Christmas in Dixie

Hi everyone! I hope you had a fabulous Christmas! Praise the Lord for His magnificent Gift in sending Jesus to this Earth. What a day to celebrate!

I'm sorry for the lack of blogging. I haven't had much to say recently, but am excited about a few updates that are coming over the next week or so.

Last week, Brian planned and took me out on our Christmas date. We tend to be boring daters, so I wanted something unique, but based on our budget, cheap. 

We started at Cheesecake Factory with a giftcard. I have only eaten a meal there twice, so this was extra special. That cheesey pasta is delish.

As we were heading into Cheesecake, Brian presented me with the rest of our date- a photo scavenger hunt. He had created a list of 10 Christmasy items that I had to find and take pictures of during the night. 

The list included:

 a piece of cheesecake, 

holiday traffic,

a fountain,

  an outdoor tree,

an over-decorated house,

 downtown Birmingham,

 an angel,

 a cup of hot chocolate,

 a nativity, 

and a picture with my husband. 

This was a challenge for me because I haven't had much experience shooting in the dark. Most of the pics turned out pretty good, but some of them could use a bit of improving... I guess we will just have to do it again!!

This was actually one of my favorite shots from the night- Brian took it as we were setting up for our photo of the Nativity. The stars and sky were gorgeous that night.

Though I'm a little late, Merry Christmas my friends! I hope you had a fantastic day!

Country Girl

A few weeks ago, my sweet Granny passed away. God is so gracious and merciful in the timing and way that she passed, but needless to say, it was a hard week.

Granny is from a small town in Mississippi. I grew up going there, but Granny moved to Birmingham my sophomore year at Auburn, so I haven't made as many trips to MS as I would have liked to recently.

One of the gifts God gave us through Granny's death was about a week of quality time in MS with EA and my parents. Brian had to go out of town for a large portion of that week, so I stayed in MS to help my parents. It ended up being a great week of family time.

The best part of the week was bringing EA to Granny's house. Granny has lots of land and my parents have done a lot of work over the past few years- it looks amazing. EA had acres and acres to just explore, and she loved it.

I used the time to grab some pictures of my sweet girl. I love sweet pictures of children/ families in fields on photography blogs and was anxious to try to recreate some that I have seen, but what makes these special is the fact that this land is important to our family. It's not just a field, it's our family's history. 

EA and Poppy on the tractor.

She was watching the cows. Seriously, she was a big fan of the spotted friends.

I have so many memories of my mom and grandmother sitting in these chairs on her front porch as I played in the front yard- this picture is so special bc. they brought my daughter into those memories.

God was incredibly faithful during this time. He brought complete and perfect healing to my grandmother through her faith in Him. He rekindled memories that had faded from years of Granny's fight with dementia.  He began mending relationships that have suffered for far too long. He provided a time of relaxation amidst a time of chaos. He showed my family the power of the Body of Christ.

It was a sad week and a hard week, but a week of wonderful reminders of who God is- our Comforter and Healer.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Psalm 86:12

EA's Baby Book

As I have mentioned before, I love Shutterfly. I just finished EA's baby book and am excited about the option to share it with y'all. 

Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Photo Dump w EA Update

This morning, I finally sat down to unload all the pictures from my camera from the past several weeks.

I realized- I've missed a lot! My sweet girl is doing so many fun things, so I am going to take a moment to share our October. 

Our church has an awesome, covered playground area, so now that she is walking, we stop by to play from time to time. I love watching her master the climbing and sliding- she loves it!

She had only been walking for about a week when we took this picture. She still wasn't 100% sure she could stand up without her hands in this pose. I know it doesn't capture her face, but it's such a priceless picture of a tiny span of her life.

EA and I headed to Auburn one day to meet some sweet girls. I was so excited to be down there when it wasn't a football game- the place is much more calm, so she was able to roam a little.

Kelsey was so much help that day. Kels was a trooper and helped me keep her corralled. I was bummed we didn't get a pic w Caroline too- it was such a fun time with these girls!

EA can't get enough of steps. This is Samford Hall- she went straight to the steps, and when we brought her down from those, she went to the other set. Thankfully, our house only has one story. 

I think I am seeing a glimpse into the future here....

Brian's middle brother, Scott, got us tickets to a BBQ cook-off one Friday. 

Our girl had her first taste of cotton candy that night. She's a big fan.

For EA's birthday, we joined the Birmingham Zoo. The price to visit for a day is a little outrageous, but to join is a great deal. She's still not sure if she likes the monkeys or the older children who are visiting better.

My two favorite people in the world. She is such a Daddy's girl.

When we were in the cat building, the tiger was pacing immediately by the window. The lighting isn't great, but I love her silhouette looking up as he passes by.

Look how close he was!!

Finally, we ended the month with Halloween. I am so sad that this was the best picture I have of just our little cowgirl. This is two years in a row I have stunk it up capturing the costume. Boo. 

With or without pictures, we had an excellent Halloween. We spent time with friends, did a little trick or treating, and played in our pumpkin bucket. Overall, it was a success.

Happy Friday everyone!

Pumpkin Patch 2012

We went to the pumpkin patch this afternoon. It was so much fun! EA was a blast as she played with the cotton and petted the animals- it was a much different trip than last year!!

Here are some highlight pictures of the day!

Have I mentioned... my sweet baby is walking? Why yes she is!

dotMOM

I spent the past two days at the dotMOM Conference put on by Lifeway.

Basically, it rocked my world. 

I felt funny describing it to people... it went something like this...

"I'm going to a Christian blogger mom's conference..."

This was generally followed by snickers.

But that's kind of what it was. And it was kind of amazing.

 I am super tired and have to be honest- the only thing keeping me awake is Auburn's super close score against LSU in the 4th quarter, but I learned so much from so many Godly women. 

Women like Jen Hatmaker, Sissy Goff, Vicki Courtney, and Esther Burroughs, who are moms that are anxious to get it right. Because when I consider the desires of my heart, I don't want EA to see us as wealthy or living the American dream. I don't want her to think of how many friends we have but not know the meaning of friendship. I don't want her to think that she is the center of our world.

 I want her to see Jesus.

I want her to see us loving God first, each other second, and then her. Because that's how she will grow to know security, know what a good marriage looks like, and know what a good mom and dad look like.

I want her to leave for Auburn... I mean college (seriously, we are holding tight to the #2 team in the nation, I can't be expected to be impartial right now....) and know how to live for Jesus because it has been modeled through her life and it's the only natural thing to do. I want her to truly love and serve her friends and minister to those she doesn't yet know. I want her to walk away from sin because it hurts Jesus, not because she is afraid of consequence.

The women this weekend imparted incredible knowledge and experience to bring me closer to being a mom who can do these things. 

This weekend, I made a new friend, spent quality time with an old one, and was truly blessed.

Praise the Lord for His provisions.

Color Run 2012

Bright and early Monday morning, Brian and I ran in the Color Run.

It was so much fun.

Disregard the fact that it rained for at least a solid two hours so our clothes and shoes were soaked by the time we even got to the track. That just made it way more fun. 

The puddles were a blast, but the color didn't stick as well.

We ran with Brian's middle brother, Scott, and his sweet girlfriend, Emily. They got into a color powdered war right before this picture-  hence the mass of purple and orange. I think Brian and I were about done at that point.

We were SUPER grateful to Rob and Ginny who kept EA during the race. These sweet people got to our house at 7:15, drove a hour in stand still traffic, and stood out in the rain for about an hour and a half holding our baby girl. We are so very thankful to have these two for friends. They are absolute gems.

A Children's Book Birthday Party

I honestly believe I have been planning EA's first birthday since the day she was born. I know I have had a Pinterest board about it for at least that long.

I adore children's books and am anxious to develop that passion in EA as well. 

The invitations were a mix of several things I found on the internet. I was looking for something that was pretty, but very child appropriate- I LOVED how they turned out!

Each food at the party was based on a children's book-

We had Mouse's Cookie

and Worm's Dirt Cake

1 fish, 2 fish

Ollivander's Wands

And Lilly's Cheese Doodles

Caterpillar's Dinner

Green Eggs and Ham (Ham sandwiches- they were in the oven when I took this picture)

We also had Pigeon's Hot Dogs, but I missed that picture.

EA had a striped smash cake and grown up birthday cake to go with A Bad Case of Stripes.

Our drink station was decorated with an EA themed chalkboard featuring the things she loves right now- activities, food, and toys. Everyone drank from mason jars in true Pinterest fashion.

For our table, I used a burlap runner, then topped it with terrific book fabric I found several months back at FabricalaCarte on Etsy. 

A chocolate station

I made the banner with brightly color card stock, book pages, and letters. Each layer is stacked and connected with bright ribbon.

BTW my awesome husband made the frame in the middle of the mantle. Isn't he amazing?

My favorite book ever. 

EA's photo banner was made with book pages, matching colorful card stock, and my favorite monthly pictures printed in 5x7. The numbers are hot glued to clothes pins and connect to ribbon that matched the Happy Birthday Banner.

We had a copy of Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss to use as a guest book. People chose a page to sign and give their love to EA! 

EA loved her cake. Though you can't see it in this picture, she had a ONE banner hanging from the front of her high chair that matched the Happy Birthday and photo banners.

The party was a absolute success! EA had a blast and I think her guests did too! I can't believe a year has come and gone- this girl is just amazing.

Birthday Booklist

Diary of a Worm/ Click Clack Moo Cows That Type  by Doreen Cronin

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

Lilly and the Purple Plastic Purse/ Lilly's Big Day by Kevin Henkes

1 Fish 2 Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish/ Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch