Father's Day

If I were to be given the opportunity to "build the perfect dad," I would build my husband. He has the biggest heart and will get down on the ground and play and pretend and wrestle with Liam like a kid himself. Somedays I just sit back and listen to the sound of their laughter and it fills my heart with joy. Our daddy will even do arts and crafts, which if you know our daddy... that may not have been his calling. Liam thinks he is the greatest artist. Liam wants to do everything that his daddy does and follows him wherever he goes. He is his hero. They make coffee together and watch sports on the sofa. How this started at age 2 I will never know... I guess he is his father's son! Bill has the greatest patience with him. Almost never raising his voice. I am in awe of that. I think one of my favorite daddy qualities is that Bill wants to spend all his time with Liam. If there is a golf game or event on TV... he will gladly put it all on hold just to throw a ball with our son. And we are totally a partnership. Bill drops off and I pick up from school. We share sick days and making meals. He is instilling values into our son that I am so appreciative of. The bond between these two is incredible and as the mommy... my cup runneth over. God blessed us with the best of the best and this is only just the beginning for these best friends...

Madagascar

"Da-da-dadada-da-da-circus, da-da-dadada-da-da-afro-circus, afro-circus, afro, polka dot, polka dot, polka dot afro!" We are going to be singing this for a while...

Houston with E

There is nothing like childhood friends. Friends that have known you the longest! Friends that even if you haven't seen them in a while, you pick up right where you left off. One of our dearest and oldest friends, Elliott came to visit us in Houston a few weeks back and it was so much fun catching up! I will have to admit that this visit might have been a tad different than past visits... We traded bars and nightlife dinners for carousel rides, dinner on the green and lunch with the giraffes.

My Mother's Day

This year Bill planned the perfect Mother's Day. Liam was ill with a nasty 7 day fever virus that turned into pneumonia that caused a hive break-out. Gotta love daycare! The day that we sent him back to school with a clean bill of health, we got a letter home stating that there had been a confirmed case of chicken pox. Little did I know, that just because you were vaccinated, doesn't mean that your child will not get the chicken pox. It is more of an 80/20 kind of thing and it just means that if they do get it, then it will be less severe. That would have been good to know. All that being said, we were going stir crazy! I was so excited about our Galveston trip.

My only request for Mother's Day was that we take family photographs with one of my favorite photographer's Shalonda of Chubby Cheek Photography. Being a photographer, you are pretty much behind the camera 90% of the time and while I love being behind the camera, I also love photographs of my amazing family. When it comes to capturing the joy and the love and the moments of our family... I put all my trust in Shalonda because she manages to bottle our memories every time. She continues to amaze me with her artistry. We happened to be one of the lucky few to snag one of her saltwater sessions for 2012 and it fell on Mother's Day weekend which was even more perfect.

Like I said... Bill planned the perfect weekend. He researched the area and decided on a stay at Moody Gardens. There was a sparkling pool, swim-up bar, and a bounce house right at our back door. We popped Liam in the stroller and literally walked across the street to the aquarium and rain forest exhibit. We are huge fans of the movie "Happy Feet" and so the penguins were a hit! They really did an awesome job on the details in that movie. The penguins were second only to the sea lion exhibit. There was a new baby that took quite the interest in Liam. Liam would run from one end of the glass wall to the other and the baby seal would follow and mimic him. It was so much fun to watch and gathered a pretty big crowd. We ended the evening on the beach and a fun dinner at Fish Tales.

Chicken Coop

If you were to look up cool in the dictionary, you might just find a photo of the Robbins family. And adding to their cool factor? Greg built his very own chicken coop... wait for it... so that they could raise their very own chickens and have fresh eggs. Cruella is pure deville with her peppered crown of feathers and Chick Chick still rules the yard! They even let Liam name one and he chose something to the tune of "pick-pocket" only for him to change it to "rocket" later. I totally forgot about these photographs and they still crack me up. It took all 4 men to carry the coop across the yard. I also love the working man's high five and the cousin drivers... aren't they just too cute?

Twins Wanted

I was clearing files and ran across these cuties! I most likely forgot about them because there was a photographer on site and well, I just didn't take that many photographs since she seemed to have it all covered. But how in the world could I miss a blog post about these adorable little cowboys? They are seriously some handsome twins and I just love their mommy! It was a great afternoon for a celebration! The party decor was straight out of a magazine. Every single detail was done to perfection. From the snacks to the cake to the favors of cowboy cookies and hats... It is hard to believe that they are already one. Happy Birthday Charlie and Max!

Texas Blue

This season we spent a lot of time in the bluebonnets... I used my little man as a stand-in for all three location shoots. The first two he was down right NOT having it! And on the second to last shoot not only did he pick a bluebonnet and laugh about it... he totally would not stop for even a second to take a family photo since Mea and Pop were there. We managed to get one... and if that is all we got, I am grateful! He was saving up for round three...because I finally got to capture my handsome man amongst the Texas Blue and on that day... he took my breath away. Enjoy!