Meet my new cousins!!

These are my new baby cousins Thomas and Caleb. They are first cousins and were born just a couple weeks apart and I love them both so very much! I want to hold them whenever I am around them and I give them lots of kisses!


Thomas Layfield

Caleb Gibbs

Mommy's Reflections on a 2 year old Christmas

There were so many enjoyable things this Christmas season that I decided to take a moment to remember some of the things that Addie was doing this year.

Addie was very into the movies Frosty the Snowman (classic TV version) and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. She still is demanding to watch them almost every day and I keep trying to explain to her that it is not Christmas anymore. I wonder if we will be watching them all year long. She calls the Mickey movie "Merry Christmas" and says in the afternoons "I want to watch Merry Christmas, please!" And the Frosty obsession took over immediately after we watched it on TV (in an attempt to escape the Mickey Mouse movie). She would have everyone hold hands in a circle and sing "Frosty the Snowman" just like in the movie. (See picture below from my mom's on Christmas day.)

Addie also learned a lot about the Nativity Story and talked about "Baby Jesus". We had to sing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus several times this month. She would go up to any nativity set and point out Baby Jesus to us. We had a proud moment when we went to pick her up from Sunday School and the teacher bragged about Addie and her knowledge of Baby Jesus!

This year, Addie did learn to recognize Santa Claus (practically any man with a large beard) and she talked a lot about how Santa brought toys and Santa Claus was "sweet". However, we tried to take her to get pictures with Santa at the mall and she wouldn't get anywhere close. I am pretty sure the entire mall could hear her shrills of terror.

Although Addie loved the Frosty movie, she loved the book Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and we read it to her almost every night in December. However, instead of reading the words of the book, we would sing the song and turn the pages.

Matt and I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful, talented, smart, tender-hearted, enthusiastic daughter. She makes everyday worth living and gives us such a renewed energy for life. It's awesome to see the world through the eyes of a 2 year old everyday where the smallest things make you laugh so hard and then cry at the drop of a hat. We are always trying to think of new things to show and teach her because she is learning so much so quickly. She is truly our gift from God and we couldn't be more pleased that he chose us to take care of her.

Happy Holidays

I had a great Christmas this year! We started the season off going to the CHOA Christmas Parade like we do every year. It was VERY cold this year and we didn't stay for the entire parade because we were frozen! I still had a good time, though, and enjoyed watching the bands play and the big inflatables.

From there, we went to have Christmas with my Nana's family, the Dean's in Barnesville. I had a good time playing with my cousins and got lots of cool stuff, including a trunk full of princess dress up clothes, which I love to play with! I had to dress up after opening it before I opened any more presents!

The next weekend, my Meme and Grandpa kept me while Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding and Meme took me to have brunch with Mrs. Claus. I had so much fun dancing around while everyone sang Christmas carols and then listening to Mrs. Claus read a book about Angels. I even drank my "tea" from a real teacup! I am a big girl!

After that, it was time to have Christmas at my Meme and Grandpa's house. We had a wonderful dinner together and I enjoyed spending time with all of the family! My cousin Tori and I even dressed alike!

Finally it was time for Santa to come and for us to make our trip to Cordele. We stayed at Nana's house this year, so Santa came there to bring all of my toys. I got so many fun toys that mommy and daddy decided it was time to clean out some of my old toys and give them to other little boys and girls. I was fine with that because I have lots of new toys to play with. I got lots of baby dolls this Christmas because I love to play mommy.

Mommy and Daddy also got me my own Mickey Mouse digital camera because I love taking pictures with their camera so much! I have enjoyed taking pictures with my new camera! You can even put characters into the picture with you. Mommy put some on here for everyone to see!