welcome home, president bush!

tonight we celebrated the end of the Bush Administration---TEXAS style! josh, patriot & i eagerly packed some snacks, cold weather accessories, and headed out to TSTC for the welcome home Bush family party. we arrived a smidge before the 6:30 cut-off, only to wait in line over an hour to be checked in by security inside one of the airplane hangers. patriot played football, ran tirelessly back and forth, up and down the rows while we waited our turn in the COLD. when it came down to the end of the line, they hurried us thru and rushed us onto a bus that took us out onto the tarmac. then more waiting and picture taking took place (see the above pic of pst & the flag...his new luvie) he even learned to say 'bush'--- SO cute. i kinda have it on video, but we will see tomorrow if that really worked!

then airforce one flew over and rolled in...WOW was it breathtaking!

here is my first glance of the first couple, exiting airforce one to a cheering crowd of W's.

the president gave a heartfelt speech, thanking us for our prayers during his time in office. he said he returns to texas with his head held high and is happy to be back for good.

after his speech and a VERY long and emotional day, he walked the line, signing autographs, shaking hands and posing for pix. i was THIS close to the man--5 people away! i could see his little hairs between the cellphones and cowboy hats:)

then it happened. out from the speakers came my FAVORITE patriotic song, Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American". now, i had teared up when the plane rolled up (American flag on the tail lit by a spotlight) ,the door was flung open and out walked President Bush, but this was almost too much for me. i couldn't break down into full-out sobs--so instead, i sang my heart out and focused my attention on trying to snap a pic of marine one (the heli). the pictures didn't really turn out, but the image of my sweet son waving his flag while on his daddy's shoulders made my heart sing even louder. i truly am proud to be an American.

New Year's Eve--Deliciousness

okay, so I started a bit out of order, but this is my favorite pic of the evening:) so the above photo was taken at midnite, me in my party tiara, toasting to an amazing 2009.

josh & i splurged a bit and went to an amazing fondue restaurant in dallas, the melting pot, to ring in the new year while m&d w/ eee kept an ear out for our tot. our reservations were for 10:30pm and involved a 5 course meal: bruscetta, ceasar salads, tomato-basil cheese fondue, seafood & steak entree , and bananas foster white chocolate dessert--whew!

______earlier that evening...

patriot blows mama kisses while reading a fun new peek-a-boo book with dada...my sweet baby boy:)

mom let me borrow mema's gorgeous mink for our rock-star night out!

here we are a little before midnight. i obviously don't know how to pose with the noisemaker, but the props were fun!

this is shot of the main course--fillets, shrimp, honey-dijon chicken & lobster tails, complete with veggies and various and sundry dipping sauces---YUM!

thanks babe, for an amazing date night. i'm SO blessed to be in love with my best friend. happy new year-- i love you, love you, love you:)

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

patriot shane had a fabulous Christmas, as you can tell. more pix will follow, but i'm going to bed for now!

Dogtopia Dogpile:)

tonight's post should be about shiloh and the wild & crazy dog christmas party we attended for him at Dogtopia (sponsored by BU law :), but once again patriot shane steals the show...or the dogfood. as we are driving away from the party, josh hands pt a 'small' bag of dog food to keep him entertained on our short ride home. before we exit the parking lot, i sniff the air and say, 'do you smell dogfood?' josh turns around starts dying laughing and immediately snaps this pic:

before i can get to the back seat, he snaps this one of patriot trying shiloh's 'snack':

clean-up begins w/ dogtopia in the background:)

we knew this story HAD to make the blog, so we mugged for the shot with the busted bag:

happy thanksgiving, my 17 month old!

this year my parents hosted thanksgiving dinner in plano. we are so thankful that our families live close enough to celebrate the holidays together:) my in-laws and aunt di came over for yummy dishes and good company.

i can't believe how much patriot has changed in the last year. even in the past month it seems he has grown up so much. more words (he likes to say 'okay.' at the end of every request), more independence (wants to walk into his bedroom by himself when we are ready to change a diaper!), fine motor skills improving (enjoys twisting the caps of things off and on--from milk cartons to toothpaste:). he amazes me daily.
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here are some fun shots from yesterday:

not so sure he wants to pose w/ mom or aunt eeee.

my cousin nic gave patriot this super cute janie & jack outfit that was perfect for the day's festivities! here is the only pic i have w/ the cutie suspenders on his shoulders.

he spent the rest of the day with them draped down his back, all causal like:) here he is trying to escape from dad and i's human blockade.

look closely: don't you just love baby toes?

playin' with papa & noni

papa was so happy to be able to play with his great-grand baby on thanksgiving. he LOVES making him laugh.

happy birthday reese:)

reese technically arrived a week ago today, friday 11/21, but it has taken me this long to post these cutie pix:) click on nicksterland to see all the stats. after an amazingly fast labor/delivery, the wilson's were up for vistors. isn't her sign from mimi adorable?

on saturday, erin came w/ mom & i to visit reese. don't know why we don't have a pic w/ mom holding her, 'cause you know noni was all over holding a GIRL baby. i made it part of her birthday celebration. even though they are a day apart (i went back to visit reese on saturday and took mom & erin, though of course i had to stop by for a quick hi on friday afternoon:)

patriot hasn't met her yet due to his nap coinciding with this visit and then coming down w/ a terrible ear infection that took us thru thanksgiving in plano! but soon, he will get to meet the baby, baby, baby--and he will furiously sign baby, while saying it. to add emphasis, i'm sure!

nic looked amazing, as did the baby of the hour, miss reese elaine wilson. i heart her headband and can't wait see what this little one will grow to be like!

happy birthday, reese!

Sic 'em ESPN

at a game time perfect for tots (3pm on Tuesday) ESPN decided to televise the Bears vs. Centenary. oh, did i mention that tickets were only $3?!? Awesome. so we brought the crew:
Crater & Pate held up the cute sign Kimberly made:)i'm sure she got a better one of the two, but Creighton was DONE holding the sign, so pst posed for a shot:)

we think, as in are pretty sure, this is patriot's first live Bball game! he was a super baylor fan in his grover apparel and loved aaaaaaa sic'em bears.

the game was fast paced and we tried to capture his excitement, but he was often to distracted by the bears to pose.

across the stadium were the tristan, sawyer, creighton & families. (can you find reese in the pic? she is due for arrival ANY DAY NOW:) we visited for a few minutes, but patriot only wanted to climb stairs, so back we went to find aunt eeee and sit w/dada.

well, the final score was an amazing 90-55---aaaaa sic'em bears:)

playdough palooza

this weekend aunt eeee & patriot dove head first into patriot's debut cooking experience. what does a tiny tot cook, you may ask? pumpkin-colored playdough! enjoy the photoshoot, and if you need the recipe go to momeez.blogspot.com

Wordless Wednesday

Vote 4 My Better Tomorrow:)

on friday, patriot assisted me in casting my vote for president. he even has the sticker to prove it!

at first i was gonna go by myself while he was in mothers' day out, but rose & i found some interesting info for our radio show that changed my mind. i believe the verse, 'train up a child in the way they should grow and when they grow old, they will not depart from it." rings true here. a national study says that a parental voting is the surest predictor of whether or not a young adult decides to vote. also, they are twice as likely to vote themselves if their parents vote regularly. it is important to me to teach this civic duty by action as well as words, so off to the polls we went!

i'm sure it's no big suprise who we voted for:0)

okay, if you haven't already, run on out and vote tomorrow, November 4th!