HoHoHo!

Chase and I took the girls to see Santa last week at the Galleria. They both did great! No tears, no fears of the big guy, only shyness from BR. At first she didn't want to tell him what she wanted for Christmas but then she changed her mind. She walked right back up to him and with Chase's help she told him exactly what she'd like for him to bring her.

This year Brantley asked Santa to bring her a baby doll that she can feed and a bubble blowing machine. Hopefully, Santa can deliver because she hasn't stopped talking about them all month. haha!

Savannah of course didn't ask for any gifts this year but what baby doesn't want toys. We just told him she'd like some new toys.

There are only 9 days until Christmas! Brantley could not be more excited. She asks everyday if it's time to open a present yet. My response so far has been "nope, not yet". Excitement is growing!!

Christmas Card Photos 2012

Thanksgiving 2012

This year we spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family at my Grandmother Harris' house in Oxford, AL. It had been over 5 years since all of my aunts/uncles/cousins were able to get together for Thanksgiving. Finally, this year we all made it happen. My Grandmother asked to have everyone over to her house again this year and I'm so glad she did. We had a wonderful time! I wish I had taken more pictures but we forgot our big camera (Nikon D300) so I just snapped a few with my pocket cannon. 

My dad took pictures of the 4 of us on his camera but I haven't gotten them from him yet.

 We tried to get good photos of the girls that morning but it was so early that the sun was pretty harsh. Oh well, this is a cute one!

I could just eat her up!!

God Bless America

Our July 4th holiday spread across 4 days. We started out by attending Vestavia's "We Love America Day" celebration where we went swimming at the Wald Park pool. Actually, Brantley and I were the only ones to get wet but it was fun none the less. Brantley loved the little pool so I'm hoping to take her back there soon. 

July 4th was actually pretty uneventful for us. Chase had brought home the green pool for Brantley to play in but we were having a bee problem that day so she only got to play for about 5 minutes. We're thinking they have a nest in the front yard somewhere because Chase killed at least 30 or more with wasp spray and then more kept coming out.

The night we went over to Chase's parents house for dinner. Beverly had cooked a killer brisket and some other stuff I don't even remember what it all was now but the brisket was AMAZING! We opted out of watching fireworks again this year because Chase had been up since about 3am so he was tired. Hopefully next year we will be in to see Thunder On The Mountain for sure. Or some other show somewhere. I'd love to be at the lake next year for the 4th.

On Thursday the 5th, I took the girls to the Birmingham Zoo all by myself. We didn't get there until almost 11:30 so it was blazin' hot and we were pretty miserable the whole time. No worries though, we still had a good time and made the most of our outing.

On Friday morning, we went down to meet my parents at Lake Jordan. My Aunt Brenda had rented a house for the holiday and we got to spend Friday night down there. It was great and I'm so glad we were able to go. Brantley got to swim in the lake for the first time and she went on her first boat ride (pictures below). Savannah slept under an umbrella in her moses basket for about 3 hours when we first got there. I was amazed that she slept that long out there but it felt great so I guess I don't blame her.

She loved the boat ride most of all I think!

All in all we had a great time celebrating America's birthday. We spent time with family and that is the perfect thing to do on holidays. Happy Birthday, America!!

Happy 4th of July!

 God Bless America! We hope everyone had a fun and safe day celebrating our freedom.

Easter Sunday 2012

This year the Easter Bunny was pretty good to Brantley. She got a beautiful dress, a coloring book, ABC book, vitamins, cookies and some candy. She was in heaven that morning just looking at it all! BR dove right in and ate opened one of her eggs that was filled with a few Jelly Beans. Starburst jelly beans are the bomb, by the way!
Unfortunately, Chase had to be at work during church so BR and I went to VHUMC with my parents. Brantley stayed in the service with me and she did surprisingly well. Goldfish and water during the sermon were the key to keeping her seated and quiet.

After church we went over to my parents house for family lunch. Like usual, I should have taken more pictures of everyone that was there but we only took these cute pictures before we changed clothes and ate lunch. Brantley's cousins, Abby, Will and Molly were there as well. They had an egg hunt just before it was time to head home for nap time and I didn't get any pictures. Bad Mom!

Easter is such a special day to celebrate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is Risen!! I'm so thankful for the sacrifice that was made for us and all the love, hope and life we have been given. Spending time with family makes me so aware and thankful for all the many blessings we have been given.

We ended our day by having dinner at Chase's parents house. BR got to hide and find eggs at their house too! She had major sugar overload and bedtime was rough. Today was much better and her candy intake was close to nothing compared to how much she had on Sunday. haha!

VHUMC Egg Hunt

 Saturday morning, Mom and I took Brantley to the Vestavia Hills UMC's annual Easter egg hunt. Brantley got WAY too many eggs but of course, she loved that part.

Post-Christmas Gift Swap

Top Left Photo: Nikki, Erin, Jami, Ashley K, Ashley W, Me (19 weeks pregnant) and Lauren (35 weeks pregnant).

 This year the gift swap was at our new house. I loved having all these girls over for dinner and a fun game of Dirty Santa. There was quite a bit of stealing but in the end, I think everyone was happy. This year we swapped yard/porch decorations. They were all really cute!

I love these ladies and I love this tradition we have started!! I'm already looking forward to next year when we swap inside Christmas decorations.

Christmas Dinner at Nana & PopPop's House

I didn't take very many or very good pictures this night. Bad Mommy! But after eating our yummy dinner my mom had prepared, we sat down to open gifts.

Brantley got her new dollhouse from my parents and the extra people and furniture from us. She loves her new dollhouse and plays with it daily.

Before leaving to head home, Uncle Brett got down in the floor and played with Brantley and Alyssa. It was really cute! We don't see my brother and his family enough so moments like this kinda make me a little teary eyed. We love you guys!!

To finish off my line of Christmas posts I leave you with this cute video...

Ho, Ho, Merry "Kwissmas" everyone!!

Our 5 Stops on Christmas Day!

After seeing all that Santa had brought Brantley that morning, we loaded up in Bebe's Highlander and headed down to Prattville to see all the family. Our first stop was at Chase's Uncle's house but I didn't take any pictures there. Oops! Brantley was given her first of 3 baby dolls by them. So sweet!

Next we headed over to Chase's Granny Smith's house for brunch and to visit with the family. Brantley enjoyed playing with her new wooden doll and dressing her. She even shared with Meri Ansley a little bit. Before we left and headed to our next stop, Brantley had to play the piano with her Daddy. I'm hoping her love for the piano continues to grow as she gets older but if she's anything like me, she'll be too busy to sit still and learn how to play.

On the way to our third stop (Beverly's parents) BR fell asleep in the car so when we got there she and I stayed in the car for an hour long nap. Much needed! When she woke up we went in and had lunch and opened more presents. Baby doll #2 for the day was received and a few really cute books.

Our forth stop was at Chase's Grandfather's (His mom's dad) house in Millbrook where we got to see his Granny Brantley and lots of other family members.

Brantley was given her third and final baby doll of the day along with a stroller and change of clothes for the baby. I'm not sure why but this gift was my favorite. The baby doll is so cute!! She also got a coloring book and crayons, dress-up clothes and a tea set. She is very loved at their house/in that side of the family.

For Chase's grandfather we had portraits made at Portrait Innovations in Hoover of Brantley with the portrait of Chase's mother when she was around Brantley's age. It turned out really great and he loved it.

This is the portrait that we had made (along with others that I will share later). The whole thing was Chase's Dad's idea and it turned out great!

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Last but certainly not least we headed over to Chase's Aunt Carol and uncle Ted's house for dinner with the family and to play a little Dirty Santa. Dinner was delicious and BR had fun playing with cousins she doesn't see very often. Dirty Santa was really crazy with almost 30 people playing but it wasn't too too bad. I came home with a game called Farkle Frenzy and Chase, bless his heart, ended up with a hummingbird feeder. He almost had a $25 gift card to Academy but his Uncle Ted stole it from him to end the game. Bummer! We still had fun though.

It had been a very long day for all of us so it was finally time to pack up and head back to Hoover. Brantley had on her pajamas and Beverly and I had pillows. Night night! haha

We had a wonderful time celebrating with Chase's family and I'm so thankful for each and everyone of them and the love they show us every time we are down there. Again, I will say we are truly blessed! God is so good to us!!

Santa Came!!

Christmas morning was dark and early for me, 2:30 early. I have no clue why I was awake other than my mind was running and I couldn't shut it down to go back to sleep. Despite my lack of sleep I got myself in the shower and prepared for the grandparents to come over for breakfast and presents.

Here is the video of her coming downstairs to see her gifts that big guy brought her. She was a very good girl this year!

Her smile was so big! I wish I had gotten a picture but I was videoing so I didn't. I'm hoping one of the grandparents got that picture.

Admiring her kitchen. It makes bubbling and sizzling noises.

Brantley had a very fun stocking this year. Mommy and Santa did a much better job on her stocking this year. 

Brantley got this totally adorable table and chairs from my parents Christmas morning and she loves it. We have it downstairs sitting by her kitchen and she enjoys setting the table and playing away.

After opening presents we had to get ourselves together and ready to head down to Prattville to see as much of Chase's family that we could fit into one day. I was already so tired but I was excited to see everyone!

Christmas Eve Events!

Christmas Eve morning we loaded up and headed out to my Aunt and Uncle's house for brunch. We had a wonderful time with my mom's side of the family. We had a pretty large crowd this year although there were some people who weren't able to come.

My Aunt Mary Jo decided that she wanted us to act out the Christmas story for every one and asked Chase and I to play Mary and Joseph. We didn't have any lines, thankfully (my acting skills are terrible) we just walked in and sat down and Aunt MJ read the story from Luke.

We all had a really yummy brunch and enjoyed each others company. Brantley liked playing with the Santa and angel figurines that were on the bookshelf in the kitchen. That is until she opened her Thomas the Train from my Grandmother Harris.

Grandmother loved her Christmas present from us. I made small plates at Painted By U for all of the Grandparents and Great-Grandparents this year with Brantley's foot on them, pictured below. 

We also gave each Grandparent some of the portraits we had made of Brantley before Christmas, which I will be sharing in her 23 month post shortly. They turned out SO great!!

The Harris family, minus a few folks.

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To finish out Christmas Eve this year, we went over to Bebe and PawPaw's house to have dinner with them and my parents. This is a new tradition that we started last year. I love this tradition because I love when Brantley gets to spend time with both sets of grandparents together. We love them all so much!

I made them a new calendar for 2012 with pictures from 2011 like I did last year, along with portraits of BR and the footprint plate. They loved it all!

Brantley got her grocery buggy and play food from her Bebe and PawPaw that night. She loves cutting the food with her little knife and cutting board. I think it's pretty cool as well honestly. If your child has a toy kitchen and needs new toy food to go with it, I recommend the Just Like Home food that is velcroed together so the child can cut it apart over and over again. Huge hit!

Chase and I got to open a few presents as well and we are very thankful for all that we received. We are truly loved and blessed!!

Next up...Christmas morning!!!