Thanksgiving 2012

This holiday is absolutely worth giving a little love to.  After all, we have so much to be thankful for.  My Mom and Dad hosted Raab Thanksgiving this year and were great hosts as usual!  Matt's family celebrated at his Aunt Charlotte's in Dime Box.  We were sad to miss it but look forward to spending Christmas with them!

This photo really captures the season.  (notice the beatiful foliage in the background)

Family Photo Shoot 2012

It was a long time coming...just a few of the many.

Courtesy of Kathlyn Dragna Photography:

Annual Fredericksburg Trip 2012

Fredericksburg is one of my favorite places to visit, especially during the holidays.  Each shop, and there are several, is decorated to the hilt as is the entire town.  For a Christmas lover like me, it's next to Heaven.  Unfortunately, I was busy shopping and missed many photo ops but I did manage to snap a few during down times.

In no way do I endorse this picture...

Playing Catch Up...

Halloween has passed but yet, I feel obligated to share pictures of Lyla.  I loved her costume this year.  She really pulled it off.  I know this post would've been more appropriate about a month ago, but such is life.

First we celebrated Halloween in Austin:

 



 Heeeeeere's Dorothy!

 

The Ninja!

 

Cousin Love

Livvy was having issues with her antennae

 

All the kiddos...

 

The Rackels

 

She's braver than I am!

And we celebrated in Brenham:

 



 

 Happy to be Dororthy!

Our Little Pumpkin Is 18 Months!

I cannot believe it! Gone are the days when people ask me "how old is your baby?".  Nowadays, it's "how old is your little girl?".  Sad, I know. 

Lyla is up to all kinds of things at 18 months but mainly, she's just plain SILLY!  She loves to monkeyshine for pictures (my Mom says it's pay back from when I was little), she always wants to be chased and tickled, and she has some pretty groovy dance moves.  Personality wise, she's very shy and guarded at first, but when she warms up to you, the silly Lyla above comes out.  She observes everything and doesn't miss a beat. 

Her favorite things and people right now are choo-choos, doing anything outside (especially swinging), bath time, Daddy, blueberries (as usual), prunes, shoes (at her convenience), purses, pretending to be a mommy to her 6 babies/stuffed animals, pretend cooking, chicken, ravioli, BUTTERED green beans, CHEESE, coloring and reading books.

Lyla dislikes wearing shoes (on my demand), wearing jackets, chocolate, having her hair fixed, potatoes, and a few things I'm sure she'll remind me of soon.

While she can repeat several things we say, her favorite words are uh-oh, Daddy, choo-choo, her version of blueberries, shoes, bye-bye, baby (with an accent I might add), got you, cheese, and Papa.  She also knows the color purple and the sounds that a snake, cow, horse, sheep, dog, duck, lion, and seal say!
You'll have to excuse the quality of these pictures.  They are from my phone.  I find that my phone has the best pictures that portray everyday life (not so much for the quality, though).

So proud of her Dorothy shoes!

This is her on our commute taking care of babies even while she's napping...

Avery, Lyla, & Livvy in Fredericksburg...