The Yingst Family

Christmas this year was overall pretty good. Kevin's parents were heading out of town a week before Christmas in their 5th Wheel (to get a little R & R for 6 weeks) to Southeastern Texas. His mother works herself to the bone and never can rest if she's home, because she always has to be doing stuff with her hands... making bows, sewing outfits, marking items for her antique booths and everything else under the sun. Not to mention their ranch log home is huge and takes a lot of work to maintain, so rest is much needed on her part. Kevin's dad is a hard worker, too. They are wonderful people!! Kevin's mother is a CPA during tax season, which for her begins the 1st of February... so, they needed that 6 weeks relaxation/break before she began her stressful tax season! :) Before they left, we celebrated a small gift exchange with them and wished them a very merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures of PRE-Christmas with Kevin's parents at their ranch...

We got Kevin's parents framed pictures of the kids for Christmas (to take with them while they are away). They got other fun stuff from us, too, but I don't need to mention it. They decided since we really didn't need or want anything for Christmas, then they would get us "services" for Christmas. So... they came to our home and picked up Kevin's H2 and took it to get detailed from the inside out (it was much needed after all his travels/hikes in it). They got me a gift certificate for maid services to get my home cleaned from ceiling to floor and organized. I haven't used it, yet, but lord knows I need to since I'm chasing a 1 1/2 year old around non-stop all day and neglecting half of my housework (dusting and other petty stuff)! :) Peyton got money (as usual) and Khloe some adorable boutique outfits! They also treated us to a full weekend in Branson (Christmas lights and all)... not allowing us to pay one dime! It was nice... We love them!

I decided it was time to start putting my little girl in pageants, so I mailed in the registration and got all the fees/paperwork out of the way and awaited Khloe's first pageant date. (I put her brother in pageants, too, when he was a baby/toddler and he won some and placed 2nd and 3rd place in others... but boys get too old for pageants and eventually it is considered weird... so we stopped before Pre-K.)

I searched online until I found the perfect seamstress to make the perfect outfit for Khloe to wear in her 1ST pageant. The lady resides in California and she has a very creative mind... making all sorts of adorable baby girl/boys clothes! She should start her own line and sell it nationally. Anyway, the outfit was pricy, but worth every penny. I sent her measurements and the outfit came back (weeks later) fitting her like a glove - couldn't have fit her any more perfect!! I was so excited to see Khloe strut her stuff on the floor at the pageant in this DARLING outfit! I decided to make her hair accessory to go with the outfit. I actually made two kufi hats all dolled up with feathers/puffs on them and gems. One was too dressy and the other is the one she wore at the pageant. The last part of her attire that I needed to find was shoes... it was a thick Christmas outfit. If she wore dress shoes, then they would not go with the outfit's consistency. So... I looked... and looked... and LOOKED... and pretty much gave up on the shoes UNTIL I found some white furry boots in her size 3-4. It was an auction and they were brand new... gap boots. Normally $50, but I bought them for $20 + shipping and they arrived in my hands two days before her pageant! Did I mention I found them the same week of her pageant! LOL

Khloe 1st pageant was set for Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 1:00pm. We were so excited. It was the "Christmas Time Cuties" Pageant. There were several age divisions and we were new to it. Several of the girls were professionals by this point and the mommies there had been a part of winning several pageants already for their little girls. My friend, Kristin, had started putting her little girl, Brinklee, in this pageant system 6 months ago... and her daughter had already won 5 titles (1st place: tiara and sash) and 9 trophies at this point. Tough competition for sure, because her little girl is a doll! I didn't really know what to expect and was quite disappointed that our little girls fell in the same age division this time and had to compete against each other. :( Not fun for us moms! Kristin's daughter, Brinklee, is actually 5 months younger than my daughter, Khloe... their age division was 0-18 months... and Khloe just BARELY fell into that age division. She turned 18 months old on January 1st, so like I said... She BARELY fell into that age division.

We were on our way to the pageant (which was held in Farmington - we live in Bella Vista... so a little drive for us), hoping that Khloe would sleep the whole way (that would be a good 40 minutes of sleep before we got there). After all, it was her nap time and she is VERY CRANKY and uncooperative if she skips her nap (I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about, if you have a baby - LOL!). And... of course, she did not get one minute of sleep... she decided to play the entire time we were in the car driving to the pageant. UGH!! I was worried that she would not even walk out there and would start crying and throwing a little fit. To my surprise, quite the opposite. Actually, she was very personable and little miss thing walking around the facility before the pageant began. Did I mention the pageant STARTED LATE (30 minutes late)... and that NEVER happens at pageants. The odds were completely against us.

Finally, the pageant started. Khloe was the last one in her age division to go out. They had to walk in a "V" stopping at 3 "X's" (one being right in front of the 3 judges table)... then, we would walk off to the end of the line and all go back out one last time for a showing to the judges. Khloe did great! She walked to all 3 spots and showed her personality in front of the judges. She actually cooperated... and had no idea what was going on... even though she was EXHAUSTED at this point!

Here are a few pictures of her walking out in front of the judges:

My husband did not have a very steady hand taking these pictures. Sorry. LOL We even had our professional Canon camera there. Oh well. LOL

Here is were they all lined up again in front of the judges... Kevin (my hubby) only wanted to picture our daughter (Khloe)and Kristin's daughter (Brinklee)in the line up. There is a little girl in between us, but I don't know her.

They had several other divisions of the pageant, including: Miss Photogenic, Most Beautiful, 2nd Runner up, 1st Runner up and all around 1st place winner "Miss Christmas Time Cutie 2010." As they were calling out the winners, a couple of the girls were winning more than one trophy. My friend's little girl, Brinklee, had won Miss Photogenic at this point. As they approached the end of the trophy ceremony in our age division, I was standing there with Khloe and she had not won anything at this point. I know I shouldn't have felt this way, but I remember standing there thinking I can't believe Khloe is not winning anything. I was disappointed. My husband could tell my expression on my face. BUT..... as they got to the last two trophies, they called 1st Runner up and it was Brinklee (her 2nd trophy)... I couldn't believe that Brinklee didn't win at this point, because she was the reigning winner from all the previous pageants... no one had beat her thus far! I had HIGH HOPES at that very moment that they were saving the best for last and would call out my daughter's name as the overall winner! They called out Miss Christmas Time Cutie 2010 winner is............ KHLOE YINGST!!! I was SOOOO excited. Oh, the pressure of pageants! LOL They came to her and crowned her (with a big, adorable tiara), then sashed her and handed her her trophy that is almost as tall as she is! So exciting!!! She was even happy! :)

Here are some pictures of the second they called her name and crowned/sashed her:

Khloe loved her trophy the most. Go figure! Ha! It was such a stressful, but successful day... my little princess won her first (of many to come) pageants! My little Chrismas Time Cutie finished the year with a bang! We love you and are so proud of you, Khloers!!!

Here are a few pictures of Khloe and her friend, Brinklee!! The cutest girls there!!!

Aren't they just precious together?!!

Here are other random pictures at the pageant:

My friend, Kristin, with her daughter, Brinklee (Miss Photogenic/1st Runner up - Reigning Winner):

It was a great time and I am thrilled to get to share this even with my friends and our parents! Hope you enjoyed the story and the pictures...