Love is in the Air

Let me pick up where I left you last.. Christmas has just ended and we celebrated New Years. Everyone had gone home and we were getting back to our normal every day routines. Chrisily turned 6 months old on January 4th. What a milestone! I can't believe it has been half a year alredy! On January 7th (a Saturday), she decided to begin crawling. I use the term crawling loosely. She began to scoot with her legs and pull with her arms to be mobile. Paired with rolling- she is moving around a good bit! We were in shock when she just started pushing herself across the floor to a toy. *tear* My little girl is not so little anymore (I know, I know.. She really is still little, but still!!!). At her 6 mo. appoinment she had to get some more of those nasty shots but we learned that she was 17.4 lbs and 27.25 inches long!! She has grown so much.

We had my friend Melissa (http://www.melissalynnhuntphotography.com ) take some 6 month pics.. She did a fabulous job as always and we have some great pictures as a result. Here are a few..

Isn't she just precious?? I love all of her little faces/smirks. She has such a fun personality and is truly and happy baby. The rest of January was pretty uneventful.
Luke and Meagan were able to get away from work for a few days to come and visit us in February. They arrived on Friday, Feb. 3rd and left on Monday, Feb. 6th. We had a really good visit with them. It was nice to just be able to hang out and catch up since the last two times we saw them there was a lot of craziness surrounding the Townsend weddings. Chrisily was also big enough that they were able to play with her and just get to know her a little better. Family is very important so it warmed our hearts to see her with her Uncle Luke and Aunt Mae Mae. Chrisily turned 7 months old while they were visiting and her first tooth broke through! What a day!! It was superbowl weekend so we had a very lazy day on Sunday but it was perfect! Here are a few pictures from their visit..

Once Luke and Meagan left it was back to the grind for Jacob. Tax season is heating up and he is working long hours again. I just keep telling myself, it will end.. it will end.. it will end. :-)
On Feb 11th, Chrisily's 2nd tooth broke through. Two in one week! We also had a low key celebration for Valentine's day. Life will probably be pretty calm and quiet for Chrisily and I while Jacob is working so much. Don't worry- I plan to make up for it once he gets done!! These are the last pictures I will post for today..

Lots of Love,





Valentines day

Pictures In Pink Valentine's Card

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Happy Happy Joy Joy

I know it has been a while since I have written. I wanted to catch you up on our holidays. Chrisily had a wonderful first Christmas (I think we enjoyed it as much, if not more than she did)! We were lucky enough to have both mine and Jacob's parents here to help us celebrate. Sadly, Jacob's brothers and their wives were not able to come. Jacob and I have talked about our Christmas traditions many times and we have also started talking about the family traditions we want to have for our family. We feel it is important for our family to be home on Christmas. That means we'll be traveling either before or after Christmas to see the Townsends. This was our first year at home as a family of three! We kicked off the festivities with Christmas Eve church service and then headed to my Grandma's to eat barbecue and open presents (my family has done this forever). Aunt Carol and her family nor Aunt Cathy could make it that night so it was my family and grandma. That evening we headed home to get in bed so Santa could come! When we woke up the next morning we started up the video camera and went to say Good Morning and Merry Christmas to our precious girl. She was all smiles- as always! We couldn't want to go see what Santa had brought her. She got a few outfits, bibs, and a couple of books. Then we opened presents from each other. Chrisily got an activity table and a shapes/numbers cookie jar that sings! She enjoyed eating the paper as much as seeing the gifts. After we opened our presents, my family came over. We exchanged our gifts to each other then it was time to clean up and head over to mom and dad's for the annual Barbee Christmas Morning Brunch that dad cooks for our family and friends. We spent most of the afternoon over there before heading home to get Chrisily settled into bed. Jacob headed to the airport to pick up his parents! We were so excited that they were joining us for Christmas this year. We visited with them that night but they had to wait to see Chrisily until the morning- KK was about to die!! :-)  Once Chrisily woke up the next morning we exchanged gifts with Jacob's parents. We had a pretty lazy day around the house just hanging out so KK and Gramps could play with Chrisily. Aunt Carol and her family arrived Monday evening so we headed over to Grandma's on Tuesday evening to do Christmas with them. We ate barbecue until we could barely move and visited for a while before heading home. The rest of the week was spent hanging out with Jacob's folks, seeing my family, and enjoying our vacation time together. We finished up our holiday celebration on Friday with Mom's family. We all went to Casey and Stephen's house for our annual White Elephant gift exchange. By the weekend we were tired and ready for a few days of rest- but it was New Years! We decided to keep it low key and hang out at home with our sweet girl for New Year's Eve.
I spent the evening reflecting on what a fabulous year 2011 had been. I knew on New Year's 2010 that we were going to have a good year, but I had no way of knowing just how much my life would change forever. I will always have fond memories of 2011 and I look forward to making many more special memories in 2012. Happy New Year my friends.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I LOVE the holidays. A lot of people get stressed with the hustle and bustle that comes along with Christmas.. not me. I love to give gifts, so it is fun for me to shop for others. I love Christmas lights. I love all of the yummy food that usually comes with this time of year. And I love the time with family and friends. This year is especially exciting because it is Chrisily's 1st Christmas. Boy have I had fun shopping for her! (and yes, I know she is only 5 months old and really doesn't need much.) I can't believe how quickly time is flying by.. Christmas is in a week and a half!
One of the reasons it might seem like time is flying is because we have been super busy! We just got home from a trip to Mississippi. Luke and Meagan got married on Dec. 10th and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. We drove down on Weds/Thurs. then we headed to the MS Gulf Coast on Friday and then back to Jackson on Sunday then home on Mon/Tues. See what I mean about being busy?! Chrisily did really well considering the complete disruption of her schedule and all of the time in the car. The wedding was beautiful and we enjoyed the time with the Townsends.

Our Family

KK and Chrisily

Gramps and Chrisily

Mr. and Mrs. Luke Townsend

This time last year we were sharing our wonderful news with family and friends- that we were expecting! We also had to say goodbye to a very dear man, my grandpa. I am so thankful we were able to share our good news with him before he passed away. I am also thankful for the 26 years I had with him. I miss him greatly and think about him daily. I wish that Chrisily had been able to meet him. I know she would have loved him and I know she would have brought great joy to his life too. There are times when I look at her and I see grandpa. That's when I know he is still with us, watching over us.

At this time of year especially, we need to remember to slow down, count our blessings, and thank God for our family and friends. Sometimes the real reason we celebrate Christmas gets lost in the presents, the lights, the shopping, etc. We need to celebrate Jesus' birth and remember everything he did for us. We have been doing an Advent calendar with Chrisily since the beginning of the month. Each night we open another flap and read a piece of scripture about Christmas. Some might think she is too young for this but I believe that you are never to young to learn about Jesus and the love he has for us.
Peace, Love, and Joy,






Here are some of the pictures from our family photo shoot with Melissa Lynn Hunt Photography in Nov.