Happy Birthday, Little Guy!!!

I can't believe a year has come and gone since my precious little guy was born. A year ago this moment, my husband, daughter, Mom, and I were driving to Corpus Christi to evacuate for Hurricane Rita. It was a strange feeling not knowing what our home would look like when we got back. But I was so close to my due date that I was thinking more about my delivery than about the house. We had tried two days earlier, to no avail, to evacuate to Austin. Our neighbors left late on the night of the 22nd to go to their parents' home in Corpus, and they invited us to go with them. We declined, saying that we'd rather stay home since the baby was coming soon, but we changed our minds a few hours later when we thought about what the situation could be like if downed trees prevented us from getting to a hospital.

We arrived at our friends' home at about 4:30am on the morning of the 23rd, and I went into labor at about 9am! I was so glad that he wasn't born in the car! We went to a GREAT hospital there, and the little guy was born a few minutes after 3pm. Everyone there was so wonderful to us. I felt a little bit of what Mary must have felt like when she and Joseph were trying to find a place to give birth to their little boy. I hope that strangers in Bethlehem were as friendly and kind as those strangers in Corpus Christi were to us. And I'm SO thankful that my Mama was able to be here for the birth! I don't know how I would've gotten through the 5-hour drive across town that Wednesday if she weren't in the back seat entertaining my little girl. We were so glad to be able to visit that the hours really did fly by. She was such a lifesaver, as always.

Here are some recent pictures of the kids. He got his first haircut Thursday (these pictures are obviously pre-haircut!), and he looks a little older! I'm a little bit sad since I know he's my last baby, but I'm also so happy to see him grow. We have more fun every day. He's a precious little boy, and I love him more than I ever thought I could. And my little princess has been such a great big sister. I tell her all the time (well, when she's not knocking him down anyway!) that she'll make a great mommy one day.