This Boy...

...Is the sweetest baby we have ever had.

...Is so laid back and calm.

...Smiles all the time.

...Is adored by his big brothers.

...Disturbs my sleep, but I don't really mind.

...Is a great traveler.

...Is the best snuggler.

...Is a good eater. Was 11 pounds 8 ounces at 6 weeks.

...Likes to be outside, even in our Texas heat.

...has my heart. We love you sweet Declan!

Jellyfish

So, the fabulous birthday party was not without incident. Brandon was stung by a jellyfish. Of all the people and all the days it had to happen, it happened to Brandon. I can pretty much guarantee that he will never go in the water again at the beach, and he will never forget that he was stung. Oh well. Also, you may have heard the little "home remedy" for jellyfish stings, that you should pee on the sting....well, it works, don't ask me how I know, we will just leave it at that.

Brandon at 6

*Brandon is very tenderhearted. He is so sweet to his little brothers, we often see him walking around when we are out with his arm around Ryan or holding his hand. I love how he looks out for him.

*He loves Declan. He wants to sit and talk to him, hold his hand, give him kisses and help him with his pacifier. He even got to feed him his first bottle this week.

*He is so curious. He is always asking us how things work, why things are the way they are. Tiring somethimes, but I hope he always wanting to learn.

*He is as the doctor said, tall and skinny. He is 47 inches tall, and 42 pounds. The kid eats like crazy, but you can still see his little ribs.

*He loves Vietnamese food. If you ask him where he wants to go eat, he will almost always ask for the local pho restaurant.

*He has a very creative side. He likes to make things, build things, make crafts (although, he doesn't like to color).

*He loves his friends, when we do fun things he is always saying, I wish Caleb was here, or talking about what Seth would like. Such a sweet spirit.

We love you big boy! Thanks for being such a great big brother and funny kid, can't wait to see what next brings!

Happy Birthday Brandon!!

My big boy is 6 now!! Where does the time go?? Brandon's birthday was last week and since he always has an opinion about how he wants to celebrate it, I asked him a few months back what kind of party he wanted. He told me he wanted to have a pirate party on the beach with his cousins. I asked him over and over again if he was sure because none of his friends would be able to come. He said he didn't care and that is what he wanted. Well, we didn't disappoint. My mom went all out buying pirate things like hats, eye patches, plates, etc. She even made little foam swords so that we could sword fight on the beach without anyone getting hurt. Then, Brandon wanted to make goody bags for the party. It was so cute, he picked everything out and made special party bags for each kid. I was so proud of him wanting to be so involved and finding just the right things for all his cousins. It turned out to be everything he wanted, he was giddy he was so excited. I love it when he is that happy, what a fun day.

Declan wins the award for most laid back baby. He was a trooper all weekend,

and even seemed to enjoy the windy beach. We love this kid!

After a few hours on the beach, we went to a hotel, swam in the pool and then headed to Kemah. The kids got to ride all the rides and enjoy some cooler temperatures once the sun went down. We ended the weekend at the Space Center and then headed home to dive into a pirate ship cake. It was a birthday party none of us will soon forget! Happy Birthday Brandon!

National Mall

Besides mini golf, the only other thing Ryan wanted to do was see the White House (that is where Roco Bama lives, if you ask Ryan). He actually started crying on the plane when we landed because we weren't going straight to the White House. So our last day in town, we decided to hit the Mall, unfortunately, it was raining, all day. So we did power touring, going from one museum to the next trying to get a few things in and stay as dry as possible. Shauna and Kylee were with us and were real troopers indulging our crazy touring even with the rain.

We made it to DC, took two different metro trains and about 15 elevators because of our strollers, went to the Air and Space museum, Natural History Museum, and the American History Museum, took two metro trains back and 15 elevators to Union Station, ate dinner with Joel, then drove to a few sites like the White House and Iwo Jima. It was a crazy day, but it was worth it, and it acutally turned out to be pretty fun. We had great company and great tour guides showing us around town.

The next day we headed home, and after what ended up being a really rough flight, we made it back to our house safe and sound and completely worn out, and we wouldn't have it any other way. I am thankful that our boys do so well traveling, and Declan has proven that he can tolerate being part of our family because he did great too!

Williamsburg

So we left the city for a few days to go to Williamsburg and do some touristy type things. This seemed like a good idea at the time as we figured the weather would be pretty mild compared to our June heat in Texas. Well, of course, Chris and Erin bring out the record breaking temperatures whenever we go on vacation. It was 96 degrees and humid both days we were there, much hotter than our weather back home in Texas. Oh well, we tried to make the best of it. In fact, Ryan will tell you he had the most fun there playing mini golf. I guess next time we want to take a vacation, we just need to go to a mini golf place and save the trouble of the airplane, hotel, and travel. It is the little things I guess.

The first day we went to Busch Gardens. It was great, the boys rode a ton of rides, we enjoyed the beautiful park, and Chris pushed the limits of his roller-coaster riding. In spite of the heat, we had a great day! And it ended with more mini golf, Ryan was in heaven.

The next day we went to Colonial Williamsburg. It was even hotter this day, and since the city is supposed to be like it was 200 years ago, there was no air conditioning, anywhere. Now, we like to do things, but on this day, we accepted defeat and left after about an hour and went to see a movie ("Up" I defy you not to cry in that movie). Then went back to the hotel for a swim and dinner.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and tried the Colonial city again, it was much cooler and overcast, and since we were not all about to die of heat stroke, we enjoyed our time there much more. It really was a nice few days of just our family enjoying being together, I hope we can do it again soon!

New Friends

We had the chance to meet Joel and Shauna's little girl Kylee for the first time on our trip. She is sooooo cute, and she played so well with the boys. She called them "My guys." Shauna said she would wake up in the morning and ask, "Where my guys??" She also tolerated the boys being, well, the boys with her. They are just a little rough. After one assault in one of the museums, Ryan looked at her and said, "I'm going to marry her." We all agreed that would be fine with us, but that he needed to wait until they were all a little older.

She was so sweet to Declan too. She called him "Baby Duckling." She wanted to hold him and look at him, and she was always worried if he cried that he wanted his mom or his dad. I really hope we get to see them more often as I think the kids would all be really good friends.

Ryan Prayers

So, this is a little off the subject of vacation, but I wanted to post before I forget...

Ryan always wants to pray before dinner, which is really cute, and the stuff he prays for is even cuter. His prayers always go something like this...

"Dear Jesus, Thank-you for the food, thank-you that Declan is part of our family now, please help Declan to not be zero anymore, please help Declan to be good at the wii, please help Declan to get stronger so he can eat food, and we love you Jesus, Amen."

I just love him.