Sooooo Ready!

Tonight we had our first official Christmas dinner of the season! It was so good! Probably one of my favorites yet. The kids did a neat craft too. Once they are finished, I will try and post a picture.

And I am ready for tomorrow! Not only is it Christmas Eve, but Robert flies in! Yippee! I have missed my husband. I miss him picking on me. I miss pestering him. I am ready to have him here with me. I know the boys are too. He flies into Tulsa and I am just praying that the bad weather holds off til after he lands. He is escaping the CA floods for the cold AR weather. We might have a white Christmas! I am hopeful!

Last night we went to the Razorback game. The boys had a blast! Brycen has even started learning to call the Hogs... which is adorable! This age is so precious. You can just see the little wheels turning in his mind and he gets so excited!! Love it!

I think I am done with my Christmas shopping. It seems little things always end up creeping onto my list. I am just ready to relax for a bit too. Everytime I am here I just run, run, run. Everyday by 5 I feel like I could fall asleep. Maybe I will get some energy back once the holidays have passed.

I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful and merry Christmas!

Is gray the new black?!

Unfortunately, I am not talking about clothes. I am talking about hair.

My name is Lenora and my hair is turning gray.

There, I have said it. It has gotten so bad here lately. For the past few years I have been highlighting my hair. I believe this has disguised the gray that was there. In August I died my hair back to dark brown. Since then, I have become overwhelmed with all of the gray hair popping up! I am 25 years old!!

I guess it is just hard to realize that I am getting older. I am just wondering how long before all of my hair is gray. Hopefully not too soon. You better believe that this spring I am going to be highlighting my hair again.

So tonight I box-dyed my hair. If I dye it, I usually use a box. If I highlight, then I always go to my stylist. Well I enlisted my sister, Brooklyn to help me out because I have a TON of hair. We do the whole process, I wash, blow dry and notice that I still had streaks! Ugh, so I made her get out the rest of the second bottle we had left and fix it. Thank goodness the second time she got it right! It is back to dark brown. Let's see how long this lasts before gray becomes my new color!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Robert, Lenora, Thompson, and Brycen

Happy 1st Birthday Brycen!

On Saturday we celebrated Brycen's 1st Birthday! A year old... wow! It's hard to believe that my baby is already 1.

I will try not to make this a sappy post, but a happy one celebrating the wonderful life that we have been blessed with.

Brycen, you are 1!

Here is what you are up to...

You weigh almost 23lbs! And you are just over 30 inches tall. We will go to your 1-year appointment when we get home.

Last week we switched you to whole milk out of a sippy cup! No more bottles for you, little man. Surprisingly, you haven't seemed to miss them. And the transition went WAY better than I expected. Since you were born, we had so many issues with you spitting up. Finally, Enfamil AR seemed to be the trick! So I was nervous about trying you on whole milk, but you haven't had any spit up. Thank goodness!

I have also started to limit your drinking intake. You get about 4 cups of milk a day. (You were getting about 5-6 bottles) With this, you are eating a lot more! You are getting more and more used to table food and it makes it a lot easier. You still have about 4-5 jars of baby food a day, but are eating snacks here and there too. I have already decided that I am going to have to get a job just to be able to support our grocery bill. You are an eater! You would eat non-stop if I would let you. :)

You are wearing 12-18 months in clothes, size 4 shoe, and size 4 diaper. You are a walking pro. You love to chase your big brother around the house. It looks like you are playing "tag". You will reach your arm out when he runs by like you are going to get him. So cute! And you are such a jibber-jabber. You walk around the house just talking like you are a big kid! I can't wait for you to start learning more words!

So far you can wave bye, blow kisses, give high fives, say momma, da-da, hi, and no.

Since we have been home, you have really taken to your Papa. He is so proud of that and daily refers to you as "Papa's Boy". But when you are hungry or tired, you only want your Momma!

You had your 1st birthday party here in Arkansas. We had so much fun!! You are surrounded by so many people who love you, and that is the best thing ever! You had fun with your smash cake, opening presents, and just playing with all of the kids.

Brycen, this has been the best year of my life. You have been such an amazing addition to our family. I love you. Happy Birthday baby boy.

Don't worry, I am alive!

No, I am not talking about my lack of blog posts... I am talking about how I almost took out 2 fingers tonight while cooking dinner!

Eesh!

I was so proud to use my mom's new Pampered Chef knife. She got this knife like 2 years ago and never has touched it. She gave it to me last year, but I keep forgetting to take it home with me. Well tonight I pull out it out to cut potatoes. My mom comes in and we talk about the knife and I tell her how much I love it!!! Fast forward one potato later and I am screaming and in tears vowing that I was going to die. (Yes, I know I am a little dramatic.) I told her to take me to the hospital, but after further inspection we decided to call the family's honorary doctor, my sister Tara. I cut my index finger and somehow took off the tip of my thumb. (I know, I am talented!) She came up and put some kind of strips on it to help seal it. I eventually stopped crying after a pep talk from Thompson.

What is so funny is one of the only things I could mumble out while I was crying was that I didn't want her knife anymore! ha!

Not much else going on around here. We are enjoying visiting with all of our family and friends. On Sunday, I went with my mom and sister, Brittany to one of our area's home tours. Along the way I found my best friend, Becca. I somehow convinced her to go with Brittany and I to Tulsa (maybe a little bribery of the Cheesecake Factory had something to do with it!) to pick up Britt's hubby from the airport. We had such a good time catching up!

We are getting ready for the big boy's 1st birthday party on Saturday! Ahhh!!! I can't believe he is about to be one! My little boy is growing up on me...

Prayers

I am asking for prayers for a Marine Wife who lost her husband 2 days ago while he was in Afghanistan. I have been following her blog and I always enjoyed her posts. It was so clear to see how much she loved and supported him. As Marine spouses, we know that when we send our loved ones off to war there is a chance that they might not come back. You hug them, tell them you love them, pray over them, and kiss them goodbye. But nothing, nothing prepares you for the reality of them actually not coming home.

I have been thinking about her since I heard the news and my heart is broken. I have been praying over and over for God to surround her right now and to keep her lifted up.

Please, stop by Katie's Blog to let her know you are thinking of her. She is going to need so much support now.

Surprise!

We are in Arkansas!!

The boys and I flew home early to surprise the family. Let me tell you... They. Were. Surprised.

My mom and dad's faces were priceless. I don't think I have ever done something like this and she is still talking about it. A big thanks to Meridith who drove us to the airport and Brittany for driving to Tulsa to pick us up.

The real shocker was that I kept my mouth quiet for 2 weeks! ha!

The boys have enjoyed being in Arkansas. Brycen has walked around my mom and dad's house about 1000x already. Surprisingly, he hasn't messed with her Christmas tree.

Today, we went and surprised Jude at school and ate lunch with him. I know I have said this before, but Thompson is OBSESSED with school. He begs me everyday to let him ride on the bus to go to school. He will even put on his backpack and tell me he is leaving to go to school. So he was in Heaven! He loved standing in line with the kids and emptying his tray. It was too cute. He even ran off into the little boys restroom and yelled at me to "get out of the boys bathroom!". And then he cried and cried when we left. I would have let him go play at recess with Jude, but I don't know if I could get him to leave while trying to hold onto Brycen. So I just told him that Jude had to go back to class. Maybe next time!

When I find my camera, I will post some cute pictures from the plane ride here.