Doing My Own Hair and Brushing My Teeth

Merit likes to brush his hair and brush his teeth after we get done with our bath. He loves sitting in front of the mirror and he fits perfectly inside our bathroom sinks. What a cutie!

Wearing Mommy's Old Shirt

My mom and I found a couple of my old ski shirts when we were going through boxes at her house. This shirt was one of my favorites. Aunt Alicia actually wore it too. It fit him almost perfectly and has just a couple of small stains. It will be a great tshirt for him to play in. It brings back great memories for me.

Hanging with Papa D

Well, you can't see Papa D in this picture but he is the one holding Merit. Papa D came to Dallas for the drag races in Ennis. He and Daddy spent Saturday and Sunday at the races but spent the evening hanging out with us. Merit loves spending time with Papa D and hopefully he'll get to see Grammy soon too! Grammy and Papa D gave Merit some really cute new clothes for his birthday. He is wearing one of the shirts in this picture.

My Pal Scout

Merit adores one of his new toys. Tim & Holly gave him My Pal Scout for his birthday. It is really

cool! It comes with a USB cord and you can personalize the dog to say your child's favorite foods, color, songs, etc. It is adorable! Thank you Tim & Holly!

Mimi & Poppy's Anniversary!

We took Mimi to this great little Italian restaurant by our house to celebrate her and Poppy's wedding anniversary. The restaurant is named Besa's; the food is delicious and the atmosphere quite cozy. She really had a great time and so did we! Merit had actually not been there yet and even though he didn't have their food he still enjoyed it. Happy Anniversary Mimi & Poppy! We love you!

Swimming with The Johnston's

The Johnston's invited us over to swim before the weather turned too cold. We had so much fun! Merit loved swimming with Carolyn. She is a great babysitter! Merit really adores her. Thank you for having us!

Protein Powder Already!

It's never too early to start building muscles, right??? Okay, so it's a little too early. However, Merit really loves to get JP's protein powder out of the cupboard and push it all around the house. It is so funny to watch him. Of course we have taken videos of this amazing feat!

Playing with The Alphabet Train!

Merit got so many neat toys for his birthday. However, his favorite seems to be The Alphabet Train from Aunt Alicia and Uncle Marc. It is a VTech toy and probably one of the coolest I have seen. There are blocks of letters and you put the blocks on the train. When you stick the block on it tells you the letter and has the cute beat and rhyme that goes with it. Needless to say, I have been singing the alphabet songs over and over again in my head. Thank you Aunt Alicia & Uncle Marc!

Merit's Birthday at PCA!

Cupcakes for all of us to enjoy!

My class with Merit

Carolyn, one of my former students, came by to see Merit too!

Mimi brought Merit to Mommy's school to celebrate his birthday. My kids were so excited! Some of them had not met Merit yet. A few of them brought Merit gifts. We had cupcakes and sang, "happy birthday". It was a fun day!

Merit's Cross Turns 1!

Big Boy Car Seat

Merit graduated to the next stage car seat. I cried just a little on the way home. I kept looking at his legs dangling and he just looked so big. I got over it though. I know I need to love every stage. Merit is a such a blessing.

Merit's Cupcakes and Smash Cake

Merit's Smash Cake


Sharon came over the Friday before Merit's party and helped me decorate and design Merit's Smash cake and cupcakes. I had the idea in my head but needed someone else to confirm and brainstorm with me. Sharon is so talented and graciously offered to come help me. Alicia couldn't make it in town until late Friday night and normally she would be the one I'd call on. I think everything turned out great! I bought cute race cars for the center of each cupcake. We iced the cupcakes with chocolate icing and then used white icing to make the road stripes. Sharon had the wonderful idea of coloring coconut green to look like grass. For Merit's cake I made an Organic oil free cake and iced it with homemade Organic chocolate icing. We cut out one of the Merit Motor Speedway crests and used a toothpick to post it behind a red corvette. We then cut out two sets of racing flags to go on either side of the corvette. I was so happy with the way everything turned out! Thank you Sharon for all of your help and great ideas!

Grandmom's Birthday Celebration!

Grandmom and Aunt Susan flew in from Corpus Christi for Merit's 1st Birthday party. What a special weekend! Grandmom's birthday was Saturday so we celebrated her birthday on Friday. Amy, Kevin and the boys came too! Merit loves playing with his cousins. The party was at Nana and Popo's house. We all brought our bathing suits but never got around to swimming. We were having way too much fun watching the little ones play with all of Nana's cool toys.

Grapes, yummy!

Merit really liked his first taste of grapes! Green grapes are one of Daddy's favorite types of fruits so it doesn't surprise me that he liked them. Merit is a good eater. He likes everything I have given him!

Labor Day Fun!

Swinging with Mommy

The girls and the little ones.

Merit and Ashleigh eating Ashleigh's pretend food.

Ashleigh's Grandad, Richard, showing the Merit cool stuff on his iphone.

We enjoyed spending Labor Day with Debbie, Jon, Ashleigh and their family. Our good friend, Aimee came in town from Arkansas too. What a treat it was to get to see her! We had good food and lots of fun. Merit loved playing with sweet Ashleigh. They are so cute together.

Playtime with Ashleigh

Ashleigh has so many cool toys. Merit always looks forward to going to her house to play. Mommy likes him going there too. I know he is in great hands when he's with Debbie. Thank you Debbie and Ashleigh. We love you!

Bubble Bath with Mimi

Merit loves bath time. Mimi likes to give Merit bubble baths. I had a meeting at school and this is just one of the fun things they did while I was working. Thanks Mimi for keeping my sweet little boy clean!