And the Christmas outings begin

There is a little carnival called Winter Wonderland set up where we got our Christmas tree. All the proceeds go to Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital so there was no way we could pass up the opportunity for a little bit of Christmas fun and at the same time helping the children's hospital.

She LOVED the carousel which is a major turn around since Halloween when we tried to ride one at the zoo. She loved riding on the giraffe.

 We also took a little train ride. Love, love, love these two!

The Sumralls joined in on the fun.

She loved the carousel so much we had to ride it twice, this time the elephant.

The little elf that thought she could...

 I will have to say that past years it has been MUCH easier to decorate our house for Christmas but not nearly as much fun. This year we had a little elf to help us out a bit...or so SHE thought.

Picking out our Christmas tree. She was sooo excited she just kept screaming Christmas freee and running around like a crazy girl.

 It's funny how she wants to do EVERYthing we are doing. How can you resist this cuteness though?

Our little elf thought the ornament boxes were stools...she has a bit to learn before next year rolls around.

She did a great job hanging the ornaments though. She has that down pat. We have only had one glass ornament shatter.

But then she thought maybe it was a good idea to get under the tree... Oh Santa, you have some training to do.

She was soo proud of her work though.

Little girl, did we forget to tell you that the decorating is complete?? Time to go to bed!

She had to take a small break and give a call to the big man up north.

Then she felt the need to take some pictures of her work. She hangs with her daddy too much.

Aren't I supposed to be taking a picture of you???

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. It is one of my favorite holidays so we tend to go a tad overboard on the decorating. I LOVE everything about Christmas. I love the gift buying, getting cards in the mail from friends, the parties, decorating the house and cookies, the music...you name it and I enjoy it!

Christmas tree 2011

This year it was a tad more interesting decorating the tree seeing that we had a new elf to help out. I will post about her later.

 It's hard to believe next year we will have 5 stockings hanging from the mantle (yes, Lilly has her own stocking). God is so good and has blessed us beyond measure.

The reason for the season is the birth of our Saviour. Three wise men on the entry hall table are most appropriate.

Happy Birthday to Jesus. Starting this year I think we are going to have a birthday cake in honor of Jesus' birthday. I don't want all of Olivia's childhood memories of Christmas to be about the presents she got but the true reason.

I put Olivia's nativity scene out after she had gone to bed one night. The next morning at breakfast I look over at her and she has the whole nativity scene practically in her cereal bowl and lap. Silly.

Along with the nativity scene, this is probably Olivia (and Hays') favorite decoration that we put out. She begs for us to hold her up so she can stare at it.

I bought this Lenox Christmas plate the year Olivia was born and will do the same for the next baby. It says the year she was born and will be such a treasure to put out every year in honor of our children's birth.

 This little nameless lady has made an appearance. Olivia doesn't get the concept at all so maybe she'll start moving around next year. For this year, she's staying put.

Preggo Shots

Week 27 with Olivia

 Week 26 with baby #2

Well, well, well we ONLY have 25 days until we find out what this wiggly little baby is inside of me. I'm not sure if I'll get any sleep on Christmas Eve. This pregnancy was so very different up to week 16. From then until now it has been much the same as with Olivia (other than the baby moves ALL the time which Olivia did not do). But looking at these pictures makes me think there's a little brother in there. Hays and I were comparing the pictures last night and both said at the same time wow! the belly is so much higher this time. I'm sure God is up there laughing at us right now, chuckling at all of our theories on why it's a girl or boy.



Look who turned 3!!!

Wil Franklin turned 3!!! I can't believe it, I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. What a blessing he is to our family and what joy he has brought to our lives. We love you, Wil Franklin!!!

So.Very.Blessed.

We have so much to be thankful for not only on this holiday but all year long. Just a few things that I am most thankful for:
*Jesus, He died for my sins so that I (a very sinful human) could have eternal life. So grateful that I have heaven to look forward to one day.
*Hays-he is such a blessing to me every day. Thankful for his support and what an awesome daddy he is to our little girl.
*Our very active 22 month old that brings us laughter and joy to our lives nonstop.
*This very wiggly baby inside me.
*Our church, for the people that have been placed there to help guide and direct us in raising our children.
*Family-some may be near and some may be far but they are all very close to my heart. Life's struggles would be so much harder without their unending support and love.
*Friends-for the laughter they bring to my life no matter what.
*Our house-so thankful for a warm and comfortable place to raise our children.
*For the past, present and future.
These are just a few things that I am so unbelievably thankful for. The list could go on and on and on and on..............

Thanksgiving

So, I have a big confession to make. I have not one picture from Thanksgiving. I print this blog as a book once a year for Olivia to have and so I can remember everything going on (which I am SO thankful I decided to do) so it makes me so sad that we have no decent pictures from this holiday.

Even without pictures, all in all it was a GREAT holiday. We have so so much to be thankful for. We pretty much had a whole week of Thanksgiving. We started the Saturday before with my family. After a long drive to my grandfather's house to meet up with the rest of the family we discovered that Olivia wasn't feeling well and pretty much stayed in mine or Nano's lap the entire day. We later found out that she had an ear infection.

She was soon over that (thankfully) and we celebrated with my mom's side of the family in Collierville, TN and then Olivia and I stayed the rest of the week in Memphis. We had a great time relaxing and doing some much needed Christmas shopping.

On Thanksgiving Day we traveled to Oxford to celebrate with Hays' family. We had a great time and I just cannot believe I have no pictures to show of it (my excuse, the batteries were dead in my camera-true story).

I was able to complete one thing off my "to do bucket list". I know it may be silly but I have many "bucket lists" going and two of them are things to do before I die and places to go before I die. Well, cooking a turkey was one of them. I went all out and brined the silly bird for 24 hours in all sorts of things and then cooked it for 3 plus hours while taking it out every 45 minutes to cover it in its juices. All in all it was a success! True stamp of adulthood was made that day!