Texas Tigers

Alexis's newborn pictures

2012-01-30T20:23:00.000-06:00

Alexis is such a sweet little model for me! I've had fun practicing my photography on her and getting what I think are some pretty sweet newborn pics of her.

These are a few of my favorites but I've got a couple more but don't want to overload the post with pictures....

Grandparents (and great-grandparents, aunt/uncle, auntie....) - let me know which ya'll like if you want pics and I'm going to order prints. :)

Weekend recap

2012-01-29T21:12:00.002-06:00

So Friday, Micah was a sad little guy with a fever. We watched quite a few movies and hung out in our pajamas. However by afternoon he was playing normally with Abby. His fever was thankfully gone by Saturday morning.

We got out Saturday morning and headed to the mall because there was an outfit I wanted at Gap for Alexis that is no longer available online. Well it wasn't in the store either. It hasn't been out that long either... just must have sold out super fast. I'm going to check another location though and cross my fingers. Then we played on the playground at the mall for a while until the kids got hungry and cranky so we can home for lunch after they fought over the snack (who was holding the bag/got which one...)

This morning we were able to make it to Church. It had been a long night since Alexis wanted to cluster feed until about 1 am and only cat-napped for 30 minutes at a time... then she and Micah took turns waking up for the rest of the night. (Micah had a coughing fit a couple times - I think because of extra saliva since he's getting a new tooth) Abby and Micah both woke up around 7 am, Beau was sweet and when he got home watched them so I could sleep a little longer before he went to bed for the "night." The kids and I then got ready for Church. Alexis looked so sweet in her pretty dress!

I put her on her tummy to button the back... and she just dozed off.

So we didn't make it to our 'normal' service time at 9:45 and instead went to the late service at 11:30... man is that late! It was 1 pm before we were in the car leaving the parking lot - good thing we had a late breakfast! By the time we were done with lunch it was 2 pm.... so no nap for Micah today.

No naps for Micah goes okay in the afternoon until about 6 pm when he starts getting really tired. He was a little sad/fussy while I was getting dinner on plates (Thank goodness for sweet sweet friends who had brought meals by on the days Beau works in the evenings so I don't have to worry about cooking! It's been a huge blessing!) Bath time went okay but he was quite irritable about brushing teeth, bedtime prayers, turning out the light, getting his pillow. He fell asleep quickly though. I'm not sure which is the better in a no-win situation - an overtired boy who falls asleep quickly but makes the last hour of the day more difficult (and no nap/downtime in the afternoon) or napping and taking a lot longer to wind down to sleep at night.

One benefit of him going down early meant I was able to get him to sleep, head downstairs make Abby's lunch for tomorrow, pick up in the den and kitchen quickly, switch the laundry and wash all the cups in the sink before Alexis was ready to eat again at 8 pm. So that was a pretty productive hour.... Then I had time to blog a little before my brain started to shut down like it's doing now... hence the extra rambling. Ha! Night all! Hope ya'll had a great weekend!

sickness, sisters and other stuff

2012-01-27T21:16:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Micah started running a low grade fever but played normally all day. Last night it got pretty high around 1 am - poor thing. This morning it was back to just a low grade fever but you could tell he wasn't himself so we settled in to watch movies this morning. First up was Dumbo, then Charlotte's Web 2. By the middle of the second movie and a breakfast buffet, he had perked up considerably. I thought about heading out to run an errand but since we were getting a later start by the time I had showered and gotten every one ready and fed Alexis, it was getting too close to lunch time to run our errands before the bottomless pit (Micah) got hungry again. Plus I tried to put his strawberries he hadn't eaten away in the fridge and we had a meltdown over that.

So Miss Alexis was all dressed up with no where to go.....

She enjoyed watching big brother play around and he tried to love on her but I had to try and keep his hands and kisses away from her face because I really don't want my itty bitty babe to get sick!

Abby was excited today about her outfit because they matched. She wanted me to wake up Alexis this morning and dress her before Abby left for school and even told her teacher how Alexis was going to wear her matching outfit. So of course I had to attempt some pictures of them together! Alexis wasn't in the mood to be held in Abby's lap but she was content to lay down and stretch out.

Micah who didn't really want his picture taken by himself in the past couple days, didn't want to be left out though!

This afternoon we had a serious meltdown hour around here. Micah woke up about 20 minutes after Abby and I got home from picking her up at school. He wasn't a happy camper to be awake just yet, he finally cheered up and tried to play with Abby but they got in a squabble about something which lead to him melting down. I tried to take him downstairs put on another movie for him to cuddle up and watch with me while I fed Alexis but he wasn't having it. Abby wasn't happy either because she wasn't allowed to watch the movie or play on her leap pad until she cleaned her room up a little (something she is fully capable of and does on her own every once in a while) Abby and Micah had been playing well together Wednesday and Thursday afternoon and in doing so they had also taken out about 75% of all the toys in the playroom and Abby's room. So it was time to clean up and Abby was not happy about that fact! We had attempted clean up time the night before but everyone kept getting distracted playing instead. Finally the toys were cleaned up so we could see the floor again and Micah had cheered up. That was a very noisy hour. I think Beau might have been happy to escape to work this evening... Thankfully the rest of the evening was pretty quiet with no more major meltdowns.

2 weeks

2012-01-25T22:54:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was 2 weeks since Alexis arrived and it seems like she's been here with us for longer than that but it also seems like time is just going way to fast!

Sunday morning it was a little dreary, windy and chilly out. Beau had worked overnight so I wasn't up for taking all 3 to Church by myself just yet so we stayed home and played and had a relaxing morning. Alexis was happy to lay on her blanket, wiggle and watch Abby and Micah play for a little while between feedings.

Abby is in love with her little sister and calls her 'precious' all the time. So sweet!

Sunday afternoon we also had birthday party to go to. Abby and Micah had a blast at sweet Presely's party. Alexis slept in the wrap for most of it.

Alexis is just growing way too fast! She's definitely getting enough milk. Just look at that belly and those rolls on her little leg already!

She's not that big though and fits just perfectly cuddled up on my chest. I love a sweet, tiny babe cuddled up on me!

Tuesday, Alexis, Micah and I headed back to Bible class. Micah missed playing with his friends since we haven't really gone out of the house much so he hasn't been to Bible class or the gym lately. I enjoy the ladies I work with and all the little kids so I was ready to go back. Most everyone was shocked I was there so soon.

Last night it stormed hard here and we got a ton of rain. It was still overcast, windy and a little chilly today so a good day to stay in our jammies all day. Well for Alexis anyway... I got dressed because I had my 2 week check up on my incision with the midwife today. We did dress up the jammies with a cute bow though.

Before bedtime tonight Abby and Micah both had to get their cuddles in with their baby sister. Both love to hold her!

I think I'm going to have to make a very hard decision soon - Micah seems to be close to the end of napping. He'll still go down for a nap fairly easily (if I go through our normal routine - if I have to feed the baby and skip the rocking it does take longer) but it's making him falling asleep at bedtime take about 3 times as long!

Micah is such a sweet helper with little Alexis. He loves to help get a diaper - which with the pampers they have Sesame Street characters so he has to pick which one he wants her to wear. He will cover her with her blanket, kiss all over her and wants to hold her whenever he can.

I'm about 1/3rd of the way through with Alexis's newborn pictures - it's going very slowly since my computer time is more limited - especially since I try to get to bed earlier (well apparently not tonight though!) Thank goodness for the iphone and instagram pictures to fill the blog for now!

On our own

2012-01-21T22:49:00.000-06:00

Thursday, Grandma (Beau's mom) flew back home, my mom had gone back home the previous Saturday (the day Grandma arrived) so we've been on our own for the past few days. We are adjusting pretty well so far.

Friday, the bouncy seat I ordered arrived at Walmart (site-to-store shipping) so Micah and I headed to pick up Abby from school then headed to pick it up. We had a seat with Abby and Micah but neither kid really liked the one we had (an infant to toddler rocker) so I had gotten rid of it and we got a different style for Alexis. It was my first time getting out with all three and it went well. Miss Alexis snoozed away in the wrap the whole trip. At home we put together the seat and then headed outside to let the kids play on the driveway. Alexis seems to approve of her seat. :)

The kids had fun playing and enjoying the warm January weather. I'm thankful it's warm enough to play outside since they play so nicely, it had drizzled that morning so the grass was all wet so we opted for the driveway instead of the backyard.

Abby geared up in Micah's tool belt, hard hat and safety glasses while Micah hammered away on some scrap wood we have.

Little Alexis loves to lay and stretch out on her changing table and even enjoys her little wash cloth baths. Doesn't she look precious all squeaky clean?

This morning Alexis woke up and Abby and Micah were quick to want to say good morning. They are both good little helpers when it comes to Alexis. Micah especially wants to be a "big helper" and will bring me diapers, wipes, cover Alexis with her blanket and kiss all over her! They both love to hold her.

I've learned that getting out of the house now takes 3 times as long... only not for the reasons it should. I can easily get the diaper bag ready to go and we can get out the door. However Micah has decided that now he wants to wear his big boy underwear out of the house which is fine but he doesn't want to go potty before leaving so I have to spend what seems like 10 minutes convincing him to go potty before we leave. I love that he wants to wear his big boy underwear but not quite as much when he wants to wear them but refuses to go potty!

Now there are little squeaks coming from the moses basket next to me... I think some is getting a little hungry.

(All instagram/iphone pictures today because sleep takes priority over photo editing right now and all photo editing time is going towards Alexis's newborn pictures right now)

My Three

2012-01-18T22:34:00.001-06:00

One week

2012-01-17T21:52:00.000-06:00

It's Miss Alexis's one week birthday. This week seriously has flown by! I'm sad this sweet newborn phase is already going so quickly but know that there are still good stages ahead. Micah's super sweet, adorable, loving and chatty lately. There is just something about a newborn cradled in your arms that is hard to beat though. Right now she's laying next to me on the bed hiccuping and looking around. She took a 30 minute nap in Daddy's arms after having her first bottle while I tried to get Micah to sleep (he was too chatty and wiggly so he still wasn't asleep... please don't let this bed the end of naps!) This awake time with multiple feedings before bed has meant so far that she sleeps well at night!

This afternoon it was beautiful outside so we headed outside to ride bikes and Daddy tried to fix the lights that have gone out on the truck. There is a short in the fuse.... but he can't find it. Very fustrating. Add in a broken dishwasher and a broken living room fan - lots of stuff not working around here! I'm annoyed we didn't hear back from the landlord today and I didn't think about it until too late in the day to call. Must call first thing tomorrow! When Micah was born the a/c went out, and I remember my SIL's dishwasher went out when her little one arrived as well. I don't remember anything breaking when Abby was itty bitty though.

While outside the kids came across a kitty. They loved watching her. Beau told Abby over a year ago she could have a cat when she turned 6 thinking it was far enough away she'd forget.... as soon as I heard that come out of Abby's mouth I looked at Beau and told him he was in serious trouble. I'm not a cat person and Abby hasn't forgotten... she tells everyone all about it. I don't think a stuffed toy will do either.

Micah is super speedy on his balance trike. He's close to outgrowing it. I'm thinking a balance bike is in order for his 3rd birthday. Wait did I really just say he'll be 3? Not for 4 more months at least.

Little Alexis joined us outside since it was so pretty (it's totally not feeling like January when we get up to 77!) I wrapped her up my wrap and she was snug and cozy. I have a baby wearing/carrier addiction - Beau rolls his eyes at my collection. I 'need' different carriers for different situations. I've finally found happiness in what I have though every time they update the carriers - especially my trusty Ergo that I got when Abby was 7 months old I wish I could trade my old one in for the new prettier version but mine is holding up well so no real reason to.

We have a massive kitchen so currently I have our table moved into the middle of it and created a little mini photography studio in the area the table usually is so that I could use the natural light from the big sliding glass doors and windows in that area. I spent yesterday morning taking newborn pictures of Alexis and this afternoon I snapped some pictures of all 3 kids together. (Which by the way is much easier with another person there to assist and get the kids attention - Thanks Grandma!) I still have a few more shots I want to try of Alexis so my kitchen is still doubling as a studio. I'm going to have a lot of photos to edit here shortly!

Speaking of pictures I need to learn how to use the delete feature more often and I need to move some pictures off my computer to create more space. I have them backed up, some in two places, plus the ones on the blog (though for the past year plus they've all been resized for the web so not printable quality anymore) but still I hate deleting them off the computer.... what if ya know?

January 10, 2012

2012-01-16T21:38:00.003-06:00

The morning of the 10th, we got up and got Abby off to school, everyone else had some breakfast and we took a quick last belly shot. Micah wasn't really in the mood though... He wanted to hold the sign for the most part and went out willingly but wasn't wanting to take a picture.

Then it was off to check in at the hospital. We didn't have to be there until 10:30 am and the c-section wasn't until 12:30 - needless to say I was getting pretty hungry while we waited for the Dr. to show up. (He was late by the way - even the nurse asked if we had seen him at some point ha!) Eventually we were all ready.

Cutting the cord

Miss Alexis got checked over and dried off.

The nurse lifted her up to show me all her chunk. Daddy was pretty close with his guess on the weight (He guessed 7 lbs 12 oz, our midwife guessed closer to 7 lbs 4 oz)

Getting her first bow :)

All three of us

They moved me to gurney and I finally got to hold my little one (okay finally might be a slight exaggeration as it didn't take that long but still)

Abby, Micah and Gigi arrived about the same time we got to our room. What a proud big sister - she couldn't wait to hold Alexis.

Micah was excited as well.

He needs a little help holding her - but man does my tiny guy look big now!

And a few more pictures of the sweet little girl.

She's such a doll. She's been a very easy baby so far - I keep expecting her to really wake up one of these days soon and give us a run for our money. Right now it's just Abby and Micah keeping us busy - just add in a little extra sleep deprivation from the nursing around the clock as well.

Here she is in her sweet home coming outfit.

We didn't get any good 'coming home' pictures though. We spent all day - literally - waiting to be discharged because the Dr. didn't come by until after his office hours at 6:45. Miss Alexis also spent that afternoon being very hungry and restless - likely feeling the same restlessness we had of being ready to get out of there! Poor babe cried the whole way out of the hospital and half the way home.. That's the only real period of fussiness she's had though. It was dark so not good for picture taking either and we were just ready to get home and have dinner!

Welcome Miss Alexis

2012-01-13T23:01:00.000-06:00

We are excited to welcome Miss Alexis Hadley to our family.

January 10, 2012 1:19 pm

7 lbs 14 oz

19.5 inches

We're home, spending time as a family and adjusting. Abby and Micah are loving on their little sister More pictures of the sweet girl to come soon I'm sure but other things are keeping me occupied and away from the computer right now. ;)

random ramblings

2012-01-04T21:15:00.001-06:00

Abby's back in school this week. They started back Monday, the 2nd. They had two full weeks off but starting back the 2nd just seems so early! We are slowly adjusting to having to get up and get going early in the morning. Even just the extra hour that we got when we hit the early gym classes seemed like a relaxing morning (especially since Micah wakes at 7 no matter what almost every day)

But before she went back to school we got to hang out with my parents for the New Years and celebrate Christmas with them. I still need to go through, edit and blog those pictures. My mom brought this add water to create snow stuff to play with and the kids loved it. It made quite the mess - especially since it has glitter in it and I'm still finding glitter in some spots from it but the kids loved it!

I (well the family) got a fabulous Christmas present from Beau. We got a (new to us) Acadia. It's nice to have more room in the car... though that room decreases quickly when you add 3 car-seats, two of which are rear-facing. I love my pretty new ride!

Beau has been playing with his new tools he got for Christmas and the kids and I hung out while he rebuilt the drawer that had broken in the kitchen. They "built" things with Micah's new tools while Daddy worked with his tools.

Last night Micah had a hard time sleeping and was awake from about 10:30/11 until 1 am just not sleeping. You couldn't be made at him because he wasn't trying to play, he would just lay there awake but he wanted mommy next to him and would rub my arm every so often to make sure I was there. Beau was off from work last night/today for his "weekend" and ever so nicely offered to get Abby up for school so Micah and I could sleep. That didn't totally work out because Micah woke up anyway but he and Daddy went off to the gym so I got some down time this morning.

This afternoon I had Micah down for a nap and he should have napped for at least another 30 minutes to an hour but he instead woke up in the 15 minutes I was gone picking up Abby from school and was not happy to see Daddy instead of Mommy. He needed some serious cuddles to get rid of the grumps after that. So we sat, rocked and watched Curious George and had an after school snack.

We tried playing Uno Moo (which is really fun) and round 1 went well but eventually Micah wasn't happy he didn't have the dog piece he wanted so that ended in meltdowns. Even ice cream couldn't cheer the little bit up. :( A trip out to the swing set though.... that made him super happy. The weather has been lovely too. Well maybe a little warm - I think it was about 70 this afternoon. So not feeling like December in the afternoons but the mornings are chilly.

The kids got bug catchers from a friend's birthday party a while back and still love them. So after swinging they went on a bug hunt for rolly pollys. Too bad they came across this instead. EEK! At least he was small right? (See rolly polly next to him for sizing) I don't think him being small makes me any happier.

The kids and I managed to be pretty productive this afternoon between all the playing as well. I gave them each one of the handheld vacuums and they "helped" vacuum the stairs. Then we took out the recycling and the trash bags from the upstairs trash cans. I told Micah he was a good big helper and he was so cute to repeat after me "big helper!" I also got the kitchen floor mopped (much needed after the holiday weekend of wearing shoes in the house) and cooked and cleaned up after dinner. Pretty good for being pregnant as I feel. Now it's time to lay in bed because my back is well aware of how productive we've been! Ha!

Random ramblings

2011-12-28T22:44:00.000-06:00

No babe yet despite my lack of blogging. Just lots of nesting - its been 3 days of as much cleaning and organizing as my very pregnant self can handle. I cleaned out my old sweaters most haven't been worn since pre-Abby, some pre-Micah so I finally got around to deciding to donate most of them. This gave me a whole set of plastic drawers to put in Micah's room and give Abby her full dresser for her clothes. Then I got a few more baskets for the playroom and feel like there is finally plenty of storage for everything!

The mess that resulted from cleaning out my night stand, sorting baby laundry to wash/fold put away and the kids playing with their animals all happening on my bedroom floor.

This disaster area is happily all cleaned up now. The first load of baby clothes and blankets washed, put away or packed to bring the the hospital and all waiting for a sweet babe to join our family.

I only have one more appt with my midwives before it's baby day. :) I've got things mostly ready. It's been easy/low key with baby number 3. Very little we've needed other than clothes since she's coming in opposite weather of Abby and a car-seat (which I need to install!) Little girl clothes are fun - especially bows. I just got her a sweet dress last week as I realized I had neglected any dresses for her. I can't wait to dress her up as Abby has been quite independent in that aspect since she was 2.

My parents arrived last night and we did Christmas with them and my brother today. I had told Micah they were going to be here in the morning because I had moved him out of his bed into ours to sleep so my parents could have his bed so this morning he woke up and immediately asked if Gigi was in his bed and wanted to go see her/wake her up. We had only told Abby that Gigi and Pops would be here today so that she wouldn't want to stay up waiting knowing they were getting her last night so she woke up and was very excited they were here. The kids were shocked to see how the tree grew presents overnight! Micah quickly wanted to open his but we waited until Uncle Jeremy made it to our house to start present exchange.

We are now enjoying having Gigi and Pops here and hanging out with them. More pictures from Christmas round 2 coming soon but for now we've had a busy day! Hope ya'll have a great New Years holiday weekend!

Tomorrow the tree comes down and all the Christmas decor gets put away.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T22:11:00.000-06:00

After putting out the cookies for Santa and the littles were tucked into bed and finally fast asleep, Santa arrived to fill their stockings with goodies.

Micah's stocking

Abby's stocking

Abby's Santa/presents from Mommy and Daddy

Micah's Santa/presents from Mommy and Daddy

Notice any similarities? They both were in love with the dog at the store so it's what they both got. My mom had the great idea to switch out the collar on Micah's so it's a little more "boyish" and we can tell the dogs apart.

Not the greatest picture as my focus was off but look how excited Micah is!

Abby dug into her stocking after playing with her puppy for a minute. She was very excited for her Hello Kitty chapstick.

Micah was very excited to see his giant firetruck from Mimi and Pappy.

Both kids were thrilled with the presents they picked out for each other. Micah loves the plane Abby picked for him and the Tinkerbell jewelry box that Micah and Daddy picked out for Abby is one of her favorite presents!

After eating a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls and playing with our toys inside while waiting for it to warm up just a tad we headed outside so that Abby could try out her roller skates from Mimi and Pappy. She was so thrilled to get skates and hopefully will get the hang of balancing and skating soon! At least it's slightly less nerve wracking watching her learn how to skate than ride her bike without training wheels with all the padding!

the night before Christmas

2011-12-24T22:05:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week we baked (and baked!) cookies but only the gingerbread ones got frosted.

This evening, after we got home from Church, I made a quick buttercream frosting and we had a blast decorating cookies for Santa.

I made several colors, pulled out the sprinkles and let the kids decorate them however they wanted.

Cookies are all ready for Santa now!

The kids are all tucked into bed, asleep and I have a feeling Santa is going to show up soon.

the week before Christmas

2011-12-24T22:01:00.002-06:00

Last Friday (over a week ago now) Abby had her class Christmas party. They were able to wear their pjs to school, her teacher made hot chocolate and they watched The Polar Express in the morning. During their lunch we set up their classroom and they came back to have their party. They decorated sugar cookies and had snacks (not that they needed it right after lunch!) Then they played a reverse hot potato game where whoever had the present got to open it, then the game continued until everyone got a present.

The Elf was up to many, many antics over the week. Too bad I forgot to take pictures of a lot of them. One day he was in a bowl of marshmallows, another he was riding in a car with Barbie, one day he left a banner of toilet paper with how many days until Christmas. The kids and my favorite was when he got really mischievous and colored all over the kids bathroom mirror.

Micah had a little chat with the Elf - saying "no, no silly elf!"

Here's a few more things our Elf has been up to this week.

Fishing for goldfish

Eating the gingerbread houses

We had a gingerbread house making party at our friend's house. We had a blast!

Their houses turned out so cute too! Micah was so sweet too because while he wanted to eat a lot of the candy he'd come ask me for almost every piece he wanted to eat. "Eat this candy mommy?"

Now we are all ready for Christmas! The presents are wrapped and under the tree (well except for gifts from Santa) and the kids are ready!

Shopping, baking and Christmas preparation

2011-12-20T11:16:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a busy busy day. Abby is off of school until January so she is home with us for the next two weeks. After breakfast and getting ready we headed out to the stores. We went to the bank, fabric store (for some fabric for Gigi to make things for this sweet babe,) Walmart, the mall (amazingly not that crowded in the morning!), Lowe's, picked up Chick-fil-a for lunch and Target. Whew! The kids were great - Abby had her listening ears and was a super helper. Micah got a little tired of sitting in the stroller and wanted to walk instead at the mall. We knocked out the last 3 presents I needed to take care of and the few other items we needed.

When we finally got home and instead of resting we jumped right into baking all the cookie dough I had chilling in the fridge. Gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies. They covered just about every surface of the kitchen when I had them out cooling. We frosted the gingerbread cookies because I was bringing them along to my girls night out that night. Abby read the Gingerbread Man at school and so I made Abby and Micah each a big gingerbread person. After I frosted the rest of them we decorated their gingerbread people. Abby had a lot of fun with that. It was a little hard for her to do but she directed how she wanted her iced.

(all iphone pictures today)

Micah was just excited to have his very own cookie.

I fixed a platter to bring to my girls night and packed up another large amount for the kids and Beau to bring to our neighbors that Beau is friends with. Tied up with my pretty twine.

After I got home from girl's night out (where we ate a delicious meal and made blessing bags to give to the homeless) I got to work wrapping all the presents I hadn't wrapped yet. While we were at Target earlier I needed wrapping paper... but again they were out of the brown kraft paper I happen to love. I've been to two different Targets, one twice and they've been out all 3 of those visits. So I had to go with different paper to get them wrapped. I found some that kind of work along with the kraft paper, one being a kraft paper with a gold finish and a more kid friendly paper with a tan background and lots of fun colors that tie in the twine colors I have. So it worked but it's not as cohesive as I wanted. I wrapped the kids presents from Mimi and Pappy and from us, Santa presents are going to stay hidden.

This year we are doing 3 presents per kid from us - one to play with, one to read, one to wear. The wear and read are wrapped and will be from mommy and daddy and the play with will be unwrapped from Santa. Then they'll also have their stockings from Santa, a present exchange from each other (taking them shopping for that later today) and presents wrapped from Mimi and Pappy (my grandparents) that are at our house . Not to mention the grandparents.

They are very excited seeing all the presents that are under the tree now and seeing that some of them are for them now! I can't wait for them to open them either. I think they are going to be so thrilled!

This morning we are having a relaxed/lazy morning. I was planning on hitting the gym but Micah has an extreme lot of green gunk coming out of his nose and that wouldn't be very welcome at the gym so it's cleaning and the kids are playing outside since it's finally stopped raining and isn't too muddy. This afternoon we are taking them shopping for each other and once it's dark, hot chocolate and driving around to look at lights.

Christmas home tour

2011-12-17T22:23:00.004-06:00

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner's Christmas Tour of homes this week.

I didn't do a whole lot in the way of Christmas decorating this year because I'll have a newborn when it's time to take it all down and I don't want to be overwhelmed. I also didn't take pictures of some of it but I'm too lazy to do that right now!

To start with though my mom and I did make this Pinterest inspired wreath which I love!

This year we did our first real tree. Previous years we've had a skinner artificial tree that fit nicely on the landing of our stairs between the two baby gates to keep little hands from messing with it too much. This year the little ones are older and aren't messing with it. Next year might be a different story! Since it's a real tree my decorations are a little less than I would like but I had a hard time finding new ones to add that I really liked. Next year though I am for sure adding mesh deco to it! I'm loving all the trees that are decorated with it!

All light up at night.

My mom and I also got crafty and made this no-sew ruffly tree skirt - which I really love... though not realizing how big the tree would be, we could have made the tree skirt a little bit bigger as it looks a little small on the tree.

I also have our Willow Tree Nativity set up but it stays up year round here. We don't have a mantle but I wish we did, so our stockings are hanging off the bar that looks into our kitchen but I don't have a picture of that... unless you count the picture I took of our Elf on the Shelf being naughty and replacing the stockings with Micah's underwear. No stockings in the picture though.

Next year I hope to decorate more as I'm loving all the pretty decorations I've seen so far on many other blogs!

Christmas Organization

2011-12-15T23:08:00.001-06:00

The holidays are always a super busy time. This year especially with a daughter now in school with a class party to help with and a new babe coming soon after the holidays are over that we need to prepare for as well. I'm trying my best to stay organized this year and so far it's working.

Before Thanksgiving I made a list of everyone we needed presents for and ideas I had for them. Normally I'd make this list in my Christmas binder that I keep but this year I put it in my Erin Condren planner so I could see it all the time (and because my Christmas planner was in hiding with the Christmas decorations at that time.) As I thought of or found ideas I wrote them down next to the name and checked them off as I purchased them. To avoid blowing my budget as we get closer to Christmas I also tried to spread out my purchases buying one or two here and there instead of all at once. The Christmas binder I have also helps me remember what I got for people in the past so I don't give the same person something too similar to something I gave them the year before. This is super helpful this year as this little babe seems to be taking all my brain cells- I have some serious pregnancy brain lately!

I found these awesome printables on Pinterest to help keep organized. These would be fabulous to make your own Christmas binder with.

Source: christmas.yourway.net via Katie on Pinterest

Source: lovelylittlesnippets.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

My Christmas binder also has all my addresses for sending Christmas cards out. All I have to do is remember who moved in the past year and track down and update those addresses. It made addressing my Christmas cards much quicker since all the addresses were together and I didn't have to search for too many of them.

Pinterest is an amazing way at staying organized. I have three boards for Christmas - one for general ideas for decorating, crafts, picture taking, one board dedicated to present ideas (both to buy in stores and ones to make), and another board for Elf on the Shelf ideas!

Just to stay organized in general and not forget things I keep my Erin Condren planner nearby to write down all the parties and holiday events down as well as planning when we can do our holiday baking and crafting. I would seriously forget something (like yesterday when I almost made plans to go visit with my mom while she is at my brother's in Austin before remembering I had an appointment this morning already!)

I'm also doing lots of online shopping. It's so much easier and there are amazing deals out there - both free shipping and discounts. This is super helpful with little ones so you don't have to figure out when you are going to shop for them without them seeing or dragging them along when they don't want to be there. This also makes it easy to keep track of all the receipts since they are all in a Christmas folder in my email.

Check out some other tips for organizing during the holidays over on Blogher!

There is also an awesome giveaway going on so be sure to enter the Life Well Lived Moments Sweepstakes for a chance to win $250!

How are you staying organized this year?

Elfie's mischief continues

2011-12-15T08:32:00.000-06:00

That silly little elf sent to watch Abby and Micah just can't stay out of trouble. He tries to make up for his trouble but sometimes his "helping" just creates more mess.

Day 8: Abby had a sad day at school on Wednesday and at one point in the afternoon said that she had fewer crayons than everyone else because other kids were taking hers (or asking and she was sharing but not getting them returned) and that other kids called her a tattle tale. This of course makes a pregnant mommy even sadder than it would have otherwise and it makes Daddy sad too. So Elfie thought it would be nice to bring Abby a new box of crayons to bring to school so she'd have all the colors she wanted, and to cheer her up he also brought a Hello Kitty bubble necklace, coloring books and some cars for Micah.

Day 9: He tried to help fold the laundry but ended up just making a big mess by dumping it all out on the couch.

Day 10: We found Elfie reading The Story of Baby Jesus to a couple of Abby and Micah's animal friends. We can't get too caught up with Santa and presents to forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Day 11: Elfie tried to help wrap presents.... but ended up getting all tangled in my twine!

Day 12: Our elf has a little sweet tooth and got stuck upside down in the chocolate chips. His trip back from visiting Santa during the night had left him a little bit hungry!

Day 13: Again with the sweet tooth. Elfie just can't get enough! This time he was drinking syrup in the pantry!

Day 14: This has been one of my favorites so far. Elfie got very mischievous, dug out the red paint from the craft box and gave the kids and himself Rudolph noses. I wish I had gotten a picture of the kids red noses but while they were amused later that day thinking about it, they were a little groggy and grumpy that morning!

Day 15: This got a big laugh out of both kids. Micah left all his underwear downstairs, so Elfie took down the stockings and replaced it with a few pairs of Micah's underwear.

random ramblings

2011-12-14T22:55:00.000-06:00

We had a busy weekend for sure and it's continued into a busy start to the week.

Saturday we had both breakfast with Santa at our gym and Cookies with Santa at Sea World. Then we headed back to Sea World on Sunday to catch a couple of the shows that we didn't hang around for in the rain on Saturday. It wiped me out!

Then Monday we didn't slow down much as we had MOPS in the morning and I had Mentoring Moms that evening. Plus I threw in a much needed grocery shopping trip in between the two. I almost called it an early night that night.... except that Micah, during his refusal to nap, was supposed to be laying down on my bed while I got ready for Sea World on Sunday, moved my ring (the one I probably shouldn't leave laying on my night stand when I'm not wearing it.) By moved I mean threw it between the wall and the crib that is side-carred to our bed. To retrieve it meant moving the bed, which then lead to some cleaning of all dust and tons of other toys that had also been thrown between the bed and the wall.

Yesterday was the final day of Tuesday morning Bible studies so another early morning of being out of the house. The ladies I work with were so sweet and they had put a few little gifts for the new babe and another new babe that will also be joining us in January. I'm so blessed to work with an awesome group of ladies.

Today was finally a day to relax... or more like get my house back in order after a busy few days. I started with hitting the gym though for body pump. Now my legs are feeling it. I did get the kitchen cleaned up, living room picked up and vacuumed, and several loads of laundry done. My Christmas cards arrived today and they look adorable! I addressed all the ones I have addresses for and now need to track down the rest of the addresses and send them out. That enough was enough to wipe me out for today. Now it's time for Top Chef!

More Elfie mischief and a post on Christmas organization coming soon but for tonight it's a night to close down the computer and lay in bed. :)

Oh and did you catch what Micah was saying in the video in this post?

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Oh Christmas tree

2011-12-11T10:02:00.000-06:00

I'm loving having a real tree this year!

Christmas at Sea World

2011-12-10T20:08:00.000-06:00

This afternoon, despite the dreary rainy weather we headed out to one of our favorite places.... Sea World! It was extra special today because we got to go have cookies and milk with Santa and Ms. Claus. It was really a fabulous experience and Sea World did such a fantastic job with wonderful hosts who were all ever so sweet to the kids making it extra special for them!

Abby and Micah loved the special Sea World stocking and Shamu whale tail Santa hat!

Not to mention the cookies! Yum - lots of tasty cookies to choose from and milk to go with.

Abby and Micah both loved the attention they got from Ms. Claus and Santa's elf helpers.

Santa arrived (after snacking on cookies in the kitchen!) and read a story to the kids by the fire place.

After a story, Santa invited the kids up for a picture and to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Abby told us, that she told Santa she wanted a reindeer and that Micah had said he wanted a puppy.

We thought we had come pretty prepared for the weather with blankets to bundle the kids, umbrellas, the rain cover over the stroller (the first time I've had to use it in a year!) but it was a little too cold and rainy so after a trip through the penguins we had to call it a day. I'm hoping we can catch a break in the rain tomorrow and head back to pick up our annual pass ornament - the kids loved putting the ones from previous years on the tree when we decorated it! I'm excited to see the Clyde and Seamore Christmas show as well as the new Dolphin Christmas and the kids were sad we didn't see any of the shows today so hopefully we'll be able to see those tomorrow.

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-10T12:12:00.000-06:00

This morning was Breakfast with Santa at the gym. We love it - it's close, relaxed and well organized. We got there around 9:05, signed in and got our breakfast. I let the kids go in their Christmas jammies. They have adorable reindeer shirts I was going to have them wear but we have another Christmas event this afternoon and I didn't want to have to wash the shirts in between because I knew Micah would get messy at breakfast! The kids each got a goody bag full of fun stuff to play with - crayons, coloring book, letter to Santa they could fill out, a parachute Santa/toy solider (which they loved!) and a little foam ornament craft to put together.

All the fun goodies kept them so busy they barely ate breakfast.... Beau and I had a good laugh because this is at our gym and the breakfast table is primarily full of sweets and then breakfast tacos. So cinnamon rolls, lemon cake and cookies for breakfast for everyone who didn't like breakfast tacos in our family (meaning everyone except Beau.)

This is the 3rd year of this and they've got it well organized where we sign in when we get there and since they know us (and most everyone else who comes) they let us know when it's almost our turn so there is no long line to see Santa. We get to eat, play and then go see Santa when they get to our name - which didn't take long at all. This year they had a professional company taking pictures and printed them on the spot. I think they came out pretty cute! Of course we bought one - it's also a fundraiser for the scholarship fund.

Now we are just hanging out, doing a few chores, lunch and naptime before our adventure this afternoon. I'm excited - despite the fact that I'm not sure the weather is going to hold up very well for us. Cold and the rain seems to be moving in a day early but we are going to attempt it anyway.

34 week update

2011-12-09T23:39:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not I took another belly picture finally. So time for a baby update. :)

We were at the store and Micah saw these pjs... and hasn't wanted to take them off since. I got a sweet heart-warming thank you mommy and he loves showing them off. For that I'm happy I bought them for him. :)

Cravings: Apples and oranges/clementines.... better than the candy I had been craving! Still sweets a little though.

Symptoms: None really... other than a huge belly. I feel huge.... probably because I am?! Ha! I can tell my energy level is going down a little bit but I've always been keeping pretty busy, busier than normal with the Christmas season upon us so that may play a part in that as well.

What I miss: Being able to do Body Combat. I had to give that up about two/three weeks ago. I'm still going to the gym for body pump or just the elliptical but Body Combat was too much for me now.

Little Miss has been watching/listening to way too much Body Combat music because she is punching and kicking/kneeing away in my belly the past couple days to the point of it being really hard and hurting!

I can't believe how quickly the end is nearing. I felt like I didn't have much I needed to get done a couple weeks ago and now that it's coming up quickly my list is growing... eek! At least I'm mostly done Christmas shopping!

And Micah has something to share.... He picked this sleeper out for his little sister. :)

Christmas wreath

2011-12-08T19:16:00.000-06:00

Over Thanksgiving while my mom was here, we got crafty and I never shared the finished results of the wreath. Mainly because I just got it hung up yesterday.

First we painted our letters. Abby and Micah actually had their own letters for a different project to paint as well but Abby still wanted to help with ours as well.

Then it was time to go to work with the tulle, ornaments and curly floral picks.

The men were all watching football so while we worked on the wreath and tree skirt the kids watched Lion King on the computer for a little while.

All finished and hung! It was pretty much done I was just waiting on Beau to give me some fishing line to hang the letter on it with... finally I just went out and stole some off the fishing pole. SHH! I'm loving how it looks!

Idea for the wreath totally taken off pinterest by the way. Gotta love pinterest for inspiration!

Elfie has arrived

2011-12-07T17:36:00.000-06:00

December 1st was a busy day. Not only did we get our Christmas tree but a certain troublesome elf showed up as well. He came very sweetly with a present straight from the North Pole on his first day at our house. He brought some Christmas pj's for Abby and Micah.

They were oh so happy to see the Elf. Abby had been asking when he would arrive because there is also an Elf that had arrived in her classroom at school. That first night though Abby was very worried about what mess Elfie (as she had named him) would create. She didn't want him making a mess in her room. Beau and I reassured her that we would talk to Elfie and make sure he stayed out of her room. That night he listened and colored her a picture with his favorite colors - red and green. He did make a tiny mess by spilling out all the crayons.

He even followed us to Austin to keep an eye on two certain little ones. He knew how much they loved playing with Gigi's rollers so he had to try it out himself that morning.

The next morning in the hotel, he was playing with the traffic cones and Micah's cars but I missed getting a picture of him!

When we got home he was as anxious as the kids to decorate the tree so while we were sleeping, Elfie tried to lend a tiny elf hand by putting some lights on the tree. We had to go back and put them on the right way but at least he was trying to help instead of making a mess right?

Day 6 - we woke up to Elfie trying to be helpful by packing Abby's lunch for school. He did a good job right? A little bit healthy, a little bit sweet?

Apparently while Elfie was back at the North Pole giving Santa his report they must have eaten way too many cookies. Day 7 began with a Body Combat workout by our silly elf. He even tried to wear Beau's combat gloves and wraps.

I wonder what kind of mischief he'll get into this next week? Abby and Micah are really loving him being here and running to see what he did each morning.