White Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope yours was filled with joy, Christ, family, and of course, food! We had a great time with Eli. He enjoyed all the events of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had lots of fun going to Atlanta to spend Christmas Eve with Em and Josh and the rest of our family. We swapped Secret Santa gifts and then headed to Apostles for the Christmas Eve service. It was a delight to hear Mere sing...Eli loved watching her. Then headed back to the house to spend some time with Eli. He opened one gift, which was a magnadoodle. (More on that later!) Then we read the Christmas story (Luke 2) and put him to bed.

Santa then got busy and when we woke up in the morning, Eli had lots of gifts to play with. After some playtime, we headed up to NeNe and Boo's house for breakfast and more presents. As we pulled in the driveway it began to snow and didn't stop until the next morning. Chris, Eli, and I had fun playing in the snow, sledding, making snow angels, and throwing snow balls. Here are a few pics from Dec 25 and 26. Enjoy!

Christmas Day

Day after Christmas. Eli loved the snow!

Watching Mommy make a snow angel...probably wondering what in the world I'm doing.

The beautiful snow-covered Ford Focus...oh yeah, and our house!

Eli and Daddy

Eli checking the snow out.

Sledding

First Hair Cut

Friday I took Eli to get his first haircut. Thank goodness Boo showed up for a second to give me some coupons from Mom or I think Eli might have screamed the whole time. He was very unsure at first but warmed up quite well after Miss Beth gave him a sucker! The mullet is now gone and he looks like a little boy instead of a baby.

Beth trimming as Eli eats. I would hold the sucker down low so she could cut the bottom of his neck.

After the cut.

Mean face.

From the back.

Turkey Break

I didn't take many pics during the Thanksgiving holidays. I guess I was too busy eating, visiting with family or cheering on my Dawgs or Chris's Crimson Tide. We had over 50 visitors during the week off, so to say it was a crazy week is an understatement. I think the furthest traveler was Chris's dad who came up from Mobile. Here are just a few pics...mainly of Eli and his favorite things from the week.

Eli's new favorite place to sit.

Chris's bday present from Mere. Awesome cups!

Emily brought our old McDonald's set up from the basement for Eli to play with. He loved it! My favorite part is that the fries maker still makes that crinkle sound like the fries are frying in their grease. Yummy!

Another one of Eli's favorite places to sit...on anyone's head! Emily has a great picture of him on her head on her blog.

Hunting for Boo's Christmas tree. It was freezing. That explains the flannel shirt that was pulled from Josh's hunting gear in the back of his car to go over his jacket.

Sweet Mere.

Boo sawing down his tree.

Eli and Daddy checking to make sure Boo's tree meets the standards of a good Christmas tree.

Sorry I don't have more pics. I truly didn't think to take very many.

Boys will be boys...

This is the first thing Eli does once stripped down to his diaper. I caught him here watching his daddy shave while hands in his pants. I love this picture of his face.

Eli's first fish

We took Eli fishing on Halloween weekend. We went to a pond where Dad works sometimes and happens to be by grandfather's birthplace. Papa, Dad, Troyce, and Chris and me were all there. Eli was very interested in what the long poles were doing in the water. Chris and Dad baited his pole and threw it out into the water. Then they let Eli hold the pole. It wasn't a matter of seconds before a fish took the bait and Eli and Boo were in a battle with a fish. We were laughing so hard the whole time because of the odds that Eli's first seconds holding a fishing pole would produce a fish! Eli watched the whole process and was fascinated by the fish. It was as big as he was!! It was a sweet little moment I was glad I captured on camera.

Halloween Monster

This Halloween Eli dressed as a monster and went to visit Baldwin Elem. and his Nene and Boo's house. He loved his outfit and looked at his hands often. We didn't go trick-or-treating because another little monster inside Mommy's tummy was making her feel horrible! Poor Eli...it was a laid back Halloween. He didn't even have a pumpkin this year. But he did get to try a piece of candy.

happy birthday chris akridge!

well, today my hubby turned the big 2-9. yes, he is younger to me...don't rub it in! in honor of his birthday, i will follow in my fellow blogging friends' footsteps and give 29 reasons why i love my hubby so much.
1. he makes me laugh
2. he is "my list" to the tee.
3. he is much more than my list...he exceeded all my expectations of a husband.
4. he leads our family spiritually.
5. he prays with eli and me every night.
6. he is a good dancer. he even has a couple of original dance moves which he has named.
7. he says, "i'm sorry" more than he needs to.
8. he drives a ford focus.
9. he wants me to stay at home with our children.
10. he loves sports.
11. he is a great story-teller.
12. he can't throw anything away...not even old white t-shirts.
13. he picks up the slack around here when things are tough for me.
14. he sees my needs and meets them.
15. he is tender-hearted.
16. but he is also "mean" if he has to be. (for lack of a better word...its late)
17. he can't keep a surprise very well.
18. he sits by me on the couch when we watch tv even though i know he is uncomfortable.
19. he loves being outside.
20. he likes to hunt and fish.
21. he is an alabama fan. (hey, it could be MUCH worse...he could cheer for an orange team.)
22. he is great at managing our money.
23. he is a cheap-o.
24. he is by the book and constant.
25. he has a hungry monster.
26. he is a hard worker.
27. he moved to georgia to be with me!
28. he is a great dad to eli.
29. he lives our vows out daily.

i love you chris akridge! you are my winning ticket on the marriage lottery. i wish for many, many more years together and pray God's best for you and our marriage.