Guess This Christmas Tune

On the 3 days of the weekend, my true love gave to me:





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1 cookie monster

Christmas shopping for baby













Walking around Grapevine:































Visiting family in town (and me with no camera!)

A nervous Santa meeting:










And 1 tired baby (in a doggie bed!)

Mid December Already?!

We have been running around like crazy since Thanksgiving. And now Christmas is around the corner. This year, for once, I feel on top of the gift-buying game and I'm excited about the gifts we have for family and friends.

My granddad has been in the hospital since last Thursday. He started vomiting blood after a procedure, and was rushed to the nearest hospital via ambulance early Thursday morning. He has been checked over, given fluids, and received blood. And he received more blood because he was given too many fluids, and was nearly mis-medicated by a doctor (not his regular). After some drama, he is now in the hospital his regular physician practices. He still has ups and downs but in many ways doing better...poor grandpa!

Brylee 'assisted' her t-ma in making cutout sugar cookies last Saturday evening. We ended up cutting out and decorating these cookies, and let her and her family enjoy the outcome!







I have been working on these cuties for about a week. I got them with the intentions of giving them out to friends and family. But after all of that work, I am almost tempted to keep them for myself...almost.










And all of this with only 2 burns!









Brylee is really enjoying the Christmas decorations, especially the tree. She loves to pull ornaments off of the tree and then attempt to put them back on, but she doesn't quite grasp the concept of opening the ribbon enough to hand on a branch. But it is cute anyways!




Brylee got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Clause on Sunday evening as they rode around town with the Lewisville Fire Department. And of course being as special as she is to Santa (wink, wink), she got a special hug and kiss. I am incredibly impressed with how well she did...no fussing at all! Once I have pictures available, I will get one of them up!

Brylee is a complete techie. She kept pulling up the internet by its shortcut on my phone (we don't pay for the internet feature, so we might have additional charges because of this), so Cary took away that shortcut and put on a music shortcut. I don't have any music on that phone...or should I say didn't....She uploaded a $2 song by the Black Eye Peas...a band I don't listen to except for on the radio...

The weather has been very nice and cool this last week, and feels so good to get out and look at anything and everything Christmas. With Brylee fighting off her second cold in a month, we have to make sure she gets appropriately covered up to go out. Once in the car, we shed her coat, only to get to our destination a few minutes later and have to put it back on...only to remove it once more once we are inside the store. Good times!

Happy December!

Brylee Vs The Star

This has been posted for a little while on YouTube and Facebook, but I just had to share it on my blog. She's so funny!

McFadden Randoms

*Last weekend was a major Christmas-decorating weekend. We started with the apartment, doing the tree and stockings, but not too much more because of the little one. Then on Saturday, we helped my parents with theirs. Brylee got her own nativity scene she can do anything she wants with. She loves it! And on Sunday, we helped Cary's parents with their Christmas. By this time she was a little pro at it, helping hanging ornaments on the tree.

*Brylee has been sick again. We took her to the doctor on Wednesday morning, and she has an upper respiratory infection. It's not so bad, except the coughing scares you, but she also has had trouble causing herself to vomit because we think the coughing triggers her gag reflex. She has had 4 baths in the last 2 days...So the last few days has been her drinking lots of milk, and not so much food. But once her coughing calms down, we will start with the food again. She had gained a few ounces according to the doctor's scale, so we don't want to lose that headway again.

*Tonight, Cary, Brylee and I had dinner with one of my high school best friends and his wife and son. I haven't seen him in over 3 years, and we both have been too busy with our kids since they have been born. They are also very busy (he's in the military)...But making this point short, it was great to sit down and have dinner with them. We made spaghetti and brownies (not as a combination), and watched the two little ones play. Their little boy is ADORABLE with his expressive eyes and big smile. It truly believe that God let us run into each other at church on Sunday so we could spend time together. It's been too long!

*I woke up this morning with a text message from mom saying that my grandpa was in the hospital. Apparently he had an exam earlier in the week, and somehow it caused a tear in his inside and he started vomited blood at 3:00 a.m. Cary and I dropped off Brylee at her Opa's because of her not feeling well and went to the hospital to sit with my mom, grandma, and 2 of my aunts. When we got there, grandpa said he was feeling better than this morning, but it is still not fun to see him so helpless in the ICU. The last I heard is that the doctor finally came and examined him and noticed that some fluids he was given had 'solved the problem'. I'm skeptical, but I pray that I'm just a worry-wort. I worry about him!

What I Am Most Grateful For 2010

A husband that makes me laugh everyday

A little girl that has clothes that fit her funny, or perhaps her mom makes them funny, but yet she still manages to make them look good

My two favorite guys and their enjoyment of geocaching together (yes, we went out in the cold weather today!)

Four beautiful girls who somehow coordinated their outfits today (1 without knowing!), and the poor lonely boy who is great with them!

A cousin that showed off his cool leg today for the first time!

And 4 incredible grandparents that will do anything this little one!

I hope that everyone had as great of a Thanksgiving as we did. Remember to count your blessings and remember what God has given you!

The Turtles I Couldn't Save

Wednesday came early for us this week, where we set out to Sulphur Springs to have the McFadden Thanksgiving, as well as celebrate 2 special birthdays.

Brad and Faith were wonderful to open up their new home to us a day before the big day to do all of this celebrating. And as always, what a wonderful time!

The day was even more special because it was Faith's birthday, and we also got to celebrate the day with Cary's Aunt Peggy and Cousin Gail. It has been over a year since I have seen these two ladies, and it was so nice to see them again.

Along with the huge feast of turkey, sweet potatoes, pasta salad, green beans wrapped in bacon, broccoli rice casserole, rolls, and stuffing, we also had several tasty desserts including pumpkin spice cake with cheese cake cream, fruit cake, chocolate pie, and even little cakes that were 'practices' for Brylee's smash cake!

After eating our meal, Brylee took a short nap and we took advantage of the opportunity to put the attention on Faith and her big day. She got spoiled with gifts!







Then Brylee got her turn. She sat in Faith's lap and got to 'open' her gifts. What a great supply of toys she got!

















It was then time to put her in her high chair and let her play with the cake that her Oma worked so hard on. It was a spice cake shaped like a turtle...it was the cutest thing I have ever seen! Practicing to make it perfect, Brenda made an additional 3, which were all just as cute.










Unfortunately, Brylee did the exact same thing she did at her previous party: stick her hand in the cake, taste it, and then wanted to go away. Cary and I now think that she wanted to not play with the cake because so many people were watching. Kind of sad that she has let 2 perfectly good smash cakes go to waste...especially after all the time used to make them!


























It was a beautiful day, even more so with spending time with such great people in the family. Brylee absolutely loves all of her gifts, most particularly the little doggie and wagon. She hasn't really been able to part with them since!





























The remaining 3 (now 2) turtles Brenda worked so hard on now sit in my kitchen...oblivious to their impending fate.

A Weekend Of Family, Cake, And Giving

And it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet!

Saturday was the Jarvis party for little Brylee's 1st birthday. It was actually the celebration for everyone who has a birthday in November: Barbara, Grandpa J, Erica, Faith, Jeff, Whitney, but it was obvious that all the attention went to her.

The party began around 1:00 when family and friends gathered around to watch Brylee smash up her cake. This group included Bill, Whitney, Amy, Mike, Spencer, Stacy, Erica, Austin, Jeff, Regina, Melissa, my parents and Cary and I. We usually don't have our game nights until around 5 p.m., but dad and Jeff had to go to dj at a wedding, and we wanted to make sure that B-pa got to see his little destroy her cake.

At 1:30 we got some adorable pre-shots of Brylee in her little outfit, and then pulled out the cake and let her go...

And watched her do very little. The girl did not want to go crazy and destroy the cake! She was content with putting her hand in it, tasting a little, and then moving on...We (I) finally got her messy by putting my hand in the icing and putting it on her little face. She was not too happy with it, but I think Whitney got some great shots in anyways.

After letting her play with it for a few minutes, we moved everyone indoors and served up cake. And then dad and Jeff were off!

After a quick bath, Brylee was happy again and ready to play with her guests. And open gifts!










(pre-party when Brylee was playing with her horsey that her friend Dawn gave her)
























(love the turkey tush!)





















Giving Austin a little football peptalk










She enjoyed playing with the cans that we asked for people to bring for donating. Our goal was to collect her weight's worth...16 1/2 lbs, but ended up with 42.6 lbs. And that is only for what was there! A dear friend of mine said she donated 8 bags worth of food to her local shelter just a day before! Thank you for such generous donations, everyone! I hope this helps others have a very happy and tasty holiday season!










Her daddy helped her unwrap her gifts since she lost interest in unwrapping them quickly. But she loved the outcomes!










Around 7 p.m. my cousin Kim showed up with her husband and 3 little girls, Addison, Reagan, and Gracyn. They all played so well together! Kim brought some toys and clothes that her little ones have grown out of, doubling her gifts that she had already received! Books, videos, puzzles, oh my! What an amazing gift! Thank you Addison, Reagan, and Gracyn for all of the adorable things! Brylee is so excited to play and wear all of these!

Here are some additional gifts she received:










This beautiful purple and pink quilt that her Great Granny W made her. It reminds me of my favorite quilt I have now she had made when I was in middle school. I can't wait to show her how I use mine for naps still, and she will someday do the same!










More gifts she received includes several books, a walker/scooter, 2 outfits and 1 jammie set, a tea party set, an alphabet caterpillar, a bath toy, a glow worm, tons of bubbles, a bucket that helps with shapes...the list goes on and on!

My favorites? Well, everything of course! But I am really excited about one of her books that introduces more words. It is more advanced than the Little Einstein book she has, and so much more added...those home made flash cards are no longer needed!

































A super big THANK YOU! to everyone who came to the party, and for all of her wonderful gifts. She is one truly blessed little girl, and I love that she has so many amazing people in her life!

And after all of this, she still wasn't finished! On Sunday, her Oma and Opa gave her 3 adorable outfits and a music cd. AND she has more to go when we visit Uncle Brad, Aunt Faith, and Cousin Helen on Wednesday for the McFadden Thanksgiving. I can't wait to post more!

But for now, I'll leave you with a tease of the adorable pictures that Whitney took on Saturday. Please check out her website to see more of them! And I strongly recommend her for all of your portrait needs...she is excellent!




































November is now my favorite month! What a gorgeous day to celebrate friends and family, and just have an awesome party. I hope everyone else had as much fun as we did, and I can't wait for Thursday to do it all again!