Happy Valentine's Day!

Written by Daddy:

Happy Valentine’s Day! One year ago today we celebrated Travis’s impending arrival by having dinner with his grandparents and Uncle Mickey.

Of course we had known that Gara was pregnant since the day after Christmas, but we had not yet broken the news to anyone else due to some early-pregnancy complications and uncertainties. Once we reached the eleven-week mark, most of the uncertainties had been alleviated, and we were ready to share the news with our parents. After 5 years of “When are you going to give us a grandbaby” inquiries, we were excited to spill the beans in person.

We planned a special dinner for our family on Valentine’s Day, hoping that the coincidence of the gathering with a holiday would help us hide the fact that the purpose of the event was for a big announcement. Even though we were able to stay tight-lipped up to that point, each of our dinner guests were suspicious.

 Grandpa was the first to arrive on Thursday night before Valentine’s Day. He asked Gara what she wanted for dinner and she promptly replied, “Cheese sticks.” He claims that was his first tip that something was different. Lovey had declined our invitation to travel in from Lubbock for Valentine’s Day, so Gara let her in on the news since she was not expected to attend. But once she heard the news, she couldn’t bear to miss the event with the rest of the family. After the other attendees learned of the guest list, they had pretty much guessed what was about to happen.

Soon after Papaw and Nana arrived (they are usually last because Papaw tends to run a little behind schedule), everyone gathered in the media room for the special announcement. We had been to the doctor earlier in the week for a sonogram, and we played the DVD of the sonogram for everyone to make the official announcement. Once we watched the video of his little body and clearly heard his heartbeat, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Several “I knew it!”s could be heard as well. Although we did not yet know his gender, and thus did not yet know what his name would be (we had a boy name and a girl name ready for years), we said a prayer for Baby Hill, and thanked God for blessing the new baby with such a great family.

We then celebrated with a prime steak dinner from Allen Brothers courtesy of Grandpa Sam. Everyone watched closely to make sure Gara got plenty to eat, and we had lots of eager hands to help with dishes.

It was so obvious that day the love that his grandparents and family would have for Travis.  The love has grown and continues to be shown all the time.  Here are some sweet pics from Valentine's Day.

Pepper brought us some dairy and soy free strawberry cupcakes.  Delicious!!!

Alternating between the Olympics and the Daytona 500.

Some of T's Valentine loot:

Nana, Papaw, and Aunt Momo stopped by too.

Angel even got in on the action!

Brandon and I didn't even exchange cards this year (our 11th V-day together).  We try to express our love and appreciation for each other often, and now, with our new Valentine, our love just grows and grows for him and each other.

Hope you had a great one with your loved ones!

Xoxo,
Gara

P.S.  We are so thrilled to announce that we finally joined FBC Arlington today.  Brandon and I had been back row visitors for over two years, but God has put so many new and special friends in our lives recently that we know that He wanted us to take this next step.  We are so blessed to have added many more people to our baby-raising "village".

Blizzard 2010

Snowfall sets single-day record in DFW

Posted Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

North Texas hasn’t seen a winter this white in 32 years.  The 11.2 inches of snow that had fallen by midnight Thursday at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport topped the previous record for snowfall in one day of 7.8 inches recorded in 1917 and 1964.  The 12.5 inches that had fallen by 4 a.m. Friday also broke the 24-hour record of 12.1 inches Jan. 15-16, 1964.  Thursday’s snow also catapulted seasonal accumulation to 15.7 inches, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.  That ranks as the second snowiest season ever.  The snowiest was when 17.6 inches fell in 1977-78.  That year, 13.5 inches fell in February alone, also a record.  The snow appeared to have finally stopped falling by 6 a.m. Friday.

So, what do you do when you are snowed in?  Well, we took some pics to document the crazy weather, got out Travis's jumperoo, decided we were going to start rice cereal, and praised the Lord for frozen homemade chili.  :)  And, of course, enjoyed lots of extra time with Daddy.  Grandpa got snowed in for an extra day, too.  Travis thought he was in hog heaven with so many peeps around.

I'm not so sure about this...

Dad and Grandpa showing me the ropes...

Now I'm loving it...

We weren't going to introduce any solids until six months, but we finally gave in.  I am hopeful that this might help his sleeping.  We are going to just do cereal until his 6 month appointment which is in two weeks.  OMG - in two weeks, my baby will be half a year old.  Tear tear!  Anyways, he loved the cereal and wanted more.  He licked the cup clean!!  I have a feeling he is going to be a great little eater!

I also played around a bit with more "no-flash" images.  I really like the way the whole picture is soooo soft, plus it has to be better than a flash going off in the little guy's eyes all the time.  They are not super crisp, but I'm okay with that.  I still think they convey the emotion.

Like father, like son ... too bad mom's focusing skills sucked on this one - notice how crisp the pile of crap is in the background.  :(

Yay for making new memories everyday!

Xoxo,
Gara

First Aggie Basketball Game

Our little family of three headed to College Station last Friday for the Aggie bball game.  I remember planning and booking this trip in early August '09.  At that time we were about three weeks BT (before Travis), and Brandon and I were certain that we'd all be ready for an Aggie bball game by now.  :)  Thankfully, we were right!

We stayed at Rudder Jessup B&B which was absolutely perfect! 

I've always loved to stay at B&Bs and thought that it might be better than a hotel with our noisy little guy.  This particular B&B has a little studio apartment over the garage so we were in our own little space and didn't bother anyone.  As you can see, Travis made himself right at home.

This is the first time he'd slept in the pack n play since he's been rolling and sleeping on his tummy.  This posed a little bit of an issue as he thought it was fun to look over the side.

On Saturday, we met Kimberly, Tyler, and Elizabeth at Wings n More for lunch before heading to the game.  Both babies were super at lunch - Travis started chattering (see previous post and video), but thankfully, the restaurant was loud so nobody but us noticed.  The babies needed naps before the game started.  Elizabeth dozed off just like she was supposed to, but Travis was having none of it.  Imagine that. 

Once we got situated in our awesome seats (Thanks Uncle D! - see above) and the noise really picked up, T decided that he would go ahead and take a nap.  Brandon and I were flabbergasted.  This is the kid that won't sleep in his quiet room where the temp is just right, the white noise is on, etc.  Babies really do have a mind of their own!  T napped for about 30 minutes with all of the whooping and hollering going on around him.  Too funny!

At half, Tyler and I switched spots so Kimberly and I could chat and the babies could hang out.  Elizabeth and Travis were great the whole game.  We never even had to get up to walk them around or anything.  Lots of movement and noise and the biggest tv they'd ever seen made for two very happy 5 month olds. 

Once the game was over, we went down on the court to take some pics.  This, my friends, was sort of like herding cats.  :)

While the babies were on the court, two of the Aggie yell leaders (read:  Aggie royalty) came and laid down by them.  Elizabeth was super amused; Travis not so much.  Both of the guys were too sweet and kind to our little ones and made me proud to be an Aggie.  Girls - eat your hearts out.  Here are a couple of keepers!!

Of course, Uncle D stopped by after the game.  The Ags came back after being down most of the game to beat Baylor - it was a big game for Dustin and the team.  Look how Travis is looking at Uncle D - Travis can just tell that Dustin is uber-important!

Travis did great traveling, but I was sure glad I had this app about the last 30 minutes on the way home.  He was definitely ready to be home, but he loves the rattle from this app.

What a great trip - the first of many family outings!

Xoxo,
Gara