aunt ti in town

Christi came to visit us for a long weekend this past week. We enjoyed a quick trip to the beach, cupcakes, a not-so "winter wonderland," Christmas parade (more of that to come in a later post), a tour of the local winery, and of course, Chick-fil-A for the CA girl! We had a full, but fun time together and it was great as always to get time together in person. And although Arden can now actually say, "Christi," she still mostly referred to her as "Aunt Ti," much to the delight of her Aunt Christi! We love you! Thank you for coming to visit!

thankful

I'm very thankful that we were able to spend some extended time with my family over the Thanksgiving holiday. The girls and I went up early to see our nieces, Hannah and Halli, perform in the Nutcracker, and then Woody came up later in the week. We all had a great time...Arden got lots of opportunities to play with Halli and took advantage of dressing up like Minnie Mouse every time we were at "Halli's house." Esther loved playing with Halli as well, but stayed pretty close to me and gave everyone besides G.G., Papa and Aunt Jenni looks that would kill if they even came close to trying to take her. She later sported two new teeth (finally adding to her four! yah!) on Thanksgiving day, that I think were the reason for this. Woody and I even got some time away for dinner and Starbucks! (Thank you G.G. and Aunt Jenni!) And it was especially great to be able to spend a whole week with my parents, sister and her family and then my aunt, uncle and cousin for Thanksgiving day!

Happy Belated Birthday Nonie!

Well, I didn't exactly get this posted when I wanted to, but know that you were thought of and loved on your birthday! We hope you had a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you in a few short weeks!! We love you Nonie!

I've been tagged...

I have been tagged by Heather, a very dear friend of mine in B'ham. She and her husband, Todd, actually had a part in introducing Woody and I when we were in Orlando! The instructions for this tag are to pick the 4th picture folder on my computer; choose and post the 4th picture; explain the picture; and tag 4 other people to participate. Here it goes:


This picture was taken this time last year when the girls and I were living with Nonie and Dagan waiting to move down to be with Woody. Arden was 22 months old and I remember wanting to take this pic b/c she just looked so sweet rocking her baby. I especially love her cute chubby legs with her ankles crossed!

So now I tag-
1. Hannah Armstrong
2. Allison Davis
3. Jenni Deal
4. Brittany Sivyer

Arden's made the switch...

to a toddler bed! Arden's crib was recalled a month or so ago, and so we decided it was time to move her into a bigger bed! We actually were given a toddler bed, so everything fell into place quite easily. She's been in the bed for 3 weeks now and has done marvelously! We really didn't know how she would handle the transition, but by God's grace, it has been such an easy switch! It also helps that she LOVES her new bed and for the first few days, she was practically begging us to go to bed. She loves being covered up with her quilt and hasn't once gotten out of bed at night. It did take a few days to get her to stay in her room for her nap, but now she's got the hang of it and reminds us to close the door on our way out. Below are a few pics the first night we set the bed up. The first picture is her waking up from her nap in her crib for the last time. After we got her out, she helped Woody take the crib down and bring the new bed in. The first few nights she had to have all her animals and babies close by as you'll see, but now she just wants "pink baby" when it's time to lay down.

Georgia girls

Well, these were actually taken the day of the FL game, but I just couldn't bring myself to post them that day! :) So, since we won this afternoon (not that it was a pretty win), I decided I'd go ahead and share them.

15 months

It's hard to believe our sweet little Esther is 15 months old! She is growing up so fast and getting into a whole lot lately! She's practically running, trying to keep up with her big sister, and she's our little climber as well. She loves being outside...she'll get her crocs on and go to the backdoor and say "go." And speaking of shoes, if she doesn't have any on, she'll find the closest pair and put them on-it doesn't matter who they actually belong to. Her new favorite things to do include taking and drinking from her sister's straw sippie cups, unloading book shelves, laundry baskets, etc. and talking. She's learning all sorts of new words, which has been so exciting to watch and hear. Her favorite song right now is "He's got the whole world in His hands." She puts her arms over her head and says, "worl." She has us sing it quite often! Esther's also becoming very independent, wanting to do things herself and letting you know when she's not happy with what you've said or done with her...isn't it a little early for this?? :) She keeps us on our toes, and I wouldn't have it any other way! She is such a delight and watching her makes my heart so full. She is a precious gift from our Lord!
We love you, Little Miss!
The pictures are some we took downtown yesterday, as well as a couple showing her love of shoes and books! (A note of thanks for her "wardrobe"...the "E" dress was a bday gift from Aunt Jenni and the peach colored dress was made by a sweet woman in our church!)