The evolution of a smile...

We were thrilled when he started giving us his first smiles...

Once he started smiling, he never seemed to stop!


The teeth only made the smile that much cuter!!

R's still smiling, and so are we!

It still amazes me how happy little R is most of the time! Unless he is tired or hungry, he is usually in a good mood! We receive several of his "million dollar smiles" each day, and you can't help but smile when he does. His whole face lights up when he smiles, and he gets that "sparkle" in his deep dark eyes...I know there will be a day when he is a grown man with the weight of the world on his shoulders and that smile may come less frequently...but for now I am going to enjoy the happy little boy that R is right now!

A few more pics of the last month...

Baby R sharing some "boy" time with Uncle Toby

One of the many reasons a little boy needs his Daddy around! Uncle Toby filled in just fine as a temporary substitute for some rowdy "boy" time, and little R LOVED it!

All the cousins together in Oklahoma on New Year's Eve

Baby R really enjoyed himself at Splash Country in Branson! The girls did too...they just didn't stay still long enough for me to get any good pics of them!

Christmas Craziness!!

A was very excited about her gift from Daddy!

A's 7th birthday cake

Our "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake! Not the most glamorous one we've made, but it was 11:00 on Christmas Eve when I found the time to decorate it!

T made this Santa out of clay up in her room one day...I was very impressed!

After years of perfectly posed little girls on our Christmas cards, this is what our "photo shoot" turned into this year! Obviously baby R was not impressed with sitting still and smiling pretty for the camera...he felt everyone should see his tricks on our Christmas cards this year!

It has been a good while since I have posted, but things have been SO busy!! We celebrated Christmas here at home and enjoyed Christmas dinner and some crazy fun bingo with my entire extended family...it was great to see everyone again! Then we celebrated A's 7th birthday two days after Christmas, and then the next day the kids, me, and MiMi & PaPa headed off for a two-night trip to Branson! We got to sleep at home for one night and then the kids and I headed off to Oklahoma to celebrate "Christmas on New Year's Eve" with R's family. It was great to see everyone there again, and it was nice to ring in the new year with R's family since we couldn't be with him! We got home on New Year's day (also Sable's 10th birthday) and I spent the next full day unpacking. Then today was busy taking down the Christmas lights and tree and putting all that stuff away! WHEW...now we are caught up!! And now that we have made it to 2009...only 2 more months until R comes home from Iraq!!! Yeah! So anyway, here are some pictures that tell the story of the last month of our lives...