You've Got to be Kidding Me!

2010-12-08T07:24:00.000-08:00

Leakey, aka... The River!

2010-08-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the Pecan Farm in Leakey for our annual Culli/McKay/Camero/Rivera get-a-way! We had a great time, but Brinley was glued to my hip. I think it will be fun again once she is older. For now, she's a home-body! Cayden had so much fun with all of his cousins, and I think we all really enjoyed watching him. He LOVES being around people and having LOTS of attention.... boy did he get it!!

Brinley started crawling LAST week (at 7 months and 3 weeks). She was able to show off some of her skills to the family. That was fun!

Before we went to "the river," we started prepping Cayden. We talked about Leakey and all of his cousins. He quickly misunderstood and thought we were talking about the lake... as in LAGO! We had to start calling it "The River" in order to help him understand a little better. Our next obstacle was him thinking that this was Gigi & Pop's new home... and why the Gator wasn't there!!

The hat lasted about 3 minutes!!

She looks so comfy here!

Cayden pulling his princess to the river!

Chris, Aunt Linda & Brinley

The crew starts arriving!

Peanut Gallery!!!

Noone got to sit for long!! Cayden had us all up and running around!

Rick, Kerri, Reid, Ryan, Riley & Kyle

Kennedy taking a swing on the rope!

Cayden taking a leap with Kennedy & Kyle

Cayden's turn on the rope swing!

WooHoo!

Kennedy's 10th birthday celebration!!!

Is it just me, or does it look like

Cayden thinks this party is for him?!?!!!

Cayden LOVES birthday cake!

Uncle Ed, David, Rick & Chris

Brinley is showing off her crawling skills!

Morning coffee/juice on the porch swing!

Cayden is so strong.

It was MY bright idea to tell Cayden to play in the sprinklers.

He does it ALL the time at home.

I didn't know he was going to DESTROY it!!

We all gasped and then quickly grabbed our cameras!

water shooting everywhere

Thank God Matt is so handy!! He fixed it, but got drenched!

Yay Daddy!!!

Cayden with Ky and Kennedy.

Cayden LOVES Kennedy!!! He talks about her all the time!

Kyle riding Cayden's bike!

The Riveras were next door. It was fun having them so close!

The big group was by the river.

The twins attacked Kerri... several times!

We laughed about this for a long time.

How hilarious does this look?!?! They loved it!

Reid

Ryan

Doug, Reid, Uncle Ed, Cayden, Matt & Chris

Reese and Cayden

Matt trying to prepare for a flip!

Riley giving him the extra push that he appeared to need!

Kyle & Kennedy

We tried to get all of the kids (minus Brinley), but Cayden was sat on top of an ant pile.

That pretty much ruined the picture!! :(

Ryan, Reid & Cayden

Aunt Linda told them to put their arms out and

hug each other for a picture... this is what we got!!!

Aunt Linda

Cayden pulling Reese & Matt

The "Shady" crew!!

Uncle Ed was busy finding fossils!

Time to relax!

Brinley & her Gigi

Papa met us later that night at our house.

We surprised Cayden! He was so excited!

...can you tell??

silly boy

(both of them!)

sweet girl!

getting better at crawling everyday!

First time in the REAL high chair!!

The End to a FUN weekend!!!

Thanks Gigi & Pop!

I actually WAS there although I didn't make it in the pictures!! We are already looking forward to next year! :)

Quick Visit

2010-08-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Jan came with Jean to take Cayden back to Beeville for a visit.

Matt allowed Cayden to be gone for about 24 hours!! :)

He's stingy with his time!!

While they were here, I ran and got my hair cut!!

Swinging with Pop...

and Gigi!

I'm assuming there is a TV that is captivating their attention!

Cayden LOVES to water the plants, and there are plenty of them!

the Gator... Cayden talks about this ALL the time!!

"Don't turn it on yet... okay!" "Here we go!" "I ride Gator!"

"I go to Gigi & Pop's house, and I ride Gator!"

It's Time!

2010-08-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

It's time, actually PAST TIME, for a blog update! Our computer is sick these days. It needs to go to the Geek Squad and get some help. Matt has done everything in his power to fix the problem, but it needs a little something extra. I am going to attempt to blog as much as I can today. Hopefully I won't be kicked off too many times.

Mom and Brinley having their morning quiet time.

I came back from changing Brinley, and THIS is what I found in the high chair!

This was Cayden's idea.

He wanted Brinley to ride on his four wheeler!!

Brinley and I went to Amy's baby shower.

Sweet girl...

...trying to learn to crawl!

Gigi & Brinley

Cayden "helped" his daddy and Pop put the new garage shelves together!

Pop and Gigi with their favorite grandkids!!!

Daddy's girl

Cute pair... Sunday Morning

before church... everyone is all smiles.

Brinley was kicked out of the nursery that day.

It was the first time beginning a new trend! :(

Cayden helped his daddy work on the sprinklers after his nap.

He didn't have fun at all.

Morning conspiring against Mommy.

(Secrets, Secrets are no fun!)

Crib time kisses!!!

Cayden is Crazy!

2010-07-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Cayden is so brave and is rarely afraid to do anything! That scares me just a little. I'm not sure if it is a BOY thing, a TODDLER thing, or just a CAYDEN thing!! It's nice that he's willing to try things, but he always wants to take it to the next level. That's where the scary part comes in. This last weekend, we were at the lake. Cayden asked to go tubing, so Matt went tubing with him. (This soon turned into Cayden tubing ALONE!) He then made a request to ski ALONE. Matt was super excited and ALL FOR IT. I had to draw the line there. I'm just not ready to see my barely TWO-year-old skiing... or better yet, falling while trying to learn to ski! That just sounds terrible!

Anyway- we've now graduated to scary things off of the diving board at the pool. I realize they aren't that scary... but you have to realize... that's my BABY out there!!! :)

Hopefully I won't be posting bull riding pics anytime soon! :)

...until the next crazy video!!!!

Happy Birthday Kate!

2010-07-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated Kate's birthday at the lake as usual. However, I'm not sure it was the "Best Birthday Ever" for Kate!! She ended up hugging the toilet for about 12 hours. We're hoping and PRAYING that none of us join her in her birthday FUN!! I think we have about 24 hours before we are all in the clear!!

I'm not sure how the birthday girl managed to miss most ALL of my pictures (pre-toilet hugging), but she did. I'll have to add more from my phone later. When I get home and plug in my camera, it is like Christmas. I never know which pictures I am actually going to get and which ones I missed!! Everyone was actually there!! Sorry if it doesn't appear that way!!! I love each and every person!

Aunt Barb with Brinley & Cayden

A failed attempt to put the footprints

of Emily, Brinley & Cody in the cement.

Cayden played SO well with Ansley and Emily this weekend.

I love that he is so close in age to his cousins!!

Kate's birthday lunch...

YUMM-O!

Thanks Uncle Mack & Aunt Barb!!

Gotta get that Brinley sugar!

Amanda and Cody

Nana & Papa with their babies!

Jake, Cayden and Uncle Mack

Is it just me, or does Cayden look like

he is hanging from the ceiling here?!!? hehe!!

Brinley's turn!

Ansley and Brin... "look at me Brin!"

Uncle Matt & Cody

Brinley says, "Well, hello Jake!"

Brin w/ Aunt Amanda

Uncle Mack and Aunt Barb showered the kids

with gifts. It was like Christmas!!

Brinley adorned with her Hawaiian jewelry

Happy Birthday Kate!
I love you like a sister. You are such a wonderful, beautiful, smart young lady! I can't believe you are already 20! I hope to celebrate MANY more birthdays (hopefully better) in the future.
Until then, feel better soon! I love you!

lake pics added from my phone...

Too much junk in Cayden's trunk!

2010-07-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

We've entered a new stage around our house... It's the "I can do it" stage. Below is Cayden and his newly independent self...

Talking on the phone to Gigi...

...yes BOTH legs are in one leg hole!

Uh oh! ...Must go get more clothes!

...better put Gigi down for this!

I can multitask!

I think this is where this goes... and Yes,

I still have BOTH legs in one hole!

next, the swimsuit

Hello?!?! Can you hear me now?!?!?!!

...about to run into the bed in T-2 seconds...

Unbelievable ability to do two things at once.. while blind!

clothes everyhere!

So much to choose from!

...another day of getting dressed

Sucking it in!!!

Did I get it mommy?!?

So proud!

I get my shirt!

hmmm...

I think I've got it.

YEP!!

I did it Momma!!

How's it looking in the back Momma?

Too much JUNK?!?!?!!

Exhausted from all this work.

It's time for a drink!!

7 Month Comparison

2010-07-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

Cayden & Brinley- 7 Months

Wanting to Crawl- 7 Months

Side Profile- 7 Months

Brother & Sister- 7 Months

She's How Old?

2010-07-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

7 Months!! It can't be true!! I need to know how to make time stand still. I am trying to live in the moment, every moment, but time continues to slip through my hands like silky sand.

Brinley is a sweet baby and a good sleeper. She is chewing on everything in sight. She plays with whatever we hand her! We started giving her some table foods because she was begging like a poor puppy dog when we ate dinner. She LOVES to eat (as you can see). She is very well-mannered. She wakes up happy and cries when Cayden is too rough and when she is sleepy or hungry. Typically she doesn't cry just to cry. She has gotten TONS better about riding in the car. She LOVES going for long walks. She is a much better stroller than Cayden! Cayden keeps her smiling though! He helped out with the photo shoot below. She starts off her day by waking me up. When Cayden wakes up, we go into his room and play in his crib. She is all giggles. Brinley loves her brother. We'll see how long that lasts! She JUST got her 4th tooth today. She now has her bottom two teeth and two on top. The two on top are the two LEFT front teeth. Her right front tooth hasn't come it yet! It's kind of lopsided!
When Matt gets hope, the big smiles return. This little girl LOVES her daddy! It is so sweet. I love that relationship! I hope they grow to be as close as my dad and I are.

...thinking about taking a dive!

Getting ready to get mobile. Uh Oh!

I love the roll on her back just above her diaper.

It's almost gone.

UGH- I can't take this growing up thing!

Checking for that new tooth that came in...

This is my 26-Month baby!!!! :)

Sweet BABY boy!! hehe!!

He told me, "I get in Bumbo!" ...and he did!

A Camping We Will Go!

2010-07-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, we realize it is the middle of July. It's hot, and we live in South Texas. ALL the more reason to go camping, right?? It's about memories... and boy did we make them!!

The Bucks family came over for our cook-out. I wanted to get pics of the kids, but they are all SO busy!! It's hard to get a good one.

First, we tried to get the girls...

Don't let this picture fool you.

She thinks she wants to crawl, but that's as far as she gets!

Ashley tried to corral them, but it didn't last!

The boys were busy outside with their s'mores!

Cayden got all geared up for the tent experience!

And the sleepless night began!

I'd love to make a different report, but we were in our beds by midnight!! Cayden had a blast, but could NOT get still. Matt was dying from the heat. To make matters worse, we kept hearing the A/C unit coming on. All we could think about was our super comfy bed in our cold house! Finally, the last straw was when Cayden announced, "Okay. I go to bed upstairs now!" We all grabbed our pillows and out we went! It was lots of fun though. ;) We will do it again someday... hopefully not too soon!

4th of July

2010-07-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

The end of June and July have been busy months for us. We have really enjoyed the kids at the swimming pool and the lake. My dad was able to come for a weekend at the end of June, and then we spent July 4th weekend at the lake with my whole family. We had LOTS of cousin fun. We're actually headed back there for round 2 of cousin fun at the lake... only with more cousins this time! Pictures will soon follow.~

Cayden 2 years

Brinley 6 Months

I never want to forget those ankles!!

Watermelon princess

Papa's visit

Matt and Cayden play chasing games in the pool every day!

Papa and Cayden have matching swimsuits! Cayden helped pick it out!

Grilling ribs after the pool

Brinley's first taste of grapes...

loved them!

Silly boy

Silly Daddy!

Brinley isn't too sure about this photo shoot.

Tooth #3 came in.

It is the one to the left of where her front tooth will be. (on top)

wanting to crawl

workin' at it

Learning to crawl is hard work!

Okay... now I'm frustrated!

Splash Pad

The story:

Several of my girlfriends and I took our kids to the splash pad. Matt was the only dad who was going to be able to join us after work. I was ecstatic, but I had no idea how to tell him to find us (problem #1). That became a major problem when he called on the road for directions. We were on base, and it is super confusing. Some of the entry points are only for military personnel and others are for civilians. I gave him instructions to a gate and kept my fingers crossed that it was one that he could get into. As we hung up, I mentioned that he needed to have his driver's license ready to show them. (problem #2) He then informed me that I actually had his driver's license in MY CAR. Oh Great!! There was an incredible sweet military mom at the splash pad who OFFERED to drive me to the gate and take Matt his driver's license. I graciously accepted and off we went. It was about a 15 minute drive to the gate. When we got there, I hopped in Matt's truck and she said she would wait for us. She had to go through a different gate since she was military. However, (problem #3) we were not allowed to enter because Matt's inspection sticker had expired!! UGH!! Now, I have kids at the splash pad and there is a saint waiting to take me back to them, but I can't get to her because Matt isn't allowed on base!!!

After begging the guard, he allowed us to enter to inform the sweet lady that we were not allowed in. We managed to park Matt's car and ride with her to get our kids! Believe it or not, we actually had a great time after all that was said and done. The only last problem we encountered was getting back to Matt's car. We left it in an area (OF COURSE) that military personnel was allowed access to. Again, we told our story and begged the guard. He reluctantly let us in, and we managed to get Matt's car and drive home before the HUGE storm hit. UGH! What an event! :)

boys, boys and more boys

ALL of the boys had a blast...

I think the girls (Anna, Saray & Brinley) enjoyed staying dry better!

Cochran boys playing with Cayden

super silly. super goofy!

Cayden is trying to feed Brinley. She isn't patient when it comes to her food!!

4th of July!!!

Cody & Brinley

This was a scary moment.

I was so scared that Brinley was going to end up on the pavement!

She was fussy- as you can see. It all ended up just fine!!

Jeremy & Amanda's family with ours

The whole Hill-Culli gang!

Nana & Papa with their 5 grand kids!

I love these boys!!

Cayden with his Papa

Nana with her Brin

This is Sheriff Cayden!

Watch out!

Cayden monitoring the parade!

I promise-- there is just water in there!

Nana and a much happier Brinley after her nap!

Those fire engines were loud!

Tea time after the parade!

...of course Cayden had to bust up the party!

dancing while jumping??!!? It was pretty cute.

It was HARD to share.

Cayden didn't do very well with that!

He liked tandem jumping much better!

Daddy & Cayden

It's ski time!

I didn't get any pictures on my camera of Matt & Cayden tubing.

It was Cayden's first tubing adventure.

It started nice and slow.

Before I knew it, Matt was fighting

to keep the tube from flipping over!!

Cayden had a BLAST.

Swimming at the dock

Brinley sat this one out

Emily felt more comfortable on the jet ski!

Cayden stopping by to say hello

to his sister and his daddy.

Yummo Watermelon !!!

Can't beat it.

Jeremy & Amanda made some

homemade strawberry ice cream later that evening,

and we watched fireworks on the dock.

That was A LOT of fun.

Cayden didn't see much though. He was too busy dancing around!!

All of the kids loved it!

Home sweet home!

Cayden lined up all of his toys

in the street for some puddle splashing fun!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Beeville to celebrate Father's Day. It was sad that we couldn't be with my dad too. I always love it when we are with both. Everyone had a great time. Jean was under the weather Saturday, but thankfully she was feeling much better Sunday. We thought we had another Meningitis scare because she had symptoms much like I did. That would have been awful. We were so glad that wasn't the case.

Cayden & Matt at Family Fun Night

I had to take several mug shots of

the kids this weekend.

Hang in there with me! :)

Cayden is SUCH a helper! (wink, wink!)

Here he is watering Brinley while saving her hat!

...much like he watered my cell phone last week!

Aunt Linda and Uncle Ed dropped by for dinner.

Brinley shared lots of smiles.

3 Generations

Pretty Special!

Jean felt much better and was able to join us for church.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Brinley and I took Cayden to Pleasanton on Monday

to drop him off with Gigi & Pop.

Cayden saw something in Walmart that he had to have,

so Gigi had to buy Brinley something too.

We had a mini photo shoot since Cayden was out of the picture!

Brinley LOVES her feet, so it is hard to get her to look up for pictures.

I laughed when I went through my pictures from this weekend.

She was either looking down in most of the pictures or chewing on her toes!

I guess there will be a lot of "head shots" during this stage!

Happy Father's Day Dad! I hate being away from you on special days like this one. I know there are a lot of new and exciting things happening in your life. Although I am unable to be there for all of them, I will always be there in spirit. One of the most precious things in life is praying with Cayden. He loves to pray for his grandparents. We always cover you in prayer; this weekend was no different. My heart hurts when we can't be there for special events, but you can be assured that you are being prayed over. No matter the distance, we will always find a way to spend time with you. To the greatest dad that I could have ever asked for or imagined, I love you Dad.

~Christy

Fun in the Sun!

2010-06-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

We have had a super relaxing week (once we recovered from the boating incident)! Pap and Nana have really enjoyed the kids, and I have enjoyed their help with the kids. :) Papa slipped away to Dallas for a couple of days, but he's on his way home as we speak. It will be nice to get home and see Matt. He's been doing inventory at work. Bummer.

This picture is out of focus,

but I thought it was a really cute picture of Brinley.

Cayden helped by watering Nana's rocks!

Brinley was the supervisor.

Pictures taken on top of the dock.

So much for staying dry!!!

2010-06-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to wear my swimsuit because I wasn't planning on getting in the water. I sure am glad I did! The wind kicked up while Dad and Cayden were floating near the boat. I was feeding Brinley in the boat... just relaxing in the wind. We laughed as Dad tried to paddle the two of them closer to the boat. After about 15 minutes of swimming towards the boat, we realized they were NOT going to catch up. Dad yelled out that he wanted me to start up the boat and come pick them up... That would have been great except the boat wouldn't start. YIKES!!

I panicked. I tried and tried, but I couldn't get it started. My dad continued to swim (backstroke) while Cayden held on to his jacket. It was funny at first because Cayden was doing his "lawnmower" pull while my dad swam as if to say, "Let's fire this thing up and get moving!!" We couldn't stop laughing, but soon enough it started to get scary. We were quickly approaching the rocks and there I was with Brinley alone. Cayden started to cry because the wind picked up even more. He was getting splashed in the face and was scared. I started throwing the rope out as far as I could. It was into the wind so of course, it did no good.

FINALLY, I had the bright idea of jumping in with a rope and swimming towards my dad. He reminded me to put on my life jacket before jumping in. Thank goodness I did. I put Brinley in the Bumbo on the floor of the boat. Thankfully we had Mr. bumbo! I dove in and swam towards them. They were further out from the rope, but I pulled against the boat. My dad was losing the color in his face. He had been swimming backwards with Cayden on his stomach for at least 20 minutes now. I took Cayden from him and we pulled ourselves back to the boat. My dad was exhausted. It scared all of us so badly.

Dad was able to start the boat. I thought he was flooding it because he just held it down for what seemed like forever. It finally started up. Needless to say, we went straight home. The boat needs a new starter. Imagine that. :)

So much for relaxing and NOT getting my hair wet!! :) What I want to know... why did it take me 20 minutes of watching my dad struggle in the water to think of jumping in myself? I guess I didn't want to leave Brinley alone in the boat. Who knows. I am not thinking clearly these days!

We're back at home now. All is well again.

It all started great... just floating in the water.

Cayden jumped in a few times.

He tried to swim with Cayden on his back,

but Cayden wasn't a fan of that.

This was Cayden's preferred choice of travel.

See...it's fun!

...Even Dad looks happy at this point!

Brinley and I had a quick photo shoot

while we waited for them.

Slowly, they got further and further away.

This is about the point where we all started to panic.

Can you see them WAY out there?

You can see a white dot in the middle of the picture.

That's Cayden's white hair!

Cayden was too exhausted to drive!

Brinley took over.

We're much safer on the dock.

Never a dull moment!!!

Six Month Sweetie

2010-06-13T06:07:00.000-07:00

I wrote this yesterday and wanted to post her 6 month pictures, but my camera is on the blink. Bummer!
I managed to get a couple pictures of the kids painting today. I'm also going to post her 5 month pictures. I need to get this resolved soon!
***
Brinley is six months old today. It makes me sad to think in six short months she is going to be ONE!!! Where has the time gone? This time last year we didn't even know I was pregnant. It's crazy to think she's celebrating her half birthday today!! Depending on how her birthday celebration goes in December, we may start celebrating her half birthday in order to avoid the Christmas season chaos.

I'll post her weight and height after her well visit. I am sure she is sitting pretty near 100th percentile in both height and weight. We don't go to the doctor for a week, so I'll let you know later. I'm sure the suspense is killing you!!!

What is Miss Brin doing these days? Not Much!! She sits up extremely well. We are afraid to think that she may be crawling soon. She doesn't mind being on her tummy and when she is, she is kicking her feet like she's trying to squirm away somewhere. It seems like we were just in the hospital with her last week. Wait- we were... oh, yes, but I meant bringing her home as a newborn! :) It seems like yesterday.

She is still nursing exclusively. I tried to feed her a little rice cereal, but she really didn't like it that much. They say the longer you nurse, the better. I think I am going to try to nurse exclusively for 9 months. That gives us three more months before we start feeding her baby food again. She's a big girl and sleeps well, so there really isn't any need. Baby food is such a hassle AND it's expensive. If this is better, we'll just keep doing it.

She is still on a VERY flexible schedule. Because I was in the hospital, she has started a new routine. She wakes up super early (like 4 or 5). She eats and goes right back to sleep until about 9AM. Normally I would say this is completely unacceptable, but right now my milk is pretty low at night. I'm sure she is just hungry. I'm not worried about it. She'll drop that feeding soon enough, and we'll be back to our late morning schedule! She stays up until about 10 AM and then takes a 3-hour morning nap. This puts her waking up shortly after I have put Cayden to bed, but it's okay. Once Cayden gets up, she is goes down for another afternoon nap. Both kids are crashing pretty late these days. We've been going to the pool every evening when Matt gets home, so they're getting their baths and into bed after 8:00. That's a little late, but it's summer time!!

Brinley is still super easy. She plays well by herself and loves to laugh at Cayden. The Bumbo is still our dear friend. She sits in it for several hours out of the day. She sleeps when I am out running around and doesn't seem to mind her car seat nearly as much as we originally thought. She has a cute cackle for a laugh. We have been waiting for more teeth, but she still just has the bottom two. That's fine with me! The less the better. They are SUPER sharp!

Most of all, we just love that sweet little girl. She is quickly captivating the hearts of everyone around her. She completes us, and we are SO thankful she is a member of our family. Happy Half Birthday Brinley! We love you!

Camera is going out... 6 Month shot

Happy Half Birthday to Brinley!!!

5 Month Pictures

The Power of Pearls

2010-06-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Recovering from meningitis isn't fun. It has made me extremely thankful for our families (which I already was). My mom and dad stayed through the weekend and helped out with meals, cleaning and the kids. My dad left Sunday, and my mom stayed until Tuesday morning when Jean came back. Jean picked up right where my mom left off.

Friends and family across the board have stepped up in order to help us continue some sort of a normal life, but the recovery process in general just stinks. I have been reading on http://www.meningitis.com/, and I feel much better now. I was beginning to worry that my feelings and my emotions were not valid. I couldn't understand why it was taking so long to feel normal. Would I ever feel normal? I spent the morning weeping and had no idea why. I'm weak, I feel hazy, emotional and lonely. That is not me at all. I found this in the article, "Recovery is dependent upon the body developing an effective immune response to the infecting virus and usually occurs within a week or two. Consequently most people recover within a week or two. However some people may have recurrent headaches and experience tiredness, problems concentrating and/or may be irritable or depressed." Depression. That is what I am experiencing today. It's horrible. Two of my best friends called at the perfect time, just as they always do. Somehow that made me feel less lonely.

Finally, I had relief. This is normal. I am normal, so I dried my eyes and put my pearls on. I'm not sure what it is about pearls, but they do wonders for me. Now, I'm resting on the couch in my shorts, t-shirt and my pearls. Life is good. Everything is going to be okay.

Back Blogging- The Finale

2010-06-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

Cayden, Brinley, Memorial Day Weekend and Jean's visit...

Cayden still loves to put things (and people) into baskets.

This was hilarious to me, so I had to take a picture of it. I ran into HEB for just a few things!!! About 30 minutes later, this was us at the checkout. Cayden was buried under all the groceries in the cart. I was literally laughing out loud in line. People where laughing at us as we strolled the aisles, but what was I to do? I would have been even crazier to let him out, so I just buried him! Don't worry. He found PLENTY to eat on the bottom! :) I don't know if you can see his red shirt, but he's there (right under Uncle Julio's chips)!!!

Cayden & Nana

Playing with Nana & Papa.

Cayden LOVES the water, but wants to be in close contact with you at all times!

Cute Boys

My sweet girl. Recognize that pink polka dotted swimsuit?

Yep! It was Cayden's...

when we thought he was going to be a girl, my mom bought it for him! :)

I sure am glad she talked me in to saving it!

Who's the Captain here?

Brinley's already working on Papa...

If he did it once, I bet he did it a thousand times.

Smooch!

Look at those sweet fat feet!!

I can still kiss on them while they're not stinky!

My Boys!

Cayden NEVER sleeps with us. He's not a cuddler.

We are always trying to get him to take little naps with us, but he won't stay still.

We were shocked when he crawled up in the chair with Papa and actually fell asleep.

Who is that kid?!?! :)

The faster, the better!

Bye, Bye!

While Pop went on a motorcycle trip, Gigi came to spend a little time with the kids.

Cayden talked to Pop on the phone several times.

We took Gigi to the pool to watch Cayden swim.

I never would have let Jean leave that day if I had known I was about to get so sick. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family and support system.

Back Blogging- Part Two

2010-06-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

My brother's family came and visited us a few days before Cayden's party. Cody was almost one month old!! The kids played really well. It was busy, but lots of fun. Five kids is a house full!

Amanda took some cute pictures of the kids with her fancy camera. I love it. Enjoy!

Mixed Bathing!

Morning hugs with Ansley & Cody

We went on several walks!

Brinley & Cody sat on the sidelines.

Sweet Emily

They weren't too sure about it at first.

You should see Cayden swim now!

Jeremy & Emily

Ansley & Cayden boy

Back Blogging- Mother's Day

2010-06-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

I have let the blog slip to the sidelines with all that has been going on lately. Mother's day, my brother's visit, swimming and Memorial Day weekend. We'll make a picture update to bring this blog up to date!

First: Mother's Day

We drove in from Fort Worth around 1:30 in the morning. Matt's parents had driven up to surprise Matt for Mother's Day. It was wonderful having both of our moms with us. I just love it, and I love being a mother!

Cayden helped Papa read the cards.

We have a wonderful family.

3 Generations

Cayden looks so ugly in this picture. He was acting real stinky.

Matt was going to ski in his wet suit, but the dock severed the power cord.

No skiing this weekend. :(

I love this picture. Two of my favorite boys!

Sister Needed A Break!

2010-06-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

I know- there are SO many things that I want and need to blog about, but I have failed to do so. Having said that, I am going to push them to the back burner and blog about our most recent event.
Wednesday morning, June 2nd- I woke up to a headache. It didn't surprise me because I had been waking up with a headache for about a week. Usually I would pop a few Advil and that would take care of it. Matt's Mom was at our house visiting the kids. I kept telling her that my head hurt, and I wasn't sure why the Advil wasn't helping. When we got from from running an errand, (scary to think I was driving all of us around with this) I went into the kitchen to take Advil again. To my shock, I found little piles of Advil. "What in the world??" Come to find out, I had never actually taken them. (WEIRD) I immediately took four because I was in a considerable amount of pain.

Jean needed to leave and it was nap time, so I figured it wouldn't be any problem. Right? WRONG!!
As soon as I got Cayden down for his nap, I went straight into my room and prepared to sink into my bed. About 15 minutes into my nap, Brinley woke up. "Oh great! Of Course!" Up we went. She played and let me rest on the couch, but I really needed to sleep. Two hours later, she was ready for another nap. I had no more gotten her down before Cayden started crying. "AGH!!!" He still had a good two hours left before he was due to be up. Nap time just wasn't meant to be.

The rest of the day went about the same. My headache never went away, but I plugged along. What else was I supposed to do?

Thursday, June 3rd, 5AM
I was in a fitful dream, begging Matt not to go to work. I pleaded with him and told him my head hurt too badly to take care of our kids. After much convincing, he agreed. That was just a dream though it wasn't too far from what was about to happen. I woke myself up and crawled out of bed to go get more Advil. I made it about halfway across the room before I had to stop and cry out to Matt. He jumped out of bed and tried to find some stronger medicine for me. We got back into bed and tried to sleep, but couldn't. By six we decided to call his parents and see if they would come up and help with the kids while Matt went to work. Calling in the reinforcements for a headache was a first, but this was one MAJOR headache!! Matt also called Creighton down the street. He is a good friend and a PA, so we hoped he would have a good recommendation for us as far as seeing a doctor quickly. His wife, Crystal, was so sweet. Creighton wasn't home, so Crystal was the middle-man and offered to keep Cayden.

I hated to barge in on her so early, but I desperately needed relief, so we took her up on her offer. Matt rushed me to a clinic around the corner from our house. The doctor almost immediately sent me out and to the ER, but not before I begged her for a simple sinus Rx. She assured me that I didn't need any sinus medicine. I couldn't help it. I clearly was impaired, and all I could think about was getting that prescription. I knew it held all of the answers. She almost gave in to my plea, but after failing her chin to neck test, she refused and urged me to head straight to the ER. I was SO frustrated. I told Matt I was refusing to leave the ER without a prescription. I couldn't believe we were about to WASTE so much money to get a simple sinus prescription!!!

We arrived at the ER and Matt dropped me off. I was climbing out of the car when my phone rang. It was Courtney. God must have put it on her heart to call me. Funny how He works like that! I wanted to talk, but I wanted relief more. As I was closing the door, I heard Matt joking with Courtney and telling her I was being dropped off at the ER because I was pregnant again! AGH!! I didn't even laugh, and I didn't even hit him!! I just closed the door and blindly felt my way into the ER. Within 5 minutes, I was in a bed and in the worst pain in my life.... YES- you heard it right. The Worst pain ever. This HANDS DOWN was SO much worse than delivering Brinley without drugs. Seriously.

They took me for a CAT scan and did a spinal tap. The results came back... Meningitis. I didn't even care. I just wanted relief. The only thing that concerned me at this point was Brinley. The doctors wanted her out of my room immediately. I begged them to let me nurse her before she left, but they said no. That was the first time I cried. She had never had a bottle before, and she was hungry. Brinley got the worst end of the deal that day. Between my in-laws, Matt and Colette, I think she choked down a little milk, but mostly she just cried. I've always said babies will eat if they are hungry enough. That was true for her too. The next morning, she gulped from a bottle that Crystal brought down. From that point on, she was super happy and well taken care of. I could worry about myself then and focus on getting better.

Sister needed a break, but I definitely went about it the wrong way!! The next few days were boring... actually, it is still boring. I have to stay in bed or on the couch. It is SUCH a bummer, but at least I am alive! The infectious disease doctors told me to expect this type of lifestyle for one to two weeks. I can't imagine doing this for two weeks, but we'll see. It will be a week tomorrow, so maybe we're halfway there. :)

This all happened so quickly. We really didn't have time to inform anyone. For those of you who have found out through the grapevine, I am sorry. We did not mean to offend anyone.
I am resting, healing and hopefully will be back to normal very soon. We covet your prayers and look forward to getting back to our "normal" life. :)

Much love to you all-
The Culli Family

Cake, Ice Cream & a Lil' Puddin'

2010-05-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Boy!!!

Cayden's birthday party was a huge success, in my non-biased opinion. :)

Remember the qualifications... 1- no one goes to the ER, 2- no one dies and 3- (optional) the majority of people have a good time.

Cayden acted VERY strange the majority of the party. He sat in his new chair from Gigi and Pop and stared at the people covering his backyard. Can we cay antisocial? It was really out of the ordinary for Cayden. He seemed to pep up once everyone left. I guess he was in shock just a little.

The big hit... no, it wasn't the ant-infested pinata this year!! :) It was Puddin'! He was the best clown ever! To top it off, he is a strong christian. It was a win-win for all parties involved. I think he made at least half a dozen pink elephants for Ansley. Cayden's favorite was Elmo. Balloons were popping all around us, but the kids were having a blast. Check- success!

I was super paranoid about having my house destroyed, but it wasn't! Everyone stayed outside the whole time, so I was extremely excited about that! There are WAY too many pictures to post all of them. Here are more than you would ever want to see!

This is anti-social Cayden... Who?!!? Weird!!!

Puddin' captivated everyone

Emily, Amanda, Nana & Jeremy

Aunt Linda, Stephanie, Brett & Uncle Ed

Trey & Laura

The Girls

Ashley, Christy, Mandy & Aren

(babies- Caleb & Avery)

The Guys (minus James)

Matt, Logan, Matt

Pap pulling the wagon...hilarious

He told Weston, "boy- you weigh a ton!"

Gigi & Brinley

Papa getting his boy

Puddin' making the umpteenth pink elephant!!

Ansley checking out the creation

I love this picture.

You can see her eye peeking through!

Mama's Girl

Aunt Amanda & Brinley

Happy Birthday Cayden!

Cousins

Grands and Great Grandparent

Matt's parents

Swing buddy!

Cody basically slept through the whole party!! :)

...trying to get a cousin picture!

We weren't too successful, but everyone was in it!

The boy LOVES bubbles!

Jump HIGH Cayden, get up off of your feet!

I love that this wears him out on a daily basis!! :)

A HUGE 'Thank You' to all of our friends and family who made a special effort to be at Cayden's party. We missed several of our friends and family who could not be with us, but you were in our hearts. Cayden is blessed beyond measures to be surrounded by such wonderful people. Happy Birthday Son!

Happy Birthday Cayden!

2010-05-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

He's Two!!!

I've been having a pity party since Cayden has been inching closer to the 24 month mark. I like to refer to him as X months old. That's over now. No one wants to hear that you have a 25 or a 26-month old. "He's Two!" That's what I have to say now. Yesterday we could laugh and say that this weekend was a disaster, but he's only ONE!! Today, that is no longer true. He's two. Boy- Did we come raging into the two's quickly! With the sharpie incident behind us, MAYBE the worst is over. HA!!! I'm not that naive! The party has just begun.

Cayden has brought so much JOY to our lives. He captivates us with his contagious smile and his laughter. He is so much fun to watch. We find ourselves getting fulfilled just from watching him walk, run, jump, dance and sing. He is so full of life. What a blessing! Every minute of every day Cayden is DOING something. He's even hilarious to watch sleep. He is still in the crib, but only sleeps on his pillow. Picture this- Cayden has this huge space, but he crams himself into the corners of his crib on his pillow. Often there is a leg sticking out of the slats. Why does he do that? Because he's Cayden.
When music turns on, Cayden stops momentarily and slowly starts shaking his booty. It's only seconds before his whole body is into it, and he either has a huge smile on his face or he is trying to hide one.

Things Cayden loves: His Tractor, Weed eater, Lawnmower, Morning Coffee with Mama ("ka-see"), Kissing Brinley in the morning ("Hi Bin-lee"), Water ("Wa-wa"), Calling people on the phone ("Mama fone") I could go on and on. Sometimes he says the most hilarious things. I should write them down, but I never seem to be around a pen when he says them. Today he was answering the phone when it rang and saying,"my birt-day, I two!" By the end of the evening, he had received several phone calls, and when my dad called, Cayden started singing the happy birthday song to my dad! The boy is a quick learner...sometimes! Tomorrow he is going to wake up and have NO idea why the birthday celebration had to end! I guess he'll get a second go-around this Saturday.

Cayden,
I couldn't be a happier mama! Tonight, like every night, your dad was praying over you and Brinley before bed. Since you were busy sucking down your "wa-wa," I thought I would repeat that simple prayer over you in writing. One day you'll appreciate it.

Father God, Thank you for giving us Cayden. Thank you for the blessing that he is to our lives and the joy that he brings us. Help us to be the best parents for Cayden that we can possibly be. Help us to raise him to be a Godly man, to seek your will for his life and to train him in the way that he should go. We pray that Cayden will bring you honor and joy throughout his lifetime. We love our children and you so much Lord, and we thank you for continually blessing our lives.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!

Uncle Mack called during dinner. He's a pro on the phone!

One day Buddy, we'll let you pay...but not on your birthday!

The Cochran's came by for a quick ice cream celebration.

Cayden had been telling everyone that he was going to eat ice cream for his birthday!

Miss Anna! Look at those eyes!

The Boys

Wow- What a mess!

The tractor goes everywhere!

Good Night, sweet two-year-old!

Here's the invitation. Leslie Ann (Senojal Designs) did such a great job!

I erased the 'private' info! :)

3 Words

2010-05-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Matt called me Monday morning at 6:30 and said three words that I hoped I would never hear, "We've been robbed." I flew out of bed and immediately began grabbing the kids and putting them in the double stroller. We took the elevator down to the first floor and there was Matt, sitting on a bench, bent over with his face in his hands in the hotel lobby.

We had traveled with him to Houston for business. He had planned to get up early and beat all of the traffic in order to see his first customer on the other side of the city. God had other plans. Matt grabbed a banana and a bottle of water before heading out to the Tahoe. He noticed one of our maps on the ground and thought that was strange, but went ahead and got into the car. When he opened the door, he noticed the console open and everything thrown around the vehicle. They took everything they could get their hands on. Both of our Garmins were gone and several other things (including his customer's credit card information). BUMMER!! We immediately called our neighbor at home and woke her up! She went to our house and checked for Matt's wallet. Thankfully, he had accidentally left it at home! What a relief! (And what a great neighbor!!) We still had a major clean up job and a logistical nightmare to deal with. What were they after? We have no idea. We had almost everything in the hotel room with us (including our car seats- thank the Lord!)Beth was planning to pick me up and take the kids that morning, so I had everything with me. Matt put everything he needed out of sight- in the console.

After the police left, we packed everything up and headed to Target to make our replacement purchases. Matt took me to the Houstons' NEW house in Memorial, and we both jumped on the phone THINKING that we were doing damage control. I was on the phone with the insurance adjuster and Matt was telling people to cancel their credit cards when ALL of a sudden, I heard Cayden getting a MAJOR spanking!!! I jumped up to run to his rescue (thinking that Matt was taking his frustration out on Cayden). Matt just said, "LOOK!" Immediately I turned from wanting to fuss at Matt for being too harsh to almost spanking Cayden again, myself! Talk about damage control... Cayden had found a black sharpie and wrote on their white columns in front of their house. (They literally just moved into this house!) I immediately grabbed him and took him inside. I looked under their sink and prayed to find a "magic eraser," but I came up empty handed. I sat him down by their fire place and noticed that their toys had black sharpie on them as well. Could he have? Would he have?? "Cayden, did you write on Daniel's new toys with that marker?" Cayden looked at them and said, "uh hu!" AAAGGGHHH!!! Daniel had a birthday party on Saturday, and Cayden had just defaced his brand new property!

Beth was a super trooper about all of the things that happened throughout the day. She actually did have a magic eraser in her laundry room and you will be glad to know... it actually DOES get permanent sharpie markers out! It is amazing. I scrubbed, scrubbed and scrubbed some more. There is little evidence that Cayden left his mark, literally! I wanted to take pictures of all of this, but I was WAY too embarrassed. Beth was still sweet enough to take me to Harwin and let me de-stress while I shopped a little. We headed back to her house to put the kids to bed and Courtney stopped by for a visit. It was great seeing her and Hunter. I wish we could have visited longer. My camera died, so Beth is going to email pics later.

An hour or so went by before I heard from Matt. I was on the phone, so I let it go to voicemail. Little did I know, he was calling to get her address before his phone died!! She barely spit out the address before his phone hung up on them. I called Matt's boss to let him know that Matt's phone was dead and he was laughing hysterically because Matt was on the other line calling his boss (1-800 number) on a pay phone! Poor Matt!! It was a rough day. He was going to stop and buy a phone charger, but realized he didn't have a wallet! He was calling his boss to get him to call me! How funny is that? Again- rough day!

Funny note: Beth commented on Brinley's stained clothes and Cayden's hair smelling like vanilla coffee. It turns out that throughout the morning's hustle and bustle, I spilled most of my coffee on the kids. It was in the stroller's cup holder. It is hard to get the stroller through doors. I usually bump them a few times before I actually make it through. One time, Cayden was complaining about his eyes and we looked down and there was coffee dripping off of his eye lids. Matt and I laughed because we figured it was par for the course. I had no idea I had actually drenched my kids in my coffee. Cayden's hair was sticky until he washed it last night before bed, but like Beth said, it smelled really good- like vanilla coffee! Good thing it had been there for a long time and wasn't hot! Oh What Fun!

We drove back to San Antonio looking like we were getting away in a stolen vehicle. As we pulled in the garage, the bottom fell out of the sky & it poured rain. Thank You LORD!

You never know why certain things happen in life. Who knows- Maybe something horrible would have happened to Matt if he had left at 6:30 as planned. We'll never know. It's just stuff, it's just money, it's just material possessions. We're considering ourselves blessed.

Cayden the Klepto

2010-05-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

We haven't had him officially diagnosed, but Cayden has become somewhat of a kleptomaniac! Seriously, I can't even begin to name all of the things he has "found" in his pocket. Most recently (and to only name a few), it was a tiny hot dog from the church nursery, a snickers bar from the giant M&M at Walgreens, keys, and his favorite, Papa's iPhone.

When we were in San Diego, we were strolling down the car aisles looking for a car that we liked. Cayden had fallen out of the stroller several times, and we finally let him run along side of us. We didn't pay much attention because we were so focused looking in windows and picking the "perfect" car! (HA- is there such a thing with rental cars?!?) There weren't any cars driving around, so we figured it was safe right?!? Wrong!!
We finally picked a car and started loading our luggage into the trunk and getting the car seats strapped in. Matt was strapping Cayden into his car seat in the car, and he kept telling Matt about the keys. Cayden loves keys, and we have started ignoring him when he refers to them because he does it all the time! It wasn't long before Matt checked his pockets and found not one, not two, but THREE sets of car keys. Which cars did they belong to? We had NO idea, but we spent the next few minutes going car by car. Who was the genius who decided to put all of the car keys sicking out of the driver's side door?
It was simple after that. We just had to walk down the row and look for the cars that were missing the keys from the door. Then, it was a process of elimination. We finally got the keys back to their rightful owners and made it out of there. UGH! That Boy!

This week it was no different. I was in DSW looking for shoes. I couldn't fit my stroller down the aisle, so I parked it for SECONDS as I ran down the aisle looking for a particular shoe. I couldn't find it, so I returned to the kids and started making my way out of the store. Cayden kept saying, "my shoe" over and over. Once again, I dismissed it because Cayden loves shoes. I said, "I know... there are lots of shoes in here!" And then I looked down! He had grabbed a woman's shoe off of the display unit and put it on his foot! I had to laugh, and then grab my camera. It was truly amazing and hilarious.

After I collected myself and returned the shoe, we met Matt's parents at Chick-fil-A for a short visit. They were passing through San Antonio with the Andersons. I don't know how I managed to not get a picture of Jan & Weldon, but they were definitely there! It was fun seeing all of them during the middle of the week. We gave Jean part of her Mother's Day present since we THOUGHT we wouldn't see her! (More on that later!!)

A Tribute to My Girls!

2010-05-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

After graduation, Matt dropped Brinley and I off at Lindsey's bachelorette party! Yes, you heard it! Brinley, not even 5 months old, has attended her very first bachelorette party!! ...and MAN was it wild!
We surprised Lindsey with Brinley, the belly dancer, and we all put dollar bills in her diaper. :) NO, not really...

Actually, Brinley cried the whole time, and I was just thankful that we were in a super loud restaurant. I think the no naps and graduation had finally gotten to her. By the time we got into Sommer's car, she was completely asleep.

Lindsey was ADORABLE. She is going to make a beautiful bride. I missed the actual lingerie party, but I heard it was great. Jay is going to be one lucky groom! We gave Lindsey all kinds of good advice!! I'm sure she took notes and will carefully execute all suggestions...and then tell us all about it later!!!

It was so much fun seeing my sweet college girls. You know you have good friends when you can walk into a restaurant and pick up a conversation like you saw each other yesterday. It's so smooth and so natural. I LOVE my friends!

Beautiful Bride!

Andrea, Sommer and I can never be accused (by our husbands) of not being thrifty! We all had to laugh when we realized we not only still HAD matching shoes that we all wore in college, but that we were actually wearing them!!! What are the chances?!? ...And to think we have all been accused of having too many shoes! You NEVER know when you will need to break out those old comfy shoes from college! It was too funny & too random NOT to take a picture, so of course we did! :)

This lady (a total stranger) thought Brinley was REALLY cute!

I'm not gonna lie... it was a little scary.

Roomies!!!

Brin & Linz

Andrea & Brinley

Sommer & Brinley

I love my girls! We had a wonderful time together in college, and we are having even more fun getting to know each other in our adult lives with our growing families!

I missed the rest of our group of girls. Hopefully we can all be together again soon like we did over Labor Day. What Fun! I'll never forget Lindsey being the only one last summer who wasn't married or engaged. In fact, she didn't even have a boyfriend! She was telling us how completely content she was just being single. I love that about her! God truly honored her contentment. Lindsey is beautiful inside and out.

Lindsey, we pray that you and Jay have a wonderful wedding and an even more fabulous life together! We can't wait to see all of your precious children! (Actually, we can wait...and you should too! Enjoy life without kids!!)

I don't pride myself on giving the best marriage advice, but I will tell you this... It will be what you make it! Learn to laugh! (I know that won't be hard for you. I can hear you laughing in my mind right now. I'm sure Jay loves that about you. You laugh with such ease!) There will be moments that you disagree. It's okay to disagree. It's how you go about working things out that matters. Enjoy each other and enjoy the simple things. One of our most favorite things to do is have a picnic... nothing fancy...not really all that romantic, but just being together and not having to do anything or go anywhere!

Thanks for a great evening girls! See you soon!

Oh Deere!

2010-05-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at Uncle Mack's house, as usual. Cayden especially loves it there because there is so much to do (and see) outside. This visit Cayden was in love with the John Deere Tractor! We cracked up at his facial expressions while riding. You would never know he was having the time of his life! He looks so solemn.
It has been several days now, and he is still asking about Uncle Mack's "tac-tor."

Brinley enjoyed being passed around and kissed on. I'm not sure how I managed to miss Aunt Barb in these pictures. I guess it's because she was up and running around all morning instead of lounging like all of us!

Papa was trying to teach Cayden about horses, but Cayden still calls them MOO COWS!

Cayden, Uncle Mack, Daddy

there's a little smirk!

so serious!

Since she has started teething, Brinley loves chewing on hangers!

The Horned Frog Graduate aka the CURVE buster!

2010-05-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend we made a looooong drive to Fort Worth to watch my cousin, Jake, graduate from TCU. We had a great time seeing friends and family, so it was totally worth it. Do I want to do it again? NO WAY! (at least not this weekend!)

We are so proud of Jake. He graduated Summa Cum Laude. For those of you who didn't know... (I had to look this up- which means I was most definitely none of these!!!)
Graduation with honors is granted to undergraduate students who achieve high grade point averages. Excellence is recognized at three levels: Cum laude (3.50-3.64), magna cum laude (3.65-3.79), and summa cum laude (3.80-4.00).

Funny story... I was being completely sarcastic with Jake's sister, my cousin, Kate. She is going to Baylor, obviously no dummy, but not REAL concerned about graduating with honors!!!
We were sitting next to each other at the graduation ceremony and she was flipping through the program (which probably cost more than the dress I was wearing.) She asked why Jake had "summa cum laude" underneath his name. I explained to her that it was a fancy word to mean that he was super smart. I then showed her that others had magna cum laude and cum laude. Sarcastically, I said, "basically, cum laude are the dummies of the 'laude' group." Kate quickly responded, "well, then that's definitely what I'll have under my name when I graduate!" I couldn't keep from laughing... but then again, we're always laughing "with" Kate!

All jokes about the horned frog aside, we were so honored to watch Jake receive his honors and his diploma from TCU. What a huge accomplishment!

Uncle Mack, Aunt Barb, Jake & Kate

Jake & Brinley before the ceremony

Kate & Miss Brin

Aunt Lela getting to see the kids for the first time.

(This is my grandmother's 90 year old sister!)

Nana, Cayden, Aunt Lela, Bob, Kathy & Brinley

Cayden's favorite thing to do during the ceremony!

Papa getting a break with Brinley

Pap, Nana & Brinley

The Culli family with the horned frog graduate!

McCollum-Hill-Culli family (plus Aunt Barb's brother, Don)

Congratulations Jake! We are so proud of your accomplishments, and we were so honored to watch you go across the stage. We are excited to see where life takes you next... after you get back from the Holy Land, that is! Thank you for letting us be a part of this special day. We love you more than words can express. Thank you for loving us the way you do.

love,

Matt, Christy, Cayden & Brinley

Returning to Our Normal Life

2010-05-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

I referred to our "normal" life in the last post and laughed after I typed it. I'm not sure what normal is anymore. I think normal is chaotic, dirty, messy, silly and unpredictable!

The last night that Emily was here, we received a note with a phone number on our door... "Are you willing to sell your house? Please call." That was the beginning of the craziest week we have had in a long time. We called and within 20 minutes, we had a couple walking around our house and asking us to sell it to them. We tossed out a price that I had posted online at Zillow.com. They have a "make me move" price that you can set for your house. I did that four months ago when we thought we were moving to Austin and forgot to take it off. They found it and, although the price was ridiculously outrageous, they wanted to buy it. We spent the week looking at houses online and picking out an apartment to move in to temporarily.

Crazy right? At this point, we weren't sure what 'crazy' really was. Is turning down a ridiculously good offer for your house crazy, or is leaving your nearly perfect neighborhood with amazing neighbors crazy? We prayed and prayed, but never felt a peace about either scenario. After talking to several people about the financial aspect, we decided to move forward and let the chips fall where they may.
After another spontaneous showing at 10:00 one evening and several phone calls back and forth, they decided on another house. Were we crazy for not dropping our price even a dime? I don't think so.
We have amazing neighbors. I call them barefoot neighbors. We literally can walk to the houses on our street without our shoes on, (and Matt does!) sit and visit with our neighbors about anything. Wonderful, Godly people. That is priceless to me.

I have a built in support system on the other side of my shutters. No amount of money can replace them.

So- Are we crazy? Probably, but let's face it. We've got a GOOD thing going on here. God has blessed us in so many ways, and we never want to take that for granted!

Here are some snapshots from the week. I felt really guilty for spending so much time on the computer.

Cayden likes to join Brin on the play gym.

...LOVES wearing our shoes!

Wow! Mischevious, if I could say so.

Hugging or choking? Jury is still out!

Flashback to the 80's

...waving to the birds... literally!

Can we say social?!?

...and yes, those are my shoes.

We may have outgrown the sink... just a little.

Reinforcements Arrive

2010-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Sunday night, my parents arrived with my other niece, Ansley. They spent the night and took Emily home with them Monday after lunch. It was fun seeing my parents and having all of the kids together. However, it was nice resuming a "normal" life after they left.

Morning sugar!

When Emily got up, they had a group hug... totally spontaneous! I'm so glad I didn't miss it!

Brinley's 1st Bikini!

Absolutely hilarious... That's all we have to say about that!

Mrs. Carr gave this to Brinley. It's a good thing we tried it on her now!

...quite the model

...'Who's that lady?!?!'

Cayden's Papa

Brinley's Nana

Outnumbered

2010-05-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

My niece, Emily, came home with me from Houston! I know, I am crazy, but I thought it would be fun to spend some time with her and give Cayden an extra playmate at the same time! I was most scared about the ride home, but that turned out to be the easiest thing all weekend!

The kids were so cute in the car! Cayden wanted to hold Emily's hand every time they got in the car. Emily obliged him most of the time. Sometimes Emily initiated. It was super cute. Cayden would watch Emily. When she fell asleep, he fell asleep watching her. It was a beautiful thing... and I drove as quickly and safely as I could! I managed to snap this picture while still looking forward. (pretty good huh?!!?) All three were asleep!!

We only had her three nights, but it was a lot of fun. Matt and I were definitely outnumbered. We never had a chance to eat as a family. It seemed like we were always jumping up to get something for one of the kids or to help them. We didn't have time to develop a rhythm, so we always ate after they finished. Sometimes that meant eating at 9:00 after everyone was asleep in bed. By then, I could have skipped it. I was exhausted!

Cayden wore one of his shoes and Emily wore the other... why??!?

...because they're almost two!

Who Knows!

...everywhere we went!!!

Matt dressed Emily every day in order to help me out, but refused to change diapers!

I guess that was a good trade off!

We couldn't figure out how Cayden got so wet, so we followed him.

Apparently he knows how to open the front door now... and he helped himself to the water in the fridge.

He brought Emily water from his efforts!

He was SOAKED! How did his back get wet?? We still can't figure that one out!

uh oh... did we just get caught?!?!

Everyone loves bath time!

Emily wasn't crazy about the tent idea, but she liked playing with Cayden's only baby doll...Elmo!

Time for church!

Uncle Jeremy got his BOY!

2010-05-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Houston to see my one and only nephew!!! I felt like I was on a suicide mission. I loaded up the kids and drove to Houston by myself! We stopped at a gas station in order for me to nurse the baby and let Cayden run around a little. It was a sight!
I took Cayden to a nice big sidewalk at the gas station entry and told him to run around a little. So what did he do? He literally ran in circles. People walking in were laughing at me. I wasn't sure if I should just let him do it (as ridiculous as he looked) or stop the insanity. I decided to let him do it. He fell a couple of times from being so dizzy. We're not sure why he likes to be dizzy, but he spins and falls frequently! Anyway- it started raining on us, so we ran back to the car and continued on our journey.

We made it to their house around 3:00, and I put Cayden down for a short nap because he didn't sleep AT ALL in the car! It ended up being about a 10 minute nap because my brother called and said they were about to start pushing! UP we went and headed to the hospital!!

It was so sweet seeing my little nephew. I started to cry because I was thinking about Cayden and how quickly time had flown by. It seems like yesterday when I was in the hospital with him! When we went back, they had Cody in one of Cayden's outfits. That was even worse! Cody looked so tiny and so precious. As I looked at my BIG boy, it made me sad and happy all at the same time! What a wonderful family we have!

We lined the kids up... Ansley (3), Cayden (23 mo.), Emily (20 mo.), Brinley (4 mo.)

Grandad, Brinley & Memaw

It was so great seeing my grandparents!

Amanda & Cody

Volunteers are Special!

We have gotten several laughs from this picture.

A picture paints a thousand words!!

Apparently Cayden volunteered to be quiet IF given the balloon! :)

I love these girls! We have several pictures like this.

(Usually the baby in the picture is the one just born!)

What a special time!

Aunt Jojo & Brin

Cody Dale! 7 pounds, 6 ounces

Cayden gave Cody lots of kisses.

Papa's boys

Uncle Jeremy, Nana & Cody

Cody, we pray that you live a very long and happy life. We also pray that you will grow up to become a mighty man of God. Whatever you choose to do in life, we pray you do it to the best of your ability while bringing glory and honor to Christ. We can't wait to watch you learn and grow. We are so happy you are here, and we look forward to sharing many wonderful memories with you!

Love, Uncle Matt, Aunt Christy, Cayden & Brinley

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin

2010-05-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Brinley turned 4 months on April 12th. Three short days later she rolled over! She can roll over either shoulder, but she prefers to roll over her left shoulder from her back to her front. It started a little slow, but now she almost rolls automatically when you put her on her back! It's so great. Cayden never really rolled over. It's fun to watch, and you know Matt is proud of this milestone!

Cayden's Cave

2010-05-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

When Cayden needs "alone time," I find him in here. It's pretty hilarious. He asks me to "quwose it" (or 'close it,' for those of you who don't speak caydenese)!
Brinley and I just let him do his thing.

OH- Silly Boy!

Sprinkles, Sprinkles Everywhere!

2010-04-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

Doug and Jean were in town helping while we had appointments. Cayden and Gigi made cookies one afternoon after naps. What was Cayden's favorite part? You guessed it... sprinkles! LOTS of sprinkles! I felt sprinkles on my feet for days after the cookies were made. After running the vac over them multiple times and mopping, I think I have FINALLY gotten rid of all of those sprinkles!!
It was definitely a memory maker, and we have the pictures to prove it!

My grandmother used to cook with me.

I can still remember those special moments.

I love these little boy fingers. Almost two years old!

Precious.

Notice how the sprinkle bottles are full. They were empty moments later!

That is one serious chef!

Gigi was trying to keep the sprinkles to a minimum.

I think Cayden won that battle!

Mounds of sprinkles!

She's 4 Months...

2010-04-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

...and weighs as much as a 9-12 month old should! I Love It!

Wow!
She's weighing in at a petite 19.4 pounds which puts her in the 100th percentile. Her length is only at the 90th percentile... tiny thing! Her doctor told me I should feed her less often. What!?! I can't do that! Matt is super concerned that we are going to have an obese baby. Really? Must we worry about that too!?!?

Brinley is such a sweet baby girl. She laughs when we laugh out loud and love to smile at Cayden.
It isn't unusual for Matt and I to be laughing about something over dinner and for Brinley to chime in with her giggles like she has ANY idea of what is going on! That, of course, causes a chain reaction. Cayden will laugh because Brinley is laughing, etc...
Cayden likes to rub her head and then waits for our approval to tell him that he is a sweet big brother! He smiles, she smiles. It's sweet. We know we have to cherish this stage. They won't always be so sweet to each other!!

We FINALLY moved her to her big girl crib! It was kind of sad. I have really enjoyed having her in our room. I guess it's because she's the baby. It could be because she's a girl. I'm not really sure. I miss hearing her little piggy sounds throughout the night! What once used to keep me awake has become a reassuring sound that I miss. The first few nights were amazing. She slept all through the night... and then some! The last couple nights have been harder. I'm not sure exactly why, but we're beginning to let her cry a little. It's SO sad!

At four months, she is incredibly strong. She holds her head up extremely well and likes to bounce. When she is on her tummy, she acts like she is trying to crawl! Slow down sister! I'm not ready for her to be mobile just yet!

Anyway- we had her shots and she still (a week later) has bumps on her legs from them. Maybe that's why she isn't sleeping super well.
She cried with the shots, of course, but was asleep before we left the office. Sweet girl.

Cayden needed some camera time. Cheese Ball.

(and check out those rolls on Brinley. UGH. I love it!)

Matt is determined to have her sit up.
He works with her every night. So sweet.

She is actually getting much closer!

She can sit up (tri-pod style) and normal for a while before falling backwards.

This was the BEFORE shots picture!!

San Diego- The Final Chapter

2010-04-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

The next couple of days in San Diego were less exhausting! We slept in on Sunday and had breakfast in the car on our way to La Jolla. The Bucks met us there and once again, we were all stunned with the beauty surrounding us. The beach was totally different from the one in Del Mar. The most noticeable difference was the seals!! They were ALL over the beach. At first we thought they were being protected by the law, but later Matt told us the animal activists had put up signs warning people not to bother the seals. We wouldn't have bothered them, but we would have liked to get a little closer!!

Check out the seals in the background!! They were all over the beach!

The seals are behind us... all sizes!

crazy animals!

The girls spent a lot of time in the strollers!

Sweet girls!

After that beach, we went to a different beach that was more kid friendly. The kids all had a blast, but quickly turned purple (literally)!!! Little Miss Ellie was so cold! I think the boys were having too much fun to notice it, but we pulled the plug on the outing when we started getting concerned that they would be hospitalized if they weren't warmed up and dried off quickly.

Don't let this picture fool you... there was little (if any) hesitation when it came to running in the water!

Do they not have a temperature gauge? The water was freezing!

...there went the shirt!

Matt found a sand dollar. (Now it's in our garage... smells great!)

We took the kids back to the hotel for naps and met back up with the Bucks at the Corvette Diner. It was great. We highly recommend that place to anyone visiting San Diego. The kids were all extremely entertained. There was a lot of singing, dancing, clapping, stomping, and the wait staff was exceptional.

We were sad to leave the Corvette Diner because that was our last outing in San Diego.
The next morning we woke up and headed to the airport. This time the plane ride home was uneventful and boring. (Just the way we like it!!!) Cayden actually stayed in our aisle the whole time, and we rarely heard much out of him. Again- just the way we like it. :)

We spent the rest of our day sleeping!! The kids slept until almost 6:30 that evening!! We were shocked, but thankful!

A BIG Thank You to the Bucks because without their buddy passes, we wouldn't have gone to San Diego. We will treasure the memories of this trip forever!

San Diego- Part Two

2010-04-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

Day Two- The San Diego Zoo
I have wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo for YEARS!! When the Bucks first invited us on this trip, I felt like a little kid who was about to see Disney World for the first time. It didn't disappoint.

The zoo is huge and has all kinds of super neat features. We started off by taking a bus tour of the zoo. Cayden loved the two-story bus. Instead of adoring the cool animals we pointed out to him, he waved to all of the people walking below us. We tried several times to show him the bears, elephants, lions, etc... but he continued to wave at the people. I don't think we really caught his attention until we were able to actually feed the giraffe! That was awesome (for me)! I think he was kind of freaked out by that huge purple tongue!

Thomas & Cayden

The boys were SO good!!!

We stopped for lunch at the zoo and received a call from my dad saying that someone had found my phone and called him because he was labeled as "dad" in my phone book. Praise the Lord! She found it under the bench where we suspected Cayden left it and took it to her house. We called her and made arrangements to pick my phone up. What a blessing! (Come to find out... when we got home, we had a message on our home phone from a man who also found my phone and called our house! He said he was leaving it there in case we returned to look for it. Someone also called my mom's cell phone. I'm telling you... those people were SO nice!!)

The zoo day was pretty smooth until Cayden face-planted during lunch because he was jumping off of a curb. Matt and I had just discussed the danger involved (after watching Thomas fall and hurt himself), but Matt felt that it was important that he learn how to jump and assured me that boys need to do things that are a little dangerous. Moments later, he fell head first and to this moment- still has a bruise on his forehead. It actually wasn't as bad of a knot as I first thought it would be. Sadly, he has had worse, but you just hate it when they hit their heads! That was a major bummer as well.

Minutes later (and I literally mean 5 minutes later)...I lost my wallet at a vendor's stand. That's Major Bummer # who knows. I lost count!
Fortunately, the good Lord was watching over me and it was still there when we went back to look for it.
By this time, Matt was removing all valuables from my care. It was becomming increasingly apparent that I was no longer capable of taking care of my things! Seriously! He said I would lose my head if it wasn't attached to my body!

We rode a sky taxi across the zoo twice. Cayden absolutely loved this. It would have been even better if we had known it was only one-way. We left our strollers at the entrance, so we ended up carrying our kids until we were ready to take the taxi back. Somehow I ended up carrying Cayden while Matt carried Brinley. What was I thinking?!?

The Bucks were in the cart ahead of us.

The zoo sadly came to an end, but it was definitely time. We all had a great time. The kids were fantastic, but totally exhausted by the time we left.

Check out the gorilla above Matt's right shoulder!

SO Sleepy!!!

We went back to the beach at Del Mar to get my phone and then we ended the evening at a local pizza place that was recommended to us by friends. It was delicious.

Again, we dropped into our beds and slept like babies. What a fun and beautiful day!

San Diego- Part One

2010-04-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

First, I must say that San Diego is GORGEOUS!!! Matt and I are in love and extremely impressed with the people there! They are all so nice. Just a quick (okay, probably not so quick) run-down of our first family vacation with all four of us! We really did have a great time. I'm not going to lie though... It is hard traveling with little kids. It is So incredibly different than before. Although I wouldn't trade these memories for anything, I am looking forward to the day that traveling together becomes something that is relaxing again!

Day 1- Departure Day (Brinley's first plane ride)
We woke Cayden up early in order to catch our flight out. Cayden was crying because he was so tired, so Matt brought out the matches. (Yes- we bribed our son with fire!) This changed Cayden's mood instantly. He loves blowing out matches (thanks to Papa)! As Cayden blew out the flame, he used his nose and burned the tip. Ouch! Major Bummer #1.

Ashley was kind enough to offer to take us to the airport. She actually drove us to the airport for Cayden's first plane ride too! It's tradition! They took a later flight, and it was probably good. They would not have wanted to be seen with us! I'm sure we looked like a circus.

At the airport, I lost my driver's license...but didn't know it. Major Bummer #2. Yes! I am that stupid- and it gets worse.
We boarded the plane after a custodian chased me down and handed me my license. She recognized me from my picture. Oh Wow. Praise God!
We borrowed our neighbor's DVD player because ours was discarded by Matt. Being the most prepared person that I am, I plugged it in the night before and there was a green light next to the word "charging." I thought that green meant it was good to go, so I unplugged it. Wrong!!! About 10 minutes into the flight, ELMO ran out of batteries. Major Bummber #3.

We spent the next two and a half hours trying to entertain Cayden in a seat by stuffing him with all kinds of food. Apparently he got a little too much with his last twizzler and puked ALL over me and him. Major Bummer #4.
After FINALLY arriving to San Diego, we were getting our rental car and had Cayden sitting in the stroller. (Bad idea to ask a toddler to sit in a stroller after being stuck on an airplane for three hours.) I was strolling along the car aisle checking out the rides when Cayden squirmed out and ended up face-planting on the concrete. You'd think I would learn, but we put him back in the stroller and did a repeat. This time he really hit hard and ended up with a huge bruise and bloody elbow and forearm. Major Bummer #5.

Believe it or not, we still thought we were having fun! Little did we know the fun would only get more and more intense!! Ashley called me Thursday and said we had hotel problems, so we ended up finding a smoking hot deal at a Doubletree Resort on a golf course. It was awesome. I requested early check-in because our kids desperately need to take naps. Check-in was at 3:00, and they told me they would have our room ready by 12:30. Perfect! We ended up getting there early, but had to waste time because our room was NOT ready at 12:00. Major Bummer #6 was that it wasn't actually ready until 2:45. Yes- you heard it right... 15 minutes early. You have GOT to be kidding me!! So how did we spend our time? We ate at In N Out Burger, played with the phones at Best Buy and played with all of the animals at Pet's Mart.

We were so annoyed, and the kids were literally crying in their sleep by the time we finally got in our room.
3:00 Cali time = 5:00 Texas time = no naps for the Culli kids.
So what do you do with SUPER cranky kids in Cali? You go to the beach, of course!!
The beach was amazing. The flowers were gorgeous, and the waves were huge! There were tons of surfers, random rabbits hopping along, and lots of smooth black rocks along the shores. The only hard thing was actually getting down to the beach. We were on a local beach and you literally had to rock climb to get down to the beach. That was what the locals did, so when in Rome.... We tried. At one point, I asked Matt if he thought we were going to die. I was holding Brinley and slipping down this super steep and narrow slope. Cayden was crying because I kept saying we weren't going to make it, and he REALLY wanted to see the rabbit that was about 20 feet below us on the beach. Somehow, we made it back up the slope and down a different slope without killing ourselves. The water was freezing, but that didn't stop Cayden. He was having the time of his life! "Bubbles!!! Water!!! Rabbit!!!" Brinley was freezing, but she was still a really good trooper.

Joe Cool at the hot tub before we left for the beach...

Seriously gorgeous flowers everywhere!!!

The water is about 50 feet below them.

This is the beginning of our journey down.

This is the slope we tried to go down.... bad idea!

(sorry the picture is sideways)

This is showing what we just attempted to climb down... How do they do it with surf boards and wet?

This was the second and much safer path down.

On our way back up, we stopped to talk to a lady who lived on the beach. Meanwhile, Cayden amused himself by digging in the backpack. It wasn't until later that night when we realized that Cayden had taken my cell phone out of the bag and left it on the bench where we were talking to that nice lady!! Major Bummer #7!! We spent the next few minutes cancelling my cell phone. We were just thankful he didn't take our wallets out or our camera. We finished the evening by showering and eating at In N Out Burger AGAIN before falling into bed.

God promises new mercies each morning. We were really looking forward to receiving them!

Sympathy Dinner

2010-04-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

I had fully planned to have my leftovers Monday night since Matt was out celebrating with his sales team on the Riverwalk, but Laura and Trey invited us over for a sympathy dinner that we just couldn't refuse...leftovers! Their leftovers are like gourmet meals, so it was fantastic! Cayden loved playing with Cooper, and having help with the kids was awesome. Having them just down the street is SO nice!!
I'm not sure how I got pictures without Cooper in any of them, but somehow he managed to escape the camera! He definitely was there though!

Mr. Trey pushed Cayden on the big boy swing!

Brinley helped Laura with the dishes.

Cayden & Ms. Laura

Easter Weekend

2010-04-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

He is RISEN! We had a wonderful Easter weekend down in Beeville with both of our parents. Matt's parents were kind (and brave) enough to have my parents come with us. It was so much fun being together. Saturday we were able to get together with the McKays and the Riveras which means there was A LOT of cousin fun!
We have TONS of pictures- which tell stories in themselves!
The flowers in Beeville were gorgeous. The kids aren't really into taking pictures in the flowers, but we had to try anyway!

These flowers are in the Cullis' front yard! Gorgeous!

We had a practice egg hunt in the flowers.

giving him something to eat was the only way to get him still!

Brinley was the only one who would sit in the flowers and not complain!

Bribing with the gator was the only way Cayden would smile for us! Hang on Brinley!

Cayden had about 10 jelly beans in his mouth at all times. It was pretty gross!

Just the guys!

Cayden took a ride with Gigi & Pop on the Gator. He LOVES it!

I love this picture. I wish you could see the flowers in the field. They were stunning.

Cayden was coloring eggs here. He dipped them himself and had green hands before it was all over.

Pop is swinging Brinley in the back.

Pretty girl!

Grandmothers! We have the best!

Kerri & Brinley

This was as wild as it looks...

and we nearly lost Reid!

They were screaming, "I'm still alive!!" It was hilarious.

Cayden threw a confetti egg.

Reese got Cayden with an egg.

Pop and Papa

Papa's #1 grandson.

3 generations

Easter Morning Kiss

Gigi had lots of fun things for the kids.

Quick picture before church. Matt's parents had already headed to Sunday School.

Happy Easter to all!