Christmas!!

It seems like so long since last week started. We've had the opportunity to do a lot of things and hangout with a lot of friends and family. We're lucky to be surrounded by so many great people!

I wanted to show this picture right quick. While we were doing some Christmas shopping, Raegan spotted a duck in a store. She spots ducks and Elmo so quickly. She'll be saying one of those two words very excitedly and sometimes we'll finally see a tiny little duck on box in the grocery store. Anyway... she has an eye for these things. This duck was a little easier to spot (picture taken from my phone).


During Christmas week, Hannah took the week off (although I think she still did some work). And I worked Monday, Tuesday & Friday. On Tuesday night, we went out to eat with the Cohen's. That's the family that has Drew (born 9 days ahead of Raegan). (pictures taken from my phone)


Drew and Raegan exchanged presents. They both seemed to understand each other's fascination with Elmo. (they both gave Elmo gifts)


Then on Wednesday (Christmas Eve), we started the day by going over to the Martin's house where they were deep frying turkeys all day. They were letting people come by and bring-your-own-turkey. It was fun and Raegan really enjoyed playing with Zach.

That evening, we went to the Christmas Eve service at Buckhead Church. Our friends the McCants were there too. This was the first service that Raegan has ever sat through with us. She was so good and really seemed to enjoy it. She danced to the music but was pretty well behaved.

This is a slideshow of some of the pictures from Christmas Eve.



Then on Christmas morning, we got Raegan up. We ate and watched the Elmo Christmas movie. Then Raegan opened her gifts from us (or Santa... we're not sure yet). Anyway... then we drove to Hannah's parent's house. That was a lot of fun. We ate brunch, exchanged gifts, played games and hung-out. I think Raegan really enjoyed the attention over there. And I think she has finally warmed-up to the whole gang.

Here are pictures from Christmas Day.



Then over the weekend, we went out to the Lake and saw my parents and my grandmother (Granny). The Lake water is down for the winter but the Lake House is still a great place to visit and relax. Mom always makes great food and Raegan and the dogs always have a great time.

Here is a slideshow from the Lake.



One last thing I want to share. My sister-in-law, Jennifer, made a really nice Christmas gift for me. She made a photoshow about me and Raegan. Of course I had to watch it in front of people and of course it made me a little emotional. But I really like it. If you want to see the video, here it is below (be sure to have your sound on):

Christmas Week Teaser

Hi all... we have a lot to post for this past week. We're still trying to figure out which pictures to post from Christmas. As a teaser... here is a video of Raegan dancing to a musical frog at Hannah's parents' house on Christmas day. We'll hopefully post more tomorrow...

My Turn

Since Tony has been faithfully updating this blog each week for a while now, I decided it was time for me to start contributing again. Okay, maybe every other week. I did start this blog, but then lost steam, so I'm glad Tony has done such a great job of recording our lives!

Last week, we spent a lot of time doing final Christmas preparations and working. I decided to take this week off from work (since I would lose the vacation time otherwise), so I had a lot of loose ends to tie last week.

Monday was the Christmas Party at Raegan's school. It was also pajama day, so the kids looked really cute in their pj's and slippers. Some even wore bathrobes. The parents helped paint ornaments, and Raegan painted her ornament, the table, my khaki pants, her hands, etc. We were the first parents to arrive, so some of the other kids gathered around to watch.

Tony and I baked a rum cake for Tony's work on Wed. night, and he played tennis with a new neighbor on Thursday night. On Friday, Raegan and I went to the Martin's house for a play date with our old small group moms and kids. Laura, Angela, and Katie baked wonderful goodies and I just enjoyed them! I am terrible about taking pictures, and didn't get a single good one with all the moms in it. But here are the "older kids" and Raegan. Raegan is really in the middle of the first and second-born kids of this group (Dante, Raegan, Hannah, and Zach's back - sorry Zach!). Raegan is wearing the cutest little jumper that Tony's mom made for her.

The Martin's are UGA grads like me, and they had this bulldog on their door step. Raegan is a natural DAWG:

After the party (and a nap), I took Raegan and the dogs for a walk in the neighborhood. This proved to be much more difficult than I planned (pregnant + heavy wagon + 2 dogs + hills)! I think I'll stick to Raegan and the jogging stroller from now on, at least for the longer walks.
At the end of our walk, I wanted to pick up the empty recycle bin from the curb, so I took the wagon with Raegan in it and the dogs tied to it, and carefully placed it in Tony's garage, facing the basement. I left my 3 babies there to run down the driveway for the bin. About halfway down to the curb, I heard the wagon rolling down the driveway, being pulled by Luci! Bristo was just along for the ride, innocent of course. Raegan seemed to be enjoying her terrier sled, but I just pictured the whole thing toppling over. I bolted for the wagon and stopped it, then took a picture (since I had the camera in the wagon). I couldn't believe how strong Luci was, to turn the wagon around and pull it out of the garage! Close call. I'm sure my nomination for Mother of the Year is now secure.

Friday night, we ordered pizza and watched a movie that Tony's brother gave him for Christmas, and then we did some shopping on Saturday. We hoped to find furniture for our new baby and some other random things we needed, but struck out just about everywhere we went. I went to my annual Christmas party for my college friends on Sunday evening at Nicole's house, and of course forgot to take any pictures (also left the camera there. Brilliant). We were missing 2 of the 6 girls who are usually there, but we will be catching up soon b/c we get together every birthday. It was nice to hang out with Carrie, Jennifer, and Nicole - the 4 of us were roommates at UGA for half of my time there.

Here are some random pictures of Raegan with the dogs - they are becoming good friends. Or I should say, the dogs really tolerate Raegan and she has fun with them.

Lastly, Raegan decided to go on a cleaning rampage on Saturday. I don't know where she got this trait, but she is obsessed with keeping things clean and orderly. Tony put together this video of her cleaning the whole main floor of the house. It's a long video, but it's funny because she's so serious about it. Please excuse the annoying "Clean Up" song - feel free to turn off sound!

Miley Christmas 2008

This past week was pretty eventful. On Tuesday, Hannah's parents came over and watched Raegan while Hannah & I went to my department Christmas party. We had fun.


Here is a shot of Raegan and Grammy watching Elmo before we left.


Then on Friday evening, I helped take Santa pictures at the Chick-fil-A Children's Christmas Party. Hannah & Raegan came down so that we could leave from there and go down to my parent's house for the Miley Family Christmas.

Raegan doesn't really like Santa. She would cry at the very sight of Santa. But Santa had the idea of hiding behind the sleigh, Hannah & Raegan sitting in the sleigh, and then he would pop-out right as we take the picture. It worked... Raegan didn't even know Santa was there.




Once we left the party, we drove really late to Brewton. My brother and his family were already there. Between my mother and I taking a lot of pictures, I have a ton of pictures from the weekend. So I narrowed them down to 65 pictures of different moments through the weekend. We had our gift exchanges, the Brewton Christmas parade, Mom's great cooking, lots of playing and a great time. Enjoy the slideshow!





Finally, I have to show you this video compilation of how crazy Raegan got before we headed back home. And I didn't get my camera out until after the more delirious moments. She was so hyper. We thought this would tire her out so she would sleep on the ride home, but she stayed awake most of the ride. At least she was in a great mood on the way home. By-the-way... you'll hear Papa a lot in this video... and though he may be a little embarrased at his being recorded on here, Raegan loves him & his animation!

Chat with Raegan by the Christmas tree

This is kind of a long video of a chat with Raegan by the Christmas tree. Everyday she seems to know & understand more and more. She is starting to put words together and to really communicate.

Christmas Season is Here!!!

It seems like it has been so long since the post I did last week! Christmas season is definitely underway! So much to share!

Raegan has gotten pretty good at brushing her teeth. I don't think she would pass dentist standards... but I like her enthusiasm! You can't really take her from the bath to her bedroom without her wanting to stop at the sink to brush her teeth.


Raegan really likes Elmo. She has to watch an Elmo's World episode everyday. We got her a little Baby Elmo doll and the other night she had to have it for bed and when I gave it to her, she hugged it and snuggled to it under the cover. I thought it was a cute picture.


Speaking of Elmo's World. This is how she starts out watching the show (very serious).


Then she relaxes and starts playing while it's on. But if Elmo leaves the screen, she looks at us and says "Emmo?". Then as soon as he get's back on the the screen, she get's all excited. (she's not supposed to stand on the couch)


I think this picture may have actually been from last weekend, but I thought it was neat to see the relationship between Raegan and our dogs, Bristo & Luci. Here they are in the grass by the tennis courts. They look like 3 friends hanging out.


So Friday was a pretty busy day for me & Hannah. Hannah watched Raegan all day & night and Raegan was a bit of a brat that day. She made a scene at Barnes&Noble. And generally spent the day testing Hannah. Needless to say by the end of the day, Hannah was worn out.

Meanwhile, I was helping with the Chick-fil-A work with the SEC Championship game. On Friday morning I helped "Stuff the Dome" with coupons in the seats. That's actually a lot of fun.

And then I spent the afternoon & evening working the FanFare... taking pictures of fans with the Chick-fil-A cows. We print the pictures on the spot so they can take something with them. I guess I could have taken a sample shot so you could see the type shots we take.

In a booth next to our's, they decided to present me the Heisman Trophy. (don't I look like an athlete!?)



So Hannah & I both had an exhausting day on Friday but mine may have been a little more fun.


On Saturday, we all relaxed at home together. Hannah baked red velvet cupcakes for the neighborhood Christmas party and hung garland on the front of the house. We watched the SEC Championship game where Florida and Tebow were really impressive! Raegan learned how to say "football" pretty well... and knows to say it when she sees the players on the TV but also use it to refer to the little football I gave her. Besides watching the game, Raegan also helped me put Christmas decorations outside our house.


The slideshow below shows some shots of our house with the Christmas lights, etc.



So then Sunday rolled around. Hannah & Raegan went to church and I went to Chick-fil-A to prepare for our Open House. My responsibility is to coordinate pictures with Santa. We use the same photo system and setup as we do for the SEC FanFare. But shots with little kids with Santa are way different than shots of drunk sports fans with Cows! Below is a cheesy shot of me with Santa and one of his Elves.








After I got home from the Open House, we started getting ready for our neighborhood Christmas Party. Here is Raegan in one of her Christmas outfits. I think she knew she was cute.



Getting her to hold an ornament made for a cute picture... but then it wasn't so cute when she swung the glass ornament against the railing. Luckily nobody got hurt!



So then we went to the party. The party was nice (and right across the street). They had firepits, hot chocolate, hot cider, treats, Santa, kid activities, etc. Here is a slideshow of some of the pictures.



I think Raegan had a lot of fun at the party. When we got home, she was in a really good mood. She still had a cookie we gave her from the party. I was trying to get a picture of Hannah & Raegan together... but in this first picture she had that cookie in her mouth while laughing.



And finally, what Christmas season would be complete without people getting "Elfed". Here is Raegan dancing with the Elfs. (everytime I tried to embed the dance, it froze my browser... so you'll just have to click the link:)


http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/3GHfbdqQqq7fhR4wFJuP

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi all. Happy Thanksgiving! So this past week was Thanksgiving. We've had a good time... and we're really thankful for how great our life is.

On Thanksgiving Day, we started the day with Hannah doing some cooking in the kitchen while Raegan and I ate breakfast and watched the Macy's parade. Raegan seemed to like the parade. In fact she seemed almost in a trance watching the parade some of the time. I felt bad that Hannah couldn't just sit and watch the parade but she was preparing some really good food.


We drove down to Hannah's parents (Grammy & Granddad) house for lunch. Most of the family was there. Raegan remembered playing with tennis balls and Granddad the last time she was there. She didn't waste much time getting him to play with her again.


After we ate (lots of good food), Raegan went down for a nap and the grown-ups played the Pirates of the Caribbean Dice Game. I was the first to go out... so I wasn't really impressed with the game. But Hannah won and of course she thinks it's the greatest game ever.


Later Raegan got up from her nap. Aunt Jennifer taught Raegan some new dance moves. (or was Raegan teaching Aunt Jennifer?)

Uncle Jacob brought his cute new little puppy (Bailey). Even though Raegan loves "doggies", she seemed a little reluctant to pet Bailey. But none-the-less, here are some pictures of Raegan & Bailey. I have too many pictures of this... but there's just something cute about a little girl and a tiny little puppy.

The rest of the time we just hung-out. Raegan did like so many kids and spent a lot of the time on the phone talking to someone else. Wait a minute... no... she's on a remote... not a phone.

Even talking on the remote in both ears at times!

I'm actually not sure where this picture came from (other than Thanksgiving day)... but I'm posting it. We don't have all that many pictures of Hannah and me together like this. Also... due to the glare of the flash, it looks like I'm darker than Hannah. But I'm not in real life.

So Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and people always go crazy buying things at bargain prices. I had finally decided to buy a 46" LCD TV. Until I have a place to mount it on the wall, I decided I needed to get one that could fit in our entertainment cabinet. I found one at Sears that met all my criteria and was marked down to a crazy price for the DoorBuster sale. I had planned on getting there at 3:30am on Friday morning. Anyway... long story short, BestBuy priced it $1 cheaper on Monday so I ran down and bought it right then. I was in and out in like 5 minutes (after ordering online). So I didn't have to deal with the Black Friday craziness and I got my new TV! Now I just need to upgrade some of what feeds the signal to the TV.

See below... Raegan likes to watch Elmo on the new TV. (her hair is crazy from getting meatloaf & ketchup in her hair and then us trying to get it out of her hair.)

This is another shot of Raegan's crazy hair.

On Saturday, we spent the day watching Auburn lose to Alabama and UGA lose to GA Tech. Not the best outcomes... but the UGA game was exciting to watch. Anyway... in the midst of that, we started getting our Christmas decorations out. Once the games were over, we started Christmas music and drank eggnog. Then we let Raegan stand there as we turned on the lights to the tree for the first time (before adding ornaments). She really liked it and seemed to just be in a great mood. Check out her grinning below...

We let Raegan help put a couple ornaments on the tree but then she had to go to bed. Hannah and I finished decorating the tree Saturday night. I think it turned out nice. We just have to hope that Raegan understands the rules and that she doesn't try to pull ornaments off. So far, so good!

I couldn't decide which picture of the tree I liked best... so you get 3.

So that was the week. Now we're looking forward to entering Christmas season! This coming week will be really busy!