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!!

Serious about her Spaghetti!

9 Months = Fun, Fun, Fun!

Maggie is soooo much fun! We are definitely having a blast. She is into, on top of, and underneath EVERYTHING! She has mastered crawling and can get from one room to the next in 2 seconds flat! She has now started putting one foot up to help her get there quicker. She has been pulling up on everything in sight for a few weeks now and in the past week has started walking around the coffee table and transfering between furniture, bath tub and toilet, etc. Wants to walk soooo bad, but she won't get off her tip toes -she has held her balance for a second or two a few times! Her absolute favorite place to be at the moment is pulled up and attached to Mama's leg!!! She is definitely a little chatterbox and there is nothing quiet about her. It seems that she knows just when we are trying to communicate with each other yet not talking to her because she lets out the highest pitch squeal I have ever heard and thus we can't hear each other! She and Addie are getting closer and closer every day and Addison is loving that she can "play" with her. They are so sweet together. We (ALL 4 of us and a few unfortunate family members) battled the stomach virus over a 2 week period and now Maggie is still trying to get rid of her double ear infections! Got a shot and a second round of antibiotics at her 9 month checkup!

9 Month Stats:

Length - 28 inches

Weight - 19 lbs. 7 oz.

Can't remember head circumference!

All in the 70th percentile - what can we say...she is a well-rounded girl!!!

The "chair" picture was a little difficult to get this month...someone doesn't want to sit still!

Just a "few" of my favorite pictures from the last month! One of her favorite "toys" along with plastic storage containers, pots/pans, and a wooden spoon! Who needs all those fancy new toys!

This was at Aunt Morgan and Mary Milton's baby shower. L to R: Lilli Kathryn Cade, Addison and Maggie, Marnie Shell. Maggie and Marnie were born on Oct. 8th and Lilli Kathryn the 9th - Maggie is definitely bigger than the other two, but I think her being a little in front makes it look a little worse than it actually is!

She definitely enjoys her pan-a-cakes!

Sisterly Love!

This is one of my absolute favorites!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July celebrating at Lake Caroline with Aunt Morgan and Uncle Haydn! After suffering through the stomach virus, we were so excited to finally be out of our house!

All dressed in our patriotic red!

Somebody left out their cookies...and the cookie monster didn't take long to snatch them up!

Can't wait to celebrate with Mary Milton next year!

Enjoying the fireworks!

Happy Independence Day America! Thanks to all the men and women that fought and still continue to fight for our freedom!

Double Take!