A Santa Sighting and Neighborhood of Lights

This has been a busy week for sure. Wrapping up school before the Christmas Break, and of course taking the kids to see Santa looking at Christmas Lights. Cade did not appear to be scared of Santa at all and asked him for "clean Garbage truck, not a stinky one." We are still not sure where this desire came from, but what can you say. Caelin simply stared at the man with the beard, but did not cry either. Of course, we had to go and see the Lights at Prestonwood. The four of us sat in the back of the truck as Gamee and Grampee drove us around. Cade and Caelin enjoyed the lights, but I think Cade like riding in the back of the truck the most. The lights were just extra!

Christmas Fun with Gamee and Grampee!

This past week Cade and Caelin Got to have some great fun with Gamee and Grampee. First they went to the Moody Gardens and the Festival of Lights. They both loved the lights and enjoyed seeing all the creative displays.

The next day Cade had the opportunity to visit the Live Nativity at church. As the name suggests their was a real baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and lot of real animals to interact with. Cade's favorite part of the night was the camel. Especially when the camel decided to relieve himself. Cade promptly told the man in charge of the Camel, after a good laugh of course, that someone needed to clean it up! He made a hot cocoa gift jar and a meal pack that can be given to someone in need of the food.

Seeing the pictures and hearing the stories we know the kids were blessed to be with their grandparents. However, Stacy and I know that we are blessed to have family so excited about our kids and the love they freely shower upon them. Cade and Caelin truly are happier and are beginning to know the love of their Savior more and more because of them. Thank you for all you do in their lives.

Baylor Nation backs RG3

New York City, NY. – Robert Griffin III – affectionately known as RG3 – Baylor's junior quarterback, was named winner of the 2011 Heisman Trophy at tonight's Heisman ceremony in New York City. RG3 is the first Heisman winner in Baylor history and only the 3rd Baylor player to significantly factor into the balloting in the Heisman's 75-year history. (Quarterback Larry Isbell finished seventh in 1951, and quarterback Don Trull finished fourth in 1963, losing the award to Roger Staubach.)

This has been an exciting year for Baylor University. Sports and news personalities nationwide are talking about the values we hold dear and how they are represented in the life of RG3, an exemplary student and athlete. With the announcement of plans to build a new on-campus stadium and a bowl bid for the second straight year, Baylor Nation has much to celebrate. Thank you Baylor Nation for your support of our student-athletes and all our students who share a dedication to excellence at Baylor University.

Congratulations to coach Art Briles and the 9-3 Baylor Bears on an outstanding season, and Sic 'em Bears as we enter the Alamo Bowl in pursuit of win number 10.

Also on RG3's resume:
No. 1 in the nation in pass efficiency (on pace for a new NCAA record) and points responsibility

Top-5 nationally in total offense, touchdown passes and completion percentage

Owns 51 Baylor records, including season and career marks for passing yards, passing touchdowns, completion percentage, total yards and total touchdowns

Davey O'Brien Award winner

Walter Camp Player of the Year finalist

Manning Award finalist

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award finalist

Wuerffel Award finalist

Academic All-District VII ... 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team selection

Four-time national player of the week

One of three players in FBS history with 10,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing

2011 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year

2011 Big 12 All Conference First Team

Earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science in just 3 years at Baylor

On track to complete his master's degree next spring

Miles of Love

It's official...our 2006 Element has reached 100,000 miles. I remember the day she was shiny and new with only 7 miles on her. Now, she has seen more than her share of the road and memories inside. Over our 5 years together, she has traveled all over this great state of Texas and Louisiana. She has been faithful with very little repairs (THANK YOU!) and has been worth every penny spent on her. Within her doors, she has witnessed laughter, tears, puke by multiple members, LOTS of pumping for booby milk, Cade's tantrums, my tantrums, Baylor's puke, spilled drinks, beach visits, lots of drive-in movie nights with a pallet of blankets in the back, obnoxious singing by me, girly talk on outings with my friends, hauling all the flooring for our house, and so much more. She has met our needs every second of everyday. I remember when the seat is adjusted all the way to the wheel so my feet can reach petals and how it is all the way back when Charles squeezes in. Our family has grown from 3 to 5 while we have had her. I have to laugh out loud at some of the best memories. For example: Baylor throwing up all over both seats in the back on our first real trip when she had 28 miles! Of course, that's one of her best qualities...being able to unlock all car seats and hose down all her rubber mats! So, thank you lil Element for all the love and memories! We look forward to all the years to come!

"Ohhhh Silly Jing-o"

Those are the words of Cade Beatty every day when he finds Jingle the Elf. Today when she had TP'd our Christmas tree, he promptly told her , "Ohhh Jing-o you can't do that, it's too yucky" and took the paper off the tree. We love to listen to his reactions! Here are a few updates of what Miss Jingle has been up to.

Season Recap on the BEARS...and BOWL Announcement

Baylor Football had an amazing season this year. We are so proud of them and are excited to see them doing better every year!
Baylor (9-3, 6-3 Big 12) concluded its most successful regular-season since 1986 by compiling nine wins, topped off with a 48-24 victory over 22nd ranked Texas Saturday. The Bears feature an explosive offense ranked second nationally (571 ypg) and boasts the most prolific passer (Robert Griffin III), rusher (Terrance Ganaway) and receiver (Kendall Wright) in school history. Griffin III is a Heisman candidate and leads an offense that has set or tied 53 individual and team records.
BAYLOR FOOTBALL NOTES

• Baylor has its first 9-win season since 1986 (9-3) & is looking for its second 10-win season in program history (1980, 10-2).
• Baylor is riding a 5-game winning streak, its longest since starting the 1991 season 5-0. Its last 6-game winning streak came over the last five games of 1986 and the first game of 1987.
• Baylor's powerful & balanced offense leads the nation in passing efficiency (194.05) & 1st downs (28.67), ranks 2nd in total offense (571.25), 5th in passing (356.17), 6th in scoring (43.5) and 18th in rushing (215.08).
• Baylor beat Oklahoma and Texas in the same season for the first time in program history.
• According to the latest strength of schedule rankings by the NCAA, Baylor has the 8th-toughest schedule in FBS.
• Baylor has been ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for 11 weeks this season -- the most since being ranked 12 weeks in 1951.
• Baylor has scored 40+ points in 8 of 12 games this season and is 8-0 when scoring at least 40 points.

Let's all be sure to support the Bears as they head to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio where they will play the University of Washington. This will be the first time since '91 and '92 that we will play in a bowl game in consecutive years.

Caelin is 5 months old!

Caelin has reached 5 months! Can't believe time has flown by so fast. She is quite the little angel for sure. I guess most people experience at least 1 fussy baby, but we were blessed with 2 amazing babies who have always been happy! Cade was such a "thinker", always looking around, watching others, and smiling. Caelin is a true girl, always wanting to be in on the action, always smiling, and "talking" more than the average baby. She hardly ever fusses, and enjoys being held (in the upright position) so she does not miss anything. She still enjoys her swing and play yards at both our house and Gamee/Grampee's. She prefers a paci most of the time, but will chew on anything she can get in her mouth. Cade got his first teeth at 6 months, so we are watching her mouth to see if any pop up in the next few months. Caelin also continues to eat 7oz bottles of breast milk every 4 hours, so she is taking over as the "chubbers" in our family. She still has about the same amount of hair as when she was born, so if bows are part of any outfit, we utilize a headband and then clip a bow to it. The girl also knows style as we are still trying to get her to wear all the clothes in her closet. Between hand me downs from Aunt Mendy/Mackenzie, friends, and purchases from Nana/Gamee...Caelin still has clothes with tags on it, a princess for sure! As for her sleeping, she continues to take 3-4 little one hour naps throughout the day, and at night we are at about 10 hours of sleep! Right after her 4 month doctor check up, we laid her on the floor to see if she could start rolling over, and the little stinker sure showed us! She rolled not only from front to back, but back to front! She is a little roly poly now! Her usual bedtime is 9pm and we wake her up about 6:45am to go to Gamee's for the day during the week. Charles and I are so happy we are finally getting sleep! Apart from all these fun and positive milestones this month, Caelin also had a very scary hospital stay with respiratory issues. That is in more detail in an earlier blog, but thought it should be noted here in her monthly update as well. She has recovered nicely though and is back on track now like nothing every happened. Even while in the hospital and not feeling well, she would still smile. That says so much about her positive nature and personality. I told you she was a perfect angel!
Congrats Caelin on 5 months, we are so proud of all you have accomplished thus far. We love you "all the way around the world and back again"!