Home sweet home

Man, what a trip! I feel like we have been gone for months! When we were packing up the car to head south, Audrey told Vince that she hoped the movers found a toy that she had been looking for. Apparently she thought we were moving again. Poor thing! Vince said she didn't seem upset by it at all, just matter-of-fact. We had a great trip. We left here on the 23rd of December and just arrived back home late last night, Jan. 9th. We were definitely glad to be home, but sad to leave everyone. We stayed with Vince's folks for a while, had our Christmas with his family, then went to his cousin's wedding (the scene of the horrific poopy incident). From there, we visited with Vince's aunts and uncles, then went to his brother's house overnight. The next morning, we left for Wichita to visit with some friends we met in Arkansas. I know I told y'all some of this already, but bear with me. Spent the night with them. We enjoyed seeing them again so much. Trekked back to Vince's parents house (a 4 hour drive), then on New Year's Eve, Vince and I left Grandma and Grandpa with all the kids (sorry, again) and drove to Weatherford, OK to hook up with some friends at Vince's old stomping grounds. We had great time dancing, but I was ready to go as soon as that ball dropped. I really don't miss the smoke and extremely loud music. Plus, I always feel old, fat, and waaaay overdressed anytime we go to a club now. I didn't drink much. Our recent date night cured me of any desire to over-indulge! It was nice to spend the night out with our friends though. We got in way too late and woke way too early the next day to drive the 2 hours back to pick up the kids and make our way to TX, which is another 6 hours south. That was not a fun day. But we made it! As soon as we got there, Audrey wanted to start opening presents, so that's what we did. What Audrey wants...! Side note: We got a Wii!! It's so much fun. Anyway, I finally got to meet my nephew Grayson. He just turned 2 and I have never met him until now. Sad. And I also got to meet my brother's girlfriend, Ashley. Again, they have been together for over 2 years and we've never met. They are expecting a little boy in March. I am so excited for them. I think they are too! Vince only got to stay for a couple days since he had his class to teach back in NW Oklahoma. The kids and I stayed on and hung out with my family. I was loving the 75 degree weather! The kids got to ride the horses. Audrey wanted to do that every day, but it turned cooler and we even had an ice storm one day. It warmed back up, but we had stuff planned every other day, so we didn't get to ride again. But she was out there every morning and evening helping Nana feed. She loves being there on the farm. PaPa took them for tractor rides and they were chasing the guineas and giving the horses hay through the fence every chance they got. I couldn't keep Audrey inside. It was so much fun. One day we went to meet up with some friends that I went to school with. My BFF Nikki, who has 5 kids!!!!! She knows she's crazy! And my other friend from grade school, April. She has 2 kids that are the same age as Audrey and Katie and she brought her sister, who is my middle brother's age. My mom and Nik's mom came as well. Am I using complete sentences? I think not. Anyhoo, we met up at this really cool indoor playground thing that has bouncy castles and giant play structures with slides and all that. I took off my shoes and played too. It looked too fun! I haven't seen April since we were pregnant with our first kids. She's expecting her third now. It was so great to catch up with everyone and to meet Nik's newest, Anderson, and April's kids AJ and Sophia. ~Hey AJ!! I know your mommy is reading this to you. I told you I'd give you a shout out! Thanks for coming to play with us. Audrey and Katie had so much fun playing with you guys.~ We went to lunch after and tried to talk and eat as fast as possible to make the most of the short amount of time we had. It was great! I also got to spend some time alone with my mom. We left the kids with my brother and dad (although I don't know if he was much help) and got pedicures. Ahhh, it felt so good. I hated to leave them all on Thursday to return home.

I also caught up with another friend that I have not talked to since Audrey was born. She and I went to college together and worked together for a while. We were really close and then when we graduated, we just lost touch after a while. I have been trying to find her, but have not had any luck. Then I thought about her daughter, who is in high school and decided to try to find her instead through Facebook. I found her and she led me to her mom! This is how old I am--I used to take her daughter to Kindergarten sometimes and now she's a senior in high school! Ridiculous. It goes by too fast! I tell ya, I have just been so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. I have so many great friends and I really enjoyed catching up with some that I have not seen in a long time. To those of you whom I didn't get a chance to see this trip. I'm sorry and I hope to be able to see more of you next trip. It was just too busy and hectic to fit everyone in. That sounds awfully snobby, doesn't it. I don't mean for it to. It's just that things get pretty crazy for us when we come home and we want to see everyone each time and it's just not possible. Hopefully we will be able to get closer to home in the next few years and then it won't be so hard to visit.

Let's see. What else? Oh, Audrey lost her first tooth! Her bottom left tooth. She was so excited. It was loose and just hanging there for a while, and then on the way home last night she goes, "well, that was easy!" and held up her tooth. Last night the tooth fairy left her 2 quarters! Oh, was she excited. She came running out of her room and started shaking the matchbox yelling, "Mom, she left me TWO QUARTERS!" She loves quarters. She thinks everytime she gets one that she needs to go to the mall so that she can buy some gumballs from the giant gumball stand. She was rambling about thinking she was only going to get one quarter, but actually getting 2 and she needed to call Nana and Grandma and tell them. And also her cousins to tell them and maybe the tooth fairy left her two because she had been so good lately (that's doubtful). It's pretty funny. Now the other bottom tooth is loose. The kids got the movie Madagascar for Christmas. Audrey was saying something and said, "That's crackalackin'!" I busted a gut. Vince was less than amused. My brothers will get a kick out of that one!

Sam started crawling while we were home. He was on the verge and then just all of a sudden took off into a full-on army crawl. He's gonna be a handful I can tell already. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. My girls never did that. Grandma was a little concerned because one diaper she changed had bright red spots in it. Not blood--tissue paper. This morning he got really mad because he was wearing a gown and couldn't crawl. Then, after I dressed him in the proper attire, the first thing he did was crawl into a corner behind the treadmill and get stuck. Then off he went into the laundry room. He was already on the go, but now I have a feeling that my running is going to come in handy! Do they sell baby treadmills? I have had to have a talk with the girls about leaving tiny bits and toys laying around.

Katie is in full drama mode. Everything is sooooo dramatic. Anything you say to her, she throws herself on the ground and throws a tantrum. I have NO idea where she gets that from! (That's called sarcasm, people). In the car at one point, she was trying to get Vince's attention and kept saying, "Daddy. Daddy. Daaaaddy. Daaaaaaaadddddyyyy!" Finally, she goes, "Daddy, HEELLLLOOO?!" We just cracked up! Most of the time when she says something funny, it's not what she says, but the delivery that cracks us up.

I guess I should get off here and try to do some more unpacking. My house was clean when we got home. It's just in ruins now. Unpacking is way worse than packing. I just have no desire to do it either. I will try to post some pictures from Christmas soon. Happy New Year!!