Mud Pies & Christmas Times

Well, we finished our Christmas adventures yesterday. Last  Saturday, the 20th, we had Christmas in Birmingham with Drew's mom's extended family. On Sunday, we did Christmas with Drew's mom and his brother Cory. Unfortunately Jonathan, Drew's other brother, was not able to join us because he had to be back in Atlanta for work on Sunday. On Thursday we did Christmas with my family at lunch. And, yesterday we did Christmas with Drew's dad. We were also missing Drew's stepsister, Susan, from Christmas yesterday. She is pregnant with twins and was unable to join us this year because she is due in the next month or so! Whew! It has been a whirlwind of a week, but we have had fun and we were blessed with a wonderful Christmas! I have a lot of other pictures to post from our Christmas times, but these were all taken yesterday, and I thought I would start with these. The first couple of pictures of Avi Grace were taken before we left our house yesterday! She loves to be outside, and she was just too cute in her dress for me not to take some picture of her!

She loves to sit in any chair, so here she is sitting in one of our patio chairs!

Um, yes, she also loves to STAND in any chair, and my commands for her to "sit down" were not working at this point!

It was such a nice day yesterday. In the afternoon it was about 72 degrees and sunny. We had a big time outside. Avi Grace enjoyed playing in her first mud puddles. I tried to keep her out of it for at least 10 minutes, and then I just gave up and took off her shoes and her pants and let her have at it! She had a big time.

As you can see she wanted to ride the 4-wheeler as well. Thankfully Uncle Cory was there and helped with that mission!

AND, we went down to the small creek that runs behind our house and let Avi Grace and Laura Leigh play in the water. The water was extremely cold, and Avi Grace didn't stay in it too long!

Uncle Cory and Avi Grace on the 4-wheeler.

Laura Leigh by the creek.

Laura Leigh, Uncle Cory, baby Walt and Avi Grace ALL on the 4-wheeler together!

Laura Leigh riding on the back of the 4-wheeler!

Avi Grace and her Grandaddy (Drew's dad) riding on the 4-wheeler.

Needless to say, we had a fun day yesterday. We thoroughly enjoyed the weather and the company! I hope all of you had as wonderful of a Christmas as we have had. I will post more Christmas pictures soon!

Odds & Ends

Well, we had our Christmas get together with the Fountains, Waltons and Adkersons last weekend, and we attempted taking some pictures...as you can see, Avi Grace was having a little difficulty!

And, she's almost back up in a seated position!

What's that up in the sky? Is it Santa Claus or Dars 

(Jack's Elf on the Shelf that he named to rhyme with Cars!!)??

Ahhh, there we go. That's about the best we could do! 

(Left to right: Jack Fountain, Riley Walton, Avi Grace & Emily Adkerson)

What, doesn't everyone play with their toothbrush in the bathtub??

And, doesn't everyone try to brush their hair with their 

toothbrush while they are in the bathtub??

Finally, brushing her teeth in the tub!!

She loves to ride her Zebra that was passed down to her by Jack Fountain!

Telling me she's ready to "go" to school. And, she's sucking her thumb, one of her favorite things to do. For the longest time she wouldn't suck her thumb unless she was holding her "blankie," but now she has started sucking her thumb some even without it.

Now she's really read to go to school!

Avi Grace loves to pull all of the pans and paper plates out of 

this cabinet. So much fun!

She will NOT leave a bow in her hair these days! And, isn't this the cutest dress? Aunt Susan McAllister made it for Avi Grace!

This is how I found her hair one morning when I went in to get her! 

Very bad bed head! AND, we had to take her pajamas off because she had leaked out her diaper! This picture kind of looks like a mugshot, huh??!!

A fun Thanksgiving!

George Walter "Walt" Anthony

We had such a fun Thanksgiving. We went to Jackson on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with Drew's mom's side of the family, and got to visit more with Avi Grace's new cousin, Walt. Isn't he a beautiful baby? He is so sweet, and he slept the entire day we were in Jackson! Unfortunately that meant a not so fun night for mommy and daddy!

Avi Grace, AnnaClaire & Laura Leigh at Thanksgiving in Jackson

Avi Grace enjoyed playing with the big girls! She also loved it when the boys went outside to throw around the football. She roamed all around and kept saying "ball" "ball" "ball." It was funny. She just loved being outside most of all! She was hard to keep up with.

The extended McPhail family at Thanksgiving

After Thanksgiving in Jackson, we headed back to Starkville to eat lunch with my family on Friday. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and great company. My nephew and niece are growing up so quickly. John Michael is in the 7th grade and Madison is in the 4th grade! The weekend before Thanksgiving, my older sister, Sheri, and I went to Memphis to see Mamma Mia, and Madison and Avi Grace both spent the night with their Mimi. Madison taught Avi Grace to do a "penguin" dance. It is so adorable and funny! I have it on video, and if I can ever get my computer to load it to the blog, you can have a laugh over it as well. Avi Grace had so much fun that she didn't want to leave when I went to pick her up on Sunday evening! 

Avi Grace & Papa after Thanksgiving lunch

When it was naptime, Avi Grace sought refuge with her Papa. She was doing anything she could to keep from going to the crib for her nap! Isn't she sweet cuddling with her Papa?