Halloween Happenings-Part One

Happy Halloween! We had a very fun, busy day today. You know, it's amazing how much more exciting Halloween is once you have a child! This morning Abby and I went up to Mother's Day Out so she could take her school picture. She missed MDO on Wednesday because of pink eye. The good news is she is FINALLY healthy. No runny noses. No more ear infection. No coughs. H-e-a-l-t-h-y! Praise the Lord! Seriously. Those trips to the doctor's office really add up! I think Matt and I should keep a tab going for her. At this point, she owes us--give or take a couple bucks--about $4,000 or so. :)

After her school picture (which I am super excited about getting in the future), we went to the Halloween party for our Mom To Mom group at church. All of the kids were decked out in costumes. Too fun! Here are some pics from the party:

Abby as Dorothy

Baby O as an adorable Little Monkey!

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's SuperParker!

Pretty Jordyn as Ariel

Cutter as the Silly Spider

Noble as the Cutest Little Rodeo Clown ever!!

Check out the back of the outfit! How stinkin' cute is that??

Abby's first kiss! :)

It must be serious: she's wearing his hat! :)

Group shot. Poor Noble was a wee bit upset!

After partying and napping, it was time to gear up for BFF Ellie's arrival so they could hand out candy to the trick-or-treating kids and go trick-or-treating themselves! The pictures are HILARIOUS! In the meantime, I'll leave you with two other shots from today of Miss Pigtails.

Goings On

So, we've been a bit busy lately. I headed to Longview on Thursday, with plans to spends lots of time with family, attend the church carnival, go to Candy's wedding, eat some good ol' Papacita's, but, as those of us with kids know, things can change on a dime!

Abby started to have fever on Thursday, but I didn't think much of it. She had had a cold for a couple of weeks, so I figured that was it. Her fever stayed around, spiking at times, she was burning up when she woke up, she was waking up way earlier than normal, screaming, and she was screaming quite a bit (something she never does.) One second she would be happy, the next she couldn't stop crying, as though she were in agony. It got bad enough that we finally decided to take her to the emergency room. Now, had we been in Allen, I would have taken her to our pediatrician's after-hours clinic he is affiliated with, but we were in Longview, it was the weekend, and there really weren't any other options, so we headed to Longview Regional.

It turns out that she has a double ear infection (her second time for this), and they thought she had strep, but, luckily, the swab test came back negative. Poor thing! Two hours later, we left the hospital with prescriptions, and once she got antibiotics in her, she was feeling much better. Thank God for modern medicine!!

Thankfully Abby is feeling much more herself. She is still pretty tired (she fell back asleep at 11:30 this morning and is currently napping!), but luckily she can go to MDO tomorrow. It's Class Picture Day, after all. I can't wait to see that picture. Someone tell me how the photographer is going to get 8 one year olds to stand together and smile?! Priceless!

So, that's what we've been up to. Here are a few recent Fall pics from when she was feeling well:

We didn't get to a Pumpkin Patch this year. Oh well. I figured our front porch pumpkin would work just fine.

Abby with her boyfriend, Mr. Scarecrow. Every time she sees him, she kisses all over him!

Peek-a-boo!

Nana and Papa found this Witch costume for a steal! Too cute!

Here's her original Halloween costume: Dorothy. And how adorable are those Ruby Red Slippers?!

She loves her rocking horse!

Matt LOVES this picture, for obvious reasons. I'm pretty sure she's trying to stick ONLY her thumb up, right?? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am actually rooting for Tech this weekend. Things are much happier in our household when Tech wins! :)
I turn around for two seconds and she finds and applies my eyeliner.
Happy baby.

Here's to a SICK-FREE, STRESS-FREE, relaxing week, everyone!! I'll post more pictures after our Mom's group Halloween Party on Friday.

31 Random Things About Me

I recently started keeping a Word file of story ideas, you know, events that have taken place in my life, facts about me, just random thoughts that might spark a good story to write about. Anyway, here are 31 of the random facts that are part of my much larger list:

• I spent my 16th birthday at a postcard convention in Dallas.
• Matt and I once had dinner with our sex offender neighbor, discussed a former neighbor who was a sex offender, and never knew that our neighbor we were discussing all of this with was actually a sex offender until later. Oops.
• On our honeymoon cruise, I won the Sex, Love, and Relationship Contest. Go figure.
• I once actually uttered the sentence “Mom, I need to get off the phone. My house is coming down the street." It was the day I moved into the trailer park in college.
• I wore a red headband every day for an entire year. Yep, I was that cool.
• Good news: I once won 2nd place for Longview’s South Side Slogan Contest. Bad news: There were only two entries.
• Back in 1994, I, along with my church youth group, went to a taping of Saved By the Bell, and in between shots, they held a talent show for audience members. Well, yours truly won the talent show. My prize? A crisp $5 bill. I figured NBC could have sprung for something a little nicer, right?
• I can pretty much recite entire episodes of Saved By The Bell too.
• I always wanted Stephanie Tanner’s room in Full House. I adored her bay window. Or I wanted an attic room like the sisters in Just The Ten of Us.
• At A&M, I had a lab partner in Geology who thought my name was Katie, and I never corrected her. When she would call on the phone and ask for Katie, I would tell her Katie was speaking! That lasted for an entire semester.
• I have a huge fear of drowning.
• I never ate spaghetti until I was in 9th grade.
• I begged my mom for a neon orange Girbaud outfit back in 7th grade, Swearing Up and Down that I would actually wear it. I wore it 3 times. She was so mad at me!
• My 3rd grade school picture and my mom’s 2nd grade picture look exactly alike.
• I turn everything into a game, which drives Matt nuts!
• I played the oboe for 8 years.
• I have ridden Amtrak to California—twice! I would not recommend this to anyone!
• I share my birthday with President George W. Bush. I thought that was so cool when I was growing up, as he was the owner of the Texas Rangers.
• I proofread EVERYTHING. It bugs the daylights out of me when people misuse apostrophes!!! (i.e. We went to visit the Smiths this weekend. NOT- We went to visit the Smith's this weekend.)
• A male student of mine--who happened to be from Korea--once gave me a gift. In fact, his mother, in town visiting from Korea, came up to the school just to meet me and give me the gift in person. I was expecting stationery, chocolates, something NORMAL, but oh no… It was two pairs of panties. Lacy panties. Seriously. Apparently they weren't aware that Korean customs differed from American customs!
• I played softball in 6th grade on a team called The Rollers. The very first game of the season, I sat on the bench. The entire game. I cried all the way home.
• I have had a crush on/infatuation with Elvis Presley since as long as I can remember! I tell Matt he's the only man I would leave him for. :)
• I was 3rd grade Spelling champion. I only missed one word all year long. I have no recollection of what it was!
• Also in 3rd grade, in Mrs. Seabaugh’s class, I got my first (and only!) discipline slip: It was for excessive talking. Go figure.
• I love 99 cent generic store brand pizza.
• A couple of months after I met Matt, I was conflicted if he was THE guy for me. So, I decided to pray to God, all while I was driving down McCann Road in Longview. I even turned off the radio to give the prayer my full attention. God, I prayed, give me a sign that Matt's the guy for me. Please, Lord, give me a sign. Amen. And not one second later, my phone rang. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Guess who it was? Matt. :) See, God does answer prayers.
• I love Guideposts magazine.
• I wish I could: sing really well, speak Spanish fluently, and sew.
• I constantly still have dreams that it's the first day of school, and I'm the teacher, and I'm late to school, and I have nothing prepared for the day. It makes me hyperventilate just thinking about it!
• At A&M, I took a semester-long Self Defense class, and I somehow managed to get partnered with a midget. Yeah. Do you realize how NOT useful it is to practice self defense with a little person? On the bright side, should a little person attack me any time in the near future, I will know how to drop to my knees and put him in a Half Nelson.
• I aspire to be a published writer.

Abby and Mr. Scarecrow

What a great fall day to play outside today! Abby wore her new jumpsuit. Thanks, Papa Rick!



As we were about to go inside, Abby discovered the scarecrow on the front porch. She immediately took a liking to him.

She held his hand...

...she even gave him a kiss! By the looks of this picture, you would think they were the best of buds, right?
Apparently, Abby had other ideas!

Poor Mr. Scarecrow! See you later!
Let's hope this isn't an indication of how she's going to treat her future boyfriends! :)

And I just HAD to post these pictures. Here is Abby in her Pumpkin Costume from October 2007.
And here she is in the same costume (seriously!) on Tuesday.

Happy Birthday, Kathy!

Just a quick post to say a huge Happy Birthday to my BFF Kathy! Kathy and I have been friends since 6th grade. We were (totally awesome) majorettes together, college roommates (in both a trailer park and apartments! ha!) at A&M, each others maid of honor, and we have stayed long-distance best friends for the past 6 years, while she went to that "other school" in West Texas. She doesn't like to brag on herself, so I'll do it for her.

I'm so proud of her and her accomplishments. She graduated from Medical School at Tech, and she is in her first year of Residency in Pathology. While I was hoping she would become a dermatologist so I could have free laser hair removals and Botox for life, I must settle for a pathologist. Ha! Truth be told, she is my first phone call when Abby is sick, I am sick, or just to gab about the Stephanie Plum novels we're reading. She is like a walking WebMd. In fact, she's given me great advice on my nasty cold I have currently. (By the way, Kathy, I did NOT take my antibiotic just like you recommended. :) ) Sadly, I use and abuse her knowledge of all things medicine. I wish I could repay the favor. If she ever needs to know which brand of detergent is best to use on kids' clothes or what cleaner will get crayon out of the carpet, then I'm her gal!

So, here's to you, Kathy! Happy birthday! I hope you had a great one! I would have posted some MUCH older photos of us from the early 90s, but, LUCKILY I don't have them scanned. I'm pretty sure y'all don't want to see Keds and perms anyway, right??

Exciting News

This afternoon we found out if we were having a nephew or a niece come March 4. Click "The Tenner Trio (To Be)" link to the right to find out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just pics

Here are some pictures from an impromptu stairway photo shoot. I honestly believe that pigtails age a girl about 12-18 months! Honest!



Kisses
BFF Ellie came over last night. The girls had a great time at the park, eating some good burgers, and playing together. Too cute:
Ellie, a.k.a Evil Knievel.
This morning we met our friends Anne and Harper at the park. Harper will make SUCH a great big sister come February!
Isn't she just adorable?!
I'll leave you with two thoughts: How do things like this happen?!

...and how is it that Abby will wake up at 6:15 on both Saturday and Sunday mornings but sleep until 8:00 on Monday??? Poor Matt! He took over parenting duties for most of the weekend as I was not feeling too hot. Thankfully I am feeling better. I love you, babe! :)

Simple

Earlier this morning, I found myself saying to Abby, "Gosh, I wish you could talk!" I mean, yes, she does "talk" and we do communicate, but I'm ready to have a real back-and-forth, reciprocating conversation with her!! What led me to this was the fact that I can't find her hair rubberbands, and I'm 99% convinced that she put them somewhere. Exhibit A: Two weeks ago, I found the remote in my jeans drawer. Enough said. So, I've searched high and low, and they're nowhere to be found. I have a feeling that if I asked her (and she could understand what I'm saying), she would point me in the right direction. Maybe I'll find them in a few months. Maybe in the freezer. In the meantime, I think I may need to make a trip to Target and buy some more! :)


Random things:

1. Abby recently disovered the moon. Oh, and she is fascinated when planes fly overhead.

2. She is also obsessed with dogs of any kind. Poor Millie and Winnie are daily attacked with wrapping paper rolls and balls. :(

3. Why is it that I give in to the "puppy dog" eyes and hand over a Cheetoh at lunch, when I know I shouldn't?! I need to work on that. I'd hate for her to be 15 and be covered in tattoos, driving a brand new car.

4. I may have created a monster. When I took out the camera yesterday, Abby immediately said, "Cheese!" Perhaps I take too many pictures. Yes, I know I have taken thousands. Also, every day when I ask if she wants to eat, she immediately replies, "Cheese!!" The girl could live on cheese and strawberries. Seriously. Besides "Dada", Cheese was her first real word.

5. I have created a journal. I call it my "Dear Abby" journal. Every night when I get in bed, I write in it. I start off each entry with "Dear Abby, I love you because..." and I write one thing that she did that day that made me love her more than the day before. The reason I do this is two-fold: a.)It makes me remember the good times we had that day, therefore I go to bed happy and reminiscent. b.)It is a tangible gift I can leave for Abby. I think there is nothing more special to leave as a legacy than your own written (not typed) words. My Mamaw kept a journal every day for YEARS. She wrote down what she cooked, who came to visit, what she and Papaw did that day. It is amazing! I receive so much joy when I pull out her 1980 journal and read her words. It's as though I can hear her speaking them.

6. Dinnertime and lunchtime are two of my favorite times (I'm not really a morning person, so Breakfast is out.) Every night, the three of us sit down at the table and eat together. We rarely did that before Abby was born. Dinner used to be on a plate in our laps in front of the television! I truly enjoy our family time together. And the evening weather has been PERFECT for walks around the neighborhood, to the park, or tossing a football in the front yard.

7. Jason and Emily find out on Tuesday what they are having, so we will know if Abby will have a girl or a boy cousin. My feeling is a boy. But I am almost always wrong! We'll see!

8. It's no fun rooting for the Aggies. Oh well.


That's it. Enough rambling. (I am avoiding dusting!) I'll leave you with a picture of Abby's new bang trim.

Anniversaries

It was two years ago yesterday (October 5, 2006) that we saw Abby for the first time. In honor of that monumental occasion, I will post our very first sonogram picture of her. I was only 5 weeks, 5 days along, yet we could hear the heartbeat! Amazing!


Here she is one year later, age 4 and a half months.


Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that today is another important anniversary--the first wedding anniversary of our brother- and sister-in-law Jason and Emily. Here they are at their rehearsal dinner. Happy Anniversary, guys!!
Me with the beautiful bride
Matt with the handsome groom
Here's to another 50 years! :)

Reunion

This past weekend was my 10 year high school reunion. Sometimes, it seems like high school was just yesterday, and then other times, I feel like it was forever ago. Luckily I was able to see many of my high school friends, and best yet, I got to spend lots of time with my long distance BFF Kathy, who decided going off to medical school in Lubbock and becoming a doctor was way more important than living next door and hanging out with me every day!! It really was great to see people I hadn't seen in 10 years. Some looked different. Some looked the same. They say at the 10 year reunion people haven't really changed much since high school, but at the 20 year reunion, people are less worried about impressing and are just more themselves. We'll see if that's true in 10 years! Meanwhile, here are some pics. I didn't take very many. If any of you h.s. pals out there have pics of the moms with the kids, I need them!!

Here are the gals. 10 years ago, this exact same group of girls (minus some who couldn't come this weekend) made predictions about where we'd all be 10 years in the future. Well, 10 years had passed, so we opened up the predictions and read them aloud. It was hilarious. My prediction was that I'd be a stand up comedian, married to a cute Elvis impersonator who wears bell-bottoms. Seriously. Sadly, I didn't live up to those high expectations (ha!). Here is Matt and me before the dinner.
Kathy and me
Matt, me, Kathy, and Cary.
And, last but not least, no post would be complete without a picture of Abby! Here she is petting Maggie. She LOVES dogs!

If I receive more pics, I'll post them later. In the meantime, I need some sleep. I am WAY too old to be staying out so late! :)