Happy Halloween from a Beautiful Butterfly

We were in Waco for Halloween and it was so fun to get to spend it with good friends! Lucky for us, Elliott and Oliver invited Emma to go trick or treating with them in their neighborhood. This was her first time to go trick or treating and she loved it! Unfortunately, she was tired before we even got costumes on, so needless to say, she was very tired by the end of our short trip around the block.

Emma was such a big girl... she loved walking up to the door and knocking but we never could get her to say "Trick or Treat" or "Thank You." She just stood there and held her hand out for candy!

Elliott and Oliver's costumes were adorable- they got so many compliments! Thing 1 and Thing 2.... and Emma:

"Trick or Treat..."

Holding Daddy's hand:

Dragging her pumpkin full of candy to the last few houses:

Checking out their loot:

Ok... now for honesty time.... will any of you admit to eating some/all of your kids' candy after they went to sleep? We felt like it was 'best for Emma' if we ate some of her candy since it's not very healthy for her. Good justification, right?

Fun with College Friends

After spending the night with Robin's parents in Arlington, we headed to Waco, TX on Friday morning, Halloween, to stay with our good college friends, Conner and Kathy and their twin boys Oliver and Elliott.  As usual, it took Emma several hours to warm up to everyone and really start playing, but when she did, they have a lot of fun together!

 

Playing on their swingset:

 

It looks like Emma and Elliott are up to something:

 

Emma and Elliott chillin':

 

Looks like Emma may be bossing them around here: 

 

Oliver loved throwing the ball to Robin:

Road Trip Fun

Warning... the title of this blog was sarcastic. 

Our family left on Thursday night to head to Texas for a weekend with friends and family.  We left after I got off work thinking, "Oh, Emma will sleep in the car and it will work out just great!  WRONG!  Emma started moaning about an hour and half into the trip and we couldn't figure out what was going on with her.  When we stopped for a drink at McDonald's in Atoka, Emma threw up about 20 times in a row WHILE STRAPPED INTO HER CARSEAT.  After turning around and surveying the damage, Robin and I just turned around and stared back at the windshield in complete silence.  I think we were both in denial. After taking a deep breath, I got out of the car, unstrapped Emma, picked her up and let the vomit drip off of her (too graphic?  I'm sorry.)  Vomit was just sitting about 2 inches deep in the carseat.  SO, I took Emma inside McDonald's, gave her a sponge bath in the bathroom sink (GROSS!) and dried her off under the hand dryers.  Isn't that a great visual picture?   Robin stayed outside and attempted to clean the carseat.  Did I mention that we had our dog with us?  He was trying to help clean up the vomit.  After some intense work on the carseat we decided there was only one solution, buy a new carseat!  SO, Robin left Emma and I at McDonald's because Emma and I couldn't ride in the car without a carseat.   He went to Walmart to buy one of their $43.00 carseats.  After the hour and a half delay, we got Emma back in the new carseat, the yucky carseat in a trash bag in the back, and on the road again.  I prayed the whole way to the Metroplex that she would not throw up again.  We arrived safely to Arlington at about 1:45 AM.  What a fun road trip!

So, my question to those of you experienced moms?  Has this every happened to anyone else?  What do you do?  I did learn one valuable lesson- always have a towel in the car!

I promise my next post will be more joyful and less graphic!

Horse Rides, Hayrides, and sMOREs!

We just got back from a very fun Fall Party with our Sunday School class.  We recently formed a new young families department at our church called FIT- "Families In Training." Right now, we have around 50 couples involved.  Robin and I are co-coordinating the department with another couple and it has been a huge project, but one that has been so rewarding!  We have loved getting to know so many new people who are all in the same stage of life!

Tonight's party was at our good friends' house.  They live on several acres a few minutes outside of Tulsa.  They have a beautiful home with horses in their very own backyard!   We had about 130 people at the party with just about as many kids as there were adults- it kind of felt like the adults are being taken over!!!  There were so many fun things for the kids to do- Emma had a blast. 

The weather could not have been more perfect and we are thankful for such a fun fall family memory. 

 

Aubrey and Emma hangin' out on a rock they found:

 

Emma and Aubrey:

 

Several of our good friends eatin' some BBQ together: (do you see 2 newborn babies in there?):

 

How cute is this?  Emma and Aubrey pretending to ride a horse together:

 

Saddle up your horses:

 

Emma's very first horse ride- she loved it!

 

Emma's and her horse, "Bill"

 

Checking out another horse- Emma wanted to "touch" all of them!

 

Emma's first hayride:

 

Riding a fun scooter toy:

 

Piggy-back ride with daddy:

 

Bonfire for smores- check out the beautiful sunset:

 

Mommy managed to make it into a picture- here we are on the hayride  back to the house at the end of the night:

Hooray for Halloween!

Today Emma and I went to a very fun Halloween party for all of our playgroup friends.  Terra and Kylan were the hosts for the shower and they did such a great job- there was so much to do and so many wonderful yummy treats to eat!

I was thankful that we had the opportunity to dress up today because I'm not sure if Emma will get to dress up on Halloween or not.  We will be in Waco for Baylor's Homecoming on Halloween.  One of my friends suspects that the good 'ol Baptists at Baylor planned Homecoming on Halloween to distract from Satan's holiday. :)

Here are a few pics from the party:

Emma, aka. The Beautiful Butterfly:

 

"Knock, Knock, I'm here to party!"

 

Caroline (Poodle) and Kate (Pig)

 

Emma- just taking it all in- this is usually what she does at large gatherings.

 

Allie (Minnie Mouse)

 

 

The kids loved jumping in this fun inflatable:

 

Pumpkin Decorating:

 

Emma guarding her castle:

 

Teeter-totter, teeter-totter:

 

Thanks Terra and Kylan for helping us get into the fall spirit!

Boomer Sooner was a bummer...

Last Saturday was the OU/TX game and I haven't blogged about it because I've been a bit depressed about it.  (Yes, they lost.)

Emma wore her OU jersey so there isn't a good reason WHY OU lost. :(

Here are a few pics from the game:

Doesn't Emma look nervous watching the TV in this picture?  She's already got the OU madness in her blood:

Gigi and Pops Visit Tulsa!

It had been WAY too long since Emma last saw her Gigi and Pops.  They live in Arlington, TX, about 4 and half- 5 hours away.  We try to make it a point to see them at least every other month, but this time it had been about 10 weeks since we last saw them!

Gigi flew in by herself last Friday night because Pops had some important church events he needed to be in Arlington for on Saturday and Sunday.  BUT, Pops drove to Tulsa after he preached Sunday morning to see Emma Sunday night and during the day on Monday. We had a great time with them!

Waiting for Gigi at the airport...

 

Yeah!  Gigi's here!...

 

Gigi, Daddy, and Emma playing a trio on the piano...

 

Gigi and Robin checking out the Smart Car when we were car shopping: (we did NOT buy this car- it was a bit small and did not have a place for a carseat.)

 

Gigi and Emma playing with her stacking blocks:

 

Waiting patiently for Pops to arrive on Sunday evening:

 

Emma chillin' out eatin' a chip with Pops:

 

Pops brought Emma this cute yellow t-shirt from his church:

 

I love this picture!

 

This was Emma's face as Pops and Gigi drove away. :(

Sponge Rollers Flashback

Last Thursday night as Emma was getting out of the bath my mom had the sudden desire to put sponge rollers in Emma's hair.  As soon as she whipped the sponge rollers out, I had a major "blast from the past!"  My mom used to put sponge rollers in my hair all the time.  I remember going to bed with rollers in my hair- man that was uncomfortable!  But hey, anything for beauty, right?

Emma did great while Nana put them in her hair- Emma loves to sit at Nana's makeup table and go through her makeup.

As we predicted, Emma didn't tolerate the rollers being in her hair for very long- she immediately began pulling them out and we repeatedly put them back in.  I think the longest a roller stayed in was about 15 minutes and the hair was pretty curly when that roller came out! 

 

Maybe we'll give it another try in a few months!