Remember When. . .

It was 14 years ago today. . .

At precisely 6:55 a.m. . .

That this little thing--weighing in at 8 pounds 3 oz and 22 1/2 inches long

made his debut into our lives.  You can see that he has not hurt in the way of nourishment and has grown exceedingly well!  He measured himself to all the grandparents and greats. . finding himself taller than all of them!

We celebrated his birthday with the local family Sunday night.  Great Grandma Pat spoils them all rotten!! It doesn't matter whose birthday it is, she brings small presents for the whole crew!! They love it very much!!

Here's the expression of a 2 1/2 year old who was able to blow bubbles all by herself and actually make it work right!! The best part?? The bottle has an extra lid with a seal contraption that makes it nearly spill proof when the 2 1/2 year old insists on holding the bottle "ALL BY HERSELF!!"

In true 14 year old male fashion. .his favorite gift was the Axe (AKA: chick magnet) soap and deodorant.  I realize some of you may think he is nuts to be excited about stuff like this--but it is expensive, so the only time they get to use the REAL COOL  concoctions, is when they receive it as a gift!!

All the great grandparents were on hand to eat burgers with the fixin's and Grandma Pat's watermelon shaped cake and homemade ice cream.  We are so fortunate to still have all of J's grandparents around to celebrate with!

It was, however, quite apparent this week that Grandpa Ed's dementia is in a major decline again.  He really didn't know any of us, and his conversation was truly limited.  He gets pretty antsy to be at home and gets anxious when Grandma is out of his sight.  At one point, during his search for Grandma, I took him over to the recliner and put Cami on his lap.  She thought she was so big to be able to "read" a story to Grandpa.  He seemed to enjoy it too.  He still LOVES animals and little girls!

Tristan plans to have his guy friends over this coming weekend for some skeet shooting and an overnighter.  He ordered stromboli sandwiches and a huge cookie (WHAT???--those aren't readily available at our little grocery store!!)  Hopefully his dad won't make him work too hard today!! I still find it hard to believe how fast the last 14 years have gone, and that with his next birthday he will be anxiously awating the start of High School!!  The highlight of his evening Sunday, was driving Papa and Granny back to their house so we could blow off some of Granny's fireworks (as has become our tradition).  We also found out Sunday night, that my brother-in-law and his family from Houston will be coming in this week--so we look forward to blowing off the REST of the fireworks this weekend while they are here!!

Happy Birthday big guy!! Hope you have a great day!!

P.S.  check back often this week. . I will have highlights of the boys' 4-H projects and their fair results.