Much Better

Saturday should have been a little clue as to how our week might turn out. But yesterday almost took the cake. Pretty Princess got to bed pretty late Wednesday night, tossed and turned throughout the night, and woke up bright-eyed but not so bushytailed at 7 am on Thursday! Say what?!?! We had a Christmas Party the night before.. so I had stayed up late working so I wouldn't have a bazillion things to do the next day. Needless to say, I was not too enthuiastic about Miss Priss waking up early. The morning was rough, the afternoon to mid day was splendid (we went to Chick-fil-a with Jade and two of her favorite cousins), and our late afternoon was not much better. We were both tired, cranky and a bit out of sorts.

When KK picked Little Miss and I up that evening for a girls night out with some of the family, I mentioned that I wasn't sure if most of the day went awry because of the Little One's attitude or mine. At the end of the day, I was exhausted and felt like a no good Mommy.

Today, however, has proven to be just what we needed. A day filled with laughter, playing, puzzles, coffee (mostly for me), lots of kisses, a little cuddling, coloring and much needed napping.

I think its a beautiful start to a wonderful weekend! Its amazing how Father God takes care of us even in the smallest things. Praise the Lord for our joyful spirits today and for a day just to be Mommy and Daughter!

Tonight we have the Amazing Mister's company party (and Jade will get to spend time with her beloved Nana, Papoo and some more of her favorite cousins), tomorrow we have an extended family Christmas celebration, and Sunday we will go see two wonderful Christmas Concerts. The first concert will be performed by one of the cutest red-headed kids. And the 2nd will be performed by the best Worship Team ever!! (Our church worship team is putting on Behold The Lamb of God. Never seen it, but super excited to!)

Which will take us right into a whole week with the Amazing Mister being at home with us!! We are so excited! And of course, there will be non-stop Christmas Festivities going on that week!! (Monday, much anticipated Christmas tradition of making cookies with my Granny, sisters, neices and nephews! This started with my older sister and has been an ongoing tradition for like 30 years! Tuesday, good dinner with good friends! Just an excuse to have friends over and use the Christmas dishes we were given almost 3 years ago at a "Christmas" shower that was thrown for us. Wednesday, Christmas Eve celebration with Amazing Mister's maternal extended family, and then a celebration with my extended family. Thursday, CHRISTMAS!! Hang here for a blink of an eye, shoot over to my mom's for Christmas Breakfast, then to Kk & Pop's for "linner"-late lunch:early dinner-, quite possibly a movie. Friday, Christmas morning do-over at KK & Pops.. with Amazing Mister's immediately family. We always do this the day before CHristmas Eve or day after Christmas.. spend the night, watch movies, and wake up next morning like its Christmas day!)

SO, the next time you hear from me, I will probably be sweating red and green all over...because I will just be oozing of Christmas-y.

I'm tired ya'll.

Our day, in semi-random order (because I'm too tired to remember the real order):

*alarm goes off at 6:15am for no apparent reason. After a little bit of half-asleep headscratching, we come to the conclusion that MS. Princess must have been playing with the buttons yesterday.
*have a nice breakfast with Amazing Mr. while Jade was recovering (i.e. sleeping in) from her late night of gazing on Christmas Lights with KK, Pops and the whole rest of the Brantner/Skinner/ Weaver/McKee bunch.
*Princess wakes up, eat & get dressed in a flash
*Wonderful Aunt Marlene picks us up to begin our day of fun
*Drop by two houses to pick/drop radom things up/off
*head down to Aunt Marlene's house so she can "freshen up" before we meet Amazing Mr. for lunch
*had GOOD lunch with Amazing Mr.
*race over to complete opposite side of town to amazing tea party hosted by one of Aunt M's new friends
*Jade acts worse than a bull in a China closet, I had maybe two sips of tea
*Jade tumps ENTIRE cup of tea all over both us
*Momma almost loses it from embarrassment, instead musters enough grace and humility to give my most sincere apology to the host
*head back to Aunt M's house to wait on Mr. to get out of school
*Ms. Princess refuses to stay asleep when I try to lay her down at Aunt M's house
*Mr. gets out of school, we head to Galleria
*walk 10 million miles in my pointy toe heels
*make one measley purchase at Macy's
*eat awesome Mexi food, but realize we want something sweet
*walk halfway cross the Galleria to Candy Store, then walk right back by Restaurant to our parking garage
*Get home after being gone from house for nearly 13 hours
*NOw, going to go pass out from the exhaustion.. or may shamelessly beg Amazing Mr for footrub.

PHEW!

I heart...

TOBY MAC!!!!!

Holy Cow. I told Mr. Amazing that his concert tonight was almost a toss up between Coldplay. I nearly got kicked out of the moving truck. No, but seriously it was awesome. I don't know when the last time I danced that much was. No. Wait. To be honest, it was earlier today when Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" came on the radio. But you get the point.

I have to admit, when we were invited to go, I didn't give the concert my 100% excited reaction. Of course I was looking forward to a fun evening out with friends..and I always enjoy a concert. But I don't know every single Toby song by heart. Needless to say, my expectations were not very high. Even if they had been, I think they still would have been TOTALLY blown away.

"What would people say if they find out its true? Oh, oh, oh!"

While on Hiatus..

The precious princess and I had the pleasure of going with our Mothers Day In group from church to the Children's Museum downtown. We both had a blast and came home completely tuckered out. 

I guess I should start at the beginning. Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to be a mom. Not just a mom, but a Mommy. When I had Jade, I dreamt of the day when I could all day just playing with her and teaching her about the awesome God we serve. And along with playing with her, I imagined us being a part of a play group.. and raising her in the environment I had growing up. I have such fond memories of spending time over at my own friend's houses while the moms made those hideous jumpers that were so popular for little girls in the late 80's. 

Well, while I was on hiatus from blogging, Jade and I went to the Children's Museum with our Mothers Day In program from church. I don't know who had more fun, me or Jade. Not only was the Museum so completely AWESOME (and super cheap), but it was a dream come true for me. Seeing Jade interact with kids around her same age, and being part of something that I've so longed for! We are so incredibly blessed to call our church "home" and to have such wonderful friends there!

Did you notice?

The sidebar had to go. I put a nice little doo-wop up a while back, bragging about all the words Jade can say now. But Little Girl has become quite the chatterbox lately. Somebody told me she is like a little parakeet, and by George, I think they've got it. Sometimes, I wonder where she really learns the things she says. And just bless your heart if you make it all the way through this post! (This is mainly to document her newest little milestones for us, but indulge if you wanna!)

But some things that we have really been working on are animals and their sounds. So far, we have "hoewiss" (horse), cat, dog, sheep, cow, owl, pig, rooster, and duck. But when we get to fish... and making fish lips, she just looks at me like I'm a weirdo. 

I think the most fun we are having at this stage though, is actually seeing how her little brain correlates things. Like when I pick up my phone during the day, Princess instinctively says "Dada?" (Because 90% of the time we actually call him.) Or sometimes she'll say "Dada go?" (Like where is he?) And I'll say "work." Or sometimes we'll say someone's name like Nana.. and she'll say "Papoo."

And Precious Princess may soon become a little Domestic Diva. She loves to "holp" (help) me clean, cook, do the laundry and the dishes! So, every time I get ready to do my "chores", Baby Girl is right there waiting for her little instructions. While unloading the dishwasher inevitably takes 20 minutes now, it is so precious to see her taking such delight in "holping."

Merry Christmas...

and Happy Thanksgiving.. and Happy Halloween!

Now, lets just backtrack a minute, shall we? Jade was the cutest little Punk Rock Princess this year for halloween. We had the best time at a fall festival with some of our closest friends and family and their kiddos. And at this fall festival, they had horse rides. The princess didn't quite know what a horse was at the time, or how to say it at least. But since the girl is such an animal lover, we figur

ed she would love it. So, when it was her turn for a ride on the horse, she really didn't know what to think. But after about half a minute, she decided it was the best ever! After the fun at the festival, we headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings..and that was our Halloween.

Thanksgiving this year was awesome. My green bean casserole got great reviews from my husband at both festivities we attended. Our daughter, on the other hand, was not impressed with Turkey Day food at all. The girl wouldn't touch a thing on her plate. However, I'm pretty sure there may have been some nutritional value in the 8 pounds of cookies, crackers, and bread she filled up on! And no worries about the Princess packing on anything from all the carbs she had. Baby Girl did nothing but run and play HARD at both festivities. Needless to say, we were all pooped after all the fun!

**This is where I wanted to insert a cute Thanksgiving picture of Jade. But all I got were shots of her running around like a little loon!**

And finally Merry Christmas! My FAVORITE time of year. Where we get to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Christ. The Savior! I pray that I would truly be focused on that this year, and that we would help our Precious Daughter see that He is truly the reason we are celebrating.

And so, I leave you with a blast from the past. (Please excuse the tag on Ms. Minnie Pearl's hat.)

Election Day '08

Well folks, only about a hour and a half until Election Day '08 is officially over.

I hate conflict. Although, I am not afraid to speak when I know it is what I am being commanded to do. Not that I should sound or try to be righteous, because Lord knows I am still just a wretch. But all the turmoil in our nation has been breaking my heart. I love my country, and I know I was born and raised here for a reason. God is sovereign. He is perfect, and His plans and timing are beyond our comprehension. "For who knows the mind of our God, and who can bring counsel to him..."

I voted today. I felt proud, honored and privileged to have a voice in what may happen to this nation. So.. as the day is nearing its end, I am filled with joy and with a little angst. All the debating, and he said she said is finally drawing to a close. And NBC is predicting Obama to be our next president.

Things have not been looking too pretty for our "great nation" for sometime.. and from what I've seen, I don't think it will be getting much better. But what I fear most is that people will not heed the warnings and wake-up calls. No matter what happens, no matter who sits in the Oval Office.. I serve a Higher King. He is Sovereign. He is good. And I know.. His hand is over EVERYTHING. NOTHING will ever change that.

So, tonight.. as I go to bed, I will rest in that. I will have a peace that surpasses all understanding. I will rest in the fact that He works everything for His own glory. And yes, things may not be all rosy for me and my little family.. we may have hardships, and we may struggle... but I know that God still sits on the throne... and He ALWAYS will!