Christmas 2009 in Review!

As you can imagine, these past few weeks have been slightly crazy and busy around here. We have been going and doing lots of things and have hardly had a chance to catch our breath. We had a great Christmas and a fun New Years and as usual Mommy took a ton of pictures! So, there are lots and lots of pics in this post. Hope you enjoy the picture story!

A couple of weeks ago we had our wonderful neighbors, Scott, Michelle and Riley, over for a Christmas dinner and to exchange presents.

This was Jayda helping mommy make snowman cookies for the get together!


Jayda and Riley opening their Christmas presents, not sure what the bad face is all about!


The next day, on Friday the 18th, Justin graduated from the University of Houston! Yay Justin! We are so proud of him! The ceremony was nice and they had a reception for him at the Inn at the Ballpark afterwards.

Justin and Lourdes with Lourdes' little sister Grace and Jayda at Justin's graduation party.


Jayda and Grace at the party. Jayda loved Grace so much! They have both heard a lot about each other through Lourdes, but this was their first time to meet in person.


The next day on saturday, the 19th Mammaw, Papaw, Nanna and Pawpaw, and Justin and Lourdes all came over to our house to exchange Christmas presents with Mammaw and Papaw. Jayda had lots of fun helping everyone open up their presents! That same night we had Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We met for dinner at Papasitos then went to Aunt Cheryl's house for deserts and to open presents. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera so I don't have any pics from that night!

She was so excited about her hooded towel from Mammaw!


The next day on sunday, Dec. 20th we had Christmas with all of Jacob's brothers and their families at Nanna and Pawpaw's house. We had a delicious lunch, opened presents, played games, and had fun hanging out with everybody!

All of the kiddos playing Monopoly together.


The whole gang!


Jayda trying on one of her new sweaters. She loves trying on clothes all the time!!



On monday, Dec. 21st, myself, Kristi, and Jolene threw a baby shower for Andrea. She is due on March 4th with a little baby girl. We had the shower at the Farmhouse cafe in Huntsville and it turned out so nice. The food was great and Andrea got a lot of great baby gifts.

Me and Andrea at the shower.


The girls!



We stayed in Huntsville a couple more days until wednesday. On Christmas Eve we went out to do some Christmas shopping and went to Kroger to get stuff to make for our Mexican fiesta that night. We had a great day as a family and went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church. After church we came home and had tamales, put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and wrote Santa a letter. Jayda was SO excited about Santa coming and bringing her presents so she didn't want to go to sleep that night. She finally fell asleep and slept until about 6:30 a.m. to find all her presents from Santa under the tree!

Our little family on Christmas Eve night before church.


Sweet girl all dressed up on Christmas Eve!


All bundled up for church.


Going to put out carrots for the reindeer.


SO excited for Santa to come!!!


Opening up her new Tinkerbell thermos from mommy and daddy.


Daddy helping Jayda write a letter to Santa.


Snatching a few bites of Santa's cookies that she put out on Christmas Eve.


Digging into all of her presents from Santa on Christmas morning! She was super excited about everything! She came out of her room that morning looking for Santa because I guess she thought he would still be at her house. She seemed a little scared and unsure, but we told her he had to go to everyone else's house and that he wasn't here anymore. She was very curious to see if he'd eaten his cookies and drank his milk. Of course Santa had so she was very happy about that. Once she got everyhing figured out about Santa she started digging into her presents.


Getting on her new bike for the first time!


On Christmas morning Jayda played with all of her new presents and I made a yummy breakfast for us. We had a great morning then headed up to Huntsville to see the grandparents.

Jayda and daddy swinging at the park on Christmas Day.


Riding her new bike around the park. She loves it! She especially loves to go really fast down a hill then pick her feet up and go as fast as she can. Needless to say, daddy has to run along side of her so that she doesn't crash every 5 seconds! She is one fearless little lady!


Christmas afternoon we enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch with Oma and Oupa. After lunch we had fun exchanging presents.

Oma and Oupa with miss Jayda!


Our fam on Christmas day at Oma and Oupa's.


Jayda showing Oma and Oupa the photobook we made for them.


Christmas night we went over to Nanna and Pawpaw's house to have a Christmas dinner and open presents. Nanna made a yummy mexican dinner for everyone and afterwards we exchanged presents!

Lourdes helping miss Jayda open up a new pair of shoes!


Jayda wearing one of her new Tinkerbell dress up outfits and bouncing on her new ball!


Chirstmas was very busy, but very fun! We had a great time seeing all of our family and it just makes us realize how very blessed we are to have such amazing families and friends! Thanks to everyone that gave us Christmas presents! We appreciate and love you all!

This past week we were home most of the week which was nice to somewhat get back into a routine. On wednesday evening Nanna and Pawpaw came to stay with us and help get Sydney's nursery ready. We moved her crib into her room and most everything set up. It is looking so cute and I will be putting up pictures soon! On thursday morning, New Years Eve, we took Jayda to see the movie Princess and the Frog. Scott and Riley also came with us. It was both of the girls first movie experience. They did really well for the first 30-45 minutes then it got a little rough. They seemed to have a lot of fun though and loved chowing down on the big bag of popcorn daddy got for them! That night we went over to Scott and Michelle's house for dinner and to hang out for New Years. Scott grilled up some delicious steaks for us and Michelle made some awesome baked potatoes! The girls played a new game called Elefun and then we did fireworks and had cupcakes that night. It was fun to stay home and hang out with our buddies!

Jayda and Riley enjoying their popcorn at the movies.


The two girls standing outside of the theatre.


Jayda and Riley playing Elefun!


The girls eating cupcakes while watching Scott shoot off fireworks in our driveway.


Yummmmmyyyyy cupcake!


Jayda doing sparklers! She loved doing them, of course being the dare devil that she is, and wanted another one and another one...


The girls and daddys doing sparklers.


On New Years Day we went to huntsville to have a New Years lunch at Nanna and Pawpaw's house. On the way there this is what we turned around to find...


Jayda riding on the tractor with Daddy and Pawpaw on New Years.


Yesterday, Jan. 2nd was Nanna's birthday! We met Nanna and Pawpaw and Justin and Lourdes for a birthday dinner and P.F. Changs in the Woodlands and hung out at Barnes and Noble afterward so that Nanna could pick out a birthday present!

Nanna and Jayda drinking hot chocolate and Barnes and Noble.


Daddy and Justin with Jayda at dinner.


Jayda and Nanna riding the carosel at the mall!


And because the carosel token machine was broken they were giving out free rides. So, she had to do it one more time with daddy and Nanna!


Well, I think you are all caught up on our adventures lately! We should be home for the next month hanging out and getting all ready for miss Sydney!

Christmas is Coming & So is Sydney !

Wow, I can not believe that Christmas is only 11 days away! It is so crazy and it has come up so fast this year! Jayda has been having lots of fun getting into the holiday spirit. For one, she has been to see Santa 3 times already! Last year she was SO scared of him and this year she can not get enough of him. She asks where he is all the time and wants to go back to the mall and see him all of the time. It's pretty funny. The first time we went she told santa she wanted some pink boots for Christmas. We got her picture done and after we left she said "Where are my pink boots mommy?" I started laughing so hard and after thinking about it kinda made sense. She thought she'd go there and tell Santa what she wanted and he would pull it out right then and there and give it to her. So, I explained to her how he's going to come to her house on Christmas Eve and leave the presents and so on. It was so fun watching the light bulb go off as she listened to what's going to happen at Christmas. She is SO excited for Christmas she can't hardly wait! We also got her Christmas pictures done last week and they turned out really cute!

Jayda and Santa, round #2!


Last wednesday Michelle and Riley invited us over to do Christmas crafts. The girls had a blast making all kinds of Christmas ornaments with their hand prints and foot prints, glitter, paint, beads and all kinds of cool stuff!

Jayda doing Christmas crafts at Riley's house!


On thursday morning I had a dr's appt. and afterwards we went to Chuck E. Cheese and of course she had a ton of fun. I usually take her there after my appointments so that she has something fun to look forward to and as an incentive for her to be good with mommy at the doctor's office.

Riding the horsey at Chuck E's!


This past weekend my wonderful husband and wonderful mom painted Sydney's nursery. It turned out beautiful and I absolutely love it! Thank y'all so much!!! The last step is to move the furniture in and decorate and it will be all ready to go, woo hoo!! Did I mention little miss Sydney will be here in 7 short weeks?!!

Sydney's room before, Jacob taping off the ceiling.


Sydney's room after, still a work in progress, but at least you can see the color!


Sweet girl all dressed up in one of her Christmas dresses.


Mommy and Jayda!

Snow Friday!

This past friday it snowed here in houston! Yes, that's right, it actually snowed in Houston! It was so cool and so fun to watch and play outside in. It was very surreal to see it snowing here since that never ever happens. Jayda and Riley had fun playing outside in it and Jayda loved making her snowman. We kept having to go outside and look at it and she would say over and over "Is that my snowman???" We had a lot of fun on friday!

Jayda on friday morning right after it started snowing!


Jayda and Riley having fun running around in the snow.


This is cool!


Run girls, run!!


Say AAAHHHH!


Yay for snow, woo hoo!


Sweet girls hanging out together inside after all of the snow fun!


And, we had to go back outside later to make a snowman of course!


Sweet pea all dressed up for church, with a bow in her hair (that never happens!)

Fun Festivities of November!

A couple of weeks ago Riley was over playing and the girls wanted to watch the Polar Express. So while we were watching it I realized that Jayda had never tried hot chocolate. I decided to make the girls each little tea cups with hot chocolate and they both loved it. They were both using their hands to pick out the marshmellows, so that was a fun mess to clean up! Jayda's new favorite drink is now hot chocolate!

Jayda and Riley enjoying their hot chocolate with marshmellows while watching the Polar Express.


Two weekends ago was Jayda's bestest buddy Riley's 2 year birthday party! Jayda had a blast making Abby and Elmo magnets, playing with Riley and eating Michelle's delicious homemade corn dogs! It was so fun to share Riley's special day with her!

Riley and Jayda ready to party!!


Last week was Justin's birthday. We met Justin, Lourdes, Klint and Brandy and Jacob's parents at Vic and Anthony's downtown for a delicious birthday dinner! Everything was so good (if you ever go there you have to try the chicken paige, it is to die for!!) and Jayda loved seeing her family!

Jayda with Justin and Lourdes chowing down on some yummy bread!


After dinner picture of the whole group!


Then, last monday my high school girlfriends, Andrea, Jolene and Kristi all came down to our house for a visit. We had a great time catching up, chatting and playing with Jayda. We finished off our fun day with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, yummo! It was so fun seeing all of y'all!

The girls!


Jayda playing with Paquito, her new buddy she found at the Sugar Land Town Center.


For Thanksgiving we headed up to Huntsville on wednesday morning to stay the night with my parents. Luckily Jacob got off early and got to enjoy a yummy Thanksgiving lunch with us and Oma and Oupa. The food was great and we had fun spending the day with Oma and Oupa!

On thursday morning we got up early and left for Mammaw and Papaw's house in Oklahoma. The drive wasn't too bad and Jayda did really well, so that helped a lot! We got there just in time to have lunch with everyone around 2 p.m. We enjoyed yet again another great Thanksgiving dinner and had fun seeing everyone. Jayda got to play with her cousins Wyatt, Morgan and Braden which she absolutely loved!

The kiddos on Thanksgiving!


On friday all of us girls went shopping while the boys watched the little ones. We shopped all day and found lots of good deals. It was a lot of fun and great to get some of my shopping out of the way, kiddo free. On saturday Jayda and Brady played most of the day and that evening we went to ride the train at the park, get hot chocolate and ride the carousel. They both had a blast!

Braden and Jayda sliding at the playground.


The 2 munchkins waiting to ride the carousel.


Daddy and Jayda riding on the reindeer!

Weekend Fun!

This past saturday we went to Dewberry Farms. We went last year for the first time and decided we'd try it again this year. We had a lot of fun, however we didn't get there until right before dark, so several of the rides had shut down. We did have a lot of fun making our way through the corn maize in the dark and looking at the 500+ lit carved pumpkins on the pumpkin stroll. Jayda loved swinging, sliding and playing with her cousins Cole and Caitlyn that also came with us. I'm not sure if we'll be going back again next year because it is a little pricey, but it will be something fun to do in a couple of years!

All 3 of us at Dewberry Farms!


Walking through the corn maize. Jayda wasn't scared a bit!


Swinging on the big swing with Cole and Caitlyn.


Daddy pushing Jayda around on the bean bag swings.


I actually got a picture of Jayda dressed up for church (very rare) because I told her that if she smiled and let me take a picture of her, then she could take a picture of mommy. Worked like a charm!

All dressed up for church, silly girl!


Yesterday Jayda and Riley played dress up for the first time. It was so cute seeing them put on all of the jewelry and high heels and then dance around together. I'm sure there will be many more of these types of pictures to come in the future!

Jayda helping Riley get her high heels on!


Dancing to Christmas music while playing dress up!

2 Birthdays in 1 Weekend!

This past weekend we went to Huntsville to celebrate Pawpaw and Oupa's birthdays. Pawpaw's birthday was last wednesday, November 4th and Oupa's birthday is this thursday, November 12th. So, we always like to celebrate over the weekend in the middle of both of them. We drove up saturday morning and stopped off to see Oma and enjoy some delicious food at the Taste of the Holidays at Brookshire Brothers. The food was great and we got to sample all kinds of food for free (turkey, ham, sausage, dressing, shrimp, pies, muffins, cheesecake, ice cream, cheeses etc, etc.) I would highly recommend this event to anyone that's never been. It sounds like they have it every year on the 1st weekend of November. Oma, Jacob, Jayda and I had lots of fun sampling everything in the store! We headed over to Nanna and Pawpaw's house that afternoon and all of Jacob's brothers and their families came over for Pawpaw's birthday party. We again had lots of delicious food, sang happy birthday and opened presents. Jayda had a ton of fun running around and playing with her cousins, and handing out tootsie roll pops to anyone that would take one!

Pawpaw with all of his grandkiddos.


On sunday morning we got up and played outside at Nanna and Pawpaws house for a little while before heading over to Oma and Oupa's house. Once we got over to Oma and Oupa's house Jadya decided that she just had to help Oupa plant some new plants in flower pots. So, she got her gloves on and went to town. After they planted the plants Jayda helped Oupa water all the plants in the front yard. She even got her own bucket and would have Oupa fill it up for her so that she could water them on her own. She loves to help do things and she loves to be outside, so she had a great time! After working hard out in the yard Oma, Jacob, Jayda and myself went to the lovely Wal-Mart to get Oupa a birthday present that he was wanting. Well of course we had to look around at all of the adorable Tinkerbell stuff there, plus the huge toy section that they have. Jayda found LOTS of things she would like to have for Christmas at Wal-Mart. She and daddy were riding bikes around the store and she was pointing to all of the cool things. The funniest thing is later on that night when I was giving her a bath out of nowhere she says "Mama, I want to go to Wal-Mart!" I was laughing so hard and called my mom in to tell her. Since Oma loves Wal-Mart she thought that was hilarious. I don't usually shop at Wal-Mart back home, so she discovered that was a pretty cool place. Anyways, after our exciting trip to Wally World, Jayda went down for a nap we all enjoyed a nice homemade meal by Oma. Everything was really yummy and later that evening before heading back home we sang happy birthday to Oupa and celebrated with angel food cake!

Jayda and Oupa watering the plants together.