Family Reunion Weekend at the Lake!

A couple of weekends ago we had the Abrams (my mom's mom) family reunion at Land O' Lakes in Brooksville and we had so much fun spending a lot of time with my family! We got there on Friday afternoon and stayed at the lake at Uncle G and M's "Tin Can Condo" all weekend. We were so fortunate to have my cousin, Jacob, and Uncle Buck and Aunt Eilene with us. We haven't seen any of them in over a year so they were all excited to meet Maggie and couldn't believe how much Addison had grown. We also enjoyed visiting with all of our many other cousins, aunts, uncles, etc...my grandmother was 1 of 10 so there are quite a few of them! Grannie and Maggie at the Reunion

Jacob, Addie, Me, and Maggie
Uncle Buck and Aunt Eilene - it was way past Maggie's naptime and Addison just didn't take a nap this whole weekend so that can explain some of the tears in this picture. Uncle Buck is my grandfather's brother and they are some fun people!

The Bells - William will be home from Iraq in a few weeks and M can't wait!
Maggie and Uncle G chartered the "Sunset Cruise"

My little "Country Girl" showing Aunt Eilene and Uncle Buck the cows!

Da'be's backyard is always beautiful for taking a few snapshots - hate the sun was making the girls squint!

Addison starts Pre-School!

Addison started Pre-school at her daycare when she moved up to the Older Three's room in August! She is learning Bible verses and this month they are focusing on manners, hygiene, themselves, family and home. She is learning so much and is such a little chatterbox with a memory that could rival an adult - don't tell her something unless you are really going to go through with it because she will NOT forget!!!

1st day - we took the backpack that Nana gave her for Christmas and it was so cute, but her teacher told me that it wasn't big enough to hold all of her stuff (naptime stuff, papers, etc.)

So, that afternoon since Lee was off anyway, he picked her up early and they went shopping for a NEW bigger backpack!
She is becoming such a big girl! So sad to her Mommy :(

Geyser Falls!

This past Saturday, Uncle Gary and "M" invited us to "Big A" Day (Anderson Hospital sponsered employee/family event) at Geyser Falls. We have been looking forward to this for a while and it was a great day for Addison and I to have some one-on-one time together - Maggie will have to wait until next year when she is a little bigger. We had a blast and the weather was perfect!M, Mac, Addie, and Uncle Gary - Marilyn's sister, Judy, and her two boys Mac and Mitchell were there as well and we all had fun playing together!

Addison loved this area - Creaky Leaky Water Factory - it had lots of fun spiral slides but you got lots of bucketfuls of water dumped on you before you got to the top! She is "striking a pose!"

OK...this is the only "big" slide that Addison was "almost" tall enough to ride - I think she lacked about a inch to inch-and-half, but we took to the top because Mac was going to go down it! Halfway there I realize that she is going to have to go down it BY HERSELF, HEAD FIRST, ON A MAT! I would have turned around (ok knowing me I probably wouldn't have), but she really wanted to go!


That is me and Addison in the middle - she is on the left, me on the right - she giggled and grinned the whole way down! Needless to say, we did it quite a few more times throughout the day - I might have me a little daredevil!
Check out that big grin!

Thanks Mom for helping chase Addie around all day! She was asleep before we left the parking lot!

Thanks Uncle G and M - we had a great time!

10 Months...and walking!!!

From this to walking in only 10 short months...glad we didn't blink!

I can't believe that my baby is walking!!! Although, Addie walked at 10.5 months so I don't know why I am that surprised. Maggie had been taking a couple of steps every now and then for a couple of weeks, but only really when we were playing with her and getting her balanced first...not anymore! Now, you will catch her pulling up on anything in sight and just taking off from there! She is so cute and it is too funny because she is still sooo little to me! She still crawls from time to time because Addie gets so excited when she sees that she is walking and starts screaming and clapping "Yea Big Girl!" and it startles her and down she goes and then there are the other times when we aren't watching very closely that Addison might just "help" her to the ground! They do love each other! Maggie is also cutting her 4th tooth, eating a lot of table food, and only drinking from sippy cups at daycare during the day!!!

Below you will find a few of my favorite 9 to 10 month pictures

One of her absolute favorite things to play with...refrigerator magnets!

One tired baby

Summertime at the pool


This little girl loves her bathtime! Easiest way to please her...she loves to splash and make "Ho Ho" faces with bubbles - wonder who taught her that one! Gotta love the "outtie" in the picture above!

Lee and his mini-me!
Did I mention she is like a little monkey - will climb on anything - we caught her standing on the oven drawer handle and pulled up on the oven door handle - dangerous I know!

Two precious girls...can't leave my Addie out!!!

Welcome Mary Milton Roberts!

After much anticipation and excitement, we joyfully announce the arrival of MISS MARY MILTON ROBERTS!!!! Congrats to some very proud parents, Morgan and Haydn – we love y’all!

She made her debut at 3:01 in the morning on Monday, August 3, 2009, and I was so happy to be one of the very excited people waiting as Haydn made the grand entrance through the infamous double doors at Woman’s Hospital. She is absolutely beautiful and so tiny and perfect in every way – thank God for the many blessings in life that He sends our way. We look forward to traveling along the path that He has planned for her – no doubt she will be a very vibrant girl just like her parents! Morgan did splendid and looked like a million bucks right after the baby was born – I think I even remember her asking for lipstick before we took pictures at 4:30 AM!

Morgan has filmed the debut of both of my girls (as well as several birthdays) and I wouldn’t trade those videotapes for anything in this world. It brings tears to my eyes just remembering the tears of joy on my husband and all of our families faces as they met both girls for the first time and had she not been there filming I would have never seen this since I was still in the operating room. I haven’t seen the video yet, but I hope that it provides memories for a lifetime. I was so thankful to be a part of this wondrous occasion. It was so much fun visiting with Mamie, Mister, Doug, Mitzi, Callie, and Marion Hall as we all waited anxiously to meet Mary Milton. They were all so excited and I don’t think any of us realized that the sun was about to rise until we headed out to our cars. It was worth every minute!

Smiles even through the pain! Last pre-baby shot before the dreaded hospital gown!

We were so glad when Mamie and Mister made it - still smiling through the pain and looking great!
Callie and Marion Hall made it shortly after and by now, thankfully, Morg was feeling NO pain!!!
Doug and Mitzi completed the party; now all we need is Mary Milton
We had gotten the word that she was here and we couldn't wait to see her!!!

Precious baby girl

7 lbs. 11 ozs. 19.5 in.Addison was so excited about her new little cousin and just giggled the entire time (FYI - Hadyn gave her MM to hold all by herself - I was a nervous wreck! Thankfully she was ready to give her back not long after) After this, Addison sheepishly walked up to me and said, "Mama, I want another baby!!!" All I could say was, "I'm sorry!" Kids say the darndest things! Especially 3 year-olds! We can't wait for Mary Milton to spend the night with us! Two proud parents and one special girl for a very special family!

Mason turned ONE!

Thomas and Emily's little boy, Mason, turned the big ONE on Tuesday! It is so hard to believe that he is one; we all waited so long to welcome a precious little baby to their special family. He is absolutely adorable! We were so thankful to be a part of his birthday party celebration on Saturday - it was big fun!!! Congrats To-To and Auntie Em - you have one special little boy!

The best picture that I have of all the kids - kind of sad, huh, but funny!

We look forward to sharing in many many more birthdays!

5 Years of Wedded Bliss!

(click to enlarge)

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary - wow - 5 YEARS!!! It has been great - we have made lots of memories and had a lot of fun! Lee will be working the Wildlife Extravaganza all weekend (something that will probably interfere with our actual anniversary forever!) so we celebrated last weekend with a trip to New Orleans! Lee planned it all and just told me about it a couple of weeks ago - surprise! We headed out Friday afternoon and got down just in time for dinner at the ACME Oyster House then a late night on Bourbon Street. You can tell that I am a mother of two girls (or just older for that matter) because I was appalled at how little so many "really young" girls were wearing! My sister was there with some of her work friends for a bachelorette weekend so we caught up with her for a little while before settling in at The Blues Cafe - this was Lee's pick, but it was really good. We slept in really late Saturday morning (which was great!) then headed out for the brunch buffett at Court of Two Sisters - awesome - we both almost made ourselves sick, but it was worth it! We spent the rest of the day walking around the French Quarter, along the RiverWalk, and browsing the Market. Saturday night, we had reservations at Brennan's and it was delicious and a beautiful restaurant - we even enjoyed a little Banana's Foster before they presented us with a celebratory potato head to commemorate our anniversary! Afterwards, we went on a Haunted History Ghost Tour. It was really interesting and definitely a brush up on Louisiana history. Next, we took off to settle in at Pat O'Brien's Piano Bar where we were definitely entertained and Lee had both of his requests played! What trip to New Orleans would be complete without a trip to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets so that is where we landed Sunday morning before heading home. We stayed at the beautiful Bienville House on Decatur Street - a gorgeous hotel - they even left us a complimentary bottle of champagne and a couple of pralines. A special thanks goes out to my mom for keeping the two little munchkins while we were gone - I think they definitely got her ready for her week at the beach!

While we were on the Haunted History Tour, a traditional New Orleans wedding party and all of their guests marched (to a band and marshall) through the streets - it was really cool!


The only thing that could have made this trip any better was if we had set sail on the cruise ship below on Sunday morning! Believe it or not, it was the same ship that we went on for our honeymoon - now isn't that just a little too incoincedental!

Thanks, dear, for a wonderful anniversary trip and I look forward to many more memories and years of happiness!

Photo Session!

Mom and I took the girls on Friday afternoon to Portrait Innovations for Maggie's 9 month and Addison's 3 year pictures. We had so much fun or should I say I felt like I got a workout trying to get both of them to look AT THE SAME TIME and keep Maggie in one spot long enough for me to get out of the camera lens! It was fun and I was very pleased. I am posting some funny shots from the many attempts to get a few good shots! As you can see, it never failed that they both did very well at DIFFERENT times. Addison did great in the first attempt at the two of them together and Maggie looked confused! By the time Maggie had things figured out and was clowning, Addison started getting pouty for a little attention! Oh well, what can you say that is girls for you!

Maggie - would not sit still whether it was standing up or crawling off, keep her hands out of her face, and the props still- she is a ball of fire!!!

Addie - she was so sweet and did a great job - funny watching her try to look the right direction, not give a fake grin, and hold her shoulders up! Growing into such a little lady!

Our precious baby girls!

Below are my favorites!!