Christmas at Our House

In the words of Will Ferrell, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" We don't have much time for singing, but we have tried our best around here to spread some cheer by pulling out the Christmas decorations. Here's a tour of our home at Christmas!

Here's our tree! The fact that it is still standing is a Christmas miracle in itself considering the fact that we have two curious cats and a VERY curious 14-month-old. All 3 have heard "NO!" quite a lot concerning this tree.

Here are a few of my favorite ornaments! The two on the left have pictures of Laney from last year and this year. What a difference a year makes! The top right one is Laney's "First Christmas" ornament from last year. And the silver car was a wedding gift from my sweet Tri-Delta house mom, Mama Kaye.

Just some more decor...

These are my favorite little snow globes given to us by my mother-in-law. They have a switch that makes them "snow" all the time. The reindeer is missing some equipment, as you can see. So far, this is the only Christmas decor casualty that Laney has caused. Pretty good!

And last, but not least, our 2010 Christmas card and Christmas card tree full of cards from our friends! Christmas cards have always been a big part of my holidays. Since we moved a lot when I was young, my mother ALWAYS sent a Christmas card as a way of keeping up with old friends. I still absolutely LOVE getting cards from friends and family. I am so glad to have gotten so many this year! Please send me yours (that's the best way to get on my Christmas card list!).

Coffee Cake is my Favorite

Now that I'm in my second trimester and feeling so much better, I can't stay out of the kitchen. A few weeks ago, I decided to try out this new coffee cake recipe I found on another blog. I was so excited to find it because I absolutely LOVE coffee cake but don't have a recipe for it. Here it is:

sour cream coffee cake

2 sticks butter. cream.

2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 c sour cream

2 C flour

cream margarine or butter and mix in eggs and add all ingredients in order.

in separate bowl mix:

1 c chopped nuts (but i don't)

8 T brown sugar

2 t cinnamon

grease bundt pan well and put enough cake batter to cover bottom; add 1/3 of dry mixture. add layer of cake batter and then more dry mixture and rest of batter and the rest of the dry mixture. cook at 350 for 45-60 min.

Ok, I never claimed that it was healthy or low on calories! But it's absolutely delicious. This is what it looked like when I took it out of the oven:

Unfortunately, I forgot to grease the bundt pan. So this is what it looked like when I dumped it out on a plate:

My mom, dad, husband and I laughed and laughed. We stopped laughing once we tasted it, though, and ate the ENTIRE cake in one sitting! I can't wait to make it again. Hopefully this time I will remember to grease the pan so that it will look just as wonderful as it tastes.

This next holiday favorite is not new to me, but this was my first time to actually make it myself. It's great for parties or anytime you're having guests over. My grandmother makes these pretzels for a lot of occasions. I remember them most during Christmastime and in the summers when we all go to the beach together. It's really simple and tasty and not at all low fat or healthy. Noticing a trend in my cooking? Ha. This is the recipe:

holiday pretzels

1 cup Popping & Topping Oil (Orville Redenbacher's)

1 pouch Ranch salad dressing mix

1 bag tiny pretzels

mix oil and dressing mix in bowl. place pretzels in a sealable container. pour oil mix over pretzels, seal container, and roll around to even coat pretzels. let soak for a day before eating.

Laney found me in the kitchen during this little cooking spree of mine. She just walked over and sat her cute little bottom in my lap. So I fed her Mac 'n Cheese for dinner right there that night. Luckily Daddy snuck a picture. :)

Week 12

As promised, here is the next tummy picture! I swear that I FEEL about one million times bigger than this. And I will start taking these "tummy pics" against a solid background. I didn't think about the fact that the Christmas tree would be a little busy.

And what a week "week 12" was. I finished up teaching for the fall semester then we immediately headed to Houston on Friday after work for one of Marshall's best friends' wedding weekend. Laney stayed with Marshall's parents who were having a family Christmas, which was much more fun for her than riding over 12 hours total in the car. And it was a REALLY good thing we did not drag Laney along on our trip because we ended up spending a few hours in the hospital! We had quite a pregnancy scare at the wedding reception and ended up catching a cab to one of the nearest emergency rooms at Texas Woman's Hospital, which just so happens to be one of the best OBGYN hospitals in the state (lucky for us). After a little crying, a few sonograms, and some blood tests, we were told that I have a pretty big "bleed" in there somewhere that is threatening to my pregnancy. But, as of now, the babies look fine! The prescription? Bed rest. For at least a week.

I WILL be making my way off the couch today, though, to go see our OBGYN here in Abilene. Hopefully he can give us some good news, as I've had no more problems or cramping since that night. Please keep us in your prayers during this scary time. We know that God has His hand on this situation and we trust His will. Obviously, though, our hope is that two healthy babies carried full-term are part of that will.

The good news is....bed rest gives me LOTS of time for blogging! So expect some pictures and videos soon. Love to all during the Christmas season!

Twice the Tummy Picture Project

I wasn't going to do this. But since I'm having twins, it's a must. Right now, I feel like I could just skip over the whole huge pregnant lady part and be fine. Years down the road, though, the kids will be glad to have pictures to look back on that show just how big Mom got. So here's the first picture:

I'll be posting a new tummy picture every 2 weeks. I'm already showing a little here in this first one. I didn't take any pictures before this, though, because I didn't think I was going to be doing this. But here we go. We all remember how big I got with Laney, so this should be an interesting project to say the least now that I have TWO babies in there! (P.S. I reserve the right to stop the Twice the Tummy Picture Project at any time). Ha!

2, Please!

I've known about my pregnancy for about 6 weeks, now, and I have been DYING to write about it on my blog. I decided, though, to postpone my "We're pregnant again!" post until after our first appointment and sonogram. I just wanted to make sure that I really was pregnant and that the doctor thought everything looked good.

So, I've been planning this surprise announcement blog post in my head for weeks, now. None of what I planned to say will probably be said in this post, though, because Marshall and I had our own big surprise at our first appointment yesterday. WE'RE HAVING TWINS!

It's been over 24 hours since the appointment and I am still in shock! I'd never thought about wanting twins before or honestly ever even thought about it as a possibility for myself. Ever since I was a child, I have pictured myself having 2 children total (and from separate pregnancies). Marshall says that the possibility of having twins never crossed his mind, either. So you can imagine our surprise and laughter when those two sweet babies (or fetuses, should I more properly say) popped up on our sonogram!

I think this was God's way of saying, "Melanie, you will not plan out your life. I will. So stop trying to!" And I'm so thankful that He reminded me of this. I have been thinking of our family plan, counting months, and deciding on the right time to have our second child for a while now. I had already picked out a boy name and girl name so that I would be ready for when we found out the gender of our second child. I had thought way into the future about many things and how I could control those things. Not that thinking ahead is bad, but this definitely reminds me to not get too caught up in the way I picture my life going because I don't have a whole lot to do with how it actually turns out!

Now for the facts and information from the appointment:

-Doc says he is almost certain that they are identical twins from the way they are positioned in utero. I have an idea of what he is talking about, but am not sure of the correct terminology, so I'll just leave it at that.

-If they are identical, this will mean that they are either both boys or both girls. So we're not expecting one of each.

-Identical twins do not run in families. They are random happenings. From what I've read on the internet, nobody is quite sure what causes identical twinning. This was surprising to us. Marshall's grandmother Gaye is a twin, but obviously not the cause of our twins.

-Our little ones are both currently measuring the size that they should for me being 10 weeks 3 days along in my pregnancy. Doc also said that he is very happy and relieved that they are the SAME size (though it doesn't look like it in this particular sonogram picture). I guess one of these bambinos is closer to the sonogram wand than the other one, causing a distorted view of size. So, as of now, they look like promising sharers. :)

-This is a "high risk pregnancy" simply because there are multiples. Doc says he is always worried about a momma needing bed rest and going into pre-term labor with twins.

-I will most likely be induced into labor at 37 weeks if they have not arrived by then. (Side Note: Laney was induced at 39 weeks. That's only 1 week before due date.). My actual 40-week "due date" that most likely will not be reached is June 27th.

-My next appointment is December 27th. The appointment after that is February 15th. At the February appointment, we will find out if we're having baby boys or baby girls!

Well, there's our stunning news for the century! We have gotten so very excited about these babies and cannot wait for them to arrive. We've already been telling Laney about them and assuring her what a GREAT big sister she will be! Please keep us in your prayers. We are begging for a healthly, full-term pregnancy and guidance in our great new journey. How special to be picked for this incredible, overwhelming, wonderful, yet terrifying adventure. We are blessed. And quite thankful.

Cutest Halloween Ever

We also had a great Halloween the weekend after Laney's big party. She was the cutest little cat in all the land! And we did go Trick-or-Treating...and made it all of about 3 houses.

Laney in ONEderland!

So I'm kind of late (make that very late) posting about Laney's first birthday party! We held it on Saturday, October 23 at my in-laws house and we had a blast. I spent months making the decorations for the Alice in Wonderland-themed party and even though she won't remember it per-se, I'm glad I did! It was so much fun for me. I can't wait for Laney to look back on the pictures and see the decorations and all of the adults absolutely doting over her!

We were so thankful to have many of our lifetime friends and family members there to celebrate Laney's year of life and our year of "making it" as Mom & Dad. Hopefully what we have lacked as parents due to our inexperience we have made up for in absolute adoration and affection. I can't believe she's ONE. My life began a year ago. We love you, Laney.

Lauren Michele

I just finished reading the most recent post on a blog that belongs to a person that I do not know. Well, I keep up with her blog and actually feel like I know her pretty well (disturbing, I know), so I guess I should say she doesn't know me. When tears began running down my face as I scrolled through the words, I began to wonder exactly what it was about her blog that made it so good. And I realized something- she has good characters. She talks about the people she loves and is around so much that you begin to care about them, too! So, I've decided to start "introducing" some of the key players in my life (other than Laney, of course, because you already know all about that little sweetie!).

SIDE NOTE: I kicked Marshall off the "contributors" list for this blog. Because he never asked to be a "contributor" anyways and only posted one time when I begged him to. Ha!

Back on track. I want to introduce you to my sister, Lauren. If I had to rank the most important people in my life, she'd be one of a select few tying for first place. She's my only sibling and has become one of my best friends as we've grown into adults. Here are some things about her:

-She makes one great aunt. From the moment I found out that I was pregnant, she loved Laney almost as much as I did. She was in the hospital room with us when I gave birth to Laney and was the first one to actually "see" her. I needed her in there with me because she puts me at ease with her confidence and laughter. And laugh we did, even as I entered into labor.

-She's pretty stinking funny. Her wonderful sense of humor blossomed when she was about 12 years old and she's had us in stitches ever since. She's so witty at the most unexpected times. She'll make fun of anyone...and it ends up being hilarious and not mean. Well, maybe a little mean, but she can get away with it for some reason!

-She loves fashion and make-up. And she's a VERY talented make-up artist. I actually ended up canceling my make-up appointment the day of my wedding because I got nervous and knew that Lauren would make it look just how I wanted. I can't remember the last time I went shopping without her. A lot of times I feel like she's my older sister even though she's younger because I'm always wanting her approval on anything I wear. And ANY time she's home from college, I have her come do my make-up- even if I'm not going anywhere special. It's one of my favorite things. :)

-She's a natural athlete. I found this picture on Facebook (she's gonna kill me). It's from when she played youth basketball and was (as you can see) a BEAST compared to all her peers. Unlike me, Lauren excelled in soccer, basketball, track, and volleyball. I've always admired her muscular legs and athleticism. We can only hope that Laney might inherit some of those genes of Lauren's that are oh-so-absent in me!

-She looks a lot like me. I guess I should say "we look a lot alike," but I'm sticking with "she looks a lot like me" because I'm older! When people get us confused and call me Lauren, I take it as such a compliment because I think she's so beautiful. I want to look like her when I grow up.

Those are my favorite things about Lauren. Now you'll REALLY know who I'm talking about when I mention her in my posts. She's pretty special. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's the reason I want to have another girl- so that Laney can experience having a sister the way I have gotten to. There's nothing like sisterhood. Lauren is the only person I can really trust on certain things. Simple things. Like how I look in an outfit. Or what I should do in a certain situation. She's just so special to me. And now you know why.

Back to School

I'm not even going to try to write about ALL the things that have happened in the past month. I'll get stressed out and end up not posting anything at all! Ha! So, in short, school has begun, Marshall is back in the swing of his busy season at work, and Laney is STILL growing up too fast.

School started on August 23rd, and has already been much less stressful this year than last. Staring down the beginning of this school year was a piece of cake compared to last year. Then, I was pregnant, in the middle of a move, starting a new job, and unsure if my husband was going to be able to move to Abilene in time for Laney's birth. This year, I know the ropes at school, I'm not a "first-year teacher," and I have a little more pep in my un-pregnant step. I'm finally being able to get ahead, plan, and stay ahead at work. I can already tell I'm a better teacher and I hope my students reap all the benefits! Also, with lots of help from my loving mother, I finally got my classroom decorated like I want it. Since I spend a lot of time there, its important to me for it to be a homey place. Though I miss Laney a lot while I'm there, I sure do love having a place to go everyday! Being home all summer made me appreciate and miss my wonderful work environment.

School isn't all I've been doing. My 8 good high school friends and I took our 5th annual Girls' Weekend trip this past Labor Day weekend to Horseshoe Bay and it was another success! Kate made the plans this year and Natalie, well, she made the "pink" plans, as always. I know many people have "Girls' Weekends," but we take ours pretty seriously! I mean, we even have matching pink swimsuits and sunglasses. If you'd like to have a Girls' Weekend that's as official as ours, you should contact Natalie McCarty, professional party planner. You'll have to plan ahead, though, because she's already booked for this entire fiscal year! Ha! Seriously, though, it was an amazing weekend. Being with those girls that I know oh so well but see oh so little is always good for the soul. We're all growing up, changing, and learning how to stay friends even though our life stages differ greatly, our ambitions just aren't the same, and our schedules never quite line up for us to talk as much as we'd like. They're my best friends, though, and always will be. They know me. Really KNOW me. I hope the 9 of us keep up until we're old ladies. And  hopefully we'll all be rich old ladies so we can "upgrade" our trips to Turks and Caicos or somewhere fabulous like we've always said we would! I'm kicking myself that I didn't even get a picture of all 9 of us, but let's be honest, I'm never good at getting pictures taken. Here's the best one I have with the majority of us.

That concludes my random update. You may shocked that I did not even talk about Laney ONCE in this post! Well, you can rest assured that I have an update all about Laney, complete with videos, coming very soon! Keep checking!

Misery Needs Company

This will be a short post. Because I'm tired. We just spent nearly an hour getting Laney to go to sleep.

Here's the story. Laney has been a champion sleeper from the beginning. She's slept through the night from 3-weeks-old, she naps regularly, and has always gone to sleep easily while happily babbling to her stuffed animals. That's just not the case anymore. For the past week or so, it's been World War III every time we try to put her down at night.

So I've begun to research the opposing sleep methods of Dr. Ferber and Dr. Sears. This is what I've come to learn: I can "ferberize" Laney by letting her cry herself to sleep and risk permanently damaging her psyche if her sleeping problem happens to be linked to a fear of being alone. Or I can have her sleep with Marshall and I and risk having to buy a California king-size bed in the future that is big enough for Marshall, myself, and a 16-year-old to sleep in. Decisions, decisions. HA!

I realize I'm exaggerating a bit, but it is hard to decide how to raise a child in 2010 when none of your close friends have children and your only advisors are your own parents, who haven't dealt with these issues in over 20 years and probably don't even remember exactly how they put us to sleep! That's right, I wish at least one of my friends was dealing with difficult baby issues, too, and was sitting up at midnight blogging about them. I need some company. As for a tangible solution to my problem, I guess Marshall and I will just have to settle for finding a method somewhere in between the two extremes that will work for Laney. And hopefully she won't grow up feeling scarred, unloved, or overly-coddled. And just maybe she'll forgive us for our inexperience. These are the times that make me sure that the second child will be much easier in certain ways. Or maybe parenthood will just seem less dramatic by then.

Pray for us.

Laney v. "the Cats"

Welp, it's official! We have a mobile baby girl. Laney has now been crawling around for about 3 weeks and is getting a little faster with each passing day. Despite the swearing from more experienced mothers that her mobility would be my worst nightmare, I've LOVED her new-found independence! She's even happier now that she can get where she wants to go (somewhat, anyway). Maybe I'm loving this time only because she's still quite slow getting around and usually tires out way before she gets anywhere near an electrical outlet or cabinet full of cleaning supplies. And I'm not the only one happy with this new development. Laney is QUITE pleased with herself now that she is crawling and starting to pull up to a standing position. Her huge grin just screams, "Look at me! I'm such a big girl! Not to mention wonderful, beautiful, perfect, lovely, and smart." I wonder where she heard all those things? Surely she hasn't been paying attention to all of us that have been giving her all those compliments 10 times a day since the day she was born. Ha! We can rest assured that low self-esteem is one quality that Laney will NOT possess. We may be needing to introduce a new characteristic to her soon - "humble."


There are 2 members of our household that are not as pleased with Laney's mobility- our cats. For those of you who don't know, we have an orange male cat named Jack and a white female cat named Penny. I've never been a huge cat person, but I found Jack on the street in college and fell in love with him. At that time, he was a 1-pound kitten with burnt paws that was barely still alive and had luckily not been flattened into roadkill quite yet. Marshall and I rescued him and nursed him back to health. And healthy he is. These days, he's a huge, lazy man cat that is nothing less than the real-life version of Garfield. We got him a friend from the pound, Penny, and now the 2 of them are best friends and love their lives. They are not loving their lives so much, now, though, since Laney is beginning to chase them! She wants nothing more than to grab their fur and tails and yank on their ears and whiskers. They want nothing more than for Laney to stay far away! It has been so funny for Marshall and I to watch. Jack and Penny have no idea that, soon enough, Laney will be able to catch them. :)

We also had to take the bumper out of Laney's crib and lower the mattress to the last notch. This way she can't climb over the railing of the crib. She can still pull up on the side of the railing, though. The following video was taken the first time she did this. Once again, she was quite proud of herself! So were we, of course.

The Fayes

This picture was taken while we were at Gulf Shores this year, but it somehow got left out of the post I made earlier. It's special because it includes all the living Fayes, named after Faye Casey (my great-grandmother) who is no longer with us. Hopefully someday Laney can continue the Faye legacy with a daughter of her own. Lauren was mad that she got kicked out of the picture and became the picture-taker because her middle name is Michele. She says she's starting her own line of "Micheles." I guess I'll have to take their picture for them when the time comes, because she was so good to take this one for us. :)

Laney Faye, Melanie Faye, Amelia Faye, & Doretha Faye:

Shaky Head Girl

My absolute favorite thing in this world is Laney's laugh. I swear it would heal any illness I had. And she has recently developed such a cute little sense of humor. The other day while we were waiting to go out to dinner with my parents, Marshall and I were playing with Laney in the living room. She started doing this thing she does where she tilts her head from side to side. Since I am always unthinkingly commentating on everything she does in some type of baby voice (embarrassing), I said, "Well, you're just a little shaky head girl," and tilted my head back and forth back at her. She thought it was just about the funniest thing ever. So, of course I did it over and over again as long as she would keep laughing so that Marshall could catch it on camera. Here it is. Sweetest sound in the world.

Hickory what?

So there's this incredible little lunch restaurant here called Hickory Street Cafe that has put itself on the map by becoming known for its delicious chicken salad and zucchini bread. Part of its charm comes from the fact that it's located in an ancient but restored cottage-type house, only open from 11-2, and always full of women and girls of all ages who are just "doing lunch." There's a little shop located in the building's attic full of decorative crafts, fancy candles and costume jewelry and all of the art on the walls all over the restaurant is painted by a local artist and is for sale. It's just so charming. I've spent many many lunches with many many great girlfriends in this very place over the past 10 years or so.

But, here goes- I think I can make their chicken salad. Or at least I'm trying. It's the type of chicken salad that is very simple and straight forward. It's basically just white meat chicken, grapes, cashews, and sauce. I added some bell peppers when I made it to add more crunch. Many recipes call for celery, but I'm not big on celery. I haven't nailed it yet, and even if I had, I'd still go to Hickory Street as often as I could for the experience and wonderful atmosphere! Here's the picture and recipe. If you think you know what ingredient(s) I might be missing, let me know!

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (baked & cubed)

red grapes

1/4 c. green bell peppers (diced)

1/3 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. sour cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

salted cashews (added on top when served)

***UPDATE: The original recipe I posted that I thought was so close wasn't at all. I sneakily found this new one, though, that's the real thing. And it's been quite the hit with my friends and family! I prepare the chicken a different way that makes infuses a little garlic. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can salted cashews

Red grapes (whole or halved)

1 clove of garlic

½ cup Hellman’s mayonnaise

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

1 pkg. Ranch DRESSING mix

How to prepare chicken:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay chicken breasts in baking dish and pour some heavy cream to where it nearly covers the chicken. Chop garlic into about 5 pieces and set them in the cream around the chicken. Bake for 40 minutes, flipping half way through. Let chicken cool to room temperature before cubing.

Mix mayonnaise, whipping cream, and Ranch mix together. Add prepared chicken and grapes and stir until coated. Let chill overnight. Add cashews on top when serving. Great on croissants!

I Heart Arts & Crafts

So, for those of you who know me well, you won't be surprised that I've been using much of my summer to finally do some crafts that I had been dreaming up all school year. Especially now that I have a baby girl, there are so many things that I'm dying to make. I also have a few friends that share this love of arts and crafts and are always inspiring me to make things that they are making or finding on cute blogs. So, I've made a "to do" laundry list of crafts for the summer. I realize there's no way that I'll complete, or even begin, all of them, but I'm giving it my best shot! Here are some of the projects that I have been working on:

FATHER'S DAY T-SHIRT:

I painted this t-shirt for Laney to give Marshall for his first Father's Day. One of the only things Laney has learned how to say so far is "Da" and she says it over and over again. It sound a lot like "Dad-Dad" when she says it, so I thought this would be a cute saying for his t-shirt. I was really excited that it turned out so well. I'll definitely use this technique again. All I had to use was freezer paper, a razor blade, an iron, and fabric paint.


RIBBON & BOW RACK:

I've been looking for a cute bow rack to put in Laney's room because she has already accumulated quite a few ribbons and bows in her short 8 months of life! I was unable to find any that I really liked, so I decided to paint one that matched her bedding and room. After I painted the wood panel, I found the iron rack at Hobby Lobby and some matching ribbon and put it all together. The headbands just hang on the iron hooks, but many of the clip-on bows are displayed on the rack by clipping them onto the two ribbons that are hanging down.

CARD TABLE PLAYHOUSE:

I was hoping not to post pictures of this little jewel before it was finished, but I just can't wait! I got this idea from my friend Natalie, who found it online and made one for some special little girls in her life. The finished product will be a playhouse made entirely of felt. It basically serves as a cover that fits snugly over a standard card table and works as a little tent for toddlers to play in. There are people making these and selling them on Etsy and they're going for $150 - $250! I saw them and thought, how easy would that be to make? All it would take is felt, thread, a sewing machine, and a few hours. WRONG! It's been a lot of fun for me because I love this sort of thing, but it's also been a lot of work and taken a lot of time. And I only have ONE side done! It's a tedious process to cut out all the little pieces, pin them together, and get them sewn. And the removable pieces, such as the mail that goes in the mailbox, take quite a bit of time to stuff and sew. I'm glad I started this project really early because I hope to have it completed by Laney's first birthday so I can give it to her then. She'll have so much fun playing in her own little "house" and hopefully it will help her learn our address (the number above the door is our actual house number). I'll post more pics as soon as I get more of it completed!

Summer So Far

aWe've had a busy summer so far to say the least. We're only 4 weeks in and I've already traveled to Dallas for a bachelorette party, College Station for a teaching conference, and Gulf Shores for vacation. Now that we're back home and back in our daily routine, I have time to update you all on what's been going on. As the old saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words." And since I have thousands of pictures, I guess that equals, well, a lot of words. So I'll just let the pictures do the talking. Nearly every moment in our lives these days is a "Kodak moment," so I'll try to limit the pictures to my absolute favorites!

Laney spent the beginning of the summer practicing sitting up and playing with her toys. Her hand-eye coordination is improving each day. She's so fun to watch because she learns how to do something new each day.

We then loaded her up for her first airplane ride to Gulf Shores, AL! I've gone there every summer since I was little. But this time was extra special because it was Miss Laney's first time. She did SO GOOD on the plane rides and entertained everyone.

Since there were globs of oil in the ocean from the BP oil spill, we spent most of our time at the pool. Laney didn't know the difference, though, and had a blast in her float.

As soon as we got back to Texas, it was time to head to Marshall's cousin Brandon's wedding in Fort Worth. We had so much fun and got to see a lot of his family there. Laney got to see her cousin Kate, who is only two weeks older than her. They will be so glad to have each other in years to come.

After the wedding weekend, we came home and got back in our routine. I've been tutoring in the mornings Monday-Thursday. I've actually really enjoyed doing this- it reminds me how much I love teaching. We've also started to visit some churches around here since neither Marshall or I have one we regularly attend. We really want to find one to join soon so that Laney can grow up in Sunday school and in a church home. It's hard to decide what to look for in a church since they are all so different and none of them are perfect. We're trying to keep in mind that the point of being a part of a church is community, and since people aren't perfect, there's no perfect church community. We just need to find one that we can get involved in.

Other exciting news: two of my best girlfriends, Mendy & Madisen, are engaged and both are having destination weddings. Our group of "Girls Weekend" friends have been busy making plans for their showers. Marshall is so excited because he really enjoys both of their fiances and will have lots of guys to talk sports with at all of the upcoming wedding festivities- ha! The first shower we're having is next weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!

Nanners for Laney

We just figured out how to load video from our camcorder onto the computer. Mel wanted me to add this video to the blog. It's from back in April when we tried to feed Laney solids for the first time. Her reaction to these bananas is too cute.

Then, Laney started telling us just how she felt about everything.

Boogers & Tears

I usually only write about the happy things, but that's just not real life. The point of this blog is to give you a glimpse into our lives and, unfortunately, they aren't alway full of smiles and laughs. There are sad things, too, and these are two of the saddest things any parent can face. Boogers mean sickness and tears mean sadness. And we've had an abundance of both boogers and tears in the Morris household over the past few days. This is the third major cold Laney has had, and it's starting to wear on us. I so wish that I could put a Kleenex up to her face and say, "Blow," but it just doesn't work that way with a 7-month-old. Instead, she suffers through the day (and all through the night) barely being able to breathe without snorting and sniffing. There's no consoling her and no comforting her. I have no idea if her throat is sore, if her head hurts, if her nose is raw, or if she's feeling hot or cold. All I know is that she's crying and I can't comfort her. It's too sad to take. Hopefully Laney's cold will clear up soon. I can't wait to see her smile again.

On a brighter note, I have only FOUR MORE DAYS of school left! I can hardly believe it. It seems too good to be true that the job I love also allows me to have so much time off. Teaching is the best of both worlds for me. I get to have a career that I love, in an atmosphere that I love, with people that I love, but also have time where I can just do nothing but be Mommy. I love the fact that I'll have a start and a finish to each work year, and will always be able to look forward to a summer vacation, just like I did as a kid. If you need me come next weekend, I'll be busy doing nothing but hanging out with the most precious baby girl in the world (who will hopefully be feeling much better by then).

Bluebonnets

I've been slacking off on my blogging, as well as my house cleaning, laundry, and paper grading. I keep banking on the thought that the end of school will bring me all the time I need to do everything I want and need to do. The only problem with that is the fact that there are actually still four weeks of school left, and if I let my laundry and dishes pile up for that long, I just might end up on the next episode of "Hoarders" that airs on A&E. All this to say, we don't have much to blog about because we've been cleaning all weekend. And who wants to hear about that?

Grandmama came over on Sunday and rescued Laney from all her responsibilities and chores (sucking on her toes, shaking all her rattles, being the cutest baby in the world, etc.). She took Laney to take pictures in some of the few bluebonnets that are still hanging on in Abilene. I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear that we think they are the cutest bluebonnet pictures we have ever seen. Ha. I guess there would be something wrong with us if we DIDN'T think that. Here are some of the pictures!

She fit perfectly in a tin bucket my mom has!

I wish my feet tasted this good.

She's obsessed with her piggies. Just like the rest of us!

Let the Weddings Begin!

For a girl raised in a family that follows the social rule book of the South as if it is the bible itself, the passing of Easter is quite an exciting time. My favorite part of the holiday, second only to rejoicing that He is risen, indeed, is finally being able to wear my white shorts, shoes, and skirts without fearing the disapproving look on my mother's face. And wear white, I did, nearly all weekend long!

I retired my white on Saturday, though, as we got ready to attend our first wedding of the season! My good friend and sorority sister, Tara, married her long-time best friend and boyfriend in a beautiful church in Houston and followed it with a sassy reception at Lakeside Country Club. I feel confident saying that it was the most fun, movie-like wedding I've ever attended, full of glamorous people, gorgeous arrangements, and an absolutely stunning array of delicious food!

Though we had some reservations about the idea, we took Laney along on the road trip to Houston so she could meet many of my college besties for the first time! It was so great to see them all. It gets harder and harder to say goodbye because the time between our visits sadly gets longer each time. Laney ended up being an absolute doll the whole weekend and barely fussed at all. She had a perfect outfit for the occasion- a baby Burberry dress that her Mama C had picked up for her a few weeks ago. Looks like Daddy has many expensive shopping trips ahead of him- ha! It's so hard to capture her smiling face, but we did get one really cute family picture!

As far as plans for this week go, I don't have much on the agenda other than keeping up my classroom count down of days until summer and preparing my kids for the upcoming TAKS test. Nonnie is walking in the door for her nightly visit, so I'm signing off for tonight! Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Good, Great, GREAT Great.

I only have a few minutes to complete this post- by then, Laney will be more than tired of her jumper and quite ready to be doing something else! Here goes. When I started hanging out with Marshall and getting to know his family nearly 8 years ago, I thought it was so special that I got to meet his great-grandfather, Eldon Roberts. All of my great-grandparents had passed on either before I was born or when I was quite young, so I never got the privilege of really getting to know them as an adult. I've spent much time with Eldon "Paw Paw" Roberts since then, and have come to love him very much. When we found out that we were expecting a child last spring, Marshall and I were thrilled at the thought that she would have a great, GREAT-grandfather (yes, that's two "greats"). A few weeks after Laney was born, we got all dressed up in white to have dinner with Marshall's side of the family at Fairway Oaks Country Club and take THE five-generation picture, including Eldon Roberts, Gaye Griffith, Dale Morris, Marshall Morris, and Laney Morris. The picture ran in the Abilene Reporter News two Saturdays ago. Here is the original: