hahaha

Just looked up a packing list for the trip- first neccessity: DUCT TAPE. I knew it!

Fearless

I am really lucky to be alive typing this. REALLY. When I think about all the stupid things I did in my youth without blinking an eye: racing my Mustang down Highway, drinking way too much, getting rides home with perfect strangers, riding SeaDoos backwards full-speed, letting people drink and drive me on motorcyles, and the list goes on and on. Nothing scared me. Now, this is a normal developmental phase, the dorky psychology professor in me says, but mine felt like more than the typical sense of immortality adolescence experience until their frontal lobes fully develop or whatever. I wasn't afraid of anything. Applying for jobs, starting new challenges, traveling anywhere, speaking my mind. But now since I have become a mother, THINGS. HAVE. CHANGED.

I have realized the extent of this change the last few weeks as I prepare for my first vacation with my kids, and one that involves Mexico travel. I have spent a lot of time in the Caribbean and always been warned of the dangers of Mexico, Jamaica, where ever, and have ALWAYS blown them off. I am cautious, but never thought twice about taking a cab while there, or shopping in the "real" town, or biking through the jungle. But now, NOW I'm taking my BABIES. And NOW I'm worried about EVERYTHING. Here are the crazy, out of control, irrational thoughts that are spinning through my head.

There's the obvious. The Mexican drug cartel. While I have WAY more of a chance crashing my car on the way home and dieing on my own they worry me. I have read and read up on these guys, b/c I am just sure that they are going to want my pretty babies, or my CAMERA, and so I have come up with a plan to ensure that my camera doesn't get stolen. I will conceal it in Josh's backpack that has a strap around the chest so that it can't be ripped off his back. But wait! That backpack has his FULL name on it. I'll need black duct tape to cover it up. I'll also need to put a towel in there to cushion the camera in case it drops. My normal case is too big to take. And the kids, we will get kid leashes. We will walk our kids around like they are dogs. And I will bring duct tape, because the drug cartel, who wants my kids, could just rip the leash out of my hands and run off with them. But with duct tape, they will have to take me too. We will take NO cabs. The cab drivers are for sure in the "cartel" so I will only take Carnival trips. We will go to all inclusive resorts so that we can eat and drink and relax all day. As long as the cartel doesn't come on to our beach, round us all up, ask us all for our money. Make us empty our wallets. I will duct tape our money to the inside of Josh's leg. yes. that will work. (Make J shave leg) So back to relaxing and drinking. Wait. They might use ice. Mexican ice. Duct tape won't work here. Will I have to drink bottled beverages only? The kids will. For sure. We don't want to puke. I can find out where the ice comes from. If it's filtered or whatever, we are ok. We need water shoes. Those are so dorky. But what if the kids step on something and it cuts them. Really don't want to go to a Mexican hospital. The cartel will probably be the doctor. But what if they get cut? And need stitches? Maybe I can buy that glue stuff. Or could little strips of duct tape work? Don't know. I'll find out. I heard no flashy watches. I'm covered there, I don't have a watch. Pretty sure Fossil doesn't count as flashy, but just in case, plastic watch must be bought for Josh. Don't really need a watch. We have phones. But those are worth more than his watch...Must hide those. Duct tape those inside the backpack. Yes. That will work. Then there's the seasick concerns. Will we be? I sure hope not. Called my Nurse Practitioner, she recommended Ginger. must buy ginger. Surely we won't be bothered by that. Sure hope not. And what about the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere on a boat. I have seen Titanic. I looked at the picture of the ship. I see lots of lifeboats. Kinda regretting the window in our room. At least if I didn't have one I could PRETEND to see land. I imagine I may feel the opposite of claustrophobic. Let me look that up... agoraphobia. Fear of wide open spaces. That's it. Kinda. That's what I'm afraid I will have. I wonder if I will sleep. If the kids will sleep. Sure hope so. We sure don't want to be tired if we have to run from the Cartel. We need to leave a day early. C will have to stop to pee. A lot. We will drive half way Friday. Sure hope we don't have any flats. Really don't want to dip into our spending money for that. Do we have enough money? Excursions are paid for. First hotel is paid for. Surely. We shouldn't even go on this. We should put the money into savings. Looked into cancelling. At this point we will lose all our money. That's not cool. Take the trip Kendall. Fun is what a family should have together. Should we get an international plan on our phone? What if there is an emergency? What if there is an emergency that we have NO way of tending to b/c we are in the middle of NOWHERE? Talk about stress. Email will be enough. No phones. It will be warm during the day, not at night though. We need summer and winter clothes I guess. Kids need sunscreen. Tylenol. Should I bring more meds just in case? Diapers, wipes, sunscreen, towels? Or do they have those? I need my camera charger. I should paint my toenails. Oh crap! I don't have a TAN? I don't go to the Caribbean without a BASE TAN. Crap. Crap. Crap. Pack MY sunscreen... My Tylenol. And then there's that Norwalk virus. Wonder if Lysol kills that. I'll bring some just to be sure. Was also warned about bed bugs. Nasty. Must remember to ask for fresh sheets for any trundle type beds. Man, I hope the kids don't drive me crazy.

Oh, wait. Pretty sure that happened already.

I'm also pretty sure my last trip to Mexico my only thought was this bikini or that bikini.

Man, my 21 year old self would be so disappointed in me.

Can you be quiet

C has been growing really fast this month, and when I think back on the month's C highlights, I notice a theme...
C: Mom, can you be quiet? I cant hear my show.
C: Mom, can you be quiet? You are giving me a headache.
C: Mom, can you be quiet? I'm not talking to you.
C: Mom, can you be quiet? I'm trying to take a nap.
C: Mom, can you be quiet? I need to tell God something.

So, either, I'm really loud. Or he is really loud and gets told to be quiet a lot. Or, uh, ok- both. It's just really loud in this house.

No wonder L doesn't talk much. Pretty sure she doesn't get a chance.

The other highlight of November from C:
C, while peeing at my grandmothers....
Mom! I'm sorry I got chocolate on the toilet. But it's ok, I licked it off!

November wrap up

Look at me! I'm following through with my plan. Today as I sit on my couch enjoying my coffee by the fire watching the two loves of my life play, I am trying to figure out where November went... I had to look back to my calendar to remember some highlights...
We took L and C to L's first OU game against A&M. We walked all around before the game looking at all the people, the band, the ponies and had a ball. Well, until L got caught up in a stampede of people... Bad mom. We even made it until half time! Which was impressive bc it was SO windy that day we had to hold on to them for dear life! We are very thankful to our good friends Brian and Elizabeth for sharing their tickets with us!
The next weekend C got to go to his "best friends" birthday party. He was so excited to go to Casen's house. The whole family loaded up and enjoyed a great time at the party eating hotdogs, going on hay rides, and bouncing in the enflatatables. Ok, ok, J and I just watched, but we did eat hotdogs!
The next weekend was a little crazy. J went to deer camp and the kids and I loaded up for norman, where I had pictures to take and Girlfriends to play with. Loved watching the game with Tracy, Lindsey and crew, even though He'll froze over and OU lost to Baylor. Seriously don't think there was a single OU fan who saw that coming. In our lifetime. Oh well, found out that day that I'm growing up I guess and football is just becoming a fun thing to do, it no longer ruins my life if we lose. And I really no longer like the trash talk.
The next weekend we GOT BUSY! I was out of school Wednesday and decided that my house's colors didn't match my Christmas decorations, so I decided to repaint. I think my husband now has proof that Im crazy. But it look SO much better and looks good with the tree. Thursday was our only non-productive day since it was Thanksgiving of course. We spent the day in Duncan and got back that night ready to get back to work.
Friday we did all our decorating, inside and out. I LOVE decorating for Christmas. I always wish I had more stuff to out out. This year was extra special bc Carson was actually helpful! He really helped me decorate the tree. It was so fun! L took a nap for most of it, so it was fun just hanging with C dog. Friday night my mother in law came up to keep the kids so we could do our Christmas shopping Saturday and then enjoy a night out with our dinner club. Then Sunday we wrapped. Now, it's all nice and pretty and DONE!
Th earthquakes have calmed down as well. We have still had several, but we arent feeling them most of the time. They are so small now that I can blame it on the heater kicking on or something, like I prefer.
We have also started our nightly family advent activities. Wll blog about those later, and we are on the countdown to vacation! Yesss.
Well, that about wraps up November. Busy, fun, and a little shaky.
And now we are on the countdown to our first vacation as a family!

19 months- a month later than planned...

I don't blog about my kids nearly enough. Especially since I do not scrapbook, so this is kinda it. So, I was really disappointed when I realized this week that Lyla turned 19 months old and that I didn't blog about her at 18 months old like I had planned. I guess the reason why is that I don't really know what to say. All I really know to say is that it's going TOO fast. I should say size stats, Lyla was 21 pounds at her check-up. Pretty pumped she grew. She's still on the small side of the growth chart. Which is fine. After all, it would be sad if she grows up with the nickname "Lil Bit" and turns out to be a "Big Bit"... She is still the sweetest thing I have ever met, but is learning quickly how to get attention and how to get her way. Let's just say she has strong opinions. She still loves to be the baby. She loves to be carried every where still. She still loves to cuddle and is FINALLY allowing us to rock her a little before bed. She won't let herself fall asleep though. She doesn't like that. She will rock and the sit up and say "Yiunnadoe night night" (I want to go night night). She then smiles while we lay her in her crib and cover her up. It's the sweetest part of my day.

Lyla doesn't seem to have quiet as many words as C did at this point, he had almost 100. But she tries sentences a lot more than he ever did. And she will attempt any word you ask her, so if I wrote down everything she CAN say, she'd probablly be close, but she doesn't really NEED to talk, C never stops long enough to give her a chance.

Speaking of C, Lyla does EVERY SINGLE thing he does. If he jumps, she tries to jump, if he cries, she cries, if he gives me kisses, well you get the point. She ADORES him. The first thing she says in the morning is "I yunt BUBBA!" The second is "I yunt Peppa" (Peppa Pig is her MOST favorite show!) Lyla loves babies. Real or pretend. She is so sweet as she pats them and kisses them. It's really sad because she would make a great big sister, but I'm not having another baby unless I can experience it from the dads point of view. So she's out of luck. But I'm sure she will make a great babysitter someday.

Lyla is good at making me be the mom she needs me to be. She will play and play and then she needs me. And there is NO putting her off. She comes at me with those little arms stretched way up in the air or she will back into me and sit in my lap. She still sucks her two fingers so when she cuddles in your arms you remember how it was when she was oh so small.

Lyla has been going to Mothers Day Out since she was 9 months old. I didn't like doing that, but financially at the time and lack of sitters forced me to do it. But she LOVES it. She has the best and most loving teacher. She reaches for her every morning. Some mornings she cries for me, but stops before I hit the door. Picking her up is my favorite part of the day. Seeing her play with her friends then drop everything to yell "MAMA" and laugh with joy (she kinda has a crazy woman laugh that is HILARIOUS!). She then YELLS "BYE BYE" at everyone she knows. So SWEET.

Lyla is a great eater. When she is done she waves those sweet little hands in the air and says "All done" or "Ta Da!". Love it. She loves being dressed up and getting her hair brushed. She loves bows and shoes. And of course, anything that is Carsons. She is a tough little cookie. She wrestles and shoves her brother off anything she wants. She is gonna have a little fight in her. Which is fine. She won't be very big. She has a VERY mean look she can pull out when she needs it. Always handy for any girl to have I guess. She loves my phone because she can play "Bubbles". She has learned to sometimes enjoy saying "cheeeeese" for the camera. However, most of the time, never for my good one, only for my phone camera.

Lyla is becoming less shy. She is realizing that she is super cute and starting to show off a little for strangers who are willing to give her attention. It's funny. She flirts a little. No clue where she got that ;). She loves loves loves to dance and to listen to music real loud in the car. Her favorite song is "Stuck Like Glue" she sings along. It's so funny. She is VERY pigeon toed. Found out that runs in the family. My uncle said my dad was "retarded as hell" (lol) and had to wear special shoes, yes, like Forest Gump. J and I grew out of ours without special assistance. Thank goodness. She tells me when she has a wet or dirty diaper. However, I am in NO hurry for two potty trained kids, so she's stuck a while. We can barely get from point A to point B as is without stopping for C to pee, so L is just gonna have to wait. Afterall, she's only 19 months. Diapers are easy. In fact, I'm thinking about making C wear one on our drive to Galveston in a few weeks... that's bad right?...Tell me not to do that. I can just give him a bottle to go in instead. ;)

Well, I guess I had lots to say. Lyla is an angel. And growing too fast. But everytime she grows more I love her more, so I guess it's ok.

November...

Is off to a bumpy start. No seriously. We were woken up by an earthquake two nights in a row. The first night, was quick. J and I jumped out of bed and ran in circles trying to figure out what blew into our house or what blew up. Only when we turned to facebook did we find out that is was actually a 4.2 (or something) earthquake. In OKLAHOMA.

Then Saturday night J had just gotten in bed, I was passed out from lack of sleep from the night before, when boooommmm again. This time it lasted what seemed like FOREVER. I think it was only a minute, but it was seriously one of the scariest moments of my life. J and I ran to our kids hall, completely expecting them to be awake. After all, it was LOUD. and we were SHAKING. They slept through it. But we were shook up.

So, we got on facebook to find out that it was a 5.6. I'll just say that I don't want to feel ANY bigger. The rest of the night was spent trying to fall asleep, once we would, an aftershock would hit. not cool.

At one point C came in, between aftershocks, and said he was scared of a monster. This was normal, so I assumed he actually didn't feel anything, after all, he slept through the other two. I just kept thinking how happy I was that he didn't get what was going on b/c I didn't want him to feel as scared as I was.

I think there were something like 20 earthquakes in all, or more. We felt them getting ready for church, in the afternoon, evening. Even got to see the damage at a local college where they had part of their building fall. However, J was proud to find out that he did build an "Earthquake proof swing set". ha.

This afternoon I asked C why he slept in our room. He said he was scared. I asked why. He said "well, because the floor was shaking." Guess it didn't slip by after all. :(

Turns out I am an earthquake chicken! Earthquakes and roller coasters are NOT my thing. Apparently I like to be on solid STILL ground. I am just hoping that this crazy paranoia ends soon. Any noise I hear I'm afraid another is coming, yes you can hear them COMING. Every time I am shaken, like at church by the guys foot behind me, I get that creepy feeling all over again. And I don't really want to go to sleep, because it is NOT a good thing to wake up to. Earthquakes just suck. You don't know when they are coming or when they are gonna STOP. not cool.

Sure hope November smooths out...

It's the most wonderful month of the year

I LOVE October! We get a break from the heat, a break from school, a lot of football, and what is growing to be my ABSOLUTE favorite holiday, Halloween!
Here's a quick look at our October:
Early OCtober, my dad brought C a sling shot and a "hunting hat". C was so thrilled he decided he wanted pictures.

Then, it was the greatest day of my life. Just kidding. Well, maybe not. I finally got to dress my little girl up like an OU cheerleader. I was thrilled. Little bit enjoyed it as well. And once again, C was willing to take pictures.

We then got all fancy for Carson's Jessie's wedding. C looked SO handsome in a suit...

Then J took an afternoon off during Fall Break and we all went to check out the Orr Family Farm. It was SO nice. It felt like we were in Katy again. It was so clean and well kept. The kids loved it. I think we found a fall tradition! C LOVED the huge bouncing pillows and the giant slide. We took a train ride and a hay ride. And of course, took a lot of pictures. They were NOT in the picture mood that day. This is C mid complaint...

I LOVE their matching expressions here...

Lil bit looked a lot cuter, but it was HOT and I had a sweater and a coat over this shirt...

On October 30th, my cousin Krisiana and I pulled off a suprise party for my grandmother, DeDe. Here's some cute pics of my kids from that day.

And then there was HALLOWEEN!!! This is becoming my favorite holiday as an adult because all the other ones involve guilt. Guilt over not being able to spend time with everyone in our family who wants us to spend time with them. Halloween is just about the kids having fun and us having fun with them. I JUST LOVE IT. C got to pick what he wanted to be this year for the first time, and he chose to be a pirate, for the second time. He also wanted Lyla to be one as well. While this was kinda against everything I had wanted, I gave up my dream of a little cute cuddley bunny or something and let my baby girl be a pirate.

And once again, C was WANTING his picture taken.

Until I asked for one sitting down that is...

C got to trick or treat this year. It was SUPER sweet. She would "say" trick-or=treat sometimes, but mostly she just said "ARG" and laughed to everyone she saw.



We tried to hit up a party after a pit stop at the Rollins house, but you know my kids, it was like after 7, so L fell apart and we had to go home to go to sleep. Maybe next year we will trick-or-treat in the DARK...