Christmas 2011.

a whirlwind, as usual. i can't believe it's already come and gone.

we started at my parents' on christmas eve.

 fake smile from jacob, real one from casen, and a half-smile-half-cry from mya.

 money from granny.

 shell shocked from the craziness that is my family.

 this was the scene christmas morning as we waited for the boys to wake.

 santa gifts.

 not quite sure what this look is.

 new bibles.

 then christmas night at jerry's mom's.

 pretty sure the shiner on his head will never go away.

 this is as good as it gets.

 hmm...

 again, hmm...

 she really only cared about eating the paper.

 see.

my boys declared it the best christmas yet. i'd have to agree.

late thanksgiving post.

as usual, we made a trip to my parents' for thanksgiving this year. my granny's been pretty sick, so the festivities occurred at their house this go round. 

now, in case you don't know, i'm one of six children. holidays around our house get pretty crazy. this one was sure to not disappoint. in fact, for the first time in who knows how long, we were supposed to have every kid AND grandkid there (sixteen of those!).  i was beyond excited, mainly for the opportunity to get a picture of everyone there.

well, life happens and a few ended up not showing up...or at least not on time. :)

nonetheless, it was loud, crazy, stressful and fun. and we'll do it all over again in a few weeks for Christmas! 

here are a few pictures i captured. there are so many more, but due to the potential of them being Christmas presents, I'll have to share those later. :)

my children. are they not the cutest things you've ever seen?! you can agree silently...so you don't hurt your own kids' feelings. :)

my boys with their cousin, jaycee. now, she certainly gives my kids a run for their money. she's sassy and country and just cute!

and this is what i was most excited about. i wanted to have a picture of all the grandkids. there are four of them missing from this picture. bummer.

anyway, i told my sister the vision i had and that the older kids would probably not be happy about it. but we like to torture, so we did it anyway. we laid all the big kids down first and then piled all the little ones on top of them. mya's the youngest...and most likely the last...so she got the middle spot. it was so much fun! on a side note, we made them do it again later in the living room when some of the other kids showed up. it didn't turn out as well, but we had fun making them suffer.

clockwise starting with jacob we have jilleana, kenzi, lexi, haiyden, cutler, jaycee, kalee, casen, garet and jay t. and the missing ones are kandice, kristen, kendra and shaun. (shaun was there, but he's two and was not having any part of it.)

oh, and don't you love the funny faces?!

Eight months.

a half-smile for me. :)

here are her eight-month stats:

• 17 pounds.
• 27 1/2 inches. the girl is growing!
• her blonde hair is multiplying daily.
• still hope for keeping the blue eyes.
• and yet still...NO TEETH! i have a feeling we're in for it when they finally do come in.
• holds her bottle really well. she can even manage it in the car now. sweet for me!
• sits up like a champ now. she still topples over sometimes...but remember, her head is above-average. toppling is to be expected. :)
• really trying to crawl. still can't manage to get both ends of her up at the same time.
• mom's day out is a breeze now. she kinda has a boyfriend there. :)
• wears a size 3 diaper now. not because of how much she weighs, but because of how much she pees!
• total momma's girl. i kinda like it.
• been babbling for a while...and just started her "m" sounds. i might actually have a child that says momma first instead of dada!
• sits in her bumbo in the middle of the table while we eat dinner. really bad habit. must break it. she gets really upset now when no one pays attention to her.
• still only eats vegetables if a fruit is mixed in. but hey, at least she's getting them!
• has kinda gotten over the crying-anytime-someone-other-than-momma-holds-her phase. that is, until she sees me walk away.
• loves to roll under the christmas tree and look at all the pretties. (or pull them off.)

happy eight months, miss mya! love, momma.

to document...here she is putting her very first ornament on the tree. (i guess it's more like trying to pull off her very first ornament.)

and i don't know what it is about this picture...but i just love it. even with the awful quality, yellowy tone, noise, blurry hand, etc. :)