Another Cutest Kid EVER

This cutest kid EVER was born in February - the 11th. Yep, it's April now. So sue me. Here's the scoop....

Lincoln Alan Schmidt (Alan is after my Dad, Alan Barrie Best) was born on February 11th at 4:10 p.m. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches of pink baby perfection!

He was much more cooperative than his older brother Parker, who resisted a few forced attempts to bring him into this crazy world. Lincoln, on the other hand, was gently invited and BAM! There he was!

Ashley, did an exceptional job.

This is the AFTER picture. Really. See the tiny little babe in her arms? Doesn't she look amazing. I never looked that good BEFORE giving birth.

THIS is before:

OK, not really, but close.

My gorgeous daughter about to have a baby!!

I couldn't be more excited about being a grandma again! I'm very blessed to have been there for this birth as well! Jon stayed home with our kids and played Mr. Mom for a week. He did a great job. The kids didn't miss me at all.

Does he look like ME??

We got little Lincoln off to a good start with his very own iPod and some really great tunes. He was rockin' out to the Rolling Stones.

He is actually taking his first test, which he passed with flying colors - top of his class as a matter of fact! His hearing is perfect!

Parker took the whole event in stride. First thing he wanted to do with Lincoln was play ball.

Parker is super sweet with Lincoln. Whenever he sees him he does this really cute "Awwwwww" in a high squeeky voice. Then he lays on a great big kiss!

A great big brother!

Lincoln is a wonderfully perfect addition to our family. We are soooo excited to watch him grow!

We love you Lincoln!!

Parker turned ONE!

I received a great gift for Mother's Day (besides the new running shoes and workout clothes!) - A airplane ticket to San Diego to see Parker and help celebrate his first birthday with him Mommy and Daddy!

I arrived pretty early on Friday morning and our first stop was a really great fabric store! Dallas has pathetic fabric stores, so Ashley took me to one on the way home that has super cute stuff!  I indulged in a couple pieces to make a cute apron.

Which came first?

If I'd had room in my suitcase, I'd have brought home yards and yards!

Then we went straight to work at party preparations!

We made party hat cake pops!

And the most delicious Vanilla Cup Cakes with toppers designed by Drew!

On Saturday, Sam made fajitas, Ashley made black beans, Spanish rice, and guacamole!  It was a super yummy meal.

Before the party, we took Mr. Parker to get his first haircut.  We went to a salon for kids and they did a great job!

Before.....

During.....

And after!  He is so handsome and looks like such a big boy!

Then we were off to the park for the big party!! 

Sam decorated with a darling homemade-by-Ashley banner!

Parker played in the sand!

Jim Pontzious, David and Solveig Bassham, Judy Bassham, Terri Pontzious and Howard Bassham - all Jon's side of the family!  Way to represent!

Some other friends and neighbors were in attendance and fun was had by ALL!  Especially the guest of honor.  He received some super fun gifts....

Parker's Mom and Dad gave him this great Radio Flyer!  Ashley made the darling "1" t-shirt!

Howard and Judy gave Parker this fire truck!  Parker's little friend had a blast pushing him around on it (all girls love to push boys around, don't they?).  Parker was digging it, too!

Of course, the highlight was watching Park-man dig into his very own, homemade birthday cake!

Mini cake made by Mom! (Ashley)

Mmmmmmm.

Good stuff!  

He easily ate one third of the cake - by himself!  He's just like his grandma!

Great party, Parker!  Number two will be here before we know it!

Jennifer's Wedding

I was fortunate to be able to attend our niece Jennifer Thompson's wedding in September. (Yep, I'm just now blogging about it - sue me.) Ashley and Parker were there, and since my family lives in Oregon and Washington it was a great time to pay a short visit to them as well!

Jennifer was radiant. And Michael looked pretty happy too! Now they are Mr. and Mrs. Rogers.

Just about the whole family was there. Jon planned to attend with me, but at the last minute he had to cancel because of work and weather issues. But I had a great time catching up with Jon's side of the family.

Rob and Vicki
Jim, Terri and Christa
David and Solveig
Tod
Marillyn (Jon's Mom) with Ashley
Stephen
Madison - Scott was there too, but I somehow didn't get him in a photo!
Diane and Gary (with Rob and Vicki again)
Carollyn taking a photo of Howard and Judy (my only shot of them!)

The wedding was wonderful and I had a great time!  Especially holding Parker!

Parker was so dapper!  

It was a great chance for the cousins to spend some time together. (That's Bryan in the middle)

I stayed with my parents for a couple days and had a great time visiting some of the sights with them.  We stopped by the Wilkes and saw Leigh Anne, Jim and Tessa.  We went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and had so much fun.  I wish there was a great market like that in Dallas....

The food was great!

The eggplant was amazing...

Purple peppers!

Grandma and Grandpa Best got to spend some time with Parker and Ashley.  Parker performed well!

Rich and Tracy invited us up to their house in Longview for dinner.  We talked and laughed for hours!  The boys are so grown up and fun to be around!

Drew and Spencer

Rich performed on the trumpet for us....or was it for that bottle of Windex?

Spencer was excited to go for a ride in the Hummer II. So we took a picture for him!

Parker loved Uncle Rich!

It was also really, really, really great to spend time with Parker.  I took lots of photos.  Here's a slideshow of my favorites.

It was a great trip!  I would have loved to stay longer. Hopefully we'll get some visitors in Texas soon.  I think it's time....

Mamaw's Birthday in San Diego

On August 15th we (Molly, Will, Drew, Jon and I) got back in the plane and flew to San Diego to celebrate Jon's mom's 40th birthday! (grin)  Lucy had to stay home because she was performing a solo in a show in Plano.  The flight was long.  It's unbelievable how long it takes to get outta Texas - even in a plane!  The scenery wasn't bad though....

It's all kindof a blur to me now, but I think we stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico for the night. Dinner choices were limited, so we ate at IHOP and stayed in a Motor Inn that was right out of the movies.  We thought we could do the rest of the trip the next day.  We were wrong, but we did learn a few things.

1.  Molly gets motion sickness.

2. Will gets sick when Molly gets sick.

3. Drew doesn't have the reflexes of a parent yet.

It was pretty exciting for a few minutes.  After that, we decided to land and give the kids a break  - and clean up the plane!  We stopped in Yuma, Arizona and stayed the night there.  The kids had pizza delivered and Karen and Jon stopped at a Vegan fast food restaurant.  Thankfully, the flight to SD from Yuma is short.  So we arrived Saturday morning in plenty of time to get to Alpine for the party.  The kids (yes, that includes Sam) had a great time in the pool.

Mamaw was the main attraction, but Parker was the center of attention!

Uncle Will loves Parker

And Parker LOVES Uncle Will!

This was the first real belly laugh we heard!

Molly is a great baby-holder!

A favorite picture of mine!

Of course there was a birthday party involved here.... Happy Birthday Mamaw.  We're so glad we could all get together to celebrate!  Doesn't she look great??