Our trip to Oregon!

The first week of January we took a trip to see Kelsey's grandparents (The Original Stuart's)!  They live in Bend OR- so we flew (with some help of airline miles) & it was Allie's 1st plane ride!  I was really nervous about the trip considering I'm a cranky pregnant mess traveling with a "terrible two- year old".. Ok so I worried for Kelsey!!  But I was SO pleasantly surprised how well the trip went!  We left on a Friday and returned on Tuesday!  Friday we parked at the Airport and took a shuttle to the terminal.  Allie was pretty excited about riding on the "school bus" (shuttle) the gate.  We had 1 lay over in Orange Co- then caught our 2nd flight to Portland OR-  Here we rented a car- and drove about 3 hrs to Bend.  Allie Slept most of the car ride and even was "accident free" thru the entire day of travels!  I was SO proud of her!

We decided to take Allie's Car seat on the plane... the bungee cords were so helpful to carry thru the airport.

Allie's very first plane ride!! She did so good and was very excited to be going up in the air!! 

 This car made us laugh!! It was on our way to BEND- it reminded us of the car in Planes, Trains & Automobiles!  Its about 36 outside & the top of the car was ripped off, the windows had plastic on them and the kids riding in the car were bundled up to stay warm... they saw me with my camera and smiled for the photo!

Beautiful!!! Also on our way up to Bend- this was at the top of the mountain pass we drove thru... we were lucky that the roads were so clear!

In this picture you can see the moon in the background.  It is about 4:30 am OR time, and  6:30 TX time... Allie didn't know the difference... So every morning we woke up and left the house so that we wouldn't wake the grand parents... prob some of the most fun on our trip.  The first morning we went to Walmart & Shari's for breakfast. The next day we went to Starbucks- Another morning Kelsey was sick so we stayed in and watched TV very quietly- and later on found an indoor bounce house to play in. 

The above pictures are from us playing in the Starbucks!  The good thing about a retirement community is most of the Seniors sleep in so the town is a "ghost town" until about 8am! So from 6am till about 8am were were the only ones out and about!  Kelsey's grandparents slept until about 10ish so we tried to stay out in the mornings until they were up! 

 

Saturday morning, after our trip to Walmart we went exploring thru the town... we found a road into a national park and turned in...  Some of my favorite pictures from the trip! 

 

Daddy & Allie Running in the snow... 

Mommy & Allie running in the snow... sounds like a great idea to run in the snow with your toddler- unless you are 7.5 months pregnant!! Right after this picture was taken I slipped and fell in the snow!  Kinda scary but we (Lindy & I ) were just fine... just a little cold!! 

On Monday Robert & Bernice (the grand parents) treated us to breakfast before we drove back to Portland- so sweet to get some pictures with her great grandparents!

After our breakfast we drove to Portland stayed the night at a hotel and caught our flight in the am..  here are pictures of our drive back and fun times swimming at the indoor pool!

Allie got to sleep in her own bed at the hotel!! 

Fun times on on the plane.. Allie got her nap in! 

Allie was invited into the cockpit by the captain!!

And, well it has been a while since my last belly picture... her is me, 30 weeks! 

Catch up

We have so much to catch up on!  First of all our Christmas was wonderful!  We had such a good time- we did Christmas with "Grandma Bo" on Wednesday, cousins on Thursday & Friday was Christmas eve and we had "Grandma Abby/Betty" come stay the night with us!  We decorated cookies and said goodbye to Toby.  (In case you were wondering how we were able to hug him good bye - he looses his magic when we touch him, but its ok on Christmas Eve bc Santa takes him back to the North Pole).

Christmas morning was great. Allie got a ton of toys and it took us about 3 hours to get thu all of the gifts.  She was so cute passing out the gifts.  She would say "Here you go Grandma, Merry Christmas" each time she passed out a gift... we all took turns and had a nice morning.  In the afternoon after nap we went over to Kris & Leslie's house to have Christmas dinner and exchange gifts with them.  This was Natalie's 1st Christmas and it was so fun to see Kris & Leslie as parents!!

We also have been spending a ton of time on the nursery furniture.  (though I don't think I'd ever do this again, we were able to get ALL of our furniture for under $200- & accessories for under $200 as well)  The down side is that we had to sand, prime & paint all of the furniture and it took us FOREVER to finish!

My Nursery Score Sheet:

Crib- $120 craigslist

Dresser- $15  craigslist

Changing table- $15 craigslist

Baskets for table- $ 65 Target

Glider/ Ottoman- $40 craigslist

Material to recover cushions - $15 

Side table- Free- my mom gave it to me

Armouir- Free- left over from college furniture

Bedding & Valance - left over from Allie's nursery

Paint for walls- $40 Sherwin Williams

Paint / Primer for furniture- $50 Lowe's

Letters-$8 Hobby Lobby

Decor for letters- $10 Hobby Lobby

Total So Far: $378

(I'll prob spend another $50- $100 on decor items.. we shall see)

After Christmas we made a trip up to Arkansas to see Teresa & her family!  We were able to spend NYE with their family & friends we had a really nice trip!! The above picture is from our drive up there... Allie did SOOO good with her potty training the whole way- and told us when she had to "go"!  In the picture we are on the side of the highway- and Allie is "going potty" :)  She went the whole trip with out an accident!  I'd say we are FINALLY done potty training! :) 

We have been busy!! :) Love this time of Year!

This month and the month of October are prob my favorite months!  They are very busy but there are so many fun things to do with children!  (and without) I continue to be so tired with this pregnancy and usually head to bed around 8:30-9 after we get Allie put down for the night!  Other than that I'm feeling pretty good!  I usually take all my pictures on my phone and then upload to the blog- but the last few times I have set down to update the blog my phone goes on the fritz!! (So I'm waiting till the sprint store is less crazy to go in and get my phone fixed) 

Anyway here are a few of the fun things we have been up to since the last time I posted-

This is Allie's Wed class and her teacher Ms Jenny!  We Sure do LOVE her!!!

All Dressed up for the program on Thurs!

We can start off with Allie's Mothers Day Out program.  She had one on Wed & Thurs- (for each of her classes) They sang Away in a Manger, Jingle Bells & Happy Birthday Jesus- it was adorable!  Allie was very involved with the songs and did all the hand motions to Away in a Manger. I have a very cute video- if I can only figure out how to get it off of my silly phone!!  The following week she had had her Christmas Party at school and they painted adorable reindeer shirts with their hands and feet!  Myself and another mom were able to come into the class and help make the shirts!   The Christmas parties were so much fun and Allie got to have one on Wed & Thurs again! 

We signed up to bring treat bags one day and made cute little reindeer & snowman donuts.  They were a hit and so much fun to make!

 

Every year (for the past 3 I can remember) We have gone to Karen's house to do Gingerbread houses. She stays up for hours and hours baking the houses for us and everyone usually brings candy or things to decorate with!   This is a "mommy" only activity as we take several hours to complete these silly houses. And Leslie & I usually bring our moms too- It is so much fun!!  A tradition I really look forward to every year!!  

Something else fun that we did with some of my moms in the playgroup was we got together for a cookie exchange and a toy swap. In this picture Allie & my mom are helping me make the cookies!!  We swapped some toys that our kids no longer played with and everyone ended up with 3-4 new toys!! That was a bunch of fun!!

 Later in the week we met up for a Mom's Night Out Christmas Party at Tru Fire.  We had such a good time!  I am so blessed to have so many wonderful mommy friends!!

Also we have started working on the nursery furniture.  I was hoping to save some money so I purchased all the baby room furniture off of craigslist and plan to paint & re-finish everything... So far we have sanded and primed everything.  I started to paint last weekend, and realized that I had the wrong paint! UgH!  SO we went to the store and bought more paint... just wish I had the right paint before painting with the wrong stuff for 21/2 hours last weekend! (Its not like I have extra energy here! :))

Fun with Toby the elf!

Here are a few fun pictures from the adventures of Toby!  We are having so much fun with our little elf this year!  Every morning Allie wakes up and wants to hunt for Toby, then she says how silly he is! He is a great tool to help remind her that "Toby is watching" and will report all naughty behavior back to Santa!



Breakfast With Sata

This morning we got up and went to have breakfast with Santa at the Methodist Church.For $5 we got breakfast, a craft & Allie got her picture with Santa!   It was a really nice fund raiser and the breakfast was delicious!  They served pancakes, sausage & fruit!  Tasty!!  But boy was it packed!  I had no idea it would be so packed!!  Allie did pretty good considering the chaos!  (Also she stayed "clean & dry the entire time- even though we tried to take her potty 4 times!!)   We had both grandma's with us today and that is always a lot of fun!  (the extra hands are very nice too!)  Here are some of the pictures!

Here we are waiting in line for Santa, the line was over an half hour-

 thankfully the Grandmas kept Allie free from the line until the last 5 mins or so!

I was so surprised how good Allie did this year!! Last year she had an awful fit! 

 This year, she went right up and told Santa she wanted a Piano for Christmas!!

 (funny bc we have one at home??)

Meet Toby!! (and the potty training blues....)

This year is our first year to celebrate the Elf on the Shelf family tradition.   It took us 3 days to name our little elf (naming isn't quite our strong suite) but we have finally decided on the name Toby.  The way this tradition works- or as the story is told- this little elf comes every year after Thanksgiving as Santa's helper. His job is to report back to the North Pole if you have been Naughty or Nice. Upon his return he will arrive in a new place in the home. Each morning the children will awake, and have to find their elf.  Because the elf is magic, he can not be touched by the children or his magic will be lost.  While Allie is so little we are being really tricky to keep him out of her reach for now!  Also we love to tell her "Toby" said so, or "Toby is going to tell Santa"... seems to be working just right! :)

This was Toby's first appearance, He left her a note thanking her for his name!!

A few days later- he was coloring pictures for her when she got up!

And on to the Blues... Potty training blues... Last week we went to Panties everyday- all day.  This has been such a chore for us! (and her too)  We started potty training in August and were almost 90% trained when MDO started.   I felt bad for the teacher, and worried about accidents so I sent her to school in pull ups- BIG MISTAKE, HUGE!!!  Well we went from having 1-2 accidents at a time to only being about 50% potty trained to having an accident EVERY time we put panties on!  UGH!  So we are back to square one.  Everyone is re-training.  I am learning as we go, and Allie really does not like to be "told when" she needs to "go".  (strong willed?)  So we argue and negotiate (I'll give you candy if you go) - and then preggie mommy gets fed up and  I say- OK fine, and let her win, a few mins later she has an "accident"...  The worst part to me is when we have an accident in the car seat!! It has to be brought inside taken apart and washed!! Last week when I brought this inside (after she peed in it) I was messing with the straps and looked at her to find she was peeing in the kitchen floor!!! I had enough and told Daddy he could help put the car seat back together!!   I look forward to the days when I can look back and laugh at these moments!  Lord help me when I have 2!!  Not sure how I'll manage- lets hope Lindy is an ANGEL!!