Wordless Wednesday:similar cheeks and smiles??

.our little diva.

here is hattiejo sporting one of her new outfits from Christmas... i think we may have our hands full when she gets older.. girl LOVES the camera!..(i forgot to put on "frilly britches" so you can see her diaper through the tights...oops!)

::hattiejo's first christmas::

..brace yourself... I am going to give you the skinny version of our christmas... previous posts show our time in FL with the hopper family.. then we traveled to sc to be with my side of the family.. my uncle and aunt came over wed. night to have dinner and meet hattiejo. it was GREAT to see them.. they are doing a traveling ministry now where they go and work on different projects for churches.. its really neat, but they were home for christmas, so we got to sit around and catch up!..then christmas eve we spent having breakfast with friends from college who had a baby the same day that i had hattiejo.. then i went to visit a friend i used to teach with who had a baby a week before hattiejo arrived.. it was great fun! ...that afternoon i went on a motorcycle ride with my dad, then andrew took his bike for a spin...
..after the motorcyle rides, we just relaxed until dinner time, (hattiejo helped my mom and dad wrap some gifts) and my mom made a delicious spread.. then we opened some gifts.. however hattiejo went to sleep at 7 and didn't wake up until midnight to eat!...
..snuggle time with daddy..yes she is sporting leg warmers..

..here we are coming into the living room on christmas morning to see what santa had left us!...
..hattiejo LOVED opening all her gifts.. she must have been a pretty good girl these 4months, b/c she sure did rack up!.....then she got tired and decided it was best to go help grandma get breakfast cooked...
...we are SO THANKFUL for both our families... we had a great time visiting with all of them and our friends.. hattiejo had a great first Christmas.. in all of the hustle and bustle of the season, it would be easy to forget the true meaning.. thank you God that you sent your one and only Son to live a perfect sinless life, who then died on the cross to take our sin upon His shoulders, who then rose after 3 days and is seated at God's right hand...because of Him we have salvation!!.. what a joy! what an incredible Savior we serve...

::4 months old::

HattieJo,
I can't believe you are already 4 months old... WOW how time flies. This picture totally is you, SMILES at ALL times! We are so blessed..you have changed so much in the past month..its amazing..
You now:
*wear size 2 diapers
*grab on to things
*sit up with some help
*roll over to your side (almost all the way over)
*enjoy tummy time- you lift your head and turn it from side to side
*grab and hold on to your toes
*consistently suck your thumbs- haven't decided which one you like best
*recognize people- your face lights up when you see me or your daddy
*make LOTS of noises
*smile with your whole face- the greatest sight at 6 in the morning!!!
*do the motor boat with your mouth
*track things with your eyes
*reach for your toys
*hold yourself up when we hold you in our arms
*turn to find certain noises
*love bath time
*love your baby einstein and praise baby dvds- you will talk to them and laugh at them
*hold onto your bottle when you eat

You are so special. As one of your christmas gifts says, you are "a wish come true".... We are so thankful for you.. Your daddy and I pray for you everyday that you will com to know and trust the Lord at an early age and serve Him with your whole heart. We love you so much!!!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy


**Tomorrow will be the LONG post of all our Christmas travels**

.graduation celebration.

While we were in FL, Andrews parents wanted to take us out to eat for his graduation. We went to Corky Bell's at Gator Landing. I was hoping to see some gators, but it was too cold. The food was really good and it was right on the St. Johns River, so it was a nice view!
Andrew and the parents before we left:Me and Andrew before we left: (hattiejo was snoozing!)HattieJo with Gigi and Poppa at Corky Bells:

.cousins christmas party.

So when we got to FL on Sunday we had a relaxing afternoon... we were resting up for the cousins christmas party!... its when all the little cousins get together and exchange gifts, they all draw names at thanksgiving to see who they will buy for!... hattiejo had sam and kirsten had hattiejo... it was so fun, hattiejo didn't know what to think of everyone, but she did so good.. here are a few pics:
Pamela Jo and HattieJoGrandpap and HattieJo and I...

Allie Jo and HattieJo
..worn out... below area all her GREAT gifts, a modern day glow worm, monogrammed towel, tea set, and a great book...

.it is finished. (for now!).

I am still here! Sorry things have been crazy finishing up school and preparing for our Christmas travels, which you will hear about starting tomorrow!... BUT in bigger news, Andrew graduated from Southeastern on Friday morning!!! WOOHOOO... So he now has his Masters of Divinity with a concentration in Apologetics and Biblical Languages (96 hour masters)...
He is the blur going across the stage...Man, we are so thankful for the 2 1/2 years that Andrew had at Southeastern. He has learned so much and we have been so blessed in our time living here. So now what?? That had been the question all semester, what is next?... Well, now we know, Andrew is the new campus pastor for our Saturday night service at our church and still doing the young professionals as well.. this is a HUGE blessing and an answer to prayer. Andrew and I have talked a lot over the past weeks of how neat it has been to see how the Lord has guided us every step of the way, from moving to NC and getting involved with our church and then now to him working full time at the church.. We serve such an INCREDIBLE God... He has provided for us every step of the way and given us wisdom in the decisions that we have made... we are so GRATEFUL..
The weather was nasty on graduation day, so one of our precious friends came to the house to watch hattiejo for us!..

Andrew,
I am SO proud of you! You did an amazing job this whole time... It seems to be a whirlwind. You always worked hard and did your best and all that hard work has paid off. I know this last semester was tough with a baby coming right at the beginning and you continuing to work and go to school full time, but you survived! You are amazing!!!! I love you!

.Christmas Traditions.

One of the many Christmas traditions that both Andrew and my family had, was that our parents gave us a Christmas ornament each year growing up. With Andrew, his parents gave him an ornament that represented something about that year; when he started driving he got a car one, the year he killed a hog (yeah, he is a real man!) he got a hog ornament, etc. With my family, the ornaments that I received were from places that my parents had visited that year or places we had gone as a family. So when Andrew and I got married, our first Christmas tree was looking good thanks to all our ornaments! We were so thankful for them. Its neat each year to take them out and think back to all the good childhood memories that the ornaments represent! So this is a tradition that we are going to start with HattieJo. So here is a picture of Andrew's, mine, and HattieJo's first Christmas ornaments.... HattieJo also got a sock monkey in a stocking ornament from her grandma and grandpa which is perfect since we have been taking her picture each month by the sock monkey!

.already talking on the telephone.

.this girl is learning early. she LOVES her toy telephone. i think she was calling her family in FL and telling them to get ready because she is coming in a few days(and she is excited to meet her new cousin ryan). and telling her gpa, gma, and aunt bec in SC that she is excited to visit them as well. or maybe she was calling santa to tell him what she wants for Christmas. if we only knew....

.Wake Forest Christmas Parade.

Yesterday we went to the Wake Forest Christmas Parade. It was so fun! We had to bundle up because it was REALLY cold. Next year HattieJo will be able to know what all is going on.. yesterday she was just chillin' in her stroller and eventually went to sleep, but nevertheless, she attended her first Christmas parade. I wanted a family picture of us, but we had Jr. Boy (one of our dogs) there with us and Andrew insisted on him being "set"(looking good) for the picture, but he wouldn't cooperate.. so the picture is just the girls!

Movin' and Groovin'

HattieJo is becoming more and more active EVERYDAY! Its crazy how quickly she is changing and her personality is really coming out. Its GREAT!... Lately, her new fascination is her feet, she LOVES when she is laying down to grab her feet. I like to call them "toe touches"...but Andrew doesn't want her to be a cheerleader, so we think she is stretching to be a runner like her momma or either a soccer player like her auntie erin or maybe even a dancer like her momma and aunt bec... we shall see!

.100%girl.

.ROLLS.

LOVE these rolls... we like to call her our chunky monkey, because sister has some serious chunk going on!.. when she naps, its like her face rests on her big ole cheeks!... Check out the "oh mom, please stop with the camera already" pose she has going on...

.new favorite pastime.

hattiejo had found her thumb several weeks ago.. well now she is in FULL force of sucking it! it's hilarious though because she alternates which one she sucks... then she plays with her hair (what little she has) with the other hand.. its so cute!.. i think she may be beginning to teethe too, because she is drooling all over the place at all times and she gnaws on anything she can get to her mouth..HERE WE GO!

Wordless Wednesday: Its beginning to look alot like Christmas..

.where in the world is hattiejo?.

After I got HattieJo ready for bed the other night, we had some play time, so I put her down on a blanket in the living room and she quickly became camouflaged with her blanket! haha.. I didn't even realize it when i put her down.. Guess she is going ahead and trying to blend in to her surroundings so that when she is old enough she can get decked out in camo like her daddy to hunt!. the telephone is her new favorite toy..

.catching some z's.

.one of the many great things about teaching at FA is that i have the whole week of thanksgiving OFF!.. it was great to be able to spend it with hattiejo and andrew, because his seminary schedule was the same way.. one day i had put hattiejo down for her morning nap and i went in to check on her and this is how she was sleeping.. HILARIOUS.. look closely and you will see that she has one eye open!..

:thanksgiving recap:

The morning started with me running the Gobbler Run here in Wake Forest. It was a 5k (3.1 miles)... My goal was just to cross the finish line having run the whole time considering I had just had a baby exactly 3mths prior...and I did!... I finished with the time of 26min.14sec! Praisethe Lord!!! Here are some pictures from the race. HattieJo was all snuggled and cozy!

Then we came home to watch the Macy's parade while we finished preparing the delicious spread of food. Here it all is (minus the potato salad, we forgot to put it out until we finished eating!)...After we ate, we relaxed for a bit then attempted to take some family photos at a local park... boy is it tough to get a baby to look at the camera and smile at the same time! haha.. here are a few peeks:

And if the day wasn't already packed with events, HattieJo was 3mths old that day as well. Here is her 3mth. picture with her sock monkey. She is so much bigger than it now! She weighed 13.8lbs. as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!