When we moved to Marietta, we had no idea how much we would love the area. We chose it for the schools, but know that there was a greater reason for our decision. God placed us here to show us the good life…a wonderful church, a strong network of Christian friends, and a quaint suburban town that is big on community and small on traffic. After six moves in seven years, we knew that we would call Marietta “home”.  We’ll raise kids; set roots; and form life long friendships in this sweet little southern town…

Another privilege…seeing these sweet cousins together…

A few weeks ago, we got to spend a weekend with the Virgina cousins in Athens while the boys went quail hunting. For two whole nights, we enjoyed five kids under five. Because the five under five outnumbered the grown-ups, we did our best to keep them happy. We even let three of the five sleep together. Bedtime routines were thrown out the window. As were balanced meals. There was a trip to Chick-fil-A. And an outing to the local, and thankfully very loud, Mexican restaurant. There were lots of laughs, a few time-outs, the occasional mess, and tons of sweet, sweet memories.

Another thing I can hardly wait to do….get caught up on the blog. It’s been weighing on me for weeks. Since we are almost a week into February, here’s a short recap of mid to late January…

Every year, G’s work has a holiday party after the holidays. Makes a lot of sense, huh? Last year we went to the Fox to watch the Blueman group perform. Huttie was only six months old at the time so I “double spanxed” my midsection in hopes of hiding my post baby weight. I nearly died during the hour and half performance. This year, I had a repeat experience with a high waisted belt that I had no business wearing. It was meant to cover a stain, but looked more like a wrestling belt than a fashion fix. Lesson learned the hard way on that one. Tis better to breathe and have an awful stain than it is to sport an unflattering and uncomfortable belt. This may be my favorite picture from the night; a failed attempt by G and I to look young and glamorous on camera. I feel fairly confident that it could score the cover of a cheesy 99 cent romance novel.

With the holiday party behind us, we were able to do what we do best….eat and visit with sweet friends. G has known Jamie since college, but lost touch with her throughout the years of work and kids. Shortly after moving to the area we ran into her at church. Since then, we have become fast friends. Jamie has two girls and a baby on the way in a matter of weeks. She’s one brave mama, willing to cook in her third trimester and entertain two families with 6 kids under 6!

January has also been a month of birthdays. We averaged one a weekend, which may explain why my favorite jeans are a little tight. The last two weekends of the month, we celebrated sweet Maggie’s second birthday with yummy smores,

and Davis’s fourth birthday with a Disney Cars theme.

We were also able to get in some time with with Grance and Bigs in January. Grance is always good about letting MR help out. This time, MR got to set the table for a special Sunday lunch with Uncle Brother and Cook.

Another perk of January….mild weather. As in no jacket kind of weather. With temperatures in the mid fifties, we’ve spent a lot of the month outside, enjoying the sunshine!

Let’s go all the way back to the end of December. Yep, that’s how far behind I am…The kids adore their Papa Joe, so when we found out that he would be in the area working, we jumped at the opportunity to see him. While the Mall of Georgia wouldn’t be an exciting meeting place for many, it proved to be an amusement park for the kids. Seemed like every time I turned around, Papa Joe was having to dig deeper into his pockets…

We rode the carousel,

took a spin around the mall on the train,

and cheered on MR as she got over her fear of the bungee trampoline.

And just when we thought that our time together had come to an end, we discovered a whole section of the mall with kiddie quarter rides. The kids were in heaven. And poor Papa Joe was broke.

New Years Day was spent with our neighbors. The mimosa’s were great. And the food was even better.

A few days later, we had more great food at our sweet friend Emily and Brian’s house. Emily cooked up an amazing pot of jambalaya in a huge cast iron dutch oven. While the grown ups ate, the kids played. And while I ate, I wondered if my semi-homemade lasagna and bag salad would ever stack up to the delicious meals that we had eaten lately. I quickly came to the conclusion that it would not. And convinced myself that ordering pizza was not necessarily a “no no” when hosting kid-friendly get-togethers.

Fast forward to Jan 7th. On this day,we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Garrett’s sisters baby with lots of food, grilled sausage, and a keg (all requested by the baby’s daddy)! And while I initially laughed at this request and joked that this sounded more like a fraterniy party than a baby shower, I must say that the combination of beer, sausage, and baby gifts was a huge success. Three of us hosted the event and the day couldn’t have been more perfect! The difference between boys and girls (take note Hannah and Brantley)…while sweet MR played quietly with her leap pad throughout the shower, Huttie Cat tried his best to pretend he was a college freshman at the keg. This will be the first child for Hannah and Brantley and our first in-town cousin! With less than two weeks until baby Brant’s arrival, we are on total countdown mode!!!

If Brantley has anything to do with it, Baby Brant will play golf. If he doesn’t play, at least he will have a Petey Pie’s golf shirt to show his support of the game!

The day after the baby shower, we headed to Cumming, Georgia to celebrate Jacob’s birthday. This years theme was every boys dream, a mobile gaming theater full of large screen tv’s and video games. Huttie didn’t think twice about getting in the midst of the big boys. He especially enjoyed his time with the birthday boy and sat beside him while he opened each gift.

After cake and gifts, we exchanged Christmas presents. As usual, sweet Aunt Lynn spoiled MR and Huttie with all kinds of fun stuff! MR’s favorite, a pink princess phone that really works!

Santa didn’t let a little rain get in the way of fun on Christmas morning. The photographer captured this shot of the kids soon after seeing Santa’s big surprise in their playroom!

The other big gifts were a Leappad, pink cash register, dot markers, coloring books, an interactive dog, and a cook set for MR. Huttie received books, cars, trains, a movie, a stool for the bathroom, and a tractor.

This little Adirondack chair was most definitely one of Huttie’s favorite gifts of all. He sat in it most of Christmas morning, taking in all of the excitement!

When it was time to say goodbye, the photographer shot one last picture of a proud daddy, tired mama, snotty noised boy, and a very happy little girl.

Before all of the excitement of pictures and gifts, we had a very low key morning. The kids awoke to a special breakfast prepared by Sugar, our Elf on the Shelf, who dressed in her formal attire for the occasion. There was also an empty plate of cookies and a note left behind by Santa. He reminded the kids to share and use kind words.

If MR said it once, she said it a dozen times…”this was the BEST Christmas ever!!!!”…Fortunately for her, Christmas continued a few days later when her new Rapunzel Vanity set arrived. Pretty sure we should have ordered another one for Huttie Cat, who seems to love it as much as his big sister does!