Too Long, My Friends....Too Long

I can't believe this much time has passed already since I've last blogged. I meant to do better. I wanted to blog, really. I'm sure I've had something intelligible to say in the last three weeks, but alas....I've been too busy (er, lazy) to do any blogging.

Enough in the mud - - let's recap:

The Lilster

*Lily had her 6 month checkup - - she was 19.6 lbs and 28.5 inches. Yes, that was almost a month ago, she's surely grown since then

* Our little chubba chunk eats NON-STOP. She has been happily devouring any solid food we've thrown her way, and we can hardly get it in her mouth fast enough.

* So far she's had: rice cereal, oatmeal, barley, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, pears, apples, mangos, hawaiian delight (pineapple & banana), bananas, avocado, biter biscuits, banana fruit puffs. The only thing she hasn't liked thus far are the fruit puffs. They kinda stick to her lips and she's not having that.

* She has two teeth. Is sitting pretty well on her own, and is starting to scoot around on the floor. She'll push with her toes and get herself around - - it's not long, folks! I've got to finish babyproofing!!

* This past Friday, I left Lily in the nursery for the first time at MOPS. It was the first time I'd left her with anyone but Brandon. Sigh. She did exceptionally well, though. (of course ;)

The Monkey

* Our little one turned 5 last week. Oh, my. I hardly know where the time has gone

* We had a perfectly awesome Winter Wonderland party for her! It was so much fun, and although I went a little over-the-top, as I'm known to often do, it was a blast. Camille had such a great time that she's already requesting we do another Winter Wonderland party when she turns six! Well, atleast we'd save money on decorations, right? ;)

* I am just loving being at home with my girls and wouldn't trade it for anything. I have so cherished working with Camille with preschool stuff, and it's awesome to see how much she's learning. I can't believe the questions she asks - - she's so incredibly curious about the world around her, and I love being able to share in that fascination.

* Camille is also on a mission to get her Nana to move to Texas it would seem! We had such a great visit with Mom when she came for Camille's birthday, and we've missed her now that she's back home!! Oh, living far away is so difficult :(

Other stuff

* I've been having some fun crafting lately - some Valentine goodies (the plaque was featured on The Daily Digi - woo hoo!).

* Mom taught me to crochet while she was here, and I've really picked that up. I think I'm getting addicted! I've already made two scarves (well, they were little baby-doll scarves), and I'm working on a third - this time a people-scarf.

That's all I got for now - - I feel a project coming on!

Jesus the Chef

So, last night was Brandon's radio show night & that means that I do bedtime stories with Camille - usually it's Daddy's time with her. She picked out what she wanted to read - - her children's Bible. *awww*

We were reading about miracles - healing the blind, making the lame walk, and the miracle of the fish and loaves. We read that last one and Camille was a little confused. I started explaining about how he multiplied this small meal of fish & bread into one that would feed the many people there, like if he took her colby jack cheese, crackers, and juice and multiplied that into a meal that would feed every person in our church and then some.

She was starting to get just how awesome that was. So I said, "Jesus took the fish and the bread, and he made..." All of a sudden she shouted out, "Sandwiches!! Jesus made sandwiches, Mom. You know, like tuna fish sandwiches!"

Oh, dear. It would seem that Camille is not as excited about our Lord's provision as she is with his assumed sandwich-making skills! I was absolutely rolling!! It's just hilarious to me the things she comes up with! What joyful, blessed days we have!

Lily's New Tooth

Okay, this really isn't a great video....I'm new at this whole thing, but I had to share a short clip w/ Mom. Hi, Mom!!

And One More Makes TWO!

Sweet Baby Lilikins got her second tooth today! YAY! The last few days had been so rough on her that I knew that tooth would be poking through any day. She's looking like such a big girl!

We're still working hard on getting her to go down at night. It's been so hard! She's quite the stubborn little thing, and we've had to resort to letting her cry it out. OHMYGOSH! This is the hardest thing - - especially with Little Miss Iron Will! She seemingly has no problem crying for 1 1/2 hours nightly. Naps are going well, and I pray that it's not much longer before she is soothing easier at night.

Speaking of my little love, she is calling me. She's squealing and grunting as if to say, "Get off the computer, woman! And, give me some lovin'!" so- - off I must go :)

I am a Bad Mommy, but a Rockin' Crafter!

What fun we had today - - it was a MOPS day & Camille and I both enjoyed ourselves hanging with our respective friends today. We donated some stuff to Goodwill (read cleared some more crap out of the garage) - - woo hoo!! Did a quick Dollar Tree trip (which resulted in some Valentine goodies & some new plastic trays for my bathroom drawer) - - YAY!

I got home & unloaded my crew and the spoils of my shopping venture from the car. After getting everyone and everything inside, I went to get Lily from her carrier. Funny, I thought....her straps are unbuckled. Hmm....when did I unbuckle her? Just now...nope. In the car...nope. Ah, it was all the way back at MOPS when I nursed her at 10:00 this morning!! EEEK! So, my poor child went from MOPS to car to Goodwill to Dollar Tree to car to home in her carrier UNBUCKLED!! I said a prayer right there thanking the good Lord for his infinite provision and made a quick promise to myself to be more careful about this next time! The coulda-beens just throw my brain for loops!

So...onto the craftiness! I scored this cute frame at a garage sale for 10 cents. See how it's missing a little something in the lower left corner? Likely an embellishment of some sort.

So, I took some ribbon from my stash, some vintage buttons (that came from my grandmother's old sewing things that she passed down to me), some embroidery floss (to thread the buttons because unthreaded buttons aren't cute), and my trusy hot glue gun.

A few minutes later, I had this adorable frame that will look oh-so-precious in Lil's room - all for 10 cents and some things I had on hand! Now, I just need to get a little picture of my darlin' in there!

Do I *Really* Need a Onesie?

The mountains of baby clothes were slowly beginning to take over Lily's room. For some reason, I just didn't want to get rid of them! I mean, I think we're done having kiddos. Brandon's a little more sure than I am. I don't really need to keep all these clothes, but so many memories were attached to each little piece of clothing. The pink outfit that Camille wore when she first met my grandparents; the blue dress she wore at her dedication; the Carter's onesie set that Lily wore over and over again in her first month. Oh, my.....how can I just send these things down the river? Perhaps I think that by holding onto these things I keep a little piece of their infant days....I don't know. But seriously, do I really need a onesie?!?! How in the world can I keep *everything*??

I've done well and have already sent one box to consign at Wiggles & Giggles. I went in there the other day to take a bunch of maternity clothes and had this ridiculous sadness come over me when I saw my baby's stuff hanging on the racks. I actually took one thing off the rack and brought it back home! HA! I do have an excuse for that one though - - it was a Valentine's outfit of Camille's that she really wanted for "Curly" her teddy bear.

So, today I went through two boxes of things in preparation for consigning at a spring sale. I kept a few things back, though. I think I may make each girl a kind of crazy quilt using some of their more special outfits. I just can't get rid of all of these things - - not yet :)

I've been busy!

Thought I'd share a few recent scrapbook pages :)

How you like them apples??

Lily has her first fruit! mmmm....apples!

Sweet Apples Kit by Kristin Aagard

Lily plays in sweet Kohen's gym - - new digs are fun!

New Years kit - Sweet Genevieve at Oscraps

My precious & beautiful Camille - how I love you!

First Kiss of Spring kit - SugarPlum Paperie @ The Digichick

Lily "finds" her legs! She has the best time checking out her chunky little legs!

Denim Gal kit by Mari K @ The Digichick


Thanks for looking!!

Hey Cheri! How's the scrapping coming along, my friend??
Can't wait to see some of your new LOs!

Lots to share....

Oh, the last week has been such a whirlwind! So much has happened!

Lily got her first tooth on December 23rd! Yay, Lil!

Christmas was fantastic! The girls had such a great time & enjoyed all their gifts. Even though the Lilster was sick, she still had a good time. She was especially fond of her Baby Elmo doll!

Camille's favorite toy was likely the VTech Learn to Write toy - - she's played with that thing non-stop. It's SO crazy-loud, though - - I'm not quite certain why toy manufacturers seek to deafen our children with these absurdly high volumes on toys! Perhaps they're in kahoots with the hearing aid folks. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya.

Okay, I digress...

On Christmas Eve, Lily's ear infection had returned with fever and the like, and so I took her to the NextCare urgent clinic. Started her on antibiotics and although she was feeling better, she broke out with a terrible rash a few days later. The pedi couldn't see her, and because her hands and feet were swelling, they asked me to take her to the urgent care center again. Well, the urgent care center doc wouldn't see her. Said I had to take her to the emergency center because of her age. Ugh.... So, a few hundred dollars later, we learned that she was either suffering from a viral infection or a reaction to the amoxicillin. Either way, we needed to give her Benadryl and just wait for it to clear up.

Our poor little honey looked SO bad! I'm posting pics so my mom can see - - apologies to anyone else for subjecting you to this ;)

Today was the Texas Tech / Ole Miss Cotton Bowl. Ya know....at the end of a tiresome "vacation" week, Brandon was sure looking forward to a good game. It sure would've boosted his spirits to see his favorite team play a winning bowl game. Sadly, not in the cards :( Tech lost to those dang Rebels! Oh well, it was a great season, and we'll be looking forward to next year :)

More Advent Fun

Geez, I totally forgot to update all the fun goings-on with our advent calendar in the last week or so! Here's what we were up to in the days preceding Christmas:

17) A visit to Santa! - Kind of a big ol' phooey on them though. Santa's elves and the powers that be decided that no more personal cameras were allowed and the only photo option was the terrible pics that they end up taking. So, we bought a 5x7 that I've yet to scan in & talked the head elf into letting me take a quick pic of Camille with Santa.

Anticipation!

Santa & Camille

18) Today's little box was stuffed full of red, white & green pom poms. We made a super-cute pom pom garland decoration. Brandon thinks it looks a little like something you might find in Whoville. Oh well, Mr. Grinch....we love our crafty creation!




19) Did you know that a Littlest Pet Shop pet fits perfectly inside our advent boxes?!!? Camille got a cute little panda inside today's box!


20) Because she had been totally wanting a nutcracker this Christmas, I stuck a paint-your-own nutcracker in today's box. We had lots of fun painting this cute guy!


21) Today we made an adorable reindeer purse. I use the term "we" a little loosely. I did all the stitching while Camille played around, and then she glued on the felt pieces for Rudolph's face, ears, etc. We stuffed him silly with yummy candies and whatnot!

22) Today we finished up our Christmas ornaments that we would be giving away. Not going to post any pics of those just yet - - I don't want to ruin the surprise for a certain "mountain gal."


23) Camille followed a trail of yummy candy to the cookie jar where she found a package of Chewy Sweetarts. A tasty little treat & a welcome day off from crafting for Mom! LOL!

24) It's time to get our reindeer food & Santa's cookies ready cause Santa Claus comes tonight!!


25) Christmas joy & mahem :)


Phew!! What a ton of fun we had this year with the advent calendar. It's kinda sad that it's over and nothing to count down for! I think that we might have to do a bit of a birthday countdown for Camille in January perhaps. Here's a little LO I made to highlight this new tradition for our family:

O Little Town

Despite our run-in with all things yucky in the last weeks with the girls' being sick, our December and count-down to Christmas has been so much fun! We've done some great things together & it's been a blast watching Camille have such a fantastic time this holiday season!

Continuing on with our advent calendar:
12) Let's take a trip to the town where Jesus was born! Camille and I read several books about Jesus' birth today in preparation for our trip to Bethlehem (in Burnet). Oh, what a great time!! This was the first year that she was really into it, and it was just fabulous! Aunt Carol & Granny came down and we met up with Grandma, Grandpa, Thomas & Lauren as well. It was so much fun!

Daddy & Lily all snuggled up!

Camille petting a camel w/ Grandpa

Joseph & Mary with baby Jesus. Um, apparently the wise men brought a construction paper collage for baby Jesus and placed it on the hay!! hee hee!

Day 13) Candy cane -- We made some yummy peppermint candy together to give as gifts!

Day 14) A little note led Camille to the cookie jar. Inside, there was a monkey puzzle that you could color & decorate. Such fun! Our little monkey loved this activity!

Day 15) Another monkey! Today, Camille received her Christmas ornament from us - a Webkinz monkey. So stinkin' cute!! I gave Brandon his ornament as well - - a Texas Tech ornament I made for him :)

Day 16) A little note lead Camille to the cookie jar once more. This time she got a Build-a-Bear tin box with candies inside!

In the midst of all this fun & Christmas merriment, I've managed to create a few LOs as well!

Counting Down!

It's so much fun beginning family Christmas traditions and this year I began something new with Camille - - the advent calendar. We have done the countdown calendars before, and last year we added marked the days by adding a cotton ball to Santa's beard and cap until he was all fluffy white and Christmas was here.

I really wanted to do something more - - and those advent boxes are Target were so calling to me!! So, I picked one up and we've been having the most fun! Camille excitedly runs downstairs every morning to see what the day brings for her - - a fun surprise and one day closer to Christmas :)

And, just because I want to remember.....I'm going to list all the things we've done for this advent season:

1) "Let's make something together" note from Mom - - We made glittery snowglobes.

2) A clue leading to the cookie jar where Camille found a Build-a-Bear notepad.

3) A little teensy-weensy duck that grows when you put him in water.

4) A birthday candle - - a reminder of Jesus' birthday that we are celebrating. The candle also represents light - the light of Jesus in our hearts!

5) A popcorn kernel & a red bead. We popped popcorn, watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, then made a cute Rudolph craft.

6) Two beads - one red, one white.....another fun craft day making candy cane ornaments.

7) A sweet note reminding Camille about how precious a gift she and Lily are to us. Family is a wonderful blessing from the Lord. She got to choose a way that we could all spend time together today. As it turned out, we made the candy cane ornaments from the day before!!

8) mmmmm.....My Little Pony lip balm! Perfect for those wintry chapped lips!

9) Crafty clues: a foam snowflake and a mitten. We made a cool snowman scene!

10) Today Dad got a surprise! The clue in the box was for him, and led him to his stocking where Camille had hidden the movie Christmas Vacation.

11) Yet another crafty day - - are we sensing a pattern here?!?! Today we made a felt penguin door hanger.

I'll be popping in to update this list as the month goes on :)
We have seriously had so much fun! It's been a great way to really focus on spending time together and making the holidays super-fun for my sweet girl!

Brinner Date

My sweet Camille was needing some mommy time. She has been asking about having a Mommy-date, but everyone's been sick and timing just hasn't been right. Today, as she sulked about me not playing with her while I tried frantically to sweep & mop the downstairs, I knew that it was high time to take my monkey on a date!

I let her decide where we'd go for dinner & she chose IHOP. Um, big surprise there! My girl loves some brinner (breakfast for dinner ;). She was hoping for the Horton Hears a Who pancakes, but since that was just a short promotional thing - - she had blueberry pancakes and we rented the movie afterward! A super-fun brinner date :)

The Land of the Sickies

Oh my goodness, have things been crazy around here. Both girls have been sick for about a week. We thought that they were just suffering from allergies, but once the fever set in, we knew something else had to be going on. We ended up going to the doctor's office on Friday - Camille had a respiratory infection and Lily had an ear infection. Both are definitely on the mend since beginning antibiotics. I pray they feel better soon and that this passes quickly.

Here's my sweet Lil' fast asleep in her high chair - - just too exhausted to do anything but crash!

Although we've been under the weather, I've been super-busy trying to get things done around here. I guess the upside has been that Lil' has been taking longer naps, allowing me the time to get some things knocked out. Our recent dining room - to - playroom conversion is still underway, and I added this photo grouping that I'm pretty happy with. Now, no looking too closely! I dropped one of the frames, broke the glass, and will have to replace it :)

I am loving the way this turned out. I actually got the idea from Tara Whitney, whose pictures far surpass my own humble shots, but hey, a girl's gotta start somewhere, right?

Camille has already been getting so much use out of this room, and I'm glad that I finally let the dining room go. It's been nice to have a place for her to play downstairs, and I'm sure that once Lily is moving about, it'll be great to have a place for her as well.