Happy 2009!!

Wow! Another year come and gone. Yes, I am still here!

It has been a crazy past couple of months. Thought I would post an update for those of you who still actually check my blog. There won't be any pictures until I can get my hard drive cleared off-hence the reason I haven't been diligent to keep this thing up!

We had an awesome Christmas this year! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my family in Alpharetta just taking it easy and hanging out! We made appetizers for dinner on Christmas Eve for dinner and watched movies-it was great! Christmas day we spent a lot of time in our Pj's just taking it easy and enjoying our time together, and of course our new gifts! That evening my Aunt and Uncle and their kids came over for dinner. My Dad grilled the most amazing beef tenderloin EVER on the green egg. It was so good! The day after Christmas we headed to Nashville and spent the week with Reid's sister and her husband, and Reid's Mom and Dad. We had tons of fun playing games, eating way too many goodies, watching movies, some fun shopping, and we even took Ella to see the movie "Bedtime Stories" (which was so cute by the way!)

We got back home on Thursday evening, and I am just now starting to get the house back in normal working order. The Christmas decorations are down (with the exception of the outside ones since it hasn't stopped being wet outside since we got home), the new toys are slowly finding places to be, and the suitcases are just about unpacked.

School starts back up this coming week, along with our normal everyday activities! It will be nice to get back to our regular schedule. There is something to be said for a reliable schedule, isn't there?

As for the kids....

Ella is getting to be such a big girl. She is a huge help to me, and she loves her little brother. She is high energy, and loves to go and do. This past week visiting family was definitely a highlight for her. She sure does love to visit! :)

Cooper is learning and growing by leaps and bounds! He's pretty fast at walking now, and of course still climbs on anything he can! He is starting to talk a lot now! Some of his vocabulary includes: Papa, Yaya, Nana, Pop, Ella, Daddy, Mama, snack, pizza, doggy, eye, and YEAH!! His newest thing is to respond to something that he wants, or wants to do with: "YEAH!!!" It's so cute, I need to post a video of him saying it. He also loves a good snuggle if you can get him to hold still for long enough! :)

My figure competition!

Training for my competition is coming along GREAT! I am in the last few weeks of my "bulking" phase (aka trying to put on some solid lean muscle mass). I should be meeting with a nutrition coach in the next week to see when I need to start the cutting phase (aka getting rid of the excess fat to see the nice lean muscle!) My posing suit is purchased, still need to get shoes. This month I will be contacting a posing coach to help me with my posing routine. Every day I think that I am crazy for wanting to do this, but I know I will be very proud of myself in the end!

Alright, so there is a little catch up for you! Hopefully we will be getting the hard drive situation fixed soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow!! I have totally been SLACKING on my blog lately! There has been a lot going on, so really it's been the last thing on my mind-sorry 'bout that!

Anyway, we had a GREAT Thanksgiving at my parents house this year! Saw a few movies, put up some Christmas decorations, had some chillin' out time, and ate a lot of yummy food! Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving day.

Cooper's first Thanksgiving dinner!


Helping me make a pecan pie!

The finished cherry and pecan pies!

Pilgrim Ella-for her school Thanksgiving program

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Halloween 2008!

Here are just a few pics from our Halloween! I posted a ton more on Facebook, so request to be my friend and you can see more! we had a great Halloween weekend! After Ella's Halloween parade and party at school, we headed to Nashville to spend some time with Reid's family. Ella and Cooper got to do their trick-or-treating there with some friends that live next door to Reid's sister Ashley and her husband Michael. We had a ton of fun!

Cumming Country Fair 2008!

Last night we made our annual trip to the fair, and we had a BLAST!! Ella has been talking about going for a few weeks now. This year she was quite the ride warrior! she wanted to ride everything and anything-including the ones that were going upside down, which of course she was too short for. Earlier this week we were checking out the website for the fair, seeing what kinds of deals they had. She saw a picture of the swinging pirate ship, and was determined she was going to go on it. Well, she ended up being tall enough to ride it-so she and Reid went on it....and she LOVED it! Who knew? :) Last night was free admission night, so we got her the "All-You-Can-Ride" pass. We also let her pick one game to play. She chose the one where everyone wins a prize, and she won a little Clifford stuffed animal. :)

Cooper had lots of fun just riding around in the stroller taking in all the sights. He was just laughing away in his stroller. He thought the stuffed animals hanging at the games where quite funny! He also thought the turkey at the petting zoo was pretty funny too. :)

We ended up the night with what else, but some treats!! Ella got an ice cream cone (with sprinkles of course!) and I got a funnel cake. When she saw the funnel cake she said "I want that because it is yummier!" So, Cooper ended up with a sweet deal on that one. ;) Here are a few pics from our night!

Our Little Flower Girl-Hair pictures as promised!

For those interested on how to accomplish this look:

1. Do a side part at the front of the head, fading into a zig-zag part down the back.

2. Separate into 2 pigtails.

3. Turn each pigtail into a pull-through knot, having the hair come out the top instead of the bottom.

4. Put pomade on the pigtails and curl small sections until all the hair is curled.

5. Grab the whole pig tail, and twist to the top of the head and pin in place-pining curls to make them stay in place. Repeat on the other side.

6. Finish with some pretty pins, etc....then spray it down with hair spray!

Fun Weekend!

We are back from an awesome weekend of celebrating Leah and Chris' wedding in downtown Atlanta! We had a blast! I have some pics to share, but I need to make more room on my hard drive in order to put them on my computer. So for now, enjoy this picture of Ella and her GIANT pancake from this morning at Twelve Hotel :)

"Enchanted" at The Fox

Today Ella and I went with my sister Kelly to see "Enchanted" at The Fox theater in downtown Atlanta. It was so fun! I highly recommend seeing a movie at The Fox-such a fun experience!! Kelly has a checklist of things she wants to do in Atlanta in 2008, so we thought we would help her with one thing off her checklist. Of course we had to do it up right since it was a checklist item after all, so we got Diet Cokes, Popcorn and Milk Duds :) Here are a couple of pictures that I stole from her blog since I totally forgot my camera.

Beach Pictures 2008-Sneak Preview!

I just loaded these on the computer, and couldn't wait to share just a few....

Cincinnati Trip 2008: Great Grandparents

This is the final installment of the Cincinnati pictures! While we were there, Ella and Cooper had the chance to visit with both my Dad's parents, and my Mom's Mom. I am so grateful that my children have these opportunities to meet their Great Grandparents!

Cincinnati Trip 2008: Cincinnati Zoo

Ok, resuming the Cincinnati pictures! We had a GREAT trip to the zoo while we were there. I love this zoo, and it really took me back while I was there, remembering all the times we went there when I was little. I would catch a glimpse of something, even just a railing, and think "Oh, I remember that!" :) The only bummer was the fact that the train that runs through the park was shut down for maintenance. What a bummer! But we had an awesome time-and Ella asked the entire time we were there "Can I get my facec painted?" And so we did.... :)









The after-math of the zoo, part 1...

...and part 2!