Barney Live

Barney Live came to Abilene last weekend. Mom and Ron called and asked if we would bring the kids in so that they could take them. We agreed ONLY because they both LOVE Barney. Cooper has been drawn to Barney songs since he was a week old. He used to be asleep in my arms and wake up when Madison would put on her show! It was crazy. He started humming the Barney song by the time he was one. He says some of the words as he sings it now.

Nana and Pa with the kids ~ waiting on Barney to start!

We weren't there long and Madison was already asking if she could have a star like every other kid had. They make a killing on all their goodies. These silly light up stars were 15.00 and we had to buy 2! It was all worth it though :)

Enjoying the show!

Intermission

We had a great time watching the kids! They spent the first 15 minutes in awe. It was like their eyes were glued to the stage and they weren't moving. They didn't dance, they didn't move. After intermission they came to life and started dancing and moving around! Thank you Nana and Pa for taking the kids (and us)!!

Snow Day 2011

We had our first snow of the year...

look how excited he was to go outside?!?

his favorite thing was to stomp in the slushy water and her favorite thing was to have snowball fights!

Then we got the gator out and they had fun riding around in the snow! We had to make them come inside.

Vest Christmas/NYE

I didn't think I was going to make it for our seventh and final Christmas but I did. Trent had gone to Celina with the kids around 3 on NYE. I stayed behind to rest and get better. The plan was for me to come in the morning. By 7:30 that night I was missing my family and feeling decent so I packed up and went too! Plus, I can't sleep when Trent isn't home. I freak myself out. When I got there Cooper was sleeping and Madison was already in her pajamas! She opened her presents (with the help of some cousins) and then we woke Cooper up to open his! It was all very low key. The rest of them had already opened their presents on Christmas Eve so we were the only ones opening.


They got several more toys to add to their collections! Thank you Nana & Pop Pop.

Later that night Bart and Mandie came over too! We all visited and ate while the kids played. Trent and I haven't done anything on New Years since we've had kids. In fact, I can't tell you the last time I saw midnight! This year was no exception. I made it til 11:00 and then headed to bed. Madison stayed up later than me. The kids were going to sleep in the living room together. The boys on the big blow up mattress and the girls on the bean bag bed. Cooper had his pack-n-play set up in Seth's bathroom because Trent and I were staying in Seth's room.

Reid, Madison, Cooper and Reese in Madison and Reese's bed!

Madison only made it til 2:30 in this bed and then she crawled in bed with Trent and I. It was Trent, Madison, Me and Rosco all in a FULL size bed. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep!

Worst Week EVER

Sunday morning I woke up with pink eye. It didn't bother me and I didn't think anything about it except I was supposed to go visit one of my long time friends because she just had her second baby the week before Christmas. I wasn't able to go because I didn't want to pass it on. I started taking the kids medicine when I got home. Monday morning I woke up with my eye swollen shut. Funny thing is, it never really went down. Tuesday morning the same thing happened. I decided to go ahead and go into the doctor because I started thinking...maybe it's not pink eye. I mean, I've never had pink eye this bad. It was. She sent me home with a prescription, which I didn't fill since I still had some of the kids left. I wasn't home two hours and I started feeling pretty awful. I had noticed that my left lymph node was sore when the doctor was pushing around on my neck and face but didn't think much of it. My throat was killing me and my lymph node was throbbing. Wednesday wasn't much better, in fact I was feeling pretty awful most of the day. I knew I was running a fever in the middle of the night because I'd wake up after it broke and I was so sweaty. Thursday I woke up and was the same so Trent sent me back to the doctor. When I got there I was running 102.5. They were sure I had strep but did a strep & flu test. Both came back negative. So then they did a mono test and took my blood. After a few hours of waiting and ruling things out they said I had a bacterial infection of the lymph node, throat and ear. They had fancy names for them but that's basically what it was. They gave me a shot, a pack of steroids and another antibiotic to take. I came home and went straight to bed. Little did I know my worst night was waiting on me...I was throwing up and feeling awful and around 7:30 my fever shot up to 103.9. It stayed there. I showered. I had wet rags on me. I felt like I was dying. Finally after taking more ibuprofen it broke around 10:30. I was able to sleep through most the night and woke up feeling better Friday. I did my best to relax most of the day. Trent and the kids went to Celina. We were all supposed to go for our family Christmas and to celebrate New Years. I stayed behind and rested. I was feeling ok, other than a sore throat, so it was really hard to do. Because I was sick, I missed out on meeting another new sweet baby. David and Amy also had their baby the week before Christmas and I planned to take a day to go see them and meet Hannah! I'll have to meet both of these sweet babies soon! It's Sunday now and I'm just now feeling like I am pretty much back to normal. Every once in awhile my throat still hurts when I swallow. My eyes are still pink but the swelling is gone. I'm still on tons of medicine! Ugh! What a week!

Christmas in Abilene

Thursday Night
After having our own family Christmas in Argyle, we headed to Abilene. We got in town around 5:30 that evening. Michael was already in town and Joan and her family got there not long after we did. We all met up at Mom's house and Grandpa came over to visit with everyone. Mom made dinner and we had a fun time together.

Later that night we headed over to Grandmom's to see Grandmom and Dean & Faye and their family! Madison had everyone playing Memory with her. It's one of her new favorite things to do!

Cooper was super social and was in such a good mood. He enjoyed having everyone's attention. Definitely not my shy child. We stayed at Grandmom's until after 10 sometime and then went back to Mom's to get in bed.

Christmas Eve at Grandmom's House:
Mom worked til noon Christmas Eve so the rest of us didn't do much that morning. Michael and I went and got us La Popular for breakfast, Madison and I made a trip to Target and we all relaxed most of the day. That afternoon we got dressed and headed over to Grandmom's house. Our Uncle David came over for a few hours to visit. It was great to see him. We haven't seen him in many years. Later that evening, after church, we had appetizers, opened gifts and then the adults did a gift exchange. The kids got some great gifts and we made out with some great gifts from the gift exchange. Trent got a heater (which we've been wanting to buy for Madison's room) and I got a Scentsy candle! Here are some pictures from our evening together:

Madison has been wanting this double stroller for so long! She was so excited to get it.

My Uncle Shon thought it would be really funny to get everyone against me in our gift exchange. He had everyone (I'm not sure if it was everyone or just all the guys) say that they would all steal from me...no matter what gift I got and then they rigged it to where I'd be the first person. It worked a few times and then I picked a gift that froze with me so the fun ended quickly...by the 4th person or so. :)

Christmas Morning at Mom's:
We woke up Christmas morning and had our family Christmas with Mom. They got the kids so many great things. Madison's favorite thing was her new skates. Although when she opened them she said (loudly), "I wanted pink skates". The thing is...she didn't even ask for skates. She had told me once that she wanted a pair but no one else knew. Her favorite show is Fresh Beats. On one of the episodes the girl she likes is wearing pink skates. That's why she wanted pink. But after her nice comment she quickly put them on and 'skated' up and down the hallway. They didn't get to play long and then we had to clean up and get ready to go to Dad's. Here are some pictures from our Christmas morning at Mom's...

Aunt Kara was nice enough to help Madison skate! :)


Christmas Day with Dad:

After leaving Mom's house we headed over to Nanny & Papa's for Christmas lunch! We got there early to visit and relax. We ate lunch around two and then opened more presents! We love Nanny & Papa's house because they always decorate it up BIG time for Christmas!

This is my favorite picture of the day! I looked over to see Cooper standing on his tippy toes reaching into the m&m bowl! Love it!

Next stop (and final stop in Abilene) was Dad's house! AND LOOK AT ALL THAT SANTA LEFT!

Cooper immediately walked over to his shopping cart and started pushing it! The boy loves to push things. Even when they are not meant to be pushed.

Dad and Laurie also take after Nanny & Papa and decorate BIG time for Christmas. I'm slowly trying to collect my own stuff for our house! I always remember going to Nanny & Papa's house and thinking it looked like a house from the movies, Dad's is that way now and I want ours to be the same one day! After we opened presents, Laurie made LOTS of appetizers and her mom came over and so did Nanny & Papa! Madison played with her Dora Dollhouse (her favorite of the night) and Cooper pushed around his toys!

We had 4 great Christmases while we were here! We were all SPOILED by everyone! We appreciate all that you got for us and for our kids. We almost couldn't take it all home. Our truck was packed! We are blessed with many many people who love us. We are thankful we got to spend the holidays with you and can't wait to see you again!