Wow! Has it really been since OCTOBER??? My sister gets on to me a lot for not updating my blog. But seriously, it really does take like 15 mintues to upload 5 pictures. And my life is FAST...I don't have 15 extra minutes! And I have WAAAAY more than 5 pictures. Hello, I have an 18-month-old?! I do enjoy reading my friends' blogs and keeping up with their families, so I would like to share what's been going on with mine...sorry I haven't taken the time to update!
Let me see what's been going on since my last post...and THEN I'll leave you with some adorable pictures of my sweet funny girl.
November: Monogramming continues. I did a home show in October and got TONS of orders for Christmas. So, I basically monogrammed every single night after I put Avie to bed. Yes, I neglected Chad a good bit. We'd talk from chair to embroidery machine and snuggle and watch TV in bed a little while before cutting out the lights, but honestly I couldn't tell you when I had the time to cook him a good dinner (rarely) or got to crawl up in the chair and watch one of our raunchy shows together (Nip/Tuck, One Tree Hill...not raunchy, Real World, Secret Life,
Keeping up With the Kardashians, etc). Sometimes I'd monogram so late, he'd fall asleep in his recliner because he refused to go to bed without me. How cute is that? He totally understood and was a great sport about the whole thing. I literally monogrammed up until the week of Christmas (the 23rd actually). So when I was done, I decided NO MORE SHOWS (although I do appreciate the orders) and monogramming only on designated nights...like when Chad plays cards down the street on Wednesday nights. And I'm really gonna just stick to monogramming for friends, family, and myself from now on! No more advertising! It just isn't worth giving up my family time. And if you know me well, you know my husband and child are my world! I love those 2 people more than I ever knew I could love someone!
Aside from that, being a teacher definitely has its perks. I was off all Thanksgiving week. And guess what? So was CHAD!!! That's NEVER happened before. We've never been off that long together (except for our honeymoon and when Avie was born and in the NICU). He took 3 vacation days (Mon-Wed) and then was off for Thanksgiving Thurs-Fri...not to mention the weekend before and after Thanksgiving! My niece's 5th birthday party was the Saturday before so we went to her party at the Children't Museum in Monroe and then headed to Hallsville, Texas (where Chad's parents live). We had an early Thanksgiving dinner at Johnny Carino's (can I get a whoop whoop for the Skilletini?)...I hope that becomes a tradition. My mother-in-law has introduced me to this delightful Skilletini (onions, bell peppers, spaghetti, spicy spaghetti sauce, thinly sliced grilled chicken, and Italian sausage)...yes, it is divine. We stayed in TX until Monday (lots of shopping in between) and then headed back home.
Tuesday, we had our first professional family portraits done at Hide-Away Park in Ruston. We have had Avie's pictures done every few months since birth, but we just do JC Penney Portraits. Can be somewhat cheesy, but they've always turned out awesome...I like a clean, white background and they have that so it works for me! We really did need some photos of us as a family, outdoors, so we did them and they really turned out great.
Crystal Garcia is awesome, yall. My (twin) brother and his family shared our session and killed 2 birds with 1 stone that day. They need pics taken too (Christmas cards and such) and they have a baby boy (Drew) joining their family come May so they wanted some pictures of the 4 of them before their family grew more. I spent some time at home with my cousin, April, that night and we monogrammed and visited til way past midnight!
The next day we ventured off to the camp (my dad, brother, and husband built a new one last year, so it's actually more like a house than a camp and I don't mind going there...it's a nice little "vacation" home---in the middle of nowhere--- with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, new furniture, washer/dryer, etc...so we're not really roughing it!). My cousin Holly came down from Montana with her new husband (well, of a year and a half). I hadn't seen her in almost a year and I'd never met Aaron! Holly and I used to live together in Monroe before I got married. I got married one April and she moved to Helena, Montana in July, met Aaron shortly after, and got married the next summer right after I had Avie (which is why I couldn't go). We talk about every other night. Our husbands are used to giving up at least 30 minutes on those nights so we can catch up or vent about our days. Anyway, they and everyone else in our family came down to the camp and we had our big Thanksgiving get-together there (we do this every year...sort of like a family reunion). Anyway, the night before Thanksgiving, we had an awesome bonfire...us, my cousins, my siblings...it was FUN.
On Black Friday my sister-in-law, Emmy, and I always go shopping at 4 am. I think our first time was 2004, which would make this our 6th time. We love it. It's especially fun now that I have a child to buy for. I came back to the camp afterward (for a long nap!) and we stayed until Sunday. It really was a wonderfully busy and eventful week. I loved having Chad with us all week.
I will leave you with some of my favorite photos before I move on to December...
(my facebook profile pic...hehe)
Yes folks, my child is this happy all the time. Seriously.
At this point, Avie had only been walking for about a month...I just love how she would look at her feet when she walked. I didn't make her wear her braces in the pictures...I know she was loving not being restricted.
This is our first professional photo since our wedding. He had hair then. I think I like him better shaved. And yes, yall, he'd still have a full head of hair if he tried...he just likes to shave it...he's not really bald.
But you see that gray patch in his beard? He always wonders why that, the hair on the back of his neck, and one of his arms is gray. He's told me this story about standing by a window watching a storm when he was little (he's fascinated with weather) and a flash of lightning knocked him back. I told him one day "you think you might've gotten struck by lightning that day when you were little and that's why some of your hair is white?". I mean, think about it...remember Doc in Back to the Future? His hair was white b/c he got struck so many times. So that's what we say now. Chad got struck by lightning. Cool story, huh?
This was our Christmas card. Avie loves doing this. I remember when my niece, Molly, loved this.
Do you love this red dress? Thanks, I do too. This was a "just because" gift from Aunt Em...as is the blue/brown dress she's wearing in some of the other pics. It's funny that she bought Avie those dresses from Kelly's Kids last Spring and they just happened to be the dresses I wanted her pictures done in. Aunt Em has pretty good taste, huh?
This one is my sister (Aunt TaTa's) favorite. I love it too.
She has some of the cutest, funniest faces.
This was my favorite of Avie. It was also on our Christmas card. Her eyes are so blue and her hair looks so red! She does have an auburn-ish color hair, but it's definitely not this red in person...although I love it either way! (and I did this monogram!)
And this little ham is my niece, Caroline. She and Avie are 26 days apart and they're best friends.
My niece and favorite 5-year-old, Molly Grace. I did that monogram too!
Tim, Emmy, and their girls. Luckily, they're getting a boy in May! Tim won't be QUITE as outnumbered anymore.
I swear these girls think they're all sisters. That's ok with me. I hope Avie does love her own sister(s) (if she gets one) as much as she loves Molly and Caroline!
All of us (minus TaTa and Motley). How gorgeous are the trees?
Ok, December coming next!!!
