It's OFFICIAL!!!!!!

We are packing up and heading to..... MIDLAND, TX! Chris has been offered, and accepted, a job with Halliburton beginning on January 5th! Talk about fast! We have put our house up for sale... never really sunk in until she put the HUGE sign in our yard! We have a townhouse... and will move in sight-unseen! Have begun packing, throwning away and donating in a BIG way! The back room and the back bedroom are empty and slowly, or quickly, everything else is becoming pretty bare too! We have shown the house several times. Elwanda (God Bless her soul) has helped me DEEP CLEAN the house and kept Crockett while I tackle everything else. It has been a whirlwind.

We are very excited about this new opportunity for Chris and our family. It is also very bittersweet. We are leaving so many people that we love and a home that we brought our baby home to. But we also know that this is the best thing for our family right now. So we are very optimistic about it even though we are also realistic enough to know that it will be difficult.

We look forward to seeing what God has in store for us in Midland and are excited to begin this new adventure!

Christmas Day at Grandmaw's!

For lunch on Christmas Day, we went to be with the Stone family! It is always such a special get-together and really is a great way to celebrate the day. Grandmaw is such a remarkable woman and is the glue that binds this family together. I always feel like we really remember what these holidays are about when we are at her house. God, family, friends... the most important things in life (and in that order).

We ate such a delicious meal. There is always so much food! Most of the time I don't even make it to dessert! (Yeah, right, maybe a little bit :) We get to catch-up with the ones we don't see often enough, the kids get to play, the men talk shop, it is such a great occasion! After we cleaned up, and cleared away, it is time for presents. This year, Grandmaw made EVERYONE pick a number between 1 and 19... whoever guessed her number was SANTA!!! I guessed 18 and the number was 17, luckily, Kayleigh guessed 17 and happily accepted her new job :) She was a good little Santa too!! Everyone goes around (youngest to oldest) and opens one gift... while EVERYONE watches you! It really was nerve-racking my first couple of years in the family, but we have a really good time now. After that, it is like a free-for-all!! There is wrapping paper going everywhere, toys flying, kids playing, people hugging... it is wonderful! Just what a big family Christmas should be!

There were lots of great moments: Grandmaw got Crockett a pair of pj's with tractors on them... he had to put them on right then! He kept looking at his legs telling everyone "TACTOR!" He had actually borrowed the same pair of pj's from his friend, Cade, and I kept worrying because he wants to wear them EVERYDAY and I didn't know how I was going to give them back :), Brenda got a sign that said "There would be a lot less spoiled kids in this world if we could spank Grandma and Grandpa! HA! So true :), Marla and Brenda both got teeny tiny shirts (Grandmaw said they were the BIG THING in Granbury :), Shirley made a delicious Kahlua cake, but by the time we found out it had Kahlua in it, Nathalie, Crockett and Rich had already DEVOURED it!, All of us girls got house coats! We should have taken a big picture :) And I could go on and on....

I am so lucky, happy, proud to be a part of this family. I have spent the last 5 years right down the road from most of these people and they have taken me in like I have been here for 15! We had a wonderful day and Crockett was WORN OUT! It was the perfect ending for a pretty perfect Christmas!

We have been so lucky to celebrate with each side of our family this year! It is exhausting but so worth it. We are blessed with so many people in our lives and getting to spend part of a holiday with them is just a small way to say 'We Love You'!! After heading to my dad's this weekend (NYE!) Christmas 2010 will officially be over. What a Christmas it has been!!! :)

Merry Christmas from our home...

We had decided last year that from that Christmas on, we would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day at our house. One day Crockett will know all about Santa and he will know that Santa comes to his house! I have never NOT been at my mom's for Christmas, so it was a bit bittersweet, but she understood... and I have been looking forward to it ever since! So on Christmas Eve, after Hotshot and MaryAnn's house we went home and opened a couple of presents! Chris and I decided to let Crockett open a couple, because we couldn't stand waiting!, and he and I could only open the one Crockett had given each of us. Last year was so special since it was Crockett's 1st Christmas, but this year was even more WONDERFUL! He was sooooo much fun to watch! He knows how to open the gift and when he sees what is inside, his eyes just light up and most of the time, he says "WHOA!!" It was priceless and such a fantastic memory that Chris and I will always share. Crockett loved his tractor shirt and his toolbox... Chris LOVED the photobook Crockett:) made about "ME and MY DADDY"... and I was SO SO EXCITED about my new NIKON D3000! It was so special to spend Christmas Eve with our little family!

After Crockett went to sleep, Santa's elves got to work! We set up his kitchen, put up his "tractor" tent, got all of the stockings ready and finally got to sit back and just enjoy the moment. It is fun to enjoy Christmas through the eyes of your child and I think it really meant a lot to both of us!

On Christmas morning, of course that would be the morning, Crockett decided to sleep until about 8:30!! It was killing both of us not to wake him up! When he FINALLY got up, he was so excited about everything and just played, and played, and played! He loved all of his new toys and was such a busy little bee buzzing around our house with a new toy in hand each time he crossed the floor! It was so much fun and really made Chris and I thankful for our family. We are truly blessed!

Christmas Eve at Hotshot's!

We decided to go visit HotShot and MaryAnn on Christmas Eve! Casey, Amie and the girls were already over there, so it was even MORE fun! They had gifts for the kiddos and they had a blast opening them! We had a blast watching their little eyes light up :) They gave Crockett a Race Car scooter, which he LOVES! and a musical jack-in-the-box. He was so much fun to watch this year! The girls loved their gifts also! Emily couldn't believe all the princess Barbie clothes she got and Nathalie got a scooter with Minnie Mouse on it. (Crockett was pretty excited about Minnie too! HA!) Kayleigh got a jewlery making set, with all the tools she might need! Looked very cool! They all played and played! Crockett found a NEMO ball and threw it around (pretty hard, I might add!) with HotShot! We all thought it was pretty funny! MaryAnn had set up a choo-choo train around their Christmas tree, so she started it to show the kids.... Crockett was in LOVE! He layed in front to the train just watching, and would get up every once in a while and tell everyone "CHOO CHOO!!!!" with the hand motion and everything! It was so so so cute!

It was such a fun evening and Crockett really had a great time! It usually takes him a little time to warm up to Hotshot, but not this time! He was hugging on him and playing with him. It is very special for Chris to see them play together and get to know one another. What a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve! We are so blessed!

Christmas with MiMi

On the Wednesday before Christmas, Chris, Crockett & I headed to Ringling, OK to have Christmas dinner with Mimi, Karen, Tara, Caige & Camille. Amie, Casey, Kayleigh, Emily and Nathalie were there too. We had a nice dinner and spent some quality time together. The kids got to open their gifts from KK & Brendan. Crockett got a bulldozer, that he did not put down until he fell asleep in the car! Caige and Camille got him a little work bench with shapes and a hammer, and Mimi gave him some money. The kids had a great time playing together, as usual! I forgot my camera, but got one of Mimi and the kids when she came to Grandmaw's on Christmas Day. It was a short, but nice evening of celebrating the holiday season with family.

Christmas at LuLu's!

I cannot believe I am already blogging about Christmas 2010! It has come and gone in the blink of an eye!

This past weekend, we went to Lubbock to celebrate Christmas with LuLu, Papaw, the Curry's and Rachy! When we got there on Friday, we ate pizza and just enjoyed being together. Crockett was SO EXCITED to see BAY-DEE and BEEBE!! He had been waiting all week to see them :) On Saturday, Chris and I had my dear, old friend, Micah Meixner's wedding. It was at noon at First United Methodist Church... SO, SO, SO BEAUTIFUL! The bells sounded at noon, the entire choir sang, there was a trumpeter along with the organist, poinsettias everywhere... seriously, one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to! And on top of that, I got to see SO many dear friends. Micah and I went to elementary school-high school together, so I really saw SO many friends! After the lovely wedding and reception, Chris and I went to Chimy's - if only to make the most of our "alone" time :) which we don't get very often!

At 4:30 on Saturday, LuLu, Rachy, Mon, Braidy, John, Crockett and I took a trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express! The boys were VERY HAPPY when they saw the CHOO-CHOO!! It was so much fun; we sang Christmas music, they read the story, we drank hot chocolate and ate sugar cookies, the elves danced for us and Santa came and talked to each of our boys! They all did great and there were no tears shed this year! YAY! Each child was given a jingle bell... they LOVED that! It was so much fun - for all of us and for the kids!

That night, we ate a delicious meal and then opened gifts! It was definately a little more chaotic this year than in the past... there were little boys all over the place and little boy-toys EVERYWHERE!!! I guess that is to be expected and it will only get crazier :) We all got some really nice things, but most importantly, we got to spend some time together and make some great memories (Crockett and the marshmallows :). This is the 1st year, in all my 30 years, that I will not be at my mom's for Christmas day. So although it was a little bittersweet, I look forward to Santa coming to OUR house and Crockett seeing his gifts under our tree! I just can't wait to see his little face light up :)

On Sunday, we went and ate a wonderful meal at the Curry's. The boys played with their new toys... Baby Quin slept... he is really the perfect baby! It was a very busy, quick, and wonderful weekend! Hard to believe Christmas with LuLu is over until next year... we had such a great time! Thank you for EVERYTHING! Merry Christmas and we love you all!

Tis The Season...

... For friends and family! Every year we (the Stone's, Luig's and Leggett's) try to get together and celebrate the season and our friendships. Everyone is so busy all year long, and this is just a great time to stop and spend some time with each other. This year we decided to go over to the Luig's new house and have a grilled cheese bar! It was SO SO good! Even Chris liked it... and he was pretty determined not to!We will definately be doing it again! (Thank you, Martha!) It was great because the kids could run around and play and we could cook, talk, and just enjoy our evening together! The kids decorated cookies and Brandi made a DELICIOUS cake! (I still want that recipe, by the way!)

We all went on a carriage ride at 9:30, which was a little late, but the kids did great. It turned out to be a perfect evening - chilly, but not too cold! The carriage, which was all lit up, came and picked us up from their house, which the kids LOVED! Then it took us around Country Club to look at lights! It was so much fun and there were some really BEAUTIFULLY decorated homes!

We are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends, who are really more like family. We love ya'll!

O Christmas Tree!!

It is finally up!!! With any luck, it will stay that way (even with a 21 month old hitting and pulling on it!) :)

Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

Festival of Lights!

Crockett's class at TLC went on a "field trip" across the street to see the Festival of Lights. The Festival of Lights, for those who don't know, is an annual Christmas event at MSU made up of different characters and scenes all dressed up and lit up for Christmas. It was a beautiful morning so I was very excited to help! There were only 4 kiddos in the class that day, so it was not tooooo difficult to keep up with them. They had such a great time and were so cute watching all of the characters. Crockett really liked Mickey and the Choo-Choo the best! It is not quite the same during the day, but they still really enjoyed it! We sure love Mrs. Alisha and Mrs. LaRetta, they are so great about getting the kids out to do fun stuff!

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving... where do I begin?!? We haven't been to my mom's for Thanksgiving in I don't even know how long, so to say I was excited would be an understatment! So I had us all packed and ready to go see the family, meet baby Quin, see my Uncle Tim and Aunt Darla and cousin Meredith. We woke up on Thursday morning and first thing, Crockett puked. Ugh. I could tell he was congested and it was just clear (TMI, I know...) so I didn't really think anything about it. I made sure to pack the Dimetapp for that night. We finally hit the road about 9:30. Crockett was in a good mood and was happy as long as he had his juice! He fell asleep for a little while and woke up somewhere around Guthrie... and puked again.... Ugh. It was the apple juice. Although we were slightly alarmed and wondered if we should turn around, we just decided it was the car and the juice. The rest of the trip was a bit stinky, but we made it without any more incidents.

Once we arrived at my mom's, we were so excited to see everyone! Rachy and Braidy met us at the door and Crockett was so happy to see them! Dinner was almost ready as soon as we got there so we went to clean up a bit and wash the nastiness off of us. Crockett and I were walking to the table to sit down when it happened AGAIN! It was at this point obvious that it was not the congestion, nor the juice. We banished ourselves to the back bedroom and called the Dr. (whom we have on speed dial) and told everyone else to go ahead and eat without us. Crockett did not feel good and it was just downhill from that point on. We managed to get him some medicine, but before Chris left to go get it, Rach walked in the room, pale and sick. She had just puked too. Chris and I took turns eating, and while the food was delicious, the meal had just lost its luster.

Once Crockett and Rachy got some medicine in them, they felt lots better, but we decided to get a hotel room just in case. Crockett was in a great mood that night. He drank some juice, at a couple french fries and played until we made him go to bed. The next morning, he seemed better, but we gave him some more medicine just in case. Then we headed to LuLu's to see Braidy and the Lowry's. Aunt Darla, Meredith and I ventured out to do a bit of Black Friday shopping! It was lots of fun and we got some GREAT stuff! When we went back to LuLu's Chris said that Crockett still wasn't feeling great but had not been sick again. So Chris went out with my Uncle Tim for a while and we worked on getting dinner ready. Mom had decided to do dinner at 5:30 and was doing bbq and all the fixins. At about 4, Crockett got sick again... all over me. It was time to go home. Chris and I ate a quick bite with everyone and bathed Crockett and got him in his jammies and headed home.

Once we said our goodbyes, got Saydi from the Curry's house and hit the road, it hit me... For the next 3 hours, I told myself over and over, "Let's just make it home" and that is what I did. As soon as we pulled up to our house and unlocked the door, I ran in and made it to the bathroom just in time. That night, I couldn't sleep in the bed, it was just too hot, so I slept on the cool couch. All night I heard Chris getting up... he was sick. It was awful! So we spent the next couple of days locked in our house, with as little contact with the outside world as possible.

My mom and Rach got sick on Saturday morning, Aunt Darla got sick on Saturday night, and Les's daughter, Marlo's son, Jake got sick on Saturday. Rach had gone to lunch with a friend and her boyfriend on Friday... they got sick too. What a mess!

We are still not sure where Crockett picked up this NASTY virus, but we think it was at Texas Roadhouse in the peanut barrell! I cannot even imagine all the germs in there, nor can I understand why I let him eat some out of there to begin with... we never have before, and we NEVER will again! Consider this fair warning :)

It was definately a memorable Thanksgiving and I think everyone has forgiven our little carrier :) Thankfully none of the Curry's got this bug, although Braidy was running a fever and had a throat infection on Friday, but I would have died if Monica or baby Quin got sick! I hope that one day we will all be able to laugh at what a mess this Thanksgiving turned into... and always remember how thankful we are to be healthy!!

On a happier note, I finally got to meet sweet baby Quin and he was definately the highlight of my Thanksgiving! He is so content and didn't even cry once! He is an awesome cuddler and makes the best baby sounds. He is so precious and was totally worth the wait! I am counting down the days to get to hold him again... although he is going to be a little bigger this time! He is 1 month on Thurs. and weighed 10 lbs 6 oz yesterday! He is going to be a roly poly just like Crockett was! So sweet!! What a lucky Auntie I am!!!