Christmas in Georgia

We started our Christmas vacation at Mimi and Papa Stan's house.  On Saturday night Bert and I went to Cotillion (a dance) with my parents.  Bert and I left Emily w/ Uncle Stan (while she was screaming her head off I might add) and he was in charge of getting her to bed, etc....he did a wonderful job!:)  

On Sunday we celebrated Papa Stan's birthday.  Mom and I worked hard to make Dad's favorite cake...a lemon pound cake.  I must say it turned out pretty good.  Emily was diving for the cake and Papa Stan was perfectly fine w/ letting her have it.  I wasn't about to let her mess up the pretty cake we had just made.:)  

 On Monday we took a trip up to Dahlonega, GA to visit some of our good friends from Bert's time on staff w/ Campus Outreach.  This picture is missing 4 kids, but you get the idea.  We so enjoyed catching up w/ them!

On Tuesday we hit the road to go visit Bert's family in Jackson.  Here we are playing a modified version of charades.  I have a really hard time w/ this game because I find myself just wanting to sign whatever I am trying to say.  When I try to think of some other way to describe it....all I can think of is the sign.  It's terrible.  If I were you, I wouldn't pick me for your team if we play this in the future.:)

Emily playing w/ Grandmama

 

Emily and with her aunts....

We made it back up to Toccoa on Christmas Eve night about 11:30pm.  Thankfully Emily slept for most of the trip back up so she was ready to go early on Christmas morning.  We ALWAYS take a stairs picture first thing on Christmas morning.  Emily looked pretty excited to take part.:)

Our aunts, uncles and cousins started arriving about lunch time and we had a wonderful afternoon and evening with them.  Here we are skyping w/ our cousin Michael and his wife Allison who are living in England!  So fun!

We also played a friendly game of Family Feud....girls vs. boys.  The Girls dominated.:)  Please notice the homemade Family Feud board made by my Aunt Kathy....very impressive.  

We had such a wonderful time spending time w/ family!  We love you and miss you all so much!!

3 Years

Today is our 3 year anniversary and what an amazing 3 years it has been! I'll take you on a trip down memory lane.

Our rehearsal...

The reception...

Our first house.  Please take note of the hearts!:)  This precious little house is in Dahlonega, GA where we lived after we got married.  We lived in this house for 4 months before moving to Wake Forest.  Great memories! 

Jump back to today...

I've been so excited about our date tonight all day long, and then Bert came home w/ a dozen roses and it got me even more excited.:)  I just love spending time w/ him!  

Whitney came over to keep Emily (thanks Whit) and we headed out to a fabulous Italian restaurant in town.  Our sweet small group blessed us w/ a gift certificate there a few weeks ago and we've been saving it for tonight!  

I love you, Bert.  I love being your wife.  Thank you for a wonderful three years.  I'm looking forward to many more!:)  

Small Group Christmas Party

Last night our small group got together for a Christmas party.  We had such a wonderful time!!  I'm so thankful for the way these sweet people challenge me and encourage me!  

On a side note...Bert lost a bet and had to wear an Auburn t-shirt last night.  I've never seen him in anything other than UGA gear (not even Clemson) so it was a sight to see.  He changed back before taking the picture, but just know that he did wear an Auburn shirt and feel free to give him a hard time about it.:)  

Emily - 8 months

-Cute as a button

-Drinks 4 bottles a day (total of around 24 ounces)

-Eats cereal in the morning and some type of baby food at night

-Gets very excited about Daddy coming home (starts waving her hands and "talking")

-Easily distracted while drinking her bottle

-Hates peaches

-Loves bath time - doesn't like to put down her rubber duckie

-Gets very excited about going to the grocery store (smiles and looks around the entire time)

-Rolling all over the place

-SO close to crawling

-Takes two good naps a day (usually 1 1/2 hours each)

-Sometimes takes a short third nap 

-Smiles all the time

-Sleeps through the night

-Sleeps from approx. 7:30pm to 7:00am

-Dislikes being put in her carseat (especially w/ her big coat on)

-Recognizes the sign for "milk"

-Hasn't figured out that she can pull her bow out of her hair (woohoo!)

-Can walk across the room if you are holding her hands

-Not overly concerned w/ the Christmas tree (not trying to pull ornaments down, etc.)

-I felt her first tooth this afternoon!

 

(Great form, but she's just not going anywhere yet...soon!)

Emily, you're growing SO fast!  Sometimes I wish I could freeze time, but at the same time it's so much fun to watch you learn new things.  You bring so much joy to our family.  We love you!!!

-

Birthday Celebrations Galore

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!  Bert turned 28 on the 28th! :)

We celebrated in style this year...

Celebration #1
The Monday before we left for Thanksgiving I took Bert out for a birthday dinner.  I told him about it a few days before, but wouldn't tell him where we were going.  I am now a huge fan of Groupons.  If you don't know what I'm talking about check it out here.  We went to Hibachi Express in Raleigh, and I was able to pay $7 for $15 worth of food.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  Robin, from our small group came over to watch Emily for us (thank you SO much, Robin!!).

We had such a great time!  The food was great, and the fact that we only paid $7 made it even better!:)  

Celebration #2

We had a birthday dinner with my parents and brother on Saturday night before his birthday on Sunday.  We were actually running a little later than expected with dinner so we had to wait until half time of the Georgia game before eating cake and opening presents, but it was probably for the best...dinner was SO good.  

Emily wanted to help!:)  We've decided she's going to be a really fun age at Christmas this year.  She was very interested in all that paper.  

Celebration #3

So I had been thinking for a few weeks that it would be fun to have a little surprise party for Bert w/ some of our small group, but I couldn't figure out when or how to do it b/c his birthday fell over a break and lots of people were going to be out of town (including us).  Anyway, I was talking to some of the ladies in our group who got VERY excited about the idea.  They said they would let everyone into our apartment on Sunday night and they would all be here to surprise him when we arrived back in Wake Forest.  

On Sunday afternoon as we were packing up the car in Toccoa I started thinking that maybe this was a bad idea.  I mean I had NO idea how long it would take us to get back.  It's a 5 hour drive w/o baby stops and Charlotte traffic.  We ended up hitting some pretty bad traffic in Charlotte.  It took us 7 hours instead of 5, but we still arrived at hour apartment within 10 minutes of when I was expecting us to arrive.  CRAZY!  

The surprise went beautifully.  Bert was SOOOO surprised!!  Thanks to Elizabeth for making such a yummy cake!!  

Celebration #4

Katherine and Brett had to leave for NC on Saturday afternoon before our family birthday dinner, so they asked if they could have us down to their house for their own birthday dinner.  We of course accepted...those two know how to cook a good meal!:)  I'm sad to say that I actually didn't get a picture of us that night, but just know we had a wonderful meal and wonderful conversation.  

Bert, you are the best husband and the most loving father.  Emily and I are so thankful for you.  I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!:)

Thanksgiving in GA

We traveled to GA over Thanksgiving and we had such a wonderful time visiting with family and friends.  

First stop:  Jackson, GA....we started out our time in Jackson by visiting Bert's grandmother.  It was SO good to see her.  She was so excited to see Emily.  As soon as we walked in the room she had her hands out for us to hand her over.:)

Bert and his grandmother.  She's such an encouragement to us.  She's a strong believer and not afraid to tell you what she's thinking....refreshing.   Love her...

Emily playing w/ her cousins...

A cousin picture....so sweet!!  Emily has some catching up to do!:)  

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with Bert's parents, grandparents, and siblings (plus families).  We had soooo much good food.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  Bert's mom made collards and I cannot tell you how excited Bert was about it.  Who knew he liked collards so much??  Not me.:)  I don't think I had ever even had them until last week.  I actually really liked them.  I'm going to need to surprise my sweet husband and cook them for him one night.

Second Stop:  Toccoa, GA - We drove up to Toccoa on Friday afternoon to have our Thanksgiving meal w/ my family.  

My parents, Emily and I...

I LOVE this picture!!  Emily's very loved by her Papa Stan!  

Please just look at her cute little chubby hands...love them!  (You can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger.)

You know those friends who know what you're thinking before you say it??  The kind of friend you can literally talk to for hours and feel like you just started talking.  Misty has been one of my best friends since kindergarten.  She had a precious little girl, Emily Ann, in June.  Misty, David and Emily stopped by my parents house for a few minutes as we were loading up the car to head back to NC.  I'm so glad we got to see them!  Emily A's getting bigger by the day!  

Emily Jean (7 1/2 mo) and Emily Ann (5 mo)

I kept having to jump in the picture to pull Emily J. away.  I think she was trying to give her a hug.:)  

We are thankful for so much, but most of all we're thankful for our Savior.  We're thankful that He died for our sins and made us right with God.  We're so undeserving of his grace and love, but so thankful for it.  Praise Him!  

No thanks, Mom.

Emily's never been a huge paci-lover, but she would certainly take one from time to time and it would usually calm her down.  I had 2 with me at all times.  One day, a few weeks ago, Emily decided she didn't need a pacifier any more.  She literally refused it every time.  I've carried them with me for weeks.  When she got fussy I would try to give her one, but she would have nothing to do w/ it.  I think there are two reasons why this makes me sad.  1.)  It's honestly nice to be able to have something that will calm her down quickly...especially if we can't pick her up ( ex. car).  2.)  I feel like my baby is growing up too fast!!  

I started looking for a paci picture and I realized that in most every picture I had taken her pacifier out for the picture.  Now I wish I hadn't.  I wish I had a few pics to remember that sweet short stage.  (I'm making a mental note for future stages.)  I did find one picture of Emily w/ one of my best friends from college, Sara.  Emily's 3 months old in this picture.  

Good news, Emily, you won...I've packed up your pacifiers.:)  

Bath Time

Emily's loving bath time these days.  

She has actually loved bath time since day one.  

I can remember one time when she cried in the bath tub.  She was about two weeks old.  

Bert and I were running low on sleep and still a little unsure of what we were doing.  We put her in the bath and after a few minutes she just completely lost it....started wailing.  

We of course didn't know what to do so we took her out to try to calm her down.  

As I was wrapping her up in the towel I realized I had forgotten to feed the poor child.  It was 30 minutes past time for her to eat.  The good news is that she didn't starve, and we haven't made the same mistake twice.:)  

I got this cute little tub at one of my baby showers, but we had to wait to use it until she could sit up really well on her own.  I was so excited when Bert suggested we pull it out!  

It really is the perfect size.  It allows her to move around a little, but not go too far.  

Happy Birthday Katherine Marie

My sweet sister, Katherine, turned 26 last Thursday!  

We're 19 months apart, and growing up everyone used to think she was older.  

It really used to get under my skin!!  

I don't get upset now, but I do still enjoy being older.:)  

Everyone tells me that's going to change one day...we'll see!:)  

Mama and Daddy came up for the birthday festivities and just to hang out for the weekend.  We had a great time w/ them as always.  

I love this picture!!  It really shows how Emily is in constant motion these days.  You have to hold on tight!  She's probably in the process of diving for something on the table.  

Birthday dinner...

Happy Birthday Kate!  I love you!!

$5 Date Night

Last Wednesday Bert and I went out on a $5 date night.  (It was actually $5.09 for all of you accountants out there who are wondering if it was actually $5 on the dot.)  

We had SUCH a great time.  I love dating my husband!!  We really do feel like its so important to go on dates.  It's good for our marriage and one day when Emily knows what's going on, it will be good for her to see us valuing our marriage. (Thanks so much to Sue and Graham for coming over to keep Emily...we really do appreciate it!!!)

We have to be creative with our date nights these days are were on a tight budget.  So....we drove to Raleigh and enjoyed window shopping and then went to a cute little coffee shop.  We played cards and just enjoyed chatting.   

It was a fun, relaxing, inexpensive date.  I loved every minute of it.

Wordless Wednesday: Play Time with Daddy

Our Little Cow

Emily was a cow this year for Halloween and I must say she was pretty cute.:)  We went to a little small group Halloween party at Kyle and Claire's apt on Saturday night.  We all had such a great time hanging out w/ everyone!

30 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the party Bert and I still didn't know what we were going to wear.  My lack of creativity comes shinning through around Halloween time.  Bert suggested that I put my hair in pig tails and freckles on my face...so I did...I can't really take credit for anything. 

Emily actually fell asleep in Bert's arms and was out for most of the party.  We really appreciated her letting us hang out for a little longer.  Certainly not a guarantee.  She's going to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 these days and we often have to make early departures because she will fall apart before our very eyes when we keep her out too late...

Group shot.  They weren't overly excited about the photo shoot, but they all humored me.  Thanks guys!:)  

After we got everyone together they got into it and wanted to do a "crazy" picture.  I never know what to do for "crazy" pictures.  Does this also go back to my lack of creativity??

Happy Halloween!:)