A Very Merry Christmas

There's always a little sadness when it's time to take down the Christmas tree. The house just loses a little of its luster without stockings on the mantle, lights around the entertainment center, and big red and green bows on all my indoor plants. But I'm very happy to say this has been a wonderful, relaxing, and memorable Christmas! Zaylee would get up in the mornings and point to the tree and say "ights," reminding me it's time to light up the tree. She tried to peek at a few presents that were under the tree early. I tried to explain to her that we don't touch them until Christmas, so then when Christmas finally came, she was totally confused when I told her to rip into them. One of her favorites right now is "uh oh" and she said that a few times while we were opening gifts like we were doing something wrong.
A lot of cool things happened this Christmas that made it extra special. On Christmas Eve, we got a winter storm here in Oklahoma, which covered our yard and made snow drifts up to three feet against our house and fence! Thankfully, Robbie had the afternoon off before the storm arrived, and once it began we were all stuck together inside, playing, baking, and just enjoying being together. That night, right before Zaylee went to sleep, we read the Christmas story together from Luke 2. Zaylee sat on my lap and listened to me read like it was the greatest story she's ever heard in her life. It really touched my heart since this is the girl who rarely sits still for more than 30 seconds, let alone quiet and listening, all cuddled up in my lap. What a sweet memory! After I finished, she was like, "Is that it? Read it again!" I'll have to make more of a habit of reading short Bible stories to her at bedtime. She loved it!
Christmas Day reminded me so much of what Christmas was like when I was a kid - lazy, laid back, and full of fun. We didn't have anywhere to go (and really couldn't go, since the snow still covered the ground), we kept our jammies on all morning, took our time eating breakfast, and then opened all our gifts and stockings with Christmas music playing in the background. Zaylee still wasn't really keen on opening gifts, but I think she really enjoyed what she got afterward - a little basketball, some cute new outfits, and a Little People House. We spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys (Robbie got a PS3) and going out in the snow.
It was perfect weather to go play in the snow - not windy, not too cold, and clear, sunny skies. This was the first time Zaylee had ever seen snow, so she didn't know what to think at first. She had fun slipping on the ice and having mommy "skate" her around on it. Our neighbor boys even came over from across the street and had a snowball fight with Robbie as he was shoveling off the driveway.
Good food, good family time, snow,... I felt like we got the whole package this year. And that was just the beginning of it because our parents would be arriving from Indiana on Sunday and Monday after Christmas. We had so much fun together! Initially, I was a little nervous about being claustrophobic in our little house with 7 adults and a baby, but I now know I had nothing to worry about. We played games, watched Zaylee open more gifts, played the Wii (which was my big surprise!), ate a lot of great food, and just enjoyed our time together. Zaylee got a new little kitchen complete with dishes and utensils, a tent with a tunnel attached, and a little tricycle, among many other fun gifts. By the end of it all, our whole living room had transformed into a giant playroom for Zaylee! We all got a kick out of watching the "grandmas" battle each other in tennis on the Wii. Robbie even got knocked out by his mom in boxing! I pulled off my first official Christmas dinner for the family with help from my mom - honeyed ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, sauteed carrots, green bean casserole, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Yum!
Robbie's birthday was on Thursday (New Year's Eve), so we took him out to eat at Crabtown the night before. Then on Thursday, he opened gifts and got his delicious "funfetti" birthday cake. And then on Friday morning, our family headed home.
I went to bed every night completely exhausted from all the fun we'd had during the day, but it was a really fulfilled, tired feeling. Almost more fun than I could take in one week! ^_^ All in all, it was a very Merry Christmas for all of us!

Two of Zaylee's favorites - her mommy and her kitty!
Wow! Look what Santa brought!
Whenever we tell Zaylee to smile, she lifts up her shirt and shows us her belly - what a silly girl!
Presents on Christmas morning
Zaylee's Little People House
Getting ready to go out in the snow for the first time. Zaylee looks like a big pink marshmallow!
In the snow with Daddy
Pushing Bunny in the snow

One of Zaylee's cute new outfits

Really??!! A blog post??!!

I know, I know. It's been forever. I'm sorry. Here are some long-awaited photos of our growing girl.
Photo shoots are a favorite!

Sleeping with kitty Max, her favorite stuffed animal.
A very sick girl (and a very tired mommy). She NEVER sleeps on my chest anymore, unless she has a high fever like she did here (ear infection, yuck).
Another fun thing is "playing" on the computer.
Our future artist.
SO cute! Can you tell they're related?
Yay for Christmas pj's!

We're excited for Christmas!
Our Willowtree Nativity scene
Santa's entrance
Our first real tree!
Zaylee loves to sit up in "big girl chairs" now.
Our high school girls from Woodland High - we hosted them during the State Student Council Convention in Norman, OK. Zaylee loved having them around!
"I Love my Daddy!"

I'm not sure whether this is fortunate, or unfortunate, but Zaylee is taking after her clean-freak mother at a young age!

Happy Halloween!

Today was a perfect day! It started off with a quick cleaning of the house - which I LOVE! No really, I love a clean house! And even better, I got it all done while Zaylee was napping. Then once she woke up, we all had lunch and went outside to play. The weather today was BEAUTIFUL! High of 69! I think that's the warmest Halloween I've ever had. There are some neighbor boys who came over and climbed our trees and played football with Robbie for a while and Zaylee, Peyton, and I went for a walk. It was so nice to be outside enjoying the fall weather.
Ever since Zaylee was born, it has been really important to me that our family have a lot of great memories and traditions together, so holidays are just the perfect time to make them! Last year, Zaylee was just a month old when Halloween came around, so she wasn't really aware of much going on. Well, this year we decided to make it more fun for her. We all dressed up as the Flintstones - Robbie as Fred, me as Wilma, and Zaylee as Pebbles. Our Fall Festival at church was last Sunday night, and so we debuted our Flintstone family then. And then today, we got all decked out and went to downtown Moore to trick-or-treat at all the local businesses on the square. It was a really big deal! From 4:00 on, there were tons of kids and their parents collecting candy along the square. It was really fun to see all the costumes (and listen to what others had to say about ours). Zaylee has just mastered walking about 2 weeks ago, just in time to walk up and grab candy herself! It was so cute to see her walking along beside us.
We got done with trick-or-treating at about 5:00. Then it was back home for a delicious chicken dinner, a little nap for Zaylee, and then trick-or-treaters at our house! That was really exciting for Zaylee (and our dog!) to see all the other kids come to our door all dressed up. Of course, she didn't understand why we were giving them candy and not her! (She had 3 suckers and some chocolate earlier, so we thought that was probably enough.) We ran out of candy at about 8:15, which worked out fine since it was about a half hour past Zaylee's bedtime anyway.
All in all, I just loved spending time as a family today. It was a perfect day!

Getting ready with Daddy!

I'm a big girl walking all by myself!

Yum! Candy!

Movies, Movies, and More Movies

So a few family members that shall not be named (Mom) have requested some videos of our little Zaylee....well here you go folks with more on the way

Pumpkins, Passages, and Pathogens

Yesterday was a perfect fall day for the Mullinax family. We went to a local pumpkin patch just outside of Moore with our friends from church and had so much fun! There was a petting zoo, a corn maze, a playground made of hay bales, hay rides, and a big patch where you could go and pick your own pumpkins to take home! Zaylee loved playing on the pumpkins, climbing on the hay, and of course, petting the animals. Perhaps the only unpleasant part of the whole trip was when she got a little too friendly with a piglet and it decided to nibble on her hand. She didn't like that at all!
Every year as the first of October rolls around and I start to get out my fall decor and buy pumpkins to carve, I am overcome with a renewed appreciation for the seasons. God, in all his wonderful creativity, knew exactly when we would need a change in scenery, weather, and color in our world each year. I can't imagine living in a place where there are none! I think Solomon truly understood God's wisdom in giving us "seasons for everything" when he wrote about them in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

These verses have really spoken to me over the last two weeks as I realize that there have been many of these "times" happening in my life. And according to the Bible, it's all part of the big picture of God's plan for our life!
Another thing that the fall season is reminding me of this year is just how fast the time has gone! This time last year, Zaylee was less than a month old and we were just getting started filling our new role as parents. Now, she's 2 1/2 feet tall, weighs almost 23 lbs, and is a energetic and endearing little girl. I have to remind myself all the time to appreciate life for what it is today, because it all changes in the blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, the last thing the fall season has brought us this year is bronchitis. The whole family is home from church today with nasty coughs and runny noses. Although we suspected something was starting yesterday, now our full blown sickness has arrived and we are not feeling good at all. I guess in Solomon's words, today will be "a time to refrain from embracing" and "a time to heal."

Happy 1st Birthday, Zaylee!

It's hard to imagine it's already been a year since the wonderful day that Zaylee entered the world. (For those of you who haven't heard all the details of Zaylee's big day, visit our blog from September 2008 and read "Zaylee's coming out party.") There have been a lot of big changes for all of us in the last year. We moved from Mississippi to Oklahoma and bought a new house. Robbie has completed training to fly AWACS for the Air Force. I've adjusted to being a full time stay-at-home mom (and have learned so much about being a mom in general!). Before Zaylee was born, I had only changed 1 diaper! Now I figure I've changed over 1800! And most obvious of all are the changes we've seen in our little girl. Zaylee has gone from being an adorable "blob of goo" (as her daddy so nicely phrased it) to an even more adorable, active, and hilarious toddler. It's such an amazing transformation to see a baby grow during their first year. They learn to smile, coo, sit up, eat, laugh, crawl, interact with others, and give hugs. They learn what it means to be loved, and to show that love in return. Zaylee has just in the last week started to give kisses. It melts my heart every time she does it!
Zaylee was a very lucky girl this year because she actually got 2 birthday parties! The first one was at Grandma and Grandpa Boyer's house over Labor Day weekend. This was the first time she had ever had cake and icing, so it was really fun watching her dig in to the sweet treat! She got to open some presents for the first time and wanted to play with each one before going on to the next. Once we got home from visiting the family in Indiana, we had a little party at home with her friends from church. She got to have some cake with chocolate icing and played with all her new toys with her friends Reese, Aubrey, Katie, Marli, Marcus, and Manning. Altogether, the memories of her first birthday are wonderful. Here are some pictures and a short video of her birthday fun.

We have enjoyed so much watching her grow and look forward to all the memories we'll share in the future as a family. Happy 1st Birthday, Zaylee! We love you!

New Friends!

Hey all! This morning I am actually up before Zaylee so I decided to write a little while enjoying my morning solitude. Getting up earlier is something I'm going to try and do on a regular basis so that I'm a little more awake and focused before Zaylee is ready to go in the morning. Sometimes I feel bad because her cries are the first thing to wake me in the morning and I'm still like a zombie when I walk into her room to get her up. Not exactly a cheerful morning greeting. So with the help of Folger's in my cup and a wet rag on my face, I am changing up my routine for the first time since Zaylee was born.
I've had a difficult adjustment since Zaylee and I came home for Spring Mill Bible Camp last Tuesday. We had such a wonderful time with friends and family that my first day back at home felt extremely boring, lonely, and unfulfilling. But with a little help from my friends, things are definitely starting to look up. Robbie has trained with another pilot named Jordan since we arrived here in OK and he just got married 2 weeks ago. He and his new wife came over just the other day for the first time and we cooked s'mores out on our firepit and had a great evening together. I'm so excited that Stephanie is here - she's the first Air Force wife I've really gotten to know here in OK, and other AF wives are great to have around since we always share a lot of the same struggles.
Last Saturday, we had an event at church called the "Back To School Roundup" and I was able to meet several more people who were also there volunteering. One lady named Michelle invited me to her Scrapbooking parties on Friday nights, so I'm going to try that out for the first time this week. I'm excited to finally start putting some of Zaylee's pictures and memories in order. I've tried to do it at home, but I've found that I'm usually too distracted to focus on it. This will be a good chance for me to get away and really concentrate on it.
Another thing we're planning to do is transferring our membership to another Y in town. The one we are going to is less popular with our friends and so once I transfer to the new one, I'll have tons of other moms to do Zumba with, swim, work out, etc. So that's something to look forward to.
And lastly (Zaylee's waking up!), we just got a new youth minister at church and he and his wife and two kids came and ate dinner with us last night and we had SO much fun! They are right about our age. Their kids are 2 1/2 and 14 months. Zaylee and Aubrey (the 14-month-old) really hit it off and I think they're going to be great friends. We are so excited to get to know them and possibly start plugging into the youth group and doing some events with them.
Basically, God has just surrounding me with so many great people this week and I'm really thankful for that. It's hard to feel at home when all your family is so far away, but I'm definitely getting excited about all the possibilities we have here. Relationships are such an important part of who we are!

New Pictures and Random Thoughts

I can't believe it's already the middle of July! The summer has gone by so quickly it seems. Robbie and I have enjoyed being home and getting into a routine. After our families came to visit in late May/early June we took a break from home improvement and relaxed into more "normal" days. Robbie is the flying stage of his training (which keeps getting drawn out longer and longer) and is hoping to finish up in the next month. He'll soon find out what squadron he'll be assigned to for his time at Tinker as well as dates for his deployment. We're a little anxious to find out that information since he will be overseas for a 4 month time span.
Zaylee and I have been having lazy summer days, eating free lunch with friends, going to the Y, playing in our baby pool in the backyard, and taking walks with our dog. She has definitely begun to settle more since my last entry when it comes to playing and diaper changing. She's more interested now to have a book read to her, to interact with us while she's playing, and to be more patient while mommy's changing her diaper. She's really a pretty fun girl to be around most days. ^_^
Except when she doesn't get her naptime...Ok, so I need to vent. This morning Zaylee was not so willing to go down for a nap. So when she finally fell asleep I was thrilled. I settled in to start work on the computer, Peyton was napping, and everything was quiet. About 30 minutes into her nap (she usually takes a nap for about an hour), my doorbell rings. Peyton, snapped out of his deep sleep, flips out and starts bounding for the door, barking as loud as he can. I hate that he does this every time the doorbell rings. But, he is a dog, and dogs are protective, and dogs are not the smartest creatures on the planet. Needless to say, Zaylee was awake. I open the door and an older lady whom I don't recognize is standing there looking confused. Trying to hold Peyton back, I step outside and ask what I can do for her. She says, "Oh, I must have the wrong house!"
Uugh. I'm sorry, but can people not read street addresses anymore? The rest of my morning was spent with a cranky baby who wouldn't go back to sleep but also didn't really want to be awake. Not fun.
But anywho...Here's another random thought. I'm so sad about Jon and Kate Gosselin spliting up. They were like my model TV family. I read Kate's first book and watched all their shows on TLC and just thought the world of them and their kids. I always thought that Kate and I had a lot in common, that if we were to just randomly meet we would be instant friends. So my heart really goes out to her. Robbie complains that I take her side too much, but I don't care. I feel bad for the whole family, Jon and the kids included. Hollywood is so stupid. And so is divorce. I wish people could just get along.
Hmmm, what else is on my mind? Oh yeah - I'm getting ready to go to Spring Mill Bible Camp and I'm so excited!! This year, I'll be taking Zaylee and helping in the nurse's cabin. This will be the first time I been a "nurse" for a week at camp and I'm pretty excited. I know it will be a hard job, but it will be fun to work with my aunt Bev. I'm also teaching a high school Bible class, which I'm looking forward to. Zaylee and I are flying out of OKC on Thursday of next week. I can't believe it's almost here!
Okay, I better wrap this up. Here are some fun pictures from the 4th of July and beyond. Enjoy!

Aahhh, Nap Time in the Mullinax Home

Today I was just sitting doing some work on the computer, enjoying the quiet while Zaylee's asleep, when it occurred to me that I should write a little for you all. I have to admit, there has been nothing extraordinary to write about lately, just sort of settling into a daily routine. It does get a little mundane at times - I feel like I should be more creative with all the time I have to spend with Zaylee at home. Perhaps some of you experienced moms could offer some advice about how to fill our summer days. If you know me, you know that I am not one to just sit and "relax." I think sitting doing nothing is terribly boring and stressful. I relax by being productive - in a fun way. I like to paint, sew, work out, clean, read, etc. But a lot of the things I like to do in my free time are things that Zaylee isn't particularly interested in. She hasn't taken much to books yet, she doesn't like to be held very much, and she seems to grow tired of her toys very quickly. I'm wondering, "What does a 9-month-old really like to do?" She wants me to pay attention to her and interact with her (and so do I!), but I feel like I haven't quite found how she wants me to do that yet. Sometimes I feel like instead of encouraging her play time, I'm just annoying and in the way. So yes, I need some advice.
Another thing that has really been difficult lately is getting this little lady to let me dress and change her! She is SO strong-willed and HATES having to lay down for even a couple minutes in order for me to put a new diaper on her. I've tried putting toys on her changing table, but she acts like she knows I'm trying to distract her and won't allow me to fool her. She doesn't want me to sing songs, or dangle things over her head, or anything. It seems like all the "textbook" ideas aren't working. I need something more creative to get her to relax and stay still. Same thing goes at naptime - as soon as I lay her down in her bed, instead of just relaxing like she did a few months ago, she flips over and stands up as fast as she can, and screams as soon as a walk out of the room and close the door. And these are times when I know she needs to nap. I've tried to make sure she's good and tired because otherwise she'll cry for up 45 minutes before settling down. Any suggestions?
Well, enough on my frustrations. Otherwise, everything has been going well in the Mullinax home. Robbie and I haven't had much time together this week since his training has kept him very busy (and tired). I'm looking forward to the weekend so that we can spend some time together as a family. We're hoping and praying that his work will allow him to have the last week of July off, so that we can come down and help at Spring Mill Bible Camp. We might even try to get a couple weeks away so that we can really spend some quality time with our families. It's been 7 months (Christmas) since Robbie's been home, and I know he's starting to really get homesick. I was able to come visit in February, but that was still a while ago - Zaylee was barely learning to sit up on her own at that point! So, all of you reading this, please pray HARD that Robbie can get off - it's a matter of God opening a door for us at this point.
Speaking of doors opening, Zaylee just woke up. On with the day! Hope to hear from some of you soon!

Construction Complete!

I feel like I'm finally getting closer to a normal routine now. We've have been working our tails off on our new house! I absolutely love it, and it's a lot of fun to have a place of our own, but I think we initially bit off more than we could chew. We had SO many different projects going on at once, it was all I could do to not pull my hair out some days. But thankfully, mom and dad (and Brian) came to the rescue last week and helped us finish up. It feels so good to just be here sitting on my new couch after Zaylee's been put to sleep blogging, knowing that there's nothing else that needs to get done right away.

Let's see, where do I start? Well, since the time that we moved into our house in April, we have painted the kitchen red, Zaylee's room light purple, and our room light blue. We weeded our yard, trimmed all the hedges, planted a vegetable garden and a separate pumpkin patch, planted a tree, stained the fence and playset in our backyard, bought a baby swing, and replaced the tarp over the top of the playset. We ripped up all the carpet in the house ourselves, installed new wood floors in the living room and hallway, tile in the hall bathroom, and had new carpet installed in the three bedrooms. We sold a majority of our hand-me-down furniture in a big garage sale, went to IKEA in Dallas and bought a new couch, coffee table, bookshelf, mirrors, bedding, and everything else we could before we ran out of money. I've childproofed all the cabinets in the kitchen and all the outlets throughout the house. I planted flowers in two places in the front yard. We've unpacked all but three boxes that are still in the garage, hung up all the pictures and wall decor throughout the house, made curtains for the kitchen and living room, and made pillows for the new couch. Whew!!

So yes, we have been busy! But all the hard work has really paid off. Our house is now a home, and we all love it. I am now officially ready to see Zaylee grow up in this house and make lots of wonderful memories as a family. She has grown so fast, I can't even believe it. Between 4 and 9 months, it just seems like time goes by in an instant. In one minute you're jumping up and down because your little one just learned to turn over, and then all of a sudden they're pulling up on the coffee table and walking around it while they hold on! She's eating "big girl food" now - anything that can be cut in small pieces and easy to chew. She only has one tooth barely starting to appear, but that doesn't seem to stop her from eating everything from Cheerios to pickles. She's starting to communicate a lot more - she definitely lets you know what she wants! She's starting to say "dog" and "cat," along with the usual "momma" and "dadda." I'm taking her to her 9 month checkup next week, so then I'll get to see what she weighs. And, oh my goodness, this girl never stops moving!! She is just go, go, GO all day long (except when I force her to go down for a nap). Thankfully, she wears herself out most days and sleeps very soundly at night.

Robbie's begun to fly a couple times a week. His flights are 8, sometimes 10, hours long! He has to wake up at 2:15 am, and doesn't get home sometimes until 6 or 7 pm. Those flying days are really long days for him and have been really tough, but I think he's still enjoying everything he's learning and the overall mission of his plane. The days that he doesn't fly are pretty normal 8-hr days, so that's nice.

Today, he had the day off so we decided to head to the park to have a picnic and play some frisbee golf. It was a very hot, sunny day, but we brought plenty of water and sunscreen and had a great time. The park we went to was beautiful! It had a rose garden, a pond, lots of wildlife, playgrounds, a frisbee golf course, and even a pool (which we decided we would have to come visit another day!). We enjoyed lunch by the pond despite being interupted by nosy squirrels and geese, and then played 9 holes of golf. Zaylee loves frisbee golf because she gets to hold onto our frisbees, play in the grass, and get carried all over the park. She's the cutest little caddy you could have! It was a great day to just relax and spend time together.
So now the moment you've been waiting for, PICTURES! This is a grand combobulation of before and after pics of our house along with a lot of fun pics from today's outing...

This is the bathroom before we moved in.
Construction zone! This was taken after the old floor (and toilet) was removed in preparation for beautiful new tile. What a mess!
And our beautiful new completed guest bathroom! (Sorry, you can't really see the floors. But trust me, they look good. ^_~)

Our master bedroom before moving in...
And after our personal touches...
The guest bedroom used to be a little boy's room...
Now it's a patriotic office/extra bedroom!

The third bedroom belonged to the previous owners' teenage girl...
Now it's the perfect little spot for our baby Zaylee!
I'm putting sunscreen on Zaylee's face in preparation for a hot summer day - her face is so funny! "Stop it, Mom!"
Possibly the most dramatic change has been in our kitchen. This is before...
This was mid-construction. We had to move a bunch of living room furniture in the kitchen in order to replace the carpet. Another big mess...
And this is the finished product!

The living room before...

...during construction...

...and after!



The beginning of our day of fun - here's Zaylee feeling for her little tooth at breakfast.
Getting ready to go.

Our picnic lunch by the pond. What a cutie!


Swinging on the playset with daddy.

Having fun in the sun on the frisbee golf course.
Our happy little family. ^_^

Love you all and miss you! Feel free to post comments and let us know what you think!