How is It Already May?!

So, our life is a little crazy right now... Travis is in El Campo Saturday night-Wednesday night of each week, and the big boys are finishing up KKW at Bannockburn while I'm finishing my year teaching.  Mix in some swim lessons, field trips, projects at school, field days and graduations and we are living day-to-day, but soooo blessed!  Oh yeah, we are also trying to sell a home and buy another home too. :)

Here are a few pictures from our recent adventures:

Puzzle masters!

Hudson was awarded the "King of Hearts" Award at school :) Proud of him!

These boys are best friends. They wanted to get in Paxton's crib and watch a movie on the iPad

He was so tuckered out playing that he just fell asleep here. :)

Brazos and his awesome teacher, Mrs. Barbara

Hudson's Pre-K Graduation 

Hudson's Pre-K Class. Some of these kids have been together since they were a year old. :)

My big boy and his awesome teachers, Mrs. Melissa and Mrs. Sonya

Paxton: 6 Months

Paxton is now half a year old! This third child business really speeds by!  Here's what the best baby in the world is up to at 6 months:

- Weighs 16.8 pounds and is about 25" long- a short, chubby boy!

- Still sleeping in his swaddle and with a paci. Hoping to break the swaddle this month. :)

- Wearing size 2 diapers, but will probably be moving to size 3 once we finish this pack of diapers.

- Taking two naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Sometimes, he takes a short nap around 5:00.

- Reaching for everything, especially mommy's jewelry and hair! 

- LOVES eating food!  The only baby food he does not care for is green peas (like his mommy)

- Still not so sure about different, thicker textures of food yet

- Not sitting up by himself yet, but he's getting close.

- Smiles ALL THE TIME!

- Loves to roll around and support himself on his hands while on his tummy. He tries sooo hard to reach stuff but can't quite crawl yet

- Laughs at his brothers all the time! 

- coos or talks to himself, no real words yet though

- still the best baby- he rarely cries unless he's really tired or really hungry.

We love you, Paxton, and we can't wait for 600+ more months with you! :)

Things are CH..CH..CH...CHANGING!

Well, you probably have heard our news by now. No, I'm not pregnant. :) We are MOVING! This summer, we will be increasing the population of El Campo, Texas by five people as the Hogg family becomes Rice Birds. Yep, that's their mascot, for real.  Here's a quick recap of our journey to El Campo:

This is from our last Sunday at BBC.  Lots of love for that community of believers.
They will forever hold a special place in our hearts!

A few years ago, God starting impressing on Travis' and my heart that he wanted Travis to step out of being just an associate youth pastor or middle school pastor and He wanted Travis to lead his own youth ministry.  As we analyzed the personalities and gifts he has blessed us with, we felt like God was calling us to go to a small town where we could work in the the church and school to impact a community for Christ.  We are relational people, so this type of scenario would work best for our "ministry styles".  Travis did not feel that God was calling him away from Bannockburn, so we just waited.  Well, in December of 2014, God used another person in our lives to confirm that calling and asked to pass along Travis' name to a search team from another church in need of a new student pastor.  That opportunity did not work out, but it did get us thinking that this was the time to pursue that calling.  A few other events in our lives confirmed that this was the time, so we actively pursued it this new year.  Travis had several interviews with churches in different towns across Texas and we visited two different towns and met with their committees. We loved both places but God clearly directed us to El Campo.  We are sad about leaving Buda, BBC and our friends we have made in those places.  But, we are very excited about the new doors that are opening for us in this next chapter and we cannot wait to serve God with this community.  Please be in prayer for two specific things:

1. We need to sell our house in Buda. Please pray it sells quickly and we find the best house for us in EC.
2. My parents also would like to move close to us, so please pray for a job for my dad in the EC area.

It has been such an emotional rollercoaster already in 2015, but God has truly been faithful, we've felt so loved and supported and we are excited to see how the rest of 2015 unfolds in His story that we get to live out.

Hudson is FIVE!

It is impossible that I have a FIVE-year-old son!!!! WHAT?!?!  Well, the calendar apparently disagrees and it states that as of April 8th, Hudson is five!  We celebrated with a small family/friend birthday party at the new bowling alley in Kyle.  Hudson had a great time!  

Now that Hudson is five, he is:

-the BEST big brother to Brazos and Paxton

-the best helper and loves to help me clean up

-a great organizer

-a big fan of any superhero, legos, puzzles, X-Box games that we allow him to play, TMNT

-loving the color "green"

-a Texas Longhorn fan

-a huge fan of the backyard trampoline

-counting to 30

-saying all of his sounds and reading a few words

-talking perfectly clear now (thanks to awesome speech teachers)

-weighing only 32 pounds

-a short 40.25 inches tall (always our little guy)

-a great friend and student

-a leader

-a rule-follower (can I get an amen)

-a little bossy :)

-wearing size 11 shoe and size 4T (some 3T shorts)

-excited about starting Kindergarten

-a lover of life and contagious with joy and enthusiasm.

Thank you, Hudson, for making me a mommy. It has truly been a gift to daily see you love and help others for five years.  You bring so much joy to our family and I am so grateful that God gave you to us.  WE LOVE YOU BUNCHES!

Paxton: 5 Months

Paxton is FIVE months old now!  He's growing like a weed and he is the chubbiest little monkey! I think he might have passed up Brazos' stats in the weight department for his age now.  I love his chunky legs and tummy!!! At five months, Paxton is:

-weighing about 17 pounds

-wearing 6 month clothing, the 3-6 month clothing is way too small now.

-sleeping great! 

-getting a tooth soon. All of this drool and eating EVERYTHING can only mean one thing: Teeth!

-eating like a champ- usually 4 8-ounce bottles a day and two jars of baby food

-loving fruits and most veggies he's tried so far. He's not a huge fan of cereal or green beans.

-rolling over both ways 

-wanting to sit up unassisted but he's not strong enough yet.

-"talks" and laugh a lot- especially at his brothers :)

-a generally happy birthday, but he does not like to be alone very long.

We love you, our little caboose! :)

Paxton: 4 Months

Sweet Paxton is Four Months Old!

Here's what this Four-Month-Old is up to:

-Weighs 14 pounds 15 ounces!

-He is only 23 3/4 inches long- he's a shorty!

-Eating four 8-ounce bottles a day

-Sleeping from 7:30-7:30 :)

-Loves playing in his exersaucer

-Loves sitting in his Bumbo to see everything

-Can sit up for a few seconds, but he hasn't mastered that skill just yet.

-Still rolls over from tummy to back, but he hasn't mastered back to tummy yet

-Loves to watch TV in the mornings with his brothers

-Still takes about three naps a day

-Laughs and "talks" a lot!

-He is a smiley man, and we love it!

-His big brothers love to be with him and help us with him. They love to talk to him!

-Still sporting the baby blue eyes (like mommy's eyes)

-Wearing size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothing

Paxton: 3 Months

Paxton is now three months old and we are starting to see so many smiles, coos and lots of "talking".  He loves to eat and sleep and I am okay with that!  :)

At three months, Paxton is:

- Sleeping from 7:30-7:30
- Eating 5 six-ounce bottles a day
- Fighting off a rash on his face :(
- Still rolling over from his stomach to his back
- Not as much of a fan of tummy time as he once was
- Starting to get a little frustrated in the car, but he still mostly sleeps in his car seat.
- Wearing size 1-2 diapers (he's in between sizes)
- Wearing 3 or 3-6 month clothing.
- Loves hanging out in the nursery on Sundays and he is such a good boy!
- Loves to lay down under his playmat
- Starting to reach for toys
- Still soothed by the pacifier, which is fine with me!


We love you so much, baby boy! You are the best caboose to this crazy boy family!