9 months

With all this Christmas-ing, I got a little behind on Carter's 9 month post. Or maybe it's the fact that she is a wild woman, and keeps me on my toes all day long!?!?! We went to the pediatrician on her 9 month birthday.  She weighs 19 lbs 4 oz (75th), and she is 28 inches long (75th). She is still trending to be a bit taller than Blair, but about a lb behind her in weight. This little girl is a MESS! She started crawling (as fast as she could) at 7 months. Since then she has been into everything! She is now very comfortable at pulling up to her feet, and I predict she will start cruising very shortly. Her new favorite move is to try to stand up without anything to hold onto. Its looks likes she is doing the downward dog. It's quite a sight! Even though she is much busier than her sister was, she is still the sweetest thing. She loves to give kisses when asked; her version of that is a good ole tongue licking. It can get very sloppy at times ;) I really forgot how fun 9 months can be. This is the stage where all those goofy faces, games, and sounds you have been making since birth start to pay off. She loves to wave bye-bye, clap her hands, and do touchdown. Anytime we say "good job" or "yay baby" she will clap and get so excited. She has also started playing peek-a-boo this week, and it is so funny! I can hear more blabbering each and every day. Her most favorite thing to say is da-da and she pretty much calls everything that. We do hear a few ma-ma's and a few ba-ba's. Carter is not into many of her toys. Most of the time she wants whatever Blair has or what she can get her hands on in Blair's toy basket. She puts everything in her mouth, so we have to constantly do a floor sweep! She has 2 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth, and chews on everything!  We started table food a few weeks ago, and she is doing great. We have built up to peas, bananas, sweet potato, green beans, cheese, and turkey.    She is a very happy baby and goes with the flow most of the time. She is not the best car traveler right now, and I pray that will change in a few months. She is just such a mover, that she hates to be still! 

Speaking of being still, I was able to snag a few pictures of her, but not many. She is way faster than my shutter these day! We love you Carter-girl even though you are exhausting! LOL! 

Hold on tight...

It's December 20th, and I'm going to try to recap the last twenty-something days in one post. There has been a ton going on, so get ready!

We started the season off by putting our tree up on Thanksgiving weekend. Come hell or high water, we always do it that weekend. Carter added quite the responsibility this season, so we had to do our decorating in shifts. After 3-4 nap time increments, we got it done. 1400 lights later, here she is...

Blair had received a couple of new ornaments that she was very excited about adding to the tree this year. Here are a couple of her favorites.

Our very first Christmas activity was a trip to see Santa after the practice run we had made to the mall to calm Blair's nerves.  I was so proud of Blair this year; she was such a big girl and showed Carter just how it was done. However, something tells me that Carter will not need much guidance ;)

We also had our annual Christmas gathering with the McGrath and Driskell families. Felix always cooks up a good pot of jambalaya, and the kids exchange Christmas presents.  This once started with just Blair and Quinn, and now there are 5 of them!

Next up, we were so lucky to have Pop come stay with us for a few days! I don't think our bottom hit the chair the entire time he was here, but we sure did make some good memories! We started the visit off with a trip to the Botanical Gardens. They have TONS of Christmas lights all over the park, and they EVEN have Lumina the Light Fairy and SMORES!!!!  Blair said her favorite part was seeing the fairy and making the smores. That's my girl!

The very next night, we decided to take Blair ice-skating. I was a little worried if it would be a disaster, so I made her wear her bike helmet just in case. We were so amazed at how well she did. The three of us took a few laps around holding hands, and then by the end of it, she wouldn't let us touch her. The St. Regis does a bang up job at hosting this very fun activity, and we can't wait to go back next year! (If we can wait that long!!).

Since school has been out, we have actually had a few days to catch up with a few of Blair's buddies from last year. I constantly hear how she sees her old classmates on the playground. So, we hosted a little cookie-baking party at our house, and the kids had a great time.  We were lucky that ALL THREE didn't end up in princess dresses by the time it was over, but the girls seemed to go easy on the little guy ;)

I know it doesn't appear this way, but we have also had a lot of down-time too. We have had plenty of time for decorating gingerbread houses, making more cookies,  fooling around with that dang elf on the shelf, and just being plain ole silly!

So, now we wait! Wait on that ONE big day, that we have spent the past 2 months preparing for ;) Now, that all the hustle and bustle is over, we will try to spend the next 5 days remembering what is important and clinging to our loved ones. These two little ones right here make it all worth it, and I know they have probably received more hugs and kisses in the past week than they have since they were born. We will be praying extra hard this holiday season for the Sandy Hook families, while we are reminded of how fortunate we are to have our little ones to share this precious time with.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving right here in Atlanta. It was so relaxing, and it was nice to have Nonna here a few days to help out!  We started the week off with a feast at Blair's school. There were some kids in the class that wouldn't touch their plate, but not my Blair bear! 

We hosted Thanksgiving lunch at our house this year for my Mom's side of the family. I really needed a good excuse to spruce up my living room and my dining room table ;) I made sure the house and decor were in order, and Felix was in charge of the food (he can make a mean oyster dressing!). 

And if you missed the November issue of Southern Living, then you are going to be upset that you missed this delicious pie! It took Felicia  Felix 24 hours to make this pie (per my request), but boy was it worth it! 

Both of my little turkeys were complete angels on Thanksgiving Day. They loved having family in town and getting so much attention. I took a few family pictures, but most of the women in my family run from the camera. I asked them if we could take some family shots, and they moaned and asked if we could wait until Christmas. Don't hold your breath ;)

And just like that, Thanksgiving is over. Christmas is here. The trees are up, the house is decorated, and the Christmas pajamas have been pulled out! Stay tuned because we have a heck of a month ahead of us! 

War Eagle Forever!

Blair had such a great time at the Auburn game last year, that we decided to make it a yearly tradition. We chose the Homecoming game because we knew the crowds would be extra light this year (sad). Unfortunately, baby Carter had to sit this trip out because Mommy only takes potty-trained children to football games ;) It sure does allow us to move faster, and see more sights!

We arrived just in time to meet up with the Decker family for the Tiger Walk.  We had the perfect spot by the band and majorettes.

Blair was a little uneasy of the cheerleaders and the majorettes at the Tiger Walk, so we decided to chase them down to the Alumni Tent. She was way more relaxed in that environment. These next two pictures I will forever cherish! These are precious memories that little girls never forget!

We also took a stroll to the University Bookstore before the game started. We bought a really cute children's book about our beloved oak trees. Every night we read about how that mean man poisoned our trees!

We made it just in time for the pre-game festivities, and then we met up with a bunch of my college friends while at the game. We loved having all of our kids there at the same time! What a crew! HA!

Something that was a must on the agenda this time was taking some pictures in front of Samford Hall.  I didn't have it in me to walk that far last year! Our family has shared so many special memories in this exact location, that we must continue the tradition!

So, we have one more week and this football season will be over. THANK GOD!!!! We hope that our next trip to The Plains will be welcomed by many many changes on and off the field. However, we are still true to our Orange and Blue! So, until then..... War Eagle Forever!