sneak peak

a little over a week ago stephen and i took natalie to hudson's tree farm to get some pictures made for our annual christmas cards.

here is a little preview...

thank full

our cup overfloweth...

in light of yesterday's festivities, stephen and i are very thankful for many things...

jesus

a beautiful marriage

our daughter

family

friendship

our home

our church

full bellies

... and many, many, many more!

we are loving the fact that we get to spend the thanksgiving holiday with our families. this thanksgiving has been even more special because of the addition to our own family 9 months ago.

thanksgiving 2008

thanksgiving 2009

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yesterday natalie had her 9 month "birthday"! to keep up with her monthly post updates i wanted to share one of the newest things that she has been doing.

this video says it best...

dancing with daddy

come on ladies... you know we all did this with our daddy when we were little. i still remember doing it with my dad up until i thought i would squish his toes! we were playing in the grass the other day and i know this melted stephen's heart when she walked right up onto his feet. (by walking - i mean as she was holding onto his fingers!)

H 2 O

i have a few blogs that i follow and i came across one today that left me speechless. here is what i saw...

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charity : water

did you know that...

imagine having to give that dirty bottle to your baby? i know it is hard to imagine, but for many this is a reality.

please join me in donating and raising awareness for charity : water.

make this one of the first gifts you buy this holiday season.

$10 dollars will provide one person in africa clean, safe drinking water for 10 years.

$10

~ that's the cost of...

2 starbuck's coffees

a cd from itunes

a pizza

$10 can change someone's life!

click on this link ~~> charity : water

click on the blue donate button.

all donations are tax deductible.

100% of your donation will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations.

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today i am reminded how thankful i am for water. clean, wonderful water that i am able to make lots of bottles with, to bathe my little girl in, to wash my dishes and clothes with. i am thankful for water.

love squared

crunchy leaves

chilly weather

weekend away in our old hometown

... oh, how i love fall...

seeing double?

ok, so what's the chance of a woman having twins? triplets? or even sextuplets? well, let's just say that it is more likely (obviously) to just have one at a time.... and NO this isn't my way of saying that i'm expecting. actually, on the other hand, i applaud those moms who do have more than one child.

sometimes i wish there were two of ME, especially with a sick child...

being a mom is hard work. it seems it's every profession rolled into one: chef, comedian, fashion designer, therapist, and especially nurse. natalie has been trying to get over a cold. it's going on the third week, so today we took her to the pediatrician. thankfully, no flu, no H1N1, no pneumonia - just a cold. the dr. said it just has to run it's course. keep up with the saline drops, nose sucker, and humidifier. - hopefully, we are on the tail end of it.

again, sometimes i wish there were two (or 3) of ME! natalie has been more attached to me and stephen and cries the second we leave her sight. and we won't even mention the lack of sleep that this "little" cold has caused us. luckily, during the day she is her normal awesome self, it just gets really bad at night and first thing in the morning.

so, to all the moms out there with a sick child (or children) - i wish i could duplicate you to make our job somewhat easier!

candy. cAnDy. CANDY.

as all parents know, halloween changes when you have children, - especially when you have a young one to dress up. natalie was a ballerina for her 1st halloween. she of course had no clue what was going on. we all went over to "aunt" laura and "uncle" dean's house to eat dinner and hand out candy to all the trick or treaters. the guys enjoyed (i think) watching the carolina/tennessee game while laura and i had some fun with natalie.

in celebration of the 31st, natalie had her first lollipop.

natalie even did a little trick or treating of her own! : )