Scrap Happy

First day of Pre-K

2011-08-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

She is off to Pre-K and I can't even believe it! She was SO excited to go.

She picked her outfit out last night. She was getting a little tired of all the pictures I took, but I managed to get several cute ones!

Here she is walking in. She didn't want us to walk her in. I told her I had to turn in some papers, please, please let me go. :)

She did so good. She went right on in and sat down at a table while her other classmates trickled in with their parents. I know she is going to love school and this is just the beginning!

Our Sunday Stroll

2010-11-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

We went to walk around the Brazos in Granbury after we had lunch today. They have it all dressed up for Christmas and it looks so cute. We need to go look after dark sometime, to see all of the lights.

Cailin rode her little bicycle most of the way, but right after I took this picture, she went down the other side and couldn't find her brakes. She was yelling, "Help!" She eventually rode into the grass and stopped.

It was really breezy, but nice.
I got some really good pictures. I love this one!

Bye for now!

Veteren's Day Parade

2010-11-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

We took the girls to the Veteren's Day Parade in Weatherford this morning. I thought this sign was sweet. One of the firefighter's was holding it out the window.

We had a WWII vet standing on our left and a young girl in the army (she had on her uniform) on the right of us. People that were in the parade were yelling out "Thank You" or giving them a thumbs up, that was heart-warming! This helicopter did a fly by to start off the parade, VERY LOW. It was cool because you could see the guys inside waving at the crowd.

Here's us before it started. We waited 45 minutes and it was a little chilly!

Here's Kylie at Cracker Barrel trying to decide which toy she wanted. It was the baby doll and she didn't let go of it until we were halfway home.

Bye for now!

This Old House

2010-11-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

This girlie is constantly cracking us up now. She wanted to put on this little dress up flapper style dress of Cailin's, so I put it on her. Cailin and I were having a puzzle marathon. We put together 3 puzzles.

Kylie kept running into the bathroom closet then coming out with her arms outstretched saying, "I'm right herrrreeeee!" Funny!

Our old house finally got painted! I LOVE how it came out! We even had the brick on the chimney painted.

I think it looks like a doll house now. So much better than the old white with forrest green trim.

Hope you have a blessed day! Happy Birthday Me-Maw!

Halloween And What We've Been Up To

2010-11-07T04:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't blogged in FOREVER.

We had a great Halloween. Kylie was a butterfly. She LOVED trick or treating. I mean she was a hardcore trick or treater! She carried her bucket until she was dragging it behind her saying, "hebby" (heavy), so then I carried it for her. We rode around on my mom's golf cart and everytime it stopped, she was jumping off my lap to go to the door. She'd say "chi cheet" (trick or treat) and "kank u" (thank you).
Until we got to the tree man's house. There is this house that is always really scary. Cailin got scared last year there, but not this year. No, this year Kylie did. I was holding her and she was staring at this man (well you couldn't tell it was a man). He was dressed up like a tree or a bush and all you could see was these red eyes. When he moved to give Kylie her candy, she screamed and said, "I cared!" (I'm scared). Poor thing! She shook it off pretty soon after and continued on.

Cailin was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She was so Cute! I loved her with reddish-brown hair. She loved all the pictures we took of her. She was a pro at trick or treating this year. This is her 2nd year in so she knew all the ins and outs. Haha!

She's been doing our dishes lately and is pretty good at it. You can never start too early, that's what I say. She also loves to help cook. I try to encourage her by telling her "Wow, you are going to be a good cook one day!" She looked at me and said, "I already am!" Oops, sorry! Didn't mean to insult the cook.

Kylie's been caring for all the baby dolls that Cailin doesn't really play with anymore. She pushes them in the stroller, puts them to bed with covers and feeds them in the high chair or gives them their bottles. She's a good mommy!

This girl's got "cheese" down. She saw me with the camera and instantly said "Cheese" and gave me the cheesy smile. I got her hair in pigtails yesterday, but it didn't last too long. She looks like she's 3 with them.

Bye for now!

Cailin's 4th Birthday

2010-09-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

Finally, I updated my blog! Man, is it hard to have time to get on the computer these days. Guess, that's a good thing. I've worked almost 5 hours overtime these last few weeks.
We celebrated Cailin's 4th Birthday a few weeks ago. She had a Princess Tea Party. We had it my mother in law's house and it was the perfect location. Thanks to them for helping me get ready for the big day!
Here's Cailin blowing out her 4 candles! I made her a Cinderella cake and a castle cake.

We had a tea party first with pink lemonade, finger sandwiches, cookies, fruit and marshmallows. The kids loved it. Everyone got a crown and a wand at the table.

My sister painted all of the little girls' fingernails and they played dress up with Cailin's princess dresses.

Cailin got her Barbie Jeep that she had been asking for from us. Kylie likes to be her passenger. She also got a swingset from both grandparents, a bicycle from my parents, a Taylor Swift barbie (which she loves), a Belle dress up costume, several other toys. She had such a great birthday.

Hopefully, I'll have more soon! See ya!

My Birthday Surprise

2010-07-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

Warren and Cailin surprised me with this cute birthday cake on Friday when I got home from work. It has a cute purse, ring and glass slipper on it. Cailin picked out my birthday card. It totally reminds me of her. The little girl has on a crown and a tutu with rain boots. It was so sweet of them!

This is my BIG surprise and the reason they gave me my birthday stuff early. My bistro table that I have been wanting for our kitchen. It's so perfect there. We have been having coffee and breakfast at it.

This picture just cracks me up!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July! I told Cailin it was America's birthday and she said, "Who's America?" Ha, ha!

Camping

2010-06-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Kylie is getting so grown up lately. She is really starting to pretend and play. Cailin has a bunch of little princess and Barbies. Kylie will play with them like Cailin does, making them dance while she sings, "la,la la,la". She was even trying to change their tiny clothes today.
She also has been really liking books lately. She crawls up to me with one in her hands trying to get it and her into my lap so I can read it to her.

This past weekend, Warren wanted to go camping at Lake Buchanan. He has this buddy that he was at Cannon with and he lives about an hour from there. So he and his girlfriend met us there on Sat. This little cabin is where we stayed. It wasn't like camping really, more like a rustic hotel room. It had 2 beds, a couch, table, kitchen, bathroom. So we weren't really roughing it at all.

Here's Cailin all ready for the lake, haha! These silly sunglasses I actually bought for Kylie, but Cailin insists that they are hers. They crack me up everytime she puts them on and I have to take her pic.

Here's Cailin checking out the lake. It was a nice lake, it even had some natural waterfalls coming into it from where the cColorado River feeds into it. My mother and father in law let us borrow their boat. Cailin was SO excited to go for a boat ride (that's all she talked about all day). When we finally went, after our friends got there, she fell asleep in my lap before it was even loaded in the lake. So, poor baby missed it! On the way home from the lake, Warren took us by Llano River in Llano, TX. This was by the spillway. He was crazy and walked across it. Cailin and I watched from the side. It was a pretty spot.
Cailin had lots of fun and alone time with Warren and I. We left Kylie at my mom's house overnight so I wouldn't have to worry about her on the boat and being outside so much. I can't wait for Kylie to start walking so we can all go!

Tball and Swimming

2010-06-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

Cailin and Logan's tball team had an end of the season party at CiCi's Pizza on Friday night. After the kids ate pizza, the played some games. I went back to take pics and found that Cailin and Brayden (they were the youngest on the team) had figured out how to drive a car. So cute!

Coach Tim (who coincedentally went to high school with me and now lives here) was giving her a hard time, saying, "Does anyone know who Cailin is? Where could she be?"

Here he is handing Cailin her trophy. She was SO excited!

This one cracks me up, she had already posed for pictures for Daddy and Grammy. So when Mommy asked for ANOTHER pic with her trophy, she tried to give me her grumpy face.

I found this swimsuit at a yard sale for $3. It has the foam built in to the swimsuit. She really liked it. She loves to go down the slide. She'll go down like this, headfirst, and on her belly feet first.

Here she is jumping off of the side. She has a better tan than any of us right now. Well, besides Logan, that boy is so dark!

She is also getting really good at swimming underwater. She can do about 3 breast-strokes before coming up for air. At age 3, she can swim under water better than me. I still have to hold my nose!

These two were playing like that noodle was their horse. Logan was "dad", that's what Cailin calls a prince and she of couse was the Princess. Everyone, burn this image into your head. It never lasts long, they usually are arguing with each other, but on very rare occasions they actually play good together. Hee!

This little girlie LOVED this float! She floated around in it singing, "lalala". She had so much fun and ACTUALLY kept her sunglasses on!

Today we are heading to a Minor League baseball game. I've heard they are lots of fun! Another end of tball season event. Have a blessed day! Bye!

This year, Last year

2010-06-11T04:47:00.000-07:00

This year:

Last year:
This year:

Last year:

This year:

Bye!

Puppies!

2010-06-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

Meet the puppies! We have only been taking one out at a time, they were born under our house, but yesterday we got them all out. Angel, there mommy, keeps them under there. She had 3 girls and 1 boy. These are the girls!

This one is my favorite! She looks like a little rotweiller, but she's tiny! She is very laid back. The little boy isn't, he's whiney. He's just solid black with brownish on the tips, not very cute.

Here's there mom, Angel. She was our rescue dog from Clovis that we brought with us when we moved. She was in heat of course right when we moved here, so now we have MORE dogs. Like we didn't have enough here. We will be finding these little cuties homes as soon as they are weaned from mommy. She is such a good mommy!

Cailin loves playing with them. She holds them like they are babies.

We've been going on bike rides in the evenings. Cailin and Kylie ride in this little trailer. I usually pull them, but Warren offered to give me a break on the way back from the park.

Cailin played outside most of the day yesterday with this little "flapper" play dress on.

Kylie really likes to go to the park now! She was had fun playing with this turn thing at the play ground.
Kylie has learned to "drive" herself around the room on her Dora car. I can't believe how big she is getting lately.

We have Cailin and Logan's tball end of the year party Friday night at Cici's Pizza. They are going to get little trophies and their tball pictures. I can't wait to see those. Then, on Sunday the whole tball league is going to a Minor Leage baseball game. That ought to be fun! Bye for now!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend, but it was a good one. Saturday and most of Sunday I spent working on this wedding cake for my sweet friend, Taryn and her new husband, Rob. I clocked 16 hours to finish and baked a total 10 cakes! Whew! I think they turned out beautiful .

This was Rob's groom cake. He wanted a dirt bike helmet. This was what I came up with. This cake was 5 layers, then I carved the shape after they were glued together with icing in the middle.

Cailin and Logan had their last Tball game of the year on Saturday morning. They will get trophies and their pics at this minor league baseball game that the little league teams are going to in 2 more weeks.

This is Cailin on 3rd, waiting to run into home! She really had fun playing this season.

Cailin learned how to go down the slide this weekend. She loves it. She'll yell "Jeronimo!" She was also trying to swim (with her floaties on her arms) under water while kicking her feet and moving her arms. She's getting pretty good at that too.

Here's Miss Kylie's pool. She loves this little pool. She wanted to put this little tube around her like the big kids and Mom said that she laid on her stomach and kicked her legs just like Cailin does.

That's about it. We planted more flowers and Warren's working on putting rocks around my cactus garden. Hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day Weekend! Bye!

These Girlies

2010-05-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

This girlie:
1. LOVES to make people laugh. If she has an audience, she'll pretend to fall on her belly from a crawl position to get a reaction. Sometimes she's on all fours and she'll just hold up one of her back legs to make us laugh. She's silly!
2. She still isn't walking. She is walking alot on just her knees. She has stood up without holding on to anything several times and she has taken her first steps.
3. She still hasn't cut any of her teeth. She's holding on to baby for as long as she can, I guess!
4. She gives us this "mean look" all the time. It's usually on command. We just say, "Kylie, where's your mean look?" She'll think for a second and then she does it. Watch out it is SCARY!

5. She can say several words now. She can say "eye", while pointing, I mean poking out your eyes. She says ball, buba (bubble), baba (bottle), hidee (what my mom says all the time for hi), dodo (dog-we have 5 still), uh-oh, ow, mommy, daddy, sthesthe (sissy), (ooooo) moo-as in moo cow.
6. I realized last week how much she probably recognizes but just doesn't know how to say last week. I was reading a book to her in the bathtub (one of those bath books). I asked her to show me where the bird was, she pointed right to it. I asked her where water, flowers, fish, duck, a ladybug, bubbles and everytime, she points to the right thing. It was amazing to know that she knows what we are saying, she just can't verbalize it yet.

7. She LOVES riding in the car facing forward. She laughs at us and the cartoons that are usually on TV.
8. She will give us kisses and hugs when we ask and sometimes when we don't. It is so sweet!
9. She talks all the time and is starting to point to things. She sounds like she's asking questions.
10. She loves to be read to and sometimes she likes to "read" to herself.

This girlie:
1. Is loving living next to her Grammy, Grampy and Logan! She wants to go over to their house everyday.
2. Keeps getting in trouble because she is leaving the house without asking and going to Grammy's house.
3. Is learning how to write her ABC's. She can write any that I show her, but only remembers about 12 on her own.
4. She loves to be outside, all day long! She loves finding worms and then letting them "go home to be with their families". She's so funny!
5. She also loves to water Mommy's flowers. She's taken it upon herself lately to plant flowers too. She'll put dirt in a pot and plant tons of seeds. Then, she waters them and they grow! I've got about 4 pots with hundreds of little plants sprouting up. Unfortunately, I don't know what they are.
6. She has her own little garden. Warren built her her very own garden last week. She has some watermelon, cantaloupe and strawberry plants in it. She asks everyday if she can eat a watermelon from her plant even though there aren't any on it yet.
7. She's loving Tball still! Well, she loves hitting the ball and running. She still doesn't like outfield. They had their tball pictures done the other night and they are going to be SO stinkin' cute!
8. She can't wait to start school. Poor baby has one more year to wait until she can start Pre-K. Her birthday was a few days shy of the cut off.
9. She starting to really sound grown up when she talks. The other night she had just came home from Grammy's house and she told Warren and I, "I ate fish sticks and french fries for dinner, but I couldn't finish it because it was just too much food!" We cracked up!
10. She told me the other night that she doesn't want me to work. I tried to explain that we needed Mommy to work so we could have money to eat, pay bills and buy things that we need. She replied, "but, but, but, we always have dollars." Exactly!

They are both so much fun and are my little blessings. I couldn't imagine my life without them now. Hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day! Bye!

Corpus Christie

2010-05-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

We went on an inpromto trip to Corpus Christie this weekend. My step-grandma is having triple bypass surgery tomm. So we really went to see her, but also got to visit the ocean.

Cailin quickly fell in love with the ocean! She asked me several times if we could move there. Ha, ha!
Kylie, however, didn't like the beach so much. She didn't like the sand on her hands or her feet or anywhere for that matter. She did like watching the water.

This is where she wanted to be on my lap as far from the sand as she could get.

Warren went and bought her this bathing suit. I don't know why I didn't pack them. I didn't think we'd actually be playing in the ocean. She had SO MUCH fun! We looked at washed up jelly fish and for sea shells.

This was our view from our room balcony! It was so pretty and peaceful.

Then, my stepdad drove us to Padre Island. That beach was so pretty and the waves were so big. Notice the surfers behind the kids. There were tons of surfers there. Cailin told me she wanted to try to surf. I told her maybe when she was a teenager she could scare me to death.

She was having so much fun chasing the water, then running from it when it came back.

Here's Kylie and me on the pier. I loved this blue background of the store. Kylie had been asleep for most of our trip to Padre Island. She finally woke up when were about to leave.

Here's Warren and I in front of the big waves. Ha, ha, I bet the waves in Hawaii are 20 times bigger! It was such a fun trip. It felt like a mini vacation! Thanks Jimmy!

Bye for now!

BallHawgs

2010-04-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

Cailin and Logan had their first Tball game last night. Their team is called the BallHawgs.

This is at the beginning of the game, they were in the outfield first. Cailin doesn't like the outfield much. Here's her coach trying to get her to stand in the outfield.

Poor Coach Tim, Cailin does give him a run for his money. She's always telling him, she doesn't want to wear her glove, she doesn't want to play, she's hot, she's tired, blah, blah, blah. Side note: She only likes to hit the ball and run, so when he's wanting her to do anything other than these two things, she isn't going to want to do it.

Here's her in outfield. Notice she doesn't even have her glove on. It was too hot to wear it, so she said.

Here's Cailin picking flowers in the outfield. It gets boring standing out there with nothing to do. What is a girl to do?

Warren got to help out on the field. They so desparately needed coaches on every base because about 95% of the kids don't have a clue what they are doing.

Cailin's taking off her hat because she was too hot. I'm sure Warren was trying to reason with her, but it obviously didn't work. He ended up holding it the rest of the game. ;)

She finally go to hit and she did a really good one! After she hit the ball, she just stood there holding the bat. We were all yelling "Run, Cailin!"

So Coach tried to get the bat and point her in the right direction. She wouldn't let go of the bat! So he grabbed the end of the bat and ran with it (with her attached to the other end) towards 1st base. She thought THAT was funny, so she let go about halfway there and ran to first.

Here's Cailin and Logan running into home! Yay! This was her first time to run around all bases.

Here's a video of her first hit during a game. Logan got to hit right after her. She didn't know to run to 2nd after Logan hit, so she just stands there. Funny stuff! Enjoy!

Belated Easter

2010-04-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot that I never posted Easter pictures! So here they are.

Guess who doesn't like sitting in Bluebonnets. Hmm, anyone?
Cailin made me work pretty hard for this grin. I was sweating when we were done! I think I said, "Just forget it!", because she was hiding her face. Then, she said, "OK, Mommy, I'll smile." Kylie was actually picking up eggs, breaking Grampy's back and putting them in her basket.Here's Logan opening an egg he found.

Here's Cailin opening an egg. They really like eating the hard boiled ones, I was kind of surprised. These two are some picky eaters!

Well, better go! Bye!

Weekend Funnies and Improvements

2010-04-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend here even if it did rain, no down-pour all weekend. Yesterday at church, we sang some great hymns. Cailin's favorite is 'Standing on the Promises of God'. They started the music and she had this huge grin on her face. Then, at the end this man turned around and smiled because she carried out the last note a few seconds after the music had finished. She also was humming it as we walked to our car pretty loud. A few people, said, "Wow, she's a happy girl." Hee!

My mom fixed these curtains for this door and my window over my sink in the kitchen.

They came out so cute! I love them!

Warren has finished the mantle on our fireplace. It turned out really cute! We also had a back porch built this weekend. I need to get a pic of the finished thing and post that. It came out great and now, no one can fall off the small temporary stairs that were there.

She always puts these sunglasses of Cailin's on and pushes them up to the top of her head, like I do. I call her Miss Hollywood. She's a funny girl and will do anything over and over, if you are laughing at her.

Better go to work or I'm going to be late! Bye!

Lately

2010-04-16T04:41:00.000-07:00

Oh my, have I been busy lately! I've been working overtime and sometimes not getting home until almost 7pm. Ugh! I leave the house at 7am, to get to work by 7:45am, so that's a long day.

Last night I got on the floor and played with Kylie. She was climbing on this little car and saying "Bye". She's getting so big, so fast!

Cailin is learning to write some of her ABC's and she's getting pretty good! We practice in the bathtub with water crayons and on this doodle board. She can write A, B, C, E, I, L, N, O, and W. B's are her favorite, she writes them over and over. She actually signed Daddy's birthday card herself. She can write her whole name. Then, she asked, "Can I write a B too?"
Still no teeth for Miss Kylie. I'm not sure when she's going to finally grow some. She does pretty good without them though.

She took 2 steps on her own last Sunday for Jimmy when Warren and I had went to the Ranger's game. We haven't seen her do any more. He said she didn't even realize she had done it. It won't be long now!

She kept crawling over to this little kitchen and sitting there, looking at me, then, she'd take off crawling again. She did this like 5 times last night. She's silly! She was having fun "cooking" on this stove and turning the water on. It makes sounds like you are really cooking.

Better go for now! I'm off to work. Bye!

2010-04-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

I truly can't believe it has been only 1 year since I had this little beauty! She had a wonderful birthday this weekend. We had a lot of our family come out for her party. I will have to find this pic of me when I was about 3 and scan it in to show you how much she looks like me. The eyes and the mouth in this pic are almost identicle.

She got so many wonderful toys, outfits and books!

Her favorite gift, the one she got really excited about was this bag of Cheetos! Funny! She is a Cheeto-fiend! Our neighbors bought her this bag as part of their gift, not knowing what an addiction she has to them. She saw them and put them up to me like, "PLEASE ~ OPEN THESE NOW!" Jeez! It was pretty funny.

Cailin had her 2nd Tball practice last night. Here's her up to bat (her favorite part). Look at her staring down the outfield ~ hee! She's vicious, this girl! Watch out! ;0)

Here's her running to 1st! She's one of the youngest on the team. There is one other little boy who's 3 on their team.

She told me, "In Tball, I keeping my eyes peeled for the ball!" Ha, ha! I'm pretty sure she heard her big uncle Logan say that, but it was so funny! Have a happy Friday! Bye!

The Girls!

2010-03-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

I decided to do 2 posts today, since it's been so long. I had so many pictures that I wanted to share. I was afraid that I would loose one and have to start all over.

Here's the girls:

This stinker is getting so funny! She will do things over and over if we are laughing at her. She's going to be a silly one.

Cailin was holding Cailin while they watched a Mulan (one of Cailin's favorites) on YouTube the other day. Here's one of Warren kissing Kylie. I have one like this of him and Cailin. So sweet!

She is babbling all the time. It sounds like Japanese! She can say "Daddy", "Mama", "dog-dog" (she calls every animal a "dog-dog"), "Diddy" (sissy), "Ayyeee" (Ally), "Anja" (Angel), "I got it", "I did it", "Ba" ball. I think that's it. She can say quite a bit. It's so funny to hear her talk!

Cailin is loving all of the dandelions in our yard! She picks them daily. This girl looks like a real country girl with muddy boots, messy hair and dirty clothes. She loves to be outside and stays out there most of the day!

Bye for now!

Our House

2010-03-20T06:06:00.000-07:00

Guess what's blooming around our house right now? Texas Bluebonnets! I love it! I've told Warren it is a "NO MOW" area until the end of April. What a welcome to Texas sign in our very own yard! Love it! Love it! Looooove it!

Warren is working on a little cactus bed behind our garage right now. Now we just need another pretty day to work on it.

My parents blessed us with a new driveway last week. It was a little grass and dirt. When it rained it was mud, mud and more mud!

My kitchen is coming along. I finished the cabinet doors and my uncle hung them for me last weekend. I've been hunting coffee decor. I found those cute plates with coffee cups on them at Kirkland's last weekend. I hung my new Paula Deen cookware above my sink because they are too pretty to put in the cabinet. We still have to replace that window above the sink. It has a window unit in it, but the glass on top is missing. I would love a little bay window there. Then I could grow some herbs in my kitchen.

These cabinets are to the left of our back door. We have our broom and trash at the bottom and the top holds our casserole dishes.

My cross wall in my dining room is a favorite of mine. This is what you see as soon as you walk into the living room.

Just a pic of family pics!

This is a pic of Cailin's room from her doorway. Very girly and messy!

The girls' bathroom is very GREEN, but in a fun way! Cailin insisted on an oval mirror for her bathroom, so we found her one. She told me, "I don't want a rectangle or a square, just an obal!" That girl knows what she wants! I think she wanted the oval because Snow White has an oval mirror. Warren and I love her vanity. It's not very deep (we have tons of storage in this bathroom) and she can put her step stool in front of the sink easily.

We just had the green bathroom tiled last weekend and it needs a little touch up there. They had to update the drywall behind it to waterproof backboard. I LOVE this bathtub! It is very old and not in perfect condition, but it is SO DEEP! It is lovely to soak in!

It's still a work in progress, especially outside, but it's coming together. We love our new house and are so blessed by our family!

Around Here

2010-02-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

These two are getting so big, too fast! They really like to play together. Kylie will usually follow Cailin from the living room down our long hall to Cailin's room.

Last night, Cailin cracked us up. We were watching a movie and she was wanting us to change DVD's, so we told her when it was finished she could change it. She looked at us and said, "Tum OM (come on) guys, Are you serious?" What? When did she turn 12? She told me this morning that Logan says that. Jeez! They are too funny.

This little girlie is sick with her first ever cold. I feel so bad for her. I took her to the doctor on base on Monday and he said her lungs and ears were clear, so it's probably just viral. It has to run it's course. Blah! She's been getting a low-grade fever during the last few nights, which means not much sleep for us two. When I try to give her Tylenol / Motrin, she gags until she throws up. I did finally manage to get a little down her this morning.

Last night, Cailin got on the balance beam for the first time. She liked it, but was busy talking to her coach for most of the time.

On her way back.

This morning at ballet, she wouldn't go out on the floor to dance. She had been excited to show her dance teacher BJ one of her Barbie dolls and she wasn't there today. So she just wanted to stay by me and watch until the last 10 min. when they do princess music and ribbon sticks (her fav. part). Her little ballet friends gave her hugs and told her "bye". So sad! :''(

Warren only has Friday left to work! He's off tommorrow to finish out-processing and next week. Maybe I should make him a celebratory cake or something???? Bye!

It's Complicated

2010-02-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

Our time as part of the USAF is quickly approaching the end. It is so hard to believe and I have only been a part of this community for 4 years and 1 month. I can only imagine how Warren feels right now, he's been in for 19 years and 7 months. It hasn't sunk in. I think it will finally when the movers come on the 1st of March to pack us up. It makes me a little sad to leave. The girls were both born here so of course we have special memories of this place. We also have a handful of very special friends that have become like family to us here. We met some wonderful friends while we lived here, most of them have moved away.

We are leaving this: CAFB (Cannon Air Force Base)
We will be losing this: BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing)
Warren won't be called this by co-workers: Ssgt (Staff Sergeant)
We will have to stay in: TLF (Temperary Living Facility) for a few days before we leave.
We won't be asked questions about: AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command)
We won't be asked if our girls have been enrolled in: DEERS (Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System) everytime we take one of them to a doctor
We won't be washing: BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) or PT gear (Physical Training) ever again
We will be dealing with the: VA (Veteran's Affairs) on a regular basis
We are doing a: TMO (Traffic Management Office) move, meaning we are having movers hired my the military to move us.

I know there are more acronyms that I can't even think of, it is SO complicated! I was just thinking about it and found it kind of funny. We are busy getting ready to leave this house we've had for the last 4 years. This is our official last week here! A lot of cleaning, packing of items that I wouldn't want lost (everyone keeps telling us that you usually loose something in one of these moves), digging up plants to move with us, and more cleaning going on. Cailin asks everyday if we are "moving to the white house today?" Ha, ha! She has only 1 more gymnastics and ballet class next week. That makes me sad, because she LOVES these. I want to keep her in these activities, so I'll have to find some classes in our area.

Busy, busy around here and to top it off Kylie Face has a bad cough that started this morning (her and I stayed home from church today). So I'll be taking her to the pediatrician on base tommorrow. We heard that RSV is going around Clovis and I definately don't want it to become that! She's playing and eating well (no fever), so hopefully it will be better soon! Bye!

My Poser

2010-02-10T16:21:00.000-08:00

Isn't that cute? I found these cute little valentines on a blog that gave them to copy for free. I LOVE vintage valentines.

This morning Cailin actually ASKED ME to take her picture before her ballet class. Are you kidding me? I ran for the camera before she changed her mind. Hee! Then, she said, "Lets take some over here." Okay. She was stiking poses before my camera could catch up. She'd say, "what about like this?" Funny girl. This one was my favorite.

Here's pose #2.

She told me that she wanted her hair like this with that particular flower clip in it this morning. She does have a good sense of what matches I will give her that.

She took this one of me and Kylie. I thought she did pretty good! A photographer in the making.

Kind of a boring day around here. I just packed my scrapbook stuff and some pics. Also, a lot of laundry. Cailin is an excellent helper with the laundry. She loves to help put in the laundry soap and she even folds clothes pretty good. Kylie even started helping today. I was sitting on the loveseat and the laundry basket was on the floor with the clothes that needed to be folded. She was standing on the side of it and reaching in for socks. She'd hand them to me and say, "he-ya" everytime! It was so funny! I kept taking it and saying "Thank you". Cailin said, "Oh Kylie! You are turning into a big gurl helper!"

I put a new map at the bottom of the page, so sign in to let me know you've been here. The sign in button is on the right hand corner of it. That's all I have for today! Bye!

Kiss An Angel Good Morning

2010-02-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

Meet Angel.
I know, I know, ANOTHER dog. It was totally my heart that broke when I saw her trailing this group of thug-looking guys and girls on Main St. I thought she was a stray because she was following them about a block behind them. I have always loved Westies and at first I thought she was one. So I made Warren take the block to see where she had went. When we circled around, the group had stopped to hang out on the side of this building. She was sitting across the street from them, just watching. So Warren slowed our car down and rolled down the window. He yelled out to them, "Is that your dog?" One of the guys replied, "Yeah, you can buy her!" They laughed. Warren said, "No, no, we just thought she was a stray." Warren started to roll up his window to leave. Then, this other guy said, "You can have her if you want." Warren looked at me like, "is he serious?" I just said, "Go see." So the guy came over to the edge of the street and called her. She immediately hung her head down, her tail between her back legs and creeped to him. When I saw that, I yelled out the window, "We'll take her!" So Warren picked her up and sat her in my lap and she rode home with us. I fell in love with her instantly.

I gave her a bath when we got her home and she has been at my side ever since. She follows me around from room to room. She looks for me as soon as Warren lets her inside from the garage in the mornings. I'll be in bed and I can her wining and going from room to room until she sees me.

She LOVES attention. She'll practically sit in my lap so I will pet her. She LOVES the girls and is so patient with them. Kylie can kind of say her name. She says, "An-ga".

She is still scared of loud, sudden noises and men. She will run from Warren unless he sits down to call her. She was obviously abused by a man, probably the very one who gave her to us. It makes me so mad and sad for her. She is such a SWEET dog. I've only heard her bark once or twice. She's just quiet and sweet.

We initially thought she's some kind of terrier mix because her hair is longish and a little wirey. So we looked up some pics of dogs on the internet. We found this one breed that looks identical to her. It's called a Wauzer, half Westie and half Schnauzer. So Miss Angel is a Wauzer!

I made the girls a cute little hair clip this morning. It looks like a carnation flower to me. I just ruffled some Valentine ribbon that I had and hot glued it to a circle of felt. Then glued that to a hair clip.

Here's Cailin modeling it. I literally had to bribe her with candy to let me take this one picture. Jeez! So sorrrry take time out of your busy day. ;0)

Here it is on Miss Kylie. I'll have to make another one so they will both have one.

This girlie was cracking me up with this spoon today. We were sharing a yogurt and she kept sticking the spoon completely in her mouth and smiling at me.

She's a clown in the making.

Funny, funny girl. She has learned to clap her hands and say "Ba" (bye).

Warren just got his "OFFICIAL" seperation date, it is March 5th! March 5th, can you believe it. That is only 3 1/2 weeks! Crazy!!!!!! I can't even comprehend it, yet. Bye!

Sleepy Baby

2010-02-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

Sweet Little Kylie Face is sleeping a lot today. She's got her first little cold, just a runny nose and a little cough. She had a fever the night before last but hasn't had one since then. I was thinking she might be teething, but I really don't see anything.

I don't know where she got these cute little pouty lips and super long (and slightly curled) eyelashes came from. My eyelashes are long, but so straight. Warrens are short and straight. Cailin has the exact same eyelashes and lips. Lucky, lucky girls!

Cute baby toes!

Cailin scored this Cinderella dress up set yesterday because she FINALLY pooped in the potty. Mommy did a happy dance and almost cried. She was SO PROUD of herself!

I thought I would try the "prize" idea with the #2 problemo and it totally worked! Warren and I told her Sunday night that if she pooped in the potty, that we would take her to pick out a prize. So, yesterday she started trying and on try two, it worked!

Better go for now, there is a sink full of dishes calling my name! Bye!

Tiny Dancer and Curly-Q

2010-01-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

WARNING: This is a LONG posting!
I have counted and I have taken 140 pictures this month. I really thought it was going to be more. See my little box on the left that says "Pathological Picture-Taker", well, it's the truth and nothing but the truth. ha,ha! Sorry, I had jury duty this month and I'm still intrigued by all the drama that goes down in that little county courthouse I'm sure everyday!
Anyway, back to my pictures ~ This little girlie is getting big right before our eyes! She was trying to escape before I could take her picture. I just noticed her big toe in the pic looks majorly deformed, ouch! I assure her toe was not harmed in taking this picture.

Her hair is getting long and all her little curls are popping out!

Cailin made some binoculars in her Sunday school class this morning out of paper. Daddy let her play around with our's after we got home.

Here's a good shot of Kylie's hair against a white background so you can really see all the curly-q's. I can't believe her birthday is going to be in 2 months! I'm planning a ladybug themed party with a candy bar and bubbles. She was laughing so hard at Cailin popping bubbles that I was blowing for them earlier today.

Cailin was trying to get poor old Ally to dance with her. She tries to get ALL of us to dance with her ALL the time!

Here's a video of Cailin that I took today. This is what she is doing 99.8% of the time, dancing. I didn't tell her to do this so I could video it, she just dances and dances. We were at Dairy Queen after church for lunch with Alta and Thurman. Cailin told me, "I gotta go dance!" So she got down from the booth and danced around Dairy Queen. A couple of the ladies behind the counter stopped working to watch her with big smiles on their face. I made her a CD with all of her princess songs on it that she recognizes from her movies. It has 16 songs on it and when we got home, she changed into her Snow White dress and danced to at least 11 of them in her room. Warren, Kylie and I were her audience. She is SO dramatic when she dances, just watch! Bye!

Snow Much Fun

2010-01-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

SNOW DAYS!!! We have got a good covering of snow on the ground and ventured out in it today. The roads weren't bad, just covered in snow. Cailin LOVES walking around in it. I never get smiles for my camera THIS easy!

It was pretty funny because, Angel, our little rescue dog got out of the garage and was running all over the neighborhood. Cailin and I kept seeing glimpses of her as she ran everywhere (behind houses) and we were calling for her but she wouldn't come back. I told Cailin that she might not and I wasn't about to chase her in this snow. So we finally went in to tell Daddy that Angel wasn't minding us, when she came running back into our house. She was SO happy after frolicking in the snow. We had left the garage open and she ran back in. She opens our screen door between the garage and laundry room by herself. She's so smart!

This next pic was from last night. They were both wearing their matching Christmas pjs and I remembered that I had never got a pic of them in them. Cailin decided to give me her fake grumpy face, she's so silly! Kylie's grinning because she was at the plug and I was telling her "Uh, uh, uh!" She's already SO scared of my athority! Ha!

I thought Kylie looked so cute looking out the back door at the dogs this morning. Look at her crazy mohawk hair, ha-ha, just like Mommy's in the morning!

We woke up to this Barbie massacre yesterday morning! Poor Barbies and they are still smiling. Angel, turns out, isn't such an Angel. She chews Barbie hands and feet off at night. We have told Cailin that she'll have put them up and we are going to make sure Angel is put in the garage too!

I asked Cailin if she wanted to keep them or throw them away. She said, "Uh, I keep them." Then she looked at Angel and said, "Angel, did you do this? Angel, you a berry bad gool!" Side note: Angel looked so very sorry as she wagged her tail at us. Bye!

Right Now IV

2010-01-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

Right Now:
1. HE is SO excited to be moving back to Texas! Who would have guessed right?
2. I think he is also SCARED to be out of the military. I totally get it, he's been for the last almost 20 years. He was only 22 years old when he enlisted and was still working at a grocery store in Jacksboro. He isn't quite sure he is going to work or what he wants to do. He's thinking about starting landscaping. He would be good at it, it's just getting his name out there.
3. He wants us to take a trip to PA to see our good friends the Flips and to CA to go to Disneyland.
4. He is so ready to be a civilian! I know I already said that, but you don't even know how the military has broken him down. This next pic is funny in essence, but I remeber this particular day and it wasn't a good one. He came home mad at something that had happened at work.
5. He's been alcohol free since April 09. Sure he's had one here or there, but he used to drink EVERYday. Now he doesn't. It's SO much better now.

6. He still plays around his guitar.

7. He has developed a close relationship with God. It really has carried him through this last year. It comforts, calms and carries him.

8. He ALWAYS thinks of us first.

9. Cailin adores him. I hear several times a day, "I CAN'T WAIT to show Daddy!" She gets so excited when he comes home. Kylie is really starting to like him too. She smiles and plays with him. Last night he was blowing on her face and she started doing it back to him! It was SO funny!

10. I love him more and more everyday!

This was a pic of Cailin this morning before we headed off to ballet. She did so good in class. They started practicing for the recital in May. She'll miss it. :"(

We'll have to find her a dance and gymnastics class somewhere close to where we are going to live. Bye for now!

Right Now III

2010-01-26T13:14:00.000-08:00

Right now:
1. I can't wait to move back to Texas! It will be so strange to be back, because last time I lived there I was single with no kiddos. Now, I'll be coming back with a husband and 2 girlies.
2. I'm stressing a little about where I'm going to work. I've sent resumes to 2 different dermatologist's offices in Weatherford. One of them was emailing me regularly last week, but I haven't heard anything from them this week.
3. I'm missing this camera! It takes me about 20 shots on my old one to get 1 decent pic that isn't blurry. Ugh!

4. I'm in love with vintage kitchen stuff. Old pyrex dishes, love. Old tableclothes, love. Old aprons, love. I've been combing through antique shops around here to find a few vintage pieces for my new kitchen. It's going to be a coffee house theme with some vintage stuff incorporated in.

5. I'm loving finding new recipes to make. I found some new casserole dishes I want to try out sometime next week.

6. Even though, I LOVE being home with my girlies, I am looking forward to having a job. I'll probably think I am crazy several months down the road when I actually do have a job.

7. I have officially lost all of the baby weight that was gained with Kylie. It was ALOT, trust me! I did work out pretty hard the first 6 months, but haven't gone to the gym since Oct. Breastfeeding totally helps take off the weight! I might just keep it coming for 10 more years (just pump it and throw it out) to have an automatic diet and boobs! I'm totally kidding!
8. I'm ready for the Spring to be here!
9. I'm currently reading this book and it is SO good! It's a great story about friendship.
10. I'm addicted to sweet tea!
Gotta go for now! We are heading to gymnastics! Bye

Heartbreaker

2010-01-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

Oh, how she wants to be BIG! Warren went to tutor at an elementary school and Cailin begged to go. She's been before and loves going to a BIG kid school. So he said she could and she came running to me to get ready!

She picked out this dress (I picked out the tights and shirt because it's pretty cold outside today). She LOVES dresses and would wear one everyday! Then, she wanted me to curl her hair.

She wanted to take her backpack so she could take her number flashcards and coloring book. Warren went to put something in the car and she was afraid that he was going to leave without her.

Earlier this morning we decorated (more) for Valentine's day. I found these little hearts that I had bought last year. So we stuck them up here.

I made this super easy banner across the big window in our living room. I just put a little nail on each side and tied some twine across the window. Then, we clothes pinned the hearts up. It's very cute! I also found some more window clings that I had bought at the Dollar Tree last year (they are at the bottom of the window). Cailin loves to put window clings up. We have some for V-day, St. Patrick's Day and Christmas.

I better go, just grabbed Kylie out of the laundry room. She had put a piece of dog food in her mouth. Yucko! Gotta watch that girl. She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth! Bye!

Right Now II

2010-01-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Right now:
1. She's standing up on everything. She is getting brave lately and tries to let go. She usually starts crying because she's not completely confident in her balance yet.
2. She is also crawling everywhere. She makes her rounds around our house and follows Cailin down our long hall to Cailin's room several times a day.
3. She LOVES taking a bath! Cailin loves her taking a bath with her as well.

4. When she is trying to get into something she shouldn't (for example ~ plugs) we tell her "Uh, uh" she usually smiles and says it back to us.
5. She is REALLY a Mommy's girl! Cailin was also when she was this age. I think I could leave the room though, with Kylie, she doesn't like when she can't see me.

6. She loves to play with this little kitchen. It sings and she dances to the music.

7. She also has learned to turn off the light switches around our house because of this little kitchen's light switch.

8. Her favorite foods are Harvest Vegetables and Grains, Sweet Potatoes and whatever we are eating. We can't always share with her because she still hasn't got her teeth.

9. She is a GOOD baby! Everyone tells us she is and she is, as long as her needs are met. :0) She LOVES to smile!

10. It makes me very SAD that she is about to be 1 years old. Why does their babyhood have to be so short? It makes me really question if we want to have another one if a few years....

Guess, I'll go for now. Have a happy Sunday! Bye!

Right Now

2010-01-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

Right now:
1. I'm really missing when her bangs where this length. I'm thinking I might even grow them out so she won't have any bangs again.

2. About a week before Christmas, she cut her own bangs and the back of her hair. **cringing* So now her hair looks like this. We've gotten used to it now, and it's really grown out alot. I miss her long hair though.

3. She LOVES to dress up. Every day we change and accessorize several times a day. She pretends she's dressing me and Kylie up too. We even get to wear her tiaras! Sometimes I forget I have a headband or crazy necklace that she has "accessorized" me with. Warren will come home and give me funny looks!

4. Last week she started dressing up the dogs too. I cracked up laughing when Angel came running into the living room wearing a bow, several ribbons that were draped over her back and some mismatched necklaces. She was such a good sport!
Here's a better shot. Notice the necklaces around her neck. Silly girl, she kept going back to Cailin's room for more. She really likes Cailin!

5. She's been shortening some of her words when asking for stuff. She'll say, "I want a blank." or "I want a blanky blank." (blanket) Last night, she said her dolls in the tub were getting a "shower show" She's been calling chocolate milk, "chocky" since she was old enough to say it. Now she calls it "chock" sometimes. I don't know where she got this from, but it's funny! She's too cool!

6. She's REALLY been sassy lately, but sassy with manners. I think that she thinks if she throws in a few nice words with her sassiness, she'll get what she wants. We are hearing a lot of, "I SAID NO, Please!" The other day at the library, I asked her to come down an aisle so I could look for a book and she said, "NO, thank you!" I know she's just trying to see what she can get away with.

7. She's also been sticking out her tongue out at us when she's mad at us. So she's been getting in trouble for that!

8. She loves going to gymnastics, dance class and church. She asks constantly if we are going to any of these places.

9. She's already asking for a Princess birthday party.

10. She can't wait to go to school with Logan and she wants a princess backpack. She'll say, "Wait till I go to school with Logie and I get a princess bapack." Poor little thing doesn't know she still has 2 years to wait. She will be 6 because of how her birthday falls.

Better go for now! Bye!

Then and Now

2010-01-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

WARNING: If you don't want to see cute baby pictures, leave this page immediately. If you don't want to see cute baby chub, hair bows or tutus, leave this page immediately.

Okay, now that has been taken care of proceed as desired. Hee, hee! My friend Kasey, from Georgia took these pics of Cailin when she was about 9 months old. They are some of my favorites! Several of these poses from this little photo session are hanging in my house.

Love, love, love her smile with her little teeth showing.

Today, I got some adorable pics of Kylie. It really is crazy how much they look alike at this age. This first one was MY FAVORITE! I put a bronze effect on it and it's so pretty!

I had to give her that little phone as a prop so she would sit still long enough.

I love how her baby chub shows with no shirt on. I put an old photo effect on these next two and really like how they came out.

Love, love, love this one too! Seriously, who needs Sears or any other photo studio, when you can get these pics in your own house.

This next one has a few blury areas, it's very hard to get them both to stay still long enough to get a shot. I love the way Kylie is smiling at Cailin!

I know that was a lot of pics, but it is too hard for this mom to pick which pictures she liked best. Who could do that? I want to show pics of our new old house soon on here soon. I wish I had some of the originals saved on my computer. I may have to get my mom to send them to me again. hint, hint... Bye for now!

Sista, Sista

2010-01-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

These 2 sisters are doing a lot of things together lately and I love seeing it! I caught them watching a cartoon together yesterday. Check out Kylie's crazy hair! She takes after me in that department.

This picture came out a little blurry, darn it, but Kylie had followed Cailin into her room. I let them play for several minutes by themselves. When I went to check on them, I found this. They were both playing with Cailin's new castle. I took this pic and neither of them noticed me. It was SO cute! I love to see them playing together. I know these two will be close and are so blessed to have each other!

Warren gave me these flowers for our anniversary the other day. He gave me 4 flowers, one for each year. He also gave Cailin 1 because he knew she would want one and she did! She tells me exactly which one is hers everyday! Hee! We went to a Japanese restaurant in town that cooks Hibachi style in front of you. It was fun! We hardly ever get out by ourselves here. So it was very nice to have a grown up night by ourselves. We went to see Have You Heard About The Morgans afterwards. We got about 30 min. into it and got a call from our babysitter that Kylie was not having her bottles and throwing a fit. I could barely hear Kayla talking on the phone, all I could hear was Kylie screaming. So, I told her we would be there shortly. So we left and we still don't know what happened to the Morgans. Hee!

That's ok though, we still got some away time! We've learned that we can only leave Kylie about 2 hours with a sitter for now. She's SO rotten! She hates when I leave her sight. I'm actually pretty impressed that she lasted that long the other night. It will get easier as she gets older of course.

Us girlies are headed out to the store and Goodwill. We've been cooped up in this house for 2 days and I think we need a break! I cleaned out my closet last night and this morning. I had tons of stuff that (luckily) is too big and just stuff that I don't like anymore. I have tons of crafty ideas running through my head, so I'm thinking I'll pick up some stuff to make something at the store. I'll post it if it comes out cute. Bye for now!

4 Years

2010-01-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

This girlie is getting SO big! She is all over the place and into everything! She had her 9 month check-up on Monday. She has gained 3lbs. since Sept. She now weighs 16lbs and is 27 1/4in tall. Her pediatrician was a little concerned about her weight gain (not enough). So we have to give her more fatty foods and take her back in 6 weeks. I'm pretty sure I remember having the same thing with Cailin. I think my girls will probably always be a little under (growing up anyway). I know Warren was and I was too, until I reached my teenage years, then I fluctuated.

Cailin had fun riding her tricycle yesterday while we walked our dogs. It was such nice weather! She had to wear that denim skirt, so I made her wear the leggings underneath. She decided to wear that cute little hat with it. She has such a great STYLE!

Love these pics I caught of her after we got back! The lighting was so good!

This next picture was this morning in dance class. Her class is learning a routine to "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. It's so funny to see your little girl dancing to songs that was a hit when I was younger. She did SO good this morning. She really tried to keep up with her dance teacher. Every now and then, she'd turn to us and yell to Kylie, "Hey, Kylie, watch this!" Kylie was bouncing to the music and trying VERY hard to get out of my lap. When I let her down, she was crawling straight for the dance floor! Oh my, what do I have in store for me???? Girls, girls, girls!!!!

Today is mine and Warren's 4 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's been 4 years already. It was a tough year for us, but we made it through and are stronger from it all. We are going to go celebrate tonight. We have a babysitter coming to watch the girlies and we are going to go have dinner at a Japanese restaurant that cooks in front of you. I think we are also going to go see Blind Side. I can't wait!

Hope everyone has a blessed day! Bye!

Bathtime

2010-01-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

This little girlie LOVES her bathtime! She gets so excited when she sees the water running and she NEVER wants to get out. She loves to grab one of the bath toys and will not let go of it until after she's out and dressed.

This BIG girlie also LOVES her bathtime! She asks for a bath in the middle of the day and as soon as it gets dark. She also loves that her little sister can take a bath with her now.

I just came across this picture from New Year's Day. Warren brought the kids home some hats and noise makers from our night out, which they loved! This pic cracks me up, looks like they were up all night partying!

I'm going to throw this out there, since I know our neighbors don't read this. Last night we had our neighbor's little boy over to play. He's 2 and had been here for over an hour. Well, he is still in diapers and we started smelling something fresh from him (if you know what I mean). Warren, looked at me and said, "What should we do?" I said, "Just walk him over and tell his mom he needs to be changed. Tell her he's more than welcome to come back when she's done." He said he felt awkward doing this. Why? I would have done it, but I was cooking and holding Kylie. What are your thoughts on this? I would want them to walk Cailin back over if she had an accident. I definately wouldn't want them to just handle it.

Hope you have a great day! Bye!

Slumber Party

2010-01-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

We have adopted a new Friday night tradition in the McCraw house. Slumber party in the living room with movies! Cailin loves it and has been asking to do it everyday last week. We started it Christmas Eve and now we are doing it every Friday night. Last night, Warren and I were reminiscing about when we built tents when we were kids. So Warren, went all out and we had an awesome tent! Here's all of us snug as a bug watching Dumbo. Warren doesn't even look like he jumped over a table to get back on the sleeping bags after setting up our camera, does he? ha, ha! ;-)

Here's a look from the outside. He made a tunnel that we had to crawl through to get in. Kylie enjoyed crawling through it to get inside!

Cailin in her new Barbie dress outside yesterday, hugging Mary. ha, ha!

This pic just cracks me up! That's Cailin's "pretty" smile with her beautiful dress (as she says). She uses her Christmas dress for a dress up costume now. Look at Kylie's face! She's like, "what is going on?" Silly girls!

We are going to Sear's in a little bit to pre-shop for a new fridge. Woohoo! Bye!

Oh My Gravy!

2010-01-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a new year and I've realized that I hadn't blogged since we've been back. I've been getting back into our routine this week of gymnastics and dance classes for Cailin. Taking down our Christmas decorations is an ongoing task. We had to spend the first day back putting up all the Christmas presents we got in TX. It was way too much!

I took this pic a few days before Christmas! These boots are Warren's work boots and were bigger than her!

She started crawling (the real way, not the army crawl) a few days ago. She's still pulling herself up and down on everything. It's crazy how fast she went from barely moving around to going everywhere! She's also trying to make new sounds which will soon be little words. Right now she says: mom-ma, daddy, ba-ba and eeee (I don't know what that means other than she says that when she wants something).

Cailin got her Barbie guitar that she wanted from Santa and her Snow White dress. She was and is still very happy!

This picture was right before we went to our church's Christmas Eve service. We had never got to do that, because we are always in TX for Christmas. So, this year was special for us since it will be our last Christmas here.

This picture cracks me up! If you look really close at Kylie's face in this mirror, her nose is squished against the glass. She thought this crane machine was the greatest thing with all of those stuffed animals in it! I think she would have crawled in there if we had let her.

OH MY GRAVY! This recipe is my new favorite! It is SO YUMMY! Barefoot Contessa made it the other day on her show and I had to try it. I am S-O GLAD that I did! Whenever I type out recipes on here they get all jumbled, so here's the link if you want to try it. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/crunchy-noodle-salad-recipe/index.html I did use a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables instead of the red pepper and snap peas that the recipe calls for. It was DELISH!

That's all I have to share for now! Have a blessed day! Bye!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

Kylie is doing so good staying out of the presents and Christmas tree. Don't get me wrong, she does go investigate every now and then. She usually only touches. She doesn't destroy, which I know some babies do. Here's she is checking out a Christmas dog that moves and sings. I think he scared her at first.

Last weekend, we went to Warren's squadron Kids' Christmas party. They brought Santa and Mrs. Claus in on a truck. As soon as Cailin saw him, she yelled out, "Oh Santa! You brought my costume?" Aww! So cute! She's asking Santa for a Snow White dress or costume and a Barbie guitar.

She then ran up to him and gave him a hug! She's definately not scared of him this year. She kept talking to them, so we had to tell her he needed to get inside. Hee!

The parents bring (beforehand) a wrapped present for their children for Santa to "give" them. She was one of the first names he called so she ran up there to get her present. Santa gave her a Disney princess book that has a puzzle on each page. Two things she likes in one, Santa did good! All the kids took off after they were done, she didn't. She stood watching them until they were done. I wish this pic was clearer, but oh well!

I don't think I have posted this pic before. This was Cailin and Kylie before another kids' Christmas party on base.

Merry Christmas! Let innoncence and joy prevail. May the magic of Christmas never end! ~ Mary Engelbreit

Smile

2009-12-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

This morning I was holding Kylie while I was checking email and I looked down at her. She was sleeping so sweetly. Look at those eyelashes and that sweet little mouth. So I had to take a picture, she squinted a little in her sleep from the flash.

It must have woke her up, so I thought I'd show you how she wakes up every morning. Here she is trying to open her eyes. Notice the grin already starting.

Here she is trying to open her eyes. See the smile! Every morning, she wakes up with a huge smile on her face. She's my Smiley Kylie!

I had a "Baby's First Christmas" stocking ordered for her, but it was cancelled at the last minute. I guess they ran out of stock. So, this morning I was thinking about what I was going to do for Kylie's stocking. Then, it came to me. I would download a stocking pattern offline and make her a stocking out of some of her receiving blankets. I used part of a santa hat for the white furry part on the top. Please don't ask me where these ideas come from. I seriously don't know. I just know, my ideas (my good ones anyway) always come to me early in the morning or in the middle of the night. So, here's her ladybug receiving blanket stocking. I like how it came out.

Here's Miss Kylie before we headed to look at Christmas lights tonight. She was a little grumpy because she was in her carseat and she had that super cute hat on.

Here's the best one we saw tonight. We drove by it 3 times! Twice so we could get this picture, but Cailin had fell asleep. So, she woke up a little later and we went back. It was definately a hot spot, ton's of cars driving by slowly. It had about 16 Mickey Mouse blowups! Then, that front window of their house was full of Mickey Mouse figures and moving dolls! Pretty cool! Cailin was a little scared when she saw it! It's pretty overwhelming! Someone LOVES Mickey!

That's it for now! Bye!

Happy Birthday Pe-paw

2009-12-18T06:29:00.000-08:00

Today is my Pe-paw's 79th birthday! Happy Birthday Pe-paw! We love him dearly!

He is one of the best cooks that I know. He loves to search cookbooks for new recipes to try out. I've given him a few cookbooks over the years and he loves to get new books to comb through. I love going over to their house to eat anything he or my Me-maw cooks. Yum! It makes me hungry just thinking about it!

He's also a great gardener, and is usually reading the next year's Almanac by now, planning what is going in his next garden and when.

This picture cracks me up! We took it last Christmas day, when I was about 5 or 6 months pregnant. He's had a big belly for as long as I can remember (he was a truck driver for at least 20 years or more) before retiring.

This picture is one of my favorites! I've posted it to this blog before. Last Christmas, Cailin opened Pe-paw's and Me-maw's gift (a sweater), and she ran over to him. She said, "Thank you, Pe-paw!" and gave him a huge hug. So precious!

Cailin LOVES Pe-paw (and Me-maw) so much! I am so blessed that she is getting to grow up and know them. My other grandparents have sadly all passed away, so they are my only grandparents left. I hope and pray everyday that they are around for several more years so we can so many more precious moments with them! I can't wait until I am living close to them again! Happy Birthday Pe-paw, We LOVE You!

Fun Birthday Party and Red Neck Christmas Baking

2009-12-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had a birthday party for one of my friend's little girl. It was a western theme, so we donned on our western clothes. Cailin LOVES wearing these boots that her best cousin, Reagan gave her. Kylie wore her hand-me down from Cailin boots. It looks like she has on shorts, but they just got caught up when I was holding her. Ha, ha!

Our poor little Christmas tree, I totally covered it up when we stood in front of it for this picture.

Here's Cailin in all of her western goodies that my friend, Eve, gave all the kids. This didn't last long, they all shedded the hats and bandanas shortly after.

Here's Cailin with one of the little boys (can't remember his name) and Sophia, the birthday girl. It was in the mid-60's yesterday and so warm in the sun! Great for mid-December!

Here's Cailin and Sophia again. She kept saying, "Ride Em, Cowboy!" She loves playing cowboys. The kids all got these cute little stick horses that they ran around "riding" on, so fun!

OK, don't laugh (too much) at this pic. First, I know we look like we could be on a red-neck Christmas card. No hair or make-up for me, yikes! Look at Miss Kylie's hair, takes after Mommy, poor baby! Cailin and I were baking Christmas goodies yesterday morning, and she made us all put on an apron. I thought it was funny, so we set up the camera. My apron said, 'King of the Grill', yeah right!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We are having Warren's parents here for Christmas with them this weekend. Should be fun! I'll post pics Sunday night. Bye for now!

My 2 Girls

2009-12-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

I was just looking at pictures from last year and remembering how little Cailin looked. We took this picture last year in front of the Christmas tree at our church.

She had little curls that only made it to the top of her shoulders and still wore these one piece pajamas that had the built in footies. So cute!

Now, she wears big girl night gowns and her hair is much longer (with bangs). Look at how big she looks with her ballet friends.

This little one was born this year. Look how little she looked in her carseat!

Now, she's sitting up on her own and standing up on her own. Crazy how much they change in just about 9 months!

I'm loving my 2 sweet girls! Bye for now!

Cailin's Prayer

2009-12-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

I was lying in Cailin's bed last night trying to get her to sleep and she said, "Time to pray." The words she prayed really came from her heart. Usually, we remind her of what to say or help her along, but last night she didn't need any help.

Cailin's Prayer

Thank you God for Alta and Thurman, and, and Alta.

And ballet for me

And pretty dresses.

Thank you for my Christmas trees

The pink one and the green one

And for Kayla, her names not Kaylie, no, it's Kayla.

Amen.

It was SO sweet and innocent that as soon as she fell asleep, I came to write it down so I wouldn't forget it. I'm going to write it in her journal too!

Today, Last Night and Yesterday

2009-12-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

Days 10-13 ~

Today, we went to church. It was such a nice service with some really beautiful music! Wow! I wish you could have all been there to here "Ave Maria" sung by this guy we have in our choir. He was SO awesome! I need to try to get a copy of it. I LOVE Christmas music!

Here's a pic of the girlies before we headed out the door this morning. That is Cailin's "cheese" smile! ;-)

I caught Cailin in the truck with her sunglasses on. She wore them all the way to church until we walked in.

Last night, both girls played SO hard! Here's Kylie smiling at some baby dolls she found in her big sister's toy crib. She stood up there forever just talking and playing with these dollies.

Yesterday morning, Kylie was in her 1st dance performance. Her dance instructor put together a quick little Christmas program. Literally, we were only there for 20 minutes for about 6 groups to perform. Cailin's class did 2 dance routines that were just a minute long each.

Cailin did SO GOOD! She really had fun during the 2nd song, it was Santa Baby.

Here's my pretty girl on stage and waiting to start dancing.

We had a blessed weekend. We got to spend some nice quality time with our dear friends and together as a family. Hope you all had a great weekend too! Bye for now!

Christmas Party

2009-12-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

Day 9 ~

This little girl is standing on anything and everything. She's learning how to steady herself and sometimes takes a fall. She even letting go with one hand and trying to move to another. She hardly wants to sit or crawl anymore, she just tries to get to the nearest tall surface to stand. I'm SO not ready for this!

Here's Cailin before we headed out in the freezing weather for the base's Christmas tree lighting. They had a little indoor party for the kids.

Here's Cailin in front of the fire at the club on base. They had jumpy houses, cookie decorating, face painting, cookies and hot chocolate. She had SO much fun! We saw a lot of friends there.

Kylie is growing closer and closer to Warren. She actually doesn't reach for me all the time now when he has her. Last night, she even fell asleep on his shoulder, just like this.

Cailin and Kylie both sat on Santa's lap. That's Warren's arm in this pic, where he just had picked Kylie up. She stared at him, then reached for Warren. They got a really good pic that we should be getting by email soon. Cailin told Santa that she wanted a Snow White dress and a Barbie guitar. She LOVED him!

Bye for now! Woohoo, I'm caught up!

Snow, Sleet and Wind

2009-12-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

Day 8 ~
Ok, well I'm still behind, darn it! Yesterday was a crazy weather day here. It sleeted, snowed, the sun came out and then, the wind picked up really fast!
Cailin was watching the sleet come down at our window in the living room.

I caught Kylie checking out ornaments on the tree. She does this daily, but she's pretty good about not grabbing them off.

Ally, my dog, was totally lounging on her doggy bed yesterday. I'm sure she was thanking God that she wasn't outside like our 2 other big dogs.

Note: Her legs are still stained from that bad dirt storm we had several months ago! I'm beginning to wonder if it's ever going to turn white again.

Cailin had gymnastics, here's her bridge.

Bye!

This Isn't Mashed Potatoes

2009-12-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Day 7 ~

I have got to catch up here, so I'll post again tonight.

Cailin was getting a little cabin fever yesterday, I think. It's been SO COLD here, so there isn't much getting out unless it's Tues. for gymnastics or Wed. for ballet. So, I'm having to come up with ways to entertain her. So, this isn't mashed potatoes in this first picture. I found a recipe online for playdough that was made from salt, corn starch and water. Easy! You had to heat it on the stove so it would come together. She loves mixing anything, so I measure, she pours and stirs. She enjoyed playing with this dough. I did too! It said on the recipe that you can air dry it and paint it after it hardens. So, I made the girls handprints on some dough that I rolled out. We'll see if it works.

Here's Cailin playing with her dough.

Notice Cailin's wearing a leotard? She changed clothes and dress-up clothes a HUNDRED times yesterday.

Warren has been working on our Christmas lights and decorations for several days now.

I think he's finally finished! For those of you who didn't see my Facebook entry over the weekend, Cailin and Warren had a funny coversation on Saturday.

Warren had just got on the roof of the house to start hanging lights.

Cailin: Daddy, can I get up there?

Warren: No, it's too dangerous.

Cailin: Then, why are you up there?

Ha, ha! She's a smart little cookie! She's always telling us to "get down" or "your going to get hurt" if we are standing on a chair or step stool.

Bye for now!

Sunday

2009-12-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

Day 6 ~

We had a nice Sunday. We started off with church, Sunday school and a potluck lunch. When we got home, Warren finished up the lights around the yard. It looks really nice. I need to take some pics outside after dark. We watched movies, played and made nachos for dinner. Warren took this cute pic after the girls had their baths. He was in the kitchen with them while I was in the back cleaning up the bathroom. He caught them playing in the tupperware. Hee! Look at Miss Kylie, she had pulled herself up to her knees to see what Cailin was doing. Then, she pulled herself all the way up so she could "help" re-organize the dishes, too!

"Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." ~from my '31 Family Devotions for Christmas book' (it was actually yesterday's devotion) :-)

I hope everyone has a blessed day! I'll try to post today's blog later. Bye!

Light Parade

2009-12-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

Day 5 ~

We went to the annual Christmas light parade on Main St. I think this is the 3rd year that we have went. We just sit inside our car, because it's so cold, and watch the floats go by. We honk and wave. They were throwing candy to the kids outside and one man even put some treats on the hood of our car for Cailin.

Here's one of the pretty floats.
Here's Cailin watching the parade go by. When Santa went by she yelled, "Santa, wait, I just want to show you my dress!" Ha, ha! We cracked up laughing. I got her and Kylie's Christmas dresses in the mail last week. Well, I made the mistake of showing Cailin her's **cringe**. She LOVES dresses and when she saw this fancy Christmas dress she went CRAZY wanting to wear it. I kept telling her it was a special dress for Christmas, but she didn't understand. So Warren let her try it on. Now, everytime we go into her closet she asks if it's time for Christmas yet. We have told her we would take her to the mall in it to let her show Santa the dress, that's why she wanted him to wait. Ha, ha!

After the parade, we went to Taco Box. I know, real exciting, huh? Not usually, but in Dec. they set up lights that are syncronized to Trans Siberian Orchestra music and you can sit in the parking lot to watch the light show. It's pretty good!

Kylie is pulling herself up everywhere! She stands on the coffee table, door, chairs, EVERYWHERE! Yikes!

This is a blurry picture, but here she is standing up against our coffee table with one of her signature smiles! She smiles like this as soon as she wakes up. This morning, she started stirring and before her eyes where even open, she had this huge, toothless grin on her face. So funny!

Cailin stole the shot in this one. I was trying to take a pic of Kylie crawling and Cailin jumped into the picture. She came out good, but I had to crop Kylie out of it, she was so blurry!
Here's the good one of Kylie that I caught. She was crawling towards me, so she's a little blurry, but she has that smile!

Bye for now!

This Girl

2009-12-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Day 4 ~

This little girl was busy, busy, busy all day long! She didn't take a nap until after 3pm (she usually naps in the morning and the afternoon), which means that I didn't take a shower or get out of my pj's until after 3pm.

Don't get me wrong she was in a good mood all day, just was having too much fun! I put her up here on the counter because I wanted to get a video of her saying, "La-De-Da-De-Da" (she was saying that all day long), but my camera was acting up. At least, I got this big smile! She was trying to reach for the laundry that I was folding.

She already knows that when I have the camera pointed at her she needs to smile. ;-) That's my girl! She loved looking at the dogs! She'd laugh when they came up to the window. They don't look so happy. I'm sure they were thinking it's still COLD out here!

No wait, please don't go!

Cailin came over to see what all the hoopla was about.

She got into the pantry whenever she could today

and reorganized things.

All in all it was a fun day! Tommorrow night we are planning on going to the annual lights parade on Main St. It's always fun. Cold, but pretty. Bye for now!

Snowday!

2009-12-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

Day 3~

Today it snowed ALL Day! When Cailin got up this morning, I told her to look out our window. She said, "OHHH YES, it's just, it's just EXACTLY!" She's so funny and SO dramatic! She couldn't wait to go out and play in it. She asked, "Is it cold like ice cream?" YES, it is!
She checked out her snow covered sandbox and frozen fishing pole. She dusted the snow off of her door to her playhouse and the little red bird feeder hanging there. Poor little snowbunny didn't last but about 5 minutes out there! It took me about 10 minutes to get her double panted, double gloved, socked, booted, coated, and taboganed. She came to the door and said, "Look at my pants!" There was snow all over them. Then, when I let her in, she said, "It's freezing out there!"

She didn't ask to go out for the rest of the day. Imagine that! So, I had a brainstorm of an idea to make an indoor snowman. We used all of the cottonballs in the house, but she made this super cute snowman.

We got a lot of these looks from the backdoor today. We tried to be nice and let him and his mama, Neah in. Warren put them in the garage, where it was warm (we had a space heater going). They had only been in for a few minutes, when Cailin reported that Hoss "had pootied" in the garage. This dog doesn't just pooty, he COW pooties (if you know what I mean). So he was swiftly escorted back outside in the snow. Poor Hoss!

I'm thinking of making an apple cobbler later and am wishing I had some hot apple cider to drink. Bye for now!

Day 2

2009-12-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

Day 2 ~

This is the pretty picture that I woke up to this morning. We left these garland lights on all night. Oops! It sure made my morning brighter when I wandered into the kitchen to make me a hot cup of Green Chai Tea. It was in the 20's this morning and the wind was howling! Tonight it's only going to be in the teens with snow showers. Brrr!

I sure hated getting Cailin and Kylie out in it at 9 this morning to make it to Cailin's ballet class.

When we got home, I decided we'd make some Peanut Butter Kiss cookies. I had the recipe saved from a magazine (it was also on the bag of Hershey Kisses). Cailin is such a great helper when I bake. She wants to do everything. I'm training her early! ;o)

When Warren came home for lunch, I was putting some cookies on the rack fresh from the oven and she said, "Mommy muub out of da way. Daddy, URPRISE!" She wanted to show him her cookies that she made. Ha, ha!

These little cookies are SO YUMMY! I ate the broken ones - hee! Oops, did another one break? Oh darn, let me just get that one out of the way. ;o)

The smell of these cookies had even Miss Ally in the kitchen hoping a "broken" cookie might fall on the floor. I abliged her and had Cailin toss her a little piece of one.

Ally did hit the big double digits this year ~10~, so I think she deserves a handout every now and then. That's it for today! Bye!

December Daily ~ Day 1

2009-12-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

In the scrapbookers circle (so to speak), a lot of scrappers are starting December Daily Journals. They make these cute journal/scrapbooks and write about their December daily happenings in preparation to Christmas.

I love this idea and started to make a journal for myself, but reality set in. I know that I probably won't make time to actually write in it every day with a picture. So, I thought I could do a December Daily here on my blog. It would be easier to post about our daily happenings with a pic on here. (I try to post daily anyway, but sometimes don't get to it.)

So.....

Day 1

We put up our Christmas decorations and Christmas tree last night. Cailin loved getting to see everything come out of the totes. This year, we bought her her very own Christmas tree for her room. It had to be pink of course! I got her some princess ornaments and she picked out some pink/glitter balls. I also found some cute little green ornaments that look like glittery presents. It came out very cute! She can't wait to show her daddy, she said.

Here's our tree all finished! This is what Miss Kylie was doing while we were decorating the tree.

She can reach the top of this little musical table, so she pulls herself up to her knees to play with it. Bye, bye little rattles, links and teethers. She's on to bigger and better things.

Here's just a few of my Christmas favorites.

I LOVE snowglobes! I usually try to get one every year to add to my little collection.

Here's a little glimpse of my little village. I clear off the bar and set up my village. I usually try to put my little snowman collection around here too, in the snow.

That's it for today. Bye!

'Haul out the holly, Put up the tree before My spirit falls again Fill up the stocking, I may be rushing things, But deck the halls again now. For we need a little Christmas, Right this very minute...'

Monday and Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

Is it just MONDAY? This little girl decided to do her "artwork" on herself this morning. I was shopping online and she was decorating herself with a permanent marker. She came over to me and said, "Mommy, look at me!" I tried to get on to her, but I was laughing so hard. How can you not laugh at this? It was EVERYWHERE! On her eyelids, lips, belly button, etc. We got the majority off with a bath, but it is still on her skin, just lighter. Ha-ha!

I found this song on You Tube that was called the Mom song. It says 'if you work all day, but you never get paid, your a Mom. Your 1st occupation sounds like a vacation! your a MOM.' That's what I felt like this morning.

ha, ha!

We had a great Thanksgiving. We went to Warren's mom's house. My Mom, sister and little brother drove over there to eat with us. Here's my beautiful sister with Kylie and Warren's mom in the background.

Here's a good one I took of mom and Kylie right before my camera's battery died. Look at those pretty smiles! Kylie's 1st Thasnksgiving! She ate Gerber's Harvest Vegetables and some of my sweet potatoes.

Bye for now!

I'm Feeling Grey Lately

2009-11-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling a little grey lately! Everything that I'm loving lately is grey. I always seem to do that when I am shopping for clothes. Everything that I want will be in a certain color.

The first thing that I fell in love with is this super cute bag. It's at Old Navy and I love, love, love the ruffles!

It also comes in this little wristlet. I used to love these little purses when I was single without kiddos. Great for going out with just a few cards and a lipstick! Now, it would definately be too small. I need room for toys, drinks, snacks, sunglasses for the whole family, wallet (sometimes Warren's wallet), etc.

These sweater boots are adorable and look SO comfy!

These little ballet slippers are too cute! I found these are at Avon.com.

I've been eyeing a new silver cross for my neck. I lost mine at the hospital when I had Kylie earlier this year. This one is pretty.

Yesterday, I was going to wear this outfit to church with some black tights. I was so excited because it fits perfect now. It zips up the back and fits perfect. Then, I remembered that I was breastfeeding Miss Kylie and I there wasn't any way to do that in this perfect little dress without unzipping the back. So I had to switch to an "easier" outfit. Guess, it'll have to ait until after she's not bf-ing anymore! Oh well!

"I believe in Manicures. I believe in Overdressing. I believe in Primping at leisure and wearing Lipstick. I believe that Laughing is the best calorie burner. I Believe in Kissing; Kissing a lot. I believe in Being Strong when everything else seems to be going wrong. I believe Happy Girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I Believe in Miracles. " ~ Audrey Hepburn

I Miss My Camera! :(

2009-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

I miss my camera! My camera broke at the Abilene Zoo when we were there a month ago. Warren accidentally dropped it. :( Now, I'm taking pics with my old camera which is about 7 years old and it doesn't do the best. At least it works! These pics came out a little blurry.

Here's the first pic of all the kiddos together. They are our neighbors, he's 4 months younger than Cailin and she is 1 week older than Kylie. They are really close! We were so blessed that they moved in right next door to us.

Last year, we lost a bunch of really close friends. It seemed like everyone that we hung out with moved away. That's the military for you! We do have several friends that are still here luckily, but for the ones that moved, we dearly miss you!

Anyway, this nice family moved in next to us early this summer and we try to get our kids together at least once a week.

Someone stuck a sticker on Miss Riley's forehead, I'm not sure who did it. I'm guessing her brother, but I didn't realize it was there until after Warren took this pic. Ha, ha! Riley is sooo strong and can stand easily on the coffee table. Kylie was just propped up there and Mommy was holding onto her legs.

This next pic is really blurry!

Our neighbor, who takes awesome pictures with her mega camera, took this one for me. I wish it was clearer, but it came out sooo cute! I let go of Kylie's leg for a second so she could stand solo like Riley.

I truly can wait until Kylie can stand on her own and I know it won't be long. I caught her trying to stand up on this little chair of Cailin's today. I am not ready for her to be big. I would like her to stay a baby forever. Bye!

My Fashionista

2009-11-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

OK, before you look at the first picture, please ignore my goofy smile and the fact that Kylie is already giving me that look like my mom is soooo embarassing. Her hair is finally long enough for a fountain pony on the top of her head. I pretty much have to do this hairdo on her now or it just sticks straight up. She has my crazy curls, so it sticks up in every direction. Hopefully, when it grows out it will lay down a little more.

Here's my silly girl playing dress up this morning.

She had on a John Deere hat that she had to have at Tractor Supply last week, blue princess sunglasses and her backpack. She's funny!

Then, onto one of her tutu's and black dress shoes that she now calls "her slippers" after watching Cinderella for the first time yesterday. She told me this morning that she needed more tutu's. (rolling my eyes) I guess 6 tutu's isn't enough! She is such a girlie girl. She'd wear a dress or skirt everyday if she could.

Enough 3 yr old fashion for now. We made these yummy biscuits yesterday morning. This picure makes it look like a little hamburger, but it was my cheater version of cinnamon rolls. We had a can of Pillsbury Flaky Layers Biscuits, so I sprayed a muffin tin with Pam. I separated the biscuits in half and put a biscuit in each muffin spot. Then, Cailin brushed on melted butter on the inside. We mixed raisins with cinnamon and brown sugar in a bowl. I put a big spoonful of that mixture on the inside then, closed them. Cailin brushed on more melted butteron the top of them. Yummy! She wanted to decorate them, so she put some sprinkles on the top. That's why this one looks green on the top. They were SO GOOD!

I ended up eating 2 of them, so I know that when I stepped on the scale yesterday morning an it read 111.4 lbs. it was definately a glich! I don't know why it read like that because when I stepped on it again it said the true weight..... 137lbs. wah-wah-wah! Mean, mean scale!

Note: I never believed that I weighed 111 lbs. Bye!

This and That

2009-11-19T07:22:00.000-08:00

There isn't much going on around here. We've just been going to gymnastics on Tues. nights and ballet on Wed. mornings. In between, we play.... Alot!

This little guy is our neighbor, Landon. Anytime Cailin sees him out nextdoor, she drags him over here (I do mean drag, she'll grab his hand his hand and lead him over here). I never mind, he's so quiet and they play good together.

I was trying to get them to pose for the above picture and one of them was always turned away from me, so I said, "turn around". Well they turned and turned and turned until they fell down from being dizzy or "buzy" as Cailin calls it.

Isn't he adorable? Here's a pic of Cailin turning (and my dead flowers in the background). It has already snowed once here so everything that wasn't brought in is dead. ;'''( Notice she's wearing shorts, that was our last warm day. It's been in the upper 20's-30's in the morning and then in the 60's in the afternoon. Yesterday wasn't too bad, we went to the park in the afternoon.

Warren took this picture of Cailin. She's in her pajamas with her tabogan and gloves on. She loves to wear that stuff. Notice the play dresses in the right hand corner, she has 3 dress up dresses and about 5 or 6 tutu's she wears on a daily basis. She loves to dance around and play like she's one of the Disney princesses or Barbie. We have to take her to Disney World before she grows out of this!

I made these cute little carrolers this week. I found the idea at the Family Fun magazine. I love that magazine, it usually has some cute ideas. They are made of toilet paper/paper towel rolls, painted, an old baby sock for the hat and ribbon mittens (I should have taken a side view too). Their music sheet was taken from an old hymnal that I have. Pretty easy and cute. I'll have to make more as I gather more empty tubes. It's a good way to recycle / reuse! You get to use all the single socks that you always end up with. Bye for now!

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ~ John 13:34, NLT

More Fall Ya'll And A Recipe To Boot

2009-11-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

Today, we have been playing outside. The weather is soooo nice! One of our trees in the front is loosing more and more of it's beautifully colored leaves by the minute. Warren raked Cailin up a pile to play in.

She's running and jumping in them, kicking them and throwing them up in the air. I can't ever remember having this many on the ground before. Usually the wind is blowing 50 plus miles per hour, so they probably just blew away all the years before. The wind has been relatively calm lately, very strange for this area.

Here is a pic of Cailin throwing them in the air. It looks funny! I had to have her redo it like 3 times before I caught it in the air.

Cailin has obviously got over her dislike for laying in the leaves; Kylie has not.

I made this yummy cornbread last night. It has corn and green chiles in it.

I made the cornbread to go with this even yummier White Chicken Chili. I've made this before several times, but it has never came out this good! I got the recipe from this lovely lady from church. It's a very New Mexican dish since it has green chiles in it. I don't think I ever cooked with green chiles until I moved here, now I do quite a bit. When you go to restaurants around NM, they always have some dish with them in it. They are sooo tasty!

Here's the recipe for White Chicken Chili:

1 med. onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 can garbonzo beans

2 cans Great Northern beans

1 can butter beans

1 can chicken broth

1 can niblet-style corn

1 (4oz.) can green chiles

1 lb. grilled chicken, cubed or shredded

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1. In a large pan saute onion and garlic. Add all beans, cooked chicken, corn, chiles, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, uncovered.

2. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and milk. Serves 6-8 people.

What We Do When We Are Bored

2009-11-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

In this town, there is absolutely not much to do. So, when we get bored we have to make our own fun.

We play dress up. We were doing laundry and Cailin pulled out one of Warren's t-shirts for work and put it on. So we grabbed his hat and jacket to make her look like Daddy. I said, "Hi, Sgt. McCraw." She said, "I'm Daddy Warren." She knows his name and calls him Warn sometimes. He hates when she does that! I'm glad she doesn't know my name yet!

We learn how to steer our tricycle. She rode it most of the afternoon, down the sidewalk and into our road. She's getting better at steering. It was the most beautiful day yesterday afternoon. She was still in the dress that she wore to church yesterday morning.

We put our kids in leaves for a fall pic, even though they hated it! Look at her poor little face! We have Bradford Pear trees in our front yards, and they make very pretty red leaves for fall. Kylie didn't really care how pretty the leaves that she was laying in.

Cailin didn't want to lay in the them either, but she faked it a little better! Look at that grimace on her face. At first, she held her arms in the air in front of her. Then, I told her to put them down. Hee! She didn't like the way they itched her.

We take pictures of pretty Fall trees. This one is in front of a house next door, it's vacant. I think it's the prettiest tree on our street.

We make Cailin pose in front of this tree on her tricycle since she's riding by it anyway.

Well, that's what we did yesterday and Saturday night to cure our boredom. By "we", I totally meant "me". LOL! Bye!

Fun and Games

2009-11-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

This girlie is LOVING food right now. I have been trying to feed her cereal since she was about 6 months, but just recently has she really caught on. Boy, did she catch on! She's eating a bowl of rice cereal mixed with bananas in the morning, squash or sweet potatoes in the afternoon, and a teething biscuit after that. She loves to eat! Yes, her high chair is on the floor (we sold our table to get something different when we move).

We got Cailin the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos and she really loves to play. Warren had never played it before, so she had to "teach" him.

Here is a pic I took a week or two ago of Kylie at Grammy's house. She is ALWAYS smiling! She has a cute little toothless grin. I think she's trying to cut a tooth right now, but it hasn't broke the skin yet.

Cailin always has to get in on the action when I'm taking pictures. She is such a ham. Every week at her dance class, her teacher puts out dots on the floor for the girls to stand on. Well, Cailin always moves her to front and center. In front of all the girls! I know she got that from her Daddy! I was always wanting to hide behind the others. She is definately a performer.

Her dance class is practicing a routine for a little Christmas program, that should be cute to see what she does in front of a bigger audience. ;o)

My little Kylie is dragging herself all over the place. She isn't in the crawling mode, up on all fours yet, but she can definately move. She tries to get up, she'll rock herself a little, then she falls. Life is getting really interesting around here. I have to constantly see where she is and if there is anything she can get in her mouth that shouldn't be there. Fun, fun!

She can say "da-da" and "ba-ba" now. She waves and tries to say "hi" which sounds like "haa".
That's all I have for now, not too much going on. Bye!

My Twinkies

2009-09-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's our photo shoot from today. They were playing on the floor and I noticed they had on the same colors. This was the best one out of the bunch and it's a little out of focus, darn it! I don't know why it uploaded sideways. Just turn your head to the left to view...hee!

I think this one is so sweet! They were having fun together.

This one cracks me up! I totally don't remember her giving me this look, though she does give me this look several times a day. Boy am I dreading her teenager years!

Here lately if she's sent to her room for giving us attitude, she'll stay in there for a few minutes then she'll come out and say, "I'm ready to be nice. I was just being uggy." Ooooh, OK! It's funny, at least she knows why.

Bye for now!

2009-09-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last year, Cailin painted a pumpkin for our house and she loved it. So this year, I thought we'd paint one for Enie and Grammy's house too. She picked out the pumpkins at the store and worked on them all morning. Look how she's concentrating! So cute! Next year, Kylie can paint one of her own.

Friday I was in Kylie's room sorting through clothes for our yard sale and I thought Cailin was just watching Dora. I'd noticed she was awfully quiet in the living room. Warren came home for lunch and found her like this. Look at her leg. She thought she'd put my yard sale stickers to good use. Busted!

Us girls get bored at home sometimes, so we have to do silly things to make us laugh. Grace used to push Cailin around in her baby strollers when she was little, so we tried it out with Kylie. Note: I didn't let Cailin actually push Kylie around. This was just for picture purpposes.

This girl is CRAZY in this bouncer! I took this this morning, she goes so high. She loves it! Bye!

Just Ducky

2009-09-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great yard sale this weekend. We made over $200 and sold a lot of junk! Mostly little girlie clothes, imagine that! This is Kylie on Warren's lap during our yard sale.

This is Cailin's new friend, Landon. He's our neighbor's son. They took turns giving each other rides on her four wheeler, it was too cute! She's very funny when he comes over, she never lets him go. She holds his hand and leads him around. She has him on a very short leash! Poor little guy, she's the boss!

This is Kylie's new friend, Riley. She's Landon's little sister and is only 1 week older than Kylie, but she weighs 5 lbs. more than Kylie. She's adorable! Kylie is very envious that Riley can sit up all by herself. Kylie's almost there, but she still falls over.

Sunday after church, we took the girls to a park that's a little out of town. Cailin tried out her fishing pole in the water. One of the ducks actually grabbed her bobber and she got pretty mad at him. So she quit fishing.

We fed the ducks all of the spare bread and crackers we had. There were a lot of them and they weren't afraid to come up and eat it out of your hands. They were so hungry. A few even caught the bread in the air.

That's about all we did this weekend. Our new neighbor friends came out to this park and let the kids play. Cailin and Landon had fun running around and looking at the ducks until Landon fell in with the ducks. Then, he was done and I don't blame him. I would have cried too if I fell in the water with the ducks. Poor little guy! Cailin came back up to us and reinacted the whole think in case we missed it. She's so funny!

Bye for now!

Rain, Sunshine and Cookies

2009-09-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Our morning started off rainy and dreary, but is now sunshiny goodness. Cailin got so excited when she saw the rain. She loves to use her Princess umbrella. So when she saw that it was raining, she said, "I have a go give Hoss and Neah a treat!" Then, I hurried to grab my camera.

Yesterday the weather was so nice! We walked to the park and Cailin had fun playing while Kylie and I watched. Kylie gets so excited watching Cailin slide. I thought she was going to jump ooff of my lap and go join her a few times!

I taught her this super fun and cool way to slide last time we were at the park, so she added this to her expertise at the park.

I just made some Yummy Oatmeal Raisin cookies! They have molasses in them, which I'd never seen in oatmeal raisin cookie recipes but let me tell you it is delish! Bye for now!

Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-09-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

I never intend to put SO many pics in my posts, it just sort of happens. Anyway, yesterday I was walking past Cailin's room when this little ballerina doll was posed just so. So, I decided it was too cute not to take her picture. I know, I'm crazy! Then, I decided to take some pics of parts of my house that I love. Since we may be moving soon, it made sense to me.

I know, I know....I KNOW, I have too much time on my hands. Isn't she cute though? Here's a glimpse into Miss Kylie's room. That's a pic and her little feet prints of when she was first born. Also, our (Mine, Cailin's and Kylie's) Christening gown hanging there. Hard to believe it's 30-something years old.

My cross wall. I LOVE my crosses and plan to hang them on a special chocolate brown wall in my new, old house when we move.

Cailin's artwork that she made at daycare. She has her own art gallery on two of our doors inside. That top one on the left is my all time favorite. It says "This is me" on top and she painted herself and used yarn for her hair. It's so adorable!

When I'd pick her up from daycare she'd proudly show me what artwork she made while she was there. She was always so excited! How can you not hang it up everywhere?

Here's a video from this morning's ballet/bop class. She's learning a routine to the Chicken Noodle Soup song. Bye for now!

Happy Fall Ya'll

2009-09-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

It's Fall ya'll! I love the Fall. The leaves on the ground, the pumpkins everywhere, soup to eat, family, cool air with sunshine and these little chickies. I'm not sure what kind of birds they actually are, but aren't they too cute? Warren's been filling the birdfeeders up everyday and these little chickies come by the dozens until it's all gone. They can empty it in a day. We also get pretty doves, love those too! I just love how they line up on the fence waiting their turn to sit on the birdfeeder. They never push or shove, LOL, they wait in line like perfect little ladies. (I know they aren't all girls!)

See how they are waiting their turn to eat? How sweet is that.

So this is what I see out my back door.
This shot is out my front door. Check out that great big Yellow Rose! The roses this year are so BIG! I have to rose bushes that are right outside my door (they were here when we moved in) and this year they are just making these GINORMOUS roses! They are so tall they are touching the roof line of the house.

Hope everyone has a great day! I need to get outside to enjoy some of this beautiful weather. Bye for now!

Family Fun Day

2009-09-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day today! The base had a Commando Family Fun Day, so we went to it. There was a lot of vendors from around town, jumpy castles, airplanes and all kinds of kid's stuff to do. Like dress up! Here's Cailin dressed up like an officer. LOL!

You couldn't see her arms in this next one! Oh, and what's on her face? A black diamond. She told me she wanted a flower painted on her face. Then, when it was her turn, she pointed to the diamond. The lady asked her what color, and she said, "Black!" I heard black diamonds were "in" right now. Guess she saw that in Toddler Cosmo, too.

Cailin got to go inside a C12 airplane. She loved it! Warren took one of her waving thru one of the windows. Here's one of her in the cockpit. She had to wear her Cowboy shirt like Daddy today. Oh yeah, she also had to wear boots like him too!

Here's one of the twinkies in front of an AC-130. They look real thrilled that Mommy is taking ANOTHER picture, huh? I kept thinking that this may be the last time we got to see these planes up close while we are still in.

After we got back, Cailin was watching Wow, Wow, Wubsy on TV. This was also after she threw a huge fit because I was going to a baby shower without her. She thought it was a birthday party. It's hard for her to understand the difference.

Here's Kylie's shot of the day. This little outfit was Cailin's as a baby, it's adorable with cute little ruffles everywhere.

We roasted some marshmallows out back (the dogs ate more than we did), cleaned out some flower beds, went to the little park behind our house and will finish off with a rented movie. It's so nice and cool here lately. The weather says our highs will be in the 60's and lows will be in the 40's next week. Brrr! Welcome Fall! Bye for now!

Smiley Kylie

2009-09-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I took Kylie for her 6 month checkup and she weighed in at 13lbs. 10oz. and she was 26 inches long. She's really growing tons lately. I couldn't believe that she was soooo long!

She was so good at her visit. All smiles for the doctor, then came the immunization clinic. I hate this! They are always in a great mood, then all of the sudden they are like, "what happened!" Poor baby! She was a trooper, only cried for a few minutes. She had to get 3 shots and 1 oral vaccine.

This morning, she was all smiles when we all got up! I call her "Smiley Kylie". She smiles so much! I love when they don't have teeth yet. Their smiles look like they take up her whole face. So sweet!

My Doll Baby

2009-09-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is my doll baby and is a sweetheart. She is getting so big lately! She is a big 6 month old now. I've started feeding her oatmeal, bananas and green beans. She doesn't really like any of it. She makes yucky faces while I feed her.
It's so hard to get a good pic, because she is constantly moving, trying to grab everything in sight! She can't sit up on her own, but she is getting steadier. It won't be long now and that makes me sad.
This next picture cracks me up. Look like she's saying, "What are YOU doing?" The flash on the camera always causes her pics to come out like this, so I usually turn it off.
Usually every Sunday morning, before we head out the door for church, I have a photo shoot with the girls. It's really the only reason the girls are dressed up around here, so I have to take advantage, right? This past Sunday, this was the winner! Cailin has her fake smile on, but at least they are both smiling.
Today, I have on a tank top that has these brown beads around the neckline. Cailin kept saying, "Mommy, why you have poop on your shirt." I didn't know what she was talking about. Then, she finally pointed to one of the beads and said, "Mommy, you got poop?" I cracked up laughing. Yes, I wear poop. I'm crazy like that. Bye!

My "Balalina" is 3!

2009-09-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

She is such a big girl now. ***Hold on, I'm wiping away my tears.*** Just kidding

Yesterday she started Ballet & Bop class. I've been waiting for her to turn 3 so she could start this particular class since she was a baby. I used to meet with these other new moms once a week at our local coffee shop. Every week, I'd see these cute little girls come into the building with their little tutu's (the studio used to be in the same building as the coffee shop). They were so adorable! So yesterday my little dream came true and she became a "balalina". That's how she says it.

She's always trying to avoid the camera now. Probably because it's always out. She was hiding her eyes and then peaking out. She's my silly girl.

This pic was taken this morning before we were heading out to meet with our girlfriends for brunch at BK. She ended up not wearing the jacket. It started off cool this morning, in the 60's and a little drizzle. I can't believe she's 3!

We stopped at the mall after BK just to look around. She found a cute little skirt at JCPenney's that I bought for her. We were on our way out and she said, "Wait, Mommy, we didn't cut my bangs!" I had told her we would get them trimmed there. So we went. The same girl that cut them the first time was there and got to do them again. I had forgot to take a pic the first time around, but I got it this time. She loves having her hair cut! She asks me everytime we pass by this place or in the BX if we can cut her bangs. Hopefully she won't try to do it herself!

Tonight, we are going to go out to eat and order a dessert for her birthday. She doesn't really get that today is her birthday since she already had her party, but she loves to go out to eat. Should be fun! Bye for now!

Cavities Anyone?

2009-08-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day yesterday. I took Cailin to the park and she played with some little boys that were there. One little boy looked at Cailin and said, "Boy, you sure are cute!" Uh, oh. He was 5 and too cute. Cailin just laughed at him. Then, we came home and made some sugar cookies. I had some left over frosting in the fridge so I let Cailin decorate them. Talk about a cavity waiting to happen! She sprinkled and sprinkled until they were covered with sugar.

Here's the outcome. I think she did a very good job! She was so precise about were she was putting every little sprinkle. She loved it!

I made Warren share them with his co-workers so they wouldn't all be sitting around here waiting to be eaten. I think I'll have to do this more often. Bye!

Potty Training and What Not

2009-08-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

We have been potty training Cailin this week and she's been doing really good!

She started it herself Tuesday morning by just taking off her diaper and going potty after she woke up. So I ran and got her training panties. She put them on and did good most of the day.

We had a few accidents and by late afternoon she was tired of panties. She wanted her trusty old diapers back. I tried to be very positive all day, even when she had accidents. I'd tell her it's okay, you are trying, you are doing a good job.

There are a few things that I'm wondering:

Is she ever going to go poo? She hasn't went in 3 days! Should I be concerned? I think it's like a stage fright thing. I ask her if she needs to go poo and she just says no. I do that when I go out of town, too. Like I can't go in strange toilets. Strange!

Am I going to be giving her a candy treat every time she potty's? I mean, when she's 5. I'm totally kidding. She does ask for a candy treat sometimes at home after she potty's. (I started trying to get her to potty train several months ago by offering her this incentive.) Probably not the best method, but Hey, it did work a few times back then.

Yesterday, during one of our potty expeditions, she had just started going. She looked down and said excitedly, "Look, Mommy, it's working!" I cracked up laughing! She was totally serious. She's a funny girl!

This was our morning yesterday. Cailin and Kylie were watching Dora on the couch in there jammies. Cailin cracks me up in this pic because she's smiling for the picture, but she doesn't want to look away from the TV. She might miss Swiper the Fox. Ha!

Here is a pic of Miss Kylie from yesterday. We were outside watching Cailin blow bubbles. Kylie's hair cracks me up because well, it's just like mine. A blessing and a curse! Those wild little curls never stay down and it just goes wherever it wants to. She looks so serious in this pic, probably because she was wondering what the camera was doing in her face.
I better go for now! I have a ton of new pics to share, hopefully tommorrow. Bye!

Gynnn-nastics! Woohoo!

2009-08-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

He didn't get it. He gave me funny looks. Who & why, you ask? Well, my husband and he thinks I take too many pictures. *rolling eyes* Hmmpf! You can never have too many pictures, especially of your kids. That little leotard and skirt got me going and I COULD NOT STOP. :-)
Yes, I followed her around the house like the papparrazi trying to get their money shot. I think it paid off though.

She had "gynnn-nastics" ~that's how she says it~ last night. She was so excited! She met me at my car when I got home from the gym and asked, "We go to gynnn-nastics?" I said, "Yep, let's go get ready." She jumped up and down, then said, "Woohoo!" Then, she asked Warren, "You going to gynnn-nastics, too?" She wants to make sure everyone is going.

Here's a pic of her doing a "bridge". The one below is of her class warming up. They stretch, then jump up and down.

This one is getting SO BIG lately! She weighs 13lbs and some change and just looks bigger to me. She laughs out loud a lot! Last night at gymnastics, she was laughing at the coach's daughter. She's about 8 or 9 and she was jumping on this trampoline right in front of us. Kylie was just cracking up while she watched her. So cute!

I haven't scrapped in a LONG time! I don't know why, just can never seem to find the time anymore. Could be 2 little ones instead of just 1, hmmm? Maybe that's it. Anyway, I did one for each of their books early this morning, and I do mean early. The TH in her name looks yellow, but it's a lime-green.

Well, I just deleted the one for Cailin's book. I'll add it tomm. for you to see, it was my favorite too, pooh! That's all I have for now. Bye!

Kylie's Baptism

2009-07-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

This how my sweet girl started her day, sleepoing in until 8am. I hope she always sleeps this good!

She was having so much fun putting on her dress. I think she really liked all the fabric on the slip and dress. She's always very happy in the mornings.

See what I mean, very happy! Here's her cute little grin after getting the slip on.

Grammy had to hold her up so I could button the dress. She was such a good sport.

Here's Kylie all dressed up and ready to go. I was so scared she was going to throw up or have a diaper explosion on the way to church. Hey, it's happened before!

This is a cute pic of Cailin praying. The children of our church were invited to sit up there to watch Kylie get baptized. When the preacher started to start the baptism, he began to read to the congregation. Cailin must have thought he was saying a prayer, isn't that adorable. Look at how close she's sitting to Logan, so sweet!

Kylie getting the holy water put on her head. That's about the time she started crying and didn't stop until after our pastor carried her through the church while we sang a hymn. I think Kylie was hungry, so she just cried. Poor Pastor Michael, he made it until the end of the song, but he sure gave her back in a hurry. I think he was sweating!

As soon as we were finished, I took her out to feed her and change her diaper. Then, she was happy again. Here's us right after the service with a very tired, but baptized Kylie.

The end. Bye!

Dolls, dolls, dolls

2009-07-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Cailin made me laugh when I looked and saw her doing this. I asked her what she was doing and she answered, "I'm feeding her." She's seen Mommy breast feed Kylie, so she decided to feed her doll that way too.

I was cleaning up Cailin's dolls while she was at daycare (I really don't know why I bother. She just puts them right back wherever she had them to begin with.) Anyway, I had this quirky idea of putting Kylie in Cailin's doll crib. She loved it! She was quite comfy.

I actually had a crib alot like this when I was little for my dolls. I LOVED it back then! I always liked playing dolls when I was a little girl, just like Cailin does. We'll see if Kylie follows suit. We can all see she loves playing like she's the doll! Just look at this smile.

Tonight, Cailin has gymnastics to go to. She loves gymnastics. She asks me everyday, "Mommy, I go to gynastics today? I go jump?" I always hate telling her not today. So this morning I got to tell her, "yes, you get to go jump tonight." The trampoline is about her favorite thing to do.

Well, better go for now. Bye!

Smiles and Toes

2009-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Miss Kylie was looking cute in her B&W outfit this morning so it started her Mommy on a (pretty regular) photo shoot. Cailin especially likes these photo shoots. She is really a ham on camera and has started making these funny, outrageous smiles to accomadate the camera. This morning she tried this one:

Then, she tried this smile on. It's the funniest to me. She looks like she's screaming or something. Meanwhile, Kylie is getting bored with the whole thing.

Finally, the real deal. She smiled like normal and Kylie is totally not into it anymore.

So, Kylie being totally bored with Mommy's and her sister's camera fettish resorted to something that has her complete attention lately. That my friends, is her feet.

She just discovered she had feet this week. She's loving grabbing them and looking at them. Better go for now, Bye!

A Tribute

2009-07-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

I was so proud of myself this morning for actually getting to take a bath and get dressed with makeup before the girls woke up. I was reading one of my blogs that I like to read when I can and she had this written on it. I watched it and got chills on my arms and legs. Then I teared up (and messed up my makeup) when I watched all these people on the sides of the road as this fallen soldier rides to his resting place. I am so PROUD to be an American! I love all of the flags and the veterens that saluted the cars. Here's what she wrote:

a tribute to fallen soldier, Sergeant First Class John C. Beale from Peachtree City, Georgia.
It's long (probably about 10 minutes) but I can't help but feel like watching the entire thing is a tribute to all of our soldiers. If you do decide to make it through to the end, be sure to listen to all the words in the third song and keep listening for Taps at the end.
And these lyrics from the first song:
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,But if dying's asked of me,I'll bear that cross with honor,'Cause freedom don't come free.
God bless all you Georgians who showed up for this, Sergeant First Class John C. Beale and his family and all of those who serve our country. I can't thank you enough.
A tribute to Sergeant First Class John C. Beale

He and every fallen soldier deserve this much recognition when they are laid to rest. Let's not forget them and all they do for us. Without them I wouldn't have got the chance to wake up this morning with the safe feeling that I did. God Bless our Soldiers!

A Year Ago...

2009-07-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

It's so hard to believe that this time last year Cailin still had such a baby face. This was taken at the base pool. Her hair was so short and she still had those little baby legs.Now, just look at her, she's a little lady. Well, a little lady holding a green lizard.

Last year, she let her Auntie Poo Poo hold her by the pool.

This year, she's more independent. She hardly ever wants us to hold her on our lap unless she's just tired or hurt. She looks like the little girl that she is rapidly becoming.

This one, well she was literally in the "making" at this time last year. It's crazy what can happen in one year.

We are off to Texas for a week! Woohoo! Bye for now!

Surfs Up

2009-06-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

We have just been enjoying the hot weather by swimming and playing in the water sprinkler in our backyard. Cailin loves to play in the water. She even begs her teacher at daycare to play in the water. Her teacher is trying to set up a day so her class can play in the water.

Kylie has taken up surf boarding! She seemed to really like to grab at the fish. She's getting so big already. She discovered her hands a few weeks ago. She spends most of her awake time staring at them and covering them with drool. Fun times!

Guess, I've been replaced by a blonde. Warren fell asleep on Sunday in Cailin's bed and she laid her baby down for a nap next to Daddy. I thought it was cute, so I snapped a pic. He totally wouldn't care, right?

That's all for now. I've got to go feed a little munchkin. Bye!

How Does Your Garden Grow

2009-06-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

These beautiful Daisies are almost as tall as me! They are so pretty! My friend Tanya let me steal them out of her flower bed when they moved. They didn't bloom last summer, but this year they are gorgeous!

This orange Lily is in my backyard also. So pretty! I love all of my flowers and I intend to dig most of them up whenever we move back to TX.

Warren took this pic of me and Kylie before church this morning. I've realized that we hardly have any pics with us in them with her. They are mainly her and Cailin, so I thought I'd better try harder to be in a pic or two. It's not really my favorite time to be in pics seeing that I'm still about 20lbs. heavier than normal, but oh well. I'm working on it and am loosing about 2lbs a week, so far. Hopefully that continues.

This last one, I thought was funny. Cailin has a little ambulance that I make her keep outside either on the back porch or in the garage because it is SOOOO LOUD! Anyway, she was riding on it when I looked out the window. So, I had to grab the camera. She has 2 bruises on her face. Last week, she fell on her bed (while jumping on it) and hit her forehead on her footboard of her bed. So she has a huge bruise across her forehead.

Rex

2009-03-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

This pic is of Cailin yesterday before I took her to daycare. I put her hair up in "Mickey Mouse Ears". She likes it like this.

Here is another addition to the McCraw family. Warren went into the local pound yesterday (don't ask me why), I try to avoid that place! Otherwise, I'd be bringing little guys like this home too! Anyway, he fell for these blue eyes and cute face and brought him home. He's only 6-8 weeks old, just a baby. He's a very quiet and good dog (so far). Cailin has named him Rex, so that is what we are sticking too. I told him that I couldn't believe that he brought me home a baby to take care of a few weeks before I'll have another baby to take care of. He IS pretty irristable though.

My day is looking like a bunch of puppy watching! Bye!

Belly Pics and Geese

2009-03-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

OK, I took some preggo belly pics just for you, Amy! It's pretty big! I keep bumping Cailin's head with it whenever we are standing. Ha! Cailin loves to put all of her stickers on it and decorate it when she gets a chance.

It was difficult to get these shots. I couldn't fit my entire stomach in the shot just by holding the camera at arm's length, so I had to set the camera on the counter. It was just too big! I think she's dropping some. It's not as high as it used to be.

This is what's going on in our house. A lot of "false alarms". She loves to sit on the toilet and put toilet paper in it, but she doesn't pee. She has actually peed in there a few times. I'm always scared she's going to fall in. She never wants to use her little potty anymore.

We had fun yesterday afternoon feeding the ducks and geese at the park. The geese are soooo pretty. They are wild and are only around during the cold weather months. They fly over our house every night around 5pm. I'm not sure why they are flying over, there's definately no water around us. She has no fear when it came to these geese! I did! I could just see her getting a big goose bite her somewhere! Yikes!

Well, I'd better go for now! Bye!

2009-02-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

I don't have any pics today, just some funnies that I wanted to share. Last night, we were sitting on the couch and watching TV. Cailin pulled up my shirt and said, (totally out of the blue) "Kylie come out! Come see Cailin." Then, she so sweetly kissed my belly. It was the sweetest! So, we brought out hers and Kylie's scrapbooks to show her Kylie's sono pics. Then, we showed her pics of herself when she was a little baby. She loved looking at them.

I only have 1 more week to work, then I'm quitting. My doctor wanted me to take it easy. She thought that I was getting preclampsia, but luckily it wasn't. I knew I had been pushing it the past few weeks, having a lot of back pain and a few Braxton Hicks contractions. I was so exhausted and getting swollen at the end of the day. So, I'm only working 4 hour days until I quit. It has been so nice the past few days only working 4 hours.

Today, I was reminded that I am going to miss my job. We see mostly elderly people and they say the funniest things! The other day this man said, "Well you look like you are in a motherly way." I was thinking, "jeez, you think?" I just smiled and answered a "yes". Then, this lady yesterday was asking me if this was my first baby. I told her no that I had a 2 yr. old daughter. She said, "well you can always try again. It took me 6 times until I had a boy." I said, "we definately aren't going to try that many times." Why do people always think you Have to have a boy? To tell you the truth, I never wanted a boy. Warren does, but just to do boy things with, not for a namesake or anything. Today, this 92 yr. old lady was getting off of the exam table and she said, "Honey, my pins sure are shaky." Her pins were her legs. Funny! These are just what I can remember, there have been some crazy things people say and do.

Well, I better go. Bye!

Did you know that fairies eat pizza?

2009-02-08T14:45:00.001-08:00

Cailin came in the kitchen several days ago with these fairy wings on (she put them on herself while in her room) and asked for some pizza. Ha! So I served her up some pizza and grabbed the camera, of course!

Yesterday was a decent weather day so we took advantage of it and went to the park. This is a pic of just before we left. She always looks so grown up to me with pig-tails, though I'm not sure why.

This was her this morning on the way out the door to go to church. She gets ready easily when she knows she's going to church. Every other day it's a struggle! She's always ready to see Alta, Thurman (her church grandparents) and Karimah, Sarah (girls in our Sunday school class. She told me this morning, "I ready to go to church. I ready to sing Hallelujah." That's at the end of a song that we sing. She's such a little socialite at church. She holds out her hand when people greet her to shake their hand, just like the grown-ups.

This is what the birds are tweating about around our house today! I know I am way too funny! Ha,ha! We made these birdseed biscuits in our Sunday school class this morning. Warren and I teach the 4th, 5th and 6th grade class. I got the idea out of the Family Fun magazine. I thought they came out cute. A little Valentine treat for the birdies.

I've got to scrap several new pages in Cailin's books lately. I'll take some pics of them and share them on the next post. Bye!

Let's Go Do The Hop

2009-01-23T07:57:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist~ Here's the video of her doing the Hop! It's soooo funny! Oops! I'm an idiot, I recorded this with the camera turned sideways to get a better shot. I didn't realize that my video would stay turned! Jeez! Don't laugh!

2009-01-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

Today looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here. We'll have to make a trip to our little playground behind our house. It's so nice to have little playgrounds near our house. The one behind our house is perfect for Cailin, it has small slides and swings. She loves it!

We started our morning off eating these yummies:

They are Cranberry Orange Muffins. I had a bag off fresh cranberries left over after Christmas baking, so I froze them. I love cranberries! These were very good, but when you bit into a big chunk of fresh cranberries, it was pretty bitter. I think next time I'll try dried cranberries (they are a bit sweeter). Cailin ate one by herself, she loves muffins! Here's the recipe if you want to try them out:

2 c. all-purpose flour 1 c. quick-cooking oats 3/4 c. sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 c. orange juice 1 egg 1/3 c. veg. oil 1 T. orange peel, grated 3/4 c. chopped cranberries

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking bowder and baking soda. In another bowl, combined orange juice, egg, oil and orange peel: mix well. Stir into large bowl of dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon into muffin tins with baking cups. Bake 17-20 minutes. It made about 16 reg. sized muffins.

Cailin has really been into wearing pretty dresses and trying on mommy's pretty heels! Every morning when I get her ready for the day, she has begun to making her requests known as to what she wants to wear. It started a few weeks ago, when she started telling me what color shirt she wanted (and getting really mad when I didn't agree with her). Here lately she has been wanting to only wear dresses. So last week she wore a dress to daycare twice. So cute!

Here's a cute pic of her trying to put my shoes on.

Anyone remember the show Kid Songs that used to be on about 20 years ago?
OMG! She loves these videos. She has the one above about the animals and she has a dance one were they do all these different dances. Her favorite dance is the Charleston dance. I caught her dancing along with the video this morning.

I am SO going to put her in dance class when she turns 3! There is a really good dance instructor in our town and she starts kids at 3. I might try to convince her to start Cailin a little early. She can follow along pretty good and she doesn't forget the moves. Last night, we had a meeting a church to go to. There was about 12 adults in this little room. Towards the end, Cailin was standing in front of us singing and doing this dance off of the animal Kid Songs video. Everyone was laughing and one of her favorite ladies, Alta, was dancing with her, which made her dance even more. I have an even funnier video of her doing the HOP. I'll save it for another day. I think the post is getting very long! Hope everyone has a blessed day! Bye!

Our Weekend

2009-01-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

We had a fun weekend, just didn't seem long enough. That's being pretty selfish considering I have a 3 day weekend every weekend. We drove to this town that Warren wanted to check out on Saturday. We were pretty disappointed when we got there. The historic town square that looked like there was really neat shops had only about 2 or 3 to look in. It was kind of run down. We ate at a decent restaurant and came back home. So we basically drove 2 1/2 hours to go out to eat! Oh well, I guess it got us out of our house for the day. This pic of Cailin was of her as we are heading out the door for our Saturday adventure.

Friday night I was getting ready to vaccuum and Cailin just had to do it. She wants to try everything of course. Only she never wants to give it up. She does a very good job at the laundry. She loves to put the clothes in the washer and even tries to help fold them when they are done. She did vaccuum pretty good, but she didn't get everything (of course). So I had to reclaim the vaccuum to finish.

Cailin had fun today playing with Sophia at the park today. We had gone to take the dogs and let her play. Our friends, Sophia and her family showed up, and they had fun playing together.
They just recently started interacting together and actually playing. They ran around and played in the dirt all afternoon. This next pic is the sweetest, we were all walking down to the duck pond and these two were holding hands.

It was nice end to our weekend. Have a great week! Bye!

This and That

2009-01-16T17:13:00.000-08:00

We have been busy trying to get Kylie's room ready. Ladybugs everywhere. My mom ordered all the bedding for us and it came last week. Warren and Cailin put it all on the bed for me to be surprised when I got home. Cailin was so excited, wanting me to "come see".

This is my new favorite picture of Cailin. We went to the park last Sunday with our dogs. Cailin loved running with Warren and the dogs.

I love this pic of her and Warren too! I don't know what kind of tree it was in the background but it was HUGE! It hung down to the ground, so pretty. Warren and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary last week. I'm so glad that I am married to this wonderful man. He's a great husband. He always picks up where I leave off or just does things before I ask. I truly love him for that. He takes such good care of us. So, Happy Anniversary Babe! I LOVE YOU!

Hey, Macarena!

2009-01-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

This video is kind of long, but it is so funny! Cailin loves to dance to the Macarena sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks. She usually asks for the Alvin song and then she goes crazy dancing to it! I guess she got all her dance moves from her daddy, cause I know I don't have any! She's such a performer.

This next pic is of how our living room looks on a daily basis now. She'll get one baby doll at a time and cover it up with a blanket. We always run out of blankets, so then she'll use dish towels or wash rags, whatever she can find. She'll ask, "where's this baby's blanket?" Each doll has to have their own blanket, they cannot share. She won't allow it! She gets this idea from her daycare when they take naps, they each have their own cot with a blanket.

I know by watching her play with her baby dolls that Cailin is going to be a great big sister. I think she'll want to do everything for her. I know she'll be a little bossy! She loves to boss us. She told me this morning as I was talking to mom on the phone, "Hush, that's enough!" Guess I was talking too much! Whoops! Then she gives you that sweet little smile, a charmer indeed.

I'm really starting to feel the effects of this little one. My feet are starting to get tired at work and a tiny bit swollen. Hopefully they won't get as bad as they did with Cailin. She's a wiggle worm for sure, she moves constantly. She usually doesn't just kick, she's usually just squirming around in there. Sometimes it gets painful, because I feel her little bones (probably feet or knees) rubbing across my stomach. Ouch! I don't remember Cailin doing that, she usually just kicked. I could go to sleep at 8pm every night, if I could! I'm on the home stretch now and can't wait to meet her!

We picked up her wall border last weekend and will start putting it up. My mom has ordered all of her bedding and most of her room stuff. I can't wait because her room will start to look complete! That's all I have for now! Bye!

Christmas

2008-12-31T16:14:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas, just a lot of it! We had our own Christmas at home before we left and opened gifts from each other and to Cailin. Then, we had Christmas a few days later with Enie. Then on to my dad's house for another round and then to my mom's for the finale! It was a fun week!

Cailin really loved openening her presents this year. She'd say, "Yay, presents!" and clap her hands. So sweet!

I loved how she smiled when she opened this baby! She loves baby dolls!

This is Christmas morning and what she got from Santa. She loved it.

She got this cute Cabbage Patch from Uncle Dee. She loves her! It reminded me of so many Christmas' when I was little and that would be our Santa gift. A new Cabbage Patch doll.

This is the sweetest picture! She was telling Pe-paw thank you for her sweater that he and Me-maw gave her.

This picture cracks me up! My dad is wrapped around her little fingers! She loves to tell him to do different things and he does them. They usually do this, she makes him jump up and down, spin in circles. It's so funny. She loves whenever she has someone copy her!

Christmas tidbits

2008-12-12T07:32:00.000-08:00

Once again, it's been awhile since I blogged. So, I have some new pictures to share of course. This one is of Cailin sitting in front of our church's Christmas tree.

I always love when they put it up, really gets me into the Christmas spirit. This next pic is of Cailin with her church "grandparents". They've adopted her as their own and she loves them! She always runs to them as soon as she sees them. They have become our family here, since we have to be away from our family. They are such a blessing for us.

She loved having her picture taken with them, she kept saying "Cheese". See how she has her arm around Thurman too! She adores him! They are going to babysit her tonight while Warren and I go to his Christmas party for work.

Warren and I took Cailin to the Santa at the mall last week and she was totally scared of him. She didn't even want to stand beside him! So, at Warren's squadron's Christmas party last weekend, she watched as all the other kids went up to Santa to get their present and sit on his lap. She did it too! Yeah!

Here's the picture that Warren got of her sitting on his lap.

Cailin, just came over to see what I was doing and she saw this picture of her and Santa. She said, "Mommy, who's that?" So I said, "It's Cailin and Santa." Then, she said, "Good job." Funny! Well, that's all that I've got for now! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Bye!

Potato Head, say Cheese!

2008-11-21T06:53:00.000-08:00

"Potato head say Cheese." That's what Cailin said when she saw me with the camera. At least Mrs. Potato Head has all of her body parts in the right spot, sometimes she's a little scary!

It took me all night to get this picture. Warren kept giving me these funny looks, like why are you taking a pic of her back. Well, because those ruffles on these pj's are so darn cute and her hair was in perfect ringlets considering the wind outside was blowing about 65 mph. So mission finally accomplished, I got my back shot. Here's her "no more pictures" shot. Not exactly the happy face that I was looking for. This was before I took her to preschool, and she's not always in the best mood in the morning. Kind of reminds me of another girl I know who was a total grump every morning before school. Ahem, Auntie Poo-Poo, does that ring a bell? If not, I'm sure mom remembers!

She's really liking having her picture taken lately, she usually says "Cheese" then runs to the camera to preview it. The other night we were watching her videos from when she was first born. Which she was glued to. She saw herself when she was a few months old swinging and she said, "I want to hold the baby". We kept trying to tell her that it was her when she was a little baby, and she finally got it. When we got to her 1st birthday party she heard her Enie calling her name. So she went to the TV and kept saying, "What Enie, what?" So funny! We cracked up laughing.

The baby is getting stronger and kicking all the time! It moves around and kicks all night long, which is why I never sleep thru the night anymore. Warren got to feel a couple of it's acrobats this morning. I'm SO ready to find out what it is already. With Cailin we already knew by now. I'm definately not the type that could wait until it was born. I would go insane! People keep telling me that they or their daughters never found out what they were having, but they knew before they had it. They just had a feeling. Well, I totally don't have a feeling. So who knows!

I better go wake up my munchkin to get her ready for preschool. She actually slept all night in her own bed and is still sleeping at 8:15. Why does she always sleep in when we have to go somewhere, but when we don't she's up at 6:oo? Bye!

Let's get everything staight!

2008-11-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

Warren caught this cute picture last night.

We were laughing because of the way she had lined up the measuring spoons. She's so much like me in that sense. I really can't stand for anything to be out of order on my desk at work, in my cabinets. Everything has to be straight. Cailin is constantly closing any doors, that we leave open. From the microwave to cabinet doors. She's always following behind Warren and I shutting them if we leave them open. It's funny. I do that too. Warren always leaves our cabinet doors and microwave door open and I shut them!

I saw a sad story on the news this morning. This lady in Amarillo ran a stop sign in an intersection (because she was talking on her cell phone). She was side swiped by another car and her 4 month old baby was ejected from her car. They the found the baby still strapped in her car seat but I guess the actual car seat had come loose from the base. I guess she was in the hospital, but she didn't make it. The mom's still in critical condition, but is expected to make it. So incredibly sad!

It's going to get pretty cold here tonight and I'm ready! Have a great Wednesday! Bye!

Say "Cheese"....

2008-11-17T07:18:00.000-08:00

Last night, I caught Cailin loving on Ally. So I grabbed the camera (of course)! Cailin saw me about to take her picture so she grabbed Ally and told her, "Tell mommy cheese Ally-boo-boo." Poor Ally was in a headlock so she would look at the camera.

The next picture I told Cailin not to strangle Ally = Much happier dog.

She's constantly covering Ally up with her doll blankets. When I say cover up I mean completely soAlly can't see. She looks like a ghost dog and she never tries to get the blanket off of her head, she just stays like that. Last night, she had about 4 stuffed animals laying around Ally. She looked like she was just another toy laying in the middle.

Sorry if I bored you with Cailin and Ally stories, but not much else going on! Bye!