Josie's Bday Party at School!

We had a little birthday "party" for Josie at school last week.

Josh and I took Dora cupcakes to her school so that she could celebrate with her classmates.

We arrived at 2:30 and all of the kids were still asleep. Josie was actually across the hall visiting in her new classroom and they said she had just fallen asleep (hence the pitiful face below)

The Birthday Girl..... very sleepy!

And... how fun! Cousin Addison was "visiting" in Josie's 2 year old room since she will soon be moving up (just as Josie moves to 3 year old room)

cute CJ

"Tom Tom" went head first for the cupcake ;)

The whole crew.... aren't they cute?!?

These 3 gals are "movin' on up" to the 3 year old class NEXT week!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Josie!!!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET, PRECIOUS, ADORABLE, NURTURING, FUNNY AND SMART LITTLE GIRL!!!!!

We began the morning with birthday donuts and a Dora balloon!

We ended the night with presents

and playing with new toys!!!

Josie, You are the most precious little girl I could ever imagine. You have the kindest heart. You have really changed so much over the past few months. You are no longer our little baby, you are such an independent little girl. It's so fun to watch you grow and explore new adventures in life. We couldn't be more proud of you, sweet girl! These past three years have been the most fun and amazing years of our life. Your daddy and I love you more than you will ever know.

Happy 3rd Birthday :)

Christmas Day 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS :)

I know one little girl who must have been extra good this year..............

Santa came!!

Josie's two requests this year were that she wanted a Dora book and a new baby doll.

Josie's favorite thing these days is to watch Dora DVD's and take care of her babies.

I think that Santa got the message from Elfie (because we certainly didn't go visit Santa this year to tell him in person after Josie's traumatic meeting with Santa at the Christmas lights show earlier in Dec!!)

Josie having a tea party with Daddy

taking care of her sweet baby....

Olivia, Stella and Josie with their birthday cake for Jesus!

Our one and only family photo!

Mott-Mott showing off her new jacket!

Josie with one of her many babies (she named this one "Hunter")

This is Josie's new dollhouse. This is actually the dollhouse that my grandfather made me by hand when I was a little girl. I'm so happy that Josie can have it now!


We enjoyed having my brother and his family here for a few days after Christmas! Josie was very sad to see them go. She really looks up to Olivia!

Whew! We had a wonderful Christmas and are so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that we can surround ourselves with during this special time of the year.

This Christmas holiday has been really unique. Josh has been on Christmas break, but anyone who knows my husband knows that he cannot sit still! He has literally worked non-stop on house projects for the past 2 weeks. It's unreal what all he has accomplished! He pulled up the hardwood floor in our bathroom and put down new tile, pulled up carpet in a hallway and put down new carpet, ripped out the sheetrock above our mantle (had water damage) and put up new sheetrock and painted, put new baseboards in our living room, repainted all of the kitchen cabinets and practically all of the crown molding and baseboards in the entire house (painted them a bright white opposed to the creamy white they have been for the past several years), etc...... It's crazy! Josie and I really appreciate all of his hard work :) We had a lot of damage to our roof several months ago and we will be getting a new roof tomorrow and Josh is going to continue his list of projects! We have really enjoyed having Josh home more and I have certainly enjoyed having him home to help me get Josie ready in the mornings. I think this break has been good for all of us as we prepare for Josh to begin his second semester of law school. Next week is going to be awfully tough as we get back into the routine!

We ended 2011 by enjoying dinner with good friends in Memphis at J.Alexander's. Josh and I both were in the bed by midnight!

I know a special little girl who will be THREE on Thursday :) The celebrating continues...... :)

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas posts.... FINALLY!!!

We started our Christmas Eve with a family tradition.... making my grandmother's "cereal mix!" Josie and I had asked my grandmother to come over and assist us, but she had recently fallen and was not feeling well. So, Josie was a great helper! There is just something about my grandmother's cereal mix that makes the holidays (or any occasion) better! I can't remember a Christmas or trip to Destin without it!

Then, we got cleaned up and got ready for church. My parents were also at church and then they headed to Memphis to my dad's family Christmas afterwards. We loaded up and went to Grandmommy and JJ's!!!!!

Josie, Grandmommy and Addison

Then, we had a surprise phone call from our friend, Elliott. His dad was dressed up as Santa and was making house calls! Oh, goodness!!! Josie is terribly afraid of Santa, but it was difficult telling Santa not to come by! So, he did................


Santa (a.k.a Mr. John Simmons)

Boy, I wish I had a picture of Josie's face when she saw Santa!!!
UPSET!!!!!!
She screamed and held onto Josh so tight that I thought she would never let go. Then, of course, Addison followed Josie's lead and didn't warm up to him either. We appreciate Santa thinking of us and coming by for a surprise visit.... Maybe the girls will be more friendly next year :)

Josie LOVES baby dolls!

The evening of surprises continued..... GM and JJ had a HUGE surprise for their two favorite gals......

A Barbie Jeep!!!!!!!!

Look out, everybody!!!

There are two wild girls out on the loose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were soooo excited!!!!



We ended our night by settling in at home, sprinkling reindeer food in the yard and putting out our homemade chocolate chip cookies and milk for Santa!

Christmas Programs

We have been so busy with fun Christmas activities! Josie had a school program last week and it was soooo cute! Josh and I were anxious to see how she would do on stage, because she had been singing the songs they had practiced for days and days. Josie really just stood there and danced for a split second. I think all of the people overwhelmed her! Josh was so sad that he had to miss the program, because he was in his last final exam for the semester, but I recorded the entire thing! However, Josie was very excited to see Nonni, Popee and Grandmommy!

Josie also performed with some of the bigger kids at church two Sundays in a row.

She didn't really do much the first Sunday except for pretending to "direct" the choir like the music minister was doing! She was waving her arms like crazy :)

The second Sunday was when they sang "Away in a Manger" and she did all of the little motions that I had been showing her to teach her the words. It melted my heart... so sweet.

(notice that she's in action in this pic!)

Opryland Visit!

We took a mini vacation last weekend to the gorgeous Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN.

This was our first time to go during the holidays and we had a blast!

We went up Friday afternoon and walked around the hotel looking at decorations, went to ICE, ate dinner, walked around some more and then called it a night.

Josie went down the kiddie slide at ICE. I was waiting anxiously to take a picture of her as she and Josh waited in the long line and then the next thing I knew, there was Josie at the bottom! Josh said later that she wasn't allowed to go down the main slide since she's so little and I never saw her come down the kiddie slide! I was so sad! I think she was pretty proud of herself, but she wasn't interested in going down again :)

We wore the big blue parkas in the ICE exhibit.... it was COLD!!!!

The sculptures were amazing!

Josie was so excited to spend the night in a hotel for the first time! She thought she was such a big girl sleeping in a "big girl bed", but she did insist that I sleep with her. Let's just say..... Mommy didn't get much sleep :) I have one restless gal!

We had such a great time! We spent the night Friday night and then got up Saturday and headed to the Pancake Pantry. This was a very last minute decision and I'm glad that we did it. It was worth the wait. It's a Nashville tradition that we had heard about and it didn't disappoint.

We are looking forward to Christmas!!!

Winter Fun!

Wow, it's almost Christmas! It's hard to believe that it's only 2 weeks away!

We have been busy around here!

Josh has been studying for his Law School finals A LOT!

2 down, 2 more to go.....

Josie and I have been trying to keep busy with some fun holdiay activities..... baking, coloring, decorating, shopping, etc....

Our 2nd Christmas tree (Living Room)

Can you believe we got our first snow here in NOVEMBER!!!!!!
It didn't last long, but we sure enjoyed it while it was here :)

Elfie continues to make visits.... Last Saturday, he brought Josie some donut holes for breakfast and a present! She loved her new book, "What is Christmas?" It is a great book to remind us of the real reason that we celebrate Christmas. Speaking of that, I would love to have a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party. I love that idea!

This picture may not look significant to you, but.....

It symbolizes a new stage we are entering in our house.

Josie is not really consistent with taking naps these days.

I really dreaded this day coming, but I can honestly say that it's a-okay!

Josie is at such a fun age that we are always into something and having fun, so I forget sometimes that she hasn't even taken a nap! However, Josie enjoys lying on the couch all bundled up and watching Dora. So, she still does have a little bit of down time and I can knock out a few things around the house at the same time!

Did you know that we have a musician in our household!?!?

Josie LOVES the harmonica. Ok, this is rather humorous, because my grandfather (my dad's dad) has always played the harmonica. He carries one with him at all times. He has always bought all of his grandchildren a harmonica and tries to get us interested, but he's had no luck. Well, no luck UNTIL Josie came around. Josie loves it! She plays her harmonica all of the time! My grandfather is pretty proud. I need to get a pic of them together with their harmonicas :)

Funny Story/Side Note: There is a house out in the country near where we live that is always really, really decorated for Christmas. It's unbelievable! Well, we took Josie out there this past weekend to see the lights. The family allows viewers to drive through and look at lights and even Santa makes an appearance at times. Well, little did we know that he was there the night that we went. We had the windows down so that Josie could really see the lights and we were just about to drive out of their driveway when we heard a LOUD "Ho Ho HO!!!!!" Santa was right up next to our car, but he came from behind the car where we could not see him coming and startled us ALL. Josie SCREAMED louder than I have ever heard and she began shaking!!!! Santa said, "Oh, I am so sorry" and ran off realizing what he had done :( I had to jump in the backseat with Josie to try to calm her down all the way home!!!

Needless to say, I don't think we will attempt going to sit on Santa's lap this year! I am pretty sure my child is scarred for life :(