Jenna's 3rd Birthday - Celebration #2

For Jenna's second celebration, Randy and I went to her school to be there while she shared her homemade cupcakes with her classmates. She loves her friends, and we enjoyed watching them all interact!
It turns out, it was another little girl's birthday the next day, so each child was given 2 cupcakes and some goldfish to counter-balance the sugar. They all really got into the cupcakes...or should I say icing?
Randy was quite the hit of the party. Here you see him with a few kids one minute, then surrounded by them the next!


Luckily, they had their weekly Gym Bugs class afterward which gave them a chance to run off some energy...and that they did!

Jenna's 3rd Birthday - Celebration #1

Jenna's first celebration was while we were in Atlanta. She was so excited as we brought her "cake" out--really it was iced Ghirardelli brownies made by Auntie Mary Ann. Yum, yum!


Jenna added a few sprinkles to it to give it the finishing touch:

She was getting really excited in this picture!

She received many wonderful presents, but I love this picture of her, her great-grandfather, and the guitar he bought for her!

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

We had a wonderful time visiting with family in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. We always have a delicious dinner at a beautiful table with great memories. Here are a few pictures from the day...

Everyone helps prepare the meal.

What a beautiful bird!

The lovely fall table--minus the food (at the buffet)
and the people (getting food).

Jenna opted for Cheerios rather than the Thanksgiving meal;
she didn't know what she was missing!

Papu, my almost-91-year-old grandfather,
makes a wonderful pecan pie--and looks great too!

Part of our Thanksgiving Tradition is
browsing the Black Friday ads and developing a plan of attack!
We've begun training Jenna at a young age.

She especially enjoyed "shopping in the dark"--as I had described it--with her mom, her Mimi, and her Auntie Mary Ann. (We left later than anticipated, so it wasn't really dark.) We enjoyed some of her favorite treats-- a "clocolate" Dunkin' Donut and chick-n-minis at The Cow Place (AKA Chick-Fil-A). She had a ball, and we got some great deals too!

The Chick-Fil-A we went to is a Dwarf House,
so Jenna loved the miniature door!

We went home in early afternoon to make sure Jenna had a good nap before the family celebration of her 3rd birthday...more on that to follow!

Jenna's First Haircut

I've trimmed Jenna's hair here and there, but it's starting to grow too much and really needed a professional cut. We have a friend down the street who cuts hair, so we thought it would be less intimidating for Jenna if we just took her there for her first big girl haircut.

She panicked with the unknown, just as we thought she would, so it was a good thing we weren't in a public salon. She cried for a while, but ended up settling down when her daughter came out and began to sidetrack her. She then calmed down enough to eat the lollipop I'd brought for her, and all was well. Here are a few pics...

Her hair had gotten really long...

Here's a few shots of the haircut. Notice the little girl keeping Jenna distracted.



Here's the "after" shot. It looks really cute on her!

A Sweet Friendship

Jenna and Sophia have been best friends for a year now. They are inseparable at school and just love playing together. Here's a few pictures to show the progression of their friendship...

This was last year, right when they started to become good friends:

They've both grown up a lot this year...

I hope they're able to stay good friends throughout their childhood and into their adult years! It's a rare friendship that starts as toddlers and continues through life!

Our Big Girl

Well, our little girl has taken one big step to becoming a big girl. She's potty trained! A few weeks ago, she decided she wanted to wear panties to school. I talked to her teachers about it that day, and they seemed to think she might be ready. So we took some extra clothes to school and tried it that next day. She's only had two accidents the past 2 weeks, so she's done great! She decided she was ready and that was it! We're very proud of her!

Look how tall and lean she looks wearing her panties instead of diapers/pull-ups!

Birthday Trip to Chattanooga

For my birthday a few weeks ago, the 3 (almost 4) of us headed to Chattanooga. We went to one aquarium, enjoyed a relaxing lunch at TGIFridays, went to the other aquarium, saw an Imax movie, then finished up by shopping a little. We had a great family day. Here are a few pictures...

Random Fall Pictures

I always try to take fall foliage pictures to capture the beauty of Tennessee. Here are some from this year.

A Beautiful Fall in Tennessee

This weekend, we made our annual fall stop for pictures at the UT Arboretum. It's becoming a tradition, as this is the third year in a row we've done it. Here are a few pictures from the past 2 years, followed by some from this year. Enjoy!

2007 (almost 1 year old)

2008 (almost 2 years old)

2009 (almost 3 years old)