Kilpatrick Family Picture

This Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to have all the Kilpatrick family together to take a huge family portrait.  My sister Rachael was even gracious enough to come take it and also do smaller family shots.  Here we are with Bo's brothers (Chance on the left and Tanner on the right), his stepmom Gaila (AKA Gigi) and Bo's dad Billy (Grandpa!).  Not much of a smile out of Rhys, but at least he wasn't crying or trying to escape!

The Running List

Rhys Man,
I sure do love you.  You are adorable and funny and showing us every day how smart you are.  Check out your cuteness before and after your last hair cut:

But I gotta be honest, the list of words that you have learned to say is somewhat troublesome because it very clearly does not include the word Mama.  Check this out:

1.  Dog

2.  Dada

3.  Cracker

4.  Touchdown

5.  Apple

6.  More

7.  Please

8.  Nana (banana)

You also attempt to say bath time, Cameron, your name and a few others.  But definitely no Mama.  Cameron is already a pretty strong Daddy's girl, so you are not allowed to also be on Team Daddy.  We have to start showing Mama a little love.

Happy Halloween 2013

This year, we decided to go all out for our Halloween costumes!  Cameron made the executive decision that she and Rhys should have coordinating costumes, so she was Jessie and he was Woody from Toy Story.  (I secretly wished that Bo would be Buzz Lightyear, but we couldn't convince him…)

 Cameron's sweet friend Hallee threw a party for some of our friends at her house, so we had an extra chance to wear their cute outfits.  Hallee loves to play dress up any day of the year!

All the kiddos - Cuteness overload

Here is Mommy in full Snow White mode.  The wig was tough to wear all day, but we were having an office costume contest!  Rhys and Cameron actually liked it when I surprised them at school like this!

Some of my crazy co-workers all dressed up!

Here we are at the end of the night, all worn out!  Not many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood, but we had a great time anyway.  I would say Halloween 2013 was a success!

Running for More

I remember the day when my friend Christy Pool was talking to me about their pending adoption of a sweet baby boy from China and I first felt the tug on my heart to help her.  She and her husband Levi were the very first friends that we made in San Antonio from our church.  We loved spending time with them long before either of us had any kids and truly think of them as part of our family.

She and Levi decided to form a team for this year's Chosen Marathon.  When you sign up to be part of their team, 100% of the registration fee is donated to them to be used in their adoption process.  (I now know how expensive it can be and what a tremendous gift it is to them when they have over 100 people support them!)

So this year, I did something I NEVER would have thought I would do.  I started running.  On purpose!  And I truly mean it when I say that I don't like to run.  I don't even really like to be sweaty, and training in 100 degree weather in the San Antonio summer was truly the bardest thing I have ever had to make myself do.  But I started not being able to run a mile at all and about six months later, I finished the half marathon.

Thankfully, Bo was super supportive and allowed me lots of weekend mornings to go do my longer runs.  He and the kids even showed up to cheer me on as I finally finished!  This is when I saw Cameron right before the finish line, and then she decided to run and cross it with me.  Love that girl!

The most important part is that Levi and Christy will soon be welcoming home their new son, Elliott Levi Pool from China.  We love him already and can't wait to meet him face to face!

Happy Birthday Daddy

For Daddy's 32nd birthday, we toughed out the long wait to go to one of the most fabulous places in downtown San Antonio, La Gloria.  They make mexican street food, which means you want to order a whole bunch of individual tacos and appetizers to fill you up.  We invited lots of friends from church and Daddy's school and had a great time.  The food was fabulous and we had a wonderful waitress that was patient with our big group and all the kids!  We even finished off our meal with Gigi's Cupcakes for everyone!

We are very blessed to have such a wonderful man to be the head of our family.  Bo gives his all to his athletes, the coaches and his loved ones.  We are so proud of him and pray we get to celebrate him for many more years to come!

Bareback Riders, Get Ready!

Rhys Man,

You are a lucky little dude.  Your family loves you so much that they asked demanded that we head to Abilene the weekend after your birthday so they could celebrate you some more in person.  We spent half a day with Savtah and Sabbah, just playing and enjoying all the toys they seem to have stashed away for you.  They were so impressed with how well you are walking and loved watching you play catch.

Then that evening, we headed over to Grandpa and Gigi's house so we could have a big fajita party with all the Kilpatrick side of the family.  We got to see lots of cousins and catch up on how everyone is doing.  Cameron had a great time playing with the other kids close to her age and was especially excited to see the six new piglets that were out in the barn.  We even got to take Frisky out for some quick rides for the kids.  Uncle Chance surprised us all by bringing a huge box of fireworks and setting them off once it got dark.  You were such a champ, Rhys.  I know it was way past your bedtime, but you were so happy and easy going.

I wanted to make sure to write down this special present that you got from Grandpa.  He gave you the very first belt buckle that he ever won as a bareback rider.  I love that it has the year and his name engraved on it.  It is smaller than most of the buckles that Daddy has, so I think you will be able to wear it and it not look like a dinner plate on your tummy.  It is a high quality sterling silver buckle, so we will  be sure to take good care of it.  What a thoughtful and sentimental thing to get on your first birthday!

Here are three generations of Kilpatrick men!

The one thing that surprised me the most was when we were talking about how you are still a bit on the small side for your age.  Grandpa chimed in, "He'll be the perfect size to ride bareback horses!"

We'll see about that one....

Mama

Summer Lovin'

Happy Birthday Little Man

Rhys Man,

Happy birthday to my angel!  I cannot believe what a whirlwind the past year has been.  Your arrival on that day was full of surprises and you apparently decided to stick with what you are good at.  You  have continued to grow and learn and make us fall more in love with you all the time.  Just today, one of your teachers at school was telling me that she doesn't want you to get bigger and have to move on to the next class since she just loves you.  She said you are easy to take care of and a happy boy.

Now that you are a year old, you are starting to eat all kinds of food!  You seem to like everything so far and definitely manage to pack away more than I expect.  You have eaten pretty much anything we give you.  You are starting to drink only whole milk but don't seem to be a fan of any of the sippy cups we have tried.  You usually just throw them on the floor and smile....  But you love to feed yourself and are not crazy about mom still trying to feed you with a spoon!

Today you had your check up at the pediatrician and she said you were still growing and doing great.  You weighed 18.2 lbs and measured 28 inches, so you still have lots of growing to do!  I think you are still down in the 3rd percentile for height and weight, but we think you are perfect.  And very handsome too, so that helps.

Last Friday we had a very small birthday dinner for you with some friends.  We borrowed our friends' backyard so everyone could swim and called it your "Mustache Bash!"  You loved getting to see so many friends and approved of everyone rocking a stache in your honor.  There was even a giant mustache on your cake, which you definitely enjoyed!

You are very blessed to be loved by so many friends!  You got some new jammies, wonderful books, some adorable clothes and a a few new toys too.  We made sure to send them a cute card telling them thanks with your awesome mustache picture on it too.

Here's to many more years of celebrating the wonderful gift God gave our family in you!

All my love,
Mama

Why You Can't Take the Easy Class

Cameron,
Last summer you did swim lessons one day per week for 1 hour, and your class lasted the entire summer.  You learned to be comfortable in the water, you played with a lot of toys and floated on stuff.  But you didn't really learn to swim.  Since you were only three, we didn't expect you to be swimming like a fish.... But this summer we knew that you needed something a bit more intensive so that you would make more progress.  Going to the pool with your brother too means that I have to hold him the entire time and cannot really hold onto you also.  So we need you to be a bit more independent so that I won't worry about you constantly.

This year we realized that the place where you have been taking gymnastics class also offers swim lessons, so we signed you up for a two week session where you go every day for 30 minutes.  You have a great coach who is gentle but pushes you to try more, and he is very patient when you get nervous or distracted.  But after you came home from your first class, you told me that all of the kids are bigger than you (which is true, some of them are almost 6 already) and that you were the littlest.  You said that it was much harder and you asked why you can't take the easy swim lessons again.

And here is the real reason why Mommy and Daddy told you no.  You are going to be just like us when you get older, and of course we like to only do the things that naturally come easy to us.  I don't want to run a half marathon because it will be hard and force me to stretch WAY out of my comfort zone.  Daddy loves being a natural athlete and gets very frustrated when he isn't automatically superior at something.  But when you are still young and we can make you, you are going to try new things that are hard.  We want you to confront your fear and punch it in the face.  (Thanks Jon Acuff, for your fabulous book subtitle!)

You are a brave girl, Cameron.  We are so proud of you for all the progress we have seen in not only your swimming, but in trying new things.  I know a lot of changes happened at once, with you moving to the Pre-K class at school and starting the next level of gymnastics too.  But we hope you see how much fun it is to conquer new challenges.  I hope to see you do it for all of your life.

Love,
Mama

Ten Months To Be Thankful For

Rhys My Love,
Here are my ten favorite things about you now that you are 10 months old!

1.  You are so busy!  You are standing and moving around all the time.  You have even tested out the waters with standing all by yourself even though I am not trying to hurry you into walking...

2.  Tickle fights.  You have the sweetest giggle.

3.  You love your big sister.  You laugh at all her silly noises and love to watch her play.  You are going to be chasing her soon.

4.  You are still a big thing in a little package.  You are now in the 3rd percentile for height and weight, but the doc says you are as smart as can be!

5.  Dada is your favorite, but I am working to get back on top.  Every time I say "Mama," you seem to answer with "Dada!"

6.  You are the un-pickiest eater and it makes me so happy.  You will try anything and pretty much finish whatever we give you.  You are a pro now at feeding yourself cheerios and holding your own bottles.

7.  No separation anxiety for you.  You seem to be fine with babysitters, going to daycare, and staying with family.  You smile at strangers and are a very friendly gentleman!

8.  Your hair is getting long enough to show off your curls.  I don't think I can bear to cut them even though they are a little crazy sometimes....

9.  Changing your diaper is like wrestling an alligator now.  But it makes me thankful that you are growing up to be feisty and strong!

10.  Did I mention that you are seriously handsome? (wink, wink)

Love,

Mama