Summer in January

Saturday we took advantage of the 80 degree weather and made a visit to the Tulsa Zoo. Hadleigh was excited to finally see all the animals that we talk and read about in person. She made lots of monkey noises all day long. One of her favorites was seeing the huge elephant up close. He was eating a carrot right in front of us and looked her right in the eye. She was mesmerized. Christian took her into the children's zoo area where she petted a sheep, goat, and donkey and then accompanied her on her first carousel ride. It was a great way to spend such a beautiful day. Unfortunately the warm-spell was short-lived and we are now back to typical January weather.

I think he's about to feed her to the rhinos?!

Today is Christian's mom's birthday and though we wish she were in better health, we still wish her a very Happy Birthday. Recently Christian has become involved with our local Alzheimer's Association Chapter and was asked to become an Advocate for the disease. To read about Jan's story, visit here.

A Snap-Shot of Christmas

Here are some shots from over the last week (not in any order at all!). We began Christmas week in Little Rock with Christian's family and then headed to Richmond. Hadleigh got way too many presents, but loved ripping open every single one. She even helped out everyone else with their gifts. We had so much fun hanging out with family and friends and were sad to have to come back home to work.

The family photo (minus half my face)

A few of the lights at the Botanical Gardens in Richmond

Hunter helping Hadleigh unwrap her new phone...a big hit on the plane ride home.

Hadleigh loved the neighbors snow globe

So many gifts...

"Look what I found in my stocking!"

Amy and Jessica, friends from high school, and their kiddos, Owen, Carlee Scott, and baby Brayden. Hadleigh does not like group pictures!

Playing dolls with Uncle Jack

The whole fam

Spirit fingers with Aunt K

Singing along with Elmo...la la la la, Elmo's World...

Pop's starting a new tradition of reading Hadleigh Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve

Checking out the tree with Gammy

Cousin Landon helping Hadleigh with her gifts

Lights and Basketball

We've had a pretty uneventful week, just trying to get everything ready and done before Christmas. Thursday night Christian and I had date night. We ate dinner at Mermaid's (yummy) and then went to see Four Christmases. We both really enjoyed the movie (which is a rarity) and Hadleigh of course had a blast with her babysitter. Friday and Saturday nights we hit the town again, except with Hadleigh in tow. We took her to the Razorback Basketball game where she loved dancing to the band and cheering along. However, since our seats are right on the aisle, she is very intrigued with the stairs and wants to climb up and down them constantly. We only made it through the first half because I could not contain her any longer! We also hit the square to see the lights. It was a great night out, but very crowded. The line for the pony rides was too long, so we'll have to wait until next year to try that. She did get to pet a minature pony though which she enjoyed.

Sending you all the warmest wishes from our family to yours for a blessed holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Breakfast with Santa

Hadleigh and I survived our girls weekend while Christian went duck hunting with the guys. Saturday, we had breakfast with Santa at the mall. I knew Hadleigh wasn't going to be thrilled about sitting in Santa's lap, but it's just something every kid has to do...she'll laugh someday hopefully. Anyways, just as I thought, it was a very traumatic event for her as you can see below. She did eat a very hearty breakfast though, so it was well worth the experience!

Pictures from after church today. She loves the feathery ornaments on this tree, but she knows better than taking anything off. The other tree is a different story...we have had at least 3 casualties.

She's practicing rocking her baby. We are going to have to work on her gentleness-factor before the new baby gets here!

My Rock Star

Well, Christian got his Christmas wish a couple of weeks early. Saturday night, with the help of the guys, he hauled his drums down from the attic and set them up in the garage (after first trying to set them up in the kitchen...um, where were we supposed to eat???). He jammed out for a while (hopefully not disturbing too many neighbors) and impressed everyone with his talent. Riley was operating the fog machine, hence the foggy photos:)

Christian's groupiesOur attempt at a family picture...have I mentioned I HATE our camera!

Of course we get a decent one after Hadleigh escaped
Hadleigh has still not grasped the concept of opening presents. She gets very overwhelmed.

Scarlett and Hadleigh enjoying their Italian Potluck dinner--Yummy!

Food and furniture...a Thanksgiving to remember

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We spent it in Little Rock with Christian's family. Hadleigh loved every bite of her Thanksgiving meal. She embraced the Thanksgiving weekend tradition of stuffing herself at every meal. She ate everything from ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, apples, her first Happy Meal (with apple dippers, of course), shrimp, a quesadilla, chips and salsa, practically an entire bottle of ketchup, ...and that doesn't include her breakfasts and snacks! We had quite an eater on our hands this weekend. In fact, we literally had to pull her away from the table at the Mexican Restaurant we were eating at Saturday afternoon.
After a fun- and food-filled weekend, we had a relaxing day back at home today and enjoyed watching the first snowfall of the year. We went over to a couple's home from church to pick up a table and chair set and rocking chair for Hadleigh. They had bought it for their granddaughter to use at their house and now want Hadleigh to have it. Hadleigh loves her new furniture! We are so grateful to Judy and Bob for their special gift.

The new rocking chair

...and table

"I LOVE bouncing on the bed at Doc's house"

Doc chasing Hadleigh around. She spent most of the day pulling out all of Landon's toys...too bad she doesn't chip in with clean up yet.

On the move---"Where's the turkey?"

"Feed me!"

This is where she hides when she first meets strangers.

The shirt says it all...