THIS, THAT, AND THAT...

SEEEERIOUSLY, COULD HE GET ANNNNNY CUTER!

Ok… it’s ridiculous how quickly the Christmas season is going by! Uhhh in 3 weeks, time to take DOWN the Christmas decorations??? No freaking way!! I feel like I have absolutely lost all control of all that I hoped to have done by the time Christmas is done. In my unattainable Christmas memory visions I had Brad, Brady, myself, and heck whoever wanted to join us, driving to different spots on the “Hill Country Trail of Lights”… hitting the cutesie pie little towns and visiting the “squares”.. yeah… not so much. Every weekend until New Years is booked.. not hot. Although this year we will actually be free on the actual day of Christmas??? How in the heck did that happen? It’s one of those odd years where all the “inlaws” are deserving of their Christmas visit on Christmas day, so we are all celebrating prior to Christmas. We are having Christmas Eve at mom and dad’s for our side of family’s Christmas so that is good.. Wilkins/ Connell Christmas is this weekend! I told Brad that next year.. NO PLANS ON ANY SATURDAY NIGHTS IN DECEMBER because I want to go to the little dream towns :). I am going to let my little dream wisp away this year only because I can tell that lights intrigue little B, but not enough to where a road trip would be too worth it I don’t think :).

This Christmas feels weird, I can’t explain why.. I think it’s the fact that I am so stuck on having all these “traditions” and now I am like hold on Mr. Santa, I don’t have all my ducks in a row yet :). And where are the shows that I watched at all hours of the night last year while I was up with my little hunkie? Do you have to be up at 2 am to watch “The best Christmas towns in the US” shows? Or the “I am broke because I have a 1K electric bill at Christmas from all my lights” display shows?  I have not seen ONE advertised.. I have searched the Travel Channel upcoming shows.. What in the heck happened? I was figuring like the tornado shows that I love to watch, that this would be the same and it would be the same Christmas displays that I memorized from last year and them replaying them every night… But man, maybe I shouldn’t have assumed. Maybe last year was a better displays year? I don’t know… Makes me sad. But, at the same time, ain’t nuttin’ takin’ this girls excitement away! I mean BY GOD, SANTA IS ALIVE IN THE CONNELL HOUSEHOLD!! So many years of fun up ahead… that alone can make me smile for years.

Onto bigger and better subjects… THIS LITTLE GUY….

Yeah, it’s safe to say that we are “walking”.. I didn’t want to brag about every little step (to save the eye rolls from everyone :)), but it is safe to say that by God we can go all away across the room now with our ten toes doing the balancing! He started it out on Thanksgiving where he looked a lot more steady and took 5 steps.. Now.. he is turning, rebalancing himself, doing the best “I am wasted” walk I have ever seen :). I need to video it.. I have watched my niece, and my friends kiddos pick up this “walking” thing so quickly.. and here goes my sweet little “year old newborn” :)… I think I will see if he will let me swaddle him for some memory lane strollin’.. HAHAHAHA! He is still a lightning bolt crawler, but by God, he is trying to change the crawling to walking… watch out! Today mom told me that he actually got up from the middle of the room and went to a standing position from sitting! Usually he pulls up on a couch or something and then takes off, NOT NO MO! :)

Fun Stats-

** Shoe Size, He is moving up to a 5.5

** Weight/ Height at his one year appt., 24 lbs. 13.5 oz. – 30.5 inches long. He is basically running in the 75^th percentile! Might I say that the appt. was also as bad as I had been afraid it would be…. The kiddo has thighs of steel and usually shakes well check shots off like nobody’s business.. not this time. Not even close, it was not fun and those thighs hated my guts! It was a rough week all the way around.. the Sunday before his appt. he woke up upset, felt very hot, and had a 103 temp.! Our first high temp., and it came out of nowhere and it went away as quick as it got here, well it was down by night time and had consistently dropped the whole day. Just a rough go all the way around that week!

** I am finally getting a consistent MAMAMAMAMA! About time because the DADADADADADADA, was old ;), juuuust kidding :). Not really saying much more than trying to repeat things, and sometimes sounding exactly like them. He is quite the entertaining one with his answering comments with “yeah”, and it sounds just like it!

** Dancin’, Dancin’, Dannnciiinnnn’! Boyfriend finds his groove to anything with a rhythm… or without a rhythm haha… A noise constitutes his momma’s ghetto dance moves to come out of his limbs. That neck starts going from side to side like he is a ghetto gangsta girl tellin’ ya how it is.. :). It is quite the entertaining thing to watch! We went to visit our friends Jen/ Lyle this weekend and even the icemaker brought out the neck groovin’. It’s funny… he is intrigued with Ellen.. when I catch up on my DVR’ing around him.. she plays tons of music.. he will just sit and stare, stare, stare… then when the music plays.. he purses his little lips together and SIDE TO SIDE his neck goes! Love it!

** PEEEEK AAAAA BOOOOOO!! One morning when we were on our way to mom’s I had my rearview mirror facing him and saw him put his blanket over his head… WELL THAT WAS ALL SHE WROTE. It is a very close runner up in the race for the “CUTEST THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN” things. Well when he brought the blanket down I, like anyone would, jumped to say PEEK A BOO! Well there went the game..  THE CUTEST THING I REFERENCED UP THERE, he will put that blanket over his head holding his arms straight up, I will say, WHERE’S BUBBIE? He will leave that blanket up there but GIGGLE hahahaha! It will make me laugh every time… Sometimes he will even let you say it a few times and giggle every time like you can’t hear him :). Then lower the blanket so excited like, HERE I AM, I HAD YOU FOOLED! :) Just another thing that kid does to make me so very happy…

** He’s ready for some jerky! We have 4 teeth on the top, 2 on the bottom (Brad said he saw another trying to come through as well), 2 molars that have those back gums swollen as can be, and it seems like the top is swollen too, but it’s so hard to tell if it’s a tooth or just the shape of his gums.

** A not hot fact, we think that maybe, possibly, crossing our fingers that it isn’t true, that hunkie might be having a reaction to spaghetti sauce? IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? Spaghetti is a food group to the Connell household, and consumed once a week! Poor hunkie, guess he won’t be able to eat that night ;0)… Juuuuust kidding… it is sporadic though, so I am hoping that maybe it is just a little rosey cheeks for the winter season? He gets those every once in a while (you can thank good ol pops for that.. he may have his distinguished ridiculously handsome looks.. BUT HE ALSO GOT HIS OHHHH SO TENDER AND SENSITIVE SKIN) RAHR! He hasn’t reacted to spaghetti o’s, and last night was good ol’ sloppy joe night and nada.. so maybe the “tomato” sauce sensitivity we thought it might be, is really nothing at all? WE SHALL SEE.. The little guy has to keep us on our toes, FO SHO!

Well I will leave you with some photo opps… Gotta get back to shopping making the green!

HE LOVES HIS NEW "KICKS" THIS MUCH! (YEAH RIGHT :))

OK THE KID IS IN LOVE WITH RUBBING FOREHEADS! LORD KNOWS HIS MOTHER HAS A HECK OF ONE AS A RUBBIN' POST! THIS WEEKEND AT JEN & LYLE'S THEIR CAT CAME TO RUB ON HIM AS KITTYS DO AND THEY BOTH LOWERED THEIR HEADS AND WERE RUBBIN' FOREHEADS, HILARIOUS. 

OHHHH MY GOSH MOM! I GOT SOMETHIN' TO TEEEEELLLLL YOUUU! YOU HAVE GOT TO HEAR THIS!

SO, I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE TO "GIVE" WHEN IT COMES TO DECORATING AND MY OBSESSION WITH MATCHING COLOR SCHEMES, NEUTRAL COLORS THAT ALL FLOW TOGETHER.. BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS. TALK ABOUT AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM :).. THIS WAS THE INITIATION OF A PLAY ROOM.... :)

HE LOVES HIM SOME DADADADADADA!

MOMMA, DADDY, ANNNND BUBBIE WERE STUFFED BEFORE GOING TO SEE THE NOTORIOUS MALL SANTA!

SERIOUSLY, THIS THING ROCKS... HE LOVES IT, AND IF YOU ASK NICELY BRAD AND I CAN REHEARSE THE SONG THAT IT SINGS FOR YOU. :) BUBBLES, BUBBLES EEEVERYWHERE... :)

SWEET BASSET, YEAH HE GETS TOLD TO LAY DOWN ABOUT 100 TIMES A NIGHT :). HE IS LOVIN' HAVIN' A SCRAP DROPPER NOW AT THE TABLE!

CHOOOOO CHOOOOOO! LOVES HIS TRAIN FROM GRAMMY & MAN!

THANKFUL FOR THANKFULNESS

WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL LITTLE PERSON!

AND I am also thankful for a Thanksgiving that I can remember…

I am not quite sure if my eyes were even open as I walked in the door to my brother and sister in law’s house last year on our Day of Giving Thanks. I know that I was thankful for the beautiful baby boy that was a mere 5 days old. Oh what a zombie I was… that was prime time into the no sleeping trying to figure out how to quench the needs of my new suckling little piglet. Oh the memories :).. So glad that a heavy dose of caffeine entered in my life after figuring out that I wasn’t able to give piggy as much as he pleaded for… to formula we went.  24 lbs. 13.5oz. later.. the rest is history. But onto a Thanksgiving for the memory books!!

I actually cannot tell you the last time that the branches of the Trimble family tree reached out as far as they did Thanksgiving 2010. A meal that was planned months ahead of time.. it came together perfectly, and was as delicious as I had plumped up Bubbie to believe, his “expectations” were exceeded :)! He loved it… every green bean… every piece of ham… every bit of stuffing.. every bit of roll(S).. IT WAS ALL SUPERB! The food was beyond delicious, but you know what was even better??? The family, together, after so long! The SECOND COUSINS (Which actually makes me feel quite old :)), one that we hadn’t even met yet…all of them getting to meet our beautiful creations here in South Texas (to them)! Aunts, Uncles, cousins, grandparents… it all made it feel like the old days, except for having to watch our feet to not step on a “crawler”, or a ride on toy.. our little additions sure did make our space together seem smaller :). There was an added bonus of the Aggies topping off the day with a beautiful win! The day started out to be yucko and muggy.. and just GROSS.. I had a sweater on anticipating the cold front that had been rumored to be headed our way. Before I could come back outside from of course griping as I was SWEATING (THAT= GRUMPY IN 2 SECONDS) in my “thought to be” well planned outfit… I walked back outside and holy moly! IT WAS FREEZING… I swear that even though this sista has lived in Texas every day of the 21 years of my life, it will still shock me every time that it changes as it does.

The kiddos had such a great time playing together! Brady is quite the “grabby” fella so he and Topper had to be “watched” as they had their little game of “who can pee on the most toys” claiming game going on in their heads. It was hilarious and the laughter was endless… it was just very happy, and made me realize that it is amazing just how many blessings we have, and just how many can be under the same roof at one time. It’s a beautiful thing and one that I hope we can always remain focused on.


There is so much to be thankful for... Every morning Brady and I venture off to mom's at a very reasonable speed limit because I am never late (random false fact). In our travels we say a thank you prayer... I have done it ever since he was brand new. I am really hoping that one day he will participate with listing the things we are thankful for. It is so very important to me that he is always grateful for every little thing we are given, from a cheerio to a roof over our heads, I hope he always realizes that everything is a treasure.

ANNNNND, because I paid 5 big ol’ buckaroos to Google to add more pics. to my blog (retarded) I am going to leave you with some paparazzi takes from A THANKSGIVING I CAN FINALLY REMEMBER :).

Our family HATES green beans.. can you tell?

He is stuffed with cuteness ;)

YYAAAAYYY! 

Baby Brother and Baby Daddy... not blood related lol 

 I have way too many pics. from the "outside" of the kitchen... :)

What in the.. 

Please for Pete's sakes leave the cheeks alone! 

Paypay taking a break with Pappy 

She is so stinking cute..  

Lovin' on daddy.. 

See what I mean... outside again..

Getting a little closer.. Does that set up not look fantastic!

No bubbie, granddad is pointing the other way.. 

Topper and Madeline (I was told she doesn't respond to "Madi", haha) 

Game time! 

Gran playing with the Grandkids... tell you what she can wrestle with the best of 'em... 

Topper loved him some Ashley! 

Look at the evil red eyed devil baby sneaking up on Jackson and Amanda.. 

Julie and Aunt Donna...  

Everybody loves them a belly zerbert :)

Jeremy's "supporting" of the Ag's captivates hunkie lol.. used to scare the badoodles out of him :) ..

1/2 longhorn.. back of shirt.. hidden of course :)

1/2 aggie (front of shirt of course :))

Can you believe that it seems like just a few posts ago I was saying that I can't believe Christmas is so far off.. AND NOW IT'S 15 DAYS AWAY!! SLOOOOOOOW DOWN YEAR!

THE FUN BIRTHDAY DETAILS!

Some of momma's ridiculous "to-do"'s ....

THE GOODIES!

THE SWEET STUFF!

GIGI & MOMMA KILLED OURSELVES WITH THIS FONDANT.. THOSE PRO'S MAKE IT LOOK ALOT EASIER THAN IT IS :).

BEGINNING WITH HIS 3D SONOGRAM PICTURE.. TO THE FIRST DAY OF HIS PRESENCE... THE PICTURES THEN WENT MONTHLY :).

ANIMAL RIBBON WRAPPED GRUB PICKERS :)

BABY SNACKS.. APPLESAUCE.. CHEESE..

GOLDFISHIEEEEES!

CAN'T HAVE A PARTY WITHOUT CHEX MIX :)

FUN STRAWS FOR THE ELDER OF THE KIDDOS :)

THEEEEE BANNER... HEAVENS I COULD HAVE DONE THIS SO MUCH EASIER THAN I ENDED UP DOING IT LOL..

THE SHIRT.. SOOOO STINKING CUTE! I GOT THE FABRIC, SHIRT, AND CROWN TEMPLATE FOR MOM.. SHE THEN PUT TOGETHER THE MOST FABULOUS SHIRT... SHE SEWED ON THE CROWN, I THEN TOOK IT TO AN EMBROIDERY STORE AND THEY STITCHED ON- KING OF MY JUNGLE!

LOVIES!

THE PRECIOUS CODINA KIDDOS! LOOK AT THEM LISTENIN' TO MOMMA! SUCH ANGELS :).

SWEET LITTLE STRATTON.... MISS. SARAH AND MR. DYLAN IN THE BACK....

LITTLE MISS ROCKSTAR... CAMPBELL 

DYLAN TRYIN' TO STICK HIS TONGUE OUT AT "THIS"... :) 

OHHHH MAN.. HAVE I GOT SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!

THE MOST PHOTOGENIC DIMPLES YOU HAVE EVER SEEN :).. KID DOES NOT TAKE A BAD PICTURE.. EVER.  

Sweet little Payton...

Baby Jackson, changing so much!

Zander was the smiliest, sweetest little baby! 

But wait... where are you going... I love you.. :)

Fun with Syd..  

 Stare down with Steve :)

Aunt Amy and Grammy..

Best helper... and peace keeper for my mind :) Gigi, Mom.. :)

Jump around! Jump around! Jump up, Jump up and get down... Jump! Jump! Jump!

(You know y'all like some Criss Cross :))

First off I don't know how I did not get a picture of the front of the bouncy house! It was a last minute decision.. we have absolutely nothing that can entertain the age range from 6 months to 11 years old.. Even the dog that could have been subject to some chasing was off enjoying himself at Camp Bow-Wow :). So I decided a bouncy house for the weekend was the choice.. I would do it any day of the week.. That thing rocked.. Only bad thing... it looked exactly like this...

I was told that you could see the spidey head above the roof... that is how people knew "WHERE DA PARTY AT" :). Don't know if you noticed but the "motif" was JUNGLE... no spidey :). Oh well... entertainment accomplished..

Steve was helpin' him "chill" at the door :)



After everyone left, momma, daddy, and B got in there for a little "bouncin"... He had a great time and would go flyin' over those humps.. bouncin' around.. no fear in the world :). Scary :).

peeeeek a booooo!

I got this... I got this... :)

Sweet picture of my babies!