Richards Reflections

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas Day

On Christmas day we woke up and headed to Dallas. Our first stop was in Corsicana to have Christmas with Terry's family.

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By this time Bella was really starting to get the hang of opening presents. It really didn't matter if it was hers or not.

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Bella got to see all of her cousins. Again, I just didn't do a very good job of taking pictures this year. This is her cousin Stephanie.

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Bella being silly with cousin Jordan. Our stop in Corsicana was quick because we were double booked on Christmas day. Thank goodness they were only a little over an hour apart!

We left Corsicana and headed further North up to Denton to spend Christmas with my dad's side of the family. More family time!


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Bella was showing Papa her new book that he and Mema gave her.

The whole gang was there except my brother and his family. Normally we take TONS of pictures of each family. All the cousins. It irritates all the boys to death. This year we somehow did not take any of those pictures. I'm not sure how this happened. Kinda disappointing. I know all the boys were probably devastated.

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I however HAD to have our picture. This was the only picture our little family took in front of the tree all season.

Sunday we all got up and went to church with Mema and Papa. We took up a whole pew and there were 11 of us missing. Our family just keeps growing!

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Bella cooperated for a few pictures in front of the tree! I'm not real sure where the curtsy came from but it was too cute not to post.

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And we snuck in a picture of Bella with her great grandparents.

We had a great holiday season. The tree is now put away but I can't wait to get it back our again next year!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas

This year we moved Christmas Eve and Christmas Day up by one day. We did our family gifts on the 23rd. I must admit I did not do good at all taking pictures of Christmas this year. I suppose I just wanted to actually be in the moment as opposed to worrying about preserving the memory on camera. We still got a couple of cute pictures.

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Bella is VERY into My Little Pony right now. She also loves mermaids. These are My Little Pony Mermaids. They are also very small with lots of little pieces. I'm not sure WHAT we were thinking!!

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She is also VERY into the Disney Princesses. She was beside herself that she has all of them now. They are constantly being undressed and redressed. They all share clothes but she knows which dress belongs on each doll. Smart girl!

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Christmas Eve morning was our Christmas Day morning. Santa brought Bella a new kitchen and some new food. So fun. The night before we told her that Santa was coming and she was so excited. I got the feeling that she thought she was going to be able to see him. I gently told her he would be coming while she was asleep and she wouldn't get to see him. I broke my baby girls heart. Her whole face fell and big-o tears started streaming down her face in a silent cry before she fell into her daddy's chest. It was so sad but fortunately short lived.

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Last year we started a tradition of my parents coming over Christmas morning and watching Bella get her Santa gifts, then cooking breakfast. They came again this year! Somehow I missed getting pictures of them being there.

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What a MESS!! Oh well, At least she was having fun.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Christmas with the Coxes

Our Christmas with my side of the family was very low key this year. It was nice to just hang out with the whole family. It's always fun to watch the kids open presents.

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The boy with the droopy drawers. He is such a cutie!

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Courtney

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This is what Dad did the majority of the night. He filmed us all opening our gifts.

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Bella got some new panties. That is a WHOLE other blog post. Needless to say, potty training at the Richards' house is interesting.

We had chili for dinner and chatted around the table after we opened presents. I didn't take many pictures this holiday season but I promise Mom, Terry, Tim, Alyssa, and I were all there!


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Festival of Lights

We met the Douglas clan in Galveston for the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. Last year our little family of three did this by ourselves. It was fun to have the Douglas family with us this year. Of course Bella was in heaven with her BFF Avery. She actually loves every member of the Douglas family. We got there first and were waiting out front for them. Bella saw them walking up and and took off running towards Lori, jumped into her arms, and threw her arms around her. I'm not sure I've ever gotten a welcome like that from her. It was great! She was so excited to see them.

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The girls were snuggled down in the wagon.

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Bella got her first taste of funnel cake. As you can see, she liked it!

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The wind was blowing so hard. If you look closely you can see the powdered sugar flying off the funnel cake. That did not stop Bella from enjoying it.

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The Princesses

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A great way to start the Christmas break!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christmas Program

This year Bella's Christmas program was the story of the birth of Jesus. All the kiddos in Bella's class were angels and they sang Away in a Manger. One of the perks of her attending a Christian school is getting to to things like this and sing songs about Jesus. We are so fortunate that she is able to attend such a wonderful school and that it just so happens to be at our church. She has grown and learned so much already this year. It's hard to imagine where she will be at the end of the year.

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Ryan and his red boots. They usually seat Bella and Ryan next to each other but it didn't work out this time. I didn't get any pictures of the two of them together.

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She looks like such a sweet angel!

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This year Dad even got to perform. Our church praise team was there to sing and Dad lead the congregational singing at the end of the program. So this year it was Bella, Ryan, and Dad's Christmas progam!

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We even got a a special visit from Santa Clause. Bella was very interested in him this year. She talked about him all the time. She was just a bit apprehensive when it came to actually sitting on his lap.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Yo Gabba Gabba

Terry and I took Bella to see Yo Gabba Gabba live. To say she loved it would be a major understatement! Watching her was so much fun! I think I watched her and her reactions more than I did the show. The show was at the Hobby Center which is wear we go to see musicals. It was great to take her to the same theater.


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I had a Foofa dress made for her to wear. She was so excited to wear it. I'm really not sure that she has a favorite character. She seems to love them all!

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Bella and Daddy in their D.J. Lance glasses.

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Oh dear! I love this girl!

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Biz Markie showed up and I actually think he was Bella's favorite part of the show. He does "Biz's Beats" where he beatboxes. Bella always tries to beatbox along with Biz when she watches the show on TV. At the live show Biz actually sat down on the stage and invited kiddos up to beatbox with him. Bella wanted to go down there with him so bad she didn't know what to do. She kept saying, "It's my turn!". There was no way we could get down there so she never got her turn. We are pretty sure she was dreaming about it the next morning because she was saying, "It's my turn!" in her sleep. She really loves Biz!

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We had such a good time at Yo Gabba Gabba!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

First Haircut

On December 9 Bella got her very first haircut. Lisa has been cutting my hair since Terry and I got married so it seemed fitting for her to give Bella her very first trim. Bella was a little apprehensive at first but ended up doing very well. She is such a good girl!

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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thankful

There are so many things that I have to be thankful for this year. I have a precious husband and daughter that I love more than life itself. I thank God every day that he chose me to be Terry's wife and Bella's mommy. I am thankful for a husband that goes above and beyond for me. I am thankful that he is such an incredible daddy to our girl. I am thankful for a little girl that never fails to entertain. I am thankful for the unsolicited hugs, kisses, and "I wud you, Mommy". I am thankful for our health. I am thankful for a roof over our head. I'm thankful for my parents that have helped us out in more ways than we can ever repay them. I am thankful for their unconditional love and support. I am thankful for a job that I enjoy and that reminds me daily how lucky I was growing up and am today. I am thankful for friends who love me as I am. I am thankful for tiny blessings. I am thankful for this life, which I wouldn't trade for anything.

We spent the day at my parents house and Mom definitely did not disappoint with the cookin'. YUM-O!!!! I've been looking forward to this meal for quite a while now and was very excited to finally eat it. I forgot my camera so I took all the pictures with my hipstamatic app on my iPhone.


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I must admit that I not much of a dressin' kind of girl. I guess my taste buds changed this year because I ate it up this year. Drizzled in giblet gravy......goodness!
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Then there are the ever famous egg noodles. These are a staple at Thanksgiving and Christmas and if I don't get to eat them....... well let's just say that is VERY sad. There have been fights over left over noodles. They are THAT good!
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So much good food. Good thing I brought home lots of leftovers cause this is making me hungry!
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The sweet potato casserole is awesome too. It makes me feel like I'm eating dessert while I'm eating my meal. Can't get better than that!
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Oh the pie. Buttermilk. Pecan. Enough said.
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I am so thankful for these to little girls. I am thankful for the little boy too. I am thankful that they all love each other. I am thankful to hear Bella say, "Wanna go see Ryan" "Wanna go see Courtney". She loves her cousins and I am thankful for that.

We had a great Thanksgiving. Hope you did too!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Richards'!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Halloween Part 3

Halloween night we went over to Lori and Adam's house so the girl could "trick or treating" together. Lori asked Bella if she knew what she was suppose to say when she went to a door and Avery said, "You say "trick or treating!". So at every house the girls said "Trick or Treating!" Well, they WERE going trick or treating! Funny girls!
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Girls in tutu's! You really can't get any better than that. I made both of them. Bella had worn her bumblbee costume twice already so I decided she needed to change it up. She added the crown and necklace all on her own. My girl really loves her accessories.

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This is the lazy girl way to trick or treat. Many of their neighbors were sitting in their driveways so Terry just pulled them right up to the candy, they said "trick or treating", put their bags out for candy, and moved on to the next house.

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They did walk up to a couple of houses because Terry wanted Bella to get that experience. Avery was a little more seasoned because she had done this last year. This was Bella's first year to go door to door and actually understand what was going on.

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Adam with two happy girls!

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This picture on the left is what we call Bella's crazy eyes. The best part is the chocolate all over her face and the m&m's in her hand. She had so much fun this Halloween. She got to spend lots of time with Avery and people gave her candy!!