Addie's Party :)

On Saturday, we had Addie's first birthday party.  When we were planning, we went back and forth on who to invite... how many people we wanted to be there... we just couldn't leave anyone out, so we decided to go all out and invite everyone we wanted to invite.  Our families alone would be a lot of people, so also inviting our friends to come just made sense. We had a total of 77 people at her party, and it could not have gone better!  I loved every minute, and Addie will love looking at these pictures one day. :)

The theme was "Addie's Winter One-derland."  There were snowflakes everywhere... twinkle lights, balloons... so fun!  We also had stations for the kids (Addie's Art Center, Addie's Book Nook, and Addie's Toy Shop).  I still have the signs, so I need to take pictures of them... I was so glad to have a designated place for the kids to play. They had a blast!

 I had so much fun planning decorations!  I couldn't have done it without my Mama and Azlyn... they helped me a ton!  My favorite things were the snowflakes on the poles that displayed Addie's monthly pictures. :) On the tables, we also displayed pictures of Addie through the year.  I didn't get any pictures of the tables, but they were cute!  Everyone loved looking at the pictures and seeing how far Addie has come.

Here are some of our friends who made it to the party... I think we only missed getting pictures of a few people.  A lot of the guys were too busy watching the playoff game to take a picture for me. :)

Here are some shots of family and their guests (minus grandparents... their pics are below)... I think we got everyone, but I'm not sure.  I'll add more if I remember someone else who was there. :)

Here's the birthday girl sitting in her play area... obviously having a great time. :)  I just love that sweet smocked dress on her!  So adorable!

The progression during the "Happy Birthday" song... she loved it. :)

This is as much into the smash cake as she would get.  She didn't cry, but she wasn't really fond of the cake between her fingers.  She appears to be a bit "girly"... who would've thought?

Our family portrait interrupted by Addie trying to clean her fingers. :)

Shortly after this, Addie gave it up and fell sound asleep on Eric's shoulder.  She waved bye-bye to everyone as she rested... it was precious. :)

When she woke up, it was time for family pictures:

 Mama's family

 Daddy's Daddy's family

 Daddy's Mommy's family

 Grandmas :)

Grandparents :)  I love this one the most! :)

Here are two more that were actually taken before/during Addie's nap:

 Papa and Lucille... cute even though Addie is looking away and Eric is talking. :)

...with Granny and the quilt she made for Addie's doll cradle.  So special!

Addie really did like it when she woke up. :)

 Ladies and gentlemen, we have a scooter on our hands!  More about that in her 12 month post... that I'll get to as soon as I take her 12 month pictures.  Gees.  I have a busy weekend ahead of me!

 So sweet and innocent!  She would never pull frames and magazines off the shelves, right?

We love her.  That is all there is to it.

...this smile says it all!  It was a GREAT party!  Thanks to everyone who helped put it together... and a special thanks to everyone who took time out of their weekend to come celebrate with us!  It meant so much to have everyone there who has supported us through this year of ups and downs.  We couldn't be more thankful for each of you!

Our prayer is (and always has been) that God will bless all of you... near and far... for the love and support you've given us. :)

Happy 1st birthday, Addie! :)

This will be a short post... I'm exhausted, but my heart is full.

My baby is 1... that, my friends, is just incredible.

Her party today was so much fun!  So far, we have remembered 77 people who came.  Man, she's loved. :)

I have a million pictures that I'll sort through tomorrow.  I can't wait to look at them and enjoy her day all over again.

I realize she'll never remember her first birthday party, but we couldn't help but have a celebration to mark the end of such a miraculous year and the beginning of a new, exciting one!  I can't wait until she's older so I can show her the pictures of her party and how much everyone loves being around her... how many lives she's touched in just her first year.

I held her and held her tonight as I put her to sleep, remembering how much I longed to hold her last year on this same night.  Praise you, Lord, for the gift of being her Mama.

I'm overjoyed.  Simply overjoyed. :)

Woohoo! New blog design!

I am LOVING my new blog design by my friend, Rachel!

If you ever need anyone to help you out with yours, please check her out.  
Just click the image below:

Oh, and I'm 30.  Yowsa.

Baby Girl's First Christmas Tree

A couple of days ago I realized I hadn't gotten any pictures of Addie with the tree in her room.  Bad Mama. :(

So, we pretended it was still Christmas and took some today since we had the day off together.

 Naturally, she wanted to take everything off the tree... :)  

P.S. Who needs a tree skirt when you have cute, personalized blankets? :)

 Big girl in her chair by her first tree :)

I'm already looking forward to watching her grow in comparison to her tree each year!

 So sweet!

...aaaaand here's my new favorite picture of her!  I just LOVE this grin!

Seriously.  If you ever need a picture of her to brighten your day, just let me know!

Mississippi Christmas 2010

This year, we were planning to drive to Mississippi, but one night a few weeks before, Eric got an email that showed a good deal on flights... he asked if I'd rather fly. Um, yes. :)  We used our sky miles for one flight and got the discounted flight which meant we got to fly for way less than gas would have cost!  Score!  Addie was a natural at flying.  When I woke her up at the crack of stupid that morning, she was in such a happy mood!  Thank the Lord!

 Here she is waiting to board... all we need are a few puffs, and we're good to go!

 Once we got to the Sip, it was time for lots of Nonna lovin!

 Opening presents...

...and laughing!  Addie got this doll from Daddy Bob that has the cutest laugh!  She loves it!

 So sweet!

 Learning to love cheese puffs! :)

 Being silly with Papa... so, I have to explain the hat.  The infant/kid sizes are too small for her, and obviously, the adult sizes are a little big.  Her sweet head is just in between right now. :)

 See what I mean?

 We spent a lot of time with Abbie  Alice in Wonderland. :)

 ...laughed and played with all of our presents...

 ...and loved her new ball pit!

Alice loved the ball pit, too! :)

 That Nonna is funny!

 Addie loves her new kitchen! :)

 ...um, and look who can pull up now!  Yikes!

 We got a chance to visit Maw Maw and Paw Paw, too! :)

...and cousins Robby and Stuart! :)  Addie loved them!

 She got fun gifts from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Hal, but somehow I missed getting pictures of them on my camera! :(

 We also celebrated all of the January birthdays in our family!  This picture is missing Robby and Paw Paw. :( I guess Addie wanted to be a part of the January birthday madness! :)

All-in-all, it was a great time in Mississippi! :)

...and how did Addie do on the flights back to Tennessee?

Perfectly. :)

Tennessee Christmas 2010

Our first Christmas with Addie was fantastic!  Seriously.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.  We literally had something planned every weekend in December... Christmas parade, holiday faculty party for my school, Amber's birthday, Christmas celebrations with family... it was beyond great, but it also passed by very quickly! :(

 Eric's Mom and stepdad have Christmas at their house the weekend before Christmas.  Here's a family pic before Addie's present-opening began. Love her grin. :)

 She was precious... at first she really didn't know what was going on, but she was totally ready after a few minutes. :)

See?  Total happiness.

 Addie worked on the art of paper ripping. :)

 ...and she was very excited about her new swing from Granny!

Naturally, she loved petting Duke!  He just lays there and lets her love on him. :)

 On Christmas Eve, it was on to Eric's Dad and stepmom's house for dinner and a Dirty Santa party.

 Then it was time for more presents!

I heart ruffle booties. :)

 Naturally, when it was time for Addie to open her presents, she just wanted to stand and hit the boxes.  She kept that bow on her head the whole time.  I'm not sure why everyone was so surprised. :)

 Gees, that's a lot of presents.

 Big girl with her loot!

Pic of the fam who lasted until about 11:00 that night... Addie was a trooper!

On Christmas Day, we woke up and found that Santa had visited our little girl. :)  By the way... Addie slept in, so Mama and Daddy were very excited. :) We know that won't happen for many more Christmas mornings...

 Addie was amazed at all of the new things that were on her play mat!

 Sweet girl! She was too distracted at this point to look at the camera!

 Christmas morning smiles with my angel :)

 Daddy's Little Girl

 She was amazed by the Santa mask!

Aunt Katie came to see what Santa brought...

 ...and so did Poppy and Mim!

(clapping is one of Addie's latest tricks... "Yaaaay!" she says.  It's adorable, folks. :)

 We stopped by to see Granny...

...on our way to see Papa!  We had a busy day!

Ok, that's all for now.  My next post will be our Mississippi Christmas... we flew out at 5:25 on the 26th.  Yeah.  We got up reeeeeally early that morning!  Here is one more picture to show you how Addie handled her first flight:

Yep.  She's a pro. :)