It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

I have to admit.... I am not the first one to use that as a blog title in my family. David & Bonnie had that up after decorating their home, but it seemed to fit for this week :) I know they don't mind me copying a fantastic idea!!

Thursday was a pretty long day for Kaitlynn and I. She decided to have an "off day" today, which resulted in napping only 30 minutes at a time, eating about 2.5 ounces per feeding (normally 4 ounces), and being rather fussy! We got through the day whether we wanted to or not. :) Angi stopped by to take a few more pictures of our kitchen for our flyers & website. It was wonderful getting to see her - not sure how long it's been now, at least a month I think! While she was here, Kaitlynn got tickled at something and burst into fully out laughter for Angi! It was so precious. I was also planning on a Target trip with Kaitlynn in the afternoon, but with her having such an "off" day, I decided to wait and go once Kelly came in from work. Running errands on a day like today was just not an option with Kaitlynn. First of all, I absolutely LOVE Target these days. No, I didn't get any Starbucks this trip, but that is definitely one of the perks to the trips there. I love Target mainly because you can get everything you need in one stop! I finished up our Christmas shopping, got Kaitlynn many more diapers since we're still going through about 92 diapers a week, and found a few stocking stuffers for my two girls. The most exciting part of my trip this time - with the OKAY from my husband - I got Kaitlynn a 3-ft. pre-lit Christmas tree! I also found 12 miniature snowman ornaments to go on her tree. Kelly and I are starting our 1st family tradition - we're going to put a 3-ft. Christmas tree in our children's rooms - right now just Kaitlynn :) - and when they're old enough, let them decorate it the way they want! Once I got home, Kelly had already gotten Kaitlynn into bed - it was 7:15pm. We had another date night!! This time we lit the fireplace, and watched on DVR - Carrie Underwood's Holiday Special. It was a relaxing evening, and we were so excited to have two date nights in-a-row at home with our daughter sound asleep in bed!

Kaitlynn and her very own Christmas tree

Willa Grace wanted to have her annual Christmas photo near the tree!!

Friday was a great day, and a wonderful start to the weekend! Kelly and I decided to try not swaddling Kaitlynn during nap time today to see how she would do. She was fine during her 1st morning nap - took a solid 45-minute nap. However, as I was trying to get her down for her 2nd nap so she could rest before MOMS Club at 11:00, she was getting frustrated because her body didn't seem to relax. I went ahead and swaddled her, and she went right to sleep. I think we'll be swaddling her for a little while longer! After her nap, we headed to the MOMS Club Meeting. With it being the month of December, we had our holiday party! I dressed Kaitlynn up in one of her many Christmas outfits. We had Secret Santa for the adults, coloring & candy canes for the kids, and several goodies to munch on! I spent some time talking with our president, Sarah about being the Social Activities Coordinator. I love to plan things, and this seemed right up my ally! The afternoon proved to be a little different - Kaitlynn didn't take long naps again like yesterday, and was pretty cranky by 5:00pm. Once again, I was so excited to see Kelly come through our door for a few minutes of relief! Kaitlynn went down pretty early Friday evening, which allowed us to relax and catch up on some of our DVR shows.

Willa Grace and her BFF

Saturday was a great day! It finally felt like Christmas in our home. Yes, we've had all the decorations us since the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but it just hasn't felt like Christmas yet. It came so quick this year! I had a Cookie Swap & Jewelry Shop to go to at Angi's in the afternoon, so after Kaitlynn went down for her morning nap (which lasted for 2 hours!), we made ourselves some breakfast, and then Kelly helped me bake the cookies for today! We madeChocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies - they were very yummy! The Cookie Swap & Jewelry Shop was from 2-4pm, but ended up lasting until 5:00pm! There were about 10 ladies that came, and we all had a great time tasting all the goodies and shopping from Stella & Dot Jewelry. This is what I ordered.......Together Forever Necklace. The jewelry is really unique and inexpensive! After the party was over, I headed home so Kelly, Kaitlynn & I could go to our very first Christmas party of the year! We dressed Kaitlynn up in one of her many Christmas outfits and headed over to Janet & Vance's home for their annual Christmas party. If anyone knows how to host a real party, it's definitely the two of them! We had such a great time - there were a lot of "mommies" and "grandmothers" there that helped watch over Kaitlynn, rock her if necessary, and then bring her back when she got real fussy. We were able to stay for about 1.5 hours before we needed to get home and get Kaitlynn in the bed. While we were there we were able to get our Characture drawn, which turned out great! This was Janet & Vance's gift to everyone this year - Thank You! Angi, Amy, and Erika all showed up as well. Kaitlynn was definitely easy to get down after the Christmas party!!

This is Kelly's ideal morning with our daughter - watching sports!

After taking this picture, there were about 6 more plates of cookies

added to the table! This was female heaven on earth - cookies & jewelry.

*Erika*Kristen*Janet*Angi*Ami*

The McMillan Christmas Party 2009

Sunday finished off a great weekend. Kelly, Kaitlynn and I headed to church around 8:15 this morning. We took Kaitlynn with us to our Sunday school class - everyone loved seeing her again! This was her 2nd visit to Two By Two. However, she started "talking" a lot during our class - I looked over at Kelly and said "Let's try putting her in the nursery for service so we can enjoy the Sanctuary." In between Sunday school & church, we headed downstairs to the nursery, signed Kaitlynn in, got a pager, handed off our license, and took her to her room. We couldn't go inside the room, as they keep it completely sterile, but one of the workers met us at the door to take her for us. The service this morning was wonderful. Kelly and I enjoyed being able to focus, worship & listen to Bryant during his fabulous message on Jesus' birth. After the service was over, we were both anxious to find out how Kaitlynn did for her first time in the nursery! Everyone loved her :) They told us that she took a nap, and that she was such a snuggler. That's our girl!! We had a great afternoon at home - Kaitlynn went down for a nice, long nap (3 hours) while Kelly and I enjoyed an incredible meal - grilled steak, mac&cheese, and a salad! Yum...... I have to say - Kelly really knows how to grill steaks.... so good! Around 3:15pm, we packed up Kaitlynn and headed back to the church. Last year we went to the Johnson Ferry Christmas Festival - a big put-on by their 300-member choir & orchestra! It was amazing. I told Kelly I couldn't miss it this year just because we have an almost 4-month old. Kelly mentioned wanting to go this year as well, so we took Kaitlynn with us! Thankfully they had a 4:00 & 7:00pm today, so we were able to go to the earlier one before her bedtime! We were able to drop Kaitlynn off in the nursery while we went and enjoyed the Christmas Festival! Kaitlynn did great once again - 2 for 2!! Our next nursery experience will be Sunday morning, December 27th for church! Can't wait to see if we get 3 for 3! Do I enjoy leaving her in the nursery and being away from her - absolutely not, but do I enjoy listening and experiencing the Christmas season without being interrupted by our precious baby?? Absolutely yes!

This week has been an exhausting week for both Kelly and I. Kaitlynn has finally hit her 3-month growth spurt. Since she is about a week away from 4-months, and was born 2-weeks early, it makes since that she's hitting it a bit "late." She hasn't been sleeping well during the day or night, and she's been eating more frequently. Monday night she ate at 7:00pm, went down at 7:30 - slept until 11:30pm, ate, slept until 3:30am, ate, slept until 6:30am, ate and stayed awake until her first morning nap. Her naps on Tuesday were extremely short - about 30 minutes each one! She normally takes at least 1-2 long naps (1.5-2.5 hours). Also, even after eating 4 ounces, 1.5 hours later she would be hungry again! Hopefully this is her growth spurt. Kelly and I headed over to Nick & Amy's house Monday night to take them dinner. They had Caroline two weeks ago - precious! I cooked them & us baked spaghetti and croissant rolls. This was my first attempt at baked spaghetti, and it turned out pretty good!! Tuesday went well besides the lack of naps and the intense desire to eat constantly! I had two ladies over to the house around 10am. I met Shandy & Julie last week at the MOMS Club Meeting and they both have 3.5 month old babies. They were able to stay about 2 hours which was nice! I had planned a Target trip for Kaitlynn & I to get a few odds and ends, but with her state of mind the past two days, I waited and went after Kelly got in from work. Again, running errands with a cranky baby for whatever reason is not enjoyable! Kaitlynn & I spent Wednesday relaxing at home together. Tuesday night Kelly & I were up and down with both Kaitlynn and Willa Grace. Once one was fed, and back to sleep, the other needed to go outside and use the restroom! I think every 2 hours someone needed something. Kaitlynn did much better last night than the previous night. She went down around 8:00pm, slept until 1:00am, ate, started making noises around 3:30am but put herself back to sleep until 6:30am = getting up only once during the night! Since I had no morning plans today, Kelly & I opted to put Kaitlynn back to sleep after she ate at 6:30am. Since her naps during the day have been very short, we knew she could use the extra rest. She ended up sleeping until 9:00am! Each day we wonder how long a growth spurt can and will last..... BUT, at least she's growing and is very healthy! We cannot lie though - we are looking forward to our 10 hours of straight sleep from our daughter again sometime soon!!

Trying out our SuperSeat for the first time!! Now that Kaitlynn

has a grasp over her head, Kelly and I are working with her on

strengthening her back so she can sit!

"New toys..... SWEET!"

GREAT news! Kelly didn't have to travel this week. Unfortunately that also meant that my mom decided not to come down for the night. With my family celebrating Christmas this coming weekend, she needed the extra time at home. But, I was so excited to have Kelly home all week, especially through Kaitlynn's growth spurt! The extra hands at night have been nice.

I broke down and pulled out one of Kaitlynn's new toys since she has almost reached the 4-month mark! Just 3 more days until she's 4-months old! I pulled out her Super Seat (bumbo seat, activity seat, booster seat all in one!). *Pictures above* We also have a Musical Activity Jumper, but haven't started using that with her quite yet. Since she finally has a good handle over holding her head up herself, we're ready to start working on strengthening her back muscles so she can sit upright! Kaitlynn is still talking up a storm these days. She has started to talk in her car seat now when we're driving somewhere - knowing that it's either cry or talk! It's hilarious listening to her. She really enjoys talking to her nana's on the phone, and I know they both enjoy listening to her babble! It's the next best thing to real life babbling. Kelly and I both noticed this morning how long Kaitlynn is getting. She really has started growing a lot again. I cannot wait to take her to her 4-month appointment after the Christmas holiday! She sees Dr. Smail on Tuesday, December 29th. Amazingly enough, we're still in #1 diapers!! Each week, I keep thinking we're going to move into the 2's, but I keep having to buy one more box of 1's. Hopefully after our Christmas travels, we can move her into the 2 diapers.

"It's beginnings to look a lot like Christmas......."

While we're playing on the floor, Kaitlynn was

trying her hardest to see the T.V.!!

Willa Grace taking her morning nap. She absolutely LOVES laying on pillows!!

One very chilly week!!

Most of you know that I am not a huge fan of cold weather! This week has been VERY cold in my books. Kelly thinks it's great compared to the Atlanta summer heat we always experience. However, I think I would almost prefer the heat verses the cold. Saturday we had in our weather forecast, 60% chance of snow showers! I love snow, but I wish it didn't have to come with really cold weather........

After Kaitlynn & I went on a big shopping trip to Target on Thursday, we decided to spend Friday inside relaxing on the couch with Willa Grace. With the weather being in the 40's and cloudy, it was the perfect day to couch it all day! Besides couching it all day, we got a few gifts wrapped and under our Christmas tree. Kaitlynn & I also took Willa on a 15 minute stroll during the warmest part of the day - 2:30pm when it was 47* outside. I threw on Kaitlynn's winter bundle and we headed outside for a stroll. Even though there was a chill in the air, it was nice getting outside for a few minutes.

Kaitlynn & Willa Grace

*Anyone a little bit jealous in this picture??*

Kaitlynn all bundled up after our morning walk!

I am always so excited once Friday rolls around..... the weeks go by so quickly these days, but I am always worn out by Friday from taking care of Kaitlynn and Willa, plus trying to keep up with our house hold chores and running all of our errands. I enjoy the weekend because Kelly is finally home for long periods of time, plus I have help around the house! This weekend past weekend was a blur! Friday night was spent at home with Applebees takeout and ordering an On Demand movie! Saturday went by so quickly..... it was a day of pampering for myself - big thanks to my sweet husband! He took care of Kaitlynn all morning & afternoon while I headed to the Evene Day Spa for a Swedish Massage & European Facial from 9:00am-11:00am, then I went and got my hair done at Intrigue Salon. It was pure bliss. Saturday late afternoon was all about Kelly & Alabama football. ROLL TIDE ROLL - Congratulations to Alabama for their big win. Sunday, we headed back to church for Kaitlynn's 2nd visit! We had planned on getting up and going to Sunday school at 8:15am, but we were exhausted & Kaitlynn slept in :) We ended up having breakfast at home, and then headed to the 11:00am service at JFBC. Kaitlynn did fantastic once again - she was ready to snooze so I rocked her to sleep in my arms and enjoyed the sermon with Kelly. Sunday afternoon was spent relaxing at home, before we headed back to the church at 5:00pm. This weekend, the church was hosting a program called Christmas Packages! There were about 40 different events going on from 5:00pm-8:00pm Saturday & Sunday night. It was a neat event! They had live reindeer, a live nativity with a choir - also had live lamas, lambs, sheeps, etc. around the nativity. They were on a leash nailed to the ground so the kids could walk around them, but the animals couldn't get away. There were horse-drawn carriages, piano playing inside, Christmas dodgeball, amazing gingerbread houses to vote on, hot chocolate & cookies, a professional photographer, etc. So much stuff going on - it was amazing! Kelly and I took Kaitlynn around to see everything, especially all the animals. Then we headed inside to go & meet our nursery workers! They were so nice and we have changed our minds about when we're going to put Kaitlynn in the nursery. Our plan is to start Sunday, January 3rd with her in the nursery. It is the most sterile place in the church, the ladies are wonderful, and we feel so confident leaving Kaitlynn there while we worship with our sunday school class & in the Sanctuary from 8:15am - 10:45am. It will be nice to have a "date" once a week with my husband at church! After meeting the nursery workers, we headed down to have our picture taken for Christmas by the professional photographer. Kaitlynn was in her Christmas dress for the event :) Because it was her first Christmas photo, we're getting two free 5X7's and we're able to order more if we choose. Fantastic! I love free things! Once we got home, it was pretty chilly outside, so we turned on the fireplace for the 1st time this year. Kaitlynn wasn't too impressed by it - however it was time for her to go to bed for the night!

Waiting for my room at Evene Day Spa

I love our fireplace in the winter!!

This was a rather relaxing week spent mostly at home with Kaitlynn & Willa Grace. I was able to be quite productive on Monday between Kaitlynn's wake time & nap time. I got some of our laundry done, did the vacuuming, cleaned both bathrooms, and cooked dinner! It was pretty cold outside, so Kelly stopped the grocery store after work so I didn't have to get Kaitlynn out of the house! Not only did he stop by the grocery store, but he walked through the door with a beautiful Christmas floral arrangement!! Such a sweet husband. I have also been able to run during the late morning hours instead of at lunch or after Kelly gets home from work. Around 9:30/10:00am, Kaitlynn has her independent play time for about 30 minutes. I use this time to run on our treadmill. It has been wonderful because it has freed up our time at night to spend together as a family. Kelly has started running at lunch and taking a sandwich/soup or leftovers back with him to eat at work. It's worked out to be a great routine for us. Monday evening rolled around & we received our Christmas cards. I spent the evening addressing all of them so I could mail them out Tuesday morning! "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" We also picked out Kaitlynn's Christmas present. We are getting her one thing - she doesn't know what's going on - so one thing is plenty! Kelly and I got Kaitlynn the Little People Nativity Set. We are so excited about giving her a nativity set that we can use to teach her about the birth of Christ - and of course it's something she'll enjoy playing with!!

"Daddy's Favorite Present" - I love the two of them SO much.....

They are precious together.....

Kaitlynn's Christmas present

"Little People Nativity Set"

Christmas flowers from Kelly!!

Absolutely beautiful and such a wonderful surprise!!

Tuesday was a big day!! We didn't do anything special, but Kaitlynn rolled onto her right side for the first time. I put her into her play place, and as soon as I laid her in it she rolled to her side, laid there for a bit, then rolled onto her back!! Let's just say I was pretty excited. I called Kelly right away to tell him all about it!! Kelly and I had planned to spend some time together and have a date on Tuesday evening at home once Kaitlynn was in bed. However, she had a different plan for us that evening. She decided to stay up with us until 9:30pm! So, nonetheless, our date was postponed and we spent some extra time with our daughter before she went to sleep.

Kaitlynn rolled onto her right side all by herself!!

Wednesday was a great day. Kaitlynn woke up about 5:30am. Usually we try to feed her and put her back to sleep if she wakes up before 6:00am, but she was definitely wide-eyed and ready to play for a little while. I kept her up until 7:00am which was when she went down for her morning nap. This week her morning naps have lasted 2.5 hours! She has combined her two morning naps into one long nap - wonder how long this will last?? Things always seem to change up a bit once we get used to something! After her morning nap, we headed to Anna's house for our MOMS playgroup! The past two weeks we haven't been able to get together because of Thanksgiving and everyone having some illness. It was great seeing everyone again! By the time we left our playgroup, Kaitlynn had been awake for 2-hours..... A.K.A. - a pretty worn out baby! Once we got home, I got her fed and ready for a nap - however, we were closing in on the 3-hour mark of being awake, which meant it took a little extra effort getting her down for her nap! However, she did great and slept for 1.5 hours! We always try and get Kaitlynn down after 1.5-2 hours of wake time, but sometimes things just happen and her wake time gets extended - not very often, but every once and awhile!

Kelly and I were finally able to have our date at home! Kaitlynn went to bed around 7:00pm Wednesday evening - this is her "normal" bedtime.... if there is such a thing as "normal" with a baby! :) It was wonderful spending some time with Kelly..... while I was putting Kaitlynn down - Kelly was in the kitchen cooking us Shrimp Fried Rice!! We also had a glass of wine and spent the evening talking. It's always so nice and relaxing to just sit on the couch and spend quality time with my husband. I couldn't ask for anything else.....

Willa didn't want me to leave again, can you tell???

"All mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night"

....GAH.... our daughter is SO cute - and we're not bias ;-)

Kelly was supposed to travel this week for the 1st time in 4 months! Luckily he has another week at home before he has to travel. As much as I'm used to taking care of Kaitlynn all day by myself, having Kelly out of town is definitely one thing I don't look forward to at all. Kaitlynn is pretty easy these days, but I sure do miss his companionship at night when he's not here! I have to say though... I have been pretty lucky to have him at home these past 4 months without having to do any traveling! I'm just so blessed to be able to stay at home with Kaitlynn..... Kelly works so hard, everyday, to allow that to happen! Thanks babe!

I am pretty excited about January rolling around! I signed Kaitlynn and I up for Kindermusik Village at KangaZoom. It's an 8-week class on Wednesday mornings at 10:30am. Our music class is the same time as our MOMS playgroup, but we're changing days starting in January!! I am so happy we don't have to miss out on our playgroup.

Kaitlynn is growing so fast these days. Each day that passes, we wish we could freeze time! Kelly and I are so excited about each new phase that she goes through, but at the same time it makes us sad to think she's getting older by the minute. Time really does go by so quickly. We are doing all we can to truly enjoy each moment we have together and with our daughter. Kaitlynn is still trying to put everything in her mouth these days - no teething yet, just curiosity! She is also doing a great job continuing to develop those fine motor skills. During her play time, she loves to grab on to her toys and play with them. She loves to hold things and not let go! She is really talking up a storm these days. She has spent some time talking to my mom, Kelly's mom, and my grandfather on the telephone. It's very cute to listen to her once she gets started - it can last for a few minutes, or about 20 minutes! Our goal is to talk to her as much as possible during the day - our pediatrician told us the more we talk to her, the faster she'll start really talking to us!! How exciting! I know Kelly and I are bias, but we really do have a beautiful daughter. Each day we're completely amazed at what God did between us as a married couple. He sure did give us a beautiful, precious baby girl to love everyday! We are so thankful to have her in our lives, and I am lucky to be at home with her all day, everyday!! It has always been my dream to be a house-wife and a stay-at-home mom and both are reality for me. It's the best job I could ever have and definitely the most rewarding one as well.

Kaitlynn loves laying on her tummy, but only if it's on my legs!! :)

Kaitlynn keeps her hands in her mouth all the time! When she tries out

both, she gags! HAHAHA. Too funny to watch!!

One last thing - just for my husband.....

ROLL TIDE!

THANKFUL!

Thankful - to be full of thanks!

Kelly and I have so much to be thankful for this year.

Our church family.... without our Sunday school class and a strong body of believers, we would be completely lost like half of this world! We feel so blessed to have found a great church family to worship with each week. We look forward to many wonderful years at Johnson Ferry, and cannot wait for Kaitlynn and our future children to grow up surrounded by the body of Christ.

Kaitlynn is more than a blessing to us! She is a precious gift from our Heavenly Father. We couldn't have asked for anything else when it comes to our daughter - she's absolutely perfect in our eyes! She has stolen our heart and given us 3 months of pure joy.

Willa Grace..... pretty much the best dog ever! She is a true companion, comforts us when we don't feel well, loves us unconditionally, and is always ready for some snuggle time!!

Our families...... without our parents & siblings, nieces & nephews, and our grandparents..... life would be so lonely! We both have wonderful families that are beyond amazing to us! Thank you for everything you do for all of us! We hope you know how much we appreciate all of you.

Our friends...... you guys are our "family." As the majority of our family is out of town, it's nice having close friends we can turn to in good times & bad! Thank you!

On another note.....

I am very thankful for my husband. He is definitely the man God created specifically for me! There is no one else out there that could love me the way Kelly does. I stand by our wedding song that we danced to - it's our life completely summed up - When God Made You by Newsong. I attached a link with the lyrics for you to check out! I will never forget dancing with Kelly to this song at our wedding. God truly knew what he was doing when he brought us together at the end of June 2007. I am so thankful to have a loving, giving, godly husband! I am blessed beyond measure to be Kelly's wife and look forward to the many years we get to spend together! I love you, Kelly!!

Wonder what Kaitlynn is watching.......

The Thanksgiving Parade!

Thursday morning, we let Kaitlynn watch her first Thanksgiving Parade

while we got everyone ready to leave for Greenville.

Unfortunately, with my sickness over the past week, it also meant that our travel plans changed a bit for Thanksgiving. We were planning on spending Thanksgiving Day with my mom, Mark, Bridgette, Elizabeth, David, Bonnie & Troy. Well, with Elizabeth & Troy being young, and David & Bonnie expecting a little one again - we had to make the decision to miss Thanksgiving lunch with them. As much as I wanted to see everyone, I couldn't imagine taking the chance and getting anyone sick! We're definitely looking forward to seeing everyone for Christmas. Even though we had to miss Thanksgiving lunch, Kelly and I still headed to Greenville for a few days. My temperature was normal all day Wednesday - Thursday at lunch time, so we packed up the car and left for my mom's house around 1:00pm. We got there after everyone had left her house. Thankfully they didn't eat all the food and we were able to still enjoy some amazing Thanksgiving traditional meals. Of course, with my stomach being weak from everything I went through on Monday night - I had to go slow with what I ate - and it was my first "real" meal since Monday afternoon! It tasted SO good......

Happy Thanksgiving, Nanabug!

Thanksgiving was very relaxing, but it was tough not getting to see my brothers, their wives and children....... It was different not being with everyone today, but we made it a great Thanksgiving regardless! My mom and I headed out to do some shopping tonight - Old Navy was actually open until 7:00pm and was having really good deal (jeans = $9.99)!! It was nice getting out of the house and doing some shopping - I haven't been shopping for myself in a while. Once we got back, Kaitlynn was still awake so we spent some time playing before she headed to bed around 8:30pm - later than normal. She did well though - she slept until 6:30am Friday morning without waking up! The Vicks Vapor Pads in her humidifier are helping with her cold at night I think.

Friday morning started early..... not too early though! While Kelly stayed home with Kaitlynn, my mom and I headed out for some Black Friday shopping around 6:30am. We headed to a few "small" places - Lifeway Christian Bookstore, Babies-R-Us, and Verizon Wireless. We were home by 8:00am - my type of shopping - and didn't run into any HUGE crowds which was nice as well. We spent the late morning hours in Spartanburg visiting my mom's parents - Pop & Jaja. Since I didn't have a fever Wednesday or Thursday, we felt confident that I wasn't contagious anymore. I was great getting to see my grandparents and they really enjoyed spending a little bit of time with Kaitlynn as well. This was just their 2nd time seeing her! They will get to see her again over the Christmas holiday in just a month!

After we got in from Spartanburg, Kelly and I took Kaitlynn over to visit with Grandmother June - my dad's mom. It was wonderful getting to see her for a little while! She loves being around babies - especially her great-grand babies! Once we got home from her house, my Aunt Tammy, cousin Halie, and Tammy's mom - Connie stopped in for a visit after their madhouse shopping trip ended at Haywood Mall. Mark, Bridgette, and Elizabeth also got to my mom's house before the three of them ended up leaving, so things were a bit crazy! Kaitlynn was pretty worn out from taking her past two naps in the car seat, so she went down for about a 1.5 hour nap! We didn't want to let her sleep too long since we were hoping to have her in bed around 7:30pm so we could head out ourselves for a date night! With Kaitlynn going to sleep earlier these days, getting out of the house before bedtime is tough. So, with us being in Greenville we decided to take advantage of her early bedtime, and my mom being at home to check-in on her! We headed out around 7:45pm and met Eric and Blythe downtown at Wild Wings. It was so good catching up with them and spending a few hours talking and laughing! All four of us really needed a night like that I think! If only we lived a little closer to each other and could do that more often!

Proud Great-Grandparents: Pop & Jaja

Aunt Tammy, and Halie - my cousin, were able to stop by the house

to finally meet our daughter. Elizabeth happened to be there too

so that got to see her again as well :)

Kelly & I packed up our girls and headed back to Atlanta mid-morning on Saturday. My mom had to be at work around 11:00am - Kaitlynn ate around 10:30am - so our leaving time worked out perfect. Once we made it home, we unloaded the car, unpacked our bags, pulled out our Christmas decorations, and put Kaitlynn down for a nap! Once we had all of our Christmas boxes out in the den, we had a phone call from a realtor wanting to show our home in the next 1.5 hours! We both looked at each other, told the realtor that was fine, and then got busy cleaning! The Christmas boxes went downstairs in our garage, and we did our "spring cleaning" routine for each realtor in about an hour! We were exhausted..... and decided to hold off on decorating our home until Sunday afternoon. We spent the remainder of our day watching football.

We headed to church Sunday morning after Kaitlynn slept for 11 straight hours!! 8:00pm - 7:00am.... pretty awesome! We took Kaitlynn to our Sunday school class for the first time - she did very well; ended up sleeping during most of it. We also were able to stay for service. We went to the Encounter service held in the Activities Center. It's pretty low-key in there. We were able to sit up top near an exit & close to a bathroom with a changing table. Kaitlynn did great - she absolutely loved the music and didn't cry during the sermon. It was wonderful getting back to Johnson Ferry for worship and we're looking forward to going with Kaitlynn each Sunday we're in town! Once we got home, we put Kaitlynn down for a nap which turned out to be a 3-hour nap! We were able to have a quiet lunch, and put up our Christmas decorations! It's so hard to believe that it's already the Christmas season. We have so much to be thankful for this year and we're both so excited about spending the holiday season with our families & friends.

*All dressed up for church*

Right before Kaitlynn crashed for a 2.5 hour afternoon nap!

*Jim Shore Nativity*

This week, Kaitlynn and I spent a lot of time at home resting! After two eventful Thanksgiving trips, we were pretty much exhausted! Unfortunately, all of us are still sick! Kelly has almost shaken his month long illness, I am now on Ammoxicillon, and Kaitlynn can't take anything for her cold :( When today rolled around, Kelly and I decided we needed to take Kaitlynn in for a check-up for her cold. Our precious niece, Elizabeth has a double ear infection and bronchitos, so we wanted to check things out with Kaitlynn. Thankfully she just has the common cold and will have symptoms for possibly another week. They did weigh her today!!

At 2 months (October 19th) - 10lbs

At 3 months (November 17th) - 10lbs. 7oz..

At 3.5 months (December 2nd) - 11lbs. 8oz.

Our precious baby girl decided to gain an entire pound over the past two weeks! Great job, Kaitlynn!

Kelly and I want our family & friends to know how blessed we are to have so many amazing people a part of our lives! We are thankful to have such wonderful parents, siblings, nieces & nephews, and great friends to share our time with. We truly are blessed......