"Elfie"

So last night, we introduced "Elf on the Shelf" to Anniston and Treyson (well, really just Anniston at this point). If you haven't heard of this, it is the CUTEST thing ever. Basically, Santa sends this Elf around Thanksgiving to your house, and you adopt him into your family by naming him and following the rules. The Elf acts as Santa's eyes to let him know whether you've been naughty or nice. Then every evening, "Elfie" (the name Anniston came up with for our elf) will fly to the North Pole to let Santa know how we all acted that day. He tells Santa if we followed the rules, said our prayers, helped eachother out, etc. Then each morning, we look for Elfie because he always lands in a different spot in our house.

Here's a picture of Elfie

Well, yesterday Anniston was pretty down in the dumps attitude-wise. She hadn't napped and she was feeling icky with her cough and snotty nose. So I asked her this morning what Elfie must have told Santa yesterday. She told me that Elfie told Santa she was naughty. I asked her what this meant. She told me that she won't get presents if she's not nice. So then she went to find Elfie and apologized to him and told him she was going to be a good girl today...we'll see!

Here's Anniston getting up close with our new Elfie last night....one rule is that you can't touch him....boy was that tempting!

"School Days"

This blog entry is one I'm going back and forth on, but decided to do. I got my inspiration from Jerry's co-worker, who emailed him that her daughter (or really she) had wardrobe envy of Anniston's attire. Anniston almost always is dressed to the nine for pictures. But trust me Amanda, we have moments where we look like we just climbed out of a cardboard box.

Take yesterday for instance.

Anniston:

Went to school in a striped little dress, with leggings underneath. She had on her coordinating faux crocs (you know, the ones from WalMart for $7.99). Also, the hair was in really cute pigtails (pink twisty ties of course). When I picked her up, she looked COMPLETELY different. Her ponytails were crying out for help...barely in. She had on a different shirt. She had on boy khaki pants (never seen them before) and navy socks with her pink faux crocs. So the wardrobe change occurred because we're sick around here and Anniston had a little runny boo boo incident that got on her clothes a little bit. For some reason, the teacher couldn't find her pants I sent to school in her cubby, so they dressed her out of the "extra clothes for parents who forget to pack their kids extra clothes in the event of an emergency" bin. Then when we got home she was wearing her "party hat" (the Indian hat they made at school for Thanksgiving). Also, she wanted to wear her "shiny" party shoes...those would be the shiny brown shoes from Target that I got on clearance to match her Christmas dress. So I caved on that....they were only $10; if they get too scuffed, I'll get some polish out! And of course, we're still sporting our bib because we had spaghetti for dinner. Here she is in all her glory:

Treyson:

This is a good one too. His babysitter's son got sick at school and wouldn't let him ride the bus home (well, they weren't supposed to...that's a whole 'nother crazy story for Mrs. Amber...poor thing!). So Nana Cindy (Mommy's boss' wife and our "adopted" Nana) went to get Treyson (along with 2 others) from Mrs. Ambers. So Mrs. Amber sends Nana Cindy with 2 diapers, wipes, and nothing else. Normally this would be fine; however, this is the 2 hours window that Treyson decided to have a blow-out....with no spare clothes! So Nana thought fast and dressed our "healthy" 14 lb., 2 oz. little boy in a night-shirt and socks from her grandson Gage....who's almost 3!! But thank goodness our baby is so "healthy"....because it didn't look all that big! (Thanks Gage!)

So there you have it...behind the scenes my kids really can look like they climbed out of a box!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!!

Ok, I have to admit it. We're THOSE people who didn't even wait for Thanksgiving to pass before we decided to put up our tree. Thanksgiving is so late this year, and if we waited until after it's over we would only have 3 weeks to enjoy the tree.

So last night I was in Ft. Smith with my mom at Holiday Market. We got some really cute things, and mom even won a gift certificate for a massage, facial, and hair treatment...pretty great, huh? (We never win anything!) Since it ended at 10:30, I just stayed in the Fort while Jerry had the kids up here. He is such an amazing husband to agree to let me leave for the night with an 11 week old!! He and Anniston called me at 8:45 so I could join them in her "night-night prayer", and Treyson was already tucked in by then. Well, this morning I woke up at 7 to get all ready and head back up the hill. Anniston has gymnastics on Saturday mornings, so one of us has to keep Treyson while the other participates in gymnastics (she won't have a parent doing gymnastics with her once she's 3). So I call Jerry around 8:30 as I'm passing Fayetteville, just to make sure he's got Anniston up and getting her leotard on and such. Well, what do you know.....NO!!! The entire clan is STILL SLEEPING! What a bunch of lazy bums! We are so blessed to have children that sleep so well. So Jerry realizes the time at this point and had Anniston up and in her leotard by the time I got there....and of course I came home bearing gifts of Irish Maid Donuts (best Maple Bars EVER!).

Gymnastics was great...it was trampoline day, and that's always a hit with Anniston. She's starting to work on her "cartwheel" (which at 2 1/2 looks nothing like a cartwheel...oh well). Front rolls (somersaults) are a breeze, and she's even doing a front roll on the beam by herself (the fatter beam, but I'm still impressed nonetheless).

We get home and Treyson is about worn out after being up for an hour and a half (the 12 previous hours of sleep just didn't quite cut it), so he goes down for his first of 3 daily naps. Jerry was finishing up College Game Day (and we don't mess with him during that show....well, at least we try not to!). Anniston had stripped her clothes and was trotting around in her leotard covered with a "sparkly" dress, tiara, and water shoes. I was bored (don't get me wrong...I love some college football, but for some reason I just wasn't into laying around today), so I sweet talked Jerry into carrying down the Christmas tree...suprisingly, he agreed and brought it down.

We got it all fluffed up (Jerry didn't "fluff" his part very well....I think he's fired---wait a minute, did he do that on purpose????), and decorated with ornaments. Anniston was FLIPPING out....she was ecstatic that we had our tree up. Jerry makes her say "Merry Christmas" to get the lights turned on, so she's got that phrase down pat. She kept asking me all day, "When is Christmas?" This is going to be a long 5 weeks!! Then she asked me if she could be "Cinderella" for Christmas!! haha I couldn't help but laugh; but I had to go on to explain that we don't dress up for Christmas like we do for Halloween....too funny! Anyhow, we've also been talking about Santa Clause alot lately. She will tell you that Santa is in the North Pole right now making toys, but that he'll be at the mall soon so that we can go see him and tell him that we want pink, sparkly presents for Christmas!

After everything in the living room was cleaned up, the kids watched football with Dadoo in his recliner while I cleaned the refrigerator shelves (yeah, I really did....and can't remember the last time either). I took this picture of my kids (yes, Jerry's one too...and he'll agree) because they looked so sweet....and it shows off the Christmas tree!.

Then I decided to take a picture of the kids. I'm just in love with my babies' eyes. Both are blue...Anniston's are a light blue, and Treyson's are much deeper....oh, they both just make me melt!! I'm just slighly partial though...

Bath time was soon to follow, and Anniston looked at Treyson while he was laying in his little bath boat and in the most serious voice said, "Hey there, Buddy....don't pee pee in my bath tonight, ok?" I had to bite my lip so hard because she was so serious. Something about getting in that bath usually makes Treyson potty, so I guess she was going to try and have a little talk with him before he did it!! And by the way, the pudding and chili that was on Anniston's face in the previous picture got washed off!!

Well, that's about all for us on this Saturday. I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories to post next weekend after the holiday. Cousin Kinley's going to be in town most of the week, and we're keeping cousin Michael on Saturday evening....so I'm sure there will be some fun things to write about. OU is stomping Texas Tech right now. Boy am I sick of hearing "Boomer Sooner"....

First Haircut...:(

Well, it finally happened. Anniston got her first haircut. I know, I know...she's almost 2 1/2, so she's due. But her curls are soooooo cute and I just didn't want to let go of them. Well, guess what? They're still there!! YAY!!

We went to Mrs. Trish's house (Mommy works with her, and we're buddies with her kiddos Natalie and Gage). First she watched another one of our friends who's almost 1 1/2, Nila, get her hair cut. Since Nila sat there like such a big girl without crying or fussing Anniston figured she could probably handle it too!

Trish sat Anniston in the chair and explained that her "special scissors" are the only scissors we use to cut hair! (Thank you Trish!!) What a nightmare to find out your child has cut their hair with plastic scissors at school/home. Let's hope her little talk as well as ours works!

I'm going to guess that about 1 1/2 - 2 inches was taken off. Her hair looks so cute, and it looks alot better now that it's even. It had so many different lengths in it.

Trish and Mommy are discussing the plan of action to take on our little girl's hair!

Here we go...Anniston sat so still for Trish. We were so proud of her!

Here's the finished product. I know, it doesn't look curly but it's because I had blow-dried her hair before we went...which took most of the tight curl out. After her nap, most of the curl was back.

Next on the list.....HIGHLIGHTS!! Just kidding Dadoo :)

Big Boy!

Treyson had his 2 month checkup today with Dr. Ball. We have concluded that nursing is working really well!! Dr. Ball says that if I say otherwise, it must mean that Treyson's sneaking out of his crib in the middle of the night and getting into the refrigerator. He is....let's say...HEALTHY!! Here's his stats:

Weight: 13 1/2 pounds

Height 23.62 inches

Head circumference: 16.14 inches (that means a whole lot of brain in there!!)

Just some 2 month facts on Treyson:

~He is a great eater. Eats about 5 ounces every 2.5-3 hours

~He loves to be in the shower to get cleaned...calms him tremendously if he's fussy

~Likes the bath, as long as we continuously pour warm water over him

~Gets startled so easily, and immediately rolls his lower lip

~HATES his carseat (that's why I haven't been getting out much and dread running errands!)

~Sleeps about 10 hours straight at night

~Smiles so easily once he makes eye contact with you

~Giggles for his Dadoo

~Likes the swing

~Loves to lay in his bed and watch his Razorback mobile (he's usually joined by big sister Anniston who still enjoys watching the mobile as well)

~Loves to be swaddled up tight for nap/night-time

Here's some recent pictures for you!

Big Blue eyes

Big boy just hanging out in his Bumbo chair!You can see him here straining his neck to get a better look at those Hogs!We love you Treyson! And we can't imagine a day without you!

Winnie the Pooh - LIVE!

We took Anniston to see Winnie The Pooh- LIVE! in Little Rock on Friday night. We had so much fun! I almost forgot what it was like to drive in the car without a screaming baby! haha Anniston was so excited to see Pooh, and she was quite overwhelmed with everything (lights, sounds, other kids, etc.) She even got to stand out in the aisle and bounce like Tigger (it was an interactive show), and that's right up her alley. If you haven't spent much time around Anniston lately, then I'll fill you in on this: If you are with her for at least 5 minutes, you'll see her jump. She is a bouncy little bunny! She says she jumps like Superman, and it never ends. Our little girl has more energy than I could ever imagine having! It's non-stop, and she never wears herself out!

Anniston right before the show startedI'm not sure who enjoyed Pooh more....that's Dadoo's favorite (in fact, he wanted to do a "Pooh" nursery...um, no!)

Finally, Tigger and Pooh (our two favorites) together on stage!

Yes, Pooh and Piglet are really flying...Anniston wanted one of those balloons!

Bouncing like tigger in the aisle:Mommy and Anniston before the show:

Pointing to the "snow" that fell from the ceiling:

Leaving Alltel arena...all by herself, as always!

Bye, bye..."See you "waiter" Pooh (as stated by Anniston herself)! It was so great spending such fun time with Anniston. We left Treyson with PaPa in Fort Smith, so we knew he was in good hands while we were in Little Rock.

Go Hogs!

We gathered up our troops for the Tulsa game this past Saturday. For November, the weather was AMAZING! We had a really good time! I had to get a picture of this....Anniston loves to hold Treyson's hand, particularly in the car....so sweet!

Anniston in her "bling" Razorback shirt! This was made by a lady I know from church...she'll "bling" anything. And it washes so well. Mommy even has a matching shirt! http://www.iblingit.com/index.htm

Treyson in his jersey. He started to get hot, so when we went to the "A" Club for half-time, we stripped his jeans off and let him wiggle on the floor a bit. He was so happy getting to stretch out and cool off!

Anniston gave high-five to EVERY PLAYER after the game. She held her hand out, and thought that she was big time doing it!!