Our Play Group: Winter Edition

Since most of us are teachers, our play groups usually take place in the summer time. Since we are blessed to have two solid weeks off in the winter, we thought we could find time to squeeze in a play group. I'm so glad we did. Luckily for me, Dewawn brought over her new toy - her rockin' new camera! She got so many wonderful shots of the kids.

How sweet are these? I thought this play group was fun, especially because of how the kids were starting to enteract and even notice each other. Even though not all of us were present, it was still fun! Emme, Cooper and Hunter, we'll see you next time!

Christmas Time is Here: Christmas Day

Oh, Christmas! Wonderful, glorious Christmas! It really is true, it's so much more wonderful through the eyes of a child. I still don't think there's anything better than experiencing Christmas as a child, but the next best thing is watching your own child experience it. This year was fun because Annabelle started getting the opening presents routine, down! Her absolute most favorite gift this year: a dollar store baby bottle. Oh, you remember! The one that had milk in it, and when you fed your baby the milk disappeared. Yes, that's the one. She loved it. She literally spent all day and evening feeding her baby doll her bottle.

This girl couldn't even stop to look up for a picture! Feeding that baby was important business! Thank you, Nana, for such a wonderful gift! If all Christmas presents could be so inexpensive, huh?

Christmas morning with my cousins was always my favorite! I loved being with them and opening presents. I'm glad AB gets to have that with her cousins on Christmas morning, too. Of course, Joey and Noah's interests are far from a baby bottle, but they still enjoy being together.



Since my battery charger for my camera was missing, I used a digital. I clearly wasn't used to using it and some of these pictures turned out blurry. Too bad, too. Some of the blurry ones are my favs! How about the one where Noah and Joey are trying to get their little cousin to sit with them to take a picture, and all she can do is sit there and cry because she doesn't want to?

However, I think my favorite is where Joey is playing his new DS game, and all AB wants to do is watch Joey play. Yes, she took a break from that baby doll to watch her big cousin play his game. So, she lays in his lap and he just continues playing the game - so sweet!

It was nice to have our newest family member with us this year - Uncle Sean! The picture with him and Scout cracks me up!

I found AB's Christmas Day outfit on Etsy and couldn't pass it up. Especially with those leg warmers! I fell in love with it instantly!  Later that night I was able to capture some precious pictures of Annabelle in her new pink rocking chair that Bebe and Papa gave her, holding her baby and, of course, the bottle. She looks so grown up in these pictures. It's a hard pill for this momma to swallow.

What a wonderful Christmas with family (even if it wasn't photographed, it was still wonderful with everyone!) I'm so blessed to have this sweet angel and all the joy she brings to my life!

Merry Christmas From the Aldrich Family!

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things."

Friendship. AB definitely has it in these two and I have it in their sweet Momma. And it for sure is about the little things...like how about the bunch of diapers that Dewawn brought me becaues Donny outgrew them! That's a little thing...but huge! Dewawn, Braelyn and Donny came over yesterday to play with us. We had so much fun! I love these two kiddos and their mom is such a good friend of mine. I was so glad she busted out her camera, because mine was dead...and of course, I've misplaced the battery charger - go figure.

  

Dewawn and I were cracking up at Braelyn, whom we left "in charge" of the little ones for a short period of time. It didn't last long, but she was so sweet with Annabelle, and kept asking for hugs. Hence the first picture, where she's trying to get one from AB who can't take her eyes off the television (her Daddy's daughter). Aren't Braelyn and Donny the cutest?

Donny and Annabelle were so cute! They were both saying "cheese!" at the camera...except never at the same time. There was quite a bit of hugging from these two. So cute! Hmm...Annabelle Wiest. How does that sound?



Also very "boy like" Donny showed Annabelle how her activity table was multi-purpose. Look! You can turn it over and sit on it! Who knew?

Fun times with the Wiest crew! We love you guys! Come back over soon!!!

Pictures by THE Wonderful, THE Fabulous, Jillian Zamora

When we scheduled to have Jillian take our Christmas card pictures, I had no idea just how incredibly amazing they would turn out. This girl is AMAZING! She captured the happiness we felt that day and all of AB's many moods that changed from minute to minute! Jillian was extremely patient and wonderful to work with. Jonas and Jill came along with, and it helped having them there. AB needed to be redirected quite a few times! Jillian sure did get some good shots, though. It was hard for me not to upload the hundred pictures we have from this shoot. It's ok - they're all my favorite...but, here are some of my real favs!



                             

We lost our sweet Baby #2 about a month after this shoot. I loved how Austin put it. He said, "I'm glad we were able to get professional pictures of all four of us. At least we have that memory." It brings tears to my eyes to think and/or talk about it. He's right, though. Our sweet little family of four was captured here so beautifully. I'll always look back on this and remember him/her.