A 30 Year Tradition and Baby Dedication

This year marked nearly 30 years that the Williams, Davies and the Hamlins have had their annual Christmas party together. This year was a little more special because the third generation from each family is here, or on the way, to continue the tradition. This was Audrey and Annabelle's first Christmas party and baby Freeman is on the way! We will find out in a little less than a month if baby Freeman is going to be Ava or a boy (no boy name picked out yet). This was the funnest party we've had in a long time!

It was fun getting to love on eachother's babies and getting to manhandle Jenna's baby bump! Austin loves this sweet Audrey!

Jenna was awesome! She held and rocked AB until she fell asleep, which was a good thing because this girl was getting fussy! Jenna's ready to be a mommy already!

Audrey, Baby Freeman and Annabelle's first picture together! We were having such a fun time, even the babies enjoyed it! Even though we can't tell, I'm certain that baby Freeman was smiling and having as much fun in his/her Mommy's tummy as we were at the party!

Sweet Alyssa was an AWESOME babysitter! She held AB for a good hour and kept her occupied! AB loved her! At one point we were all talking and I noticed that Alyssa was singing to AB. I leaned in a little closer to hear what she was singing, and it was the Star Spangled Banner!!! I could hardly keep myself from busting out laughing!

The next morning was Annabelle's dedication at First Baptist Garland. It was such a fun morning and especially because Annabelle got to meet, for the first time, some very special people to her Mommy and Daddy. I grew up at this church and have such fond childhood memories here, that it meant a lot to me to have AB dedicated here. Annabelle got to meet Jackie, Rachel and Liza for the first time. I was Liza's MDO teacher when she was two, and started babysitting her and her sister, Rachel. It's so hard for me to believe that Rachel is a freshman in high school and Liza will be in middle school next year! CRAZY! They are such sweet girls, they must get it from their sweet Mom.

And, of course, we cant forget about "Aunt" Amanda. She is the one who bought AB her BEAUTIFUL dedication dress. I've been looking forward to this day for many reasons, and one of them being to put her in this dress that Amanda bought her when she was in the hospital.

How cute. A baby looks so good in Mark's arms, I think they need one more! Here is the sweet Hill family. We love them. Mark married Austin and I and sweet Darcie sang "How Beautiful" at our wedding. Their beautiful girls Callie and Abby are super precious!

"I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow..."

Happy Two Year Anniversary to the love of my life and my very best friend!

As I look back over the last two years I am just blown away by how much has changed, and how it's definitely changed for the good! I couldn't picture my life any better or have any more meaning than it does now. I am so lucky to have married the man I always dreamed about and I am even more in love with him now than the day I married him. What an amazing husband and father you are, Babe, and I'm so happy to be your wife and I look forward to many, many more years together! I love you so much! Happy two year anniversary!

I love you,

Jen

Merry Christmas!

AB's First Thanksgiving!

I'm disappointed and a little ashamed to say that I didn't photograph our first Thanksgiving with AB like I would've liked. I guess that's what happens when you are hosting Thanksgiving at your house. From the time we got up until it was time to eat, we were busy cooking, cleaning and, this year, tending to our sweet baby! It just seems there wasn't a lot of time for pictures...which makes me sad. However, we did so happen to take pictures of Annabelle and her new lovie on Thanksgiving day. The day before, Annabelle got a package in the mail from John and Robin, our insurance agents. They sent her an adorable blue elephant (very soft!!) lovie. AB had to spend a little bit more of her day in her bouncy because Daddy and I were preparing for our guests all day. So, we made sure to put football on the t.v., because just like her Daddy, AB can sit and watch football all day!! While she was watching her favorite sport, we gave her her new lovie. She immediately grabbed onto it and started rubbing her hands and face over the soft material. It was very sweet. When she got tired, she'd have her paci in her mouth, and then she'd hold onto her sweet lovie.

It made her very happy! Unfortunately, it didn't work too well later on that night. Thanksgiving is usually hectic when we host it, but I love the chaos. I love the rush of getting everything ready on time and cooking all day long, but on Thanskgiving night we experienced a new kind of hectic. After family had been there about an hour or so, AB started getting a little fussy. This "little fussy" turned into an all out "screaming bloody murder" fussy. Nothing would calm her down. She had been passed around from person to person and her routine was thrown off a little bit and she didn't nap and I think she went past the point of tired, straight to pure exhaustion. She let us know about it, too! Austin and I tried all we knew to do: swaddling, swinging, shushing, sucking/pacie (all tips from The Happiest Baby on the Block). Finally, after nothing worked, I nursed her and she went right to sleep, and I just let her sleep. I didn't bother waking her up for her 9:00 feeding...this kid needed the sleep. She slept from 7:00 pm - 3:30 am. Bless her heart, she was tired! Needless to say, we have LOTS to be thankful for this year!! Even though, Thanksgiving this year presented us with a new set of challenges, but I wouldn't trade them for ANYTHING in the world!

Three Months Old

Happy Three Months Little Love,


It seems like just yesterday I was writing your two month post! Where does the time go? I've seen much more growth this month than I have in the first two. You continue to amaze Mommy and Daddy everyday. It never fails, you are always doing something cute or funny and we just stare at you in amazement. Although I don't want you to grow up, I am looking forward to putting you in your adorable 3-6 months clothes. You, believe it or not, are still wearing newborn sizes!! Here I thought I was going to have this big 'ol baby, but you have managed to stay pretty petite. That is always the first comment that people make when they see you, "Oh, she's still so tiny!" Yes, you are a dainty little thing.

This month your smiles have doubled! You've been smiling for a couple of months now, but recently your smiles are a lot more frequent. You and I will just be sitting around, watching t.v. or snuggling and I will look down at you, and you will be giving me a huge smile without me trying to get one out of you! You have really started following Mommy and Daddy with your eyes! We will walk in and out of the room and you are watching every move we make. And oh, how big and beautiful those eyes are! I could stare into your eyes all day.

You hold your head up like a pro! It's getting more and more fun to carry you around because you are able to hold your head up and look around when I carry you. Last weekend your Daddy and I took you to Salado (your first out of town trip). Instead of dragging your carrier in and out of the little shops, we decided just to carry you around. How much fun that was. You were so alert and into all of the decorations and things you saw. You rarely need us to support your head anymore. You are holding it up yourself about 90% of the time!

You have just recently started reaching and grabbing things and becoming aware of your hands. A couple of weeks ago, you grabbed onto Mommy's hair and would not let go! Ouch. I couldn't help but think it was cute, though. You've started really focusing on your hands, particularly your right one for some reason. You will make a fist, and stare intently at your hand and then attempt to find your mouth with that hand. I love to sit and watch you concentrate so hard on it. Daddy and I were in amazement a couple of weeks ago when you grabbed your passie that was in your mouth, took it out a little ways and then put it back in your mouth!

Here are some choice phrases and questions that I hear all the time from people, "Is she always this content?", "Oh, look how alert she is!", "What a happy baby!", "Listen to her talk!", "Look how tiny she is!". I, of course, could listen to the wonderful things that people say about you all day long! You are a good baby, AB. You can sit in your bouncy and entertain yourself or watch t.v. Yes, you are still a t.v. watcher. You will be sitting in Daddy's lap and you two will be watching football, and I swear you'd stay there all day if you didn't need to eat or sleep! You are most definitely your Daddy's daughter! You are just very content most of the time.

Today, I was feeling particularly sentimental and watched the DVD of the day you were born that your Daddy made for me when you were about a week old. I've watched it about 100 times since you've been born, but tonight when I watched it, it really hit me that you are growing. You've lost that "newborn" look and are developing your own beautiful features. As much as I'm enjoying watching your growth, I will always miss that sweet newborn look that you had. You are growing, but how beautifully you're growing! Your smiles, your coos, your laughter...all of it is so amazing.

I can't even begin to tell you all the things I want to say. I can't begin to express how much love I have for you. It is an INSANE amount of love. You brighten my day and give my life a whole new purpose. You bring so much joy and have brought a whole new meaning to the word love. It's not only love for you, but love the love I have for your Daddy, too. I knew I loved him...a lot...but seeing how amazing he is with you, AB, Mommy loves your Daddy more and more everyday, and I'm not the only girl in this house who loves Daddy. You are absolutely crazy about him. When you smile at Daddy, it is definitely a very adoring and loving look. Daddy is also very crazy about his little girl. I've never seen his eyes light up so much then when he looks at you. He loves you so much! Who couldn't??

Oh, AB! The months are already going by so fast. I don't want you to grow up, I want you to stay a baby forever! BUT...I know that God has great things planned for you AB. You are such a blessing, and as we are quickly approaching our first Thanksgiving with you I have so, so much to be thankful for. God knows my heart and He knew just how bad I've always wanted to be a Mommy. He blessed me with such a beautiful baby girl and I love you so much! These last three months have been a blast! I love watching you grow and enjoy all the little things that you do. I can't wait to see what the next month brings! I love you, baby girl!

Love,

Mommy

Confessions of a Working Mom - Part III: The Dreaded Greeting

Well, it happened. For the first time since I've left AB, it happened. What I've always dreaded - I go to pick her up from Andrea and she cries when I went to scoop her up in my arms. I know she's a little young, and the reason she cried is most likely a reason different than what I think, but it still upset me. I usually don't even touch her until I get home and scrub down and change clothes. I'm so afraid of spreading "school germies" and getting her sick. I've found out that as time goes on, it's getting harder and harder to do. So, today I got my new school hoodie at the end of the day, so I quickly put that on before leaving work, scrubbed my hands and was all set to snatch my little AB up as soon as I got to her. So, when Andrea opened the door and was holding her, I took her into my arms (which is out of our routine because I usually just smile and talk to her and not touch her since I'm germ infested) and loved on her. I held her up to look at her face, and her little bottom lip quivered and she started to cry, but stopped herself before it turned into a full-blown sob. Ugh. If you were quiet enough, you could actually hear my heart break, I think. It was painful. My child, instead of smiles and squeals, gave me a lip quiver and a cry. I felt for the first time in her little two months of life, she wasn't happy to see me. Of course my husband tried to convince me that she is still too young to "not be happy to see me" and that of course she's always happy to see me. But as the guilty "working mother" was coming out in me, I felt that was the reason - because I leave her for seven hours of the day to go to work instead of be with her. I felt she was starting to not just like being at Andrea's, but love it and not want to leave. I felt for a little bit today that she was starting to view Andrea as mommy. Andrea (who is the sweetest thing, btw), was convinced she was tired because she barely slept today, and that was the reason for her unhappiness. I have to admit, the second we got in the car, she fell asleep. I guess that was it. When she woke up, I got a HUGE smile (with a little coaxing). She wasn't as smiley as she normally is on this day. The rest of the night, though, I saw those beautiful gums of hers from big smiles. I know she loves me and I know she knows I'm mommy. It was just hard to have my daughter's first reaction to see be a sad one. Oh, the guilt that plays into that is too much at times, but I pray myself through it and know that God has a plan.

Annabelle's First (non-family) Babysitters!

Last Saturday night was Austin's brother's 30th birthday party. We had planned on taking Annabelle because it was a family party, but Krista had requested to watch her. A little background, Krista has made a list entitled, "Thirty things to do before thirty." One of those things being babysitting a newborn - check! She had a little help, though. Tony (Austin's best friend) came over to help. And yes, in case you're wondering they are an item, and a darn cute item they make, too. Austin and I felt very good leaving our precious girl in such good hands. As a matter of fact, when we got home, AB had Tony holding her hand. It was very sweet. Here are some pictures we took of them when we got home.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? What a cute family they'd have?!? Trying not to jump the gun here, but they make such a stinkin' cute couple! Thanks Krista and Tony for taking such good care of our sweet girl! We love you guys!