thanksgiving

some pictures...in reverse order since i can't figure out how to move pictures around. i know it seems like such a simple task, and it probably would be if someone could teach me how to maneuver a mac, but since i don't have such a person, you're going to see thanksgiving in reverse! HA!

the end of the busy week. we didn't hear her bouncing in her toy anymore, went to check on her, and found her completely passed out!

sitting with aunt burrito and noah. don't ask why she's aunt burrito. its a nickname i've called her for years and it just stuck.

all the cousins.

drew chasing after lana, but soon realizing maybe he shouldn't crawl under the table. she's just enough smaller than him that he can't quite make it through as gracefully...

lana lovin on her daddy. this week she showed us how she can give hugs. we had no idea that she grasped that concept. she gave noah hugs, isaac hugs...just about everyone. it was so adorable.

everyone gathering around to play uno moo...we had to see what all the hooplah on the commercials was about. gotta admit, VERY cute game.

thanksgiving day...lana staring out the window as drew, jimmy, isaac, and judah kicked around a soccer ball in the front yard.

noah just finishing up dinner. he's got such an easy going personality. and it's so neat that he and lana are close in age. they had a ball together. and what can i say? this little man is pretty stinkin handsome! :)

the three rowdy cousins...noahs the tame one.

deer in headlights. i've got nothing else.

well, we had a fun thanksgiving!

my sister and her family drove up from houston and stayed with us. it was so much fun having them in our house and finally getting to spend time with them. yes, they only live in houston, but 5 hours is a pretty long trek! we hadn't seen them since they moved at the beginning of august. so, we REALLY enjoyed the full house and the fun times.

the rest of the family came over thursday afternoon for a later thanksgiving meal. turkey courtesy of kroger, again. it was so yummy. no one in my family wants to deal with the turkey, and kroger just makes it so convenient....so they smoked the bird for us. we only had to fix the sides which was so nice. but somehow we were still cooking all day.

the meal was good...the family time was good...it was all around a good day. the only thing bad was that drew and i were down and out sick. we've both got (still) pretty bad colds...a cough that once you start, just doesn't allow you to quit, and more congestion than i knew any two people could have. other people weren't feeling well, either, but drew and i literally have slept for many many hours since getting sick. great hosts, huh? the funniest part of being sick...hearing your mom who does not drink nor does she condone it say "you should go get you some peach brandy or some whiskey and burn that stuff out of you"...oh yes, my friends. my mom was encouraging me to drink! ha! yah, i realize it was to burn the crud out of me, but it's still a little shocking to hear. but we obeyed...drew went to the liquor store..got some whiskey, and luckily my brother in law, jacob, knew how to make the hot tottie. boy did that sting. i think for a second i forgot it was alcohol, because i sure did take a huge swig thinking it was like the theraflu i'd been drinking. my face broke out in a sweat, my eyes were bright red, and of course, i started coughing! but the next few drinks i had learned my lesson. i gotta say, whiskey is some nasty stuff, but it sure does break up the congestion. drew and i both slept very well last night, were rested enough for family pictures today, and will probably do it again tonight in order to keep getting better. of course, this won't be a nightly thing. but i do believe i've found my cold remedy! thanks, mom!

so, today was a sad day. amber and her fam had to leave and head back to houston. but they'll be back for christmas! hooray!

any how...it's hot tottie time (sure hope we remember how to make it now that jacobs gone). and i have to be rested enough to go in to work tomorrow--holiday replenishment. fun times. so i'll close. hope you all had a super thanksgiving! yay for the cowboys!

family portraits

well, today we finally gave my parents their mothers & fathers day gifts. we all went and had family pictures made with my side of the family. i think they turned out super! i think the last time my family was in 1 picture together (besides my wedding) was when i was in 8th grade. and that dreaded picture hung on the wall in the hall of my parents house until it sold. the day didn't come soon enough that it came down! haha see, i had a mouth full of braces and the picture that my parents just HAD to pick (because my brother was finally smiling!) was the one where i was saying "french fries". so yes, braces and me making the "fr" face...fantastic. again, couldn't come down soon enough! haha

so today was my redemption. finally pictures that i will be proud to display in my house! and the most amazing part of it all, is that my parents still get along VERY well. so i was able to have a picture of my whole family...mom and dad both. what a blessing in such a messy situation!

so, i've attached some pictures from today's adventures. it was so much fun...very hot, and hard to keep the kids smiling, but we survived!

i'll write more on thanksgiving shortly....

the cousins....

the libby family

the faske family

the original 'mcdonald' family..sweet redemption!

the WHOLE family!

happy saturday!

the impossible job

i'm amazed every day by people who have clean homes and young children....AND work! how in the world do they do it? seriously...all i want for christmas is someone to clean my house for me. i'm talking, top to bottom. there are so many areas that have piled up and just need cleaned out. unfortunately, i think that's a job only drew and i can do. but i'll still take someone cleaning it after WE'VE cleaned it out! :)

lana is busy as ever. pulling up on any and everything...crawling all over the house...setting off the carbon monoxide monitor....and letting the dogs in when i've put them outside. yes. our back door doesn't latch, so all she has to do it push the door enough for the dogs to nudge their noses in, and it's all over. she nearly gets trampled! so, i'm going to start locking the door. baby-proofing, oh baby-proofing. i fear its a never ending thing.

today drew is at the marcus play off game. he's got a field pass for the game at the new cowboys stadium in arlington. i sure hope he gets some pictures to share!! other news on the drew front--basketball (middle school) starts monday. he's been pretty stressed this week with tryouts, placing kids on teams, and teaching some plays to get them started. tough only having 3 practices before your first game!

other news--we all had a serious stomach bug this week. lana went home sick wednesday, we had to keep her home thursday (daycare rules) so drew and i split the day, then friday we were all sick. lana was so great, though. she just played quietly and napped while drew and i were sick. what a blessing!

other than that, not a lot going on. my sister and her family come to visit next week for thanksgiving! we haven't seen them since they moved the last weekend in august. it's going to be a lot of fun and a FULL house! 5 more people and another dog to add to the mix! pictures to come!

and speaking of pictures, here are some we had done of lana! check them out! so adorable.

happy saturday!

halloween

bah! i was playing with my camera changing the date for daylight savings time ending, and somehow deleted all the pictures! argh! so now I have no pictures for you from the pumpkin parade from lana's daycare. but trust me, she was adorable.

here's a picture of her trial run!

i do, however, have pictures of my nephews on my side of the family! i'll show off corbin & bryson once i get some of those! :)

isaac, noah, & judah

noah at 5months (or right about)

adorable little pumpkin! you can tell he's lana's cousin!

isaac on the left and judah on the right. i know this has to do with star wars, but i really couldn't tell you anything beyond that. :)

Happy Halloween!

doorstop fun

well, lana has discovered the doorstop!

Drew and i went on our first date last night! bambi and richi took care of lana while we went to pf changs for dinner. it was so good! and drew and i had a lot of fun talking and not being interrupted by a baby. it had been way too long!

we've had a pretty slow week. just working and living our daily routine.

i finally bought babywise II so i've been reading that like crazy. i've learned a lot about lana's eating...and she's starting to eat a lot better! and now that we're getting her nice & full she's back to sleeping through the night. i had a brain malfunction--my pedi kept telling me that solids weren't a meal, but just getting them used to eating for later. well, yah, that's true, but it's also because liquid isn't enough anymore! when that finally clicked, i started feeding her more altogether and now we're golden. eating, sleeping...everyones happy!

so, i'll post more later. drew and i are watching football and the pizza is ready to eat!

happy sunday!

post for nana

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

wedding weekend

well, i'm not doing so hot at keeping this thing updated. since i've become a single parent for the majority of the week (yes, football season is in full swing) i just don't have the time or energy to update anything! all of my social networking sites are severely deprived! no time for facebook or this blog, and I barely have time to check email. tough life, isn't it?

but if i'm gonna be this busy, i LOVE that it's with lana. we're having such a great time. and even more fun when drew gets home and plays with us!

last weekend we went to austin for a wedding. the last of drew's buddies from college got married. let me tell you, we were all beyond shocked to find out he was getting married. craig always was the one no one thought would get married....or at least not for a long time! but he seems to have found his perfect girl.

the wedding was in johnson city (outside of austin) on the ranch craig works at. he's the foreman, i think. the couple who owns the ranch made their money because the wife invented self-checkout! yes! i met the lady who invented self checkout, stayed in her million dollar ranch house, and it was incredible! we had such a great time! the house slept somewhere around 28 people. drew and i had a room ('the cowboy suite') and a crib for lana! i wish i would've got pictures of the ranch, but for some reason, i never thought to take any.

the weekend was pretty chilly. we had a cold front go through so the majority of the time the temps were in the upper 50s low 60s. way too cold for my liking! and poor lana wasn't dressed appropriately. that's another strike against me as a mom. i had no idea it was going to get and stay so cold. normally i'm on top of my weather, but lately...well, just refer back to paragraph #1 of this blog.

so, drew was in the wedding...it was ranch formal. they wore cowboy hats and boots. so as soon as i get more pictures of that, i'll post them. we even found lana some boots for under $5!!! i just wore black pants and a top, but i think we were all wishing we'd been in heavier clothing once the wind started blowing.

we got back sunday afternoon in time to change clothes and head to our FPU class. the class has been such a blessing to us. we're learning so much and are well on our way to living in financial peace!

this weekend was acu homecoming. we had every intention of going, but after being so busy the last few weekends, we decided we needed to relax and keep lana in some kind of stable atmosphere. good thing we did. the past few weeks/month her sleeping through the night has been sporadic at best. it's a combination of teething and being sick and maybe even her erratic napping schedule at daycare (they can't seem to keep her on my schedule...mainly because they believe in child directed napping/feeding and I DO NOT! a tangent for another day....)

but last night i put lana to bed around 745...i had dropped her mattress down to the lowest level, put the bumper back in (don't scream at me! i know it's a sleep hazard, but i figure if she can sleep with a blanket, she can manage to move her face out of the bumper and not suffocate!) and it was genius. i think because she can't see out of the slats in her crib, she was able to go back to sleep quicker. she didn't wake up once and slept for 11 hours! WOOHOO! so, both of her naps today we put her down awake and she went straight to sleep until we woke her up. again tonight, no crying when she went down. i pray this is a real solution to the waking up in the night problem...and i'm really enjoying not having to listen to her cry it out. that just breaks my heart.

anyhow. here are some pictures from the wedding.

lana and brady boozer

lana showing off her cowgirl boots

lana and drew...yes, that's a cowboy hat. if only i'd got a picture of the boots!

have a great weekend!