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.

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!

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!

So much good food. Good thing I brought home lots of leftovers cause this is making me hungry!

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!

Oh the pie. Buttermilk. Pecan. Enough said.

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'!

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!


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.





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.





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.

Adam with two happy girls!

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!!

Halloween Part 2

Sunday morning of Halloween we had a fish fry and family fun day after church. We had a big slide, face painting, and fish. Bella had a good time because she loves slides!!


I LOVE smocked dresses. It could actually be a slight addiction as far as her clothes go. They are so sweet and dainty and girly. They are the ultimate girly dress as far as I'm concerned. I love this fall dress. She will be wearing it until Thanksgiving!


Bella's teacher, Mrs. Ami, painted her face. Poor baby looks unhappy here but she was tired. We didn't get to stay for very long because it was naptime.


I love this sweet little face.

Halloween Part 1

Saturday Lori, Adam, Avery and Garrett came over to our house. We walked to our local cafe and had brunch together. The girls put on their Halloween costumes for our little outing.

We had a bumblebee and Minnie Mouse with us. They were so cute together. After we ate we walked to a cute little shopping center right by our house and went in and out of those shops then we headed back across the street to the park. The built a brand new playground called a boundless playground in our neighborhood park. It is the first of it's kind in Galveston County. It is great for children with special needs as kiddos with wheel chairs can take their chairs right up on to the play set. It is really neat and the girls had a blast playing.






Just look at these sweet faces.


Bella loves Avery, and I mean she LOVES her. Avery was so sweet with her at the park. Bella would put her hand up for Aves to help her up the stairs and she would wait very patiently and walk with her up the stairs. They are two very precious girls!


This just makes my heart smile....




OHHHHH!!! I could just eat them up!!


Bella had so much fun playing with Avery at the park!

Sweet Baby Garrett! Bella thinks all babies are Garrett. Every time we see a baby she says, "Baby Garrett". She really likes those Douglas kiddos! So do I.

So Bella was a bumblebee. She had to dress up as an animal for school because they were doing Noah's Ark. We went to the costume store to try on costumes. We picked up a Monkey, Elephant, Ladybug, and Bee. We went in try them on and we had a full on melt down because the monkey and elephant included pants. That's right our girly girl doesn't like pants so we let her choose between the bee and the ladybug and came home with a bumblebee. She would say, "Imma bumblebee, BUZZ BUZZ!!". She is very cute. True story.....

The Battle of the Piney Woods!

The Battle of the Piney Woods is the SFA vs. Sam Houston game that is being played at Reliant Stadium for the next 4 years. We started out with a bang this year and beat those little bearkats. What is a bearkat anyway? We had so much fun at the game. It's always great to be surrounded by people in purple that love SFA and Nacogdoches as much as we do. We got there in time to eat some awesome free bar-b-que at the SFA tent. Then we headed back out into the parking lot for some tailgating. The guys all played washers and us girls got in some good chatting.




Meagan and Kiefer enjoying some free bar-b-que!!


While at the SFA tent I got to see my good friend, Melanie, from grad school. It was SO good to see her. We haven't seen each other since we graduated in '06. That was WAY to long. We had so much to catch up on. She is working on her PhD now, at SFA, of course!!


So glad to see Meagan sportin' an SFA shirt for this game!


I love these girls!!

We had such a great time and we can't wait for next year. There were over 24,000 people at the game. The whole bottom bowl of reliant was full. The attendance was a record for an SFA vs. Sam game. AXE 'EM Jacks!!

Why Dream Ordinary

Last month Terry, Bella and I drove up to Round Top, Texas so that I could do a senior session with my assistant principal's daughter. We had such a fun time up there and I was able to sneak in a few shots of Bella while Maddie was changing.

My little munchkin is growing up so fast. Then sometimes I look at her and she is still a baby. I prefer her stay a baby for a little while longer :). Too bad for me, she will just keep growing up in front of my eyes. She is SO into princesses and SO girly. She loves to dance more and more. Her very favorite song is a hip hop song called "Down". She requests it on a regular basis and dances her little heart out when she hears it play over and over. The first time we realized she loved this song we were listening to music on the tv and this song started. Bella stopped dead in her tracks, drew in a deep breath, and said, "I WUD DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!!". And we "wud" you, baby girl!




I love to listen to her talk. She says the funniest things. There are things that she can say perfectly and others that she adds her 2 year old language too. The other day we had candles burning in the house and she said, "It smells A-MAZING!". She has been using the word "amazing" a lot lately which cracks me up. She has also been know to say to her daddy, "I want Starbucks, now!". Don't worry, he isn't getting her coffee. She has a friend that works there named Walter and he gives her stickers. The funniest part is, she prefers to go inside and will get upset with Daddy if he attempts to go through the drive-thru (Walter gives her stickers in the drive-thru too). On mornings that she isn't requesting Starbucks, she wants a "ko-wach-a-wee" otherwise known as a kolache. This is probably my favorite word that she mispronounces. It is hilarious to hear her request. Needless to say she isn't pronouncing her "L's". No biggie. It makes for some super cute pronunciations.





We found this saying on these steps when we were taking Maddie's pictures. I love it. I want Bella to know this saying and believe in it. Shoot for the stars baby girl!!