Lot to be Thankful for

I am in a very thankful mood this week! Charlotte is 8 months old now, and such a sweet, beautiful little addition to our family. Jackson keeps me very entertained and I love being able to interact with him now that his vocabulary has skyrocketed. Brandon has a great job that he really enjoys and is almost done with his MBA program. And after 3 years in our place, we are moving to a house in 2 days! I am so excited and would actually have some pictures to post, but I have been packing for the past couple weeks. I will catch up with those starting tomorrow though.

For now, we are getting loaded up and preparing for the move. Jackson LOVES his new house, especially the bathtub, his room, and the backyard. And I love seeing him so happy! Charlotte will appreciate napping without interruption from her brother too. :) It is going to be a fun new stage for our family for sure!

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Cooper Forest Pearson is here!

First picture with his Aunt Kimberly

My older brother (Paul) and his wife (Erin) were blessed with their first child on Tuesday! Cooper Forest Pearson is my newest nephew and the 12th cousin on my side of the family. He is absolutely adorable and such a sweet blessing to our family. I drove to Austin on Friday with the kids to hold little Cooper and introduce him to Jackson and Charlotte, and we had so much fun. Jackson is already a pro at saying "Cooper" and Charlotte really enjoyed playing with all of his toys. :)
I always wondered what it would be like to see my big brother holding his own son, and it was really great. He and Erin are so natural and sweet with Cooper. It always amazes me to see new parents with their baby because they just instinctively know what to do and seem so relaxed. Paul was holding Cooper and changing his diaper (never thought I would see him do that:) and just adores that little boy. But who wouldn't? He is such a sweetheart! Welcome to the fam, Cooper!

Looking like his Daddy with that furrowed brow!

cute newborn face

first picture of the cousins together. I could not get both of them to hold still...go figure!

Proud Grandma!

Big eyes

It won't be long before we head back to Austin because we miss Cooper already!

ND comes to SA for Halloween!

We had some visitors over Halloween! Grandmommie, Brittany, Bubba, Camryn, Brent, and Emily all headed to SA! Brandon was still in Europe, but we tried our hardest to have a good time without him. It was a full weekend of the outlets in San Marcos, pumpkin patch, Notre Dame game, trick or treating, and lots of hanging out! It was a blast to say the least, and between the three munchkins, we stayed busy. I can only imagine how it will be as they get older and more mobile...we will need lots of coffee and/or Dr. Pepper for the adults. :)


Gotta love licking the spatula after baking!

The many faces of Charlotte...
"The smile"

"The growl"

"The giggle"

Camryn and Charlotte going for a ride to the pumpkin patch!

B and B

Bent, Emmy, and Jackson ready for game day!

Sweet pumpkin

Chattin' it up

Cuties!

Chillin' on the pumpkin

Trying to pick up the pumpkins of course.

Sweet Smile

The Dobson fam

Me and Britt with our little ladies

Brent and Emily are naturals!

Charlotte needs kisses for being so cute!

Lady bug and flower

Grandmommie helping us trick or treat

yummy costume!

Typical morning scene.

Watch our for my pirate...

...especially his sword!

Arrr!

And now, Brandon is home! He had a good time in London and Brussels, but I think he is VERY happy to be home. It probably helped that Jackson and Charlotte gave him a warm welcome. They love their daddy quite a bit! We have jumped into this week and are trying to catch up on everything. And on top of all of that, my newest nephew was born yesterday! Cooper Forest Pearson is way too cute for his own good! I am going to go visit them on Friday, so I will post pics once I take some. Jackson is practicing saying "Cooper" already and it comes out as "Cooper Cookie Monster." So funny, those two boys are going to raise hell together someday, no doubt.

Seven Months!

Our little Charlotte is 7 months old! I can hardly believe it. She is interacting so much and down to two naps a day, so we have a pretty noisy house most of the time. Jackson likes to give her big hugs all the time, and most of the time she likes them. She has also taken up growling which is hilarious! I think it is her way of trying to scare Jackson away. :) Her blonde hair is coming in thicker by the day and it won't be long before I can get some pig tails going (my favorite hair style as a child). She is getting a little attached to Mommy, but in general she will go to anyone. And we have seen a little bit of pre-crawling moves, so I am preparing myself to have two crazy kiddos "exploring" my house soon!

A little evening walk. They like riding together.

Sunday dress. Miss animated.

Charlotte LOVES pumpkins!

Brandon is in London and Brussels this week with his MBA program, so I am pulling out all the stops to entertain the kiddos. We went to the zoo yesterday morning, and Jackson set the record for fastest child to get from one exhibit to another. He checks out each animal, but his interest lasts about 3 seconds before he wants to see the next one. I got a workout keeping up with him. The one big exception was the Lion which decided to do some roaring when we passed by. Jackson was fascinated by that and has been roaring ever sense. Between that and Charlotte growling, I feel like I am living with two baby lion cubs. :)

Big fish!

We have had some serious adventures this week, but we are missing B bigtime! He is walking all over London at the moment and going to see Les Mis tonight...lucky duck. :)