FINALLY!

Traveling is done, laundry is complete, returns and exchanges have been made, Christmas decorations are back up in the attic, house is clean, and my sweet bundle of joy is laying down for a nap! As much as I love the holidays and visiting with friends and family, I really appreciate when things go back to normal and back to my everyday routine:) My goal was to update the blog and write one more letter to B before the new year. I think I am going to make it!
I am going to try and catch you all up on what has happened over the past couple of days and I am going to use some pictures to  help me.

First, our sweet Brantley turned 21 weeks on Christmas day:)

On the day before Christmas Eve, our little family went through our stockings and got to open one gift.

 

B seemed very interested in this big ole thing in front of her.

 

 

Yes, of course, my sweet Sadie has her own stocking as well!

Brantley and Sadie got Eric an Amazon gift card.

I got some trail mix to munch on during all of our travels.

Christmas Eve we traveled to Charleston to celebrate with my Dad's side of the family and then we went to my Dad's house to spend time with Papa, DeDe, Aunt Katie, Dixie, and Izzy.

Brantley with Aunt Laurie

My Dad has a direct line to Santa and he always stops by to say hello to our family and bring an early Christmas gift for all of the kids.

B opening her gift from Santa. He brought her a seahorse that lights up and plays music. She loves it, but she LOVED the paper.

Now it is off to my mom's house to stay the night and get up the next morning to celebrate Christmas. Brantley had to be woken up on Christmas morning because she was so exhausted from all of the festivities the night before.

 

I had to stick this picture in here because it is a new face that Brantley has started making. While we were opening gifts we noticed her doing this. We think she is rubbing her gums together since she is in the process of teething. She looks so cute and funny when she does it.

One PROUD Daddy! Brantley's adorable outfit was from some of our best friends, Nathan and Christy.

All the girls!

After we opened all the gifts, ate breakfast, and B took a nap, we headed to my grandma's house to visit with family.

Brantley with Uncle Hendrix. This was Uncle Hendrix's first time meeting Brantley.

Okay, now I am exhausted just thinking about all of that again:) It was a wonderful first Christmas with Brantley! Eric and I look forward to the many traditions that we want to start next year with her and make lots of memories as a family.

I will see you in 2010!

Happy New Year!

So much fun!!

We have been quite busy around the Soong house and enjoying the holiday season. I thought I would catch you up on some of our latest happenings.....

By far my favorite part of the day! I love when B and I (and sometimes baby doll as you can see) snuggle together in her room and read books.

One of my best friends, Debra Dele, and I packed Brantley Boo up and headed to her first trip to see the Lights at the Zoo. We had a great time!!!! ( Sidenote: My sweet hubby couldn't go because he was sick.)

Brantley staring at all of the fun lights.

Me and my sweet DD!

Momma and her girl:) (Can you tell someone is getting sleepy?)

Brantley loves her Santa ornament from DD so much that she wants to give it a big, wet kiss:)

DD, Santa, and Brantley Boo:)

Our family celebrated our annual Christmas at the Turner's this week. We have so much fun hanging out together and eating Momma Dawn's yummy cooking. This year was extra special because we were blessed with the sweet noises and smiles of Brantley Renee.

Momma and Brantley all dressed and ready for Christmas at the Turner's.

Brantley with her Momma Dawn.

20 weeks old!

Our little Brantley Boo is 20 weeks old today!

Hospitaliano!

Eric and I planned at the beginning of the week for all three of us to go out to eat at Olive Garden on Wednesday night and we had been looking forward to it all week! Though we didn't discuss it with one another, we later found out that we both were a little nervous about going out to eat because it was our first time going out to dinner as a family. We had it planned that we would feed her at 4:30pm and then we would pack her up and head to dinner. We thought going early that we would beat the crowds and catch her at a "happy" time during the day. So.....we arrive at Olive Garden....we take our seat in our booth.....Brantley chews on her baby doll.....so far so good! We order our food, things are going well........it starts to get a little bit noiser....and then......the world ends!!!!!!!!!! First, Eric gets up and walks around with her, while he is gone this sweet little lady leans over to me and encourages me by saying "Hang there, I have been there before and it gets better!", then he comes back and tells me that she needs her diaper changed. Well, I go and change her diaper and you all know how much I love public bathrooms!!! UGH! She and I come back to the table and we sit down and she quickly lets me know that she is not happy.....So I walk around with her for a while and to make a long story short.........we ended up having our waiter pack up our things after 30 minutes of dining and we finished our meal at home.
I am so thankful that I have an incredible partner to experience these things with! Geeat Memories we all made together tonight!
We will try again soon on another dinner outing:)

Our family has been quite busy the past couple of weeks getting ready for Christmas, hanging out with friends, traveling to visit family, and loving on our sweet little girl. It is amazing to look back over pictures and see how much she has grown. It is going by way too fast.

Today our friend Andrea and her adorable little boy, Grantham, came by for a play date! He has grown so much and is all smiles. Of course, Andrea and I were too interested in playing with Grantham and Brantley that we didn't even snap a picture of the two of them. I will make sure to get one next time so that we can compare what these two babies looked like when they were first born and how they look now.

Hope that you and your family are enjoying the holiday season!
Here is our precious little girl at 19 weeks old:)

18 Weeks Old!

Our Bundle of Joy is 18 weeks old today and growing like a weed! She even gave you a smile this week for her picture!

I could eat her up with a spoon!

B and I were just laughing and playing and I caught a couple of precious pictures I thought I would share. Moments like this make me smile so big that it almost brings tears to my eyes!