AL and AU Football

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was much like many in the past...very busy!!! Lunch at Mema's and dinner at my parents. But it was still well worth it!

We got to spend much needed time with family and got to eat some incredible food! But, also as usual, Raylee was exhausted (as you can tell in the pic above) when we left Mema's. So we got to my parents a little early so she could lay down for a quick nap before more fun began.

Raylee got to spend some time with her cousins too! Madelyn on left and Gracelyn and Ella Jayne on the right. Madelyn and Raylee read books and played together all night that night at my parents house. And theses three little stooges on the right played in closets and had a blast!

Umm...See What Had Happened Was...

OK, let me explain...I know it has been 2 months since I have updated and I have been reprimanded for it by many, but it has been crazy around here! Looking back I really can not pin point one thing that has kept me from it, except for the fact that the further behind I get and the longer I wait, I dread it even more...But hopefully I will be able to update soon with pics from Thanksgiving, Disney World, Christmas, and any other events I have left out.



And I haven't even been able to make an official announcement (I think word may have spread anyway) but... I AM PREGNANT! I am about 14 weeks...due July 31. We are so excited! The first trimester exhaustion may have played a big role in my lack of blogging too. OK, I know, enough with the excuses, but I do hope to at least start catching up this weekend so hang in there, don't give up on me yet!

Disney On Ice

Well back in November we went to Disney on Ice and Raylee enjoyed it so much! She was mesmerized at first and was completely emotionless. Then she loosened up a little. She sat in Michael's lap and did not move the entire first half. But then there was intermission and the VERY LONG and drawn out Pinocchio and Mulan pieces...she was very uninterested in...She does not really know either of them and has not seen the movies so I couldn't blame her. Her favorite of course was the princesses, Nemo, and the Lion King.

When I would call her name for a pic I couldn't even get a smile. She was all business!

Soaking it all in!

This pic above is one of my favs because it was after the first scene and she started saying "Where did they go?" like the show was over! She almost got upset. I guess she thought, WAS THAT IT?!

Best family photo I could get

This was her sad face as she watched one of the princesses cry (I can't remember which one).

And her cheering and yelling "YAY" after she loosened up a little.

And her mimicking the dancers! LOVE IT!

The funniest part... We had been talking about Disney World with her for months because we were going in December (pics to come) so when we got home that night and were getting ready for bed we started asking her about who she saw, ect... She said "Disney World"!!!! We laughed so hard...if that was true, we could have saved a lot of money!!!

"My Child Will Never!"

She may kill me one day for this, but I just could not leave this out! After breaking our arrangement that she could "get down" in Hancock, ONLY if she did not run away from Mommy, Raylee made it quite clear that she did not like the results Mommy imposed. I then had to HOLD her. What torture...right? Well any of you who have ever had a strong willed toddler as I do, know what it is like to feel your blood boil while they kick and scream to no avail and every eye within 100 yards is on you like glue. I continued to hold my place in line, not going to give up my spot because we had been in line so long already, while my "sweet angel" kicked, screamed, cried and went limp over an over all while nearly tearing my clothes off. All happening while flashbacks of myself saying "my child will never" ran through my head!

After this went on for probably 10 long minutes in the store, we finished checking out and headed to the car where I hoped the light at the end of the tunnel would come... But, no! After many scoldings and attempts to put a stop to the madness, and another 10 or 15 minutes later, while going down the interstate, I decided I would be the one to give up. NOT GIVE IN! Just give up trying to make it stop and just relax despite the ear piercing screams coming from behind me. So as I breathed deeply and sang silently to myself, I decided to capture this precious moment on film to share with all of you!

Much to my surprise, this was the answer I was looking for. As I was filming (and yes, driving) I simply asked her, "Are you through?" And out of no where, IT STOPPED! She just simply said, "Uh huh" while nodding her head. I about died! If I had known that was all it took, I would have used those words MUCH earlier!

THE BIG 30!

Let me start by saying that I would consider myself hard to surprise. Not because I don't like surprises, or because I am a snoop or anything like that. I just am!

But this year they got me good! A week before my bday and on a Sunday night Beth (with the help of others) managed to surprise me by inviting us over for what I thought was dinner with the family in her new house. But as you can see there were more than family there when I walked in. I think I was more dumfounded than anything. I just did not know what to say, so I guess I did not say much at all (which is definately unlike me, just ask my Dad).

Thanks to all of my friends and family who were there to wish me a Happy Bday! I am so blessed to have such a great family and so many great friends. Love you all and thanks again!

Worth Showing

Just some extra Halloween stuff that I have not posted yet but could not leave out...

Love the bottom right pic with her and her "punkin" that she made at Mimi and Pop's while we were out of town.

Building a ginger bread house with a little help from Lex, May, and Mommy. As you can see she enjoyed snacking on it while making it.

And these pics of her with the "puppy" that she literally carried around during her weekend with Mimi and Pop.

Happy Bday Kinsley

After trick or treating we went to Kinsley's bday party. Yes, she was born on Halloween! I can not believe she is 17 years old. I hope Raylee's first 17 years go by a LOT slower than Kinsley's!

After a long night of trick or treating, partying, and eating WAAAAAAY too much candy, we stayed and hung out a little bit with Bryan and Tracy since all the teens had headed out to do their own thing. And there is nothing like ending a long and busy day with nice cold glass of milk and "cookies"! (which were actually crackers, but Raylee called them "cookies")

Trick or Treat

Instead of going around our neighborhood door to door we just jumped in the car and did some "drive-by and stay a while" trick or treating. First Rock Mountain Lakes, then Lipscomb, then Pleasant Grove, then back to McCalla for the tail end of Kinsley's bday party. We only managed to make 6 or 7 stops in about 3 or 4 hours, but we were able to stay and visit a few minutes at each stop and that is what counts. But even with just a few stops Raylee had a full bucket of candy at the end of the night...minus what she insisted on openning immediately!

Costume Party

We attended a Halloween Costume Party as a family this weekend dressed as...can you guess?

Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell!

Michael was such a good sport, and agreed to dress as Peter Pan only if he did not have to wear tights! We had already decided on Raylee's Halloween costume (made by Nana) so we had to come up with something to go with her, and something that I could easily make myself. So Peter Pan and Wendy were the obvious choices! Below are pics of Raylee accepting "Best Costume" award for our family, singing "Some Day My Prince Will Come" during karaoke, and looking a little dazed and confused late in the evening with some party jewelry on.

And pictured below with Raylee: Peter Pan, Veronica Corningstone and Ron Burgandy from Anchorman, Spiderman, Abbi Scuito from NCIS, Wendy, and Spencer dressed as Michael's Dad! There were so many good costumes, I am sorry that I did not get pics of them all.

So glad to have been able to spend time with friends and family! We had such a blast!