Ascanio Charles Satta

Our good friends from La Maddalena, Jennifer and Herve, had their little boy on July 27, 2008. Ascanio Charles was 6lbs 12oz 19.88in!

He is so beautiful and Jennifer is doing good. Congrats to the Sattas!! We wish we could be there to hold the little guy! All God's Blessings to each of you!

We're 3 months old!!

Happy 3 months Presley Rebecca!!! Wow, I can't believe my little girl is 3 months old already. She has grown up so fast! Dallas and I look at her all the time and think to ourselves "how lucky and blessed are we that God chose us to be her parents!!" Here is a little of what she is can do

Presley can:
Smile at you from across the room
Laugh when you play with her feet, "cheer" with her, say her name funny and much more
She can "stunt"
She tries to mimick you when you sing. (Especially 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands'. Her friend Sarah taught her that one!)
She can sit in a Bumbo
She LOVES laying on the floor in front of her mirror
She sleeps through the night in her crib
AND....
She can roll to her side and is trying to roll to her belly!!!

Amazing!!! My friend Missy asked me after her little girl, Bella, was born "Cindy what did we do to entertain ourselves before children?" I didn't have any children at the time and hoped some day I would understand her question. Now I do!! I can't imagine life without her. This past weekend I was with Sarah and Missy and we just kept marveling at the little things Bella, Banks and Presley would do. And, Jonathan, Sarah's husband, was right. Only a parent can appreciate the itty bitty tiny things a baby learns to do. Like focus on a new object. What a milestone! Most people would look at Presley and think "what a cute baby!" I look at her and think "What a miracle!! What a genius! Look at what she can do in 3 months!" To sum it all up.....There IS a God!!!!

My girls....and their families!!

Bella-18mo. (Missy) Banks-6mo (Sarah)

Presley 3mo (Cindy)


This past weekend Dallas, Presley and I headed to Statesboro, GA to get together with my two friends from high school, Sarah and Missy, and their families. It was the first time we had all been together since Italy and the first time since each of us had our precious babies. Missy was the first to have a baby and her little girl, Bella, is 1 1/2 years old. Sarah had Banks, 6months old, in January and we were shortly thereafter with Presley, 3 months old, in April!! Oh, and our hubbies, Dallas, Bailey and Jonathan were there too.

I couldn't get over how so much had changed in our lives since we have known each other and yet how much was still the same. We are now wives and mommies but we were still the fun, silly, wholesome, God fearing, young ladies we were when we met in 7th grade!! These girls have been there with me through life. Literally. We experienced first kisses, boyfriends, school dances, crushes, heartbreaks (remember the cucumbers Sarah?), leaving home, engagements, marriages and now babies!! It was such a blessing to get to see Sarah and Missy as new mommies. I promise you they are some of the best I have seen. They also have GREAT husbands who are incredible daddy's to their little ones. To get to watch all three of the dads made me realize that God does answer prayers, because I specifically remember each of us asking for the special people that are now our husbands.

We played with the babies, went to the pool, sat around visiting, laughed about old memories and made new ones. I truly am blessed by the friendships I have with each of these girls. People always say that a TRUE friend is rare and hard to find. So, I will only always be grateful I have found it twice! I just hope that we will be doing these get togethers when we are grandmas in wheel chairs, smelling like ben gay, playing backgammon!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

CONGRATS!!

Presley would like to share her GREAT news with everyone who checks our blog! She is going to have a new baby cousin in March 2009!!! Dallas' sister Lisa is pregnant!!! Hallelujah! This is a dream come true for Lisa!! We are so excited for both her and Keith. They are going to make incredible parents!! We praise God for this new edition! Presley is so excited!!!

Presley Cheers!!

So, as many of you know Dallas and I were cheerleaders in college. Does it surprise anyone that Presley is ALREADY stunting with her Daddy? Don't believe me! Check out this picture of her doing a cupie at 11 weeks old. She has been doing this for two weeks now, but I am just now getting a picture of it. I also have a video of her and Dallas "playing" (a term used in cheerleading when you are just throwing stunts for the fun of it) in her Razorback cheer uniform! Can anyone say "brainwashing"?

Dusty was also in town this weekend and we had a great time. I love it when he comes to visit! It makes me feel like I am not so far from family. He brings such fun with him wherever he goes. I got a clip of him and Dallas blowing in Presley's face. The video doesn't show her reaction to this so well because she was fixated on the camera. However, typically when you blow in her face she sucks in all her air and holds her breath. Too funny! Can anyone say "water baby", too!! Oh, and "performer"? Let's just say "athlete that loves attention"!!!!! She feels our life with such joy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

4th of July..

This past weekend was the 4th and a very relaxing one for us. We didn't go anywhere, but Dallas' parents came here to Gainesville for a few days. Mary and I worked on sorting all the clothes we were given from friends and family. Wow are we blessed. You should see the pile of clothes that we had to work with! Amazing!! Thanks to all who gave us things. We all had such a great time sitting around watching Presley! It is really interesting how entertaining they can be. I took lots of random "mommy" pictures, so I will have to add them to a link so you can all check out how big she is getting!!

I really feel like she has changed so much over the past two weeks. Her face looks different and her personality is a little different. We are starting to see some signs of a routine which makes me happy. However, the reality is that I am a stay at home mom so the routine is more for her. I am greatful in one thing that she is NOT a morning person. So, 6am wake ups for mommy!

Presley is now 10lbs and is 20 3/4 in. long! I can't believe how big she is. I know 10lbs doesn't sound like a lot, but it really feels big and looks big when she started out at 6lbs. In a few weeks we are going to go and visit two friends that I have been friends with since high school and it will be so fun to see her next to their children. One has a little 18mo. old daughter and the other a 5mo old son. I always love watching older babies to see what is to come with Presley.

After Dallas' parents left we were feeling a little sluggish so I decided it was time to take Presley to the pool. We put her sunscreen on and decided to blow up our inflatable tub to use as a floating device for her. She LOVED it. She sat in the floaty with a very "Queen of the Nile" attitude to her! Right before we went in I put her in the water and just held her as I swayed side to side. Let's just say that swimming is her element. That girl loved it!! When we got home I thought it would be fun to play dress up and put Presley in the cheerleading outfit I bought for Kaci's daughter, Katelynn, since she will be too big to wear it this football season. Presley is a born cheerleader!! Go figure! She already has the hog call down!!

Here are a few of the pictures from the weekend. I will link the rest. Like I said they are all mostly what I like to call random "mommy" pictures because moms tend to just snap at anything because EVERYTHING is adorable to us!!

all other pics follow this link

4th of July Weekend 2008

We can fly...

Presley did her first plane ride last week. We headed to Arkansas on the 17th so she could meet her extended family. This was a very unexpected last minute trip but well worth it. Everyone LOVES Presley and we were so proud to show her off.

Dallas is doing "recruiting" type stuff for the CEC and they had two people they wanted to interview in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Dallas jumped at the chance. He called me and had me purchase a ticket for myself saying, "As soon as the funds are approved I will buy my ticket on the same flight." WEll, hahahaha, the "funds" weren't approved until the morning of the trip. So, he ended up taking a different flight than Presley and I. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous before the trip as to how it would all go.

We started the day with Presley a little bit fussy, not bad, but I was worried. However, there was no need to worry. My Presley is a globe trotter! YEAH!! I am so thrilled. WE had two flights there and two flights home and she did them both like a champ. Everyone on the flights couldn't believe that I had a baby because of how well she did. She made lots of friends on the planes and in the airports.

We arrived in northwest Arkansas where we got to visit with my aunts and uncles, see some friends and Presley was able to meet her Great Grandma Cook (my dad's mom). We all went to dinner and Presley was passed from person to person. You would think a person would mind that, but not my mobile baby. She was up for the challenge. Actually more content than when we are home.

We left Fayetteville and headed down to Cabot to help my sister Kaci with her move from there to Spokane, Wa. It was good that we went because she was having to do it all by herself with a two year old. However, you would not have known it when we showed up. She had everything in boxes and separated for the movers. Plus she had all but a little of the cleaning done. I was amazed. But, honestly, I don't expect less from Kaci. She always gives her best andeven when she is going through a hard time she just trucks right along....and with a SMILE. God, I love her.

We then headed to Jonesboro to hang out with Dallas' side of the family. The first night we got there a little early and just hung out with him Mom, DAd and sister. The next day Dallas got up wtih Presley and took her upstairs to play with Mumsie and Grandad while I got ready for church. We went to his Dad's church and showed Presley off to the sweet people of his congregation. They all stood around to see the pretty little girl he had been bragging about. Then after lunch, Mumsie (Dallas' mom), had invited the extended family over to meet Presley. From about 2pm-10:30pm we visited with family and friends. Presley was passed to and from many people and was loved on for all that time. She loved it!! Mom also loved watching the reaction of everyone to her little girl!

We then headed back to Cabot for a little last minute help for Kaci before heading back to Fayetteville. We flew out on the 25th to head back home! It was such a long trip but WELL worth it. We all needed the time with our family and I was glad Presley did so well. I have been telling everyone she is a different baby now that we have done this trip. She will ride in a car seat, take a pacifier and will sleep during the day better!!! What a big girl!!

Oh and one last thing. The unanimous comment of the week anytime someone saw her family, friend or stranger was. "Look at all that hair!!" Yep, my little one looks like Lyle Lovette!!! If you would like to look at pictures please click on this icon:

Presley-Arkansas Visit