Texas: my favorite place and favorite people

It seems that every April I need to get my VanHoozer family fix in Salado, TX. It also seems that I am adding more and more kids with every April visit. So, this year my mom and I got up at 4:00 am and loaded all three sleeping babies into the car and hit the road. MY KIDS ROCKED THE ROAD TRIP!!! I was beyond impressed by this. We had a quick break to unload and stretch out at the V household, then headed off to watch cousin Sam play baseball. MY KIDS ROCKED THE 9 INNING BASEBALL GAME!!! Again, super impressed! Oh, and UMHB got another WIN! Dinner time: now this could turn ugly. We were going to Johnny's BBQ and is usually packed. My children don't wait for food well, but luckily we were the first ones there and with the help of every single family member, 3 rolls of paper towels, and 20 packages of saltines we survived the dinner. Although, cousin Sam and Brittni had to eat their cold food by themselves since it was a mad rush to keep my 3 little angle babies happy(sorry guys).

Next day was another day fully of baseball, but not before we hit up the local shopping. Horsefeathers, I love you! We didn't rock the baseball games this day... we missed half of the 7 inning game(W) and then only watched an inning or two of the 9 inning(+extra innings) game. I think we ALL are allergic to something in the air because it was a messy face day for the 4 of us Johnson's. We got to help set up for the big SURPRISE party for Rachel and Nana that night though! It was a long day and Hunter stayed up as long as he could just so he could eat some birthday cake!

SUNDAY=FUNDAY but minus our cousin Rachel(CONFERENCE CHAMPION in UMHB golf)
Hunter had a blast swimming with miss Chloe. Riley loved being in the water... and Emma did not!

We had a blast, thank you VanHoozer's and Nana and Papa C for loving on my babies!! We will be back since my husband has still not made a Texas trip with me. Texas is where my family is and where I have many memories. I cannt wait to take the whole family to Gruene to float the river! New Braunfels family and the rest of the Baswell side, we will see you soon!!


Here are a few pictures from the trip and no, I DID NOT get any bluebonnet pictures! Dang, Texas drought!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!

And we're back! After a long day of flying to Dallas then driving to Tulsa we are at my parents and slowly getting settled in. I am so thankful for ALL of my children being good travelers, especially flying. Hunter is an old pro but he's getting a little cramped being a lap child. Words of advice when flying with kids: try to get snacks, juices, bottles, and quiet toys all in the same bag! Having one bag for everything helps with the clutter and tight seating. Layovers are good! Gives babies time to stretch and change diapers. I always change my babies in their stroller, I'm a germ freak so avoiding the bathroom is what we shoot for.

But, I can't believe we're here, without Jake, yet again. We will carry on until it's time for our family to be reunited though. Which from today is 70 days!!! I finally heard from my sweet husband via email at 3:50am. He is doing well, they are just hanging out for now and apparently getting to catch up on some sleep. I love hearing from him though, it completes my day and calms my heart.

The babies are adjusting. Something I took into consideration before deciding to relocate again. I fear that this will somehow affect them in a negative way but for my sanity and I'm sure theirs too, we will have lots of family and friends around! As a mother I also worry about my children remembering daddy coming and going. I know this is something my husbands thinks of constantly. He has worried about this even before Hunter was born. I try my hardest to show pictures and talk about their daddy everyday but I wonder what they think. (come on Brittany, your children to over analyze or even analyze like you yet)

May 15th is our countdown to Jake
May 21st SIL's wedding
May 22nd Hunters second bday

hunter's world

Hunter is the first of three little blessings for Jake and I. He is a sweet, silly (little) man of few words... actually no words. I guess when you are as busy as he is you don't really need to talk. With only 20 months under his belt he has already experienced so many incredible things.  Traveling to over 15 states, getting 2 brand new baby sisters (at once), reuniting with his daddy after a 7 month deployment to Afghanistan, and moving all the way to North Carolina for the second time. His ability to adapt to anything around him has made me appreciate him even more though. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you're a new mommy, pregnant with twins, and without your husband, having an easy going child makes everything else around you a little easier to handle.  That is something any mommy can be thankful for at the end of the day.

One of Hunter's favorite things is being outside and now that he is getting older he is becoming more and more independent *insert tears* and I find myself just watching his little imagination at work while he plays.  And now that his sisters are more active I think he's actually enjoying having them around.  He loves to "show" them things, give them toys and when its time to go "bye bye" he will try to pick them up to hurry the process of going out the door.

Food has always been a friend to my little boy, but lately he has been eating like a Big Strong Man.  All he wants is BEEF! No buns on his hamburgers, no tortilla with his taco meat, and no noodles with the meatballs... But I can always count on his eating fruits and veggies!

Here are some other fun and or/strange facts about Hunter:

Grabs, plays with, and sometimes even sucks your ear.
He literally "pops" up every time he wakes up.
He loves any and all dogs and tries to whistle when he sees one.
Enjoys rolling balls down the railing on the stairs to hit me in the kitchen.
He is reaching his "terrible two's"... quickly.
First haircut was at 20 months.
Dances at the end of Despicable me EVERY time.
Loves to spin in circles until he can't even walk.
Always has a smile that makes anyone's day better.




 Many more memories to make with the sweetest little boy a mommy could ask for...