Playing Together

This is one of those moments that I have been waiting for......to see my two children playing together like this........to see Mason being so sweet to his little sister and seeing how much Allie completely adores her big brother. They were totally oblivious to my picture taking, just in their own little world. I know better than to take these precious moments for granted...... they will be gone in the blink of any eye.

Reese's Birthday

Back before we had real babies, we had our first baby......our chocolate lab, Reese. We used to make a big deal out of her birthday every year.......now she's lucky if we even remember it! Mason and I decided to make our neglected dog some cupcakes in honor of her 7th birthday. She loved being able to come inside and get her little treat!

Miss Trouble

Allie has certainly been keeping me on my toes over the past couple of weeks......She is crawling all over the house, pulling up on anything and everything, tearing apart the playroom, and on Friday..... she figured out how to stand up in her crib (for the first time) and pull on the blinds! I had put her down for her afternoon nap and I began to hear a loud banging sound. I was sure it must be coming from Mason's room, but no.......it was my little trouble maker banging the blinds against the window. When I walked in, she had the biggest grin on her face.....she was just so proud of herself! I e-mailed Brian these pictures at work and informed him that he would be moving the crib when he got home!




Hey, Mom.... Look what I can do!

A Little Bit of Snow!!!

OK, so maybe we were hoping for more than just a "dusting" of snow......but since we live in South Carolina, we'll take what we can get! Brian and I woke up at 5am and watched the snow start falling outside- it was SO beautiful! Unfortunately, the ground wasn't quite cold enough for the snow to accumulate, but it kept falling on and off for most of the day. I woke Mason and Allie up and took them straight outside to play in it. Mason had this look of wonder on his face the whole time, like he just couldn't believe it was really snowing!






Allie was practicing her beauty queen wave!


Trying to catch a snowflake!


I love Allie's expression- she was giggling
about the snow falling on her face. So sweet!

Happy Birthday Nina!

This past Sunday, we celebrated Nina's birthday. We all went over to her house and enjoyed spending some time together. After we ate supper (and cake, of course) we all watched a home movie from Christmas 1989........we all laughed so hard at some of the things we said and especially how we dressed.......it's so hard to believe that was 20 years ago! What a fun night. Happy Birthday Nina!


Mason cracks us up when he sings- SO dramatic!

Teething Biscuits

I found a recipe for teething biscuits in a parenting magazine and decided to try it out. Allie loves them.......they must feel really good on those sore gums!

She kept sucking her lip in and making this cute face!

She's Crawling!

Allie has become such a big girl in the past week......Not only has she officially started crawling all over the house, but little miss priss has also started saying mama! Part of me is really excited about these changes......but it's just another reminder that she's not a baby anymore!

Thank Goodness for Starbucks!

Just as we were starting to think that we might not survive the 6 1/2 hour drive home with a screaming 9 month old and a 3 year old with way too many questions......a beacon of hope appeared in the distance......


We walked inside with our gift card in hand,
took a potty break, ordered some yummy
drinks, and were on our way........


Even Mason got in on the action with a
Vanilla Creme Frapp. with chocolate on top!


Caffeine!!!



Time to hit the road again....Thanks Starbucks!!

Trip to Virginia

We just recently got back from an after-Christmas trip to Virginia. Even though we weren't able to stay long, time spent with family is always nice. Mason and Allie enjoyed having a bit of play time with their cousins!


Sam and Alasyn holding Allie.



Allie was all worn out after opening her presents!

She got her very own Minnie Mouse!

They had a train around their Christmas tree and our

little engineer literally spent hours playing with it!



Allie had so much fun playing "Allie Says" with Alasyn and Morgan.

When we got back to our room at the hotel, Mason

just had to sleep in his new Cars pjs and read his new book!

Happy New Year!

Allie rang in her very first New Year!




Our New Year's celebration included cheese fondue and
sparkling grape juice......Mason thought it was Yummy!