Peyton Clause

Meet Peyton! Peyton is my best friend (Shannon's) son. Shannon and I have known each other since we were 13 years old... She was one of my first friends when I moved to Katy in the 8th grade. We have had a lot of good times together, then and now! It is funny, she has been married 9 years and I have been married 7 years, so who would have thought we would have children six months apart!! It is so exciting to share this wonderful experience of motherhood with her!!

Dallas Cowboys Biggest/Smallest Fans

We finally got our photo of Hope and Peyton in their matching Cowboys skull caps. Aren't they precious! This is the first of many photos you will see of Hope and Peyton in their Cowboys gear! We have waited a long time for this photo, haven't we Shannon??? We love you guys and can't wait to share more wonderful memories with our kids together!

Christmas Lights with Granny and Hope

Last night I caught Hope and Granny looking at the Christmas lights in Aunt Janet and Uncle Barney's front yard. These were too precious not to share!!

First Christmas Party

Hope had her first Christmas this weekend at Grammy and Papa's house. She opened her first present ever and enjoyed the paper. She wasn't too happy about being too close to Santa, but loved the monogrammed chair he gave her. She also had her first fall. It was mommy's fault. I was taking a photo with Isabella and wasn't paying attention to her and she flipped over the side of the chair onto the carpeting. She was fine, but did cry as it scared her... and me too!! I felt awful! Despite the fall, she had a wonderful time and so did we!! Here are some photos Uncle Mark took. Uncle Joe has more and I will post those later when I get them.

Look Who's Walking

Last week was very exciting! Not only did we get our first snow, Hope has officially started walking. For the past few weeks, she would take a few steps here and there, but now she is walking to get from point A to point B. It is amazing to see her go. I am sorry, I forgot I can't rotate video, so you are going to have to tilt your head sideways to see her!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Yesterday I put up most of the Christmas Decorations in our house. This year is the first time we will be using the beautiful handmade Christmas stockings Sherry made for us. You can click on each individual photo to see the images larger if you would like. Hope loves the lights.

Hope and Santa

Saturday we took Hope to see Santa for the first time. We knew she really didn't care for men with facial hair, but she REALLY doesn't like men with facial hair who wear fuzzy red clothes!!!
She immediately screamed and cried in freight, so I took her away from him and we let her calm down a bit. I put her back in his lap and we snapped a few photos before she screamed again. This is your typical first Santa photo with the scared child. Of course it is cute, but I hate seeing that look in her eyes. I don't like seeing her scared. She did like the elf though and didn't mind visiting with her.

My Angel!

Today Mom and I took Hope to have her first set of Professional photos. We had family photos taken for a directory a few months back, but those were plain. These are vibrant and full of personality! I bought a package that included the CD full of photos that I can use to make reprints and to post online for all of you to see!! So... act suprised when you see your Christmas card this year since you will be getting a "sneak peak" here.




Then we did some candid shots of Mommy and Me! I couldn't resist, she looked so precious all dressed up!!





Then we put her in the washtub. I have always wanted a photo of her in a washtub and I knew I had better do it soon before she gets too big!!






















Then we took this one of my little Angel!! Another Favorite!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Berger's house this year. Hope enjoyed turkey, green beans, peaches and even cranberry jelly. She wasn't fond of the sweet potatoes... I think they were too sweet. They were the best sweet potatoes I have ever put in my mouth! They were like a dessert almost!!
After dinner we rode 4 wheelers and shot skeet. Then we went to Janet and Barney's to play a little dominoes. Hope had a good time walking hand and hand around the yard and belly laughed at Emily's new moves.... "Bam! Bam!".
Here is our Michalke family photo taken after dinner. We have another one of the extended family, but I am having trouble downloading that one. I hope to post it later.

Two-Steppin'

Hope is officially 9 months old!! Hard to believe so much time has passed! I never really had a concept of time until I had her. You don't realize how quickly each day passes until you see it in a growing child.
She is really starting to understand words now and she is even signing back to us. She knows how to sign "eat" or "hungry" and "more" and of course "bye bye".
Last week, Hope started taking her first steps on her own. Two Steps at a time!!
Friday was Wayne's birthday and Hope started calling him "Da Da". What a wonderful birthday present!!
Then on Saturday night, Granny and PoPo came over to watch her while Mommy and Daddy had a night out and she took Three Steps for them!!!
Each day is something new and wonderful. I literally thank God everyday for such a beautiful, healthy and happy baby. We have much to be Thankful for this year.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you too!

Pirates!

I just had to share this photo of my sister, Shelley, and her daughter (my niece) Christina, at her Project Graduation fundraiser dinner. Not that I am biased or anything, but aren't they both BEAUTIFUL!!! (Inside and out!)

Happy Halloween!!

Well, our first Halloween has come and gone! Mommy had a good time and was so excited all day. I think Hope could have cared less. She is too young to really know what it is all about, plus I think she wasn't feeling well. She got her second tooth on Friday and ended up running fever Saturday and Sunday.
Hope was a little Duck and her friend, Jaley, was a little chick. Jaley's mother, Jenny, and I decorated the wagon to resemble a nest and we went trick or treating on the downtown square. We got so many "oohs" and "ahhs" because they were just so darn cute!! Look at the photos and judge for yourself!! (Click on each photo to see an enlarged version)