Welcome Baby Zay Party!

by Holly

Our dear friend Erin hosted a reception in her home for us in October, to welcome Baby Zay so that our friends could come to us instead of us having to try to make all the rounds. It was so sweet of her and we had a great time. So many people were able to make it and oh, how it made me miss my Allen/Plano area friends!!!

Kay Lyons, Lauren and DeeDee Murray at the refreshment table. Nice spread, Erin!

Erin Jones and Kim Whiteside, dear friends

Amy Tokarz with her sweet kiddoes Shelby, Knox and Jerzy

Abbey and Salomae Mulder- Abbey kept Eli for a few months after I went back to work, and what great memories!

DeeDee Murray with Baby Zay, me in the background. Our little angel!

Fun at Stonebriar Mall

by Holly

We made a quick trip to Allen back in October to visit friends and introduce Baby Zay. The first big event of the trip was a visit to Stonebriar Mall (Zay's first, and the first that Eli remembered). We started with Build A Bear, where we had our nephew's bear repaired (his voice box was broken), made a puppy for Zay for Christmas and picked out new clothes for Eli's bear for Christmas. Eli had fun doing this and was so sweet to watch.

Next up was a man outside of Build A Bear making balloon animals. Of course we chose Elmo- how cute is this?!

Daddy with Zay and all of our loot, hanging out at the food court.


Our dear friend Erin paid for Eli to ride the carousel- fun!

South Plains Fair!

by Holly

We had a great time at the South Plains Fair on Saturday, as we always do. It was Eli's second time around, although I don't believe he remembered being there last year. And Baby Zay's first fair experience! He was more interested in being fed than anything, but I love doing stuff together as our new family of four.

Justin and Zay leading the way into the festivities!

Eli's first carousel ride. I thought he might be afraid of the fast movement or loud noises, but he had a blast. The entire ride was narrated by his "Yeehaw! Giddyup, giddyup, giddyup. Yeehaw!" What a fun time!

Daddy and the boys walking through the pig barn.

Eli braving it to pet a sheep in the 4-H pen. The lady was very nice and assured me that he did touch the sheep, once. :)

He was more brave with the baby chicken, but he's a pro at this. Nana has a baby chicken that he made friends with last week. Too cute!

Baby Zay is 2 weeks old!

by Holly

Can't believe its taken 2 weeks to get pictures of our precious baby Zay on the blog- wow! But I wholeheartedly agree with our pediatrician on this: "The first two weeks are about survival." Anyway, we are all doing well and Zay is growing and eating great. He is up to 9 lbs 6 oz as of Tuesday, and is such a joy to us. He's already outgrown the newborn clothes for the most part, which is a little sad, but so great that he's doing well. Eli is a wonderful big brother, wanting to hold and feed 'his baby', bringing us whatever we may need for Baby, and just so precious when he talks about loving his 'baby boy'. Thank you all for the prayers, visits, gifts and well wishes. The transition to a family of four is a little overwhelming but we wouldn't trade it for anything!

Daddy and Baby Zay, still in the OR. Note Zay's footprints on Justin's hat- thanks to a wonderful nurse who also took about 70 pictures for us so Justin could enjoy the birth without worrying about a camera.

Our first family photo. I love that I have an almost identical one from when Eli was born.

Eli is a big fan of Zay's bouncy seat and frequents it for watching cartoons. No worries- ours is stationary and doesn't actually bounce so he can't hurt it.

Proud big brother!

My boys! Eli, Daddy and Zay just hanging out on the couch.

Zay Isaac Noble

Zay was born at 7:43 am. He was 8 pound 5 ounces. He was 21 inches long. Mom, Eli and I are super proud and excited. Pictures soon.

Baby Shower!

by Holly

My wonderful friends from Sunday School and Eli's AWANA Puggles teacher hosted a beautiful baby shower for me at Olive Garden on Saturday. Delicious food was a given, but we also enjoyed this lovely cake made by Misty, great company and an overall good time. Thank you so much to all of you lovely ladies for celebrating with me, both you hostesses and other friends and family that attended. I felt loved and am excited about sharing our new bundle with you all in just a few days!

Holly and the beautiful cake- triple chocolate, strawberry and white cake layers with a fondant baby on top!

Me with the hostesses: Renae, Lee, Katie, myself, Sarah, Misty, Kelley

Teresa, Holly, Mom Kirby, Moma (Nana)

Nana and Holly with the beautiful basket of goodies from the hostesses

Isn't this gorgeous???

Summer Fun- Part 2

by Holly

We took Eli to Mr. Gatti's to have pizza and play games the evening before he went camping with my family for 8 days. One last evening of fun with Mom and Dad. He loved it, but his favorite thing was to ride the motorcycle, which we do not put money in and he doesn't know the difference. So we left with nearly a full token card to use next time.

Picking peaches! We went to a peach orchard in July to pick peaches and we all had a good time. It was very hot, but it was an adventure and one of the rules was you could have for free as many peaches as you could eat while you were picking. We took full advantage! So good!

Eli inherited this car from cousins Jared and Tyler, and my brother loaded it in the back of our car with Eli still in it. He thought it was hilarious! I think its hilarious that he doesn't keep it in the backyard with his other riding toys, but insists it stay in the garage with Mom and Dad's cars. So cute.

Enjoying Bahama Bucks! Mama tries to order Eli light colors that will be less likely to stain his clothes but so far he hasn't been impressed. His favorite find has been Daddy's strawberry, so I guess I'll give in next time and let him order what he wants. Notice he has helped himself to all of our umbrellas!

Justin and I traveled to Palo Duro Canyon a couple of weeks ago to watch the musical drama TEXAS. It had been at least 10 years since either of us had seen it and it has changed so much. The things that matter though are still the same. We had a good time, but would have enjoyed a little breeze in the canyon that evening!

Summer Fun- Part 1

by Holly

Eli and I spent the weekend at my parents' house a few weeks ago, while Justin was camping with a friend. It was very hot and we were glad to have the pool up even with a slow leak! This is Tyler (our nephew), me and Eli. E is still afraid of the water by himself, so I held him most of the time and pretended he was a motorboat.

At Friona's Cheeseburger Festival. Again, so hot, and very long lines but we are glad that its a big hit and has so much participation. The admission price gets you a bracelet good for 4 quarters of a cheeseburger and a bag of chips. Then you vote for your favorite cheeseburger. And your plate is a frisbee! I love stuff like this and had fun despite the heat. This is Eli letting you know how he felt about the experience. :) Actually he was very good, better than Tyler did with the heat and the lines.

Eli helping Daddy open his birthday presents. This was a gift card to Best Buy which Eli thought was a total waste b/c you couldn't do anything with it. Justin felt differently. Ha!

Eli's daycare had VBS a couple of weeks ago and each class did a program on the last day. Eli's class did Noah's Ark and Eli was the bunny rabbit. The parents were responsible for the costumes, which is why they are so different. Eli did great and he loved his costume! He insisted on wearing it the rest of the day, even for naptime.

Daddy, Eli and Mama after Eli's program.

32 Weeks

by Holly

I'm 32+ weeks now, feeling generally okay, but having contractions and more discomfort than I did at this time with Eli. Our Cesarean section is scheduled for August 31st, 7 weeks from today. We are so excited to meet our new Baby, but trying to enjoy these last few weeks and prepare Eli for being a big brother. This weekend we were hauling the crib into the house and Eli asked what it was. We explained to him that is where the baby is going to sleep. He thought for a minute, then asked where the baby's room was. I showed him, and he pretended to hold baby in his hands, and had a precious conversation between himself and the baby, explaining where Baby was going to sleep and then showed Baby where Eli's room is. I was almost in tears at the sweet moment. I am so blessed!

15 weeks

25 weeks

30 weeks

32 weeks

4th in Eagle Nest, NM

by Holly

We spent 4 days in Eagle Nest, NM at my parents' trailer house and enjoyed beautiful weather and a nice break from reality. Besides Justin, Eli and myself, the crowd included my mom, my grandparents and Justin's parents.

Eli enjoying some yummy chocolate ice cream from Kawlija's after the parade.

Eli, Mama and Daddy just after the parade was over. Eli had a blast! And this was the first time I've ever seen a boat as part of a parade- very fun.

Eli's very first parade candy. He was so excited, and made a great haul. The people in the chairs behind him made sure a lot of candy was thrown to him, and they shared all they caught with him as well. Thanks!

Serious farmer playing with his tractors on the porch. Eli doesn't do much at all without his John Deere hat, and even got to wear his John Deere boots for the first time this weekend.

Playing Cowbows and Indians on the porch. The slats in the porch made small toys a risk, and my mom did end up having to fish some things out such as playing cards, dice... :)

Holly's Birthday Surprise!

by Holly

Justin surprised me the day after my birthday with a night out with the girls! Lee and Katie picked me up at the house, while Justin headed to Katie's house with pizza to share with her husband and kids. We had a delicious dinner at Abuelo's complete with Dulce de Leche cheesecake (mmm.....). After that we took in a movie, which was a treat as it had no affiliation with Disney or Pixar! Ha! Lee has two girls, Katie has two boys and a girl and I have my Eli, so our hands our full and we were delighted to have an evening off with adult conversation and a relaxing schedule. I can't wait for their birthdays in just a few weeks- free babysitting again, Dads??? Thanks Justin, it was a wonderful surprise and meant so much to me.

Lee, Holly and Katie

My actual birthday gift from Justin was the fabulous camera this photo was taken with! Its tiny and fits in a small case in my purse, and works amazingly well for its size. I love it!

Happy Birthday Holly

Happy Birthday to greatest wife I know.  Eli and Baby say Happy Birthday too, albeit with throwing cherrios and kicks. 

My Eli

by Holly

Justin bought me this fabulous pregnancy pillow for Easter and we all love it. Its a battle at naptime as to who gets it, but I usually give in since I use it every night.

These beautiful flowers are from Justin, the week following Mother's Day.

And these are lovely flowers that my Eli picked for me in the yard. He is so precious wanting to do sweet things for Mama, and he just learned how to use 'You're welcome' appropriately so we love telling him thank you even more now. :)

My Growing Belly!

by Holly (I hope you didn't think this post was by Justin! :) )

Holly at 15 weeks

Holly at 25 weeks