The Many Days of Christmas

We are home from our whirlwind trip over Christmas. We all had an enjoyable time and got spoiled quite a bit. I am now trying to put up decorations, unpack, do laundry, and find a spot for all the fun toys. It makes me tired just to think about the list. Here are all the fun things we did.

Our first stop on the trip was to Grandma's house. We got there Thursday night after buying a new set of tires and what seemed like hours of loading the car. As we were getting ready to pull out of the driveway the power cord to the DVD player decided to break so we added a stop to Circuit City to the list and then we were off. We arrived in Fort Worth just in time to go to bed.

The next morning I went shopping with Landrea and Chiara (Cary's sisters) and escaped the mad house of children running around screaming and playing. It was good to spend some time with my sister-in-laws while doing one of my favorite past times. After arriving back home we loaded everyone up and went to see Cary's grandmother. She has not felt good for a while now and they have called in hospice so it was good to be able to visit with her a little bit. Lucky for us she was having a good day and managed to crack a few jokes with us. Once we left her house we headed to Red Hot & Blue which is one of my favorite places to eat. The sweet tea is delicious along with the pulled pork. We returned home in time to help get some food ready for the next day and put all the kids to bed. Once everyone was quiet the adults minus grandma snuck off to see We Are Marshall. I loved it of course because my man, Matthew McConaughey was in it. It was nice to relax before the real festivities began.

On Saturday we spent the morning getting food ready for lunch. After Tiffany and Tim arrived we ate a quick meal which was very good then got to the real fun part....the presents. We all got some great gifts and I cannot wait to go put my gift cards to use. I suppose that we were so busy no pictures of the girls or cousins were taken opening presents together. Around 6:00pm we left to head towards Waco to spend Christmas with my family. Once again luck was with us because there was no traffic and we arrived in record time. My parents, Uncle, Aunt, Cousin, and PaPaw were all there to greet us.

Sunday morning we all got up and went to church. It is always so nice to go back to Crestview and see old friends and enjoy the service. Kaylee was grinning from ear to ear sitting next to Uncle Don. (We did miss Mr. Jim though because he always preaches such a good sermon, but he was in Alabama so we will let it slide this time.) It was so nice to sit in church with our whole family and sing songs that we associate with Christmas. After church we enjoyed a wonderful Mexican Feast that my Mom prepared and a lot of wonderful visiting time. After lunch my Mom, Aunt, Kaylee, and I went to see Charlotte's Web. We all loved it. It is one of the books I remember reading the most in Elementary School. Julia Roberts was super in the voice of Charlotte too. All of us left the theatre satisfied and ready to eat again. That night we carried on the tradition of the women going to look at Christmas lights. There was one man who had really out done himself singing reindeer and all. I do not envy him having to take it all down but we enjoyed the display. Kaylee managed to keep us entertained especially when referring to Nana's driving up hills. She said that it felt like we were going out a blowhole. Then she told us a blowhole is on top of a whale. We all laughed until we cried. Once we got home I dressed the girls in their Christmas pajamas and tucked them into bed for the night. Kaylee was so tired she was asleep within minutes. I have to say I was excited about the next morning too.

Christmas morning was great! I tried to limit the gifts from Santa this year. I started with three but somehow they each ended up with seven.

Kaylee's favorite gifts from Santa were her Molly American Girl doll and her Courtney Barbie. After the Santa gifts we opened family presents too. Kaylee's tops on that list were the electric guitar, horse stable, Barbie RV, Barbie car, Vegetarian (veterinarian)Barbie and her snow globes. She really got into the whole Christmas experience this year.

The gifts from Santa that Campbell loved most were her Bitty Baby and the stroller.
Campbell's tops from family were her Leapfrog activity table, the anywhere chair, magna doodle, cozy coupe convertible car, and Kaylee's electronic Barbie guitar. She would not get out of my lap for most of the morning so you will have to overlook me in the picture.


It was definitely a Christmas full of fun and family. We are so blessed!

GG came over for lunch and we had a wonderful traditional meal. My Mom had all kinds of food and candy fixed for us the whole time we were there. I am sure that I gained at least 10 pounds. After my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and GG left the women went to another movie. Kaylee wanted to see Happy Feet so of course Nana had to take her. It was really a cute movie too. Kaylee was in Heaven with all the movie time. It is so much fun to watch her enjoying the movie. I look forward to being able to sit through a movie with both my girls one day.

On Tuesday morning my Mom and I got up to shop all the after Christmas sales which is a tradition of ours. It was so much calmer than the day after Thanksgiving had been. We just zipped in and out of every store on our list. I managed to get a few teacher gifts for next year, our Christmas cards, and a table cloth for my dining room table. (My parents surprised me with a dining room table for Christmas...I think they were tired of my complaining:) Just kidding) We ate some delicious quiche at Panera Bread and then were off to a few more stores. Once we arrived home it was time to pack up for our trip home. I think Cary spent half a day trying to figure out how to get everything home. We arrived home tired, safe, happy, filled with love, and glad to be in our own beds, especially Campbell.

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!!

Where have the past 18 Months gone?

Well I cannot believe it but my sweet baby is 18 months old! Where has the time gone? Why do I still ponder that question daily? Must they all grow up so quickly? Today at the doctor she was 26.4 lbs and 331/2 inches tall. There are so many fun things that Campbell is doing right now, but I will not bore you with all of them so here are my Top 10:)

1. The jabbering has turned into talking. I actually understand a lot of the words she is saying now. Some of her favorites are "bye-bye, Momma, Daddy, Kayeee, Santa, Amen, duck, dog, and go". If in the right mood she will repeat almost anything I say at least once.

2. She loves her Big Sister! The smiling does not stop when Kaylee plays with her. She cannot wait to be Big enough to do the things Kaylee does, but I can. When Kaylee tellls her "no" she even tells her "no" back with some more jabbering and finger shaking at her. In the end there is always a hug though.

3. She loves to talk about the parts of her body: eyes, ears, teeth, mouth, hair, nose, hands, feet, and tummy...especially the tummy which she shows us everytime with a big grin on her face.

4. Schedule should have been her middle name. As soon as she gets up in the morning and has a diaper change she is ready to eat. She runs to her chair and starts trying to climb into it. The same routine for dinner. At 6:oopm it is time for her to eat so you better be ready. When it is time for naps she goes and gets her "lovie" out of the bed and starts pointing for me to put her in it. we are still on a 2 nap a day schedule. Yeah!

5. The fork and spoon are her new favorite things. There is no helping this girl eat. The independent, "I can do it myself" attitude has already started. Poor Cary he has three of them in his house:)

6. When we pray together she loves to hold your hand, bow her head, and say "Amen" with a big smile when we are done.

7. That fourth tooth on the bottom finally popped through. She now has a total of 12 teeth including the big ones in the back. Through all of the teething she has remained happy so I hope that continues.

8. She loves her classes at school and church. I sometimes sneak a peek and see the singing and hand motions she does with all the songs. Too cute!

9. She loves to make animal sounds for the dog, cat, lion, bear, and duck. The duck is still her favorite animal though.

10. She loves to be cuddled:) It does not matter when, but her favorite times are when she wakes up from the night or a nap, when reading a book, before bedtime, and after a bath when she is still in her towel. I love that I was blessed with a baby who likes to cuddle this time.

Campbell is a pure joy. The way she runs to you with open arms or just smiles melts your heart. She has such a sweet way about her, most of the time:) I know in 6 more months she will have changed even more so I am going to try to hold on to today very tightly.

It's the Bis, Busiest Time of the Year...

This past weekend we tried to pack it all in and live every moment to the fullest.

Friday night we had some sweet friends over for dinner. Our children had so much fun playing and we loved having a little adult conversation. There was a lot of laughing too. It was a wonderful start to the weekend.

Saturday I picked up the proofs from our Christmas picture. (the reason none of you have cards yet:) After returning home to get a few opinions on the best one for our cards I returned to the Photo Imaging Center to order them. I did return home briefly to pick Kaylee up for a Birthday party at the Skating Place. Once we got home Kaylee and Campbell took naps before going to the church that night for some babysitting so Mommy and Daddy could go to our class Christmas party. We had so much fun at the Aldriedge's home for our party. Everyone brought their specialty for dinner and we feasted till we almost exploded. The laughs were a plenty too. We departed early so the girls (along with their parents) could get some rest before church the next day.

Sunday we went to church, I helped hostess a baby shower, and Cary took the girls to yet another Birthday Party at the Gymnastics Sports Center. By the time we left our small group that night there were a lot of tired people in the Beard house.

The week and weekend ahead hold even more events of the season. We are thankful for all of them:) Unlike my friends who seem to have it all together I still have some Christmas shopping to do also. I must plan ahead more next year:) Hope you are all enjoying the joys of the season.

Winnie the Pooh

Tonight we went to see "A Winnie the Pooh Christmas" at HSU. My sweet Mom saw the advertisement and bought the tickets so we could go. It was set up as a dinner theatre. I was a little nervous going in because I knew that the audience would be close to the actors and I wondered if Campbell would even make it through dinner before being tired. Much less not scream at the sight of costumed people since the Santa visit at school had not gone well earlier in the day.(some of my friends will remember Kaylee's phobia of people in costumes until last year, especially Chuck E Cheese) Well the dinner was delicious and both the girls sat and ate like little ladies.(at least as much as a 18 month old can) We got to pick our seats before dinner so I positioned us close to an exit, but on the front row. Campbell started off in her own chair until the Rabbit hopped on the step next to us. She shot out of the chair in a flash and was glued to my lap. She did not cry though. The rest of the performance, which lasted 50 minutes, went great!! The story about friends was very sweet. Both girls enjoyed the show and we did not have to leave once. Kaylee continued to talk about the play the whole way home. It was a fun night for all of us. We will definitely have to add that to our holiday list for next year:)

First Snow, Birthday Party, & a Little Marriage Enrichment

Last Thursday morning we got our first snow since we have been here and our first school snow day! Kaylee was so excited to see a blanket of snow on the ground. (*even though it was a very thin blanket) As soon as Campbell went down for a morning nap Kaylee and I enjoyed some fun in the snow. Our minature snowman was pretty cute. The funniest thing happened when I came inside to start lunch. Kaylee came runnning in the house saying that she was not doing it right. I asked what that meant and she replied with a "snow angel". I had to then explain that there was not enough snow in the grass for a "snow angel" but that maybe it would snow again soon and then she could make one. Too funny. Here are my little snow bunnies. Campbell just went outside for a minute to see her First snow because she had been fighting a bad cough all week and I did not want it to get worse. All in all it was a day full of good memories, hot chocolate, and fun.


On Friday we all bundled up and ran some errands before the Big 5th Birthday Party! Kaylee was so excited to finally be on the day of her party.
We decided to have it at the Gymnastics Sports Center so she could ask all the friends on her list.(I think there were 30 total at the party.) My sweet friend Lindi made some precious cupcakes which were delicious. Kaylee could not wait to get busy playing with her friends. Her favorite thing was to just run around from area to area. All the children seemed to have a super time. They even wanted to help Kaylee open all her gifts. It was cute to see how excited they got when she opened their gift. So sweet!
Campbell just liked being able to go in the big kid area for a change since normally she just gets to watch Kaylee. The trampoline was definitely her favorite because she would jump and fall on her bottom then laugh out loud.
After all the fun had come to an end we returned home for a few more gifts from family and to celebrate my grandfather's birthday which had been the day before. Then Cary and I were off.

We decided to go to The Marriage Enrichment Seminar given by Dr. Carl Brecheen and Dr. Paul Faulkner for 32 years now. This had been on my list of things for us to do since we got married. For one reason or another we had not been able to attend till now. This past weekend was there last one and it was here. It was such a well spent weekend. They had so many words of wisdom, encouragement, and love to pass on. It was nice to see such a variety of ages there. The couple we sat next to most of the weekend has been married 50 Years. I hope that we are still refreshing our marriage when we have been married that long. We walked away from the dinner Saturday night feeling very blessed for being able to be with such amazing examples of Godly couples in Godly marriages.

Much thanks to my parents and Grandfather for taking such good care of the girls while we went:) They made a gingerbread house, played games, watched movies, learned to play the harmonica, and Dad got to put together the Barbie Dream House they bought Kaylee for her Birthday. (I am sure that was fun with two girls up under him.) We have all had fun playing with it though.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!!