8 months

Merry Christmas bloggers!

she just got a letter

A few days ago, we received a letter in the mail addressed to Miss Thang. And she was most excited to see it.


"Dear Reese, the elves and I have been very busy but I really wanted to write to you.


I checked my list twice and saw that you have been a very good girl this year.


Because you've been good, I'm bringing you a very special present!


Keep up the good work and have a Merry Christmas."


Thanks Uncle Fred for making sure Santa had our address!

rockin around the christmas tree...

Last night was our final girls Bible study of the year, so of course, we had to go out with a bang. The girls all decided to dress up for the party. As a self-proclaimed Queen of Dress Up, I was not to be outdone. I wore a magenta bridesmaid dress circa 1983 complete with a puffy-sleeved overlay jacket courtesy of my dear mom.

Oh yes, I did.

As I waltzed out of my room sporting the entire ensemble, Reese looked at me like I'd lost my cotton-picking mind. It could have been the bright blue eye shadow or the hair piece I wore when I got married. I do believe if she knew how to dial the phone, she'd have had child services at our house pronto, pleading with them to send this crazy woman away. Or maybe she just wanted to eat my sparkly scarf.

Either way, there was a party to be had.


We played several games. The prizes included Coca-Cola lip gloss, Fun-Dip, and anything with a picture of the Jonas Brothers on it.


I don't care how old you are, if a party includes food, that's where you will find us.


The mandatory end of the night group picture.


Now I have to get back to picking up empty water bottles and vacuuming up sequins. :)

fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

We've decked our halls! Well, to be more accurate, we've decked the mantle, our tree, and a wall with boughs of Michael's merchandise, fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.



I call this my dollar tree garland.


It's pre-lit from Target and cost $10. Everything on it was less than a dollar.


I bought this from the boy scouts back in November, and it's still alive! If that's not a Christmas miracle, I don't know what is!


My mom and I made this last year. And by made, I mean she put the stuff on the wreath, and I determined whether or not to keep it that way. :)


One of my beautiful nativity sets.


My nativities are my favorite decorations.


And while we're on the subject of favorites, this is Daniel's. The Chiefs might not have a prominent place in the standings, but they forever will on our tree and in our hearts.


This is Baby's favorite Christmas item. Singing + dancing + barking + vibrating = Baby Girl bliss.


Didn't get your fill of Christmas decorations? Check out this post. Click on any of the names and before you know it, you're walking around their house checking out all their decorations. It's a Christmas open house, internet style!

makay's here

This sweet baby is Mary Kathryn. AKA MaKay. AKA Reese's new BFF. :) She was born late last night to a couple of our favorite friends who are also volunteer small group leaders with the youth. We went to the hospital today to meet her. She's even sweeter in real life. We can't wait for her to pack on some pounds so she can hang out with Baby Girl. Because, bless her heart, if our daughter rolled on her, or whomped her with a toy, it could cause some serious friction in the friendship.

Aw. It seems like only yesterday Lovey was this little...when we lived in three hour segments and wacked out anytime she made so much as a bizarre snort.

One of these Hintons left the hospital showing initial symptoms of baby fever. That person shall remain nameless.


But care to wager who it was anyway? :)

christmas pics that didn't make the cut

You know, it's really starting to concern me that our baby is lacking in personality. She's so very shy and reserved.


Squeeze it baby. Show that ornament who's boss.


Hmm. I've never tasted metal before.


Yeah, you know, I'm not too crazy about it.


Ooo, that camera looks good. Let me at it.

book learning

This past weekend Danny and I traveled to Dallas for a weekend seminary class. He's about halfway through his masters degree. He's had many classes both in Dallas and online, but this weekend's was different. Wives were invited to tag along. And I wasn't about to miss out on all the learning!

We flew in my mom to watch the baby while we were in class. I'm so glad she came because I was able to focus on the lectures. Dang were they good. The professors are tenured at Dallas Theological Seminary. You'd think with how intelligent, published and renowned they are they'd be some of the most intimidating people walking around. That's what I assumed.

Surprisingly, I couldn't have been more wrong. Dr. Lawson and Dr. Edwards are the picture of theology transforming reality. The only thing that surpassed their knowledge of scripture was their authenticity. It was apparent from the get go that they know all about God, and they know God. The class was over way too soon.

I never thought I'd say it, but it's a good thing seminary is so expensive. Otherwise I'd be enrolled by now and we'd have to relocate my mom to Dallas. :)

Baby and her Nana had some great bonding time. Dan snagged us a steal of a deal on a hotel. Have you ever heard of Priceline? We paid $40 a night to stay in a five star hotel. The room was beautiful!

Saturday night we went to a restaurant in Dallas. It's where Jack Ruby ate just before assassinating Lee Harvey Oswald.


We left early Sunday morning to make it back in time for youth. Poor Dan. We calculated in the past six weeks, he's driven more than 5,000 miles! Thank goodness Reester and I joined in for just a few of those trips; there aren't enough Mum-mums in the world to make it that long!

would you like a good laugh?

Hope this cracks you up. It sure worked on her daddy. Please excuse our messy house.

tooth watch 2008 update

The Hinton home is on high alert, anxiously awaiting the newest arrival in Baby Girl's mouth. I would point out that we need help, but if you've visited here enough, that goes without saying.

At this time, I will enter into evidence three instances leading us to believe First Tooth is on its way.

Exhibit #1

This picture was taken over Thanksgiving. It captured the hook-yourself-with two fingers habit she picked up a couple of weeks ago. She gets those fingers in there and gnaws away.

Exhibit #2- Verbatim of a conversation between Daniel and me that occurred last week.
D- While playing with Reese on the bed, "Ow!"
R- "What's wrong?"
D- "I think she might have a tooth in there."
R- "Why's that?"
D- "Because that stinkin' hurt!"
R- "Hahahahahaha!"

Exhibit #3
Our faithful sleep through the night baby woke up screaming in pain three nights in a row while we were in KC last week. Daniel immediately went to the nearest Target and purchased the biggest bottle of Infant Tylenol he could find.

we're thankful

I feel like a bit of a slacker having let so much time lapse since the last time I posted. Until I consider that we didn't return home from KC until almost midnight Sunday. Yesterday was spent keeping my head above the ever increasing mounds of laundry just long enough to look in the fridge and realize that unless we plan on living on a diet of Ranch dressing and chicken broth, I've got to get to the store. Plus we have four semi-big youth events to plan, diapers to change, Christmas cards to send, gifts to buy...

Did December happen to blindside anyone else?

We had a good trip. Reese did incredibly well in the car. I hesitate using the words break or vacation because neither are an accurate description of the weekend.

Most of it was spent driving from one family to the next. Please hear me, we are incredibly grateful for each person in our family. Not only are they all still with us, but they all long to see us and bend over backwards to make it happen. Reese will know of love because of them. She has seven grandparents who are crazy about her and we thank God for every single one of them.

Still, it's always hard to load up the car and leave dinner early in order to make it to the next location. I can't help but feel a twinge of guilt and sadness. I feel like everyone gets a little jipped in the process. I teased Dan that for Christmas we should just hire a taxi service to drive Reese from one place to the next while we go to a hotel. :)

I took a ton of pictures, but I only have time to upload a few, due to all that laundry, food, baby, job stuff I mentioned earlier.

Miss Thang's post. She manned it well. And she'd like to thank the makers of pacifiers and Mum-Mum crackers for making it possible.



She's thankful for her Great-Grandma Nadine (or "Adine" as I use to say).


Celebrity baby.


Somebody's going to have to break it to her that the world does not revolve around her, and I'm afraid it's gonna have to be me.


She was unable to participate in the annual Turkey Bowl. Next year, she should be good to go. And the first-born team needs all the help it can get. They got worked this year by the middle children for the fourth year straight!


Lining up for a family picture.