2011 at a glance...

2011 was a great year. It was much different than 2010 because we really had the hang of this (as much as one can) parenting thing and we were able to relax a little more and have a little more fun.

In January, Allen's beloved Tigers played for the National Championship and reigned supreme in college football. Thank you, Cam.

The death of our family dog caused great sadness. I actually can't read that post without teary eyes, still.

February brought the announcement of Braylabee's.  A little business I had high hopes for and over the year it far exceeded my expectations, it changed and evolved and it was more work than I ever imagined.

Allen celebrated his 27th birthday and I showed a little sappiness with this post. 

We took a little trip to Nashville for Valentine's weekend.

Oh, March, AKA the worst "teething time" we'd had to date. All four one-year-old-molars decided to make their appearance at the same time. I'm still waiting on my mom-medal for those sleepless nights.

In, April we celebrated Braylen's first birthday with a fun Candy Land themed party.

April also rounded out the last of the firsts as far as holidays go and we celebrated her first Easter. 

April was good and April was bad. April 27th is a day we won't ever forget, the tornadoes took a huge toll on our state. We volunteered and saw first-hand the damaging effects of the tornado. The lost of life, the loss of property, the loss of home. We also saw an unmatched resilience, that made me proud of my state.  We also made some wonderful friends who recently moved into their new home where their old home once stood, we had dinner with them recently and I think it's safe to say there are lots more dinner dates to come.

With May came the warmth of summer and a fun trip to the beach and my second Mother's Day.

May also brought a new ride for BK and myself. I traded in my fun pre-baby Lexus iS 350 for a more mommy-friendly Tahoe. I don't know how we EVER manage in a car that small.

Chase graduated high school and I certainly felt a little older that day. He's my BABY brother, y'all!

June meant Allen's second Father's Day.

June is also for weddings and I was honored to serve as a bridesmaid in Lauren's wedding. 

And a third out-of-state trip to a water park in Choctaw, Mississippi. It was hot, hot, hot and I don't recommend babes and water parks. Holy tired mama and daddy!

July was HUGE for us because BK finally decided to break her non-walking streak and walk. In one day. No few steps here and there, full on walking.

August meant swallowing my pride and facing my fear of the vlog. I actually found two vlogs from August, the Erin Condren Life Planner and that fun little accent vlog.

August was also full of other fun life family photos, a fun girls trip to Texas and I opened up about our family of three. I just re-read that post and I have to be honest, I stil have those same feelings. It'll be just the three of us for now.

September  brought a fabulous, 9 day trip to the beach (that I haven't even finished blogging about yet!) and a reflection on my life now. 

I reflected on 6 years of wedded bliss and braved my first What I Wore Wednesday post.

October brought the second Halloween costume, the cutest duck you've ever seen! 

I spent the day in denial but alas, I finally admitted that my tiny baby was 18 months old. I still don't know how it happened so quickly I didn't even have time to think about before she turned 19 months and now 20.

I answered most of your burning questions here, kidding aside, this was a really fun post for me and I think I need to revisit it in the future.

We took another trip to Gatlinburg. What can I say? We love a good vacay!

November, my birthday month, Thanksgiving, my favorite month.

I was honored to be a bridesmaid in Susannah's amazing wedding. 

December was full! We are still recovering, but here's a quick recap.

We decorated, visited Santa, I hung up my Braylabee's hat to go back to teaching, celebrated Christmas, and had holiday pictures taken. 


BK grew! Look at the difference in a year:

 

This year was full of fun! I can't wait to see what next year has in store! Bring on 2012 :)

l

Christmas Day

This is the last of the Christmas recap, there were just too many memories to pack into a day or two.

After church we headed to mom and dads house. This is the first year we haven't opened presents with them as soon as we wake up. After Allen and I got married we still stayed with them on Christmas Eve and last year we went to their house as soon as we played "Santa" with BK. So this year was a little different but still every bit as fun and memorable.

Chase and Haley bought BK a little ride-on four-wheeler and he couldn't wait to give it to her. She seemed to like it at first and then Chase pushed the button to show her what it would do and she wanted no part of it. She's finally warming up to it now.

 Love this sweet girl...

 Braylen with Chase.

 After a (late) breakfast the fun began. My mom always goes all out for our Christmas. It's her favorite time of year and she puts so much thought into everyones gifts. The gifts under her tree were out of control this year, but I'm sure that just made her even happier. I'm surrounded by great gift-givers which means I have an extra hard time trying to surprise them or out do them. No complaints here though :)

Braylen opened some boots from "Donna" and she realized they were like mine and she had to wear them immediately. What I haven't told you is that she had already been trying to wear my shoes throughout church and at our house before we left. This girl loves shoes!

 And she takes present opening seriously.

 More boots!

 Allen and I got new lamps for our bedroom! We've actually been using some old lamps my parents gave us because I am so indecisive when it comes to purchases for our house. My mom surprised us with these and they are beyond perfect for our bedroom.

My mom called dibs on buying BK her first kitchen last year so when everyone was stressing over which kitchen to buy for their toddler I was able to rest easy knowing that it was taken care of already. A side note here: She loves this kitchen and she spends HOURS "cooking" for us and making sure we "eat it, eat it" as she instructs.

 A new handbag and wallet for me!

 After we finished we started setting up for our next Christmas get together. My family comes to their house for Christmas dinner/snacks. Mom and I set up this little hot chocolate bar and it was a hit!

BK's other great-grandparents (my dad's parents) bought a little red wagon for her and she loves it!

 Look who decided to smile again...

 I hope you all had a VERY Merry Christmas too! :)

Christmas Morning

The night before Christmas Allen put together B's new piano while I prepped the breakfast casserole for the next morning. After we had set everything out we talked about how special Christmas is with a child. It really is like experiencing it all over again, through her eyes. I take time to slow down and really be in the moment with her. When she opens her presents at a painstakingly slow pace, I sit and wait, patiently. When she decides that she wants to play with the $3 electric toothbrush more than she wants to finish opening presents, we play with the toothbrush. No need to rush. No need to change anything about the way she is having Christmas.

I never imagined it would be so fun to play Santa, but I was every bit as giddy as I was when I was a little kid who couldn't sleep at night in anticipation of Santa's Christmas morning loot. I vividly remember laying in bed at night and closing my eyes so tight, willing myself to fall asleep against all of the excitement, all of the magic of Christmas. And still, this Christmas Eve after the presents were set out I found myself lying in bed imagining her reaction to the newly "delivered" presents in our living room.

 She was obviously a good girl this year and she got her very own piano, a rocking horse, books, a pillow (she's obsessed with pillows and pretending to be asleep), a Melissa and Doug train, alphabet puzzles, ice cream set, numbers puzzle and magnetic animal set, clothes, a pop-tent and a few games.

 She started with her stocking and I thought we would be stuck here forever. She quickly became enamored with an electric toothbrush and wanted nothing else. Her stocking was filled with practical things I needed to buy anyway.

 Do you see that crazy bed head? This picture makes me laugh because I can clearly see where it came from.

 The piano or "p-nana" as she calls it, was a huge hit!

 If you wonder why she's yawning it might be due to the fact that she decided to wake up at 5:15!! It was crazy because she woke up so happy, like she knew this day was special. The look on her face when she came into the living room was priceless and I am so glad we captured it with the video camera.

 The Melissa and Doug ice cream set quickly became her favorite.

We've tried a few different ways to handle Christmas morning for the two of us, from only filling stockings to only buying one gift to not buying at all. This year we decided we would buy for each other again and not put any rules on it. I had the best time buying for Allen and it's been so hard to keep his gifts a secret. He ended up with a calendar of B to put on his desk, a wedding band (because he lost his) and a tool box for his shop along with a few other small things and clothes. 

 I just thought I did good on his gifts until we started opening. It's no secret that he is stellar at gift buying and surprising me and this year was no different. He bought me a pair of Tori Burch Revas, Uggs, a stand mixer, gift cards to my favorite stores and mani/pedi's. He did the sweetest thing with the mani/pedi gift certificate. He actually bought two so that I could take someone with me and have a little girl time. Major, major points with that move.

Oh, and the tent! She took her ice cream set inside and played for the longest time!

We had a wonderful Christmas, our little family is blessed and we have so much to be thankful for. We headed to church around 9:30 for a Christmas morning service. I love that Christmas fell on a Sunday, what better way to celebrate His birthday than in His house?

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve is set every year. We always go to Allen's grandparents at lunch and then we spend the evening with my grandparents (and my mom's side of the family). It works good and I don't mind being away on Christmas Eve, it definitely adds to the excitement that comes with Christmas day.

BK with her Papaw (Allen's dad)

 She's so funny these days. She minds really well, I can give her "the look" and she quits what she is doing and crosses her arms as if to say, "What? I'm not touching anything..."

 She was so excited to see Lawson and Bailey again. She took her gift and sat beside Bailey. Sweet girls!

Next stop, my nanny and papaw's house (Braylen's great-grandparents). Here's a quick family photo. The real Christmas miracle is that she actually smiled for the camera and took a picture with us at the same time. She's so busy lately that these times have become few and far between.

 See! She was all smiles!

She's really into opening the presents, they don't have to be hers, she helped Nanny open hers and was thrilled to be helping.

She had so much fun opening her gifts too. I remember last year she was so excited to "help" open them but still not old enough to really understand she was actually opening a gift for herself. This year, was a different story...

Puzzles were a hit! She wanted to open all of the puzzles and anytime she was gifted a puzzle she would say "Open it, open it." She even got her own little Coach wristlet. What can I say? My girls got style!

My Papaw always buys my Nanny things like a refrigerator or new dryer. This year, we talked him out of an appliance and into something a little more fun. She was so surprised about her new Coach purse.