Merry Christmas to ALL!!!!

Maggie on her new Leap Frog train

Dinner on Christmas Eve

Before church

Before the chaos began

Christmas breakfast.

We have had a VERY exciting and fun filled day of playing, and playing, and playing. As I type this at 7:45 pm on Christmas night Julia is still in her PJ's from last night and has been going strong all day. We have been hanging out all day with the kids and it been soo fun!! We had our BIG Christmas dinner last night after church and spent today munching on leftovers. Wyatt cooked an awesome ham and I cooked dressing and sides. We made monkey bread and breakfast casserole last night so all we had to do was heat it up this morning. It has been a very relaxing stay-at-home Christmas. Julia has pretty much opened,assembled, and played with EVERYTHING she got. Maggie was pretty worn out today too. I guess all the excitement has worn off on her. Maggie even ate ham, dressing, and green bean casserole for supper tonight. She was literally shoveling it into her mouth as fast as she could. I have pictures of that for a later time but for now enjoy some video and pics. Miss ya'll and Love ya"ll!!!

PS. I do realize now that I just posted 2 pics of food above. Here are some more of the girls.

Putting out the reindeer food.
Maggie got some blocks.

Julia and Wyatt doing a BIG puzzle.

Rose Petal Cottage

Maggie on her bouncing horse.

Some Christmas Cheer.....and a caroling we will go

Julia and I were just playing before her nap and the conversation went a little something like this:

Me: sitting on playroom floor stretching out my arms and reaching back to rub my neck and shoulder that has been sore today for some unknown reason............(i blame Maggie...she is heavy and into everything so I guess I have been holding her ALOT)

Julia: "Mama why are you stretching?"

Me: "Ohh baby my neck hurts"

Julia: with a VERY concerned and worried face while placing her hand on my shoulder she says, "Oooohhh Mama, Do you want some Chocolate?"

Me: smile, laugh, and can't stop myself from hugging her cause you gotta love a girl who knows what her Mama likes!!!



Wed night we went caroling to some neighbors to pass out goodies and Christmas cards. For weeks Julia has been asking/begging to go carolling........thanks to our Christmas books....they all have some form of carolling in them. So we agreed that Julia would sing and we would take her and see what happened. By the third and final stop she had gotten pretty good and understood the concept better and it was fun and very entertaining.

Julia's pink Christmas PJ's that she wore to school for Polar Express Day.

Our festive attire for carolling.

Julia and Daddy decorating the gingerbread house.

Not Me Monday!!.....better late then never

A blog that I read started this thing called "Not Me Monday" where you post all of the things that you "did not" do all week long. I have a few to share from our ever exciting life with two little ones.

This week I did not use the Elf, sitting on the shelf, for bribery to get Julia to clean up, eat all of her food, be nice to her sister or anything of the like. That would just be wrong of me to use Christmas like that. What kind of mom does that?

I also did not allow my 10 month old to shread up tissue paper, wrapping paper, or magazines because I knew it would allow me a fews minutes of free time. I also did not have to spend the next 20 minutes fishing tiny pieces of paper out of her mouth.

I did not sit back and chuckle while taking video of Maggie during the witching hour. You know the time of the day when children are fussy. Well most children anyway, mine are not and would never act fussy anytime of the day. They are blissfully happy kids 24/7.

There is an elf living in our house.......

Well the tree has stayed put this week and I am feeling hopeful about the rest of the season going off without a hitch. Aside from Julia falling out of the bed this week, nothing VERY traumatic has happened. Our "Elf on the shelf,"that Julia fondly named Rudy, arrived a little over a week ago and I must say "bless you" to whoever thought up this wonderful source of bribery. Julia has been on her "best" behavior since Rudy took up residence at our home. He is always watching her and telling us how good she had been all day. Every morning she hits the floor running to go downstairs and see where Rudy is hiding next. We also discuss on a daily basis everything that will take place starting Christmas Eve morning until Christmas night detail by detail. She is soo excited. Wyatt and I also did not realize how her excitement was going to rub off on us too! To her, everything is so magical and wonderful and exciting. We love it!

Wyatt has a short trip next week but will be home Tuesday night. Julia has Polar Express Day at preschool on Tuesday and she will get to wear Pj's to school. What she doesn't know is that Rudy is delivering the girls some "special Christmas pajamas" one morning this weekend so that she will have them in time for PJ day!! We cannot stop thinking of fun things to do with Rudy the Elf. We also have a Christmas sing-a-long at the end of school on Thursday with her class and then she will be out for the break.

At some point this weekend and next week we will: finish Christmas shopping/wrapping/mailing gifts/baking treats to give to neighbors/clean the house/construct a gingerbread house (per Wyatt's Julia's request and we of coarse said YES!!)/address and mail Christmas cards/and at some point maybe at the end of the week SLEEP!! Tis the season........but I would not trade it for anything. I am loving the joy and anticipation and can't wait for Christmas morning. The hustle and bustle and stress of preparing is going to be worth it in the end. I just hope I can remember to slow down and enjoy the moment with my little family. I promise lots of videos and pics so don't worry I will keep you informed of all that is happening.



I would like you to meet Rudy the elf.





Have a great one!!

Finally an update!!

Sorry for the delay in updates. We made it to Memphis for Thanksgiving and that is about where things went downhill. The stomach virus attacked my little family on Thanksgiving morning with a vengeance. Sooo for the second year in a row we missed a big family gathering due to the stomach virus. There were family members that had never seen Maggie and that we have not seen in 2 years. Soo sad. Julia made it to the gathering where she was able to play for a while until she got the bug. Here is where I must give props to Aunt Elizabeth- she helped Julia (literally) while she was getting sick, ended up with throw up on her own clothes and then brought my vomiting child home (1 hour car ride) to me. Not to mention this whole time she has her own 4 month old to care for. I owe her!! Speaking of Libby here is that cutie!!

The story does not end there. After we recovered from the virus we decided to drive down to visit my grandparents since we did not get to see them at Thanksgiving. On the way down we of coarse we would get a nail stuck in the side of the tire. So we stop (for an hour and a half and Maggie needed a nap and was still not 100%) at a tire shop to get a new tire for the borrowed mini van we were driving. Yes, we borrowed the van from my grandparents to drive while we were in town (thanks J and J for letting us use it!!). We got a new tire and ended up having a great visit.

There was still fun to be had. Mimi and Julia made homemade play dough!!
Maggie not too sure about JJ
My poor sick babies. Can you tell they are sick? Julia got sick in the car on the way to Elizabeth so that is why she is in PJ's and not her cute clothes.
O Dog

Mimi and Julia also made gingerbread cookies!!

Click on this picture and you should be able to get close enough to see Maggie's 2 teeth on bottom. What a face on that one!! You can tell she is not sick anymore.

Now we are back home and gearing up for Christmas. I did make a big turkey dinner the week we got home since we missed all the food when were in Memphis. You know when you go 48 hours without eating it is kind of hard to have a Happy Thanksgiving. We went to get a tree on Saturday. We opted not to go and cut one ourselves like we did last year due to the fact that it was like 10 degrees here and blowing snow. But nevertheless the tree was up and decorated by Saturday night.

Mimi and two of her girls....

Here is nurse maid Mimi. She spent her time helping me care for sick children while I was there. She and Pop ended up virus free and were able to care for us. Babies needed rocking, bathing, holding, feeding. Laundry needed washing. Pop kept us stocked up with ginger ale and pedialyte. Thanks for all your help while we were sick.

Here is our tree.

skip to 3 am Sunday morning: I hear what sounds like a brick being thrown through a window in our house. After 5 min of convincing Wyatt that he needs to get up and go check it out he does and comes back to tell me it was just our tree falling over and a bunch of ornaments breaking. Nice. Soo first thing Sunday morning there I am cleaning up shattered ornaments off of the carpet and entry hall floor. How Wyatt set the tree back up and made it back upstairs in the middle of the night without stepping on any glass I will never know because it was EVERYWHERE!! See pic below.

It was mostly just colored balls that broke except for Julia's baby's 1st Christmas ornament. It broke too.

At this point I am thinking if I make it to New Year's I will be doing good.

I am Thankful for.............

being able to stay home with my beautiful girls on a daily basis. I realize how lucky I am to be able to do this especially when I watch the news everyday.

my husband, for his sacrifice and hard work. He makes it possible for me to be home.

my Julia, for making me LAUGH everyday sometimes more then once. I swear the stuff she comes up with just cracks me up!!

my Mags and her dimples (they are still there and I hope they NEVER go away)

my friends, who help to keep me sane when I am about to loose it.

my "new" friends that I have made since moving up to Ohio.

my family back "home"(Mississippi and Tennessee) who LOVE my girls as much as I do and help out with the kids so Wyatt and I can have getaways once in a while. It is a big job to keep kids when you are out of practice. I know it is tiring and wearing BUT I am soo Thankful for YOU!!! My girls LOVE you for it!!

my God, for giving me my girls and my family to love and nurture for Him while I am here on Earth.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Julia's class at the concert last week. The little blond with the red bow is Gracie Julia best friend. The little blond boy 6th from the left is Brock-Julia talks about him alot.

Maggie being thankful for the keyboard and music.


We are headed to Memphis tomorrow until Sunday so until then Happy Holidays!!

Lookout we have Dancing Sisters!!!

Here are some clips I thought I would share this week of the girls breaking it down with their BEST dance moves.

** don't forget to pause the music at the bottom **

G & G visit, Vegas Trip, and an Ole Miss Cheerleader

Well Grandmama and Granddaddy came to visit. Wyatt and I went to Vegas for a (much needed) long weekend away. Now the fun is over and G and G are gone and the girls are REALLY missing them!!! Julia was a pitiful soul on Wed when we dropped them at the airport. She really had a blast with her grandparents. Back to the real world.

Wyatt and I had a great time in Vegas. He had to go for work and I tagged along for fun! Now we are in Thanksgiving mode with school pictures, Thanksgiving Feasts and concerts at preschool next week. It looks like we will be BUSY until we head to Memphis for Thanksgiving. The girls are both suffering from the "crud" and it is not fun!! Especially for Maggie since she is still too young for cold medicine. I am curing her with Vaseline and a vaporizer and so far it is working. I was sent back into "motherhood" soon after coming home from my getaway with a trip to the pediatrician with Mags on Wed (just to have her ears and lungs checked because i worry like that) and she was fine. Then today started off GREAT with a surprise trip to the vet with Lucy--(and Mags and Julia you should have seen me it was quite the adventure). She was not feeling well today and let me just put it this way- it was easier on my carpet and floors just to take her in rather then wait it out.......
She is doing better now that she has been taken off of food and had some shots at the vet. I hope she will be back to her normal self tomorrow. Otherwise I might fly back to Vegas by myself!

Enjoy the pics!!

The girls playing
Maggie getting stuck in a cabinet

Grandmama pulled out the "secret surprises" right before they headed to the airport.

Sweet Sisters

I believe her exact words were "Hottie Tottie"

**blog disclaimer**

Please note that G and G went to Ole Miss. That and the fact that I LOVE THEM SOO MUCH and they are GREAT grandparents is the ONLY reason why Julia and Maggie are allowed to wear and be photographed in "Ole Miss" attire. Now that we are up here in the land of Buckeyes we pretty much just cheer for the SEC in general. Still.....I have to admit the cheerleader get up is pretty darn cute (except for the ole miss lettering ---only kidding)!!

A Happy Halloween was had by all...

Julia decorated herself (you can see the nose injury in this one).
Before the Trick-or-Treating


Danny (elephant) and Maggie

The Morris girls (we sure missed Daddy)

Maggie the cowardly lion




Julia and her friend Alex (a puppy dog)

Heading out

And we are off.

Julia's first stop.



Maggie was the BEST!! She just took it all in stride and enjoyed the wagon.

Looking a little more relaxed as the night wore on

She has had enough (good thing we were back and just at our neighbors house)

Eating a Halloween cookie

Yummy!

A self portrait of me and Mags

Much better at a distance

We went trick-or-treating with our neighbor Susie and her boys Danny (the elephant) and she has a baby too but he was being carried. Julia loved "showing Danny how it's done" at every house that we went to. He was really cute and just learning how to talk so Julia was teaching him as we went. Miss Susie also got in trouble quite a few times for saying "Julia" when she was supposed to be saying "Dorthy". Julia did not let her get away with it once. Also Julia's shyness disappeared about midway through and she began to give candy back saying "I don't like chocolate. Can I have something else?" After doing this 2 times in a row I had to tell her just "Keep the chocolate and Mommy will eat it for you later"(smile). Yeah, at least I will get a sweet reward for all of the hard work that I have put into Halloween 2008. I really was beat after this week. We had a great night altogether. Julia was able to experience both sides of Halloween this year. After we went to about 10 house (plenty for me and she felt like she had "enough" candy) we came home to put Maggie down. This way Julia was able to help me answer the door when the kids came by and she loved it! She loved the costumes and handing out the candy. Only one fully masked, creepy skeleton freaked her out and she would not come near the door. She also started drawing pictures to show the kids who were coming over, it was really cute.

** the nose injury in case you have not heard happened when Julia was bouncing on her bed and hit her nose on the headboard. It was at bed time and it involved bleeding and an ice pack and also a very pitiful call to Daddy (who was out to dinner on his trip and had to leave the restaurant so he could hear and talk to her on the phone).


****Also pumpkin pins on the girl's costumes compliments of Grandmama and Granddaddy! Thanks so much they were so cute on them. We can't wait to see ya'll next week!!!!