Little Miss Muffet

My Little Miss Muffet
Sat on her Tutu Tuffett
At Kelley's Baby Shower Saturday
It was hard to get a smile
She had not napped in awhile
But I'm so glad we have this picture anyway



Happy Baby Shower Kelley and Soon-to-be Baby Hayes! We had a great time showering you this weekend. Mallory can't wait to meet her new friend.

Being Green

Have you heard of the newest beauty fad?

Green Eyebrows are ALL the rage here in Dallas.


The best part is that they are made from a non-toxic, all natural, "green" cosmetic. Avocados.

Mallory is obviously very fashion forward.

Or maybe this was just her way of telling me that she is ready to see Wicked? Perhaps she is channeling her inner "Elphaba"?


Regardless- look for green eyebrows to be hitting your cities soon! So easy to apply, even a baby can do it!

Cranky Train

Mallory is currently taking a ride on the cranky train. Unfortunately we are all along for the ride.

The poor baby is cutting at least three teeth right now, possibly four, and is in a lot of pain.

She also took a nose dive into the shower this week and has the battle wound to prove it. This picture is day 3 of the owie, so it was worse. Note to self: Do not turn shower on for Peyton and then walk away for 1 minute to get him in. Mallory will crawl into the bathrom, open the shower door, and dive in headfirst. She loves water. She only cried for a minute and really enjoyed the shower after that, but I never thought my 8 month old could a) push open the shower door and b) climb up over the shower step and slide in on her belly headfirst. She is an athlete!

So it has been a rough week for her. I pray these teeth come in quickly and then she gets a little break from growing any teeth for awhile. She went from zero to 3?,4? in two weeks!

Peyton's Stuff

Last night I heard Peyton running back and forth from my bed to his room. It was time for bed and he was going to watch five minutes of his favorite show to help wind down. The show of choice, PINGU. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. It is a Swedish show, entirely in SWEDISH!, about a claymation penguin. Peyton is obsessed with it and belly laughs at everything. I don't even know how we found it. I knew he loved the claymation short clips, Shaun the Sheep, on the Disney channel (He would belly laugh at that too) and saw this on netflix, put it in my queue and turned it on in a moment of desperation. Neither of us ever has any idea what Pingu is saying, all I ever hear him say is "NAWK, NAWK!!!!" (which is now yelled all over the house, especially in the dogs faces) but for some reason Peyton loves it. We now have three Pingu movies that we rotate between. They are short 5 minute clips.
This is his absolute favorite one, the clip that started it all.He calls it the mouse one but those are definitely not mice.


So Pingu was the movie of choice and if you HAVE heard of it- please let me know. I am very curious.

Peyton had been running back and forth, gathering one item at a time, for him to lie with. He told me it was his "Stuff". This is what he currently deems his most important items.


(his birth pillow, his cow pillow, his Wiggle dolls, the comb for his riding horse, the carrot for his riding horse, his blankie, Captain Feathersword, Gerome, and a cookie monster figurine) He is all set!

Nawk! Nawk!

Animal Band Playgroup

We hosted Peyton's weekly playgroup again this month.I should say "Barely" hosted since I remembered it only the day before. I have been really overwhelmed and disorganized lately which I am going to blame on the fact that Peyton no longer naps, at all, which means we are going from 7 AM to 9 PM on most days without a lot of Mommy organizing time. I somehow never marked my calendar and realized the day before that we had playgroup which meant no fancy activity, craft, or theme. (and I am a planner!) We just went back to the basics which for the Yates family is music and dancing :)

We had a smaller group this time due to my last minute email which was actually kind of nice because the children played really well together. I read the book Animal Band (lovingly given to Peyton by Kristen when she worked for the Texas Book Festival) and is a cute book about animals playing instruments in the house when their owners drive away for the day. We then got out all of our instruments and played music and danced to "The Wiggles" and "Laurie Berkner Band". It was a lot of fun :)

Here are some pictures from the day. Little Mallory just crawls all over the playgroup, from one activity to the next and loves playing with the Worley Girls. Campbell is going to be the best babysitter. And could Conrad and Peyton be any blonder? :)






Have you heard of the preschool game "Elefun"?

Elefun is a Heck of Fun! Seriously, this is one of the best games for preschoolers out there. The children catch the butterflies with their nets, everyone can play together, and it is just enough for their attention spans. Would make a great birthday or Christmas gift!


So, lesson learned. We moms need to give ourselves a break every once in awhile! The house wasn't spotless, there was no fancy theme or craft, the snacks were pretty ordinary, and clearly Peyton's hair wasn't brushed. But- the playgroup was fun and everyone had a great time. Sometimes it is just fun to be together. So to all of you Moms out there, especially you planners, give yourself a break every once in awhile.

More Peytonisms

Time for another installment of "Peytonisms!" Now that Peyton is three his language is actually very, very good. I am continually impressed. I love this but I miss hearing all the crazy things that came out of his mouth in the past. He still makes me laugh multiple times throughout the day though. Here are some recent gems.

"Momma, I going to pick Marrory up by her arm pots ". (after seeing him try to pick her up by her neck or head one too many times I showed him how to do it under her arm pits- which he now calls pots. He struggles to hold her considering she is almost as big as him and she prety much screams the whole time)

"This is my pendulum!" (playing with my blinds and swinging the blind cord side to side. he loves clocks and learned about pendulums from his Bebe., impressive!)

"What YOU Got?" (anytime you have something interesting or good to eat)

"Momma, What YOU Doing?" (same as above)

"When I a grown up I drink grown up coke." (he thinks cokes are the coolest part about being a grown up)

"It's been a Loooong Day."

While peering into the bathtub drain- "There's a Tockadile in that drain. it bite my finger off!" (After Marshall told him a Crocodile lived in the bathtub months ago- Peyton still looks for it every bath. Bad idea Marshall, bad idea!)

"Mommy is dirt.Friends are dirt. School is dirt." (basically anything he doesn't like at the moment is....DIRT!" He gets "thinking time' every time he says the word dirt. He hurls it at you like it is the ultimate insult! And sometimes he'll start to say it- "Mommy is d....., (then think better of it) and say, NICE! I Like Mommy!)

"I don't like THAT Mallory." (pointing to her like she is just one of many, many, models of Mallory)

"I don't want to eat with Mallory! She is looking at me! (So I moved his high chair into the dark, dining room by himself. After this meal he said. "Momma, I ready to eat with the family now." )

He has also really gotten into imaginative play. He adores his play kitchen! (Moms of boys- this was great advice I got from my sister in law Alice, play kitchens are a great imaginative tool for boys too! We got one that is stainless steel, green, tan, very gender neutral.) He LOVES to cook for us. He usually serves me coffee with all of my meals. (He has learned not to deal with Mommy until she has had her coffee)He calls people on the kitchen phone, uses the microwave, and says the funniest things about the food he makes, the tools he uses. We recently moved the kitchen into his bedroom and he loves it.

And today was quite possibly one of the best things I've heard in a long time.
Our amazing neighbor, Mimi, decided to surprise Peyton with a trip on the train to the Dallas Zoo today in honor of his birthday earlier this summer. It was a special treat just for him. We wanted to surprise him so all I told him was that Mimi was taking him somewhere special this morning, really fun, a very special treat! I asked him where he though Mimi was taking him. He thought for a minute and replied with
"COSTCO!" Hysterical. A child of my own heart. I love warehouse grocery stores and Costco is pretty fun. I know he will love the train and the zoo even more than Costco though. His imaginary friend is a lion and i can't wait for them to meet, face to face :)

Here is picture of him this morning, right before we took them to the train station with Mimi. He is SO excited!






This was just a sampling of some recent Peytonisms, I know we'll need another installment soon! He is strong willed but lovable, smart but sometimes conniving, and still has my heart like I never thought possible. He wears me out but I adore him. :)

From Breweries to Babies

This is Ryan and Marshall 4 Years ago during one of their prouder moments. A visit to their "Mother Ship", The Coors Brewery. They are proudly displaying their souvenir tee shirts.


Fast forward to this weekend, 4 years later. That Coors Brewery Trip has been replaced by a Saturday playdate with their baby daughters.


Harper and Mallory were born 3 months apart and are sure to be the best of friends. I was able to watch an impromptu playdate between Ryan & Harper and Marshall & Mallory. Mary Marshall (Harper's mom) was out of town so Ryan popped over for some playtime. There is nothing sweeter than your child playing with the child of some of your best friends. Do we ever miss things like brewery trips?, floating in the lake all day with a cooler of beer?, crazy board games?, dance parties?, and eating out childfree? Sure we do. But we would trade it all in for the chance to play with these little cuties. And at the very least you can still wear the souvenir shirt. (Which Marshall was actually wearing during the playdate, some things will never change!)



Ryan and Marshall- I threw that rhetorical question at the end in just for you :) I know how much you love them. And on that note, "Do we like it when Harper pulls out her mean face?"- "Yes we do!"

The Big Easy

New Orleans. Marshall and I spent last weekend in New Orleans without any children. I wish I had some pictures to post but I intentionally left my camera at home. Part of the vacation part for me was not having to haul a camera around and feel pressure to capture everything on camera like I do with 2 small children. You wouldn't believe how freeing it felt to walk through airport security with just a purse. (For the past 3 years I've traveled with strollers, dvd players, diaper bags, bjorns, and babies)

We went to New Orleans for JD's wedding, Marshall's friend from college. Marshall was a groomsman so we had some scheduled activities but also had some free time. It was also Marshall's birthday weekend. Marshall's brother and sister in law happened to be there that same weekend so we flew there together and stayed in the same hotel. Hotel Monteleone on Royal Street. Just a block away from Bourbon Street. It is an old historic hotel, with marble floors and beautiful detail. It is also rumored to be haunted and people come from all over to get a glimpse of a ghost. We didn't see any this weekend :) It has also been the hotel of or included in the books of many literary greats, including Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner.



The best part is the rotating Carousel Bar in the lobby. You literally turn around the bar while drinking. Pair that with a great piano man and you've got one heck of a bar.


I thought the bed was the most comfortable bed I had ever slept in, but Marshall thinks that was because there were no children in it. The shower was amazing too but that could have been for the same reason as the beds :)

We had a yummy oyster lunch at Felix's and an AMAZING brunch at this little place we just stumbled upon while walking around on Saturday morning. Stanley on Jackson Square had such a fun menu and was absolutely delicious. It has been a long time since a place has won me over as much as Stanley. I plan to eat there multiple times on our next visit. Stanley is the brother restaurant to the well-known restaurant, Stella. Any A Streetcar Named Desire fans?



Marshall ate something that resembled this deliciousness. Great birthday breakfast!


We had a lot of high points from the weekend. The rehearsal dinner was amazing and served my absolute favorite wine all night long- La Crema Pinot Noir. Could I have been any happier?!? The Catholic church where they got married was gorgeous inside, built in 1840.


The reception band was so fun and the wedding cake was one of the prettiest I've seen. The best part of the wedding was the parade at the end. The band and all of the wedding guests marched JD and Stacy down Bourbon Street to the doors of their hotel. The bride and groom carried decorated umbrellas and we waved handkerchiefs, all while the band played fun music. It was awesome! And considering it was 12:30 on a Saturday night on Bourbon Street there were tons of fun onlookers :)

Marshall did rename my breast pump, the "Buzz Kill" because I had to manually pump about every 3-5 hours all weekend, even in the bathroom during his rehearsal dinner speech. We should only have a few more months of that though. And the best part was not worrying about my kids one second of the day. I knew they were in such good hands with Gigi, and Peyton spent lots of time with Bebe at her house too. Thank you for taking care of them!

Even the plane ride was a treat since I got to read a People magazine from cover to cover. We'd love to do another weekend in New Orleans, so let us know if you want to meet us out there! Of course we'll have to wait until Gigi has recovered from this weekend. :)

16 Yates, 1 Roof, 60 Years of Bebe

Our Bebe (Marshall's Mom) turned 60 in June. In honor of this momentous occasion we loaded up our families for a vacation at a Western Guest Ranch in Bandera, Texas. There were 16 of us (8 adults, and 8 children) and yes, we all stayed in one house. Let the chaos ensue!



(Birthday Cake on our first night)

After a little bit of a shaky start due to different expectations of a Dude Ranch (this one was surrounded by subdivision, hence the "Guest Ranch" label) we ended up jumping in and having a fabulous time. We stayed in an amazing ten bedroom, ten bath house that accomodated our family wonderfully. Each bedroom had its own lock and key, flat screen tv, coffee maker, and full bathroom. Even Mallory had her own room :) The kitchen was huge with its own fridge and separate freezer, and we had a huge living room for shared living, a pool table, and even ping pong table outside. There was even a putting green in our back yard and the lodge where we ate, golf course, put put, hay rides, smores, and water park were just a tiny walk away.



The men loved the golf course, the food was really tasty (and cooked and served to us in the main lodge), they had some nice western entertainment- I just loved Cowboy Buck, and the water park was absolutely perfect for the children. All of the cousins had a wonderful time running around together and the adults enjoyed running around with each other too.Amy, Taylor, Anna, and I took a wonderful horse back ride through the ranch part of the resort- we rode through streams and rivers and the scenery was gorgeous.



















Cowboy Buck. What a stud. :) Peyton loved dancing for the crowd and was amazed by Buck's Guitar. Cordaway enjoyed it too but was worn out from the waterpark and fell asleep on his big brother's lap. What a precious moment.




Presentation of "The 60 Reasons we love Bebe on her 60th Birthday"





Followed by family talent show and lots of somersaults by Peyton:


A highlight of the trip was a rousing game of Catch Phrase, played on our last night. Poor Papa couldn't read the words on the screen so the timer kept going off on him, which cracked us all up. Here are some pictures from the game. We are so blessed to have a family that really enjoys spending time together and one in which the cousins can really grow up together. Peyton absolutely adores his cousins, they are so sweet to him and I love my brothers and sisters in law! Good family :)Looking forward to future vacays! Happy Birthday Bebe!