Saturday Afternoon Fun!

After Payton's nap on Saturday we decided to get out of the house for a bit. After such a miserably cold week, we wanted to take full advantage of the almost 50 degree weather. We got to take her new tricycle for a good test ride. She has been playing with it inside, but we really haven't had the opportunity to get outside with it. She really isn't able to pedal yet, so the steering handle bar was a major plus. We strolled around downtown for a while, and Payton loved seeing the remainder of the toilet paper from last week's big game. I can't wait until it warms up a bit so we can go riding more often.




We then headed to Frog Legs to meet up with the Blackburns. Payton wasn't so sure about the big slides, but she finally found her place in the small bounce house. Once she finally got the hang of it, she had a ball.



We had such a wonderful day spending time just playing and enjoying each other's company.

A Big Day

The big ice storm of 2011 hit on Monday. When I say big, a few icicles were even located in our backyard. It wasn't near what we were expecting, but the great town of Auburn managed to shut down for two days anyway.


The big shut down was more for the BCS National Championship Game than most anything else. We've spent the last several days lounging at home in our AU attire, and doing anything to keep ourselves occupied.

Each time I attempt to take a picture of my child, I am reminded of why I am willing to pay someone else money to do so. She is very uncooperative when it comes to picture taking these days.

We finally had to get out of the house for a bit and go to Niffer's right before the big game...we were all going crazy sitting at home. Our little cheerleader didn't even make it to kick off. She saw Aubie on tv before the game, and that was enough for her. Luckily, Auburn did pull off a nail biting win last night to make us National Champions!!! As much as we wanted to head to Toomer's, we just couldn't bring ourselves to wake her up at 11:00 at night to go to the freezing, loud, and rowdy chaos. Instead, we checked it out this morning in our pj's from the car. Yes, I did take these pictures while I was driving. Not the safest choice I realize, but it was too dang cold to get out. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one.



War Eagle!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I have avoided doing this post for as long as I possibly can...so here goes. After returning from Nashville we frantically got everything accomplished in order to be ready for Christmas. The craziness started on Christmas Eve for us. First stop was Uncle Trippi and Aunt Lisa's house. Payton slept a total of about 45 minutes during her nap, so her mood was not as wonderful as I would have liked. We then headed to my parent's house for Christmas Eve dinner with my family. Payton and Emmerson had fun playing and opening some fun gifts.




I love how Emmerson can dish it right back out to Payton. It's just payback for what she does to everyone else. Then the sweet child turns around and gives me this smile when I pull out the camera!

Opening gifts at Bamama's house.

We then headed to Nana and Pop's house for a little while and got to listen to Jennifer read everyone Christmas stories.



At this point, Payton was tuckered out and we went home to await Santa's big arrival. Santa brought Payton a kitchen and some fun things in her stocking. I know it looks as though we are torturing our child in the family picture, not sure what was up with that!



After seeing what Santa brought, we loaded up to go back to Nana and Pop's house.









Is that trouble waiting to happen, or what? After leaving Nana and Pop's house, we went to Bamama and Grandaddy's house to open presents with them and uncle Andy. Somehow we managed to only take in the video camera. We got some great video, but no still shots (that is until Jonathan teaches me how to freeze to the video to do such). Payton got her very own tricycle and was beyond excited. After leaving there, we headed to my Bamama's house for breakfast (yes, I did just say breakfast). We were to eat there at 10;00 and play a little dirty Santa. It was kind of crazy with people in and out so we hung out and let the kiddos play for a while. Somehow we didn't get a picture once Kayden arrived.




After leaving Bamama's nap time was mandatory at this point. Unfortunately, Pawpaw came by while Payton was napping. We visited for a little while, but due to the weather he had to get back on the road to Montgomery. After her nap, we headed back to Nana and Pop's for Christmas dinner.

This is the ONLY picture that we have evidence of the snow on Christmas Day. We didn't manage to get out and play in it, but it was pretty neat to see snow falling on Christmas.



As you can imagine, by the time we got home that night we were all beyond exhausted. Christmas is so much fun and we are so blessed to have so many family members to spend it with. I just wish we could slow down time a little so that we can really enjoy it more. The week between Christmas and New Years was rather uneventful for us. Payton was fighting a recurring double ear infection and me a sinus infection. We stayed home a lot and got a lot of use out of all of her new toys. We went looking at Christmas lights a few days before Christmas. We actually went back to Fontaine Drive a couple of days after Christmas since it wasn't quite as cold or crowded. Payton LOVED seeing the lights again and narrated the entire program to everyone around us. She loved seeing baby Jesus, Santa in his sleigh, the frogs jumping, the star, angel and many many more scenes. Fontaine is such a neat tradition that I have great memories of as a child. I was so sad to hear that this may possibly be the last year for it.



New Year's Eve was spent at my parents house. The kids had fun playing with sparklers outside. This pregnant lady had a hard time staying awake until midnight, but I managed. The Wood Family is looking forward to an exciting 2011!