Walt Disney World!

Hello Friends and Family,

I finally had a few minutes to post up our pictures from our wonderful family vacation in Walt Disney World! Our little family of three roadtripped to Orlando, FL and spent May 14th - 18th in the "land of magic." What a great trip!

Day 1 - Evening at Epcot (a.k.a. the "big ball"!)

We had dinner reservations in Germany at the Biergarten - great food, good company, and authentic entertainment made it a wonderful 5-year anniversary celebration!

Our happy family...

Zaylee liked seeing the fish in the gardens outside Japan!

Playing on the playground with Daddy

An impressive underneath view of the "big ball"

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

One of my favorite rides during the whole trip was the Safari tour - we all loaded onto a huge truck and winded down paths through the African safari. It was so much like the real thing, and the animals were amazing!

Happy Zaylee

One of the beautiful views during the tour - African elephants!

Zaylee was actually brave enough to brush this sheep after a few minutes of observation at the petting zoo.

Day 3 (morning): Magic Kingdom!

Zaylee's first test drive in Tomorrowland - she was so excited about driving the "zoooms"!

Outside of Minnie's House in Toontown (Mickey and Minnie are actually standing on the front porch behind us). This was as close as Zaylee would allow us to get to "big" Mickey and Minnie the first time.

Although the Disney characters were somewhat frightening to Zaylee, she loved the princesses! Sleeping Beauty was her favorite (and Daddy's too ^_~).

Trying out some Minnie ears in a gift shop.

A fun breaktime in Toontown to play on the playground - so cute!

Cinderella's carousel was one of Zaylee's favorite rides.

Day 3 (evening): Disney's Hollywood Studios

Getting ready for Zaylee's favorite show of the whole trip - Playhouse Disney Live on Stage. She was completely mesmerized throughout this entire performance. It was really adorable!

Crawling around on a "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" movie set. That's a BIG ant!

Best Performance of the Trip: Beauty and the Beast Live

Day 4: Magic Kingdom (again!)

Playing in a "tot spot" in Frontierland

We love Disney!!

Tom Sawyer Island - who's that cute baby in the window??

Up in the fort

Of course, we had to visit Cinderella's carousel again.

Day 5: Relaxing at the Resort

Zaylee finally warmed up enough to "big" Mickey to give him a big kiss before we left.

This first family vacation couldn't have been any better!!

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!