Our house is a very very very fine house!

Alpharetta, Georgia is the home you've known since you were born, but in a couple of weeks we venture off to Columbia, South Carolina.  Our little house has been so good to us and we wanted to reflect on some memories there for you:

1. Before you were born, Dad and I moved into this house about a month before our wedding.  We had almost no furniture and for a long time all we had were hand-me-downs and stuff we bought at Walmart or brought with us from college apartments. We had so much fun, though! The laughter in that house was constant and we cooked and sat on the porch and talked late into the night listening to music. We had friends and family over and we just enjoyed being ourselves together in our own place. As you look back on this, don't feel like you have to rush into living a grown up life or "keep up with the Jones'". Take time to enjoy being young and in love and really getting to know the person you chose to spend your life with.

2. We brought you home to this house and you made it even happier than it was before!  We will never forget the excitement, fear,  love and exhaustion of this time period,

3. The holidays and birthday parties spent here were priceless. Always cherish these memories and time spent with family and friends as you grow and start your own life and family.

4. Most of all, we want you to remember that this house was filled with God and love. We prayed together, we had dance parties together (see here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0r3Mb5D2-4pVFZLRllxZXJnam5CYXdmakVRdWVpSU1Obm1v/view?usp=sharing ), and we ate popsicles on the porch together. We were not perfect in this house. There were rough times (i.e. the terrible twos going into threes where your temper tantrums were out of control!) but overall we stayed together as a family and trusted in God which is all that really matters. While we were grateful for the roof over our heads, what made this a great house was that we realized it was just that. It didn't define us. What was under the roof of this house (or any house in the future for that matter) is what really matters. If you always remember that you will be good to go!

All our love,

Mom and Dad.

Easter 2015

We had a great time this Easter! Grandmommy and Grandaddy were in town. We went to the annual Egg Hunt at The Thompson's Tree Farm, went to church, and had a yummy meal at Aunt Stacey and Uncle Mitch's house. Here are some precious pictures and videos from Easter this year:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0r3Mb5D2-4pajJtd3hiUHFUQUpvNDg0QV92aVhFeW9ENmVJ&authuser=0


https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0r3Mb5D2-4pTHBfWmdoU2ZGWHc1d0hJams1VWZzaVFiYUNn&authuser=0


https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0r3Mb5D2-4pMzBoNzJlTHJmUG1ScjRtN0pFN1ZmY1RjQzVr&authuser=0

Christmas 2014

We had a fabulous Christmas this year. We saw Grammy and Grandpa Tom a few weeks before christmas and then had Grandmommy, Grandaddy's, uncle Jon, aunt ,Andy, brooks, Tate, and uncle Rob for Christmas. Here are some picture and video highlights:

Madison Picasso

You have been really into artwork this month (January 2015) and the detail you have started to put into your drawings is amazing to us, especially given that you are not even three! You make specific eyes, hair, and teeth. Here is some of your great artwork:

Notice the eyes, mouth, teeth, and fully shaped head and legs.

You wrote "M" for Madison without any prompting.

This was Daddy with arms, eyes, a mouth, and teeth.

Choir Kid!

Yesterday evening, on Facetime with Grandmommy and Grandmommy you gave an impromptu concert of all of your choir songs (with some interesting interpretations). Afterwards, mommy got you to repeat some of it on this video. I might be biased, but I think you're a pretty advanced singer for 2.5 years old!

T.I.S.O fight tigers, fight tigers, fight, fight, fight!

The cheer in the title is your interpretation of the Clemson football cheer. You sang it loud and proud at your first football game on October 11th and still sing it all around the house.  It was a great day of tailgating with Uncle Mitch and Aunt Stacey. You were an absolute angel except for a one hour span in the afternoon when you refused to nap and went off the deep end. Mommy and Daddy were not happy campers, and all we can say is thank goodness for Aunt Stacey! Once we got into the game you slept on Daddy for a while and then were in a great mood after that!!

It's Fall ya'll (well almost)

We are back in the swing of things again with Mommy back at work and you back in daycare. You are almost fully potty trained as you just wear pull-ups at nap and nighttime. You are in the 2 year old choir at church and sing the songs all the time ( especially Hallelu Hallelu!)

With Fall has come football season and you are practicing cheering on the Dawgs and Tigers at home. We will take you to your first game in a couple of weeks and will post pics of that then. We are very excited to have you experience tailgating and game day with us!

Here are the things we want to remember about right now:

1. Your nighttime prayers. You say thank you for anything and everything including the beach, the park, Grandmommy and Grandaddy, Grammy, Aunt Stacey and Uncle Mitch, Mommy, Daddy, your bicycle, etc. Also, just recently you've started replacing "Amen" with "The End" and it's precious!

2. Your singing (as documented on the video below). You love to sing and are pretty good at it too!

3. Your creative play. You take all your toys in the living room and line them up in shapes on the floor. You say you are creating castles. You also pack a bag and get in your car and go to various places such as work, the beach, and the park and pretend to be at each place. It is so fun to watch you be creative!

4. That you scream and shout and get excited every time you see our church (even if we are just driving by and not going in) We hope that you always get this excited about church! 

Here are the things that you are doing right now that we might try to forget (not really as these are still precious parts of you)

1. Terrible two tantrums. You want to do everything for yourself and there are some things that you just can't. You scream and cry and pout when this happens. Thank goodness this isn't too typical for you.  Although you do love to say "No, you no (insert anything here) I (insert same anything here again!) everyday!! For example today you said "No, you no sing that song, I sing that song!)

2. The fact that you are getting so big so quickly. We wish we could slow down time and keep you a little baby forever!