Happy Birthday Kaci!

Kaci turned 30 on the 26th! Yes I am very behind on blogging it! It was such a blessing to get to be with her on her birthday. Especially such a big birthday. I only pray that this year will be a better year for her. She really is deserving of all the happiness in this world! We spent the morning showering her with gifts, made her angle food cake, and took her to Olive Garden. I am pretty sure it wasn't the party she was expecting but we all had a great time! The next night Dusty, Kaci, Dallas and I all went to Applebees for a Blondie and some drinks. We had such a great time visiting and spending some adult time together without the babies. However, we weren't gone very long and I was missing Presley by time we got back. Funny how we wish so often for time to ourselves and then when we get it we spend the time missing and talking about the kids. Sorry, random thought. So, Happy Birthday Kaci!! You are the best sister anyone could ever wish for and an even better friend! I know those who know you will agree and for those of you who don't, I only wish you had a Kaci in your lives. Kaci, Happy Birthday Sis, I LOVE YOU!!! (oh and don't worry and slide show is coming!)

Santa came to town...

We had such a GREAT Christmas morning. Presley got lots and lots of great gifts. She woke up to a drum and a book from Santa (he didn't over due it due to her age!) and the cookies and milk she left gone. Katelynn got a kitchen and some clothes. The two of them played all morning with their new toys. Santa also left stockings for everyone. He always leaves oranges and apples. Presley tried to eat the orange whole after trying to eat the fruit roll up in her mommy's stocking!!

After we found Santa's gifts we all headed up stairs to let everyone else open gifts. We all ate breakfast and made our coffee and sat around the tree as we shared our gifts. I have to say there is no greater joy than seeing your child experience Christmas for the first time. We enjoyed teaching her about Jesus Christ and his birthday. We enjoyed teaching her about Santa. We also enjoyed teaching her about the giving of the season.

Presley got clothes, toys and books. However, she mostly enjoyed the wrapping paper, tape, boxes, bows, ribbons, ornaments and playing with Katelynn. Katelynn is Presley's world. She adores her. Presley cared little about much else, including momma and daddy, when Katelynn was around.

We have enjoyed spending time with my parents, Dusty, kaci and Katelynn. There is nothing like family. No family is ever perfect but I sure think ours is special. We have grown to be such great friends. I am truly blessed. If only Brent, Crystal and Dylan were here this would have been a near perfect Christmas.
To see ALL our Christmas fun please click here.
I hope the day was filled with Joy and Blessings for everyone!

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We are 8 months

Presley turned 8 months old yesterday. What a big little girl. It is hard to believe we have made it to this point. I remember planning our Christmas vacation and thinking, Presley will never be that old. She is so yummy right now. Here is what she is doing at 8 months
Standing up on everything
Will let go of things and stand for 30+ secs.
Trying to move between furniture
Plays peek-a-boo with whoever will indulge her
Will look for Ben and Abby when you ask where they are
Now stands on ONE LEG when her daddy holds her up
Still squeals loud enough to pierce your ears

Presley also has had her first full fledged cold. We really weren't too concerned until her cough moved down into her chest and settled there for 5 days. Wow, she sounded horrible. So, on her 8 month "birthday" she spent the morning in the ER just so they could listen to her little chest. All was clear! Good news. Oh, and those teeth I blogged about before, not in yet! We are a little stubborn in the teeth area!!! Go figure!

Presley is doing so well. She can't wait for Christmas to be here so she can experience all the food, family time and gifts! Dallas and I couldn't be more blessed and have never experienced a greater joy than being parents to Presley. It still seems so surreal that she is ours. We can't believe what a sweet baby she is and what a great personality she is developing. We love her so much. Thanks to each of you who check this blog. I know you have to put up with mostly blogs of Presley but it is our way of celebrating God's gift to us with each of you. Thank you!

Presley w/ Hog Head and Nativity

Today we introduced Presley to The Razorback Hat! This is a tradition for Razorback Fans to wear this AWESOME hat at any and all sporting events. Ok, so not everyone wears them but if you are a die hard fan I will venture to say you or someone in your family has one. Presley LOVED the Razorback and if I am not mistaken I believe she said "WOOOOO PIG SOOOOIE!! Go Hogs!"

After dinner tonight we took Presley to see the live Nativity scene at my mom's church. We were literally there 5 minutes. It was way too cold and we had to get Presley a bath and into bed. Dallas did his famous "Presley stunt" and let Presley see the Angels a little closer. Yes, this scared everyone there! No worries. Much like we are all safely in the palm of God's hands, so was Presley in Dallas'!!! Hope the preps for Christmas are coming along! Love you all!

Heading to DC

Dallas, Presley and I packed up early Monday morning and started our drive to DC. On the way we decided to take a small detour and stop at my friend Missy's house for a couple of days. This gave us the opportunity to let Presley have some time out of the car. It actually ended up working out perfectly.

We arrived early Monday morning and slept for a while since we, ok Dallas, had driven all night. Bella and Presley played until we left for Greer, SC to meet up with my oldest friend, Brandi and her family. Brandi is married to Shep

and has three little ones Riley (my goddaughter) Ryan, and Trevor. We had such a great time with them. We met them for dinner and it felt like we had just seen them the weekend before. I love friendships that are easy and not high manitenence. Being around her felt like spending all day in my good, old, comfy jeans. It was wonderful! OH, and Presley absolutely loved her kiddos.

Riley, Brandi and Presley
Side note-can I just say they are some of the best behaved children I have seen. Brandi, will you come over and keep my kids in line!! Anyways, it was fun! Check out the pics here.(coming soon)


We spent all day Tuesday at Missy's letting the girls play. Bella is so good with Presley and Presley just adores her some Bella.

They laughed and played so well together.

When they weren't playing together Presley spent most of her time at the fridge playing with Leap Frog magnets. Gotta get me some of those!! She loved them!!

One thing we did realize over the last few day, however, is that Bella is going to be such a big help when the new Smith arrives and an incredible big sis. The only thing Missy will have to struggle with is Bella's obession with holding the baby. I can't tell you how many times we heard her say "I hold her!" Presley didn't mind. I only hope they grow up to be as close as Missy and I are.

I think I like how Missy put it, "It is like taking a refreashing shower everytime I am with you!" I couldn't agree more.

The strangest thing over the past few days is the odd feeling of time. When I was with both girls I saw myself as 9-10 yrs old(when I met Brandi) and in middle school/high school (when I met Missy and developed a friendship) and yet here we were with babies of our own. Incredible! Click here to see more pictures of our time at Missy's.(coming soon)

We are now in DC! WAHOOO! We made it! Dallas drove from 10:30- 5:15am this morning. Ouch. Don't know how he did. Actually, he talked to his mom and dad for like 2 1/2-3hrs in the beginning. That was so much help. Thanks Mom and Dad. Anyways, now we are here and waiting on Kaci, Katelynn and Dusty to get here. We are going to have WAY too much fun laughing and joking around with eachother.

Here is a quick video of Presley and Bella! Bella could make Presley laugh at anything!! They are so cute

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Oh, update. I haven't blogged this yet because I didn't know all the details. However, Brent, my big brother who was to go to Afghanistan the end of December will be home a while longer. Some funding changed and they didn't have the funds to send him right now! So, he is home for Christmas and a couple of months hopefully. He isn't out of their radar. They still expect he will go later in the year. However, now, we are focusin on the fact that he is home!

Presley visits Santa

This morning we went to see Santa! Presley was so beautiful in her little dress and LOVED seeing Santa. The only picture that came out, h owever, she had a such a silly look on her face. I didn't care because it was the perfect picture to capture her mood. We walked around the mall afterwards and we were stopped every few feet with people wanting to tell us how pretty she is and how cute she looked in her gourgeous Christmas dress. The dress and the great shoes were a gift from her Mumsie. Actually Mumsie gave the dress to Presley's cousin, Katelynn, and the shoes were a new gift. The dress and shoes were a bit big but I wanted her in them anyways!!! =) Check out the picture of her and her dad in line. She looks soooo much like him when her hair is down!!

Deck The Halls and Visitors!!

(one of Presley's little Christmas dresses)
Well, after being away for Thanksgiving and knowing we would only be in Gainesville for 2 weeks before leaving to DC for Christmass I was not so sure I was going to decorate the house for the season. However, when I got home I realized that every year I had an excuse not to put up and tree and this year there wasn't going to be another one. My friend, Sarah, mentioned that she had always dreamed of putting up a christmas tree with her child and I too had the same dream growing up. Well, I have the child all that was missing was the tree. So, we got very simple decorations, a little tree and our family and decorated our house!

Presley's Mumsie (Dallas' Mom) gave her some super cute Christmas pjs while we were home visiting. She looks so cute in them! I just had to share some of the pictures. There is nothing more beautiful than a sleeping baby, especially mine!! heehee! I was so surprised the flash didn't wake her. I love the jammies in the second picture! They have "Baby's First Christmas" on the butt! Too cute! Oh and look where I found my mischevious "Little P" this morning!!!

Over the weekend we had some visitors come in from Gulfport, MS to meet Presley! The Stringham family are friends of ours we met in La Maddalena, Italy. Acutally they were our sponsors. For non-military, that is kinda your go to person for questions when moving and settling into your new base/area at your new duty station! They have three kids, Ethan, Jake and Bekah Jo. Man have they changed. Both boys are in elementary school and Bekah Jo is now 3, in ballet and bossing everyone around! Just what a little girl should do! We took them on a walk around Lake Alice to explore all the birds, squirrels, plant life and alligators. Although no alligators were spotted, it was still a good time! The kids seemed to enjoy it. It was so good to see them again! I love how the Military can be so much like a family!

EXTREME!!!

Let's get EXTREME!!! ChaLEAN EXTREME is HERE!!!! I can't wait to get mine! For those of you who know about Turbo Jam, well, this is a followup to Chalene Johnson's crazy cardio workouts! Turbo Jam is one of my favorite workouts EVER!! This will push your workouts to the next level. Some of you men have done this workout with me but you wanted something from Chalene that is less dancey, well here it is!!
This will count as this weeks beachbody product I promised I would put on my blog! I challenge each of you to get into a workout routine that you love, that engages your spirit and your body and that makes you a well rounded person. If it makes you look better in your clothes too, well then, you get an added bonus! Beachbody has a lot of things to offer to help you in your journey to getting these results! These products will be a great Christmas gift to give that person in your life who needs a workout that they can squeeze into their day (10 minute Trainer), wants something fun and funky but gets results (Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs), needs an extreme workout for extreme results (P90X and ChaLENE Extreme) or has just been diagnosed with diabetes and doesn't know where to start or has had diabetes for some time and wants to control it better with exercise and diet (Kathy Smith's Project You:Type 2)!!! There is something for everyone! After watching the ChaLENE Extreme video check out my beachbody site!!! www.teambeachobdy.com/me4hogs

Thanksgiving weekend

Well, I would first like to say to those of you that I did not get to talk to last Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving! I sure hope you had a great time with friends and family and that you are stuffed to the brim. Dallas, Presley and I headed to Jonesboro, Arkansas to spend a quick two days with his family. Dallas had only a few days off from school so we squeezed in a quick trip. We were so greatful his mom and dad bought us tickets or we would not have been able to spring the trip.

Presley had such a great time with everyone. First, on Thursday we went to the big Gipson Family Thanksgiving lunch. We got to catch up with Dallas' Dad's side of the family. It was great to see all of them. After lunch we went to Lisa and Keiths to watch the Dallas Cowboys (Keith's favorite team) play the Detroit Lions. Not much of a game. However, we all had fun visiting and watching Presley play. After the game we headed back to Mary and Gary's. That evening some of Dallas' cousins and their children came over to hangout. At first Presley wasn't really sure what to think of all the kids. Then she quickly warmed up!!
Jaxon and Presley are little buds! He is so sweet with her!
t was also fun to get to see Ella Claire with Presley since they are about a year apart!

Madison, Reed, Gabriel and Lacey were there too! Madison is growing like a weed. She looks so grown next to all the babies! She was just a baby when Dallas and I got married. How time flies! Reed, I think, helped the big guys play pool until he went to sleep. Gabriel played with the board games while Lacey sat on my lap and helped me play TriBond. Fun board game if you have never played!! We had such a great time visiting with all of them!

On Friday we went to Lisa and Keith's again to watch the Razorbacks BEAT LSU!!! WAHOOOO! What a game! I have to say as much as I gave Casey Dick(our QB) a hard time the last two years he sure pulled out an awesome pass at the end of that game. Afterwards we came back to Mary and Gary's again and had dinner then played dominoes until like midnight! It was soooo much fun! Dallas and I are sure hoping that his dive training won't start until January next year so we can spend a good week or more in Jonesboro next Christmas!!

Now, I have to get busy and get our house decorated for Christmas. Just to leave in two weeks for my mom and dad's! Crazy! After January we will be keeping put until March when Dallas' Sister's baby makes her debut!

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Oh and our little frequent flyer got her first real taste of turbulance on the flight coming home. It was bad!!! A couple times I wasn't sure if she hadn't been laughing so hard that I wouldn't have been scared. Yea, you read that right. Presley was cracking up. All the other kids were screaming and scared! Presley was screaming out of excitment. It lasted for a good 20 min, but I didn't think to grab the camera until the end. But you will get the idea!Oh and her bouncing up and down at the end was her jumping. I promise when it got bad she was restrained!!

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