Our Christmas!

Whew...Sorry it's taken a few days to update, but I've been being a complete slacker this week! We had a great time over Christmas! We got to spend lots of time with our family, and we truly enjoyed Anna Kate on her very first Christmas. Christmas Eve we hung around the house for most of the day, and then spent the evening at Tyler's dad's house. Anna Kate had a fabulous time opening her presents, though, as most parents with kids Anna Kate's age would attest to, she enjoyed the bows and ribbons SO much more! ;) Then Christmas morning, Tyler and I got up a little earlier than the little one and had our Christmas, then woke Anna Kate up to show her what Santa had brought her! Then, Tyler's mom and stepdad came up and we exchanged presents and had brunch. That evening, we went out to my parent's house and had a wonderful dinner and Anna Kate opened up one present per Granna's request! :) Uncle Ben and Aunt Lacy came in last weekend, and we had Christmas with them Saturday night. In the midst of all that, Tyler had the grand opening of the Callahan store...here are a couple of pics from that! We are more than thankful for its success so far. It is definitely due to a lot of hard work and prayers from everyone involved!

If you guys haven't had a chance, you must see the store. Tyler, his dad and everyone involved did an amazing job, and Robin, I have to say that I haven't seen THAT many stores in my time, but this one has to be one of the most beautiful showrooms EVER!!! Congratulations guys!


Daddy and his baby on the day of the Grand Opening!


Okay, here's the montage. I must apologize for the 80's Sandi Patty song, but it's one of my favorites, and it seemed perfect! Enjoy and Happy New Year!

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Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!

Hey y'all! Sorry it's been a while since I updated...life has been a bit crazy lately! I am proud, though...all our Christmas shopping is finished...everything's wrapped, and we're ready for action! :) Next up, baking! Yesterday, Granna & Grandaddy took us to see Santa, and Anna Kate had the BEST time! She absolutely loved being out in the hustle and bustle. She laughed and cooed and smiled all afternoon, even though she completely missed her nap. She became fast friends with the big man in red, and I hope it's the beginning of a wonderful friendship! After our afternoon out, we came home, ordered pizza, and after putting Anna Kate to bed, I convinced Mom, Daddy, and Tyler to assemble a gingerbread house I bought while I was grocery shopping this week. After much grumbling and persuading, we had SUCH a good time working on it, and I must say, it being our very first one EVER turned out really great! .

I Hope everyone's taking a little time each day to reflect on the real reason for celebration this Christmas. Stop for a minute today, and think about what your life would look like without the redeeming work of Jesus in your life. Praise the Father for sending the Son and allowing us to have relationship with Him. I bought Amy Grant's very first Christmas album at McKay's this past weekend (Boy, I'm not sure why I thought a trip to McKay's the Saturday two weeks before Christmas would be a good idea!), and I listened to it Wednesday while I was wrapping gifts. She has a BEAUTIFUL arrangement of "A Mighty Fortress" paired with "Angels We Have Heard on High." It's an incredible reminder that the Jesus we celebrate at this time of year is the SAME Jesus who is our fortress, our deliverer, and our never-failing protection! Hallelujah!

And you thought you were having a bad hair day!


In front of Granna's tree. The onesie she has on says "Mom & Dad's Best Present EVER!" How true...


This is what most of our pics look like...




See all my teeth??? Her front ones are breaking the skin, making 6, and her eye teeth are coming soon...Whew!


Storytime with Daddy...Thanks for the cool touch & feel book, Grandmom!


Ready to rock-n-roll at the mall!


Playin' with Granna during lunch!


Storytime with Grandaddy!


The beginnings of the masterpiece!


Go Mom!


Poor Bella!


With the finished product! I was amazed we had any candy left. Tyler kept sneaking pieces!


Isn't this adorable??? She looks like she's saying, "What's up Santa? How ya been?"


I'm convinced this is the BEST Santa photo EVER...but I may be just a teensy bit biased!

Still #1 in my heart!

We had the privlege of traveling to Atlanta with Tyler's dad, Robin and the girls yesterday to cheer on the Tide in the SEC championship game. Thanks SO much guys, we had a fabulous time! I can safely say that I gave it my all (as evidenced by my sore throat, massive headache, and hoarseness by the end of the game), as did the rest of the fans, the band, and most of all, the players. I was so proud of our team for holding on and fighting hard. I know most of those guys are probably fighting injuries and are exhausted, but they were awesome. Our fans cheered hard and looked great! (Hardly any crimson camo or tacky outfits!) We lost to a great team, and we all had a fabulous time in spite of the loss! Thanks Granna & Grandaddy for watching Anna Kate while we were gone! She is definitely a handful now that she's a speed demon-crawler and cutting like 89 teeth all at once. (Babies don't have that many teeth, do they???) Despite getting in around midnight and being up thru the night with our darling little teether :( I thought I'd update. Things have been so busy with Tyler lately, I haven't had a chance to take tons of pics, but here are a few!

Kay all you "Not Me Monday" moms...here's mine: I most certainly DID NOT leave my baby in her high chair for several minutes after she finished eating just to take a slew of silly close up pictures of her! NOPE! Not me! :)


Those cheeks...


Playin' with Daddy...err...trying to keep Anna Kate out of the Christmas tree! ;)


This is what I find most days when I go in to get Anna Kate up from a nap! Oh-and her paci in the floor!...


Adventures in bathtime...why do I have to pay dearly for mascara to make my lashes look half this long???


Mae Beth, Tyler and Sarah at SEC Fanfare...how fun!


Tyler and me at the Georgia Dome...we had such a good time despite the loss! Roll Tide!

Our Little Turkey!

We had a great day yesterday! We spent the day with Tyler's family and enjoyed LOTS of yummy traditional Thanksgiving food. Tyler's grandmother shook things up a bit with her sweet potato casserole this year. The sweet potato was grated (think carrot salad) and had coconut and pineapple in it. It was SO good! :) Almost like a dessert. Anyway-it was a wonderful thing to spend the whole day with Tyler for a change! :) We came home and made cookies and hot chocolate and watched TV for a bit. I have to tell you...I caught myself misty-eyed for much of the day yesterday. We have SO much to be thankful for. Sometimes when I watch the news, which is not often, I find myself caught up in the dismay of seemingly endless accounts of natural disasters, economic mayhem, and generally frightening things going on in the world. I always come back to the fact that I am loved and have been redeemed from this world by One so unshakable and unchanging that I have absolutely nothing to fear.

Things I'm thankful for:
-the grace and mercy of Jesus...without it nothing is possible. It's that simple.
-a husband that loves me when I'm less than lovable and sometimes downright selfish and has promised to be here no matter what!
-an amazing little one that is healthy, happy (generally :), and has, in 7 1/2 short months, completely jolted me from my completely self-centered way of thinking
-a wonderful church family and a place to use the talents and gifts that I've been entrusted with
-Parents that would literally lay in traffic for me and consistently love me (and my family) with an uncompromising love
-Family and friends who are there for us and serve as an extension of Christ's love to us
-opportunities to worship...I am especially thankful that thru Jesus, we can approach the Father and communicate our love and admiration of Him in spite of our flaws and failures!
-warmth, food, and a steady income. In these uncertain times, I don't think any of us should take for granted the fact that we have enough money in the bank to pay our bills and provide for our families!

I heard a wonderful idea for a family Thanksgiving tradition that I think I'm going to start in our family. The idea is to have a Thanksgiving jar in your house that you fill throughout the year with thankful thoughts...i.e. times that God answers prayer, etc. Then, on Thanksgiving, you dump out the jar and reflect on what God's done throughout the year! I think sometimes, we skip Thanksgiving on our way to Christmas, and we shouldn't. Having hearts filled with gratitude should be a daily goal, and I can sure use the help in finding ways to express that gratitude!

Hello Tryptophan! Sleepy bunch after lots of turkey


Daddy and Anna Kate


Our little family on our very 1st Thanksgiving with Anna Kate! *sniff sniff*


Me & my baby! LOVE the bib...


4 generations...


Greatgrandmother Harris and Anna Kate

Getting ready for Christmas!

We are officially ready for Christmas! Mom came up and helped me finish decorating yesterday, and we had a great time! Anna Kate is beginning to learn "no touch," so it's a bit challenging, but if you'll notice in the picture below, there aren't a lot of ornaments on the bottom of the tree! ;) Anna Kate is crawling absolutely everywhere now, and pulling up to standing whenever she can. We took the coffee table out of the living room yesterday, because it has super sharp corners, and we just didn't think it was smart to leave it there. I hated it anyway! :) Plus, now we have LOTS more room! Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!


With Granna and all the decorations!


On mama's rocking horse from when she was a baby! I think this will be super fun in a few months.


Standing up and looking at the camera like, "what?"


The only picture from our week at Granna's! Whew, Mama was SO busy!

This is amazing!

We spent last week at my mom and dad's house in Lenoir City taking care of my grandmother while my parents were out of town, so I took literally one picture... :( Meanwhile, I saw this video today and had to share. Being a communications major in college and having some background in journalism, the media's election coverage over the past year has been faschinating, and I'm sure it will be studied for years to come. This video shows why...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm1KOBMg1Y8

Our Wonderful Weekend with Family!

Hey guys! We had a great week last week! Daddy is working so hard at the new location, and it's really starting to come together! Uncle Ben and Aunt Lacy were in town this weekend, and it was SO good to see them. We gave them a tour of the new facility on Saturday afternoon and watched the Alabama LSU game Saturday night. We all spent Sunday recovering from the nail-biting and stomach wrenching the night before! We were definitely glad to come away from Baton Rouge with a win! We even got to visit a bit with Anna Kate's Great Uncle Craig who came all the way from Houston for the weekend. It was especially nice to celebrate the big win with him! Oh...Anna Kate is seven months old TODAY! Whew...time is absolutely flying. We not only have our bottom two teeth peeking thru, but we noticed over the weekend, that there are two on the top (the ones on either side of the front ones) coming in as well! Maybe we'll just cut a whole bunch of them at once and get it over with. Anna Kate seems to be handling it well. No excessive fussiness or fever! YAY! Hope everyone has a great week!


Daddy giving Uncle Ben a tour of the warehouse


Daddy & Steve JUST finishing all the labeling...what a HUGE job!


Watching the race with Uncle Ben...his FAVORITE thing! He spent much of the race explaining all the technical car stuff!


Hangin' out with Aunt Lacy!


Checking Uncle Ben out!


Me, Anna Kate, & Uncle Craig...Hackney chins all around! :) :)


chewing on Uncle Craig's glasses!


Uncle Ben & Grandaddy sure look funny!


With Uncle Ben & Aunt Lacy


Uncle Ben, Daddy & me hanging out just before bedtime!


Grandaddy and Uncle Craig...I'm obviously over this photo session at this point!


Laughin at Grandaddy in spite of the paci!


All of us...Uncle Ben sure is a mess!


My favorite picture from the weekend!

The Not So Great Pumpkin

well...in size anyway! :) Friday night was Halloween, and we dressed Anna Kate up as a pumpkin. It was a last minute costume, since we didn't think we'd be in town, but I think it turned out pretty cute. We spent the evening out at Granna and Grandaddy's, where there were SO many trick-or-treaters. My favorite turned out to be a 3 year old princess who happily bellowed, "Happy Halloween!" when my mom opened the door. After her parents corrected her and said she was supposed to say, "trick or treat," undaunted, she bellowed, "Happy Halloween!" She was so cute! My mom also picked up a just in case costume, hence the tigger costume. Saturday, we were able to spend some time with Tyler's grandparents. It was definitely good for them to catch up with Anna Kate! :) Hope everyone's having a good week so far. OH...and GO VOTE TOMORROW! (if you haven't already) I think we all know how critical this election is. There is just too much at stake to sit idly by and not let your voice be heard!


Trick or Treat!!


Farmer Jones (aka Grandaddy) & his favorite pumpkin!


Tigger & mama


Granna & the ghost!


Playing with Aunt Sarah in the floor!


Greatgrandmother & Anna Kate