Easter 2010

Filed Under Church, Easter, Family, Holidays, One Month- Taylor, Sick, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

I will admit that going into Easter this year, it was hard for me to stay focused on the real reason we celebrate Easter. It’s so easy to get excited about the egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, kids dressing up for church, opening their baskets, etc. I didn’t have this problem before I had children. But sometimes, I get more excited about my kids than about God. I admitted it. I was hoping for a touching, joyful Easter service at church to help me keep my heart in the right place. But we arrived about ten minutes late, and then got paged to pick Bailey up from the nursery after about 20 minutes.

She felt warm and just kept asking me to hold her. She looked miserable, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. We carried her to bed and she slept for about an hour, My parents insisted that they still wanted to come over so once she woke up, the whole family came over. Which was especially awesome when she ended up puking after lunch. They made a quick exit. We got a few pictures before church though:

Here are a few after the family came over…

And here you can tell she’s really starting to not feel good-

My parents let me bring Taylor over to their house and hang out the rest of the day/evening so that hopefully he wouldn’t get sick. It worked! Plus the coolest thing- my parents have a big jacuzzi tub and my mom was like “bring your bath stuff and I’ll watch Taylor while you relax” so I got to read for an hour in the bath. I haven’t relaxed like that since before he was born. Just a few shots of my mom with him

Leftover Christmas Pics

Filed Under Christmas, Family, Gifts, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

Just realized that I STILL haven’t finished posting pictures from Christmas at my mom’s house. Here they are, if you want to see them enlarged you can click on the pictures.

Puckin Patch

Filed Under Family, Outings, Two and a half years old | 2 Comments

Last weekend we went to the Pumpkin Patch… or as Bailey says, “the puckin patch.” We thought it was going to be chilly but it ended up being sunny and a really nice day. There was so much to do. She was SO excited!!

She wanted to explore all the dark hay bale mazes and I was wishing I brought a flashlight. She did the tire swings and big slide over and over with Daddy. I tried to get her to wear her sunglasses so she won’t need wrinkle cream when she gets older…

She rode on the little tractor-

Just like last year! Remember this?

There were tons of great photo opportunities. She didn’t want to sit still for too long, though!

We rode on a hayride through the fields and saw the different crops. I tried to explain that we were on a farm and the farmers were growing vegetables.

We shared a funnel cake (well, I think Jonathon and Bailey might have gotten a few bites anyway) and barbecue beef brisket sandwiches and lemonade.

Bailey got to choose her own pumpkin and then insisted on pulling it all the way to the car all. by. herself. in the wagon. Which took quite a while.

But she was in a great mood all day, and we really had a nice time. The bigger she gets, the more Jonathon sees that it is actually fun to go do activities as a family. It’s much easier to convince him now than it used to be.

Father’s Day, a little late

Filed Under Daddy, Family, Holidays, Two Years Old | Leave a Comment

I realize I am a little behind on posting. I’m still getting caught up from my week without WordPress (Thanks, Jonathon!) and from being so busy with my Avon cruise sale! Something that I mean to say to Jonathon a few weeks ago… and I might have, but it needs to be on my blog too- Thank you for being the best father to Bailey that I could possibly imagine. Thank you for playing with her for hours, and being silly with her, and teaching her, and loving her. There is no one in the world that I would rather have a family with. And I am so thankful for my Dad and Grandpa, too!

And of course it wouldn’t be a post without sharing some pictures…

My dad, Jonathon, and my grandpa- a.k.a. Papa

Daddy gets hugs from his girl

Update on my mom

Filed Under Family, Sick | 4 Comments

She is staying today/tonight again. They are wanting to run more tests today. She is having a CT scan in a little while but I’m not sure what else. They are concerned because she passed out yesterday- which she and I both think was because of lack of food/water but I guess they have to check into it anyway. So pray that nothing else is going on. She said she is feeling much better this morning.

We are still not going to visit, she has asked that we don’t come. She is really worried about Bailey being exposed to all the sick germs where she is, and she just wants to sleep anyway. So my dad is going to go by and see her after work today.

It’s pneumonia

Filed Under Family, Prayers, Sick | 4 Comments

They admitted her and she’s staying overnight tonight. And I guess it is considered “higher risk” because she has asthma…

My Mom

Filed Under Family, Prayers | 4 Comments

She went to the hospital today after feeling crappy for about three days. Well, that’s kind of an understatement, she passed out this morning while trying to get out of bed. She has also been dizzy and throwing up etc. She is really sick and her doctor won’t work her in. It’s the worst practice ever, I tried going there and they were annoying about every little thing. Anyway she is there with my dad right now and hopefully they can figure out what’s wrong with her and get it fixed! Say a little prayer for her, please.

Wordless Wednesday- My Birthday

Filed Under Birthdays, Family, Seventeen Months | 5 Comments

Since we have had these pictures in our camera for a few weeks now I thought I would share! These are from my birthday celebration with my family.

Family Drama

Filed Under Complaining, Family | 3 Comments

I have an aunt (mom’s sister) and uncle who live in Atlanta. They have quite a bit more money than anyone else in our family- okay or than anyone else we know, really. I hate to talk bad about family but sometimes it has to be done. My aunt seems to have forgotten where she came from. My grandpa was born in the country. My grandparents never had a ton of money. Always enough to pay bills, but nothing fancy. My grandpa worked very hard for everything they had. My aunt, however, seems to be embarrassed of them. I know they can be a little ridiculous sometimes… but my opinion is that friends should understand that you can’t control your family. It’s not like they are rude or anything, just that they don’t have the fanciest social skills.

So moving on to say this: My aunt and uncle come to town regularly to visit. They say that they are coming to visit “everyone” yet they stay with my uncle’s mom for the entire visit. They eat with her, shop with her, etc. They stay in town for anywhere from 3-7 nights and usually go to my grandparents house once or twice  for the afternoon and then take them out to dinner once. So they spend about six or so hours together during a whole week. I don’t think my grandparents are wrong to be upset over this. They get really hurt that my aunt (their daughter) and uncle basically schedule time to hang out with them.

We are having everyone over tonight for dinner. Dinner… you would think 6 or 6:30, right? Well they have informed us that they will not be able to get here any earlier than 7 because they made some other plans. You know, they are only in town for a week and have a lot to do. But don’t worry, because they can stay until 8 or 9. I’m so glad they penciled us in. And did I mention, this is the only time my mom will be seeing her sister during their entire visit?

When we see them, they talk a lot about their gourmet meals that she cooks, and their third car which I guess is a BMW and I know they already have a Jag and a Porsche… so it’s not so much that they are bragging but more like they just go on and on and on about this stuff. Like my aunt complains how my uncle doesn’t want her to drive the Porsche to the mall because of the parking  yadda yadda. They talk about how they don’t do all-inclusive trips because the restaurants usually aren’t very nice. It’s like they forget that they are talking to family and they are trying to impress us. When we would all rather just have a pleasant visit. My mom says sometimes she is amazed that they are sisters and started out the same.

Bailey’s Birthday Party

Filed Under Bailey's Birthday, Family, Food, Friends, Gifts, Grandparents, Twelve Months | 3 Comments

I guess it is time that I post pictures from Bailey’s party. I really feel okay about it. We had a good turnout with lots of friends there. The food was decent (just stuff I put together like a fruit bowl, veggie tray, watergate salad, chips and dip, etc). Her cake turned out cute even though she wouldn’t eat it. There weren’t any disasters, just a clingy, teething baby.

Bailey with my mom and our neighbor Jeannette

Friends Amy and Kaitlynn

Opening presents

See the little flower thing she has in her hand? She’s obsessed with it and takes it everywhere with her. That and the wand for the bubbles that Kelli gave her.

Bailey loves balloons. She has started trying to say “balloon.” She points to them and says “Buv!”

Sharing her toys with AJ, my friend Jen‘s little boy

With my college roommate, Sarah

Birthday cake

We stripped her down to her diaper just in case she decided to eat her cake…

But she didn’t! She wanted nothing to do with it and cried until I got her out of her high chair.

Here she’s signing that she wants out

She’s glad all that nonsense is over so she can sit by herself and play her xylophone!

Happy birthday, sweetheart. We’ll try the cake again someday. If you’re anything like your mama, you will love cake with buttercream icing!

The Wedding- last weekend

Filed Under Eleven Months, Family, Travel, Weddings | 3 Comments

Here are some pictures from the wedding we went to in Nashville last weekend. The drive was about six hours, so it was much better than the drive to Oklahoma but it still had its moments. Thankfully, on the way home Bailey slept most of the way, except for maybe an hour or so.

When we got into Nashville we went straight to the rehearsal dinner, which was at Buca di Beppo (which I guess is a chain of Italian restaurants but I hadn’t heard of it before). The food was all served family style so that was kind of fun. We sat at a table with Jonathon’s parents and his Aunt Grace and Uncle Marvin. We had a nice time at the dinner and then afterwards we went to the church for the rehearsal. I had never been to a rehearsal where the dinner was before the church part. But Bailey had a great time running up and down the aisles as fast as possible. They slanted downward toward the front of the church so she would get going faster and faster and then crash. She also liked chasing after the two flower girls, who were amused by her at first and then I think they got annoyed.

Saturday morning, Jonathon drove me around Nashville to show me where he used to work and live and stuff like that. We let Bailey take her morning nap in the car since we weren’t sure how it would work at the hotel. Also we found Cadbury eggs on clearance for 12 cents each at Walgreens! Then we went back and got ready for the wedding (and I had to iron all our clothes!) and headed to the church. It was raining and the parking lot was so full by the time we got there, so Jonathon dropped us off and then met us inside later. Bailey made it through the wedding long enough to see the bride come in and then for about three minutes after that. I spent the rest of the time wandering the church with her and then I found the nursery and took her in there to play.

The reception was at the church right after the ceremony. It was really the first “cake and punch” reception I had ever been to. They had all kinds of hors d’oeuvres and desserts and stuff too. Here are some pictures of the bride and groom, and then everyone at our table (Jonathon’s parents, aunt, uncle, cousins).

Once again, Bailey had a great time running around. She helped rearrange some chairs and also tried to get everyone’s attention. She got lots of compliments. She was a very good baby all day and I was so impressed. Especially since she completely missed her afternoon nap!

That night met up in the groom’s parents hotel room for leftovers (from the rehearsal dinner) and to visit with Jonathon’s family. They are all so normal, except for his parents. They really sat there and didn’t say much the whole time. I wonder if they feel like they don’t fit in, or if they just don’t have anything to say. Sunday morning we were going to spend more time at Opryland but we were just kind of anxious to get on the road and get home. Plus we thought that way Bailey would take her morning nap in the car instead of at The Grand Ole Opry!

Easter, long overdue

Filed Under Eleven Months, Family, Holidays | 5 Comments

I figured I should get around to posting all the pictures of Easter and writing about it before I post the new pictures from the wedding this weekend. So here it is…

We got Bailey’s Easter basket ready the night before, so that it would be there when she woke up… but then we decided not to give it to her before church when we were rushed. Also I was yelling at Jonathon at the moment, so it was better to wait. But here was her basket, before she dug into it:

Obviously she can’t do candy or little toys yet, but I knew the Puffs would be just as good. The animal crackers were something new, and the eggs were an idea that I got at Parents as Teachers. We I put different items in each egg to make
shakers, and then hot glued them shut.

Easter was a weird day, weather-wise. It was actually snowing, big fat snowflakes, off and on during the day. So Bailey did not get to wear her sandals that I had searched the entire world for In fact the dress we had for her to wear, was sleeveless and seersucker, so she had to wear tights and a sweater with it. There was not a chance of going outside for an egg hunt, but we weren’t really planning on doing one anyway.

We got ready in the morning and went to church for Easter service. I tried to get a few pictures of Bailey in her dress, but she was not cooperating. My mom held her while I took some, but I still didn’t get any great ones. She does not seem to want to look at the camera anymore, and she tries to run away. She’s just too busy. I just liked this first picture because you can see her sparkly shoes.

Here she is in the nursery; another attempt at taking a good Easter picture.

After church, we went home and Bailey took a nap, while Jonathon and I finished getting things ready for the big meal over here. I got a ham at Honeybaked Ham and it was really good! Although I have to say that for $35 for a mini ham, I should not have had to pick a speck of fat off. Those things are overpriced for what you get, I think. When she woke up from nap, we let her open her basket before everyone arrived. I know they wanted to watch, but I figured it would just get too crazy and then she wouldn’t care about it. You can see what she grabbed for first…

I just love the look on her face here…

Here is Bailey with my parents. They gave her a sparkly Easter egg with money for a Grant’s Farm season pass in it. We love Grant’s Farm and can’t wait until it opens in April!

And doing what we do, sitting around and watching Bailey…

And just because this is one of the least icky pictures I’ve seen of myself lately, I thought I’d share

Belated Christmas Pics

Filed Under Eight Months, Family, Gifts, Grandparents, Holidays | 2 Comments

Here are our pictures from Christmas in Oklahoma City with Jonathon’s parents. They are pretty blurry because they were taken with our video camera (so no flash) because we (I) forgot the memory card for our digital camera. I tend to do that. So here are the memories from the horrible week. Apparently we ONLY took pictures on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I guess we didn’t even want to remember anything else. LOL

Taking a bath in Grandma’s sink on Christmas Eve. Let me tell you we had to seriously scrub that sink before putting her in it. Their kitchen makes me want to vomit.


Checking out what Santa brought- Christmas morning- this was her first gift (from Mom and Dad obviously).



Yay, Mommy!

Opening our presents on Christmas Day




Stopping to check out the Christmas tree

Opening more Christmas presents


We spent Christmas afternoon/evening with Jonathon’s cousins and aunts and uncles. They are all much more normal than his parents. In fact his parents are really the only weirdos in the family. I don’t quite understand. Anyway here is Bailey’s cousin Grace and great uncle Marvin.

Bailey with cousin Isaac, who was one in November.

Bailey’s First Christmas

Filed Under Eight Months, Family, Gifts, Grandparents, Holidays | 7 Comments

Here is a whole slew of pictures from Christmas today at my parents house. Bailey got a ton of stuff. Well, we all did! I got a really cool keychain that you can load up to 60 digital photos into and it has like a two inch screen to view them. Perfect for showing off new pictures of my Bug I also got a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure and some new OPI polish in dark colors! I had been wanting that. Bailey got a ride on lion. That and her Fridge Farm were probably her favorites.

My big gift to Jonathon was a new hard drive… how terribly exciting. But it was a good surprise for him because he had been bugging me for one and didn’t think he would get it because I said that was a boring Christmas present.

It was a very long day. I think everyone had a good time. My dad and grandpa got into a little tiff at the end of the day but overall, there wasn’t any major bickering or anything which is kind of rare with my family! Anyway, here are a bunch of the pictures in no particular order. I am tired and this is the best I can do.

It’s been a while

Filed Under Family, Seven Months | 4 Comments

I just realized I have some new pictures on my computer that I haven’t posted yet. And Bailey is taking a long morning nap, so I have a few minutes to get that done right now. She doesn’t give me much of a break when she’s awake, now that she’s mobile AND teething!

She still likes her exersaucer. Only I have noticed that she won’t stay in it as longas before. Before she could do well over a half hour. Now we are lucky to get about 15 minutes, I think. She is just obsessed with crawling. And now, she pulls up on stuff too. Look out, world.


How cute are these? Mutha brought them back from China for Bailey.

Wrapping Christmas presents with my little helper.


She looks way too grown up No more khakis until she’s at least ten. LOL

These were taken on Friday, when I watched Alison. Bailey and Alison really seem to like each other. They can just look at each other and laugh nonstop. It’s great. They were kind of distracted in these pictures because we were getting ready to go somewhere and I suddenly remembered I had my camera with me.


Bailey and her (Great) Aunt Donna

Bailey with Aunt Donna and Grammy

She’s trying to figure out the handles on her new sippy cup. It takes a lot of concentration.


Checking out the Christmas tree at my parents house