Christmas with The Chiles Family!

We drove to Palestine on the night of the 20th for Christmas with my side of the family. We had Christmas with Papa C, Mama C, Aunt Lins and Aunt Ash on the morning of the 21st. Emma got a new tricycle, so she was very excited! We had a great time hanging out with everybody and have enjoyed our gifts so much! Mom made me one of my favorite desserts for an early birthday gift...mandarin orange cake....yum yum!

Lindsey's College Graduation

Lindsey graduated from Texas State today, and I am so proud of her! We made it to the graduation and met everyone afterwards for lunch at a mexican restaurant. A "really cute" man sang to Lindsey and Dillon over lunch...check out the photo and you will see what I mean!! We got separated after the graduation, so my photos aren't that great, but here are a few of them. Congratulations Lins and best of luck with the new job! We love you!

Holiday Mischief!

Emma got very quiet today, and we all know what that means....mischief!! I went into the playroom to check on her, and she had discovered that those striped little canes on her tree weren't just for looks after all! She had unwrapped every single candy cane on her tree and was eating ALL of them! I was definitely amused, but had a BIG mess to clean up as well. There were candy cane chips everywhere!! Emma got her sugar rush, and I got my fair share of laundry and vacuuming!

My 1st OREO...the photos speak for themselves!

Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A trip to the park...while the weather was warm!

Rob was in San Antonio for a couple of days this week, so I decided to take Emma to the park.  I knew that a cold front was on its way, so I wanted her to be able to play outside before it got "feezing."  She had a blast, but we actually saw and felt the front arrive.  We had to cut our visit short due to the weather!

Happy Birthday Rob!

It was Rob's 29th Birthday today!!  I got Lauren to babysit, and we went to dinner at Papadeaux's.  I baked Rob his favorite cake-yellow cake with chocolate icing, we sang "Happy Birthday," and he got to open his presents.  We got him an IPOD nano, so he was very excited!!  Happy Birthday babe...you are the best!

O Christmas Tree!

We decorated our Christmas tree, so here are some pics.  We always get a real tree, although there weren't a whole lot of choices this year...we went on a Sunday night.  Emma has her very own tree in her playroom too.  I let her decorate it herself with candy canes, non-breakable ornaments, and colored lights.  Her angel and tree skirt were mine when I was little :)   She just LOVES it!

Emma's 1st Haircut

Emma's hair...the child with a mohawk from day one.  Emma's hair has really getting in her way lately.  She was born with a mohawk, and unlike most other babies, she did not lose her mohawk with the rest of her baby hair.  So, that "piece" continued to grow...and grow.  It fit quite nicely in a rubberband with a bow, that is until she pulled it out.

That "piece" was getting so heavy on top of her head, that she could feel it when she moved, so she would pull out her rubberband and hairbow-looking like an orphan!

I decided that enough was enough...I wanted her hair cut, so that with or without a bow, she did NOT look like a little orphan child.

The haircut was an obstacle in and of itself.  Would she let the lady cut her hair?  Well, she did, so here are the pics.  She got to sit in a shiny red car, watch Dora, and eat a lollipop...bribery is a wonderful thing!  It was a sad day for me, but she needed it cut.  We gave her bangs, (we had to hold her down to cut those) and we evened up the back.  The very last photo is her "after" shot.

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent Thanksgiving this year with Rob's side of the family.  We left the day before Thanksgiving and headed to Dallas.  We stayed with Aunt Gail and Uncle Jack, and Emma had a great time playing with her cousins!  We had so much fun that we didn't take very many photos, but we did take a few.  Emma helped Grand-dad open his birthday present, which was VERY late...his birthday was in September, so we have had his gift for quite a while!  Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful...I have been working all week to get my weight off :)

We had an unpleasant surprise when we woke up Friday morning, my car had been broken into.  They smashed the window (oh what fun), and they stole Emma's tv/dvd player for the car, Emma's Clifford movie, my gym bag-which included my heartrate monitor, my Ipod, my workout gloves, and ALL of my weight lifting workouts.  I was bummed to say the least!  I guess I have some things to add to my Christmas/Birthday list this year!  It took us ALL day to get the window repaired, so I missed wedding dress shopping with my sister :(  All in all, we have had better days, but things could have been worse too!

Friday night, we headed to Palestine to see my side of the family.  I got to see Lindsey's wedding dress, which is BEAUTIFUL!  We took The Chiles Family Christmas Card Photo, although I haven't posted it here...you'll just have to wait and see!  It was also Mama C's birthday.  So, we had a nice dinner and TWO birthday desserts.  Emma gave Mama C. her birthday present a day early...she just couldn't wait!