BR at 10 Months Old

This sweet pea turned 10 months old yesterday and I can hardly believe it! The time is flying by way to fast. Yikes! I'm so glad we have all these adorable pictures to document her as she grows.

This is going to be a short BR monthly update because she's got a cold again and I'm sure she'll wake up a bunch of times tonight. So I need to get in the bed.

Weight: I'm not exactly sure how much she weighs but I think she's around 16 pounds. She was 16.5 with clothes on the last time we were at the doctor, which was about a week and a half ago.

Diapers: still in 2's

Clothes: 6-9 months and 9 months

At 10 months, Brantley Rae...

-cut her first tooth last week

-has started walking between Chase and I

-loves green beans, mandarin oranges and cheese

-she has gotten very good at eating table food

-really likes looking at touch & feel books. The one in the pictures is her new Christmas book.

-her hair keeps growing

-she has the cutest scrunchy nose smiley face. It's so cute!

-is starting to figure out that I'm Ma-Ma and Chase is Da-Da. Yay!

Brantley Rae is the sweetest, most adorable baby I've ever seen! I know I'm partial, but really she is adorable! I have no idea what I would do without her. I thank the Lord daily for this sweet gift he gave Chase and I. I'm so thankful! She has come down with a cold so I'm praying that she can get a good nights sleep and we're probably going to the doctor tomorrow morning because I'm afraid she's getting an ear infection. She was totally pitiful tonight. Thankfully, I finally got her to sleep a little while ago. (ahh the power just flickered! Yikes!!)  Gotta go!

Iron Bowl 2010

Brantley and I watched the Iron Bowl at my parents house this year. Unfortunately,  Chase had to work during pretty much the whole game so he didn't get to watch it. The game was so intense! Seriously! I was a bit worried and mad at our team after the first half but thankfully they made adjustments and got it together during halftime. In true Auburn fashion they came out after halftime and came back to win the game. 

War Eagle! 

It's so great to be an Auburn Tiger!! #1 in the BCS!

Guess who's walking?...

Well, she's not walking just yet but she is taking lots of steps on her own. It's so stinkin' cute to watch her waddle across the room or rather in between Chase and I. She first started taking steps on Tuesday, Nov. 23rd. We took this video of her walking on Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

She's still falling quite a bit but she thinks walking is really funny. She is really proud of herself. Can you tell?
She is growing up so fast! I can't believe that we'll be celebrating her first birthday in less than two months. Can you believe it? I've started planning already!!

Thanksgiving 2010

 This year we spent Thanksgiving day with my family. Us, my Grandmother, Aunt Mary Jo and Uncle Mike as well as my parents had lunch at my parents house. Brantley had fun playing with her Nana and Pop Pop. They have really fun blocks and a wooden tool set that she thought was really fun to chew on. haha. That brings me to one bit of exciting news to share...BR cut her first tooth on Wednesday!! We are super excited about this because we were beginning to wonder if she was going to be toothless forever. haha! You still can't see it that well but I can feel it. She doesn't like to show it off just yet, but I bet once she gets a few more she'll start grinning just to show off her pearly whites.

 I am totally in love with this picture! Brantley Rae is so in love with her Daddy and they have so much fun together. This picture says it all!

After lunch we headed home so BR could take her afternoon nap while Chase and I put up the Christmas tree. Below are some pictures Chase took during BR's first look at the tree. She was so excited about it and kept saying "Ooo, Ooo!" I did let her touch the branches and one ornament but since then she has pretty much left it alone. Thank goodness!

We have SO so much to be thankful for this year! We have a home, jobs, cars, food, clothes, amazing parents, grandparents, siblings, wonderful friends, a beautiful baby girl that we love very very much! There is so much to be thankful for this year and we thank the Lord for it all!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! 

Bring on the Holidays!

Thanksgiving Playdate

Last Monday, my Mommy's Lunch Group got together for Thanksgiving lunch. It was so great! Brantley and I hadn't been able to go to the past few playdates because I was working. Thankfully, it worked out for us to go. Brantley had a lot of fun with the kiddos and it was nice to spend time with my friends. It's been so fun to watch these kiddos grow up. Some of them we've known since they were just a few weeks old and now they're starting to have their 1st birthdays. It's crazy! (Brantley's is in less than 2 months! AHH!)

The Listening Room Cafe

On November 17th, Jami and I drove up to Nashville, TN for Lauryn Taylor's show at The Listening Room Cafe. We had a wonderful time and Lauryn did great! The other singers that sang that night were all great also, but of course Lauryn was and is our favorite!

Before the show we hung out with Lauryn at the PCG office and took these silly pictures.

This is Lauryn Taylor during her show. She did so great!

To her left is Megan Redmond and to her right is Taylor Henry. Both of them are wonderful as well! I'm a fan of all 3 of them. They played with one other guy and his name was Brandon Maddox but he didn't make it in the picture because I was making sure Lauryn was in the middle. Oops!

During the second round these great singers sang. On the far left is Gary. He is one of the guitar couches that works with the PCG clients. Next is Chris Blair. He is the owner of The Listening Room Cafe and he also is a singer-songwriter. The young lady's name is Samantha Landrum. She is amazing! At only 16 years old she has an amazing voice and is on track to make it big! On the end is Dillon Dixon. He is a really great song writer and also has a great voice. Lauryn, Samantha and Megan have all written songs with him in the past. Many of Samantha's current songs were co-written with Dillon.

After the show we hung around for a little while and talked with a few of the performers and took pictures with Lauryn. She is so great and I am so proud of her! Here is the link to her Myspace page so that you can listen to some of her music.

Jami and I really would love to go back up to Nashville on Dec. 16th or the 17th for Lauryn's showcase at The Bluebird but I'm not sure that we'll make it because Jami has school and I don't have anyone to keep BR. I hate that we'll probably miss it because I would love to be there for that show. I know it's going to be special!

Jami and I love you Lauryn Taylor! 
Keep singing, writing and following your dream!!

Dina the Dinosaur

Yesterday, we went shopping for BR's Christmas presents and bought her this adorable Dinosaur Walk and Ride toy. Before we made it home, Chase and I decided that she "needed" it now. haha! So we put it together and let her go. Problem is that she can't go very far inside without running into the wall or furniture. So today we took Dina outside and let BR push her around the yard and up and down the driveway. She loves her new toy! I'm so glad we gave it to her early!

Here is a video of BR in action.

With Dina's help BR will be walking on her own in no time!

Shutterfly

Shutterfly is a great online website to use for printing photos and making lots of great things with your pictures, like photo books and Christmas cards. In the past I have used Shutterfly to make our Christmas cards, photo books, birth announcements and soon I’ll be using them to make BR’s 1^st Birthday invitations. They have such cute designs and I just love all the choices! The website is easy to use so making photo cards, a photo book or any other type gift/project is a breeze.

Click on each of these links to view all the different products:

·         Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

·         greeting cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/5x7-folded-greeting-cards
·         photo albums to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books/simple-path

·         photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

·         calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

·         birthday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

Here are four of my favorite Christmas photo cards:

 Above is their Family Memories Christmas card. I think this is adorable and would also make a cute birthday invitation if they made one like this, but I'm not sure that they do. I'll have to check!

 Above is their Peppermint Bliss Christmas card. I love the writing at the top!

Above is their Giggles & Grins Christmas card. I think it's just adorable!

And last but certainly not least, is my favorite one. This is the Classic Red Square Christmas card. I just love it and I'm not 100% sure why. I think it's because it's simple and you can add 8 different pictures.

Head on over to Shutterfly and get your next photo project started!

Operation Christmas Child - 2010

This year we filled two boxes for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse. It was really fun to put them together! I wish we could be there to see the smiles on the faces of the little boy and girl that receive our boxes.

  

Above are the things we put in the little boy box.

Above are the things we put in the little girl box.

We did both boxes for children age 2-4. Also, we spent about $20 per box.

I loved doing this so much that I'm thinking this is going to be a tradition for our family every year. I love the idea of providing a gift filled box for a child overseas that wouldn't have a Christmas gift otherwise.

Merry Christmas!

Fills Me With Joy

Shutterfly Fun!

I love Shutterfly! I have been using Shutterly for a while now and I have always loved their quality and the products they offer!

We'll be using Shutterfly this year for our Christmas cards and I plan on ordering BR's 1st birthday invitations from them as well. Can you believe her birthday is in a little over 2 months? Yikes! I better get planning! haha

You can take a look at all the beautiful Christmas Cards they have to offer here.
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

Shutterfly has great photo book options. They have lots of different themes and covers and the process is so easy! Check it out here...http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books

Shutterfly is having a great promotion where you can write a blog about Shutterfly and receieve 50 FREE Holiday Cards! Click on the link below to see how you can get your FREE Holiday Cards here.
http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

I'm super excited about using Shutterfly for our Christmas cards because I know they will be great!

Lauryn Taylor

 I am so proud of this young lady and how far she has come with her music and the determination she has to fulfill her dreams. Currently, Lauryn is working with PCG Nashville. They are a talent organization that is working with Lauryn to develop who she wants to be as a performer and singer-song writer.

 I used to babysit Lauryn and her siblings when they were growing up and I'm so proud of her. She is beautiful, talented, funny and a true joy to be around and I love her!!

Tonight I wanted to share a YouTube video that Lauryn just posted of one of her newest songs. I think it's a great song and I can totally hear it on the radio already. 

Click HERE to visit Lauryn's web page. HERE to visit her YouTube page to listen to her other songs and HERE to visit her MySpace page. Her MySpace page doesn't have music on it yet but I'm sure they're working on it.  You can also "Like" or "Be a Fan" of her fan page on Facebook, HERE.

This Wednesday, Lauryn is playing her first show in Nashville at The Listening Room Cafe and I get to go!! I'm so excited!! My friends, Brittany, Jami and I are driving up there together on Wednesday afternoon for the show and then driving back that night because we all 3 have to work on Thursday. It's going to be a long day and night but it will TOTALLY be worth it. Lauryn is great and I'm so glad we get to be there for her on her first night in Nashville. Yay!!

I'll make sure to take some pictures Wednesday and post about that when I get back. I hope everyone is having a good week. Love!

Flashback Friday

Back to the night when our lives were forever changed. It was March 8th, 2008, just in case you didn't remember! hehe!

This is a picture from the first night that Chase and I met. As you can tell, we clicked! I love looking back at these pictures because this was the day my life changed forever and I met the love of my life!! It didn't take long before I knew he was THE ONE!!

I will be forever thankful to our friends, Ashley and Devin because they are the ones that introduced us that night t. Thanks!
I have no idea where I would be without Chase and if I hadn't taken the chance to meet him that night. I'm so in love with him! He is a wonderful husband and I just wanted to give him a shout out for how much I love and appreciate him!!  God has blessed me with so much more than I ever imagined.

I LOVE YOU, CHASE!!

Brantley In The Mirror

I took this video of Brantley Rae playing with this new toy yesterday. We borrowed it from my friend Ashley and her daughter, Kearstyn. So far she is LOVING it!!

I love watching her play with this toy because she's just so cute! She loves watching herself in the mirror. Thanks, Ashley for letting us borrow/have this toy.

Tuesday

Today I've been looking at a bunch of crafty, home decor blogs and I've gotten really inspired to refinish a piece of furniture. I don't know what I want to refinish or where I'll put whatever I decide to refinish, but I really still want to do it. Check out All Things Thrifty's blog to see her awesome Yellow bedside tables that she refinished. They looks so great in her master bedroom. I would love to do something like this because Chase and I actually do need different bedside tables in our room. I probably won't choose yellow but I still think Brooke's are great!

Also, make sure to visit All Things Thrifty on Thursday because I'll be having a Willow House Giveaway on her blog. You don't want to miss it!

Look how sweet BR's new boots are!! I'm so excited about finding them. They're from Target. I had gone to the Hwy-280 Target and they didn't have them in her size. :o( Then I looked last week at the Target on Hwy-150 and they didn't have them either. Double :o(!! Well, yesterday I went to Target again to pick up a few things and I decided to just look to see if maybe they would have another pair in her size and THEY DID!! I was probably a little too excited, but I couldn't help it! They're just so cute on her!

Tomorrow my friend, Brittany from BG Photography is coming in town to take pictures of Brantley Rae for us. I'm so glad that Brittany and I finally got this planned. I have 3 different outfits for BR to wear and I'm working on an outfit for myself so I can be in a few of them with her. I can't wait to see how they turn out. I'll post them as soon as I get them back from Brittany.

I hope you all are having a fabulous Tuesday! Don't forget to check out this weeks Sale items on my Willow House outlet. You can get some really great products at ridiculously low prices!

These are just two of the great products that are on sale this week at my online Willow House outlet. Click HERE to visit my online Outlet. To get to the Weekly Deals hover over the Outlet tab and the Weekly Deals box will drop down. There you can view all of this weeks Specials!!

Weekly Sale Items

Did you know that every week there are at least 10 items priced 70% off for 1 week ONLY? 

 The plan is to have 10-15 items weekly at deeper discounts. At the end of the week they will move back to the normal Outlet price and 10-15 new items will be added. Click on your Outlet and a dropdown box for Weekly Specials will appear.

Here are the details.....
1) Weekly Deals will change generally on Monday’s before 9am CT.
This will occur the majority of the time, but not always.

2) There will be added deals throughout the week and at any time for
any interval.

3) There will be daily deals that are good just for that day only.
Could even be a morning deal or an afternoon deal.

4) Deals are good for the time specified and there are no refunds
because the price was different than the current price. In other words
the price is what it was sold as.

In order to find the best deals at the best time, you need to be visiting my website and deals weekly, if not more! 

It's almost holiday season. We need to be looking out for the best deals!! Happy Shopping!

Fun Southern Cities to Visit For Christmas

Are you planning a Christmas vacation?   Whether it is just for a day or a long weekend, you might want to check out this article, 5 Best Cities for Southern Christmas,  that was in Southern Living magazine. 

Folks in San Antonio, Atlanta, Louisville, Orlando, and Washington, D.C. know how to spice up the holidays with just the right mix of tradition and surprise.

Adorable Collegiate Ornaments from Coton Colors

Look how adorable this ornament is!! Coton Colors sell lots of other cute ornaments for different occasions, such as graduation and weddings. There is a boy ornament like this one that is super cute too! 

They offer products in lots of different teams so check them out and see what they have for you.

I'm gonna be ordering one of these for Brantley Rae for sure before Christmas. I think it's adorable and I'm in love with it!!

Click on the photo to view the website.

I love this also!! I first saw it in the Auburn store at the Galleria and wanted to buy it really bad. Now that I've found it again I may have to convince Chase that we NEED one of these to show our team spirit. War Eagle!!

Click on the picture to be directed to the website.

Here are some additional ornaments they sell.

 I hope you enjoy these as much as I do! Have a wonderful day!!

Plate & Pattern Giveaway

Every Tuesday, our design team over at Plate & Pattern host a giveaway for one of our products!

All you have to do to be entered to win is click on their logo and tell them how'd you would use the product! That's it!

But, don't wait, you only have until midnight on Tuesday night!