Jonah's actual Birthday, in Waco with the Mannings. He was less than thrilled about the cake.

Jonah's party was supposed to be a pool party. It rained. We had a little gathering at the Davis's house. Again, Jonah was less than thrilled about the cake. Of course, I was not quite pleased with it either...it wasn't what I ordered.

Grammy and Pops (the Shipps), gave Jonah a Thomas the Train ride on toy. And Papa and Gran (the Booths) gave him a water table. Both boys love both toys. Jonah especially like that they're HIS and he gets first shot at them.

While we're here in Ruston, the boys are going to Mother's Day Out at Trinity (Andrew's Parent's church.) Gabriel was so excited about his first day of school, his Thomas sleep mat (I made it!), and his spider man lunch box.

In case you're wondering, Jonah is doing great after his bout with pneumonia. He bounced back quickly. He went for his one year check up while we were visiting back in Waco. He weighs 24lbs and is 30 inches tall. Gabriel, at 2 1/2 is 36 lbs and 3 ft 1 inch.

This last picture is me and Andrew a couple of weeks ago before going out with Brad and Adrienne. (We're really going to miss having them around Ruston!)

This past weekend was exciting....we had our first ER trip. Jonah had been a little sick all week with what we thought was allergies and a mysterious low grade fever. On Saturday, when he woke up from his nap around 12:30, we put him in his high chair for lunch. Andrew noticed him shaking, so I went to get him. His hands, feet, and lips were purple. We made a couple of calls to friends in the medical field and the decision was a quick one. We headed to the ER. Poor baby was just lying in my arms and pitiful. After chest x-rays and blood tests he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Andrew and I actually had to leave to go photograph a wedding in Monroe, and we left Jonah at the hospital with Andrew's parents. That was really hard! Before we left though he was already perking up a bit.

It's been two days now and he is doing MUCH better. He actually played and ate real food today. In the midst of it, I think we accidentally weaned him from his bottle (he wasn't supposed to have milk while he was sick.) I'm a little sad about it.

I'll try to post pictures soon. You can check my photoblog, I've posted a few there.

You probably think Gabriel doesn't own any clothes or shoes of his own.

These are from the park last week. Jonah has been giving his thumb a try lately.

Again, clothing is limited. Check out Gabriel's motor cycle tattoo.

This is typically what happens when I try to get a cute picture of them together.

This last one was totally Gabriel's idea.

You can also check out my photo blog here.

Don't you love what we've done with his hair?

Clean up time!

Andrew is closing in on the end of his second year of law school. He has about two weeks of class left, then one week of finals. He will finish up on May 2nd, then take two weeks to recover and rest (and help get the house organized!) before we all head to Ruston for the summer. His internship begins May 19th! It is going to be a great experience for him and a big boost for his resume.

Gabriel is as busy as ever. He still runs everywhere he goes, unless of course, he's been told to pick up his toys quickly. Then he forgets how to go fast. He is really enjoying playing baseball in the backyard. When he's not outside, he walks around the house with his glove on asking when Daddy will be home to play baseball with him. Any time he talks to grandparents or aunts or uncles on the phone he asks them to come play baseball with him. It's pretty cute.
His ability to climb is amazing too. On Friday at the park he climbed up on the jungle gym without my knowing. (I usually tell him he's not big enough, but he proved me wrong.) He also loves to sing these days. When we're in the car we're usually listening to Jamie Soles and Gabriel has really gotten into it. I'll have to catch him on video soon.
Another favorite of his is wearing a mitten and taking his "puppet" around the room to kiss people.

Jonah is getting really close to walking. Since he is not the first born, my first reaction to his pulling up was "NO, sit back down!" But there's no stopping him now. He's been pulling up for at least 6 weeks now. Today was the first time he walked holding on to my fingers. He's close. He just may beat his brother's record (Gabriel walked about a week before the 11 month mark.)
He says "mama" and "dada", but not really directed at us, unless he is crying, in which case it's always "maaamaaa." He's eating like crazy, but still won't take a sippy-cup.

And me...I'm doing pretty well. I listed my photography business in the yellow pages and the online add came out about three weeks ago. So far I have gotten a call a week. Pretty good, right? I'm excited about it, but still a little nervous too. I did an engagement session on Saturday that lasted three hours. I took over 600 pictures (not that the client will actually see that many!). I really hope they like them and decide to book me for their wedding in August! If I could do a wedding a month it would really help fill the gaps for next school year when Andrew can't work.
I'm getting a little anxious about being away from home all summer. We'll be living in Ruston with Andrew's parents. We have friends there too, but it just won't be home. I'm not real sure how I'm going to fill all my time either since the boys will be in mother's day out twice a week (thank you Pops and Grammy!) It will be a lot of fun though. I think the scariest part is that when we come back to Waco Andrew will jump right into his most intense year of school yet and then it will be time to start thinking about jobs, and hopefully finding one that isn't too far away from family. (It would be nice if it pays well too:)
I've also got a couple of "races" coming up that I am not ready for. I did one a few weeks ago and my goal was to finish and not be last. Well, I accomplished that. Now I want to shave 5 minutes off my time. We'll see how that goes.
So, that's about it.

Jonah (he didn't get a hair cut)

Gabriel and Andrew playing baseball in the backyard. Every day now Gabriel asks when daddy is coming home to play catch with him.

Jonah, 9 months


Gabriel, 2 yrs 3 months


Sophie, 4 yrs 10 months

Ava, 2 yrs 3 months

Layla, 6 months


The best we could get of all five cousins

And these are from the sessions I did...some of my favorites. If you want to see more you can go to my website.

Jonah wearing an outfit his daddy wore.

We went on a "field trip" with some friends today to Fire Station 1. The kids had a good time. It took a little while for Gabriel to worm up to the firemen, but when he did he had fun.

We're all doing pretty well. No one is sick, which is a miracle at this time of year. Andrew is passed the half way mark in Law School. He's 5/9 finished! Gabriel is talking more and more and it's really cute when he sings "Zacheus" (Now that I have my new computer I will try to get a video up.) Jonah started saying "dada" and he has pulled up a couple of times this week. He's just getting too big! And I have been staying pretty busy between Stroller Strides, play dates, trying to keep the house clean, photography, training for a 5K, and working on my new website in my spare time.
Life is good.