Quick & Easy Christmas Card Pictures!

We never got around to taking family pictures outside the other weekend because Liam wasn't feeling well. This weekend they needed to get done, but it was WAY too cold for outdoor pictures. Insert coordinating Christmas pj's, a white sheet, and two cute kids and you've got yourself the perfect Christmas card combination! 

This photo session took all of 15 minutes from start to finish, and I had our cards picked out and ordered within the hour! 

Here are some pictures that I love but didn't make the cut...

And some outtakes! 

If you need a last minute Christmas card idea for your littles, I highly suggest the jammie/sheet combo! :)

TWO Months!

Thank you all for your kind words about my Papaw. We had his service yesterday, and it was a sad day but also a great celebration of his life. 

Liesl wore her sailor dress to honor him. He was so proud of serving in the Navy! 

- - - - - - - 

Liesl Penelope, you are TWO months old! 

You turned two months old LAST Thursday little girl, and you sure are changing everyday!

You are my big baby! At your 2 month appointment you weighed 11 pounds exactly and were 23.5 inches long. That puts you in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height! At Liam's 2 month appointment, he was only in the 15th and 30th percentiles. It's nice not having to worry whether or not you're getting enough to eat because that was always my biggest stress with your brother!

You have changed quite a bit this month. You are still a great sleeper but are also finally keeping your eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time, ha! We do the whole eat, play, sleep routine, but you don't really have much of a set nap schedule yet - still just kind of sleeping wherever and whenever. It works well for our on-the-go lifestyle though! 

You eat about every 3 hours, sometimes less if we're just hanging out at home or more if we're out and about. At night you generally only wake once to eat and go straight back to sleep. 

Sleep has been great! On a "bad" night, you sleep a 4-5 hour stretch, eat, and then go back to sleep for 3 or so hours. On a "good" night you will sleep a 6.5-7.5 hour stretch, eat, and then sometimes stay awake for a bit and then sleep or just go straight back to sleep for 2 hours or so. I can't complain about either, and the longer stretches are happening more and more each week! 

You attended your first bridal and baby showers this past month. You celebrated your first holiday, Halloween, and were the cutest dalmatian EVER.  

On October 23rd you gave your first intentional smile and it was to ME! I love your gummy smile and you have started this small little giggle to go with it which is just the cutest! You've started "talking" a lot this month and we will coo back and forth at each other and have our little conversations. 

You doing really well with tummy time and are getting great at holding your neck up! You haven't rolled over since those couple of random days you first did it, but you rock back and forth a lot like you want to! You are kicking and swatting at the toys on your playmat too but not intentionally grabbing yet.

You found your hands! You can often be found sucking on your little fists, and tend to use them to soothe yourself when you're tired and/or just waking up. 

You wear mostly 0-3 month clothing now. There are a few random newborn things that still fit but most is too tight and short. You wear size 1 diapers. We switched to one's pretty early because you were having the worst blowouts in the newborns! You also have teeny tiny little feet so none of your shoes fit! You have two pairs on newborns that don't look completely ridiculous with socks on, but they still fall off really easily. 

Things You Love:

Having your diaper changed! Last month you HATED this, but now you discovered the tassels hanging above your changing pad and you will just stare and smile at them! We will shake them or blow them so they fly and you just looooove it. 

Attention! Which you get a lot of and will reward people for paying attention to you with a huge smile!

Bathtime!

Being held, haha. 

Your bouncy seat and playmat. 

You never cease to tell us how you feel about the situation! Look at that pout! 

Things You Don't Love:

Taking a bottle. This has been challenging this month because it's been a busy one and there have been times where you just have to take one. You pretty much won't take a bottle from me unless I strategically place you as far away from my chest as possible, haha. You will take a bottle from others okay, but as soon as it cools down you want nothing to do with it. I don't blame you, but it has made for a very unhappy Liesl a couple of times! 

Waiting for food! 

Being tired in a loud place. If you're already asleep you will sleep right through loud noise, but if you're still awake and trying to fall asleep you get super frustrated and any noise makes you pop your eyes back open. And that makes you mad! Again, I don't blame you because I don't like my sleep to be interrupted either! 

We love you pumpkin pie! 

My Papaw

My Papaw passed away on Saturday. And although he was sick and not recovering as quickly or as well as we'd all hoped, it was still quite a shock for me and my family. The next few days will be hard so please keep us in your prayers. I am at peace that he is with The Lord, but saying goodbye is never easy.

Wasn't he so handsome? Like a movie star. 

I think the things I will remember most about him were his love for the navy and how proud he was for serving. He has tons of books and pictures and would talk about all the ships and what life was like when he was stationed at Pearl Harbor (after the attack). I will also never forget that he taught me to drive when I was only 13 or 14 on the back country roads in his old gray jeep. I remember how fun that day was and how cool I thought he was for taking me!

I'm so thankful he got to meet my babies and the joy they brought him. Not two weeks ago we went to see him and he pulled Liam up into his wheelchair and took him for a ride. I love the pictures we have from that day. I will miss him so very much. 

Love you, Papaw. 

Five on Friday Thursday!

So today is Liesl's two month-iversary and also not Friday, but since her doctor's appointment isn't until tomorrow I'm flip-flopping these next two blog posts. My blog, my rules :) 

Linking up with Darci, April, Christina, & Natasha! 

{1} The other day I was trying to explain the whole "Santa" thing to Liam. He knows who Santa is, but doesn't really know what his job is. So I told Liam he needs to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas (a trampoline and a car) when we go see him, and Santa will bring the presents to our house on his sleigh on Christmas Eve night. Instead of getting excited about Santa bringing him gifts, Liam very matter-of-factly said, "No, Santa not bring my presents. Mailman brings my presents in the big truck. We need to check the mail!" Hmm, William said we maybe need to lay off the Amazon prime. And also, I made Liam watch a Santa movie the next morning. 

{2} On Tuesday I had a not so pleasant doctor's appointment that called for some retail therapy afterwards. (Hey Lyndsey, maybe that's why Liam thinks the mailman is Santa Claus.) Anyway, I ordered myself the new Pioneer Woman Holiday Cookbook and I CANNOT wait to get it! 

Update: Got it. LOVE IT.

{3} We are officially on baby watch over here! Two of my good friends are due over the next two weeks, and I am so excited for them! Liesl will have a new built in BFF and BF really soon. Bring on the babies! 

{4} I think I'm going to bust out the tripod and try to get some family pictures this weekend for our Christmas card! Originally I was just going to use pictures my friend Joy took at Liesl's newborn shoot, but I feel like Liesl's already changed so much since then that I want some updated ones for the card. Self-timer pictures with a toddler and newborn? This should be comical. Also, if you haven't heard, Paper Coterie is offering 50% off their Christmas cards until the end of November. That's a great deal and I just love PC! These are some of my faves...

{5} These two. I melt. 

Happy {almost} Friday! 

Whirlwind Weekend!

You know those weekends that are SO packed and SO fun, but you feel like you need another weekend afterward to recover? That was this past weekend for me! In a 24 hour period, I drove in and out of Dallas (about a 30 minute drive each way) 3 times and had a full Thanksgiving feast! Liesl was my little partner in crime and tagged along to most of the events while Will and Liam had a guys weekend. 

On Saturday we celebrated the lovely Anne Elise with a bridal shower. I was in charge of the invites and everything else was taken care of by the other hostesses. It was just beautiful! 

My mom was a hostess as well and helped with baby duty so I could visit with all my girlfriends.

Me and my beautiful girl!  

That night I left the kids and my mom duties with Will for a girls night out! It's so fun to have a night out with my mama friends sans kiddos. Besides Delta Mae who was a doll and partied hard to the 70's tribute band :) 

Sunday was another celebration for a sweet baby boy (coming soon) and his mama. I never get to see Lindsay because she lives in Hawaii (jealous much!) so it was a fun morning of catching up and talking all things baby! 

 

I didn't get a picture of her because she slept most of the time, but Miss Liesl was there too!

Apparently Liesl gave Will a run for his money Saturday night, so I surprised him with pie when we got home. Wifey for the win. 

After a short nap we headed out for one last shin-dig - Thanksgiving dinner with our Sunday School class! I somehow didn't take any pictures but stole these from friends, so thanks Brettni and Joy :) 

Kiddos giggling around the dinner table and Layla holding "her baby" - I love these kids and their mamas! 

My plan was to do absolutely nothing today, but since the weather is getting cold later this week we are taking advantage of the nice weather right now and heading out! 

Happy Monday! 

Baylor Homecoming 2013!

A few weekends ago we drove down to good old Waco for Baylor's homecoming! It was a little different this year with two kiddos, one being only one month old, but we still had a great time! 

We started out our morning bright and early in the Chi Omega room to visit with some of my pledge sisters and watch pledge songs. We met up with Jenni and Violet, and it was so good to see them as always! 

Liam and Jenni's little boy Kade were all over the place having a blast. This was the best picture she could get of them together (and then I stole). Oh toddlers!

After songs were over we met up with one of my BFF's Anne Elise and ventured outside for the parade! Liesl and I had to skip out for part of the parade to go back to the car and nurse, but Liam had a great time seeing all the floats from Will's shoulders. 

Anne Elise's sister Beth is a senior this year and was walking with the XO float. Since we were towards the end of the line there wasn't much candy being thrown out so she brought some over for Liam. Love these sweet sisters! (And Rosalind, you were missed!) Despite our squinty eyes from the bright sunshine, it was actually FREEZING outside - like in the 40's! (Ok, my hubby's making fun of me for this statement, but to me, it WAS freezing!)

We snapped a quick picture and then ran for the car, or rather the car's heater. Normally we walk around campus and take a million pictures, but we decided to go eat lunch first and come back later when it had warmed up. 

Most people had left campus to go tailgate by the time we got back, so we were able to wander around and get some pictures. 

Liam and Judge Baylor

I managed to get a few pictures of the kiddos together, but it's no easy task!

Heeeyyyyyy,

Sic 'em Bears! 

My littlest bear cub with her adorable custom Baylor headband from Couture Flower. Even though I think EVERYONE should root for Baylor, Rachel makes headbands for other teams too :) 

The game was an evening game and we had a party to get back to, so we headed home in the afternoon. It was a quick trip, but it's always fun to visit our alma mater (and brainwash our children!) 

Until next year, BU!