Celebrating Nosy, Family Style

Birthdays are very thoroughly celebrated around here! There is absolutely no way a birthday boy/girl could end their birthday feeling less than spectacularly special and oh-so-loved. Here is a glimpse of how we celebrated Noah with the extended family:

Gramps and Yaya's celebration came first.

A very special cake for Nosy topped with sugar free jelly and whipped cream. Don't forget the sprinkles! Yum!

Plenty of wonderful gifts.

Fun time playing with new toys.
Gramps and Yaya did a terrific job of making Nosy's pre-birthday day extra-special!


After Noah's actual birthday, we partied at Gigi and Papa's house. We had a whole lot of special people to celebrate!

Nosy is a pro at blowing out the candles!

A new bowling game was such a hit!

Thank you family, for loving our smallest Big Boy to pieces!!

6 Christmases: Act 6

Christmas at Papaw Ducks

Every year we get together with Halpins from far and wide at Lowell's dad's house to celebrate Christmas. It is always fun to catch up with everyone and enjoy each other's company. Papaw has an amazing yard with a wonderful duck pond fully stocked with hungry ducks and lots of room to run off lunch. Since we are never without Nosy's new football tee, the kids joined in a rowdy game of football.

Thanks, Papaw, for finishing off our Christmas celebration with a great time!

6 Christmases: Act 5

Christmas lunch at Gigi and Papa's house

Check out the lonely, solitary picture I got of our entire wonderful time at Gigi and Papa's house for Christmas lunch. This is Uncle Keith carving the delicious turkey...and then my camera battery died. Woe was I!

The apron is a good look on you, Keith!

We had such a great, chaotic, family-filled time, and I am so upset I didn't get any more photographs of it. All nine cousins were hopped up on sugar and happy as could be. Gift opening was crazy, wonderful fun, as always. I think the favorite gifts my kids received were the fleece blankets handmade by Gigi herself. They both cozied right up in theirs and have loved sleeping with them ever since. The food was fattening and delicious, as it should be. Conversation flowed, naps were enjoyed, piano concerts were played, and the baby was snuggled. I am so blessed to be a part of such an amazing family!

FIGHT!

One of my very favorite parts of the whole day:

SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!

How often do we have enough snow to actually make snowballs out of? And we got to share the fun with our cousins!

My Boys tag Daddy

Joel's turn to get tagged by Clayton

From Nosy's face, I assume he just got hit in the back with a snowball!

O was a pro at making snowballs.

Maddie is ready to hit an easy target.

Do you see Joel in the background ready to sneak up on Jeremy?

As always, the football and football tee are ever-present.

6 Christmases: Act 4

Breakfast at Mimi and Gongi's.

Christmas morning just wouldn't be the same without Mimi and Gongi's cinnamon rolls and sweet fellowship.

Santa's Village is so lovely. The Boys did a great job this year of following the "just touch with one finger" rule.

Elliot got tons of love from Beth Ann.

Goofy Guys

Smiley Guys

Maddie demonstrating the wonders of her new iTouch.

Maddie so generously shared her prized possession with her cousins. O was in complete awe. He had never see such a thing!

The Ladies:

Beth Ann, Laura Ann, and Erica

The Guys, discussing the Longhorns, I am sure.
Keith, Russell, Lowell, Jeremy

We left with very full tummies and happy hearts. Thank you for the wonderful time, Mimi and Gongi!

White Christmas

This is what we woke up to bright and early on Christmas morning. And I do mean bright! If you can check out the expressions on my fam, they are super squinty! It was blinding out there with all that pristine whiteness! So beautiful!

The Boys knew just what to do and pegged me with snowballs as fast as their numb little hands could form them. I love life with Boys!

SNOW!!! On Christmas!!! What a miracle!

6 Christmases: Act 3

Christmas morning at The House of Halpin.

I think Jeremy and I were just as excited as the Boys! They were getting bikes this year, and we could not wait to see their thrilled little faces.

Nosy atop his Radio Flyer Strider, a two-wheeler without pedals that teaches the art of keeping one's balance. But he wouldn't let go of his beloved "hard football" for even a second!

O's new two-wheeler. I would have opted for a less ornate, solid-colored bicycle, but Jeremy was absolutely right in choosing this bright green Hot Wheels motifed bike with all the bells and whistles. O loved it!

Remember that every year we have the kids choose a gift for their brother, starting to instill the joy of giving? This year, O picked out such a perfect gift for Noah: a football tee. The Boy had been using a plastic sippy cup as a tee for weeks, so when O found a real tee at Dick's Sporting Goods, he knew Nosy needed it.

Noah loves it and has slept with it every night. After Noah opened the gift from him O said, "My very favorite part of Christmas was giving presents. Oh...and getting presents." I am so glad he is at least enjoying the giving as much as the getting.

Nosy gave O an easy reader all about the adventures of a puppy named Biscuit, another perfect gift because O has a favorite stuffed pup he named Biscuit.

Opening gifts was so much fun as we took it slowly and enjoyed each thoughtful present.

6 Christmases: Act 2

Christmas Eve at the Cody's

Who woulda thunk it? Christmas Eve arrived with gale force winds and...drum roll...SNOW!! Real, white, soft, huge flakes of snow. We braved the frigid weather to participate in a reverent candlelight service at Gramps and Yaya's church. The Boys, needless to say, were in awe of all the tiny flames and did remarkably well when entrusted with their own candle to hold. Definitely a highlight of the evening was holding sweet O while bathed in only candlelight and raising our voices together in "Silent Night." Brought tears to my eyes. Christmas Eve is a worshipful time like no other.

After church, we headed to the Cody house to fill our bellies with warm, delicious comfort food.

Yaya stirring up my favorite gravy. She honestly makes the best gravy in the world!

Nosy discovered the true joys of Redi Whip for the first time. I'm surprised he was willing to share this taste with me!

The traditional reading of the account of Christ's birth.

A special gift for Grampsy

A different kind of "bow head." Silly Yaya!

Mom and Dad opening their annual photo book. I think I out did myself this year, if I may say so myself.

We had such a comfortable, low key, slow paced evening spending time together, opening gifts, and enjoying each other's company. It was perfect!

Boy oh Boy oh Boy

All signs at my sono point to another Boy!! Jeremy and I could not be more thrilled. I was worried I'd experience a twinge of disappointment, but I only felt JOY! A BOY! It's what I wanted all along. I can not wait to fall in love with another perfect tiny blue bundle.

Now we just have to come up with the perfect name...

Noah at 3

**I can't believe that in just a few weeks, Nosy will actually be 3 1/2. I am way back-blogging this, but I couldn't leave the post undone.**

Three.

Such a big, big Boy! You have sprung up so tall and look so grown up. Somewhere, I have your three year old stats, and I will add them when I stumble across them. I do know this though, you out-weigh O by a pound and are tall, tall! 100% in height and 95% in weight! Nothing about you looks baby-ish at all anymore. That makes me a little sad.

You are such a joy, Nosy-Posy. There is just no other way to describe you. You giggle and bounce and crack jokes and do silly dances. Your eyes sparkle with happiness and your smile brightens my days. You are my sunshine.

You have a will of iron and a stubborn streak that runs deep. Your face is so transparent that I can visibly see you struggle with what you want to do and what you know is right to do. You are making choices that honor God more and more lately. Every once in awhile, you make a poor choice, and then we all suffer through the resulting fit, but I am so proud of how you are letting God shape your little heart.

You have a zeal for life that is contagious. You can make even the most mundane tasks fun. You are creative and bright and witty. You love to snuggle with me and plant wet kisses all over my face. You are strong and and brave. You amaze me daily.

You love your brother more than anyone. Mostly you play very well together, although the wrestling can get out of hand. You guys are the very best of friends most of the time. When you fight or are hurtful towards each other, we remind you what a wonderful gift God has given you in a brother. I am so thankful you have each other.

You can not wait for "Gonah" (Jonah) to arrive. You ask about him all the time and sit with your hand on my tummy, hoping to feel him kick. I can't wait to watch you love him. You will be a great big brother!

Oh, how I love you Nosy. I thank God for the privilege of living life alongside you. You are one of His greatest blessings to me. As sad as I am to see you growing up so quickly, I can't wait to see the kind of man God shapes you into. I am so proud of you, Son.

Noah is THREE!

Where did my tiny Nosy-Posy go? In his place is a big, wonderful three year old. We had a great time celebrating his life today!

Daddy took off work today so we could all have some quality family time. Noah chose for us to head to Chuck E Cheese, where a kid can be a kid. When we got there, we realized they had exchanged almost all of the rides and games for brand new ones! Yippee! We had so much fun playing all the new games. Noah's favorites, without question, were the football and baseball games.

After a long nap (That Boy was worn out from Chuck E Cheese!), we baked and decorated the cake Nosy had selected: funfetti cake with vanilla frosting and a red football drawn on top. Oh! And a zillion multi-colored sprinkles. Delish!

Enjoying a huge hunk of cake! That is a lot of carbs, sweet Boy, but after all, it is your day!

Loving on Brother. They have been playing so well together lately!

The picture quality is awful, but I wanted to capture Nosy's face when he first saw his gift: a UT tackle buddy. It was love at first sight!

Noah dubbed him "Football Guy" (so creative) and he is already a part of the family.

What a great day spent with my three favorite people. Happy Birthday Dear Nosy. Happy Birthday to you!