Christmas Spirit - Where are you?

In my last post, I mentioned how I was in the holiday spirit once Halloween past. That was very short lived. Where is it? As of today, I've put a tree (twice since it fell once), sent Christmas cards, wrapped gifts, finished my Christmas shopping, and taken family Christmas pictures. Isn't that enough to get into the spirit? Apparently not! In some ways, I find myself wanting the next two weeks to be over with - quickly. Maybe it's because we are heading to Disneyland two weeks from today. Or maybe it's because I'm being a Scrooge this year - which makes it perfect that I will be teaching A Christmas Carol to my 7th graders next week. Either way....I need some spirit. If you find it, can you send some my way?

In the meantime, I leave you with a few pictures that hopefully will provide you with some Christmas spirit.

Holiday Time

I cannot believe it is November. Once Halloween hits, it really does feel like the holiday season for me. I love the holidays. For me, there is no stress. For me, it is a time of nostalgia, a time for cheer, and a time to be grateful for what you have. This year I am very excited about the holidays. It isn't often we spend one, much less both, holidays with family but we are doing just that this year. My in-laws are coming down to spend Thanksgiving with us, and my parents are coming to spend Christmas. Then on December 27th, we'll be leaving (with my parents) for California to enjoy the Rose Parade and Disneyland (of course!). An added bonus is that both Emily and Renee will be spending part of the time with us. I'm so excited that I can share the happiest place on earth with my parents, my girls, my husband, and two of my best friends. A vacation just doesn't get any better than that.

I often take my life for granted, but the holidays seem to bring me back to some humble place where I realize this wonderful life I have is a gift from God. I have done nothing on this earth to deserve what He has given me (although I will take it). So...as I post pictures of just a few of the blessings God has granted me, I'd like to also list a few more...

(1) My parents
(2) My brother & his family
(3) My Auntie Linda Lou
(4) My in-laws
(5) My friends & their families
(6) My Godson & Goddaughter
(7) My co-workers
(8) My LA team lead (who holds a special place in my heart for many reasons)
and last but not least...
(9) Walt Disney (ok - that was a joke but I had to lighten the mood!)

Happy holidays to all of you. I love each and every one of you with all my heart.

Bailey - 4 Years Old

Ok, ok...It has been way too long since I posted. I know that. I think I even promised baptism pics and never delivered. But in my defense, going back to work full time after a year with two small children has proven to be a huge challenge. Not only is it time management in relation to them, it's also trying to figure out how to balance a whole new career. But...I'm finally feeling more into a "groove". If I can get my house back to pre-party normal and all these party gifts put away and party pictures loaded and party thank you notes written, maybe I'll find more time to blog.

But...I digress. My real reason for blogging today is to tell you that BAILEY IS 4 YEARS OLD! It's unbelievable. I cannot believe how big she has gotten. It seems like just yesterday. To celebrate on her actual birthday (Monday 10/5), we went to EJ's and Baskin Robbins with the Murpheys, the Griffins, Uncle Christian, and Ms. Stephanie. I also took Bailey to a band concert at my school. She really enjoyed that. Then last Saturday (10/10), we had her party at The Little Gym. It was a blast! The Little Gym did a great job! All the kids had a wonderful time. Grandma was in town so it was extra special. Bailey got lots of presents including a big girl bike, two princess dresses, a ballerina outfit, books, art stuff, games, a Princess sleeping bag, and lots more. She is a very lucky girl.

Here are few 4 year old pictures. My baby is so grown up now!

Family Fun

My mom, Mark, and Aunt Linda came in this weekend for Reese's baptism. It was only a three night visit but it was so fun to see all of them. Everyone arrived on Thursday. I had new hire orientation so Jason and Bailey did the honors of picking everyone up at the airport. Thursday night we went out for Mexican food - yummy! Friday I had orientation again so the girls stayed home and got spoiled rotten. I let them use my van and they all came to check out my room when they came to pick me up. Friday night Aunt Linda made her FABULOUS manacotti and we had a surprise birthday party for my mom (her actual birthday is the 22nd).

Saturday was the big day! The baptism was beautiful! Godmommy Linda and Godfather Christian were so proud as were Daddy, Bailey, & I. Also in attendance were Kathy, Mary Fischer, and Kelly Murphy with her girls, Ashley & Megan. We had lunch at our house following the baptism. It was wonderful having everyone together to celebrate Reese's special day. Kathy was our super awesome photographer for the day so as soon as I get her pictures, I will post some of the baptism. For now, here are just a few pictures of the family fun we had! Unfortunately, it came to an end very early today. We miss them already.

We so appreciate everyone who attended the baptism. It means the world to Jason and I.

Reese is 6 Months Old!

Reese is 6 months old today. We cannot believe how quickly it has gone. She is sitting up and rolling over now. Her latest is that she babbles like crazy. Just like her mom, she has a love of talking. She goes around saying "dadadada" and yelling like her big sister. This is such a fun age.

We went to take pictures yesterday. Bailey wanted to be in the pictures so of course we let her. As you can see, it was clearly the best picture session yet. The girls were in such a great mood. Bailey says her "very favorite" is the one of Reese sitting on her. (It's my favorite, too.)

Today we got to visit Dr. Muzumdar for Reese's 6 month appointment. She went in all smiles and left mad as could be. She got 3 shots and an oral vaccine. The oral vaccine was fine. She loves putting everything in her mouth anyway. It's the shots she was not happy about. She was so emotionally spent after the visit that she took a two hour nap after the doctor and went to be at 7:10 pm tonight. Poor baby!

The latest on our baby is that she weighs 21 pounds, 6.4 ounces (still off the chart) and is 26 1/4" long (75th percentile). She is still our little chunky monkey and we are so blessed to have her.

She will be getting baptized on Saturday so I'll have pictures on that soon. With her stranger anxiety, I imagine it'll be a very interesting event.

First Day of School

Today was Reese's first day at Primrose. Ironically, it was also my first departmental meeting at my new school. I think my experience was much better than hers.

Jason was at home today so dropping Reese off was a family affair. Bailey was so excited about her finally going to school with her. I think the only thing that would have made her happier would have been if Reese would have been in her class.

Bailey wanted to drop Reese off in her new class so we went there first. We went over her schedule with the teachers and then handed her to Ms. Presli. She was smiling and happy at first but that quickly changed. When we saw her bottom lip start to stick out, we quickly evacuated the room.

We walked Bailey to her class and said our goodbyes to her. As we were walking out of the building, Jason and I peeked into Reese's room and she was in full throttle screaming mode. Her face was all red and she was just having a good old fashioned fit. We dropped her off at 9 am and her sheet showed that her first nap was at 9:50 am. If I had to guess, I would say she probaby cried herself to sleep. When I went to pick her up at 2 pm, she had just woken up from her second nap and was being fed a bottle by Ms. Ellie (a floater teacher that we love!). I asked how her day went and they said aside from the first cry fit at 9 am, the rest of her day went really well.

As I type this, she is out. I imagine it was a much more active day than she is used to. Hopefully tomorrow morning drop off will be better. Keep your fingers crossed.

Christopher - Week 3

So another summer with Christopher has come and gone. He left us yesterday. My friend Renee had come into town and was kind enough to drive him back to Louisiana where he was going to spend a week with his mom and her family. The drive back was quite the ordeal. Renee got a blow out about half way to Louisiana and they got to enjoy a visit from Triple AAA. Poor Christopher! His flight here had issues and his ride to leave had issues. We can only hope that next summer the transportation is improved.

This week was another fun week. I got to spend some time with Christopher - just him and I. We went to play Bingo one night. Neither of us won but Christopher was pretty disappointed as one game he was one away from winning when someone else called Bingo. When he looked up to see what the next number was, it was his. He was so close to his first ever Bingo win. Maybe next time! I also had Ms. Stephanie come babysit one afternoon so him and I could go see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was a very good movie! And, of course, as our summer tradition, we played many games of Rummikub. This year, I was the champion. Better luck next year, Christopher!

On Friday we decided to take him to eat anywhere he wanted. He chose Buffalo Wild Wings. If you've ever been there, you know it's a sports bar type atmosphere with lots of TVs and action. Apparently, it was too much for Reese as she would not stop crying - loudly! Jason ended up leaving with her while Bailey and I stayed for the goodbye dinner. Later Jason took the boys to play Lazer Tag - which is always a treat.

To add to the fun of his last weekend, we haven't had rain here in our area for about 2 months. Saturday night Mother Nature decided to not just let it rain but pour. The power went out at our house and everyone evacuated to Christian's. Christopher definitely cannot say his last weekend here was uneventful.

We really enjoyed his visit though. As always, it came and went too quickly. We miss you already!!!

Chistopher - Week 2

Week 2 has quickly come to an end. In some ways it feels like Christopher has been here all summer and in others, it seems as if it has gone too fast. Either way - he's having a blast. Bailey loves having him here and he is so great with her. She thinks he came all this way to play with her and he lets her believe it. In addition to be subjected to princess games and other girly things, Christopher also has gone to ride go karts, play lazer tag, see an Astros game, swimming and he usually is spending the night at one of his friends house or they are here. Of course, my favorite activity was when he and I went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Not only was it a great movie, we got to spend some nephew/aunt alone time.

As you can tell, it's another busy summer filled with lots of fun. Christopher is having a blast and we are loving having him. As we enter our final week of fun, I realize how grateful I am to my brother for letting him do this every summer. Nine years and counting!!!

Christopher - Week 1

It's that time of year again - Christopher time. He arrived last Tuesday (3 hours late thanks to Newark - yuck!) but safe and sound none the less. From the time he arrived, he's been going non-stop. Wednesday he went to see Ice Age 3 with William and Phillip (boys in the neighborhood) and then later spent the night with Phillip. Thursday we went out to dinner at my favorite - EJ's Pizza. If he's not with us on a "family outing", he's running around with the boys in the neighborhood or playing with Bailey. Or - he might be texting. That kid can text. He's the fastest texter I've ever seen!!!

To celebrate the 4th of July, we went to Towne Lake for some family fun and fireworks. Our friends Kelly and Mike (along with their guys Ashley and Megan) joined us. It was really nice. Towne Lake is a neighborhood right down the road from us. They had bouncy houses, face painting, fire trucks, boat rides, and fireworks. Bailey did so great watching the fireworks. She used to be scared but now she says she is brave. Reese was a little scared when they first went off but I covered her ears and she was fascinated after that. Belle only broke our baby gate while we were gone. At least this time it is not window sills or something else she chewed off.

Then today we went bowling. It was Bailey's first time. I thought she'd enjoy it more but after about 5 frames, she was done. In her defense, the lightest ball they had was 7 pounds - which was probably 2 pounds too heavy for her. But she was so cute trying! Christopher had a great time. He is quite the bowler. He even beat me the second game. That's my nephew!!!

I'll post more next week. We have all sorts of fun coming up.

Little Laughter

Reese laughed for the first time tonight. It was precious! Bailey was doing something goofy and I laughed at her. Well, of course, being the performer that she is, she had to do it for Reese. I laughed again and suddenly Reese laughed. It caught me so off guard that I made Bailey do it again. Sure enough, she laughed again. Both of us were so excited. Oh, how cute it was!!! If only you could capture that with pictures. I'll have to be sure to get it on video.

Daddy just happened to have left for London today so he won't get to hear it for 9 days!!! Darn!!! So, so cute!!!