The Little Loop

Day by Day...

2011-03-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

So, after not really taking any pictures of Charlotte her first 5 weeks because my camera battery was dead, I've decided to try my darned-est to take atleast one picture a day of just regular family happenings. I'm going to post them here to keep myself accountable, but warning- it will be sporadic! (the first couple are random....I didn't really start until 2-28-11) And- these will all be taken with my point-and-shoot camera...so NO editing (which is really, really hard for me to be okay with. But- I will have to be!)

Here's my first round:

Feb. 3, 2011: Charlotte's IV burn...this is what it looked like after soaking it in diluted bleach (per Doctor's orders. For real.)

Feb. 28, 2011: Cowgirl Charlotte and her Buckin' Bronco Berkdog

March 1, 2011- Big sister helping!

March 2, 2011:

While mommy was busy, Lorelai packed her own lunch for Mother's Day Out! Gerber Pasta Pick-ups (ew, but she looooves them), applesauce, spoon, raisins, and- why not- a cereal bar!

Crashed on the couch after a long day (9am-2pm) at school! (p.s. this NEVER happens!)

Trying to force-feed a paci to sister...

March 5, 2011: Auntie L's shower for Weston!

This is Charlotte's "ooooooooooooh I can't wait for my cousin Weston!" face:

March 6, 2011: "Look Mommy! I have a baby wrap like you!"

March 7, 2011: What happens when Daddy puts a cloth diaper on Charlotte for the first time...it's on backwards, for those of you who can't figure out what's wrong with this picture...

March 9, 2011: "I'm going to eat her face!" (in a sweet, loving way...)

I looked over, and Lorelai was setting up for her own personal photo session. TOO cute! My little photographer-in-training. Although I made her get off the chair.

...Continued

2011-03-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Wow- that was the longest "to be continued" ever!

From that point, the nurses were not able to get Charlotte to breathe very well, so she was taken to Texas Children's (which is connected to St Luke's, thank God...it was just one hallway away!) and hooked up to a CPAP machine to increase her airflow...she was never on a machine that had to completely breathe for her. They also had taken her blood by this point and realized that her blood glucose levels were low. The nurses were not able to start an IV in her tiny veins (after MANY attempts) so they ended up putting one in her umbilical cord. I wasn't able to hold her (except for the brief moment after I had her) until that night around 6:00pm, and I went back later that night around 9:00 to cuddle with her and nurse her. My poor little baby had so many holes in her arms and feet from IV attempts and foot pricks, it was so sad. The NICU was quiet, dark and warm which was perfect for the babies, but really made for a depressing atmosphere. I have such a new level of sympathy for families whose babies have to stay in the NICU for long periods of time, all the while worrying about whether or not they will even make it.

Charlotte was in the NICU from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday evening when she was finally released. Wednesday evening she was taken off the CPAP machine and was breathing fine on her own, and her blood glucose levels were resolved the next day. They kept her until Friday to wait and see if she was affected by the Group B Strep that I had, but by Friday night her bilirubin count was going up. Saturday her levels went up more so they put her under the bilirubin lamp, and by Sunday we were allowed to take her home as long as we followed up with her pediatrician on Monday. Sunday she had also developed an IV burn on her sweet little ankle from the IV (they had switched it's placement around a few times). An IV burn can happen when the catheter that is in the vein comes out and leaks fluid into the surrounding tissue...sometimes the fluid eats away at the skin. It looked like a black hole the size of a nickel on her tiny ankle.

During Charlotte's stay, this was my schedule: Wednesday night- stayed at the hospital (duh). We to see Charlotte at about 6pm and 9pm, then went back to the room to sleep :( Thursday night, I actually developed a stomach bug Typhoid Mary (aka Lorelai) had earlier that week (that Leslie had also caught), so I stayed another night at the hospital with that loveliness. The next day (Friday) I felt better (thank the Lord it was a short bug!) and was able to stay the day in the NICU with Charlotte. I was going to stay the night in the NICU by her bed, but had to call Shawn at 2am to come get me because I was severely dehydrated. We came back the next morning at about 8 am and I stayed the day again. I did go home that night without even trying to stay again...at this point I had reached pure, utter exhaustion and knew my limits. So, home we went. Me and Leslie went back the next morning and stayed until they let her go home that evening, when Shawn came and got us. This was the most physically and emotionally trying time of my life. I know I only survived because of the prayers of our friends and help from our family!

We took her back to her pediatrician Monday-Thursday for blood tests to check her bilirubin, and though her levels continued to rise, she was also getting older so it wasn't as big of a concern. On Thursday, her pediatrician almost sent us straight to Texas Children's because her IV burn was looking swollen. It was so close to the bone in her foot they were worried about a severe infection. They gave us a presciption ointment and sent us home and told us to come back the next morning to double check it. Thank the Lord it had improved, and we were sent home and told not to come back until she was 6 weeks old!

*huge sigh of relief*

Here are some pictures to document this time:

A little help breathing...

Cpap machine:

Get this thing out of my arm!

First bath:

with Daddy:

with Mommy:

The only time this child will EVER see a tanning booth :) Under her bilirubin lamp:

Going Home!!

First time big sister met little sister:

And...just for good measure, a picture of me 35 weeks pregnant:

(the face says it all...)

Me the night I went in because my water broke (clearly not in active labor!)

Charlotte's IV burn (a week after it happened...ouch!)

Well, that's all folks! We are so thankful to be home and loving both of our girls!

Graphic and honest....read at your own risk!!

2011-01-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

To my sweet, sweet Charlotte:

I'm sure one day I'll be able to look back at the agonizing natural labor I went through to get you here and say something nonchalant, such as "oh, it wasn't that bad!"

Today is not that day. Here's what I remember, the way I REALLY remember it.

37 weeks and 5 days, I woke up feeling like I needed to tie up my loose strings. I was convinced I wouldn't go into labor until after my due date and was crossing my fingers for a Valentine's Day baby, but I thought "what the heck, I'll get a little ready now so I have less to do then!"

I sent out an email to the family letting them know what the game plan was for when I went into labor and half packed my hospital bag. I started having light contractions at about 3:00pm. I called a couple of friends who had just had their babies (Andi and Lindsay) to get their input as to whether or not I was really in labor, and I had decided by about 5:30pm that I was not. (Every time I sat down or would lay down, the contractions would lighten up to about nothing.)

I continued having light contractions that felt more like Braxton Hicks, and about 7:00pm I started feeling alot of pressure on my hips. I decided to practice my "tailored sitting" (basically sitting indian style on the ground to get the baby to move down) and about 5 minutes later, I felt my water break. I knew immediately it was my water breaking and that I had not, in fact, peed on myself as some women think they have. I stood up- and WHOOSH- niagra falls.

Every cough, laugh and step. Gross.

I called my midwife (Theodora was on call), and she said to head on up to the hospital so that we could get my IV antibiotics started nice and early (I had tested positive for Group B Strep early on in my pregnancy which requires IV antibiotics during labor.) On the way to the hospital, I could really feel Charlotte bearing down on my hips. I started to panic, thinking about Andi and Lindsay who had BARELY made it to the hospital/birthing center and started to panic. Shawn got to St Lukes in about 12 minutes.

We got to the hospital, got my IV hooked up, and Theodora got there to check and see how dilated I was. Her exact words were, "Oh Katie, that baby is in Canada! We've got to get you walking." Super. I was only 1cm and 50% effaced. So, we walked a few laps around the hospital and my contractions barely increased in intensity. We decided it would be a good idea for me to get a good night sleep and try again in the morning. I think I got 1 hour of sleep. My contractions had gotten intense enough that I couldn't sleep, and I spent about 2 solid hours in the jet tub (THANK YOU St. Lukes), and the rest of the time lying in bed uncomfortable.

Theodora came in at about 7:30am or 8am and we started walking the hospital again. My contractions picked up a little more, and she checked my progress at 8:30am. 1 1/2cm, 60% effaced. She asked if it would be okay to give me a VERY small amount of pitocin to strengthen my contractions and get my labor moving. I was tired and starving at this point, and just wanted to get Charlotte out. Plus, I knew that since my water had broken and I had the group B Strep, they would want her out to prevent fever and infection, so I agreed. Theodora's shift ended and a different midwife, Debbie, stepped in.

9:00am the pitocin started, 9:45am the contractions were lasting 1 minute long with a max of 1 minute in between.

Two things to note here: at about 10:00am, I did ask Debbie about the possibility of getting an IV drug to help with the pain. She was very sweet and said if I wanted something, she would get it for me. I didn't ask again.

Secondly, the thought of an epidural crossed my mind only once, probably about 11:00am. Here's what I remember thinking:

"oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I can't take another contraction. I can't do this. Why don't I want an epidural??? I can't remember. I can't remember. Oh my gosh, Another contraction...breathe, breathe, breathe...."

And that's the only time I remember being rational enough to consider it before going right back into getting through the pain. I truly believe this was Gods protection over my sweet girl since one of the known side effects of an epidural and IV drugs is breathing difficulties at birth.

Who knows how much worse it would have made things for her.

At about 12:35, the contractions were unbearably strong, and I said something like, "I feel ALOT of pressure, I think I need to push?" The nurse realized Charlotte was bundled up on my right side and she and Debbie decided I needed to move onto my left side. Immediately my body started having the most intense hot/cold flashes and pain and I remember saying "OUCH. OUCH. I need to roll back over! OUCH. This hurts! I HAVE to push NOW!"

The rolled me back onto my back and checked me, and I was ready to push!

I pushed for 13 minutes. It would be impossible for me to describe the pain if you've never been through it. I imagine it's equivalent to having to slowly cut your own arm off. Or maybe just a couple of fingers. Hard to say. Trust me. It hurts.

I pushed her out and they put a very purple baby onto my stomach. She wasn't crying, but she was breathing- just not very forcibly and certainly not the way they wanted her to be. They got the neonatal team in the room within minutes and they started rubbing and patting Charlotte. They kept reassuring me she was fine because she was, in fact, breathing, and I believed them and managed (mostly because of my shock of just having a baby) to stay calm.

To Be Continued... (Don't worry, there's a happy ending!)

Charlotte Mae Little

8 lbs 10 oz, 2 weeks early

19 1/2"

To my Lorelai...

2010-11-12T16:34:00.000-08:00

Wow. I just can't even believe that you are turning three years old today. You started out in this world a tiny, sweet, chubby little baby and have totally rocked our world. I have learned so many things from you and just being your mommy, and here are just a few:

-I have learned to love completely and unselfishly. It doesn't matter what I want or what I'm doing- your needs are always my first priority and this was quite an adjustment! I learned just how selfish I have been all of my life and have had to give up so much of that. In a good way.

-I have had such a realization of how precious life truly is. This has so strengthened my walk with Christ and my resolution for you to know Him fully, no matter the cost or going against what society insists is the norm.

-Endurance. Doesn't matter if I've had the longest day of my life, 7 months pregnant. If you wake up in the middle of the night with a fever, I will be your slave until you fall asleep again. And I'm okay with that, because I'd rather it be me (or daddy) than anyone else in the world.

-I have learned that pregnancy is so much easier when someone is as excited as you are to meet the new baby! You love Charlotte so completely and I know you will be a selfless big sister.

That being said- here are a few things I love about you:

(as if I could name ALL of them):

-You started out in this life SO sassy and- though you are still SO full of drama- you have turned into this tender-hearted, loving girl. You are so empathetic and compassionate towards anyone who is hurting. I love that you are so full of love.

-When you do throw a fit, you have about a 5 minute turnaround. You go to your room, cry, and come back to me to say "I'm sorry, momma" and smile. You are so quick to repentance and forgiveness when it is asked of you.

-You love Jesus. You love songs about Jesus, you love to pray to Jesus throughout the day, and you love going to church to learn about Him.

-You are FUNNY. I never thought I would let my little girl be into "princesses", but you refer to yourself as a princess constantly and how could I possibly disagree? When I told you today that princesses wear bows in their hair, you replied "but I have to wear my crown!"

-As mentioned above, you love your little sister. You love to rub my stomach and say "Charley, Charley, Charley! You're SO cute!" (note: Charley is pronounced "Sharley")

-You love your Daddy SO much. You can often be found throughout the day carrying around his picture and saying "I miss him sooooo much! I loooooooove him." When asked where he is, you will reply "He's earning the bacon!" (I taught you that :)

-You begin almost every sentence with "Soooo...." (as in "Soooooo, what's your favorite color?") and you want the most detailed response about everything. I say "I'm putting on my shoes," you ask "what kind of shoes?" I say "my flats," you say "what kind of flats?" I say "my brown flats," you say "what kind of brown flats?" This usually ends with me saying "I don't know how to be more specific than that."

I can't imagine my life without you and know that God must have some amazing things for your life with such a big, overflowing heart.

I love everything about you...

Your momma

From this....

To this... (sorry for the video quality...)

and, just for funsies, an outtake...

The Princess and the Pumpkin...

2010-10-22T20:52:00.001-07:00

Sooooooo...my little girl has turned into what every little girl eventually becomes.

Princess Obsessed.

I'm finding it is innate in all little girls as there is no good explanation for the princess obsession that has seemed to occur in Lorelai and all of her friends!

I broke down and bought her a princess dress for Halloween, and ohmygoodness is she SO precious. And ohmygoodness does she play the part.

We went to a local pumpkin patch the other day and snapped some pictures...

For this picture, I actually told her to give me her best "princess face," and this is what I got!!

Here's one more to tide you over...I took a million more pictures, but I'm going to use one of them for her birthday invites, so you'll have to wait for the rest...

Labor Day Weekend!

2010-09-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great first 2 days of our Labor Day Weekend! The weather was beautiful Friday and Saturday while we were in Galveston with our friends Nathan, Diane and Ashton. Friday we got to Galveston and just hung out at the beach house, but Saturday- we went to Moody Gardens! It was a BLAST. Lorelai enjoyed every second of it, she seems to be the perfect age to soak it all in and be excited about everything.

Lorelai and Ashton waiting to go inside...

Smashed Penny! Always a great past-time.

In the shark cage! Ahhhhh!
Watching the fish swim above them at the Aquarium...
Don't feed me to the shark, Daddy!

My little butterfly...

Lorelai even got to hold a butterfly! She was mesmorized by it...just let it crawl all over her hand.

Sunday Diane and I took the kids back to Moody Gardens to play and swim at Palm Beach. Once again, they loved it and we got home and took nice long naps.

Which is a good thing, because the rest of the weekend was spent passing a stomach virus from person to person. My little Typhoid Mary once again spread a horrible virus. It kicked off with Lorelai Sunday afternoon, followed by me Sunday night, followed by Ashton early Monday morning, followed by Diane, finished off by Shawn. Thankfully Nathan was able to avoid it.

It was quite the nightmare for everyone, being sick and not being in your own home, and not being able to be away from the toilet long enough to get home. And, in my case, being 17 weeks pregnant and dehydrated. I am so thankful that the virus was pretty short lived and over now!

Go Texans!

2010-09-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we were able to take Lorelai to her first Texans game, courtesy of Big Poppy! I have to be honest, I wasn't at all nervous about how the experience would go. This girl LOVES sports. She will watch the Astros or Texans on tv any day and loves going to Astros games. For the most part, she sits still (or goes from my lap to Shawn's) and watches the game pretty much the whole time (as long as she has plenty of snacks!)

We got to the game early for some tailgating:

Schaub jersey: check!

Sparkly pink tennis shoes: check!

Big Poppy stuffed her little pockets full of peanuts for the game!

Onto the game....while we were walking, we turned a corner and saw the stadium, and Lorelai raised her arms and yelled out "GO TEXANS!" It was so funny!

That's good enough for a Houston Texans "FIRST DOWN!"

Snuggle break!

Fishing those peanuts out of her pocket...

After the game, we went back to the truck to eat a little more and recover from the excitement:

We had a great time!

An update...or something like it!

2010-08-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day that I wanted to switch out the pictures that have been hanging (or not hanging, since they still haven't been put back up since our house was painted in FEBRUARY) up for the past year or so. Lorelai has grown SO much and I was itching for some change. And then I realized- I have NO recent photos of my girl! My handy little point and shoot has had a dead battery for quite a few months and heaven knows I'm not going to carry around my Cannon. So, I charged that battery up, loaded an empty memory card, and have been trying to catch my beautiful little gal in action!

These are from her first day of Mother's Day Out this year. She is attending Shadycrest Baptist and already loves it. She walked right into her classroom and started playing...I kissed her on the head and walked out. She didn't even notice. We've been two peas in a pod all summer, and not a tear was shed. By her. :) I had to run by the school office and looked in her classroom on the way out, and there was my tender-hearted little girl, comforting a crying boy. Patting his back and most likely saying "shhhhh, shhhh" sweetly like I've taught her to do for crying babies. She is going to ROCK as an older sister.

Here she is with her teacher, Miss Erin, who we already love!

Today, we went and played at the park with our friends Diane and Ashton, and caught this little moment...

Followed shortly thereafter by this little moment...

Sleeping Beauty.

Philippians

2010-05-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share some things we have been learning in our small group lately. First off, I cannot say how much we love having a bible study at our house with some friends who we have really enjoyed growing closer to. God has brought some great people into our lives to challenge and teach us.

Lately we have been working on a study of Philippians with Matt Chandler. If you don't know anything about Matt Chandler, google him. He is awesome. I know everyone draws different things from different studies, so I wanted to share what I've been learning.

Fear.

The good kind, that comes from the "...fear of the Lord..."(Prov 1:7). And the bad kind, which is clearly from satan.

Philippians 2:12 is what we focused on, which says to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling". This verse really gets to me. This world is so quick to say the opposite. In God, there is only happy, nice feelings. Fear and trembling? Must be a typo. God doesn't believe in fear. Fear is bad, happiness is good. Oh the lies that satan tells us to make us complacent and to keep us stuck in our sin.

Am I saying to be scared of God? A little healthy fear never hurt anyone. It keeps us walking a straighter line and brings the reality and consequences of sin into full weight.

"But I will show you whom you should fear:Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." Luke 12:5

Or what about those of us who have been going to church all of our life? Who consider ourselves to be "religious", or claim to know this God? There's a verse for us, too.

"Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!'" (Matthew 7:22)

If that verse doesn't make you want to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, I don't know what will. One of God's blessings to me (and sometimes a curse) is a deep sense of empathy. When I read that verse, I see these people I know. People I love, people I have brushed elbows with. People whom I have seen speaking of God and reading their bibles, crying out and begging my Jesus. Hearing the words, "I never knew you."

That has really gotten to me lately. It makes me make SURE that I know Him. That I read his word so that I know what He loves.

The point of our study on Philippians 2:12 was to reveal to us that if we know God, we are to LOVE what He loves, and to HATE what He hates. If we know Jesus, if we have worked out our salvation with fear and trembling, and if we fear the one who has the power to throw us into hell, then we are to run passionately after Him, throwing off what He hates, and clinging to what he loves. And if we don't want to do these things, to take a serious look at our hearts.

I'm not going to lie. I reeeeeeally want to go see Sex and the City 2.

As I watched the preview for it last night, I came to the realization that I couldn't go see it, and I became saddened by the fact that I couldn't go see it.

Then i remembered satan. I remembered how the other night I was plagued by anxiety after feeling free of it for so long, and remembered how much I hate satan with all that is within me for making me feel that way. The next morning I vowed to hate what God hates, because we now, more clearly than ever, have a common enemy.

And guess what. I don't feel so bad about not being able to see the movie.

I hate that movie because it glorifies what satan looooooooves.

I'm kind-of all over the place with this blog post. That's how my mind works, sorry. Let me see if I can sum it up?

Fear God-> don't assume....read the bible and KNOW that you KNOW God->Follow His word->love Him passionately->realize through this how much you hate satan->begin to hate what God hates->follow through with it.

Did you follow that? Hope so. This is just a glimpse at what God has been teaching me.

What has God been teaching you?

Backyard Fun!

2010-05-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

So I've spent more time outside in my backyard this past month than I have probably in the past two years! Lorelai truly loves to be outside every moment of the day. She's figured out how to unlock the doors and has taken to running outside (in the backyard) without asking (which was QUICKLY corrected). Most mornings I usually let her run around the backyard while I stay at our breakfast table, backdoor open so I can see/hear her, but she doesn't need me out there to entertain her. That's what "Berkie" (Lance Berkdog) and "Clenentime" (Clementine) are there for. Those dogs have more patience in them than any dog I have ever known. This video is just a sample of what goes on here every day.

We planted a small vegetable garden this year and just this past week have gotten to eat some tomatoes from it. Here's the first tomato:

I love it when she comes in from playing outside. All sweaty, curls everywhere, usually covered in dirt that she's been trying to force-feed the dogs. What a life. :)

On a different note, last Thursday was Lorelai's last day of Mother's Day Out. We will miss her friends and her teachers, but I'm excited to have my girl every day all day. I really enjoyed my Tuesday/Thursday freedom, but I usually ended up spending money and picking up a very grumpy 2 1/2 year old who hadn't napped. We'd end up going home and putting her down for a nap and then that's almost a whole day I hadn't spent good time with her. I really enjoy spending time with her and while some days I am thoroughly exhausted....I think that's just the life of a mommy. At this point, I don't plan on putting her back in. I foresee this being very difficult since my photography business is really starting to take off, but I'm going to try really hard to manage my schedule. And if all else fails, I can always put her back in next year :)

That's all for now!

Rodeo Time!

2010-04-06T09:09:00.001-07:00

This year we made two day trips to the rodeo for Lorelai to get to see all of the animals and attempt to ride the ponies. She, as usual, had a blast- this gal LOVES animals. After 2 1/2 years of being able to torture Lance and Clementine and only be attacked in return with kisses, she thinks every animal is just as loving as those crazy dogs. (Yes I realize this isn't always a good thing!) Now I am just going to bombard you with pictures of the festivities. Enjoy!

Trip #1:

She wasn't too excited at first to ride the pony.....

But after they started moving....
She was much better!
And had some fun!
Wouldn't be a trip to the Petting Zoo without something trying to eat her clothing...
Petting the baby...
Watching Muttin Bustin with Auntie...

Trip#2

Petting the bunnies...

She LOVED the fact that there was hand sanitizer everywhere!
So silly!

Next post soon to follow!

Honesty

2010-04-05T05:57:00.001-07:00

Alright folks, let's just be honest here. I am not that great at blogging. :) I am beginning to accept this as reality and just update when I get a chance. I am also trying to take pictures a *tad* bit less so that I can actually enjoy Lorelai's childhood and not remember it completely through the lens. (I am still taking millions of pictures, I assure you. I am just trying to cut back a little.) SO, without further ado, here's a little catch-up for the past couple of months!

Here is Lorelai at her Mother's Day Out Valentines Day party!

This little stinker hardly dances at ALL at home, but they do a couple of little dances each morning at MDO to get the day started, and she is one of the few that actually does it!

Next up! We went to a local park with our neighbor's, Amee and Ava in February and the girls had a blast! Lorelai is only a month older than Ava- it is such a blessing to have them across the street....these girls love each other!

Feeding the vicious ducks...they look sweet and innocent here, but only moments later they were attacking us! :)

Lorelai brushes her hair out of her face with the palm of her hand and I think it's the cutest thing ever. This is my attempt at getting a picture of it...
Sweet girls!

That's it for this post! Next up: Rodeo!

En Espanol

2010-02-25T19:39:00.000-08:00

So when I picked Lorelai up from Mother's Day Out today I was informed that she is bilingual. Pure genius, I tell you. :) They have been teaching the kids in her class a song that teaches them their colors in spanish. I knew that Lorelai knows all of her colors...but en espanol?! That was news to me. Apparently it's only her and one other girl that can do it. Here is a video of her singing it...

(I use my camera to take video, hence the obligatory "cheeeeeeese!" at the beginning. Also, Daddy was throwing her the color that she was singing about because she is apparently not so good at multitasking yet. She would grab whatever color was closest to her.)

Tot School? Sure, Why Not.

2010-01-21T18:18:00.001-08:00

This is our first week back to a regular nap time, healthy dinners, and Mother's Day Out!

Yay for normalcy!

We still haven't officially begun any new Tot School activities. I am really excited to get started, though! Walmart was having a big sale on their toys this past week, so we snatched up some wooden blocks, kid-sized kitchen gadgets, and even an art easel! I can't wait to get it all set-up so we can get back to our ABC's and 1,2,3's.

Daddy has been doing a little Tot Schooling of his own with Lorelai...we cleaned out our office this past week so we have it set up with a tv and an old-school Super NES. This is what lesson plans Shawn has been working on:

(Please excuse picture quality...these were taken with the trusty ole point and shoot)

If you look closely, you can see that she is holding the duck hunt gun while watching Bambi.

Nice.

Every time Thumper came on the screen, Shawn would say "Shoot the bunny!"

And she would.

I think it's funny that Shawn thinks outside the box...it's one of the things I love most about him, however odd the subject matter is! :)

He also took up teaching Lorelai the important skill of playing Super NES Mario...

or "Cheerio" as she calls it...I have a video of her playing, but I can't remember our youtube username and it takes too long to load straight to the blog. :(

That's all I've got for today!

Tot School? This Week? HAHAHA

2010-01-15T05:10:00.000-08:00

Lorelai is 26 months...

and we have done Nothing, and I mean Nothing this week.

We have survived, recuperated, and laid on the couch watching tv, too weak to do too much.

We are, of course, better now- but definitely too late to start a new activity or learn a new letter this week. Little Miss can now recognize a Big A and Little a, and most of the time a Big B and a Little b, although she has trouble singling them out in words.

That's it! Just wanted to post some kind of progress and keep up with the theme!

And now, a picture. Because a picture is worth a thousand words.

What happens when you mix Crayola bathwater color tablets, a two year old, and a daddy who is 4-5 feet away playing on his laptop??

You see where this is going?

Too cute for words.

Th Wedding Massacre of 2010...

2010-01-13T05:49:00.001-08:00

It started out a cold, wintery day. Wedding bliss was in the air as we decorated the Heights Historic Firestation Ballroom. They had just informed us the night before that the heater was out, but we weren't going to let that get in the way...it was already warming up as we hung little silver ornaments and pink jewels from the branches of silver tree limbs.

None of us could've guessed what was going to happen next...

dum Dum DUMMM.

Okay, but really. It started out a great day. Decorating, plan making, breakfast eating, and then lunch came. Mom didn't feel good and was the first (of the day) to get sick. She got through her little sick-spell and we kept on with the day, making sure not to mention to Leslie that mom was sick so that she didn't come down with any psychosomatic illness right before the ceremony. Efforts were wasted, Bride got sick. It hit her about two hours before the ceremony, and it hit her hard. She managed to get dressed and emerge from the dressing room long enough for some pictures, then went back to the bathroom. We mentioned to Pastor Tom that he may want to wait until we gave him the "go ahead" for the ceremony if he wanted the Bride to be present. I'm not sure if we even had to delay the ceremony...maybe by a few minutes? But there she was, fully dressed and smiling as it if had never happened (minus the candy cane she was sucking on through the ceremony, reception, etc...) I started getting cold sweats and shaking about halfway through the ceremony, made it through some post-ceremony pictures, and then could barely stand. I truly have no idea how Leslie was able to do it.

My poor, poor sister!

Here are some pictures of the reception that morning after we had decorated...

Maybe someday this will be funny, but right now, it still feels like a bad dream! I remember very little of the ceremony, and even less of the reception. My apologies to everyone who caught this bug....it is really the most contagious bug I have ever heard of. The official count is up to 17 people right now, and counting as the sick ones spread it even further.

Here are a few gems I captured in the Bridal Room waiting for her to recover...

how did her hair stay so perfect??

a sad, pathetic face to show how you truly feel?

how about a little smile?

There now! That's better!

(maybe the smile's a little too big? kinda scary? oh well.)

How someone SO sick was still so beautiful is a mystery to me.

Leslie and Chris- it can only go up from here!

Hope you were able to stop vomiting long enough to enjoy Mexico!

(and everyone, once again, on behalf of Lorelai....or Shawn....or even maybe me....SORRY!)

Rehearsal Dinner

2010-01-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Nothing exciting, really, just a few pictures of the rehearsal dinner at Star Pizza!

The infection-spreading begins...
I love these....Lorelai's reaction to the necklace Leslie and Chris gave her for being their flowergirl...

Love the green lighting in the place, don't you?

These were, of course, before all of the REAL fun...

My New Obsession...

2010-01-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I stumbled upon this new website the other day while too weak to walk but too awake to sleep and yet not vomiting. and- I LOVE IT. I am desperate to start feeling better just so that I can get started! I think this will be my first project:

http://knockoffwood.blogspot.com/2009/12/plan-you-asked-pottery-barn-kids.html

Just the drawers- hoping I can scale them to fit under my current coffee table.

I haven't mentioned this new obsession to Shawn, I'm curious to see what he'll say. My guess is something to the tune of "You are too clumsy! You'll lose a finger the first week!"

My genius plan is to ask him to show me how to work the power tools.

Get him involved...make him feel like he's in control....

MUAH HA HA.

A post on the wedding massacre of 2010 to follow shortly.

"Tot School" or something like that.....

2010-01-06T05:41:00.000-08:00

Lorelai is 25 months, 3 weeks

So in my effort to post on this blog once a week, I've decided this would be a good place to help me track my progress in what I am loosely referring to as "Tot School." (I am going to put her age at the top to help me track when I did what...) I found this blog http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/ and thought that it would be fun to start implementing some type of learning activities each week. My ultimate goal is to be able to convince Shawn (and, in doing so, convince myself) to let me homeschool Lorelai- atleast her first few years, and then maybe private school if we feel it isn't right for her/us. I was homeschooled for a couple of years (sixth, seventh, and half of eighth grade) and while I personally hated it, I'm hoping that if we start early enough and have some friends that jump on the bandwagon, we can create our own little co-op. SO, on that note, we started a new sensory activity last week that Lorelai looooooooooves!

It is just a large mixing bowl, 2 lbs of pinto beans, and two measuring cups.

Simple things in life, my friends.

I showed her how to scoop with one hand, and pour the beans into the cup that was in the other hand. We sat there for about thirty minutes and she thought it was so much fun.

As she was playing with it, I would make comments like "You are scooping with your right hand!" or "You are holding the bowl with your left hand!"

And guess what? She now knows her right from left.

Thanks to cousin Daniel, we are now teaching her to apply right and left to things other than her hands (ears, legs, eyes, etc) and I'm pretty convinced she is off the charts smart.

Sorry, I had to say it.

Full scholarship to Rice, anyone?

This week we are getting familiar with the letter A. I figure this year we will learn a letter a week and just become comfortable recognizing it. We will work on what sounds the letters make and more advanced things next year. I think we will also start to incorporate shapes and colors, although she already knows ALL of her colors and a few shapes (square, triangle, circle).

We are also getting ready for Auntie L and Chris's big day which is rapidly approaching. This Saturday seems to be racing towards us, and amazingly enough, I think we are pretty prepared! We only have a few things left to do to get ready, but nothing huge or stressful.

Which is just weird. Weddings are suppose to be stressful, right?

Am I the only one that had three full-on nervous breakdowns while wedding planning?

Of course, I'm a pretty good wedding planner and had I been able to be the bride at my own wedding and have an extra one of me to help me plan, I think I would've been much better off.

Well, that's it for this weeks post. I need to go wake up the little baby monster and get started with our day!

Okay, Aunt Peggy.....

2009-12-28T05:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a new post for you! :) And everyone else out there who doesn't have a Facebook page to see our constant updates. The pictures aren't exactly in order because I'm trying to do this quickly, so bear with me....

The past few months have been a busy time around our household. My photography business is taking off, especially around the Christmas when everyone wants family pictures, and because SHAWN GRADUATED! We couldn't be more happy/proud/excited! We feel so free and can only imagine the extra time we'll have as a family. Here are a TON pictures of the happy occasion:

Waiting on Daddy to graduate at Holfeinz....
"Proud of My Daddy" with her own little graduation cap.
Our first glimpse of him...
I see him!

The secret for getting a two year old through a college graduation ceremony: skittles.

(and lots of family there to get up and let her run through the halls every 30 minutes.)

Where's Daddy? We would yell "Shawwwwwwwn!" and Lorelai would repeat us. Too cute!
Walking across the stage.....SO PROUD!

We also had lorelai's Christmas Party at her Mother's Day Out! Her two-year-old class got on stage and sang Jingle Bells with the Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack while shaking bells- TOO CUTE! Lorelai really just sat back and chilled most of the song, but I'm pretty shocked she even sat there at all! Here are some pics of the cutie-pie:
Lorelai and her friend Bella getting ready to decorate and eat cookies!
Santa anyone? NO THANK YOU!
Recovering, yet forever scarred.
Well, maybe not....
December was a long month full of fun!
I am going to try to make a conscious effort to post on this blog once a week from here on out. This post alone took me about an hour, which I am reminded exactly why I never have time to do this, but I got up extra early and did this while Lorelai is still alseep! Woohoo! Shawn is home from work this week so we are going to try to clean and re-organize EVERY room in our house! Wish us luck!

Forgive me?

2009-12-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

.....for taking so long to put up a new post? We have been SO super busy lately. Shawn finished all of his finals and will be GRADUATING December 18th. I am still in shock. I am having to rethink the way we have been living life for the past....well, quite literally, since we first met! No more staying up late to study, missing Shawn a few nights a week, no more paper deadlines, registering for classes, hoping he passes. NO MORE! We will only be subjected to the normal amount of stress life offers while raising a two year old. *sigh* Sweet relief my friends, sweet relief.
My photography business is going very well, also! If you don't keep up with that blog, go check it out, also!

I am just as busy as I want to be and am having so much fun! I am working on getting a logo and business cards so that I can keep growing. I am so blessed!
Little Miss is talking our ears off lately and repeating the phrases we use daily....but it's SO much cuter coming from her! Things we hear daily:
"Let's go, guys!"
"I'm proud of you, Momma!"
"Excuse me!" (she will repeat this until we move)
"Oh dear!"
"Oh My Goodness!"
and many, many more!
Just is just so precious to us. She constantly tells us how much she loves us and gives kisses like crazy.
and, since I can't blog without a photo, here's one to warm your hearts.

Too precious for words...

2009-09-22T19:35:00.001-07:00

So, it's taken me two months to edit these pictures. There were literally so many good ones, I felt completely overwhelmed to even get started. But they are literally the most precious pictures I have of Lorelai. We headed out to the strand this day because Shawn had to work on the beach house, so Lorelai and I had a girls day... we even had a caramel apple. (yummmmmmm.) Then we headed to the beach for a photo session that ended with me getting Shawn's truck stuck in the sand and getting lectured by many islanders about where is "okay" and "not okay" to park. Now I know. (um hello, I don't normally have to park in the sand. It's what parking lots are for.)
Without further delay....the lovely Lorelai.

Grandparents- no need to copy pictures from the blog. I've made a cd of them for you!
Love,
us

Craft Project!

2009-08-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today I spent most of the day sewing a new nap mat for Lorelai! She started Mother's Day Out yesterday at Fwd Church of Christ and needed something to sleep on besides the sticky floor mat they provide, so instead of dropping big bucks on one of these bad boys, I made one! YAY! It has alot of crooked lines and I would've done a couple of things different, but overall I think it came out very well. I picked a really fun fabric and am glad b/c I think it's hides some of the messiness. Here it is!

Lorelai looooooooves her new "night night!" I keep catching her laying on it watching t.v. and she screamed when i took it away to take pictures of it. Makes it completely worth it!
I've decided that I really do not enjoy the process of sewing...a little too slow for me, but I really like having something to show for it! This was what I would call more of a beginner project (I would consider myself an EARLY beginner) but it was ALOT of fabric, so it was time consuming.
Here's where I found the instructions:
http://jennygarland.typepad.com/jenny_garland/2008/09/not-your-everyd.html

ABC...

2009-08-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Lorelai loves to sing her ABC's ALL the time now, and it is SO stinkin cute! She really only gets A-G and then is done with it, but she is usually pretty much on key which is impressive to me! (not even 2 yet, mind you...)
Here's a video of her last night singin in the tub...
You can hear her get A-G then skip to "Next time won't you sing with me? yaaaaaay!"

I still have pictures from Colorado to post, but the photographer in me is having a hard time editing them since they were taken at all hours of the day and not the best lighting. ugh. I need to just relax and let baby pictures be what they are!
Hope yall enjoy the video!

New post....

2009-07-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

...on my photography website of my cousin Nikki's sweet little baby girl! Go check it out and comment! :)

http://deliberatelychicphotography.blogspot.com/

or you can follow it from the link to the right!

This is What Happens....

2009-07-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

....when you walk outside in the afternoon to water the plants, and your baby girl decides it's too hot:

This is what happens when your husband puts BLUE icing on your kids fingers, tells you to "let her be a kid!" and then walks out the door to go somewhere:

This is what happens when your husband decides to grow his hair out WAY too long, then combs it across his forehead and does his best "Zach Efron" face:

and this is what happens when the cutest girl in the world celebrates the fourth of July:

God Bless the USA

2009-07-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

My favorite "America" song growing up was God Bless the USA. Every time I listen to it, without fail, I get teary eyed- did so even as a child. I don't know where I first heard it (I think at the friendswood parade) but it's always been my favorite.
Tell me you don't get chills when the guy busts out with

"And I'm proud to be an American
Where atleast I know I'm free!
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me!
And I'll gladly stand up (symbols clap here)
Next to you and defend her still today!
Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land!
God Bless the USA!"

Have a great fourth everyone!

A little preoccupied...

2009-06-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

So, now that I have my photography blog up and running, I have been slightly neglectful of The Little Loop... (tail between legs...) sorry!
Here are some pics I took of little missy at my dad's last weekend for Chris's (leslie's bf) birthday!

I love these pictures of Lorelai cracking up and just being a toddler. She is SO much fun these days and is developing the craziest personality that is always keeping me laughing! (Especially when she is half asleep...) She is going to start Mother's Day Out in the fall and while I know she is going to have SO much fun, I also know I'm going to miss having her around every day all day. I am SO blessed to be able to stay home and be the one raising her and teaching her to love God and to be a kind baby. I am SO blessed to have a husband that supports his family by going to work every day and supporting this decision for me to be at home.
Happy Father's Day, love!

Hope everyone has a great day and thanks God for their daddy/husband!

New Blog!

2009-06-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Ok friends and family, my new photography blog is up and running! Go check out my first post, and check back later today or tomorrow for the next one!

Remember- the new blog is ONLY for my photography shoots and practicing. Keep this blog bookmarked for personal/Lorelai related posts!

Hope everyone likes it!

http://deliberatelychicphotography.blogspot.com/

Ella and Lorelai...

2009-06-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

We went over to my Aunt Melissa's last week to see sweet Ella (My cousin's little girl...would that make her Lorelai's 2nd cousin, and my 1st cousin once removed???) I was hoping to get some pics of another beautiful little girl to put in my photography portfolio....but my goodness, Ella is FAST! I was sweating and out of breath by the time we were done attempting to take pictures of these two! We did get some keepers, though!

After picture taking the girls took a bath together and Lorelai helped Ella get ready for night night- complete with a night-night kiss! Such sweet girls.

Thanks to everyone for the business name suggestions! As of right now, I am really still in love with the original name I picked. I'm starting out with just a blog website until I start making money that I want to put towards a real website...hoping to have it up and running by the end of the week!
Stay Tuned!

Brainstorming...

2009-05-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Well my friends, I think the time has come for me to set up a separate website to show any pictures that I am taking that are not Lorelai- related. For those of you who don't know, I am seriously and prayerfully considering starting my own (not full-time) photography business sometime next year. I have found someone who is (crazy enough) sweet enough to mentor me and help sharpen my skills and I'm going to be practicing alot this summer. One Problem! I want this new website to have the name of my possible-future-photography-business, and I have yet to think of a name! I have a pretty good one that I'm really, really liking, but it was suggested to me to try and incorporate "Little" into the title since it is a fun last name. And, I've got NOTHING. Anyone have any suggestions? You won't win anything....except my eternal gratitude :) Let me know some ideas, you creative people, you! (p.s. your ideas do not necessarily have to have "little" in them)

Go team!

Beach Buddies!

2009-05-29T01:25:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we had our first chance to slip away to the beach house with a couple of friends for the weekend since Ike hit. It was crazy to see how destroyed the island still was, but I know it had to look better than it did those first couple of months! Driving down Bob Smith in Jamaica Beach there were sooooo many houses with sagging decks, caved in roofs, some were even crumbled to the ground. My father-in-law's beach house is in recovery mode and was fully functional, but it just didn't look the same (yet, that is....contractor is at work!) Anyways- our friends from church, Jared and Amanda and daughter Peyton who is a few months older than Lorelai came with us and it was SO cute to see the girls play together! Peyton is SOOOOO energetic (seriously Amanda....how do you do it???) Lorelai has her crazy moments and is quite a quirky child, but energetic she is not! She would just stand there watching Peyton run around and smile at her- free entertainment! Peyton loooooooved "WorWie" (Lorelai) and Lorelai loooooooved PeyPey. At one point, Amanda and I were cooking in the kitchen and looked over to see the girls just standing there in a hug, looking out the window. Priceless. (No, I didn't get a pic- these kids are fast. I did get a hug picture at the beach, though!) At one point, the girls were eating snacks and Peyton decided she wanted to sample some of what Lorelai was eating. Lorelai is pretty possessive of her food and has learned to defend herself from the dogs trying to eat food out of her hands....and so she spent most of the rest of the weekend, very authoratively telling Peyton "no! No! NO!" It was cute. We did manage to run down to the beach for a couple of hours Saturday in between passing rainclouds.

*Friends*

"You tell anyone about this- let's just say, I'll have my people take care of you."

Sweet little Peyton

This was the first beach trip Lorelai has ever been on that did NOT involve an ear infection (twice last summer...) and she loved every minute of it! Shawn and I swam out knee-deep with her and played in the waves- she would laugh and laugh when the waves crashed in front of her, and as soon as that wave was gone- she would do her sign language and say "more? more? more?" It was SO cute. My little beach babe!

NO TRESPASSING

2009-05-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

....is what the sign (that we ignored) said. Hey, Lindsay and I tried to knock on these people's front door and ask permission....but they weren't home. So, naturally, we pretended we didn't see the signs (there were three of them...) and took pictures anyway. HA! We went way too early in the afternoon, so we didn't get a whole lot of good ones, but we got a few:

On the way home, I was feeling inspired, and remembered Lindsay had told me about a spot that wasn't too far. So, naturally, I kept going. The suitcase featured in this pictures was given to me by my Grandma Shirle for my birthday (It was her high-school graduation present!) and I thought this was a cool way to incorporate it into our life. (Don't worry Grandma, we were very careful with it!) Lorelai just sat so sweetly and let me snap away...

Post numero Uno

2009-05-13T11:29:00.001-07:00

Okay, so i know many of you have been patiently waiting for me to post pics of our new kitchen, and yesterday, for some reason, the stars aligned: the kitchen was clean, and I had a second to grab my camera. Here it is!

Beautiful.
I LOVE cooking in this place. When the sink is empty. And the counters are clean.

Next up: naked Lorelai on the deck! Shawn was outside watering the plants, and Lorelai decided to help out. She had already gotten herself soaked, so i stripped her down and let her have a little toddler fun.

Next up: trespassing in the name of wildflowers and vintage luggage!

Practice Makes Perfect...

2009-05-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know these are just flowers. They cannot compare to my beautiful, big-eyed child. But, c'mon. LOOK at these. I went in the backyard while Lorelai was napping today to practice on my new camera, and I'm only posting the SOOC (straight-out-of-camera....meaning they have NOT been altered in photoshop or any other program) shots I took. It was a little tricky because there were passing clouds that decided to mess with my shutter speed/ISO settings. I just considered it a pop quiz. :)

and here's one of my little ant friend that decided to make a surprise appearance...

But seriously- check out my previous post of my beauty in black-and-white...

A Picture....

2009-05-11T12:28:00.001-07:00

...is worth a thousand words.

New Camera...

2009-05-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

I. Love. My. New. Camera. LOVE it. It is one of the best birthday presents I have ever received, and am so grateful to have a husband that supports my hobby/possible future (Wayyyyyyy far future) profession!

We've been super busy the past couple of weeks so I haven't had too much time to play around with it, but here are a few sweet pics of the little lady I had to share:

Baby Girl's Best Friend...

2009-05-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Lorelai loves her "doggies," but Lance in particular is her favorite. She especially loves torturing him, probably because he endures it with love and patience! I frequently catch her beating the dogs with whatever object she can get her hands on, yanking hard on their tails, grabbing their legs, pulling their ears, etc. Clementine usually runs as soon as she sees Lorelai coming, but Lance... he loves her. He will take it. If the torture becomes especially strenuous, I will catch him growling in a painful way. I got worried when i heard him do this the first time because he is usually such a sweet dog, I didn't know what he'd do when put to the test. I saw him looking the other way, wincing, then growling.... then finally, when I thought he'd reached his limit and was going to snap at her, I moved forward to intervene... (I usually command her to be Gentle to the puppies when she beats them, but I really wanted to know what he would do...)
Before I could get between the two of them, I saw Lance lunge for Lorelai's face. and that vicious, vicious dog retaliated by... LICKING her! Sweetest dog ever. He just kept licking her face til she stopped, and I've never worried about them since.

Here's some pictures I caught of them just today:

She was holding the phone to his ear and saying "helloooooooooo!"

(sorry for the blurry pics...I was just trying to capture the moment!)

This next one was SUPER funny because she had him cornered in the office and was trying SO hard to get Shawn's hat on his head. Every time he ran she would just giggle and chase him!

And all you haters out there can call it gross that I let him lick her, but seriously. This dog just LOVES her. How could I get between that?

(and no, her mouth is NOT open. That is gross. I usually discourage licking on the face.)

I know Shawn loves Lance, but I think Lorelai is Lances favorite. Sorry honey.

Canvas Giveaway!

2009-04-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Okay Karen, I have to copy you because I am dying to get this pic on a canvas!

I am entering this photo in the MCP Actions/Color Inc. Win a Gallery Wrap Canvas Photo Contest at http://mcpactions.com/blog. I certify that I took this photo and give both parties permission to use this photograph on their blogs/sites.

Just for funsies... updated

2009-04-15T20:20:00.001-07:00

Today at the Children's Museum!
p.s. if you ever want to test out your skills with shooting in manual mode, go to the CM. Way difficult and 3,000 different lighting options. grrr.)

Future paramedic?

Maybe not...

This evening Shawn called me into the bathroom, and I saw his new hairstyle for Lorelai. I immediately told him to put the letters up and ran to get my camera....
and this is what I caught!

So cute.

Forgot to add this one of this cute little kitty cat at the museum:

Do-Over!

2009-04-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

wow. What an overwhelming response to my last post. On one hand, I'm quite surprised that so many people I don't know are reading my blog (yes, I realize I posted a link to it on my Facebook. But, I have done it before with no response...) and on the other hand, I am quite overwhelmed because what I was writing was directed to a specific few and not meant to make people feel guilty for things they should NOT feel guilty about (being upset because of lost children, safety concerns, etc)
So, I am calling a do-over. Pastor Tom says that I can do that :)

Here is what I meant to say to EVERYONE that attended (or even did NOT attend) the Great Pearland Egg Drop:

Well, Saturday is what I would call a great failure in many ways, and a great success in more subtle ways. When we were planning for this event, Pastor Tom repeatedly stated that we were stirring the pot in Pearland, and satan was going to hear about it and try to make it fall apart.
And he did, but in ways that I think we did not expect (he is crafty, that satan...)
In my mind I was thinking, "great. NO one is going to come. No one is going to hear about it. No one is going to care. Or maybe it is going to storm and no one will be able to come." The weather was what I was most concerned about.
Who knew satan was planning to make this event such a success that it would get out of control? There were way too many people there. So many, that safety became a major issue, especially after the eggs dropped. (I would like to report, however, that all lost children were returned and that there were no major injuries, Praise God. Not to belittle anyone's concerns who did have a lost child or who's child was pushed or shoved or in any other way hurt. I am only looking at the positive side that there were no permanent injuries.)
So, onto my point. I am going to insert here some lines from the previous post:

I. Love. My. Church.

I love that we are real, and relevant, and I get messages on Sunday that are applicable all week long. I love that while we are "hip," we do not give false hope of a sublimely happy life in Christ Jesus. We are realistic. Sometimes harsh. ALWAYS truthful. I love that while we are compared to other churches in our area that reach out to the lost and unchurched, we do not sugarcoat the Christian life to suck in those who need the real God that we serve. We tell it like it is. We love God, God loves us in ways we cannot even grasp. Life is hard, but it is worth living with Christ in your life. You will make it with HIM. And not only survive, but thrive. But, it is hard.

That being said, I want to say that I, in no way, think my church is perfect. No church is, because it is made up of humans, and humans are...well... not perfect. We were told by the City of Pearland to expect 4,000-6,000 people there, MAX. We did not expect there to be what we estimate to have been about 12,000 people. We did not have enough volunteers, eggs, safety officers, popcorn or cotton candy. I don't know that there is any way we could have expected that much of a turn out.

We only desired so greatly that this event would allow us to show Christ to the community. And this is the very subtle way that this event was a success.

If your child was hurt or lost, I truly hope that there was a volunteer there to be kind and help calm your fears. To pray for the safety of your chld (which, even if you didn't know it, many of us were.) And to react to you with love. And, if there wasn't, I hope that you were able to react to those who hurt you or your child with the love of Christ (cause we know no momma has love for someone hurting her baby! maybe I'm speaking for myself...) (P.S. if you didn't you still have the opportunity to.)

Satan meant to turn this event into a disaster. In many ways, it was. But what satan meant to be a nightmare, God turned into an opportunity to respond by showing his love.

Our congregation does not advocate the pain and fear of lost or hurt chidren, just so that a few people can come to church. (You have to have read the last post's comments to know what I am referring to...) That was SO not the point that I was making when I said that this event was worth ***tiny inconveniences, such as having to wait in lines***

Quite the opposite. We were hurting for those parents with lost children. We winced when we saw a grown man shove a little girl out of the way. We felt the sadness of these little kids who walked away with no eggs.

But I also saw God's love. I saw parents whose children had gotten too many eggs giving some of them to other children with none. (I also saw the opposite, of course.)

So, to the masses out there who came to the Great Pearland Egg Drop and had a miserable time, I am really sorry. This was supposed to be amazing.

Satan showed up, and brought some destruction.

But guess what? God was there too. He was just harder to see if you weren't looking.

I was forwarded this incredible video, and if you like country music, it is going to blow you away. And if you don't, try to suffer through it and listen to the words :)

I hope everyone had a great Easter, and I hope you will stop and think about different ways you may have seen God show up Saturday. And, if nothing else, pray for those that were there who were not so kind. Make it possible for God to be included in your experience, even if He wasn't on Saturday.

NOW, onto my super-cute little Lorelai Kate!

It's amazing how much fun a one year old can have just running around a parking lot!

Here she is in her tutu, BIG bow (as promised) and pink converse:

My girly girl taking a juice break:

Not so sure about that hellicopter...

Okay, it's gone now. Fun can resume.

As you can see, Lorelai was not crazy about the hellicopter. To me, it was all a little anticlimatic. They threw the eggs from the hellicopter out of plastic bags... the anticipation was exciting, though. Lorelai was too scared to go grab eggs after the'copter went away, so she dug her nails in me and screamed for DaDa. Fun times. In the end, though, it was lots of exhausting fun.

In Him who was raised from the dead so that I might live,
Katie

Happy Easter!

Lorelai and Tilly

2009-04-08T13:38:00.001-07:00

Here are the girls both squeezed into a basket full of balls:

For some reason, they wanted to be in the crib...

and here is Lorelai all tuckered out from a day of fun with Lindsay and Tilly:

These girls are getting SO big!
Next week's blog: Easter Fun (and one RIDICULOUSLY large bow.)

How to: updated

2009-04-01T16:56:00.001-07:00

****For those of you who do not have AMAZING craft stores nearby (seriously though, how do you live???) Here are some links to joanns.com... Online shopping is my best friend/worst enemy. Just click on the item and it will take you directly to the website. Make sure you read my note a few rows down to save $!

Edible markers (please do not actually eat the marker. hehehe)

Candy Melts

Lollipop sticks

Clear bags with ties (If you want to package the cake pops individually)

Daisy Sprinkles (chick feet)

Candied chocolate chips (beak, arms) ...okay, so I didn't find these, but I also didn't look that hard...

***Most, if not all of these are Wilton brand, and if you buy 2 or more Wilton items you automatically get 20% off. AND, Joann's sent me a promo code to get free shipping. The code is: EBD095 and it expires 4/5/09***

I. am. awesome.

Original Post:
I read all three of these posts and just combined the knowledge...she shares different tips in each post, so read all three:

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/08/hope-these-put-smile-on-your-face.html

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2007/12/red-velvet-cake-balls.html

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html

Here are the basic steps:

Buy your favorite cake mix, can of icing, THREE bags of candy melts, Lollipop sticks (the thinker, the better...they come in different sizes,) edible black pen, the different sprinkles necessary for what you are doing (p.s. if you are making the chicks without eggs, you do not need white candy melts, only yellow!) and flat styrofoam. Make sure you don't buy styrofoam that crumbles everywhere. I did.

Bake cake according to directions, let it cool completely on a wire rack;
Once cooled, crumble completely and mix in the ENTIRE jar of icing. (Bakerella says she uses most of the icing, then adds as she needs it...I only used 80% of the jar and wished I had used the whole thing for better stickiness.)

Roll mixture into quarter size balls (You can use a melon scooper if you have one.)

Melt just a few candy melts, dip the stick into candy melt, then stick into ball about halfway. Freeze for a few hours?

Remove from freezer, melt the rest of the candy melts, and dip. Really cover them as much as you can and use a deep bowl or cup to make it easier. Hold the stick in right hand and tap your wrist, not the stick, with your left. (You dont tap the stick b/c the cake will fall off, and you use your left hand b/c for most people it's weaker.)

Stick into a styrofoam sqaure to dry. No need to refrigerate. Once they dry completely, put them in an airtight container.

Read Bakerella's instructions closely, also!

What I learned from experience:

Buy more candy melts than she lists... I bought 2 bags of candy melts, and I probably would have bought 3. It will make way too much, but it makes it easier to dip the cake pop without having to scrape the bottom!

I made the cake, crumbled it, mixed in the icing, and refrigerated overnight. Next time, I will go ahead and put the sticks in (you have to dip them in the candy melts first!) and then freeze them for a little while. My cake pops kept falling off of their sticks. Bummer.

I used cake decorating gel in black for the eyes. It was too goopy and never dried! I wanted to put cute little plaster bags over the cake pops, but I couldn't do it without smearing the eyes. I didn't buy the edible pens b/c they only came in a pack of like 6 for $8, and I'm cheap. What can I say.

I should have really rolled the balls into quarter size, not tried to see how big I can make them...

p.s. You do not have to buy the paramount crystals listed on the Easter chick ingredient list. They are only to thin out the candy melt if you have to heat it repeatedly. You can use shortening to do this. The exact amount is listed on the back of the candy melts. I got most of the ingredients from Michaels.

Let me know if you have any other questions! They were really easy to make, just be patient while you are dipping them in the candy melts...sometime you have to wait for them to dry and redip a few. TOTALLY worth it.

Cake Pops Rock.

2009-04-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so i really, really enjoy baking... if:
I can make whatever it is I'm making very well (who likes to put in TONS of work only to have it called average??),
AND whatever it is I'm making is very pretty or fun.
Two words: Cake Pops.
These Easter Chick cake pops themselves aren't hard (especially now that I know what NOT to do...) however the decorating was a little tedious with a 1 year old running around. They are amazingly delish, and I got the idea from Bakerella (thanks for the link, Jodi!.) She has lots of good ideas that I plan on trying out.
Here are some pics of these little bites of heaven:

(p.s. Lindsay- I didn't even have to "Bring on the Eyes" in these!)
Little Miss chowed down on this one and begged for more every time she caught sight of them from then on!
She is still the cutest thing I've ever made. :)

The bluebonnets...

2009-03-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

...they call to me!
I just HAD to go back to the patch again last night. I couldn't NOT go. Yes, it had been storming allllllll day yesterday, but when it cleared up at about 5:00pm, the sky had perfect cloud coverage (in other words, poor man's light filter...) I knew NOONE would be there and we would have the place to ourselves. And, we did. I called Nana who lives down the road from the bluebonnets and had her meet us there, and away we went! I put Lorelai in a more colorful dress this time (thanks, Auntie L!) to add a little more pop to the picture (and, eventually, my wall.) The other pics came out well, and they are still in the running, but seriously. You can't beat this lighting. Add these to your voting...

...and, of course, one with Nana!

Why I love photoshop...

2009-03-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

....and why Photoshop can be soooo deceiving :)

Here is the before of picture #1
(not sayin this pic has won yet, just demonstrating some skills...If you havent looked at my previous post, go there to pic your fav...)

And here it is post-photoshop:

Notice anything missing???
I was able to crop out the other photographer on the left, but had to do some MAJOR clone stamping to remove the car to the left of Lorelai and the person walking on the right.

I. love. photoshop.

Bluebonnets...

2009-03-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

I love having a girl. I love living in Texas. The two combined equal a BEAUTIFUL combination. My first set of bluebonnet pics with my sweet little strong-willed child. We went to the bluebonnet patch off Melody lane right by 2351...yes, in a sweet old man's front yard. He welcomes the company and asks for a picture for his albums if you come back by. I had to do very little editing on some of these, some I got too excited because I LOVE photoshop, and some I had to tone down BIGtime because there was full sunlight coming in. I am going to pick the favorite for our living room wall, so everyone cast your vote...I need some opinions! I can NOT decide. Number from top to bottom (starting at 1, of course...duh.) to avoid confusion (i.e. I really like the one of her in the bluebonnets! ...wow.)

I will post the picture with the most votes in 4 days.
Go.

***Update*** Karen, here is the pic you requested, boosted! I took the boost down to about 80% b/c it seemed a little overwhelming with the quick edge burn (which I also took down.) Let me know what you think.

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowgirls...

2009-03-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

So this was our second trip to the livestock show with Lorelai! It was during our wierd, only-in-Texas, freezing blast of wind and rain week before last, and we were accompanied by Nana! Lorelai got to wear her cowgirl boots from Auntie L, and enjoyed it just as much this time around, although she was still in a pet-but-DO NOT-ride mode with the ponies. Oh well! She still had a great time and even got a t-shirt and a stick pony! Woohoo! Here's what you came here for:

We were walking around, trying to contain the wild animal that is Lorelai, when we decided to take her to her favorite place on earth- the petting zoo! She had just as much fun as she always does, but I noticed in retrospect a sequence of events in the next few pictures that made me DIE laughing. AH, how it all makes sense now!
Here is the first picture of the sequence.

As she was making this priceless face, I was laughing and thinking how this was one of those toddler moments I am SOOO glad I caught on film! What happened next, however, was one of those toddler moments I was SOOO glad I did NOT catch on film. Lorelai had a lesson in animal A&P (anatomy and physiology) that day. She poked the poor animals poo-hole. She just couldn't help herself.
I stopped laughing and ran for the hand sanitizer. BLEH.
So, naturally, this is what happened a few minutes later:

That little turkey came back and took a few chomps on Lorelai's shirt!
Game. On.

Lorelai's retaliation: trying to step on the goat's head. Good one.
I didn't even realize as the events were occuring that this was the same goat she was going back and forth with.
This next one is after Lorelai noticed she had hay all over her diaper:

And a couple more random ones to conclude Rodeo Houston 2009:

and now, as a bonus, a little video.
If you went to the Rodeo this year, you were introduced to the most amazing thing ever: Mutton Bustin.
For those of you who did not make it, here's a little sample:

That's right, folks. It's just pre-schoolers holding onto a sheep for dear life. And, it's awesome. I haven't laughed that hard in a looooooooong time!
So, naturally, we tried it out with Lorelai. No animals were harmed in the taping of this video... and since we had no mutton on hand, we used Kelly's dog, Aggie, who is a beast of a dog. The video isn't as good as it could have been, mainly because Shawn wouldn't let go of Lorelai and let her ride free, as clearly she wanted to (wuss.) And please try to ignore the cell phone music in the background, it's really quite distracting.

If you can manage to get past that little piece of gold...
Onto other news....Lorelai's cold virus proved to be short-lived, Thank the Lord! She had a 102 fever Thursday and Friday, but seems to be doing much better today. She is really, really getting into her terrible twos (nice and early) and it is a real lesson in patience to be home all day with her (as well as a blessing, don't think I don't know that!) We are thankful the weather is getting warmer so she can just go free in the backyard until she's too exhausted to do anything but nap. :)
Next blog: our trip to the bluebonnet patch. It's awesome.

Friendswood Carnival

2009-03-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to a festival at my mom's church, Friendswood Church of Christ. It was so much fun! I know Lorelai had a blast...except she wasn't as eager to ride the pony this time. She would pet it, love it, but NOT ride it! Here are my favorite pics:

LOVE the stinkeye she gives me after I try to put her on the horse. :)
Another blog to follow shortly! We went back to the livestock show and I've got some fantastic pics of her in her cowgirl boots! Little miss has been running a low-grade fever all week and we've just been laying low and catering to her moods!
Til next time...

My Little Cowgirl...

2009-03-07T11:21:00.001-08:00

Thursday was an exciting day in the life of Lorelai (or so I would imagine...) She saw the Astrodome for the first time in her life, rode a pony for the first time, and got to harrass, abuse, and generally torture many small animals! Exciting. I've also been playing around with photoshop alot the past few days, so if you hate photos that aren't all-natural, .....sorry. Of course I didn't fix any flaws on Lorelai, because quite frankly, what flaws could a 15 month old have?? I just played alot with colors and lighting (courtesy of Pioneer Woman's photoshop action sets!) So here we are! These first few of her riding the pony, loving the pony, and then very shortly after realizing my hand was not supporting her, freaking out on the pony! I settled her down and she went back to loving the pony...

Cutest. Cowgirl. EVER.
These next ones were taken at the Petting Zoo. This is probably Lorelai's favorite setting in the whole world- animals TRAPPED and forced to take her love. She LOVES animals- all animals- they just don't love her so much at this point in her life! She's a little....ummm....rough, to put it mildly. She's also very obtrusive to their daily activities. In some of these you will notice she is in their face while they are eating hay, poking their eyes, letting them know where their nose is, and she was even trying to talk to a little baby goat while he was trying to nurse. He thought she was very rude, but was nice enough back to her. There was only one animal in there who was her equal. (dum Dum DUM) The Llama. This feller chomped on all of our shirts, and only after me yelling at him while he was eating Lorelai's shirt did she get upset.

(next one) "and this is your Nose!"

"Don't worry, he doesn't bite!"

"are YOU talkin to ME??"

Lorelai: Eye! Eye! Eye!
Animal: Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!

"...kids!"

The infamous Llama:

Lorelai's response:

Big girls don't cry!

"Shhhhh! Just go."

Here are a few favorites from inside the reliant arena where the livestock show was...

All tuckered out, ready to go home...

Auntie L also bought Lorelai some fantastic cowgirl boots, pics of those to follow in the near future!

Pretty fishy!

2009-02-21T10:14:00.000-08:00

The other day we had what was our closest to serious incident yet! It was not a serious incident, by the grace of God, but it was CLOSE and SCARY. Lorelai and I were having fun playing out in the backyard while we had workers inside finishing our floor tile, and we were playing on the deck. We went to get a closer look at the fish in our pond(can you tell where this is going?) I squatted down by Lorelai at the edge of the water, literally INCHES from her. Apparently she wanted a closer look. She took a step forward, tripped, and went head first into the pond. thank GOD I was right beside her, because it is just deep enough for the whole top of her body to go way in. Her little legs started kicking frantically on the edge, so I was able to grab on and yank her out IMMEDIATELY. She was gasping and panicking which made me gasp and panic, and we had a Dr. appt for that afternoon b/c I thought she had an ear infection (which she doesn't)so I called and told them even though it was their lunchtime, i was coming RIGHT THEN. Turns out she's fine. She didn't inhale too much nasty bacteria water, and she did hit her head on the bricks that hold up the fountain, but no concussion or permanent damage. It just took 10 years off my life, that's all.
Here's a pic of Lorelai yesterday with her bruised face:

Like I said, not that bad. Here's a pic of the pond in case you've never seen it and are wondering how big it is:

Don't be fooled by the small circumference. This pond is about 2-3 feet deep.
It's wierd because at the beginning of that day, I just had this urge to pray for God to give me the strength that I needed for that day. I remember wondering if someone I love was going to die, or if Lorelai was going to be fussy, or what it would be...
Thank God for his protection over this sweet girl!!!! (and for his forgiveness for all of the times I've thought: How could that parent have been so irresponsible to let this happen to their kid??) It literally happened within seconds. Scary!

***AS a side note: We are looking for a plastic kids playhouse and a plastic outdoor slide/climber combo. If you know anyone who is giving one away or selling one for cheap, PLEASE let us know! I check craigslist like every hour, so don't suggest that :)

Thanks!

Hello.....Hollywood?

2009-02-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

Yes... this is Lorelai Little.

I'm ready for my close-up!

The other day Lorelai and I went to the park for a little photo-shoot. I feel like we've been soooooo busy the past few months, we haven't had a chance to take many pictures. But, we made up for it, and Lorelai is becoming quite the little fashionista thanks to grandmas and aunts!
Here are the rest of the pics of my little model.
Next stop: Hollywood!

and Lindsay, I am DYING to install my photoshop so I can get those actions!

Could it really be THAT easy???

2009-02-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

(sorry folks, I recorded this video sideways so go ahead and turn your head to the left to watch the video...) I was most excited about this video. I am going to copy Lindsay Kirklin and post a disclaimer about how much i HATE my "mommy-voice." (The voice I use when I talk to Lorelai.) Seriously....it sounds like I'm from another country when I say "come to mama!" And, now that I've pointed it out, it's all you're going to hear. PLEASE get past that, and focus on how CUTE it is to watch the inner-struggles of a 14-month-old. This video is the complete opposite of how things usually go when I tell Lorelai not to do something. Usually, it ends with something to the effect of Lorelai throwing herself on the ground and repeatedly wailing and rolling around. (Diane, am I right?!) and, that's on a GOOD day. So, what you are about to see is NOT an accurate depiction of everyday life here. Actually, this is how Heaven must be. Your child wants to do something, hears you say no, and obeys. Rinse, Lather, repeat. So, here goes. (another sidenote...with our house being under construction, everything is breaking all at once. The guestroom toiletseat cover broke off, so this is what happens when one of us (AHEM) accidententally leaves the bathroom door open. And, the spot in the toilet is something that Lorelai threw in there earlier. Not poop.) Enjoy!

Funny Videos

2009-02-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I actually hate posting videos b/c for some reason it takes my computer like 2 hours to download the video to the blog (anyone know a shortcut???) but these two were too fantastic to not post. This first one is from the other day when our friends Diane and Ashton were over. We were trying to get Lorelai to give Ashton a kiss on the head, and you can see it is clearly going to be a love/hate relationship between the two of them for now...

This one video actually took like all day to load up, so I will post the other one tomorrow!

Under Construction, A new obscenely large fish tank, and...

2009-02-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

We will start with the construction. We got our new cabinets in Friday, so this has been a weekend full of ripping the old ones out, and putting the new ones in. We are just starting today to install the new ones, but this is what our kitchen looks like right now:

So today I am asking myself the question, why, oh why did I let Shawn buy this new fish tank??? think it's 110 gal and it takes up the whole back wall of our dining room (where the mirror use to be.) It really is pretty, and he really did get a good deal on it, but it is SO over the top. Our old tank caught some disease, and EVERY fish but one died. It was the worst massacre our house has experienced. He was going to have to buy a bunch of new stuff that would've been expensive, so instead we decided to get this monster off of Craigslist:

This morning, while Shawn was admiring said new fish tank, he came across something rather disturbing...

THE GHOST OF FISH TANKS PAST! Do you see the freaky, happy-looking-whale creature in the rock? I thought when Shawn showed it to me it was a fish that had gotten trapped in the rock and was decomposing (wouldn't have been the first time...) but NO. It is a part of the rock that chipped during transfer from one tank to the next. creepy.
I know it's not Mary, but how much do you think we could get it for on Ebay? :)

Scrapblog

2009-02-01T00:37:00.001-08:00

Okay so I found this link on my friend Jodi's page and am already obsessed with it. It isn't as high-tech or cool as using photoshop for digital scrapbooking, but it is FREE and easy! I've already created 2 pages, so check back periodically and see if I've posted anything more!
http://www.scrapblog.com/viewer/Viewer.aspx?sbid=1400430

A BIG dose of Lorelai comin your way!

2009-01-30T23:53:00.000-08:00

So as I was uploading some pics I took the other day, I saw some that I had taken about a month ago. Apparently I was trying to look something up on the computer and Little Miss was being needy. So, I kept snapping pictures hoping the flash would amuse her. It would seem as though it was working, because I took like 20 of them! Some of them are so funny, I had to post them... What a cutie!!! Next: yesterday Lorelai was eating spaghetti and had gotten it EVERYWHERE. She would sit there with a huge handful of it and suck down the noodles one by one. hehehe! Finally, a video! Most of you who are around Lorelai often have heard her say her favorite command, "No Dog!" (In reality, it sounds more like "No Doh!") She started saying this when she was quite small after, of course, she heard me tell the dogs No when they were barking. Now, anytime she hears them or any other dog bark, or sees another dog (stuffed animal or living) or even hears a bird sing, she releases her command. She is quite the little boss. It is really very funny, but can also get very old. :) Here she is after she finished her spaghetti and had moved on to blackberries, continuing her reign of terror: (side note: does it sound to anyone else like she says "spaghetti" after I say it???)

Sweet sweet baby...

2009-01-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

****Update**** For those of you who know Diane, she has joined the world of blogs, at last! Here's the link: http://theelderpost.blogspot.com/

So I have nothing within me that even resembles baby fever right now....but this little cutie is (almost) enough to change that! I was able to watch little Ashton Reed Elder the other day while Diane went to a Dr's appointment, and he was such a little angel! I had forgotten how easy newborns are compared to the constant chasing after and de-fusing tantrums life of a 14-month-old. *Side note- for those of you that are wondering, unless baby fever suddenly strikes and strikes hard, there are no plans for baby #2 yet, except to say that there will someday be a baby#2* While I was watching/trying to photograph Ashton, Lorelai was screaming, being insubordinant, and trying to run into the street. *sigh* I will say this- Lorelai's age is MUCH more amusing. Newborns are sooooo sweet and cuddly, but 14 month olds laugh at your silly faces, play with you, and love wierd things like red puppets with high pitched voices.
Here are some pictures from our day together:

Next order of business: Thanks to Karen and Susan for replying to my last blog regarding a new hand-held vacuum (and Jodi...sarcasm is always appreciated. So is new technology which allows me to be more efficient/lazy.) I think Shawn wants to replace his craftsman handheld vac that matches all of his rechargeable batteries, so it looks like I may be stuck with that for a while. yay.

So next request for recommendations: anyone in these here parts like to vegetable garden?? I'm starting to plan/obsess over starting one this year. I have ALWAYS wanted to, but we've always started too late and never really done any research on it. If anyone has any valuable advice regarding vegetables that grow really well around here, cool websites, and where the best places to shop are, let me know!
Looking forward to more feedback this time, people! Pics of Lorelai to come...we've been soooooooo busy with getting the house in order we haven't done much picture taking besides the ones above.
Katie
There has been alot of/many forward dashes today. It's that kind of day/afternoon I guess.

Calling the opinions of all mommies....

2009-01-19T11:57:00.000-08:00

I am really wanting to get a hand-held vacuum, like the Kurve (I think is what it's called....) that is wireless and has a charger you just plug it into. Anyone have one they really, really like? Let me know...I procrastinate for forever on purchases that I am going to be using daily and want to make sure that I like.
Feedback is apprecated, people!

Pearland Winterfest

2009-01-13T14:05:00.001-08:00

Well, we headed out into the freezing wind last Saturday to try out the Winterfest at Pearland Independence Park! It was alot of fun, but I think Lorelai will enjoy it much more next year. The only thing she really went crazy for was the Petting Zoo. She got sooooooo excited, she just walked around screaming! It was really funny. There were alot of older kids there who were hogging the smaller animals, picking them up, terrorizing the Llama to the point that it starting running around the pen almost knocking over small children....not much parental supervision. But there was a pig and a bunny, which Lorelai hadn't ever seen before!
Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure:

And,a glimpse of Lorelai's new mean face....this isn't the full effect, because for some reason she decided it was funny that I was telling her not to abuse the animals.

I'll try to catch her next time she's really focusing her anger towards me, since I seem to be the one who gets the look the most.
Maybe because I'm the ONLY ONE who tells her no??? :)
Til next time...

Referrals Needed!

2009-01-01T20:39:00.001-08:00

Hey Everyone...I have a request! Now that the holidays are over, we are going to go into warp-speed trying to finish our house construction. We have an excellent contractor (by the way, if you need one, let me know and I'll give you his info) BUT we are searching for a place to get kitchen cabinets from. We are going to try Factory Builder Stores and the Habitat for Humanity store, but would like some suggestions from someone any of you have used and trust. (By the way, if you can't tell, we don't really like paying retail...the less expensive but still good quality, the better!)
Thanks!

P.S. Here's a couple of photos to explain why we are in a hurry. This is before of our kitchen:

and here's what Shawn and our friend Drew did all afternoon yesterday:

so this is what I'm living with as incentive for me to find cabinets fast. grr.

Our Christmas!

2008-12-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well, for those of you who keep up with Facebook, you can tell I've been a little stressed this year! I waited WAY too long to do Christmas shopping, get started on gifts I was actually making, and decorate the house. I've been dragging my poor child all over creation to do the shopping, and I'm pretty sure she would be okay never leaving the house again! We had a great Christmas, but are SOOOOO ready to relax and get the house clean! I didn't take a whole lot of pictures because I was beyond exhausted and Little Miss wasn't cooperating most of the time, but here are a few I managed to snap:

(p.s. yes, I did make her shirt that says "Santa Rocks!)
Lindsay- could you send me the pics you took yesterday? Thanks!

not EVEN fair...

2008-12-11T13:45:00.001-08:00

...to be a sister of this green-eyed beauty who has NO idea what a knock-out she is. 5'11", thin, hazel eyes, rocks a nose piercing like its nobody's business- just not fair! I tried soooooo hard to get a pic that would do her justice, and this is what I got. Didn't have to edit it a bit.

Here a few others from that day....it was the middle of the day and the light was a bit harsh, but we got a few that were pretty good!

....AND, as an added blog bonus, some pictures of SNOW!
To make a long story short, yesterday at about 4:00pm I went to Kohl's (after being at Michael's for an hour, mind you...) Shawn met me up there to get something out of my car, drove me back to the store entrance cause it was FREEZING (um, literally). Fast-forward 45 minutes of shopping later, I realize I left my car keys in his truck, he's at U of H and has to go straight to a teeth cleaning appointment afterwards. Nana came and hung out with us and bought Lorelai lots of clothes from Kohls and then (illegally) drove us down to Skeets (it's in the same parking lot people, don't blow the whistle on us!) We left at 8:30pm-ish. WHEW! Okay, so that wasn't really a short-version, but I had to explain why the only pics I got of Lorelai in the snow are of her screaming at 9:00pm at night after falling asleep in the car on the way home! I had to leave her there on the ground and snap a few...it was really only over the course of 5 minutes, don't believe what she'll try to tell you. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I couldn't pass that up, not over a few dramatic tears. After I picked her up she calmed down immediately.
Here it is, Lorelai's first snowfall!!!

She's Officially Mobile!

2008-12-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know I haven't told practically anyone that Lorelai can walk now because it happened so gradually, but now you can see it for yourselves! She took her first "step" (literally, just one step...) on her actual birthday (11/13), took her first official "few steps" the evening of her birthday party (11/15) and ever since then she has added one step a day until one day we looked up, and there she was, toddling around as if it was no big deal! She loves to grasp one small object for each hand and walk around with them, and she will snuggle with literally ANYTHING these days. If she finds a pillow on the floor, a doll, or even the dogs bed (gross, i know) she will lay her head down and say "ohhh" in a loving way. Every day she develops more of a personality and it is amazing to witness! Watch, and be amazed.

Thanksgiving and a new Lens!

2008-11-30T09:08:00.001-08:00

Well, we had a great time at Thanksgiving, ate a little too much, and stayed up a little too late. The usual,I suppose. I also got a new camera lens! i LOVE it, although I am still learning how to use it. I started shooting pics in manual mode (you have to adjust the aperture and shutter speed yourself) and I really like it, it's just very different and takes some getting use to. Here are some of my favorite shots from the past week:

Birthday Bash Numero Uno

2008-11-20T08:49:00.001-08:00

Well, Lorelai has now officially been one for one whole week. Nothing has changed, except I cringe when people ask how old she is and I have to reply (almost in tears, mind you) "she's ONE!" It's cliche time, people.
***Time Flies when you're having fun. They Grow up so fast. She'll be out the door before you know it.***
They are ALL true!!!
The only thing that I thought would be different right now is I thought she would be walking. I am ready for her to walk! Call me crazy, tell me I'll be chasing her every second. If you say this to me, you haven't spent more than 5 minutes at my house. This kid can cross the house in 5 seconds. She is like lightning. The only difference there will be between her crawling and walking is the heighth at which she travels. She did take a few steps towards the end of her birthday party last saturday, and has continued to take 3-4 steps at a time every day since, but no substancial, for real walking. She is "toddling." My little big girl!
On her actual birthday, Shawn and I attacked her with kisses and then he was off to work! We then turned her sarseat facing forward (yay!!) and went to breakfast with Granna, Auntie L, and Auntie Rae at Empire Cafe. It was, as usual, super yummy! Here's a few pics:

Ok, so here is what everyone has been waiting for. Pictures of the party. I have been hesitant to post the ones of us opening her presents, because besides the AWESOME photography skills of Jodi, I am making a super wierd face in almost every single one. Do I really look like this, people?! How embarrassing. :)

Lorelai honing in on the cake...

Getting her first taste...

"mom, I really like this!"

"um, clearly I'm busy. did you need something ?"

Someone, somewhere has a picture of her faceplanting into the cake once she got going. Thanks to everyone who made it (and made it possible!)! We truly had a great time, and Lorelai was happy and interactive, which I was excited about. One year olds are so unpredictable.

Happiness is old photos....

2008-11-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Heidi challenged me to go to my sixth photo album and get my sixth picture (just for fun) to post. Here's what I found:

I know I look full term here, but I was really only 29 weeks along (and I wonder why I can't lose this baby weight....huge!)
As I was looking for this pic, i came across some other super funny pics from the past I had to share.

My, how times flies. I think Shawn and I got married when we were 12. Atleast, thats what it looks like. Saturday I grabbed Rach to go with me on an impromptu photo shoot with Lorelai. Tell me honestly if any of you can figure out where these pics were taken. I'll tell you at the end of this post, so NO cheating! Try to guess on your own.

The sign featured in some of these pictures was painted by Leslie....she had tried to hide it from me because she didn't like the way it turned out, but I found it when we were moving her from her apartment a couple of months ago! ha! i think it's PERFECT and served it's lifelong purpose here in these photos. These are some I am taking as her "first birthday" series, so EVERYONE let me know which one is your absolute, hands-down fav. I didn't get alot of great ones (I didnt realize until I got home I had my camera on the wrong setting and most of them turned out blurry!) but these are too precious to not share.

are you ready to know where the pictures were taken?

Did you already guess?

They were taken at the cemetary off of Cullen in Pearland. I know, it's a little morbid, but I have been eye-ing the old worn white wrought iron fence featured for months and months. The cemetary itself is a little further...no graves in the backdrop or anything. I did have to crop the white chapel out of a couple of pics though! Did anyone guess correctly? If so, let me know.
Hope you enjoy!

Busting out Deuteronomy

2008-11-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

If you haven't read the blog Bring the Rain yet today, follow the link to the left (or right? I don't remember....) It is a great reminder to pray for your child (or children) not just daily, but all day every day. In our small group last week, we read a verse that I've read a million times, but I don't think I've read since becoming a mom. It's funny how you can read a verse all of your life, but the true meaning doens't impact you until it becomes applicable in your own life.
It was Deuteronomy 11:18-21:

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."

I realized that I pray silently all day long and do my quiet times "quietly." These things are great, but I need to be training Lorelai to walk daily with God. I've always been so proud of the fact that we pray with her every night before we put her to bed, but that just seems so minimal after reading that verse. I challenge everyone else as I am challenging myself to "fix, tie, and bind" themselves to God's words, teaching them and talking about them, when you are sitting around at home or walking to get the mail. Post them around your house as reminders to your kids of the loving God we serve.

Double blog.

2008-11-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

Below are TWO new posts! Yes, TWO! Just thought you might need that to be pointed out. Please Continue...and Enjoy!

After all, tomorrow.....is another day!

2008-11-01T22:29:00.001-07:00

Okay, so my favorite movie of ALL time is Gone With The Wind. Read the book a million times, seen the movie a few million more, have half of it memorized. Always loved the fact that "Katie Scarlett O'Hara" and I shared the same name. It didn't take me long to think of Lorelai's Halloween costume....a southern belle! After picking the colors it was going to be, I was a little worried she would look like the wicked witch of the west, but Kelly (my mother-in-law who MADE the dress!!!!) did an amazing job and it came out perfectly. Here are some pics from Friday....we visited the Pumpkin Patch at St Andrews in the morning, carved our pumpkin at home with daddy, went to the trunk or treat at Fwd Church of Christ, then to Nana's, then over to the Stonemans (new next door neighbors) then Lorelai went home and went to bed (with Daddy home, of course) while Momma got to hang out with neighbor Amee and her friends. Here are my favorite pictures from the day...the yellow outfit featured in some of the Pumpkin Patch pictures is an outfit I found at a resale shop while in Tennessee...it reminded me of something from the 1920's and I fell in love with it. Enjoy!

and, last but not least, my favorite....my stand-alone chick looking all grown up standing up by her lonesome.

"As God as my witness, I'll never be seated AGAIN!"
*queue GWTW theme music*
*end scene*

Technical Difficulties

2008-11-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems as though it may just be our internet acting up, not our new computer. I dont know about yall, but out internet just hasnt been the same since the hurricane. Anyways!
We'll start this blog out with some pictures of Shawn's birthday....it was October 18th, and the first last couple of pics are of Lorelai trying desperately to figure out how to open Shawn's presents before he got to them. She is going to have SOOOOOOOOO much fun at her first birthday party.

Next on the list! Last Monday we went to the zoo with our friends Jessica and her little boy Aiden, and our new neighbors Amee and Ava! Ava is 1 month younger than Lorelai and we LOVE having them right across the street! I love the last picture of Lorelai, even though she has snot dripping everywhere!

Next item on the list is a new milestone Lorelai hopped right into....honestly, I didnt think this kid would EVER walk. She will walk right alongside you forever, as long as she has the tightest grip on someone's finger. But, she would NOT ever let go. She knew the moment you were goiong to trick her and snatch your hand away, and she would slowly squat to the ground. Last Thursday (night before Halloween) she finally started letting go of things and standing on her own! I am soooooo excited. My only wish for Halloween this year was to get pics of Lorelai standing up in her cute little dress, and it actually happened! She is showing interest in walking and has attempted half a step, so I'm pretty sure it will happen in the next week or so....just in time for her First Birthday! Yay!!! My internet is starting to glitch so I'm going to post this and then move on to.....Halloween!

For real.

2008-10-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

Ok my friends.... I have not given up on my blog. We got a new computer and for some reason it is not letting me load my pictures. I need to have Shawn check it out, so be prepared for a MEGA SUPER post in a few days. We've got alot of things already, and today is Halloween! I can't wait to see all of our little monsters dressed up as something cute!

The Hermitage

2008-10-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

(I have been trying to post this for quite a few days now, but our internet has been acting up, so without further delay....The Hermitage!)

Ok, so Tuesday was the last full day we were in TN so we wanted to do something tourist-y and historical, so we went to the Hermitage, which is where Andrew Jackson lived. It was AMAZING. I soak up history and old houses and antiques and artifacts....People- most of the wallpaper was put up in the 1800's!!! How is that even possible??? We took total advantage of the gorgeous landscape and Kelly and I took a BILLION pictures...here are most of my favorites. Which one do you love most?

Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton...

2008-10-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well I know I posted a little bit in my last post about our trip to Tennessee...but here's the whole deal! (Sorry if I'm a bit repetitive) We got there last Thursday evening and had a relaxing evening just soaking up the landscape (which is to DIE for) and weather (also to DIE for) and caught up, and for me, MET family. I hadn't ever met Shawn's Uncle Mike, Aunt Cookie, and cousins Philip, his wife Michelle, and Kristen. Here's a picture of Uncle Mike and Aunt Cookie's awesome house with wrap around porch:

Aunt Peggy came to our wedding so it had been a looooong time since we had seen each other. The whole time Kelly was planning the trip, she managed to keep it a secret from Aunt Peggy that Lorelai and I were coming. It was Awesome. Here's a picture of Lorelai and Aunt Peggy playing together:

and one of Uncle Mike, Aunt Cookie, Aunt Peggy, and Kelly...eating Lorelai's cookies!

Friday we spent mainly getting some necessities from Walmart and shopping at Belks! (A department store not yet in Texas....) they were having a HUGE sale! Woohoo! Saturday was so much fun. It was everything I could ever want in a small town. I told Kelly I felt like I was in Stars Hollow...(the town in Gilmore Girls) They had a Main Street Festival where they shut down their old downtown square and had local vendors set up at booths. I was BORN for this life.

That last picture is at The Palace...the oldest still standing and operating movie theatre! It was built in 1913. Later that night we went on a candlelit tour of the Gallatin Cemetary. It was sooo cool- nothing spooky. We had a guide walk us around and at different graves they had a person dressed up in old clothes portraying the person buried there and giving an account of their lives. Once again...BORN for this. Call me weird if you want, but I really enjoy walking around graveyards looking at super old gravestones and imagining what the person's life was like. I'd like to think I'm just quirky and imaginative. Whatever.
The next day we had a little photo shoot with Lorelai in the backyard:

Cutest. Kid. Ever.
On that note...it's getting late and I'm sick. Woke up this morning with 102.5 and white spotted swollen tonsils. Welcome Home me. SO I will post more tomorrow about our outing to the Hermitage...Andrew Jackson's home. Great pictures. Here's the pic of the week to leave you feeling happy.

Til tomorrow...

2008-10-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Well we arrived safe and sound here in Tennessee Thursday afternoon. Lorelai did wonderfully on her first flight! It wasn't a full plane so we were able to bring her carseat on and latch her in safe and sound so it was just another normal "car" ride for her. We are having a TON of fun and are enjoying the AMAZING weather and scenery. The leaves are just starting to turn color in some areas and it is just the most beautiful thing ever. Shawn's Uncle Mike has nicknamed Lorelai "Punkin'" and he, Aunt Cookie and Aunt Peggy are the sweetest people ever. They just keep saying over and over telling anyone who will listen how Lorelai is just the best baby ever and she is being the greatest sport....on and on and on! We were able to shock the pants off of Shawn's Aunt Peggy when Kelly stepped off the plane and had Lorelai and I with her....she didn't know we were coming so it really threw her for a loop. We went to the Gallatin town festival today in the town square and took a tour of the Palace theatre...the oldest fully intact theatre in America that is still running....it was built in 1913! I swear we are in Stars Hollow (the town in Gilmore Girls...)I will have to attach pictures of these things once I get home. I brought 2 cameras and am taking alot of time loading all of my pics. I truly love it here and am going to have to make this an annual trip. Yesterday I took Lorelai outside for a photo shoot....in Uncle Mike and Aunt Cookie's backyard. Look at the size of the leaves! Autumn is in full bloom here. wow.

Grandma Buna

2008-09-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, my Grandma Buna (mom's mom) passed away Sunday night. She had been in the hospital for over a month recovering from a broken hip and just didn't ever fully recover.
She was truly a lovely, kind soul. I know everyone always tries to make people sound like a saint once they're gone, but...she truly was one. I have never heard her say a negative thing about anyone and she was never anything but full of love. Everytime we saw her she would hug us tight and let us know how much she loved us. Not one of us will ever wonder if she loved us. She made sure we knew.
Please keep our family in your prayers. We know that she is made new and whole in heaven and I am thankful we have that to celebrate. We mourn with hope and joy because our God is mighty to save, and we will see her again in heaven... and when we do she will not be laying frail and weak in a hospital bed.

This is at my baby shower last year, Grandma Buna is on the right.
We love her and miss her.

Double cool with knobs!

2008-09-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post doesn't actually include anything about knobs...it was a reference to the super funny books I am reading from the series "Angus, thongs and full frontal snogging" written from the perspective of a teenage british girl. It is full of fun and hilariousity. Don't judge me. You haven't read it yet. (Jodi, I know you're already lovin this post, but wait for it...you're gonna be so proud of me, my little trash collecting friend!)
ANYWAYS- I found something really cool. Let me start this by saying that ever since Courtney repainted her old twin wooden bed frame that is super old for Junie, I have been wishing that I had a childhood twin wooden bed frame that I could repaint for Lorelai when it is time. I have a deep love for old things made new again. All I had when I was a kid was bunkbeds I shared with Leslie in what we refer to as the "doll house" (our super small childhood house in Friendswood) and while I would give sooooo much to go back in time and read all of the notes we wrote on the board that holds the top bunk up OR have another go at "bunk bed wars" with Lindsay and Courtney while ripping up the blinds our beds were pushed up against, I dont think either of those things are possible. SO, I did the next best thing.
I found a super cute old wooden bed frame in a trash pile of hurricane ike rubble waiting to be taken away by the cherry pickers. I've been running the neighborhood this week and have kept a weathered eye out for curbside treasures, and couldn't believe my luck when I found this!!

As if that wasn't awesome enough, I almost died when I saw this on the back:

Vintage Ethan Allen wooden bed frame. FREE. Soak it up people.
On a side note...I don't know if any of your peeps have been watching my weight loss ticker, but I have lost 5 lbs THIS WEEK! (For a total of 9 lbs) I have been running every day and eating very well...hard work, but SO worth it. I am a little upset it is taking me until just now to lose any weight, but I have come to grips with the fact that not everyone drops baby weight (and then some) 6 weeks after they have their kid (JESSICA) and I'm one of those people that just has to work harder (AND I was on bed rest for the last month of pregnancy....that's my excuse, in case you were wondering...)
So. That's that.
AND, not that I don't amuse myself considerably with my wit, I actually don't write this blog just to entertain MYSELF. I need feedback people, and I need it now.
On another side note (I can have as many side notes as I want...is anyone even reading this stupid blog?) I am now officially a SAHM!!! (stay at home mom) However, I am still really bad at last minute activities, so if anyone wants to do anything, give me advanced notice por favor.
Farewell my fair-weathered blog-commenting friends.

Rockin a new template

2008-09-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

Are you jealous? I LOVE argyle and loved this background the moment I saw it. yay! I spent this past weekend slaving over what should have been a very simple sewing project. I made Lorelai a pillowcase dress. I'm sure you've heard of this....but just in case you haven't, you basically take an old pillowcase and cut it up and sew it and VOILA, a dress! Anywhoo, like I said, it should have been soooooo easy, but I'm new to this game so it took me FOREVER.....then, I went to put Lorelai in it this morning for church, but I forgot to cinch the top and it looked too big, she was screaming, we were late, so I took it off and threw something else on. I worked on this stupid dress all night so it would be ready for church today. grrrr. Anyways, I think it will work now that I know where I went wrong, so I will try to find a moment tomorrow for a photo shoot of her in it. I also made a bow to match. AND I bought some patterns today from walmart for an adorable dress for her and some shirts for me. Small problem: those stupid patterns are greek to me. Sorry if that sounds dumb, but I am not very schooled in the art of sewing and still have ALOT to learn :) Hopefully I can decipher them soon and will be posting pics of all of my works of art. Hope everyone is doing well and recovering from Ike. Lindsay, if yall go to the stinkin zoo again and I dont answer my cell phone (which was dead for a week...) call my home phone please! *sigh* :)

Ay Yi Yi Ike

2008-09-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I know just from driving around Pearland that we could have done alot worse...here's a list of our damage as we have assessed so far:
Most of fence down on all sides
Hole in roof from where Ike blew an air vent off
Missing shingles (of course)
Water damage in kitchen (from leaky roof)
So, all in all, we didn't make out too bad. We have had power since Sunday and Saturday night we were fortunate enough to go stay with Shawn's dad downtown who never lost power (How, you ask? I don't know!)
We have had a full house of my family, Shawn's brother, Leslie and her roommates one night, and our friends from church Nathan and Diane. We are blessed to have all of these people in our lives and don't mind keeping them here as long as needed.
Here is a before picture of our happy home before Ike brought his destruction:

And here we are now:

The after pictures dont really show how much it sucks, but Shawn, Nathan and Ryan worked hard all day Monday and cleaned up branches, tore down what was left of the fence, and mowed. So, it looks ok now! We also had to rip up the wood laminate flooring in the kitchen because it is actually oozing water, and we might have to end up ripping up the carpet because it is now soaking also.
We have also encountered some minor illnesses this past week. Lorelai came down with a fever Thursday night as we were preparing for D-Day..it stayed at 101 or above until Saturday then came and went, followed by a rash all over her legs since Sunday. Leave it to my kid to come down with a fever when a hurricane is coming. Friday night was the night from Hades as we were shaking in our boots and trying to calm a very sick baby. Shawn took over at midnight and stayed up with her until 1:45am, then she woke up at 6:00am. It was awful. Thankfully, one of Shawn's cousin's (Kim) is a Dr so we ran by her place and she diagnosed little L with a virus....most likely "Hand, Foot, Mouth disease". Fun. Also, this morning I was playing with Lorelai and somehow caught her fingernail to my eye...the real eye, not eyelid. OWWWWWW! After lying on the couch all day with a makeshift eyepatch....I might be brave enough to post the pic of that.....I went to the HEB rediclinic and they gave me eyedrops so I feel MUCH better now. yay! We are thanking God for our health and blessings in what has been for some a truly tragic natural disaster. We havent been able to go check out our beachhouse in Jamaica Beach, so I will update once we have checked that out. Here is my Pirate patch put together by none other than Shawn:

Yikes. Most of you have seen my endless beauty, so I am only posting that pic in an effort to show you that I am also merely human, as you are. (hahaha)
Well, I think that is it! Hope to hear from everyone soon!