Excited!

Is this girl excited or what?!?!

Bowling! Pizza! Games! = FUN!

 Mabry and I had a fun day out with our friends Pam and Grayer. We got to go bowling then eat pizza and play games at Gattitown! Mabry had so much fun and so did I. It was great to have this day with her knowing that soon we'll be adding another member to our routine and our outings. 

Party Day

Mabry had a Happy Birthday Jesus party at school and parents were invited to attend. It was a lot of fun being with her in her school environment. Here she is showing off the cute snowman she made for me.

They got to decorate waffle cones with green icing to make a Christmas tree. Then they added M&Ms for ornaments. Most of hers made it in her mouth instead of on the tree. 

Time to eat it! Yummy! Green icing everywhere! 

Fortunately, she got to stay at school and burn off her sugar high.

Later that evening, Chad and I got to go to his work Christmas party. 

It was nice to get dressed up and go out just the two of us. 

While we were at the party, a wonderful couple from our church came over to watch Mabry for us. She had a blast making a gingerbread house (eating the candy) and watching Lion King with them. 

This time of year is so much fun!

The Journey Christmas Party

Just wanted to share our family picture from our Sunday school class's Christmas party. 

Mabry's Cousins

Just wanted to share a cute picture of Mabry and all her cousins from this past weekend. 

Like my other posts, I know you understand how hard it is to get everyone looking at the same time.

At least they are all smiling! :) Thanks to Aunt Niki for the adorable shirts.

A "Wormmaid"

Mabry says, "Ariel is not a princess, she's a 'wormmaid.'"

You know how kids get words mixed up or mispronounce them. Well, it happens all the time in our house. Mabry insists that Ariel is a wormmaid. Even when we have her correctly pronounce mermaid, it quickly goes back to wormmaid. 

It's these little things that are fun to record and look back on so I just thought I would share...

Isn't she beautiful!

So Blessed!

Our wonderful 'Sunday school' class from church has a great tradition going for the parents having their subsequent babies. We call it a "Baby Blessing." The class goes to a restaurant of the parents' choosing and showers the family with diapers for the new baby. We just had our Baby Blessing and we left with a loot of diapers, two boxes of wipes, a bib, and a wipe case! We shouldn't have to buy diapers for a while now. We are so blessed with great, caring friends! Thank you Journey friends!

Fall: A Time for Festivals

In the past couple weeks, we have had several chances to dress up, eat candy, and hang out with friends to celebrate the fall season. We started it off my going to Pam, Paxton, Grayer, and Hayes's neighborhood for their fall festival. Mabry had a blast there and did better than expected with the pony rides and petting zoo. She surprised us all by requesting 4 pony rides and having to be coaxed out of the petting area so more kids could have their turn. I wish I had pictures for you, but this happened to be a night I didn't bring my camera. Sorry!

Then we got to go to Chad's office building for their Halloween bash. It is so much fun and I even consider it a little bonus from his company. They provide food, candy, and fun such as a bounce house, haunted maze, magician, and balloon animal artist for the kids. Also, each floor decorates with a theme and have games and candy for the kids to "Trick or Treat."

If you can't tell, Mabry got to be Dasiy Duck this year. She and I both loved this costume! So cute, easy, and all the pieces can be worn another time as 'normal clothes.'

 Our church had our annual fall festival as well. This is a fun, crazy busy night with so many people there. This was the best picture we could get from the evening. The best thing about this night was that Mabry participated in her first Bake Walk and won! She picked a large chocolate chip cookie decorated with a leaf and "Happy Fall." She was so proud. 

 The next evening we had our neighborhood fall festival. We invited Grayer and his family to join us. Grayer was a cute sailor for Halloween. Mabry decided not to wear her costume this time. Again, this is the best picture I could get... Toddlers! 

 The fam... kinda bright out... :)

 Pam with Hayes and me enjoying the relaxing picnic...

 They had a dj so Mabry danced to the music almost the whole time. She is such a performer!

 Then it was off to the bounce house...

 Lastly, on Halloween night, Mabry decided she didn't want to 'Trick or Treat' so we just stayed home and handed out candy. Chad even put on a suit for the event. : ) 

Mabry had a great time handing out the candy until a boy came up with a mask on. She ran off and then said she was done. 

This was such a fun and busy time, and I know that it will only become busier. 

And so begins the holiday season!

Sea World San Antonio

We got to take Mabry to Sea World this past weekend in San Antonio. What a great age for her to go. She loves animals so she was really pumped about the up close views she got of the sea life of Sea World. Brad and Rhonda have season passes so they took us and showed us the their favorites. 

Like petting the dolphins...

 The aquarium full of beautiful fish, coral, turtles, and even sharks!...

 Here's our best shot of Shamu: A fun, entertaining show.

 As a finale, Mabry chose to ride the carousel ponies. This is a big step for her. It wasn't too long ago that she was scared of any moving ride. She's growing up!

We really enjoyed our weekend vacation with family in San Antonio!

Cinderella's Pumpkin Village

 We visited Cinderella's Pumpkin Village at the Dallas Arboretum this week. Grandmother has been in town this week so we were excited that she got to join us. 

Here are some of the sweet pictures from our day...

Mabry at the Movies

We took Mabry to go see The Lion King in the theater. 

This was her first experience at the movies. For that reason, we opted out of the 3D feature just to play it safe for Mabry. We were excited to see her reaction to all that going to the movies has to offer: popcorn, candy, the big screen, big seats, lots of people watching with you, etc...

She got to hand her ticket to the girl to get in...

She got her own drink (Sprite), popcorn, and fruit snacks in her Kid's Pack.

 She was very generous sharing her popcorn with Daddy.

 She was intent on watching the movie while Daddy was still trying to get more popcorn. :)

The 1 hour and 27 minute movie was just right for her. She ate the whole time and switched from my lap to Daddy's lap, her chair, and standing some all while watching the movie. What more can you ask from a 2 1/2 year old. Afterwards, unprompted, she kept on telling her Daddy thank you for taking her to the movie. He got all the credit though it was my idea! :)

Preschool for Miss M

Like everyone else, this week was Mabry's first week back to school. 

She goes to a preschool close by on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 2. 

This is a great experience for both Mabry and me. She learns and plays with friends while I do all the things that are alot harder to accomplish with a toddler. 

Here she is outside her class. She couldn't understand why she didn't get to take her new backpack in her classroom with her.

 After some convincing, she gave the camera a smile!

 She took some time outside her classroom door being silly and warming up to the idea of going in.

She had a great first two days! She didn't nap there either day so we got to have a nap time when she got home. I know it will only take a few more days and she'll be adjusted to the new school schedule. 

I know you'll agree with me, she's growing up fast!