Have You Ever?!

Oh, how this pumpkin melts my very heart.




One of these days, I will catch up with the goings-on from this holiday season. It's been a busy one so far, and we can't wait to celebrate with both sides of our family here in AL and in GA... for now, here are some pics of the sweetest and most hilarious little one south of the Mason Dixon. (are we south of the Mason Dixon?)

Thanksgiving turkey--




Me with Campbell, Mindee (my SIL) and youngest cousin, Cate.-





Learning how to "smile" for pictures--




Love to all my little readers out there in blogworld! I pray that you each are experiencing a special and Joyous Christmas season so far...

My Favorite Things...

In honor of the recent Oprah episode on her "Favorite Things", I thought I would give you some tid-bits on Campbell's current favs via pictures... PS-- can you believe how much STUFF Oprah gives away?!? I would totally be 'that person' who has to be resuscitated by the paramedics from hyperventilation. But, that is neither here nor there.

Here we go:
1. Dressing up in Mommy's clothes... or for lack of better title "putting Mommy's panties on my head or around my neck".





2. Chillin' on her potty, or in her words "the bobby". (She WILL kill me for these pics when she is 16). We still haven't gotten the timing down, but at least she's interested, right?




3. Loving on her BFF, O'Malley. Her favorite spot to drink her milk, in the crook of his tummy. Ahh, ultimate safety.



4. Still lining up the friends, but now strategically placing them so they can watch TV.


5. Reading. Anything. Daddy has a go, then Mommy follows up with the same story. Over and over and over again.




And, .6 is coming. I have to break out the videocamera for this one. Oh, the incessant dancing. Stay tuned.

Photo Shoot a la Sister;)

A few weekends ago, Campbell and I ventured to Atlanta. Ry had to work down here in Daphne, so we made it a girls' trip as I had a 2-day conference and Campbell had some cousins/aunts/uncles/grandparents to play with. So, my beautiful and talented sister (who I think may need to take her hobby to the next level), took Campbell out for a photo shoot. These are the results...





Heather, thank you for showing our sweet little girl in her best light-- smiling and joyous about life! We love you, Headee!:)

A GRRREAT Weekend!

First off, a big WAAARRRRRRR EAGLE out to blogworld! I am so proud of my Alma Mater and it's so much fun to have a good season! Ok, I had to get that out of my system.;)

We had a wonderful Fall weekend with a fun night of Trick-or-Treatin' to wrap it up. Funny that I am blogging this "late" (it's 8:30pm), but I am one of "those parents" who has raided their child's candy while they peacefully slumber, and I am now hopped up on some major sugar! So, here we go to update.

During some football half-times, Ryan and Campbell made up a new, redneck-esque pasttime out in the backyard. When you don't have a wagon to ride in, what do you do? Yes, folks. You ride on Dada's COOLER!





Campbell has started placing all her "friends" on the couch, table, bed, whereever to read to, talk to, laugh at, or whatever tickles her fancy at the time. This morning, I was making my coffee and rounded the corner to this sweet girl doing more of her new favorite activity...



And last, but not least... we enjoyed a fun time trick-or-treating in our quiet neighborhood. This LADYBUG saw some of her neighborhood friends and strutted her stuff in her new patent leather MaryJanes. Midway to house one, however, she preferred Dada to "hold me, hold me".







Happy Fall, y'all!

PS-- if any of you SIX readers should care, stay tuned for a post with AMAZING pics from my sweet sister who had a photo session with my sweet pea!

Makin' Dada Proud!

You can imagine Ryan's joy and delight when we rounded the corner and saw this...



Yes! A Viking Hat, reading Sports Illustrated.
(At least the olive green fabric you see around her is one of MY shirts. She's not 100% tomboy..)

Time. Where have you gone!?

I can't believe that our girl is 18 months old! How is that possible? Please don't mind this little photo montage (sp?). While we were in the garden tub "bathing Mommy's clothes", I could not resist snapping some pics of this curly-haired little lady! (I guess I now see how desperately I need to paint our bathroom after seeing the stark white-ness! Ha!)

Campbell is growing up before our eyes. She has got an incredible sense-of-humor, which if you know Ryan, is NOT a surprise! She has a great belly laugh, tries out new words and combinations all day, and is a huge ball of energy. She is a bit of a tom-boy and would live outside if she could. She still loves O'Malley and goes anywhere he does. She loves to talk to her "Ninah", "Doe Doe", "Mad Mad" and "Annie" on Skype and will grab my hand, dragging me to the computer to do so. She LOVES to look at pictures of family members and books-- she has even started trying to "read to us" in her own language while turning the pages. She loves her grandparents and HAS to say each of their names before she lets me get her out of the crib in the morning. She is not crazy about meat, but LOVES cheese, just like her Mama:) In general, she is an absolute love-bug and a joy to be around. We feel so blessed to have been entrusted with her precious life and to share God's amazing creation with her. I think we'll keep her.

Hola Amigos!

Ryan and I just got back from Mexico. Could you tell by the title of this post?! About a year ago, unbeknownst to Ryan, I started secretly saving for his upcoming 30th b'day. He had surprised me last year on my 30th with a trip to Boston, so I wanted to do something special for his decade-turning year as well. Well.. he "found" the secret, birthday stash and had the grand idea to use that money (and add a little extra to the pot) to make it a 30th b'day/5 year anniversary trip to Mexico. So, with little lady in tow, we traveled to the ATL, dropped Campbell with my family for a week we like to refer to "Camp Atlanta", and we flew out for a 5 day hiatus! It was wonderful to say the least...

We stayed here--




And, to sum up our week... 1. We ate ALOT! Seven amazing restaurants, any genre you can imagine, ALL-INCLUSIVE. 2. We snorkled 3. We sun-bathed 4. We SLEPT for LOOONNNNGGG, uninterrupted hours 5. We drank fruity drinks 6. We ziplined through the jungle (and I consequently pinned a small, Mexican instructor into a large tree b/c I couldn't stop properly or safely for that matter) but that is neither here nor there, and is for another post. What would one of my vacations be without BRUISING, right? 7. And most importantly, I got to spend unbelievable quality time with my very best friend.


And, Campbell, you ask? Do NOT feel sorry for this little sweetpea whom we orphaned to skip town.


She was showered with love, gifts, kisses, treats, you name it. My wonderful family all "shared" her for the week, and needless to say, she came home much loved and much spoiled. This picture says it all after a week with all her cousins who adore her. ( I think she is still trying to catch up on her sleep).

Surprise!

Pardon this belated post, but this was too fun not to share...

Two weekends ago, Ryan and I had the pleasure of hosting a SURPRISE, 40th Anniversary party at our house for my sweet in-laws. To their complete surprise, myself (and Ryan, who was a big help) and my 2 sisters-in-law planned a dinner for immediate family to celebrate 40 years of wedded bliss. Nicole (my wonderful friend and sis-in-law), who truly spear-headed the whole shin-dig, was amazing with the details, down to the centerpieces in the colors that my MIL had at her wedding 40 years ago-- peach and cream! The children each gave toasts, which were all very touching and special, and to round off the evening, Nicole had even put together a video slide-show.

It was a wonderful picture to view as an "outlaw"... to see how much their children value and strive to have a marriage like their parents. To see how a Christ-centered marriage has a strong foundation like no other. To see the legacy my sweet in-laws have left to their children and GRAND-children. I felt very honored to be part of such a special family and celebration. I wish my in-laws so very many more years of happiness and love! Congrats, Mimi and Poppa!! We love you SO much...




Here are some pictures of the beautiful set-up, generations of wonderful women, the Green kiddos, Campbell with her Mimi and Poppa, and me with Mindee (my sister-in-law) and Campbell's youngest cousin, Cate.

Labor Day Weekend...

I love a good Labor Day. Fall is somewhat in the air (if you delete the 100% humidity down here in LA), college football is gearing up (and is the only thing on my screen, sorry Elmo), and I start to break out the sweats/sweatshirts (with definite shout-outs to Alpha Gam and the glory days in AU)!

To sum up our weekend, we did a little of this....


ALOT of this...





And, introduced the Little Lady to this...



Now, I have to be transparent and say that being from Atlanta, and growing up going to the ATLANTA ZOO, I was slightly snobby when I heard that our closest zoo was literally named, "The Little Zoo That Could". Sad, huh?! But, did my ego ever have a bruisin' when we saw approximately 10ish TIGERS!?! BEARS!!!!? LIONS?!?!! What?! I was very impressed at what Gulf Shores puts out in the area of exotic animals. And, to say that Campbell was enthralled is the understatement of the YEAR! She LOVED it. She kept saying, "Hi" to all the animals. Her favs were the goats, deer, donkey and sheep. Bless her, she even kept humming the beginning stanzas to "Bah Bah Black Sheep".





The end result... a sweaty, exhausted, red-cheeked, curly haired toddler who can't keep her hands out of the dog bowl to "feed" the "petting zoo-like LAB" whom we adoringly call our dog, O'Malley. That will be an interesting lesson to attempt to teach after our zoo activity...




I hope that everyone's Labor Day was wonderful and that you were able to enjoy a "day off" with your loved ones.