taking one for the team

Dear River,

your dad loves you so much that he lets you spit up not only all over him but in his mouth.



you laughed after you did it. so he laughed too.

you are one lucky kid.

love, mom

ps: he also loves me enough to sit there with spit up all over him while I grab my camera to take a picture before I clean it up! lovely.

Thanksgiving 2010

This years thanksgiving was amazing.

I loved celebrating as a family. I loved filling our house with friends. I loved starting traditions with River. and I loved eating more than I should have.

There are a gazillion pictures so I'll keep it short & sweet.

River woke up super early (6:15!) I guess he just couldnt wait to start the day. So we got up and started prepping all the food and getting everything ready that we could.

Freeland started on the Turkey





while I made Monkey Bread (holiday tradition) and started on the Coconut Cream Pie in my christmas pajamas:



You may be curious to know why I started the pie at 7:00 in the morning. Its because I have made this pie 234982734 times before (its freelands favorite) and every time I have destroyed it. And I dont mean destroyed it in a good way.  (meringue = not my friend) So I was determined to get it right this time. But in case it didnt turn out I wanted to make sure I had time for plan B

Then we played:



(thanks cam & adam for letting us borrow some toys!)

and watched the parade:



then we checked the turkey every 30 minutes for the next 6 hours. (it was a 29lbs turkey!)

and set the table:







and then Russ & Corinne arrived from Pittsburgh. With gifts for River too!!

I just want to point out this is his first Christmas gift to ever open:





first he wanted to read it:



then he wanted to eat it:





Thank you guys so much! He loves both the toys!

Then everybody else slowly started trickling in and amazingly the turkey & the rest of the food was all done on time! So we got all the food set up and got ready to chow down:


Freelands amazing turkey!



time to eat









holy yummyness. the food was to.die.for. I dont know why we dont cook these things all the time!

after we all finished eating the kids all went to play:



and Drew went around and took orders for dessert. Yes there was that much dessert. And yes he is that organized:



Sadly the only dessert I took a picture of was my coconut pie. (proud much?) Actually it was just because I took it before all the other desserts arrived and forgot to take another one later! But here is proof that after 2 years trying the pie finally turned out:



and of course we couldnt resist pulling the turkey back out:



I promise he really does like his costume even though he isnt smiling there!





Love that little turkey!!And even though we have now officially spent 3 Thanksgivings away from our families back in Texas .. Im thankful for all the friends we have here to celebrate with. It was such a memorable Thanksgiving for us. And I couldnt be more thankful.

mini free

(like mini-me .. but mini-free. get it? no?)

everyone of course says that River looks exactly like Freeland.

and I agree. But at times I feel like I dont see it as much as everyone else for some reason. Then I was going through the photos from all the festivals and fairs we went to this fall and found this one from River "driving" a tractor:



the same. exact. face.

it cracks me up. There is definitely no denying that River takes after Freeland.

Freeland just started a new rotation on Monday. He is doing family practice this month. Its been wonderful because he doesnt go in until 9:00 in the morning. (normally with other rotations he leaves before Im awake) Ive loved having him here in the morning to play with River and hang out before River goes down for his first nap. I could seriously get used to this!

We also finished our table for Thanksgiving. We now have a table that seats 12 people. Freeland found it for $15! I cant wait to use it on Thursday.

almost finished

okay (I think) this is the last of them. I just went in order that all the pictures were taken. I know I missed a gazillion along the way though. But here are just a few last ones that we took the last day in Texas.

River was asleep when my pop & nana were leaving so I absolutely HAD to wake him up and make sure I got a few more pictures of them (because I didnt have any of just them together looking at the camera) .. and I also had to let my Pop sing one more time to River because I didnt have it on video yet and I refused to leave Texas until I did. (my Pop is a very talented singer and sings the most precious songs to him)







and of course we had to get some of Nana too. I love the lipstick on his cheek!







and then the morning that we left my mom requested some pictures of her & mark with River. (this is what I need people to do so that I remember to get pictures of them together with River .. smiling.. and looking at the camera. pictures that could be framed. Im horrible at remembering to do this! so please remind me! ;)











I love getting caught up finally! Now I need to make it through all the pictures from the fall festivals, the pumpkin patch, amy's wedding, and the new paint in our living room! hold on real tight because Im hoping to get these done asap!

PS: Bethany had her sweet baby boy this morning!!!! Praise God! Cant wait to get to meet him!! 

more aunts & uncles for River

Are you tired of our pictures from Texas yet? Hopefully not because I have more that Im bustin out today!!

So basically we have lots of friends that will always be honorary aunts & uncles to River. And Zach & Vanessa are definitely one of those friends!

While we were in Texas we worked it out with Vanessa to surprise Zach with Freeland being in town. (if you didnt realize.. Freeland wasnt there the whole time. He came in & out unexpectedly! Like 2 days before the weekend before if that makes sense) Anyway..  when we rolled into Waco we originally planned for us to be in the house waiting for them. But long story short we were late and actually pulled up at the same time as they did to their house. Zach didnt see us so Freeland walked up behind him and screamed (the way Z snuck up on maddie all the time when they lived together) and hugged him. It was sweet. And Vanessa's parents were also in town and so generous to share their time with them with us!

Then the next weekend they were in Little Elm visiting Zach's sister and they made even more time for us again and stopped by our house. It was seriously such a treat to get time with them again. Here are some pictures we snapped before they left.









you cant even tell because she is so stinkin cute but Vanessa is prego! There is a little future basketball player in this picture too! Such a treat to witness that little bump in person!



PS - Im heart broken we didnt get pictures with Matt & Katie while we were all at lunch!!! Next time! Pleaaaaaase! And I also have ZERO pictures of Crystal, Meagan, Rachie, Ashley, Richmond, etc!! But if I did they would all fall into this post so lets pretend while I go cry about it.

PPS - PLEASE read Zach & Vanessa's blog about how faithful the Lord is. Such a great story!

big chiz and lady

As I mentioned before a lot of our time in Texas was spent with family, especially with Big Chiz (my dad's nickname and also what River will call him. our last name is Chisum for those who may not know where it comes from) and Lady. And like I said in my last post it was the first time in forever we were all there at once.. us, my brother, my step brother, and his fiance! (who I had yet to meet before now!) Previously, not only were we in different states - some of us were even in different countries! (Andrew is back from Africa now though & living in Arkansas) So really it was such a treat to all be under one roof!

It was a crazy weekend for everyone because we were all going in different directions (us to San Antonio, Andrew visiting family too, and then of course the Rangers were playing so everyone was going to that game too!) But it was such a treat that we did find time to spend together. And we also got to enjoy a nice dinner to celebrate everyone's birthdays too! (tracy & andrews!)

My dad & Tracy also hosted a little get together at their house with all their friends & all of us kids. It was nice to see so many of their friends and get extra time with Andrew, Elizabeth, and Jason before everyone headed back home. Here are some pictures we took right before we all had to say bye (until May when Andrew & Elizabeth are getting MARRIED!)












looks like he is either seriously listening to my brother or trying to figure out how to grab that beard!




love them both laughing here


cute family


PS: thats one of my favorite outfits River has on. Love the sear-sucker pants. I just wish I would have unrolled them for the pictures so you could actually see them!

Also, Im starting to wish there was a way to get all of both Freeland's & my entire family.. cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, etc. etc. to all come to Erie at once & visit. I know it cant happen. But wouldnt it be nice!