Operation Christmas:

SUCCESS!!!

Well, Christmas morning in the Williams household was a HUGE SUCCESS!!! We took 318 pictures, but I promise not to try to post them all. I think the entire Internet might crash if I tried to do that. A smart lady suggested that we set the camera up on the tripod and use our remote for the camera to take pictures so we could all be in all the pictures... Thanks for the idea, Mom!!

Some of the highlight gifts of the day were:

Maddy's new chair (when we all got up, Maddy ran to her chair and sat down BEAMING)...




Bryan's new Craftsman tool chest AND fireproof gun safe (we're waiting on delivery of that today)...




And my new portrait lens and shoe flash for our big digital camera... AND a month's worth of photography lessons from Olivia, the girl that took our maternity pictures!!! (Olivia, if you read this, I'll be contacting you soon to set up our first lesson... I'm SOOO excited!!!)


Here are just a few other pictures from our day. I have to be honest... Even though we took our own pictures, there were very few that turned out to NOT have goofy faces, so even with 318 pictures, it was pretty slim pickin's... :)


Maddy felt the need to feed us our breakfast... LoL:





Maddy loved her new doll... and hugged her even before we took her out of the box!! :)




The COOLEST diaper bag EVER... Made from one of Bryan's old flight suits! Thanks, Mom!! I LOVE IT!!!


Bryan was playing around with my new portrait lens...



Everyone got new PJ's on Christmas Eve...


My Monkey Bread sort of exploded on Christmas morning. HaHaHa.. It sure tasted GREAT, though!!! :)


Maddy's new backpack:


Check out that concentration... Thanks Uncle Chris and Aunt April (we're still looking for the "off" switch)...


Maddy and her Daddy Doll sitting in her new chair...


Maddy's Gi-Gi and Papa Jay got her her VERY OWN Predators jersey! Thanks!


Well, I guess that's about it for now. I should probably get dressed before Bryan's safe gets delivered... Talk to everyone soon!

We love you guys!! :)

WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!

We woke up this morning to find THIS:








The snow apparently started falling shortly after midnight last night


And kept falling (sorry, I don't know why the picture won't turn)...

'
And falling...

Daddy and Maddy posed for a picture...



Then, Nash and Maddy...



Again...


Mommy and Maddy...



When Maddy went down for her nap, Mommy and Daddy went out for a little more fun!! :)


This is how excited we were about the snow!!!




Look at how deep it is... I have no more feet!!



Last, but not least, Lake Williams is now an ice skating rink!! :)



Here's one last video for your viewing pleasure:





I hope everyone is having a nice start to the Christmas weekend... I know we have!! Love you guys!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :)

Santa's Little Helper

Maddy is really starting to get into Christmas!!

We decided during dinner tonight that we would bring out all of the gifts that belong under the Christmas tree tonight. Maddy was a BIG HELPER by carrying out some of the gifts:




Now, she's just "patiently" waiting for Santa's arrival:


These last few days have seemed to DRAG by, so Maddy and I had a little "out of the ordinary" fun today. I gave her a Mohawk with my mousse... She's one cool dudette!!




We hope that all of you have been good and that Santa comes to visit tomorrow night!! It's looking good for Maddy... The big guy in the red suit seemed like he was going to bring some goodies when we saw him a few weeks ago!!

Love you guys, and Merry Christmas Eve Eve!! :)

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a BLAST today!! We're really sad that we were not able to make it this year to the Towhey Christmas Extravaganza, so we thought we'd give a big HEY YA'LL FROM TEXAS in the form of a blog!!!

Here's a video of Maddy helping make Oreo truffles... I hope everyone tried one today... I heard that my mom was bringing some to share... I hope you did Mom, or else I just called you out and everyone will know that you and Dad ate them all on the way down!! ;)





Here are a few still shots of our very own EXTRAVAGANZA (ok, so it doesn't compare to the Towhey Family Extravaganza, but we're doing the best we can...):


Maddy had to sample the cookies to make sure they were okay to use in the truffles:



I think she liked them:



She got to lick the spoon after I mixed up the insides for the Oreo Truffles:



I gave her a GINORMOUS bowl of rice crispies (ok, so the bowl was big...) so she could make her own peanut butter balls:



This afternoon, we went to a few of our friends houses to deliver some cookies and candies that we made. It was a very nice way to spend the afternoon! :)

I guess that's it for now. I hope everyone had an excellent time today!! We missed you!!

Love you guys!!

MIA

I feel I owe everyone an explanation for our blog-land absence...

It's a good one... I PROMISE!!

Maddy has had her first fever this week. Monday morning we went to our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. We do this every other Monday. When I went to pick her up (she hangs out with all the kids her age [called the "Moppettes"], while I attend the meeting [read: brunch and chat time with other moms]), she was sitting in her teacher's rocking chair. They told me that she had been very "mellow" the whole time (whole time = 2 hours)... I didn't think much of it, but it should have been a red flag. When is Maddy ever "mellow"?? She seemed fine all day, but I kept noticing that her head felt warm to the touch, so when it was bath time, I decided to take her temperature just for good measure... 101.7... Uh-Oh!!

Tuesday she woke up with the same fever, so I called the doctor's office to make an appointment. When I got the nice lady who makes the appointments on the line, she told me that the only appointment she had left was at 3 PM (the office opens at 8... I called at 8:45). She suggested that I leave a message with the nurse and ask her opinion since there had been lots of calls like mine... I left a message and an hour and a half later, the nurse called back, asked some questions and convinced me that it was probably just a 24 hour bug. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the part where when Maddy woke up ridiculously early, I brought her back to bed with me. When we were laying back down, she asked me for milk, so I gave her some (hesitant with the fever, but I did it anyway). No sooner did she chug the milk, she started to fuss. Being the concerned Mom that I am, I pulled her onto my chest (I was still laying down) only to have her toss her milk all over me... Fun stuff. It was time to get up, change clothes (for obvious reasons) and get our day started... All day Maddy had the fever, and before bed Tuesday night, the fever climbed to 102.3... 103 is when they suggest "immediate medical attention".

Wednesday morning the fever was still lingering, so I decided we were going to the doctor and no one was going to change my mind!! We got an appointment for 1:45. Of course, when we got there, Maddy didn't have a fever. The doctor checked her ears, throat, lungs and gave her a flu test. All the results were good news. He concluded that she has some sort of a virus... I forgot to mention earlier that she developed a rash on Friday afternoon that I self-diagnosed as a viral rash which usually comes at the end of a virus (I thought she already had the virus and I just didn't know it). So, we were told to just wait it out and let it run it's course. Of course, once we were home again, I retook her temperature and it was back over 100. At this point, I wondered if there was something wrong with my thermometer... I tried a different one (same method) and got a result within 2 tenths of a degree. I'd say the thermometer is pretty accurate...

This morning we woke up FEVER FREE!!! As the day has progressed, it's crept up just a little, but I'm considering anything under 100 as remaining fever free. That being said, we've been fever free all day!! I will say, however, the rash is coming back with a vengeance... I guess this time around we're going to have the viral rash before AND after the virus... Provided her temp is still below 100 in the morning, we'll go to playgroup (mostly just to get out of the house)...

So, there you have it... My excuse for not blogging lately!!

I hope all of you have good excuses, too. Inquiring minds want to know what you've been up to!!

Love you guys!! :)

Another Video

Here's another video... ENJOY!!




Kelly came to visit us tonight!! She flew in to Dallas to see her friend Cathie and her son Reed. When Cathie and Reed picked her up at the airport, they drove out here to visit us. It was SO GREAT to see them!! Thanks, Kelly, Cathie and Reed for making the trip to see us. I know it's a long, boring drive, and we really appreciate it!! Love you guys!!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I must say that I can't remember the last time I was THIS EXCITED about Christmas!! I just keep waiting and waiting for the big day to arrive!! I'm completely done with my shopping and have everything wrapped. I'm waiting on 4 packages of things I've ordered, then I'll be totally finished... Well, finished with the exception of one special gift for a special someone in my house... More on that later... My household reads the blog frequently, so I don't want to let any surprises out! ;)

Talk to everyone later! Love you guys!! :)

HaHaHa...

Here's a little video to get your weekend started off with a little chuckle...

Nativity & Maddy's Latest Trick

~*~NATIVITY~*~

We got our first Nativity today. I ordered this from the Fisher-Price website. I was eyeing it last year in the stores, but decided that Maddy was too young. This year, however, it was not available in stores, so I had to go directly to Fisher-Price. Isn't it ADORABLE?!?!



You can see it online (it's probably a better picture) here: http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=900003&e=detailimgview&pid=46068&num=1


~*~Maddy's Latest Trick~*~






Yes, Maddy has learned how to "be a chicken". She started making that motion the other night, so I started using the word chicken everytime she did it. Now, if she's looking for a laugh, she'll do it. She's such a ham!! HaHaHa!!

Love you guys!! :)

And the Tree is Up...

We went and purchased our Christmas tree today. Once we brought it home, we got it all set up... Now, we're just waiting for Santa's arrival. Check it out:



Please note that there are no ornaments on the bottom 2 feet of the tree. Wonder why that is? LoL...

As a little bonus tonight, here's a video of Maddy and Nash playing together:




We hope you had a nice weekend. I know we did! Love you guys!! :)

Maddy's FIrst Christmas Party

Today we went to the children's Christmas party for the 2 C-130 squadrons on base. We had a BLAST!! We didn't go last year because Bryan was in Germany, and Maddy was so young I didn't want to take her. It's held in the "washrack" for the C-130's, so if it's cold outside, it's cold at the party. Thankfully, they brought in some heaters (it's been down right frigid around here lately). Here are some pictures from the party:


Maddy was a little overwhelmed when we walked in the door...



We took a little family picture by the Christmas tree (with the C-130 behind us)...



Then, Maddy saw something exciting when it was time for HER picture to be taken...



Standing by the steps for the plane...



She and her friend Sophi played a little Twister...



Maddy joined in on the cake walk with the commander's daughter...



AND... she won on her first time around!!!



The cupcake was DELICIOUS!!



Then, Santa showed up, but Maddy wasn't too thrilled...



So, Mom & Dad joined in the picture in hopes of getting a smile (no such luck)...


Overall, a good time was had by all. Now, Miss Maddy is REFUSING to take a nap. Wonder what caused that... Was it the cupcake? All the excitement today? The world may never know...

Love you guys!! Hope you're having a GREAT weekend!! :)