Port city playdate

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sorry for the delay in posting all of our holiday travels and pictures. We truly enjoyed our time seeing everyone "on the road", but getting back into the swing of things after having so much time off with Lucy was a little bit rough!

Click on the arrow above for our adventures in Shreveport (aka Christmas #4), including some snuggle time with Boogie and Pop Pop, our new playhouse from Santa, a play date with the Salvails, and much more. Two of my favorite memories from this trip are the visits with had with our old friends from high school (we girls fondly refer to ourselves as "the BFFs") and their children. There is something incredibly heartwarming about seeing your baby play with the children of the people you have laughed with and loved for over half of your life. So neat to see how their looks and personalities have been infused into these little ones! Most of the BFFs have slightly bigger kids now, but Lucy did get to enjoy some floor time with little 3-mo-old Caroline Walls. We also got a chance to hang out with Andrew's gang and all of their babies -- I called it "Daycare Richard" because at one point we had 7 or 8 kids rolling around and playing with all their Christmas toys on gym mats together. Good times...

Christmastime is here

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We are so happy that Aunt Michelle & Uncle Allan decided to stop playing Yankee and move back to Dallas! We had a great visit with them on Christmas -- they are great cooks & made us a super delicious Christmas Day brunch complete with French toast and mimosas. Although Evie didn't play very well with their 150-lb dog (she thinks somehow thinks she stands a chance in a doggie brawl against Max), I had a great time learning how to play the Madden football video game with my nephew Alex. My mad skills even resulted in a touchdown! :)

That evening Michelle & Allan came over to my mom's house and cooked us an amazing dinner -- things were well under way when I woke up from my nap with Lucy. After months of being the caretaker, it was a real luxury to have someone take care of us! After dinner we opened presents and Lucy received quite the stockpile from Nana and PawPaw -- she had a blast "opening" them by ripping off the paper. I think she was more interested in putting the paper in her mouth than the actual gifts, though. It's really more fun than I ever imagined to buy for little ones (even if they have no idea what you got them!).

Before we left town the next day, we got to do some shopping and lunch with Nana and Aunt Michelle. I miss having leisurely girl time with them, so it was a fun treat. Thanks for everything, y'all -- we miss you already!

A brush with "great"ness

So... we kicked off our "four Christmases 2008" tour in Natchitoches to see our Honey, who is currently attending graduate school at Northwestern. We enjoyed a wonderful home-cooked holiday meal (topped off with delicious pecan pie) and a fun gift exchange -- Andrew and I are especially excited about our cast iron pots. We've been talking for years about how great our grandmothers' cornbread tastes cooked in them and now we have our very own to figure out how to "season" over time.

From there we headed to Tyler, TX on Christmas Eve to see my grandparents (aka Mammaw and Pappaw Owen). It's was Lucy's first time to meet Pappaw, and they hit it off splendidly! Some of most fondest memories growing up involve spending time with these two special people, and it means so much to me that they are still around to get to enjoy time with Lucy. They now have 5 great-granchildren and are doting on all of them just as much as they did us!

Then we headed to Dallas that evening and headed out to a beautiful candlelight service with Aunt Michelle. Of course the sweet child who had charmed everyone all day had a complete meltdown in the sanctuary, so we had to take turns walking the lobby with Lucy until the service was over. But I'm glad we got dressed up and made the effort -- the sermon was thought-provoking and it just doesn't feel like Christmas to me until I start crying during the last verse of "Silent Night" when everyone sings a cappela while illuminated by a soft glow. And of course, Lucy started cooing and smiling at everyone on the way out the door and smiled and laughed all the way home. Of course. :) And then Michelle and I had an old-fashioned slumber party in our mom's bed and stayed up way too late talking, and everyone fell asleep while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads...

Where's Lucy?

Apparently this is what happened at daddy day care when Andrew was left in charge of folding clothes while watching Lucy so we could pack for our Christmas trip. I'm thinking this could turn into a regular blog installment -- a variation on "Where's Waldo" if you will. Stay tuned...

All I want for Christmas...

...is my two front teeth!

As most of you know by now, this is the pictures on the Powers holiday card this year. It only took about, oh twenty-five takes to get this one (finally accomplished by Andrew standing behind me and making funny faces and noises) but I think it turned out pretty cute. Not only do I like that my little ham is giving you her best flirty smile, but also that you can see so much of her toothless gums! Lucy is really teething now and I'm sure it won't be long before those bottom two little pearly whites make their big appearance.

We're doing "Four Christmases" this year and are currently gearing up for our big road trip to Natchitoches, Tyler, Dallas, and Shreveport to see friends and family. I'm so excited to share Lucy's first Christmas with so many loved ones who can't wait to get their paws on her. I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun pictures and sweet stories to post when we return. Safe travels and Merry Christmas, everyone!

That's pretty damn hot

We are in the middle of the very tedious process of trying to train Lucy to sleep longer in the morning and to take better naps throughout the day. Andrew and I were having a discussion around 5:30 this morning (after I had been up for about an hour at 3:00 am trying to get Lucy back to sleep -- for the fourth or fifth night in a row) about how he really needs to make her take a nap in the afternoon when they get home from daycare, so she's not so cranky that we have to put her to sleep early in the evening.

Andrew said he had tried, she didn't seem to want it, she fusses, etc. I again stressed my position about the importance of the nap and without missing a beat he replied, "she gets hotter than catfish grease if you try to put her down before she's ready." Ha! What was the start of a grumpy conversation between two sleep-deprived parents quickly turned into a big laughing session. He's funny, that one.

Jump up, jump up, and get down!

Lucy has been having lots of fun in her Jumperoo for a few weeks now -- talking to the zoo animals and putting the dragonfly piece in her mouth, but she just recently learned how to "jump" in it and now there's no stopping her! It's so much fun to watch her smile and squeal in surprise and delight at this newly discovered skill. Take a look at the action!