Thanksgiving

Sounds strange to say it but this is my last Thanksgiving break. Since Nicki and I will be part of the "real world" next year we won't have the luxury of a whole week off to travel and see family. That being said, we are taking full advantage this week.

Nicki hitched a ride yesterday with a couple of friends and took herself and the baby to Franklin, TN where we will be spending the break. I have a dinner to attend Monday night plus regular weekend preaching duties so I will be following her early Tuesday morning. I can' remember the last time I spent four whole nights away from the two of them. It seems like forever but I hope it flys cause I love being with them, especially in Franklin. I am looking very forward to seeing that side of the family since it's been four months since the last visit.

In the mean time I am working on moving some stuff out of my parents attic and into my attic....kind of makes me wonder why I even have all of that stuff but I'm sure there was a reason at one time. I got so geared up last night moving it all that I kept going and got to a lot of projects that I had been putting off for lack of time and motivation. Today I hope to get to the leaf raking and maybe cleaning out my shed (future man cave...stay tuned for more on that :)

All in all this a much needed break and I am ready for every second of it. Pictures of our Franklin adventure should be up in the next few days. Till then....farewell.

Baby's First Haircut!!

Well I finally broke and decided that little miss Anna-Cakes needed a haircut! I had already cut her bangs a little bit to keep them out of her eyes, but I decided taking her to a professional was the best bet! Unfortunately, today was a busy day, so Anna-Kate only got in an hour nap! So she was not too happy about someone messing with her hair! (If you've noticed, I've not really been putting her hair up in the little pebbles do, or attempted the pig tails again, because of this)Anna-Kate would not sit in the chair, so I ended up holding her. Which might have been okay, only Anna-Kate got food in her hair during lunch and we didn't have enough time to get it all out before her hair appointment! So, if you can imagine, she screamed and cried when her hair was combed through. But we were able to get her calm enough to trim it up a bit and Anna-Kate even got to comb the hair dresser's hair! Since I was the one holding Anna-Kate and Derek's not quite the photographer I attempt to be, I don't have the usual overabundance of photos to choose from... not that I'm not grateful! I actually thought it was really sweet that Derek wanted to go with us today!

About to get my first haircut!

Not so sure about it...

But these snacks help!


Here's the lock of her hair we saved for her baby book! haha

The back's done, now we just have to do the bangs!

Here's what my new haircut looks like! Not much different, but I like it! I've learned how to say 'bow' today! Even though I don't like it in my hair for long!

By the way: Thanksgiving break is only a week away and we are SO excited about it!!! :)

Picture Update!

It's taken me a while to find the time to put the Halloween pictures up! So here you go!

Here's Kristen, Ben and Anna-Kate! I love this picture of them!

Anna-Kate says "Wait, I'm not ready..."

Sitting on the pumpkin!

Not sure what to do about the step...

I love the tutu!!!

We trick-or-treated at the neighbor's house! They were so cute!

Anna-Kate got to eat a blow pop!

Here's a picture of Anna-Kate this week at Ryne's game:

As you read on Derek's post, we decided to take a walk today! It was so nice! Here's some pictures I got of Miss Anna-Kate:

Waiting on daddy

I tried pig tails for the first time! They were a little crooked, but I couldn't get over how big they made her look!!

Picking up acorns

Sitting on the step

Still waiting.,.. C'mon daddy!!

We let Anna-kate walk next to us! She loved that!

Taking a break

Holding mommy and daddy's hand

"Hmm... which way do I go?"

Not sure what to think about sitting here

Dinner break: My first PB&J, I loved it!

Heading home before church!

This one is my favorite!

Now, here are a couple of video's so you can see a little bit more of Anna-Kate's personality! She has been shaking her head 'no' at just about everything! It started where she would say yes all the time, but then she liked saying no better! So we decided to try our best to catch it on camera... don't worry we were just playing with her. Then I decided to try to catch her playing peek-a-boo, but that didn't work, so I tried another one of her tricks! I love the anger expression on her face!

More house updates to come!!

Our New Neighborhood.

I finally feel like a homeowner. We are still settling in but for the most part we are moved in. So tonight we decided to take a little walk in our neighborhood.

Our house is about three blocks from downtown Searcy and it has a lot to offer a growing family. There are several shops and great places to take pictures (as Nicki will show you). We walked down and went for a bite at the Underground Coffeehouse and Eatery. Anna-Kate was very well behaved and ate her first ever PB&J!

The beautiful weather and the setting sun made for a bunch of great pics....check out Nicki's work on our first family outing in our new neighborhood.