Christmas in Arkansas

We spent the past week in Arkansas with Brooks' family.  We had a great time celebrating Christmas and were able to have plenty of quality time with loved ones.  Gavin had a great time enduring the cold weather (it snowed Christmas Eve) and got to play with Maggie, our dog, who lives with Brooks mom now.

Enjoy the pics!  Happy New Year!

For your entertainment!!

WE ARE IN THE CAR DRIVING HOME FROM ARKANSAS RIGHT NOW AND HAVE STARTED ENTERTAINING GAVIN TO HELP THE TIME PASS BY. HERE ARE TWO CLIPS FROM EARLIER.

**Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to pause the music playing so you can hear him laughing and playing.  Beware.... it's loud!

Santa Came Early...Again

We spent last week in Lake Charles having Christmas with my family.  It was a blast.  Gavin loved getting to play with his cousins; we found out my brother Bryan and Anna are going to be having a little girl, Brooks went hunting with my dad and brothers, and I got to catch up with my BFF, Megan.  My friend Adrienne was in town from France and we got to catch up, too.  We surprised my mom with pictures from a photo shoot all of us kids did for her so she finally got a picture of her grand-babies.  We left Lake Charles feeling very loved and blessed!

Enjoy the pictures from the Williams Family Christmas.  Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (if I don't get to post before then).  Brooks, Gavin, and I are off to Arkansas this afternoon for the week!

Santa Came Early...

Brooks, Gavin, and I celebrated Christmas a little early this year and had our family Christmas last week. Since we travel for Christmas and aren't at our house Christmas morning, we would rather not haul our gifts for one another around in the car, just to bring them back with us. Last Sunday night, we let Gavin open his presents from Mommy and Daddy and he LOVED it. He really got into ripping off the wrapping paper and throwing tissue paper around. He played with his toys the entire time Brooks and I opened our gifts to each other. He especially loved the BIG piece of luggage Brooks got me for traveling overseas. He was able to lift it, roll it, and even use it as a step stool (I told you he climbs on everything).

Gavin LOVES getting into the kitchen cabinets and thoroughly enjoys playing with any utensil, pot, pan, bowl, pitcher, etc that is in the kitchen. Brooks and I found a small play set of pots and pans at Target and just had to get them for Gavin. (They even have a set with a mixer and blender that I can't stop thinking about.  It's just too cute to pass up and may be something we give him

Christmas morning to open from us.  Anyways, Gavin was super excited to get the pots and pans and he has been "using" them everyday. His set came with a miniature colander and whisk; so he went into the kitchen and found our colander and whisk and compared them to one another. It was really neat to see that he made the connection between the items. He pretends to make us food and we "pretend" to eat it. Who knows... maybe we have a future chef on our hands.

Brooks and I enjoyed our Christmas gifts from each other, too. Brooks picked out a purse for me that I LOVE.... and the luggage that will be a huge benefit to have once we start traveling. I want to make sure that I have a bag large enough to fit any and all necessities to take with me to Saudi. Brooks wanted some new clothes and a new pair of tennis shoes. We're also building up our collection of TV Series DVD's so I started him The Everybody Loves Raymond Series (only he changed his mind and wants a different series) That's okay... we just need some good options for TV shows to watch once we move.

We feel very blessed to get to celebrate Christmas as a family!  We spent the past week in Lake Charles and celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on Saturday.  Santa was REALLY good to us.  I'll post those pictures later.  It's 12:30am and I'm tired.  Off to bed.

Playing around

Hi friends!  The Perry's are getting really excited for Christmas!!!  Santa Claus is going to be visiting Lake Charles tonight so everyone is already in bed awaiting his arrival.  Brooks, Gavin, and I are in Lake Charles for the weekend celebrating Christmas with my family.  Brooks is off of work until the New Year so we are extremely pumped about getting to spend some quality time with him.

Brooks and I are amazed at how fast it seems that Gavin is growing up.  All of a sudden he has become a lot more aware of things... he soaks up everything like he's a sponge.. he mimicks us, he uses his sign language ALL the time (saying please, more, eat, cup), and he's started to speak actual words.  Today, we were wiping his nose with a kleenex and he blew in it (how cool is that?)  He LOVES blowing on food and saying "hot".  He really emphasizes the "h" sound.  It's precious.  He has officially figured out how to climb on EVERY single chair, couch, stool, step, coffee table, etc.  He's really good at it and we learned that we can't leave him in a room alone because he will end up climbing on the tallest item in the room.  He has heard us say sit down so much that he started repeating it back to us.  He's sooooo cute and fun to play with everyday.  We had some presents for him the other day that we let him unwrap and he really unwrapped them.  It was really fun to watch him understand the concept of ripping off the paper and finding something underneath the paper to play with.  Needless to say, we think Gavin is really going to enjoy Christmas this year.

In order to get ready for the many different days we will be celebrating Christmas with family, I decided to upload all the videos from my video camera onto my new computer, so that I could make more room for all the videoing (is that even a word?) that will be going on.  I am trying to learn the video software that comes with the MAC and I realized that you can create "movies" with your videos.  I decided to play around with a short clip and created this.  I thought it was cute of Gavin.  Hope you enjoy!

Not ONE, but TWO....

Meet David, he is my 6 month old nephew who is my brother Bryan, and sister in law Anna's little boy.

David is going to be...

That's right.  David will be meeting his little brother or sister who is due June 3rd.

Now, meet Neve.  Neve is my 2 year old niece.  She is the daughter of my brother Kyle and sister in law Liz.

Neve is going to be a big sister, too!

We are super excited to know that the Lord has blessed both these families with a child and we are looking forward to meeting our new nieces and/or nephews.

Congratulations Bryan, Anna, Kyle, and Liz!!  We love you guys!

Christmas Tree Farm

Brooks and I started our own family tradition for Christmas where we go to a tree farm every year and pick out and cut down our own Christmas Tree. We have loved doing this over the past few years and look forward to it every year.

This year, Gavin was older and was able to walk around and help us. He really enjoyed the wide open space, but thankfully, it was so cold, he stayed right by us since he was bundled up.

Hope you are enjoying this Christmas season!

Snow Day

It snowed Friday in Houston. Can you believe it? (There is snow falling in the pic you just can't see it)

We enjoyed the cold weather and made a pot of gumbo to help keep us warm.  The snow didn't stick, but we still had some time to play outside while the snowflakes fell to the ground.  We bundled Gavin up and let him run around the backyard.

(this might be our new favorite picture!)

He really had fun with it and even noticed the snow falling from the sky.  This is the only picture where you can actually see the snow falling.

27 Years Old

I just had my 27th birthday, as you all know, thanks to my wonderful, sweet, amazing, kind, caring, loving husband.  He made my birthday extremely special.  It's true that the older you get, the less of a big deal your birthday is.  Yet, Brooks was able to make my day one I will always remember.

He surprised me with his CLEVER and THOUGHTFUL post, which made my DAY!!!  Let me tell you that I had no idea he was going to do that, nor was I aware that he was familiar with blogger to make a post AND post a picture (which, of all pictures, that was the one he put up-- he was cute though, representing that moment).  He said he watched me the other day over my shoulder just to get somewhat familiar with blogger, but then he just figured the rest out on his own.

Brooks- thanks for the post... it was WAAAAAYYYYY better than a birthday card!!  Your post was very funny as well as heartfelt and made me cry.  I got a few phone calls from others who teared up from it too.  You did good babe!  Thanks

PS: I would never want you to be Jon Gosselin (yuck! gross!)
       and you are much HOTTER than Jacob!
So, I'm thankful you will forever be my Brooks Lee!

Okay, so I was content and happy with the blog being a birthday "gift", but Brooks had other things in mind!!!

After posting the blog, he made my annual birthday breakfast (blueberry muffins and little smokies).  I woke up with him at 4:30am and we enjoyed the breakfast and coffee together.  I didn't want to wait until 6:00pm  to see him on my birthday.

Brooks decided to come home early, and of course I wasn't there (I was shopping at Hobby Lobby).

I walked into the house to this:

and then this happened:

and then this: (the shock actually hit)

which of course, caused pure excitement:

I was super shocked and excited!  I had NO idea (even though I had mentioned the desire for a new computer due to mine being SOOOO slow (and old)).

I haven't had much time to play on my new laptop because I decided to make myself a birthday cake.  I wanted to try out a few new techniques.  What do you think?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

My lovely wife is turning 27! WOW babe, you’re even more beautiful than when we first started dating!! I am sure she (you) is blushing right now.

I thought I would let her have a day off from writing on her blog. It is tough work keeping everyone informed about our busy lives. She is great at it and I love her passion to keep all the family in the know. If the blogging job was officially my responsibility, I believe the only pictures everyone would see of us might be on the milk cartons. I welcome, along with everyone else, her enthusiasm for a few new hobbies. So readers, be patient with my grammar and blogging, I haven’t developed my blogging skills like Lindsey.

A few weeks ago, the family came down with the H1N1 (aka swine flu). I think Lindsey might have already told you about our little experience. I wanted to put my two cents in. I was got the Wonderful opportunity to stay home and take care of my wonderful wifey and kiddo. Some husbands like to refer to their wife’s “Home Making”, as a fluffy job. I would like to smash that urban legend; there is NOTHING fluffy about home making. I have a greater appreciation for her choice to retire. As for me, I will keep my day job.

Lindsey, you rock my world. With Thanksgiving passing bye, I couldn’t be more thankful for the woman God has created you to be. He designed you to counterbalance all my short comings; the list is long and no need to bore all the readers. Your heart to give and love unconditionally always astounds me. Your spirit challenges me to be a better husband, father, son, employee, and friend. You are the wife I always dreamed about.

Thinking back when I was a young lad, someone who was twenty seven seemed like all their hair was gray and the end was near. Now that we are in our mid-twenties, I am encouraged to know that life has just begun. Lindsey, it has been fun watching you grow a little older, but your maturity has grown beyond your years. I don’t know many women that have the depth that you have. I love the fact that you will be able to impart that maturity and wisdom into our children.

I like this blogging stuff. It beats giving $4 birthday cards, hands down.

My understanding is that you must put pictures with your blogs, so this is all I got…

She was living it up on her last day to be twenty-six. Her computer is so slow, she fell asleep waiting for it. Hopefully, Santa can find it in his heart to bring her a new computer for Christmas!!!

I love you Lindsey with all my heart. Let this be a wonderfully blessed birthday.

Love,
Your Hubby…and Gavin too

P.S. I won’t ever be your Jon Gosselin,
               And I can’t be your Jacob;
                           Forever will I be your Brooks Lee.

Oh Christmas Tree.. Oh Christmas Tree...

Tonight we set up Gavin's personal Christmas Tree that will stay in his room for him to look at and enjoy.  We decided to go with an LSU theme, because, well, we just did.  It turned out really cute.  I made sure and bought plastic ornaments for the mere fact that I knew at some point Gavin would hold two of them in each hand and bang them together, which he did this evening, several times.  My mom found some cute "candy cane" ornaments that had LSU all over them and two gold football ornaments.  We let Gavin help us put them on the tree and then we "taught" him to leave them on there.  He did really good not taking the ornaments off the tree for the 30 minutes we were in there playing.  For the tree topper, we placed one of Gavin's LSU stuffed tigers up there.  He stays nicely and looks super cute (I keep saying cute... but tonight everything really was cute).  We have Gavin's little tree standing on an inn table in his room so it's higher up and won't tempt him to run into it anytime soon.  We know he's excited about the tree and we hope that this will be a tradition that he remembers when he grows up.  Who knows, maybe every year we'll pick a new theme and let him choose it, based on what he likes at the time.  

Okay, so going back to the whole cute thing... Gavin was so excited when we plugged the tree in and he saw the lights come on.  He just kept saying over and over, "oooooohhhhhhhh!"  It was such a sweet and precious moment.  You can see him saying it in these pictures!

Isn't that just sooooo precious?!?

Oh yea, and Brooks gave Gavin a mohawk while in the tub.. it's sort of there...

Whirlwind of a Week

Happy Thanksgiving and a few days everyone!  Hope you and your family were blessed and took some time to think about the people and things that you are Thankful for.  Brooks and I are thankful for so many things in our lives that we praised GOD all week for blessing us abundantly. 

Since my last post, Brooks, Gavin, and I drove to Arkansas to drop off our dog, Maggie, who has been staying with us a little over 2 years.  She is going to be living with Brooks' mom at her house while we move to Saudi.  No, we're not leaving soon, we just were going to be traveling for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Brooks will be going to China in January for work so this was just the easiest time for us to take her to her new home.  We know Maggie is loving it up there--- she has LOTS of room to run as well as 2 little Yorkies to spend her days with.  We miss her though and Gavin misses playing with her. 

Once we dropped Maggie off at Mrs. Missies, we drove to Nashville, TN where our good friends, Deeann and Loyd Rieves were getting married.  It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding and ceremony.  The bride was GORGEOUS and every single detail about the wedding was planned to a "T".  Brooks and I enjoyed getting to spend time with all of our camp friends who were there as well.  Several of us have babies, so we all had a chance to meet each other's kids for the first time.  "Grammy" joined us on our trip to help babysit Gavin so we could stay out late with all of our friends who we rarely get to see anymore.  And Uncle Brandon got to come too.  Gavin thoroughly enjoyed walking around the building during the reception and entertained himself by climbing stairs and looking at all the white lights everywhere.  Cristy Knockles (one of my favorite Christain artists... remember Watermark??) was there and sang during the wedding-- wow!! We all were blessed. 

After Nashville, Brooks, Gavin, and I came home, unpacked, washed all of our clothes, and then repacked.  We got on a plane Tuesday morning and headed to Denver, Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with the Perry family.  Gavin did WONDERFUL on the plane ride over there-- we left so early in the morning that our flight wasn't full so he was able to walk/climb/roll all over the empty seat between Brooks and I.  He fell asleep, literally, as the landing gears were coming out and the flight was over. 

While in Colorado, we visited Brooks' high school basketball coach who has 3 young kids.  Gavin LOVED playing in their play room and especially liked their stair case.  We also saw Brooks' grandparents and ate a delicious meal with them, which I scored a new recipe-- thanks Grandma Jan.  We had breakfast with one of Brooks' really good friends from college, who was in our wedding.  He and his wife have 2 PRECIOUS little boys.  Gavin loves playing with kids.  It's really neat to watch him interact. 

Brooks took me to see the movie, New Moon, and was our first official date in a LONG time.  I loved the movie, but loved that he was willing to go with me even more.  I think he enjoyed it, too.  Or maybe he just knew who the characters were from me talking about them so much.  I even got to sport my New Moon t-shirt.  Brooks and I also went on a "date" up to the mountains and went shopping at an outlet mall.  We took Gavin with us and enjoyed just being the 3 of us.  Gavin was shocked with the cold weather, but looked sooooo cute in his HUGE coat.  We tried really hard to keep him bundled up.  Brooks' misses the mountains so much and really liked being up there. 

Thanksgiving day was fun just hanging around eating.  We had our "real" Thanksgiving meal on Friday with a ton of people.  Brooks got to play basketball, which he was in heaven doing and Gavin ran around outside playing.  We learned the hard way that Gavin has some difficulty running down a drive way that was a ramp, and he had a pretty rough fall.  He handled it well, but has a nice little shiner to show off. 

Gavin attended his first football game and was mesmorized by all the fans shouting.  It was the first time in Gavin's whole life that he sat and didn't move for almost an hour.  It was amazing.  It was really cute watching him look at all the people.  After a while, he was over sitting, and found the ramp to the bleachers.  He and "Grandpa" went up and down those for the reaminder of the game. 

Brooks and I were sad to leave Colorado, but we LOVED the time we had to spend there.  Lots of memories were made and I know Grandpa and Grandma were excited and thankful to spend time with Gavin.  Thanks for our Christmas presents.  They were perfect!  So, our flight home wasn't the same as the way up there, but Gavin did well, considering he had a 20 minute cat nap all day.  Once again, he got tired the last 10 minutes before we landed... and he exhausted Brooks out from playing in our laps the entire ride. 

Thankfully, I thought to decorate the house for Christmas before we left so we came home Sunday to a house filled with Christmas decorations.  Last night, we took Gavin to have his picture taken with Santa.  Oooohhh, he was sooo cute.  We didn't know it was bring your pet night, so Gavin got to have some fun watching all the dogs waiting in line.  We even ran into some dogs dressed in LSU sweaters.  Gavin did GREAT for his picture with Santa.  It didn't dawn on us that maybe Gavin would be scared of Santa until we walked up to him.  Brooks brought Gavin over to meet Santa, and of course, Gavin just stared at him with that look, but then he reached his arms up for him.  Gavin smiled REALLY big and looks sweet in the picture.  The best part was, Gavin looked slightly to the side, so his bruise and scratches can't be seen in the picture!! How nice is that!?!

Well, the bell just went off on the crock pot... dinner is ready so I better run.