Wanna be Grinch-a-licious? There's an app for that!

If you know me pretty well, you know I LOVE How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Not the Jim Carrey trainwreck-of-a-movie version, but the old, classic, Boris Karloff-narrated cartoon by Dr. Seuss. Well, we've been calling Emmylou "Emmy-Lou-Who" for ages but now our entire family can be made into the awesome Grinch characters! Yep, there's an app for that! The other day I stumbled upon it, gasped, and downloaded it as fast as my little iPhone could. Had I found it early enough it would've been our Christmas card. At least I can post our photos here for all to behold. Enjoy... (isn't Gary's great?!)






Hours of fun, people. Hours.

Lions, Otters and Mice Kings (oh, my!)

In the days leading up to Christmas, Emmylou kept busy by going to lots of theatrical events. First, Grammie, Emily and Lizzie took her to Ballet Austin's Nutcracker performance where she talked for days about "all those kids who kept coming out of that lady's skirt." She was also really into the Mouse King, having watched the episode where the Wonder Pets save the nutcracker from the crazy mouse king... oh, about a thousand times. Also, she's recently just decided that she wants to ditch swimming lessons this semester in favor of starting a ballet class so I think this made quite an impression on her.

Next up was a showing of one of Emily's and my childhood faves, Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas at the Alamo Drafthouse. Emily, Tripp and his mom joined us and we all thoroughly enjoyed the jug band that played some songs from the movie beforehand. Emmylou's favorite part was when they handed out free candy. Emily and I could hardly contain ourselves and kept squealing over the cuteness of all those varmints who've fallen on hard times in the holler.

The next day we were treated to an amazing performance of The Lion King by Pawpaw and Nana in San Antonio. I've wanted to see the musical since its inception and even after years of hearing how incredible it is, it still surpassed my expectations. Emmylou was captivated by it all, and she still talks about the elephants that walked right past us down the aisle and up onto the stage. Wow. Just wow.


And fun!! Thanks, everyone, for Emmylou's crash course in theater arts! She just might thank you one day when she wins an Academy Award.

Wondering where our Christmas card is?

If you typically receive a Christmas card from us, don't worry, we haven't decided we don't like you! I'm just a little behind, but I promise they're in the works and will get to you in the next week.

In the meantime, know that we all wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

xoxo, Becca, Gary, Emmylou + Miller

Longhorn on wheels

Birdie's return

As I'm always on the hunt for new ways to bribe Emmylou into behaving, it's nice that with the joyous Christmas season comes the return of Birdie, our Elf on the Shelf. If you don't know, Birdie works for Santa and is specifically assigned to watch Emmylou and Miller each day. He reports on their naughty-or-nice-ness each night when he flies back to the North Pole and then returns to hide in a new spot in our house each morning. Emmylou absolutely loves looking for him when she wakes up (he's the first thing she asks about) and it's pretty easy to get her to do/stop doing something if I threaten to tell Birdie about it. He even takes cell phone calls from HEB, if you can believe it.

Although she's asking a lot of logistical questions this year such as, "Mommy, how does Birdie fly all the way to the North Pole every night?" and, "How does Birdie talk to tell Santa I've been good?" (yes, she's realized he's clearly an inanimate object) she seems mildly satisfied when I answer by saying "it's magic!" (I try to put lots of enthusiasm behind it so it's more convincing.)

The other day she decided to draw Birdie a picture, which sounds really sweet but I think it was really an attempt to make up for some earlier misbehaving. Birdie happened to be watching her and Miller from the Christmas tree that day and when I came into the room later I saw that she had rolled up her picture and put it right next to him so he could take it back with him to the North Pole that night.

Last day

Hello, out there!

Due to technical difficulties (those being that we've broken every picture-taking device in our house except for my iPhone), I haven't had much to post lately. But, that doesn't mean we don't have big news! In case you haven't heard, Gary has started his new job with a certain large software company which, 48 hours into, he absolutely loves. Yes, it's early, but I'm hoping that continues. :)

So while they're rolling out the red carpet for him in San Francisco this week, I'm trying not to lose my mind having the kids on my own for 6 days. Emmylou must be at the apex (it couldn't possibly get any worse) of boundary-testing and trying out new ways of expressing her anger. Fun stuff. I'm also on-guard every second she and Miller are near each other because I'm seriously afraid for his life. I love her but I'm pretty sure that kid is 98% responsible for the stress that led to me getting shingles. *repeating mantra "it's only a phase... it's only a phase...*

Anyway... here's a photo (of awful quality) of G and E on his last day after 11 years at Dell!

If you bleed burnt orange, look away...

Even though our friends the Rileys are die-hard Aggies, we actually like them quite a bit. So when they invited us to spend Saturday afternoon in their fancy-schmancy box suite for the A&M vs. Baylor game, we happily accepted. To show what good sports we are, we even let Emmylou get Aggie tattoos on her cheeks and wear maroon (or maybe we'll just call it 'burgundy'?).

The Rileys really know how to experience a football game. We were in a warm, enclosed room with a private bathroom, couch and 2 TV's, had a catered dinner and open bar (with a bartender-slash-babysitter) and enjoyed a perfect view of the field and those crazy yelling guys in white.

Thanks, Rileys! We had a blast and wouldn't have played along for just anybody. :)

Link to Lizzie and Khanh's photos

To see some fab photos from Lizzie and Khanh's wedding, CLICK HERE (and scroll down). Their photographer was fantastic!

More Mermaid!

Aunt Emmy took Emmylou on a little outing yesterday so see a play of The Little Mermaid and to go to Yogurt Planet. She had so much fun! Thanks, Aunt Emmy!!

Couple of cuties... (IMHO)

Made with real princesses

Campbell's couldn't resist cashing in on the princess hysteria as well.

And guess who bought it for her... Yep, Grammie. :)

Lizzie is married!

Congratulations to Lizzie and Khanh! Here are a few photos from their beautiful wedding last weekend!







And here's a photo of their wedding cake I made. To say that I am breathing a huge sigh of relief now that it's done is a HUGE understatement.


Yay! What a fun night! Welcome to the family, Khanh.

Trick or treat

I think most people have already seen these photos on Facebook, but just to document them here, I give you our trick-or-treating photos:

Ariel and Sebastian...

Earlier in the day we went to Lifetime (our gym) for a big Halloween party. Miller won a prize there for his crab costume which I thought was a bit ironic for several reasons:

1) The ratio of time I spent on Emmylou's costume compared to his was about 100:1.
2) The ratio of money I spent on Emmylou's costume compared to his was about 4:1.
3) His costume is actually a lobster costume.
4) His costume is actually made for a dog, not a human being.

Whatever, isn't he the cutest crustacean evers??!

We had LOTS of lazy candy-givers on our street. Come on, don't these people want to hear "fwick-uh-fweet" all night? Truth be told, (sadly) Emmylou was actually pronouncing the "t" in those words by the end of the night. *sniffle*
Here's Lou's stash which she traded (minus 10 pieces) to the Switch Witch last night for a Snow White dress-up dress.

And here's a photo of Emily and I dressed up as Little and Big Edie from Grey Gardens. We went out to a Halloween party and were happily surprised by how many people knew who we were!

Of course we highly recommend that you check out the movie that came out this past year if you haven't seen it. :)

Happy Halloween!

Miller is 14 months old

Dear Miller,

Hi, remember me? It's your mommy here with a long overdue update on your life! So, let's get started...

You are so, so, SO busy these days! (Which means I'm so, so busy, too, and why you haven't received an update lately.) You hardly ever walk anymore-- you run. You get into everything. Keeping up with you is about as easy as chasing a tornado and the only thing you might like better than running around is being held, then being put down. Then being held, then being put down. Then being held...

Daddy keeps calling you a Mama's boy and I'm completely fine with that. You're definitely having some separation issues at the moment and you do break out into a full cry if I even leave the room for a second or think about stepping over the baby gate away from you and heading down the hall. Luckily you're still pretty easily distracted so leaving you at the gym or with a babysitter hasn't been a problem as long as I find you a truck or car to play with then sneak out.

You continue to absolutely torture me with your picky-ness. For God's sake, child, would you please eat something?! The only things I can guarantee you'll eat are Craisins, graham crackers and yogurt and I think you might be happy eating those three things for every meal for the rest of your life. Refried beans are the only non-sweet thing you'll even think about eating. I continue to try giving you tons of different things every day in hopes that you'll find something else you just absolutely must eat daily but I usually just end up exasperated. Surely this will improve soon, right?

You are starting to communicate more but unlike your sister you aren't too interested in using much sign language. You still point at things constantly and wave 'hi' and 'bye' but you don't really use 'more' unless I ask you to. Mostly you communicate by saying 'uh-oh' a million times per day, especially when you throw anything and everything on the floor (repeatedly). You're also using this new screech/scream you like to make when things don't quite go your way. Yes, the full-blown tantrums are on the horizon- I see them coming.

In happier news, when she's not nearly suffocating you or trying to pick you up and relocate you out of her way, your sister is really enjoying playing with you. You guys laugh and laugh and have some real back-and-forth games you like to play. Y'all still love flopping around on the bed and you can't get enough of her or anyone else chasing you. You also love it when Daddy throws you around and tickles you, of course, because he's really good at that. Your favorite toys are bristle blocks, cars and trucks, balls and puzzles. You also LOVE books.

As for your soft side, you still love to give hugs and will come up and hug everyone's legs, especially mine. Anything soft and squishy you find you immediately put on the floor and then lay your little head down on it to test it out. Really, it is so sweet. Whenever you go to sleep we put your Ugly Doll Jeero in bed with you and you've started holding its little arm as you drink your milk and go to sleep. We'll have to see if it receives Babo-like status from you soon.

You are a sweet, sweet boy, Miller. You just might have a hint of Daddy's temper too, but it's exciting watching you grow and seeing you have your own ideas and expectations. I just wish those ideas included eating more than dairy products and cookies.

Love you, Little Man!
Mommy

Emmylou's costume revealed!

I've been swearing to Gary that I'd update the blog but I've been a little preoccupied the last few nights finishing Emmylou's costume. It had to be finished by last night because her class had their costume parade this morning. So, here she is before we left the house (ta-da!):

Then, at school her class paraded into the chapel for their little performance:



I really like how her teacher is carrying her wig in their drink caddy.

All was well until Emmylou saw her friend Annie's bride costume. When we got home this afternoon she informed me that she was going to be a bride for Halloween. I said "Oh, really? Next year?" And she said, "no, in four days."

Right....