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Galaxy Far Away Birthday Invitation

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The Birthday Guy

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Corey and Nathan. A father's love for his child and a child's love for his father. I adore it. I took this one lazy afternoon in our apartment that we use to live in (in San Marcos) when Nathan was about a year old.
Today, we celebrated Corey's 32nd birthday. Several times today, Nathan would proudly say, "Happy birthday, Daddy!" Kate would simply smile and hug. October 6 began with Corey showing Nathan the completed steam train and tracks going all around the top of Nathan's room (what kid gets a present like that for his dad's birthday???...go figure!) and it ended with good friends, fajitas and Cheesecake Factory cheesecake!

H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y, Corey! You are LOVED indeed!

Children's Museum X 2

While we were in Dallas a couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to go to the Dallas Children's Museum (at the Museum of Nature and Science). We, unfortunately, didn't have a long time to spend there, but what we did see was a lot of fun.
Nathan, Kate and their cousin, Rylie enjoyed the Dinosaur Dig, the farm, the water table, dressing up and many more things. What a fun way to spend the afternoon. We look forward to going back and spending more time there.

The following week, I took Nathan and Kate to the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels. It doesn't have the IMAX or Planetarium, but what they do have is pretty incredible. We bought tickets, packed a lunch and spent most of the day there. Some of Nathan's favorite spots were the train station, the ambulance, playing with the ATM machine, pretending to be an astronaunt and the water area among other things. Kate especially enjoyed taking care of newborn babies in the Hospital Nursery, painting, the water area and the grocery store.

What's not to love at a Children's Museum? If you have never been to one, I highly recommend trying one out! You will make some incredible memories! One memory, I captured below. I wish I had taken pictures of them while they were painting on easels in the art room. Kate would squeal with delight at each brush stroke and Nathan was very serious about his color selection. Afterwards, they both sat down and drew with markers at an art table. Well, right before my very eyes, Nathan made a picture of Mommy and Daddy--entirely by himself! This is huge for my little man, who could careLESS about coloring and the whole bit. He just has never been interested. He kept saying he was concentrating on his picture. I was one proud mama when I took this shot!

August Recap

August proved to be an extremely busy time for our family. It was filled with fun, beginning with a trip to Gruene.

From there we spent time at Schlitterbahn and Sea World. We enjoyed hanging out with Mimi and Poppie, our little niece, Rylie and Allie and Jim.

I wrapped up a great summer Bible Study (Experiencing God) with sweet old friends and new friends from Prayer Coffee at J&R gymnastics.

Our family took a trip up to Oklahoma in mid-August to help celebrate my dad turning 60. My mom threw him a surprise party (a first for our family) and he really was surprised! Some of my family are pictured below (my dad, my sister-Melissa, my mom and my nephew Chance-who spent time with Corey and Nathan in the Wichita Mountains that weekend.)

We became owners of a Pop-up camper! We had a trial run overnight with it in our driveway, took it with us to Oklahoma (Wichita Mountains) and more recently spent a little time in Guadalupe State Park. Corey and I look forward to taking it to several more places with Nathan and Kate. It has proven so far to be an excellent way to spend quality family time with each other.




August was full of doctors appointments. Kate now has a small shoe insert inside of her left shoe. That means we have to ditch sandals for a while. Kate did have some special "Mommy, Kate time" shopping for closed-toed shoes. In fact, at one store, I put a brown pair of shoes on her and she screamed, "MOOOOooooo!!!!" (Which was the word-NO-in Kate's August 2009 vocabulary. She has since learned how to say, "No." Lucky me, right?! :) Anyway, I don't think she was a fan of the color, because when I took them off, I put metallic rose/pink slip-ons on her. She was immediately THRILLED and just started smiling and dancing around.) Of course, we got the brown shoes (practical) and wound up with the pink shoes, too!

Nathan and Kate both went in for their well-check appointments. Nathan had his 4 year old appointment and Kate had her 18 month old appointment. Shots were included (which are never fun, but they were both troopers). Nathan went first and he was a bit nervous at the ripe, old age of four (he had heard stories about the shots from his four year old friends). I leaned over him and hugged him while Ms. Joni (our very sweet nurse) administered the shots. He was in tears. While all of this was happening, Kate climbed up on the stepstool next to the bed he was laying on. While his little eyes brimmed with tears, Kate stood next to him, looked at him and slapped him on his face (with an almost-like, "Get a hold of yourself!" kinda of expression on her face). Well, that was when Nathan's big tears started pouring out. POOR guy! I had to move her and really make sure he was protected for the next couple of shots that he had yet to endure. Kate always winces and tears up a bit at her shots, but both were over them as soon as stickers appeared and we were able to play out in the waiting room for a while before moving on with our day.

Some of the summer and MUCH of August was devoted to getting teachers lined up, students enrolled, supplies and paperwork in order for my second year as MDO director. We had a great beginning to our 2009 school year. Here are Nathan and Kate on their first "official" day of MDO.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, NINE!!!

Last week, on July 29, Corey and I celebrated our 9th year of marriage. I cannot believe that it has already been that long!!
I am so blessed to have him in my life. God placed the two of us together and I can honestly say that he has been and is my best friend. He has a heart for families of teenagers and ministering to them (which I love about him). Corey is incredibly loving and caring. He is so much fun to laugh with. He is a great listener, encourager and provider for our family. He is a hard worker and has a desire to know and learn more. He is a REALLY amazing dad. Nathan wants to do everything dad does and Kate lights up whenever he is around. I look forward to spending time with him (even if we are just running errands)! I could go on and on and still not be able to quite get my point across in writing. I treasure past times with Corey and look forward to what God has planned for our future together.
This past weekend we were able to go on a date night together, which was much needed and a lot of fun. We drove down to the Riverwalk in San Antonio and ate dinner at this really nice restaurant called, Boudros. Everything sounded good so it was hard for me to decide, but I ended up getting the Seafood Platter (which doesn't really sound fancy, but was) and Corey got the Blackened Prime Rib) so we could share. Wow, both were excellent! We got this new camera last week and noticed that it has an option to take "food" photos, so while we were there we tried it, but haven't really figured everything out on the camera--so I don't feel like the pictures do either plate justice. Here they are anyway:

Then, we decided (instead of a movie) to take a boat for a river tour. That was a lot of fun and pretty interesting, too! It was just nice to be able to take time and walk around enjoying the evening together.

Happy Anniversary, Corey! I LOVE YOU!

The Birthday Parade

Nathan had quite the birthday parade this month. I say that because it seemed to keep going on and it was a lot of fun! It started with a fun trip to Oklahoma. Kate and Nathan were perfect riding companions as the three of us made our way up (and back) to visit Gigi, Papa and Aunt Melissa. I know people were praying for a smooth drive and we certainly had it.

We had a great time relaxing, eating and playing all together. My parents ended our visit with a birthday cookie cake and candles for Nathan's fourth birthday. Was he ever surprised! After a couple of gifts, Nathan opened a very special one. Gigi sewed a heroic cape (or caffe-as Nathan calls it) made of royal blue satin on the outside, gold on the inside and a gold star with a red satin letter "N" proudly displayed on his back. It is amazing what energy pours out of a little one that places a cape on their back-jumping, running, and "flying" were soon the highlights of the evening. What a treasure!

On his "actual" birthday day, Corey and I took the kids to "Old MacDonald's (A.K.A. McDonald's) to eat and play for lunch. Then we headed out to Schlitterbahn for the evening. What fun! After that we sang "Happy Birthday" and he was able to open up the presents that we got for him that night. He was so sweet with all of his thank you's and hugs.

On Saturday, we had a birthday party, (I know...parade...right?!) complete with a couple of inflatable swimming pools, water balloons, his Thomas the Train tracks set up around the house and a jumping castle. Granny, Papaw, Mimi, Poppy, Aunt Allison, cousin Rylie and many sweet friends all came for the grand occasion. This age is just so much fun. They are excited about anything and everything surrounding a birthday party and Nathan was full of excitement. When I asked him later what his favorite part of the party was---he threw his hands up big and wide and exclaimed, "Everything!"

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Happy birthday to our little man!! It is hard to remember life without this little guy. He has been such a blessing in our lives. He has brought more smiles and laughs than we could ever count. Nathan gives the best hugs! He will curl up in your lap and love on you so sweetly. He is full of life, smart, curious, adventurous, funny, clever, daddy and mommy's helper and an excellent big brother. It has been amazing to watch him grow from a 7 pound 8 ounce baby to a four year old. Corey and I look forward to all that God has in store for him not only in this year, but in the years to come. He is special indeed!

We LOVE you, Nathan James Bearden!

Nathan on July 7, 2005

Nathan on July 7, 2006

Nathan on July 7, 2007

Nathan on July 7, 2008

I will post pictures of Nathan and all of his birthday fun this weekend!