A Christmas We Will Always Remember

Waking up to Frances' voice on Christmas morning was a feeling that just can't be put into words.  Its still hard for us to believe that this time last year we were anxiously preparing and waiting for her arrival- in fact most of the Christmas gifts were nursery furniture.  As we sat in church on Christmas Eve celebrating Christs' birth, I was instantly reminded of God's perfect plan for all of us.  This little gal is without a doubt the best gift we have ever received!

We had Christmas Eve dinner at our house with the Smith clan, while Meme and Grump helped hold the fort down over in Oxford with the triplets.  Christmas day was exciting and busy, starting off with our little family of 4 (can't leave Bella out) opening presents and playing with new toys.  We then headed over to the Smith's house for more playing and yummy brunch.  Next, all 4 of us loaded into the car and headed over to Mississippi for a two day visit with Meme, Grump, Sage, Jack, and of course the girls!  Frances is starting to look like such a "big kid" now, especially next to these sweet babies.

Frances trying to steal the show.....poor Brooks...Irene is confused....Anna just doesn't care

Here is a photo round-up of the weekend....with more to come next week, as we head back to MS for Round 2 of Christmas and New Years with the entire family!

Mommy and Frances

A few Christmas Eve presents with the cousins.

Yummy Christmas cookies right before bedtime:)

Bella was so sweet to help Frances get her goodies out of the stocking.

We are getting really close to sitting up!

Debut of "The Tickle Monster"....this will get its own blog posting soon.

Such a big girl standing up, and good thing Bella is supervising.

Love my new piano from Meme and Grump.

Frances and Kat telling each other all about their Christmas presents.

Lyndy whipping up some "crispy eggs" to go with the french toast.

Playing with Grump....or is Grump asleep????

Babies babies everywhere!

Frances telling her cousins that this jingle bell is not actually an approved toy to play with, but its really fun anyway!

Ready For Christmas!

Frances sure has been a little party animal, making the rounds at multiple Christmas parties over the last week.  Frances LOVES visiting with all her friends, and she seems to take particular interest in the boys- check her out with her boyfriends!

Playing with Miles at The Bell Center party.

Ethan and Frances in their matching Santa shirts:)

Frances and Charlie playing with their new toys.  We love this fish toy from Amy!

Everybody needs a friend like Charlie to share their cookies!

She had tubes placed in her ears last week, along with a sedated hearing test, and a check on her airway/esophagus.  Everything went very well and all test results came back clear!  As I said last week, she has been keeping us extra busy with doctor appointments, and that includes our trip for a nice barium enema today.  Who wouldn't want that for Christmas????  The test itself wasn't that bad, but the aftermath (that is still occurring) has been quite an adventure.  Ill spare you the gory details, but I will say its necessary to wear at least 2 diapers at a time right now.

Frances has discovered the joys of wrapping paper- who needs toys?!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures (and excuse the blurry ones from the iPhone) of all the fun Frances has been having this past week.  Will and I are so excited to be celebrating her first Christmas, and the first Christmas with all the cousins too!  Tonight we will have the McCalley Christmas, and on Sunday we get to head over for some triplet time.  We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.  We have certainly been blessed with the best gift ever!

Coloring fun....yes, her OT mother is proud!

Perfect Puzzle Preschool party- showing off her masterpiece.

Frances absolutely LOVES her teacher, Mrs. Mita. Don't know what we would do without her!

Playing with Eleanor at the YaYa pajama party.

This just makes my heart happy!

These two girls are going to be lifelong friends.

Getting some love from Aunt Jenny. Thank you, Eleanor for the hat! 

Meeting the newest members of the YaYa clan- Baby Michael and Baby Allie.

Playing with Lyndy and Kat.

10 Months Old!

Well, another month has gone by and Frances is now 10 months old!  That is waaaaayyyy too close to 1 year for this mama.  As you can see in the pictures, this girl is nothing but fun these days.  She has a laugh that brings joy to our hearts every time we hear it, and we hear it a lot!  Frances is still working hard on trying to sit independently and crawl on her belly.  We had her 9 month check-up recently, and she weighed 14 lbs 12 oz- getting close to that 15 lb mark!  Frances has had lots of doctor appointments keeping us busy lately, and tomorrow she will get tubes, along with some other tests that the ENT will do while she is under anesthesia.  Please keep her in your prayers.

What?????  I'm 10 months old today?

I am so silly!

We are having so much fun getting ready for Christmas, and Frances seems to really love all the lights.  She had fun meeting Santa last weekend.  We now have our 2nd Christmas tree finally up and decorated (long story, and I'm just very thankful I have such a patient husband who puts up with my need for perfection).  We have been missing those babies over in Mississippi, but we will travel back over there on Christmas day and I can't wait to see them!  Here are a few more pictures of what we have been up to lately....

Bella and Frances really love each other.

Checking out the big man dressed in red......

Loving Santa!

And loving the lights.

Pretty soon I'm gonna be able to get those shiny things on the tree!

Sometimes being so cute is just exhausting.

We Are Thankful

 How things change in a year....Last Thanksgiving, I was frantically trying to pick out paint colors, car seats, cribs, and wondering how to prepare for a baby in less than 3 months (and its highly likely that I was driving Will a little crazy too!).  This year we have a beautiful 9 month old daughter who has changed our lives forever.  Our entire family has so much to be thankful for this year, but Will and I are especially thankful that God chose us to be Frances' parents and He gave us the opportunity to take a journey into the world of parenthood.

Frances one week before Thanksgiving last year!

We had a fun fun Thanksgiving week!  Frances and I got to spend 5 days in MS with Meme, Sage, Jack, and the girls, and Frances is wiped out from all the excitement.  Grump and Will traveled over for a few days too.  Brooks and Irene are doing very well at home and they are so tiny and perfect.  Anna continues to do well also, and will hopefully join her sisters soon.  Frances really seemed to take notice of the babies- especially when I laid her on the floor near them....I think all these girls are going to have a lot of fun!  Here are some pictures from the week:

Frances is not so stationary anymore- she navigated from her play area to here!

Irene and Brooks

Eating "real" food and loving it!

Sage feeding Anna

Playing and checking each other out,

Irene getting her bath

Frances just being her fun self!

Irene and Brooks after bath time.

Frances was a very responsible babysitter.

Jack not quite sure about reaching inside the big ole turkey.

Brooks and Uncle Will

"Now you girls just follow what I do. I know all the tricks."

Swinging with Daddy

Frances has gotten really good at holding her bottle!

Happy Thanksgiving!