Brunch with Santa

Santa came to the Riverclub (my parent's neighborhood in Suwanee, Georgia) for brunch this past Sunday, December 5th. This was the first time that Lila got to meet Santa, and of course she loved him! She has no stranger anxiety whatsoever, which scares me a little, but it also makes for good photo ops such as these below. After she met Santa and got her picture taken with him, we got to enjoy a delicious brunch. It was so much fun to watch Lila with Santa! During brunch, a giant Rudolph walked around to the different tables to meet the kids. I thought Lila might be scared of him, but of course she just smiled at him and grabbed his huge paw! We're going to go visit Santa here in Texas too so that Josh can come along, and I hope she likes that one as much as she did the Georgia Santa.

Lila with her Aunt Kimberly before meeting Santa for the first time

 Meeting Rudolph at brunch

 Deep conversation with Santa

 Thinking about what in the world she could possibly want for Christmas

 Figured it out and is letting him know

 Posing by the Christmas tree

 Laughing with Aunt Kimberly

10 Months Old

I'm about 6 days late on this post, but as per my previous post, we were in Atlanta celebrating my Tiger's big win! 

This is what you've been up to this past month little Lila:

*You weigh a little under 19.5 pounds, and I have no clue how long you are because you are the squirmiest baby on the planet! If I were to guess, I'd say around 27-27.5 inches.

*You are eating anything and everything. You still love all of your baby food, and you really love when we give you our food. 

*You don't drink too much formula because you are way too busy playing with everything you can get your hands on. I try to get you to drink at least 20 ounces, but most of the time that doesn't happen. 

*You pull up on everything, and are cruising around the furniture and your toys and pretty much finding any way to get around. 

*You can stand all by yourself for about a minute before you realize what you're doing and sit back down. I'm  buying all the time I can get before you start to walk!

*starting to say "uh-oh" when you drop something or fall down. You still say "mama" "nana" "dada" "baba", and you call your Grammy "nana". You are also able to call you daddy "dada" and me "mama" some of the time. 

*You love to wave to everyone. You wave hello and bye-bye. You loved to wave at all of the people getting on and off the airplane on our last trip to Atlanta.

*You are still in size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes. 

*Your top teeth are about to pop through and have been tormenting you this entire month!

*You are enjoying drinking from your sippy cup and even drink from our cups with some help.

*You are making more and more sounds that sound like conversations with us.

*You are learning more and more what "no" means and obey it about 75% of the time.

*You celebrated your first Thanksgiving with your friend, Karsyn. 

We love you baby girl, and I can't believe there are only 2 more months left of your first year!! You are growing up way too fast!!

SEC Champs

It's GREAT to be an AUBURN TIGER!!

It has been one super busy weekend, and I have about 4 blog posts to write, but first comes first. Our Auburn Tigers are 2010 SEC Champs and on their way to the National Championship game in Arizona!!! Now, I went into this weekend with nothing but the hope that I would eventually score a ticket to this coveted game. I flew to Atlanta for the game (and to visit my parents...but really for the game) that, by-the-way, I didn't have tickets to! It sounds crazy, but somehow I had faith that we would end up inside the Dome.

My dad, sister, and my sister's boyfriend, Ralson all decided to head downtown on Saturday. Kimberly and Ralson got there pretty early to tailgate with friends, while my dad and I waited until about 1 p.m. to head down to try to find tickets. Now, let me preface this by saying that my dad had previously tried to find tickets to this game for about 12 days before this and was completely unsuccessful. He tried asking the previous owner of the Peach Bowl, a high-up guy in charge of the now, Chick-Fil-A bowl, he even tried a state senator, and no one had tickets. He found some on Craig's List for a ridiculous price, and it was in the South Carolina section, so we held out for something better, and boy are we glad we did!?!

After visiting with my in-laws that morning, I met my dad in Alpharetta at about 1 p.m. so that we could head to the Dome to try and find tickets. When we got in the car to start driving downtown my dad looks at his phone and sees that one of his friends from his neighborhood had called him and left a message. He doesn't call everyday, but he did know that we were looking for tickets, so my dad called him back before we headed down. Turns out that another friend from the neighborhood had a box suite deal that fell through and was looking to give away (not SELL) her tickets to whoever wanted them! It was like a dream come true, and my dad and I couldn't believe our ears! Of course my dad still paid for the tickets, but we got them at pretty much face value because of our wonderful host of our suite. We were able to get 5 tickets, and watched the game with my sister, Ralson, and my Uncle Greg who is also an Auburn alum, all while very cozy in our suite on the 45-yard line with all of the food and beverages (and our own private restroom!!) that we could want. It really was a magical night and one that I'm SO glad that I flew home for. Of course, seeing family wasn't too bad either!

Our tickets were great, but Auburn was even better!! It was my first time seeing them play in person since I graduated, and what a game to go to!! Cam Newton is superman, and I'm just praying that he turns down his MULTI-million dollar NFL draft deal that I'm sure they will give him to play for us another year...haha yeah right, I won't hold my breath! 

 Next task = finding tickets, flights, and hotel to Glendale for less than my house payment!!

It's Christmas Time!

"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." -Luke 2:10

I absolutely LOVE this time of year!! Who doesn't really?!?! I love the weather getting colder, I love that I can wear my cute sweaters and boots (for at least a few days out of each week here before it gets back up into the 80s), I love the smell of cinnamon and pine trees filling our house, and I love all of the red and green decor that happens to be everywhere you turn. I also love the sound of Christmas music and the fact that we started singing Christmas songs in church the Sunday after Thanksgiving! I love the busy-ness of the shopping malls this time of year, and the red, green, silver, and gold shopping bags specific to the season. I love hearing about snow and holding on to the small, minute chance that it might, just might, snow here one day...although I'm not holding my breath!

I LOVE going to the Christmas tree farm (in our case, the local Home Depot), and selecting the perfect tree amongst the many options and bringing it home to fill our house with its delicious aroma. Josh had the day off of work yesterday, so we went to get our tree after picking Lila up from Mother's Day Out. We picked out a 9-foot tree that was about 2 feet taller than any tree we've gotten in the past. I love that our house here in Texas has such tall ceilings! The worker that was helping us at Home Depot scared the death out of Lila when he slammed the tree on the ground to open it up. She was scared of the trees the rest of the day, which I'm hoping sticks so I don't have to worry about her going near it at home. Josh's job is to set it up and put the lights on it, and then I come in and put the ornaments on it. Our past trees have looked so cluttered with ornaments, but this time, since our tree is so much bigger, it doesn't look like we have quite as many. I'm okay with that because it still looks beautiful!

Let the Christmas season begin!!

War Eagle!!

I'm SOOO glad that Lila got to wear her victory dress yet again today!! It's rough being married to an Alabama fan during football season, especially when you have a cute baby to dress up. I was catching up on some school work before the game started yesterday, and when I came downstairs to watch the game, Lila was dressed head-to-tow in Alabama gear. Josh had put her in her Alabama dress, bloomers, and hair bow. Ugh!!! I just couldn't have that, so I had to change her into something "neutral," such as a cream onesie, denim bloomers, and an orange bow. Hey, the bow didn't have any Auburn paraphernalia on it! The first half of the game was pure misery, and I had to leave the house before I had heart failure. BUT, when I came back...they were back on the board 21-27. I still couldn't watch because my blood pressure was getting too high (only halfway kidding!), but ended up watching the last few minutes of the game and was so glad I did. Josh spent the entire first half screaming his little head off, and doing the most obnoxious Bama cheers, but he was MUCH quieter during the second half of the game :). I didn't even rub our big win in his face, despite his annoying first half behavior! He's at work today, so little precious is proudly sporting her Auburn victory dress!!! Thanks Auburn for helping us get our money's worth from this dress! 12-0!! 

Now onto the SEC Championship in the Dome! It'll be the first game I am able to attend all season, but it's not a bad way to start.

Lila says, "War Eagle!"

What I'm Thankful for...

I know that if your family was anything like mine, you went around the Thanksgiving table and each person had to name at least one thing that they were thankful for. It's funny how our lists change over the years as well. I remember when I was little (8 years old or so), and I would mention that I was thankful for Barbies or some other kind of toy that I was obsessing about at that current time. But, we tend to realize as we get older that the important things to really be thankful for are not of material wealth or value but are of the love and relationships we have in our lives. We are truly so blessed and have SO many things to be thankful for! I'm going to narrow my list this year down to 10 things...Here goes:

I'm thankful for...


1. A wonderful, supportive, loving husband who is a strong Christian example to others as well as an amazing father to our precious daughter.

2. My sweet almost 10-month old baby girl, Lila!! I cannot even begin to imagine life without her, nor do I want to! She has brought so much joy into our lives, and continues to amuse us each and everyday with something new that she has learned.

3. Our family. Josh and I are blessed with amazing parents and siblings, who would give anything for us to move back home :) sorry, no can do (read onto my 5th point)! 

4. Grandparents! I am so thankful to have 3 living grandparents that are healthy, happy, and able to play and hang with our sweet and very busy Lila Boo. 

5. The Coast Guard. They frustrate the heck out of me most of the time (well maybe just some of the time!), but if it weren't for them, we wouldn't have this amazing life where we can live in many different areas, make many different friends that come from all around the country, have incredible insurance (gotta love military insurance!), and have tons of other benefits that come with being a military family. 

6. Our Home. In the midst of the recession and the housing market failure, I'm thankful to have a roof over my head, and not just any old roof. We are so blessed to have a beautiful house that is a home! There is so much love between these walls, and I just love the busy-ness of the day-to-day here with an almost walking baby and a golden retriever that is two years old but still acts like a new puppy.

7. Our dog, Chevy! Sometimes I'm not so thankful for him when he scratches off the dry wall or sheds his clumpy, yellow fur EVERYWHERE...but I don't know what we'd do without him. Heck, I don't know what we did do without him! I think Josh and I must have just stared at each other before we got Chevy to keep us on our toes. He is such a good dog, and Lila just loves him. He loves her back most of the time, but tries to steal our attention away from her. 

8. Our small group. Josh and I joined a small group back in September and have met five wonderful Christian couples that are coming together to grow in our faith. We look forward to each and every Wednesday when we all get together and discuss the study. We always leave there with our cheeks hurting from smiling and laughing so much, as well as with a sense of community in which we know we are being prayed for and supported.


9. Our church and our faith. I know I combined these two, but I'm running out of numbers! (This part should be #1 on the list--but the list isn't organized in order of emotional value) I'm so thankful for our Lord and Savior who gave His life so that we could live forever in Him. Every time I think about what He sacrificed for us, it brings me to tears, literally. It just blows my mind how someone could love us that much that He would be willing to end His own life just so we could live ours. It's incomprehensible to me! I'm also thankful that we have a place to worship Him and that we are free to do so in our country. 


10. This one I'm keeping to myself, but you can use your imagination :)

Lila's Baptism

This past Sunday, we had Lila baptized in the Methodist church here in League City. She had already been dedicated in the Baptist church, but I wanted her to be baptized in the Methodist church because we have been Methodist for so long. Josh has been wanting to get baptized for some time now as well and decided to be baptized the same day as Lila. It really was a neat and special occasion for him to dedicate his life to Christ with his daughter, and it was hard for me to not become emotional standing in front of the church with him. His parents were in town visiting, and I'm so glad that they got to witness this special occasion. Josh has grown into such a wonderful Christian man, and he continues to grow in his faith everyday. I'm so proud of him!

After church, Josh's mom cooked us a Thanksgiving meal since we won't be able to come to Atlanta for Thanksgiving this year. It was so delicious, and it was fun to get to use all of our fancy china, crystal, and silver for the meal. Thank you again for the wonderful lunch!!

Children's Museum

This past Thursday, we went to the Children's Museum here in Houston. It was so cute with tons of neat things for the kids to do. Josh and I even had fun playing with all the exhibits, but we're just BIG kids anyways! On the top floor there is a place for babies and toddlers called the Tot Spot. We let Lila crawl around and play in there for quite a while before we headed home. Her Big Pop bought her a huge stuffed orangutan, I'll post a picture of that later! Lila loves to pull on the orangutans hair.

playing in the ball pit at the Tot Spot

She found herself a cool shaker

riding on the bicycle with daddy at the Children's Museum

Texas Sunset

We had such a pretty sunset the other night that I had to run outside and capture it. I wish either I was taller or our fence was shorter, but you get the idea!...Oh and if this doesn't prove that God is an AUBURN fan, than I don't know what will :) !!