Catching up on Winter/Early Spring 2011

Well I've started my new blog initiative of weekly posting, but while I'm anxious to post new photos -- from Andy's Bataan Death March Memorial Marathon, John's first rodeo, and Tulip Season on Texas Tech campus -- I realize I never caught up from late winter and early spring!

So here's a complete picture OVERLOAD! John has changed SO much throughout these photos -- especially since these first few! In these photos, he ranges from 7 months old (right before Christmas) to 10 months old (around St. Patrick's Day). Here goes!

"Who me?"
Bath-time!! Isn't my monster towel (made by my Aunt Mandi Bergman) awesome??
Hanging out with my cousin Kinsey Bergman on New Year's Day -- for the Texas Tech football Bowl game:

Playin' Peek-A-Boo after bathtime:
Mama's Boys! I love hanging out with Dada and Wayne-Dog:
Best laugh EVER!

(Thank you to my Great Aunt Sharon and Great Uncle Ray for my favorite winter outfit!)
Uh-oh, Mama is ticklin' me!

Say Cheese!
Happiest Baby Ever!
A sweet one:
Rosy cheeks!
Interrupting Dada's studies -- it's what I do best!
Hanging out by my favorite window! Mom tries to clean my handprints off one side and Wayne-Dog's nose-prints off the other side... looks like me and my pup are winning so far!
Sweetheart!!
Pull-ups!

Busted! -- Dad was helping all along... I'm not that strong! (...yet!)
"Hi Mama!"
Racing with Dada:
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Kiss me, I'm Irish! (really!)
And had to throw these ones in here -- Lubbock has the absolute BEST sunsets ever! Truly a beautiful work of God's Hands!

Sorry for the whirlwind of photos, though I think I'm all caught up now! Take care and God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog

Favorite Photo Friday - Snapshot #3

Back for week 3! I decided to post two pictures again this week... the first one shows John and his best pal Wayne-Dog! Wayne is great with John, but John definitely likes him more! John giggles when WD gives him kisses, and he loves to crawl all over him -- he is absolutely fearless! Wayne, on the other hand, still gets a little nervous with John if Andy and I aren't nearby. Regardless, these two are too cute together!
But because John looks SO BIG in the the first picture, I had to post this one too... while our little guy is growing up fast, he's still our sweet little baby boy! Especially when he's snuggly and sleepy:
Hope you have a wonderful weekend and God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog :)

Favorite Photo Friday - Snapshot #2

Well I've already failed with my weekly post! I'd like to say I had a good excuse.... like Pat (Andy's bro, John's "Uncle P") is in town... And we were preparing/packing for he and Andy to head out of town for their marathon... But while those are both true, the real reason is that I forgot! Sheesh! I guess it'll take some practice (and a few reminders) to really make a habit out of this!

But anyways, on to the photo(s)... this week I'm posting two. Simply because I can! :) I'm posting this first one because it cracks me up! On Thursday night we went out to dinner with some very good friends to celebrate Erin's birthday. Pat was already in town from Vegas (he's stationed out there at Nellis AFB), and we were having a great time! But we kept John out a little past his bedtime. When we got home and got him into his jammies, it was about 9:45. Usually he wakes up a little while we change him -- but he must have been exhausted! Too much partying, I guess! He passed out in the car and didn't wake up until morning. As soon as Andy changed him, he rolled over on the changing table and didn't budge! He would have slept there all night if we'd let him!
(This picture also just gets me -- look how BIG he's getting! He barely fits on the changing table! Man, they grow up fast!)

The next picture is just too sweet! It's a little out of focus, but I snapped it last night when he was playing with the pups at Ben and Erin's house. He was crawling towards me, and I thought this face was just too sweet not to share!
That's it for this week! Hopefully next week I'll actually post "Favorite Photo Friday" on Friday! :) Y'all take care and God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog

John's Favorite New Game

A few weeks ago, John and Mama started up a new game that John thinks is just hysterical! His sweet little giggle just melts our hearts! It's really quite simple -- just take the classic old game of peek-a-boo, add a couch, and viola! Guaranteed laughs!
Where's Mama?
Surprise!
THERE she is!
Hope you have a happy week and find joy and laughter in the little things! God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog

Favorite Photo Friday - Snapshot #1

So I've decided to start a new blog initiative... I've been inspired by my sister-in-law and good friend Laura, who writes "Three Thought Thursday" episodes each week on her blog Sweetheart-n-Sunshine. It's just a simple little thing she does each week to archive what her and her family are up to at that point in their lives. She can later look back at all that they have experienced, celebrated, endured...

Well, I've decided to take my own spin on it, since my favorite thing on any blog is the photos. I love looking through photographs -- from friends'/family's personal blogs to professional photographers. So I've decided to start a weekly post of my own called "Favorite Photo Friday." Each week I'm going to take the time to post a photo from the past week -- a "snapshot" into our lives! (super cheesy, I know!) :) It'll be my little way of archiving what our little family is up to! So here goes nothin'! Without further adieu... our very first Favorite Photo Friday:

Although it may not look like it, this one is especially funny -- let me give you a little background... While I was doing dishes and Andy was in the garage, I heard a funny noise. I thought John was scratching on something, so I peered around into the family room (where he was last seen -- now that he's crawling, he can get anywhere in the house SO fast!), only to find no John. So I followed the "scratching" noise only to find him in the office. In the dark. Shredding up paper. That he took out of a folder. Off of the bookshelf. Which happened to be Andy's important research for a huge project in his National Security Law class! Hahahahaha! I called for Andy to come see, and we just rolled on the floor laughing! I did a handy little tape job and it's no big deal, but it was such a funny little moment with John! Guess it's also a learning opportunity for ol' Mama and Dada to keep important things a little more out of reach!

Well here's to starting a new blogging habit... hope I can keep up with this better than any kind of New Year's resolution! ;) Take care and God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog

Snow Day 2011

Hi again,

Still trying to catch up... So on Super Bowl Sunday, Andy smoked a brisket for our get-together with friends and family. Smoking it in the SNOW was a first! We've had a few snowfalls this winter -- though it's mostly been ice -- but this one was AWESOME! The snowflakes were HUGE!!! This photo does not do it justice:
Wayne-Dog always LOVES the snow!
Look at him GO!
So we bundled up John...
...to play in the snow!
Having fun with Dada:

My 3 boys:
Hope you had a warm and happy winter! Up next, I'll post some photos from our spring-time fun. Take care and God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog :)

Catching Up - Christmas in The Woodlands!

Well I know I'm not always the most punctual person, but just NOW posting about Christmas -- in the middle of March -- is pretty terrible!! Nevertheless, I wanted to try to catch up a little on here. John has grown SO much and changed in so many wonderful ways since I last posted! He is almost 10 months old now, but here are some (ok, a TON of) photos of fun memories made during his first Christmas! We went down to The Woodlands, Texas this year to celebrate Christmas with the entire Hefferly Family. It was such a blessing to have everyone together!

One of John's favorite toys is his stuffed Grinch -- I think his heart grew 3 sizes this day!
At Pinkie's house, this little light-up snowman looks just like John! And this picture captures it SO well! What a sweetheart!
Our Christmas Family photo in front of the beautiful tree! This was after Mass on Christmas Eve:
The original Hefferly fam - except for Pa. He was working (flying for Southwest) until late Christmas Day.
One of many attempts at getting all four cousins together!
Then Pinkie joined in the fun:
Our favorite gift!
John and Mama:
Pinkie read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to all of the grandkids on Christmas Eve:
John in his Christmas jams on Christmas Morning!
With his little reindeer butt! :)
Cousin Kolbe in his Frosty shirt -- he loves Frosty the Snowman!
Cousin Rudy playing soccer -- Santa brought him and Kolbe a soccer ball and net!
So of course all their Uncles (and Aunt Abby) had to break it in with a little Christmas Day game of hands-in-your-pockets-so-you-don't-cheat soccer:


John with his Aunt Laura:
John passed out while the family opened presents Christmas night. We wanted to wait until Pa got home from his trip!
A family photo during present-opening:
Dada bought John his first football!
Hangin' out with Pa!
And snugglin' with Pinkie:
Another attempt at getting all 4 boys together for a photo:
Wrestle-mania with Pa quickly turned into rugby practice:
Cousin Jackson was having a good time!
Dada was sure pleased at how much John liked the rugby ball!
But Mama had to sneak in a soccer ball, too!
Oh boy!
And one more picture to leave ya with... our happy little guy!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have had a great spring so far! We hope this finds you and yours doing well! I promise to try to update this more often -- John is growing too quickly!
Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog