2 Stellar Realtors worth Checking Out!!

Okay-we've sold and bought a house...with 2 incredibly helpful, professional realtors! We want to recommend them to anyone in the Dallas or Austin area...

If you're in Dallas (especially Rockwall area) you NEED to contact ROD HOLLAND!!

He's a real-pro with an incredible team! In a "soft" housing market, he's on your side and is always looking out for you. You can contact Rod at 972-772-7070 or email.

Now, our most recent EXPERT in Austin is NASON HENGST! Seriously, this guy is such a "go-getter." He was such a trooper going with us and our 4 little kiddos to look at about 30+ houses. Always looking for ways to serve us and helping us find the best deal...these were Nason's chief characteristics...He can be reached at 512-775-7900 or email.

Okay, now enough of that kind of promotion...these guys are just too good to not give them a plug!!!

Lawson is Here!!!

Sweet baby Lawson was born Dec. 12th at 10:57 a.m. weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. What a great Christmas present!! Don't you love Jax's big brother shirt? I couldn't get a good picture, because Jax was 90 to nothing all day, but I had to post how cute this was in a world of let's say "not so cute" big bro and big sis apparel.

Cousins Cousins Everywhere

Mama Don and Aunt Ashley

Mama Don holding her 7th Grandson!!! I love being an Aunt!! I know some of you are wondering if this gives me the itch!!! ABSOLUTELY not!!! He is amazingly adorable, but I am so done!!!

Update

What a crazy month!!! We got a contract on our house and moved 9 days later. On the day we closed, we drove to Birmingham, dropped the kids off, went to Atlanta for a church planting assessment, back to Birmingham to pick up the kids, off to Dallas for two days. We are staying with a wonderful family from our church. Then to Austin to house hunt for 5 days with 4 kids. (we have an offer in on a house), then to Vidor (Jeremy's hometown) for Thanksgiving, back to Dallas, I flew to Birmingham for a few days and back to Dallas for 1 1/2 weeks until off to Birmingham for the holidays and then permanently in Austin after Christmas. Whew!!! For those of you who don't know my Mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer a few weeks ago. She had surgery on Monday and is now recovering at home. Thank God they are confident they got all the cancer. We are just waiting to hear about chemo. Jeremy's Papaw was also diagnosed with stage 3 cancer during this time. He has started chemo and is doing better already. Thank you so much to everyone who has prayed for us during this time. We will be forever grateful!!!

Just a Swingin

Gray and his cousin Parker decided to share a swing at the park! This picture doesn't really show it, but they really enjoyed it. Me helping Jax swing on the big boy swing. We switched him to the smaller swing and he just loved it.

Hanging Out in Austin

All my guys are just waiting to see the bats come out from under the bridge in downtown Austin. Unfortunately, the peak time is August and it was November. They didn't come. Yes, there were tears!!! Thank goodness we weren't the only ones waiting or we would have felt very silly.

May The Force Be With You

The boys had a blast on Halloween. The Texas weather was actually pretty good. It wasn't cool enough for Sam. His outfit was fleece and he was sweating like crazy. He refused to take any of it off or put his light saber down. Toward the end he kept saying "Mom, Hold my candy, it's heavy." It was. Getting candy by just walking up to someones house is Sam's kind of holiday. He walked up, received his candy, turned around, and would yell at the top of his lungs "THANK YOU". So Cute!!!

Obi Wan, Anakin, and Yoda

Hey Tiger

"The Billy"

Tyler is in the 1st grade this year. His class put on a play called "The Enchanted Pumpkin Patch". We love Tyler's teacher this year (we loved last years also). She is very dramatic and creative. When we had our teacher conference with her she told us she wanted Tyler to be the lead in the play. Tyler has been beside himself about this play. For a few weeks he kept telling us he was "the Billy", which was so funny. He was cast as Billy the real boy. Finally, he would just say Billy. The Principal, other teachers, and parents were all invited to come. They had this sign outside the door, programs they handed out, the play, and then a cast party. Tyler couldn't wait for the cast party. All of this in 1st grade. I had to put this on the blog. We were very proud of him and he did a wonderful job. This is the crew we brought plus myself. Sam was really into it, can't you tell?

Mrs. Stout and Tyler Tyler "the Billy" and Vivian "the Wicked Fairy"
The Enchanted Pumpkins

Longhorns Style

Yes, this is how my baby sucks his fingers. The boys love it, because it looks like Gray is doing "Hook em Horns" for the University of Texas Longhorns. Oh Yeah, and Sam wanted a picture with Gray. (Can you tell Sam is wearing a new shirt? Every picture I have put on this post is him wearing this shirt.)

Mama Don and Pajamas

My Mom loves to buy all her Grandsons pajamas. She had bought the youngest 4 pj's, but hadn't bought any for the older boys yet. Mom and Dad were here visiting this past weekend. (We had a great time by the way!) Mom found Ty and Blake twin pack Spiderman pj's. One pair is black Spidey and the other is red Spidey. I am not huge "character" clothing person for my boys. The rule is they can where character pj's and character undies. They, on the other hand, love it. It was just recently that they stopped asking/begging for "character" shoes as we passed them at Target. The boys love these pajamas. Here is the problem: THEY GO CRAZY when they wear them. They start shooting webs, running around the house, and wrestling each other to the floor. So what is more important? Their unadulterated happiness or my sanity?????

I am so Outnumbered

"Where's my hat, Mom?"

Sam is in a baseball hat phase! For a boy who didn't talk until he was almost two, he talks all the time. This is one of his favorite sentences.

Their Faces Say it All

Tyler= serious, calculating, methodical
Blake= fun, crazy, just go for it

Light Sabers

If you have boys you will probably understand this. My boys love light sabers. They think they are the best thing since sliced bread (why sliced bread, I have never known a time without sliced bread). How about the best thing since TIVO. We, no lie, own at least 6 light sabers and they still ask for more. Ok, here is Blake with his blue balloon light saber at the DTS Fall Fest!! Can't you see the joy in his eyes about his lightsaber? (It busted about 5 minutes later and back in line we were for another one.)

The Pumpkin Patch

It was a great Friday afternoon and we took the boys to the pumpkin patch! Rules of the Pumpkin Patch: 1. Don't pick up the pumpkins (the boys probably picked up/dropped/rolled at least 10 pumpkins-Stressful) 2. Don't sit on the pumpkins (Sam must not understand the difference between a stool and a pumpkin) 3. Don't allow children on the carts/wagons (It is a wagon and they are boys, what can I say)
So, we cut the pumpkin patch short, but stayed long enough to run through hay maze a few hundred times, take some pictures, pick out a huge orange pumpkin and three tiny ones, and look at these cool peanut pumpkins below. Weekends with the Self's!!!

All the Boys!!

We have to do something about Sam and his "say cheese" smile!!

What in the World

Here is my sweet baby, I mean BABY, but let me just tell you the things he is doing. He just turned 4 months last week. Not only does he grab onto the bar on his bouncy, pull him self up and look over, but he also gets on all fours rocking back and forth like he is going to crawl (Video coming soon). Now if this was my first born I would be so excited and honestly would think he was brilliant, but seriously I don't know if I can handle it. Say a quick prayer for me if you think about it. Deep breath in, Deep breath out!!

So you think you can Dance???

I don't know how many of you watch this show, but I totally got into it this summer with Mom and Dad. (If you know my parents you are probably shocked that they love this show). Anyway, they always have "b boys or b girls" on that are amazing at Break dancing. This is Blake trying his hand at it. Jeremy is barely holding his foot.
*Don't ask me why it looks like Sam is getting hit in the head with a light saber. Random!!

Jeremy and Mini Me

Horsing Around with LaneyBird

This is Laney, Tyler's sweet friend. They are only about 2 weeks a part in age. As you can tell, they get along great! I couldn't resist putting these on the blog.

The Crimson Tide

Ok, so I sort of have influenced or brain washed, whatever you want to call it, the boys into being Alabama fans. They sure are cute in their crimson and white!!

*Almost all these items were purchased by Papa. Surprise, Surprise!!