End of '10

I did a timeline at the end of last year and I wanted to do one again. I was thinking- it really won't be very detailed because it hasn't been an extremely eventful year.

Silly me! As I started glancing through pictures I realized exactly how much HAS changed since last year.

I guess I forgot that my little girl was definitely still a baby at the beginning of the year.




So as I prepare to say goodbye to 2010....

Our Year At a Glance.....

January

Annistyn is in her first beauty pageant and wins! Yay! She did 2 others throughout 2010 and placed 2nd alternate in one, and won the other. She won photogenic in all 3.



Mommy turns 24!




February

It snows!!! A LOT!!!!




Annistyn starts "really walking". She'd walked before now, but at the beginning of this month she became a 100% walker.




March

Annistyn's first birthday!



Planted flowers...



Enjoyed the outdoors as it warmed up...




April

Easter




Beach Vacation





Growing up...



New "Pool"...



May

This is the picture that I looked at and really really realized that my sweet baby wasn't so much a baby...



June




Annistyn goes to Disney and Mommy and Daddy learn that she is NOT a good traveler.




July



2nd Mini Beach Trip...



Finley turns 2...



August

Bought our Pecan Orchard....



September

Annistyn is 18 months...





First Alabama game we attended... Luckily we also went to Homecoming and the Iron Bowl this year.



October

AHS Homecoming...


Annistyn's Halloween...



She says "Roll Tide" for the first time!



Family Pumpkin Picking Trip...







November

Shelley wins Miss LBWCC...



Finley wins Pet Photo Contest and gets to be in the calendar...





December

Christmas!


Annistyn gets a pink tree...



Our Christmas Card...

Back



Front




My personal highlights of 2010....
Home business really picks up, lost weight from having Annistyn, celebrated 4 years of marriage to my sweet husband, started my 4th year of teaching (and got tenured!), went to my first Iron Bowl, saw Garth Brooks perform, and celebrated both my parents' 50th birthdays.

I began this year with a baby who was taking a few steps. I am ending with a little girl who runs, skips, jumps, and climbs, uses the potty, counts to 10, knows her ABC's, can tell you EVERYTHING you want/don't want to know about Dora, knows all her shapes/colors, says bedtime prayers, talks in sentences, and says "I love Mommy". She was saying a few words last January and tonight she ran to her Daddy after getting dressed yelling, "Daddy!!! I look cute!!!!!" She instructed Finley on how to get in his doggie room so that we could go. She got big girl panties this week. She is showing me how to "cook" and have tea parties in her new pink kitchen, dancing to Dora (like no 2 year old should know how to dance), and playing "doctor" with her pink doctor kit. Oh how the year flew by and how quickly she grew up in only 12 months.

Goodbye 2010!

I can only pray that 2011 holds as much happiness and love as we have experienced this past year!

Onto Four....And More...

I set out on a narrow way, many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road



But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you




Every long lost dream led me to where you are



Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you





I think about the years I spent, just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost, and give it back to you



But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there, you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true




Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true




That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

But now I'm just rolling home into my lover's arms
This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you








4 years ago today I married the love of my life at 6:07 p.m.

I love you, Michael!
Thank you for the best four years of my life!

Love, Shae

I'm Dreaming of A...

...Pink Christmas!

Annistyn has been talking about "San-tah" for months...



so she was really excited that it was finally Christmas Eve.



I dressed her in her cute smocked Shrimp and Grits pajamas that have been hanging in her closet for months- waiting for this special night!



Finley was also ready for Christmas in his festive bandana.




We talked them into sitting in front of the tree for a picture together.



It doesn't take Annistyn long to get warmed up for the camera. She quickly turned into a ham and kept saying, "Mommy! Pics! Cheeeeese!!!!"





She sang and danced (to the Dora song, of course)...



She showed us her "cheese face"...





And we finally got her to sleep.




On Christmas morning- Santa Claus had come!!!!!





Annistyn was so excited about all of her new toys!






Santa has been working all week getting things put together for Christmas morning. Annistyn wanted a pink kitchen, and I fell in LOVE with the Pottery Barn one. Only problem- $249 wasn't the price for all 3 pieces. It was the price for one piece. But you could get a special "discount" by purchasing 3 pieces- only $747!!!!

As good of a deal as that is for a play kitchen (when I doubt I paid much more than that for my REAL stove) I decided we would need to go a different route. I found another kitchen with the retro look that was less than 1/3 of the price. So I thought that EVEN if it wasn't as good of quality, I could buy a pink kitchen every 2 years, for the next 6 years if needed, and still not have $700 in it.

Pottery Barn Kitchen:


Annistyn's Kitchen...



So I went with the KidKraft kitchen and I definitely do not regret that decision. It is SOOO cute. It is only 2 pieces instead of 3 and is smaller. But, I was actually really impressed with the quality for the price. My daddy (who builds houses) even pointed out how well it is built. The best part is- Annistyn LOVES it. And I'm pretty excited about it myself! ;)



The table came from Wal-Mart and was also a really good price. I had picked up the vacuum and microwave at market in November.



The tiered cupcake stand is also KidKraft brand and is SOOOOO cute.



You can mix and match the tops on the cupcakes (they are wood). The pink pots/pans came from Cracker Barrell and I personalized them, of course! :)




The Dancing Dora (or Dora Dance as Annistyn calls her) is the main thing Annistyn has asked for.



If I have heard the "We Did It" song once, I have heard it 1 million times since Christmas. When we pull up in the driveway, she screams, "DORA DANCE!!!!!" and runs straight to her when we come inside. Dora, Minnie Mouse, and Tutu Kitty have been having a week long tea-party at the table that is still set up in our living room.

I have really enjoyed my time off and wanted to share Christmas morning pictures while I had a few minutes! I have some others from the other 6 Christmases we had and hopefully I can get around to those later this week. :)

Build A Bear Nightmare

For the first time since summer, I feel like I can actually breathe!!!!! I am OFF work for TWO weeks. No teaching! No Digi Diva Designs! Just being a stay-at-home-mommy- which is harder than the other two combined!

My New Year's resolution is to balance my life a little better. I am SOOOOO thankful that my little dining room business (meaning I literally operate from my dining room table) was a success. However, I forgot what it is like to have "me" time. So... I hope to balance things a little better in 2011- even if that means working less. I definitely want to get back to blogging. It's my only journal and I miss being able to look back and read those silly little stories I tell about Annistyn all along. I say I'll never forget what she says/does, but I know since I haven't been keeping you up-to-date, I probably have forgotten so many things I should have shared.

We took Christmas card pictures a few weekends ago and I planned on using the brown dress and doing brown/blue cards. That was also my plan last year. Annistyn did not cooperate quite so well in the brown dress.

And though I did get a couple that I love, like this one of her trying to "catch" the wind....




....they weren't what I had imagined for our Christmas cards.

So while she was doing the Dora "We Did It Dance" in this dress, I caught this picture....



And I cropped it to what would become the front of our Christmas cards.



This is her- wild eyed and everything!!!!

I have taken pictures of her all along in her Christmas clothing. I don't think we quite had 25 outfits, like last year. I dare say that was SLIGHTLY extreme. We have several though and I will have a fashion post to update you on her latest apparel.

I just HAVE to share this story from last weekend that gave me the title I used tonight.

We went shopping in Destin and I was buying a gift card in Build-A-Bear. Annistyn was really interested in the animals and I talked Michael into letting her build one. We let her pick the animal. She chose a gray cat- surprise, surprise!

We waited in line behind 6 other people (it was PACKED) and there were at least that many behind us. It was our turn and we had been talking about what we were going to do to the kitty. When they put the kitty on the stuffing machine, Annistyn had a fit. She started screaming, "KITTY!!!!!!! OH NO, KITTY!!!! OH, NO!!!!!!" She thought they were hurting the cat and she didn't quit screaming until the lady handed her back. She snatched the kitty away and mumbled, "Thank you" in a hateful voice.
Then we went to the "bathing" station. Michael pressed the pedal to turn on the air dryer (to blow away stray hairs) and we just thought she had a fit at the stuffing machine. In the higheset pitch scream I have ever heard, she screamed at the top of her lungs and bolted towards the door. EVERY person in the store knew we were there.

It figures that I have the ONLY child that has a tramatic experience at Build a Bear.

When she calmed down, she picked out a furry white sweater and skirt for kitty and when I asked her what Kitty's name was she told me "Tutu". So Tutu Kitty is out newest addition to the Page family.

Just wanted to take a quick moment to share! I probably need to go assist Michael. He is talking ugly while putting together a pink kitchen in the living room. Oh the things Daddys do for their little girls! :)