NOTE: This makes more sense if you read the previous post first. I had to do these in two different posts because Blogger is unfriendly and wouldn't let me post all of my pictures in one post.

Landry's trying out the ice slide!

Brady, Lindsay, and Deer

Brady learned nothing from A Christmas Story

After we left the Gaylord, Jeff, the kids, and I went to Jeff's parents house for the Edwards family Christmas celebration. Here is a pic of Landry, her cousins, Uncle Glenn, and Aunt Jonnie.

A couple of days after Christmas, we got to visit with our cousins who have four boys--three of which are triplets. When they were little, Brady, Lindsay, and I used to take pictures at Christmastime each holding a triplet. We figured that now that they are ten, we wouldn't put them through the embarassment!

Last night was the BIG tornado scare in Arlington. My mom cleared out the under-the-stairs closet for shelter. We also had a radio, bottled water, a bottle for Korley, diapers, and a pack of gum (I have no idea what that was for)--in case we had to live there (?) for several days.

Here is Brady demonstrating the proper tornado-coming-through-your-home position.

Christmas Catch-up

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe, and healthy Christmas! I'm sure you decked all of the halls you could and donned your gay apparel.

I'm just now getting a chance to catch up on blogging and I could go on and on, but I'll mostly let the pictures speak for themselves.

Here is my attempt at a being crafty. I made reindeer out of Landry and Korley's footprints. It's not the cutest thing ever, but it means something to me! In fact, I'm thinking of doing this every year to mark how much they have grown.

Here is Landry "helping" my mom bake.

Reindeer bootie.

This is a present that Landry got to open early, and ended up being one of her favorites. I do not understand her fascination with dinosaurs, but she is extremely passionate about them.

The girls in front of the tree on Christmas Eve.

I'm pleased to introduce the newest member of our family, Butterscotch. This is THE ONLY thing Landry asked for for Christmas. Santa was kind enough to leave this for her, and she was SO VERY excited! Does anyone know of a stable we can rent??

On Christmas Day we went to the Gaylord Texan. We have gone the previous two years at Christmastime, but this was the first time we have gone on Christmas Day. It was actually quite fun to have somewhere to go on Christmas Day. Here is Lindsay, Korley, Landry, Jeff, and PopPop in front of the "Alamo".

We went to the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord. I highly recommend it! It was VERY neat. However, it was extremely cold (9 degrees!!) and not so well suited for an eight-month-old. :)

Merry Christmas Blog Friends!!

Photo Blog

My camera has been at my parents' house since Thanksgiving weekend. I've felt so lost without it--and now I can catch up on blogging pictures.....assuming Blogger wants to cooperate!

Christmas girls! Here they are in one of their matching Christmas outfits getting ready to go to the Rockette show.

Sleep in heavenly peace.....

This was Korley's first baby biscuit. She's so funny; she has no idea what to do with it. I put it in her mouth and she just stayed completely still. She didn't try to chew or gnaw on it or anything.

She'd much rather drum on something with it.......

Is she cute or what???

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch!!!!

The past few nights, Landry has begged us to sleep in her room with her. Tonight when I was putting her to bed she told me that her head is making her have bad dreams. I asked what kinds of bad dreams she was having and she said she it was about grinches and Oz of Ozma (Oz of Ozma is this ridiculously long and boring book we got at Chick-fil-A--they have the WORST kids' meal toys!!). Anway, I tried to reassure her that there was no such thing as grinches or Oz of Ozma.

So, then she said a prayer to God to make her bad dreams go away. This is how it went:

"God, are there really no such thing as grinches?" Long pause...I think she was waiting for a response so I said "no, there's really no such think as grinches." She went on, "God, please make the bad dreams stay out of my head. Okay? Thank you--Amen. "

Then, as usual, we ended the night-time ritual with a song. Usually it's "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Landry Laurel" (an original!), "Blue Skies and Rainbows"....but tonight she wanted to hear "Feliz Navidad".

With that being said, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart!!

Santa = nightmare fuel!!

These are not my children, but if there has ever been a more blog worthy picture I have yet to see it! These are my friend, Kristen's kids. So funny!

The Nativity Story as told by Landry

I hadn't heard this version.....

"Mommy, Jesus' mommy and daddy had to ride on a donkey to get to that place for Jesus to be born. Then, after Jesus was born they let him sleep in a wheelbarrow."

Christmas, Christmas-time is HERE!!

I don't know about y'all, but I'm beginning to get in the Christmas spirit!! I've had my tree up and living room decorated since before Thanksgiving, but it wasn't until this weekend that I finally got all Thanksgiving stuff put away and all Christmas stuff out.

And...Landry is at the age where she has noticed that we have neighbors that have "cool" things in their yard (note: what IS cool to a 4 year old is NOT necessarily cool to a mommy). So, after a considerable amount of begging to have some sort of Christmas-themed Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, or Tweety Bird in our yard--she and I set out to find something tacky we could proudly display. We had a failed attempt at finding a Looney Tunes character, but we did purchase one of those inflatable snow globe things. Ours has a penguin with a Christmas tree inside. It's not bad--Landry thinks it's super great! Hey, Christmas is for kids, right? (and baby Jesus)

Speaking of Christmas being for kids, I have always loved Christmas, but it is so much fun when you have small kids. Last weekend, my parents took us to the Christmas Spectacular show (Rockettes). I thought Landry might enjoy it, but I had no idea that she would LOVE IT and soak every moment up. Just watching her face during the performances was priceless. She paid attention to every little detail and after every number, she would raise her hands up really high to applaud. It was so great!

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I managed to start and end my Christmas shopping today. That's right. Knocked it all out in ONE DAY! Truthfully, I do have one gift left to get, but I know what I'm getting and it will for sure all be completed tomorrow!

Earlier this week I took the girls to get their pictures made with Santa. I was REALLY dreading taking Korley because I thought she might react like Landry did at this age.......

....but, she did GREAT! She was actually quite fascinated by him. Korley truly just loves to be held. She doesn't care who's got her so long as someone does.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEFF!

My sweet husband is 32 today!

Happy birthday to the best husband and daddy in the world! We love you!!

Lonely.......

Ok, I've had enough alone time. I've had it with the getting only myself in and out of the car, not talking to anyone for hours on end, and meals by myself. I was looking forward to being able to sleep uninterrupted through four full nights; however, little did I know that my hotel room was going to be about 15 paces from a very very very very very very active train track. Ugh! So, needless to say I'm ready to get home and hug my husband and babies!

Speaking of babies, my mom and dad are keeping Korley while I'm gone and my dad told me earlier that he heard her say "mama". So sad I missed it.... :(

Here are some things I have learned about Raleigh:

*There is no Raleigh, Durham, or Chapel Hill. The "cool people" refer to this area as the "Triangle" (I guess b/c these three towns form a triangle) and the "Trianglites" (I made this word up) are quite proud of this little nickname.

*There are NO and I mean NO billboard signs here and there are also NO tall retail/restaurant/store signs either. It's hard to know where you are going. Last night I was driving down this little two-lane road and swore I was lost in the woods and about to come across the cast of "Deliverance" when voila!--there was one of the biggest shopping centers I've ever seen!

*Basketball rules here. Tip: if you are planning on moving to the Triangle you better brush up on your basketball knowledge.

*There is no such thing as Iced Tea here--only Sweet Tea (which is something I love about the Triangle).

*There are some big honkin' trees here. I am staying on the 5th floor of my hotel and there are trees taller than my window!!

*Radio stations are AWFUL here. I can't even explain it--just take my word for it, they're bad.

*Apparently, Myrtle Beach is about 2 hours from here and people say that actually this time of the year is a good time to go. A lady that I have been working with this week told me that you can get a great hotel room at one of the top resorts for about $20/night during the winter months. She said retired snowbirds will come down from Canada and some will stay from Nov.-Mar. for about $700/month.

Well, that's about it! Have a great week everyone!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving....

Well, the Thanksgiving weekend has now almost come to a close. We managed to finish all of the leftovers, and after 3 Thanksgiving meals (4 if you count Landry's school feast, aka "the Thanksgiving fiesta"--her words) I didn't think I would ever be hungry again. But, alas! I am. We got to spend Thanksgiving with both my family and Jeff's, which was nice!

I am currently in Raleigh, NC and will be here most of the week for work. If anyone has been here before and knows of anything fun/entertaining/half-way okay to do post a comment--I've got a lot of time to kill. Last week I saw a piece on the Today show about working moms that occasionally have to travel. Meredith said that the first time she had to travel for work and leave her kids she felt guilty and by the 20th time she was felt guilty that she was excited to go.---Is it wrong that this is my first trip for work and I am excited to go?? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids more than anything, but it is going to be nice not having to fill a bottle, juice cup, change a diaper, bathe a child, pop up 475 times a night to retrieve a paci for a crying baby, etc for a few days! Jeff, Gigi, and PopPop--you are the BEST!!

I intended to post some pics from this past week. I even brought my camera but I forgot the wire thingy to get the pics from the camera to the computer. So--until I get back!!

Actually, here's one. Lindsay took family pictures a couple of days ago for us. Here is one of the girls. This is one of the few that Korley was looking anywhere but the ground where the leaves were.

Let's chat......

TV:

So, last night was the final dancing portion of Dancing With the Stars. I thought it was great! Go Emmitt! I hope he wins. I tried to vote a few times, but it was always busy and then abc.com was locked up, too, so I didn't vote.-----Actually, I just did. Apparently, voting is open until 11 am today and I just voted for Emmitt and Cheryl 15 times. I think Mario is a great dancer, but he REALLY bugs me. I think he's a dork, and I think he's a sleaze. Remember, when he cheated on his wife? Her name is Ali Landry--my daughter's name is Landry--you should never mess with a Landry!! Plus, Mario DOES have prior dancing experience. Recall those dance competitions he and Jesse used to be in at the Max on SBTB?

Also....wanted to talk about Desperate Housewives. I have to admit that this show was losing it's luster with me at the end of last season, but I think it has picked back up this season. However, something has really bothered me about the episode from the other night. I realize that this IS a TV show, but if you were Lynette wouldn't the FIRST thing you did after you left that creepy neighbor guy's house would be to call the cops? Are we really expected to believe that she just went home and went about her business knowing there is a pedophile that lives down the street? And, the second thing I would do is put my house up for sale. In the last three years, they have had a suicide, a murder, a house fire, a hit-and-run, a hostage situation, a family keeping someone in a basement, and a dead body found in the trunk--there's probably more. I think I'd get off of that street as fast as possible!!

Changing the subject......

THINGS THAT BUG ME:

-People that talk on their cell phones in a public restroom.
-I went to the mall again yesterday and was bombarded by the kiosk carnies again. I was hit up by the "do you have natural nails?" people again as well as the "would you like to try this aroma pillow?" and "can I clean your ring for you?" kiosk carnies.
-My friend Kristen and I said this almost at the exact same time yesterday--we really hate when people refer to the brother of the family as "Bubba" and the sister of the family as "Sissy".

LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST:

-Yesterday when I picked Landry up from school this she told me she had "two good newses" to tell me. She said "One, I took a nap today at school. And two, I got "Queen of the Table" today." Queen of the Table is a game they play for letter and word recognition. She was the girl at her table that won because she could read all of her sight words, recognized letters, and could spell new words. She got a "ward" for being "Queen". She was so proud of herself! As was I!!! :)

Have a great Wednesday!

Signature Smirk....and 7 months old

After I posted the below picture of Landry at an OU game, my mom called me and said that she has seen that look on Landry a thousand times--that she has been doing it all of her life. She was right. Landry makes this little smirky smile when she is getting excited about something and just about to break into a huge smile! It's so cute and it's so Landry. Below is a recent picture of her smirk and one from when she was about 9 months old.






Below is a picture of Korley at 7 months and one of Landry at 7 months. They remind me a lot of each other, but definitely have their own look! Most people say that Landry looks a lot like me and Korley looks a lot like Jeff. They certainly do have different features, but they make a lot of the same expressions. Every once in a while Korley will do something that will remind me of something Landry did as a baby that I hadn't thought about in a long time.

Spooktacular Pictures!

We had a great Halloween! The first two pictures below are of the girls before they went to school. Landry had a Halloween party in her class and they got to wear their costumes. She DID NOT want to wear her Mary costume to school, which didn't make me very happy since that is what she BEGGED for, so she opted to be a ballerina (again-like last year). And, little Korley wore her little Hallowen outfit to school.




I told Landry she HAD to wear Mary to go trick-or-treating or that we wouldn't go (I know, I'm mean). She had already worn this once, but since it was cold tonight I put on a layer of clothes underneath and once she put on the costume she said "oh! It's not itchy anymore!" Ahhhhh- so that's why she wouldn't wear it to school!!

Landry's favorite part of Halloween is sitting on the porch and handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. She was so funny; she doesn't wait for them to come up the porch or anything. Instead, she will yell at the kids from 2 or 3 houses and say "HEY! Come over here. We've got candy!!" So funny!

Here are Mary and her little lamb......

More pics.....

Well, 24 hours later Blogger finally let me post pictures that go with the prior post......

Happy Halloween!!

The girls!!

Landry getting to pretend to be a cowgirl.......

She said that this is also what cowgirls do....(chew on a piece of hay)

I'm Waving My White Flag........

I-----AM------SO------TIRED!!!!

Anyone had one of those days (weeks?) where you just want to briefly turn in your mommy card? Not forever, but just for maybe six or so uninterrupted hours of sleep. I am in the midst of one of those. Korley has had a runny nose/cough/congestion/croup/ear infection/teething for three weeks now on top of INSOMNIA! I swear this child does not sleep. She's quite the trickster....she was sleeping through the night, but she has decided to turn the last few weeks into one big long (un)slumber party--and I'm using the term "party" very loosely!!

Then, Thursday, I came down with the worst stomach bug I've ever had. Not only was I sick (from both ends....sorry for the TMI) but I had fever, muscle soreness, and what felt like an elephant jumping double-dutch on my forehead. If I had been a pumpkin, this is what I would have looked like.....

However, I am hopeful that we are on the downward slope of the sick hill and we can soon all get some rest!

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In less Debby Downer news......

Our church fall festival was last Wednesday night. It had been rainy all day here and I don't think the church was fully prepared for "plan B", but they did go ahead and have the festival indoors. It wasn't the fun that it was last year, but Landry didn't care--she had fun anyway.

Here's a picture of Mary and her little lamb......








Then, today our neighborhood had a pumpking carving contest. We took the girls to the pumpkin patch beforehand for Landry to pick out a pumpkin to carve. Here are some pics from the pumpkin patch.

Never mind....Blogger sucks. Ugh! Maybe later....Funny how they'll late me post a pic of a puking pumpkin, but not a pic of my darling lil' pumpkins!!

Hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Landry.......

*has been playing a lot with this doll. She's not much of a doll person, so this is new for her. Last week when she first started playing with the doll she told me her name was "Jolie". Then, a couple of days later when she was carrying the doll around I called her "Jolie" and Landry said, "no, Mommy. I changed her name. Her name is now "Angelina" ".

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*got two new Halloween Beanie Baby cats from her soon-to-be Aunt Jonnie. Actually, she got one and Korley got one, but all you mom's of more than one know how that goes....Anyway, she has named them Kaitlyn and Judy. :)

*went to Norman last weekend with Gigi, PopPop, and Lulu. On the way back, they stopped in Ardmore at a truck stop/convenience store (casino?!?). She got to pick out a "toy" and THIS is what she chose (below). Uh huh, you're seeing that right. It IS a plastic buffalo in a shot glass. We're hoping next trip she brings back a jigger. :)

Korley's teachers gave her a ponytail yesterday. It was really just a tiny sprig of hair sticking straight up, but it was so cute!

And, of course, big sister didn't want me to take a picture of Korley's ponytail without taking one of hers....so, here's Landry's ponytail, too. :)

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Are midway carnies now working at kiosks in the mall? I was at Stonebriar a few days ago and walking from one end of the mall to the other, I was bombarded with requests from kiosk employees to shop for a new cell phone, have my natural nails buffed, sample some hand cream, and try on fake hair pieces. Ugh!! So annoying!