let it snow

It was such a nice surprise to wake up to the snow falling this morning. So pretty! We bundled Audrie up for church but let her look around at the snowflakes before we left.

At first she wasn't quite sure what to think...

But then decided that the snow was pretty funny!

I CAN'T WAIT til the first snow day home from school!!

the dixon family

I have to say that this week has been one of the most amazing weeks I've had in a long time. A whole week of doing nothing and hanging out with my baby girl. Truly so relaxing and just what I needed to get me through the next three weeks of "concert season". Well ok I haven't exactly being doing nothing all week, but at least I got to do whatever I wanted and that made me happy enough. I did take a little time to shoot some family photos for a friend. Lorrie is our accompanist for the BCC and for my school concerts. I did a little photo session with her family this week. SO fun! (And a big thanks to my friend Mel for babysitting Audrie while I was out- and for changing your first poopy diaper!) Here are a few billion photos I just had to share of Lorrie's adorable family...
Hannah is in the BCC choir and she is also an amazing violinist.

I've been messing around with using text in my photos lately...

Oh my goodness... Ruthie. She is Lorrie's youngest daughter and such an adorable ball of energy! I think I could have taken a hundred photos of just her expressions... what a cutey! Thank you, Lorrie, for letting me practice on your family. The drive to "God's Country" was worth every bit of the time I got to spend with your cuties! :)

one small step for mankind

Audrie is taking steps on her own! Monday night she took a few hesitant steps walking back and forth between Jamie and I and we couldn't believe it! But it's really true. Our little girl is starting to walk! Lookout world...

deck the halls

I decided to decorate the house early this year. Usually I want til after Thanksgiving (kind of my own personal rule about one holiday at a time). But since I have the whole week off from school this week I thought I'd take some time to get things decorated and then if it's just crazy trying to keep Audrie out of it all- I'd have time the rest of this week to take it back down! :)

We did put the tree in a different spot this year. I guess I'm naively hoping that since I put it in the corner behind the piano that Audrie will ignore the huge blinking glittering "toy" in the entry way. Yeh, right.

Every year since we' ve been married, Jamie and I have made it a tradition to buy an ornament that has the year on it. It's kind of fun to get them out every year and hang them on the tree.

My family has a lot of special Christmas traditions, so I like that Jamie and I have our own, too.

It's fun this year because Santa has THREE stockings to fill on our mantle this year.

We're excited to have Audrie's first Christmas. Not really sure what she is going to think about it all. I'm sure to her it will just be a fun day of eating wrapping paper. But hopefully someday soon she will understand the true reason for this season.

thanksgiving with the lowerys

This weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving early with my side of the family. We all got together at Lake Wedington in Fayetteville and had a big feast in a lodge on the lake. It was a cold day but there was a warm fire going in the fireplace and lots of wonderful food that made me sleepy and happy. It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving with my family. So much to be thankful for!

The lodge was great for fitting all our family but not such a great place for Audrie to play... so everyone took turns keeping her entertained.

My mom even taught her everything she knows about football!

My adorable nephew Matthew.

My sister, Coleen, with her two cuddly little boys...

My brother, Eric, trying his best to annoy me (just like old times). Too cool for school?
My brother in law, Andrew, telling my dad some tall tale...

I like how my sister in law, Trista, heated up Matthew's dinner...

i LOVE a good fire!

and good food!

So does my nephew Peter!

My niece Kara was too busy playing to stop and eat.

My mom and her boys...

The gang...

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I truly hope that you have a huge list of blessings to be thankful for and get to spend time with your loved ones this week.

twilight

Ok, I know this might make me 30 going on 13, but I went with a group of friends last night to see the movie, Twilight. I am unashamedly a huge fan of the books! If you can get past the 7th grade reading level, the story is truly wonderful and I highly recommended them. It was a fun night out with friends. A huge thank you to my mom for babysitting Audrie! Jamie went camping with a group of guys down at Devil's Den this weekend (crazy boys!) so I didn't have his arm to grab during the scary parts of the movie. But I loved how closely it followed the book and am already dying to see the next movies in this series!

razorback basketball

Jamie's office got tickets for the Razorback basketball game last night with seats in the Arvest Suite! Jamie let me be his date even though I'm not a basketball fan- it was really just nice getting to go out just the two of us and have a fun evening together after such a hectic week.

The suite was really nice- cozy seats, kitchen with a stocked bar, bathroom, and space in the back to hang out with everyone.

We mostly talked with everyone and didn't watch alot of the game. But the highlight was when at halftime they got a whole group of random mascots out on the court for their own little basketball game. It was pretty hilarious.

Jamie's coworkers were giving him a hard time about his "Freddie Kruger" shirt which neither one of us really got...

But I guess I see the similarities!