26 Nov ~ Straight "From The Treetop"

I always stalk the From the Treetop blog to see what new things she's got going on... it always inspires me. Anyway, our little Sailer is the subject of her newest post. Check out a few of the photos from our holiday session.

Tamara is the owner/photographer of FTT and a true artist. Her photos are always pushing the creative fold and don't look like every other photographer out there. I would highly recommend her to ANY ONE of you thinking about doing photos of your kiddos anytime soon, or doing a newborn session at your house, and she's even started doing maternity photos (I can't wait for her to do mine in Jan!!). Anyway, she's so amazing with kids, and let me tell you, Sailer was no easy child to photograph during our session. So check her out!!

25 Nov ~ My little French girl

Isn't my little french girl adorable?? Yesterday was "Brown Day" at Sailer's school, but who wants to wear all brown?!? How boring, so we did pink and brown and added a little beret for flair....I'm amazed she appeases me with my silly get-ups!

Tonight, the Mackies came over for some fajitas, and of course the god-forsaken Rock Band had to make an appearance. The only cute part of that game is seeing Hope and Sailer take their turn at the drums.

24 Nov ~ Babe in Black and White

This is the second charcoal I've had done of Sailer, and I just love it yet again! A local artist, Barbara Hack, is a genius when it comes to working with kids and her charcoal. Just wanted to share....

Mommy's Night Out w/ Her Other Man

It's finally here....TWILIGHT!!!! As most of you know, I am a voracious reader. I try to read at least 2 books a week (if not, I'm afraid I will only speak toddler). Well, a couple of months ago, my sweet friend Natalie kept nagging me to read the Twilight series b/c she just knew I would love it. I have a weird fascination with vampire novels. Anywho, I fell instantly in love. I couldn't get enough! I read all 4 books in the series in about 4 days (and they're not that short). I was so devastated at the end of the 4th b/c I didn't want it to end!

Anyway, Nat and I just had to see the movie!!! We (along with another prego friend, Amanda) at Taverna beforehand. And you know I had to be excited b/c I survived a 10:15 movie. It was AWESOME! And Edward, oh Edward... you are beautiful!!

22 Nov ~ Teddy Bear Ball

Well, Christmas came early this year for Miss. S.... Southlake hosts their annual tree lighting extravaganza the week before Thanksgiving (weird, huh?). Anyway, Sailer and her pal, Hope, met up to go to the Teddy Bear Ball where they made their own teddy bears, decorated cookies, and toured all the fun trees. Then, we walked around the square... which was definitely Sailer's highlight of the day... finding the balloon man. Sometimes the best things in life truly are free.

21 Nov ~ Every lady needs a little fur...

Thanks to the chilling weather today, Sailer actually got to pull out one of her fur coats (yes, that's plural) out to bundle up in. I just had to get a shot of her in it! It has a beaded broach and actually a muff/purse which she didn't wear this morning. It is what I call Toddler Glam!!

Cover Girls... well, not so much

A friend of mine owns a local women and childrens' boutique here called Opaj and for the last few months has conned Sailer and I into doing her ads. I pulled these two from the last Southlake Style Magazines, but there are several others that I actually haven't even seen that she's saved for me. Will post if I ever see them. We won't be doing this much longer since soon I won't be able to fit into anything that she sells in the store...

The Glutony that is called Babe's

These are actually out of order on my blog. Last Saturday night, we made the annual trip to Babe's to celebrate Ian's birthday. Yum-o as always! Anyway, I didn't get any good shots so I had to rely on C for hers. Btwn the two of us, we still didn't catch a really good one of Bree and Sailer!

20 Nov ~ Turkey Feast

One of my favorite new things is getting to be Sailer's room mom... I know some parents would consider that such a drag but it's completely up my alley! Today was Sailer's class Turkey Feast. They were absolutely adorable, and seemed to have such a good time giving thanks together (or just chowing nuggets). It made staying up until 1am (which being pregnant and exhausted all the time is quite a feat) sewing their pilgrim bonnets, hats, and collars completely worth it!! It was pretty funny... all the other moms of the older kids kept coming to see our party b/c Sailer's class table was considered "fancy" (gotta luv PB Kids) and their costumes actually sewn and not make-shift paper hats. The irony is that my class probably didn't care or know the difference like the older ones would've (but I knew...(= ). And I'm sure every pilgrim had monogrammed collars. I know, I know.... I can't help myself. I LOVE monogrammed anything, not to mention, I've got to put that monogramming machine to good use!

17 Nov ~ Loving the Leaves

Ok- lots of pics today b/c I'm trying (trial and error) to conquer this manual photography battle. Anyway, the first few are just at our house.


Later this afternoon we headed to Fort Worth to shop a little bit and then, to visit Mimi, Mur, Pom, and Uncle Rhett. The one bad (but good) thing about our new house is that we don't have a lot of leaves. I loved playing in them as a kid... raking up a huge pile and then, diving in!! Well, there is definitely no shortage of leaves in Sailer's Mimi's yard, so we just let her go at it. Talk about a happy little girl... she had a ball. Perfect time to practice with the flash part of my learnin'!!

15 Nov ~ My First Movie!!!

Today Mark and I took Sailer to her first movie, Madagascar 2!! (Well, really it's her 2nd but since she was only 2 months old at her first one, I don't really count that.) Anyway, the local movie theatre brought in a few live animals from the movie for the kids to see b/f the show started. Here's a few pics (one with Sailer by the penguins and one of her in her seat ready to go). She was absolutely A-MAZING in the movie. She sat completely still, mostly in my lap, eating her popcorn, completely entranced in the movie. In fact, she was FAR better than most of the older kids around us who should know better...

What a FANCY Night with my daddy...

Sailer and her daddy broke out her new Fancy Nancy book tonight after our cookout with Nana and Papa... the book isn't so much a story as it is a book on the "necessary" accessories a fancy girl should possess. To my (and Sailer's) surprise and delight, Mark jumped in first to help her dress up. I just had to grab a few shots of their little dress up party. Aren't they both just pure fancy?!?!

14 Nov ~ Work with Daddy

YEAH! I'm SO very proud of Mark...he's come a long way since we first met career-wise. God has truly blessed him, his business, and by way of those two things, us. Just recently, he and his partner purchased this building for the company. How cool to have your name on a building? Anyway, Sailer and I met him up there today to help with paint finishes (it's still under major construction inside), and I just had to grab a few shots of them in front of it. The sign is obviously temporary but fun nonetheless!

This is the result of my daddy dressing me...

I usually put Sailer down at nights, so we can read beforehand. Well, Mark put her down last night. He asked me what to put her in, and I said just grab something from her PJ basket. Ummmm....this is what I found this morning.

12 Nov ~ She's all hands

Just a quick pic of Sailer and I coloring. Awhile back Mark was playing with her and traced her hand with her crayon...and now that's all she wants to do.

Love/ Mostly Hate Relationship with Manual Settings

Well, just in case I didn't have enough hobbies and because I always have so much extra time on my hands (right)... I have decided that I'm finally going to try to master the manual art of photography. We bought our fancy SLR and lens over a year ago, and I had yet to try anything outside of fully automatic. I always look at other blogs and some of their pictures are just so much better....so frustrating!! Well, the difference is auto versus manual so I've discovered. Well, I thought it would be no problem to tackle that learning curve. Um, news flash to me. I have bought a few books on exposure and learning apperture/ ISO/ F-stops/ etc..... and finally learning that all those fun numbers on my camera do actually have a purpose. Well, it's beyond confusing! I need major tutorials....anyway, here are a few I did fully manual while Sailer were outside doing the bubbles. There still atrocious but at least they're somewhat in focus (you have no idea what a feat that is).

11 Nov ~ Bubble Affair

OK- so Sailer has learned a new word this week... "mouse" (with not a lot of "s" in it). Anyway, if anyone has been around her for a second, you'll know she is absolutely enamored with all things Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It started almost a year ago...thought it would be a phase... and it is still going strong. The bad thing with the actual learning of the word is that she now DEMANDS "Mouse" ALL day! And when I say all day, I mean all day! My child who usually loves to color, play outside, read, etc, the one that watched MMC once in the morning while waking up and eating her breakfast now wants to just veg in her chair (Minnie of course) and watch episode after episode. She doesn't even move a muscle... except to start whining when she hears the "hot dog" song which signifies the ending of the show. I refuse, I refuse, I refuse to give in. SOOOOO.... that means mommy has to think of all kinds of things to do outside or away from the house so as to not tempt fate of Sailer seeing the TV. This sounds easy in theory, but this means nothing gets done inside the house!!

Today after a walk, we got our chalk and bubbles and camped out on the front porch. She now has to hold the wand herself thus very few bubbles ever form.



Our other new fave thing to do is sing Old MacDonald had a farm (ok, Sailer's fave thing to do, not Mommy's).... she just catches up on the "e-i-e-i-o" part and giggles while mommy sings the rest. But after, we go through all the animals, I ask her what sounds they make, and she can mimic them for me without prompting. The cutest ones are the kitty b/c she has the sweetest "meow" you've ever heard and the lion... just b/c it's hilarious to hear her try to sound ferocious. She's also got down all her body parts, but what's funny is once you start the game "where's your...", you can tell she's just patiently waiting for the best one.... "Sailer, where's your belly button?" And this is what you get. She loves it! Sadly, she now tries to show everyone their own belly button. The giggle photo is her right after trying to fine mine....

10 Nov ~ Storytime and Good Ole Fashion Hot Chocolate

There's nothing I love more on a rainy day like today than to curl up with a latte and a good book... so Sailer and I headed off to Barnes & Noble early this morning to pick up both. While we were there we went to storytime which Sailer always loves. I really want my children to be book lovers like their mama.... and so far, so good. Every night before bed (and several times throughout the day), we have to read ALL of Sailer's books. Right when you say "the end," she jumps up from my lap and yells "book" and points at another one. I've finally had to implement the "one more book" rule or I'd be up all night! When I first found out I was pregnant with S, I went out and bought all of the classic children's books I grew up loving...but Sailer's favorite series is Fancy Nancy. I have them memorized after reading them so many times. Although they're not the classics I had envisioned, I think they're great for vocabulary enhancement (for example, my 1 1/2 year old knows "zure" (translation- azure) is also blue.) Anyway, today was extra special for Miss. S because a new Fancy Nancy book was just released and even more exciting is that it's formed in the shape of a purse! Sailer went NUTS!!! Everyone in B&N knew some little girl somewhere was ecstatic. Here's a pic of Sailer at storytime, she's in her sweats and uggs just like her mama!

The other big event of the day was Sailer tasted her first cup of hot chocolate... "num num"!!!! She loved it! Unfortunately, she got so excited and wanted to drink it so quickly, she dumped a good amount on her shirt as well. Everyone in Starbuck's was having a ball just watching her drink it.

9 Nov ~ B-day Bash at Little Gym

Today Sailer celebrated her friend Hope's b-day at Little Gym. Sailer LOVES Little Gym... she's such a climber and isn't afraid of anything. I love that about her. Here's a bunch of action shots from the party.