A Look Back...

2010 was life-changing and wonderful. When I look back at it I can hardly believe all of things that happened in one short year....

January...
We kicked off the New Year and I was very pregnant and we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little one.

We saw her sweet face for the first time on a 4D ultrasound.

 February...
We celebrated Allen's 26th birthday.
We had these pictures made...

 We had our first baby shower for Braylen Kate.

 And we were blessed with all these things...

 March...
We had another wonderful baby shower.

 And some of my best friends were there to celebrate with us...

 April...

We celebrated Easter.

Watched as my due date came and went. 

Finally, welcomed our beautiful baby girl into the world. She was more than we could have dreamed or imagined and this day our hearts grew...

 After one short week at home, Braylen had to go back to the hospital, she had parainfluenza 3 and we spent 6 of the longest days of our lives watching our sweet girl get better in the Special Care Unit at Children's Hospital.

 When she was all better we brought her back home.

May...
 I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my precious daughter.

 June...
Allen celebrated his first Father's Day with his daughter.

 July...
Braylen's first 4th of July.

 Our first vacation, a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

August...

 Braylen met her great-great grandmother and we felt blessed to be in the company of 5 generations.

 Braylen tried cereal for the first time and she was not a fan.

 September...
Our first trip to the beach as a family of three (Gulf Shores).

 These two watched their first Auburn game.

 We celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss.
Allen surprised me with an embroidery machine (I bought him nothing because that was the plan).

 Allen and Braylen spent a good bit of time playing the guitar.

 October...
Braylen turns 6 months old.

 Chase turns 18 years old!

 We visit the Pumpkin Patch at Old Baker Farm.

 Braylen dressed as a bumble bee for her first Halloween.

 I celebrated my 24th birthday.

 We were thankful for a happy, healthy baby as she celebrated her first Thanksgiving...

 December...
Christmas tree farm to take Christmas pictures...

 Braylen learns to crawl.

 She meets Santa for the first time...

 Our first Christmas Eve as a family of three...

 Her first Christmas morning...

 On Christmas day...

Like many other things, sometimes it feels as if this year has absolutely flown by and others times it seems as if the events at the beginning of the year were ages ago. When it snowed (for the first time in either of our lives on Christmas day)Allen said "not only did it snow her first Christmas but Auburn gets to go to the National Championship for her first football season." Ha! We've had an amazing year. I think its been the best one yet and that has a lot to do with a certain tiny one that made her grand appearance in 2010. 

All I Want for Christmas...

...Is my two front teeth....
Looks like someone got their two front teeth, just in time for Christmas...

You can only see the one on the bottom right in this picture (it started coming in on the 16th) but on Christmas Eve we discovered that her other one had finally made its way through. The first few days she was pretty fussy, well she was really pitiful. She would just fuss and then lay her head on me... and then fuss some more. She ran a low grade fever for a day or two and had a little cold too. I'm so glad I was home last week to love on her. Getting a picture of this tooth was a task in itself... she opens her mouth to show you but then she keeps her tongue over her teeth, she's obviously not used to the way it feels yet. 

Christmas Catch-Up

I didn't want to be blogging about Christmas for the next week because there are some other things I need to blog about before the end of the year when I have the blog printed. So with the help of a freshly brewed pot of Starbucks coffee I have brought you all up to speed on our Christmas.

We managed to have 7 different Christmas functions in 3 days. I have to say, without a doubt, this was the best Christmas we have ever had. We had a great time with our families and the excitement and joy Braylen brought is unmatched. It was her first Christmas, she won't remember it, but she sure has a lot of pictures to look at one day. It was probably over the top but we wouldn't have it any other way. She is loved by so many people!  I look forward to next year and all of the changes it will bring.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Here's how we spent ours:
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day: Part 1
Christmas Day: Part 2
Christmas Day: Part 3
Christmas Continued

Christmas Continued

Our Christmas festivities continued on Sunday. We had planned to have lunch at our house with Allen's family after church, and then we woke up and there was snow on the ground and in Alabama that basically means the whole state shuts down. Which means church was cancelled. So we just hung out around the house this morning and Allen's family came over as planned. 

 Allen took this picture of everyone. We had so much fun spending time together today!

Braylen got more toys that she loved and a Give, Save, Spend "piggy" bank from her Mawmaw and Papaw. And they gave us the Dave Ramsey starter kit, I've been thinking about buying it for a few weeks now and I'm so glad we have it now. We've been on a budget for a few months now, to take control of our spending and really know where its all going. We'd both like to refine it some and Dave Ramsey seems like just the man to do that. 

Mickey and Sandy gave us the sweetest ornament for Braylen with her picture on it! 

 Everyone was wore out...

 Tim and Cindy stayed and played with Braylen...

 Later that evening we had our final Christmas "get together" when we celebrated Christmas with The Willis'. We ate pizza, played gift card dirty Santa and exchanged gifts. As always, we had a great time with everyone.

 Here is everyone (minus myself)...

 Allen was pretty excited about these grilling tongs with his beloved Auburn Tigers logo on them...

 Braylen loved the dress from Ashley...

And Ashley is a little bit panda-obsessed (she won't mind me saying) and this picture was perfect for her!

 Our attempt at a family picture in front of our tree....

 Ashley and Braylen...