Vday AM and PM

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day!

Note: All of the sugar that you see in the picture below is from Aunt Lesley. She wanted to be sure I didn't pass it off as my own!

The coloring paper, book, Lady and the Tramp, Skittles, and Hello Kitty nail polish is from Momma.

We actually don't have any pictures from the PM in the day.

But we do have some big news!

 We put an offer in on a house in San Antonio and it was accepted! After 32 years we are making the home owning decision. It is due, this I know, but we are still nervous and excited with buyers remorse and . So, our Valentine's Day present goes without saying, and might be unromantic to some of you, but I get a bay window, a walk in closet, a laundry room, and to paint my front door red all in Alamo Heights ISD.

More to come as I'm sure I'll have lots of post on this in the near future!

Celebrating 32 Years~

My birthday was a memorable and fun day. I always find myself thinking about growing older and  how my life is going by so fast. Yet, I am here to celebrate and thankful for these precious days.

My Momma came in for the weekend and took me and the girls to lunch at my favorite; Mariposa. Then we went dress and shoe shopping! We were on a mission and all over La Cantera pushing strollers and all smiles. It was one of those days where I couldn't find anything I liked but we still had such a great day. Some of my best memories with my Momma include shopping, eating, and laughing at clothes I try on. I can't believe 32 years ago I was fighting for my life with my Momma in tears. I can't imagine what my parents went through but every year they talk about it and as a mother, well, they have been through so much more than I.

Some bubbly and some girlie fun! Landry was all giggles with her Minckey!

Saturday night was enjoyable too! Probably too much fun actually! We went to Paloma Blanca and met up with some of our best friends, the Hargesheimer's and Denton's, for drinks.   But not before we had ice cream cake!

 Then the Martini Club. We had a blast! I love, love, love this place and got to dance with Brent Barry for my birthday thanks to Ash! And I got a Happy Birthday Laura! I know I must have blushed and burned bright red! Um, Ash in Ellen's leopard jacket. Yes....


So, if you don't know who BB is google because he is my crush at the Martini Club. Although, I must happily admit, I would always choose to be in Matthew Crowell's arms.

Another year to celebrate life and love! Thankful for the many years I've been blessed with and the friends and family I cherish and love.

The Rainbow Cake

Let me begin by saying that I am not a baker. I never have been, I don't enjoy it, baking stresses me out, and I'd rather run ten miles in a hurricane. But....big but....I wanted to do this for Landry's Choo Choo party and I am hoping someday she looks back and loves it. That Miss Landry knows (in my love language) I am trying to show her that I would walk through fire for my second born (because six cakes is a freaking lot)! You know the second child syndrome my sister always tells me about (love you Lel) and really I want to do as much for her as I have for Laney and be fair. Maybe somewhere I wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know anyone can! 

The rainbow cake took some time, patience, screw ups, and Matthew leaving the house (I could have run a marathon in the time it took!) but it turned out perfect. Not perfect to another's standards but for me it was.

I followed Courtney Denton's advice and matched the icing with the colors. I agree this made the cake much brighter than using the white in between. Let me just add she is the craftiest girl I know, you should check out her blog if she isn't on your roll already! And the cake at the top of her pic with adorable Char Char!

Here is the picture after the nervous, gut wrenching, pacing around the room, stacking...

Now iced. I must brag but the butter cream icing turned out delicious! The cake might not be pretty but the icing was good!

Here is a sneak peak of me handing out the cake that turned out! Huge sigh! I think there are more pictures of it cut that I will share on the birthday party post.

Happy Heart Day at AHUMC

Happy Valentine's Day! I went to Laney's class to celebrate with her. On the way to school she asked me to go to school with her for her party.  I hadn't planned on attending. She got choked up and begged me to go. It was the sweetest request and, of course, she didn't have to ask twice. I think she was sleepy, hence the tears, but none the less I made it.

  Let's talk about how precious Britton is smiling for the camera! He is the most well mannered, polite little boy and good buddies with Laney. Britton always asks where Landry is if she isn't present; sweet little man.

 The kids all handed out Valentine's to their classmates in their own bags. They all oohed and ahhhed over the ones they received.

Here are the Valentine's we did the night before and then Laney handing them out.....

Decorating their Valentine cookies!

When I picked up Landry she too had her own Valentine. Awww. My heart beats. I might be a scrooge when it comes to this faux created holiday, really I am, but not when it comes to my girls!

My Sweet Two Year Old

Happy 2nd Birthday Landry Anne Crowell!!!!

 What a sweet two year old you are! It's time to Celebrate You!

These past two years seem to have flown by and I'm still learning lots of new things about you. My little blondie! And, yes, your blue eyes have certainly stayed blue.

Some of the things I love about you and never want to forget:

You lead with your head; you are just simply rowdy. And I love how fearless you are when it comes to falls, trips, bang ups, and run into's. You are quite a brave little one. You love to tell stationery objects that they are "mean" and hit them when they hurt you.

We aren't certain that you know your name is Landry. We named you the name right before your sister's, Laney, and apparently this confuses a child. Who knew?! I think it's a game you like to play with us too. We ask you what your name is and your answer is generally: Baby or Laney.

You love sucking your thumb. Absolutely pacificies you and when you have your crocodile tears you have your go too thumb! You do cry big tears too and when you get your feelings hurt it is a sight to see.

Your green blanket is your buddy. You want to take it everywhere with you and always have to have it going to sleep at night. You have a blankie and love your green comforter.

Holding hands is your thing. You love to hold my hand, Laney's hand, Daddy's hand and you always simply say "hands". This is one of the sweetest gestures. I always seem to catch you and Laney holding hands in the back seat and it is priceless.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Itsy Bitsy Spider are your favorite two children's songs to sing. You love doing the hand motions and we sing this a lot. Once we start it is hard to stop.

Reading. I know your sister loved to read but not like this. You simply can't get enough of any book! I love it that you enjoy this so!

When you are in trouble or upset you immediately grasp onto the legs of the one scolding you. It is heartbreaking and leaves me defenseless. It's hard to be upset with you when you just want to be held. I think your manipulation is winning me over.

You will say "huggy" for a kiss or hug and it's so cute! You love to give kisses but you like to tease with them too.

You don't understand getting sick and throwing up yet. It is so sad because you will try to lie down in the towel and say "night night" when you get sick. It's terribly hard to explain to a 2 year old but you are quite the champ and it's hard to tell when you don't feel well. My tough bug!

You love trains, love them! Your birthday party is centered around them! You love to say "choo choo" and "two". You hold up four to five fingers but we will master this soon I'm certain!

There are so many things that I know I'm leaving off. Mostly, I am just glad that you are mine. I never knew my heart could double the way it has and holds you so tightly in it! Landry Anne, you are the most precious blue eyed, blonde haired child I've ever known and I will adore you always. Your sister takes care of you better than any big sister could and I'm so thankful that you have Laney as your big sister and that she has you as her baby sister. We needed Landry Anne as part of the Crowell Crew! How I love the two year old you!

It's All Coming Back To Me Now

For the last month I have been telling myself no more diapers; I am not buying anymore diapers. We have panties ready in size 2. It will save so much money!

Potty Training began with such promise. A box of surprises from Target's $1 aisle and Landry's enthusiasm at receiving them. And she would receive a prize but only if she went tee tee in the big girl potty. You see, this worked well for Laney and we've explained it in detail to Landry. I didn't push it but would take her every 30-45 minutes to the potty and if she went she would get a treat from her basket. So, same idea here as it worked fairly well for my #1.


I remember now. The ups and downs, successes and failures of operant conditioning and allowing the incentive to go to the bathroom on the potty.

The first day could not have gone better. I would take her every 45 minutes-1 hour if she had to use the potty. She went three times the first day. The last, of which, was on her own right before bedtime. Landry brought me the potty, said poo poo, and went completely on her own. I was shocked! She had mastered potty training in one day!!!

Morning of Day 2.

Me: "Do you want to go tee tee on the potty?"

Landry: "Yea, prizzzz"

So, she knew that if she went potty on the potty she would win a prize! Win-win! She went a couple of times on Day 2. Not bad. We had an accident after bath time in her robe as she was telling me she had to go tee tee and we didn't make it to the potty. This was not entirely her fault.

Day 3.

What Landry figured out that I never factored in is she ran out of prizes she was interested in. The motivation is gone. Or maybe she got bored . Or maybe I have conditioned her to do something she wouldn't do without the bribe. So, now that prizes are low and she isn't interested in them she won't go tee tee on the potty either. It doesn't help that she had school on Monday either to not remind her of the magical prize potty.

Now I ask Landry "Are you going to go tee tee?"

"No" crinkling her nose and laughing.

At the end of the day, everyone ends up potty trained, right? 

Regardless, proud of the progression and regression we've made! I'm not in a hurry to do it but at the same time she tells me when she has to go so I would like to seize the day.  More than anything, it has been fun to see, again, the differences with Landry and Laney and learning milestones.

I'm going to stick with it and keep taking her to the potty, regardless if she inherits a prize or not.  I am likely going back to Target.

The latest retort from Landry.

Me: "Landry, are you going to ever get potty trained?"

Landry: "Prizzzze"

Yee Haw Cowgirls!!

Yee Haw!

Today at MDO was a visit from Cowboy Kevin and the girls were able to wear their "5 gallon hat" and handkerchiefs to celebrate his visit!  I'm not quite sure how Laney knows the term 5 gallon hat, maybe her Daddy? But the girls certainly fought over who got to wear it!

 Thus, they took turns wearing the hat.

The girls were both excited to go to school, not a rarity, but they aren't usually all smiles at 8 am.

I really love how Laney is holding onto Landry in this picture. Sweet girls.

Since school, we've been playing with Jesse and Woody from Toy Story and riding Rody. Living the Cowgirl Dream!

Love, Love, Love

We took a few family pictures for Valentine's Day. Love them. I kept thinking, mostly, how happy I am with a family of four. I'm guessing because this is what we have been blessed with and being thankful for where we are.

Four. It's a solid number--probably my favorite actually--and we aren't outnumbered. We have two girls;  which I always knew I wanted to have sisters. This doesn't rule out having a 3rd child by any means. Or, if it were just up to me, having four children.

 I suppose that I am just content with where our family is and it feels complete with these two little children. I feel absolutely blessed, more and more as time marches on, to be their mother.

Thank you Brandi Sutherland for beautiful (and fast!) pictures. You are an amazing photographer and I enjoy every session we've had and look forward to more!

Laney is a little poser for pictures; a natural I suppose. She just lights up in front of the camera and acts very silly with her hands on her hips and batting her eyelashes. But this picture captures the essence, and shyness that actually does exist, of Laney.

Landry doesn't know about the camera yet.  Unless, she is with her older sister and Momma is behind the lense. But she always feel safer with Daddy.

I keep getting told that she looks like him.  Is it true?

Landry. I adore this picture! The uncertainty of the camera and the captivation of her blue eyes staring back.  

Happy Valentine's cards will soon await!