Just because I can...

In unpacking all the Christmas gear I came across these antlers and HAD to put them on my baby girl (that won't fight back!).  I have bigger plans with these for next year when she can sit up, but below is (first) Charlotte Anne and (second) Sarah Katherine in 2009 sporting the antlers.

Connell Christmas

Keeping with our Christmas traditions, we went to the Connell's for their annual Christmas party.  I am fully in awe of my friend that throws the party - imagine over 20 kids and their parents all running around your house, cooking for all these people, not worrying about the mess everyone is making though her house was spotless when we got there, making personalized gifts for all the kiddos, and smiling and truly loving it the whole time!  We are so thankful to have such a loving family in our lives - thanks for bringing us into the fold, we love you lots!!!

  

 This is MOST (not all) of the kiddos as they were waiting to go see Santa - yes Santa - he makes a personal appearance in addition to all the other fun stuff that night.  So fabulous!

The shirt below was made by my friend and the ornament was what all the kiddo's got with their initial on it. Notice Sarah Katherine got the full "SK" - hers and Charlotte Anne's "CA" were promptly hung on the front and center of our tree (SK's picked the spot).

Date with my girl to the Nutcracker

Last weekend we were getting all geared up for the weekend and I realized - we have a Saturday night in December with NO PLANS!  I don't know how that happened, but I was super excited to actually have time to go see a Christmas program - not sing in one, not take pictures and cry because my baby is in one, not even decorate for anything!  So, I googled what all was going on that night and discovered the Nutcracker was being put on by the Alabama Youth Ballet company at the Pelham High School just 2 miles from my house - plus SK would be free.  So, it was a mommy-daughter date night because for some reason daddy wasn't thrilled by the idea of going to the Nutcracker. ;)  We got there and saw that a friend of ours from church was in the program and her mom was selling tickets - so we got GREAT seats!  This was SK's first ballet, and I doubt it will be the last.  Girlfriend sat through the entire show without a single problem and was enthralled by the whole thing.  I am so excited to have a ballet buddy now!

SEC Championship Game

Because my husband has the BEST luck ever he came across 4 free tickets to the SEC Championship in Atlanta this year.  This year was especially exciting because whoever won between Alabama and Georgia would go to the national championship.  Even though we weren't overly worked up over who we wanted to win, we had a great time!  We brought our Alabama Alum buddies the Davis's and wore our generic red and were ready to roll.  It was a super close game and ultimately Alabama won.  I'm not thinking David will come across free tickets to Miami though, so we'll have to just watch that game at home. :)

 

SK's School Christmas Program

The 4K and 5K at Sarah Katherine's school put on a Christmas show every year.  I don't know who was more excited about it - me or SK?!  She learned the ENTIRE "Night Before Christmas" poem, 12 days of Christmas, Jingle Bells, Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  It was THE cutest thing ever!  The teachers also took pictures of them at school in front of a green screen in nativity costumes and then superimposed them into a Christmas scene.  Sarah Katherine and her best buddy were angels and were gorgeous!!!  I put my order in as soon as I get the pic that one is getting posted everywhere. :)  Since she will be at Chase Learning Center again next year we have another year to enjoy again - so thankful for the wonderful people that lovingly care for my babies while we are at work.

Here is SK and her best buddy Camille - aren't they precious?!

Polar Express

For the third year in a row we loaded up on the Polar Express and had a GREAT time with some great friends, super fun train ride, and especially Mr. and Mrs. Claus!  Since we had a big group we even got our very own section on the train so all the kiddos got to roam around together and we didn't have to worry about bothering other people.  

We sort of got a picture of all the kids together - oh well, we tried!

 
 Charlotte Anne wasn't overly impressed with the whole thing, she snoozed most of the time.  Somehow David got a cookie and chocolate milk "for her" though. :)

 After we got home I had to play around with taking pictures since the girls were all in the Christmas stuff...

Some cutesy...

And some goofy...

Oh yes, Charlotte Anne's mean face will definitely be making many more appearances - graduation, wedding, grandchildren - LOVE this picture!!!

Sarah Katherine's Singing Debut

This weekend Sarah Katherine made her singing debut in the preschool choir Christmas performance.  I was of course SUPER excited (and so was SK!).  The kids were precious and the songs were great.  About 80% of the performance at this age is how cute are you, so we got all spiffy and took pictures before we went to church.

Here is the whole group while they were practicing... 

And we of course video'd the entire thing, but after 10 tries I am admitting defeat to not being able to post it. When my Dad is available for technical questions I will get it all figured out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year's rotation has Thanksgiving with the Coram's and Christmas with the Jones's.  Since Charlotte Anne's dedication was the Sunday before Thanksgiving, David's parents took the opportunity to have some quality Sarah Katherine time before Thanksgiving and took her back with them after the dedication and we got her on Thursday.  She had such a great time playing with her cousins and going to work with Nana and Grandpa!  You give the girl a white board she can draw on and you automatically work at an awesome place. :)  I have wonderful memories of going and staying with my grandparents for weeks during summers and I am so glad to let my kiddo's do the same.

Thanksgiving was a great but way too fast trip.  David had to be back at work on Friday, so we had to turn right around and head back.  While we were there we had a great time visiting with the family and eating WONDERFUL food!  We managed to squeeze in some time for family pictures - so here is the whole gorgeous crew...

And just because I LOVE this one - here is me and my turkey girl...

Charlotte Anne's Dedication

At our church when you have a baby you have to option to dedicate them in front of the church.  It is basically a commitment between the family and the church to "dedicate" to bring this child up as the Bible instructs.  The parents are the main ones making this commitment but also the church body supports the family.  We are so amazingly blessed with a wonderful church family that has supported us through so very much.  It was great to stand in front of everyone with the baby girl that had been so fervently prayed over and say we commit to raise this child in a Godly home.
Both sets of grandparents and my Great-Aunt Kathy were able to come and we had a fabulous day together and many, many pictures were taken. :)  Below are some of the highlights.

Auburn Homecoming

This year we got cheap tickets to Auburn's Homecoming - with parking pass!  So, we got all decked out and loaded SK up for her second Auburn game.  We were all super excited and hoping we could see Auburn's second big win of the season (so sad!).  

Since it was Homecoming we got to see the crowning of the Homecoming Queen and also the floats that different student organizations made.  These things were made with chicken wire and tissue paper - man, some people are talented!  Charlotte Anne isn't quite big enough yet, but in a few years she'll be in that little cheerleader outfit saying War Eagle too. :)