the holidays

so we spent a good couple of days in tomball. it's nice that both of our families live there, that way we're able to see both sides. i don't know what we'll do when one clan decides to move!

christmas eve was spent at ed's parent's house. they always have a christmas eve dinner and gift opening session the night before. ed and i have also taken on the "open one gift on christmas eve" tradition...and i like it :) i dont know how to put in to words what it's like to open gifts with the buck boys..they could absolutly care less what is under the wrapper..as long as they get to tear something open. putting a gift in a bag is absolutly blasphemous. even now they get giddy and excited and tear the wrapping paper into the absolutle smallest pieces. it's a bit ridiculous, but hilarious to watch.

all of the brothers and their wives participated in a white elephant exchange. little campbell received the rubber ducky of the new century...an electric one that lights up, quacks, AND shoots water out of its head like a fountain. theresa bought it when she was with my mom..who also bought one, for her unborn grandchild. sigh. campbell is very timid, though, and looked very confused and then began to cry as she struggled to fit this obnoxious thing into her rubber ducky schema.

proud uncle ed and beautiful ms. campbell

the next morning we did christmas with my family, and then headed to his grandparents to see the entiiiiire group of bucks. there are so many little kids now (one of ed's cousins has 4 kids..LOUDEST MOST UNDISCIPLINED CHILDREN ON THE PLANET) so things were a bit crazy, and i'm not sure his poor grandparents were able to take it all in.

campbell can now say mommy, daddy, puppy, stu dee (studley, ed's parent's dog), no, tan you (thank you), and HEY! She yells this to get your attention :) she is also one for the dramatics, and rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically when she doesn't get her way. Her dad, Chris, stood in her way as she tried to get to a pile of wrapping paper, and she looked up at him, rolled her eyes, and sighed. it was hilarious, as if to say, "oh dad." and then she just walked away. i'd really like to see more of her.

showing dad that she is much more flexible than he is. he has to take his heels off the ground to squat.

the face she made when uncle ed took some of her cereal.

you can see more pictures at our website. www.apriled.shutterfly.com. It's under 'Our Life' in the Holidays 2008 folder. She's cute, you should look.

tagged.

So Ivylicious tagged me in her last post.



This is the fourth photo from my fourth photo album, "Campbell"

This is my niece, Campbell Layne. It was taken at Thanksgiving by her mama's sister..so, her other aunt, Heather! We did not get to spend Thanksgiving with them, so they shared the photos instead.

I think she is absolutely precious, and can't wait to see her at christmas. She is the main and absolute reason I would love to go to UofH. She started walking on Halloween (14 months..kinda late?) and is a little miss sassy-pants. SO like her mother and father :)

I tag Heather! To tag the fourth picture in the fourth album on your computer. Don't cheat! And don't forget to tell us what it's about! I only blog with you ladies, so I have no other people to tag!

applications..ugh.

Not much going on in Buckland..just working and trying to finish up our applications! I have currently finished my applications to:
Univ. of Minnesota, UC Santa Barbara, Rochester, Stony Brook, and UC Irvine.
I am working on my applications to:
UT Austin Psychology, UT Austin HDFS, Univ of Houston, and Univ of Massachusetts

Notice there is no Northwestern in the mix. That is because I am an IDIOT and wrote down that the due date was December 31. It was definitely the 1st. I have mixed feelings about the mix-up..it was my own personal #2 choice. I would love to work under Eli Finkel there. HOWEVER, he said he might not take a student this coming year unless they were exceptional (years of experiences, GRE in the 1500s-1600s..what a prick, right?), plus there is nothing for Ed in Chicago. It was one of my..I'm applying anyway in case the worst happens and you don't get in anywhere, dear..schools. BAH. Ed is rolling through his applications too. We should both be done come mid-January, and then as Ivy said, it's the waiting game!

We went to my grandfather's house for the day for Thanksgiving (pictures on fb) which was an alright trip. No one told us it was a lunch instead of dinner, so we got there after everyone else had already eaten. It was alright though...we came back to Austin shortly after and watched the game together. Good evening.

I put up my christmas decorations! The night of Thanksgiving!! Ed insisted that I wait until the next day, but I was done waiting.

We're pretty much almost done with christmas shopping..we're going to be cutting it close just to cover everyday things after we pay off our credit card with all of our grad school stuff on it, so we're going light this year. Wedding scrapbooks for the parentals, new hoodie for the bro, books for Campbell, and sipping chocolate for the sis. Ed's family is doing a white elephant gift exchange, but that should be easy.

Monday is Lonestars formal..weird to not be going, right?? It's also the last girl's night that Catherine will probably be able to attend before she moves to Dallas to start her grad school career..SO SAD!! We met in ASL and she has been such a fantastic friend. Now who will watch Grease 2 with me? This is also the time of year that most of you lovely ladies packed up and moved on to bigger things..I love the holidays, but it all seems so dreary.

I am also starting a second job tomorrow. Alissa Sherry (professor at UT) needs someone to help her in her private practice, so I'll be helping her to get and stay organized as she transitions to a new office. I've pretty much got this sort of thing nailed by now, so it should be easy-breezy.

Juli comes home on the 19th..should be interesting. Things have been a bit easier with her overseas, but it will be nice to hear her laugh again. Maybe she'll watch Grease 2 with me!

I hope you are all doing well. Ivy- I still need to hear the rest of the engagement story! Call me when you're done with finals! Laura- How the world are you?!? Shivonne- thanks for posting love! I'm super excited for all of the things you have coming up in the next couple of months! Heather- see you tomorrow!