Mackey's first movie... The Tale of Despereaux. We just tried to keep her well fed. She did ok (catch the tone)! The gang

The Elephant Game. It is so cute, it shots butterflies out and you have to catch them in your net.

Happy Birthday Coila!

The foursome... Mackey (2 years), Paxton (3 1/2 years), Drew (2 1/2 years) and Jake ( 8 months)

Tonya the cook. Doesn't she look so 1950's?

Mackey after being on Christmas overload...she was in her own little world.

Not scared Anymore

Mackey of course with a baby and wearing her new sunglasses...Kirby got a matching pair.

Mackey with her baby stuff...she can be a mommy now too. She can use her baby carrier instead of Paxton's football helmet to carry her babies.

The beloved Batman Cave

The dollhouse

Hiding from Spike...he eventually warmed up and now loves him.

Paxton seeing Spike for the first time

Santa was Here!!! He even brought Kirby and shirt and a pillow for lounging.

The 6ft 1957 Slot car track...I am not sure who had more fun Paxton or PatPat and Rusty

The finished product...she was so proud of herself

We let her do her own make-up...with real make-up

Mackey can ring up all you purchases...as long as you only need change in $1, $5, or $10 increments

Mackey holding her horse stable

The coveted Race Track...this present was long awaited for. This is the 1957 Slot Car race track. PatPat had the same one.

Mackey let Rusty borrow her hat

The fake Dallas sky line...pretty impressive

Waiting to go in the Train Exhibit...they have their engineer hats on in preparation for taking off.

Northpark Mall with Best Friends.

This year Christmas was so much fun. After we did some creative story telling to Paxton about Santa and the reason that he discovered Mackey's Santa gift in our closet upstairs (that he has never ventured into) ,we were ready to celebrate. The story goes that Santa brought the gift early because the doll house was too big for Santa's toy bag and he was afraid that the weight might hurt Rudolph's back...he was going to put it together when he dropped off Paxton's gift that night. He seemed to buy the story without much hesitation. We were able to meet up with the Williams and go to the Northpark train exhibit and then go to eat. Christmas week was spent cleaning, cooking, and spending time with family. We celebrated the Searight Christmas Christmas Eve and went to the church service which was awesome and then ate a good Christmas meal and opened presents. Paxton was of course thrilled when he saw that SueSue and PatPat had got him the race track that he had carried a picture of the advertisement for days showing everyone. The paper looked like a treasure map from hundreds of years ago. Christmas morning Rusty and I woke up really early to shower and get things lit up and ready. Mackey had woke up at 4am that morning so she was of course ready to see what "Ho,Ho,Ho" had brought her. Paxton was so surprised to see Spike the remote controlled dinosaur...little did we know that once it was turned on he would be deathly afraid of it. That morning SueSue, PatPat and GG brought over the famous sausage bread and we played with all the new toys. The Batman cave was also a hit. That afternoon the Liberty City gang arrived and we had another Christmas...what blessed children we have. Lots of family to love on them and be excited to give/overwhelm them with presents. We opened presents with the Cox family. Paxton was excited about the Diego rescue cave and of course Mackey loved the shopping cart. I was a little jealous of her baby doll that sat still and patiently in the front of the cart. I am not sure why Mackey thought that is where babies sit since she never has. She is into walking and being a terror at the store. We had a great Christmas dinner...ham, rolls, homemade sweet potato casserole, and a great fruit salad. I was really proud of myself for the dinner. Friday am we headed to Dave and Busters and played arcade games. Later that night we headed to Mattito's Cantina for Coila's B-day celebration. We had a great Christmas and loved spending so much time with family and each other. I was so thrilled to have Rusty all week to run errands, do my honey do lists, and hang out with. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!!

We have the Christmas spirit...

Donner and Blitzen made a stop in Allen this weekend The Sunday School Christmas party minus a lot of girls. We have an incredible group of couples that we get to go through life together with. The girls did a ornament exchange...which I am going to forgive Melissa Guyton for stealing the one I wanted:)

Paxton at his school performance. He knew the song and all. Only 8 kids are in his class and he has discovered a lot of great friends. Looking for PatPat and I.. Rusty was out of town so PatPat came to see Big Pax.

The Making of a Gingerbread house

Mackey was eating the pieces of the house. She ate the wreath and a couple of cherry sours.

The finished product minus the wreath.

Modeling his T Rex shirt

Mackey was not feeling Santa's love.

Traumatized after seeing Santa...she needed her passy. Rusty and I are well aware the passy needs to go!!!

Sweet Baby Kensington. I am not sure that this picture allows you to see her crazy hair do. As Shay stated, "It defies gravity in every way." Her blue eyes sure are pretty though.

Paxton was a little apprehensive but still told Santa all the things he wanted... On the top of the list is Spike the remote controlled dinosaur, the Batman cave, and a race track with cars.

.

Birthday Girl

Mackey is about to be the proud big sister of three girls: Kensington, Kirby, and Ebby Lee. She will be in Heaven.

She truely enjoyed her cupcake backpack and Dollar Tree doll (even though it frieghtened Andrew). Thank you guys for loving our child. She got a little nervous at us singing to the Birthday girl.

We only had three birthdays for Mackey this year:) The problem is that all of Paxton's friends are Mackey's friends and with the holidays being super busy we decided to have a party with my family, a party with Rusty's family, and on her b-day we decided to come up with an excuse for Uncle Julio's, a cake by Melissa, and good friends. She got a pink princess power wheels so that Paxton and her could cruise together...she was really excited except she has not gotten to ride it since it has been 25 degrees and freezing outside. We love our little two year old.

Progress this Way

The Men The Cox/Searight/Slaughter Couch

The Shull Girls

The Slaughters, the Shulls, and us decided to host a Progressive Dinner for our parents that live in the area. We started with appetizers at the Slaughters, the meal at the Shulls, and dessert and coffee at our own house. We had a great time of holiday cheer and food. I think that Ebby Lee and Kirby added some weight to their baby bodies. We had good discussions about all the horrible furniture items that our men brought to the marriages...the stinky couch, the lacquered?? coffee table, and the duck head to name a few. Our next adventure...shopping in Southlake with the Shull girls.

McKinney Dance Academy

Mackey and the balance beam

Mastering the Roll My little horse...she is supposed to do an elegant gallop. Mackey's is more of a run.

Watching the bigger girls as they curtsy

For Mackey's birthday, Rusty and I gave her dance lessons once a week. We actually did it so that she could meet some girls and hopefully get rid of some aggressiveness and trade it in for some charm. She has gone to two weeks now and really has done well. There is another girl in her class who has a brother Paxton's age and a new born sister so Emmy and Mackey have really bonded. They are a little younger than some of the girls but have a great time. They can't skip or curtsy like the big girls but I love watching Mackey as she watches them so closely to try an attempt the things they do. She goes while Paxton is in Mother's Day Out so it is her special time every Tuesday morning. When I say dance I really mean...singing to "I'm a little Tea Pot" and adding movements, wearing tap shoes and acting like horses (that's fun just for the noise the shoes make), and some gymnastics. I think the gymnastics is Mackey's favorite,...she really has the roll down. I have enjoyed watching Mackey be in an element that is separate from Paxton and having eyes only for big girls.

Christmas Decorating

Nothing that resembles a doll is safe when Mackey is around. Here Frosty is being subjected to being rocked, swaddled, and carted around.

After the work was over he was ready to decorate Rusty and the dreaded standing of the tree, it had actually fallen over here.

Out like a Light

Every year we decorate for Christmas the Sunday after Thanksgiving...this year was no different. Rusty and I were really looking forward to Paxton getting into it and helping us this year. As you can see from the picture below he was just too wiped out. So Rusty and I had our own fun decorating while Mackey made a mess and broke ornaments. I must also mention that every year Rusty has a heck of a time getting the tree in the stand and straight. This year was no different if not worse. He said it made him want an artificial tree. After three broken stands and a run to Lowe's for a new stand that was more appropriate for a 10 ft tree it was up and beautiful. We decided this year that this tree is the most beautiful and smells the best that we have ever had.