Every Day: A New Accomplishment

Today, I propped Allie up on the sofa with some pillows. I turned around to set her play gym on the floor; and, when I looked back, she had leaned up from the pillows and was sitting upright on her own strength!! She is amazing!

We went to the mall today with Tony's parents, brother and grandmother who are in town for Christmas. Allie, of course, loved it. She wore her big red Christmas bow and looked so precious. Everyone who saw us oooohed and aaaaahed over her. She is definitely a beautiful baby girl.

Getting ready for Christmas

Allie continues to bring us joy every day with her smiles, laughs, coos, squeals and growth. She is growing up so fast! She can lift her head above the bumper in her crib when she's on her tummy. She can stand pretty much on her own power. She is getting stronger at sitting up, and her neck strength is amazing! She will be sitting up on her own very soon.

We are preparing for family coming in tomorrow. We will have a week of visiting with Tony's parents, brother and grandmother and then my oldest brother and his family.

Since I haven't posted in a while, I just wanted to update you with a few pictures of our beautiful baby!

Learning and Growing

Well, Allie continues to grow. She is growing out of several clothes and has graduated from newborn diapers to size 1! She has also learned she can make her butterfly on her play gym light up by grabbing it as well as by kicking it--how smart!!!

This is a brief blog, but I just wanted to share her new accomplishments and a few fun pictures to keep you posted! Enjoy!

A Fun Day

Just wanted to share a few pictures from the day...Enjoy!!!

Allie loves her Foxy. Here, you think she's going to kiss him; then...



she bites him instead!!



She had fun sitting in her chair, playing with her links while I cooked dinner tonight!







She also enjoyed "tummy time" twice today. She laughed and smiled the whole time she laid on her tummy playing with her "worm."

What a Gift!

This fall, we are most thankful for Allie, our precious gift. A lot of things were put into perspective yesterday when we got a knock on our door. A neighbor came to ask for prayer for a couple who live down the street. Their two-month-old died Sunday night. We don't know any details other than the baby was crying and all of a sudden stopped. How scary.

During Allie's fussy time last night (which is much shorter now than it once was), neither of us got annoyed. Tony told Allie she could cry all she wanted, and I agreed. What a blessing that we have a three-month-old daughter who is healthy, happy and alive. She is a precious child, and we have learned not to take her for granted. Life is very fleeting and can be snuffed out in the blink of an eye.

Please pray for this young couple. I cannot imagine how terrible this time must be for them. But, they do have an amazing support group through their church, the school and their neighborhood.

As you pray for them, please continue to pray for Allie's health and well-being.

Below are a few pictures from today. We had a great morning. I sat Allie up for a while while she played with her fox and worm. She is quite a cutie and continues to grow each day. She has just this week begun to squeal--it's so cute!

3 Months and Growing!!

Along with achieving a higher weight come other achievements and losses. Allie is beginning to grow out of some of her clothes. Some of the newborn-sized clothes are a little too snug and some of her 0-3, 3M and even 3-6 clothes are beginning to fit. She wore her jeans for the first time Friday (11-30). I have to admit she looked a little bit like Fred Mertz from "I Love Lucy," but I couldn't wait anymore to see her in them. I looked everywhere for jeans that fit, but couldn't find anything smaller than 3-6 mo.

Also, Allie has outgrown the inner part of the head support in her car seat. We discovered that Saturday morning (12-1) when we were strapping her in to go to Wal-Mart for our weekly trip. I have to admit I got a little emotional and, of course, had to take a picture to capture the momentous occasion.



She is also able to sit up with some support. Check out this picture--by the way, in the next shot, she had tumbled to the side--ooops!





Yesterday, we began our Christmas decorations with the "big" tree (when you see it, you'll know why I chose quotation marks). Today, we put up Allie's little tree. I don't have a picture with the little one yet because we waited until after the Saints game to do it, and it was getting close to Allie's bedtime; so she was a little fussy. Allie loves the lights!



Speaking of the Saints, the LSU Tigers won the SEC championship game yesterday and clinched a spot for the national championship against Ohio State. Our deepest condolences to our Georgia friends!! Allie loves the images on TV, of course; but football games clearly capture more of her attention than anything else. She is absolutely mesmerized by it! That's our little fan! (As you can tell, we don't have cable. Thank goodness for rabbit ears!)



Today was Allie's three-month birthday. This afternoon, we went to the "Walk Through Bethlehem" at the Presbyterian church up the road. They have it every year. We enjoyed it and look forward to next year when Allie will be able to appreciate it more and we can go at night when they have all the actors, etc. Allie showed her interest by cuddling down into her warm blanket in her Daddy's arms and falling fast asleep--I guess there's just something about cold weather! The experience began with a brief film, then we walked through the marketplace to sample food and drink from the time period and watch some of the crafts of the time being made. After that, we stepped into Bethlehem and saw replicas of Jesus' life from the inn and the manger to the cross and the grave. This picture is in front of the inn where there was no room for Him.



Well, I leave you with a few more pictures--a pouty face (how pitiful!), playing with Daddy while Mama decorates the little tree, hanging out in her "Good Things Come in Small Packages" onesie and the signature "Allie smile." Enjoy!