Christmas 2011

We spent Christmas Eve and morning here at home. Our home in Spring Texas. I wanted to start our own traditions and be here for Santa and it was so great! We love our family in LC but it was so nice missing all the craziness which usually involves 6 stops in less than 48 hours. This momma won't be doing that with two kids! We woke up and cooked Beignets and opened gifts. Emery was so fun and I can't wait until next year when she knows more of what's going on. We headed to LC around Lunch for one night and came back Monday. It was a quick trip but it did the job of seeing the family. Next year I think we will travel in town for Thanksgiving and Stay home for Christmas....... Here are some pictures from our Christmas. Hope yours was as great as ours! We are so blessed :)

Market Street and Santa take #2

Sunday night we went to Market street and my plan was to look at the lights and soak up some family time. Emery was too busy to sit in her stroller and enjoy the lights so she did a lot of running around with daddy. It was such a nice night! They even had two beautiful horse drawn carriages with these pretty white horses and even a mini one with a white pony to pull the little ones. But there was no way Emery was getting close to those animals.

Today we went To See Santa at Mrs Rita's home. It was so fun to see everyone but no one was happy to see Santa. Well maybe one or two kids but the rest just screamed. So no super cute Santa photo this year :)

He was such a good Santa too, so jolly, even sang songs, but Emery had a death grip on me and was not about to let me set her down. It was quite humorous!

This was her ready to leave and get as far away from Santa as she could.

Then we tried a group shot. As soon as Santa sat down Emery was in escape mode.

Then she proceeded to climb over everyone to get away. Maybe next year we will like Santa???

Weekend in The Chuck

Tuesday Night Archie left with Jon to go hunt in Kansas. Three days earlier he was on The King Ranch hunting. Seems like this guy has it made right??? Anyways since daddy would be gone and we had showings scheduled for the house we decided to go to Lake Charles and headed there on Wednesday after going to a checkup for baby 2 which included the glucose test and rhogham shot. While we were there Emery did not sleep in her playpen one night. Ended up in my bed by 1 am every night which means I got NO SLEEP! So while our visit was fun I was ready to get back home to our own beds.

Emery's Lake Charles adventure:

I love to sleep in my own crib at home so while I was at Honey's I did a lot of this:

And I opened ALL of Honey's drawers while we were there.

I pushed my baby all around the house...

Cousins came to play! Ha I love this pic, Emery looks as if she's thinking "Really I'm One years old now why are you holding me Annalina? Ha Ha ha

Aunt Lisa got me Elmo rocks and I just love it!

All I wanted to do was sweep so Honey got me a broom just my size. Don't you think my skinny jeggings are the cutest things?!?

I just loved playing with Annalina and my cousins. So glad they came over to visit me!

And on the way home I was asleep before we even made it to Sulphur. At 11 am I might add. I was so excited to see daddy that I wanted to get a good nap in so I could play with him all afternoon!

And this morning I wore my new Christmas tree shirt Nana got for me :)

Oh I also developed what my mommy calls an "Attitude" Here is me showcasing that. And for mommys defense she did try and push me and pull me and I was never satisfied.

Things that Annoy me

SO I just wanted to share a few things that annoy me. Hopefully you find this humerous. I find it cleansing to write it down HA!

1) Women with Perfect hair. The ones that can wear it curly and straight and it always looks perfect.

2) Women with a perfect complexion. So envious.

3) When you have to pee sooo bad that you run to the nearest restroom and realize after you sit down that there is pee on the toilet seat, and your sitting in it now.

4) When people don't wave to say Thank You when you let them out in Traffic.

5) When watching E!, the commercials are ten times louder than the show.

6) Wal-Mart

7) Parents who smoke with their kids in the car.

8) Bathrooms with Air dryers. I am all for saving the planet and going green but when you wash your hands you need paper towels. Period.

9) People who don't use their blinkers when driving.

10) When people can't multitask (All men)

11) Skunks. They are pointless,

12) When people call the hut to ask about crawfish, say they are from Louisiana, and claim to know EVERYTHING about crawfish and when it is in season and how much it should be, and what size so and so has etc etc. Maybe you should open a crawfish hut then!

13) Unpaid Maternity Leave.

14) Washing a new article of clothing for the first time and not reading that you should have washed it on hand wash and now it is deformed.

15) Not being able to find this cute headband and bow I ordered off Etsy. I have demolished the house and cars looking for it and its no where to be found.

If I think of anymore I will be sure to add them to the list in the future! LOL :)

The Latest

So I forgot to add in a couple things in my last post so I figured I would do a quick update.

Last Wednesday I went for a check up on Baby #2 and my Doctor sat me down and told me she is moving to San Antonio at the end of December. WHAT?!?*#! Before my baby???? Yes before the baby. SO I will be starting with A new OBGYN for the first time since we moved here. This of course is only something that would happen to me because that's just how our life flows :)

The good news is I call on OB's with my job so I know all the doctors and their office staff. She recommended a doctor that would vibe well with my personality and of course with Archies.

Yes I said with Archie's because thats what he was concerned about. At Emery's birth while I was pushing he and My Dr were cracking jokes and chatting it up which made for an easy experience for them. He wanted to make sure he could vibe well with her too and I guess it is kinda important that Archie is comfortable too. I spoke with my new Doctor this morning while sampling them and I think it will be a great fit. I will see her in January so fingers crossed all our intuitions are correct.

Also We put our house on the market this week. GASP. Yes. we. did. In this horrible market we are trying to sell our house. My hopes aren't too high but we will see. In a perfect world we would sale In January and be in a new home before baby #2 and right as Crawfish season gets going. But when do things ever go the way you want??? Never in our lives but we are willing to take the risk and I pray pray pray that things fall into place. SO wish us luck!

Momma got a new camera!

I got a new camera this weekend. I have been wanting one for a while. Not an over the top one but one that is just a little better then what I have (a canon digital from five years ago) and one that is still small enough to carry in my diaper bag and not be afraid to use it :)

I chose the Nikon coolpix P500 and so far I love it. Easy to use. I actually read up on how to use all the scenes and everything but I just wanted to play with it a little this weekend.

DISCLAIMER: No makeup, exhausted, but my husband insisted. And No I am not 8 months pregnant just 25 weeks. But gosh I look big there. Gotta remember to wear only black in photos.....Oh well! Here is a look at Pregnancy #2. Feel privileged because this will be the last time you see that belly on here :)

I SOOOOO enjoyed my five days with Emery and Archie. We had so much fun together. It was so nice staying home and just enjoying our family time. Many thanks to the VanSickle family who invited us to eat Thanksgiving dinner with their family. It was fun doing something different and we really enjoyed it!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This Year I have so much to be thankful for. But most of all I am thankful for my family of

3 1/2. My little girl Emery who just rocks my world and the new blessing getting bigger each day in my belly. My husband who is my rock, my best friend, more than I could have ever wanted in a husband. He also rocks my world :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am also thankful for the AMAZING father he is to our daughter. She is his world and he is totally smitten. Plays with her until she's asleep, reads to her the same book 50 times, and picks her up every time she falls. He helps me so much and is truly my partner in parenting.

I am thankful for moments like this, not a care in the world :)

And for moments like this. When I give her the spoon for the first time expecting her to need help and she just picks it right up like she's been feeding herself for years. She may have been a little messy but I loved this moment. I will cherish the time we have left together with her being the only child and look forward to our future Family of Four :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The ZOO!

This weekend was all about Emery. And Saturday we decided to take her to the zoo for the first time. Archie and I's first time too. Seems like everyone in Houston had the same idea as us because it was crowded!

We started off our adventure in our red wagon.

Then moved to daddy's shoulders to get a better view of the sea lions.

Then Emery wanted to walk around so she checked out the otters.

Then we were so excited to take her to the petting zoo and just knew she would love it. Boy were we wrong! NO way was she letting go of the back of my arm.

Then we attempted to feed the giraffes. Again scared to death.

I think Archie had more fun then anyone there. He was like a big kid and could have stayed there ALL day.

But Mommy and Emery were ready to do what these lions are doing.

See daddy I am ready to go please! Stop looking at the animals and take me and mommy back to the car so we can nap!

She fell asleep on Archie as we were walking to the car. It was a fun day And we enjoyed seeing her reaction and non reaction to different animals. Hopefully next time we go back she will be more comfortable :)

Pressing pause

This past weekend I helped host my very best friends baby shower. I Love her to pieces and can not wait to see her experience the gift of being a mother. Never thought we would be pregnant at the same time so we embraced each others growing belly for a once in a lifetime shot :)

Honey and Emery. My little busy bee wore my mom out this weekend!

This little girl just rocks my world!

Always into something!

TIME: (n) The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole. (v) Plan, schedule, arrange when something should happen or be done.

Lately I have been So emotional when I think Of the concept of "time." There is never enough and when there is am I taking advantage of it in the right way? I often find myself trying to multitask when I get home in the afternoon with Emery instead of just unplugging and soaking up her time. I feel like I am missing out on SO much by not staying home. Is this the right decision for her, the best thing for her? I question myself all the time. Not just on that but other things too. I feel like our lives are always go go go and our calendars are always booked solid that we rarely take the time to stop and enjoy each other. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy doing things and helping out and offering my time and visiting with family but after two months of it nonstop I have hit an emotional wall that is telling me to stop.

I find myself crying in the car and crying to Archie about how little time I have left with my baby girl just us three. Is this wrong of me? I feel guilty for feeling sad that we have only four months left. I am so happy that God is blessing our family with a new baby and I am excited and scared at the same time. Maybe the fear of it makes me emotional I don't know. I know God would not give me more than I can handle and I know we will take it in stride. But time is just slipping by me so quickly that I can't even grasp it! I want to take these next four months and do things just us three like go to the zoo or to the park and just enjoy Emery. I want to look at my calendar and go "Guess what we don't have anything this weekend!!!" Which is how this weekend coming up looks so you know what we are going to do just that! So my calendar for the next few months is going to say NO TRAVEL (sorry family back in LC) and we are going to stay here and soak things in. Especially since crawfish season is about to start and life will be all the more hectic and go go go :) <--- that's a sarcastic smile

Emery is such a busy bee and seems to be learning new things each and every day. She makes me realize how lucky we truly are to be blessed with such a wonderful life. She is 24 pounds and 32 inches tall. Growing like a weed and making her mommy wish it would slow down a tad.

Life is short and time flies by so I am going to try and start hitting my own pause button and stop and smell the roses ;)

Cookies & Cocoa with The Clauses

This past weekend was the Junior League Holiday Market. I am in JL and was on the Holiday Market Committee this year so I had to work the event Wed-Saturday. Fortunately my job was nothing compared to what some of these girls did. These members worked their tail off for there events and I am proud to say the market was Fabulous. The shopping was great, preview party was great, and the kid events were awesome! Mrs Vicky came in because well, we needed to shop! And she stuck around to come with us to Cookies & Cocoa with The Clauses. This event was so cute! On our way their we stopped in Old Town Spring to "attempt" to take pictures for this years Holiday Card. Not Sure if I will use any because I don't like the way I look in any of them. It was one of those days where I hated everything I put on and felt like I looked like a whale. I'm sure you have had those days too so feel my agony please.
Our first Station to stop at the Cookies & Cocoa was to make a reindeer hat. Emery Is still young so I made most of her crafts but she loved being around ALL the people! The event was packed with Kiddos ready to see Santa and have a ball. Definitely put everyone in the Holiday Spirit!

Yes this Is Emery eating the Antlers while I was making her hat. If you see this Suzie Sorry I tried to stop her :)

Daddy taking the antlers away. Still looks like she's got some in her mouth

Our next stop was the plate for Santa. We wanted to make her hand print into a reindeer. Emery was not so cooperative so as you can see hers below it's off center and not so perfect but I'm sure Santa won't mind :)

Then it was off to make an ornament. Again I did this but she had fun playing in t he confetti.

We also took pictures in this neat photo booth and some with Santa. Neither turned out so great but it was still fun and I can't wait to go back next year!

And this was her on our way out. She was done! Thank you to all the HM girls who worked so hard it was Fabulous And I may just do it again next year!