Do girls play football?

Yes, and they wear a dress and Princess glitter shoes, too.







And just a little side picture...Megan hugging her shadow. I just love her imagination.

The steps

It's family tradition to take pictures on Grammy's, now Aunt Lynne's, front porch/ steps. If I look hard enough, I could gather years and years of pictures...when I was little, it was torture, so I tortured my kids for a few minutes. It's only fair, right?



And we couldn't leave without a family pic (thanks, Uncle Danny).



Oh, and see that BIG magnolia tree behind our heads? That's my FAVORITE tree ever and is the reason I have always wanted a magnolia tree in my front yard.

Turkey Day

Ahhhh...Thanksgiving traditions. Growing up, Thanksgiving was in Mississippi with my dad's family (most of the time). I loved it then, and I love it now. We try to go as often as we can because for some reason, Thanksgiving is Mississippi to me. Another tradition is that we have our Thanksgiving meal on Friday. We were a little hesitant to continue that tradition this year, because of Black Friday shopping, but we just couldn't change it! So, we went to Walmart at 5:00 a.m., got our loot, came home for naps, and then cooked the meal. Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving Day.


Aunt "Jones", Maya, and Megan making a pecan pie (don't have a clue about that face Meg is making....)


Andrew, Megan's birthday buddy, carving the fried turkey. DELISH!


Connor's first Thanksgiving!


Megan was so impressed with the food that she fell asleep after only eating 3 bites.

Although we had a smaller crowd this year, it was still the same memorable trip. I thoroughly enjoyed the time with my girl cousins and aunts. Nothing like a catty game of cards to renew the friendships. Girls, don't throw away your superpower names and capes...

New cousins

The kids got to meet and play with "new" cousins this year. Megan jumped right in with the other girls, and man, it is nice to have older girls around to help! I almost kidnapped one of them! Not only did she like to be helped by the older girls, but she also liked to be helpful to the littler ones.


Ava helping Megan at "the best park ever!".


Megan helping one of the twins (forgive me...can't tell which one...).


Tycen and Connor probably looking for something on the floor to put in their mouths to make us fish out.


Maya pushing Megan on the rope swing.


The cousin slumber party. They were exhausted!

Road trip!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...bad blogger! I haven't had an extra minute to blog for the past 9 days, and it's made me very sad. But I'm back to it with a vengeance.

We went to Mississippi for Thanksgiving. On the way, we stopped in Texarkana to have dinner with my friend Brandy and her family. Connor and Brandy's daughter Hava are 2 weeks apart, and they got to meet for the first time. Connor wasn't too excited that Hava was so friendly, but he warmed up quickly. They crawled around together, and were SO darn cute! This picture doesn't do them justice, but it's the only one that Connor wasn't pouting in...



Connor also fell in love with the baby in the full length mirror at their house.



It was a wonderful, yet short, visit.

Fall Leaves

We went to see Great-Grandma after the "race". We visited with her, and then Megan and I went out back to play in the leaves. First we raked them into a big pile.



Right after I took that picture, she said, "Hey mom, put down the camera and help me!" Once we had a big pile, she ran and jumped in the leaves.





Then Papa came out to play with her. He tickled her and she threw leaves at him...wet leaves.

Early Saturday morning...

Yesterday morning we participated in a local charity's 1K fun walk/run with our moms group. We had to be there at 8 a.m., so how that makes it a fun walk I'm not sure, but it was the perfect cloudy, misty, cool morning. Megan had a blast walking with her friends until...she ran out of energy.



And then she had a meltdown in the middle of the street when Daddy would not carry her.



Daddy finally carried her for a while to let her feet rest. All was well again. She earned a medal for crossing the finish line. She was and is still very proud of that medal.



Our group:

Fish Fry

Despite the chaotic and highly frustrating experience we had with the annual Christmas fish fry last year, we actually went back this year with our friends. It was a "do-over". And I am so glad that we did. Everything that was wrong with it last year was fixed and made it all run very smoothly this year. We had a very fun evening, and it helped kick-start me into the holiday spirit.

Megan jumped right up and just had to line dance. She managed to keep up with them for most of the moves.



Connor and I spent a lot of time together. He's very needy lately. And I was very apologetic for something that had happened earlier in the day, so we were a great team. (Please don't hate on my hair...it was raining outside.)



Megan and Georgia in front of the tree. I have one from last year, too, and they have really grown up!



For those of you familiar with last year's story, you'll be glad to know that we did not wait for Santa to fly in...with Megan's blessing, we decided to wait to see Santa on his mall tour.

Side little Megan convo:

Mommy: And Megan, why did you pour the water down the front of your clothes?
Megan: Well, I flipped on my disobey switch and just did it.

Lazy Mommy

The dishes are so bad in our house, and I wasn't doing them, so Connor decided to take matters into his own hands. Don't worry, these were clean, and I rewashed the ones he sampled.

Early 9 month check-up

Connor isn't actually 9 months old until next week, but due to the holiday week, we had to schedule his check-up a little early. He weighs 20 lbs, 6 oz (50th) and is 29 1/2 inches long (80th). He: crawls; pulls up; stands unassisted; bangs toys; says "dada", "ba" (ball), "mom-eeee", and "no"; clearly recognizes his name; plays games (peek-a-boo and chase); and gives slobbery kisses. Dr. H says he needs to get out of the infant carrier and into a new car seat now, but he still has to sit rear-facing until he's 1. He can also have whatever table foods he'll eat. Some of his favorites already are cheese, yogurt, bread, crackers, rice, peas, and carrots. He's probably going to get to try pasta tonight. But that's only if his 4 teeth bumps aren't hurting him too bad...yes, he's got 4 teeth "sores" in his mouth. Oh, and he's got an ear infection. Poor thing. He got one shot and didn't even flinch. He's so tough.

A little math

Here's a little math problem for you. What do you get when you add 2 sick kids and 2 sick parents? 4 very miserable people living in our house. So, we've pretty much done nothing this week but whine, sleep, cough, and take medicine. It's been pretty pathetic, but it appears as though the crud is on its way out the door. PLEASE.

Local on the 8s

We're quite fond of the Weather Channel. We watch it a lot, and occasionally Megan dances to the music. If she didn't get enough the first time, she asks us to rewind it so she can do it again. I had to cut off this video because she did an extremely mortifying Michael Jackson move at the end. But you get the idea. Enjoy.

Off my chest

*Disclaimer to all the men in my life: you might want to skip this post. Love, Me.*

Literally. Off my chest.

For the past 3 weeks, I've been weaning Connor with the December 1st deadline in the cross-hairs. And wow. Emotions are running high around here.

Connor is 8 1/2 months old, and quite frankly is pretty much over the whole nursing thing. He is not very interested in it and tries to use me as a jungle gym while he eats. He is showing all the signs of being finished, and loves a bottle. He's just extremely attached to nursing at night. And heaven forbid he doesn't have a boob at night. Geez. But that aside, I don't know that I'm ready for it to be over. I am very lucky to have been able to nurse both children, and apparently my body was made to nurse (and nurse and nurse and nurse), and I'm proud of myself for making it this far. I don't have as much of an emotional attachment to nursing like some moms have as much as it is an attachment to the ins and outs of nursing.

For one thing, I HATE the smell of formula. It makes me gag. And it's not like the smell of it just happens when the can opens...the smell lingers especially when it spills, they puke, they poop, they dribble it down the front of the shirt, etc. It's everywhere. And it's stinky.

Another thing, I like being able to eat whatever I want whenever I want since I have to make food for him and have been known to eat every hour on the hour just to keep up with him. For 18 months, I've had an excuse to eat all the time - pregnancy and nursing. Now what will my excuse be? Because I love to eat.

Now I have to plan extra ahead when I go out of the house to make sure I have food for him. My boobs are much easier to remember and carry around than a bottle, a liner, water, and a canister of formula. This bottle feeding thing takes up so much more time not to mention space in my diaper bag.

And let's not forget the expense of formula. All we had to do before was to pay for food for me (which could get quite pricey), but formula companies sure have you pinned up against a wall...feed your baby or not. Hmmm...

Quite frankly, and probably the hardest thing to let go of is: I love having an actual chest. I won't elaborate anymore than that. But DARN it.

Anyway, we're down to only 2 feedings a day for the next week, and then wham bam thank you ma'am we're done. So if Connor or I seem a little edgy or cross, just quickly get out of our way.

Addicted to my camera

So, how bad is it that I beg my children, and my friend's children, to let me practice with my camera? Yes, I dragged 4 children to an alleyway to practice. And they were so sweet about it.





Oh, I love my camera - and my cute kids!!!

On a whim...

Megan, Connor, and I were sitting in the recliner. It was quiet and peaceful until Connor started giving Megan "kisses" which were really, really, really slobbery. Megan got the giggles, so that egged him on. Pretty soon we were all covered in Connor slobbers and laughing hysterically. Megan LOVED it. She was soaked, head to toe, but disgustingly enough, she let him keep doing it.





After Daddy took a few pictures, he turned to put the camera away. Connor started crying! Daddy brought it back, and Connor lit up. He's such a ham for the camera. Of course he couldn't have the camera to himself...





I sure enjoyed those laughs and giggles even if I was soaked. Gross.

Still got it after all these years...

We're still in love. Lots and lots of love.


So much so that I made out with him in an alleyway the other day. And someone caught us.


Now, the real story...My friend Marla, the great photographer, took our family pictures the other night, as in 15 people family pictures. She was so patient and wonderful with us. And I LOVE the pictures. She said she'd take a picture of us, just as a couple, if we promised not to make out. So I had to yank her chain a little...

Connor the busy man!

Not only is this a picture of his new haircut, it's also a picture of him signing "finished".


And he is into everything. EVERYTHING.

I spent most of the day redirecting him or recovering something from his hands. He's darn quick and thinks it's funny when I catch him. However, he's SO good about it. Usually all it takes is a stern "no" and he'll stop. MUCH different than someone else I know...

Catch-up

Okay, folks....I'm finally posting. It occurred to me that I hadn't posted in a while, and my excuse was that there wasn't anything going on around here. But that's not entirely true. I'll give you a quick little summary, and then I promise to take pictures this weekend.

Saturday, before all of the Halloween festivities, Kati and I went clothes shopping. I bought a ton of new clothes and shoes. And it was fun!!! Megan didn't come home until late Monday, after spending the rest of the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Tuesday, the kids got to experience "Daddy Daycare". Daddy kept the kids on Tuesday while I went to work. I asked Megan if he did okay, and she said yes. When I got home they were both fed, breathing, and not bleeding, so that means he did just fine. I like to think of Tuesday as "stay-at-home-mom appreciation day". I also went to the doctor, by myself (a little added bonus), and walked away a very happy lady.

I can't even remember Wednesday.

Thursday, Megan coughed so hard that she puked all over the place - about 22 seconds after I had strapped her into her carseat. You can thank me for not running to get my camera. It was disgusting. She seems fine now.

I got double-dose of book clubs this week. Being the nerd that I am, wow, that was fun!!!!!

Now, I'm just chillin' at the house playing with Megan and waiting for Connor to wake up. I'll post pics of his new haircut later.

Halloween 09

For Halloween this year, Megan was a ballerina and Connor was a dinosaur. Megan's costume was a black leotard and a pink tutu that Granna and Double G made for her. It was perfect!

Megan's dance class performed at the city's Halloween bash. We rushed to get ready and there in time - thanks Kati and Ryan for helping us! Cousin Mandy's class also danced, and the girls were so excited to see each other. Kati, Ryan, Grandma, Grandpa, Gran, Papa, and even Megan's neighbor buddy, Justin, came to watch her dance. Thank you!



Connor still didn't feel good, but he was a good sport. That poor face...



After her performance, Grandpa took Megan around the boo bash to trick-or-treat for a few minutes. It was SO crowded. Too crowded.



When the other groups would perform to the very loud music, Megan would dance and jive as she walked. It was quite hilarious. She was in her own little candy influenced world...



We got out of the downtown craziness and headed back to our neighborhood. Grandma pulled the wagon with both kids all around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. Connor made it for most of the trip. And let me just defend myself here, in case any of you are worried about his well-being, by saying that Connor was not running a fever and he was acting just fine at the time. So he went out with us for a while, but it wasn't long before he got fussy.



Megan "balleted" from house to house and ate candy at an alarming rate.



Probably without thinking it all the way through, being Halloween/ingest candy at an alarming rate night, Grandma and Grandpa invited Megan to go home with them and spend the night. As of 1:05 a.m., she is still awake over there. Holy smokes.