OFF THE GRID

As soon as we stop getting the run-around (grrr) we will close on our new home and begin moving.  I don't anticipate any posts for the next few days, so 

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE...

Two great creations smelted into one...

So here is your Friday smile

MOVIN' MOVIN' MOVIN' (PART 1)

Hooray!  I finally got my little camera back!  (I accidentally left it at a friend's house for a month.)  Here are some snapshots I took while we were in limbo in Washington.  

Although I was not a fan of the weather, I dearly loved my house.  Washington gave us a wonderful send off.  The weather was unbelievable the week we moved!!

This is where my babies were born...

The big ol' truck that took our things away

While our household goods were being packed, we stayed in a TLF on base (think, mini-apartment).  Here is Jake, Luke and Reagan just hanging out.  Look how little Luke was!  He was only 6 weeks old!!

It had a great playground just outside.  Not that we had tons of time for playing since we were at the house from 8 am until 6 pm most of the days, but when we had a chance little miss Reagan had a blast!  Luke of coarse was sleeping :)

The fall foliage was brilliant in October.  I couldn't resist snapping pics of the beautiful colors.

The leaves outside our house

The trees on base were vibrant as well. Check out these colors!

You just gotta play in them!

Now we are about to uproot again...although not so far this time.  Just across town.  Our house is nearing completion and we move in no later than next Friday!!!!  I will post pics when the dust settles!

IT'S SANTA, BABY

Here are my little ones with the Big Guy.  Reagan was so excited to see Santa, baby!  (For those of you not familiar, Reagan ends almost every sentence with "baby").  She was going to ask for a little Elmo and little Cookie Monster, but when I asked her what she asked for she said "Presents, Please".  How polite.  She has also been asking for a horse.  If anyone knows of this horse, please let me know!  I have no idea and have seen no commercials for any type of horse, but apparently I'm the only person.  I checked Little Tykes, but found nothing.  Not that she will be getting it since she already has a rocking horse, but I'm very curious now.

Also, we are about to move into our new house!  We do our walk-through on Friday and move in no later than next Friday.  A whole 6 days before Christmas!  Unpacked boxes and some resemblance of normal is all I am asking Santa for this year :)

Merry Christmas!!!!

GIVING THANKS

What a wonderful weekend!  We were fortunate enough to spend this Thanksgiving with our families, which Jake & I have not done since 2000.  We had a happy gathering of loved ones and a bountiful blessing of food.  

Helping hands setting the Thanksgiving tables.

Jo Ann's grandmother's butter knife dated 1897.

Reagan's Turkey Lurkey :)

A wonderful table of home cooked food.

Scrumptious bread pudding.  Mmmmm.



Robin's yummy pumpkin layer cake.

A quick snapshot of the whole family taken with the trusty tripod :)

Press the button and run!

BACKYARD FUN

This morning we basked in the beautiful sunshine and snapped some pics of the kids.  They are growing soooo fast!  We are so very blessed to be near family now so that they can enjoy all of the stages and faces with us!

all together now....AWWWWWWW

Luke has learned the "Reagan pucker"

oh what fun...

This is my fav-o-rite!

Just some bubbly fun!

And look at those curls!

MY BELOVED CRIMSON TIDE

Well I have held my tongue until now...

ROLL TIDE! WE ARE THE #1 TEAM IN THE NATION!

I have been very apprehensive to celebrate...and still do with caution...but it's about time.  Sure we may not get style points, but we consistently get enough points to win.  That is all that counts.

Next week is the big game (Auburn), and then comes the bigger game (SEC Championship against the Tim Tebow led gators) and then hopefully (saying a prayer, crossing my fingers, holding my breath) the BIGGEST game (the National Championship Game!!!!!, which is of course on my list.)

So sing it with me, YEA ALABAMA!!

photo courtesy of Rolltide.com

BAMA  32    Miss St 7

Keep on Rollin'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

What a wonderful weekend!  We LOVE living so close to family and can't wait to enjoy many more weekends like this in the coming years.

My dad and lovely mother.

Happy Anniversary

and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

We surprised mom with a special birthday dinner...somehow.  Dad's not very good with secrets, but the saving grace was that mom doesn't listen to him that much anyway!!

Make a wish!

Happy 70th birthday Mom!

Sunday everyone came to the house for lunch before we all had to go our separate ways again.

Mom and us three girls...Patricia, Sylvia and me.


A couple more girls joined us...Reagan and Tegan :)

Me and my best friend Tabitha.  It is so wonderful to live near her family!  Reagan just loves Zack, and soon we will have a new baby for Luke to "talk" to!  Be sure you will see pics come February :)

HAPPY HUNTING

I just couldn't wait to post this!  This past weekend we visited my family in Alabama to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday with her.  We took pictures all weekend, but I'm pretty sure this is my favorite!  I just love how little miss Tegan's camo goes with the leaves (I'm pretty sure it's designed to do that).   And that SMILE :)

I will be posting lots more pics of the party and gatherings, but enjoy this for now!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

What a fun night!

It took 7 of us to take Reagan trick-or-treating.  She had her own entourage.

I took tons of pics, but as usual, blogger is not being agreeable today so this is all I could get to load.  I will try to add more later.  

Enjoy!

Here's our little cutie!  She was supposed to be a fairy, but she stole Grandma's witch hat and became the cutest witch ever!  She kept telling people "I'm a witch!"  in the cutest tone.  We brought the video camera along so we could get the full effect :)

Getting ready for some candy...

And my favorite image of the night.  Look what I got!!

BACK IN BUSINESS

Finally!  We have arrived in Pensacola :)  We are LOVING the sunshine so far.  Things are starting to get in order around here so that means I am getting back to business!   Just don't expect too much too soon, since last night is the first time in about a week that Luke let us sleep more than 2 hours at a time.  Yea for sleep!!  I will be posting pics of our adventure moving and our new house that is quickly being built soon!  

Tell all of your friends that I AM NOW TAKING SESSIONS.  

I look forward to meeting some new smiling faces!!

Love to all - 

Monica

OUTTA HERE

Hi everyone!  Just wanted to let you all know that moving is now in full swing so we will out of touch via internet for at least a week.  If you email me, please be patient for a reply as we will not have access to internet until the 21st.  Talk to you then!

LITTLE PUMPKINS

We had a chance to go to Maris Farms last weekend to have some much needed family time away from all of the stress of moving.  You know I took the camera.  Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Just toooo heaaaaby!

Luke slept the whole time.  I was carrying him so he was all nice and cozy snuggled next to me.  And being bounced.  That never hurts.  He looks so very peaceful here.  

What a fantastic smile!

ALL DONE :)

JUST FRIENDS

As we are preparing for our big move to Florida, we have been trying to spend as much time as possible with friends.  Here are a couple of pics of Reagan with her best buddies...

Kayla and Lauren came over for a play day earlier this week.  Three little girls running and screaming did not phase Luke, who slept the whole time.

Here she is with Charlie and Declan, both of which most of you have seen tons of pics of since their parents are my best customers!  We have so enjoyed having the Andersons, O'Rourkes and the Scotts around.  It is wonderful to have such great friends when we move to far away places.   Safe travels Liz, C, Charlie and Cargo as you move to a sunnier place also :)  Now that I can no longer take pics of your little ones, you will have to send me pictures as they grow!

EVEN IF I TRIED...

This one takes the cake!  I saw the results of a "morning hair" contest in Parenting magazine so I thought I would see what I could come up with.  This hair would have won easily.

I bet you are smiling now.  How can you see this hair on this happy little girl and not?????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE!

Can you believe it has been a month?!?  I guess since Luke was born on the 31st at 11:09 PM I will have to celebrate his monthly birthday the 1st of each month most of the time.  

Look how big our baby has gotten!

happy birthday luke!!

stretch!  Here he is just waking up from a nap on the 11th.

Here he is on the 16th.  Isn't this outfit adorable?!?  Gotta love Gymboree!

There are those beautiful eyes

I think it may be time for another studio session since those baby blues are open more now.  Let's see if I can squeeze in some time before the movers come!  

We move in 19 days!!