Christmas at Papa and MeMe's

We started off the crazy Tour of Christmas by going to my Dad's the Saturday before Christmas. Being part of such a big family means lots of places to go and lots of people to see. This makes it hard to fit everyone in and often we don't get it done, but we try.

We ate lunch and then opened presents. We of course tried for lots of great pics but with a 3 month old, a 3 year old and a 4 year old...that's tough! Here is the best pic we got of the kids with Papa and MeMe. And don't ask...I'm not sure what Amarah was doing in this one. LOL

I told Jared my New Year's resolution was going to be more pictures of me with Presley. I'm always the one with the camera and because of this I seriously only have like 3 pictures of me with her. So Jared has promised to take more of us this year.

See what I mean...here's another one I took of them. They are so dang cute together!

The opening of presents was entertaining. Amarah seemed a little overwhelmed when she opened this doll.

And of course once she opened her poms and cheer suit she had to show us her moves. I'm thinking she's gonna be on a Saturday Night Live gig. Hahaha!

Jared helped Presley to open her very first Christmas present! She didn't help out much but she sure was watching.

Amarah also wanted to have her picture with "baby cousin" so we tried. But after a few shots Amarah was done and tapped Presley on the shoulder and told her to get up! Sara's kids are great with Presley and I swear Amarah thinks they are all the same age.

Office Christmas Outing

After finals and the students all left, things started to slow down here on campus but the Christmas Spirit started to pick up among the staff. We of course decorated our office and then the Friday before we got out for break our sweet friends over in the CWL decided to help spread the Christmas cheer even more. They invited everyone over for a good time with cookies, music and of course....a chance to visit with Santa! So being the socialites that we are....we had to go and check it out. It was fun and we even got our picture made with the jolly old man....aka Lila. Oh and let me say the scarf was a prop. No, I do not own a scarf that looks like that. Reminds me too much of my grandmother's couch. LOL

Christmas break is a huge plus of working in higher education and I truly do consider having two weeks off a blessing. Of course it's way too long to be without my peeps so before we parted ways we carried on our tradition and for the 2nd year in a row we went on an Office Christmas Outing. I absolutley love working where I do and am so blessed to work with such great people. It's a great job with great benefits and great coworkers. I have no plans to go anywhere else soon and have never worked in a place where I talked to my coworkers as much outside of work as I do these girls! Jared never can understand how after being together all day at work that we can possibly have anything left to talk about. But we do!

Our outing was planned by the fabulous Marla who knows all kinds of great spots. We started out the night by doing some shopping in South Lake and then having a sweet treat at Nothing Bundt Cakes. OMG! It was awesome...I had a lemon bundt cake and look how cute it was....

Then we headed to the Gaylord Texan to see the ICE display. The Gaylord was decorated amazing! There were trees and lights and sparkles everywhere...this tree was my favorite and I honestly don't even like red that much. But look how pretty!

And here is a view inside....

And the view of the glass ceiling. I loved the star! And yes we sang a couple of lines of Beautiful Star of Bethlehem in it's honor. Hahaha!

Donna and I tried to hit on Jack Frost but he was a man of few words. However we did manage to make him chuckle a little.

This is the whole crew....my peeps! Cindy, Mattie, Donna, me and Marla

We purchased tickets for the 6pm show but we still had to stand in line for 2 hours. Yeah 2 long hours and lots of people had children with them. Having to entertain children in a line for 2 hours is not something I would want to do. But luckily there was a lady with a monkey to help with this and yes, you guessed it Marla had to have her picture made with it. He was super cute and was eating a blue sucker!

See...pretty sparkly things everywhere!

It was soooo cold in there. They gave us parkas to wear that were not very flattering. I swear I looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. But it was worth it...the ICE display was amazing. There was even snow falling!

The 3 Hot Mommas of Tech Prep!

Marla and I snuggling to stay warm! Haha...actually we were waiting for the line to move but you know we both love the camera. And it loves us! Baaahaaaa!

And later we were the ones holding up the lines!

The display ended with this beautiful Nativity Display.

Oh...one more thing. We ate at Cheesecake Factory (part of the tradition) and Mattie had the biggest burrito I've EVER seen. Seriously!

What a great night out! Great food, great entertainment, and great friends. I love my job, love my peeps, and love the fun we have!!

3 Months Old

You are 3 months old and getting to be so much fun! You have changed a lot this past month and are growing up way too fast. This month it was difficult to take your picture because you are such a busy bee. This was a great month and your Daddy and I have been blessed beyond belief these past 3 months....all because we have you! It took a lot of pictures before I got the shot above. I have about 10 shots where you have your hands moving around in front of you and covering up where I couldn't read your shirt! But we love that you are getting so active...it's great entertainment! And in this picture below you can still see that you have some busy little toes too!

At 3 months you:

have discovered your hands and look at them and move them constantly

you reach for and grab things

your big blue eyes just keep getting brighter

you have started going to sleep around 8 and sleep all the way until about 3 when you have a bottle and sleep until 6 (truly a blessing)

you finally like to have a little alone time and will play in your jumperoo or on the floor gym

Our life is a million times better with you in it. You are our everything and your Daddy and I love you more than we ever could have imagined and it only grows with each passing day. We love you Presley!!

Christmas Lights

Last Monday my office volunteered to work at the Loy Lake Christmas Light display. Cindy, Donna, Marla and I bundled up and spent 2 1/2 hours in the FREEZING cold to hand out suckers and take donations from those who drove through to see the lights. It's an office tradition and although we started whining about the cold the week before we managed to survive and to have a great time. Of course dinner at El Chico's after sure made things better!

My handsome little nephew Gavin came by the light display not once but TWICE! My neice Amarah of course was with him but it was impossible to get a picture with both of them smiling. So here are two pics....one with Gavin smiling, the other with her. Presley stayed at home with Granny but I'm sure next year she'll be in the back seat along with them!

Their favorite display was toward the end and it was Santa and his reindeer "flying" taking off in the sleigh. All Amarah talked about the rest of the night was how she saw the reindeer flying to go to her house. I hope she started her letter with "Dear Santa...I can explain". Hahaha...I'm just kidding. She's a sweetie and I can't wait for my little one to tag along right behind her.

It was a great night and got me to thinking (or feeling sappy or whatever)...I am so blessed to have such sweet coworkers that I also call my friends. I love where I'm at and look forward to work each day. Seriously....each day is great and I am blessed because of them. I love you guys and can't wait until our "office party" this next weekend. I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures to post!

12 weeks old

My first Craig's List purchase was for Presley. I must say I had emails going all over the place trying to find the perfect jumperoo at a great price and at a convenient location. And finally....I did! I found a Precious Planet Fisher Price Jumperoo for $40 in Plano from a sweet girl who has a 13 month old. The jumperoo looks brand new and I must say was a GREAT purchase. It's still the current version on the shelf at Babies R Us and retails there for $99. So woohoo...momma found a great bargain and babycakes LOVES it!

And as a side note yes, I acknowledge that Craig's List is addicting. I think I like the challange and the detective work of finding an item. Marla keeps warning me that I'll get addicted. But no worries Lyndsay...I told your her I would be more than happy to be in the same rehab as you!

As you can see in this picture Presley's feet don't touch the ground but no worries I soon decided to put a pillow under them and it works great. For the first few days she just sat there looking at all of the toys and the lights.

She really checked things out. I had to also stuff a small blanket behind her to keep her scooted to the front. She didn't reach out for things but she sure stared them down! And I love this picture just because you can see that Presley's hair is growing super fast and so are her eyelashes. My blue-eyed little angel!

And she is such a happy baby the majority of the time now. Life is so much easier with a baby that smiles and laughs! Oh and she is sleeping through the night except for a 3:30 feeding. But she goes right back to sleep so it's great!

This picture shows Presley getting distracted....by the television...which I keep noticing more and more. When I dropped her off at Memaws the other morning I overheard Pepaw telling her she was way too young to be starting that. LOL But despite his warnings, she will be jumping and then something will catch her attention and she stops to check it out. Even if it means looking backwards over her shoulder to do so!

Oh and you can see that she has started to reach out and grab at the toys. Jared and I were talking in the kitchen the other night and we heard one of the rattle toys and we both peeked around the bar...and there she was working the toys over. And she hasn't stopped since!

Here's a short video of the jumping (assisted by a pillow)!

2 months old

I have several...okay a bunch of pictures that I took (all yesterday). I think I was feeling kinda sad that my baby is growing up so fast. Who knew the 2 month milestone would come so fast?!



My sweet baby girl...today you are 2 months old! With each day that passes you are more amazing and more beautiful than the day before! I can never thank God enough for choosing me to be your mommy. Just last night your daddy and I talked about how much more Thanksgiving and Christmas will mean to us this year. People told me it would be this way but until now we couldn't even begin to understand what it would be like to have our own little blessing. We love you and cherish your every breath, your every smile, your every cry. I can never praise God enough for sending such a sweet little angel to us. We love you Presley and all that you will add to our lives! My sweet little cupcake!



At 2 months old you...

weigh 11 lbs 2 oz and are 22 1/2 inches long

wake up smiling every single morning

like to "talk" when you have someone's attention

sleep from about 10pm until 3am when you eat, and then until 6am (wahoo!)

are awake most of the day

I love headbands and bows on you! Yes, I often hear the comment "that bow is as big as her head"...but I don't care. I think they are adorable. And Daddy even makes sure you have one before we leave the house! I started buying them before you were born and I am currently looking for one to match your dress for unlce Eric's wedding. Yes it's not until March but she already has a dress and hopefully will have a bow to match it soon!
I like this picture because you were looking right at me and seem to be in some deep thought. Or maybe it could be that I was making crazy faces and sounds to get your attention!

After a bath (which you love) daddy always holds you in the recliner. Yeah, so I'm not the only one spoiling you. Daddy seems to always have you on his chest from about 7:30-9:30 each night. But I'm not jealous because I want you to always be close to him and know how much he loves you. I couldn't help but take this picture last night! This position is how we usually burp you and you always look so peaceful. I know it looks crazy but this position was a lifesaver when you were so fussy the first 6 weeks and now daddy still holds you like that sometimes and it puts you right out.

You still sleep with your arms behind your head when you are really out. And when I went in to check on you right before I went to bed, I found you like this:

It was hilarious...you had your arms behind your head and were holding your feet up off the mattress. I have no idea how you sleep like that but you seemed content. And I'm sorry about the socks....they don't match but they were handy when I put your pajamas on!

This morning I put you in the bouncer and sat you in the bathroom while I got ready like I always do. Except this morning you didn't sleep through it like normal. You were bright eyed and in a great mood! And I'm super excited because I got some really great smiles on camera!! I've been trying for a week and this was the first time you let me capture them.

I enjoyed the time we spent together this morning and I hope that I will always take time to stop and watch you. I never want to forget these little moments...

8 weeks old

My sweet little Presley you are 8 weeks old today! I can't decide how I feel. I want you to stay tiny and innocent and sweet forever. But I also want you to learn and grow and do new things. Sniff...sniff...



At 8 weeks you are awake a large part of the day. You have started to smile at us and almost...almost laugh out loud. You look like your voice is right there and I know we will get to hear your sweet little laugh very soon. Your eyes are blue and always super bright. Your Daddy and I still love to sit and look at you. And now you are looking back at us. How fun!


And you are a great sleeper. Praise Jesus...those first 6 weeks were insane. But now you eat about 10pm and will sleep until 2 or 3 each morning. Then once you're fed again you sleep until about 6:15 am. I can totally handle this schedule! That every two hours was rough on us both. But you're doing so great now and I can even lay you back down after your feeding when you're still awake. You will lay there and kick and make little noises until you drift back off to dream land. I honestly don't feel sleep deprived anymore!


You like to have some play time too. You are great at holding your head up when you are on your tummy but you like being on your back much better. I honestly think it's because you can see more going on around you. We used to hold you 24/7 but now sometimes you just want to lay on your own. You HATE the swing but you like the bouncer and the little pink gym that you got at the shower. You like to hold your legs up and to kick when you get excited. It puts a smile on my face every time!


Your Daddy went hunting one night this week and I snuggled with you for a little while but then decided to finish laundry. I put you in your bouncer and thought I'd try sitting you in front of the tv for just a little bit. I know your eye sight isn't super great at a distance yet but I thought maybe the sound and lights would keep your attention. Madagascar Christmas was on so I sat you down and you were one happy baby. I finished the laundry and then came back in to check on you. I couldn't help but take a picture. Your first movie!


The best part was watching your expressions. I sat in the floor in front of you and watched you for a while. I kept thinking about how much you've grown and how alert you are now. Your expressions crack me up! This picture shows how wide eyed you were and you kept moving your arms all alround.

Here is a short little video of you playing in the floor. You aren't super active with it yet but you do like to hold your legs up and kick them around. You're gonna have some strong tummy muscles as much as you hold your legs up in the air. Hahaha....maybe mommy should try that!!