The Doyal Diaries

Spike!

2012-01-25T15:59:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to get some pics lately that show off one of my favorite traits of my little man- his adorable peach fuzz spikey hair! Today while Sister was napping (Hallelujah!!!), I took a few quick shots! (BTW- I am really proud of myself for 3 posts in one week! I guess not having the pressure to do a photo a day has paid off!)

Splish Splash!

2012-01-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

I don't know who was most excited- Bailey, Max, or me?!?!?! My MIL gave us this great bath seat so now brother gets to bathe in the big tub with Sissy! Both of our kiddos LOVE the water and could play for hours on end in the tub! Can't wait for lake season this summer!!!!!!!

Happy 5 Months Little Max!

2012-01-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my sweet little man is 5 months old!!! If you didn't keep up with my 365 blog (which I am not doing this year so I'll be better at updating this one), then you probably missed out on watching Max grow! Sorry to all that my last post was when Max turned 2 months old!!!

Time has flown by and Max gets more fun by the minute! He wasn't too keen on the basket photo shoot this month because he really doesn't appreciate being confined in that thing anymore. So this mini shoot ended with him eating the blanket, kicking the basket so hard it almost tumped over, and projectile vomiting all over the place (more on that subject later)!

Here's a little bit about our little man!

Big Sister=Big Helper: Bailey has really become a good helper lately! She gets so excited about every new little thing that Max does and constantly cheers him on. As these two pictures show, she's even learned how to help Mommy a little bit with diaper changes and feeding Max his cereal.

Max continues to be a phenomenal sleeper (thank you Babywise!!!) and I am glad to see this happy little face every morning when he wakes up!

Max finally discoverd his toes and they now provide hours of enjoyment! Unfortunately his legs are so short that he can't get them in his mouth!!!

Max can sit by himself now! Here's the pic from his very first attempt (he's gotten much better, but we're still not leaving him unattended).

We began rice cereal last month hoping to decrease the spitup. It didn't help with that, but Max loves it! We had a rough month with multiple visits to the pediatrician and two visits to Sutton Childrens to help Max. He's always been a big boy and we were always amazed at how much weight he would gain at each monthly checkup. So we knew something was up when, at his 4 month checkup, he hadn't gained much. Then he started losing weight. We started out thinking it was reflux and he was put on some meds that, unfortunately, didn't help. Then, with more projectile spitup (I'm talking like 50 times a day! Can you say ENDLESS LAUNDRY!?!?!), constant fussiness, and more weight loss, we went to Suttons for an upper GI scan and met with a pediatric surgeon. They're still thinking it's reflux and put him on some stronger meds. We have a followup appointment this week so we'll see where we stand.

Max is 2 Months Old!!!

2011-10-27T13:17:00.001-07:00

This month has been such a fun one for us and Max! My chunky monkey weighs 11 pounds 2 ounces and is 23 inches long! He's started to smile and laugh with a purpose now, and gets so excited when you play with him. He's gotten even stronger, thanks to his LOVE of tummy time and can hold his head up while on his tummy for a long time. He's also trying really hard to roll over and has done it a few times already (but not consistently). He's a good sleeper (although Mommy wishes her hungry boy would sleep through the night more often) and is also super-alert when he's awake. His favorite toy is still his playmat, but now he's becoming aware of all of the toys on it and trys to grab at them. Max has had lots of fun outings this month. But I'm sure his favorite was his first Louisiana Tech football game!!!

Max's First Month

2011-10-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little behind! But that's how it goes as a mom of two!

At one month old, Max weighs 9 pounds, 2 ounces and is 21 1/2 inches long. He definitely doesn't have an eating problem since he's growing like a weed! He's a very happy baby and loves to play on his playmat and watch his sister. I can already tell he simply idolizes her! And speaking of Bailey, Max is really starting to look a lot more like her when she was his age. Max is very easy-going and has started smiling, which melts my heart! He's also really strong and is very good at holding and lifting his little head up. Here's some pics since we've come home from the hospital!

Worth the Wait

2011-09-02T13:14:00.001-07:00

Max William Doyal has arrived!!!

Like sister, like brother! At 37 weeks, I knew Max's arrival would be soon, but just wasn’t quite sure when. But just like Sister, Max decided to show up on the weekend of the 37th week. The past few days had been especially hard on me, but the evening of Saturday, August 20, I knew without a doubt that it was time. Good thing that David and I were packed and prepared this time. We dropped Big Sis off with Grandy and Popaw and hurried to the hospital. My contractions started at 5 minutes apart, and by the time we got to the hospital, they were 3 to 4 minutes apart. The nurses said I was only dilated 1 ½ centimeters, but my water was ready to break any minute and Max was coming fast. I was really hoping to wait one more day so that my doctor, Dr. Waltman, could deliver Max. But I told everyone that, at this point, I'd take anyone off the street corner!!! I also had to forgo pain medication because of the impending C-section and was in excruciating pain.

The entire family arrived, including Bailey who was thoroughly excited to be up past her bedtime! At 10:30 the anesthesiologist arrived, and so did Dr. Darrell Sandifer and his wife, nurse practitioner Aimee Smiley. It was a whole different experience this time since I was actually awake during the surgery. Daddy was ready with the camera and the doctors and nurses began. A few minutes later, at 10:49 PM we heard little Max's first cry- and what a loud cry it was! Aimee told us how beautiful he was, but we already knew that! As they took Max to get checked out, Daddy followed close behind to document. When they told us that he was 7 pounds, I was confused. What happened to the enormous baby I was expecting??? Then they measured his length to be 21 inches, and we knew THAT was what I had been feeling those past few months! After a quick hug from me, Dad took Max out to meet the rest of the family. They were all ecstatic! Big Sister Bailey was especially excited and liked watching the baby through the nursery windows.

I had a much easier recovery this time, and enjoyed all of the friends and family who came to meet Max in the hospital. Bailey came to officially meet Brother and was very impressed that he came bearing Big Sister gifts for her. She called him “Santa Baby!” David and I know that, like all children, Max is a miracle from God. But, because of all of the complications with this pregnancy, we know that God was especially watching out for little Max! We are now so happy that our family is complete!

Meeting Mommy and Daddy (glad I remember it this time around!)

7 pounds, 21 inches

Sweet boy

Getting some love from Daddy!

First photo as a family of four!

WOW! I'm finally a Big Sister!

Checking out Baby Brother

37 Weeks!!!

2011-08-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

37 weeks pregnant! I never thought I would make it this far!!!

If you never heard the story, my sweet SILs planned a baby shower for me on Saturday, April 5 at the Glenwood Tearoom. I attended the shower in all my ENORMOUS glory and then went into labor that night!!! (Bailey was due on April 25) That's why when my sweet friends called a few weeks ago and asked about throwing me a baby shower I said, let's do a Sip n See or something afterwards because I don't have very good luck with baby showers!

Here is a picture of me when I was 37 weeks with Bailey and in the same shirt (and way too-tight pants) with Max.

35 Weeks and Still Cookin

2011-08-04T16:32:00.001-07:00

Another doctor's appointment today and I guess no news is good news. Still not dialted, but cervix is thinning and Mr. Man is very, very low (and they tell me this like I don't know!). My attitude is getting worse by the minute, but I know that every day that he stays in there is good, so I'm trying to be at peace with that. My doctor comes back in town (from what I told her was the longest vacation ever!!!) on Monday so that relieves me as well. So as for us, we're packed and ready and waiting. Any day now...

In other news, a few weeks ago before the bedrest, I got my trusty tripod out and revved up the self-timer to take some maternity photos of myself. It's pretty sad since I have lots of fabulous photographer friends who I know would have taken pictures for me. Maybe this is just part of my losing control of everything else in my life so I wanted to still feel like I could do something. Anyway... here's what I got. It definitely beats the 3 or so snapshots that I have of myself while I was pregnant with Bailey. I've tried much harder this time around!

From Ethiopia With Love

2011-07-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

How excited was I for this weekend? First off, I was super-pumped to see "my girls!" These are friends from college who (although we've gone separate ways geographically) still remain close friends. We get together about twice a year and always pick up right where we left off. Although there are some of these girls that I only see a few times a year, I can always count on them for anything, anytime!

We've gone from celebrating graduations and weddings to now celebrating babies. And this weekend, we had a very special celebration, a Sip N See for my friend Lauren. Lauren and her husband Ben adopted a precious baby girl from Ethiopia and have a long, but wonderful story with a very happy ending!

The girls set me up a chaise lounge in the corner of the room (my fabulously funny friend Holly W said I was kind of like Weekend at Bernies) and I photographed the shower from there. Good thing I brought my zoom lens! Here are some pics!

The Hostesses with the Mostesses

Pom Pom Decorations

Fabric Flower nametags that could be turned into hair accessories for Miss Eden

The tablescape and adorable cake made by Mindy's SIL

Bath salt favors

And now for the guest of honor!!! I can't say enough wonderful things about this precious angel! First of all, who could resist those big brown eyes??? And her personality is a dream! Lauren and her husband Ben were warned about some of the adjustment issues involved in bringing a baby home from another country, but Eden has been a trooper. She absolutely loves people and will go to anyone- she even let me feed her a bottle! Of course her schedule was a little off since she was staying with Grandma for the weekend and so she didn't have a nap that day. But (unlike other children... Bailey), she was happy as a lark!

Here's Eden and my friend Elise's little girl playing!

Growing, Growing, Growing! (Doyal Family Update)

2011-06-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

It seems like everything is growing around here lately (except my poor dead grass)!

Bailey is 3 years old now and is getting bigger by the day! I have been very nostalgic lately as I've been going through her baby things trying to prepare for Max's arrival. Bailey talks non-stop (not always in public, but ALWAYS at home!!!) and has developed quite a cute and loving personality. She is very compassionate and empathetic. She also has quite a silly sense of humor (like her Mama) and loves to make people laugh. Her favorite activities include reading books, playing dolls and Barbies, pretending she's a puppy dog, dancing around in tutus and princess outfits, and listening to music with Daddy. She will be going to the 3-year old class at Mother's Day Out next year and just "graduated" to Children's Church at our church. She is currently taking swimming lessons and will be starting some summer gymnastics lessons this week. Depending on the day, she's super-excited about being a Big Sister (which might change when she realizes we can't send Baby Max back) and LOVES to talk about what she'll do with him when he gets here. I'm pretty biased, but I think she's really smart: she can almost count to 20 and identify numbers to 12; she can identify most of the alphabet letters and all types of shapes and colors; she can generate rhyming words; and she can write the letter B (we're slowly working on the rest of the letters in her name!). I can't believe in just 3 short years how much she's grown and matured, she truly is a blessing in our lives!

Classic Bailey- All dressed up with nowhere to go!

Swimming Lessons with Miss Randi

First Sunday in "Big Church"- She LOVED it!

My Pretty Girl

As for little Max, he's doing great and growing too! He's somewhere around 16 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 3 pounds now! I'm very thankful to have FINALLY made it to the third trimester, and consider it a blessing each day that he stays in my belly a little longer. I wish I could give you a recent picture of him (I do have quite a large stash since I get ultrasounds every time I go), but he seems to only be concerned with showing us one thing (and it's something I'm not going to post on the internet!). My current "issues of the month" include never-ceasing contractions, which have caused me to stay on "limited activity," but have not become bad enough to warrant complete bedrest yet. I also have an umbilical hernia which will need operating on when I have my C-section, if not before. I go talk to the surgeon in a few weeks to decide if an operation before the baby is necessary (we're really hoping not). So for now, I have to wear this belly band thing (which I lovingly equate to about 5 layers of flannel Spanx) to make sure my insides don't fall out!!! People always ask me why I'm so candid and non-chalant about my pregnancy problems and I always reply the same way: What can I do? I've given this pregnancy over to God and He is in control. He's dealt with each problem as it has arisen and I know He will continue to keep me and little Max safe. So I ask for your prayers to continue for the next few months as we anxiously await his arrival!

Another Day, Another Doctor's Appointment

2011-05-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

Another day, another doctor's appointment. That's the story of my life right now!

But today came with mostly good news, which was a very welcome change! I guess the good part of having so many appointments/ultrasounds is that you get to see your baby more. I could already fill up an entire scrapbook with just ultrasound pics! Max looked so cute and gave me some good profile and head shots- he's still a little alien looking, but I think he's adorable! And everything seems to be right on track with him.

I'm slowly coming around too. Patty the Placenta (thank you Anne for naming my body parts!) has moved her way up to the top of my uterus, so no more fears of placenta previa/accreta. I do have an umbilical hernia (which is very evident if you've seen me and my belly button that arrives 5 minutes before the rest of me!) that will have to be surgically repaired at the time of my C-section. I also was told to "take it easy" since I have started to have a lot of frequent Braxton Hicks contractions. Yeah, right- tell that to my 3 year old!!!

It's been a really eventful month to watch and feel Max moving around. David can now feel him and (if we're patient) we can spend endless amounts of time watching my belly move as Max gets his groove on in there!

So, here's the good stuff: some pics from today's ultrasound. Max was (as always) very wiggly, but cooperated enough to get some good shots.

Introducing....our new Baby BOY!!!

2011-04-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Max William Doyal- coming to a hospital near you in August (I hope)!

I have waited patiently (well maybe not so patiently) for today and we finally got to hear the words, "It's a boy!" Pardon the lack of ultrasound photos of his nether-regions here. I figure if I post those on the internet, someday he'll hate me for it! So here's a body pic and a hand pic instead.

Just like Bailey was at this appointment, Max was very still and didn't want to move much, which made getting good pictures a little tricky. He also had his hands up over his face so we couldn't see his sweet smile! But everything looked and sounded good with all of his tiny body parts!

Me, on the other hand, well I always bring the drama! I told the nurse about my still-lingering nausea/vomiting and back pain so she did a urinary analysis which told that I was very dehydrated- I know, bad pregnant lady needs to drink more water. Then I found out that I have a low lying placenta (which we're going to hope moves so it doesn't turn into placenta previa) and my placenta is right in the front of my uterus (which can cause problems during a c-section which I will have). If this turns into placenta previa or accreta I could have bleeding during the third trimester, be put on bedrest, hemorrhaging during delivery, premature delivery, have to have a hysterectomy after delivery, or my favorite: maternal death!!! WOW!

I do not list these things to be pessimistic or worry anyone, but to ask for your prayers once again for me and Baby Max. We had so much prayer support at the beginning of the pregnancy when we had the cyst fiasco- so I just ask that you please keep us in your prayers again!

Happy 3rd Birthday Bailey!!!

2011-04-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, I laid woozily (if that's even a word) in a hospital bed and told all of my friends and family members that I had a precious little boy! Those were the drugs talking!

Three years later, I have the girliest girl I know and I love her to death! It's been so fun for David and me to watch her little personality develop. Bailey has turned into a funny, compassionate, strong-willed :) little lady.

The morning of her birthday, we started off with Pancake People- Bailey's favorite breakfast (thank you Holly W)!

Here's Bailey with her new favorite toy- her Dora four-wheeler.

Here are some pics from her birthday party. I've really been wanting to do a 50s themed party for a few years now, but decided to wait until Bailey was a little older so we could have her little friends come dressed in 50s attire too! You can check out my 365 photo blog for decorations that I made- I didn't really take any pictures of the decorations the day of the party.

http://mylifeinpictures365.blogspot.com/

Here's my happy b-day girl!

Bailey was SO excited to see all of her friends and family in one place! It was adorable watching her come up to each little friend and hug them as they arrived.

We had a pink convertible cutout for the kids to take their picture with. Of course, Bailey had to "jump in" the car with everybody!

If you know me well, you know I LOVE costumes!!! So I'm so glad a lot of the little ones dressed up. Here's Payton (Bailey's cousin) very convincingly playing the part!

Excited about presents!

This one's for you Lindsey Caroon! (My sweet friend Lindsey took pictures for me while I helped B open her gifts. Afterward, she commented on my many crazy facial expressions in most of the pictures.)

Cupcake time!

I'll be putting more pics on Facebook, so please check there to see more!

Bailey's Big Girl Room Re-Do

2011-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big a BIG day in the Doyal household! Bailey's Big Girl furniture was delivered. We've been talking about it for a while now and trying to get her really excited since she seems a little at odds with this whole new baby thing. We went last month and picked this bedroom suit out at Johnsons and I LOVE it! It's a queen bed (yes, I know- what toddler needs a queen bed, but we didn't want a twin, and fulls are hard to find) and a really big chest and nightstand in a dark brown. The bed is a storage bed with 4 big drawers under it- Lord knows we need more storage around here!

Monday night, David moved the baby furniture out of her room and we set up her new mattress on the floor for her to sleep in. She was in heaven!!!

Tuesday, the furniture came and Bailey was jumping for joy! She wanted to watch the "builders" move everything in and put her bed together. When I told her that she got to put her things in all of her new drawers, she immediately started getting anything she could find (mostly play food) and stuffing it into drawers.

Last night we read stories in her bed and she was almost too giddy to go sleep. But David and I checked on her before we went to bed and she was out. Granted- she DID wake up at 5:00 this morning with a bad dream about "a mean vacuum cleaner coming to get her and a bad clock getting her knee." I tried to hold back laughter because she was REALLY scared. I wound up laying with her for a while, and apparantly I fell asleep because she kept poking me and telling me I was "breating too loud." Naptime also went well today (good thing because this mama took a nap too)!

Here's some pics- Holly W (I took the first one just for you)!

I still have more work to do- I'm going to re-do everything on her walls and take down baby looking stuff. Repaint her BAILEY letters, put up new pictures, new lamp, and a new bulletin board. We also got a new play kitchen from my friend Cassi- I have to touch up paint it and then it will go in place of the other one! But the hard part is now done! Hoping for more successful nights with my (tear) Big Girl!

Throw Me Something Mister- Part 1

2011-03-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

So David is really getting excited about riding in the Gemini parade this weekend (he'll be on the title Blues Brothers float if you're there), but I figured he needed some bead-throwing practice before the weekened. A few nights ago, he put on his "clown suit" (as Bailey calls it) and he, Bailey, and I took turns throwing and catching beads. Bailey absolutely LOVED it- she kept shouting "Happy Mardi Gras" with every bead she threw. Good thing Dad practiced too because he needs a little help in the bead-throwing department. Stay turned for some pics of the real parade!

Yea for Normalcy!!!

2011-02-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

Well, today's OB appointment was as normal as a high-risk pregnancy (apparantly I didn't even know until today that I was in that category!) appointment could go, and for that- I'm SO thankful!

Good news all around: Baby Ramon is doing great and is now measuring about 3 inches long (right on track). Seymore the Cyst has shrunk in size to about 2.5 cm, which is also super news! I'm also no longer on "restricted activity" and was told I could do some light exercise! I don't have to go back for another 4 weeks (how normal is that?) and I don't even get an ultrasound next time. I had to ask them to double check on that because I ALWAYS have an ultrasound, and actually I'm a little sad that I'll probably have to wait another 8 weeks from now to see my little peanut again. I was getting spoiled.

So- cast your votes here! We'll find out in April if we're having a Ramon or a Ramona!!! I'd love to hear what you think we're having!

Easter Shirts

2011-02-24T11:37:00.001-08:00

Easter shirt designs are here at my embroidery blog! Please check it out!!!

http://pinkpopsicleembroidery.blogspot.com/

Spring had Sprung

2011-02-22T16:03:00.000-08:00

Spring is in the air and we couldn't be more excited about it!!! We have spent lots of time already outside in this super weather! The first sign of spring, daffodils, have been popping up all over our yard and Bailey has had a blast picking them.

Update on Ramon and Seymore!!!

2011-02-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

Another day, another doctor's appointment! Here are some pics from today. Baby Ramon is doing great. He has a strong heartbeat and is about 1 1/2 inches long! He was moving his arms and legs a lot (I suppose he's doing the exercise that I can't do!). In the regular ultrasound picture you can see him laying on his back with his little arms and legs sticking up. No, he's not sticking his tongue out- that's an arm!

I got a great new U/S tech today that gave me a free 4-D view too! It looks better in person than this scanned picture. In the 4-D picture (which was taken from the side) you can see him laying on the uterus wall with his head at the top, his little arms sticking out, his cute chubby belly, and a leg and umbilical cord at the bottom! SO CUTE!!!

In other news, Seymore the Cyst is still shrinking (slowly). It was 5.2 cm today (last time it was 5.7). They said it should be gone by about 14-15 weeks- let's hope so!!! Still on restricted activity, but I'll take that over bedrest anyday!

Such a joy to watch the miracle of God! To see Baby Ramon's little arms and legs moving makes me so thankful for this little bundle of joy!!! And for fabulous friends and family who have continuously been keeping us in your prayers!

Coming Attractions...

2011-01-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well, this post is long overdue (as I hope I will not be!!!!!). Baby Doyal #2 (also referred to as Ramon- he likes it when you roll the R) is coming to a hospital near you on September 4, 2011!!!

Many of your have been asking for an update to this crazy fiasco so I apologize for the wordiness of this post. If you already know what's going on, you can just look at the pictures!!!

Wednesday, December 22- I had already taken a pregnancy test on Sunday, but just had a feeling so I took another one. Note to self- DO NOT buy generic pregnancy tests! There's places to skimp and this is not it. I called David at work to tell him I took a pregnancy test and saw a VERY faint line. He said I was hallucinating, but agreed to buy me some more tests on the way home. POSITIVE!!! We were shocked, yet excited as was our family when we told them at Christmas!

Monday, January 17- Our first appointment- FINALLY!!! David accompanied me to the doctor's office and we got to see our little angel for the first time. We also got to meet my new archnemesis- Seymore the Ovarian Cyst (which unfortunately I do not have a picture of!). It seems that I have a corpus luteum ovarian cyst which formed during ovulation. It is not harmful to the baby, but since it was about the size of a racketball had me a little worried. I was instructed to come back in 2 weeks and left with lots of fear! Of course I did the unthinkable, I googled it!!! Actually this time around, googling was good because it gave me more info and I read stories of women who had survived their entire pregnancy with these things.

Here's the lowdown (in my very rudimentary medical terms): When the egg leaves the ovary on its way to the uterus, a small folicle in the ovary where the egg came from can turn into this type of cyst. During the first trimester of pregnancy, a woman has crazy levels of hormones in her body which feed the cyst and make it bigger. Normally, later in the first trimester, these levels taper off and the cyst either stops growing or actually starts shrinking. There is not must risk to the baby other than if the cyst gets bigger, the baby can push against it and it is very painful for the mother. The two things we have to be on the lookout for is rupture of the cyst (which apparantly is very painful) or ovarian torsion (where the cyst gets so big that it actually starts twisting your ovary around a membrane and cuts off blood supply to the ovary). As luck would have it, there is no medication that you can take to get rid of the cyst that is safe during pregnancy. It can only be surgically removed if necessary. OUCH!!!

Okay- enough of that- here's the bambino!!!

Thursday, January 20- On Wednesday night I started some bleeding which got me a little worried. Yes, I bled a small bit at the very beginning with Bailey, but wasn't sure what this was about. I called the doctor's office on Thursday morning and apparantly they were a little more worried than I was because they wanted me to come in for another ultrasound. The baby was still fine and had grown since Monday (see picture below), but Seymore had grown as well! He was now approaching the size of a tennis ball (I tried to relate Seymore's size to fruits like any good pregnant woman, but David says ball are more relatable). My progesterone level was very high (which is reassuring because progesterone helps the cyst shrink), however I was not very reassured because my cyst seemed to be doing the opposite of shrinking! My doctor put me on bedrest until my appointment on Monday.

A note about bedrest: Bedrest is fun for the first day. WOW- laying around and watching movies all day is the life! Then when you house chores start piling up around you and your 2 year old wants you to get off the couch and play- it's not so convenient.

Monday, January 24- Another day, another appointment. At this point I had been to the doctor's office 3 times in one week and already (honestly) had more ultrasound pictures of this baby than I had the entire 9 months with Bailey! Finally some good news!!! The baby was still good and growing (see pic below- and no, my child does not have 2 heads. That upper circle is the yolk sac that nourishes the baby before the placenta steps in). And finally Seymore seemd to be shrinking- he was back down to racketball size again. I was starting to feel a bit of pressure from the cyst (apparantly the cyst is growing inside of my ovary and stretching it out a good bit), but I can deal with that right now. We talked about the risks again (I'm not out of the woods yet) and I got "upgraded" from bedrest to restricted activity.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the dear friends and family who have/are still praying for us throughout this, have brought meals, offered to take care of Bailey, and called to check on me. It really means a lot! We definitely feel your prayers and hope you keep them coming!!! We can't wait to meet Baby Ramon (okay that won't really be his/her name) and have already learned that he is a trooper! All of this drama, coupled with constant nausea, had really had me down, but I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to keep me going!

I promise I'll post an update much sooner after my next appointment (Feb 3).

Two Years in a Row- Let's Cheer for SNOW!!!!!

2011-01-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

How lucky are we? Snow, 2 years in a row, in LOUISIANA!!!

We're especially lucky here at our house- other family and friends in town didn't get any snow. We're lucky that ours piles up nicely on our back deck. Here's what we've been doing the past 2 days.

On Sunday, Bailey woke up from her nap to a blanket of white! We got on all our snow gear and went outside for some fun. Bailey had a blast and helped me and David build a little snowman and a snow dog. Izzie was less than thrilled to be wearing her sweater!

Today (Monday) we were back at it again! I was determined to build a BIG snowman. My poor friend Holly gave me the idea to make a felt hat and other things to build Frosty (unfortunately they didn't get enough snow in Dallas for her to use her cute stuff). Bailey only lasted about 10 minutes on the snowman building and was off to other things- primarily eating snow! Later on, she went inside to warm up and I stayed outside and built her a BIG snowman. Well, I say BIG- it was about 3 feet tall. Bailey loved dressing up Frosty!

My New Endeavor

2011-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

Did I really need to create ANOTHER blog? No, but I did anyway. Inspired by a photographer friend of mine last year, I decided to do a 365 day photo project for the year 2011. Below is a link to this blog- please become a follower and see if I can keep up!

http://mylifeinpictures365.blogspot.com/

The 12 Days of Christmas- Part 2

2011-01-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Day 7 (Dec 20)- Practicing our Christmas craft for Sunday School, my sick child made this handprint angel. She is just like her Mama- she loves crafts! YAY!!!

Day 8 (Dec 21)- As Bailey is getting older, I'm able to do some of the things with her that I did with my students at school. She absolutely LOVED the gingerbread man hunt. She followed the clues and went all over the house, finding a real gingerbread cookie at the end. A great new tradition!!!

Day 9 (Dec 22)- Cookies for Santa (or at least that's what they were supposed to be). I was super excited about these new pans, but the result was less than desirable! Oh well, Santa didn't mind!

Day 10 (Dec 23)- I LOVE the Eve before Christmas Eve. We all decided to open one present early- Bailey was very excited about her new Bible!

Day 11 (Dec. 24)- Christmas Eve was lots of fun. We spent the afternoon and evening with G-Pa, YaYa and Mamaw. They all came to church with us where Bailey sang Christmas carols at the top of her lungs (even though she didn't know all the words)!!!

BooBoo and YaYa

Tea Party with Mamaw

Back at home- Sneaking a little taste of Santa's goodies!

Sprinkling reindeer food outside

Day 12 (Dec. 25)- Christmas Day was busy as always, but filled with lots of good family time!

G-Pa and YaYa came over that morning to watch Bailey open her presents.

Then we went to the Doyal's house for Christmas breakfast. Here is Popaw opening his new gun. As Grandy so elegantly put it, "Nothing says Happy Birthday Jesus like an assault rifle!"

Then to my mom's house for more Christmas fun!

Finally, our last stop- David's grandmother's house where Bailey had fun dancing with Gigi!

Thank you God...

2010-12-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

Bailey normally says a standard "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" prayer before bedtime, but tonight (wihtout any prompting) she decided to say her own. Tear...

"Thank you God.
Thank you God for Jesus.
Thank you God for Mommy and Daddy and Izzie.
Thank you God for Dora the Explorer.
Amen."

Tacky Christmas Party 2010

2010-12-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned lately how very much I LOVE costume parties?!?!?! This year our friends Cameron and Kellie hosted the Tacky Christmas Party at their house. We had a BLAST and here are some pictures to prove it!

The Doyals strike again!!! David was dressed as Cousin Eddie from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. His outfit consisted of all women's clothes from Goodwill (which included a lovely pair of polyester pants and a dickie under his sweater). He was very proud of his white patent leather shoes he bought!!!

I made my outfit (which proves that I either am obsessed with crafts or have way too much time on my hands!). I had some red satin heels with gift bows on them. I sponge painted Christmas trees on my panty hose and sewed jingle bells on my shorts. I also made my sweatshirt with little presents with bows on them. My outfit was completed by my Christmas ball earrings and my lovely Snookie poof!

Kellie (the hostess with the mostess) and Me

The Gals

Hot Brandon (who robbed me of the Tackiest Outfit Prize) and Hot Matt

The Gang

I was very surprised to get an early birthday cake. Delicious, but tacky!!! Bless your heart!

The 12 (or so) Days of Christmas- Part 1

2010-12-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

So I have these really creative supermommy friends who have been doing the 25 Days of Christmas with their kids (Christmasy activities each day). Well, I haven't been THAT on the ball, but we're trying to do the 12 Days of Christmas. Here's what we've had going on for the 1st six days and a few snapshots to go with them!

Day 1 (Dec. 14)- Bailey's Christmas program at school (see previous blog-post about my superstar child who decided to sit down instead of sing with the group!)

Day 2 (Dec. 15)- After Bailey's Christmas party at MOPS, we came home and made a nativity picture with some stamps I got from Oriental Trading. It turned out really cute and Bailey loved to talk about each person/animal as we stamped them.

Day 3 (Dec. 16)- Thursday was a party-hardy kind of day for Bailey. She started off her day with her Christmas Pajama Party at school. Then she came with me to surprise Daddy at his Christmas Party at work. Sorry, no pictures- which is a big shame because she looked pretty cute!!!

Day 4 (Dec. 17)- FINALLY, after all our hustle and bustle this week, a day at home to relax and get things done. Bailey helped me make homemade gift tags (which was part of our MOPS craft this week). She absolutely LOVED helping with the glue!

Later, she spent some time "checking out the presents." Or so she said...

Day 5 (Dec. 18)- Saturday was Santa Day! Bailey was very excited to see Santa and ran across the mall shouting that she wanted a pink guitar before she even got near him.

Day 6 (Dec. 19)- After spending the night with G-Pa and YaYa, we met up with the rest of the Callaway clan and had our annual Callaway Christmas.

Bailey just adored Baby Stella and loved playing with her.

Bailey did NOT, however, adore taking a group picture (as you can see).

This was right after she smacked Campbell in the head with her Lamby. Thank goodness he thought it was funny!!!

B's Christmas Program

2010-12-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

Well, at least I didn't have the kid that shouted "I pooped"!!! That's about all I can say about Bailey's Christmas program at school.

I had another video, but it was too long to upload. We practiced and practiced and practiced the songs at home, but of course, she wouldn't sing a note. Then, after a while, she just sat down like she was bored with the whole thing. Now, I do have to say that after they were finished singing, they came to sit down right in front of me and Bailey kept telling the little boy sitting next to her, "That my mama right there. You see her? That MY mama!"

Oh well, there's always next year...

When Good Crafts Go Bad

2010-12-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

What a great idea!!! ... Or so I thought!

I really thought that making a gingerbread house would be a great Christmas tradition for our family, but OH MY GOSH!!! it was a nightmare!

I do have to say that Bailey loved it, and after the roof fell off and icing was all over the floor, I just decided to give in and let her have at it.

She even went and got some rubber gloves when her hands got dirty!

Here's the finished product! Looks just like the picture on the box, doesn't it?!?!?!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas/Crafty Ideas of the Month

2010-12-08T05:31:00.001-08:00

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Doyal house! I've been trying very hard to be organized and on the ball this holiday season so we can enjoy each day before it flys by. Bailey has thoroughly enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit- I just love to see her little eyes light up with each and every new thing.

Her elf on the shelf, Guillermo, came and she wakes up each morning and looks for him. It's so funny because she'll go stand right in front of him and tell him good or bad things she's done- one of my favorites was, "I pooped in the tub!"

She was also a hoot decorating the Christmas tree. With every ornament she pulled out, she said, "Oh, it's my favorite!"

So I realize that I've slacked for the past few months on my Crafty Idea of the Month post. Maybe I've been saving up because the Mrs. Claus in me pulled out lots of crafty goodness this month!

Shot of mantle with lots of crafts! FYI- if you have small children, you must get the Fisher Price Little People nativity set. Bailey LOVES it and can play with it and act of the Christmas story. She's also quite protective of Baby Jesus (who Izzie seems to have some fetish for)!

I made new stockings this year. Thanks to my great friend Elise for the cute pattern!

Close up of ribbon Christmas trees I made from ribbon (obviously!) and styrofoam cones.

Homemade wreath- or should I say Re-Made wreath. Got this from my mom and took the fake fruit out and added Christmas stuff!

Okay, I'm done now and you probably didn't care to see all of this stuff but I get so excited about Christmas!!!

The Black Friday Friends Strike Again

2010-11-30T08:40:00.000-08:00

Call us crazy, but we look forward to this day all year long! No, it's not Christmas... it's Black Friday!!! My friends Mindy and Elise have been waking up at the crack of dawn for many years now to do their Black Friday Christmas shopping. Last year, they invited me to join and I am now addicted!

This year, we got the earliest start yet when I picked up Elise at 10:45 pm!!! Yes, you heard that time right- technically it wasn't even Friday yet! We met Mindy at Wal-Mart at 11:30 pm and started our adventure. This year's store list included Wal-Mart, Target, Kohls, Belk, Bed Bath and Beyond, Lifeway, Old Navy (although we didn't buy anything there), Michales, oh- and Krispy Kreme and Chick-Fil-A for more shopping fuel!

At the end of the day, or should I say morning (I brought Elise back home at 8:30 am after about 9 hours of shopping!!!), we had a carload full and wallets empty. So you might call us crazy, but we love finding good deals, getting the bulk of our shopping done in one day, and spending time together! To me- it's more than worth it! Here's some pictures I took along the way!

So, there's not a lot of places to eat at 2:00 in the morning! The line at Whataburger was horrendous so we held out for Krispy Kreme, which was probably a mistake since they didn't even have some of what we ordered and the donuts were cold!

Elise- always the prepared shopper- with ads, a blanket, and her trusty flashlight!

Mindy shopped so hard, her raincoat tore!

Mindy's Loot

Mine and Elise's Loot- which kept falling out of the car whenever we opened the door!

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

2010-11-30T08:05:00.000-08:00

We have much to be thankful for these days! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with family. I am so glad that Bailey has the opportunity to spend it with her Grandma (my mom) and her great-grandparents (Meme and G-Daddy)! Here are some highlights from our day!

My little turkey!

Bailey with her great-grandfather, G-Daddy

Bailey helping make Thanksgiving desserts...

which lasted about 5 minutes until she decided she'd rather go play outside!

Daddy and Bailey trying to work off some of that pumpkin pie!

Forgotten Halloween!

2010-11-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, I realize that I posted about all of our fun activities leading up to Halloween, but I forgot to post the actual day! Whoops!!!

The day before Halloween, Grandma took Bailey and Mommy to see the Mickey Mouse Road Show. She loved it and was singing the songs for weeks afterward!

Her first experience with Dippin Dots- definitely won't be her last!

On Halloween night, we went to some friends' house and trick-or-treated in their neighborhood and ate dinner. Bailey was the cutest little cupcake there!!!

What beautiful fairy wings Mrs. Kellie!

Anniversary Weekend in Natchitoches

2010-11-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

Yet another post that is better late than never...

A few weekends ago, David and I went to Natchitoches for the weekend to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. It was a nice, relaxing getaway. Here are some highlights:

Natchitoches is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase (1714). They had the downtown riverfront area all decorated for fall- I loved it!

Our bed and breakfast, the Andrew Morris House, was beautiful! I believe the house was originally built in 1855.

We went to Fort St. Jean Baptiste, a historic fort and trading/guard post on the banks of the Cane River.

We tourned Oakland Plantation, a Creole cottage built in late 1700s.

We also tourned Melrose Plantation, which I remember visiting back in elementary school. This plantation was built in the mid to late 1800s. The famous primitive artist, Clementine Hunter, lived and painted here.

Thanks for being honest!

2010-11-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

So Bailey's been pretty out of whack today- she didn't get to bed til 9:30 last night and slept until about 8:45 this morning. Needless to say, this equals no nap today. I tried to put her down and came in a few times when I heard her out of her bed. The third time I came in, I asked, "What are you doing?" She proceeded to give me a run-down of everything she had been doing except taking a nap.

"I was getting out of my bed.

I was putting Lamby in the baby seat.

I was playing kitchen.

I was reading my books.

I was trying to turn on my barn. It too hard.

I was touching stuff.

I was looking at the medicine.

I was playing with my buddies.

I was awake! I wake up Mommy!"

I really can't even figure out how she did all of this in the dark. Oh well, at least she's honest!

Halloween: Part 1

2010-10-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy Halloween week so far, and it's not even the 31st yet!

On Wednesday night, Grandy and PoPaw came with us to our church's Trunk-or-Treat celebration. Bailey wasn't in a super mood, because she hadn't had a nap that day, but we did our best.

She did look mighty cute (if I do say so myself) in her cupcake outfit! I think it turned out finger-lickin good!

We had fun decorating pumpkin cookies, trick-or-treating and even won at the cupcake walk!

Here's our little cupcake eating her little cupcake!

The next day was B's Halloween party at school. I went up and took some pictures (which most did not turn out well), but the kids had such a great time and all looked adorable in their costumes.

Here's the best I could do at a group shot.

Party Pics!

Little Pumpkin at the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

I was SO excited to take Bailey to the Asbury pumpkin patch last week (especially in her pumpkin pillowcase dress I made)! She, on the other hand, was not so excited to be there. Turns out- the poor child has an ear infection, so she was very grumpy! But we tried to make the best of it anyway!

B's two favorite things: trying to pick up the pumpkins

and sitting on them!

She also really liked the "black" pumpkins but her mean mommy wouldn't let her bring this one home.

When we got home, she was ready to carve the pumpkins. I knew they wouldn't last until Halloween, but we had a few fun nights lighting them. I didn't really remember how difficult carving a pumpkin was. I totally admire those people who do portraits and really fancy stuff in pumpkins. I had a hard time with just the basics. And Bailey was no help either- once she realized how yucky the insides were, she abandoned the pumpkin carving for more exciting things! Alas, here are our 2 pumpkins- all aglow!

Puppy Pad Potty Training

2010-10-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Oh how I wish I'd had my camera ready for this!!!

So I watched my child today go into the pantry, get one of our dog's puppy pads out of the package, neatly open it up and spread it on the ground, and then proceed to pee right on it!

SERIOUSLY?!?!??!

Oh the perils of potty training!

Goin back to my roots!

2010-09-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Not really sure what made me want to dye my hair back to brown- I just wanted a change! Guess I'll find out if blondes really DO have more fun!!!

How Bout Them Dawgs!

2010-09-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took Bailey to her first Tech football game! David and I, along with some friends, have a tailgating spot and plan to be at all of the home games, so this time we decided to let B tag along as well. Despite the 100+ degree temperatures, Bailey LOVED it! She was a doll in her Tech cheerleader outfit and had a great time waving her pom-pom and saying "Go Dawgs!" She liked the band (from afar or "in the stairs" as she called the bleachers) and wanted so badly to play football too (she kept watching the game and saying "almost Bailey's turn to play football"). We might just do it again this weekend!

My little bulldawg!

Bailey and some more cheerleaders

Bailey and Daddy watching the band parade

If I could ever figure out how to upload a video from my new camera, I'll post the video of Bailey singing the Tech fight song. It's pretty stinkin cute!

Potty Training- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2010-09-16T11:13:00.001-07:00

WOW!!! Potty training is HARD WORK!!! My life has been consumed by potty training lately, a task that (before I started) I was sure could be mastered in only a few short days! Have I ever been more wrong?!?! I know this is a lengthy post full of TMI, so I will not be offended if you don't read it! Here's our potty story...

Approach #1- Going straight to panties and taking Bailey to the potty every 15 minutes to have her "try".
Reality #1- We spent ALL of our time in the bathroom- it seemed like those 4 walls were closing in on me. Bailey seemed to not mind so much (her little potty seat is quite comfy!), but I couldn't get anything done around the house. We also went though about 10 pairs of panties, outfits, and towels a day, so...

Approach #2- One of my friends, Katie, sent me some info about the 3-Day Potty Training Method. It sounded quite severe, but I was desperate!
Reality #2- This method really works! Bailey (pretty much) learned to tee-tee in the potty and tell me when she needed to go in just a few days. Of course, I also had TONS of prizes as rewards and followed her around constantly reminding her to tell me when she needed to go. She still had accidents when she was busy playing and forgot to tell me, but it was MUCH BETTER!
The Ugly of Reality #2- After about a week of beginning potty training in general, I realized that Bailey had not pooped in about 7 days- BAD! I knew she needed to go and she started complaining about her tummy hurting. So I called the doctor and they recommended Miralax, which at first did nothing. So then I took it upon myself to try 2 suppositories and 2 enemas- both with NO results! Poor baby! She would run from me, shouting, "Don't get my hiney Mama!" (This is quite embarassing when you're in public!) After a few days, I think the Miralax kicked in and I was eating my words ("I'd give anything for my baby to just poop so she can feel better- I don't care where she goes, as long as she goes!"). Of course, WHERE she went was anywhere and everywhere ALL DAY LONG! So we were back to pull-ups because I couldn't handle cleaning up poop any more!

Mom, I'm not so sure about this.

Approach #3- After having to put her in pull-ups for a few days, it was like starting all over again! So we were back to Approach #2, Round 2.
Reality #3- She was doing great with tee-tee, but she flat out refused to poop on the potty. I think I ruined her with all of my treatments and she was scared to death!

Approach #4- I was very glad to have an upcoming girls weekend with my college girlfriends in Dallas to alleviate some of my frustrations. Before I left, David asked me if I would be offended if Bailey was completely potty trained when I came back. I said no (of course, I never thought he could do it!).

Reality #4- I can't believe it!!! David (aka The Poop Whisperer) got her through two days with no accidents AND poo-pooing on the potty! Yes, the patrons of the Mexican restaurant in Dallas probably thought I was crazy for talking very loudly on my cell phone about how I was so excited she poo-pooed on the potty!

Here is a photo from our "First Poo-Poo on the Potty Party!" Bailey was so excited to put her very first sticker on the Poo-Poo side of her chart- excuse her appearance (this was mid-bath)!

I honestly have never done anything so frustrating before! It's like psychological warfare with this child! As I post this, we are going on Day4 of wearing big girl panties with no accidents. And I'd like to point out that everyday we've going somewhere too (church, running errands, MOPS, and school). I know we're not home free, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it gives me hope!

Here's her "school" daily synopsis sheet- we're very excited about no marks on the Diaper part and 2 tally marks (I know it looks like 11) on the Potty part!

School Days!

2010-09-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well we survived the first day of school again! I couldn't wait for school to start back after a month break, and then after I took her I felt a little sad! Of course, that just lasted a minute and then I spent the next 5 hours (which felt like about 30 minutes) catching up on chores and errands! Bailey had a great day. In her words, "We read books at school. I got a sucker! Yum! I tee-teed on the potty and got a star sticker. I love it so much! I so sweet!"

1st day of 2 year-old class (Sept. 7, 2010)

Here are a few pictures of Bailey over the past year at school!

Bailey's 1st day of school- June 2, 2009 (look at how little she was!)

Halloween at school 2009

Bailey and her sweet, sweet teachers from last year- Mrs. Kristen (KiKi) and Mrs. Erica

They were wonderful and Bailey was in a deep depression when she realized she wasn't going to be in their class anymore. But Mrs. Katie and Mrs. Kim are great too!

Crafty Idea of the Month- TWISTER!!!

2010-08-30T06:24:00.001-07:00

So here's our latest crafty project, if you will!
This is what Bailey likes to call "the really fun game!"

I bought the TWISTER game back when we had our crazy 80s New Year's party and drew shapes on all of the colored circles. All I do is call out a color and a shape and she has to find it and stand on it. Yes, yes- the teacher in me is still there! Bailey knows all of her shapes and colors so she thinks this game is "really fun!" Of course, now she's realized it's more fun to call them out for ME!

BTW- It also makes for a great floor covering when you're potty training your child!

Happy Birthday Izzie Dog!

2010-08-21T16:31:00.004-07:00

Poor Izzie just isn't top dog around here anymore! If she could talk, I sometimes think she would tell us to send Bailey back to where she came from! This past week Izzie turned 4 years old and since Bailey is obsessed with birthdays right now, we decided to celebrate a little! Bailey made Izzie a "cake" and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her!

Izzie really is a trooper! She's not the smartest tool in the shed, but I like to think her looks make up for that! She's been moved to a new house, forced to be a "big sister," lived through a minor dog attack, and confronted numerous wild animals head on in her four short years! She's a Great Dane in a Yorkie's body and we love her!

Izzie when we first brought her home

Christmas 2007- back when we still took pictures of our dog at Christmas before we had a human child!

Izzie just thrilled about her 4th birthday!

Happy Birthday furry friend!

Hot Mess!!!

2010-08-21T16:31:00.003-07:00

I've tried to tell her less is more!

Little Fishy Goes for a Swim!

2010-08-10T20:10:00.001-07:00

Bailey just finished up her second summer in swimming lessons at The Swim School and what a little fishy she's turned out to be! David and I are so proud of her- she's learned so much and absolutely LOVES the water (good thing since we live on the lake)! She definitely had an opinion of what she did and did not want to do this year, but she's really improved! Thank you Daddy for coming to watch and taking these pics!

With her teacher, Miss Nichole, holding onto the wall

No fear!

Does this make me a bad mom that I just laugh when my child is crying?

Jumping off of Mr. Duck

Doing the torpedo under the water

Ready for the slide- with her teacher from last year, Ms. Farris

SPLASH!

Bailey-isms

2010-07-29T13:45:00.001-07:00

Mommy- "Did you go poo-poo in your diaper?"
Bailey- (with a smile) "No."
Mommy- "Bailey... are you telling Mommy a story?"
Bailey- (as I open up a poopy diaper) "Ta-daaa!!! Oh dear, it stinks!"

______________________________________________________

"Teddy wet. I change Teddy's diaper."

"Let's change Teddy's diaper and Bailey's diaper. Here's a wipe for Bailey."

"Almost time. Oh, Bailey's diaper has Cookie Monster on it- yum, yum, yum!"

"I'll put the wipe in the trash can. Good idea!

Ode to my WONDERFUL, BRILLIANT, CREATIVE, BEAUTIFUL, SPECTACULAR friend Holly

2010-07-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

So let's add this one to the "better late than never" blog list.

(Holly- I bet this will be the first blog of mine that you will read everything, instead of just looking at the pictures!)

So Bailey and I went to Dallas a few weekends ago to visit my fabulous friend Holly and her little boy Nolan. Our plan was to go to the Dallas Zoo (since Holly is worried that Bailey has only been to a zoo with animals she can AND DID find in her own backyard). Of course- being a mother is all about spontaneity and compromise, so instead of leaving on Friday morning to head to Dallas, we went to the doctor's office only to find out that miserable Bailey had a cold.

After we got some medicine, I decided we'd go ahead and go and maybe Bailey's demeanor would change- NOT SO! Holly had a great weekend planned and went out of her way to try to make Bailey happy. Holly truly IS the hostess with the mostess! Unfortunately, Bailey had a fever the whole time and, I'm pretty sure, felt miserable. Anyway- here's some pictures from our weekend and all of the wonderful things Holly did for my pitiful little one!

Holly started a monthly baby book club and we got to come to her "Very Hungry Caterpillar" party on Friday. She had adorable decorations (note her cute Cricut caterpillar sign), all the foods that the caterpillar ate, and cute crafts for the kids (egg carton caterpillars and tissue paper butterflies).

Here's Nolan- Holly's little boy- is he NOT just the cutest thing you ever saw??? He loved Bailey and tried just about as hard as Holly did to make Bailey feel better- open mouth kisses and all!

Nolan and B in the tub- I think there were more toys in there than Bailey had ever seen!

Holly's fabulous monkey pancakes for breakfast!

We never made it to the zoo- it was kind of rainy and also hot, so we decided on the Children's Museum instead. This was the highlight of Bailey's trip- "milking" the cow!

This was the highlight of MY trip- playing Rock Band with the Whalens! Jonathan, Holly, and Nolan took turns on lead vocals, Jonathan played the guitar some, and I got to fulfill my fantasy on the drums! Oh my gosh- it was SO FUN! I already told David that this is what I want for Christmas!

Holly- You are one of my best and truest friends and I love you very much! I hope that we're not banned from your house now because we still have to come back and go to the zoo!

Crafty Idea of the Month- ABC Book

2010-07-27T11:10:00.001-07:00

So maybe I'll have a monthly feature (I would say weekly, but there's no way I can commit to that) of my favorite crafty creation. So here's the first! My friend Holly found this idea online and made one for her son Nolan. I thought it was super-cute and made one for Bailey. It's an ABC book with all of the letters made into animals. Here's some pictures of a few of my favorites. Bailey really likes the book and has already started to recognize some of the animals.

This lady has a pretty cool website with lots of educational ideas. The teacher in me always LOVES finding stuff like this! She's started a book for lowercase letters too so I'll have to make that one soon as well. Check it out!

http://totallytots.blogspot.com/

http://lapbooksbycarisa.homestead.com/TotSchool.html

Happy 4th of July (whoops- better late than never!!!)

2010-07-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

We've been SOOOO busy lately, so my posts have been non-existant (much like my free time)! But today is Mother's Day Out, so let's see how many posts I can crank out!

We had a great 4th!

David and Bailey and I went to a celebration at our church- B had lots of fun looking at the animals from Critter Company, sitting on the edge of the jumpy (she refuses to go in), and - of course- eating! Too bad we coudln't stay for the fireworks, but it was somebody's bedtime in a bad way.

Riding the cow train! Bailey was SO excited to ride and then after about 2 minutes the lady had to bring her back because she was crying!

Petting the python from Critter Company. I'm sorry, but the guy that owns that store freaks me out with this snake! Of course, my child wanted to "hold it." I have to admit that I stayed pretty far back to take this picture!

We were glad to see my step-sister, brother-in-law, and their 3 kids for the entire week of the 4th. Bailey absolutely had a BLAST! She wants so bad to be just as big as them. We had a great week of hanging out!

My bathing beauty!

Clara and Bailey in their Dora life jackets

The annual Fourth of July Cousins picture (what would this picture be without my child throwing a fit!!!- we later found out she was sick! And might I add I made these cute shirts!)

Bikini Babe!

2010-06-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

I think this is the first day in about a week that Bailey has not been outside in her baby pool- but we did have swimming lessons this morning! It has been H-O-T around here and I've been desperately trying to get some work done is my embarassing flowerbeds so I've been bringing Bailey outside with me and she plays in her pool while I work. She absolutely LOVES the water- good thing since we live on the lake!

I love this little swimsuit- David hates it (he's such a dad)!!!

I got the genius idea to put Bailey's slide going into the pool- BAD IDEA!!! She was so slippery, she crashed in the pool on her back. She said, "Mommy, that's dangerous!" Oops!!!

She was so upset when I dumped the water out of her pool. She sat on it until I physically picked her up and carried her inside!

Cross Lake Floatilla 2010

2010-06-24T14:47:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned lately what a GREAT group of friends we have??? For many years now, David and I have been going to the Cross Lake Floatilla. It's kind of like Mardi Gras on water- a decorated boat parade, music, and lots of people floating out in the water. It's a blast!
Last year, we decided that we were tired of simply watching the boat parade, so we decided to enter... and we won! Our boat theme was the Dukes of Hazzard- we all dressed up like characters from the show and decorated the boat to look like the General Lee. We even had Roscoe and Boss Hogg following us!

This year out theme was Baywatch. I can't really remember who came up with this theme, but I'm pretty sure it was one of the guys! Here's some pics of us and our boat! We won 2nd place this year!!!

David and me as Pamela Anderson (stuffed swimsuit and all!)

Ginger, David, and Kellie

More of the gang

Some of the film crew from The Exterminators even showed up to hang out with us!

We made friends with some people who had a houseboat so we could use their slide! Here I am!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

2010-06-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! I feel very blessed to have such a super daddy for my little one! David wasn't so sure about the whole baby thing when we found out I was pregnant, but he's turned into a great dad and loves Bailey so very much! I love to watch Bailey's little eyes light up when she hears daddy's truck in the driveway. It melts my heart to see them snuggled up in a chair reading books or playing toys together (this morning they were playing farm and David cracked me up with his animal voices). David works harder than anyone I know so that I can stay home and raise our children, and I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate that!

Love at first sight!

Naptime (1 month)

Reading stories (3 months)

Just hangin out! (3 months)

Former and Future bulldawgs! (9 months)

May I have this dance? (13 months)

Getting Daddy's boat ready! (13 months)

Playing in the snow (22 months)

Relaxing! (24 months)

Happy Father's Day David! We love you very much!!!

Caught Red-Handed (or red-pawed!)

2010-06-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

So we finally caught a fox!!! I guess it took me climbing in the trap and tying the chicken on to do the trick (Billy should hire me!). Monday morning, a little baby fox (Foxy Cleopatra- I named her!) was in the cage. We still have some more foxes around; Foxy Mama was circling the cage with her baby inside. David made me feel horrible about trapping the baby fox (he said, "What would you do if Bailey was trapped in a cage and you couldn't get to her?"), but Billy's plan is to come back next week and trap the other foxes and then release them all together.

Overall, our Vex-Con experience was great! Billy was really cool- I felt so sorry for him because the first day he was here, he was very sick and I know he didn't feel like filming. He even threw up in my bushes ("not the nice ones," he said- yeah, that narrows it down)! If you're a fan of the show (as I obviously am!), you've seen that Billy's wife Mary kind of gets a bad rap, but she came too and was extremely nice. The film crew was awesome as well. We invited the film crew to the lake with us this past weekend, and some of them actually came- I think they think we Southerners are a little crazy! They're coming back next week to set some more traps and film some more interviews with me.

Bailey and I went to the Cypress Zoo today where they're keeping our little fox until we catch the other ones. Dr. Morgan- the vet that works there- actually let us come in the "Rehab Room" where they keep the baby animals. We got to see Foxy Cleopatra and told her she'd be reunited with her family soon. Dr. Morgan said she's doing fine. Here's a picture of her today.

Still waiting...

2010-06-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

*Please note- I wrote this post a few days ago, but forgot to publish it.*

So I've come to realize that foxes ARE just as clever and we think they are. Billy baited our trap with fox urine (gross!) and some tasty raw chicken. The trap has a spring-loaded trigger pan in the bottom that closes the door when the animal steps on it. What I've come to realize though, is that the fox must not weigh enough because in the morning, the chicken is gone, but our trap is empty. So, I've had to get creative!!!

Last night I actually crawled in the trap (I can't believe David didn't take a picture of this) and sewed the chicken to the bottom of the trap and the trigger pan. Hopefully this will cause the fox to have to stand on the trigger pan longer which will increase our odds of catching him.

Wish us luck!!!

The Fox and the Hound

2010-06-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

+ =

So last year we began seeing foxes in our backyard. I guess that comes with the territory of living in the woods. It was really intriguing to watch them run and wrestle with each other, but this year it's become sort of a problem. The foxes (and our dog) have all gotten a little braver this year. We now frequently see the foxes on our back porch and Izzie (my fearless 4-pound Yorkie who thinks she's about 400 pounds) has gotten trapped under the deck with a fox on two different occasions.

Enter Billy the Exterminator!!! I called Vex-Con last week when Izzie was under the deck with the fox and they rushed right over. As luck would have it, right when they showed up Izzie got out from under the deck and the fox ran off too. But they did set a trap and did some filming for the show. (Maybe this will finally be my big break into stardom!!!) It was really interesting to watch them film and see Billy at work. Stay tuned to see if we catch anything...

Vex-Con's here!!!

Mary (Billy's wife) and Travis (film crew)

Billy filming

Our trap

I am a MOM!!!

2010-05-25T11:25:00.001-07:00

I am a MOM!!!

Some days I feel like I'M the one that should be in time-out!
I think Mother's Day Out was one of the greatest inventions ever!
I desperately need a tan!
I desperately need to exercise!
I give kisses that make bo-bos all better!
I'm lucky to make it out the door most days!
I sometimes eat lunch at 3 pm because that's when I got around to it!
I bribe my child with dessert!
I LIVE for naptime!!! (my child's, and if lucky- my own!)
I have a song, rhyme, or poem for any topic imaginable!
I am a professional at giving people the "I'm so sorry my child is screaming in the grocery store" look!
And I'm also good at the "Don't worry- my child screams in the grocery store too" look for other discouraged mothers!
I find it very hard to watch TV shows or see those magazine ads about children with disabilities!
I'm still trying to figure out where my boobs went- if you see them, give me a call!
Daddy coming home early is music to my ears!
I rarely get through a phone conversation without disciplining my child!
I don't wash my hair every day (I used to swear I would NEVER do this!).
I don't wear makeup every day (two days in a row is a record!).
My typical day is a cycle of laundry, dishes, diapers, cleaning...and it just keeps going and going and going!
I hear the word "Mommy" about 5000 times a day! (Luckily I was used to hearing Mrs. Doyal about 5000 times a day so that got me prepared)
I constantly say the words "no," "come here," "don't touch that," "in a minute," "you're getting on my nerves," and all of those other things you're not supposed to say too much!
I own a tankini!
I lick my fingers to wipe dirt off my child's face!
I almost died during childbirth, but would do it again in a heartbeat!
I'm a little too addicted to Facebook!
I love to peek in my little girl's room and just watch her playing or reading stories or singing songs!
I never realized how BIG my love could be for someone so LITTLE!

Hello Donkey! What you doing?

2010-05-20T13:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went with our MOPS group to the local Jubilee Petting Zoo. It was lots of fun and the kiddos had a great time seeing all the animals.

They had lots of animals to pet and feed.

They had a playground- which, of course, was a hit with the kids! Just like kids- you take them to the zoo, and they want to play on the swings!!!

We also went on a hayride- which at some points was like "When Animals Attack!" The horses got a little frisky and were eating the hay bales that we were sitting on. One horse even jumped over the yoke of the trailer and almost kicked one of the moms in the head. Needless to say- the kids loved it- the moms were all a little freaked out!

At the end of the hayride, we got out and saw some more animals. I looked over and Bailey was squatting down in front of the donkey talking to him. "Hello Donkey. What you doing?" Priceless!!!

All Girl!!!

2010-05-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

My child is all girl!!! She loves baby dolls, wearing high heels, and now has discovered Mommy's makeup. She loves to watch me put my makeup on in the morning. The other day, she got into my purse and tried out my lipstick...

So the other day I let her play with a few things of mine- the blush brush, powder compact, and her new favorite- the chapstick. This girl LOVES her chapstick. She calls it her makeup and carries it with her everywhere all day long. It's a battle to get her to put it up for naptime and bedtime. And she's quite good at putting it on too! All day I hear, "My makeup, my makeup!" Like I said- she's all girl!

Circus! Circus!

2010-05-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

We have been circusing it up around here lately! Bailey had Circus Day at school and a few days later we went to see her very first Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus!

Circus Day at school had lots of fun stations for the kids to explore. They had jumpies and games and snacks and face painting. Bailey had lots of fun, but had a hard time saving her treat prizes for later!

This past Saturday we took Bailey to the CenturyTel Center to her very first circus. I was sure it would be a disaster because she did not take a nap that day, but she was a trooper and loved it. Her favorite part was the elephants- and luckily they brought the elephants out about 4 or 5 times so that kept her happy. David and I really liked the acrobats- they were crazy good!

"I go to the circus. I saw elephants and tigers and mans doing tricks!"- Bailey

I Heart Bret Michaels!!!

2010-04-27T15:03:00.001-07:00

Okay- so I have a confession! I am totally in love with Bret Michaels!

So he probably uses more hair products than I do. (What really IS under that bandana?)

So he might also use more eyeliner too!

And I know, I know- I wouldn't stand a chance on Rock of Love (partly because I'm already married- actually that might help my chances on that show!!!), but I love him all the same!

Here's my homemade Bret Michaels jacket from our 80s New Years party. Wish I had gotten some better pics of it. It had his pictures all over, a Poison logo on the back, and hearts with

HD + BM = LOVE!

I've been in a deep depression for the past week after news of Bret's brain hemorrhage. Every morning I check the internet first thing when I wake up for the latest news. Yes, he's still in ICU, but things are looking up!

You're something to believe in, Bret! Get better!!!

***Mindy- if you're reading this right now and Ryan wants to come over for a candlelight prayer vigil for Bret- give him my number!!!

Spring Has Sprung!!!

2010-04-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

I love spring! Here in Louisiana- we usually go from winter to summer pretty quickly and bypass spring, but we do enjoy it for the few weeks it's here!

Spring at the Doyal's house is great for...

...flying kites!

...hanging out with Daddy!

...playing on our swingset! (excuse the crazy mismatched jammies!)

...picking flowers!

Some nature pics I've taken lately. Our azaleas are absolutely gorgeous right now and I've been trying so hard to get some Easter/2-year pictures of Bailey to no avail! It's crazy how I can get a bumblebee or butterfly to be more still than my own child!

Bailey's 2nd Birthday Fiesta!!!

2010-04-13T15:52:00.001-07:00

Come on, vamanos! Everybody came on over on Sunday afternoon to celebrate Bailey's 2nd birthday. I gave in and did a Dora party- that child LOVES her some Dora!

There were sidewalk chalk messages leading our guests down the driveway and B's big stuffed Dora greeted them at the front door.

The dining table decorations included tissue paper flowers and a message from Swiper the Fox saying that he stole Bailey's birthday cake.

We had to follow the map to get the cake back!

B's cousin Payton playing "Pin the Tail on Boots"

Yes, folks- I made this big Dora head cake. And no, I will NOT be making her cakes again in the future!

Happy Birthday dear Bailey...

My sweet birthday girl

Bailey was lucky to have her 3 great-grandmothers there to help her celebrate!

Two lovely ladies- Bailey and Grandma (my mom)

Cooking up something good in her new kitchen from Grandma

Bailey and Payton on her new swing from Grandy and Popaw

Bailey and Dora having a snack at her new table from G-Pa and YaYa

Germany- Day 5, More Munich!!!

2010-04-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little slow with my blogging about our trip. I'm trying to work on our scrapbook at the same time. We started our second day in Munich at Olympic Plaza (home of the 1972 Summer Olympics). The area is now a recreational and sports training facility and it was beautiful!

We went up to the top of the Olympic Tower. The elevator goes almost 23 feet per second and took us up to the top of the 955 foot tower. We were able to view all of Munich and the surrounding area. This was such a beautiful day- perfect weather (and great clouds for pictures!!!)

View from the top: In the background of this photo you can see the Swiss Alps

We also saw the Olympic village where the athletes stayed while in Munich. (Forgive the pictures through the car window that couldn't be rolled down!) It was here at 31 Connollystrasse that the Black September hostage situation occured. Five Israeli athletes and a German policeman were killed by Palestinian terrorists who took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage in the Olympic village.

After that we headed to the BMW museum. I caved in and went because I knew David would be in heaven. It actually wasn't that bad- the museum itself was very modern and served as an awesome backdrop for photography. Here's some neat things we saw.

Don't know how to describe this- it was tons of silver balls suspended by fishing line that were motorized to move and form the outline of various cars. Really cool!

1939 BMW 328

BMW actually made motorcycles before they made cars. This was a really cool glassed in wall of motorcycles over the years.

1954(?) 1st BMW sedan (or "saloon")

2001 X Coupe- This car was F-I-N-E!!!

Happy Birthday to my BIG baby girl!

2010-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today I was in the hospital holding my new baby girl! She could almost fit in the palm of my hand and now she is about half as tall as me! How time flies!

We have been celebrating like crazy today!

Bailey dined on her birthday pancakes this morning!

Then we met Grandy (David's mom) at Toys R Us to spend Bailey's piggy bank money. She's a natural born shopper (unlike me!) and enjoyed filling her cart up with tons of things her mean mother then made her put back!!! We did come away with some new Dora sippy cups, a doctor's kit, a play shopping cart, and a kite.

After that, Grandy took us to Chuck E. Cheese for tons of fun! Bailey wasn't too sure of the rides at first, but by the time is was ready to go- she didn't want to leave! We had a blast! Thanks Grandy!

Riding rides and playing games!

Meeting Chuck E. Cheese (or Mickey Mouse- as Bailey says!)

Dancing the Cuban Shuffle with Chuck E. Cheese- that mouse has got some moves!

I never imagined something so tiny could bring me such enormous joy! Happy Birthday Bailey Bug! We love you!

2010-04-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Despite our entire family (even the dog!) being plagued with the stomach virus, we managed to have a great Easter. Here's some of the highlights!

Dying eggs- or actually more like dying our hands!

Izzie posing with her egg- right before she ate it!!!

Hunting eggs in the yard

Looking through her goodies from the Easter Bunny!

Easter morning- she really wasn't in the smiling mood. I think we'll have to restage these shots another day!

On Sunday afternoon, we went to the Doyal's house for some old fashioned Easter fun! Two years ago I wasn't allowed to participate in many of the Easter games because I was 9 months pregnant. Needless to say, I've been waiting 2 years to get my revenge!

Running to find the eggs

Mommy and Bailey getting ready for the potato sack race

Hunter, Cade, and me in the potato sack race- I came in 2nd!!!

Egg on the spoon race- 2nd place again!

March

2010-04-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

I interrupt the Germany posts to fill everyone in on our busy month of March. And yes, I know I'm very behind on my blogging!

Bailey got her very first haircut. She did a great job- especially when Miss Christa told her there was a prize involved!

No- this isn't child labor. Once again- this is just me trying to get some help around here. Hey- 3 1/2 acres of leaves are a nightmare!

Bailey did a little shopping in her spare time! This was my attempt at tiring her out before naptime. But it was crazy trying to put everything back that she put in her basket. In this picture, I think she has about 10 packages of sliced cheese. Hey- the kid loves cheese!

Last week- right before the stomach virus struck at our house- Bailey and I went to the park with two of my friends (Mindy and Elise) and their precious kids.

Funny story- for the very few of you who haven't heard it: A few weeks ago, B and I went to the local zoo to see some animals. Apparantly all she remembered from the trip was that the animals would bite you! (I kept reminding the children not to stick their hands in the cages.) For weeks now she's been saying that certain animals will bite you. I thought she would enjoy going to the duck pond park to feed the ducks, but all she kept saying was, "Ducks bite you!" I told her it was okay and the ducks would not bite her. And what happened??? One bit her on the leg! So much for Mommy telling the truth!

Mason, Bailey, and Mary Ashtyn feeding the ducks

Conner having a blast on the slide!

Baby Stinson was there too! What a trooper!

B trying to keep up with Mary Ashtyn on the "Big girl swings"

Germany- Day 4

2010-03-31T06:37:00.000-07:00

Holly- This post is for you!!! It's really long and I will call and quiz you later to see if you read it all!

So, I'll begin by saying that halfway into Day 4 of our trip, I was convinced that God DID NOT want the Doyals going to Munich. It seemed that everything that could have gone wrong DID go wrong- and I took that as a sign! But we went anyway- and loved it- and lived to tell the tale! Here it goes...

After David completed his work at the factory, our plan was to rent a car and drive to Munich for the next two days. That plan turned out to be not so easy! We woke up that morning and went downstairs to get our car (we requested a BMW with an American-speaking GPS). When we got downstairs we were met with a tiny hatchback Ford with a GPS that even the car guy couldn't figure out! It was hooked up to the radio and you had to turn the radio knobs to scroll through the alphabet and find each letter to spell out the name of your destination (which- I might add- was the German spelling of the cities and not what we would have entered). So we got a little scared and decided that a 4-hour trip to Munich in this car was not in the cards for us. If we would have rented this car, I think we would still be lost somewhere in the Alps!!!

So...we decided to take the train, but then called that plan off when we found out it would be about $500!

Back to the drawing board...I decided to look up directions on Mapquest- surely Mapquest could get us there! But the directions on the Autobahn seemed very confusing. Lost in the Alps again!

What to do? One of David's friends came downstairs and suggested that we buy a GPS and use that. Finally- a good idea!!! We called the rental company back and the same guy (we were so embarassed!) delivered out new car- an Opal! David went and bought a Garmin and we were ready to go!

Opal + Garmin = LOVE

But no! Still more trouble! When we got in the car- we realized that the cigarette lighter's fuse was blown so we couldn't plug in the GPS to charge it! At this point I was sure God did not want us going to Munich! So my mechanic husband gets out the car's manual and (with the help from a really sweet lady from the desk who could read German) replaced the fuse. He traded it with the fuse from my passenger window- so all my pictures from inside the car were looking through a window I couldn't roll down.

FINALLY- with our precious GPS up and running- we were Autobahn bound!

Interesting facts about the Autobahn:

It's a very clean and well-maintained road. Not like those great Louisiana roads!
People drive REALLY fast. There are portions with speed limits and places where there is no limit. When there was no limit, those cars were passing our Opal like nobody's business. We drove as fast as the Opal would go (which turned out to be about 120mph- I know David would have liked to go MUCH faster!)

There's no shoulder on the road so when there's accidents, all traffic stops! We experienced this a few times and our 4-hour trip turned into about 6 or 7 hours. (Hello Doyals! It's me- God! I told you to turn around but you wouldn't listen to me!)

We stopped for lunch in a little town called Wurzburg. It had some beautiful architecture.

This church really creeped me out- it was beautiful from a distance...

but a closer view revealed some scary skeletons hanging out with cherubs.

We finally made it to Munich! YEA!!! And we were so excited to check into our hotel and do some sightseeing (in the dark since we made it there so late!). As luck would have it, the man at the desk informed us that our reservation was made for the night before and because we didn't show up, we were charged as a no-show. At this point I was almost in tears and I dragged my pitiful self to the counter and gave this guy our sob story! Something must have worked because he was nice enough to not charge us and give us a room for that night.

WOW- what a day! And just to let you know- our bad luck ran out so you won't have to listen to my sob story anymore!

That evening we went to dinner at the Hofbrauhaus- the most famous and largest beer pub in the world. It's over 400 years old! Very authentic- the waitors and waitresses were all dressed in their old German clothes and they had a German band. Of course- David really enjoyed the beer!

We spent the rest of the evening walking around the old town area. It really reminded me of New York City- with lots of people and very commercialized. What I found extremely interesting was that these old (1400s) buildings were still in tact but had strip mall shopping in the bottom floors.

We visited the famous Town Hall that houses the glockenspiel clock. We didn't get to see the clock in motion- which I've heard is really cool- but the building was amazing. Incredibly ornate!

Germany- Day 3

2010-03-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

Our third day began with of lots of rain and so Sue Ellen and I decided to stay nearby in Frankfurt. We started the morning at the Communication Museum, which was actually very cool. Here's some things we saw!

Sheep made from telephones and phone cords. Clever!

One of the first models of television (1929)- made by Telefunken (I love that name!)

Actual telegraph message from the Titanic to announce its sinking. The message has coordinates and then reads, "Sinking- wants immediate assistance"

clay tablet in cuneiform from 2200 BC

After a delicious lunch in a German cafe, we walked to the Frankfurt Opera House. It was under construction, but still very cool. Something I found really interesting about Germany was- when they're doing construction/remodeling on a building (and there was construction all over the place!) they always put up plastic sheeting to hide the work. But what's cool is the plastic sheeting is made to look like the completed facade of the building- if you squint, you can't tell what's actually building and what's plastic. Pretty cool!

Germany- Day 2

2010-03-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

On the second day of our Germany trip, the wife of another distributor- Sue Ellen- and I went to Weisbaden. Unfortunately David had my camera at the plant. I did take some pics with my phone, but haven't uploaded them yet.

Here's a few photos of the Siemens factory where David was. They were doing product testing on some huge machines- you can see the pallets in the picture. Each huge pallet had one switchgear machine on it and they had 8 of these things. They were enormous.

Also- here's a photo of the employee lounge at the factory (complete with open bar!). David was very impressed at how clean and upscale the factory was. I would have loved to have a lounge like this when I was a teacher!

Germany Trip- Day 1

2010-03-10T15:46:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, David and I were able to travel to Germany for a week. He had work there for a few days and we decided to stay some extra time and go sightseeing. It's always been a dream of ours to travel to Europe- and because of David's work, we were actually able to afford it.

The next few posts will be a day-by-day look at what we did. I know I will be including TONS of pictures- believe it or not, these are only a snippet of what I took.

After a VERY long plane ride- I now see why people pay good money for first class- we arrived in Frankfurt (our home base for the week). We flew into the Frankfurt airport- the second-largest airport in Europe(behind London's Heathrow). We were very lucky to have one of David's distributors (he's been to Frankfurt way too many times to count!) there with us and he gave us a highlight tour of the city that day.

We took the S-Bahn train to the historic downtown area. I loved the old German architecture! Most of this was destroyed by the war, but I love how they rebuilt things the way they looked before. These buildings were in Romerberg- the central square in Frankfurt.

We went to lunch in the Sachsenhausen district. This is a suburb famous for authentic German eateries. We ate at Adolph Wagners and had the Frankfurt Platter- pretty much the largest plate of pork you have ever seen accompanied by potatoes and sauerkraut. Definitely a traditional German meal. We also drank some Ebbelwoi (apple wine) that was very tasty. Sorry I have no picture of this food as it was definitely a photo-op!

We visited the Roman Ruins in the courtyard area of the Dom Romer. These ruins of a Roman settlement and bathhouse date back to appx600 AD (I'll have to double check my facts). They were built on top of and actually not discovered until after the destruction of the war.

From there we went to the Dom Romer (Saint Barthomeus' Cathedral). This is a large tourist attraction and one of many cathedrals we visited on our trip. It was built in Gothic style in the 14th century.

I wish the colors would have come out on this picture because it was a beautiful sight of a crucifix backed by some beautiful stained glass windows.

These are without a doubt my two favotite pics from the trip. Might I say- a camera on manual without a flash can do wonders for an average-looking night sky!

Seriously??? Even our hotel was beautiful!

Dancing Queen!

2010-03-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness- this was so funny and I wish you were all here with me to see Miss Priss dance like a ballerina. Her YaYa got her this leotard and we paired it with some tights and her tutu skirt from her first birthday. She's actually got some good moves!

My pretty princess ballerina!

Isn't this like first position or something???

We don't have any ballet shoes- but high heels work just fine!

At this point the delirium set in... we put the skirt on as a hat. She's such a little ham!

So what do you do when you're finished dancing? Wash windows in your leotard, of course! (No this isn't child labor- she wanted to do it...I promise!)

What a perfect day!!!

2010-02-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

What a fabulous morning we've had already! Can it get much better than this?

Our view when we woke up this morning...

A hot cup of cocoa...

And a nice warm fire (notice Bailey's babies warming up on the hearth!)

We only THOUGHT we had seen snow yesterday. But today was like a winter wonderland! And our little snow bunny loved every minute of it! We walked around, made snowballs, and caught snowflakes on our tongues (there's nothing like a little one to make you feel young again too)! Then we built a snowman- which I will say was VERY cold work! I admire people that can make them lifesize- they must have hands of steel! Here's some snapshots for our morning!

Nice to meet you snowman!

Would you like some raisins? (The raisins were supposed to be for our snowman's mouth, but somebody decided it would be better to eat them instead!)

I decided to move our snowman to a chair so Bailey could see him through the window. As you can see by his bare face, he didn't fare so well in the move!

Craftapalooza!!!- Remodel of Bailey's Room

2010-02-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE a good bargain. I am one of those annoying people who will spend hours on end making something instead of buying it because I can do it cheaper. My house is stocked with paint pens, hot glue, and thread. I think I could be a very valuable resource on a deserted island. (My husband may disagree with me on this one!)

So, anyway, we've been sprucing up this old house of ours for almost 2 years now- WOW! And I can say that I'm finally finished with yet another room- Bailey's bedroom. When I was pregnant we decided that we would not find out the gender of our baby, so this made decorating a little tricky. Once Bailey was born, I started looking for some girly accent pieces and fabric that could make her room a little more feminine.

So here's the before pictures from the previous owners:

And here's our little Bailey Bug's room now!

And now for a pat on my own back. I have to admit that I've become a crafty blog stalker lately. I love do-it-yourself craft blogs. (Now if I only had the time to make any of this stuff...) So here's my own did-it-myself section. Aside from all the major stuff that David did in the room (replaced flooring, new fan/light fixture, repaired holes in wall, textured and painted walls, etc.) here's my little list. I made all of this myself and it was all so cheap and easy. I know it's nothing fancy, but it's perfect for us!

Party Like it's 1980-somthing!

2010-01-12T06:16:00.000-08:00

We had SO much fun at our 80s New Years Eve party! Wow- don't we have great friends- they're all such good sports! I hope they don't start thinking they have to wear a costume anytime they come to our house! We had a blast and tons of fun 80s activities- 80s trivia game, Atari championship, 80s dance contest, and Twister! What party isn't complete without Twister??? I had almost as much fun decorating for the party as I did at it- yes, I did go a little bit overboard with the construction paper, but I have to fill my teaching void somehow! Here's just a little proof of what a totally radical time we had!!!

Me and Michael Jackson (no wait- that's David!)

All the guys- can I mention again what great sports they are!

The Ladies!!!

Our friends

David's tribute dance to The King of Pop!

Adam's tribute to too much alcohol!!!

Happy 2010!!!

2010-01-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

We had a great New Year (pictures from our crazy 80s New Years Party to come...) and hope you did too! Bailey was excited to ring in the new year with her first snow on January 5th. It was too cold to stay outside and play for any length of time, but we ran out long enough to get some great shots!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Yes people, that IS snow! It doesn't take much to get us Southerners excited!

Happy 2010 everybody!

What a Difference a Year Makes...

2009-12-21T12:59:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful, fun-filled Christmas season! It was also SOOOO busy (we had 3 different parties at our house over the past few weeks), which is why I'm behind on my blogging. Bailey really got into Christmas this year and loved talking about Baby Jesus and Santa. I can't wait for next year- I know it will be even better. Here's a look back at some of my favorite pictures from last year and this year- I can't believe how much Bailey's changed in just 12 months!

Our jammies have gotten bigger, but that hat still fits!

Thank goodness Bailey liked Santa better this year! She ran right up to him!

I hope that you and your family had a blessed holiday season as well, full of friends, family, and good times! Blessings to you from the Doyal family!

Tacky Christmas Party 2009!!!

2009-12-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we hosted what will now be our annual Tacky Christmas party. We had SO much fun and hope that everyone else did too. I definitely want to say that, after looking at pictures of other Tacky Christmas parties, our guests went all out with their outfits! It was hilarious!!!

Me and Barak- It's a brand new year!

The girls and "Hot Brandon"

Matt and Cameron checking out the Snuggie during the gift exchange!
Congratulations to Cameron for the Tackiest Outfit award- he made his sweater himself and it even had battery-powered Christmas lights on it!

David and me

It's Fall, Y'all!

2009-11-11T12:08:00.001-08:00

We love fall!!! Fall is perfect for...

playing outside! (Bailey especially loves to play in the leaves- good thing we have a never-ending supply of those around here!)

going to the fair! (We went with David's family. Bailey really liked the animals, and was mesmerized by the clown, but she especially loved the merry-go-round!)

going to the Pumpkin Patch! (It finally stopped raining for a day so we could go, but the pumpkin patch was a big mud pit- washing machine to the rescue!)

dressing up for Halloween! (Bailey stepped out in another homemade costume this year- a ladybug! She had a great time at the Airline Baptist Fall Fest, trick-or-treating at "school," and passing out Halloween candy with Grandy and Popaw!)

Happy fall, y'all- from Bailey Bug!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2009-10-20T19:29:00.001-07:00

Recently, David's mother gave me his one-year portrait outfit so that I could take some pictures of Bailey in it. After weeks of rain, we finally found a pretty day to go out and take some pics. Of course, Raggedy Ann and another baby had to come along too! What you can't see very well in these pictures, is the fact that Bailey (being 18 months now, instead of 12) was too long for the outfit, so I couldn't even snap the bottom closed.

Here's Daddy at 12 months old! Happy little guy, isn't he?

Here's Bailey at 18 months old

FINALLY- Playhouses for Sale

2009-10-05T18:48:00.001-07:00

So I have been a very busy bee lately! A few months ago, my friend Holly and I made a cardtable playhouse that many of you commented on. I really enjoyed making it and decided that I would make some more and sell them this Christmas. So- here they are! I have 5 designs to choose from- for girls AND boys. Please check out my website and tell ALL your friends. Thanks!

http://hollyshouseplayhouses.blogspot.com/

Our Trip to the Zoo

2009-09-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

This morning we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and went to the Cypress Park Zoo near our house. Bailey had a BLAST! She loved seeing all the "ammals" (mostly animals native to this area) and making their animal noises. Bailey especially liked the raccoon, who proceeded to splash us with water; the wolves which Bailey thought were puppies; and the ducks that followed her wherever she went. But her very favorite animal of all was the huge, ugly warthog who was snoring. Go figure!

Bailey at the dove cage. Tweet! Tweet!

Look, it's a pony!

The goat was very interested in Bailey!

My little dear and the deer

She does too!

Home Sweet Home- Remodeling Part 1

2009-09-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

So we've lived in this Money Pit, I mean wonderful home, for about a year and a half now. If you know us well, you know what we've gone through with this house. It's been a chore! And having a baby right after moving in did not speed up the process either! But we've worked (yes, we've done almost ALL of the work ourselves!) and we've survived. Here are some before and after pics of some rooms. More to come later!

**You will have to forgive me because I played with the formatting on this post TONS of times and it never would do what I wanted it too. I know it looks stupid!**

Guest Bedroom- Major remodeling tasks included:

Textured walls, Painted walls, ceiling, window/door trim, crown molding, baseboards
Installed window/door trim, baseboards, crown molding, and quarter round
Ripped up carpet and laid hardwood flooring
Patched holes in walls
Installed routed windowsill and window blinds
Installed ceiling fan
Replaced bedroom and closet doors
Removed shelving along ceiling walls

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

Master Bedroom-

Textured walls
Painted walls, ceiling, window/door trim, crown molding, baseboards
Installed window/door trim, baseboards, crown molding, and quarter round
Ripped up carpet and laid hardwood flooring
Patched holes in walls
Installed routed windowsill and window blinds
Ripped out old closet shelving and added new bars and shelves
Installed ceiling fan
Replaced bedroom and closet doors
Removed bathroom pocket door and replaced with new wider door
Handmade drapes and bed pillows

Unfortunately we do not have a BEFORE picture for the master bedroom, but I will give you a mental picture. Like all of the other rooms in the house, there were holes all in the walls and gum in the carpeted floor. The room was painted an irredescent purple that glittered from certain angles (David says it looked like a bass boat!)

AFTER

Kitchen- If the kitchen had not already been somewhat remodeled, this house would have totally been a no-go!

Painted walls, ceiling, window/door trim, crown molding
Repaired water leak under kitchen sink
Replaced kitchen sink faucet
Repaired attic water leak and patched ceiling
Installed cabinet knobs and drawer pulls

BEFORE

The pictures don't do this room justice, but it was a lovely shade of orange!

BEFORE

AFTER

Playtime at the Park

2009-08-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Fun day at the Old Brownlee Park- Bailey absolutely loved it! Playground and Splash park in one!

Watch out world, here I come!

Splish, Splash!

Mommy said it's time to go, but Bailey has another idea!

Ain't no lie, Passy- Bye, Bye, Bye!

2009-08-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

After a year and 4 months, we finally laid our beloved friend, Passy, to rest a few weeks ago. Passy has been a loyal companion and we would like to celebrate his time with us with these pictures!

1 week old- notice how big the passy is compared to her face!

3 months- Just chillin with my friend, Passy

7 months

13 months

14 months- Last picture of Passy on record!

I was so proud of Bailey! She only cried for a few times and now she's great! Of course, I still have a bag of pacifiers in my cabinet and have found it too hard to part with them yet... Who's doing better with this, Bailey or Mom???

Family Vacay 2009

2009-08-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

Last week we went with our friends The Stones to their condo in Orange Beach, AL. We had a super time and it was a much-needed vacation for all. Bailey wasn't too fond of the sand to begin with, but she had a great time swimming in the "poo" (pool- like I would really let my child swim in poo!). She also had a great time playing with Caroline and Madison. We brought a babysitter with us- Miss Pammie- and she was awesome!!! We had a blast- beach, pool, good food, FloroBama, music, etc. One night (not documented on film) the "grown-ups" (yeah right!) went to a concert with Willie Nelson (who is so old he talked his way through all the songs), John Mellencamp (actually wonderful in concert), and Bob Dylan (we played games trying to guess what he was singing...still no clue). After the concert, we went and rode go-carts and bumper boats (which left us all soaked to the bone). It was a great time! Here are some of our favorite shots!

Bailey's 1st dip in the ocean

Admiring the waves

the best we could do for a family shot

going for a walk

The girls with Pammie

The gang

Our beautiful beach babe!

She's Walking!!!

2009-07-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we thought this day would never come! Bailey is finally walking!!! She began taking her first steps on Saturday evening. We were very glad that Daddy was here to see it! She's pretty funny to watch- she gets really excited and starts smiling really big and laughing. She's very proud of herself. Right now, she can only take about 3 or 4 steps by herself, but I'm sure that will soon change! Watch out world... here she comes!

Two Hollys and The Donna = Craft Genius!!!

2009-07-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

So here's the post you've been waiting for! The famous cardtable playhouse! Here's the backstory- my friend Holly who lives in Dallas is hosting a sip and see for her friend's baby girl in a few months. (actually I think it's in October, but Holly plans early!) Holly is the ultimate "hostess with the mostess" and has already planned an adorable cupcake theme. She came up with the idea of making a cardtable playhouse for a shower gift. (Both Holly and I had grandmothers who made these for us when we were little!) Enter: me! I was planning on going to Dallas to see Holly's new baby Nolan anyway, so she asked if I would help make the playhouse. I thought this might be a future business venture for me, so I agreed. Two days and mounds of felt later, here's the almost-finished product!

Details- The entire house is made of felt and miles of thread. (We now own stock in Hobby Lobby!) The major pieces are sewn on. Many smaller pieces are velcroed on so you can rearrange them. We still have not sewn the sides together and have not attached the cute scalloped roof. That job goes to The Donna (Holly's very helpful mother!).

Right side: Removable cupcakes and flowers so you can decorate the cake yourself.

Left Side: teapot and cup are removable so you can pretend you're having tea. All items in the cupboard are also removable for rearranging!

Back: Look out the window and learn about shapes and colors. Watering can is removable.

Front: Not finished yet. Mailbox opens up so you can put mail in. Door with heart window opens up for entering the house. We're going to add an address sign and some more pizazz to the front.

Some more random shots and crafty undertakings:

Nolan modeling the window- looks like fun, huh?

Drinking and sewing... a dangerous combination!

cupcake canvas

some absolutely adorable felt cupcakes

So the real question is, am I going to make these playhouses to sell? It's a possibility. I want to do one on my own and see how much time it takes. But we've come up with tons of great ideas and styles and I'd love to begin taking orders soon. Stay tuned...

Camembert or Gruyere? Just give me some plain, old cheddar!

2009-07-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

(This post is dedicated to my friend Mindy, who I am sure would share my same opinion on Central Market. Oh, and she LOVES cheese!!!)

So, this week I went to visit my friend in Dallas who just had a baby. (Stay tuned for the next post for cute Nolan pictures) Let me preface this story by saying that I really like to eat, but am not the world’s best cook. My friend Holly, (yes, her name is Holly too!) however, is like the next Julia Child.

Holly knows I don’t get out of my Benton bubble very often so she decided to take me to Central Market. I felt like “country has come to town!” I have NEVER seen anything like this in my life! For any of you who have never gone to a Central Market- you should put this activity on your bucket list!

First of all, this place is HUGE! You walk in and there’s a receptionist at the information counter- like a concierge or something!!! Each section of the store is enormous and full of specialty foods and stuff I would have no clue what to do with. Perhaps I was most impressed by the cheese section because I like cheese so much, but this area was bigger than the entire refrigerated section at my grocery store! A cheese-lover’s dream! They also had microphoned chefs in different sections cooking stuff- I said that reminded me of the guy at Bass Pro Shop giving fishing lessons (at this point Holly told me to keep my voice down because I was embarrassing her!). We finished our trip by grabbing some dinner- I stuck with a simple chicken salad. Holly, on the other hand, got a variety of stuff from the salad bar that I had never heard of or seen- I’m not quite sure it was even food! Maybe I should call and check on her!

When it was finally time to check out, they had some automated robot voice that told you which cashier to go to- kind of like the airport or something! Crazy!!! So now I can die happy because I’ve been to Central Market. Can’t say I’d shop there, but I’ve been!

Fun on the Fourth!

2009-07-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

We had a great fourth of July- full of family, food, and fun! Bailey's cousins from San Antonio came in and spent a week with us. They all really enjoyed playing together! I love looking at these pictures of the kids from last year and this year!

The more things change...

The more they stay the same!!!

Our little firecracker and her cousins on the boat! Believe it or not- this was Bailey's first time in the lake!

We also celebrated my dad's 65th birthday. Here's my wonderful homemade cake! Oh wait- do I hear the Food Network calling?

2009-06-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

So Daddy came to swimming lessons again this week and took some more pictures! Here are some of our favorites:

Mommy and Me!

Jump on in!

Climbing out to see Daddy!

Jumping in and grabbing the wall

Here I come!

SPLASH!!!

Splish Splash!

2009-06-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

So here's my attempt to create a blog! I thought this would be a great way to share some bits and pieces with everyone about our crazy life! I'm sure most posts will be about Bailey (yes, I do have the ability to talk about other things!) but I'll try to throw some in about our house and other fun things too!

So, this past month we've been taking swimming lessons at The Swim School. The first 3 weeks were horrendous! These classes were the most agonizing 45 minutes of my life!!! Bailey screamed at the top of her lungs the ENTIRE time and refused to do anything. I was getting worried because she's going to have to learn to like the water if she lives in this house!

But then, a few weeks ago, my child decided to turn into Michael Phelps! She absolutely LOVES going to swimming lessons now and doesn't even want to play the games or sing the songs- just swim! What a turnaround! It really is amazing what these little ones can do! If you have a pool or live on or near the water like we do, I'd highly encourage you to check into some swimming lessons! Once you get past the initial fear, they're worth every minute!

The people in the pool go splash, splash, splash!
Swimming to Mommy! Almost there...

Practicing our kicks!

And the very best thing about swimming lessons...

the LONG nap that follows!!!