4 generations portrait

Yay! I finally got my LONG AWAITED copy of this portrait (ahem, Mom!) and I had to scrap it immediately! I love love love it! It makes me so proud of the mother/daughter relationships we have with each other and that Ryleigh is from a long line of strong, funny, loving women!

Roo and her flashlight...

Ryleigh was spinning around the living room for about half an hour trying to "catch" the light, completely unaware that she was the one holding it, she kept asking us "where'd it go?"! I know I sound like an idiot laughing so hard, but it really was too funny! C'mon, just TRY not to laugh at this video...

Christmas Day

This is what Santa left for Ryleigh! A cozy coupe car, baby doll stroller, and a stocking full of fun stuff!


She LOVES her new wheels!!!!

Pajama family!

Roo's new slide from GrMa & Pop Pop!

She likes to get into her car Nascar-style by climbing in the window instead of opening the door! lol!

*funny story - when Roo came out to see what Santa had brought she was so excited! GrMa Joanne pointed out that Santa had brought those things for her, and Roo looked puzzled for a minute before running over to a tiny animated Santa we have and picking him up and hugging him saying "ho ho ho"!! we laughed so hard! she must have thought "wow, he's really small, but I guess if he brought me all this stuff I better give him a hug"! lol!*

We had such a wonderful Christmas! We are too blessed! Bette, Bob, and Miss Mary drove all the way up from Corpus Christi to be with us, and GrMa Joanne, Pop Pop Dave, and Uncle Jordan came over too! Ryleigh had sooooo many presents to open, she was running in circles trying to play with everything at once! Some of her presents include: hello hitty purse, disney princess toothbrush, giggling Elmo doll, Elmo movies, clothes, baby Ugg boots, lots of books, a toy vaccum, ABC fridge magnets, toy food and dishes for her kitchen, tons of clothes, bathtub crayons, stuffed kangaroos, and sooo much more! whew! Ryan got an awesome set of tools and a tool storage chest, I got GORGEOUS new Uggs, tons of beautiful clothes, and even a ShamWOW (that's a totally differnet blog, I will have to give y'all my product review on that one! I love it!)!! I can't even begin to cover how generous everyone was to us this Christmas! It's just mind boggling! After opening presents we sat down to a HUGE meal and stuffed ourselves silly! We got to talk to the AZ tribe on Skype a few times throughout the day, which was awesome! And the most exciting part of Christmas for me.... drumroll please...... RYAN AGREED WE CAN GET A PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yup, our family will soon be complete! We are looking for a labradoodle! yay!!!! anywhoo... I better cut this blog short and get to cleaning my house and figuring out how I am going to rearrange Roo's room to make all her new toys fit! Let's put it this way - all she needs for her birthday are empty boxes, and if you people get her anything else, I'm gonna put you on Santa's naughty list for next year!!!!!!!

Thank you so much, everyone for the gifts, cards, and most of all FAMILY TIME you gave us this Christmas! We love you all so much, and thank God for each and every one of our wacky, fun, and loving family members!

p.s. we have some videos from Christmas too, so we'll post those as soon as we get a chance to edit them!

Christmas Eve!!!

Well Christmas Eve started a bit on the wrong foot when Ryleigh took advantage of me being laid out on the couch with a migraine by coloring on Ryan's tv with crayons! Luckily, they were the washable kind with not very much wax in them, so the tv isn't completely ruined, but there is still a bit of residue. In the afternoon we got dressed and went to church for an absolutely amazing Christmas Eve service.
Then on our way to Joanne's house after church, we got not one but TWO flat tires! We hit a chunk of concrete on the side of the road, and ended up having to get the car towed home. The funny part is there just happened to be an old soggy yellowpages on the side ofthe road right next to where we were stranded, so we were able to look up a towing company that was open on Christmas Eve! lol! At least God has a sense of humor! Once we made it home we tried to get a few pix, but Roo wasn't exactly cooperating, so this was the best we could get...

Then we went to sleep to wait for Santa Claus to come (although Roo was more excited about Pop Pop coming to tell you the truth!)...

some other recent pics...

Snuggle hugs! Lilly, Brenna, and Roo!
at SeaWorld with Grandma Joanne

in front of the big tree at SeaWorld

the aquarium wreath

running around!

We are enjoying a lazy day at home today, and beginning to potty-train! I'm not 100% convinced she's ready, but we're gonna give it a whirl... wish us luck!

Cowboy Christmas

We went to Enchanted Springs Ranch today in Beorne for COWBOY CHRISTMAS! It was a lot of fun, and we got some great pictures! Here are a bunch, so saddle up!

My favorite pic of Natalie Hartlage!

Here Roo comes, ridin' that pony...

now that's just funny!!!

a good friend is there to help you put your boots back on!

Ryleigh's first horse ride!!!!!

I think she is rough enough to handle the old west!

BEVO! ok, his name is Woodrow, but he's still a LONGHORN!

Cost of admission: $24

Hot Dogs for Lunch: $10

Stick Longhorn: $13

Time spent making outfits and hairbows, driving across town, walking around lugging strollers and diaper bags, riding wagons, ponies, and longhorns...: $hours$

Knowing that Roo's favorite memory will be playing with the rocks in the gravel: PRICELESS!!!

Ryleigh's "BUSTED" video

Here's a video and picture I got a few days ago to document one of Ryleigh's frequent bouts of mischief. Enjoy, and breathe a sigh of relief that this is not a re-occurring thing in your home like it is in ours! At least this time it was baby powder and not red paint pen (that time I was too mad to videotape!)...

let me be clear - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

My best friend Steph sent this to me today, and I LOVED it so much I just had to share...

*Twas right before Christmas*

*When all through our land,*

*Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*

*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday !*

Please, all Christians join together and

wish everyone you meet

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!

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- - - -- -- - -- - - - - - - - - - --- - -- - - - -- - - - -- - -- - -- - - - - - - - - -- - -- - -- - --- -- -- -

I get so fed up sometimes with all this politically correct b.s.! If you believe something - then TELL people! If they don't believe it, then they don't have to LISTEN! how hard is that?!? I have experienced one extreme to the other of this "christmas as a mainstream holiday" thing, and both sides piss me off!

On the one hand I've heard Christian mothers bemoaning and actually CRYING because their children "go to public school and are exposed to Kwanzaa, Hanukah, etc." - and to this I say - SO WHAT?!? I personally want my daughter to be exposed to other people's beliefs and cultures so that she understands that not everyone believes the way we do. I would hope that we as Christians are raising our children to be tolerant of other's beliefs, while at the same time, maintaining and sharing our own! So if Ryleigh is in a classroom where the children are learning about other holiday traditions in other faiths, then I would hope she would talk about Christmas as our celebration of Jesus being born so that he could die to save us. Simple fix, right?! No crying in public about my poor child being exposed to the heathens, I just teach her what we believe and why, and raise her to know that she has the freedom to talk about CHRISTMAS just as loudly as any other person talks about their holiday!

And as for Santa Claus - what is the harm in children believing in a little magic? I don't think God really cares if my daughter believes there is a jolly old man who laughs deeply and brings her surprise presents once a year (granted she's scraed to death of him this year)! I mean COME ON! My daughter will know the difference between God and Santa Claus, and believing in Santa does not negate the reality of God! I have long ago discovered that every gift that Santa Claus ever brought me was bought by my parents. But ya know what?! I still talk to a real and living God daily. Hmmm!

The other end of the spectrum is all the wishy washy folks out there who believe you have to say "Happy Holidays" to people in order not to offend them! Uh, sorry, I believe "Merry Christmas" sums up what I want to say! It's not like I'm running up to people screaming "DO YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS? IF SO MERRY CHRISTMAS, IF NOT - YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!!!" I am simply expressing to you my own reason for joy in the holiday I celebrate! So get over it!!!!!

Yup, that's my soapbox rant for today! lol! and if you read this whole thing all the way through, you must be pretty bored right now! well, I am gonna go take advantage of nap time to bake Ryan's b-day cake for tmrw and make Roo some hairbows!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL ...AND TO RYLEIGH A LONG NAP!

pattin' myself on the back!

So just to update y'all.... I am DONE with Finals, Bible Study and MOPS are out for the break, and I actually got all my Christmas cards mailed out today! uh yeah, I am SO all over that! of course I'm just not ready to think about the fact that I have a mountainous pile of laundry, my house is a wreck (thank you Tornado Ryleigh) and I may not fit into my dress for Ryan's Christmas party next weekend thanks to all the stress eating I've been doing! lol! but oh well, for right this minute I'm feeling pretty accomplished! and since I have a few minutes I'm gonna blog (rant, rave, etc.) for you...

Back to Tornado Ryleigh... although she technically will not be two until March, she is in the midst of terrible two's behavior for sure! At least I'm hoping this is what everyone refers to as the terrible two's because if it's not, and we haven't even hit that yet, then I am gonna be a fat bald mess by the time she's three! This week alone she has done such things such as eat diaper rash cream FOUR TIMES (I only called poison control the first time, after that I just shrugged and spanked her booty!), sneak a RED paint pen out of the very back of a "child-proof" drawer in the kitchen that she shouldn't even be able to reach and proceed to paint herself, her bed, the carpet, and her brand new shoes, rip pages out of my bible, help herself to leftovers in the refrigerator and strew them all over the living room, remove a poopy diaper and set it on the carpet ick side down, remove her pj pants and diaper after we put her to bed and subsequently wet her bed MAJORLY, lick a primer/rust p.o.s. car we were parked next to, scream "NO MOMMY NO MOMMY NO" at the top of her lungs in Hobby Lobby until the security guard was discreetly following us aisle to aisle, rip her wipes warmer from the wall and remove each and every wipe and fling them around the living room, tear every single post it note from a huge stack and decorate the office with them, color on the tiles with crayons (yay for Crayola Washables), and generally pitch fits all over this town! uh yeah, see what I mean about the TERRIBLE part, even if she's not two yet?! I just keep telling myself that this is a phase, but it sure as hell better be a short one!! I just don't understand how she can be SO NAUGHTY, I mean, we don't spoil her or let her get away with brattiness or anything! We have tried every form of discipline we've heard of, but she just keeps being Destructo Baby! I swear if I turn my back for a second, I hear this ominous quiet, and I just KNOW she's racked up another incident! How can she possibly move so fast?! And how can her brain, which just months ago was struggling to form a single syllable, come up with such INGENIOUS ways to get into trouble?! I keep thinking of the movie Cheaper By The Dozen when Steve Martin's character tells his daughter she has a "dark gift"! lol! Funny in a movie, not so funny in real life!

On the other hand, she is getting cuter and cuter each day as well, so I guess thats' the reason we've kept from giving her to the gypsies! I have to brag a bit and tell you that my child says "bath" with precise perfection! seriously, I have never heard a kid under five say their "th" sound this well! And she is in a phase where she's so excited to learn people's names and when we see them she'll shout out their names like "aha"! And when we picked up our Christmas card photos she pointed out "mommy", "daddy", and then looked at herself kinda puzzled before saying "oh! Ilee Claus!" b/c she is dressed in a Santa Outfit! Now isn't that just the most clever thing you've ever heard?! She is still really great at bedtime, and when you tell her it's time for night night kisses she gathers up her binky, blankie, and heads off to her bed like such a big girl! We are so lucky not to have to battle about bedtime! Although come to think of it, it's probably just because she's so worn out from a long day of being naughty and wild! lol!

We are going to Cowboy Christmas next Saturday, and I'm sooooo excited to get some cute pics of Roo in her outfit I put together - jeans, a handmade top with bandana print, a red tutu, and red boots!!! She is so darn cute, I just can't wait! Maybe she'll like Cowboy Santa better than the one at the mall?! Anyways, I better go get some sleep... I'll leave ya with some more recent pics...

pics with Santa!

quick note - I gotta get back to studying for Finals which are on Monday (yikes!)....

Ryleigh is still terrified of Santa as you can tell! It was a very traumatic experience for her, and I know I'm a horrible Mommy for making her endire it! Sorry, but the pics are slightly funny, and I'm sure she'll agree with me someday way way wayyyyyyy down the road! Enjoy!

what a difference a year makes?!?






this was her looking at Santa while Colin was getting his pics done! I think she was worried about Colin (who was grinning like a normal child does at Santa! lol!)


finally calmed down enough to take a pic with mommy! does this mean she forgives me?!


looking at herself in an ornament