What Christmas Is All About...

November 2009

Now 10 months, Mary Laine is really growing and developing the cutest personality. She is sweet and curious, busy and hilarious. Here is her picture with her doll this month:

Mary Laine now has four teeth. She loves to eat, so the teeth have proven helpful in opening up her world to more table food.

Blueberries everywhere

She still isn't quite sure what to do with this apple, but thinks it's a fun toy for now

Her new discovery this month is STAIRS! She started out tentatively climbing a couple over at her grandparents' house, and once she mastered those, she was ready to go. She has made it up an entire flight, and thankfully has figured out that it is better to scoot down them backwards rather than head-first.


When the baby gate is up and the stairs aren't accessible, anything will do - boxes, laundry baskets, tables, chairs. If it's on her level, she'll probably attempt to climb it.


We took her to her first Pillow Academy basketball game. She got to cheer on the girls team and was able to watch some of the boys' game. Because this girl's carriage turns back into a pumpkin around 8:00, we had to leave at half-time.

Learning to love the game

Playing with Papa and Uncle Mike

Watching very intently. Go Mustangs!

Mary Laine with Walker and QuaNiya, two of her favorite players
She was asking them for an autograph

Some other fun things that Mary Laine was up to this month was keeping in touch with out-of-town family on the phone, playing at Mimi and Papa's house, and sleeping on Ms. Jessie's shoulder.

Ms. Jessie is Mary Laine's favorite nursery worker. This is how I usually find her after church.

Also this month, Gary got to go to Atlanta to play in a golf tournament with Phillip. While he didn't get any pictures of Phillip, here is a precious pic of Shannon with Carter and Kelsey:


We also went to an engagement party honoring my cousin Adair and her fiance Daniel. They are getting married in January and we're so excited for them!

We had a very full and fun Thanksgiving that I will write about in a separate post

Mary Laine's First Text

I know Kathryn has been updating the blog with lots of pictures in chronological order, but I have to post a picture that we took tonight. Aunt Susanne just got back into Greenwood for Christmas, and Kathryn, Myself, Susanne, and Mary Laine were enjoying a meal together in our living room.

While we were all distracted Mary Laine took the opportunity to grab Susanne's phone and begin punching buttons (one of her favorite activities). What we soon realized was that she had somehow activated the phone's text button, and she was using the phone to communicate with us.

Here is the picture I took with the phone in Mary Laine's hand after she finished her text.

I have edited this post to make sure that it is understood that Mary Laine actually typed this on the phone in case I didn't make that clear. Evidently the 'P' and the 'O' being next to each other lends this possibility, but I can't imagine the odds of this happening.

October 2009

In October, Mary Laine moved from an army crawl to being up off of the floor, and with that she got much faster. She is certainly keeping us on our toes. It is hard to believe how big she is getting. Here she is at nine months:


She is really enjoying food these days. Her favorite things to eat are rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, apples, pears, and a new favorite this month is Cheerios!






Her daddy is grooming her to become an avid sports fan. He shows her fantasy sports statistics and explains to her who his players are and what he needs for each of them to do in any given game, shares his ESPN magazines with her, cheers with her for Wake Forest and Kennesaw State games, and dresses her in Wake/Kennesaw apparel.

Mary Laine and Deacon cheering on the Demon-Deacons on Saturday afternoon

Some cheerleaders climb to the top of pyramids. ML climbs on top of the furniture.

Catching up on the latest sporting news

Go Owls!

Mary Laine's favorite activity right now is reading. Her favorite books are counting books, but anything will really do.

This is a great book that teaches her to count. It also has velcro pieces that she loves to pull off

Reading about animals with Aunt Susanne

Reading about creation with Daddy

Reading with Gran

Her other two favorite activities are "talking" on the phone and trying to steal Deacons toys. Deacon's favorite thing to do these days is to steal Mary Laine's toys. Most of my days are spent saying, "No, no, Mary Laine. That's not yours. That's Deacon's." and vice versa. Maybe I should just give up and let them switch toys. Of course, then they would want to switch back.

Holding hands

Yes, she got the bone and crawled on top of the box. I have to keep a close eye on this one!

Talking on the phone with Papa

Now that Mary Laine is pulling up consistently, we figured it was time for a toy that she could play with on her feet. ML loves this activity table - she could play with only this for the entire day.

We were back on the road again in October. Our first trip was to the Carolinas for my cousin Micajah's wedding. First we stopped off in South Carolina to spend a few days with Uncle Jim and Aunt Pat.

All bundled up and ready for a walk with the girls

Uncle Sykes came over to meet the guys for golf and dinner one day. Mary Laine got some cuddle time before he left.

In on a very important discussion with Uncle Sykes and Uncle Jim

The guys got to take the boat out on one pretty afternoon after golf.

Then it was on to Asheville for the wedding. The wedding was on the lawn of the Biltmore Estate. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great reception. We love Grace and are so excited that she is now a part of the family!

Aunt Kelly and Payton came to keep Mary Laine for us for the whole weekend! What a treat for Mary Laine as well as for me and Gary! Mary Laine was so sweet and snuggled up to Kelly before we left for the wedding.

Before the ceremony at the Biltmore


With Grace and Susanne

All of the cousins (except for Walker who couldn't make it) with my grandparents

Mr. and Mrs. Micajah Sturdivant

Mary Laine had a blast with Kelly and Payton

When we got home, Mary Laine, mom and I headed over to Oxford to take Aunt Susan out to lunch for her birthday.

On the Sunday before Halloween, we went to the "Hallelujah Hoe-Down" at our church. Mary Laine went dressed as a fish. A special thanks to the O'Briens for the adorable costume!

Mary Laine with John Reed Trusty (and their grandmothers)

Bouncing in the bouncy castle

It was unseasonably warm the week before Halloween, so we took advantage of the sunshine by going outside to play in the yard.


For Halloween weekend, we went to Auburn to see Aunt Susanne and go to the Auburn/Ole Miss football game. Since we are a family divided and didn't want to have to choose sides, Mary Laine dressed as a Wake Forest cheerleader. A bit confusing, I know, but she was the cutest non-biased cheerleader in the entire stadium!

Go Deacs! (Or Rebels or Tigers - take your pick)

Loving her first college football game

Daddy and Papa explained the rules of the game to her

Celebrating the win with Aunt Susanne (the only one whose team won that weekend) and Grant

Aside from Mary Laine's oh-so-cute development, Gary and I got out for a night. We went to a murder mystery dinner party. We had a blast and can proudly say that we were innocent!

Scoop and Socks

Finally some cute pictures of Mary Laine (who is loving her new-found ability to stand and climb), along with a video. Mary Laine loves to say "bye-bye", but she gets shy and never says it until we are in the car driving away. So, I decided to point the camera to the backseat one day to get evidence. (Sorry that the video is side-ways. I don't know how to flip it)

September 2009

Well, unlike July and August, all of our traveling in September was within the state of Mississippi. Mary Laine's eighth month proved to be one of alot of change. Each new stage is so much fun, but also presents new challenges. The first challenge of this month was to get her picture made with her baby doll. In past months, the doll has remained at her side, mostly unnoticed. This month, however, we were lucky to get a picture of her with the doll at her side. She kept picking her up to "kiss" her (which is more licking than kissing right now). Here is the best picture that I was able to get along with a kissing shot:


We were able to get together with alot of family during the month. Uncle Will and Aunt Susan came to Greenwood for dinner one night and then Uncle Mike and Aunt Jan came on another night. As you can see, Mary Laine makes great dinner party entertainment:



Uncle Will was honored with a reception as the new Dean of the Meek School of Journalism at Ole Miss. It was Mary Laine's first college reception. She even sat quietly through the speeches, which surprised us all.

Over Labor Day weekend, Gary and I attended Sykes and Cindy's annual Dove Hunt Party. We decided that it would be better if Mary Laine waited until next year to make her debut at this event. For those who have never been, it is a great Delta party - great barbeque and great music. It was so much fun to catch up with friends and family - and Mary Laine is already looking forward to going next year!

Me and Gary with Grace Gore (now Sturdivant!), Micajah Sturdivant, and Keely Williams

Mary Laine and I made a trip to Tupelo to meet Reed Henson, the third son of my best friend from high school, Laura. Aren't these boys the cutest things that you have ever seen?!?

On the 12th of the month, Mary Laine gained a second cousin. We took a trip down to Natchez, MS to meet Sweet Baby Jane. She was so sweet. I know that these girls will have as much fun growing up together as Lee and I have!

Gary made it to a few Mississippi State football games this year. In September, he went to the LSU game. Even though State lost, it was a very exciting game and the guys all had a great time.

When we weren't traveling, we were keeping very busy in Greenwood. Here are some pictures of our time in town.

Mary Laine and I enjoyed having the pool to ourselves once school was back in session.

Mary Laine playing in the exersaucer

Playing with Daddy. Who says they don't look alike???

Princess Mary Laine at Sarah Frances' princess birthday party
(She had just hit me in the face with her wand in this picture)

Go Falcons!
And thanks to Bill and Karen for the outfit!

The rain continues - this is a picture of our front walk-way and the cul-de-sac.

Braving the rain

Mary Laine's teeth are starting to come in.

Her new favorite food - puffs!

Isabelle came over to play one morning.

Mary Laine loves to play with Deacon.

I walked in one afternoon to find this - time to lower the crib mattress!

There's three of us in a boat!
Leah and Hayden came over for dinner one night and loved the "boat".

Mary Laine, Mom and I got to meet my friend Hayne and her mom Anne for lunch one afternoon. It was fun to catch up!

Finally, here are a few pictures of the nursery for those who have asked to see it. Sorry that it has taken me so long to get pictures up...

August 2009

You may be wondering why you're looking at pictures from August when it's now November and you would probably rather see Mary Laine in her Halloween costumes (yes, there were two) than on the beach. Well, first of all, there are grandparents in North Carolina who would be upset if they didn't get to see all that's been going on with us over the past few months. But secondly, my friend Laura introduced me to Blurb. It is a website that gives you access to software that will "slurp" your blog posts into a book that you will have to treasure forever (and yes, slurp is the actual terminology that they use - you're intrigued now, aren't you?). It is very reasonably priced and they give you alot of freedom in the design and format of the book. So, since I am definitely not a scrapbooker, I want to be sure to include everything on the blog so that we will have it in our book. (And in case you're wondering, there isn't anything in it for me if you choose to slurp a book for your own blog. Just thought that others may be as interested in this as I was.)

Now, onto the good stuff. August was a very busy month. Since it was before the start of the Great Flood of Aught Nine, Gary was home working hard in the fields while Mary Laine and I were making tracks all along the southeast. But before the travels, we were actually home on her 7-month "birthday". It is becoming very difficult to get her to sit still and look at the camera without hiding the baby. I am very thankful for digital cameras. There's no telling how many rolls of film I would have gone through trying to get a decent shot. This is the best I could do:


As I have mentioned before, my Uncle Will and Aunt Susan have moved back to Mississippi from Nebraska. Along with the benefit of getting to see more of them, we also get to see more of my cousins. Here is Mary Laine meeting her cousin Will for the first time.


Also in August, Gary's parents were in the process of moving from Atlanta to Raleigh. Just before the move, though, Gary's dad had one final business trip to Mississippi. He made the drive up to Greenwood for dinner one night to see us (ok, he was really here to see his granddaughter). Here is Mary Laine with her two granddads.

Mary Laine got to go to her friends' birthday party. Mamie and Ann Grace were born about 12 weeks early, so their first birthday was a big celebration. It was a swim party - all of the babies were so cute in their swimsuits.

My cousin Gaines got married in the middle of the month, so Mary Laine and I packed up and headed to the Georgia coast. Gaines and Cassie got married in St. Simons Island, where Gary and I got married 7 years ago. It is always so much fun to go back to St. Simons for a wedding, but a little sad when Gary can't be there with me. On the way there, we stopped in Atlanta to see our good friends, the Galbreaths. It will be so much fun to be able to watch our kids grow up together.

Mary Laine and Aunt Shannon

Kelsey and Carter are loving this. Mary Laine looks a little unsure...

It was so great getting to spend some time with family before Gaines and Cassie's wedding. Mary Laine was loving the attention that she was getting from my cousin Micajah at dinner on Thursday night.

Mary Laine and cousin Carson (Carson is the same age now that I was when she was born)

Cassie and some of her bridesmaids at the Bridesmaids Luncheon

Me with my Aunt Cindy at the Bridesmaids Luncheon

Me with the handsome groom after the Rehearsal Dinner

Mr. and Mrs. Gaines Peacock Sturdivant II

Mary Laine and Carson getting in some pool time

Mary Laine loved the beach!

The next weekend, Mary Laine and I headed back to Atlanta to get together with my closest friends from college. We try to all get together at least once a year. Sadly, Sarah Catherine couldn't make it this year. She was definitely missed! Since I was back in Atlanta, I got together with some of my friends from when we lived there. It was great seeing Tommie Ann, Mary Holley, April, and Jeanne. I ran out of time, but am planning on making another trip in January over a weekend so that I can get together with more people.

Mary Laine with Tommie Ann on Friday morning

Mary Laine hard at work. She really doesn't have time to be bothered with pictures.

Aunt Jennifer showing her how it's really done.

We went to see a new building that Jennifer is leasing - still under construction.

Partying with Aunt Sarah Catherine

Dinner on Saturday night. We were home and in our PJs by 7:00.
Oh, how things change after you have kids! :-)

Aunt Rachel and Aunt Jennifer

With Mary Holley and Mary Helen

Mary Helen and Mary Laine are already big buds

Out to lunch with Jeanne

And I just couldn't resist adding some of my favorite cute pictures from the month. Enjoy!

September Photos

I wanted to share some of the photos that are on our shutterfly page. I can't post them all but here are some of my favorites from the month of September. Enjoy :)