Santa: Take Two

I'm so giddy right now! I love celebrating and getting together with my family! Anything to remind me of when I was a kid! I want Alexis to know what it is like to always have family around, just like I had! This time of year always makes me sentimental, but who doesn’t get that way this time of year? This year we added two new babies and the Mannions, who built a home next to us. Alexis's grandparens are never going to miss a moment, either.

But we still remember why we celebratet Christmas. I truly want to thank Jesus for the blessings in my life; my baby and husband, my family, whom we are so lucky to have so close by, my friends and all the traditions we are continuing as our big family grows even bigger!

Santa came back to visit this year! We celebrated with cake, fajitas, books and of course, lots of family pictures! I love this time of year! So many reasons to be together!

Alexis was much better this time seeing Santa, from afar. We've been talking him up and pointing him out, ALL OVER the place! We even ate breakfast with "him" yesterday. She seemed super excited; acted like she knew exactly who he was and who we had been talking about. When he walked in, she gave him a high five and even shot him a few smiles. It was a toss up on how it was going to go when she actually landed in his lap. But, as it turns out, not much had changed! The fear was still there!Getting warmer!I might want to give him a kiss...but this thing looks funny!? What is it??I'm not fighting too much!Mommy never gets to be in on the action!My sweet Kynlee RaeAnd the reason we are all together and so very thankful for all we have!We didn't get a great Santa picture this year! Good thing we still have Christmas day!I think they look pretty good in this time!This cracks me up! While it is a very sweet picture, Alexis was really trying to be a smart @$$, not pose with her cousin! She was so funny! She KNEW we wanted to get this super cute picture, so when I sat her down, I would back up and she would bolt right up. But, when I was messing with my FROZEN camera, she would sneak in for TWO seconds, just long enough for me to NOT get the the cute picture I wanted! But, I got this one anyways! Laureli is smiling and posing right into the camera! I miss that age!Yes, I told him to cut it out and, he knows that this isn't appropriate, but admit it, it is funny!Mimi, Papa and Alexis!Grandma and Grandpa! I'm so interested see if it sticks to these names we've given them! Brian is pushing for "Nana" and Grandma isn't digging it!!So sweet!It's Santa!!Memaw and PePawThe next generation!Silly Moulders!I will never stop saying it...I LOVE these kids!KynleeSuch a Poser! She looks right into the camera!

Snow Date

That’s right, folks! That is definitely snow that you see! We met Jaime and Keely in downtown Katy this afternoon, after a long day of shopping, for the 2nd annual Christmas in Katy. We had a snowball fight, saw a glimpse of Santa and even played in his sleigh! Keely loved the snow, but Alexis wasn’t too sure! She once again isn’t feeling well and has a runny nose, so she wasn’t into exploring! Just when I WANT her to play in the dirt, she won’t. Go figure! We had a really good time though and I got some loving from K, so that made my day!

Now we are getting ready to cheer on the Texans tomorrow! We finally picked up our Division Champ shirts today! Needless to say, this house is pretty excited that they made the playoffs. So, Go Texans!

And, I can’t leave off my Bear Kats! Sam Houston is going to the Division 1 Championship! I like to think of it as the National Championship for Division1. Eat ‘em up Kats!

Keely likes to pretend that she doesn't want my loving, but she couldn't stop giggling!

Not too sure what to think of my first time in the snow!

K throwing snowballs at me! She definitely has her mommy's arm!

Santa's Sleigh!

Family Pictures 2011

So, who hasn't spent time planning out the perfect family picture?  I planned ours down to the very last detail and the only thing I needed was just a few precious smiles from Alexis?  I mean, how many thousands of pictures do I have of Alexis smiling while I'm snapping away?  I didn't think it was too much to ask for; for me to be in just a few pictures with her as one big happy family! 

I'd shopped around and found the perfect ourtfits for Alexis.  Then I had Bentley's Bows make me some perfectly matching bows!  Perfect outfit, right?  Throw in the mix our cute new puppy, and my dream picture was about to come true!  All I needed was a great location!   I found a field of flowers down the street from our house, which of course had almost died by the time our shoot came around, and then we asked our friends, the Weilers, if we could use their beautiful barn and longhorns for the second location.  I know that sounds strange to describe a barn as beautiful, but it really is so amazing and pretty that when we visited them over the Summer I asked them if I could use their home for our Christmas pictures.  I told you, I had it all planned out! 

So, what went wrong you ask?   Alexis couldn't care less!  All she cared about was the doggies and the dirt!  Seriously, we didn't get ONE single smile the whole shoot!  Hence, take two!  So, the cute pictures you see of her alone in the flowers, were actually the second attempt!  While I have to admit, I do love this family photo of Brian and I, Alexis just looks, I don't know, out of place?  Oh and No Willie!  I knew going into this that he was a puppy and he might be hard to control, but I still had my expectations set high.  To top it all off, one of the bows I had made got ruined while sitting in the bag waiting to be used!  Her milk spilled all over it! 

I'm sure this is the first of many shoots just like this, but after Brian and I had worked so hard this past year to lose weight, I wanted just a couple of family photos with both of us actually IN the picture to show off our hard work and our family, together. 

So, smile or no smile, Here's our family pictures! 

I don't really know how describe her face in this picture?  But, I love how this one turned out!  The only thing missing is Willie and a smile from Alexis!

Here's the smile I wanted to see but not with a Bentley's Bow.  We had to have a substitution on take two.

Such a sweet picture!  Maybe it's just Daddy and I that she didn't want to pose with!

While this picture is very sweet, can you tell she is actually fighting to get OUT of my arms?  Good thing Deanna can find some beauty in any picture she takes!

One of my favorites!  Of course we aren't looking at the camera, but it was probably better that way!  I told you their barn was pretty!

One "doggie" distraction!  How cute is this bow?  It matched her dress perfectly!  Thank goodness we got to use one!

And the other, the dirt!  My girl LOVES to play in the dirt! 

So, here's to the first, of what I'm sure is going to be many awkward family photos!  Happy Holidays!  1.5 more days and I get to spend two whole weeks with my hubby and baby girl!  I can't wait! 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Mannions!! Ordered and soon to be in a mailbox near you!

Santa Jim 2011

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with our friends. We had our 2nd annual Santa Jim party. We had 15 families over for Santa, fajitas and crafts! Everyone, including the adults had a great time! I'm sorry if I didn't get to visit with everyone, everything happened so fast. One minute there were just a few of us and then in one mad rush the house was filled, Santa was walking in and I had two cameras around my neck! Luckily most friends stayed for a couple hours so we could visit!

I'm proud to say that we raised over 200 dollars for a family in need. One of Melissa's good friends is battling cancer, so we decided to donate money for their little boy's Christmas. We know it is hard to pay the medical bills and still worry about being able to provide a happy Christmas for your children. So, hopefully our donation will help ease some of this family's troubles.

After Santa left, the kids painted ornaments and made white chocolate marshmallow snowmen! I have to say, I love pinterest! I'm sorry to say I don't have a picture, but I made Santa's cookie jars as party favors! I fell in love with this idea when I saw it and just had to make them. They turned out super cute. The idea came from pinterest and once I started looking into it, I realized that the recipe came from a lady whose blog I've been following, also through pinterest. I didn't try them, but I'm pretty sure that they are going to turn out great! Thanks everyone for making this party so great! Your generosity is what brings a meaning to this season!

So, Alexis wasn't a fan of Santa!!
Please Mommy, come get me!! her face breaks my heart now, but of course I thought it was funny at the time!

This picture cracks me up! Santa was telling a story and all of the other kids were quietly listening. My little sneaker walks up to the piano, trying to play it. Of course she gave me the evil look saying, "look what I'm going to go do!" All was good until Noah decided he wanted to be sneaky too! He is big enough to lift up the door and they both started making music! So, she wasn't very happy when she got pulled off the piano! Here I was thinking I was outsneaking her and she got me! I think they might have planned it out?

From left to right: Sorensons, Mannions, Smiths, College Roommies and Gormans. Keeley was super cute this year! She was so giddy with excitement to see Santa but yet scared to be by herself with him. She eventually gave him a high five and even a hug. She was way too cute!

The Campbells, Cams, Pates, Finley, Ormsbys

The Normans, Bryants, Morales, Weavers and Addisons

All the kids waiting for Santa. Ryder and Alexis just not having it. Grandma came over and joined in on the fun too! And can I say, just how sweet are these girls? They got along so great! Anna was beyond thrilled to have a girl to play with!

These are some of my favorite pics from the night. Everyone was so cute and sweet! We are already looking forward to next year! Merry Christmas from the Mannions!

Thanksgiving 2011

So, this wasn't the Thanksgiving I had planned, but at least we enjoyed our time with our families! As I mentioned in my last post, Alexis was sick all turkey weekend. So, we didn't get many smiles from her. All she wanted was Mommy, she didn't want to eat and she certainly didn't want to be a part of our photo shoot! Never mind Mommy was super excited to have the girls in matching outfits, courtesy of Lily Lou Designs. Their outfits were beyond cute, but the photo shoot was a bust, to say the least! At least Laureli and Kynlee showed off their personalities. The boys even jumped in the picture to help save the day. But, my stubborn little sicky was having no part of it! Good thing I've already ordered their Christmas outfits, hopefully take two with Santa and Christmas day will produce something beyond some funny outtakes!

We were once again on the go this holiday! Mommy is desperately looking forward to Christmas break and some down time! We spent Wednesday hanging out with Aunt Tracy; seeing her new home, eating lunch and doing some shopping! Just a little girl time! Aunt Tracy even bought A a new pair of furry purple boots, that we LOVE!! Thanks Aunt Tracy! Then on Thanksgiving we spent the morning with the lovely doctors at the clinic followed by a great dinner with the Mannions and Cathys. From there we rushed to the lake to see A&M lose to TU. Such a sad game all around. Mommy got emotional at the start, I still can't believe that this rivalry is over. I will say, I did not enjoy Tom Cruise's shamless introduction/plug for MI4! What does he know about A&M and TU? I'm not sure I will ever live down this loss, but then again, there are going to be many more beatings put on us by LSU in the years to come. So, hopefully Daddy will stop rubbing it in sooner rather than later! Friday we spent the day with my whole family, after all morning slaving away in the kitchen, that is. Then on Saturday we hung out with Mimi and PaPa and spent the evening with our aunts and uncles. We broke in Grandma and Grandpa's new lake house while they were at back in Katy!! They had to leave early because Grandpa had to leave the next day to go to Switzerland for two weeks! So we had some good times with Aunt Missy, Uncle Mike and Uncle Jeff. How sweet are Laureli and Kynlee? A is sweet too, I just wish she had felt better so she could have participated. She was concerned about her bow falling out. We are still having a constant battle trying to keep bows in our hair! They don't last more than 5 minutes!

Alexis started having fun when she was playing with the doggies. But when we replaced Teddy with Laureli, you can see she had a fit. Laureli finally started crying when Alexis completely lost it and precious Kynlee just sat there as cute as can be!

Kelsey has asked me to do her Senior pictures, so I wanted to get a little practice shoot in, just to make sure I was what she wanted. I can not believe she is already a senior and about to go to college and play ball! Makes me sad to think of it and I'm sure I will shed a tear or two when she graduates!

I love this little boy!!

Seriously, how great is this picture! Bubba looks like an old man, just enjoying the lake and his beer. Don't worry, it's just rootbeer, but this pose was too hard to pass up! So manly! I wonder what he is contemplating??

Jamie and her precious family! I love these kids more than words can say! I can't believe they are so grown up! I feel like it was just a few years ago that I was changing diapers and now they are practically teenagers!

I love this picture of Aunt Missy and Alexis. My babies poor lips were so cracked from the fever and Missy was trying to help her! So sweet!

This is my favorite dress! Alexis was actually starting to feel better, so she went exploring the Cathy's backyard. But, she didn't enjoy the hammock and wanted me to pick her up immediately! Her newest trick is "yummy in my tummy." Don't let the fork and spoon fool you though, she didn't eat a bite of her turkey dinner! We hope you had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed your time with your families! Have a great holiday season and be safe!