Preschool Christmas Program

Last Thursday Mason & Taylor had their very first preschool Christmas program. They had been talking about it for a couple of weeks and I think they were just as excited as Adam & I. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from either of them. Taylor's age group went first and the minute her class walked in, I could tell she was already crying. We believe she was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people in the audience and the fact that she didn't know what to expect. I was shocked because she is our little entertainer at home and isn't normally shy at all. They asked if I wanted to join her on stage, so I sat her in my lap hoping that would help. She cried throughout her whole performance, but her class was still so cute.

Can you see Taylor's face? She was already upset walking in because she couldn't find us, even though we were sitting in the front row.

She finally found us, but wouldn't stop crying because she didn't understand what was happening or why she couldn't come down and sit with us.

They asked if I wanted to sit with her and I was sure that would help calm her down, but no such luck.

At the end of them singing their songs, she clapped her hands with everyone else. I'm sure it was because she was happy it was over with.After her class sang their songs, Mason's age group was next. They sang about three songs. He didn't miss a beat and had so much fun on stage.

Mason was so excited to perform. He was showing me his bells.

Singing "Come on Ring Those Bells" and he knew all the words and did all of the motions to every song.

At the end of the program, they had refreshments in The Cafe for the families and teachers.

Hot Chocolate, Movies and a Nasty Cough

Even though we are in the tale end of the fall, it feels more like winter in the DFW area. We got our first real cold front this past weekend. We had big plans scheduled but quickly had to change them thanks to the weather and a sick little boy.

Friday evening, I had to pick up a few things at Target and made a stop at the Starbucks inside of Target for a warm refreshment. The kids have never really had hot chocolate. Mason attempted to drink some last year, but quickly changed his mind before he ever took a sip. Since one of his favorite Christmas movies happens to be The Polar Express and he mentions the hot chocolate scene all the time, I thought it would be a great night to have some hot chocolate.

Starbucks has spectacular marketing, because I look forward to their red cups every holiday season. It worked on the kids too, because they loved drinking from their own red cup. Thankfully, they understand kids and make warm hot chocolate for the little ones, instead of it being scolding hot. Because I wasn't sure how they would do sipping it or if they would even enjoy it, I opted to have them drink it from a straw. They didn't find it too weird, since I do this with my coffee every now and again. It was a huge success and they loved it. A family that drinks hot chocolate together, stays together. Peyton enjoyed some as well, just a little later.

We had planned to look at Christmas lights after our outing but the kids were extremely tired and weren't in the mood to look at lights, so we headed home. After getting the kids down to bed, Adam & I watched one of our favorite holiday movies, Love Actually.

Saturday we had planned on driving down to Waco for the Baylor vs Texas football game, but that changed quickly when Mason woke up with a nasty cough and it was raining and cold outside. The weather wasn't exactly great for our family to sit through a game for 3 hours and we didn't want to risk Mason getting worse or anyone else getting sick. So we stayed home. Since we weren't going to the game, that meant Taylor could go to her best friend, Emma's birthday party. This was her very first birthday party to get invited to from a friend in her class. Taylor was so excited to go to the party and see all of her friends.

We watched the Baylor game from the comfort of our couches and cheered them on as they beat Texas two years in a row. It was a great ending to a thrilling season for the Baylor Bears. RG3, the quarterback has also been nominated for the Heisman.

After the game was over, Adam went out to pick up some food for he and I to eat when Mason's woke up coughing. When I went in to check on him, he was burning up and had a 102 temperature. His entire face was red, so I brought him downstairs to lie on the couch so that Adam & I could keep a better eye on him.

Despite not feeling well at all, he still tried to smile for the camera. Being the concerned mom that I am, I opted to have him sleep in our room that night. I knew it was going to be a long night with him coughing and feeling awful and the fact that I would be up nursing Miss Peyton. Thankfully, he was so tired and the medicine did it's job and he slept through the night without coughing.

Sunday morning, Mason still had a low grade fever so I had him lay on the couch all day. He was only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom. With a very young baby and a busy Christmas season ahead of us, I didn't want to run the risk of anyone else getting sick. We spent the day watching movies and cuddling. It wasn't the weekend I had expected, but it was relaxing for the most part which is what our family needed.

Do Life

I've been a little backed up on my reading as of lately. I subscribe to a handful of magazines thanks to my OnePass Miles. I had two or so Runner's World issues to read that I finally got around to yesterday. The most recent issue is the "Special Reader's Issue." This is by far my favorite issue of Runner's World thus far.

One of the featured readers they interviewed was Ben Davis. He has a blog called Ben Does Life. After reading the article, I decided that I needed to watch the youtube video called 120lb Journey. I recommend that after you watch the video, you go to his blog and read more about his story.

Running Help

I need some help from my blogging friends. I've always loved to run, but have gotten away from it in the past four years. Between each child, I started running again, but then found out we were pregnant each time. Now that we are done expanding our family, I really want to get back into it and meet some new goals that I have for myself.

I would love recommendations for the following:
Sports Watch/Heart Rate Monitor
Your favorite running shoes
Shorts for Summer & Winter
Tops for Summer & Winter
Treadmills
Motivational books
Favorite Training plans for 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon

I currently subscribe to Runner's World and pull a lot of information and recommendations from there already, but I would love any additional input. Thanks!

Peyton - 6 Weeks

In the past couple of weeks, I've really noticed a change in Peyton. She is much more alert and spends more time awake. When she first wakes up, there is always a smile on her face. Unfortunately, she has lost almost all of her hair. She looks like George on Seinfeld, when looking at the back of her head. A strip of dark brown hair about an inch wide covers her hair line. It looks like her hair will come in a little bit lighter, possibly an ash blonde like Mason's.

Twice she has slept for 6 hours straight at night. It hasn't been in consecutive days just yet, but I'm hoping that will be soon. Usually she goes 4 to 5 hours during her first stretch of sleep at night and 3 hours during her next stretch. We still have her in our room at night and I'm transitioning her to sleeping in the crib in her bedroom during her naps. I'm not ready to put her in her room full time just yet. It makes my life easier to have her in our room and doesn't make the late night feedings as bad. When she starts to sleep 8 hour stretches, I plan to put her in her room full time.

I've been cleared to start working out again and plan to get back into running. While I'm still waking up at night, I feel like I'm getting a good amount of sleep or at least my body is used to it. Nursing has gone extremely well and she obviously loves to eat, just look at her cheeks or belly.

Thanksgiving Weekend in Pictures

 My sister holding Peyton for the first time. 

 Great Grandma Kaye loving on Peyton.

 Great Grandpa Kaye holding Peyton for the first time.

 Mason & Taylor eating Pumpkin Pie at Grandma's house.

 Peyton's 1st Thanksgiving.

 Daddy & Taylor at Grandma's. Taylor got a haircut the night before and was showing everyone her "special hair."

 Taylor playing with her little sister.

 Jill & Brad were in Katy as well this weekend and were able to come over to Adam's parents house to meet Peyton and visit for a bit.

 Adam with his Grandpa and Peyton.

 Friday, we drove back up to DFW and spent the evening at my Aunt's house with my side of the family.

 Mason & Taylor helping my Uncle Jim, cousin Taylor and my little brother Kris play cards.

 Gram holding her great granddaughter for the first time.

 My dad aka Granddad with Mason.

 Granddad & Taylor. She loves all the men in her life.

 My mom and Peyton.

 Mimi with Mason & Taylor.

 My cousin Taylor with Peyton.

 Uncle Jim with Peyton.

Taylor playing with Uncle Jim.

Happy Thanksgiving

This has been a very full year and God has given us so many things to be thankful for:

* Being able to spend Thanksgiving with our families for the first time in three years.

* Moving back to Texas so that we can be closer to our families.

* Providing for our needs when Adam lost his job earlier this summer.

* Blessings in disguise. Even though Adam lost his job this summer, it opened up new opportunities for our family that we never would have been able to explore. It also gave us time with Adam. The kids & I were able to spend almost the entire summer with him, which we loved since he had traveled so much in the last two years.

* Family - now that we are back in Texas, we are able to visit family more often.

* Blessing us with another beautiful daughter, Peyton.

* The kids Preschool. Both Mason & Taylor have learned so much in the past few months and it has also given me extra time to get things done.

* Our Soldiers. I am always reminded, especially on holidays, that we are able to celebrate freely due to the soldiers that have and are currently serving our nation. Some of them don't have the luxury of spending the holidays with their wives, husbands, kids and family.

Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!