This is when I got a new AWESOME camera

So there are about a billion more pictures than ever before!  I love it, love it, love it, and can't thank mom and dad for the most amazing Christmas present ever!

Can you tell I couldn't wait to even get to Grandmomma's to start taking pictures!  

Grandmomma reading the Christmas story from the Bible!  A favorite tradition, including Jesus Birthday Cake! 

We love Uncle Christian and Auntie Kristin! 

And I couldn't wait to hug that sweet Bella after five long months!

Claire playing Grandmomma's ukelele from her childhood.  So sad I didn't get any shots of Bella, because she has been taking ukelele lessons in Hawaii.

These are pics from one of our BEST family vacations EVER... Wildnerness at the Smokies... It's an indoor waterpark, perfect for Christmas time and for a momma with a new camera!

 

Sisters reading books in their matching pjs!

 

Tea party with Grandmomma on the trampoline.

 

Oh how I love family game night!

 This officially puts me in 2012!  Sorry for the lack of actual blogging in this post, but there were so many cute pictures!

Until next time...

Turning into a toddler

This is the part of the recap that makes me smile and cry in that same breath.  It's because this is when my  little baby went into full-blown toddler mode.  Her sweet cries turned into hell-ish screams.  Her cute personality turned into an attitude.  She became very aware that she was adorable and used that to her advantage.

How did my little baby turn 2?

Mimi really liked the cupcakes I made :)

 Jumping on the trampoline is always fun!

But not as fun as opening presents!

Or eating cake!

We went to the pumpkin patch with our friends Shannon and Baileigh

  

And she still knows how to say "cheese"!!!

It's hard to ham it up for the camera with the sun in your eyes

 

And she was Minnie Mouse for Halloween!

And I was same same bumble bee from last year (and pretty much every year since I picked up this costume in the kid's section of Wal-Mart when I was a freshman in college and had to dress up for Sorority row trick or treat)  My how things have changed!

Next post should wrap up 2011 and bring us into 2012!  I'm getting caught up, slowly but surely, so just bear with me!

My last post was about Spring Break 2011

And it is now Spring Break 2012.  Wow.  I'm consistently drawn back to the blog, the desire to document life and share it with others.  And then I get busy living life.  I feel silly even posting a picture montage of the past year because our girls have grown so much, but just to reflect...

Father's Day 2011... Bella is just the spitting image of her father, is she not?

Taylor Swift's Speak Now Concert (I had more fun then Bella did :)

July 4th in the Smokies, as usual.

Lots of "beach" trips (aka: the sand and lake at the state park near our house)

Bella got baptized!!!  (She gave her heart to the Lord the summer before when Grammie died)

Tackling the Birmingham Zoo in 104 degree heat.

 

 We welcomed a new niece/ cousin, Lily Marie Wyatt

Claire's first day of school after Jessica left us as our nanny to stay home with baby Lily

And that pretty much sums last Summer.  Next I'll move into Fall, hopefully before next Fall...

Where the heck have we been?

Well, I'm glad you asked.  Although it may not look like it due to my lack of posting, the truth is, we have been very busy here in the McGlothin Family Nest! 

Let's see, since Christmas Bella, Claire and I had dinner with her mom (Julie) and sister (Arabelle).  It was something that I never thought in a million years would ever come to fruition, but before they flew back to Hawaii in early-January, they came to our house and we shared a meal (sans Luke, he was traveling on business).  It turns out that as women and mothers, Julie and I actually have a lot in common.  And I think it was awesome for Bella to see us in the same room having a civil conversation using inside voices that is not taking place in a courtroom.  (Yes, people.  I am human and my emotions have gotten the best of me in the past.  I'm not proud of those moments, but I think we can all agree that they happen to everyone.  Everyone that is human.)

But, I made spaghetti and she brought some blue cake.  We jumped on the trampoline and worked puzzles.  There was a gingerbread house craft planned should things have been so awkward that we needed some activity alternative to speaking, but we never ended up doing it because Bella, Claire and Arabelle were having so much fun together and no police had been called due to neighbor complaints of battery taking place over at the McGlothins.  (I kid, sort of.)

All in all, it was a great way to start out the New Year!  In all the fun, this is the only picture I grabbed.

More to come...  Lots more... I have like eight months to cover before I can get back into the present day.

Roll Tide Roll!

Yes, these are like a month old, but here are some pics from Luke and I at the Alabama vs. Mississippi State game in November. 

Thanks PJ for the awesome tickets!

We were sitting on the first row!  You had to stand up the whole time, but who would have an Alabama game any other way?

I think this was right before half-time?

We were winning by a lot, so our QB was on the sidelines.

Since I've been to two Tennessee games this year (and both in Knoxville) Luke agreed to tag along and cheer on the Tide.  We got to visit with some of Luke's friends from Tuscaloosa and his old buddies from work.  And we came out with a WIN!