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!