Christmas Joy!

We had a wonderful Christmas! This year was great...since Kate had no idea what was going on, I could shop for toys with her in the buggy, we left all the boxes just sitting out since she has no idea what was in them and with my parents being sick we just celebrated Christmas a few days later with them because Kate didn't have a clue! But I am looking forward to next year as she will be able to understand what is going on more and I will be able to try and explain that we are celebrating Jesus' Birthday!

Who needs a chair to open Christmas presents when you have a Lucy??

Michael and Amy gave this to Kate and she hasn't stopped taking the animals and putting them in the barn and then taking them out of the barn and putting them back in the barn....

Jason's sister, Bry, said that all she wanted for Christmas was Kate with a big bow on her with a tag that said "to: Bry" so on Christmas morning we had Kate go over the the Brantley's like this.

Kate got a lot of great presents from both grandparents. Some of our favorites are our red wagon and baby stroller!

Merry Christmas from the Brantleys! Hope your time with family and friends was just as wonderful as ours!

New York, New York!!

This past weekend Jason and I headed up to New York to take in the sights at Christmas time! (Kate stayed behind and spent the weekend being spoiled by grandparents) The minute we landed on Friday it started snowing and snowing and snowing. It was coming down hard but that didn't stop us from taking in the sights.

We went to Rockefeller Center and saw the huge Christmas tree and wandered around 5th Ave. Katie C, you will be so disappointed in me, I went in a million stores and didn't buy one thing - there is so much stuff and I just couldn't make a decision!
at Rockefeller Center

We went to dinner at this great little Italian restaurant called Lupa. At first all I saw on the menu was words like pig jowl and tripe which means insides and stuff...YUCK! However I took the waitresses suggestions for an appetizer, main dish and wine and I must tell you that it was one of the best meals I have ever had (I didn't eat anything weird either). The chef for Lupa is Mario Batali - I didn't know him but obviously he is very famous. But if ever in New York, I highly recommend this restaurant. It also has a great quaint atmosphere.


Next we went to see Wicked. This is a must see. We spent a ton of money trying to get these tickets and they were worth every penny. The main girls had AMAZING voices and I was just captured by the acting and storyline. I even found myself getting choked up at the end. Broadway is completely unreal!
Saturday we woke up and had a full day sightseeing. First we went down to the Bodies Exhibit. It sounds disturbing and it kind of is disturbing but at the same time it is very intriguing. They take real bodies and display them showing you bones and muscles and nervous systems and organs. One part of the exhibit was of babies and the gestation of a baby. I thought I would find it upsetting but instead I was completely in awe of our God. I was in complete amazement of the creation of life. I saw what the amniotic sac looks like when you fist conceive. At five weeks the baby still looks like a little blob but at seven weeks, even though so so tiny, it is a baby. A tiny head and body with arms and legs. I don't know how anyone can say that life doesn't begin at conception. To think that these babies were once that, "babies" was sad but I was also just filled with awe at the miracle of life. It actually made me want to get pregnant again...too bad Jason isn't on board yet!

We then headed over to see where the World Trade Center used to stand and we headed south of that to see the Statue of Liberty. We also walked around the financial district.


We at lunch at Lambardo's Pizza and walked around Little Italy. We went to the top of Rockefeller Center and saw all of New York City which was really cool...and COLD! The best part of the whole day was later that night we walked out of our hotel which was right on Time Square and went right up to the ticket window for last minute Broadway shows and got tickets to the Rockets! It was for 10pm at night but hey, we were in the city that never sleeps so 10pm is all relative. Our tickets were on the very first row! If the Rocketts had a run in their stockings we would have seen it!

at the top of Rockefeller Center

did I mention that our tickets were on the very first row???

On Sunday our plans got a little messed up. We got an email saying our flight had been cancelled for that night and we were supposed to fly out the next day on this incredibly horrible itinerary. They had us flying all over the place and changing airports in D.C. and all kinds of crazy stuff. And the real problem was our hotel we were staying in was over $600 a night but we were staying for free off of hotel points that Jason had so we couldn't even afford to stay another night. So we booked tickets through Southwest with some credit Jason had and flew home earlier in the day Sunday. So all we got to do Sunday was a quick walk through Central Park and a fast trip to FAO Schwartz to get Kate a little gift.

Central Park was beautiful covered in all the snow!

All in all, we really had a great trip. And for those of you who know Jason and what a penny pincher he is...he was so much fun, spending money at every turn and not worrying about it at all!! He was so sweet and would got and get us breakfast every morning and he walked in every clothing store with me and would let me look around for as long as I wanted without any complaining! Oh, and he also took millions of pictures with me and he even did it with a smile on his face! So my first trip to New York City was wonderful and we will have to definitely go again!

Tagged!

Jason happened to take a picture right when I was checking to make sure Kate hadn't pooped! She had already ruined her pants and onesie a little earlier that day too!

So I thought this tag was interesting...pick the 4th picture in your photo file and explain it!
You are tagged:
Joy Jonas, Kristen Bailey, Amy Whitlark, Jennifer Whitlark, Ali Wilson

AOT and Christmas Trees

Thursday night my pledge sisters from college got together for a little dinner and an ornament swap! These are such sweet girls and I hate that I don't see them more often. I love the holidays and how its brings us all together! Now, we just need to do this more often!

back row: Kristen, Fran, Mindy, Joy, Lori

front row: Laura, Brooke, Beth, Mallory

Last week, Kate and I went with Noelle and Graham to pick out our christmas tree. Might I say, that two girls and two babies makes hauling a christmas tree around pretty tricky! But we succeeded and we have a beautiful tree in our house now. Kate is doing really well with all the ornaments, but I still kept the breakable ones up high just in case!

The bell at the bottom of the tree is Kate's favorite ornament!

I Won!!

So I am sure that most of you can truly say that you have never won anything. I was the same way until this past month. I put my name and information in a drawing at one of those consignment sales and a few weeks later I got a letter in the mail saying I had won a free portrait session with free pictures from Melissa Hardin, a photographer. I was just sure this was a marketing ploy so I read over it again waiting to see the "free if" part... but no, it was free period! So I slaved over making Kate a dress which I posted before and she looked so cute in it. Well, bad news is that a lot of the pictures didn't come out because the photographer's camera messed up but the good news is that she has offered to do it all for free again in the spring!! You can see the pictures that did come out in the link below.

http://melissahardin6013.zenfolio.com/p4509631/slideshow#h3a355f53

Christmas Time!!!!

I love Christmas time!!! Too bad that I have to wait until Thursday to decorate and get a tree. Jason is out of town right now and I need his muscles for the heavy lifting of decorations down out of his parents attic.

I smocked Kate a dress for Christmas and made one other outfit for the holiday season. However, I really can't stand to sew something that she can only wear for 25 days, so below you will find the solution to my problem!


Kate is saying "hi" to everyone here...we are mid-wave.

and below is my solution...I appliqued the lining before I sewed it all together and all I have to do is sew the buttons on the reverse side after Christmas and she can wear this dress.

Kate's vocabulary consists of one word..."hi!" She is very friendly, repeating "hi" to everyone in Target, Paper Works Outlet, Publix, etc. She does make noises of animals and such but below is a video of her telling you all hello and of her newly learned noise taught to her by her Mimi (my mom).

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have so much to be thankful for. My brother, Michael, and his family are in town so Kate has been having fun playing with cousin Bryce. Bryce is only about 8 weeks older than Kate so it is so fun to watch them together. He is very verbal and just has the cutest personality! We also got to spend time with Jason's family too. I must say it is nice having both our families in the same place!

Saturday we took Kate to my parents while we headed down to Tuscaloosa for the Auburn/Alabama game. We figured since Bryce was there they could play together and really what is one more 15 month child?? Thanks Mom and Dad! Back to our trip to T-town...it was chilly, misty rain, and oh yea, millions of Alabama fans. And we were right in the middle of them. Our tickets weren't so much tickets as they were passes that just got us into the game and we didn't have any official seats. So the only place with no assigned seating is the student section. So Jason and I found some of the only Auburn fans in the Alabama student section and sat with them- safety in numbers right?. I must say it is a very hostile environment when you cheer for the visiting team. Sadly enough, a miracle did not happen and we left at the beginning of the 4th quarter. War Eagle anyway. At least I finally made it to a football game this season and it was a fun day to spend with Jason.

I mean, they just become so resourceful. Kate loves the mail and when I came into the room I saw this...she used Jason's luggage as a step stool to get to the mail. It was cute, she was just flipping through the pottery barn magazine having a good time.

With the leftover fleece from the coat I made, I sewed these little overalls. They are actually a little boy pattern, but they just looked warmer then the little girl fleece dress that was on the pattern.

oh, and they are a little long!

My friend Noelle came over the other night and we put her little girl Graham and Kate in the bathtub together. They were cute playing together and we also tried to teach them about the letters in their name...they didn't care.

I just love this face. Another thing I love is consignment sales. If I didn't make Kate's outfit then we got it from a consignment sale. Point and case the dress below...so cute and only $5.

Brrrr!

Well the weather is definitely colder here lately and my poor child has hardly no warm clothes. So to remedy that, I went and bought some fleece and made her a coat. I think it turned out pretty cute and it was super easy.

Also, sorry I am just now getting around to this but I have been asked by a few what kind of machine I have now. It is a Janome Memory Craft 9500. Its about 3 years old...if you went to the store to buy it now it would be the Memory Craft 1000 I think. I do love it!

15 Months Old

Kate is 15 months old today! And we had a very eventful 15 month birthday. She had a doctor's appointment at 8am and when I went in to get her up so we could get ready to go, I walked into the foulest smelling room...she has thrown up everywhere! It was 7:30am and I threw her in the bathtub to clean her up, took her temperature and when it was normal we headed off to the doctor. He said that everything was fine. She isn't sick, probably just something she ate (and the child did eat more food yesterday then I had ever seen), but other than that is was a very routine visit to the doctor.

Weight: 23 lbs 1oz
Height: 31.5 inches
Head: 18 inches

What we are up to these days:
Kate still doesn't say many words. She is very friendly, always waving at others and saying "hi." She can tell you what a monkey, cow and elephant say. She says mama and dada all the time but not necessarily calling for us. However, she does understand us as she follows simple directions very well. She loves rap music as she always starts dancing when she hears it. She can find her belly button when asked. She communicates what she wants to us by walking to it/pointing to it and saying please (sign language for please, she can't say it). And right now she is just a lot of fun. She has a great disposition...she is just a happy child and we are very thankful.

ps. for those who know my struggle, check out the picture above...Kate is finally leaving her bow in her hair again! And for those of you who know I am obsessed with cutting her hair, if you look closely you can see a little flip in the back. Now that the sides are a little longer I don't mind letting the back grow...I just couldn't stand it when it looked like a mullet so I would cut the back of her hair until the sides caught up.