I'm late....

On embracing the camera! (Did I fool you?)

 

 

I am embracing the camera with my favorite little anti-model. She is starting to know that I love taking pictures of her, so she either: A)makes a ridiculously fake smile. B) looks directly at the camera without any show of emotion whatsoever or C) hides her face.
During this picture she chose C (usually she does A,B,and C) but I was happy to embrace her hiding because she happened to hug while hiding. I'll take what I can get.
Have a Fun Friday and enjoy your weekend. Please go do Christmasy stuff and get in the spirit people!

So What! Wednesday

  This week I am saying So what!:   That I always become the Christmas Nazi this time of year. After Thanksgiving means that Christmas music is ALWAYS playing and Christmas decorations are out.   That when we were buying a  house, I was thinking about how I could decorate it specifically for Christmas. Now I get to see that dream, a reality. (Did I mention I'm crazy about Christmas yet?)   I have had to take Isabelle to our church preschool a few times (during the week) so that I could run some errands alone and I felt incredibly guilty the entire time. I never thought I would be "that" mom....but now I am. How in the world am I going to drop her off at preschool next year?   That "The Voice" bores me. I liked it when they were still spinning their chairs, but now I think it's boring. I don't really care about any of the singers and they're all awesome, so I don't care who wins. Bring AI back please.   That AS AN ENTIRE FAMILY (of adults) we watched Magic Mike after Thanksgiving dinner. It was easily, the worst movie I've ever seen. Not hot, at all. I repeat, AT ALL. Channing Tatum is now LESS attractive to me for signing up for that movie.   You know what IS a great movie? Elf. I have seen it about 100 times and can recite every word (but I don't...I hate those people), because it's now a Christmas classic.     So, am I crazy? Or is it just me? What are you saying So What! to?    

Making a Difference

 

In the spirit of CyberMonday, why not buy something beautiful and fabulous that is also life giving to the artisans all over the world that make every item?

 Shop Noonday today!

Thanksgiving at the Lake

 This year was the first year we have spent our Thanksgiving at the Lake. Mr. T's family just built a beautiful home on a beautiful Texas lake and it made for the perfect Thanksgiving setting. The best part? I didn't really have to cook much of anything. Store bought pecan pie did the trick and it was easy to carry that on a 6 hour car trip. I did make some of these cute little Pilgrim hats that I found on Pinterst. I thought I did a great job, but Isabelle kept calling them Cowboy Hat cookies. Sister is already really good at calling me out. 

My girl made her daddy proud as she caught 3 big fish on her pink, sparkly, Dora the Explorer Fishing pole. She didn't mind that they were slimy or squirmy, she held on to them like a trophy fisher woman should do (I wasn't there to show her a grossed out face. Fish gross me out...big time).

We had a blast doing a lot of nothing. It is so weird to me when I see Isabelle with her cousins and SHE is the older one. She likes to teach her cousins how to do things and new words to say. She is becoming such a big girl and it's so exciting to see. I am thankful for our little family and I am thankful for such a happy little girl that will be such a great big sister some day.

It's Me!

Don't forget about me over here! I'm here, I promise. Things have just been a tad more chaotic than normal, but I am getting my act together and catching up on this little ol' blog. This time of year is the perfect time of year to reflect on all the "normal" things in life that I forget to be Thankful for. It's wrong and I know it. I know that it's the "little things" that are the important things so I am trying to remember that.

 

 

 I am thankful for a little girl who loves to dress up like a princess, but loves to roll around in the dirt and leaves with her cousins. She enjoys life. Our life is chaotic right now, but she is my constant source of joy. She can always make me laugh and I am always thankful for a good laugh.  

3 Looong, but short years.

Today marks the day that I dragged him down the aisle screaming and kicking married my best bud Mr. T. It has been three years since I made the best decision I have ever made in my life and married my hot, Texas man. We slept more than, ate better, drank more and were a lot more careless. We didn't have the responsibilities that we do now, but those "responsibilities" have made my life complete. A lot has happened in our marriage in three years (including a surprise pregnancy, the baby planning chaos, the baby chaos, toddler life and now growing our family MORE with an adoption journey) but those three years have flown by. I don't know how I did life without Mr. T in it and I am so thankful that I found someone stubborn enough to handle my stubbornness.

Our three years together have been amazing. I love having a partner in life that is strong enough to ride this roller coaster in life together and enjoy every part of the ride (of course I am speaking metaphorically though...Mr. T. HATES roller coasters).  

 Three years ago we were sitting on the beach, relaxing without a care in the world. This year we are going to spend our time at an adoption conference and running a marathon which is quite a change from the beaches of Mexico, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Three years ago, I would never have thought this is where we would be in our life but God has a good sense of humor. He knew we didn't have these specific plans for our life,but His plan is so much better than ours.

Happy Anniversary Mr. T! Here's to many, many more.
You are so lucky you married me...

Roll Tide Roll??

This weekend we left Isabelle at home with her Gram and we took a road trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to watch Texas A&M play the University of Alabama. Mr. T, his sister and brother in law all went to Texas A&M and my other brother in law went to Alabama so we thought it would be a perfect time to get on our game day gear and watch some good football. I did the good wife thing and wore A&M gear (sorta...I'm not really into team gear, but I did wear aggie colors). We had a blast and only got in a few quarrels with other fans (it's funny because I'm not kidding).

 

 

The weather was perfect and the state of Alabama is beautiful with their huge trees and the fall colors. Oklahoma didn't get much of a fall this year because it's been so dry, so our fall colors lasted about 2 days.

The favorite thing about the weekend was getting time with only adults and having adult conversations while knowing that Isabelle is having more fun with her Gram then she would be having with us. Pretty priceless to me.

Momma Lovin

Lately when Isabelle has wakes up from her nap, she just wants to cuddle and be held by me. She takes a while to completely wake up and usually she requires a Dora episode to get her stuff together, but as of lately, she has just wanted me to be with her. Just sit with her. Not talk (that's for sure!), just hold her and brush her hair. I know that this will be a phase that will end, so now I am embracing it.

 

 Maybe tomorrow during our "quiet time" I will teach her some simple manners...

She obviously learns that move from her Papa.

This how we do it.

The party animals hiding from all the lame adults during Isabelle's cousins 2nd birthday party. They are partners in crime...already. I'm so in trouble. But I'm also so thankful for their adorable relationship.

Today is a great day for a little So What! Wednesday. Join me will you?
So What:

• That I watched the election results with my best friend that shares the exact OPPOSITE political views as me. There were no arguments...just lots of wine.
• That my two year old daughter already has a teenage attitude. Case in point: Yesterday she asked if she could watch Dora and I said No. She said, "Ok, then I'm going to cry." Yup. That happend and yup I think I encouraged it more because I died laughing.
• That I am loving this "Fall" weather. The heat this summer really killed my love for warm weather and I am loving the cooler mornings followed by the 70 degree days. Now I know why all the California people are always so happy.
• That I got my husband new running shoes for our 3rd Anniversary. I know, I'm so romantic but he needed new ones and I was being more practical. We are saving money for our Adoption and the last thing I want to do is spend money on something cutesy/lame that he is going to toss after a week. Again, I know. I'm so romantic.
• I thought it would be a good idea to save money and time by giving my dog a haircut myself. I watched a video, bought clippers and prepared myself but now he looks mangy. I brought the clippers back and now he is in a proper grooming salon. Lesson learned.

Please don't laugh at him. It will hurt his feelings.

Thanks

I am Thankful for these guys:

They love each other so much. He will dress like a princess to make her happy and she will give him big smooches to make him happy.
It's the perfect relationship.

Let's not talk about the election.

That's all anyone seems to be talkin' about nowadays and honestly, I'm tired of it. Of course it's important, but I know something that is also very important and let's be honest, you aren't going to be swayed to vote a certain way from reading my blog...and if you are, then I'm scared for our country. So, let's get all updated on one of my favorite times of the year.
This year marked the first year that I wasn't allowed to choose Isabelle's Halloween costume. She got to choose and she DID NOT choose what I would have chosen. 
 I knew the time would come, I just didn't want it so come quickly. There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing adorable kids in costume. It's almost too much for me to handle and I have gotten my fair share of adorable costumes with Isabelle for the past two Halloweens. Last year she had 4 costumes (most were hand-me-downs) and this year I opted for just ONE. I found an adorable little monkey costume at Target that seemed like the perfect choice because it would keep her warm, I call her my little monkey, and she LOVES pretending like she is a monkey. She agreed to it and so we bought it for her.

Then the girl gene kicked in.

About a month before Halloween she suddenly started saying that she wanted to be a princess. I thought it might be a fluke because I didn't even know where she was coming up with the idea. I thought the idea would pass.

It did not.

She was DYING to be a princess and that's all she said she wanted to dress up as. She wouldn't even get NEAR the adorable monkey costume, so I folded. I found a cute Snow White dress and we went for it. She rocked it and wanted to wear it all the time.  
I managed to get her to wear the monkey outfit ONCE by making it a "princess monkey", but that was the end of the ol' monkey outfit.
I asked her if she wanted to be the monkey princess again and she simply stated, "Ummm how about just a Princess".
I knew my dream was over.

I may have "encouraged" her with some candy corn.



When we put her in the red, glitter shoes, she loved it even more. She looked adorable, but it was a little tough for me to see that my little baby is now a little girl with a strong will and opinions on what she wants to wear. I know that she will want to dress like a princess for the next 20 years, so it was sad for me. Tears, I tell ya.  
We had a great time trick or treating with my nephews and niece and we enjoyed our VERY kid friendly neighborhood this year (our old neighborhood was for singles without kids...bummer on Halloween and Christmas).
A perk to having a toddler that trick or treats?
They don't eat all the candy and it's rude to waste candy right?
My gut disapproves, but my heart is oh so happy.

Now, enough with the cute talk...get out there and Vote people!

Update/ November

We are neck deep in the adoption process. We are in a VERY good place, but that also means that we are in a very scary place. There are a million uncertainties around each corner and I would love to open my guts and tell you all about it, but I will save that for another day because right now I'm just not quite ready to share.
There are things that I will keep private from this blog, but our adoption story is not one of those things.
I want to share with you everything and I told myself at the beginning of this journey that I would share everything. I have read several other blogs that encouraged me and I pray that this little ol' blog is a bit of encouragement to you guys, but right now I just have to be honest with myself and say that I'm not ready to share quite yet.  
I promise that I will share everything, but things are still new to me and I need a little time to process a ton of information and let my eyes become less swollen.
Things are good and we are in a good place, but things are complicated.

But now is a perfect time for What I'm Thankful for November. I may be a day late, but who cares? There are no rules around this place.
 

I am thankful for my family.

Just the Three of us.