It's my birthday!!!!!!

For those keeping score at home...today is my birthday. It's been a fabulous day so far. I'll fill you in with a complete report later, but for now here are some pictures.

***Birthday Update

Lots of January birthdays. As I am now only 4 days away from my 1st big birthday, I've been celebrating many other birthdays. My mom turned 29, again. Isn't that awesome?! She told me that this is very unusual. She says that it isn't possible for her to be 30, so she will just keep turning 29. Her birthday was on Friday the 18th. Congrats on that mom!


Also, my very special grandma Linda celebrated her 29th birthday on Sunday the 20th. It is also very exciting.
(Pictured below is me and my Grandma Linda holding me while I ate my first popsicle this past summer)

News Alert ***** Birthday Countdown

Ok, the count down begins...it is now less than 10 days before I turn the big #1! My mom keeps telling me how much fun it is going to be and I can't wait! I've been taking notes on this birthday thing and should have it down pat by the time it gets here. Mom has been trying to teach me how to blow out the candles. In one month I've been a part of birthday celebrations for my cousin Christal, cousin Tyller and also my cousin Mackinzie. My mom's birthday is coming up very soon followed shortly by my Grandma Linda's birthday. I'll keep you updated as the countdown continues. Stay tuned...

I don't know if you knew or not...

I'm a pretty big Jayhawk fan!

Here I am sporting the Sherron Collins Kansas Basketball jersey that my Grandma Linda gave me for Christmas.


Whew, it is completely exhausting beating up on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.


Here's a shot of me working on my bounce pass.


Here is a shot of me and my mom while we were watching the Jayhawks bring home an Orange Bowl victory. Behind us is my cousin Calvin sporting the awesome blue mohawk in honor of the Hawks!


I'm sporting my KU football jersey while watching the Orange Bowl. Also during the Orange Bowl game some of the little girls in attendance decided to decorate me with some Jayhawk warpaint. It just so happened that the war paint consisted of the makeup they got for Christmas. Yikes! I'm going to hate these pictures when I'm older.


My forever favorite Jayhawk hat.

What a jam I've got myself into?!

One of the last times I'll try and lodge myself into a small space.

I was lucky that my dad was there to help me get out.

Jack-in-the-box.

Ok, so I used to like this "Jack in a box" thing, until my dad thought it was funny to scare me one day at the same time as the one eared Bugs Bunny rabbit jumped out of the box. Not so funny. Ever since then I have to start looking for the nearest escape route as soon as that silly song starts to play, letting me know that the one eared rabbit is soon to appear. Crawl, walk, scramble, it doesn't matter I don't want to be anywhere near that thing when it goes off. In fairness to my dad, I'm a good natured kid who actually likes to be scared. If mom or dad jump out from around the corner and shout boo, I jump a little, but then begin to laugh until I turn blue. So, I don't think my dad thought that it would have such an impact on me as it did. I am trying to give the one-eared bunny another chance and we're trying to warm up each other again, but that daunting music gets me every time.

Awe, the old Jack-in-the-box game again, huh? I can handle it this time.

Boy,I sure do hate that music. Where is that rabbit?!

Ah ha! You again!

Yeah, it's not that bad as long as I can shove that rabbit back into it's hole.
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Awe come on dad. I'm not scared anymore. Gimme another shot at it.

More pictures from the holidays

Mom & I did a little math lesson as we counted the Christmas money I received. We worked on my addition skills and then deposited the money into my piggy bank.



I was being a good boy and posing for my mom so she could learn how to use her new camera. She got some really good shots of me.


My Grandma Sharon had a Christmas tradition of always making homemade chocolate peanut butter balls for everyone. In this picture I've just finished my first one. Verdict? I liked it...a lot!


My Uncle Mike got me this cool Radio Flyer Red Racer. I love it. Mom spends a lot of time wheeling me around the house on it. I can't wait until spring comes when I can ride it outside.


I LOVE my daddy!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2008! What a year 2007 was?! At this time last year I was still cooking in the oven. Within 12 months I was born, learned how to eat, sleep through the night, love life, feed myself, drink from a cup, how to crawl, how to walk, what I like and don't like to eat, be thankful for everyday that I wake up, love my parents, experienced my very first Valentine's day, Easter, Halloween, thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, I learned what it meant to love and to lose, saw my very first snow and rain storm, met a ton of family and friends, love my dog, play with toys, watch KU sports and so many more day to day activities. Whew, that wore me out just thinking about it. Well, I'm really glad to be here and feel very blessed to have all of you in my life. I thank each and every one of you for stopping by and checking out what I'm up to. Feel free to stop by anytime and see what happens in the next 12 months. Many blessing, love and well wishes from our family to yours for 2008!

Oh yeah, how could I forget...

to update you all on the most important stuff. As of Christmas day, I am 11 months old. We'll be celebrating the big #1 this time next month! Also, did I mention that I'm walking now? Yep. I'm big time now. My mom & dad are very excited for me. I'm discovering new things every day. I had no idea how many rooms there were to be discovered. It's a lot of fun!



(I got a talking "Donkey" from Shrek for Christmas and I love it!!!

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth.

(In this picture I'm letting Santa know that I'm going to steal his Christmas ball of candy if I don't get something good under the tree.)

I definitely got my wish for Christmas, I still only have my 2 bottom teeth. I have a feeling that there will be more popping in soon. Well, I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I had the best Christmas ever. I have included some pictures here, but there are more to come as soon as the battery to mom's new camera (thanks Dougie!)finishes charging. Mom got a new camera and I am now blind from the hundreds of pictures mom took of me while trying to figure out how it works. My Christmas holiday started off with a weekend of being home and spending lots of time with my mom and dad. On Saturday night I had my first friend spend the night. My friend Preston (10 months old)came over and spent the night while his parents went out to celebrate his dad's birthday. We had a great time together and mom realized that she might not be ready for twins anytime sooon!

(Pictured here is my friend Preston, with his daddy Jason. Happy Birthday Jason!)

On Christmas eve we headed to Horton to see all of my mom's family, including my aunts, uncle, cousins, great-grandma Shirley and my grandpa Don. We celebrated my cousins birthday. Her birthday is on Christmas Eve. She got to unwrap even more presents for her birthday. We went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service with everyone and it was awesome. We made the special trip to Horton because this is the first Christmas with Grandma Sharon in heaven. My grandma Sharon loved the candlelight service. We all wanted to be there to say hello to Grandma and let her know that we missed her this holiday. My grandma Sharon was so special. She had special presents made for me and my cousins before she passed away, so we unwrapped them on Christmas Eve. It was very special.


(Happy Birthday to my cousin Christal Eve, whose birthday is on Christmas Eve.)


(Hanging with my cousin Makayla.)


(My cousins- Brad, Makayla and Courtney.)


(Here is me, my mom & my great-grandma Shirley. She was really happy to see us.)

We then headed back to Lawrence where we went to Grandma Linda's house for a little Christmas Eve fun.

(Grandma Linda has some special presents for me on Christmas Eve.)


(I love the KU bear Grandma Linda got me.

Finally, Christmas day was here! I woke up early and walked/crawled to the living room to find presents! Yeah!!! I had been a good boy this year. Who would've thought?! I was happy that Santa found our house.

(Christmas morning looking in my stocking for the goodies left.)


(Dad helped me unwrap my gifts. He was as excited as I was.)


(I got a fishing pole and I'm going to start practicing now so I'll be ready to go with my daddy.)


(Duce had a pretty good Christmas too.)

We opened presents then went to Grandma Linda's to find even more treasures and spent the whole day with daddy's family. (Pictures still to come b/c they are still stuck in mom's camera.) Fun, fun, fun. Mommy and I spent a little time today saying a little prayer and discussing what the Christmas holiday was all about. I can tell you, I was blown away to hear the whole story. What a special day! I hope that you all had a wonderful day full of joy, happiness and love. I send my love to everyone reading this. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Viva Las Vegas!

So, here are some pics from the Las Vegas trip that we took at the end of November. We had a great time and even made a little $ while we were out there. I'm so glad that we went and we are so very thankful for Grandma Linda and Aunt Jen who took care of Manning while we were away. It made the trip even more enjoyable knowing that the little man was back home being taken care of.


First night in Vegas at Margaritaville starting the trip off with a tower of margaritas.


Macray keeping Makenzie company while she waits to race her night race. It was a very late race and it was very cold.

Busy, busy, busy

Ok, so going back to Thanksgiving we went to St.Louis for the holiday. My great-grandma Juanita passed away a couple days before the holiday, so after turkey day we headed on the road northeast for Springfield Illinois to attend the visitation/funeral services. After that we went back through St.Louis to pickup Grandma Linda and we headed back to Lawrence. As soon as we got back to Lawrence Daddy turned around and went to the big KU vs. Missouri football game, which was disappointing and not worthy of a post. 3 days later my mommy and daddy headed out to Las Vegas for the Quarter Midget Winter Nationals. My cousins Makenzie and Macray both raced and did very well. While my mom and dad where away in Vegas for 5 days my Aunt Jen and Grandma Linda took care of me and completely spoiled me with lots of love. It's been very hectic getting back into a routine again after all of that. So, that's the summary of what's been going on for the past 23 days since you've heard from us. Whew! It's a lot easier to keep you all updated day by day instead of trying to do weeks at a time. More to come. Stay tuned!

So, what have I been busy doing?

Helping my mom and dad decorate my first Christmas tree.



Learning how to do laundry.




Consoling my friend Preston after his daddy and my daddy gave him his first buzz cut while we were playing at my house.


Playing my new favorite bathtime game where I put this cap in my mouth and make silly sounds. Doesn't sound very fun, but I'm telling you that everyone should give this one a try.