It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Wow, it has been an exceptionally long time since I've written! Let's catch up!

1. School is out for two whole weeks...fabulous!

2. Em has FINALLY started walking! Only if conned into doing so, though. That means a bowl of mac n' cheese must be on the other end. However, it's a huge success.

3. We had a fantastic party for BBC (Baby Boot Camp). This is the group of amazing women I've been working out with 2-3 times a week (I've fallen off the wagon a bit lately!) for almost a year now. We all have kids about the same age, so it's great. The party was really fun...we finally got to meet all the husbands (except mine, of course, who was stuck on a conference call at the office until 8:45 p.m.), and all the kids had a blast running around. Thanks, Christina, for hosting!

4. I ran over a mile today (without stopping) and did resistance training. For those of you who know me, this is HUGE!

5. I got to meet up with a "old" teaching friend, Sarah, for lunch today. So much fun!

6. BFF Mak and Aunt Cat came over to watch the Wylie Pirates in the state championship game. Even though they lost, we had a great time! The girls were so cute playing together (see Mak and Em fun above). And, Christmas presents were a hit!

7. Tomorrow, our little fam gets to have lunch with my best friend since preschool (yes, nearly 25 years!). We haven't seen each other in nearly 3 years, since she lives out of state.

8. Which brings me to the close...I adore the holidays! So much fun, family, friends, and food (never mind the added pounds) to help celebrate the joyous, blessed Christmas season. And, we even finally get to make candlelight service this year at our church, since we are usually traveling . These next two weeks are going to be busy, but they are perhaps the best two weeks of the year. Merry Christmas!!!

A small, fleeting moment of wanting baby #2...

Ok, for those of you who know that I keep saying it will never happen, I had a small, fleeting moment of wanting baby #2. I KNOW! We went to my cousin Sarah's baby shower this past weekend (Em didn't go...mom decided it was more enjoyable without chasing an 18 month old). I digress...seeing all of the adorable new baby things and how cute Sarah looked 9 months pregnant brought back so many good memories! Baby Ella is due to arrive Dec. 26, and I know she'll be beautiful. THANKFULLY, seeing my aunt with her three girls (8, 4, and 2....and they are precious!), however, quickly brought me back to reality and has somewhat solidified my current decision to stick with one!

On that note, though, Em is getting so big. She turned 18 months last weekend, and I honestly can't believe how big she is getting. She loves to sit at the computer with her headphones on and watch youtube videos. She even tells mommy "shh" if I'm trying to talk to her while she's watching. It amazes me how technologically-oriented she'll be just in the next few years!

And, we are starting to work on potty-training. We bought her a "big-girl" potty, and she loves to sit on it and read her books. No success yet, but the fact that she likes it hopefully is a sign of good things to come!

Halloween Fun

Down, but not out...there's still more candy to find!

On our way!

Emily with "boyfriend" Kangaroo Spencer!

Can't open the candy fast enough!

Who's this cool chick?

Not so excited about this costume!

We had a fabulous time trick-or-treating this year! Em started her day by wearing her costume to her baby-sitter's house. They had a Halloween party. That afternoon, KK, Gramps, and Grams all came over fo rthe special occassion to go with Emily.

I will say that her costume was adorable...she was Pebbles. Grams came over last weekend and helped me sew it (with my real sewing machine that had never been taken out of the box-3 years later!). I think I was more excited than anyone. Of couse, Emily wanted none of this costume. But, the reward of candy and getting to say "hi" to all of the other trick-or-treaters made it all better.

We only ended up going to about 7 houses, but Em walked the whole way (holding on to our hands), which was HUGE! She was in bed by 7:30, but the rest of us stayed up to hand out candy and eat take-out. Yay for grown-ups. Plus, the house next door always hosts a haunted house in their garage for the neighborhood kids. It's pretty darn impressive. Needless to say, our little street was trick-or-treating Mecca until pretty late.

What always gets me so excited about Halloween (besides the obvious fun) is that it means that the official start to the holiday season is here. I absolutely love Thanksgiving and Christmas. The countdown begins...

I've been tagged!

This game is cute...thanks Christina for tagging us...Tag Game Rules:
Go to you pictures folder
open your sixth folder
find your sixth picture in the folder
Share the story of that picture on your blog
tag new friends...

This is a picture of Emily when she was 4 months old. A die-hard Tech fan friend of ours gave Emily a Tech t-shirt for her baby present. We had gone over to his house last September to watch the game. Note the decor of the house...now, I tag Catherine, Amanda, and Taren.

Pumpkin Patch!

Today, Em and I went to the Dallas Arboretum with "Aunt" Cat and BFF Mak. We had the girls' pictures taken in the pumpkins. It was so much fun. Em was too busy "people watching" to pose long enough for really good pictures, but we got a few. And Mak was everywhere! "Pumpkin-climbing" was her favorite activity. Afterwards, we went to eat, where Em and Mak thought it would be a good idea to eat crayons. I see years of mischief ahead with these two!

Several weekends ago, one of our horses raced at Lone Star in Grand Prairie. We went and met family there. Em was so excited...she clapped for every horse and said "oohhh" as they walked by. The big treat of the night was when Gramps, Dado, and Daddy took Em inside the paddock as they saddled the horse. She got to tell Sugar Daddy Blue (the horse) "hi" and meet the jockey. Needless to say, every time a she sees a horse now, she goes crazy!

Balloon Pics and More...

So, I promised I'd finally get some pics uploaded to the blog. Here are several from the Plano Balloon Festival. Such fun and such big girls!

Em's fantastic weekend!

This weekend was fabulous! Em got to experience the Plano Balloon Festival with BFF Mak. They were SO cute, oohing and aahing at the hot air balloons as they launched. The weather was perfect! If you've never been, I highly suggest visiting next year. Cat (Mak's mommy) even had me eating funnel cake by the time it was all said and done, something that I've never tried before ( I know...). Quite tasty! Other than Mak losing one of "her favorite shoes" (as dramatically restated over and over by her mother!), the evening was wonderful (you know I'm kidding, Cat!) . And, if anyone has found a pink "jellies" sandal, size 4, please let us know!

Em also got to go shopping with KK and Gramps today, after eating lunch at SaltGrass. I have to say, I have quite the little clothes hog on my hands. She wanted to hold EVERYTHING that KK and Gramps picked out for her, and sadly has learned to hand mommy's credit card to the cashier. We need to quickly unlearn this action! Notable items: a white and silver faux fur vest for winter and a pair of zebra print rain boots with pink bows (matching outfit, too!). Too cute. Pictures to come!