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)