Date Night!

Lee and I had our first "date night" since we became a "family of four". We went to the Sugarland concert on Saturday night and had a blast! Sugarland is my favorite band so I was real excited to find out they were coming to Jackson on a weekend and not on a Thursday night. It was so much fun and all of the performers were great, as were our seats! We were long overdue for a night out by ourselves, but we really missed our two little girls. Addison was really jealous and as we were leaving, she kept saying over and over that she wanted to go on a "date" so on Sunday she and her daddy went on a date to the "gun show" - I think she got the short end of the stick!

Ashton Shepherd performed first and she sang several songs that I liked but didn't know she sang! Not surprising since I am not the most knowledgable person when it comes to music history! She sang "Takin Off This Pain" on the CMA Awards just last week and has a new song that is pretty catchy - "Sounds So Good".Next, came Kellie Pickler, who is a ball of fire and always fun to watch. My heart just goes out to her everytime I hear her sing just thinking of how far she has come and yet neither of her parents are there for her to enjoy it with. Just goes to show that fame isn't everything! New song to watch for - "Rocks Instead of Rice" (song #3) - it is a lighthearted funny song that anyone from a small town can probably relate to!And, finally, the headlining act - SUGARLAND!!! They were well worth the price of the tickets as well as the walk in the cold weather from the car to get there! If you wondered why they are the "Duo of the Year" you should have been at the Coliseum on Saturday night. They are so full of energy and definitely great performers that feed off of each other. Jennifer has an awesome voice and is such a free-spirit. The stage set-up was so neat and the big-screen showed some of their personal lives as they performed - really unique element to the show. New Sugarland song to listen for: It Happens, but I must say the Coliseum was definitely rockin' when this song came up: "Down in Mississippi".
Rolling through the audience in large blow-up balls!
The encore song was "Love Shack" performed by everone on tour in funky wigs!Thanks Da'be for babysitting - we know you had as much fun as we did!

Happy Birthday Molly!

Do they look alike? You be the judge...

Everyone is always saying, "She looks just like Addison" so you be the judge. Since we are the parents, of course, we see the similarities, but they both have their own uniqueness in our eyes so I am posting a picture of both of them when they were between 5 and 6 weeks old (Addison may be closer to 7 weeks - my date is not correct on my picture). I need not label who is who since they were born in different seasons it is quite obvious!

Lots of Firsts!

Maggie has had quite a few firsts during the last week. First, she took her first "bath" with Addison and Daddy! Addison was so excited to be able to share the bath tub with her. Needless to say, she only stayed long enough to get clean and for me to snap a few pics because Dad and Addison were cold because the water temp couldn't be too warm!

Next, she took her first bottle this week! I was interested to know how much milk she was taking each feeding so I selfishly pumped and fed her the first bottle! I know - the mother shouldn't be the first to feed, but I didn't with Addison! So, I pumped some more and both Lee and Addison have had their turn since. But, I have to tell the funny story of my very observant two and a half year old - she is so smart! So, here goes the dialogue:

L: "Addison, do you think you can feed Maggie?"
A: "No!"
L: "Why not?"
A: "I don't have milk in my boobies!!!" (Side note: the night Maggie was born, Addison broke down in tears the first time she saw me feeding and said "She's biting Mama" so we had to explain that she didn't have teeth so she couldn't bite and that that was how she got her milk!)

Lee proceeds to explain that we are going to put the milk in a bottle and she gets real excited and the next thing I know here she comes:

A: "I got the towel (with the burp cloth hung over her shoulder)!"
A (to Lee): "I've got to pull my shirt up!" then she heads to the couch and tells him "I need the pillow (the Boppy)." She did a really good job and I sat with her the whole time to make sure she kept the bottle up and I burped her after every ounce.

Now she was set, isn't it funny what litttle sponges they are at this age. She doesn't miss a thing! Funny story that I just had to share! Not a day goes by that she doesn't crack us up!

Maggie - 1 month old!

How much has Maggie grown in a month? Here is the picture of her in the "big" chair at one week and again at the one month mark! (Sorry it took so long to post, but it was taken on Nov. 8th). We weighed her on our scales (however accurate this might be) and measured her and we think that she is about 9 lbs. 13 oz. and 22 inches long. A growing girl and absolute joy. She is a wonderful baby - doesn't cry unless she is hungry or feeling a little intimidated by a loving big sister!!!

Amazing the changes that can happen in only a short few weeks - she definitely has more control of her head (she is a strong little girl) and is more observant; spending a good bit of time during the day checking out her surroundings and getting to know her family. She will follow your fingers or moving toy from one side to the other as well as your voice or rattler and can move her head from one side to the other when laying one her stomach on a pallet on the floor! Maggie is averaging about 3 -4 hours of sleep at a time at night, but slept a 6 hour stretch last night! She is a big grunter, but that is OK because we can lay her down wide awake and she looks around and grunts until she falls asleep and this is wonderful when you get up and feed in the middle of the night and then we both just go back to sleep!

Meet Anna June Sharpe!

Becky and Anna (check out that head full of hair!)

My cousin, William, and his wife, Becky, welcomed their first child, Anna June Sharpe, on November 9th. She weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 inches long. William is currently serving overseas and has been stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska for the last couple of years. My aunt, Marilyn, was taking a gamble on her plane ticket to Alaska in trying to guess at when the baby might arrive when she purchased it several months ago and a last minute meeting in Oregon allowed Becky's mother to visit for a week. Marilyn flew out of Jackson on Saturday at noon and landed in Alaska at midnight and at 4 AM, Becky and her mom woke her to tell her that Becky's contractions were 5 minutes apart and her water had broken. Talk about good timing or just in the nick of time! And isn't it amazing the work that God can do with our schedules, Marilyn and Ms. Debbie were only both there at the same time for 2 days and the baby came on the first day. I know that this meant a lot to Becky to have them both there since William is so far away. Red Cross was able to get in touch with William so he was able to talk to them several times throughout the day, but I know he can't wait to get his hands on that beautiful little girl.

Marilyn and Anna - one proud grandmother

Please keep Becky, William, and Anna in your prayers as they all face the challenge of a long distance relationship, but Becky is a wonderful wife and will make sure that William is fully informed and involved. Also remember Becky and Anna as they battle the cold weather, Marilyn said it was -11 and blanketed in beautiful snow!

Feeding the Horses with CC!

CC took us to Anna's house last Monday so that Addison could see some horses since they are her favorite animal. We see horses every time we leave our house and Addison points them out along the way. It is so amazing that this child isn't scared of a horse at all and even fed them from her hand and yet the second a dog got close to her she flinched her eyes and grabbed one of our legs!

Visiting the family in Macon!

After tailgating on Saturday, we headed to Macon to visit with family and friends. We enjoyed quite a few good home-cooked meals and introduced Maggie to a few new faces!

Addison, Da'be, and Maggie

Maggie and Grannie

Grannie and Addison enjoyed drawing with her sidewalk chalk at Da'be's house!

Maggie meets Deb and Papa

Addison loves checking on the cows while she is at Da'be's house

Roe, Addison, Maggie, and Nana

Addison, Maggie, and Aunt Meg

Tailgaiting in Starkville!

We finally made our annual trip to Mississippi State to tailgate and watch the Bulldogs play(because Lee works every Saturday we don't make it to many games). We headed to Starkville on Friday night and spent the night with Pap and Suzy then got up early and made it to campus a little after 10 Saturday morning. This gave us plenty of time to visit our friends and family and take Addison to pick out her very own cowbell - she was so excited and has been ringing it all over the house! Addison, Maggie, and I just tailgated and headed back to the house shortly before kickoff while Lee went to the game with all of his family - they had tickets in the skybox. Lee said that the skybox was awesome and has been bragging about the Jumbotron all week. Maybe next year I will get to go to the ball game!

What a precious little cheerleader!

Maggie doesn't quite fit into much of our MSU gear just yet - but she did wear her beanie and socks!

A family affair!

Our first stop was the Baker tent -

Addison, Maggie, Ansley, and Gracie

Addison, Aunt Pat, Maggie, and Tom Tom We tailgated right next to the Pom-Pom Squad

Justin, Katie, Maggie, Lauren Colby, Austin, Suzy, and Addison

Lindley and Aunt Pat both met Maggie for the first time on Saturday Pap and Maggie

Mama and her girls

Trick-or-Treat!

Lee brought home a ranger and trailer for us and several neighbors to go trick-or-treating on Friday night. We had sooo much fun; the little ones were so funny and they caught on so fast. By the end of the night, they were ringing doorbells and knocking on doors and every time the trailer would stop I would hear Addison say, "Come on guys, let's go get some more candy!" and they would all run to the next house. Too cute! On the way to Starkville that night, she said, "Mama and Daddy, I had fun trick-or-treating." and that made it all worth it! Addison was Cinderella and I don't have a picture of Maggie in her ghost outfit, but she was Casper, the friendly ghost. Mamie's mom was so sweet and kept Maggie at home with Garrett so that she wouldn't be out in the cold; we really appreciated that. I will try to take a picture and post it later.

My Little Pumpkin - Maggie

Addison as Cinderella

Bailey as Elmo

Leighton the Ladybug Kennedy the Pumpkin
Luke as Tigger

Our Ride
Ringing Doorbells!
Collecting Candy - I think they would eat what they got at one house before they ever got to the next house! This was the cutest decoration that we saw all night!
Can't wait to do it again next year!