Family Vacation Coming Home

On our way home from our time in Florida with Jimmy's family and our fun-filled trip to see Mickey Mouse, we stopped at the Battleship Alabama in Mobile. It was a hot day. The ship was fascinating. Hunter had a fun time running around and climbing through the doorways and peeking into the rooms. He really liked the bunks. There was also a room full of airplanes that Hunter really enjoyed. Momma carried T in the front carrier. It has been awhile since I used this thing. Boy, he's a lot heavier than he was the last time I used it, but this was much easier than carrying him. Jimmy is a history buff so he really enjoyed this little adventure. The best part was that we were on our way home. Seeing the Welcome to Texas sign was wonderful! Just one more hotel and then home.

I never truly appreciated hotel swimming pools until this trip. What a great way to burn some energy after being in the car for long periods of time. The boys were amazing travelers. Tanner cried for about 30 minutes. That's it. I never imagined they would do so well. We were well stocked with movies and toys which made the trip easier for them. We had lots of "Let's Go Rangers" chants led by our sweet Hunter. Tanner even joined in!




They decided to lock us all up. It's a good thing we escaped! Hehe!


Daddy and Hunter letting everyone know that they were there. Very cool! I think I have over 300 pictures from our trip. I have just picked a few of my favorites for the blog. I would love to share them all because there are so many memories in those pictures. Love

Thank you God for a wonderful trip to see family, sweet memories, and most of all, my boys.

Family Vacation Part 3. . . Hello Mickey

On our way home from Miami, we stopped at Disney World. We had so much fun! The boys could ride every ride (except Space Mountain but Momma and Daddy had fun on that one!) It was crowded, but we didn't have to wait too long for any ride. We were able to ride everything in the park! I'm so thankful to experience this with my boys. What special memories and great pictures. Here are a few of my favorites!
Tan crashed about lunch time, then again later. The boys were a little sunburned from the beach and T had a little run in with a night stand in the hotel so he looks a little beat up. Don't let that make you think he didn't have fun. He's a trooper!
Momma was more excited about the Winnie the Pooh ride than anyone else. H was patient posing for this picture for me. The ride was amazing. We got to go into the park early since we stayed in one of their hotels which has a major plus because we got through the most popular rides very quickly.
Family picture heading in to the park. I love these boys. H and T were very sleepy at this point. I may have been more excited than them! H kept asking, "Where's Mickey Mouse?" and he wanted to know where the Clubhouse was.
I think this cheese face says it all. We had a blast. Tanner loved the light parade at the end of the day. They boys got to go shopping and get stuffed animals. An amazing part of a long, fun vacation. Now, it's time to head home.

Summer Vacation Part 2

We drove from Arlington to Mobile, AL then Mobile to Miami. We had a great time visiting Jimmy's family. Hunter kept them busy with all of his playing. We got to go to the beach while we were there. What a fun time! Hunter got in the water, but didn't like the salt so he spent most of his time on the beach with Mimi and Papa. Tanner loved the warm water and stayed with mom in his float for a long time. We had sand everywhere! Jimmy's cousin, Matt, lost his wedding ring in the ocean so we looked for that for awhile, but the water was so warm that it wasn't too bad looking for it (with no success). The weather was great. We thought there might be rain, but it stayed away so we could play. I'm so thankful that my boys got to enjoy the beach and the ocean since we don't live close to one.




Thank you God for sweet memories made with my boys.

Holloway Summer Vacation (1st Leg)

We recently got home from a very long family vacation- our first as a family of four. We spent the first weekend of our trip in Arlington. Hunter and Jimmy went to Six Flags while Tanner and I went to Heidi and Daniel's wedding shower. That evening, we finally made it to a Ranger game. Thank you, Michael Young, they won! We had a blast. Hunter loved every minute of the game. He got to play in the kid's area for the first time and hit a homerun (of course!) Hunter led the crowd in several rounds of "Let's go Rangers". Tanner clapped and danced and ate a ton (as usual). What a wonderful start to our trip!!!


Watching David Murphy in the field. This boy loves his Rangers.

Hunter and Captain. What a cool experience for H!! Look carefully, Hunter has his red socks pulled up to his knees, like David Murphy.

I love this cheese face boy. He is such a sweaty baby, but loved every minute of the Ranger game. Cute boy!!!

Thank you God for fun, family time and amazing boys.

Tanner's Birthday Party

We are so blessed to have so many people who truly love and celebrate our boys with us. We were surrounded by love at Tanner's birthday party. We had yummy burgers and hot dogs. He got so many cool gifts!! He loved the cake. He took a handful and ate it (with Pops' help) and then he decided to lick the plate. What a mess! He is such a happy boy!



Happy birthday TanMan! You are such a blessing to your Momma. I love you more than words can say.

Tiny Tanner is 1!

My beautiful Tiny boy,
I can't believe that tomorrow you will wake up a one year old. This time last year, I never would have imagined how many blessings you would bring with you into this world. I am so thankful for you. You have made my heart grow bigger than I could have dreamed. You have made our family more complete.

You are a momma's boy through and through. I can't tell you how that thrills my heart. I can't walk through a room without giving you attention. Even if your daddy is holding you, you want momma (Daddy doesn't like this so much). You get very upset with me if I don't stop what I'm doing to hold you. You stand between my legs anytime I stand still. That makes cooking and cleaning difficult, but deep down, I love it. I even have bruises on my hips from holding you so much. I realize that these days won't last, so I'm cherishing it. We love your kisses, open mouth, tongue sticking out. You will turn my face to give me a big, juicy slobber kiss. I just can't get enough!

You are a great eater. I haven't found much that you won't eat. You make a face every time you try something new like it is the worst thing you have ever eaten, then you open your mouth for more. It shows in your chunky thighs and double chin. You are full of yumminess that I just eat up. You are our chunky monkey.

You have finally turned into a good little sleeper. It took about 10 months before you and I consistently slept through the night, but I won't complain. No one else had the honor of hanging out with you in the middle of the night so I feel privileged (easy to say that now that I'm rested!!) Now, you sleep like a champ. This summer, you've let me sleep until at least 9, which I'm fine with. You take great naps. You love the satiny part of your blanket and sleep with a paci. That's the only time you want it. You aren't a snuggler because you are so busy. Hopefully that will change now that our bed time routine is changing.

You love to make people laugh. A true clown. Dancing is one of your favorite things to do, especially if someone is watching. You are such a happy boy. You have your fussy times, but that has improved as you have gotten older. You are so busy, constantly getting into things you don't need to, like cabinets and drawers. If I'm in the kitchen, you're there with me pulling things out of drawers. You are working on standing up on your own, but you aren't ready to walk yet, which is okay with Momma because I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. I'll keep you little as long as possible. You have 5 teeth- 3 on the top, 2 on the bottom. You think it's funny to bite momma on the shoulder. I don't think it's so funny though. Hunter doesn't like being bitten either. He doesn't understand that you are playing.

Your brother adores you. Several times a day, I have to tell him to get off of you. You don't always love his attention, more you don't love him lying on top of you. There have been several times that we have found the two of you playing together in Hunter's room. You want to play baseball with him, but you aren't big enough yet so you hold the bat or ball and watch him play. No one can make you laugh like Hunter. The first word that I understood out of your mouth was brother (I think). I eat up the times you two spend together, just playing together. Hunter likes to crawl into your crib and play with you, make you laugh, keep you busy. You are so sweet together.

My sweet Tiny, you have blessed us more than words can express. You have brought so much joy to our family. I can't wait to see how you grow and change in the coming years. I thank God daily for choosing me to be your momma. We love you, Twizzle.

*The amazing picture is by our soon-to-be sister-in-law, Heidi (Captivated Cadence). Thanks Heidi for taking such beautiful pics of my boy.

Six Flags Fun!

Nothing says fun like Six Flags in the summer! We had a blast taking the boys. We went at Christmas, but we split up and didn't ride as many rides with the boys. Hunter loves riding the rides. He's fearless! He even rode a few by himself. Made momma a little nervous, but he was such a big boy! Tanner did great as well. He got to ride a few rides with the whole family (like the antique cars and Loony Tunes cave previously known as the Speelunkers cave). It was warm, but we had a great time with Mimi and Nate. We will definitely be going back soon.

Thank you God for fun times with my precious boys.

Winter 2010

I realize it's June 2011 but I've got some backtracking to do since I was away from my blog for awhile. I looked through my pictures and I think this is where I need to start.

We took the boys on the Polar Express when it came to Lubbock. Hunter went last year, but I think it was a little too much for him. This year, he loved it! They both looked beyond precious in their pajamas. Hunter loved seeing Santa and his elves. He sang some songs with us and ate his cookies and drank his hot chocolate. He adores the Polar Express movie (he watched it daily for about a year). Granna wrote Tom Hanks a letter to let him know of Hunter's adoration of the movie and he wrote Hunter a letter back. So sweet!! What special memories.


+While we were in Arlington for Christmas, we visited Six Flags. Hunter loved riding the kid's rides. Momma and Daddy ventured off to ride some big rides. H loved the antique cars because he got to drive. It was pretty cool outside, but we had a great time. By the way, I love T in his monster hat and gloves. Makes my heart smile a little bit. He's just yummy!



We admit our boys may be slightly spoiled. Hunter got a cool kitchen with food from Santa. Tan got a toy box for the toys he was inheriting (plus a few more).
Christmas Eve was Tiny Tanner's 6 month birthday. Growing like a weed! He had a blast playing in the boxes.

I guess better late than never, but I have to start somewhere so I guess I should end this with Belated Merry Christmas!

We are just so blessed by God with two amazing boys and surrounded by so much love.

Easter at the Holloway House

Happy Easter from the Holloways! We had a great weekend. Hunter and Jimmy took a guys day on Friday. They went to lunch, Main Event, and to the park to play baseball. After nap, we all went to a Tech softball game and saw our friend, Spencer. Saturday, we had fun just spending time together around the house. Sunday, we went to church. My boys all looked so handsome! I'm a sucker for matching boys (or at least coordinating). Their hats just about made me giddy! We went to Aunt Jody's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. We closed our weekend by dying eggs. What a sweet day and sweet memories. Thank you God!

Tanner's first Easter. He is more precious than words can say. He wouldn't leave his hat on, this is the best I got with the hat.

We have seen this silly face often. He wanted the camera. Check out those 2 big bottom teeth!

Brotherly love. Hunter had good intentions. He loves his brother, but Brother wasn't having it.

My handsome big boy. Wow! When did he get so big?! He's going to be a heart breaker for sure!

T was cracking us up! When he sat in the grass, he would try to hold up one of his legs, like he didn't like the feel of the grass. So funny!

One of Hunter's finds at Aunt Jody's. Everyone was very impressed with his baseball skills.

Again, he's holding up his leg. What a hoot! I love this picture!

Hunter and Daddy had a great time dying Easter eggs. We may have found a new tradition!

Thank you God for these amazing boys. I'm one blessed momma!

We're back

I've been away from the blog world for so long now! I can't believe I haven't even posted pictures of my boys since December. Sigh. Well, Jimmy got me a laptop for my birthday so now I can be a better blogger. I don't know if anyone really even looks at this, but for me it serves as much as a memory book for my boys as it does anything else. I've got a lot of catching up to do. I hope to do a little bit at a time. I'm home sick today so I figured why not start now.

Hunter is 3years and 4 months now. He is an amazing kid! He just holds my heart in his hands. He just received a certificate at school for learning all of his letters. We are working on it at home and at school. He is excellent at finding the letter H. He is hilarious! He keeps us laughing all of the time. The other day, he hit his head and came to me to kiss it, so I did, and told him to shake it off. He shook his head and told me, "It's not coming off!" He is a super athlete. If it were up to him, he would play baseball all day long. He got a baseball helmet recently. He tried to take it to bed with him. He loves the Texas Rangers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He calls athletes "kids" (baseball kids, basketball kids, etc.). He likes to go to his room and have his daddy announce him, then he runs out and hits the ball or shoots a basket. "Playing for the Texas Rangers, Hunter Holloway James!!!!!" (That's how Jimmy was instructed to say his name, who knows!) He is an excellent big brother and such a good helper.

Tanner is now 10 months old. He is so busy. He loves eating everything (veggies, fruits, puffs, paper). He is crawling and pulling up all over the place. He has the best smile and laugh. He gives amazing slobber kisses. Tanner is a momma's boy, for sure. He went through a stage that he would cry if I would walk past or go in the other room without stopping to hold him. He spends his days at Granna's house and goes to school on Fridays. He isn't sleeping though the night yet, but we are working on that. Sleeping is his biggest struggle. He will fight and fight. He loves playing with his big brother. We often find them together in Hunter's room playing together. He makes the cutest faces, wrinkling up his nose when he smiles. He loves to call the dinosaurs (make screeching noises when he's happy). Tiny keeps us on our toes.

Man, I love these boys. I'm so blessed to be their momma. I thank God for the blessing he gave me through these 2 sillies everyday.