Presents from Aunt Carol

Thank you for the wonderful birthday gifts, Aunt Carol!


Jordan Gets in on the Act

Out To Get Me

I am convinced that my family is out to get me. I just can't seem to get a good night’s sleep. Steve or Jordan or Lexi take turns wrecking my slumber. Last night, it was Lexi's turn. She started crying at 3am, because she had an accident and was all wet (legitimate reason). I cleaned her up, changed her sheets, changed her pajamas, and threw everything in the hamper. I put her back in bed and headed back to my bed. Twenty minutes later, she started screaming again.

This time, the "black lady" was hiding behind her dresser. All I can say is that she must be REALLY skinny because there is only a 2" gap between the dresser & the wall. I told Lexi that we don't let any scary people in our house and had her look back there to make sure that there wasn't anyone hiding. She laughed and said it is only pretend. I headed back to bed. Another 30 minutes passed before I heard her calling my name.

This time, she claimed she had to go potty. I took her to the bathroom & was surprised that she actually did have to go. I figured that she had released it all around 3am. I put her back in bed & headed back to mine.

At 4:30am, she started again. This time, Steve got up. Sounds good, right? WRONG! Guess who got the brilliant idea to bring Lexi to our bed? The girl who can't hold still or STOP TALKING? I don't think he even lasted another 5 minutes before he decided he'd just get ready and go to work early. I gave up on sleep and decided to start my day. I had a long to do list anyway.

Now that we are half way through the day, Lexi is taking a sweet little nap on the couch. Looks nice doesn't it? What about me? I guess the torture will continue. I’ll just pray for a break tonight since Lexi’s party is tomorrow and I need to be buzzing around here.

Lexi's Perspective on Today

This morning, I had the Today show on while we ate breakfast and cleaned the house. I took a few minutes to explain to Lexi that we are getting a new President today and that his name is Barack Obama. Here are some of her funny comments:

“Yeah, Rock Obamie!”

I pointed out the huge crowds and she said, “That is a lot of cheerleaders!” Then later, “Those aren’t cheerleaders, mommy. They have flags.”

She constantly asked me who different people were. When I pointed out George Bush, Sr. She said, “Just like George the monkey.” (a.k.a. Curious George)

PJ Day

Lexi has PJ week at school. Unfortunately, I forgot about it on Monday and dressed her in regular clothes. She talked about my mistake over & over & over again for the next few days. I definitely remembered about it on Thursday. I let her pick which pair she wanted to wear and was not surprised when she picked the "kisses" set. I think she had an especially good week. They ate waffles for snacks and she was covered in maple syrup. It was like a strong perfume - very tasty.

Kid Fears

A few nights ago, I heard Lexi crying. I went into her room to see what was wrong. She was half awake and complaining that the “black lady” was going to get her. Since she doesn’t know any terms for racial differences, I knew she didn’t mean African American. I’ve heard her describe them as brown before. So, I asked her which black lady. She told me the one in Sleeping Beauty. Since then, she is scared of her dark room and it is my fault.


As a teenager, I babysat a lot of kids so I know that the Disney Princess movies can be scary. That is why I planned to wait until Lexi was at least 5 to let her watch them. Last week, I broke my own rule. Lexi wanted to watch a movie, Jordan was taking a nap, and I had a LOT of work to do. I rationalized that she is advanced for her young age and that she really likes the princesses. Besides, she doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything. …blah, blah, blah. Of course at the end of the movie, she talked about Aurora and the fairies and everything nice. I didn’t think much of it until I heard about the “black lady.”Back to the rule about waiting until she is FIVE.

Lexi's Tea Party

For about 6 months, Lexi has been interested in tea parties. Santa must have heard her because he brought a big princess tea set. It has quickly become one of Lexi and Jordan's favorite things to play with. Jordan likes it mainly because he loves food even pretend food.

Last night, a neighbor called and asked me to watch her son for an hour. Lexi decided it was time to introduce him to the fine art of tea parties too. Good thing he is a good sport.

Backyard Fire

Last Sunday, it was quite chilly for Houston. Steve watched his poor little Dolphins lose their first playoff game since before we met. He wanted to at least enjoy the weather, so he lit a fire in the backyard. What kid can resist a mesmerizing fire? We roasted a few marshmallows to make it even more interesting.

By the way, the dolls pictured below are named Little Lexi & Little Jordan. Big Lexi is their momma. Isn't that funny?

Primary Kid

The church we go to rotates the classes the beginning of January (instead of August like school does). That is also when the kids move up to the next class. The babies can start attending the nursery when they are 18 months old. They stay in there until the January after their 3rd birthday. A few weeks ago, the lady in charge of the Primary (which means the kids) called and asked me if I would mind having Lexi move up to the next level early (I don't think she knows that the NEVER do that). The nursery teachers have told her that Lexi is very advanced for her age and would be quite sad and bored if left with the babies. I thought it would be best too.

Throughout December, the kids that would be transitioning from Nursery to Primary came into the Primary for ten to twenty mintutes to get use to it. Their first full time in there was Sunday. Lexi was definitely ready. She sang the songs and raised her hand to answer questions. When they sang a family song, she even shouted out that her dad didn't come to church today because he stayed home. She probably should have mentioned that the Dolphins FINALLY made it to the playoffs. I got to watch half of her time in there because I've been asked to teach the 6 year olds. There are 2 hours of primary. The first hour the classes from 3 - 8 years old meet together to sing and play games. After that, we break down into classes by age. Lexi's teachers are good friends of ours, so I knew she'd love it.

New Years Eve Party

Party, party, party...that is all Lexi had been talking about all day. She couldn't wait to go to Erik's house for his party. We had lots of delicious food and then headed to the back yard for smores. It was lots of fun.

Smores with Joshua

Getting Help from Dad

Eating Smores is Tough

Roasting Marshmallows with Ms Nicky

Ear Infection

For the past few days, Lexi has been quite difficult. Little things have made her lash out at us or burst into tears. I had a feeling that she had another ear infection, but she kept saying it didn't hurt. Of course, she finally admitted that it was hurting yesterday (Saturday). Her pediatrician is closed on Saturdays, but Steve & I go to a family clinic that is open for a few hours. We took her there. Her right ear is swollen and red. Her left is just swollen. She also weighs 33 lbs and is 37 inches tall.

Christmas Afternoon

Christmas afternoon is always about toys and playing. Here are some pictures of Lexi enjoying a few of her toys:




Vtech Motion

Christmas Morning

The morning that Lexi has been talking about all month happened today. She had been repeating "the plan" several times a day. --We're going to wake up and go downstairs to see ALL THE PRESENTS!

It happened and she enjoyed it as much as she thought she would. She even loved helping everyone open their gifts too, because that is exactly what oldest daughters do (not that I did that or anything -- stop laughing mom). She made sure that we had a blast.

Helping Dad Open Gifts

Toy "Froggies"

Wrapping Paper

Lots of Presents

Lexi's Beloved Princesses

Christmas Carols

This morning, I realized that although Lexi has been belting out Christmas songs all month...I have failed to post any. It isn't too late though. I got out the camera and had her sing some.

Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer

Away in a Manger & Christmas Story


Snowman Song

Sitting on Santa's Lap

We went to see Santa at the mall this morning. We got there a little before ten, which was before Santa and his photographers showed up. We were first in line. Lexi has been looking forward to seeing him and has mentioned several times that she "will not cry at Santa." Of course, she told him that she wants Princesses. When they handed her a pair of cheap maracas, she looked at me with a confused expression and exclaimed, "these are not princesses." I chuckled and told her that he'll be bringing her princesses to the house on Christmas day.

Right after we were done, we headed to the theater to see The Tale of Despereaux. She first saw the trailer when we were at Madagascar 2. I told her that it comes out on Uncle Chris' birthday. Since then, the two have gone hand-in-hand. I knew I'd have to take her to see it on the first day. Jordan fell asleep right as it was starting, so we were able to enjoy it.

Play Time

Tuesday, Lexi and Jordan got to play with some of their favorite friends. I volunteered to take care of a friend's kids so she could do some Christmas shopping. She HATES shopping (imagine that). The weather here has been crazy. We have a couple days of cold followed by a couple days of HOT. It just goes back and forth, so I picked a cold day to stay inside. She dropped her kids off and we were all entertained. Surprisingly, four (ages 1 to almost 4) isn't all that hard if you stay home and keep them doing fun things of course. Plus, Prince Camden and Princess Lexi always enjoy being together.

Church Christmas Party

We went to a church Christmas party last night. It was a special treat since last year we mostly stayed home and enjoyed our new baby, Jordan. The Activities Coordinator for the party is actually a professional chef, so you know the food was good. We also got to see lots of our friends including Lexi's best friend, Camden.

Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures. I snapped a few before we left and Steve took a couple of Lexi with her candy cane mess. On the bright side, they had a free photographer there taking family portraits. I don't know how long it will take to get them back though.

Family of Disco Dancing Elfs

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Ear Infection

Yesterday, I planned to stay home all day with my sick kids. I asked Lexi several times if her ear was hurting and she said no. Around 2pm right as I was putting Jordan in the tub, she complained that her ear hurt. I called the doctor's office and was told I could "come in right now." I loaded up the car and headed over there quickly. Lexi's right ear is infected (same side as Jordan's).

The doctor prescribed the exact same medicine that Jordan got on Monday. We headed to Super Target again to pick it up. Of course, the same people were behind the counter at the pharmacy. The lady smiled, so I said "We're back again. We live here."

Lexi decided to announce it louder as we were walking away. She practically yelled, "We live here." I had to laugh.

Panties to Bed

Last night, Lexi wore her panties to bed for the first time. She has been wearing pull-ups at night for a little less than a year. Lots of different moms told me that their kids were fully night potty trained right about their 3rd birthday, so I haven't been thinking about it much. However, her pull-ups are almost always dry in the morning, so why spend the extra money? I decided that I wasn't going to buy any new bags. I had planned to wait for us to finish up this last bag, but then realized it would be nice to keep some on hand in case her stomach isn't feeling too well one evening. Needless to say, her first night went well.

Gingerbread Lexi

Lexi has a new pair of pjs that she adores. The first night she wore them, I got out a book that my mom had given her that had happened to have the story of the Gingerbread Man. Now, she runs around the house giggling and saying, "Run Run as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man."

Grandpa Law Day

Three years ago this week, my dad passed away. His funeral was the last time I had been to the cemetery where he was buried. I decided that I would take the kids to show them where their Grandpa Law is. I also brought pictures of the last time I saw him for Lexi to look at. It was a pleasant day and we actually enjoyed being at the Veterans Cemetery.

Decorating for Christmas

Instead of going shopping on Black Friday, we went to a local nursery and bought our Christmas tree. We spent the long weekend decorating for Christmas and for Jordan's Christmas themed birthday party. Lexi really enjoys preparing for festivities. In the picture above, you can see that she pulled out a santa cap & stockings. The strange thing is that she found a piece of old chocolate candy in one of the stockings. She cried when I wouldn't let her eat it. She was so upset and in a very dramatic way told me that Santa brought that candy for HER so she should eat it. I wanted to laugh. Being a mean mom, I didn't let her have it. I just threw it away. However, I found her a piece of Halloween candy to make up for it.