Sneak Peak...

For those of you that read our blog often, you will remember that this time last year MeMe (Matt's mom) was Queen of their Mardi Gras Ball. Well, the time has come for her to pass her royalty along to the next queen...BUT...this cannot be done without the "perfect" dress! Anna Lauren and I got to join Queen MeMe for her fitting on Friday, and her dress is "perfect" to say the least...it is absolutely gorgeous, and we cannot wait to see MeMe at the Ball this year. We are actually taking Anna Lauren this year, which makes us even more excited. However, she was not so sure about MeMe in the dress and especially the crown...she wanted the crown OFF! So...here is just a sneak peak of the "dress"...pictures from the Ball will be coming in two weeks...we are looking forward to being a part of this special time with MeMe!

Our New House ~ Hopefully...

I guess you could say Matt and I had a little too much "free" time when we were off of work two weeks for Christmas. We were completely content in our house, but decided to go look at a house that seemed to be a "good deal" and then one thing led to the next and now we have a contract on a house contingent upon the sell of our house...and of course, this is not the "good deal" house but it is exactly what we were looking for / have always said we wanted.

We met with a realtor yesterday to get our house listed and now we can only hope that everything continues so go as smooth as it has to this point and our house sells within a reasonable amount of time.

We continue to pray that we are following God's will and a red flag will raise if this is not meant to be...

Entry from front door...office and master to right, stairs straight ahead, and dining to the left

Living Room...

Living Room...

Kitchen...opens up into living room...all wide open

Kitchen...

Dining Room...

Master Bedroom...

Sweet Baby Emily...

Last Friday, I was off work for what we anticipated to be a "snow / ice" day, but you know we are in Mississippi so that was not the case. However, I was thankful for my day off work to spend with Anna Lauren, and we even got a special treat...we got to babysit sweet Emily while her Mommy went to the doctor.

Anna Lauren was my "big" helper, and Emily was just precious...the 3 hours she was here, she only cried once and that is when I had to change her clothes...of course, that is also when her Mommy walked in the door. Thankfully, Jennifer was like, it is no big deal...she hates having her clothes changed. Whew...I was worried I had lost my "baby" touch!

Here are just a few pictures of the sweet girls...

Happy New Year...

First of all, Happy New Year from our family to yours! Our 2010 has started off fairly calm, which is a nice change of pace...November and December (the holidays) are fun but takes every ounce of energy we have so it is nice to have a calm January to recover.

As you will remember, Matt's mom was "Queen MeMe" last year at their Mardi Gras Ball and will be passing along her royalty at this year's ball on February 6th. Matt and I decided that Anna Lauren was old enough to attend the ball this year and see her MeMe as well as the rest of the court...now...let's just hope this is as good of an idea as we are thinking...

With this being said, we needed to find a dress for Anna Lauren, and one of my sweet friends pulled through and is letting us borrow a dress that belongs to her daughter. Anna Lauren who is typically one of the furthest from prissy you will ever meet fell in love with the "borrowed" dress and shoes. She put it on and immediately said take my picture, Mommy. She posed and posed and posed! It was great fun to see her being a "true" little girl! Brittany, the dress is darling...thank you so very much!

Quick Trip to Meridian...

The week after Christmas we took advantage of being off work and headed to Meridian for a quick over night trip to visit the Voss family, our dear friends who moved to Meridian about a year and a half ago. Anna Lauren loves her some John David and Holt and especially enjoyed the country...the rain and cold did not play in our favor, but the kids still got to get out and play some, which was fun for them, and we enjoyed visiting with John and Kristi.

John David and Holt are old enough to play outside by themselves so we just let Anna Lauren go with them trusting they would take care of her, and of course, they did. However, I looked out the door once and this is what I saw...so sweet! And yes, it was raining and who knows how cold, but they wanted to play and the great parents we are, let them!

Now this is ridiculous...the 2 year old (Anna Lauren) and 4 year old (Holt) playing with their parents Iphones. Anna Lauren can unlock Matt's phone, find her games, etc. I however, have never even made a phone call...scary to think what she will know and be able to do at 12.

Holt in his Santa hat...he is for sure John and Kristi's "funny" child...he would walk around and say, Ho Ho Ho...what do you want for Christmas? Then he would let you know if he had it or not...too cute!

Monkey see, Monkey do...Anna Lauren had to have a turn in the Santa hat too!

Anna Lauren, Holt, and John David...can you tell she loves her some Holt and John David?