Take Two...

So we couldn't help ourselves...when we're faced with Beauty and the Beast in 3D we had to at least try. Take two...Cade's second attempt at a movie. This time we were smarter. The movie is shorter, we know he likes it, we waited to arrive until after the previews, and I didn't bust out the snacks until it was absolutely necessary. Bingo...not a total success...but closer. We did get to stay for the whole movie, but we were quite wiggily toward the end. And he pretty much refused to wear the 3D glasses...until after the movie was over. Wouldn't take them off the whole ride home! Matt was freaking out about him not keeping the glasses on...I was just thankful he was remaining seated!

What a "cool dude!"

Basketball Smuggler?

Here's the round basketball belly at 30 weeks.

Today I had a conversation with a sweet, innocent 6th grade girl that went something like this...

6th grader: "How much longer until you have your baby, Mrs. Keeley?"

Mrs. Keeley: "A little over 2 months."

6th grader: "Oh...my sister is having a baby in 3 weeks and her belly is not near as big as yours..."

Awesome.

*shout-out to Aud for letting me borrow her cute maternity dress that I'm sporting in this pic!

Letters and Such

I've totally crossed over to the dark side...I'm now that parent that posts video of their kid just playing...for 3 minutes. I know...but feel free to click if you've got three minutes to spare and want to see Cade identifying the letters and making the sounds. He LOVES to play with his magnetic letters.

A Tale of Two Cribs

Two cribs. That just freaks me out. Our household will (very soon!) have TWO CRIBS. Cade sleeps really well in his crib...he's no where near being ready for a bigger bed. Not even the day bed version of the crib. Nope. If he had freedom to roam...he most definitely would roam...all night long. So I set out to order the second crib...

Now for your first child, you order the nice sturdy, stylish crib from the baby store. For your second child, you vow not to spend over $200 and shop around for the best deal. I've been liking the Graco Lauren Crib in white (since we already have a black crib). I ordered it online from Target on Sunday night. $179 for the crib, $30 for shipping. Mattress sold separately...$59. Then I go to check crib mattresses online from Wal-Mart. You know about my love for Wal-Mart...right? I know it's not as chic or hip to love Wal-Mart...far more acceptable to love Target. But people...Wal-Mart is just so cheap. "Save money...live better" is their tagline for crying outloud! So I should not have been as shocked as I was to see they had the EXACT same crib for $175, $0.97 shipping, and mattress INCLUDED! That's nearly 100 bucks worth of saving money and living better goin' on there. I called the Target Customer Service line immediately to cancel my order with them. I swear I reached "Peggy." (You know, the guy from the credit card commercials who is hard to understand and TERRIBLE at customer service).

I couldn't tell if this person was a "he" or a "she" due to their thick accent. It took all I had not to ask to be transferred to another representative. Canceling this order was a painful process that for some reason required me giving all of my payment info again...and half way through the conversation "Peggy" started refering to me as Lauren instead of Jana. At one point I said, "My name is Jana and I'm trying to cancel the order for the Lauren crib...is that why you keep calling me Lauren?" Geez. "Peggy" said it was canceled and that I'd receive a confirmation email. Yep, still waitin' on that email. So now I'm just hopeful that by the end of next week we'll be a household of two cribs...and not three!

Best Gift Ever

The best gifts are always the cheapest...when you're dealing with kids anyway. Cade's favorite? The $5 foam letters and numbers for the bath tub. Cade is OBSESSED with numbers and letters. He loves to just thumb through them and say the letter and their sound outloud...over and over and over. I've been trying to get him to put letter sounds together to make words...but we're just not ready for that yet.
Nonetheless, I've been so entertained by the "messages" on the shower wall from Matt and Cade that I had to snap a few pics.

I mean, who doesn't need a little pick-me-up every now and then?


I tried to reciprocate...


And I assumed that this message ended up missing a letter...or else it takes on a different tone entirely...

Home For the Holidays

There's no place like The Bend for the holidays. As long as our families are there, it will always seem like home. Each year I appreciate our wonderful families more and more. We had a great time relaxing, baking, playing games, staying up late, and just being together.

The Halls were Decked

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Barbie took forever to get ready...when we saw her we realized why. She wasn't messing around this year.



It's time! This picture is hilarious.

Cade was in heaven...so many presents...


The Cowboys are loving being Cowboy parents.

Nine pairs of boots received this Christmas. I know, I know, horizontal stripes = big mistake.

Christmas Day Celebration at the Keeley's...mountains of presents

Christy peaking out from behind her pile

Some assembly was required this year...

Cade loves his new slippers

Lukas and Cade love their zoo animals from Grandpa Mike

Christy's Masterpiece

Christmas Dinner Table

Playing with the loot


Two for the price of one!

Cade and I spent about 10 days in The Bend. Don't worry. We took several "field trips" to keep ourselves entertained. And everyone got in on the fun!

Aunt Kizzie

Aunt Gentry


Our next field trip was to the movie theater. Cade has never been to a movie before so this was more of an experiment. We were prepared for this to be a difficult mission. We took two cars and were armed with loads of snacks. Cade saw about an hour and 10 minutes of the Chipmunk movie before he asked to go home. He just didn't want to sit anymore.

Even though we didn't make it to the end, I considered this a successful mission. But it will probably be awhile before we attempt an encore performance.

Cade loves his Papa. They really bonded during our time in The Bend between their wagon rides...

Being card partners on game night...


And being red necks together. Both of Cade's grandpas are trying to get him into hunting...reminder...he's one and a half!

Last but not least...our exotic New Year's Eve...at the Tabor Tournament in Hillsboro

We got home just in time to drink some sparkling grape juice and have some homemade mac and cheese as we rung in the New Year. We let Cade stay up til one. We're such pushovers.

All good things must come to an end. The best Christmas break ever comes to a close. The house is clean, the laundry is done, back to work I must go. Our Christmas decorations are still up, however. I'm waiting for MLK day off from school to tackle that one. Heck, to go to that much work you might as well leave them up as long as possible! My favorite Christmas decor this year? Our impromtu corner cabinet of Christmas cards. I LOVE getting Christmas cards.

If you've made it this far into this crazy long post, you must be a great friend. Or related to me. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and got to spend it with family and friends. And remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!

Blake Street Christmas

We've already had our first round of opening Christmas gifts before we leave for GB. Let's call this "Blake Street Christmas" as we'll also have a "Zarah Drive Christmas" and a "Westridge Drive Christmas." We just had a few to open amongst the three of us so we just woke up one morning and did it!

Letters and numbers for more educational bath times

A bus with legos inside as we LOVE buses right now.

And...my Black Friday purchase...a kitchen for Cade to cook while I'm cooking in the kitchen. He LOVES it. My family gave me a hard time about it being a girly gift. Hello, I'm a FACS teacher. I teach plenty of boys to cook. It's called a Life Skill, people. All people have kitchens in their homes. Boys and girls, men and women. And imaginary play is very important. So there.

Oh yes, and Cade got a new plate. And although it is a Cars theme, he was still less than thrilled to unwrap a plate.

Even the baby received some gifts. Cade got her a "Little Sister" outfit and we got some pieces of the bedding. Oh yes, and it's looking pretty official that she'll be named Reese. We've always loved that name for a girl.

You know you're old when one of your most anticipated gifts is a sauce pan that strains!!!

Keep the celebrations coming!