Oliver Christmas Party

We went to Montgomery this weekend for Mama's side of the family's Christmas party. We had so much fun and thoroughly enjoyed the time we got to spend with our family!
...Emma with her sweet cousin Annie.
...Mary with her great grandmother (my dad's mom).
...Annie, Emma, and Bella (our cousin Jodi's baby dog).
...Emma giving Santa some last minute gift ideas!

Emma's Dance Recital

Tonight Emma had her very first tap/ballet/gymnastics recital at the Little Gym. She has been so excited about it and she did SO well! We are very proud of her - she has learned so much and has enjoyed every minute of every class. She really loved all of the attention at the recital tonight and of course she was the most beautiful girl in the class. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the recital.
...my gorgeous little girl.
...all dressed up and ready to dance!


...showing off her medal (and her muscles)!

Emma's School Christmas Party

I'm sorry it has taken so long to get new pictures posted! We had trouble with our computer and it's taken quite a while to get it back up and running, so that combined with the holidays has not left much time to get our blog updated until now. Today was Emma's class Christmas party at McEachern. Wade, Mary Wade and I all joined her and we had a great time!
...Mary, Daddy, and Emma enjoying the party.
...Emma snuggling with her teacher, Mrs. MacMillan.
...Emma and her friend Taylor.
...Emma with her friends Callyn and Joely.

Our Weekend with the Tews

This weekend, our great friends Marci, Tragg and Reese Tew came to visit us. Reese and Emma have missed each other so much since we moved and they were SO happy to see each other! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.
...Emma and Reese in their matching pajamas.
...Reese and her daddy.
...the girls cruising in the Jeep.

Weekend in Chattanooga

Emma, Mary Wade, and I spent the weekend in Chattanooga with our good friends Amy, James, and Tyler Zippay. We had such a wonderful time and did just about everything there was to do! Emma and James are crazy about each other and had the best time posing for pictures.
...playing dress up at the Children's Museum Theater.
...snuggling on the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
...welcoming fall.
...on the steps of the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
...a little more snuggling at the Chattanooga Aquarium.
...no wonder James loves her - look how cute she is!!!

Happy Halloween!

I put off taking the girls' and Samson's Halloween picture this year because I just knew it was going to be a disaster. Today, I worked up the nerve, got Emma, Mary Wade, and Samson all dressed in their costumes and hoped for the best. Samson was completely immobilized once I got him in his dinosaur outfit, so he was no problem. Mary Wade was the first to lose it, and once I got her calmed down and happy, Emma had her own little come-apart. But, after promises of suckers and candy for one big smile, I got the cutest picture and just had to share it! Happy Halloween from all of us!

The Girls

Here are two funny pictures of Emma and Mary Wade from this afternoon. I can't say enough how wonderful Emma is to her baby sister - she loves to make her laugh and takes such good care of her. She always makes sure that Mary has plenty of toys to play with, a passy if she cries, and plenty of love and kisses. They are absolute angels and we are so lucky! This first picture is my favorite because they look like they are having a very serious conversation - I would LOVE to know what Mary thought she was saying to Emma!

Baby Jon Daniel is here!

On Monday, October 2, our nephew Jon Daniel Latham was born at Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham. Emma, Mary, and I went to see him on Tuesday and he is the cutest thing ever! He is very expressive and I swear he's already smiling! Ryan and Rachel are so happy and we are so proud for them! They are going to be awesome parents and Jon Daniel is a very lucky little man! These are a few pictures from our visit.

Party!

Saturday night, my dearest and closest friend in the world Nita threw an incredible party with her husband Jim. Everyone we missed so much from Birmingham was there and we made lots of new friends too. It made me incredibly homesick, but I know these wonderful girls will always be a huge part of my life, no matter where we live. I am so lucky to have them all as friends and I wish I got to see them more often!

Sweet Girls

I took this picture yesterday afternoon when Emma and Mary were both in the sweetest and snuggliest moods. It's a little out of focus, and I couldn't get them to smile at the same time, but I love how it turned out. Mary ADORES Emma and watches everything she does. Emma is such a great big sister - she is a HUGE help with Mary and absolutely loves to entertain her. Mary's little face just lights up when Emma comes to talk to her, and she has a very special way of "talking" that she only uses when she's having a conversation with her big sister. We love watching their relationship grow and hope it's always as sweet as it is now!

Sweet Mary Pictures

These are some funny pictures I took of Mary this morning. She is trying so hard to sit up and is getting very frustrated that she can't do it yet. She has started getting really mad anytime we lay her down on the floor. She's much happier if we're holding her up while she stands in our lap - that's her favorite place to be!

Picture Day

Today was picture day at Emma's preschool. Since we never know how the professional ones are going to turn out, I took some before we left for school of Emma in her new outfit...and I think they are precious!

Mary's Big Day

After lots of attempts, Mary rolled from her back to her front! I'm not sure she'll EVER do it again because it made her very mad when it happened, and Wade and I both jumped up and grabbed her and started cheering, and all the excitement scared her to death. So all in all, I'm not sure she thought it was a positive experience, but hopefully she'll keep practicing! She also ate her first real baby food today - almost half a jar of squash. She didn't like it and made some horrible faces, but she kept right on eating. You can see from the pictures I took today that she doesn't miss many meals, regardless of what is being served!