Necklaces, Glasses & Bracelets, Oh My!

Ansley's 2nd Birthday Party ~ Cookie Decorating

We had Ansley's birthday party this past Sunday. Her actual birthday is December 26, so we figured we would have an early party this year.....I have been wanting to do a Christmas cookie- decorating party for quite some time and figured this would be a great tradition to start for her birthday and then when the kids get older they can decorate gingerbread houses and take them home. I didn't really expect the kids to sit down the hold time and decorate but they did. Ansley loved just shaking the sprinkles all over the table, she didn't care to much for the actual sugar cookie..... But they did such a great job and had a blast too! I borrowed 2 little tykes picnic tables from a friend and put them out on my screened-in-porch that way the mess would stay outside. Despite the cold weather and several space heaters on the porch the temperature remained comfortable, plus the kids could have cared less that it was cold outside. It doesn't seem to bother them like it does the adults :)

As most of you know, Ansley hates birthday cake, she doesn't like icing either. Since I know she LOVES cookies I bought a round cookie cake from the store and just decorated it myself. I turned it into an ornament using a candy cane as the hook. It wasn't my best work but who cares, it was for a 2 year old, right?!? Well Ansley didn't disappoint, she refused to eat her cookie cake. So I give up as far as the cake goes.

The party was perfect and we can't wait til next year. It will be fun to see how much more the kids will get into the cookie decorating process when they are little older.

I want to thank Mimi & Pops for coming up this past weekend to watch Ansley while we went to a Christmas party on Saturday night and for all the help with getting Ansley's party ready. We can't thank you enough!

the goody bags

Ansley & Pops

Daddy & the birthday girl

Mommy & the birthday girl

having fun with the sprinkles

sweet Abby

she isn't too sure of the cake...

I LOVE this picture... you can tell how happy she was

Ansley playing with one of her many gifts, it a baby that goes in the bathtub with you....

she is pouring shampoo on her baby

Breakfast with Santa

My mom's group at church hostessed "Breakfast with Santa" on Saturday. It is open to all church members and we just ask that they give a monetary donation. The money is used to provide a wonderful Christmas for a church family. We raised over $1100 which was amazing!

Mimi and Pops were in town this weekend for Ansley's birthday party so they were able to attend the breakfast as well. They got to meet a lot of our good friends that we have met through our church.

It was great seeing all the kids so interested in Santa until it was their turn. I am sure you can guess how Ansley's visit with Santa went? It was not good at all! I couldn't get a picture of her even close to Santa because she was so upset and didn't want to go up to him. She saw one of her best friend's, Libby, cry when it was her turn so she didn't want to have any part of it. Maybe next year she will decide that he isn't a bad guy after all :)

Ansley & Libby were happy to see each other

Ansley checking Santa out

Pops, Ansley & Rob

Libby was not happy to be on Santa's lap

Ansley was already upset and was not going to go see Santa

Our friend Emily's son, Benjamin, was really checking Santa out...he had the most serious look on his face

Our other friend's daughter, Elizabeth, was hiding from Santa when it was her turn

but her big brother, Ethan, LOVED Santa and was telling him about his list

this is how Ansley wears her reindeer ears :)

Christmas Program

Ansley had her Christmas program at preschool yesterday. She was a mini-cow and got to ride in a wagon, so she was very happy! Ansley and Treyton rode in the wagon together and looked so cute!!! It was a sweet program and I can't wait til she is bigger next year and can really be a part of it. Here some pictures of our little cow.

isn't this such a pretty backdrop?!?

Ansley & Treyton being pulled in thier wagon

Back to Atlanta

Ansley and I headed back to Atlanta to host a baby shower for one of my dear friends, Laura A.K.A "Willis". All the girls came back in town along with thier little ones, we had so much fun!

On Friday, we took the kids to Portrait Innovations to get a group picture. You are probably thinking are you nuts?!? Well we did this almost 2 years ago, right before I moved to Charlotte. And now the group has grown and will grow even more by the time we take another picture. A lot more babies are on the way... All the girls & Jim did great, except for my daughter. She through a fit and didn't want this strange person taking her picture. It was a zoo in the place so I think it was just too much for her. By the time we finally got her calmed down we managed to get a couple of good pictures (mostly action pictures, there was no way all 4 girls would smile and look at the camera).

L/R: Emme (a little over 2 yrs), Emma Kate (3 yrs), Ansley (almost 2), & Heidi Cay (2 1/2)

Friday night, we had Girls Night! We left the kids with the dads/grandmother's and we headed out to Bissett's. I had no idea there was a Bissett's in Atlanta, we were all excited to go. We had a great time just catching up without the little ones.

Saturday, was Willis' baby shower. Everything turned out beautifully, it was at Candice's house. I remember when most the showers were at my house in Atlanta and it is just a lot of work to get your house ready. Anyways, Willis' had an awesome turnout for her shower and got some great gifts for baby Dunaway! I took a lot of pictures but here are just a few.

Mommy-to-be

Kelly, Lindsey, Katie, and Brandy

Brandy holding Sarah's new addition, Jim

Willis & Ms. Karen (her mom)

The Hostesses: Arin, Diana, Elizabeth, Willis, Candice, Brandi, Me & Sarah

sweet Emme Barrett

a rainy, depressing day in Athens

We left for Athens the day after Thanksgiving to spend time with Rob's family and to ofcourse go to the game. Well I had told Rob if it was raining or even looked like it was going to rain I didn't want to go and would much rather sit on his parent's couch and watch the game on TV.... and that is just what I did. Basically the boys went to the game while Mimi, Chelsea (CC), Ansley (she actually napped for most of it) and I watched the game.

I still can't believe we lost to Tech. I was pretty sick of listening to everyone talk about it, thankfully it is over and there is nothing we can do about it. Hopefully there will be some changes next year and we will see some major improvement in our defense. Ok, enough about that, here is a couple of pictures from the day!

trying to get a picture for our christmas card, but I had no luck...I didn't like this one enough

And for some more of Ansley's silly smiles....can't you just tell she is sick of me taking pictures?

Thanksgiving in Atlanta

We had a great Thanksgiving in Atlanta with Nana & Pop-Pop (my parents) & my grandmother. We had a ton of food, which meant a lot of leftovers :) Too bad, we left the next day to head to Athens for the football (that is a another post)....

Rob and I have a lot to be thankful for this year. We have a beautiful daughter who is just the sweetest little girl, who loves to give lots of hugs & kisses! We couldn't imagine our life without her. She has strengthened our marriage and has brought a new outlook on life. We look at things so differently now that we are parents.

We are also thankful for our families! We are thankful to have their love and support, we don't know what we would do with out them.

Thanksgiving was a beautiful day in Atlanta. After we ate, Ansley had been dying to go to the park (which is across the street from my parents house) so Pop-Pop, Rob and I took her over there. She had the best time and was very sad to leave.

Here are some pics from our Thanksgiving. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

Ansley's masterpiece she made in school

giving daddy hugs

Pop-Pop & Ansley