Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas-time!

We had a busy but fun Saturday. In the morning, our friend Amber came to photograph us for our Christmas cards. She is a professional photographer that attends our church and if you live in or around Big Spring, you should check her out. She does amazing work. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot:
If you are interested in seeing the rest of the pictures, you can follow this link: http://www.staceyphotography.com/prather/

That afternoon, I took Will to our local museum where Santa and Mrs. Claus just happened to be spending the afternoon (*wink, wink*). He had his picture taken with them, too, and we decorated gingerbread men cookies and looked around the exhibits at the museum. I then took him for a late lunch at his favorite place, of course--McDonald's. A grand time was had by all. We had a great "date." (The Santa picures won't be ready until Dec. 16th, so I will post it then).

Then that evening was the big Christmas parade. We ended up in the same spot as last year next to the same family. We had a good time chatting with them, waiting for the parade to begin. The kids soaked up the parade, crying, "LOOK!!!!" at every single thing that went by. We saw horses, monster trucks, motorcycles, classic cars, low riders, fire trucks, tiny cars, a boat, semis, and of course lots of people riding on the back of trailers. I think this year's parade was better that last year's. Some of the floats were really awesome.

The Steer mascot dressed as an elf led the parade.

Here comes the band!

I thought this guy was funny.

This one doesn't really need a caption...

Western Container's float (they make Coke product bottles--I think).

I guess this horse is a Clydesdale. It was enormous!


The boat full of cheerleaders.


That's the Grinch in jail! (Sheriff's Office float)

And last but not least, Santa and Mrs. Claus end the parade!

Since then, I have been trying to get my house decent for visitors. The first of the visitors come tomorrow; Scott's parents and grandmother. The first of his finals is tomorrow also and his second final will be Wednesday. Then we are home free! Graduation is this weekend and we are so excited. My parents will be meeting us in Abilene on Friday and then coming back to Big Spring with us for the rest of the weekend. I usually work on Mondays, but Scott needed extra time to himself to study and write today (he has a paper due tomorrow, too) so I stayed home today and it was probably a good thing because the house needs constant attention with my two running around taking apart everthing I've just done!

Claire is really starting to spout off the words now. She picks up a lot from her brother. You can really tell by the fact that she has started growling, much to my chagrin! Anywho, there's a little update on her.

As for Will, he just cracks us up all the time. Today he told Scott (albeit quoting from a movie), "Dad, sometimes I just think I'm a genius." Really?

Until next time (hopefully with graduation pictures!).

Birthday Girl Pictures

My college friend Kathy lives near my parents in Houston. She is an amateur photographer (she has two adorable little boys that she can't help but take pictures of) and we asked her to come and grace us with her talents on Claire's birthday. She took some amazing photos of Claire that day while Will and her oldest boy, Patrick, played with my mom in the pool. Here are the results!

This one is my absolute favorite. My little birthday girl in her birthday suit with a great big grin on her face!

A classic Claire face. Ooo!

Yummy cupcake!

...And in the blue outfit :)

Isn't She Lovely...

We took Claire to get her first portraits made today. She did so well! She was awake and (mostly) happy the whole time. Will was a much bigger challenge than she was :) Here are a few of my favorites:

So sweet

So innocent

So Kissable

Her head still fits in Daddy's hand!

Notice the look on Will's face :) Scott wasn't supposed to be in the pictures (that was the plan), but Will would not sit in my lap or cooperate without him, so in he came. Thank goodness he wasn't wearing a t-shirt!

My nursing tank top strap is showing, but everyone looks good, so it's not the end of the world.

And finally, the action shot. Just as the photographer was taking the picture, Claire decided to spit up. Yum! Notice the perfect tear-drop form. This was Scott's favorite picture (all in jest--he's such a guy). He specifically asked the girl to add it to the cd for us--ha!

Two and Terrific!

Today, our baby turned two years old! On Tuesday, May 10, 2005, at 10:29 am, he made his entrance into the world and changed our lives forever. We are so very blessed to have this boy in our lives! Here's a look back to that special day two years ago:

And here is our big two-year old boy!:

Tonight, we are going to Chuck E. Cheese with some good friends and plan to have a ball! I will post more pictures of birthday celebrations tomorrow!

Will's Portraits

We had Will's two year-old portraits taken on Saturday. These are the Internet proofs, so they are small and the margins won't be quite right from the way that we ordered them, but here are the best ones :) Isn't he getting big?