Relax Shmalax!

Our next Christmas adventure (and I definitely use the word adventure!) was to the Gaylord Texan. We didn't go to see Ice, although, it would have been fun, we just went to check out all the Christmas-ness :)

Ok, pause, let me just say how I always get real excited to do something and have it planned out how its just going to be perfect and everyone is going to be happy and take as many pictures as I want and they are all going to look great and not a single thing is going to mess up our great fun!!
Now, let me say, I don't know why I do that?! Never fails.. its not perfect, my child is throwing fits because she wants down then she wants me to carry her then she wants down, her and her just as excited cousin do not want to take a single picture where they look half way decent together, the place is too crowded, everyone is tired.

Ready for pics!?!?

This actually was when we first walked in, so everyone was still in good moods! Collin loves trains and he kept coming back to check it out. A really good picture of him actually :)
Now isn't this such a nice picture of Sarah and Collin??
Sure would be nice if I had the same...

Don't ya just love those smiles? :)
Checking out all the gingerbread men.
oh ya know, eating the displays.
THIS is what I was working with about 99% of the time.
Before:
After: She won my love back with this one ;)
Slightly scary..
And, another good one for Sarah! Humph.
But don't think Collin won Child of the Year.. oh no, they were many a fits coming from him as well. At least he still put forth some good picture efforts! :)

That was one exhausting trip. But hey, umm... ok, so maybe there's not really a silver lining to this one. ;)


On a completely separate note... Aubrey has double ear infections! BOO! Exactly one week from her birthday too. Hopefully the meds will do the trick quickly!

And, my worst fear has been made reality. My camera has bit the dust. Well, pretty sure of it, gotta take it to the store to see if they can miraculously get it to turn back on... after a certain little girl chunked it to me and it fell to its death on the wood floors.
I was not a happy momma.
I'd say she learned her lesson, but who am I kidding?!
Sooo.. if anyone wants to make a contribution to the I Need A New Camera Fund, I'll let ya ;)

Oh, and just to make things more fun, I decided to texture and paint the kitchen! You know, the week of Aubrey's party and right before Christmas, no biggie! Really though, all I have left to do is paint! So that's good, considering I'm doing this alone. Lame sisters.

Well, I think that about sums everything up?? Not sure when there will be more pictures?! I probably need to make friends with Santa real fast!! :)

Hope everyone has their chaos under control!! :)

Christmas in the Park

Yikes! I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving! Sorry bout that.. been a little busy round here! School is finally over, so I feel like I can breath a little more now. Though, now I have been trying to fit in some Christmas shopping and BIRTHDAY shopping!! My baby girl is going to be two in a mere 9 days! :( Actually, I'm pretty excited about her being two, it just seems like its going to be a, dare I say, fun year! Terrible Two's ain't got nothin' on us! HA! Maybe that's because she's been practicing since she was about 18 months! Just kidding... kinda. ;)
I am looking forward to her party though. Going to be lot more low key than last year!
Which equals less stress.
Which equals a happy momma! :)

Getting to the title of this post...
Last weekend, we went to Christmas in the Park here in town. I haven't been in years, but was excited to do something Christmas-y with Aubrey. They have changed it up so much since I last went! It was nice though. I think Aubrey liked all the lights, surprisingly since she doesn't really show much interest in house lights. She's terrified of snowmen, so wasn't a fan when 'ol Frosty came around! Crazy kid. It was also wayyy cold, so she was bundled up pretty good... which is not her most attractive look! You'll see... :)

(you'll also notice, a certain someone was not in the picture taking mood. of coure.)

Something fun we did, pony ride! She has a little rocking horse at home, which she loves!, so I thought this would be great.. or horrible. Well, started off a little rocky, but she quickly warmed up! Collin enjoying the ride :)starting to like it.. Yay! A decent pic! :)petting the "horsey" :)lovely. Checking out the little treeslove this pic!behind the scenes!The End.
Our next Christmas adventure coming soon!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I just love the time of year, all the yummy food and being around the family, and of course remembering all your thankful for :)

I am soooo thankful for this little girl, in her crazy-every-pattern outfit going to the store with Papa.
Yep, she went in public like this.
On Thanksgiving. :)Thanksgiving was done a little different this year. And by a little, I mean completely. My mom has been sick for a couple of weeks now, not really sure what's going on, supposedly some virus? So, on Wednesday mom decides she's just not going to be up to making all the food and all that, and plus she isn't really eating. So instead of just doing dinner with my dad, we do lunch and Sarah cooks for us all at her house. And, it actually came out good!
As long as I get my sweet potatoes, I'm good! :)

Collin and Aubrey starting to dig in.

I don't think she's too sure... G-Daddy & AubreyPlaying a little football, of course ;)Emmy & CollinSince we didn't start lunch till about 1:30, which was already an hour past naptime..
by the time 3:00 hit, Little Miss was done.

Approximately 3 minutes into the car ride home.

While Aubrey took a nap with Grandma, us sisters hit the town shopping! Got a couple deals at Old Navy and then they did a little scouting at Wal-Mart. Sarah and Emily went back at midnight, I did not.
We also went to a dollar movie :)

It was a great day of relaxing and nothing that had to be done, my favorite.

And, this whole weekend has been nice! Back to the grind in the morning though.. boo.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and break!! :)

sweet love

Just want to share some pictures of my little sweetie-petey, who was in such a photogenic mood! Love it when that happens.

Her favorite thing lately is to gather up all her "babies", blankets and pillows, and climb up into the rocker. She'll just hold them and rock them, and it really is just so cute :)



Her crazy smile.
Can't really tell from the front, but, I straightened her hair! I was curious to see how long it would be straight, which it definitely did add some length.. but, I for sure like it better curly. :)

Within about 2 hours it had already started to curl back up. By morning, all curls.
So much for that. :)
That's all I got.

Fall-la-la-la.. Fall is oficially here!

Yayayay! My favorite time of year is finally here: cool weather, "winter" clothes, holidays, pretty colors, and of course- pumpkin!! I do love me some good pumpkin.. anything! Yum :)
Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday (good food, lazy day with the fam, and the ever contemplating of Black Friday shopping.. which is usually a no for me!) I really just can't believe we're already 9 days into November! Seriously?! Wow..
Which means Christmas is right around the corner. I think I have about 2 stocking stuffers for Aubrey. I should probably get a move on things.. yikes! And, if Christmas is coming, that means Aubrey's birthday is too!! Have absolutely nothing ready for that.. except a bunch of ideas that I need to make come to life. Pretty sure the next month is going to FLY by. Yep. I'm about to have a 2 year old.
Sigh.
(I secretly am excited about her turning 2. She's so fun.) :)

These pics were taken the other day. She just looked so darn comfy and was in such a sweet mood. She loves her baby. Baby goes everywhere with us. Every so often I look at Aubrey and it hits me she's changing again. Just all of a sudden she just looks different. Dare I say.. older..?? laughing at who-knows-what?? She was so slap-happy! Tickling me.. so daintily. :) If anyone noticed, yes, that is an over-sized Old Navy 4th of July shirt. I knew it would be a great comfy shirt for her. And, it was .23 cents. Yep, less than a stinkin quarter!! I told the cashier that I'm pretty sure that was the cheapest thing I have ever bought. Craziness. Nothin' but the best for my baby! Haha!! :)

I feel sorry for her future husband ;)
And, that black thing by her head.. her cell phone. Can't miss those important calls ya know!
In other news, I'm going to be crippled by age 30.
Yes, apparently my spine is degenerating and I need to seek immediate help. That will take 8 months and cost over $2,000. So says the chiropractor I've seen a couple of times now.
Let me preface all this.. roughly 4 weeks ago my lower back started hurting. Some days more than others, nothing I couldn't handle, just kinda annoying. Well, fast forward to my birthday, it was really starting to hurt! I could hardly carry Aubrey. On Wednesday, I was barely moving faster than a snail. All movements were torture. So, called this place I'd been hearing on the radio (Christian station mind you), they get me and and take some x-rays. I go back the next day for an adjustment.. then go back again Saturday for them to go over my x-rays and do another adjustment. That's a lot of appts. already! Well, I will say, everything the Dr. said did make sense, and I don't doubt his knowledge or really even his method, so.. basically you're supposed to have different curves throughout your spine.. well, my neck has almost no curve and neither does my lower back. That apparently is a problem. So, since the nerves in my neck are being bothered, those nerves are not being able to properly signal the rest of my spine.. therefore back pain. Or something like that. :) In order to correct this and get a curve back, I will have to go 3xweek for 12 weeks, 2xwk for 12 weeks then 1xwk for 8 weeks. Plus, $2,200.
Now, I know everyone is freaking and saying "SCAM!", maybe so, but, I have done a little research and I have read everything he said. So.. this could actually be a true. BUT, I don't have $2,200 or all that time!! I plan on getting a second opinion, and really, just need a quick fix. I have some questions that I still need answered, so.. ?!?
To sum all that up, my back hurts and it sucks!!

Here is the x-ray of my neck.


And, here are some x-rays I found online. The one on the left is 1 degree off from my neck. The one on the right is how your neck is supposed to look.
There is an x-ray of my back, but, its a lot harder to see. So, since my neck is screwed up that affects my lower back.
If anyone out there has had any issues like this, please let me know!! Thanks :)

By the way, you should see me try and discipline Aubrey. I slowly stand up, get over to her with no quick or sudden movements, slowly lower my self to get to her level. Forget bending over to pick her up from one of her fits.
You know she's scared. ;)

Peace.