Mia and Conlee do Christmas!

Conlee and I headed over to Mia's house yesterday so the girls could exchange their first Christmas presents. Ali and I decided that Mia would always give Conlee a special ornament to start her personal collection, and Conlee will always give Mia a little dessert plate to start her collection. I mean, could these two be any cuter?! It's so fun now that they are both sitting up and interacting more...it will only get better, I'm sure! 

Playing with Ali's Christmas toys. Please excuse Conlee's bruised face...she had a run-in with the grocery cart yesterday afternoon!

 

Sweet Christmas Angel! Look at those baby blues!

Conlee is still happy, despite her almost black eye and bruised forehead! Oh well!

 

I loved that they were able to sit up at least for a bit to "open" their presents...naturally the ribbons and paper were the biggest hits!

Conlee loved her cute cupcake ornament! Thanks, Mia!

Mia with her plate...so crazy to think one day they'll be hosting showers for each other and using their china and crystal just like their mommies do! 

Mother of the Year Award goes to...

Not ME! So, my sweet SIL posted on her blog the other day that she was not the mother of the year because of a completely unavoidable, not-her-fault run-in that Marshall had with a dresser! Well, Whitney is one of, if not THE, best moms I know...but no fear Whit...I'm way worse than you! I hereby nominate myself for the Worst Mother of the Year Award! 

This morning while I was feeding Conlee breakfast, I somehow managed to spill my ENTIRE cup of hot coffee all over her. I'm not even kidding. I was completely horrified! Thank God it had cooled to the temperature of bath water, and there seems to be no permanent damage. In fact, she didn't even cry until I took the coffee-soaked pjs off her body. I guess she also must have inherited my caffeine addiction...yet another great thing I've done for / to her! 

As I was taking these pictures, it occurred to me that I was doing Child Protective Services's job for them by supplying the evidence they need to build a case against me...oh well! Maybe this will make someone else feel better about something they've done to their baby...it'll be a miracle if she makes it to her 1st birthday! 

Girl's Night Out!

Ali, Megan, Jess, Courtney, Laura & I enjoyed a fun girls' night last night at Harney Sushi in Old Town. A big thanks to Brent and all the husbands for babysitting so we could go enjoy some wine and each other! 

The Zoo

Conlee and I headed to the zoo on Wednesday with Courtney & Audrey, Jess & Piper and Alicia & Addison. It was  a gorgeous day for the middle of December! We wanted to see the zoo's "Jungle Bells" lights displays and shows, but unfortunately all that fun starts up after our kiddos have gone to bed...maybe next year! Brent and I have been zoo members for the past 4 years, and I just love going there. It'll be so much more fun when Conlee is a little older...we had to sit out of the petting zoo experience, and it's not like she really takes in all the animals...but it's a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Here she is right after waking up from her nap...I love that she'll still sleep in her BOB. I do make it a pretty snuggly little nest in there though!

Conlee's new thing is to tuck her chin into her chest like she's getting shy. It's too cute, and it came out of nowhere. She does it all the time when someone looks at her and calls her name!

All the kiddos lined up in a row...Piper, Addie, Audrey & Conlee. All the other babies are 1 year old...in fact, Wednesday was Addie's 1st birthday! It's amazing the difference just 6 months makes in their little lives right now...that whole walking / not walking is a pretty big deal! 

We love the elephants! 

Ok, I had to put this peacock on here! Courtney & I were getting our food in the restaurant and the guy behind the counter was like, "watch out for the peacock, he likes french fries!" We totally thought he was kidding....until the huge bird walks over to sweet Audrey and literally grabs a fry out of her hand! It scared her half to death, not to mention Courtney & me. Anyway, I started throwing all my onion rings and french fries (yes, I eat healthy at the zoo) across the way so the bird wouldn't come back to the table. Seriously, shouldn't that thing be in a cage?!?!

Unbelievable!

I spend ALL day with Conlee trying to make her laugh...Brent gets home and within 10 minutes she's cracking up...it's so not fair! When she sees me with the camera her little face gets super serious...that's why I'm secretly recording her from behind. This little video is just priceless...who knew mixed veggies and her daddy could be so funny?! Love her, love her, love her...and her daddy too! 

Rub a dub, dub

Conlee loves her new tub! She's at an awkward, in-between stage where she can sit up, but not alone in the tub...but she was too big for any of the seats...so what to do? What to do? Our friend suggested we try this blow up duck, and it is awesome! It's just her size, and makes bathing fun and easy again. Conlee absolutely loved it! The best part is, I can deflate it and pack it in my bag when we go home for Christmas...so easy, and I highly recommend it to everyone!

 

The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play...

...so we sat in the house and just ROLLED all day! It has been absolutely pouring down rain here all day. We couldn't leave the house, but I finally caught Conlee rolling both ways on camera. It's so funny to watch her get from one end of the living room to the other just by rolling. (Not that she has very far to go!) Anyway, here she is!

Guess what came in Monday's mail!?!

Conlee got a beautiful new Christmas dress in the mail today from her Granddad and EI! I waited until she was up from her nap before we opened her package. Of course, she would have preferred to just chew on the gorgeous dress, but we opted for the next best thing: a photo shoot of course! Now the really amazing thing about this photo shoot...besides how adorable Conlee is....is that she's completely sitting up all by herself, and she did so while I took about 45 pictures! She was so great...she just sat smiling and looked at the tree and touched the ornaments and lights...ahhh...I love her, and I've trained her well. The girl can pose in a photo!  

Hey...I know you!

It's taken 5 months, but Conlee and Mia are finally starting to realize the other exists! We went to dinner at Ali's house last night for some of her mom's famous and DELICIOUS fried chicken..yummy! We were about to put the girls down and it's like a light went off! Even though they've been together almost every day of their short little lives, it's like they are finally starting to recognize and acknowledge each other! It's so fun to watch them watch each other...they are both so serious about checking each other out. It's too cute! 

A not-so happy nappy

Conlee and I headed over to Mia's house the other afternoon right around nap time. I got this cute shot of the girls attempting to nap together. Mia was great about sharing her bed, but Conlee was a little confused. Is it too much to ask that they sleep together so Ali and I can chat over champagne...I mean coffee....downstairs?!  

Santa Baby

Ahhh...it's the MOST wonderful time of the year!!! Today Conlee went to meet Santa for the first time, and she was such a trooper! I was a bit worried she would hate Santa since she's been so freakishly attached to me lately, but she did great! She's definitely no stranger to the flash bulb, and she just sat there smiling while I took about a million pictures. It was so fun! 

I had to include this pic of one of our best buds, Audrey Frazier...as you can tell, she was NOT a fan! I almost wish Conlee had screamed too, because I just love this precious picture of sweet Audrey!

After logging many hours finishing up our Christmas shopping, Daddy met us at the Christmas tree lot to pick out the perfect tree. All in all, a perfect day! 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....and I'm 6 months!

How on earth is my baby 6 months old!?! November 23rd was the day...we headed to the dr. for her 6 month check up and shots....oh, how I hate that nurse! Actually, the nurse is pretty awesome and does the shots so super fast, Conlee hardly knows what's happening to her. Here are her 6 month stats:

length - 28.5 inches (99.5th percentile!)

weight - 18.10 pounds (92nd percentile!)

I forget her head circumference, but no one really cares about that one anyway...I do remember it was only the 72nd percentile. 

These days Conlee is a PURE JOY to us! She's sitting up and grabbing at everything, babbling non-stop and smiling all the time. She still just has her two bottom front teeth, but I feel like she should get some more any day now. She's eating 3 meals and a snack each day, and still prefers vegetables to fruit. (so weird!) She's going through a bit of a "mommy attachment" phase, but her daddy can make her laugh like no other. We just love, love, love her to death and feel so blessed to be her parents! 

Here are a few shots of her in her Christmas tutu from Nanny & Pops. We're going to see Santa Clause today, so stay tuned  for those pictures soon. If you know me at all, you know that the Christmas Season....I mean Birthmas Season...is my absolute favorite time of year. I can't wait to experience it all with Conlee for the first time!                       

Turkey Day in Texas

We traveled to San Angelo last week to celebrate Conlee's first Thanksgiving with Brent's family. It was a long weekend full of fun faces, yummy food and lots of good times. Thanks so much to the Hortons for hosting us! Most of the pictures are on Luke's camera, but here are a few shots from the weekend. 

The whole Horton / Waring clan on Thanksgiving day

Our family at the "Turkey Shoot"! Every Thanksgiving morning, everyone who's anyone in the town gathers for the shortest  party ever! At 10:30 we meet at a local bar in San Angelo for bloody mary's. At 11:00 the owner jumps up on the bar and gives about a 10 minute toast....a culmination of the year's political events, a summary of local highlights, etc. Then everyone takes a tequila shot and goes home for lunch. I've been hearing about this tradition for years, but it was my first time to be there. It was definitely a weekend highlight!

It was COLD in San Angelo! Thanks, Mia, for letting us borrow your precious hat. Conlee put it to good use on our morning walks! 

Ladies Who Lunch

Courtney and Audrey hosted a group of us at their house for lunch today. Audrey got out all her toys to share, and we had the best time! Conlee loved the balls...that and the swing were her favorites. Audrey is so sweet, and she's going to let Conlee borrow her ball pit for awhile since she's outgrown it. So fun! Thanks, girls, for a great afternoon! 

Conlee and Gigi enjoying the balls together

Making a new friend...Gigi James. Gigi is 7 months and can already crawl...she's adorable!

Oh how we wish we had a tree big enough for a swing in our backyard...Conlee loves to swing!

Piper playing the cymbals! Conlee is going to start going to a music class with Audrey & Piper in January. We're super excited!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Stephen!!!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Stephen! We hope you had a grrrrrrrrreat day!!!