This is not child abuse...

This is a little video of Lena crying. No, I'm not trying to be cruel, I just wanted Ricky to get an accurate idea of everything Lena does, including crying fits when it's time for a nap :) When it's nap time it's serious stuff!

Merry Christmas!

My sweet friend Paige sent Lena some ADORABLE Christmas presents, and here is Lena modeling one of the items. It's a magenta cable knit sweater dress and I paired it with her pink satin ballet flats that have magenta flowers embroidered on them. SO STINKIN' CUTE!!! You can also see from this picture what a good sitter-upper Lena is now. :) Yay for Lena!

Here is a fun little video of Lena in what I like to call her "Screaming Banshee" stage. She loves to squeal and hear her own voice. She especially likes to squeal in public, my favorite!! "Screaming Banshee" comes from a Hallmark cartoon character that is featured in some of their cards and e-cards. If you've never heard of it, go to hallmark.com and look up Screaming Banshee. It's a hoot!

Merry Christmas from the Screaming Banshee!

I'm going blog crazy!

Here are some recent pictures of Lena and some fun things that she is doing.

Lena likes to help me wrap presents...and eat wrapping paper...

She has discovered her toes, and mine too!

She graduated to a little tub that she can sit up straight in, instead of her little bath safety chair. She likes this because her toys stay within arms reach!

Cookie Baking Party!

Two weeks ago I attended the annual Schiebel/Archbell cookie baking party, and it was heaps of fun. Basically, a bunch of ladies get together and bake AWESOME Christmas cookies and then take samples of each recipe that was made there home with them. It's so much fun and I look forward to it every year. Here are some pictures of the fun! Ricky and his troops benefited from this cookie baking party too, I sent A TON of cookies that were made at this party to his company and they thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

The cookie baking crew


Alison and Laura looking hot as usual (Laura, I warned you the picture was for the blog! haha)

Laura making some "white trash" (no that's really what it's called)

Me baking up a storm

I found it!

I found my camera so here is a fun little video of Lena. This week she discovered her voice and it's super fun. This is a little snipet of her squealing and talking during bath time fun.

Anyone seen my camera?

I can't find my camera, hence the lack of blogging. I rarely lose things because I'm so organized, so when it does happen it drives me insane!!! Although, I will admit I have lost more things since Lena has been born than I have in my whole life! Not that it's her fault, it is just a sign that I'm a little more scatter-brained than before she was born because I'm constantly busy busy busy!

Anyway, until I find my camera, I'll just update with some photos from Christmas last year. Enjoy!

Corky and his stocking!

The Phillips/Lee/Bradd family

I know...

I haven't blogged lately. After my semester was finished on Tuesday (Wahoo! I feel smarter already!) Lena poo got her first cold :( Poor little thing. Although, she does have good timing-at least it wasn't during my hectic last week of school. Lena is feeling better, but she does have a pesky runny nose, but she won't let that deter her from playing.

I don't have much to update, unfortunately. We're just hanging out over here. There are some fun and exciting things coming up in the near future, so I'll be sure to take pictures of the events. yay!

In the meantime, here are some fun pictures...

This was Lena helping me out in the kitchen while we were making some blondie deserts for Thanksgiving. She was a HUGE help.

This is me, Lena, and Auntie Amy (my sister) in the "snow" (i.e., fake snow) in the Christmas display in the mall when Lena was getting her Santa picture taken. They have a whole little scene set up, it's really cute.

Too funny not to share

I'll continue my procrastination of anything productive and post one other picture of Lena because it's just too cute. I would be doing a disservice to my blogging audience if I didn't share...

Lena doesn't look too excited about it, but she will love sushi one day. My sweet friend Paige got Lena these fun bibs! There are more funny bib messages to come! :)

Blog slacking

I know, I've been slacking on the blog. But, I have a good reason for my negligence! I'm swimming in a sea of finals, papers and presentations. Here is a picture that accurately displays what my brain (and house) looks like right now:



Those of you who know me well know that I don't do well in mess and chaos, so my desk being covered with articles, books and random notes and scribble sheets is a little trying for me. However, after Tuesday I'll be completely done and my desk will be back to it's organized original state. Until then, let the chaos continue!

Half way there...

Today marks the half way point for the deployment. 7 1/2 months down, 7 1/2 more months to go. I feel like it's already been a year, but according to the calendar, no it hasn't! Anyway, at least there is light at the end of the tunnel, we're on the back end of it now, yay!

On a completely unrelated note...here's a picture of Lena in a funny onesie!

Lena earned the cranky onesie the day this was taken, but rightfully so. She had just gotten her 4 month shots and her poor little legs were all swollen and sore and she was not a happy camper. Poor little thing!

Lena visits Santa!

Lena-poo saw Santa this week and she was so CUTE! She didn't cry, but she didn't smile either. But, on Lena's behalf, I assured Santa she had been good this year and deserved to be on the "nice" list! No coal for Lena!

Lena is a little ballerina

My mom bought this little tutu onesie for Lena before she was born and I have been counting down the days until it would fit her. Although it's still a little big, Lena will be sporting it as often as the weather allows. And in case you can't read it, the onesie says "Tutu Cute" in little pink rhinestones. ha! SO CUTE!!

You can also see in this picture that Lena is able to sit up with help! :) yay for Lena!

That's Major Phillips to you!

I am so proud to announce that Ricky got promoted!! YAY!!!! Ricky got promoted to Major on November 1, but I was waiting until he sent me pictures to update the blog. I wanted some pictures to back me up! Here are some pictures of the promotion ceremony. Ricky said that "sadly there was no after party!" I am so proud of him and I just wish I could have been there.

Nothing to report

So, there hasn't been anything too exciting around here to post, so I thought I would just post some pictures Ricky sent me for my blog audience's enjoyment!

This is Ricky and his pal Tim "Ferg" Ferguson. This was taken when they were squished on a plane flying from Kuwait to Iraq.

This is a 100 man tent that Ricky got to sleep in for a while, lucky him! I can only imagine how bad that tent smelled.

These are Iraqi ducks! I didn't know there were ducks there...

Ricky titled this picture "Me and the bad guys," assume what you want.

This is Ricky and his pals and his boss in Iraq.

The wonders of technology!

So, after my friend Paige started doing some video stuff, I thought to myself, "Perhaps I should jump on this bandwagon." So, I finally got my technologically handicapped self in order and figured out how to do mini videos on my camera. I am sending little video snippets of Lena to Ricky quite often now, and he loves it.

I thought I would share my favorite one so far, it's of Lena rolling over. She started rolling over at the beginning of October, but then she did a protest on rolling over. Recently, she has begun doing it again and now does it ALL THE TIME! It's super fun and she is super cute. Enjoy!

Lena is 4 months old!

As of yesterday, Lena is officially 4 months old! And to celebrate she got some rice cereal! You can see from the pictures below how much she liked it. HA! Now every morning with breakfast she gets 1 tablespoon of rice cereal. Sometimes she likes it, sometimes she hates it. We are getting the hang of it :)

Warning, cuteness overload...

The cutest Tinkerbell EVER!

For Halloween Lena was Tinkerbell! She's the cutest Tinkerbell I've ever seen! Ricky had come up with the idea of having her dress up as Tinkerbell and I think it was a GREAT idea because she couldn't look cuter!! Lena's first Halloween is coming to a close in a matter of minutes and it was a hoot!

She really liked chewing on that wand.

When Lena wasn't in her costume, she sported this pumpkin onesie, courtesy of my sweet friend Audrey.

Here is Lena and I in front of our house looking festive!

Corky dressed up too, he was a dinosaur.

I am babysitting my sister's dog, Graycee, this weekend and she was dressed up like a bee!

Lena is feeling pumpkiny

In preparation for Halloween, Lena dressed up in her pumpkin suit today that her Uncle Rodney (Ricky's brother) got her! She looks super cute in it. But, she only got to wear it for a little while because she spit up all over it. Ha! Lena is excited to wear her costume for Halloween on Friday. Make sure you check the blog to find out what she is going to be! :)

Meow...

Lena's Grandmommy Beverly (Ricky's mom) gave Lena this little kitty onesie, and although it's still too big, I put it on her anyway. Lena is getting ready for her first Halloween!

Lena's 3 month pictures

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been drowning in papers and midterms.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures that Jessica took of Lena (and me) for her 3 month photo shoot while she was in town. The pictures turned out wonderful and I am so happy! Thanks Jess, you're the best!

Everyone says Lena looks just like Ricky, but I just don't see it yet... weird.

Except for in this picture, Lena's facial expression looks just like one Ricky does.

This is what her hair will look like when her little sprigs of hair grow a little longer.

Lena is the cutest!!