Christmas Spirit- From My Head to My Toes!

Today I got my monthly pedicure and since Christmas will be here soon, I decided to get a little more festive with my toe nail polish!



Kim Brook, at TLC, did a great job adding a little Christmas spirit to my feet!

After all, I was wearing another holiday sweater today.



And yes, Annistyn has been wearing her Christmas attire.
Sunday she wore her pink Christmas tree dress to church- Outfit #2 of our 25 Outfits of Christmas.



She really wasn't into getting her picture taken, so there will definitely be a "re-shoot" in this dress. But this will work for now. She was about to fall over she was so sleepy in this picture.

I have created a nifty poem to go with the "25 Outfits of Christmas". So from now on, you'll see a rhyming title under each outfit.

So to catch up with the poem....

For the first outfit of Christmas,
You saw Annistyn Caroline,
Wearing a Rudolph Romper,
By the brand "Be Mine."

For the second outfit of Christmas,
Don't you think-
That Annistyn looks cute
Wearing a Christmas tree on pink?

For the third outfit of Christmas,
I sure didn't mind,
Seeing Annistyn in her Santa bishop
That I bought for $12.99!!!!

To be continued....


After church we did a photo session with new cousin, Blakely. Since you have already seen this dress, I'm going to make it outfit #3, even though she hasn't TECHNICALLY worn it anywhere.

Here's a few from last week's Christmas photo session.







And here are some of her and baby Blakely.





Blakely also had her own photo session. These were some of my favorites...












I really enjoyed doing the pictures! I wasn't very experienced with my camera when Annistyn was a newborn.

Taking pictures of both of them together WORE ME OUT! The scary part is- some people probably have two babies that are almost that close together! I think I took almost 200 of them both trying to get some good ones. Annistyn kept crawling off and Blakely was getting fussy. It was fun- but definitely tiring! Maybe we got a few good ones for Nana and Papa's Christmas cards!

Well, after a day back at work, I am very tired. I am already ready for Christmas break!!!

I will be back later this week with more holiday happenings! :)

Good TIDEings to You!

Annistyn would like to start by saying, "Roll Tide!"



I have to admit I was a little concerned for a while, but I guess things worked out in the end! I know you are not going to believe this, but Annistyn did not have a festive outfit to wear for the game today. I spent $35.00 on Alabama fabric to make a dress with and then I lost it. It was found this week, but I decided to wait until next year to make an outfit with it. So we watched it in our PJ's. But she did want to wear her hair bow tonight to show her excitement.



Finley wanted to wear his bandanna also.



We decided to wear our jammies for the game because I have been up since 4:02 this morning. At 4:30, I was picking up my mom and Shelley. At 4:40, we were in the car singing Christmas songs (at least I was- I am a morning person!) and at 4:45 we were running in Wal-Mart with all the other crazy people in Andalusia!!! YES- I got EXACTLY what I went to get- which was NOT a TV. You couldn't give me a good enough discount to wait in that line! I did bump some people out of the way with my buggie- don't worry, it was just a love tap! :) It was fun to get in the Christmas spirit with all 500 other people that were there. I actually only waited in line behind 3 people to check-out. Somehow we found a "secret" check out line in the back corner of the garden section. There was about 20 people in the line beside us- I guess they didn't see the one we were in. We waited longer at Hardee's to get a biscuit than we did at Wal-Mart!

After I returned home, showered, and got Annistyn ready- we headed back to town. I got a good bit of shopping done.

I wasn't going to begin the "25 Outfits of Christmas" until December 1, but I thought Annistyn might want to wear some of her outfits twice. So I guess since it's my blog- I can start it when I want to! :)

So it starts today with "Rudolph" leading the way...










I was wearing one of my many holiday sweaters, so we stopped to pose for a picture together...




And since I'm in the Christmas spirit today...

I've done note cards and gift tags, so today I'm going to do another Christmas giveaway- I will be giving away a set of 20 4 x 8 Christmas cards. These will be card stock- not the flimsy photo paper. They are 1-sided with envelopes, which I will print the return address on, if you wish. I can use any digital picture(s) you e-mail me. If you don't live nearby- I will mail them to you! Just leave a comment on this post and I will announce the winner next Saturday! Have a photo ready if you are the winner. I want you to get them in time for Christmas! :)

Let the festivities begin!!!!!

Gobble 'Til You Wobble!

I don't know about you, but I definitely did some gobblin' today! Michael and I have so many grandparents here that we usually end up parting ways for holidays. Annistyn and I went to Mom's to eat with Mom, Dad, Shelley, Nana, and Papa. Afterwards, we met up with Michael at his grandparent's. I took pictures of Annistyn's first Thanksgiving, but forgot to get them off Mom's camera card. So... maybe later! It was so cute- she had a little silver plate that was just her size! She had ham, butter beans, peas, macaroni and cheese, broccoli casserole, and of course, pumpkin pie! She did really good eating the table food.

I tried to get a few last Thanksgiving pictures, but my kids did not want to cooperate.

Finley had other places to be.


Annistyn had other things to do.


So these are the best ones I got of

Annistyn


Finley


And here's one of both.


I am really upset because I have this festive "Night Before the Day After Thanksgiving" poem that I wrote a few years ago, but when I tried to find it tonight- it was no where to be found. :(

Anyone getting up early tomorrow? We usually go out of town, but decided not to this year. It would be tough to get a stroller through those crowds. I think I'm going to Wal-Mart with Shelley though. We'll be there with all the other crazies!!!

Last, but not least, Thanksgiving is really about giving thanks.



God has blessed us with more than I could ever thank Him for and certainly more than we deserve. Every morning, when I see that beautiful little girl peeking over the side of her crib, I am reminded of the miracles in my life.

Hope you had a BLESSED Thanksgiving!

Oh, You Better Not Pout, You Better Not Cry....

I was taking some Christmas pictures of Annistyn and I just couldn't go the next few days without sharing. When I start the 20 Outfits of Christmas on December 1, just pretend like you have never seen this dress!

Alright- that's the only Christmas one you get to see. After all, the rule of Christmas is NO PEEKING!

I did take some of her in her white French lace dress, so I guess I can share those since they are not Christmas pictures.








And just in case I had not taken enough pictures... yesterday I took MORE! Annistyn and I met MJ and Parker at Pizza Hut for lunch.



Wow! Between Annistyn and Parker, I think we could have fed a family off what they dropped on the floor! Don't worry! We cleaned up before we left. Parker had pizza everywhere and Annistyn likes to drop cheese crunchies on the floor and then leans over to see where they landed.

After lunch, I took some pictures of Parker...




You're right- That's not Parker! You know I can't go the whole day without taking some of my baby!





Parker really didn't want to have his pictures made. He was so excited to be at a new place! There was too much exploring to do!





We did find one thing that made him smile! He LOVED playing in the hot tub!



Isn't he cute?

I haven't ever taken pictures of a two year old, so it was definitely a fun experience. I'm going to have to come up with some better tactics before Annistyn gets that age! I wore stilleto boots! What was I thinking???

We had a fun day though and it was nice to visit with MJ.

I have some more pictures for later, but I just wanted to go ahead and put those up today.

Hope you have a FANTASTIC Turkey Day tomorrow! I will be back with a special Thanksgiving Day post!