Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas! Such a fun day with the Barfield family at our house! We ate a huge lunch of ribs, unwrapped presents and had great fun! Then G and Papa arrived the day after Christmas for a week holiday! It has been a very special Christmas! Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Fall leaves and Halloween costumes

OK, I know Halloween was a while ago but I am finally getting the pictures up. We are having a wonderful fall and mild November with warm temperatures. Where else can a girl run through the leaves in her bathing suit in November (see picture:). Anderson is doing swim lessons this fall and Elle is enjoying school so we are a busy bunch. Looking forward to lots of family time with the upcoming holidays.

One beautiful fall

I am so behind on posting because this has been one fabulous and busy fall! Yes, the wonderful weather is here and all the fun stuff that comes with fall: jumping in leaves, pumpkin food, soup for dinner, pumpkin patch visits and lots of play time outside!


Elle loves preschool with her wonderful teachers and 'treehouse' classroom; she goes three mornings a week and has ballet on Wednesdays! She is crazy about ballet and loves showing us all of her moves.

Anderson is such a sweetheart! He is 13 months old and he is crawling fast as ever, just started pulling up to a stand and very vocal about eating and doing things on his own. No words yet but he babbles a lot and he shakes his head "No" if he does not want something. He is a riot. He had a couple different Birthday celebrations with family so he had a long and exciting Birthday month!

This fall has been even more exciting because Uncle P now lives here! We have had so much fun together and the kids love having Uncle P here to play with them!

Beach Vacation & First Day of school

We had the most wonderful week in St. Simons with YaYa, Melissa, Drew and baby Reid! It was a super fun family vacation! We stayed in a beautiful house and spent most of the week in the wonderful pool in the backyard! The adults had as much fun in the pool as the kids! Thank you YaYa for a wonderful and relaxing vacation!
A couple of days later, Elle had her first day of school. Here is a picture of Elle and her friend Chase walking into school on their first day. She was REALLY excited!

Colorado & Florida & Daddy's Birthday!

What a fun and busy month! We spent almost three weeks in Colorado with the family and at the family reunion in Estes Park; then another couple of days in Florida (Anderson & Cara) for a Miami meeting but mostly for fun with Sonja, Joe and Hannah; and then Daddy's 34th Birthday was yesterday so we celebrated with cupcakes and song. A highlight of the summer was Elle getting 9 inches of her hair cut off for Locks of Love. See the before and after shot. She says she likes having "medium hair." I am having trouble downloading the Florida shots of Hannah and Anderson so those will have to come later. Love to all!

July

So I need at least one July post so here we are! It has been a busy and fun month! G and Papa were here for a week, Phil and our Bowdey cousins were here for another week and the last week of the month we are here in Colorado (and we will be here for two more)! Lots of fun travel! Elle is maturing so fast and I cannot believe what a sweet young lady she is turning into! Anderson is 10 months old now and he is crawling and eating pretty much everything! Here are some pictures of our July fun!

Busy summer

What a fun summer so far! Lots of playing outside in the sprinkler and at the Gerdas, a trip to our friends, the Powells cabin in NC, Fathers Day and now we are in Savannah for the weekend! Elle has worn her tutu bathing suit nearly every day, whether or not we are going swimming. She calls herself a ballerina. Anderson is 9 months old now! He has 6 teeth and is eating lots of people food, babbling a lot and rolling around everywhere. No crawling yet but that is just fine with us! Love to you!

Oh happy day!

Yesterday we welcomed Andy's sister Melissa's baby boy into the world! Reid is a complete cutie pie and totally chill! We all enjoyed pizza together in the hospital tonight! Congratulations to Melissa and Drew on their sweet bundle of joy!

Weekend at Gerdas

Andy was out of town this weekend for a good friends bach party so the kids and I spent the weekend with the Gerdas! We had a fun weekend of playing in the sprinkler and baby pool, swinging and running around like crazy. Anderson is now eight months and he and Keaton (5 months) love to spend baby time together. Elle is very into dressing up so I also included a pic of her in the ballerina outfit that our neighbor gave us and Elle now rarely takes it off!

Easter fun & early May

We had a fabulous Easter with the Barfield family! Egg hunt in the front yard, checking out Melissa's newly decorated nursery, and delicious food! May has been amazingly beautiful and mild (for Atlanta)! Elle is enjoying her last weeks of preschool and Anderson is enjoying everything! :) Elle loves to dress up and this picture of her in her Dorothy costume is not a picture from last Halloween; this is what Elle insisted she wear to school on Tuesday.

Spring is here

Is is absolutely gorgeous weather in Atlanta and we are enjoying the spring!! We have spent lots of time outside lately and enjoying our neighborhood parks! Anderson is 7 months and Elle is loving being a three year old "big girl." Here are some pictures of the family Birthday celebration and some park shots. Lots of love to you all!

Three years and two teeth

Elle is three years old. How is that possible? Our baby girl is no baby anymore... she talks all the time, loves to dress up and dance and LOVES Birthdays so it is so fun to celebrate hers!

Anderson is 6 1/2 months old and has two teeth! He is still super laid back and so much fun to hang with because he enjoys most everything! The two bottom teeth are cute and they are helping him chew all the new foods he is eating (rice, oatmeal, yogurt, carrots, peas, pears, squash, bananas, apples... yum...).

Potty Trained, Hannah & Jensen's Bday!

So much has been going on that our blogging has been delayed!
Elle is potty trained! YAH! We got some great pictures of her by her ... um... pee & poop... funny stuff but not blog appropriate!
Anderson, Monica, Keaton and I went to Florida to visit Hannah, Sonja and Joe's new baby girl! Debby and Morgan were there and it was so fun to have all the Swanson baby cousin's together. See pictures! Elle and Andy had a super fun Daddy-daughter weekend in Atlanta.
Jensen turned two this month and the Gerda's hosted an awesome party. Joe was the hired amusement and Jensen and Elle spent lots of time riding on his back!

5 Months & First Food

Anderson ate brown rice cereal for the first time on his five month Birthday. He liked it ok but subsequent feedings have not gone as well; he seems to be tired of it! Elle and Anderson are really enjoying playing together these days. Here are some pictures to prove it! :)

Colorado

Wow - what a week! It was so special to hang out with our family AND celebrate Dads 65th Birthday! What a fun Birthday party! We also got to meet Ezra Henry, the 7th child of the cousins. It was so fun to have all the kids running around together! Here are some pics from our trip.

Winter weeks

It has been a bit since my last update so I wanted to get up a few pics before we left for Colorado! We are going for a week vacation to Boulder for my Dad's 65th Birthday and so the extended family can meet Anderson! We are so excited! Here are a couple of pics of the kids from the last couple of weeks.

Snow Day & National Champs

Atlanta has been shut down since Sunday because of all the snow and ice! Roads, businesses and schools have been closed all week and we all have cabin fever! But it has been a fun week with all the deep white snow and extra time with Dad home! Monday night made our year when Auburn won the National Championship! What a game! Here are snow pics and our two AU fans all dressed up to cheer on the Tigers!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful Christmas, first celebrating in Atlanta with the Barfields and then driving to New York for a white Christmas with the Swanson clan. The 14 hour car ride there was successful but the 17 hour return trip was a little draining because of all the traffic! All in all, the kids did great! Check out the pictures from the holidays!