Kickin' it with Katie & Carmen

Saturday was full of family fun and thank goodness for that...otherwise I think Hallie and I would've gone a little stir crazy indoors by ourselves all day. Riley left the nest around 5:30 that morning to kick of rifle season. He hadn't had any luck with bow season these past few weekends and was ready to get him a nice big one! Hal and I decided to fill our day with the exact opposite of hunting....SHOPPING!!! My intent was to cross some people off of my Christmas list but that never really happened. I'll start from the beginning....

We spent our morning eating, playing and reading. I started a nice big crock pot full of chicken and dumplings for lunch. Nanny gave us an invitation to join her, Katie and Carmen for some shopping so of course we said "YES!!" After we parted ways with the girls Hal and I came back home so that she could get a power nap in. After she woke up we skipped on over to Aunt Katie's house for some cousin time. The girls are slowly but surely becoming friends. Carmen smiles at everything Hallie does and Hal...well, she is coming around. She has even starting giving Carmen pats on the head to show her that she cares.....

"Hey cuz, was wondering if you might want to get up and play?"

"Somebody needs to tell that tall baby that I'm only three months old!!!"

Hal got the message and settled for some time on the floor with her cousin...

"So what do we do now?"

We finally came to a nice medium between standing up and lying down.......

"Look ma, she's sitting with no hands!!"

Us girls went out back to check out Luke's deer he had shot that morning. Hallie wanted nothing to do with the thing as she walked passed its carcass hanging upside down. I figured she'd barrel straight for it and grab it by the horns. We had to even out all of the testosterone in Luke's shop by doing a little more shopping. While Hal and I were on the second of our Walmart trips yesterday we ran into Aunt Deedee. Her and Hal had a blast playing in the aisles and removing plenty from the shelves. That toot kept us laughing! We went home to get some baking done and got a call from Katie inviting us over for some Mexican food. Yes please!!!! We spent the evening at Katie and Luke's watching the girls and laughing non-stop. Despite it being bedtime Hal was surprisingly content and happy-go-lucky. That meant Carmen continued to get plenty of nice pats on the head.....

Bumbo time was a must. No, I really mean a must. She would not stop sitting in this thing.....

Carmen showed Hal how floor time was done after the big people finished eating....

"So ya see Hal, you just kinda lay here and grab for things. It's pretty fun."

A day without plans turned into a day of fun with a couple of our favorite girls. For that we are thankful!

Oh Deer!

Can anyone tell me when spa season starts???? Oh wait, you are telling me that there isn't a long period of time where women everywhere can leave the house at the crack of dawn and stay gone all day long because "it's spa season"??? It doesn't exist??? Darn it! Wouldn't that be spectular is women could tell their husbands "but babe, this week is massage season and next week starts facial season....so I've got to go now while it lasts." And what if you could buy a new fall/winter wardrobe equivalent to the amount they spend on their hunting wardrobe?? Oh wouldn't that be grand! For as long as I live, til I'm old and gray, I will never understand the appeal of hunting. You won't ever catch me out in a deer stand or one of those huts covered in camo waiting for a big ten pointer to make his way in front of my rifle. Heck, I would never own a rifle let alone shoot it. I guess you could call me a pansy when it comes down to it. Guns scare the living bejeesus out of me! But in the proper hands I guess it can result in a nice morning out of the farm......

Riley's 8 point buck

Obviously my hunting terminology is a little rough so bare with me. Let's see here....what does one need to be a good hunter/huntress?? Well it appears you need patience, the ability to be quiet and good accuracy. That counts me out!! But I can be a good cheerleader after the being quiet rule is over. And I can sure as heck be a good deer photographer......

I told him to "stop squinting!" and this is what I got. ;)

Miss pretty pretty princess got her first exposure to the hunting life this weekend. She avoided Uncle Luke's deer hanging from the ceiling yesterday as she waltzed right by it. Today she had no choice but to get up close and personal with Bambi's daddy. Riley was thrilled to nab his buck for the season early Sunday morning. He couldn't wait for us to get out of church so that he could show off this big guy.....

"You stickin' your tongue out at me deer?!"

Hallie wanted nothing to do with the creature sitting next to her for a couple minutes. That is until she got ahold of his ear and found out that it was nice and floppy....

"Can we take him inside dad?"

"It's a mounter for sure!!!"

I guess in the end it was all worth it.....all of the early mornings, late nights, not seeing Riley very much on the weekends, answering the age old question "does this have my scent on it?" about a million times, seeing the disappointment on his face when he came home with no deer and constantly having to hear "but babe, it's hunting season".....all worth it to have a happy man's man who shot himself a deer.

But the hunting isn't done yet...he still has Bambi's momma to hunt down. And as I type this he is on his way to the taxidermist to drop off big daddy's head. The best part is that he now has another office at work to fill with deer heads! Which means my living room wall might just end up deer head free!!

Stay tuned...I'm sure in several years Hallie will be toting her pink rifle to the woods with her daddy.....

Oh deer!!!!

Date with McDreamy

Pretty outfit. Stylish shoes. The perfect hairbow to match. Freshly washed and shiny hair. This could only mean one thing.....Tuesday was Hallie's 15 month check-up with our favorite pediatrician, Dr. McDreamy. That guy always leaves Hallie feeling confused, slightly verbally abused but keeps her giggling and flashing some flirty grins. I'll elaborate on that a little later but first I must start from the beginning.....

I must mention how stinking cute she was looking in her little Gap sweater and dance shirt from cousins Justin and TeNeil. We topped it off with her divalicious pink and diamond bow from Aunt Alta. And you can't forget her baby pink Toms that get at least ten comments every time she wears them around. Today was no exception. Dr. McDreamy's words were "wow, are those baby Toms? You aren't spoiled at all, are ya girl? But hey, at least another little baby now gets a free pair of shoes somewhere in another country." I informed him that I didn't do the spoiling and it was all Aunt Ky's doings. :)

But before she got to lay eyes on her much older crush we had to wait a whole two minutes in the waiting room. I've got say that it's almost worth driving the 2 1/2 hours to McDreamy instead of waiting an hour in the waiting room surrounded by sick and screaming babies. I love the office and the rooms are just adorable. I know what you are thinking....and yes.....we will probably never break up with McDreamy like we've been planning. She just can't find the right words to say.

Hal and I had had a busy morning. We left Woodward by 9:00, pulled into Edmond around noon, picked up our favorite Chipotle and headed over to my friend Ashley's house. You can read about our visit here. We realized the time was ticking by and we needed to load up and head into OKC for her appointment at 2:30. But I couldn't drive past smoothie heaven without picking up a tasty treat to top off my favorite lunch. I'm not going to lie, our smoothie stop may or may not have made us kinda late for her appointment. Oh I hate being late.....but it was worth it. Hal even got to enjoy a few sips since we'd just figured out thirty mintues earlier at Ashley's house that Hallie could in fact drink through a straw. News to me!! I was thrilled when I saw her suck some water out of my cup unexpectedly. Water is one thing and Jamba is another.....

"Mama, you ain't lyin'....this stuff is amazing. I'll take one sippy cup full please."

The nurse took us into a room, Hal stripped down and went straight to the scale for some measurements. Someone was looking a little self-conscious. And this was even before Dr. McDreamy commented on her weight....

"Can I put my shirt back on so he won't see my belly?"

My sweet little girl ain't so little. Here are her 15 month stats:

*Weight: 24lb 7oz (70th percentile)

*Height: 29.5 in (12th percentile)

"Are you trying to say I should lay off the smoothie, huh??"

In walked her dream guy. The grin on her face would have been hard to hide because she was showing all of her teeth. As he walked toward her I'm sure she was nervous waiting to hear his first words. She had every right to be nervous because this is what he said....."you've got a solid one there." "Solid?" I asked. His response was "you can't deny that she's a solid girl." Bahahaha. Sorry Hal gal. There is no hiding that tummy and those arm rolls. But he did follow up his observation with a few little pokes and tickles to get her to laugh. He did a quick exam of her teeth and mouth. He warned me that the 15 month checkup in usually a "screaming checkup." Hallie must've wanted to prove him wrong because she did nothing but giggle and smile all the while he poked and prodded to check her heart, belly and ears. All systems were go! She checked out beautifully. He ducked out of the room after telling her the bad news......

"SHOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

The terror of parting ways with her man and having to wait for shots lasted a good three seconds and she was on to bigger and better things. For example......

"This screen has remarkable resolution..."

"We're almost out mom, bring on the next one...."

Funny girl, she downed most of my smoothie but was polite enough to leave me with a few drinks. In walked the nurse about the time Hallie had lost her patience. I tried to keep her calm because I knew these shots were going to be pretty painful. Four shots, two in each leg. One was a flu shot. Oh it was so horrible watching her this time. Not that the other times weren't agonizing for mommy but as she gets older and is able to express her feelings more, it makes it that much more evident just how much pain she is in. Ok, can we be done with vaccines now!?!?!?! Her legs were pretty sore for a couple of days and squirmed when I'd touch her booboo. No fever this time though!! PTL!!!!

She passed out the second I strapped her in the car. Why do they always fall asleep when you don't want them to?? We had big plans to do some Christmas shopping for her and cousin Carmen at Toys'R'Us. Luckily she didn't mind me waking her up as I'd promised a good time in toy heaven. She was in awe as we strolled down the aisles. She kept pointing and reaching to things nearby. The babydolls especially caught her attention. The girls faired very well and I got most of Hal's Christmas list checked off. Whew, that felt good!!

 The next stop was none other than Hobby Lobby for a serious mission. Picking out this year's wrapping paper, bows and gift tags. One of my most favorite parts of Christmas!!! We had a successful quick shopping trip and Hal was a mighty fine helper. So far I'd got my Chipotle, Jamba Juice and Hobby Lobby fix....might as well finish off a perfect day with Schlotzskys. Don't mind if I do. (Have I mentioned that I kinda miss living in the city????) Hal dined on a Lunchable that I'd picked up at the quick stop while we got gas for the ride home. She was quite a big fan of it! Those will  probably be reserved for road trips ONLY! There isn't much to mention about our car ride. The usual ear piercing agony of the trip was an unusual peaceful drive mainly due to the DVD trance she was in. With only a 45 minute nap all day she managed to stay awake by watching her new baby brain video until her usual bedtime at 7:30. She went straight to bed after giving a few kisses to her dad.

Sweet girl. Perfectly healthy. Full of love (for Dr. McDreamy).

"Jesus Said"

I think if Riley hears me say that phrase one more time this week he might just put tape over my mouth. We listened to an A+ sermon on Sunday about stress and worry. The gist of it was that the bible tells us not to worry about anything. I could quote many verses that Pastor Charlie provided but they all say the say thing basically....don't worry. I sat there thinking "yeah right, like I could ever stop worrying as much as I do." But by the end I was totally on board and had actually been enlightened. One verse in particular talked about worry not adding any time to your life...it doesn't make the thing you are worrying about turn out the way you want....and it sure as heck doesn't help your blood pressure. So after we left church I got to talking to Riley about what we'd just heard. I told him my goal that day was to live worry free....."because Jesus said." I think I've probably said this to my worrisome hubby at least twenty times this week. And I've repeated it to myself just as many. After a quick, unexpected lunch date on Monday I could tell that Riley wasn't doing what "Jesus said" and seemed pretty worried about work. So I thought it appropriate to send him a friendly reminder in response to his "I love you"......

I guess the point of this post is to give a laugh and to share some advice that we learned. Not to say that I haven't worried at all this week but I have worried a lot less. And if your worry gets out of hand just play the "Jesus said" card and it should work like a charm. ;)

Jesus said.

Tricks of the Trade

Hallie's trade: being a growing and learning silly girl

Hallie's tricks: endless


We have our very own variety show here in the Fanning house with a cast of one.....Miss Hallie Grace Fanning. As they say on American Idol, "she's had no formal training"...just a natural born performer. I swear you provides never-ending laughs and keeps me saying "babe, get in here and see what you daughter is doing now!" Here's just a peek into your silly show:

*We got home this evening and I put you on our bed to wait while I changed into some comfy cooking clothes. You wiggled your way down to come and see what I was up to and stood patiently beside me but something made me think you were waiting for something. I checked my watch and realized it was already dinner time. I casually asked "are you ready for dinner?" Before I could even blink you were making a beeline for the door after dropping binky and cup in one millisecond. I followed to find you standing at her highchair with your hands in the air. You know the routine well enough and started to lift one leg up for me to take your shoes off. You know the drill. De-clothe before dinner! You got to business chowing down on the meal and like clockwork let out a big "mama!!!" when you ran out of food on the tray. Mama to the rescue!

*Bathtime always brings big laughs. You continue to spread out your wash rag meticulously to make a nice comfy place to lay your weary head. Now you've started to ask me to lay my head down too. You spread it out and lay it on the side of the tub and proceed to gesture your head as if to tell me to lay my head down. You love to get your wash rag soaking wet then put the whole thing in your mouth and squeeze down and scrunch up your face and grunt. It looks like tough work!! Your dad asked you to "take a bath" and you grabbed your wash rag and started to scrub your legs. Bahahahaha!!

*It's a challenge to keep you still long enough to dry off after a bath. You often slip away, literally, and run straight for your cup. I guess all that bathing is pretty exhausting! Tonight I asked you to go to your room and get a diaper. Sure enough, without so much as a pause, you waddled to your room, grabbed a diaper, shouted "mama" and placed the diaper up against your backside. Thanks for showing me how it's done baby girl!!

*Much to my delight you have taken a liking to your DVD player in the car. It's been a long time coming to find something to keep you satisfied in the mom wagon. Alas, we've found the answer. In fact you do something that makes me laugh everytime I strap you in lately. I wait for the moment that you spot the screen and wait for you to start clapping, grunting loudly in anticipation or pointing to it adimately. It's like you are saying "let's get this party started!!"

*This next trick is not such a welcome one. You enjoy picking your nose. Yippee!!! And your nose must enjoy you picking it because you can be found with your finger in your nose quite often. You must be watching your dad too much. Lol!

*Not only have you been trained to look at the camera and give me the the perfect shot, but you also let your dad take pictures of you with your own plastic camera. He holds it up and you say "sheeeeee." That's "cheeeeeeese" in Hallie talk. You don't let him keep it long though....you like to turn the tables on him and make him say "sheeeeeee!"

*I am convinced that you set out with the goal each morning to remove everything in the house from it's drawer...every dish, pan, plastic container, piece of clothing, etc. The moment your tiny feet hit the ground you dart toward the bathroom, open my drawer, toss at least five objects on the ground in your endeavor to locate your toothbrush and toothpaste. Once you find it you then take off toward the kitchen for some breakfast. Like clockwork. You then make your way to dad's night stand and throw his wallet, keys, papers and anything else within reach to the floor and leave a mess in your wake as you then prance back into the bathroom to dig for my makeup bag. You are no fool and know when it's makeup time. We must get blush on those pretty cheeks ASAP before we can continue with anything else. Diva in the making for sure. The thought of that kind of terrifies me....;)

*You are a graham cracker maniac. We have recently reintroduced you to this yummy snack. I now remember why we got rid of this snack....you are OBSESSED with them. Once I give you a half, you then want a whole. And then when you have a whole you want another whole one in your other hand. And don't get me started on when dad is eating one. Just tonight you ran to him with your two huge crackers and screamed bloody murder until he gave you his cracker. You then sat one whole cracker down ever so gently on the floor and waited for Emmi to come and snatch it up. The dog had a cracker, you had two crackers and dad had none. How fair is that baby girl?! We have to be stealth when hiding this box of goodies. If you see where we put them you will stand in that place and scream a scream that makes my ear drums cry until I give you another bite. See a trend here?? Yep, I'm a pushover. Oh I've got to work on this....

*You know exactly where we keep your teething gel and medicine. You will sometimes stand and whine at the counter where we keep your Tylenol. I sit her shaking my head because I still can't figure out how you know have associated that already with feeling bad or having a fever. Smarty pants. Same goes for your gel....you will go and dig it out of your bin under your changing table and come and hand it to me. Only when you are doing some major teething and slobbering do you tote this tube of feel good gel to me. You know where to find the milk of course and have about given up on trying to open the refridgerator. But I'm sure you aren't far away from getting the hang of it though.

*I'm not sure if you would call this a trick but you do this incredibly adorable thing where you peek around the corner at me and ask "mama?" as if you are checking to make sure I'm around the corner. I always answer with "yes baby?" and you seem satisfied and go about your merry way. Like I said, you can say "mama" all you want and my ears will keep dancing with delight. ;)

Keep up your tricks and we'll keep watching.


Forever your audience,

Mom & Dad

Reunited and it Feels so Good!

So I have this friend. She's pretty special. For many, many reasons. If I could rewrite the story of our friendship there are many, many things that I would change. Most importantly I would march right back to high school and tweak a few things that caused us to drift apart. I think we are both convinced that God knew he wanted us to be friends for life and he made sure to get our attention a couple years ago. Fate brought us to the same apartment complex. Not only the same complex but the same building. What are the odds?!?! We were neighbors after seven years of living separate lives. We'd both moved away to college, graduated and were now married. While we were so excited that we'd been reunited in such a coincidental way we didn't take advantage of our opportunity. We had a second chance.....and we totally blew it. We now give ourselves a big F- for not being better neighbors. Between work, school and life happenings we rarely even got to chat in the parking lot let alone actually go to dinner or hang out. Tisk, tisk!! We've been keeping constant tabs on eachother thanks to the addiction known as Facebook....thank goodness for that!! I've been able to watch her become a mommy to their new baby girl Jaley. She is now two months old and I couldn't wait any longer to meet her. Hallie and I made plans to spend some time with the two girls in Edmond before Hal's appointment with McDreamy. The girls were game for a visit from us and we waited in anticipation all weekend!!

I can't tell you how excited I was to finally sit down and spend some time with my long lost best friend. When I say best friend, I mean BEST FRIEND. We were inseparable. I may as well have lived at her house because I don't remember a day passing when I wasn't there. Her parents treated me like one of their own. We preferred to date boys who were best friends as well...that way we could go on double dates. Our sense of humor was something only the two of us understood. Salt and pepper....black and white....ketchup and mustard.....we were Ashley Squared. You couldn't have one without the other. ;)

Today was a special day. She met my Hallie Grace and I met her Jaley Kay. I told myself I wasn't going to cry but the moment I saw her at the door and have her a hug I could feel the tears coming. Hallie immediately got busy exploring their house. She has a beautiful home which Hallie seemed determined to wreak havoc on. We ate some lunch that I'd picked up on our way while Jaley hung out in her bouncy seat looking super cute in her zebra vest.....

Hallie munched on some beans and chicken from Chiptole along with the big girls. She was soon bored and ready to get back to rifling through things that didn't belong to her.....

Tornado comin' through

Sweet Jaley was being such a good girl and let me cuddle with her for quite awhile. Hallie and Ashley read books and found a cartoon on TV to watch. Not that my girl chose to sit still, but she had the option. ;)

"Ok, I'll sit still....but only because this just so happens to be my favorite book"

For a brief moment I found out what it would feel like to have two little ones....

We got to see Jaley's stunningly gorgeous nursery. I was having nursery envy while looking at all the little details she had put into her baby girl's room. It was so great to just be able to chat and catch up on our lives. I insisted on a picture of the four of us before we said goodbye. This picture makes me so very happy....

Ashley & Jaley, thanks for letting us come and visit...and for letting Hal gal ransack your home. Lol! We love you girls and can't wait until our next get together!!!! Here's to third chances at friendship!!

A Day Full of Play

It's very rare for us to not have a plan for the day. I woke up without a plan, went to church without a plan, listened to the pastor preach about not worrying about every little thing, came home and realized that it was Sunday and by gosh I didn't need a plan. Well besides the plan to let Hallie sleep which is not an option when 11:00 rolls around. Hello naptime!! You can bet Riley had plans though......hunting all afternoon as if you hadn't already guessed. The normal Ashley would've been itching to have a plan to fill the day since we would be flying solo. Luckily our day just seemed to fall into place. Aunt Ky was in town and in desperate need of some Hallie time so after the munchkin awoke we met Kylie at the park. We may as well just set up a trailer in the parking lot for as much as we've been there lately. She loves it!!

She showed off her big girl sliding skills for Aunt Ky....

"I got this"

We took a walk around the park and had a little chat with the ducks. She made a few new friends and even batted her eyelashes and giggled at a little boy. It was just too much watching them flirt with eachother in their toddler way. He would peek around at her and then she'd take off in a run all the while giggling. We had a good time Aunt Ky! Thanks for hangin' with us. And we can't forget swingin'.....

A few kisses and hugs later we were on a special mission to increase the size of her car DVD collection. I don't know what it is about buying movies for her that makes me so sad and excited at the same time. Is my girl really getting big enough to snuggle and watch movies with me? Not quite yet but I think she's getting close. We picked up Finding Nemo, a Veggie Tales DVD and the Charlie Brown holiday collection. My goal was to find a long movie that would play for a longer period of time so that I wouldn't have to constantly pull the car over to restart her disc when it finished. If entertainment value of the movie is based on how good the packaging tastes then Hallie gives in two thumbs up and four stars!!! After making our selections we made our way toward the front of the store and ran into some very familiar faces......get ready it's a long list of names!! Cousins Keisha, Jon, Kara, Corbin, Peyton, Aunt Alta and Uncle David. Corbin and Peyton were picking out special gifts from Aunt Alta and Hallie just so happened to weasel her way in on the action. Her and Peyton both picked out little baby dolls. We got to talking and soon Hallie and I found ourselves at Keisha and Jon's house for some playtime and some belated birthday cake for Corbin. The girls got to work feeding Peyton's eerily life-like baby doll.....

"I'm a baby too....and I just so happen to love peas as well!'

Hallie was getting impatient and took the bottle and decided to have herself a sip. We let eerily life-like baby digest her food and waited for her to produce a poopy diaper (like I said, very life-like). In the meantime the trio of munchkins were craving some outdoor time and I wasn't complainin' because it was a gorgeous day! I pulled the girls in the wagon for a good ten minutes. I think I know what Hal needs for Christmas!!

A wagon, dummy! Not a sister! Yet!

Goofballs!

Talk about cute! Peyton wanted to push Hallie in her baby stroller. The restless tot lasted about ten seconds in it and then tried to make her great escape.....

We were grateful for an unexpected day full of family and fun. And most importantly....PLAYTIME!!! We definitely need to do more playdates with Keisha and the kids seeing as how we are so nearby now.  The girl watched Nemo on fifteen minute car ride home and was nearly passed out by the time we pulled into the garage. Once dinner was mentioned she perked right up though. Dinner was followed by a nice scrub in the tub to remove all snot, sand, dirt, cake, food, juice and any other substance that she may have attracted during her big day of play.....

"Man I was filthy!!"

The night came to a close with some laps in her pink car chasing the dogs and belting out some huges belly laughs all the while. She held out long enough to surprise Riley at the door when he got home. She went to bed with her new baby doll tonight and something tells me that the doll won't be missing out on Hallie kisses tonight....

Sweet baby girl

Let's just go ahead and add this Sunday Funday to my "thankful" list. It just keeps growing and growing and growing.....

A Very Girly Thanksgiving

Did someone say Thanksgiving food??????? Ok, I'm there!!!

Did someone say friends and babies?????? Ok, Hallie's there too!!!

This Saturday we had were thrilled to reunite with some awesome ladies for our annual and sacred girl's Thanksgiving. I was so looking forward to seeing my classmates that I wasn't even dreading the long journey to Edmond. Riley strapped the DVD players on the headrests and Hallie was in heaven with two screens to look at. She wasn't sure which one she wanted to watch although they were playing the same video. Whoever invented portable entertainment devices is my hero forever. We made a stop in Enid to visit Meme which broke the trip in half and gave Hal a nice little break to run around and burn off some energy. The second leg of our ride was not as pleasant but with a lot of silly mommy voices and about four pit stops along the side of the interstate to search for binkies and cups we made it with my sanity completely intact. Have I mentioned yet just how excited I was to see these girls?!?! It's a lot different when you are all in the same vicinity and you have the chance to see friends anytime you wish....I'm still getting used to being so far away. It'd been way toooooo long!!!


Auntie Laura showed up right as Hallie and I were lugging our stuff into Melissa and Sara's house. Hallie was beaming the moment she heard Laura talk. She must already know just how stinkin' cool Auntie Laura really is!! Big time bummer though...Laura was only able to stay a measly fifteen minutes and then left for her high school reunion. Somebody else who's now super cool in her books is Melissa. Here's one of the reasons why.....

"How did you know food was my favorite?"

We had a huge spread of food to gorge on. My favorite of the night happened to be an appetizer Jamie and Audra made....they were these amazingly addictive and delicious pretzel balls from Pinterest. If they didn't sound so labor intensive I'd have to make them myself!

Some other cool kats that caught Hallie's eye were her two potential boyfriends whom she hadn't seen in quite awhile. In fact, this is how tiny they were last year......

Keeping her options open

Big boy Maddox showed Hallie had to maximize the use of her camera....

He kept saying "the flash didn't work on that one!" Lol

Nearly two-year-old Kingston was sweet and brought his tractor and car toys to share with the kiddos....

"Mom, why don't you buy me some tractors and cars, huh?"

The three of them were hilarious and had us all cracking up as they chased eachother round and round and round. Hallie even started a crawling trend....

"Hey guys, remember when crawling was a big deal!?!"

With momma Julie's help we managed to get the three of them to sit still for a sweet kiddo picture....

Two men and a little lady!

Despite the kid's lightening quick speed I was able to position myself on their "race track" and got a shot that showed just a little bit of their fun....

"I didn't realize my legs could move this fast"

She didn't let the boys quick moves intimidate her. And even through a few rough and tumble accidents she kept on going....

"I need some brothers ASAP!!!!!"

After about thirty million laps they were sweaty and red-faced munchkins. One in particular was getting close to bedtime. But we couldn't pry ourselves away just yet. More fun to be had!

"I think I'll just stay here mom"

We couldn't have a girl's Thanksgiving without a group picture!! In true blogger fashion I just had to take a quick look back at last year's group shot. Check out wittle baby Hallie....

2010

2011

Although we don't see eachother often it's always a fun, relaxing evening to catch up on everyone's busy lives. In the spirit of Thanksgiving I've got to say that I'm extremely thankful for all of these girls and classmates that I've kept in touch with since we graduated. Our hostesses for the evening, Melissa and Sara, are preparing to embark on the adventure of a lifetime to Indonesia to live and work their for several years while they do mission work. There just wasn't enough time in the evening to hear about all of their recent stories so that's why I'm already so pumped up about our girl's Christmas in less than a month!!!!!

Hugs for Meme

Have you ever taken a picture and immediately knew that you would be looking at it years down the road so thankful that you captured that brief moment in time?

Well this is mine....

My sweet baby girl was just the medicine my sweet Meme needed on Saturday. She gave plenty of big hugs, a handful of sweet kisses and provided lots of laughter. My grandmother is still in the hospital in Enid and recently was moved from ICU to an intermediate care floor. When I walked in I couldn't believe my eyes. The last time I'd seen her a week prior she looked like a different woman than the one I was watching play with my daughter. She had the color back in her face, her smile was fixed on her face and she no longer had to talk through that horrible bi-pap breathing mask. I was looking at a woman who had made some huge strides in one week's time. Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers as she still has a journey of recovery ahead of her. She is still being treated for pneumonia and just getting back to eating food again. She will be moving to a long term acute care facility across the street this week more than likely. There she'll be having therapy daily which she's thrilled about. Ok, I lie. When I asked her about her thoughts on the therapy she rolled her eyes and said she wasn't so much looking forward to that part. I put the fear in her about being good in therapy....she knows I'll be waiting for her to get home so I can put her through the ropes in home health therapy. She's on the mend and for that we are so grateful.

I can't even begin to tell you how special this woman is to our family. The true definition of a matriarch. The woman had six children for goodness' sake!! SIX! With a set of twins! She's a tough cookie that never gives up a fight. Prayers for her being able to return home and function like normal are what she needs now. After all, she's got yet another therapist (of the mini version) waiting on her to get back home.....

"Meme, pushing the walker is a lot more fun when we are at your house"