Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Is that a ponytail I see??

Look what we can do now!!

When Lucy was born she had "some" hair on her little head, then we came home from the hospital and some of it fell out. She wasn't totally bald but we defiantly wanted it to grow.

Thanks to Aunt Shawna and her overwhelming amount of wisdom, she told me to brush her hair while I nursed her. So every time I sat to nurse, I got my little infant brush out and I would stimulate her scalp. Not really sure how much it helped, but in my mind it was working.

With Beau, I didn't even think about his hair growing. With Lucy, well, yeah.

So now I get to start doing ponytails. So FUN!! As you can see from the photo, I use the sink and a toothbrush to entertain her while I'm working my magic.. ha. Not too sure how long this method of distraction will work, but for now, it works.

I figured it out..

I believe this is where it all started, her love for "gog", that is.

Don't mean to brag, but don't mind if I do!

Not on myself, of course, but on C.F..

When Beau's 1st birthday came around, C.F. and I decided that we (Do you like how I used "we?" All I did was show a picture of what I wanted and he worked his magic.) wanted to be creative and do the cakes ourselves. I actually did help with some of it, but he really gets the credit. He has done such a good job, and we've had fun together with Beau and Lucy's birthday parties.


His 1st birthday was "Farm Animals." This one is probably my favorite, right next to his 4th birthday cake.



2nd birthday was "Toy Story." He got a Toy Story figurine set, and I can still see him sitting on the couch playing with Buzz, Woody, Jesse & Bullseye :(


3rd birthday was "Dinosaur." This was the first birthday he picked out his own plates and cups, which was a little hard for me cause there was another design I thought was cuter, but I let him pick. Kudos to mommy for not being so controlling! I think this has been the hardest cake so far.


4th birthday was "Firefighter." This was Beau's first birthday party that a friend from Puppy Pound (a.k.a. pre-preschool) was able to come. That may not seem like a big deal to some, but for us it was. We have so many cousins that live close and were able to come to his parties, we didn't have to have friends. Now that he's in preschool birthday parties will be different from here on out

Also, notice that there are no cups at the table. I got smart and realized you don't need them. Two words: Juice Boxes!!

My Big Tough Guy!

Ever since Beau was little he's been very good at giving "dirty looks." All we'd have to say is, "Dirty looks, Beau!" and he could turn it on. I'll have to find a picture of him doing that.

I think I have several pictures of C.F., when he was young, standing just like this.

A Girl and Her Dog (Dinosaur)

I don't think I ever dreamed of Lucy having a t-rex as her comfort toy. For some reason she's taken a liking to this dinosaur that she affectionately calls "Gog." (a.k.a. "Dog.")
She even pets him and scratches his belly like a dog.

A Happy Thanksgiving, Indeed!

I am so bad. We had all kinds of family in for the weekend and I took zero pictures.
I didn't get one of my mom's table on Thanksgiving day, which was beautiful. I didn't get any of Uncle Kevin, Colby & Lori, who all flew in from Georgia and Michigan.
None with Brighton and Rigley, either.
How bad is that?
In spite of not getting any pictures, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. GREAT food at both my mom's and mother-in-law's. GREAT conversation, and most importantly, we had a GREAT Sunday morning service. The worship was amazing (we have the best worship leaders), and the Holy Ghost moved in an awesome way. God truly is good!

I did, however, take some pictures of a couple things we did before Thanksgiving to celebrate it.
Here's an art project that Beau, Lucy and I did: our "Thankful Tree."
Beau was thankful for mommy (not really sure why daddy got the shaft). Lucy was thankful for juice.


Thanksgiving morning I made the kids their turkey pancakes. They didn't turn out like they were supposed to. Apparently, I used all the red food coloring last Christmas, and red is the color to make brown & orange. So, I had to improvise. The yellow food coloring and chocolate chips came in handy. Beau helped me with the design of the bird.


Lucy had already started to eat her's, without bib and all, before I could snap a picture.



Here's a funny one. When I was little I always wanted long hair. I'd put anything on my head (blankets, towels, long-sleeved t-shirts...ect.) to pretend that it was longer.
Look who's following in mommy's footsteps.
She'll even make her daddy put a blanket on his head and play with her. Too funny!

20 Months

I came across a picture of Beau when he was 20 months old, and wanted to see if there's any similarities between him and Lucy at the same age. I'm gonna have to say no.
Most people say no, I do get a few that say they look similar. When Lucy was first born I really wanted them to look alike, and tried to convince myself, and others, that they did. But, I came to terms with the fact that Beau looks like his daddy and Lucy looks like me.

Once again...

...this further confirms why Lucy can't/shouldn't be left alone for any length of time.

It was pretty darn cute, though!

Shopping

I went to Kansas City yesterday to help my mother-in-law pick out paint. Before we left we stopped at Target to pick up a few things, and this is what Lucy found. She was so funny. She walked all over the store pushing that cart around.



Ooooo.. What's this, momma? Soccer ball?

A Rainey's Celebration of Fall.

Beau did this last Fall (without daddy around, of course) and he had the best time. This year he has moved a little higher up on the hill, which made mommy nervous, but I let him go ahead and do it and no one got hurt... yeah! The look on his face as he's going down the hill is great!


Lucy was very content to just sit and watch.

Awe... so sad!

I will not be winning the "Parent of the Year" award.

Lucy absolutely loves to color, it amazes me just how much she does. If I'm cooking, I can put her at the table and she'll color the whole time. What a difference between her and Beau. He could have cared less about coloring, it just wasn't his thing. Now that Lucy likes to color, and since he started preschool, he's more interested.
The other day Lucy, Beau, Aunt Annie and I were at the table coloring. I look over at Lucy and she's starting to fall asleep. I thought, "Oh, that's so funny. I'll get the camera." I took a few pictures, went to pick her up to take her to bed, and she was burning up.
"Awful" is the word I'll use to describe my feelings. Just right before that I noticed her eyes looked funny and I thought, "She must be tired."
The whole day was spent nursing her back to health and washing blankets after blankets.
Glory to God, she's healed and doing much better.
There's nothing worse than when your children are sick.

Here are the pictures I thought were so "funny" and "cute."

Big Red Barn

We did it! We made it to and back from Weston with the camera in hand... phew! I will never forget that ride home last year, it was very quite.
This year was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect, the kids were good, and once again, we still have our camera.
We love this little place (in Weston, MO). I'm so glad we found this pumpkin patch that we'll go to every year with the kids.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

First, let me start this post off by saying, "God is so good!!" He is so faithful, and has showed Himself strong to C.F. and I these last few months.
Some things came up this summer, which didn't allow us to take a vacation. A little over four years ago, we endeavored in our hearts (being led of God) not to use credit cards. It was pretty challenging at first, but once we made some adjustments, it's actually very freeing. We are a cash only family!
So, needless to say, the money just wasn't there this summer to go on a trip.
C.F. and I knew that we wanted to do some things for our kids, and needed to believe Him for the funds. Praise God, after seeking Him, coming in agreement in prayer, He did it!
One of the things we wanted to do was take them to the circus, it was gonna be in K.C. for a week.
The kids had a blast!! Wasn't sure how Lucy would do, but surprisingly, she did really good. It took me a minute to get acclimated to the speed of it all - there was a lot going on.


I really miss my old camera, this was the best pic I could get.