Christmas Cards

Oh, the things you will do to get your child to smile for a Christmas card picture!!

I'm laughing at us as I think back on the funny things we did this afternoon trying to capture the perfect smile from our sweet Josie! Josh was definitely a trooper (and a good entertainer) and Josie was thrilled with her "sucker" as a reward when all the craziness was over :) I can't wait to share the picture we chose for our 2010 Christmas Card!

I'm a huge fan of Shutterfly for our family pictures, Share site and Christmas cards. We have had a Shutterfly account since Josie was born. It's a great way to share pictures with family and friends. I'm anxious to start looking for the perfect design for our 2010 Christmas card on the Shutterfly website! We chose a very traditional card last year for Josie's first Christmas, but I'm thinking we might go for a little more of a "fun" look this year! Who knows what we will come up with :) Let the search begin.....

Check out the following links to some of my favorite Shutterfly pages:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

http://www.shutterfly.com/upload-pictures

Attention all bloggers!!! This is a GREAT promotion to take advantage of:

BLOGGERS GET 50 FREE HOLIDAY CARDS FROM SHUTTERFLY..... LEARN MORE:

http://bit.ly/sfly2010

It's hard to believe that Christmas is LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY!!!!

Thankful

During this holiday season, I find myself stopping to reflect on how thankful I am for each and every blessing that I have in my life.

I'm not just thankful today but truly ALWAYS....

I'm most thankful for God and all of his wonderful blessings. Goodness knows I've had a fair share of wonderful blessings in my life :)

And..... I'm thankful for this sweet girl.....

Thanksgiving 2010

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We have enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving the past few days with our family. We went to Grandmommy & JJ's on Wednesday night to eat dinner. We enjoyed a "non- traditional" dinner ... delicious steak, potatoes, salad and rolls. YUMMY! We all had fun getting together!

JJ & Josie

Shanna, Matthew, Granny, Josh and Me

Grandmommy with her girls :)

Look at these cute "turkeys" :)

Addison & Josie

** Happy First Thanksgiving, Addison!

We went to Jackson to eat at Double Tree with my family on Thursday. The food was delicious as always. I will never forget Josie eating every bit of food we put in front of her LAST year, but NOT this year! She was way more into socializing with everyone around her. She might have eaten a few cheese cubes, but that's it.... Imagine that!

Family pic

Me, Josie and Mom (Nonni)

We closed Kreme Kastle after lunch on Wednesday until Monday. What a TREAT for us! We have enjoyed a lot of family time! It's soooo nice and such a special treat for us to be home all together on a Friday night just relaxing, playing and enjoying dinner together. I think we could get used to this :) All of our Christmas decorations are up and I'm officially in the holiday spirit! I'm finally starting to feel close to "normal" again since having my wisdom teeth out and ready for all of the fun holiday festivities coming up!

Thanksgiving Festivies Have Begun!

Saturday, November 20 marked the beginning of our Thanksgiving festivities! I joined my mom, grandmother and uncle at my grandmother's "senior living home" for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. The staff of Sugar Creek treated all of the residents and their families to a wonderful dinner to kick off the holiday season. It was a lot of fun! Saturday also marked the 2 year anniversary of my grandfather's death. We sure do miss Poshee! He was truly one of my best friends and such an amazing person with an unforgettable personality. I learned so many life lessons from him that I hope to pass on to Josie.

Mott-Mott, Uncle Larry, Mom and Me

I have been MIA this week. I had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday. Josh and Josie have been great nurses! I'm really ready to get life back to "normal" again! Yay for the holidays!!!!

Just Us Girls

I stayed home with Josie today, because my parents are out of town visiting my brother and his family and they typically keep Josie on Thursdays. So, it was a day for just us girls :) Our day started off very hectic! I was preparing for a catering job that we had at 11:30 today. So, we hit the ground running! After we delivered the food, Josie and I were busy playing around the house (just like the "old days" when I stayed at home with her everyday.)

We read LOTS of books!

Josie played the piano!

tried on my shoes and played "dress up"

Josie helped me make our grocery list :)

And..... THEN.......... Josie had her very first HAPPY MEAL FROM MCDONALD'S!!!

Her favorite part was the toy (of course!)

I don't know why her first Happy Meal was so exciting to me! I guess because I just loved eating Happy Meals when I was little and I thought it was fun to see her open that little box with the golden arches on top! ha! Josh and I always laugh, because I have such fond memories of "Mickey D's" from my childhood (I even had a b-day party there once) but Brownsville didn't have a McDonald's when Josh was little and I have always been soooo sad for him because he missed out! ha! I'm pretty sure he turned out okay, though and it didn't scar him for life :)

My Little Pumpkin & New Niece

I just had to share this picture...

I think it's so cute!

Happy Fall, Y'all!!

Even though today is November 11, it is NOT cold here, but I'm NOT complaining :)

Gotta love this West TN weather!

Also, I'm super excited that I have a new niece! Baby Stella was born on Monday, November 8 weighing 8 lbs and 19.5 inches long. Josh, Josie and I cannot wait to meet her!!
We just wish they lived closer, but we might just need to plan a trip to Minnesota soon!

The Powder Incident!

Well, a certain little girl (I won't name any names) had a "run in" with the baby powder this weekend. Josh and I were busy talking and I looked up and noticed........ THIS!!!!!!

Doesn't she look so proud of herself!?!?

:)

I have to admit it was pretty funny!

22 months TODAY!

Wow, time flies!! Josie is 22 months old today! It's so hard to believe that she will be 2 in just a couple of months! Josie is ALL over the place these days and full of energy!! I want to always remember what this silly girl was up to at this point in her life. So, I thought I would take the time today to record some fun facts about my favorite 22 month old :)

Josie's weight: 25 lbs. (as of a month ago)

Wears size 18 or 24 month pants (depending on brand)/2T Pajamas

I am buying size 2T dresses for Fall/Winter in hopes that Josie will be able to wear them next year, too!

Josie's in major need of her 3rd haircut.... maybe next week! We have a little bit of mullet action going on right now :)

Favorite Toys: anything that belongs to me or something she shouldn't touch! ha!

(Cell phones, my make up, camera, etc... )

Josie really is getting into dressing up, make up, jewelry and all that fun "girly" stuff! Maybe she better ask Santa for some dress up clothes!

Favorite Movies: Alvin & The Chipmunks "The Squeakual" and ANY Barney videos!

Favorite Books: "Goodnight Gorilla", "Mommy's Best Kisses" and "First 100 words"

We try to read books before bedtime every night until Josie says "night night!"

Favorite Food: CHEESE!!! pancakes and/or poptarts for breakfast, pizza or anything Italian and chicken nuggets. She hasn't been a big fan of fruit lately. We are going to have to work on her diet! It's not very well balanced. HA!

LOVES whole milk! Prefers that over juice :)

LOVES to dance! Anytime she sees Barney on TV or anything with music, she immediately starts dancing. I need to catch that on video ASAP!

Josie is still going through a clingy stage right now. She wants to be held a good bit at home and is not being very independent. However, we get a different story from daycare and from her grandparents when they keep her! I think it's just a phase with wanting attention from me and Josh.

Favorite "Words"/ "Sayings":

* "shoom" = spoon

* "Alwight!" = Alright (her version of "yes")

* "moushe" = mouse (mickey, of course!)

* "up" = open OR up

"I nuh new" = I love you

"uck" = stuck (when trying to get out of carseat)

Josie has started calling Josh, "josh!" occassionally! ha! She was saying "da-da". Then, it turned into "daddy" a few weeks ago and NOW it's "JOSH!" oh my.... Josh is not loving that :(

HAPPY 22 MONTH BIRTHDAY, JOSIE!!!!!

-

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

First of all, I can't believe that we never got a good family picture from Halloween :( I guess that's what happens when you are busy chasing a toddler... You just forget! We had an uneventful day around here. Josie wore her little Halloween dress to church, but no costume today! The town of Brownsville "celebrated" Halloween on Saturday. So, there was no trick-r-treating today. We continued to enjoy Josie's Halloween candy today!

This look is as if she could say, "I found a sucker!!!!!"

I think suckers will come in handy when we start potty training :)

Josie & Mommy after church


Oh! Random picture... I forgot to take a picture of Josie's art project from school! She was so proud!

Isn't it cute?!!?

Note to self: NEVER do an art project at home that includes glitter! It's everywhere!

Halloween: Part Three - The Final Hoorah!

We went to our last Halloween event on Saturday night at the Methodist church here in Brownsville. It's funny that we wrapped up our Halloween celebrations before Oct. 31 ever came! Halloween in a small town is fun! There are lots of activities at the churches and in the community (and you know everyone there! ha!) So, it was fun to see lots of Josie's friends!

Josie and Whitt
Josie and CJ

Jenny, Izzy, Josie and me

Us gals with our cute kiddos!

Leslie, Hooper, me, Josie, Mary and Whitt

Whew!!! I'm so glad that Halloween is over! It wore me out! I think that Josie will enjoy it more next year. I sure have enjoyed her candy.... that's what parents are supposed to do, right?!?! I'll tell you what... Being a mom is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it :)