Lately

Life has been busy. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way, but being pregnant and busy and having an almost 3 year old is just nuts.

Thus, I've given up a few of my "dreams" of the perfect Christmas and just decided to slow down and enjoy these moments with my husband and baby girl. After the unimaginable happened last week in Connecticut, I literally cry every day when I grieve for those families who don't have the opportunity to just slow down and enjoy this season with their families. Then I feel so much guilt for having what I have and sometimes complaining.

So right now, there are no wrapped presents beneath my tree, there are 2039486 toys scattered throughout my house (Addie is a hoarder), I just finished mailing my Christmas cards today, I still have gifts to buy, and the laundry is clean but I canNOT find it in me to fold it and put it away... but--despite all of those things--I am content. I have a Jesus who loves me, a husband who loves me, a little girl who thinks I hung the moon, a baby girl growing and kicking inside of me, a roof over my head, a grandfather who is getting stronger day by day, and a family and many friends are more supportive and understanding of my crazy hormones ever-changing moods these days. How can I not be thankful?

Here are just a few pictures from the past few weeks:

 My girl holding a picture of my other girl... love those little dainty fingers!

 This picture makes me smile!

Adorable.

Fun at the Park

Eric had a day off last week and spent it with Addie. They went to the park and he got some great pictures of her enjoying the beautiful weather!

Addie loves to slide! This park has about 10 different slides, so she was in Heaven!

See what I mean?

 Love that face!

Best picture ever. :)

 Posin' on the bridge :)

 She loves her Daddy! :)

Love.

Meeting Santa

Last year, our visits with Santa and the Easter Bunny were no walk in the park. This year, when Addie said she wanted to go see Santa, we were a little nervous... Eric heard that he was arriving at our mall a few weeks ago, so we decided to give it a try.

 As you can see, she was very excited!

 After Santa came out, we decided to see if she would sit with him for a picture. She was still smiling... :)

 Addie wouldn't actually sit with him, but she did sit by him and give him a high five! ...and she told him she wanted a car. Interesting. Nonna and Papa were with us and they got this great picture of us talking to him.

The "Dancing Girls" were also there, and she wanted a picture with them but got shy when we finally got to them... so we resorted to posing with Mommy and Ava. :)

She's excited to see the Dancing Girls again in December... and naturally, she's ready for Santa's visit! :)

County Fair

These posts are all out of order, but oh well... at least I'm posting, yes? :)

Addie had a great time at this year's county fair!

 Here she is ready to go! She enjoyed people watching from her stroller for a while. There is always plenty of that to do at the Williamson County Fair. :)

 She had fun playing all of the games and getting a prize each time!

 Skee ball was hilarious! Definitely need to steer clear when Lefty is getting ready to throw...

 She finally figured out the trick to throwing it in the actual lane. :)

 By far, her favorite part was the area for kids that showed the different things farmers to do help us.

 She could have brushed the sheep all day long.

Digging is fun, too!

 Fun with Mommy at the end :)

Kind of a blurry pic, but still sweet... she LOVED the fireworks at the end of the night! :)