Big Boy Haircut

Well, sorry folks...the mullet you came to know and love is officially gone! Keaton got his first big boy haircut yesterday and did pretty well. I really wasn't sad because we were cutting his baby hair...I was more relieved that my son won't be walking around looking like he should be carrying a pack of smokes at the state fair!

BEFORE:

Here is the photo documentation of the event. I think their favorite part was checking themselves out in the mirror afterwards!

The 1st cut....not so sure about this.

Pulling out all the stops to keep him still!

Make this woman stop!

Keaton's real feelings come out!

Checking it out!

AFTER!

We also had to bid farewell to our friend The Saeva's tonight. This morning they left for Dallas and will be moving to London on Tuesday. (You can follow their adventures on Laura's blog to the right..."Saeva's in London") We hate to see them go but know this will be a great experience for them and will give us a rockin place to visit over the next two years!!! Good luck Saeva family and have some tea for us! We WILL see you soon! Love you guys!

PS....forgot to share with yall how I found my daughter the other day after her nap...This is her bed on the right. Yep, that is her blanket on the floor...Yep, that is her socks on the floor...Yep, that is her pants on the floor...YEP, THAT IS HER DIAPER ON THE FLOOR!!! Fortunately this time there was no poop but why does my daughter

Walkie Walkie Walk...

Here is the debut of Keaton & Elliot walking for those out of towners who have not had the priviledge of experiencing the chaos yet! Get ready Kyle & Erin...we'll be bringing this to you this weekend!!!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Holiday Gift Idea

Need to personalize your bags anyone? Check these out! Great for diaper bags, luggage, computer bags, backpacks, strollers, infant carriers...etc, etc, etc...

Let me know what you think and if you would like to place an order. They are only $5.00 and would make a great stocking stuffer or hostess gift for all those holiday parties!
Just leave me a comment or email me at melissa_halford@hotmail.com.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Success

With Ryan unable to travel during this time, we decided to host Thanksgiving this year and invite friends and family who were unable to go home for the holiday. We ended up with a party of 8 and it could not have gone any better! The food was great and the opportunity to introduce 4 adults to cornbread dressing was fantastic! (I never knew there were people out there that hadn't even heard of cornbread dressing. How sad!)

*During preparation for lunch, the kids fell asleep watching the Macy's parade! (Elliot is in the jumpersaucer back there. Look at that insane play room!!!)

Sorry for the food shots but my mom wanted to see pics of the dinner. This was the first year for me to make my Memaw's dressing & gravy recipe. I think they turned out pretty well and everyone else loved it. It's just like when someone else makes the coffee in the morning, it just taste better for some reason.

Oh, and yes....we made it through a holiday with almost no incident! After the kids woke up from their nap, they were playing with the travel swing (which probably needs to be put in storage) and Keaton fell off (or was pushed off) and hit his head. This was his first pretty good knot! These pics don't do it justice but I am sure he had a nice headache last night. Other than that...no teething, no puking and no #3s!!! May we be so lucky at Christmas!

I hope yall had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Man, do we all have so much to be thankful for or what? Enjoy the day after shopping! Get out their and buy your loved ones some computers or laptops (got to support my husband you know)!

Let The Holidays Begin!

Keaton & Elliot wanted to be sure you all were in the holiday spirit. Enjoy their presentation they put together for you this morning.

Just click here, sit back and enjoy the show.

Yes, I think Miss El is going to be a future pepstepper. She's got moves like her momma!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Needed Update

I had a friend tell me last week that she was bored at work all week because I hadn't posted any updates. It is good to know that my crazy stories get some of you through your day as much as your morning cup of coffee! (and afternoon coffee for all you Java City junkies at Children's Hospital...GEO!)

Last week was full of snotty noses, 1 mystery virus/rash & 1 ear infection. I guess this will be our lives now until we hit the warm days of spring (although, it is going to be 75 here today). Keaton came down with an ear infection so we ended up at the Dr. on Tuesday. His official weigh in was 18lbs even. I swear, my kids are never going to hit that grace weight of 19 lbs. Maybe by Christmas?

This week will be filled with cleaning & cooking as we prepare to have 5 families over to our house for Thanksgiving. We decided that since Ryan couldn't travel away this year with his job that we would open our house to those that could not go home for Thanksgiving as well. I think it will be a lot of fun and very different than any Thanksgiving we have ever had. Much more on this to come as I hope to post pics of the prep and big day for you all. I am attempting to make my Memaw's dressing which has been in our family for generations so we will see how I do. Ryan is deep frying a turkey for the third year in a row. BTW...if you have never had deep fried turkey...it is to die for! Hopefully I will be posting some pics of this and not pics of our charred front lawn!

So, off to clean for now and enjoy my morning cup(s) of coffee!

Couple of Random Updates

First off, thank you all for your comments and sudden love for Allea. After a few days of calming down from "the incident", we have decided to recommit to her and try to stick it out. We'll see after the next challenging day but for now, she is still part of our family!

Here is a cute picture of the kids eating their snack in the cart at Hobby Lobby. Thought you'd enjoy!

We got to enjoy an adults only dinner Friday night! It was filled with too much laughter, great creole food and a night of not having to put the kids down as they have not enjoyed going to bed lately. Thanks TJ, Jill, Scott & Cheryl for the great time. Let's do it again sooner than later!

Our friend (Elliot's boyfriend) Harry got tubes Friday and did wonderful! Here is the cute pic Amanda that I took at our last life group. Put some clothes on that boy!

And here are a couple of pics of the kids before church last week. Keaton was not so hip about looking so fine I guess. They LOVE bible class and are born worship leaders. It is so fun watching them start to love the Lord at such a young age. I can't wait to watch that part of them grown and develop. As for now, they just LOVE and I am LOVE to dance to worship music. Watch out now!

A Home for Allea

We are looking for a good home for our first child Allea (see pic above). She is a great dog but has had some jealousy issues since the kids arrived and we cannot deal much more with her jealous behaviors.

Ok, yes I have a story...yesterday, we got home from bible study and I put the kids in their playroom so I could get the milk ready for naptime. I go in to get the kids only to discover that Allea has pooped in their playroom while we were gone and...yep....wait for it...Keaton had eaten some of it! How many more poop stories can one mom have???

Anyway, we love our dog dearly and she has been a member of our family for 6 years now. I hate the thought of her not being around, as she has kept me so much company in the years past as Ryan traveled the globe. She is a great dog and super smart. We think she is a terrier/pug mix and has a high energy level. That being said, we just can't give her the activity time and attention that she is so desperately seeking.

So blog world, need your help! If anyone knows of a good home for our sweet baby Allea, please leave me a comment or email me the details. She is GREAT with kids and loves other dogs so she would be very compatible to a family with either or both.

Thanks for your help and we'll keep you all posted!

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up!

I am not creative or intelligent enough to make up this so brace yourself for our latest episode in the Halford house!

Yesterday started great! We went to bible study and the kids got their best report yet from their bible class. (Elliot even made a boyfriend I was informed named Asher). We came home, had a good lunch and then down for naps.

With about 30 minutes left in their naps, I thought I would try to catch a few zzzz's before our hectic afternoon and Halloween evening began...little did I know.

After only being asleep for 10 minutes, there was a knock on the door which sent Allea (our dog) into a ballistic frenzy. This wakes both kids up screaming bloody murder of course and cuts nap time short. (Never a good thing!)

I start to get Keaton dressed so we can head to the Home Office for some trick-or-treating at daddy's office. First thing...I get black face paint on my beige carpet. Keaton looks adorable but there is a big black spot on the carpet. UUUGGGHHH!

We pile in the car and head for daddy's work. All the sudden, I hear Keaton cough and look back in the mirror and see him projectile vomiting all over himself, his cute outfit and car seat. I have to pull over at a church and clean him up as best I could with wipes because we were not going to miss another event in the month of October! We get to work and the kids do great. I am glad we got to show them off to people at Ryan's office and let them see our precious Razorback fans.

Elliot calling the Hogs for people at Ryan's office. *No, I didn't not pose her legs this way, this is how she was sitting on her own. True cheerleader!

Head home to put Keaton outfit in the washer and grab a quick dinner before we head out for the night. After the kids eat, Elliot begins to cough and then...you guessed it...projectile all over the kitchen followed by the living room a few minutes later. Since Keaton's outfit was in the dryer now, I have to throw Elliot's in the wash and try to get it dry before we head out. I should have just stopped there but I was determined for the kids to enjoy their 1st real Halloween. We get them dressed back up and head out in the wagon to walk along with the Shewmaker kids and watch them trick-or-treat.

We get up to our friend, Kyra & Jason's house, to see their new level of the Halloween experience. (Below are pics of the entrance they made. Once inside, you got to have a handmade pixie stick made for you. How cool are they?) We go around the crowd to say hi to Miss Kyra and Elliot starts up again. Poor thing was so empty the it was mostly the dry heaving. So her & I head home. Outfit wash #2 ensued and I put her in her Halloween pjs so that maybe we could rock out on the porch and pass out candy to the trick or treaters. A little bit later, Ryan came back with Keaton and we took them upstairs for bed.

After getting the kids down, I hop in the shower because I am sure that I inadvertently smell like puke by now. I get out and lay down because something is just not feeling right. I fall asleep around 9pm only to be woken in an hour with the sudden urge to run to the bathroom. You guessed it! Now I got it. A couple hours later...up hops Ryan running to the bathroom. A few hours after that, we are alternating trips to the bathroom and we try to tend to two screaming kids. Luckily, Keaton never got sick again but Elliot had one more go around at 4am.

Poor Ryan had to go in this morning for a bit but came home not too long after going in because we all still felt pretty crummy today. So today has been spent eating cracker & drinking Gatorade...luckily my kids LOVE gatorade! We just had some dinner and hopefully will all get to bed early tonight! Pray, pray, pray that the kids go down and we can all get a night of uninterrupted sleep.

Sorry to be so graphic but it is a Halloween story! All I can say is bring on November. Surely we will have better luck this month!

Happy Halloween everyone!