A Real Holiday Treat!

We had a wonderful visit from Aunt Katy, Uncle Brad and Cullen this week! We had loads of fun playing the Wii, eating too much, roaming around Costco, and having some much-needed friend time! Edee also enjoyed accessorizing with Uncle Brad's beanie! (All grainy photos courtesy of my iPhone!)
Edee loves having someone read to her and Aunt Katy was more than happy to amuse her! She read "What Aunts Do Best," and Edee was very engaged.
Uncle Brad read a beautiful new book that Edee received from Uncle Robin and Aunt Terri for Christmas. He did a great job, despite the fact that there were some "big words!" :-)
Edee and Cullen adore each other! He was happy to let her plop down on him as he rested comfortably. Please come back soon Flynn family! :-)

What a Blessed Christmas Day!

We had such a perfect day! Nonna and Peepaw spent the night, and G-ma and PawPaw came back over for Christmas morning. Eric made his delicious "breakfast pie," and we had so much fun watching Edee open her gifts. Elkee was in the middle of the action, too. No one has more Christmas spirit than our silly dog! After presents, Nonna and Peeps headed over to spend the day with Robin, Terri and their girls, and G-Ma and PawPaw were off to exchange their gifts. It was time for our little family to hit the snow!
Daddy bought Edee this sled in Red River, but didn't get to use it due to her ear infection. They had so much fun on it! You can see it in her little face!
By the time we got outside, lots of snow had melted. However, Super Daddy managed to scrape up enough snow off of the patio table to make his little angel her very own snowman. She admired it for about 5 seconds before "smooshing" it!
Edee hit every square inch of the yard and Elkee was behind her each step of the way! Our old, gray girl is a very protective big sister!
When we FINALLY drug Edee back inside, she was not a happy girl! She loves to be outside! You can see she is still mad even after we have taken off most of her cold weather gear! She napped soundly while Daddy fried a turkey, and she woke up just in time to enjoy our delicious Christmas dinner. We were so blessed to share this wonderful day together!

Christmas Eve!

Mom and Gary braved the storm and made it in time to bake red velvet cake balls! Yummy! In anticipation of our time in the kitchen, Mom brought these matching aprons that were originally worn by her and my grandmother, Ninnie. The cake balls are wonderful and I can't quit eating them!!
Edee looked like a Christmas doll, but still managed to climb up on her motorcycle and rock away! It was snowing like crazy outside at this point, but Rick and Sue managed to make it safely for Christmas Eve snacks.
Eric found the most precious book for Edee and wrapped it without letting me know a thing! It is called "Baby Loves You So Much," and is about a girl who is not too thrilled about the arrival of her little brother. Edee listened intently as Nonna read it to her before bed. It was a wonderful evening, and we are looking forward to Christmas morning!

Edee's class Christmas party

Edee slept for over 3 hours this afternoon in preparation for her party! I had to wake her up so we wouldn't be late! Her teacher made the class little antlers and painted their noses red. Today was also pajama day, and they all looked adorable!
Here she is with all of her boyfriends...Tobin, Collin, Austin and Owen! She is going to be ready for her little brother after being the only girl in a class full of boys this year! She is very excited to get to school each day and I am extremely thankful for that! She loves playing with her friends and absolutely ADORES her teacher, Laurie. I know she will miss them over the break!

I have pajama day at my school tomorrow! HOORAY!! Then, we're headed to to East Texas to spend the weekend with Nonna and Peeps. Rest, relaxation and good food...HERE WE COME!!

Christmas festivities at the winery!

Edee is saying, "Me! Me! Me" Which means "pick me up!"
She started to become a little more comfortable with the idea! Her dress was so precious (hand me down from a friend), and the hat looked adorable until we attempted to sit in Santa's lap. That's when her outfit got a little frazzled!
She loved sitting close to Santa and waving to him saying, "Hi, Santa!" You can see the tractor and trailer in the background decorated for the hay ride.
Santa sure did enjoy being at the winery and sampling their "goods!" He was in good spirits by the time we arrived that day! :-) (Not that I can blame him! I LOVE that place!)

Another fun event at Lone Oak Winery on Saturday! We enjoyed a hay ride through the vineyard, visiting with Santa, eating some treats, sampling their mulled wine, listening to holiday music, and meeting new friends around the fire pits. It was a cold day, which really put me in the Christmas spirit! It also helped that we had finished our shopping that morning! By the end of the evening, Edee walked up to Santa, let him put her in his lap, and told him, "I love you, Santa." It was priceless!!

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Hot Mamas!

I had a very fun Christmas dinner with some fabulous friends that I have known forever! It was so nice to be able to visit with them and see pictures of all of their children! (And there are LOTS!!)

From left to right (with numbers of kiddos): Misty (4), Mika (1), ME (1.5 :-)), M'Leigha (3), Renee (2), Sharla (2), Stacy (3)! WOW! That makes 16.5 kids between us!

After dinner, these lovely ladies headed next door for more fun, but I had an hour and a half drive back to Burleson. Next time, I'm going to make sure I'm not the only pregnant one!

P-A-R-T-Y...3 times!

Edee and Natalie enjoying some delicious pizza, fruit and juice at Sadie's 2nd birthday party! So sad we didn't get a picture with the birthday girl! That was our first party of the day! We went to a Christmas party at Grandma and Grandpa's afterward, but I didn't take any pictures. There were LOTS of people from their Healey club and Edee was a busy little elf!
This was our 3rd party of the day! Santa came to my school for our staff Christmas party! Edee ran right up to him saying, "Hi, Santa!" She did NOT want to sit on his lap, however!
Here is Edee (bib and all), helping our music teacher lead the older kids in some Christmas tunes!
It didn't take her long to realize that she enjoys the spotlight more! She loves to be in the middle of the action! (I wonder where she gets that from???) I was so sad that I didn't have my nice camera, but we left the house at 9:00 today with 3 changes of clothes, snacks, juice, milk and presents! Just glad I had my trusty phone and Daddy was able to take this video with his...



The child has some rhythm and is SO full of life! I just love her to pieces!! Merry Christmas!

Neu-baby UPDATE!

We just returned from seeing our perinatologist for another look at Neu-baby! The ultrasound tech told us that the baby was very active. That's what we like to hear. In fact, I think if you scroll down you might actually get to see it moving in my belly... Did you see it? Look closely........................................
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That's right, folks! The little booger is a BOY! Eric and I are still in COMPLETE and TOTAL shock! Just about the time we think we have our little girl figured out, we will have the privilege of getting to learn all about boys! Most importantly, the doctor said everything looks great! If our blood test results come back normal, we will not have to go back to the perinatologist. We will be under the care of our favorite guy, Dr. O! Hooray! He's gonna flip when he finds out it is a boy! He has two little girls and was just so sure that Eric was going to have the same experience. We feel so blessed and thank everyone for their continued love, prayers and support for our expanding family!
Love,
Wendee, Eric, Edee, Elkee and Neu-"boy"

A quick post from Red River!

Edee and KiKi skiing down the bunny slope! She had a huge grin on her face!
Here's our little ski bunny! She's ready for a break after a long morning on the snow!
Playing on the slopes with Daddy! She was so happy to be outside (and so was Mommy!)!!
What's a day of skiing without a visit to the Lifthouse Bar? You can see the new chairlift in the background.

SO....our trip hasn't exactly turned out as planned. Edee had an ear infection, so we had to make two trips to the doctor in Taos. Thankfully, Eric was able to ski starting on Wednesday or else he would have probably gone mad!! I stayed in the house with Edee until she was able to venture out for a bit on Thursday morning. We took Christmas card pictures, which she wasn't totally in the mood for, but we made one work! FINALLY, she was able to hit the slopes for the first time on Friday morning. It was no surprise that she had a ball! Our little dare devil rode the ski lift at least 5-6 times with Kiki and Big E!

I took some better pictures with my camera and I hope to post those soon. We're headed home tomorrow...BOO-HOO!

A new post...believe it or not!!

This otter was really putting on a show! He just kept swimming by and pushing off all the windows and tree stumps in his exhibit! He was super quick and Edee was fascinated!!
Our group (L to R) Mia, Brock, Kinnick, Brandon, Edee and Cason. They were all so good!

I know....I know!!! It has been forever since my last post! Let's just say I haven't had enough energy to do much of anything lately, so my blog is not the only thing in my life that has been abandoned recently. Fortunately, I seem to have passed the tired stages of the first trimester. I am now about 14 weeks and it is clearly visible that I have a "Neu-baby" growing quickly! I have another visit next week, but we will probably just listen to the heartbeat. My next ultrasound is December 3rd! If the little darling will cooperate, we may get to learn the gender at that time! :-)

I have some pictures from our pumpkin patch visit, Edee's party at school, and trick or treating, but these photos from the zoo were easy to upload from my phone. We had so much fun today with my mom's group! Wednesdays are half price day at the Fort Worth Zoo, so we met the group after I got off of work at 12:00. The kids were all so good, which was incredible since many of them had not had naps! The weather was perfect, the kids were entertained and the mommies were able to visit. A great day for everyone!!

We are all doing great and I will do my VERY best to make another post very soon!
Happy Fall, Y'all!!
Wendee

State Fair of TEXAS!!!

Poppy Wally has a booth at the State Fair of Texas again this year, so we spent some time on Saturday enjoying the sights and sounds that can only be found at the fair! It was a little hot, but we plan to go back again during the next 3 weeks! Meanwhile, we enjoyed some corny dogs, lots of animals and a great deal of people watching while we were there this trip!

Edee and Daddy had so much fun on the merry-go-round! She was too little to ride all of the other little kid rides, which just reminded me why we want to wait to take her to Disney World!
Here they are waiting for their turn! I'm not sure she knew what to think at this point!
They had the best exhibit called "Little Hands." The kids get to go through an interactive exhibit where they "feed" animals, plant seeds and then take their goods to a "market." All the kids wore an apron, but Edee was not having it! (Mommy ended up wearing it!) She was a little small to understand what was going on, but she loved being able to run around and tote her basket full of goodies! I'll try to remember my camera next time and take better pictures!

The new addition...

This is the latest addition to the Neubauer fleet of vehicles. The first question out of everyone's mouth is, "What car did you get rid of?" Uh.......Well, we didn't get rid of any of them! Eric had a reason for keeping each of the other cars, so we are now up to 5! YIKES! We have been thinking for awhile that we needed a vehicle with more interior room that could pull the RV or the car hauler with the Sami on it. We found this 2000 GMC Yukon XL that was the 2500 edition, which means that it should be able to pull the trailers without any trouble.

Speaking of needing more interior room...

It would appear that we are expecting another baby this spring! I am about 7 weeks, but have already had 3 visits to my fertility specialist to make sure that my hormone levels are rising like they should be. Everything is moving along great, and we have our first ultrasound scheduled for Monday!

I know that some people are thinking, "Why would she tell everyone when it is still so early?" This is something that I have come to feel pretty passionate about! I mean, why is 12 weeks the magic number? I know that the majority of miscarriages happen before that time, so some people wait to tell until they hit that mark. I get the idea: You wait to tell in case you lose the baby during those first 3 months. But to me, that almost makes it seem like a woman should be embarrassed or ashamed that she had a miscarriage. After all that we have been through building our family, I don't think it mattered one way or another if we waited or told everyone right away. The events that occurred were a part of the plan that our lives were supposed to take, and I think women (and men) should be able to embrace the bumps and turns that can happen along the way! My thinking is that I should be excited to say, "I'm pregnant!" and know that my friends and family are thinking about and praying with us! :-) Everything will happen according to God's plan!

So, I'm off to nap! Having a rambunctious toddler sure makes a mommy tired!

Edee's Gallery of Art!

(I know the pictures are blurry, but it is too easy to take them with my phone!) Edee brings home something from school nearly everyday. We have also been working with crayons at home, so she has quite the collection of artwork these days! We decided to showcase it in her romper room, a.k.a. our former dining room. I originally only had 4 or 5 pieces on display, but I have a hard time picking ones to take down! I guess I will be one of those moms who has boxes and boxes of things that their children made! It is just too precious!

Speedy Edee's First 4-Wheeler Ride

Edee's Grandma and Grandpa bought her this 4 wheeler a couple of months ago, but the battery was dead. Finding a replacement wasn't easy, but one finally arrived today! We've been pushing her around the house, but she now has a taste of the freedom that the little red throttle can provide! (We are so fortunate that Gretta is here visiting and performing "stunts" in the background!) It looks like she is a natural!

"Daddy, I need an iphone!"

Eric was playing music for Edee today and made the mistake of letting her hold the phone. Now she thinks that it is her phone and even holds it up to her ear! She'll be asking for her own iphone in NO time, and I'm sure Daddy will give in!

Edee started school with a bang, but she began having troubles after the first day. She figured out that she was going to be there all day, so drop-offs have been a little sad. My heart broke into a million pieces last Monday when we pulled into the parking lot and she started crying and saying, "Bye-Bye, Mommy!" over and over!!

Fortunately for both of us, I start half days on Monday!! HOORAY!! I have been working full time the last two weeks with my new job share partner and she is awesome! I am so excited about this year! I know that we are all ready for half days to begin, though! :-)

Edee's Great Day!!

We had to wake Edee up earlier than normal, but she was ready to go once she was dressed with a bow!

What an adorable little grin!

The parking lot was buzzing with parents and little ones ready to start the day!

This is just outside the door to Edee's classroom. I'm pretty sure she wanted to hit the playground right away!

She went right to work playing with the toys! She immediately grabbed the "nanny" and the "apple," two of her favorite words! We just learned apple this week and she was ready to show it off! She was having so much fun when we left. She just waved and said "Bye-Bye!" No tears or turmoil! I was a little sad that she didn't seem the least bit upset that we were leaving, but I guess I should be celebrating that she was content! Eric picked her up a little early and she was sacked out on her nap mat. I bet she will sleep like a champ tonight!!

Bye-Bye Summer Time!

Edee had fun playing with her friend, Olivia, on Monday. Edee was still in her PJs, but these girls wasted no time going through the books! I love that Olivia found my book titled, "I'm a Mom...Now What?"

Edee loves hats and bows, so when we found this hat with a pink butterfly I KNEW she would love it! She looked in the mirror saying "butterfly" over and over! It is also convenient that her hat covers another big "boo-boo" on her forehead. I think her feet are moving faster than the rest of her body at times. She also likes to multi-task by carrying huge plastic balls or talking on her pretend cell phone while pulling a small dog toy! I think she is 15 months going on 25!

My little dumpling will start school tomorrow while I am back for in-service. Her class consists of her and 5 boys! I know she is going to have lots of fun, but I will miss her SOOOO much! I will be working full days for the next 2 weeks, and then I will be ready for my half-days and more time with Edee!

Burgers by Daddy

We grilled burgers tonight, but we ate later than usual. Edee was already in bed by the time everything came together. Just LOOK at what she has waiting for her this evening! Isn't that the cutest thing you have ever seen? Eric even cut the bun with a juice glass so that it would fit her tiny hamburger patty! Of course, we will have to add "cheeeez," as Edee calls it, but she is sure to have a delicious dinner!

FYI...It is getting harder and harder to get pictures of Edee these days. She doesn't sit still long enough! BUSY doesn't even begin to describe it! Here she is just before her morning nap...

Old and new friends!

We just returned home from our fun day with old and new friends. Mika and I have been friends since we were little. Our dads are best buds, so we grew up together. She and her family moved back from California this year, and it was great to let our girls play and swim together!! Allison and I were roommates in college and spent many hours keeping everyone on their toes in the sorority house! I'm sure Clara Beth and Edee will have their fair share of mischief, too!
Edee loved playing in Sadie's tent!

Mika and Sadie are all smiles! They are both so tan!!

Allison and Clara Beth came over for lunch and I was so glad to get to spend time with them!

Everyone is ready for their lunch!

This is about as good as it gets with three little girls. (Edee lost her bow at some point!) I hope these new little friends will get to see each other again soon!