Party at the Fire Station

Caleb, Brooks' friend, decided to take us to the fire station for his birthday. It was such a perfect idea. For anyone else out there planning a birthday party...visiting a fire station is a great option. It's FREE and the kids totally loved it. The firemen let the boys climb inside and "drive" the firetruck and everything. I think their favorite part was when they turned the lights and the siren on.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!






(Okay, so you can't see the excitement on his face. I think he was just in awe of everything. He really did love every single second and still talks about it when he wears his fireman hat around the house.)

Happy Birthday Brodie!

Brooks is still singing Happy Birthday to Brodie. We got to spend Brodie's birthday weekend with him and all the other cousins in Dallas. Brodie had his party at a bowling alley. Brooks loved bowling! Every time he would sit and watch in anticipation for his ball to hit the pins, and then he would turn around with a HUGE smile on his face.


After an hour of bowling we moved to the party room for food and cake. Brooks ate 3 pieces of pizza and a piece of cake...really?!

Brodie had a cool dinosaur cake with a super sparkly candle.

He got lots of cool presents - including a slip and slide. Brooks and Brodie tested the slip and slide and had a blast chasing each other down the slide.

Happy 4th Birthday Brodie. We love you!

8 years later

Chad and I got some time to celebrate our 8 year anniversary out at the Lakeway Resort and Spa. We had a great time hanging out on the boat in the morning and lounging by the pool in the afternoon. I can't believe that 8 years has gone by since we said, "I do". What a wonderful 8 years it's been.

In 8 years we've lived in San Antonio, New Zealand, Colorado, and Austin. Including 3 apartments, 4 houses, and some tents and basements along the way.

In 8 years we've gone from just the two of us to: just the two of us + a dog + a beautiful baby boy + a little girl on the way. How are we so blessed?!

In 8 years years I've gone from being a girl in love to being an adult, a wife, a mother, and even more in love today then I was on July 13, 2002.
How am I so blessed?!

Here are some pictures from our getaway...
Our hotel:

A sunset boat ride:

There's nothing like a cozy hotel robe and a small glass of wine:

Beautiful sunset from our hotel room overlooking Lake Travis:

Family Fun

Well, now that ALL the family is back in the great state of Texas we had to get together and celebrate. It's so cool knowing that these get-togethers will be happening more than just at holidays every other year.
Brooks giving "Bobo" some love:

Birdie and Scoops got a pinata for the kids to swing at:

We celebrated all the Summer birthdays:

Brooks got plenty of yummy cake:

Aunt Joy and Brooks hanging out by the pool:

Pregnancy: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

The Good:
There is a miracle growing into of me. What gets any better than that?
The Movement. I love feeling Laney move around inside of me. It makes me smile every time.
Knowing that Brooks is going to have a little sister. He's going to be a great big brother.

The Bad:
Throwing-Up.
Heartburn.
Peeing every 30 minutes.

The Ugly:
Dry-heaving.
Water retention.
Wearing a two piece.

Here I am at 19 weeks the night I found it I was carrying Laney!

Our Family

Our Family started out with just the two of us. Team Hoffman was est. July 13, 2002. Almost 8 years of marriage and still so in love.

We grew a little bit when we adopted Kansas in October 2004.

We grew a lot when God blessed us with Brooks Bryan Hoffman on June 23, 2008.

God has been faithful to us and continues to shower us with blessings. I am overwhelmed on a daily basis by His grace and the love that He shows us.
And now God continues to bless us - but this time...with a little girl!
Delaney Ann Hoffman will be joining our family soon (but not too soon).

Rain, Rain - Go Away!

Well - the rain came down HARD today but it didn't keep us from having fun.
First, Brooks read to Kansas:

Brooks LOVES Kansas:

We played with some playdough:

And what better way to get that playdough out from under Brooks' nails than to play with the water table:

And for dinner Brooks and I made a pizza together:

Like I said...the rain didn't stop us from having fun.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a wonderful day! It started out with Brooks bringing me a card and saying, "Happy Easter Mommy!" (He continues to say "Happy Easter" instead of "Happy Birthday" - I don't know.) He gave me a sweet card from him and the baby. He was so excited. He kept pointing to the kitchen though and kind of crying saying, "Happy Easter Mommy" like he was wondering when I was going to blow out my candles. Remember this is all fresh in his head since he just had his birthday. I spent the morning with my friend, Stefanie, and her little girl, Lilly. I absolutely LOVE hanging out with her. We have so much in common and our kids get along so well. We took the kids swimming and then Stefanie treated me to lunch. My favorite part was when she asked if I wanted to get a milkshake. Brooks and I said goodbye to Stefanie and Lilly and went home to take naps. After nap time Chad and I took Brooks over to Ms. Kelly's house (Brooks' teacher) for her to babysit while we went out. Chad said he had a plan so I was just following his lead. We stopped into Jamba Juice because he said we had about 30 minutes to kill. I assumed that meant we were waiting for a show time at the movie theater next door. He gave me a sweet card and at the bottom it said, "Enjoy your massage." Now, we are going on a mini-vaca next week so I thought he meant a massage at the resort, but he had actually booked an hour long prenatal massage for last night. I was completely surprised and super excited. The massage was WONDERFUL. The only slight downer was that I had to pee so bad about half-way through. I thought I might actually pee on the table. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed home. Brooks and Chad put a candle in my blue bell and sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Brooks kept blowing out my candle. I think he thought we were singing to him again.

It was truly a wonderful day. Between all the calls, text messages, facebook posts, and cards - I was completely overwhelmed and was reminded how blessed I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. Here's to year 29!