I made brisket tacos, rice and beans and Honey brought dips, chips and dessert. I will post the brisket taco recipe soon because you MUST try it! Gotta love the crock pot! We didn't get any pics before church in our pretty clothes, so these will have to do after an afternoon in the backyard and after the kids baths.

(I mean, let's be honest, this is the real mom wardrobe anyway, right?)G and I sharing some strawberry shortcake. He is now into saying "cheeeeeese" for the camera.
On his 3rd piece of Angel cake.I could go on and on about my own mama, my mom-in-law, my sis, my sis-in-law, my grandmothers, great aunt, mommy friends and many more that I am so grateful for! I have some of the most Godly, strong, selfless, nurturing and loving women that surround me. And there is absolutely nothing greater in this world than being a mommy myself! I really noticed something last month when I was traveling. I saw mommies from all over the world caring for their babies just the same. It does not matter your skin color, culture or country, but all moms have been given the same gift. I watched women in airports and airplanes and busy streets and shopping malls all care for their babies just the same. I also noticed the little children and the eyes they had for their mother. Nothing like it! There is absolutely nothing like being a mother. It has stuck in my head ever since my trip about my job as a mom and what I am here to do, right now on this day. I am to pour into these children, meet their needs and love them to pieces! I am so glad God picked me for Anna Lou and Graham.

Treasures from Doha...

I had to get a few treasures for my babes back home while I was in Doha. I found a cute purse for Anna Lou at the mall and Wendi got her a matching wallet. Wendi also bought matching pearl bracelets for Anna and Georgia while we were at the Souqs. It was a little big so I couldn't let her wear it to church on Easter like we had planned, but I had it re-strung and now it fits perfect. Anna Lou has hit the girly stage of purses and jewelry. It's hard to see it in these pics, but your can see the pretty bracelet behind the purse.

Little Graham got a Batman doll from his big cousin's Barret and Brooks. woohoo! We need some more boy looking toys around her and he loves it. Well...he mainly just loves me and Dave singing...na na na na na na na BATMAN!

(This is the day I got home and didn't Daddy dress her well!? However, he did put them in TCU shirts for the church egg hunt instead of the bunny shirts I had left. ha!! oh well!)

Easter Weekend...

Easter weekend was busy and a lot of fun! We started on Saturday with a big egg hunt and cookout at with Dave's family, cousins, extended family, etc.

All of the kids lined up for the hunt.


Papa and Ms. Lorraine helped Anna keep up with the big kids!
Checking out the goods.

Dave and Jerod with G

G smiling big.

We enjoyed a cookout and ice cream.

That night we dyed some eggs for the first.

crazy!

Easter morning we got in our Easter duds and took a few pics before church.

Dave was jumping trying to get them to smile so they started jumping.

My men.

At church, I had to take a pic of Anna putting Graham's nametag on his back. She does this every time and G turns around for her to put it on everytime! Big sis, such a helper!

We met Honey and Papa there.

Our fam

Sweet pic of Papa and Anna Lou

After church we headed back to H&P's where the Easter Bunny had visited.

Aunt Rosie celebrated with us too and brought goodies for the kids.

Then time to hunt!

Mainly what G did, stop and eat.

why not a little game of soccer?

Honey's beautiful table

Only at H&P's can you do this!

We had a such a wonderful weekend! We did try to talk much more about Jesus and the Cross than the candy and the bunny. I am anxious for the days when my kids really begin to understand the meaning Easter. Our service at church was incredible and it was a great celebration of OUR RISEN LORD!!

Funny story- Our neighbor brought Anna a flower in a vase a few weeks ago from her garden. She put it on her dresser and always checked on it. A few days later the flower died and Anna looked up with a sad face and said "Mama! My flower melted!" I then said "no, it didn't melt, it actually died." With a confused look she says "My flower died on the cross?!" Well...hmmm...no! We had been talking about Jesus and the cross and I guess a little of that sunk in but not quite the way I had hoped. We will work on the facts later:)!