Rollin' with the Tide!

Due to the television schedule the Alabama/Auburn game was moved to Friday this year instead of Saturday.  This was looked upon very poorly by everyone from us to Coach Saban.  Since the game was scheduled for a 1:30 PM kick this meant that we had to miss part of Thanksgiving to drive to Montgomery so that we wouldn't have to get up before dawn on Friday to make the drive.  We were so thankful that we got to get that extra sleep but we were sad to leave Charlotte for an extra night.

Friday morning we woke up and got on the road to try and avoid as much traffic as possible.  It was a fairly smooth drive until we were trying to get off the interstate into Auburn.  At that point traffic got pretty heavy but it still wasn't the worst that I've ever been in.  We got a pretty close parking spot at a church that only cost us $15 as opposed to the $40 that some people were charging to park in their front yard! See, we got a great deal on Black Friday! :)

Coach Saban before the game

If you watched the game you know that it wasn't the game we were hoping for.  We were pretty tense all game afraid that the trick plays that Auburn was throwing out would cause our guys to not be able to rally.  I think my Dad was the most worried of all since I didn't want to go to the game at all (if you know me at all you know that I AM NOT a fan of Auburn and I wasn't relishing a trip to that town) and he promised me that it would be a great game and we would win.  So when things weren't looking so good he wasn't sure he was going to be able to face me since I had to leave Charlotte to come!  Thankfully, it didn't come to that! :)  (But, if it had, Daddy, I still would have appreciated the opportunity to go so thank you.)

After a breathtaking final drive we finally got what I came for.  A win in Auburn.  I'll tell ya, it was sweet.  Rammer Jammer has never tasted so good.  Here are some of our celebration pictures from after the game!

Our family and my parents friend Lyn

With the scoreboard in the background!

Some of the Seniors and a few other players

We made pretty good time back to the hotel and enjoyed a fun dinner with my parents.  Then, this morning we got on the road early to go and get our baby girl!  It was fun to wake her up from her nap and see her smiling face!!  She did great with her grandparents.  Thank you so much Kay, David, and Kevin for keeping her!  It helped knowing that she was in such capabale hands!

Gobble! Gobble!

We had a great Thanksgiving.  It was a little different this year due to the Iron Bowl being on Friday instead of Saturday and because of that we didn't get to see much family but we did enjoy the one Thanksgiving meal that we had.  Charlotte got to wear her cute turkey dress which I loved and I think she looked so cute in!  It was the first time her shoes have stayed on her feet longer than 5 minutes so that was nice too since it was pretty brisk outside.

Kevin (Jason's little brother), Jason, and David (Jason's Dad)

We went to Jason's Mom's parents home for Thanksgiving lunch and we enjoyed seeing family that we don't get to see that often.  They live about an hour away from us which makes them the farthest away from us (I know, we are so blessed!).  We enjoyed a yummy meal and some great fellowship and everyone got to love on Charlotte!

Charlotte watching some football with GrandDaddy

Helping KayKay with the dishes

Charlotte with one set of great-grandparents, Moma Dean and GrandDaddy

Soon it was naptime and Charlotte was a trooper and fell asleep in my lap.  Everyone was so amazed that she slept through the chatter and tv but to us it was no surprise!  She's taken many a nap this fall with over 90,000 screaming fans jumping up and down cheering for their team! :)

Our family picture on Charlotte's first Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for!

After lunch we came home and packed the car and headed to Jason's parents house to drop Charlotte off before we traveled down for the Alabama/Auburn game.  It was very hard leaving Charlotte for two nights especially since it was her first Thanksgiving but I'm glad that we got to celebrate with her at lunch.  We look forward to celebrating next year with a little girl who is walking and moving all over the place!

Happy 40th Birthday Carrie!

My mom has three sisters and the youngest is very much younger than the other three.  My aunt Carrie was 14 when I was born  and so we are closer in age than I am with her kids!  Today Carrie is turning 40 and last week her husband threw her a surprise party at a local Mexican restaurant.  I was so glad that we got included in the festivities.  We had a great time and even though she was embarrassed I think Carrie had a good time too!

Walking in, she had no idea!

Now she's embarrassed

Sisters!

Sisters plus me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our little Turkey to your family!

We wish everyone a long list of things that they're thankful for, a yummy meal, and fellowship with family and friends!

Thankfullness

This year we have so much to be thankful for.  We have a healthy, beautiful baby girl who makes life so much better.  We have a new home that we love.  We have family close by to help when needed and to enjoy each others company.  We have a generous Savior who blesses us daily with his love and gifts over and above anything that we could ever ask for. Jason has a job and is able to provide for our family and allow me to stay at home with Charlotte.  We have good friends that we love spending time with.  We are healthy.  We have each other and a good marriage.  We have everything that we could ever need and so, so much more. 

Thank you for those of you who we know in real life and who mean so much to us.  Thank you for what you do for us, how you help us and give of yourselves to make our lives better.  We are better people because we have you in our lives.

Thank you for those of you who we don't know in real life.  This blog is a wonderful outlet for me and I so enjoy "meeting" and becoming friends with those all across the country.  Thank you for reading our blog.  For thinking and praying for us and for encouraging us.  We would love to know who you are so that we can pray for and encourage you also.  If you could, please leave us a comment and let us know who you are and how we could be praying for your family or what you're thankful this Thanksgiving.

Recipe Wednesday - Black Bean Salsa

This is not very Thanksgiving-y but if you're making an appetizer this is always a crowd pleaser!  This Paula Deen recipe is one of my very favorites.  It's made with all fresh ingredients so it tastes fantastic and the best part is that it is SUPPOSED to be made the day before!


Black Bean Salsa
Two 15 oz cans Black Beans, rinsed and drained
One 17 oz package frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/8 to ¼ c Chopped Fresh Cilantro
3 to 4 T Lime Juice
1 T Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Cover and chill overnight. Taste and add salt, pepper, or more lime juice as necessary. Serve with tortilla chips as an appetizer or with grilled chicken breast as a meal.

Dedication Dress

Because of the craziness of yesterday we didn't get a lot of pictures of Charlotte in her Dedication dress.  We will have a mini photo shoot of her in the dress hopefully next week so that y'all can see how beautiful it is on.  But until then here are some pictures so that you can see how gorgeous the dress is!

This dress is so special to me.  My Mom made Christening/Dedication dresses for numerous cousins and so I was so excited to find out that we were having a girl so that I could ask Mom to make one for my little girl.  I think I might have even asked her to make it the night that we found out that we were having a girl!  Mom has been working on this dress for months and it is beautiful.  I always knew that she was a talented seamstress but she definitely outdid herself on this dress!  It is a beautiful and I know it was a labor of love to make it.  Thank you Mom for making such a beautiful dress that I Charlotte looked beautiful in and I know her little girl will look gorgeous in one day!

Look at the beautiful lace and tucks and smocking!  We monogrammed Charlotte's initials above the tucks.  Mom wanted a dress that was beautiful but didn't detract from Charlotte.  I think she achieved her goal!

Mom smocked little pearls into to the bodice and pleated the collar.

A closeup of the sweet sleeves

I have never been as nervous as when I was monogramming the dress!  It was almost finished by the time I got it and I was terrified that something was going to go wrong and I was going to ruin the dress!  Thankfully, it all went fine but I watched it like a hawk!

Mom stitched each piece of lace together.  Each layer is a different strip of lace!

Mom decided to use these beauty pins to close the dress so that we could close it as tight or as loose as Charlotte needed.  I think they added a beautiful touch.

Mom also made a beautiful slip that was closed by these ribbon bows.  There was lace around the armholes and the bottom.  The slip also has a monogram of Charlotte's name, birthdate, and grandparents names.  If we have another little girl she'll wear this slip too!

Mom, thank you for all of your hard work and love that you put in to this dress!  It is beautiful and Charlotte looked like a little angel in it!

Happy Half Birthday Charlotte!

This post is a day late possibly because I'm in denial that we are parents of a six month old.  When did my little baby become a little girl with a personality, likes, and dislikes all her own?!?!?  I'm in disbelief that in the same amount of time that Charlotte has been with us she will turn one!  Here's my summary of Charlotte at six months!

Charlotte,

Your Daddy and I keep saying that this month you have become a little person.  You are quite a mover now!  We can't leave you even on the floor for a second because when we come back you will have rolled to the other side of the room!  And what a personality!?!?  You definitely tell us when you are happy and when you are upset.  We love watching you become the little girl that you are going to be! 

This month you stayed for a whole football game!  We've taken you to lots of games before but at the LSU game you were so happy that we stayed until the game was over.  You even cheered through your first Rammer Jammer!  Everyone at the game's loves you and loves seeing you almost every week.  You are a great Alabama football fan already!

You also started making some fun sounds this month!  You can now click your tongue and blow through your lips to make a fun sound!  You also started "coughing" and laughing at yourself when you do it.  You'll do anything for attention and a smile!  We had a big first yesterday, on your six month birthday, when you said your first word!  I am so thankful that it was "Mama"! 

You Trick or Treated for the first time with your friend Caroline this month!  You were the cutest Strawberry that I've ever seen!  An Alpha Girl girl at heart already!

Since you  have become such a wiggle worm you started flipping over on your changing pad.  We had to come up with something so we have a special toy that you only get to play with when you are getting your diaper changed.  It's a baby elephant and you love playing with him!  You are so happy when you have your elephant to chew on and you are getting your diaper changed!

You've grown a lot this month.  We're estimating that you weigh about 15 pounds now but we'll know for sure next week when we go for your six month appointment.  Since you've gotten so big we've stopped swaddling you at night.  You move so much at night that you were coming out of your swaddle pretty consistently anyway so now we don't even try.  We were also able to take the pillow out from under your jumper because your feet can fully reach the floor now!  You love jumping and as soon as we put you in your jumper you start bouncing up and down as fast as your little legs will take you!

Part of you getting bigger is that you can now sit up by yourself!  You still sometimes fall over when you reach for things that tip your center of gravity but you are getting better and better each day!  Yesterday you even pushed up on your arms and knees for a few seconds!  It won't be long before you're crawling all over the place!  Another big thing that you've started doing this month is reaching across your body (whether you're on your tummy or sitting up) for toys that you want.  This is an important milestone because it means that your hand/eye/brain coordination has really improved!

This has been a big eating month for you.  We took you to eating three meals of cereal a day around the second week in November.  You LOVE your cereal!  Well, as long as we're just feeding you the whole wheat kind, oatmeal, or oatmeal and banana, you aren't a fan of rice cereal.  We started baby food with green peas on your six month birthday, but as shown in the picture you aren't a fan yet! 

You are still nursing five times a day right now.  You take a two hour nap in the morning and then two one hour naps in the afternoon.  We tried taking you to only eating four times a day last week and you had no problems with only eating four times a day but that put you taking a long nap in the morning and another long nap in the afternoon that left you awake for four and a half hours in the evening and you just weren't ready to stay awake for that long so you would take a third nap right before bed which was messing with your night time sleep and your naps the next day.  So after a few days we went back to the old schedule and we'll stick here for another month at least. 

You are still in size 2 diapers although I'm wondering if we should switch to size 3's because you are having leaky diapers almost daily now.  The size 2's seem to fit fine except when you are in your jumper.  I don't anticipate switching yet but we'll see.  You are wearing 6 month outfits and 6-9 month onesies.  In the past few days I've noticed that you've finally outgrown your 3 month pants and your 6 month pants are the right length now.  This is huge because up until now 6 month pants were inches too long!  You've grown!

You are such a delight and your Daddy and I feel so blessed to have you!  You are a great sleeper and such a happy baby.  The only times that you fuss are when you're sleepy and we aren't putting you down for your nap and when you don't feel good (sadly you are getting a cold right now and feel kind of cruddy).  We love everything about you and can't wait to see what you start doing in this next month!

We love you!

Mommy

Mama!

This little girl said her first word yesterday!  And it was "Mama!"  She has been babbling all month and has been at saying her "m" and "b" sounds.  There have been a few times when she's been crying or worked up that I know I heard her say mamamamama but since it was usually in times of distress and it wasn't 100% pronounced I didn't count it.  But yesterday she said "Mama" distinctly twice!

Our parents stayed after everyone left yesterday to help us clean up and at one point the Dad's were playing with Charlotte.  They said that she was starting to get a little upset and she just looked at them and said "Ma Ma".  I ran over and grabbed her and she just smiled at me!  Then last night Jason was playing with her on the floor and when I got down with her she said "Mama" again! 

More Peas Please!

Since Charlotte turned six months today and has been loving her cereal for three meals a day for the past few weeks we decided to start baby food today.  We were thinking we would feed her first tonight but we wanted to do it while our parents were still here so we could have some camera's going and they could watch!  In hindsight we might should have waited for a less eventful day, but nevertheless, we tried!

All excited for cereal.  She LOVES it!

Wait, THIS isn't cereal!?!?!?!

Get it out! Get it out!

We ended up on the verge of a breakdown and had to abort for some plain whole wheat cereal in order to calm her down.  We'll try again tomorrow!  They say that you sometimes have to introduce a food 9 or 10 times before they like it.  It seemed like torture trying to feed her peas today so I'm thinking those 9 or 10 times are going to be worse on me than on her!

Dedicated to God

One of the things that I've been looking forward to with Charlotte is being able to dedicate her at church.  We attend a Baptist church and so we dedicate our children and ourselves to raising her in a Godly home and promise to teach her about God and direct her path towards Him.  To us this is so important because we want Charlotte to grow to have an abundant love for her Savior like we do.  We want our family to be bound not only because we are family but because we are all followers of Christ.  Today was the day when Jason and I dedicated Charlotte to the Lord and we are so blessed to have our families join us for church and then for a luncheon at our home afterwards. 

This was right before the church service while we waited.  Charlotte is in her beautiful dedication dress that my Mom made just for Charlotte.  It is exquisite and deserves its own post so it will be coming soon!

These were some of the things at our house.  We got a beautiful floral arrangement for the dining room and these adorable julep cups of flowers for the tables around the house.  They made the house smell so good!  And I loved the way the cake turned out!  It had a beautiful cross and her initials.  AND it tasted fantastic!

Here are some members of our family enjoying lunch!  Charlotte came home and took a quick nap so that she would be happy and not fussy so for a while we were all just fellowshipping.  I was worried that Charlotte might not nap good once everyone got to the house and that she would be fussy because she didn't get a good nap.  But she slept right on through everything like it was a normal day at home!  I'm not going to worry about playing Christmas music or watching something on TV anymore since she slept through everything today!  :)

This is me with my grandfather, Papa, and my Mom with her parents.

I love this picture of Jason and Charlotte!  She woke up happy as a clam!

We are so blessed to have ALL of our grandparents live nearby!  Here we are with Charlotte's great-grandparents.  We were missing one of my grandfather's, Pops, because he was sick at home.  While we missed him we appreciated that he stayed away so as not to get Charlotte sick!  You know us new Mom's, we're a stickler for staying away from germs!

With our parents.  Charlotte didn't mind the pictures so much once she found her toes!

Family picture!

Thank you so much to all of our family for coming out and celebrating with us on this special day.  It meant so much to us to have so much love and support.  We are so blessed to have such caring families and friends!