The Fillmore Family

Our first week

2012-01-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

Aaron left Sunday morning (VERY early) for Indiana. All week long he has done training to prepare him to go to Afghanistan for his job. He will be there (most likely) for 2 months training soldiers on cameras made by the company he works for. Friday he left for Dubai and tomorrow he leaves for Afghanistan. The girls and I already miss him a TON and are staying busy trying to keep our minds off of him being gone.
Monday the girls were out of school for MLK day so we decided to stay at my mom and Ken's for the day because it was beautiful outside.

The girls enjoyed going for a walk in the woods, feeding the chickens, gathering rocks to throw in the creek, and sliding down the slide made of a huge pile of leaves! It was a perfect day.

We stumbled upon this tree that was growing thorns all over it, creepy huh?

Emmalynn gathering rocks in her shirt....pretty big rocks I might add!

Tuesday I had Bible study and I am absolutely LOVING Beth Moore's new study on the book and life of James. It is so amazing to learn about Jesus' half brother and gives us a glimpse into what Jesus' family life may have been like as well.

Poor Ellie's hair has been SO staticy all week, it is driving her crazy! It sticks to her face and straight out!

Wednesday night I had Konnect and promised the girls they could sleep with me because we had no where to be Thursday morning. They fell asleep while I was making my grocery list and left me barely any room. That's ok they are quite snuggly!

Thursday morning we went and bought groceries and did a lot of cleaning. I saw on Pinterest where someone had bought a shoe organizer and hung it in their pantry. We are giving it a try and really like it for those little things that take up unnecessary space.

Emmalynn being silly wearing my Konnect shirt and name tag, she cracks me up!

Friday we did a lot of school work because we kinda skipped out on Thursday. This is a drawing Emmalynn did of her favorite bear "Beary" and the sentence she wanted to write about him. We are always impressed with her artistic skills.

Friday my sweet friend came to spend the night with us and we went out to eat at the Thai Cafe. I asked one of my other friends what her favorite thing was there and she said this coconut crusted chicken. It was UH-MAY-ZING! I think this place may be my new favorite restaurant in Stillwater.

Saturday morning we went to Zumba and just hung out at the house and Walgreens.

Saturday evening I took the girls to see Beauty & the Beast (my FAVORITE Disney movie) in 3D. It was an interesting and comical experience to say the least and I think I'll hold off on doing that again until Aaron gets back to help!

Wondertorium

2012-01-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

Today we went with some friends to the kids museum called the Wondertorium. The girls had been here twice before but still enjoyed it just the same. I think a membership is in our future!

Ellie's favorite thing there is a chute you can drop eggs down and then gather them from the chickens in a basket. She probably could have done this all day!

She also loves the general store they have set up (big surprise because that's pretty much ALL she plays at home!)

Of course my little artist loves the art section

Fun day with friends and daddy got to come too, what could be better than that?!

Christmas & Changes

2012-01-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas is always my favorite time of the year as well as the busiest for us. We usually have 4-5 different Christmas' and this year I was also in charge of all of the Christmas decorating at our church (Lifechurch.tv). We had 2 different Christmas parties we attended (one at Aaron's work and one with our life group). The lifegroup Christmas party was fun and we did a white elephant gift exchange from items we had at our house which was also pretty comical. Aaron thought it would be funny if we wore "ugly Christmas attire" at our lifegroup Christmas party. Even though no one else was cool enough to join in we still got a laugh out of it. I also got to wear the sweater again for "wacky tacky" Christmas party at church.

Aaron in his special outfit

Aaron's work Christmas party was extremely lame but I guess that's the "norm" as far as work Christmas parties go.

Emmalynn also had a parent night at dance where they showcase what they have been working on as well as their costumes for recital.

Emmalynn with her tree

Living Room tree

Ellie's tree

Ellie in her Christmas dress before church

Emmalynn in her Christmas dress

Lucy sneaking some coffee

Emmalynn with her book for her book exchange in her class

Aaron's cousin Christen got married the night of our first Christmas (with my dad's family). We still attended and went straight from there to my aunt and uncle's.

Ellie dressed up for the wedding

Emmalynn

Aaron and I at the wedding

Ellie with cousin Destiny

Emmalynn with cousin Christyn

Santa & Mrs. Claus AKA Nana & Papa

The girls had a "caroling" party at school where parents got to come sing carols, have snacks, and listen to Christmas stories. Here is Emmalynn with her friend Parker and his little brother Gavin.

The girls with their friend Delainey

I made sure the girls wore these dresses every chance they got!

Emmalynn's "surprise" ornament she made at school

and Ellie (which if you know Ellie its almost comical that she's dressed as an angel lol!)

The girls at my mom & Ken's in their ginormous stockings

Finally home for Christmas with our little family. Ellie got Timon & Pumbaa in her stocking to go with her Simba & Nala

Emmalynn with some of her stocking loot

Emmalynn's new cowgirl boots she got from Nanny D

For New Years we stayed at home and kept it very low key. We knew Aaron will be traveling a lot soon for work so we wanted to spend as much family time together as possible. Emmalynn requested we have a pizza making contest and Ellie requested we play Wii bowling. We did both and the girls got to do some sparklers to celebrate New Years (around 9:00) before bed.

The night was finished with what else?! Ice cream sundaes!

We have really enjoyed having Aaron home with us and got used to it! We were sad to see him go back to work on Tuesday but thankful for all the memories we got to make as a family. Our routine hustle and bustle starts back this coming week jam packed full of well, everything! Aaron will be leaving soon to go work overseas for a while but we have many fun things planned for when he returns to give us a goal in sight!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

Seems like every holiday we always end up celebrating SEVERAL times; this year Halloween was no different.

Last Tuesday we headed out after Emmalynn was finished with dance to go "downtown" for some trick or treating. We met up with some friends and had a great time even though we sure missed daddy.

This year Emmalynn decided she wanted to be Taylor Swift, so we worked hard to get her hair curled just right.

The girls downtown Stillwater

Our friends little boy, Harrison dressed up as Harry Potter. I was seriously so proud!

Ellie rockin' away as Cowgirl Jessie

Cheeto Bingo!

Emmalynn and her sweet friend Delainey

Ellie and her cute friend Nathan (P.S. Buzz and Jessie DO have a thing for each other in Toy Story ;))

Trick or Treatin' to the church offices

Emmalynn as Taylor Swift for school party

Happy to see her daddy!

Cozy hot chocolate/movie night at home

Halloween Morning

Halloween Carnival at a local church

Since Emmalynn dressed up so many times she had to have a variety. Here she decided to be a "fairy princess"

Making a bracelet

Painting a picture

Ellie stood in line forever to get her face painted. Here is her scary "tiger face"

Emmalynn got a peace sign, as if there was any question as to what she would get (she's slightly obsessed)

Here is Ellie with her complete costume so you can get the full effect

Fall is my fave

2011-10-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! I love the weather, the trees, the holidays, and cuddling up with my sweet family. One of our favorite things to do is go to the pumpkin patch. This year we went to Grier Farms in Perkins which was a REAL pumpkin patch. You could literally go pick your pumpkin right off the vine or pick from the tons they had already picked for you. The girls were a little disappointed there was no hayride or pony rides but hey, we get those for free at Gammie & Ken's whenever we want :)

Here are the girls before they got to pick a pumpkin at their school's "pumpkin patch"

Ellie at the pumpkin patch at Grier Farms

Emmalynn lookin' stylish as usual

My loves!

One great thing about Emmalynn getting older (because I have to MAKE myself look at the bright side of it sometimes), she can take pictures of us!

LOVE my lil family

Aaron doing the dirty job of getting all the pumpkin "goo" out for us to carve

Emmalynn hard at work, she did a REALLY great job

The final products: Emmalynn's, Ellie's (with help from dad), Aaron's, and mine

And just because I love the weather, this is what it looked like in our backyard this morning

This N That

2011-10-13T20:43:00.001-07:00

This week has been pretty busy. Aaron left for Indiana Tuesday and won't be back until next Tuesday. We miss him tons and can't wait for him to get back and our home to be full of the smell of popcorn and the sound of football again :)
Wednesday I had Parent Teacher Conference with Ellie's teacher Ms. Kristen. She had nothing but good things to say about Ellie and it made this momma proud(er)! The girls had to tag along with me to church that night so I could lead the 1st-4th graders. It was a long day for them but they were rewarded with a slumber party complete with sleeping in mommy's bed! I have to admit I loved every minute of them sleeping with me and it made Aaron being gone seem less lonely.
Today was the only day this week we had no where to be and we just enjoyed being home, playing outside, making birthday cards for our friends, and painting.
Tomorrow we get a double treat because Gammie AND Ashley are coming to spend the night with us!

Another whirl

2011-10-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

I always have good intentions with this blog, most of which are just documenting my precious family's life together and the things God is doing through us. We all get busy with our day to day routine which is apparent in the consistency of this blog and my posting. I really want to make an effort to write more often, even if no one else reads it. It can serve as a scrapbook of sorts and that is the most important outcome of all of this to me (and my husband too).
To catch up on life Emmalynn is 5 and started kindergarten this year. She is attending the same Presbyterian preschool as last year Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and we are homeschooling Tuesday and Thursday. I have really enjoyed watching her grow and learn already and she really has an eagerness to learn. Often times on weekends she will ask me if we can do school. I know it probably won't last, although I hope and pray she will always have an eagerness to learn. She is taking ballet and jazz this year. She decided tap wasn't her thing (although I thought it was her better subject) and that she wanted to try jazz. She is staying busy and loves being social.
Ellie just turned 3 and has gone from a toddler to a little girl over night it seems. We didn't have a party for her this year because we had just returned from vacation and as soon as we did everything started back up. She still got tons of gifts and we enjoyed spending her birthday as a family. She is going to preschool Monday and Wednesday and is excited that she gets to see her sissy on the playground and be a "lunch buddy" with her too. Her and I go to open gym at the gymnastics place on Fridays while Emmalynn is at school and I love having that one-on-one time with her. She is comical 24/7 and keeps us laughing at her silliness.
Aaron swore in on the 4th of July as an officer. He is still working on his Masters of Divinity and should finish in May. I don't think I've ever been more proud of anyone for their dedication and discipline as I am of him. He stays on top of his homework and makes excellent grades at that. His traveling for work has slowed down some since school has started and we are enjoying having him at home.
As for me, I decided to take this semester off of grad school to figure out (as I told Aaron's mom) "what I wanted to be when I grow up." I really wasn't enjoying school and was entirely burnt out on the entire on-line school thing. I am meeting with an academic advisor at OSU to discuss a few options but am entirely depending on the Lord to guide my steps according to His perfect plan. On Tuesdays I am attending a women's Bible study at a local church on Beth Moore's "David" series. I have gotten SO much out of the study and we are only half way through. It keeps me disciplined to read the Word daily as well as fellowship with Godly women from the community. I am going to try with everything I can to blog daily from now on. This school year has already started with a bang and I hope to remember every
single detail!

Photo Friday: Week 20~Anger

2011-05-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

http://xoxotrina.com/

I obviously have NOT kept up with this. I feel since the girls school is slowing down (not mine or Aaron's though) and dance is finally done, I have a little bit of extra time on my hands. I'm wanting to update our blog more and this is another way for me to do it.
This picture is from Mother's Day....Ellie was mad at me because I made her stop playing with my mom's dog Scout to take a picture...I know, how dare I?! It's amazing how the look one one person's face when you are taking a group picture can ruin the whole thing!

I just edited this in Picnik to crop out my mom and Emmalynn (ha!) and did a "Soft Focus" to sort of "crop" me out and make Ellie the focus.
Click on the button or link above to see more entires!

Dress Rehearsal/Dance Recital:

2011-05-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

This past week was crazy busy with Emmalynn's dress rehearsal and 2 day recital! I was beyond exhausted from it all so I know she had to be even more so than I was!
Wednesday night she had rehearsal at 6:30...or at least that was SUPPOSED to be the time they went on stage. This was the very first time she had been on a stage doing her dance without her teacher. She was very calm and cool about it all right until they were about to go onstage. Out of nowhere she started crying saying "I can't do this, I don't want to do this." I gave her a pep talk, told her we aren't quitters, that we are going to finish what we started, asked her to pray that Jesus would give her courage and help her be brave, held her hand until she went on stage and then...she did GREAT! She was SO proud of herself after it was over. She kept saying "I did so good mom, I'm so proud!" Its amazing how little things like that with kids can turn into opportunities for you to give them life lessons. I told her being scared to do something and then finding the courage to go ahead and do it is one of the best feelings in the world....and she agreed! I had tears in my eyes as I tried to video and take pictures at the same time and my heart was just BURSTING with pride for my little girl!

Before heading in to get dress for rehearsal, my big girl!

Ballet costume: ballet performed to Willy Wonka's "Pure Imagination"

Thank goodness for friend's to play with during the wait!

Eeek! Here we go!

Tap to "Babyface"

Friday night was the first night of the "real" recital. It started at 7:00 and Emmalynn didn't go on for her first number until 8:30....yeah talk about a long wait for 5 year olds! There was at least 17 dances before hers! It was a very lengthy production to say the least! Friday night she was an ol' pro and didn't get nervous at all. Even though our watch night wasn't until Sunday night I snuck in the audience to watch her during her dances and she did fabulous! Again, I was very proud!

Sunday's recital was when her family was designated to watch (they split the alphabet in half, this year the beginning of the alphabet got Sunday night). My mom & Ken, my dad & Kay, and Aaron's mom & David all came to watch our sweet girl! She loved having them all there and got a bouquet of flowers from each of them afterwards. I know she felt like a true performer!

Emmalynn & Ellie with "Nanny D" (Aaron's mom)

The girls with my mom and Ken

Emmalynn, we all couldn't have been more proud because it just isn't physically possible! You are a true little dancer and I can't wait to watch you perform throughout your life. Who knows....maybe sissy will join you next year?!

Mother's Day

2011-05-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day celebration began on Tuesday for me when I went and got to spend time with Ellie in her classroom playing and reading books to her. She loved showing me all of the fun things they do during playtime and it was cute to see how she interacted with her classmates. Thursday Emmalynn's class had a "Mother's Day Tea Party." We got dressed up and had little cookies and fruit along with punch (I don't know why they didn't have tea?). They sang us songs and read stories and then presented us with our Mother's Day gifts.

Friday night we went to Aaron's family's (his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins) to visit. We had a great time watching all the kids play and catching up with the adults!

Mother's Day weekend was spent at my mom and Ken's house. Their house is one of my favorite places to be because I feel so far away from everything when I'm there. Saturday morning I headed out to wedding dress/bridesmaid shop with my (soon to be) sister in law (also named Jessica). We spent most of the day looking for dresses (minus a much needed stop at Olive Garden :o)) and she found her dream dress for a great price! Then I headed on over to my great friend Tammy's graduation party where I got to see some of my favorites I don't get to see often enough! Darnit for not remembering to take pics!
Sunday morning we headed to church with my mom and Ken where my mom is on the praise and worship team. She sang a BEAUTIFUl solo "Legacy" by Nicole Nordeman; it was so special to get to sit and hear my mom sing on Mother's Day. I had tears rolling down my cheeks and Aaron leaned over and said "You are certainly your mother's daughter." ha! I remember going to bed at night when I was little listening to my mom sing and play the piano so it was like being reminded of a precious memory. She is such an inspiration to me, I sure do love my momma!

After church, Aaron's mom and David came over to have a yummy meal and then we sat out by the pool and had strawberry shortcake and watermelon. It was the most perfect mother's day surrounded by all the people I love. Oh yeah, and Aaron got me a Keurig for mother's day and I'm absolutely loving

it!

Ellie painted the flower pot in her class which held a cut out of each of her hands with a poem. Emmalynn painted the tile and the bumble bees in the squares are her thumb prints! Her class is called the "bumble bee" class so this is a great keepsake for me to have to remember her class. The girls were precious telling me "Happy Mudders Day" even after Mother's Day was over! Love those girls!

Celebration

2011-04-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter, the day we celebrate our selfless Savior who allowed himself to experience such torment and pain to take on Himself every sin each of us would ever commit so that we would not have to. Easter often becomes desensitized to us Christians because we hear about it so often. I think if we could feel the love and gratefulness that we feel towards Christ like we do on Easter every day of every year, we would constantly be on fire for Jesus and strive to tell every person we encountered about His goodness and mercy. Aaron and I had the opportunity to serve this weekend (him at 3 services and myself at 2), and feel so blessed to be apart of a church reaching people in ways no one else is or can.
The girls looked absolutely precious in the fancy dresses and loved that Ellie asked me to "twirl" her so she could watch her dress spin.

Jesus rose again on the 3rd day!

Princess for sure

My cherished treasures

And their daddy too

This is one of my most favorite songs. I listen to it often and feel so thankful for the relationship we are given the opportunity to share with such a wonderful Savior.

Photo Friday, Project 3: Macro

2011-01-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

This week at the photo assignment is Macro AKA closeup. I immediately knew I wanted to capture my wedding rings but couldn't figure out what to set them on for a backdrop. Then I remembered this beautiful white feather and rhinestone clip I wore in my hair at my mom's wedding 2 years ago seen here
And here is the finished product which I LOVE!
I had my camera setting on "Easy" and my flash turned off. I'm not really sure what the Easy setting means on my camera (guess I still need to dig out that owner's manual) but I thought it worked great for the look I was wanting.
Here is the link to Trina's blog to view other participant's links http://xoxotrina.com/2011/01/photo-friday-week-3-macro/

Photo Friday

2011-01-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite blogs to read
recently posted about Photo Friday. Each Friday she would invite her readers to post a picture with a specific topic. I didn't get around to posting a picture for week 1 but thought I would jump in at week 2.
The topic for this week is breakfast!
I chose this picture for a few reasons. I usually try to eat an actual breakfast on the days that I go to the gym (you know for obvious reasons like so I don't pass out!), but last night I was up with Ellie who has been sick and so I knew 2 things: 1.) I wouldn't be going to the gym this morning and 2.) My breakfast needed to consist of some caffeine from above mentioned long night! I also chose this picture because as one of my new year's GOALS I have been trying to spend some time in God's Word every morning. I have really noticed how big of a difference it makes in my day and how much more at peace I feel after. My MIL got me this coffee cup in my stocking and I absolutely love it! I didn't do anything special as far as settings go; my camera was set to automatic with the flash off. I have had my camera, a Canon Power Shot SX110IS for over a year and know nothing about it! Hopefully this project will help me dig out that owner's manual and become acquainted!
Here is the link to Trina's blog with today's Photo assignment and participants http://xoxotrina.com/2011/01/photo-friday-week-2-breakfast/

Let's Play Catch Up Shall We?!

2011-01-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

So I obviously haven't been blogging in a VERY long time, but it was one of the many things on my resolutions list for the New Year. I will never have time to scrapbook but this is the next best thing.
November and December were very busy months for us as we traveled many different places to visit our families for the holidays.
We went to Aaron's Aunt and Uncle's house in Edmond for Thanksgiving and we were glad to have my mom and Ken come along with us.

Two days after Thanksgiving we headed to my grandparent's house for Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. It was a bit rushed because we wanted to be home for the Bedlam game (Boomer Sooner!).

Emmalynn had her parent night at dance where we were able to watch her (and her class) show what they have been working on thus far. I was a bit nervous that she would get shy or scared when she saw that other people would be watching but she did FABULOUS! I videoed the entire thing (which I can not figure out how to upload) but I had tears in my eyes when they began and Aaron (Mr. Tough Guy himself) admitted he was fighting back tears as well! She is getting so big on us and we are so proud of her! Ellie was dying to get out there on the dance floor with her sissy, especially when they did a little number to Dora's "The Wheels on the Bus!" I have a feeling she will be a great dancer just like her big sissy!
We had lots of shopping to do for our 5 (yes, 5) Christmases we had! The girls had a Christmas caroling party at school that Aaron got to go to with them while I was doing some class observations.
The weekend before Christmas we headed to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Ada to have Christmas with my dad's side of the family. The girls love spending time with their cousins and think they are just the greatest things since sliced bread! We went up there on Friday night since we would have to leave Saturday afternoon to head back for Aaron's work Christmas party. After we got there we all went bowling and to the arcade. Watching Ellie bowl was probably the funnest part about the night. She would push her ball down the ramp, squat down, reach out her hand and chant "go ball, go ball, go ball." It was so funny! She got very into it and actually did pretty darn good!

All the grandkids (and great grandkids!) with the grandparents

Emmalynn ready to open her presents!

Nana with her great grandgirls

At Aaron's (extremely lame) work Christmas party...but at least there were chocolate covered strawberries!!!

On Christmas Eve-Eve we had a nice dinner at home and then headed to church for their Christmas service. It was so nice to get to be a part of. Once we were home we had our Christmas as a family. Aaron and I only exchange stocking because we get gifts from so many others. I got to the bottom of my stocking to find a new iPhone! I was so excited, he really surprised me!

The girls digging into their stockings!

Ellie lookin' a lil greedy with her candy!

Excited face!

Emmalynn showing off her new tattoos

Too cute!

Ellie said she was "praying" LOL

Ellie consistently looks like a little stinker in all of her pictures!

Christmas Eve at Nanny D's

Daddy dancing with our sweet niece Ruby AKA Rubles

The girls Christmas morning at my mom's (their Gammie)

The day after Christmas at my mom's side of the family

This Christmas was wonderful. Ellie is at the perfect age where she was excited about opening gifts, decorating, and all the other things that Christmas entails. Emmalynn is just like me and loves all things Christmas including Christmas music. We were blessed with very many wonderful gifts (especially considering we had 5 Christmases). Our most favorite thing that we received was our Wii which we have all enjoyed playing as a family. The girls love bowling and Emmalynn is quite the professional bowler. Ellie is comical as ever and really gets into it when she shouts "Go Ball, Aww Man, and All right!" I have enjoyed our time at home as a family especially considering the days Aaron was off with us. Today we are enjoying being cozied up in the house and hoping for more snow to build a snow man!

Lunch Buddies and Dance

2010-09-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

The second week of school the girls both became lunch buddies. That means instead of leaving at 11:30 they would stay until 1:00 for lunch and an additional recess. Emmalynn wishes she was a lunch buddy every day but that would get too expensive. So instead she is a lunch buddy 2 out of her 4 days she goes to school. Here are a few pictures of the girls ready to be lunch buddies with their cute tin lunch boxes:

Emmalynn's is Wizard of Oz and Ellie's is Dora

The next week Emmalynn started ballet and tap. While she is at dance we (Ellie and I) go over to our friend's house and each pizza and play! It works out really good and then we head to church. It makes for a long night but it keeps us busy
Here is Emmalynn before dance:

She is lookin' way too grown up, and sometimes it hurts my heart!

Ellie Mae's 1st Day

2010-08-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

Ellie's 1st day of school was Tuesday. She was very excited and was ready to go "babies nice" (I kept telling her to be nice to the babies so every time I asked her about school she said "babies nice"). She looked so cute with her little Dora (Ora) backpack on. I didn't get any pictures of her with it, I'll have to do that next week!

Here she is with her big sissy

Ellie lookin' like a big girl!
And of course sister had to do her "infamous pose"

This week in Emmalynn's class during playtime some of the kids built a "restaurant" out of huge blocks. Emmalynn was so excited about going back the next day to work on it lol. Their restaurant was called "Chips and Dip"....pretty creative huh?! There is also a little boy in Emmalynn's class named J.R. that she has been playing with. She said yesterday "Mom I played with a little boy named J.R. today, he only has 2 letters in his name and I have NO idea why." LOL I can NOT wait for all the stories this girl will have to tell at the end of each day. And of course its extrememly cute when Ellie tries her best to tell me what all she did at school too!

Preschool/Pre-K

2010-08-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today Emmalynn started her 1st day of Pre-K! She has been looking forward to having Ms. Toni as her teacher since the 1st day of summer, so of course she was very excited when today finally came.
Thursday we went to Open House to meet both of the girls' teachers and see their rooms. Emmalynn will be going Mon & Wed 9-11:30 and Tues & Thurs 9-1
Ellie will be going Tues & Thurs 9-1
Here are the girls before we left the house to go up to their school:

That girl and that paci...UGH!

At the open house Emmalynn got a paper sack in her cubby. It had a paper doll in it that they were supposed to decorate as themselves to share with the class. Here is a video of Emmalynn explaining hers:

She is just too precious for words sometimes.
And here is my little stinker (Ellie) who decided to get in my makeup because sister left mommy and daddy's bedroom door open (which is a major NO-No!)
She literally PAINTED her face with my mascara
When I showed her herself in the mirror she died laughing, then it was kinda funny to me too.
And finally, here is Miss Priss on her first day of school:

She is looking just too grown up, it's killin me!

With Daddy

and Mommy

Silly girl

I can't wait to see how Ellie's 1st day tomorrow goes!

To behind to catch up so let's just start over!

2010-08-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

I have really let the blog go this summer. We have been traveling a LOT and I just really haven't had the time. Now that my brother has deployed, I want to start back up so he can see pictures when he gets a chance. Also, Aaron will be leaving for work soon and will be gone for several months at a time so this way he will also get to see whats going on in our everyday lives.
Here's what is happening (or has happened) recently.

We got a new puppy, a yorkie from my Meme named Lucy. The girls adore her, love to play with her, but secretly she is mine. She reminds me of my yorkie Gidget I had in high school and up until Emmalynn was born. I have always missed her and Lucy is a bit of a replacement.
The girls both start school Monday and with school comes check-ups/shots. Monday Emmalynn had to get 5 (yes 5) shots and Ellie had to get 3. It was a horrid experience but they both handled it fairly well. We also found out that they are both in the 97% for height! WOW! I have some talls girls, can we say volleyball scholarships? or maybe runway models? Yes, I like that better!
Aaron and I both start our Masters Monday- his in Divinity and mine in Special Ed.
Ellie will be 2 next month, I can't believe it! Sometimes the way she acts seems like so much older than 2, and then sometimes she still seems like my little baby.

Summer So Far

2010-06-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

This summer has been very busy thus far! We have swam with friends and family, went on a few trips, Emmalynn started ballet, had a Luau for my brother, and went to Seaside for a week with my family!
Since I'm so behind I'll recap from the Luau and do all of our pics from Seaside in another.
My mom and I threw my brother a "pre-deployment Luau" at her house since my brother will be deploying next month. We invited several of his closest friends and lots of family. We had lots of food and swam in their nice new pool. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad everyone got to come out and show their love for him!
The girls had cute matching Hawaiian dresses that my mom got them when she went to Hawaii but I didn't get 1 picture of Emmalynn in hers because she was running around with her cousins. Here is Ellie in hers:

Emmalynn with DestinyChristyn and Ellie Bug (Ellie is VERY partial to Kwisten)

All the cousins
Brent (with the mohawk) and some of his friends
Mom and Ken

The purpose of the Luau was to honor Brent and show him how much we all love him. I hope we did just that because we truly are so proud of him for his selfless service, he is truly great at what he does...we love you Brent!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Emmalynn had a Mother's Day Tea Party at her preschool. We got dressed in our "Sunday Best" and headed over for tea, snacks, and surprises!
Before the party started with my special name badge!

My sweetie with my daisy and their special song "I'll give you a daisy a day"

Dancing the "Tu-di-ta"

With my sweet girls on Mother's Day

Daddy with his girls

More Catching Up

2010-05-15T12:07:00.001-07:00

Emmalynn and I went with some of my friends and their daughters to see the Cinderella musical the high school here put on. Before we went to the musical we made a stop at their favorite place to eat and play (Chickfila). The girls got all dressed up in their best princess outfits and loved the musical (even though it did go way past their bed time!) Here are the girls right before we headed to the high school. Notice how Jaeley and Carley look normal...but not my Emmalynn! ha!

She looks more....princess- like here

That Saturday was Emmalynn's last soccer game. I think I was just as happy as she was to have this chapter of our life come to an end. The team met before the game at the donut shop to hand out their trophies. Honestly she didn't deserve one but that's a different story! She is really proud of her trophy though so I guess that's all that matters!

After the game we headed home to take naps because Ellie was up until almost 5 in the morning the night before. Thankfully she slept for a few hours and we headed to Guthrie to see Aaron's grandparents and sister Aimee. Their yard is so beautiful and the girls love playing out in it. It was the perfect weather to be outside and enjoy all the beautiful scenery!

This is Ellie's "Oh wow" face she makes right before she says "Oh wow!"

Emmalynn wouldn't stay still long enough for me to take a picture!

Ellie the explorer

Got her to stand still AND pose!
She would have stayed here all day and probably several nights if we let her

We had such an enjoyable time there. It is so peaceful and Emmalynn just begged and begged to say the night with her Meme. She cried for a long time after we left :o( I told her she could go stay with Meme soon and help her plant some flowers so that seemed to appease her (for now).

They say that catching up is hard to do...

2010-05-06T14:24:00.001-07:00

Since my last post a lot has changed in our family. First, let me say that our house was on the market and now it is off the market, although I am wanting to put it back on the market to get away from these crazy, loud, partying college kids that seem to surround us (but that's another story). As you may know Aaron was planning on going to OCS (Officer Candidate School) when he finished his job as a recruiter in July. Since we both are graduating in May this seemed like the best opportunity for his career and for our family. Once he started pursuing this he learned that slots for OCS were completely full until March-April of next year. First we went into a full blown panic...what are we going to do for money for 8-9 months, where are we going to live...etc. Just a couple of days after we found out this news a guy came into Aaron's office asking him and the other guys he work with if they would be interested in helping him do a demonstration at his company. Long story short, Aaron went to the company, ended up talking to several of the guys who worked there and then the manager of the company and they offered him a job. The company is called Nomadix ICX and they sell all sorts of tecnology devices specifically those used by the military and other government employees. Aaron will be traveling to Afghanistan for 3 months at a time to teach soldiers (ironically enough) to use devices that help detect bombs and other threatening devices. He will be gone for 3 months and come back for a month, back and forth, for a year. After he has completed his year there he may be offered a full time with the company but at their local office here in Stillwater. We really feel (despite what other people may think) that this job opportunity is a God-send. We had no idea what we were going to do for income and he pretty much placed a job in Aaron's lap with an income that almost triples what he is currently making now. Yes, it will be a huge sacrifice for all of us, but we know we can do anything for a year; especially when it will allow us to be completely debt free with a savings that will give us some freedom until we decide what to do next. I decided to go ahead and stay in Stillwater so Emmalynn could continue school where she is at, keep her same friends whom she truly treasures, and continue gymnastics (which she absolutely loves). Luckily, we have been blessed enough to really plug in with many great families in the last year and I know that I can depend on many of them to help me in whatever way I need. Please be praying for us as we get closer to his leave date (which will most likely be the end of July).

On to something less...weighted? ha!
A couple of weeks ago we decided to take the girls to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. It went just as we thought: Ellie LOVED everything and Emmalynn was (mostly) scared of everything. It's amazing how they can be so completely different!
They had horseshoe crabs you could pet and Emmalynn didn't even want to come near them but you guessed it....Ellie was all about touching them!

Emmalynn with the Starfish (she thought they were neat)

Ellie with....some type of lobster looking thing (I honestly don't remember!)

These are the horseshoe crabs that Ellie touched
Emmalynn with the baby seahorses this was 1 of the things she got really excited about
and this was the other...turtles...pretty fascinating creatures they are!

After the aquarium we went to FreshBerry and got frozen yogurt. It was such a fun little day with our family of 4!

Award Ceremony & My 1st Race

2010-04-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Friday the girls and I headed to OKC with Aaron for an awards ceremony. He received the "Glenn E. Morrell" award which is the top reward you can receive as a recruiter. There were several people there who had been in recruiting longer than Aaron and were getting the award below him, so I am very proud of him for this accomplishment. Aaron is the type of person that does great at everything he does, so it was really no surprise to me but I am still proud of his accomplishments none the less! The time of the ceremony kept getting changed so when it finally did start Ellie was DONE! She was so sleepy she was laying her blankie on the floor under the table and laying on it. We had to slip out once it started but came back in just as he was going up to receive his medal. Here are some pics of the ceremony:

Emmalynn AKA Chins McGee

Saturday I had my very first 5k race. I was so excited/nervous but was really proud of my finishing time even if it wasn't my goal time. I finished @ 33:28. It was very chilly and rainy but ended up being perfect (while I was running anyways). Ashley & Andy came along with their friend Nicci (they ran the 10k). We had fun making fun of all of the people stretching and warming up hardcore beforehand! Here is a pic of us before we went to the starting line:
Tomorrow we are taking the girls to the Aquarium in Jenks. They have never been before and neither has Aaron. When I went it was after it first opened so I'm sure it has changed a lot. I can't wait to see Ellie's face when she sees the "eesh!"

Easter Sunday

2010-04-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

We went to my mom and Ken's Saturday night to spend Easter with them. Aaron and I managed to get to go shopping at the mall AND to a movie, all KID FREE!!! It was so nice to be able to walk around the mall without a stroller or ride in the car without hearing 2 different movies playing at once! lol. Thanks again Mom & Ken for letting us have a night out!
Sunday we went to church with them at Church on the Move. We always enjoy getting to visit there because Pastor Willie George's messages are ALWAYS amazing. It was a wonderful service that ended with an alter call but more like a "baptismal" call. There were over 200 people who got water baptized at the end of the service without planning to, purely because they felt called and led to. My mom and I were crying our eyes out (and I think Aaron was fighting back too but shhh I didn't say that!). The sight of so many people flooding to the front of the stage to make their commitment to Christ public and make a new covenant was absolutely amazing and something I felt blessed to be able to witness, especially on Easter. After church we headed back to their house for a "honey-kissed ham from the Hamlet" lunch. It was yumm-o! Then we headed outside (it was such a beautiful day for once on Easter) and hid eggs for Ellie (for the first time) and Emmalynn. On a side note, Ellie is COMPLETELY in love with Ken's dog Scout. He is huge, but she doesn't care. She is always following him around or going up to him and giving him a big hug! Here is all of us decked out in our Sunday best. It's so difficult to take pictures of Ellie at this age so I'm going to try to get the girls dressed in their Easter dresses again and take some more pictures later.

This is Ellie's BFF (he just doesn't know it yet!)

Emmalynn was a proEllie just wanted the candy

LOVE the look on her face!

Daddy is a kid at heart, but thats OK, thats why we love him so!

Gammie & the girls

Big Girl 4

2010-04-01T09:34:00.001-07:00

On March 24th my first born princess turned 4 years old. Oh, how time really does fly. I had a hard time with her turning 4 but I know I will REALLY have a hard time with 5. Emmalynn Faith is such a special little girl. She is full of so many different characteristics. She is girly to the core: no matter where she goes she is dressed to the max complete with accessories (head band, rings, necklaces, bracelets...etc). She is witty and hilarious 24/7. Some of the things she says make me laugh so hard I cry while other things make me think "this girl is way too smart for her own good, what is she going to be like at 12?! 13?! I love every minute with her although she is very stubborn at times and we often bump heads. I think its because she is a lot like me though....well and her daddy too (we are both hard headed!). No matter what we do it is always special with her, seeing her face light up and enjoy what is going on around her. Em we sure do love you, everyone does...how could they not?! You are too cute, too sweet, and just too funny!
For her birthday we went to Chickfila for lunch (her pick which was no surprise), went to pick up her balloon bouquet that Gammie got her from the flower shop, and went to pick out a dress (for some reason she had in mind that she needed a new dress to wear to church that night) and went to church (she got to move up to the 4yo class and be with her BFF!).
She wanted to buy this cheerleader Barbie outfit with part of her bday money from MeMe J and insisted on wearing it to Chikfila. Here is her with her bday cupcake.

She picked out this dress & headband to wear to church, to her first time in the 4yo class "The Ark"

Just hangin' around...this is her new trick!

Ellie sliding w/help from cousin Destiny

Ta-Da!

Daddy & Unka B doing crazy things like boys do. Emmalynn was so worried they were going to fall, but it didn't matter if they did b/c it would've been into the foam pit!

Jump around!

and around! (btw look at those legs, they go on for DAYS!)

" Happy Birthday to YOU" with cousin Aiva and "little" Karlie

Opening presents with her BFF Carley

This was by far the best party Emmalynn has had. It was so nice not having to clean before and clean up after. They did such a great job there. She got SO many great gifts and was blessed with so many guests! She deserved every bit of it!

February Recap + Some

2010-02-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

On my last post I mentioned that we thought Emmalynn might have pinkeye. We woke up the next day and her eye was swollen shut. She looked like this
When we went to the doctor he said she had an upper respiratory infection, definitely pinkeye, and possibly strep (which he didn't test for b/c he put her on an antibiotic anyways) and maybe an ear infection. Poor, poor baby girl. The doctor that was on duty at the time forgot to tell me to put the eye drops in BOTH eyes b/c pinkeye usually spreads to the next eye...and it did. About a week later Ellie got it also (a MUCH milder case) and they told Aaron when he took her to the doctor to put drops in both eyes. It was a long 2 weeks for everyone but thankfully Aaron and I both made it without getting it.
That same week we got more snow, but this time it was JUST snow...the most beautiful snow I had ever seen. I woke up to huge, beautiful flakes falling heavy and fast just like we were in Colorado.
We didn't get out to play in it because the girls were both still a bit sicky. But it sure was nice to look at!
The next week was my birthday (the last one I think I will actually celebrate because it only goes downhill from here as I move closer to the big 3-0! I got beautiful flowers from my mom and brother

Aaron and the girls got me a gift certificate to Ulta, a nice, big train makeup case, and a year subscription to PEOPLE magazine!!! (Aaron did a great job and obviously knows me well)
I got some $$$ that I bought several books with and my Meme got me a sewing machine! I have wanted one for a LONG time and now that I have one I have NO idea what to do with it! I did buy a sewing book so hopefully that will help me be less intimidated? (we'll see!)

The next weekend we decided to take the girls to The Great Wolfe Lodge in Dallas. It had snowed a LOT in Dallas (which is super rare) so we were worried we would have a hard time getting there but the roads were fine. This place was awesome and we will definitely be going again. We got there Friday evening, got in our room and headed straight to the waterpark. The girls were slightly intimidated at all the people and noise but eventually warmed up. After we were done swimming we went and got "treats." Emmalynn and Aaron got icecream and I got a caramel apple w/nuts. We headed back to the room and went to bed (and we all slept good).

Emmalynn can never look normal.

This was Ellie's personal Heaven. The TV was just at the right height for her to turn it off and on...NON STOP!

The next morning: Up and ready to go SWIM!

The next morning we got up and got ready for breakfast in the lodge's restaurant. This was by far the best breakfast I had ever had at a hotel. They had everything you could possibly imagine, fruit/yogurt bar, egg bar, pancake/waffle/french toast bar, bread bar, potato bar, cereal bar...etc. There was a TON of food! We stuffed ourselves as much as we could because we were planning on staying @ the water park for the majority of the day. This time around both of the girls had a blast. Emmalynn alternated slides all day and Ellie loved playing on the little jet skis that squirted water. These pictures are really dark and horrible quality because we used a waterproof disposable camera.

Sorry for the big, hairy belly in the back (they were everywhere)

And I know this is going the wrong way, it wouldn't let me rotate itIt was just SO MUCH FUN!

My little fishy

That night we went to a different hotel and then went to Grapevine Mills. Emmalynn mentioned that she wanted to go to the Rainforest Cafe (since last year she was so scared). The wait was over an hour and a half so we decided to eat in the food court. We ended up spending most of the time eating because it was SO crowded. We decided to come back and shop the next morning because we only got to go to 2 stores before they closed that night. We went shopping the next morning and got to the Rainforest Cafe just before they opened. Emmalynn did SO much better this time. She got a little scared at the beginning because of the gorillas and the noise but at least the aquarium distracted her some what. Ellie LOVED it of course (because nothing scares her).

The fish fascinated her!

It was a great trip for our little family. Hopefully we are climbing back up the "vacation scale" after being bogged WAY down from that Disneyland nightmare!
Other than that we have just been very busy with gymnastics, school (all of us), church, and keeping Ellie from climbing on top of the kitchen table. I began my observation this month in a friend's class and have really enjoyed it (despite it being stressful at times). I have learned a lot already and am excited about being DONE with my undergrad classes. In other news Emmalynn has decided to play soccer this spring in a YMCA league with kids from her preschool. Aaron bought her a soccer ball (which is so cute and small) and she has been practicing (somewhat) outside on these pretty days. We got her some Nike tennis shoes and can I just say they make her look WAY too big! I can not believe in just a few weeks she will be 4 and Ellie will be 1 1/2!

Gymnastics and More

2010-01-26T18:57:00.000-08:00

Emmalynn started gymnastics 3 weeks ago today. She was very insistent on taking ballet, but we quickly learned that ballet doesn't have enrollment again (around here anyways) until the summer. I asked around and found out that several of her friends from preschool go to a gymnastics place right next to our church. I called and decided to give it a try for 8 weeks and if she didn't like it we wouldn't enroll for the next 8 weeks. She went to class and loved it! I was a little nervous that she would get there and back out but she didn't at all! She got there and found out that even more of her friends went and she never looked back. It has a sitting area for parents to watch in that is glassed in. Ellie and I watched the whole thing and Ellie just LOVED watching big sissy!!! Here is a picture of her all ready for her first class!

Just so excited!

And precious too!

Miss Ellie is certainly getting a personality of her own. I thought she was going to be my passive, laid back one...but was I wrong! She is becoming very vocal...jabbering and she likes to yell for reasons both apparent and not. She likes to climb on everything, get into everything, and play with everything that isn't a toy (diapers, wipes, a bottle of unopened baby oil...etc). I am constantly telling Aaron that he got a little boy when we had her because she has such a curious and "no fear" personality. I have seen a girly side come out in her more so lately. She has wanted to wear Emmalynn's bracelets and carry a purse on her shoulder. It is always very interesting and exciting to watch their personalities develop and change.
The girls' new favorite thing is to turn on music in Ellie's room and dance dance dance! They go crazy, burn a LOT of energy, and just act silly! This week they have thought it was funny to put Ellie's rocking chair covers on their head (see below)

Today Emmalynn stayed home from school because she woke up in the middle of the night coughing and didn't go back to sleep until around 6. She seemed to be feeling better today after she got some rest and didn't have a fever so I decided to let her go to gymnastics.
After we got home I completely regretted letting her go. She started feeling worse and I knew by looking at her she just didn't feel good. She went to sleep early so I am praying that tomorrow she is better and we won't be having to make a trip to the doctor. Thursday Emmalynn has a "hero party" at school which is for all the dads. She is really excited about it and I would hate for her to miss it!

Nothin' New

2010-01-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

Not a lot has been going on around here lately. This week will mark "getting back into the swing of things" as Emmalynn starts school back tomorrow and tries out gymnastics (for the first time!) I can't want to see how/if she likes it and how cute she will look in her little leotard.

In other news we are really seeking God's guidance as we get closer to making decisions about where we will be moving/what we will be doing after our time in Stillwater is done. Last Sunday at church Pastor Craig preached a message called "OneThing." Mainly it was about how at the beginning of the year people always try to make all these New Year's resolutions and end up not being able to keep them because there are simply too many or often times because the idea was a "good idea" but not a "God idea." I decided to let my "one thing" be to try and let go of always trying to be in control of how my life is planned and let God's direction alone have the say so. Often times I get so consumed in the "what now" aspect of life that I forget to sit back and allow God to let his path be made known. Since Ellie had been a nightmare to get to sleep last week I decided to let the time I rock her to be my time of silence instead of stress so that God may speak to me. I think that is the way life is like in a lot of ways. Situations are so stressful and cause us to be so weary, but if we simply sat quietly and allowed His peace to come over us we would be renewed and have the opportunity to experience Him. During this time a song by Kari Jobe called "The More I Seek You" has repetitively been put on my heart. Here it is (mute music on the right hand side)

The more i seek you,
the more i find you
The more i find you, the more I love you
I wanna sit at your feet
drink from the cup in your hand.
Lay back against you and breath, here your heart beat
This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.
I melt in your peace, it's overwhelming

Christmas Recap...All 4 of em'

2009-12-31T21:38:00.000-08:00

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!

Our first Christmas stop was in Ada at my aunt and uncle's house on the 19th. Brent got to our house the day before (Friday) and we all got up very early to leave our house on time.

Ellie, excited to open presents! OK, she doesn't even know whats going on...you're right

But Emmalynn sure does and she is "patiently" waiting

I can't believe she left these things on

I told my grandparents to "act like they like each other" for a picture and this is as close as they can get to each other...oh well it IS and improvement!!!

My grandpa got this outhouse calender from "Santa" (my grandma)...she, I mean "Santa" also got him some "chicken poop" chapstick...no lie

This is the chair my uncle rarely leaves unless it is an emergency or a COMPLETE necessity...even the Elves brought him his gifts so he wouldn't have to get up off his "seat" (pun intended)

We waited until all the gifts were passed out to start opening them and Emmalynn was just about to have an anxiety attack waiting that long...it was just too much!

Here's Miss Ellie...chill as ever

Simply precious...and getting way too big, way too fast

We waited too long to take a family picture, the girls were already engrossed in their toys and their outfits were covered in food so it had to be just a "couples" photo

Unka B and all his studlyness

Emmalynn got: a Leapster, clothes, blocks, puzzles, a Playdoh icecream maker, books,
Ellie got: an Elmo (that blows kisses) a jack and the box Elmo, clothes, movies, shoes,

The boys played pool, the girls chased the girls around, we played Pictionary (which lasted close to....I'm gonna say 3.5 hours?) which the girls won (dominate!) ate some Rib Crib, ate a TON of desert (Cherry Cream Pie...MMMM), Ellie got scared because our pictionary game was SO competitive and everyone was yelling (slightly funny, but sad at the same time), Aaron packed up all our gifts the second we were done unwrapping them, I wasn't even sure of what all we got until we got home...and home we got to late. Sunday morning we woke up and went to our church. The girls wore their cute matching (of course) Christmas dresses. Ellie is becoming impossible to take pictures of and Emmalynn is enjoying it more...I guess it all balances out.

I have determined that since Emmalynn has her patented "princess pose" that Ellie has patented the "open mouth pose"

Like I said...

And getting them to take a picture together...well let's just say Ellie was NOT havin it!
Ellie looks like she's saying "Mom, help me...she's touching me again"

Tuesday the 22nd Emmalynn had another party at school. She wanted to bring a snack (she is always asking to bring a snack) so we brought Madagascar Christmas cupcakes. That night her and I made her first (my 2nd) gingerbread house. We did a pretty good job if I DO say so myself. She loved making it and refuses to let us throw it away...oh brother.

The finished product. P.S. We only did the roof and the front. It would have taken HOURS and I do mean HOURS to do the sides and the back. This thing is WAY harder than it looks. Especially the icing part.

We had originally planned on doing our stockings and gifts Christmas Eve morning but since we knew we were going to have to leave earlier Christmas Eve than we planned (because of the snow/ice/sleet BLIZZARD) we decided to open them Wednesday night.

Here is Emmalynn ready to get down her stocking!
Ellie was really excited about EVERYTHING going on (thus the open mouth pose)

Em opening her stocking with dad

A new snowglobe for her collection (a Cinderella one)

She was SUPER excited about this Cinderella Barbie doll. I mean its cool and all but she knew she was getting it, she was with us when we bought it, she picked it out...by the look on her face you would think it was a total surprise!

Her big gift was this Princess Castle...it does all kinds of neat things

This face, this sweet, precious face...it just seeps with preciousness

And this is just such an "Ellie" face!

Emmalynn got: a princess watch, princess calender, a Cinderella barbie doll, a plush Cinderella doll, Cinderella snow globe, Caillou movie, a Cinderella ornament, and a Princess Castle.
Ellie got: an Elmo movie, Elmo book, Elmo seek and play, Super Sleuth Winnie the Pooh treehouse, musical mailbox, and a basketball goal.
Aaron and I only do stockings for each other. BUT Aaron got me the new Guitar Hero for PS3 for my STOCKING. Needless to say, I felt outdone but oh well, its awesome!

Emmalynn and I had fun playing it and of course she thought it was HERS.

It was so cute...the guitar was as a big as her

Being a rockstar like Hannah Montana BUT NOT Miley Cyrus (because she's yucky)

The next morning we woke up and got ready in a hurry so we could get out of Stillwater before it got bad. We got out just in time, it was sleeting pretty bad when we left. We headed to Aaron's mom's (Nanny D) and had appetizers and opened gifts.

Here is Ellie opening her stocking (again) with daddy

and Em opening hers with the help of me and Nanny D

We got Ruby the "flyboat" from Wonder Pets...she absolutely LOVED it! It was so cute watching her open it and how excited she got.

Emmalynn FINALLY got a cash register. She had been asking repetitively if someone was going to get her one for Christmas!

Emmalynn got: tinkerbell paints and a workbook/sketchpad, a cash register, and a toaster for her kitchen
Ellie got: The Best of Elmo DVDs and Elmo toys....the girls (a long with us also got $$$)

We left that evening for my mom's because the weather was starting to get worse. By the time we got there it was really coming down and we got there just in time before the blizzard came. Brent and Aaron thought it would be a GREAT idea to take the dogs to the barn in their skivees because they are boys and boys are stupid...I mean silly.

We did stockings that night and Emmalynn had a hard time understanding why we couldn't just go ahead and open presents too! My grandparents were supposed to come Christmas night but didn't get to because of the weather :o( At least I had the girl's presents from them so they got to go ahead and open them.
Here is Emmalynn opening her princess hair tools from Unka B. He also got her a princess necklace with an "E" on it. My grandparents got her an Easel with paints and markers and a barbie movie. My mom and Ken got her a Princess light projector (for her room) and a game for her Leapster.

Ellie opening her puppy (or duh as she says) from Unka B

Ellie got a stroller for her baby and an Elmo dvd from my grandparents. My mom and Ken got her a busy ball popper (which is EXTREMELY entertaining) and a giant Elmo pillow.

We had such a blessed Christmas, not just because of all the goodies we got but because we got to spend it with our family. It was a great Christmas and the girls just make it even more special.

A Wedding and A Party

2009-12-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

Monday my beautiful and sweet friend Tammy got married to the man of her dreams. It was planned very spur of the moment but Emmalynn and I were both in the wedding and were both happy to be a part of it. Tammy called Emmalynn the "wedding princess" and of course Emmalynn just ate that up! She also loved and felt very "big girl" because she got to carry her very own bouquet.
Here is Emmalynn with Tammy (I wish I would have got one of Tammy in her dress but hopefully will get some of those later)
Yes, I have bangs in this picture. I am pretty sure I don't like them so I have been pinning them back. Here is the one time they made their debut.
The next day Emmalynn had her Caroling Party @ school that ALL the parents came to. They had snacks and then the preschool director sat at the front, had the kids surround her (minus mine because she was of course too "shy"), they sang Christmas songs, and then she read "Twas the Night before Christmas."
Here is Emmalynn in front of her ornament she made for us (except you can't see it because she is standing in front of it).

Apparently, there was too much "stimulation" surrounding her for her to look at the camera

either time...

In other news...my brother gets to come home tomorrow for 2 weeks! I am SO excited because Christmas time doesn't truly begin until he gets here. Saturday we have our first (of 5) Christmases @ my dad's family and Aaron and I are both SO excited to see Emmalynn and Ellie open presents this year. This time last year Ellie was only 3 months old and slept through opening gifts. This year she can really get in there and rip things up...can't wait!
Will post LOTS of pictures from this weekend soon. P.S. I am finishing up my LAST classes for my degree...all I have left next semester is observation! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!!

2009-12-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

It has been absolutely FREEZING (actually slightly colder) here this week so we haven't been getting out to do much. Next week is going to be rather jam packed with a wedding for a sweet friend, doctor appointment for my knee, 2 Christmas parties for Emmalynn @ school, AND THEN Brent comes home and our first Christmas (out of 5) is next Saturday! WOW I'm glad this week has been laid-back because it is about to get crazy! I need to take some pictures of all of our Christmas decor (which I should have done when I had our Christmas party and the house was completely clean) before too long or I'll forget like I do every other year. This weekend we are going to Tulsa for a much needed hair appointment (for me) and a Christmas party with Aaron's family. It will be lots of fun and we'll be glad to see some people we haven't in a while...and of course Emmalynn loves playing with her cousins Aiva and Kasen!
Here are some pictures of the girl's from church Sunday...that's all I've got!

Hangin Around the House and Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Recently, Emmalynn has been having "concerts" in her play room. She gets dressed up for the occasion and all must attend. Usually it consists of her putting on Ellie's "Praise Baby" DVD and her and Ellie sitting in chairs in front of the TV. Here are my sweet girls at their concert.
With the weather being so nice (until today I guess) the girls have both been dying to play outside...especially Emmalynn. Ellie was fascinated with Emmalynn's Princess Jeep and couldn't wait to try it out.

Sissy even let her drive! But she didn't look too sure about it!
Yup, I think Ellie rather enjoyed being outside. The look on her face says it all!
Emmalynn and Ellie liked to play "ball" together. Ellie wasn't so sure about walking on the crunchy grass though.
Emmalynn had a Thanksgiving feast at her preschool on Tuesday. She knew before I even knew that we were supposed to bring food that she wanted to bring chicken nuggets. I didn't even know that was an option, but sure enough it was!
On Thanksgiving Day we went to my mom and Ken's. Brent got to come home and it was my mom and Ken's first Thanksgiving together (married). Aaron's mom and friend David got to come too, we had a really nice time all of us together. I got the girl's really cute matching dresses but unfortunately the one picture I actually got of just the two of them together, Emmalynn had her eyes closed. Here they are separate.
Slightly scary I know...the girl just can NOT take a normal picture
We tried to take a decent family picture to use for our Christmas cards and this is the best we could do....needless to say...this won't be used for our Christmas cards.
Saturday we headed down to Atoka to have a late Thanksgiving with my dad's family. The girls always love playing with their cousins.
We had a great time with all of our family. BUT we were glad to get home and for the first time in so long I can't even remember we decided to stay home from church today to rest, clean, and get things ready for our Christmas party Wednesday for our Life Group from church. It has been wonderful!

ATC/Military Ball '09

2009-11-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was Aaron's annual military ball. This year it was in Hot Springs, AR at the Arlington Hotel (which was built in the 1830's). The day started early. I had to leave Stillwater at 7:30 (after I picked up Michelle, Aaron's boss's wife), take the girls to my mom and Claremore, and then drive to Hot Springs. It took about 5 hours to get there and we had to begin getting ready the minute we arrived. Aaron and Christian (his boss) had told both of us that the rooms were very old and smelt dingy and basement-like. We were hoping they were just playing some cruel joke on us, but nope they weren't. See lovely decor below:
Don't get my wrong, I mean, I am after all a lover of all things vintage...just as long as it doesn't smell vintage.
Here are some pictures from the ball

Recent Happenings

2009-11-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

The week before Halloween Emmalynn had her Fall Festival at school. They had the playground set up really cute for pictures and each kid got to pick out a pumpkin. We went up there to take advantage of all the "photo ops" and got some cute ones

The next week was her Halloween party and she was SO excited to dress up as Cinderella.

On Halloween we went to Tulsa to the Pumpkin Patch. It was VERY warm and not fall like at all but the girls still had a good time.

Silly girls!

Tall Aaron fit into this little playhouse to play with Ellie

Always gotta throw in a princess pose in there

Ellie getting ready to trick or treat @ Nanny D's right after she bloodied her nose

Emmalynn can NEVER take a "normal" picture...look at those chins!

playin outside @ Gammie and Ken's...with her buddy Brody

Day 7/8

2009-11-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we got up and packed all our stuff up to head out. I was feeling way worse than I had the entire trip and was so ready to get home. We decided to try and make it to Gallup (again) because Aaron's grandparents who were on their way TO California were going to be staying there and we thought we could at least meet up at the same hotel. By the middle of the day I had absolutely NO voice at all and really couldn't even whisper because it just hurt so bad to even open my mouth. I could not stay awake and felt like I had been drugged. We pulled over to a gas station and I decided to take my temp. because I had been sweating all day but been freezing at the same time. When I took it was 103.2 (I believe, I know it was 103 something) and I decided I definitely needed to go to the ER. I went in the gas station to get some extra strength tylenol and felt like an idiot because I couldn't even talk or say thank you to the cashier. We made it to Gallup and decided that I would go ahead and go get in line at the ER, Aaron would take the girls to get something to eat, take them to the hotel and his Meme could watch them so he could come back to the ER with me. I waited for 5 1/2 hours at that stupid place. They did a strep test which was negative and decided I just had a "virus" and it could take up to 2 weeks before I felt better. I was very disappointed to (once again) not get an Rx for any antibiotics or anything else that would help me feel better but since it was 2 in the morning all I wanted to do was go to sleep. I fell asleep several times while waiting and don't think I have ever been more exhausted in my life. When we got to our room Ellie was asleep in a crib (from the hotel) which completely surprised and excited me because that meant I was actually going to get a good nights sleep in a wonderful, comfy bed with down pillows and comforter. I think it was the best nights sleep ever! Sunday we got up and packed up (again...we were all so sick of packing at this point), showered, and headed back out. I felt slightly better I think because I had gotten a good nights sleep and was SO SO ready to get home. We stopped at ate lunch at Cracker Barrel (again...I just LOVE that place...mainly b/c of their little shop). After I ate (I didn't eat dinner the day before) I felt better. The drive home was long and it got very cold the closer we got to home. We ran into some MAJOR fog that made it hard to see in. We finally got home around midnight. We went to bed right away and man was it good to be in our own bed!

Day 6

2009-11-02T06:20:00.000-08:00

Since we didn't actually get to see a Dr. at the ER last night we decided to get up in the morning and go. We let Emmalynn go ahead and go to Disneyland with the rest of the gang and we headed to a different ER as soon as we got ready. The Dr. at the ER told us that she thought Ellie and I both had an upper respiratory infection. She didn't do any test (no flu, strep...nothing) which left me feeling slightly...unsure? She prescribed me tylenol with codeine (which I did not get filled b/c it would have either made me sick to my stomach or put me to sleep and I wasn't in THAT much pain!). We went to Wal-greens and got Ellie some Benadry and headed back to the hotel to get ready for Disney. Once we got there I was starving so Aaron got me something to eat while I fed Ellie. Instead of Ellie being really sleepy like she was yesterday she was very cranky and irritable. She didn't want to be in her stroller at all and just wanted to be held. I don't blame her I mean I felt like poo too. We decided to just walk aroun Disney for a little bit and then go back to our hotel and rest and come back later that night to watch the fireworks. Aaron and I rode The Tower of Terror which was not as bad as I thought it would be. Emmalynn got a Belle snowglobe to add to her collection, we rode the train around Disney, and then decided to head back to rest. We ordered in food, let the girls roam freely, and got into warmer clothes. Once we got started walking back to Disney (which wasn't too far) I realized I was going to be freezing all night. Ellie had on her fleece onesie Bambi jammies and Emmalynn is just hot natured anyways but I am very cold natured. I got some hot chocolate hoping that would warm me up. When we got back into Disney it was chaos. They were only letting people who had been in the park earlier that day in because it was so crowded. Aaron wanted to ride the Indiana Jones ride because it was closed the day before so we headed over there and I decided to just wait with the girls while him and Randy and Judy rode it.
Emmalynn waiting....and waiting...and waiting....

Of course it took them forever and of course Emmalynn had to go to the bathroom. I had NO idea where anything was and could barely push the stroller because there were so many people. Not to mention I felt like poo AND I was cold. We finally found a bathroom and by the time we were finished with all of that they were done with the ride. Emmalynn wanted to ride Its a Small World again but they were closed off because of the fireworks. We decided to take her to drive the go carts. We waited in line for probably close to an hour and by the time we were done with that the fireworks had started. Here is Ellie and I (miserably) watching the fireworks. I can only speak for myself...but I definitely felt as awful as I looked.

We went back to Its a Small World so Emmalynn could ride that again. It took them forever to open it back up. Emmalynn was asleep while I was holding her and Aaron had Ellie in the snugli on him. After we rode that I decided I couldn't take anymore and was done. We went to the gift shop, picked out our gifts, and left. When we got back to the room I told Aaron that I wanted to go home and that I couldn't imagine getting up in the morning and going to the beach and being away from home for 2 more days. He decided that when he got up he would call and cancel our reservations and we would pack up and head home.

Day 5/ 1st day @ Disneyland

2009-10-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday (Day 5) was a VERY long day. Long for 2 reasons: 1.) It was literally long-We got up around 7 to be at the park when it opened at 9 and to get to Ariel's Grotto for breakfast and we stayed there until about 8:30 STRAIGHT. That may not seem like a very long time but trust me it was because of reason #2 which is that as soon as I woke up I felt AWFUL! I mean yes, I was tired so I just thought it was because of that and because I didn't sleep much since Ellie was in the same bed with me and was tossing and turning AND coughing ALL NIGHT LONG. We finally found Ariel's Grotto which was on the complete opposite side of California Adventure than we came in and I realized that I could certainly kick my thoughts of being sick to the curb because it was SO worth it seeing the look on Emmalynn's face when she saw each princess come out...I was tearing up and I'm not even ashamed to admit it. The look on her face was worth the $100 breakfast (and no I'm not kidding it was that much). Here are the pictures of us at breakfast. Emmalynn was too shy to take her picture alone with the princesses so I had to be in every-single-one. I haven't edited them (they need to be cropped) yet but here they are anyways.

With Ariel (Emmalynn had on an Ariel dress and shoes)

With Snow White (I think Aaron forgot to lift up the flash on this one)

With Cinderella (who Emmalynn is dressing up as for Halloween FYI)
With Sleeping Beauty (Aurora...whatever)

With Mulan (who I thought was the cutest)

After breakfast, Randy, Judy, Aimee, and Ruby were waiting for us in the park. Ellie fell asleep while we were finishing breakfast (because she was starting to feel bad too) and she slept in her stroller for awhile. We brought clothes for Emmalynn to change into but she decided she wanted to wear her Ariel dress a little longer. She ended up wearing that dress AND the shoes (which had a slight heel) ALL day...she just did not want to change!

We all (the adults anyways) went to ride the Soarin over California ride which was very cool.
After that we decided to go into Disneyland (which is right across from California Adventure). Here is a picture of us at the entrance

They had everything decorated really neat for Halloween/Fall. Behind us you can see (that sounds like a tour guide) flowers in the shape of Mickey Mouse :o) From here we headed to Sleeping Beauty's Castle

And to the carousel. I was proud of Emmalynn, she rode on the horse behind me and Ellie all by herself!

This is one of the few times today that Ellie wasn't sleeping. I'm glad she got to do SOMETHING fun that she liked!

After we got off the carousel we went and ate lunch and thats when I realized just how bad I felt. Ellie was really irratible and my whole entire body just hurt and I had a horrible headache. I was almost on the verge of tears. I was debating between going back to the hotel so Ellie and I could both take a nap or going in the room they have for mom's with babies and seeing if I could rock her in there. I decided to just go in that room and so Ellie, Aaron, and I headed that direction while Randy, Judy, Emmalynn, Aimee, and Ruby headed to ride some more rides. As we were walking in the direction of that room I got upset. I knew Emmalynn was going to be doing fun things and I wanted to be there to make memories with her but knew that Ellie and I both felt awful. I decided to go and find some tylenol...aspirin...anything. We found a "First Aid" station and after I took some I started to feel better. Ellie on the other hand just slept, and slept, and slept...the entire day. Her nose was running out of control and she was still coughing. We also discovered that she was getting her top 2 front teeth so didn't know if that was contributing to anything. This is what Ellie looked like most of the day

So sweet, but so SO sad!

After we got back with our group Aaron and Emmalynn went to pick out her and Ellie some "ears" (Mickey Mouse ears that is). I wanted the girls to get their names put on the back of them because I thought that was just precious and something they would have forever. Aaron came back and told me that Emmalynn had wanted me (ha!) to have the same ones as her and Ellie so Aaron bought the 3 of us Princess Ears w/our names on the back!
I didn't ever actually wear mine in the park but here is Emmalynn sportin' hers
Then we decided to ride "It's A Small World." I think this was probably one of Emmalynn's favorite things because she wanted to do it again the next day. It was nice to be able to sit down and Ellie enjoyed looking at everything too.

Woody made us feel like we were back in good ol' Oklahoma

After this we headed to ToonTown, got some delicious chocolate-mickey-ears-ice-cream-thingy (seen below)
And then decided ToonTown was too crowded to we headed to go on the Nemo ride. This is an actual submarine that takes you underwater and through the story of Nemo. It was pretty neat, some of it scared Emmalynn because it got dark, but I thought it was cool how it was done.

And while we were waiting in line and riding the Nemo submarine and even when we came back Ellie was still doing this...

By this time we were starting to get hungry again and there was a parade that was about to begin. We went and got something to eat and out outside so we could watch the parade. I noticed Ellie felt really warm while I was holding/feeding her. I took her back to the First Aid station and they took her temp and it was 102.3 (i think). We decided to get her some tylenol (we had been giving her motrin all day but that didn't seem to be helping). There were RN's in the First Aid station and they told her to alternate them until her fever came down (which I now knew from the first ER trip with Emmalynn). After we gave her the tylenol she got drowsy and I held her while we walked around and she ended up falling back asleep. We decided to just go ahead and go back to the room. It was cold walking around and my medicine was starting to wear off. We got back to the room and watched the fireworks from our hotel room. Emmalynn fell asleep really quick, she had to be exhausted. Ellie on the other hand was so miserable she couldn't sleep. We decided to take Emmalynn in Aimee's room while Aaron and I took Ellie to the ER. Look how sad/sick she looks

Since we had NO idea where a hospital was...Aaron and I both put it in our phones' GPS. He took us on a WILD GOOSE CHASE. It kept telling us we were off track and then we were on track in the same sentence. It also kept saying the signal was weak...IN THE MIDDLE OF ANAHEIM?! Finally we realized it was taking us...TO A HOSPITAL THAT WASN'T EVEN BUILT YET! It was one that had either been torn down or was about the built because we watched our little dot on our GPS and right when drove past this empty lot it said that was it. So we had to find another one...By then we were both agitated and Ellie was asleep from all the driving around. Finally we found another one. It was small and slightly ghetto. They got her in to do her vitals right away (they had to do a rectal temperature which was so sad...I think she was so drugged she didn't even notice :o() Then they sent us back out into the lobby to wait...and wait...and wait...There was a lot of ppl there and no one was being seen. She slept the entire time we were there. We decided to leave and come back in the morning since her fever was down to normal and she was so soundly sleeping. We made it back to our hotel way faster than we did on our way there. Ellie and I went to bed right away and she stayed asleep the whole night.

Days 3 &4/Quest to Disneyland

2009-10-26T14:03:00.001-07:00

Tuesday and Wednesday were probably the most "normal" days we had on our trip. Tuesday we got up and went to meet Aaron's aunt Judy for lunch in a cute little shopping square and had delicious orange chicken and rice. Afterward we went to Target to pick up some extra vitamin C, wipes (because we used a TON on the way there) and some heavier jackets because we weren't prepared for how cool the weather was. After that we came home and just rested because Aaron's great aunt and uncle (Randy's parents) and Randy's sister were coming over and later Randy and Judy's daughter Tara. It was nice to meet all these new people especially since Randy's mom is Aaron's meme's (who is very special to me) sister. The girls went to sleep early again and we all got a good night's sleep.
Here is a picture of Emmalynn and Ruby in the shopping square we ate lunch at

And Ellie too of course!

Wednesday Aaron went with Randy and Tara's husband to play golf. Us girls just hung out around the house and enjoyed the nice weather outside. We also had to pack everything up (again). Wednesday night we left for Anaheim which was about an hour and a half drive from Bakersfield. It was a much more scenic drive because we got to see a lot of mountains and then of course drove through L.A. (it was dark so you couldn't see a WHOLE LOT). We finally got to our hotel around 9 or so. The parking for the hotel was ridiculous. Aaron had to park really far from our room and then carry our 1.2 million bags all the way to our room (in the dark and slightly cold). Here are the girls at our hotel in their "Princess" nightgowns because in the morning we were going to have breakfast at Ariel's Grotto with her and many more princesses!

Disneyland Trip Day 2

2009-10-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ellie woke up early Monday morning (of course), I think it was a little before 6:00. I guess it was a good thing in a way because it got us up and around and back on the road. I think we left Gallup around 7:30 and shortly after Emmalynn got car sick again. It was back at the gas station and digging out the luggage to get her into clean clothes again and to stock up on plastic bags. Bless her heart, she was such a good girl...she made sure she got it in the bag the next time. After the second time we pulled over at another gas station (which was out in the middle of NOWHERE and the people at the gas station looked like hardcore mountain men/woman). I got her some crackers, gatorade, and chewable pepto bismol and that seemed to help because she didn't get sick anymore. I eventually decided that it was best that I stay in the back seat with the girls (in the middle of them) which I would not have been able to do if we hadn't of borrowed my mom's Expedition. The wind was blowing like crazy in that vast desert land of....nothingness. It sounded like our windows were all the way down and it was blowing the car like crazy. There is no way I would have been able to handle the car...way to go Aaron! The drive was really boring and looked like this:

We finally got to Bakersfield at Aaron's aunt and uncle's around 6:00. Ellie was ready to crawl around and Emmalynn was happy to be out of her carseat and on solid ground. I guess we ALL were happy to be out of the car for different reasons. It took Aaron a while to bring all our bags in and then we had to keep going back to the car to get things out that we had gotten out while we were driving. Aaron's sister Aimee and her daughter Ruby (who will be 2 the day after my birthday) were already there and the girls all had fun playing together. Both the girls fell asleep pretty early and slept really good that night (so did Aaron and I!).

Disney Trip Day 1

2009-10-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

I need to break up the days of our Disneyland trip to proper relieve them. As you most know it was pretty much awful, although it did have a few moments. I have to divide it up to remember everything correctly so here goes Day 1: Oct 5th
We left our house around 7:30. Aaron and I got up around 6 to finish packing and so Aaron could load the car. I wanted Ellie to be able to at least drink her bottle before we left so we got the girls up early and got them dressed too. We left around the time we wanted to (Aaron had said he wanted to leave at 7, so 7:30 was good considering we had 2 girls to get ready also). It was very cold and rainy when we got in the car and I figured surely the girls would go back to sleep (and me!) pretty quickly. I think they did and I think I did too. The night before we left Emmalynn was complaining of a stomach ache. She went to the bathroom and it went away so I assumed that was the source of the problem. Well, right before we got to Texas Emmalynn got car sick. We stopped at the Texas welcome center and got her clothes changed (which meant digging out the luggage) and took her inside to go to the bathroom and get washed up. We decided it was time to eat lunch and maybe if she got something more substantial on her stomach she would feel better. We found a Furr's and thought that was a good choice because we could find something for Ellie to eat off of the buffet too. The line was really long since it was a Sunday and everyone had just got out of church. We stood in line for awhile and when it was our turn to pay so we could be seated Emmalynn threw up (Aaron was holding her) but I caught most of it in my hand (gross I know but that is some serious skills ya'll!). I don't think anyone noticed because I caught most of it so I paid and Aaron took her and him back to the car to change clothes (again). She didn't eat much and everytime she started coughing she thought she was needing to throw up again so we had to keep running to the bathroom (she didn't anymore). We left and she seemed to be lethargic (which is not like her at all), pale, and just yucky. When we got to a gas station I took her temperature and it was 102.3 so I told Aaron that we needed to take her to an ER when we got into a town. On a side note, on the way out of town (before she got sick) I got an e-mail from Emmalynn's preschool saying that a teacher's aide from her school found out that she had the swine flu. I called Emmalynn's teacher to find out it was HER aide so needless to say I was pretty freaked out! We found a very small hospital in Tucumcari, NM and I took her in while Aaron stayed in the car with Ellie. They did a test for the flu but since it was such a small hospital they had to send the culture off to a bigger hospital in Albuquerque. They went ahead and gave her a prescription, gave her motrin and tylenol to get her fever down, and told us they would call within 24hours to tell us the results of her flu test. We got her prescription in Albequerque and by then she was starting to feel better because her fever had come down.
This is me and Em after she started getting some of her personality back. I was trying to keep her entertained by being goofy (obviously!) We were jammin' out on the ol' ipod.

I guess I entertained Ellie too because she looked happy!

And this is Aaron....loving driving AND having his picture taken too!

As soon as we got out of town we had a blow out on the highway. It was pitch dark and there was no town in sight. The truck drivers ignored Aaron changing the back tire on the left side and flew by (which was scary) but he got it taken care of. We finally made it to Gallup, checked into a hotel, got everything unloaded, and got the girls to sleep. Aaron and I were both completely exhausted and were ready for a good night's sleep.....to be continued...

Dave Matthews Concert #2

2009-10-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I went to the Dave Matthews concert in Tulsa at the BOK center on October 2nd. We bought our tickets a long time ago through DMB fansite and have been looking forward to it just as long! It was a GREAT concert and it was fun for us to be able to do something together (because that doesn't happen very often). We had good seats but I got even better pictures because of my new camera!

Waiting for the concert to start...after Willie Nelson opened which we "accidentally" missed

1 Whole Year

2009-09-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ellie went to the doctor for her one year checkup and the doctor said she looks perfect!
She weighed 19lbs 14 oz (25th percentile)
And was an astounding 31in tall (which puts her in the 90th percentile) Good Lord! My girls are going to be towering over their little short mother!
Here's what Ellie is up to at a year old
* She is eating more solid food and less baby food (such as mashed sweet potatoes, chicken and stars, and turkey stew)
*She loves feeding herself fruit. Her favorites are bananas and grapes
*She loves feeding herself snacks too (OK the girl just pretty much LOVES to eat)
*She is still drinking goat's milk in the morning and before bed
*She is in a big girl car seat now and LOVES being able to look outside. She is much more welcome to the idea of being in a car now that she actually has a view that is not the back seat!
*She isn't walking by herself yet but walks holding onto things all the time and stands up pretty well on her own as long as it is her idea and not anyone elses
*She LOVES music! She loves to clap and dance to any kind of music. BUT if she is crying and I can't make her happy I turn on The Black Eyed Peas "I've got a feelin'" and she is a brand new and happy woman!
*She loves big sister and is entertained by merely watching what she does. She loves to sneak into big sister's room and sit in her chair
*She is jabbering a way in her own language but calls pretty much everything "ba-ba." She also expresses the need to be loud when others are...for example: yesterday at the doctor she could hear a little boy yelling in the room next to ours so she had to yell back!
*She is so SO busy...the girl is never still! I would know...I had to wrestle her in the exam room yesterday waiting for the doctor to come in...it is very tiring!
I took some pictures of Ellie Tuesday while Emmalynn was at school (trying to rid as many distractions as possible). Since she is (again) very busy it was slightly more difficult than I thought but still thought I got some pretty cute ones!
Here they are....there are a LOT!

I think she was trying to me she was DONE!

Ellie's Birthday Slideshow

2009-09-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

This is the slideshow I made for Ellie's Birthday. I showed it at her party but didn't know if everyone got to see it so here ya go!

Pictures from her party to come...

Weekend Adventures

2009-09-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

Over the past month we have taken a couple of "spur of the moment" trips. The first one was to the OKC zoo. We were sitting at the table for breakfast and Emmalynn was talking about wanting to go to the park. I said (without thinking) "how bout we just go to the zoo." I didn't know she would become SO persistent about going to the zoo after merely mentioning it, but she did. I thought we would go to the Tulsa Zoo since we know our way around it pretty well and it is only about 15 more minutes away than the OKC one. Aaron (for some reason) didn't want to drive to Tulsa so we thought we would try out the OKC zoo. It was a very weird zoo. It was like maze. You could never figure out where you were going because the sidewalks were so windy and let you into forests of bamboo...seriously. I don't feel like we really saw ANY animals because we were trying to figure out where to go the whole time. Also it was hot, and Ellie did NOT want to ride in her stroller. I don't think we will be going there EVER again, we will just drive the extra 15 min to Tulsa (told you Aaron!). Here are some pictures from that day:

OK, this monkey was SLIGHTLY creepy. It just stared at us the whole time

Emmalynn liked this little setup they had. It was a little room with a pond and birds she thought it was cute.

Sweet little girls

Finally...something that entertained her WHILE in her stroller!

Emmalynn loves the "pink birds. fa-meen-gos"

2 weekends ago we decided to go to Eureka Springs with my mom and Ken. We stopped at War Eagle Mill to eat in their restaurant upstairs "The Bean Palace." Emmalynn thought the mill was cool and asked lots of questions about it. It was a really nice day and we all enjoyed being outside. After we ate we headed to downtown Eureka Springs to ride the train. Emmalynn liked it, but we won't ever do that again! After the train ride we walked around downtown for a little while (a little while because there seemed to be some biker's convention that we were not aware of). I got chocolate covered strawberries and I have to say that was the best part of the day...to me anyways! We finished off our day by eating some dinner at Cracker Barrel and then the girls crashed the whole way home! We were all pooped and ready for bed when we got back to my mom and Ken's.

War Eagle Mill

Waiting for the train at the train station w/Gammie

Here it comes!

A much overdue...family picture!

Waiting for the train to turn around...

On our way home we stopped to eat at Cheddar's for Nanny D's birthday! It was yummy and good to catch up with her! Hopefully it was a good (belated) birthday present!

On a side note: my BABY will be a year old in less than a week...(sigh) so sad...

Emmalynn Faith's VERY First Day of Preschool!

2009-09-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Emmalynn started preschool. She was SO excited about going, especially because she knew her teacher already, Miss Cour-te-ney (as Emmalynn pronounces). She is in our LifeGroup (and is an absolute Godsend) and also has a daughter Carley who is in Emmalynn's class. I think she had a great deal of confidence knowing that she not only already knew the teacher but also had a friend in her class as well. On her first day of school, we couldn't get out the door fast enough. She kep saying "Mom is it time to go yet?" She looked absolutely adorable with her sweet little lime green seersucker dress with watermelons! Dresses and skirts are THE only thing in this girl's wardrobe! Thursday (her 2nd day of school) she said to me "Mom, we HAVE to go, my friends NEED me!!!" HA! TOO CUTE!!!

Sitting pretty with her backpack and her present for Miss Cour-te-ney

She was SO excited, she was just outright silly!

So big, So beautiful

Daddy has her heart, and she has his little finger!

Getting everything just right
We had LOTS of time to kill
Putting her stuff in her "locker"And because we can't forget Bugsy....this is her new favorite thing to do: look outside

Yes, she knew what she was doing, she just wanted to make sure I SAW what she was doing!
Picture Perfect, Precious

The Longest Post In The History of Blogging

2009-08-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I had been pretty much consumed with school the last 2 weeks. We finally finished up our summer classes on Sunday and I do not think I have ever been more happy to finish something in my life. For some reason those 2 classes seemed to drag out into what seemed like eternity but they are D-O-N-E DONE!
Here is a picture of Emmalynn pouting because Aaron and I couldn't play hide & seek with her because we both were typing our final papers for our classes. HA! She calls her bunny ears "bunny hoppers"
On August 8th Aaron entered his first body building competition. He trained so hard and was extremely diligent with his dieting...I know I sure couldn't have sacrificed all the food he did for as long as he did. He did really well and everyone was super proud of him. This is a picture of Aaron with his trainer Dan. I thought I would spare everyone of the picture of him in his little bitty teeny tiny posing suit. HA!
Brent surprised Aaron by flying in from Kentucky for his competition. AND whatever Aaron says...he had NO idea! We are always happy to see Unka B!

Yes I know, my husband is ORANGE

Yesterday my sweet Ellie turned 11 MONTHS! Yes, in 1 more month she will be A YEAR OLD! WOW! She is still so tiny to me, it doesn't seem like she should be one yet. BUT what she lacks in size she makes up for in personality. She is precious, sweet, honoree, and a little booger! EVERYONE loves her SO!

Look at those beautiful blue eyes

Yup, she's already got it down..."1"

When Ellie wakes up in the morning, she is like a ray of sunshine. ALWAYS happy and joyful, but she is ESPECIALLY happy when she sees that her big sister has woke up (like here)
Look at those teefers!

This girl is just simply: precious

When I said ornery...well, this is what I meant!

Ellie looks slightly...evil? But how wonderful, yes wonderful it is when they play together. Not only is it precious but it is also pretty helpful for me at times Emmalynn is the best big sister (most of the time) and is always helpful

And of course, I couldn't show off one pretty girl and not the other. Emmalynn is turning so "big" lately and it makes me sad. Most of the time I still feel like she is my baby but there are times when I see how much of a little girl she has become. She is so beautiful.

And sometimes, just too precious for words

BUT always, ALWAYS the BIGGEST hoot!

More pics from our unplanned trip to the zoo to come

Promotion and Family Fun

2009-08-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Friday Aaron got promoted to Sergeant First Class (E-7). He has known he was going to get promoted for quite sometime but did not know when it was going to be. His mom came Thursday night and got to spend the night with us and his grandparents came Friday morning. His grandpa got to pin on his new rank, which I know was a huge honor for Aaron and Papa both. Aaron has been in the Army for just shy of 8 years (in November I think) and it is a huge accomplishment to already be an E-7 in that amount of time. E-7 in 7+years...he is pretty proud and so is everyone else in the family. Way to go babe!
Here are some pictures from the promotion ceremony. It was was outside at a veteran's memorial on the little lake here. It was at 10:00 but it was already so SO bright outside and hot...which is why most of us are squinting in the pictures!

Calling his grandpa over to pin on his rank

Pinning

Aaron with his sweet Meme and Papa

Aaron and his Mom

The entire fam :o) Ellie has got her eyes mostly closed and Emmalynn was hiding

Since Aaron was off Saturday unexpectedly we decided we were going to take the girls to the Omniplex in OKC. They both had a lot of fun and we enjoyed watching them enjoy it! By the time we got there it was time to eat lunch. The food took FOREVER but it gave me time to feed Ellie before my food came. Here she is sitting patiently in her stroller after she was through eating.
Emmalynn was being very....distracted. So we had to take some pictures to entertain her.

Finally, we ate and she got to see what she wanted to see most...the TRAINS!

She was scared of all the airplanes and then we figured out why...she thought we were going to make her "ride" in them HA! After she realized she didn't have to she liked looking at them

Still sittin pretty

Emmalynn liked playing on the indoor treehouses

They had a little kiddy play area and FINALLY Ellie got to get out!

I sure do love my Emmy Faith...but one of her is simply all I can handle!

10 Months & Then Some

2009-07-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

Ellie turned 10 months on the 20th...I know, I am slightly behind (as usual). The jump from 9 to 10 months seems to have been pretty monumental for her. She has another tooth, is pulling up, crawling the "proper" way, and eating semi-solid foods. She also now hates her car seat. I think she feels like she is "too big girl" to be facing the opposite way still, but she is still just too little to get a "big girl" car seat just yet. I know when she finally does it will be like a whole new adventure for her. I can't believe she will be a whole year old in less than 2 months...I need to start planning for her birthday party! As Emmalynn would say..."yikes!"

She loves her "Baby Mum-Mums"

Finally, some "real" shoes that fit

so so SO precious...but still she has a slightly ornery look in her big ol' eyes!

They say that "cathing up" is hard to do....

2009-07-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we are into the month of July...honestly, where did June go? Don't get me wrong...I'm glad summer is going by fast. I'm personally counting down the days until Fall, when we no longer have to bear this unbearable heat!!! I'm ready for the crisp breeze, pumpkin patches, and the changing of the leaves.
For the 4th of July we headed to Grand Lake to visit Aaron's mom and her special friend David. He has a BEAUTIFUL house that backs up to the lake. We went to eat good good and take a ride on his nice big boat. Although we didn't see any fireworks we could hear them, and that was good enough for all of us! We were all too pooped to care. While Ellie and Emmalynn were playing in the floor Ellie hit the corner of the rock fireplace. She screamed for awhile but then seemed to be fine. I thought it was odd that she had no mark on her face or bump on her head until my mom said "Does she have a black eye?" Sure enough...a bright black and blue shiner quickly appeared. Its so sad, it makes me feel like a neglecting mother but it doesn't seem to phase her. She even kind of looks "gangsta!"
Emmalynn and Ellie looked ADORABLE in their matching "Miss America" t-shirts.I love the expression on Ellie's face here.

Somehow...Ellie looks tan?

Family picture...the girls seem totally uninterested

We stayed the rest of the weekend with my mom and Ken. Sunday we did a lot of nothing because I got no sleep the night before thanks to Miss Ellie and Aaron and I both had lots of homework. Monday was Aaron's birthday and I went with him to ride around in the cart while he played golf. It was a really cool morning and we enjoyed the time alone. Monday afternoon we headed to Incredible Pizza to celebrate (this was Aaron's pick believe it or not) and then headed home. Tuesday we celebrated our 3 year anniversary and got to go to dinner alone (thanks to Aaron's boss and his sweet wife).

Ellie today sporting her black eye

Sittin up like a big girl

She is crawling like a seasoned pro now...

This weekend Aaron is in Chicago getting to fulfill one of his lifelong dreams of going to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. His friend that he used to work with here paid for his trip because he wanted to get to hang out with Aaron before he (his friend) deploys soon. All I can say is GO CUBS, KILL THOSE CARDINALS!!

Ways to BEAT THE HEAT

2009-06-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Lordy has it been hot! Summer is fun to me the first few weeks but I must admit I AM already ready for fall! You just can't do much when its this hot...hauling the girls in and out of their car seats and I'm already sweating like a pig! So unless you are at the pool or lake or some other form of WATER you won't catch me outside in this.
Emmalynn had her first swim lesson last Saturday but had to miss this week's because we were in Branson visiting my dad. She definitely has a fear of the water (which was reflected at her lesson) but did better by the end of the class and has especially improved over the week.

Here is Emmalynn waiting for her lesson to start...she thinks she's 13 (in her mind)
This weekend we went to Tablerock Lake in Branson with my dad. I was very nervous about how Emmalynn would do in the boat (noises seem to terrify her) but she did really good. By the time the day was over she had jumped off the back of the boat in the water and floated in the raft with daddy.

Emmalynn looking super cute in her lifejacket!

Floatin with daddy in the raft

Sweet little Ellie turned 9 months on Friday...I can't believe my baby will be a year old in 3 months! She is....
* sitting up now (took her a little longer than normal because she's so small)
* is trying her best to crawl (eventhough it may not be the "proper" way to crawl she gets around)
*loves to eat in her big girl high chair
*takes 2 good naps (a morning nap around 10 and then an afternoon nap around 3 or 4)
*is noticing "big people food" and tries to grab at it
*has one tooth that has poked through and is working on a few more
*loves to stand up and it wouldn't surpise us if she walks soon
*hates getting her diaper changed or clothes put on...anything that requires laying on her back
*tries very hard to talk...she says ba-ba and sometimes ma-ma...sometimes she just moves her mouth like she's talking and no sound comes out! ha
*she is the best baby ever...very easy going and peaceful...unless she's teething (like now)

On Father's Day Aaron went with my dad to play golf (his new hobby)
I just realized I took NO pictures of him with the girls Sunday...must do that soon!

Hope everyone had a good weekend and a great Father's Day, we did! Aaron is a great dad and we had much to be thankful for on Father's Day.

OHHHHH YESSS!!!!!!

2009-06-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

And while we're at it....

Summer Days

2009-06-08T06:39:00.001-07:00

This has been such a fun summer already! Emmalynn has been playing a lot in her little pool in the backyard or the "sprinkly" with daddy. We have also made several trips to the park which Emmalynn absolutely LOVES because she LOVES to slide!

Emmalynn in her little pool with her "big girl" swimsuit we picked out together

I think she was pouting because it was time to go inside

At the park with our Lifegroup.....isn't that just the sweetest face?!

Climbing with daddySliding down the BIG slide!

Ellie discovering grass for the first timeSUCH a precious smile!

Always SO HAPPY!!!!

We went to the community pool on Friday after Aaron got off work for just an hour because they close at 5 (early huh?). Emmalynn had SO much fun she cried when we left because she didn't want to leave! We are hopefully going to go with our friends today to the pool if all goes well.

Ellie hasn't quite acquired a liking for the cold pool water yet so she preferred to sit in the shade in her stroller and play with toys...she still looks cute in her swimsuit though!

Sunday we went to my grandpa's side of the family's reunion. It was SO hot and desert like! I hadn't been since I was probably oh...6 or so and didn't know a single soul but went because my grandpa pretty much begged/guilted me into going. I know he wanted to show off our little family so we endured! ha! Emmalynn had fun playing with her "big girl" cousins and Ellie was pretty miserably sleepy and sweaty.

Emmalynn rode a merry-go-round for the first time and loved it

A rare occasion: A family picture :o)

They had door prizes for the kids...the first ticket to be drawn was her cousin Christyn and then Emmalynn was second...since my grandpa was calling the tickets everyone thought that was a little "convenient!"

Ellie was content with Aunt Kayla and a Solo cup

A Short Novel

2009-05-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

It is quite sad that it has been almost a month since I last updated this silly blog! But really I feel like it has been a week because of how busy we have been. Since my last post we went to San Antonio for my brother's graduation from AIT as an Army Medic. We had SO much fun and needless to say I am SO proud of him for his decision to join and his accomplishments. Here are some pictures from San Antonio

This is Emmalynn watching a movie with headphones...gotta love those chipmunk cheeks!

Emmalynn and I in front of the Flamingos...she looks scared but she came around eventually and even fed the ducks

Ha! This is what Emmalynn did when she saw "Shamu" it was truly PRICELESS

All of the "Shamus" getting ready to start the show

At the Viva! show which was AMAZING and my favorite

During that show and throughout the day Ellie did a lot of this....I think the heat just wore her plum' out!

Emmalynn saw these "candy canes" and wanted her picture taken with them
And then dad wanted his picture taken with his little girl
Emmalynn's sweet face while intensely watching...

this show...which was pretty hilarious. That big Walrus in the middle did CRUNCHES...

The next day was Unka' B's graduation. I got up at 5:45 to get ready because where we were staying was an hour away from Ft. Sam Houston. Here is Brent getting his "diploma"

Sorry Blackburn, not the best picture, I know

On a completely different note...(I did say this was a novel) Emmalynn has now (FINALLY!) decided that she is ready to drive her Princess FJ Cruiser! Praise the Lord! I was beginning to think all that money went down to the drain and was starting to think what all I could have bought with that money! Here is the proof!

Future car model? As long as its for a Princess magazine I'll consent

She doesn't quite grasp the whole "steering" concept...Here she is about to run into me AND the fence!

This my friends, was a 2-for-1 day...both the Cruiser AND the Bike!
While Emmalynn was doing "all that" Ellie was patiently watching from the sidelines, as content as ever...she is so stinkin' cute!

Look at that...this girl already knows how to pose!

We have another busy weekend this weekend so I will post again soon! Also, today Miss Ellie Bug is 8 Months old! I can NOT believe it!

The 89ers Parade & Other Fun Events

2009-04-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Guthrie for the 89ers Parade downtown to see my grandpa who was in the parade. Emmalynn absolutely LOVED it! I was a little worried that she was be slightly afraid of all the noise and the large crowd. Instead she waved like Miss America to everyone in the parade, alternating between waving and clapping. It was so SO cute. I swear kids just make the ordinary so much more fun! After the parade we went to Aaron's grandparents (Papa & Meme) to have a cook out. It was so a fun FUN day but we were all definitely pooped when we got home!
Here are some pictures from the parade

Emmalynn excited about it starting!!

Little Miss Sunshine content no matter what!

Nana and Aaron...tired of waiting!

No matter where...always a "princess pose"

My little princess

And here are some pictures that I edited to print out from the parade and the rest of the day...

Took all of these pictures at Meme & Papa's house. Emmalynn LOVES it out there!

Over 7 months!

2009-04-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

Sweet Ellie Mae (as we call her) turned 7 months on Monday. How I love this sweet girl and her sweet cheecks. We have finally ventured into the world of baby food and she is loving it and can't get enough! We started out with sweet potatoes and bananas and now she is also eating applesauce, carrots, and squash! She also loves when she gets little sips of apple juice now and then...I'm sure its a nice break from formula! Her favorite thing to do is sit in her swing and try oh so hard so eat the rings w/toys on the lap tray while watching "Curious Buddies, Exploring at the Beach." For some reason that sounds kind of not so nice after I type it but it is similar to Baby Einsteins with puppets and music...etc. She gets a huge smile on her face when the song comes on and even laughs when we sing it to her! She also loves chewing on anything...especially her crunchy book and her duckie she got for Easter that has feather like hair that resembles hers. She is SO SO precious...more than words can describe. She is always pleasant and content and so easy going. We are truly blessed to have in our lives...ALL of us!

The first time she ate it "all gone"

Playing on her tum tum with her very special duckie friend

This is what she looks like almost all the time
We sure do love you sweet little bugsy and can't wait for your Unka B to see how much of a big girl you are now!

Another Birthday Weekend

2009-04-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we headed down to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Ada to celebrate my grandpa's 70th birthday! Emmalynn always have such a great time playing with my cousins Destiny and Christyn...she thinks they are really "big stuff" since they are older girls. AND I love going there because HELLO...can we say free babysitter?! Thanks girls! Here are some pictures (we took a TON)!

Little Cowgirl Ellie

Probably the closes thing Aaron will ever have to a little boy!

She loved playing outside...if if it was a little chilly/windy to me

His cake

All his gifts
Emmalynn waiting patiently...

Getting a kick out of his "faceinhole" pics

The birthday boy

Nanny & Papa

All the grandkids...minus Brent :o(

The entire family....minus Brent

Emmalynn in Heaven with the Big Girls!

Easter Sunday Part 2

2009-04-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of the girls...and us too in our Easter Attire :o) The girls looked pretty much Heavenly...if I do say so myself! And I guess Aaron too....? ha

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

I love Easter Sunday, it is always a reminder of the sacrifice our Saviour made. He was blameless, innocent; He lived a perfect life. Yet he suffered extreme humuilation, physical torture that was beyond belief, and felt all the sin of the world upon Him so much that he became sin which made His Father have to turn his back on Him. Can you imagine....being perfect, never sinning in your entire life and then having to feel ALL the sin of the world upon you at once? And then on top of that having your Father turn his back on you because it was more than He could stand to see? I can't, We can't....I don't think we ever will. Jesus did all of that because he loves us, because He wants whats best for us. It is truly amazing.
I found this video on another blog I read...The movie "Passion of the Christ" in my opinion is something that should be watched once a year, or at least enough to remind us of what Jesus went through for our Salvation. My favorite part of the movie are the clips that shows Jesus interacting with his mother. It makes me feel closer to Jesus to know that he was part of a family just like I am. That he loved them and had fun with them...made memories with them just like a regular person. As a mother I can not imagine how hard it must have been for Mary to see her baby grow up in such wisdom and perfection, performing miracles....knowing he was here on Earth to save the World...and then watch him suffer so greatly.
This is a beautiful song that reflects God's desire for us to have a personal relationship with Him....something that is unlike any other religion in the entire world. Enjoy.

Let the little children come...

2009-04-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Emmalynn is beginning to show a great interest in stories about Jesus, especially since they are learning about why we celebrate Easter at church. I have been trying to teach her a different memory verse every 2 weeks because I think it is important to instill a love for God's Word even at a young age. I am amazed at not only how well she is memorizing them but how well she remembers the ones from past weeks as well. Here's the proof....
http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share.do?invite=yEnr2YhfkhhJha3Y7Q00&shareName=MMS&messageState=RETRIEVED

The Princess' Party

2009-04-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Princess Emmalynn's Princess party. We had such a good time with everyone that came and especially appreciate that almost everyone that DID come drove quite a ways to get here. Here is a look at Emmalynn last year at her 2nd Birthday Party

And this year at her 3rd Birthday Party...

All the kids at the table (all cousins!)

Opening her presents...

She loved ALL of her presents and I can honestly say she has played with them equally....except the 2 big ones. My dad bought her a bike (which she wanted and even rode at Wal-Mart) now she won't get on the thing

And then the REALLY big one...We (Aaron and I) my mom, and grandma (MeMe) all put our money together to get her this...which she was super excited about until she heard the noise it makes when you actually push the pedal down. She would not even sit in it....so her cousin Aiva just showed everyone how it works!

Blowing out her candle on her Princess Crown birthday cake

I sure do love my princess....and a princess she really is. She is so beautiful and sweet...just like every princess should be!

Happy Birthday Sweet Princess

2009-03-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday our princess turned 3 years old. My oh my...how time flies. I kept telling her "I'm gonna be sad when you turn three" and she would say "oh mom, you're gonna be fine." I'm glad she is taking the role of mother now and calming me in my time of need! I was going to write her a letter and put it on here but I think I'll keep that private...and it would probably bore ya'll because it would be more like a novel.
Since Emmalynn's party got moved to NEXT Saturday, we still tried to celebrate her REAL birthday. I wanted to decorate the house the night before her birthday because I remember my mom always doing that for my brother and I. We would wake up on our birthday and there would be little signs and posters all over the house with various "cutesy" sayings. So, I decided I would try to have a sign with each of the princesses. Our desktop is friend and I couldn't get the printer to work so I had to color pictures out of her coloring book (at midnight mind you). Aaron decorated the living room/kitchen with streamers and balloons. When the princess woke up on her birthday she said "Oh mom, everything looks beautiful." It was all worth it for just that phrase. I called Aaron when she woke up so he could come home and see her open her little present we got her (she'll get her big one at her party). We asked her where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner and she said Ma-Donalds or Chick-way. We decided Chick-fil-a was the better choice of the two. After we ate there we went and got her a little cake so she could blow out her candles. She had a great day and I can't wait for her party!
Here are some pictures of her decorations

Her opening her presents from Aunt Aimee and Sweet Ruby

And the Singing Diamond Castle Barbie (Yes, it is slowly taking away what little bit of sanity I had left!)

Chick-fil-a
Could she really be any more precious??

She got embarrassed when we sang "Happy Birthday"

6 Months Already...

2009-03-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Miss Ellie Bug had her "half birthday," yup-she's already 6 months old. I can NOT believe it. Not only can I not only believe that she is already 6 months but I REALLY can not believe that I will have a 3 year old on Tuesday. WHERE DOES THE TIME GO? We have already made so many great memories with Ellie and she is already such a HUGE part of our family...I can't wait to see what the next 6 months brings. Last night we had a little photo shoot...I made a slide show of my favorites...