Baby Venables is Here!

Allie Murlyne Venables was born this morning at 2:34 AM! She weighed 6.6 oz and was 19 inches long. After a quick labor and delivery, Mommy and baby are both home already and doing great.

Now Andy is going to attempt to post some pictures.

This is about 13 seconds after birth....i might get in trouble for posting this one.

Who is this little dark headed baby?

We will have to post some side by side pics of Mabry's baby pics. This child is a duplicate of Mabry, minus the dark hair of course.


Seriously, why is it so difficult posting pictures in this blogging business? I post a pic and it doesn't go where I want it, moves the text all around, and can not copy/paste text. I am just impatient and leave this kind of thing for Addie to do. I'm off my rant, enjoy the pics and I am going to go try and take a nap....right.

Where did May go??

So, here is our last month in a nutshell.....

We spent a wonderful Mother's Day weekend in the Hill Country.

We went to Pedernales Falls State Park for a few hours one day. Mabry LOVES being in the river and throwing rocks!

We have ripped our Master Bathroom apart and Andy is in the process of remodeling it. Did, I mention that our baby is due in less than 3 weeks??:) We are crazy, but figure if we don't get the bathroom done now it will be another year before anything productive gets done once the baby arrives. Let's just hope our baby doesn't decide to make an early appearance!

We spent a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend in Longview with lots of the Hoelzle clan. We had a great time being together and Mabry LOVED playing with her cousins.

Here are some pics from our Memorial Day Weekend

Mabry and Caden taking a walk together.:)

Mabry's first fishing experience.

Definitely Daddy's little outdoor gal.

The cousins singing songs and learning sign language from Uncle Braden. Later they went back into the entryway and just sat in their chairs laughing and screaming as loud as they could. So much fun!

Mabry and her Great-Grandmother Hoelzle. Priceless.

In other news.....

Here are a couple of belly pics around 35 weeks I think.....

This was a couple of weeks ago so I have probably had sufficient growth since then but we haven't done a good job of taking belly pics this time around. Hopefully, I'll get some new ones soon.;)

I saw the baby on ultrasound today because my midwives wanted to make sure she was head-down. So precious! I have never had an ultrasound this far along and it was like taking a sneak peak at our little angel. Wait, it wasn't "like" that, it WAS that! Anyway, her eyes were open looking right at me and she was smacking her sweet lips. So priceless. Getting excited about meeting our sweet baby girl!! Now, if only we could pick a name!

Mabry is starting to get excited about baby sister coming. She keeps saying that baby sister is going to come soon and go to the park with her.:) I love it when she puts her hand on my belly and talks to her little sis. So sweet. Mabry is getting to be so grown up and it makes me a little sad that she won't be our "baby" anymore but I am so excited for her to experience the joy in life that comes from having a sibling.

A couple of shots of Mabry that Andy took recently.....

The last interesting fact I have for now is that Mabry just fell asleep for her nap by herself for the first time ever! Wow! She must know she is about to get "de-throned" as Andy would say so she has to learn to be a big girl. Now I think I'll go snuggle with her while I still can.........

Chandler Grace Rotzler

My sister Rebekah and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world on Thursday, April 2nd! Chandler Grace Rotzler was born at 6:28 AM weighing 9 lbs. 6 oz. and was 22 1/2 inches long. She is absolutely adorable! We are so proud of Rebekah as she was an absolute CHAMP during the labor and labored for 10 long hours at home, getting to 8 cm "au natural" before finding out the baby was breech and having to get an unexpected C-section. While this was a definite change in plans for Rebekah and Hilliard, we praise God for answering our prayers for a healthy baby and healthy mommy. We trust in Him and know His ways are best. We are so excited for Rebekah and Hilliard and they are already doing such an amazing job as parents. Chandler is one lucky girl! Unfortunately, I didn't get any great pics of my sweet niece while we were there, but here are a couple just to tide you over until I go visit again.....soon!:)

Sweet Chandler Grace (and her Daddy's legs:)

You can also check out Rebekah's blog for a few more pics.

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Happy Birthday, Andy! We celebrated Andy's 29th birthday last night with a low-key night at home. Andy requested blueberry cobbler for his birthday dessert this year and I am happy to say for my first cobbler-making attempt, it wasn't too shabby. Don't get me wrong, probably not the best cobbler you have ever tasted but it got the job done! Luckily my sweet husband doesn't expect too much when it comes to my cooking skills.:) I am so thankful for Andy and the wonderful husband and father that he is. He works SO hard to provide for our family while Mabry and I get to sit around during the day eating yummy treats and taking naps.;) He never complains about his long hours at work or all the tasks he gets to tackle once he gets home. Mabry is so thrilled when her Daddy walks through the door in the evening and I must say, I spend my share of time watching out the window for his truck to pull into the driveway as well. Our happiest hours of the day are when Andy is home from work and we get to spend some time with our man. Andy, we love you so much and are so thankful for the blessing you are to us!

Happy 29th, Andy!

In other news, I have a few more posts I need to do (imagine that) but I am waiting to get the pics off Andy's camera. Stay tuned for more!

Rodeo!

It's Rodeo time! We finally took Mabry to the rodeo on Saturday in the cold rain, but we still had lots of fun! Mabry has been asking and asking to go to the rodeo and see the animals. She was so excited....it was pretty cute. I'll just fill you in on our adventures with pictures as always. Sorry there are so many random pics of Mabry......I am a sucker for a little Tot in pigtails!

Mabry spent most of the day riding around on Daddy's shoulders. So cute!

Andy took Mabry into the petting zoo while I stood with the stroller. If you know me, you know I was not super disappointed to miss out on touching all the animals.;) I like animals and all.....just more from a distance.

Here is Mabry checking out the baby goats (and playing with the stuff on the ground which I wasn't too excited about). She seemed to like the animals as long as they were in a cage. Otherwise........

......she seemed to take after her mother.:) Run baby, run!

I mean how would you feel if you came face to face with this guy?! It was seriously eye level with Andy. Crazy business.

Done with the petting zoo and after lots of hand sanitizer....here is Mabry loving seeing the chickens. She did ask to get in there with them so maybe she isn't ruined after all.;)

And this picture depicts how I was feeling....

HUGE! This cow was in the birthing center and ready to pop! Check out that bulge! They expected her to go into labor anytime. So, if you are wondering what I look like now at about 26 weeks pregnant.....here you go.:)

Here is a sweet pic of Mabry at lunch. Anybody else think I should send this into Coca-cola and see if we can make some money??

These are a couple of cute pics Andy took while I was on one of my bathroom breaks.:)

And now on to Mabry's favorite part of the rodeo.....

Dippin' dots!!

And after she helped Daddy finish those off, she moved on to help conquer Mommy's ice cream!

Yes, also my favorite part of the rodeo.

And here we are headed to the car in the cold rain. While I was ready to high-tail it to the car, Andy made us stop in the COLD RAIN for a picture. Not a happy camper.


Hope you enjoyed! We are so excited the rain is gone and the sunshine is back! Here's to lots of fun times enjoying the outdoors this week!

IT'S A........

GIRL! That's right, we are having another girl! We are completely thrilled that Mabry will have a little sister. I am so excited for Mabry to have someone to play with, fight with:) and hopefully be the best of friends with someday. My sisters mean the world to me and I am so thankful our daughters will get to experience the special relationship of sisterhood. It is such a blessing!

I think Andy is a little nervous about taking on 3 girls on a daily basis, but I know he will do great! And don't worry, we haven't given up on that boy yet. Lord willing, we hope for more babies to come!! As soon as we left the doctor's office after getting the sono Andy turned to me and said,"We are still going for 3, right?" Silly boy wanted to make sure he still had a shot at getting that son and hunting buddy. I guess we will just have to keep trying until we get one! I must say I do love God's sense of humor when dealing with Andy. If you know Andy, you know he often makes BOLD statements about the way things should be. For instance, on our first try for a kid he said he did NOT want a baby around the Christmas holidays. Mabry's birthday.....December 9th. I also remember something about not wanting this baby's b-day in the summer. Due date......June 20th. He also mentioned long ago that his worst fear would be having like 4 or 5 daughters! Well, my dear we are well on our way! You would think he would stop making such statements. Maybe someday he will learn! Personally, I believe God IS going to bless us with that son someday. However, he won't like to hunt or fish but would rather spend his time playing soccer. Andy's favorite sport.:) HA!

Thank you for sharing in our joy with us and thanks be to God who is the giver of life and this most precious gift! We pray for His hand to be on our sweet little girl as she grows and develops and for us to be the best parents possible. We are so blessed!

Doe-Does

So, I guess it is about time for an update. What do you think?:) There is probably lots I could post about but I have been pretty terrible at taking pictures lately so I don't have much for you. We had a great, low-key Valentine's Day. Mabry was sick this weekend so we stayed at home for most of it, although we did get to see some of our great friends in College Station on Sunday. Andy cooked us our traditional Chicken Parmesan dinner for Valentine's Day and it was yummy as always. He also got us donuts or "Doe-Does" as Mabry calls them on Saturday morning. She has taken quite a liking to doe-does ever since Daddy took her to get them one Saturday morning a while back. It is kind of her and Daddy's special thing together which I think is super cute. She has only had them a few times now but certainly makes a point to let me know when we pass the Doe-Doe store (Shipley's) and she asks for them quite often. So, as you can imagine she was quite thrilled about her Valentine's Doe-Doe. Cake donut with pink/red icing and sprinkles of course! Andy and I also got to squeeze in a movie on Saturday night which was really nice. We finally got to see Fireproof and really enjoyed it. Highly recommended. So, I guess that is our news for now. We also found out the sex of our baby but I think I will post that in a later post just to keep you guessing!:) How cruel am i??:)

Mabry eating the 2nd half of her Doe-doe after lunch today. You didn't think I would allow her a whole donut in one day did you?;)

Our little butterfly-princess. She wanted to stand up on the counter to look in the mirror at herself and insisted she stay up there for her picture. Hence, the counter pic.

Stay tuned for baby news!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and had a great time being with family. Mabry was so much fun this year as she finally got into the whole Santa thing and opening presents. We spent Christmas eve and Christmas morning with just our little family and had so much fun being together and watching how excited Mabry was. Here are some pics of Mabry's 3rd Christmas!

This picture cracks me up!! Andy got a new camera just before Christmas and little Mabry has been hounded by her Daddy taking pictures of her for practice. I think she forgot how to smile!!

We baked cookies on Christmas Eve and Mabry was such a big helper! These are the same cookies my mom made when we were growing up. This is what the Hoelzle family calls some good ol' dough cookies! They are heavenly to our family, but most other people don't really like them.

So proud of the finished product! She was so excited to leave cookies for Santa. The next morning she ran to see if he ate them all and then finished off the crumbs he left behind.:) She definitely got the Hoelzle genes when it comes to loving dough cookies!!

Our Christmas Eve family photo. A little far away, but that is a good thing. Maybe next year I will take the time to put on makeup. I doubt it.:)

Mabry with her loot on Christmas morning.

Mabry's favorite gift from Santa! She pushes this thing everywhere!

Rebekah, Me, and Catie


Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying 2009!

Mabry's First Snow

I couldn't believe it, we actually got snow at our house a couple of weeks ago! I was feeling pretty bummed as I began facing the fact that we would NEVER get snow at our house and.......VOILA! It snowed for about 2 hours and it looked so beautiful on the rooftops, cars and bushes. The next morning when we woke up it was melted but it was nice while it lasted. I'm so glad Mabry finally got to experience a little snow at the ripe old age of 2. She loved it and can't wait for it to come again! Good luck, darling.:)

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

2 Years Old!!

I can't believe it! Our little girl turned the big #2 last week. We had a great time celebrating with our little family. We had dinner, ate cake, and opened presents. It was a very low-key, but wonderful birthday celebration for Mabry. Andy and I had a great time, too! It was so nice to just have a relaxing evening with our family and watch Mabry take in all the excitement of her 2nd birthday without the stress or craziness of a party. Mabry enjoyed having all Mommy and Daddy's attention on her and getting to open her presents slowly and play with each one. She really enjoyed her cake as well. She hopped up in my lap to get a few last bites of her cake and told me with a big smile, "Mae Mae LIKE cake!". Our sweet little girl is growing up so fast! She is starting to put 3 or 4 words together and form little sentences and can really communicate with us now. She got several puzzles for her birthday and has mastered them all in no time. She absolutely loves doing them over and over again. Here are a few pics from the "party".......

Mabry patiently waiting for the dinner portion of her party to begin!

Mabry LOVED this balloon and played with it just as much as her new presents. In this pic she is having fun seeing herself in the balloon.

Waiting for us to sing and cut the yummy cake!

Family pic with the big 2 year old!

Mabry enjoyed talking to Oma and Opa on the phone. She didn't want to put it down. She just walked around the room with the phone up to her ear and drinking out of her sippy cup. So grown up!

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet girl! We love you!

And then there were.........

FOUR!! That's right, soon our little family of three will be a little family of FOUR! We are so excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2 in late June. I am 12 weeks today and we just had our first appointment yesterday. It was such a joy to hear that sweet little heartbeat. Music to my ears! Mabry is super excited to be a big sister, even though she probably doesn't have a clue what that means. She will touch my belly and say, "Baby" and even give it kisses at times. Lets just hope she is as sweet when Baby makes his/her debut into the world.:) Honestly, we know Mabry will be a great big sister and do a great job keeping the little one entertained. Thank you for sharing in our joy with us. God is so good!

In other news, here are a few things we have been up to since Halloween.....just to get you quickly caught up!

Our sweet niece, Julia, celebrated her 6th Birthday! Happy Birthday Julia!

My whole family met up in Dallas to surprise my Dad for his 60th Birthday! It was such fun to be together and celebrate this man we all love so dearly.

While in Dallas, we also got to celebrate our nephew Jacob's 6th Birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese! What a big boy!

This was Mabry's first Chuck-E-Cheese experience. While she really enjoyed the restaurant and games, she wasn't too fond of the big mouse!:)

Mabry LOVES being outside, especially helping her Daddy with yard work. Before Thanksgiving, she "helped" Andy rake some leaves and enjoyed playing in the big pile!

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving at our house with Andy's family. Here are the cousins enjoying the yummy food at the kid's table.

And finally, we got our Christmas tree up and decorated the other night and Andy got the lights up on the house! We are so excited about this Christmas season and how much fun it will be with Mabry this year!


Merry Christmas! Enjoy the Season!

Halloween

Here are some Halloween pics FINALLY of our little butterfly. We went to our church for Trunk or Treat and then just came back to the house and handed out candy for the rest of Halloween night. We had a good, low key Halloween and Mabry was thrilled that her cousin Caden and Aunt Bethany and Uncle Braden got to join us for the fun! I didn't get very many good pics but here are a few. You can tell Mabry's costume was just put together by her dear mother and not too extravagant. Oh well, she sure thought she was cute as usual.:)

Our little butterfly (yes I know butterflies don't wear tutus but what can I say...I like the girl in a tutu!)

Mabry and Caden holding hands. Too sweet.

Our sweet insects.

Happy Fall!