Happy Birthday Jeff!!

Happy Birthday wishes today for my little bro! ;) I'm the luckiest sis to have such an incredible brother! He is such a sweetie! I love watching him be an incredible husband and father! HAPPY BIRTHDAY J!!! I LOVE YOU!!! :)

We spent the morning at the park! It was super fun but HOT HOT HOT!!! We ALL needed a nap after that! The evening was spent celebrating Jeff's day!! Have I told anyone how much the little one LOVES cake?? It is hilarious!!!! What a cutiepie!!


Slides are fun!!


Can't you just hear the giggles???


Happy Birthday songs for Jeff!! Andy got two spoons out of my drawer all by himself! He is READY for some cake! :) He helped blow out those candles for his Daddy too!

More fun with the J. McCoys!

Day two found us in the pool and cooking! Matt made some incredible ribs!! Odie & Andy (who have been friends since they first met) nearly wore us all out playing in the pool! Andy is really doing well in the pool! He is not afraid at all with his swimmies on! "I do it" is his quotable from the weekend! He is talking up a storm and will repeat nearly anything you ask him to. He is all about being a big boy and doing things for himself. He is beginning to figure out using a fork and spoon, can drink from a cup all by himself and is pushing every limit he can!! :) Independent & mischievous year TWO!! :)

Odie has the rubber duckie!

Odie with the quarterback sneak!

Andy wins this round! 6 points! Will he make the extra point?

Yummy! Matt's ribs ROCK!! :)

Mama & her boy!

This is one happy family!

McCoy's Littlest Redhead comes to Houston!

& his parents came too! *heehee* I just adore my nephew---that is NO secret! :) It is SO much fun to watch him grow! One of my favorite moments from this visit happened when I least expected it! I noticed he was soooooo sleepy & asked my little bro if he thought Andy would let me take him up to bed. Jeff said SURE! We had already had a blast with the new tub toys(I'm trying to get every different rubber ducky I can find) during a warm bath! We played & played in the Thomas the train tent(Thanks Catherine & Connor)! Odie & Andy played and played chasing each other around and around the bottom floor of our house! So my little one was TIRED ;)...I scooped him up, found the paci and took him up to a nice soft bed! I was all worried that he would cry because I wasn't Mom or Dad---> as I laid him down & covered him up, he looked up at me with those beautiful baby blues and said (pacifier in mouth) "I love you Aunt Juju" when his little eyes were closing! OMG!! I was teary eyed and happy kissing him goodnight-->"I love you too Andy!" I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS CHILD!!! I am SOOOO blessed to have him in my life! :)

Enjoy some fun pictures of Day one below: :)

Terrible TWOS come to Houston!! :)

Yes, the whole box! :) *ROFL*

TERRIBLE TWOS......Take 2!! And yes, the whole roll!! Apparently I don't understand "kid-proofing" the home! *teehee*

Here is the "innocent" face caught red handed! :)

Thomas is SOOOO much fun!

Can you see Andy tumbling out the door? Choooochooooooo!!!!

South Padre Island

Our fantastic friends, the Kaminskis, treated us to a wonderful few days in South Padre for vacation!!! We crashed their vacation pad and had a TOTAL blast!! There is nothing like good friends, sweet kids, yummy food, hunting crabs by flashlight, PIRATES, kites, sea turtles, fireworks, waves, sun & surf to create tons of terrific memories for summer 2009! It was amazing! Thanks so much Bridge & Stan!!!

One of my favorite moments was watching Catherine SAVE what we think was a sea snail from certain death after it washed up on the beach and was being poked at by some grown beachgoers! Cat marched right into the middle of this group...saw they were possibly hurting what she thought was still alive.....scooped up the yucky gelatinous looking blob and brought it over to our tent! What a brave girl! After putting the blob into her sand bucket with beach water----> a beautiful sea snail began to swim!! It was really amazing! She released it back into the Gulf after a few more minutes---what a SUPER young lady!! :) It was refreshing to see the animal through her eyes!

Other favorite moments included feeding the sea gulls and eating watermelon on the beach sharing with everyone! It was a great time and SO RELAXING!! Good friends like these are hard to find and we cherish every opportunity to hang out with them! :) What a fantastic summer memory!

Har!!!! PIRATES!! Shiver me timbers!!!

The Black Dragon awaits!!!

A REAL cannon fire!!



Fireworks over the bay!! I just LOVE those fireworks!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

I want to give the official shout out to my MOM!!! She's the greatest! She totally keeps our family running!! She always has the necessary things on hand for a fabulous time!! It's awesome that now I consider her one of my best friends too!! Hope your birthday was all you wanted it to be Mom!! I LOVE YOU!!! :)

The 4th at the Frog Farm...

Life is as it should be! It just isn't a proper Fourth of July without waking up to the local fire department parade down White Chapel Road! We had a great time in the pool, bar-b-qing & hanging out. I got to share the first fireworks with my sweet nephew!! (First of many many many more!)

Here are Jake & Andy right after the big parade!! It was adorable--I'm not sure Andy knew what to think of all the noise! He even caught some beads!! :) We are always RUNNING to support these great volunteers who years ago saved our home from a complete destruction fire!

SPARKLERS!!! WOOHOO!! My favsies!! :)

A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!! :)

I wasn't the absolute last to know!!! GUESS WHAT???? I'm going to be an AUNTIE again!! WOOHOO!! Andy, Brandy & Jeff are happily announcing THEY ARE EXPECTING!!! :) AND IT'S A GIRL (as far as we know now!!)

I can hardly wait!! LOOK OUT! Sugar & spice and everything nice!! That's what a little girl is made of!!! :) Ruffles, bows, flowers YIPEE!!! :)

My little Andy is going to make the best big brother EVER!!! :)