Christmas 2011

Payton's third Christmas and Harper's first have come and gone. We had a wonderful few days celebrating with family. Of course I spent the two days after Christmas cleaning out and reorganizing to make room for all their new loot. Seeing Christmas from their eyes truly gives us a new prospective. I love seeing the excitement, anticipation, and smiles that come along with the holiday. While we do Santa Claus, presents, and all that goes along with that, we have also tried to instill with Payton the true meaning of Christmas. Payton again loved her nativity set again this year, along with reading her stories that tell about the meaning of Christmas. Her favorite decorations that she would point out were often a nativity scene. Of course the Sunday before Christmas Payton got to celebrate Jesus' birthday with a party at 8:30 a.m. Yes, full of cupcakes and juice boxes. I suppose it was for a good cause.

This was an attempt at getting a picture of them both in their matching shirts. Much easier said than done!



We made a quick stop by Jonathan's uncles house on Christmas Eve to visit with his family and Granny.

That night we had our annual get-together at my parent's house with my family.



Christmas morning was a little different this year. Payton and Harper's fan club came to them to see what Santa brought to our house. Harper woke up about 5:30. We let Payton sleep until about 6:00 and she finally started stirring. She was very reserved at first, but loved all of the dress up clothes, books, and baby doll that Santa brought. She was equally excited about Harper's diapers, formula, and baby doll. After exploring all that Santa brought, they opened a few things from us. Harper got to open her presents that Payton picked out especially for her- a tiny teddy bear and a ball. We found a letter next to Jingles that Santa delivered while he was at our house. In his note, he told Payton to go outside and see one more surprise. She walked outside to find her very own trampoline in her backyard. Luckily (since we were up at the crack of dawn) the rain had not yet started so she was able to jump for a bit.
All ready for Santa...

Watching Payton on the camera waiting for her to make a move so we can go wake her up!

Payton's stash

Harper's stash








These rings that came with her dress up trunk just might have been her favorite of all of her presents. Note to self...

Next we headed to Bamama and Grandaddy's house to open presents with them and Uncle Andy. (I failed to mention that even Uncle Andy woke up at 6 a.m. to come see what Santa brought. If you know Andy, you know how big of a deal that is!) We all got a lot of fun things, and packed up ready to head to my grandmother's house in Waverly.



As always, we had a yummy breakfast and enjoyed playing and lounging around.At one point Bamama mentioned that she wasn't sure if she could host Christmas this year. I think it goes without saying that we were all thrilled that she was able to do it.....there are just some traditions that are hard to break. I don't ever remember a single Christmas morning that we didn't have breakfast at her house.



After coming back from Waverly, we dropped Daddy off at his mom's house to use his new Christmas present to cook the turkey. The girls and I all crawled in our beds and took a much needed nap before things started back up. We had Christmas dinner at Nana and Pop's house. Of course it was full of chaos and lots of food, but so much fun.





These are the only pictures that we have from Christmas as a family. The first one absolutely cracks me up because it's how I feel about 90% of the time.


We didn't get to see Pawpaw on Christmas since he was down in Foley visiting everyone down there. We headed to Montgomery this past Saturday for him to take us on a ride around the golf course. Payton and Harper loved riding on the golf cart with him. We had so much fun enjoying the beautiful day and seeing where he works every day. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures that day, but here is one of my very favorite pictures ever.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

By the way, if you're still reading I'm impressed. This has to be the longest post ever!

Hustle and Bustle

This December has been jam packed with so many fun events. As mentioned in a previous post, Payton in very into the Christmas spirit so we have tried to take full advantage of the activities.
The first weekend in December I had the privilege of helping host a baby shower for my sweet friend Ashley. We are so excited about the upcoming arrival of baby Haisley in a few weeks!

On the 9th, downtown Opelika had their annual Christmas in a Railroad town event. Payton enjoyed walking around, climbing in the fire truck, and riding on the choo-choo train. We even met up with Emmerson and Kayden! Afterwards, we took a ride through the Victorian front porches, which is always a fun tradition.



That Saturday morning was Auburn's Christmas parade. Payton was so excited to see all of the decorations, wave at everyone, yell Merry Christmas, and see Uncle Jeremy driving the fire truck!


We got to celebrate Great Bamama's 81st birthday on December 10th! We are all very thankful that we got to help her celebrate.


On December 13th, Payton and Harper got a new cousin, Colton Douglas! Unfortunately, we haven't been able to love on him just yet. I am first in line when they get here the week after Christmas!

The following weekend we headed to somewhere between Camp Hill and Lafayette. I told every one in the car that I don't know how these people find their way home. Anyway about it, my mom took us to what we call "Redneck Fantasy in Lights." Since we didn't make it to Callaway this year, this was our compromise. I'm actually somewhat convinced that Payton liked this better than she would have Callaway anyways. Every time she spotted a baby Jesus, Mickey Mouse, or Santa she squealed with delight. I would guess it was about 5 acres of Christmas lights and decorations that you could ride through. She loved every minute, which made it so much fun for all of us!

Pawpaw came for a visit the following Saturday, we took Payton to a Christmas concert at church on Sunday, and I survived the following two days of madness at school. Ava and Abby came over Tuesday night to decorate Christmas cookies. I completely stole these pictures from Amanda's blog because that is much faster, so I apologize!




So here we are at Christmas Eve. I still have presents to wrap, things to cook, and one wound up little girl. Payton, that is. Sweet Harper is just as chill as she can be. I suppose that I will be back soon with Christmas updates in the next few days. Jonathan and I have talked so much about how blessed we are with family, friends, and the birth of our Savior! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas as you remember the things that are really most important in life.

5 Months

I was beginning to wonder if I would get this post written before she turned 6 months, but I have done it (and with a few weeks to go I might add)! Harper is definitely not a lap baby any longer and growing rapidly before our eyes!

Size: I don't have official weight and height since we didn't go to the doctor, but she is still wearing 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.

Eating: She has become a little more consistent this past month. She takes 6 ounces at each feeding and eating solids once per day. If she doesn't take all of her bottle, she normally takes a little break and is ready to finish it in about 15-30 minutes. She is doing better with solids, but still has to be in the mood. Sometimes she would just rather have her bottle. She has eaten green beans, peas, squash, carrots, bananas and pears.

Tricks: She is still rolling everywhere anytime you lay her on the floor. She loves her jumpy toy (for lack of a better explanation)! When she is being held, she pretty much wants to stand at all times. Usually she is only content sitting for a few minutes. She has also developed quite the little giggle box. Her sister can normally make her laugh. She also loves to play peek-a-boo and be tickled.

Sleeping: I keep telling myself it is getting better by the day. She is pretty much sleeping 7-9 hours straight now. Being the early to bed people that we are, we still have to get up some. She is ready to go to bed around 8 and has no problem letting you know. Sometimes she is ready for a bottle about 4, but others she will sleep between 5-6. She is still taking pretty good naps. She almost prefers to nap in her crib since she is such a stomach sleeper now. If she is sleeping in the swing she will often try to turn which wakes her up.
As you can see, she is become more active each day!

It is such a joy to watch the girls really begin to interact and play together. Payton loves to bring her toys to play with and entertain her. We are indeed blessed!

Tis the Season

Payton is very into Christmas this year. She was so eager to get a Christmas tree and decorate. We went to see Santa for the first try the weekend after Thanksgiving. Poor baby just trembled on her way up there. We ended up with a family picture since she wouldn't go near him without one of us there. She kept telling us that she wanted a Christmas tree from Santa. I just adore the innocence in the simplicity of her wishes. I just know in a few years we will be given a long list of "wants" that will be out of control.

We had a special visitor show up at our house a few days after Thanksgiving. Meet Jingles. In the words of Payton, "Jingles is a silly ole' elf." We read the book not exactly sure how Payton would take to our new friend. She instantly loved him and understood what he does and that we can't touch him. Jingles has had so much fun flying to places all over our house when he returns from the North Pole.

Much like last year, Payton wanted to help put ornaments on the tree. Luckily, we purchased a 100 piece set last year from Sam's that cost about $20 so there's not much fear in her breaking them. We do have a few nice ornaments, but we just put them up high. She found her one spot that she liked, and every ornament that she placed on the tree found its home in that place.



Thanks to Trippi and Lisa, Payton has her very own tree in her room!

We went back to visit Santa a week or so later when we had more time to talk about him. Payton was so sure that she wanted to sit in his lap, tell him what she and Harper wanted for Christmas, and get a candy cane. Of course, as we expected, that came to a screeching halt when we got there. Harper was completely happy both times. We finally convinced Payton to stand near Santa even if she didn't sit in his lap. We figured this is as good as it's going to get. Maybe next year....Which by then Harper will be petrified!

We are just enjoying every minute of this holiday season seeing it through Payton's eyes. From telling the Christmas story with her Little People nativity set to learning Christmas songs that melt our hearts, we are truly remembering the reason for the season and celebrating the birth of Jesus!

Thankful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving spending time with some of the people we love the most. I have to say, this Thanksgiving we were all thankful to gather in my sweet grandmother's house to enjoy our typical Thanksgiving meal. Even better, she was able to enjoy some of the meal with us! We continue to pray that she is on the upswing of things and back to her normal self. After eating there, we headed back to Auburn to enjoy Thanksgiving with Jonathan's family. We are certainly blessed!




Friday after Thanksgiving, downtown Auburn hosted a "Blue Friday" celebration for the Auburn vs. Alabama game. They had inflatables for the kids and a pep rally with Aubie, the cheerleaders, and the band. We couldn't convince Payton to get close enough to Aubie for a picture, but she did get one with the cheerleaders.