Baseball and Babies!

 Playing baseball with the boys is never dull.  Eli and Cullen are both built for sports and we believe they will be successful in whatever they choose to play.  

For now it is T ball for Eli and Cullen... well he pretty much goes for whatever Eli likes ;-)

The evening was beautiful and the perfect setting for belly pics and baseball!

Cullen is pretty good at hitting the ball and has cute running form

Eli could work on his pitching, and well, I could work on keeping my facial expressions a little more flattering while focusing on hitting the ball.

E & C are competitive but playful.  Eli was a little rough on the above tag out though.

Love Cullen's facial expressions, I know he gets them from me!

Daddy's turn to catch while E pitched to C, then daddy and finally Daddy assisting Cullen.  Both Matt and C hit the ball.  

Ok, so I got a little distracted while they were playing and decided to take a few pics of myself.  1st, grey hair check and my suspicions were right, they were sprouting out everywhere! 2nd, belly shot, I may have only been 5 weeks pregnant but I knew there was already a belly forming.  3rd, "belly shot" again, I'll look back and think I was CRAZY for thinking this was a belly!  4th, God's beauty!  I love love LOVE his creation.  

Photo shoot ensues... randomness but fun!

Worn out and heading home!  Matt and I have two very handsome little boys

Ugh, adorable!

Pregnancy Story:

Matthew and I are having our THIRD baby!!!  Although we were trying we were still genuinely surprised when the pregnancy test read PREGNANT!  

Thursday morning= 1 day late, but I was certain that lateness was a fluke.  To put my mind at ease and move on to the next month I decided to take a test.  My mindset when I took the test Thursday April 19 at 6:35 a.m. was negative... the test would be negative, my mood would be negative and Matt and I would have to wait another month for a baby.
Wrong :D 

I wish I had waited for Matt to be around, but I didn't think that there would be a positive.  It wasn't worth it to me for him to see me sad.
Thank goodness God had already written a different story than the one I had made up in my head...

The timer took forever to stop flashing on the test, so to waist time I started getting ready for work.  Probably 5 minutes later I decided I'd glance at the test to affirm my negativeness.  

DOUBLE TAKE!  I shouted with joy and thankfulness and started crying with happiness (a rarity) because the test was not negative... it was most definitely positive!  We were pregnant!  God had blessed my womb with another baby and member of our family.  

Overjoyed sums up my entire being at that moment.  

I called Matt and couldn't contain myself, I rushed through telling that I woke up expected negative bla bla bla but it was positive... "We're having another baby; thank you God!"  

I wanted to announce it to everyone that we were pregnant and had matt start taking pics that evening.  We took the boys to the practice at the field at the high school.  Seemed like a good enough spot to start taking pics to me.  Matt was a team player.  I'm happy with them, but much more happy with the photo shoot I did a few weeks later with one very talented Mrs. Jennifer Wildey.  See her blog/ website for great photograpy.  She is going to document the pregnancy and we will make a book of them... I am looking forward to all the fun we will have.  

Goal #1 = stay in shape! 

Boy or Girl Boy or Girl... Who cares! 

Sweet Little Averley

Averley is the daughter of two precious friends of ours, Chris and Courtney Bruce.  Courtney is a woman with a heart for EVERYONE!  No one is unloveable to this woman.  

She and Chris have two boys, McCoy and Hudson and an adorable daughter Averley.  

Courtney threw her a ballet party for her 2nd birthday, and leave it to Courtney, she invited E & C to join in the fun!  

I am soooo glad she did!  I love getting my fill of all things little girl through the daughters of my friends.  

A little unsure and possibly overwhelmed by all the pink!

The hub was transformed into a dance floor for all the little girls and boys who attended.  We had a great time; tutus were passed out and danced in, hula hoops swung around kiddos waists... and rolled/flew across the floor, balance beams and tunnels were crawled over and through.   

Cullen kept his distance and watched from outside the circle.   

Mommy and daughter getting their groove on. 

Cousins! 

My precious niece Hailey and her equally precious cousin, Reese 

Knox wasn't opposed to the fun! 

A friend loving on the birthday girl  

Dancing 

Where the boys felt more at home.  

Creative... she used ice trays from dollar store to put cut up snack in. 

McCoy, Hudson, Eli and Cullen had a great time tossing hula hoops and bouncing balloons.  

How sweet are all of these little girls dressed in pink  

Pink and Basketball Jerseys, what a great combo!

Happy Birthday Averley

Birthday banner Courtney made to decorate the cake table  

Cullen and his buddy Tobin singing and dancing away on stage once the party died down.  

We are very thankful for the Bruce family and had a wonderful time celebrating Averley for her 2nd birthday!  In my opinion, I need a little more pink and tutus in my life! 

Happy Birthday Eli

March 18, 2008

Matt and I were greeted with the words "It's A Boy!" on a thursday afternoon at 2:01 pm March 18th.  We had waited 9 long months to know if we would be blessed with a son or with a daughter.  

Many guessed we'd have a girl... wrong :-)

During delivery Dr. T even said, "It must be a girl because she is reaching for her credit card..."  I thought... oh I have a girl!  

Then he very quickly said, "Oh no, this is most definitely a BOY!"  

I went through a moment of confusion until Eli Oliver Srp was placed in my arms to be loved on and change my life forever.  

 Matt and I were immediately overwhelmed at the fact that we were now a family! 

If you're a mother then you know the feeling of seeing your child for the very first time.  It's fabulous!

 Eli weighted 9 lbs 5oz, and he was 22 inches long.  He had NO hair, was chubby cheeked and had hands and feet the size of a three month old.  

My sweet Eli is now 4 years old and growing like a weed.  

We had a great time celebrating him with family by keeping it simple and at home.  

The night before his birthday, while he was sleeping, I decorated his door with streamers and balloons.  

A happy surprise for Eli... Thank you Pinterest ;-) 

Good Morning Birthday Boy!

The Loot

Birthday Cake Baked in Tin Cans.
I had a great idea to make the batter from scratch using whole wheat flour.
My great idea and Eli's cake ended up tasting like an iced muffin but good nonetheless!
... sugared candies were necessary to add a bit of sweetness.

It is wonderful that my boys love each other!

Silly faces, mine... a bit scary.

Pappy and Gigi made it by to celebrate 

Gift opening was a joyful time

I really believe that the majority of people who know Eli have been blessed by him in one way or another.  He is truly all boy and truly all teddy bear.  I'm so glad that the Dr. called out, "It's A Boy!"    

Happy Birthday Eli! 

Corvettes are Everywhere!

About two weeks, April 20th, we took Eli and Cullen to visit Grandpa at the Boerne Corvette show.

Grandpa Jim owns a 59 red corvette and the boys LOVE it!  

They feel very special being able to sit in a hot rod many people stop to drool over. 

 Pa is very tolerant and this is the only reason E & C get to sit and play in his baby ;-)    

I believe this is the moment a man walked past and seemed worried both the boys were touching the car.  "Boys, don't touch the car... don't touch... oh well"

Cullen made a beeline to this corvette as soon as we arrived.  

The boy has taste and expensive taste.

The picture below is of Cullen's sad face when I told him he couldn't have the corvette on display behind Pa's .  

Taking a break from the action

Buckle up for Safety, even in a parked car!

Pretty Pretty!

 Can never escape work!

Happy Boys!

Ice cream with cousin hannah!  

Our Saturday morning was spent visiting with old friends, laughing with family and taking in the sights of the show.  All in all a great way to spend a morning.