Cinderella!!

I think it was back in August that my mom first told me about Cinderella coming to the Strand Theatre on the Square! We booked our tickets extra early and could not wait to take Ali to go see it at the historic Strand for a special Christmas treat! (Ali loves Cinderella and all princesses!) I got the tickets so early that I pretty much could choose any seats I wanted - I think the people thought I was crazy when I asked for particular seats - but we were on the 3rd row in special seats dedicated to me and my brothers! About a month before the show, we heard about a special tea with Santa and Cinderella on the top floor of the Strand after the show and we hurried to order tickets to that too! Unfortunately, when the time came to actually go, my mom was on a break from the hospital, but sick and miserable and unable to attend - we were so disappointed! But, Ali and I were excited to get to take Ali's fun friend, Libby! The girls had a great time and did so good throughout the show! We had popcorn and sprite for a special treat and I was in heaven watching these two girls enjoy the show! The play started at 2 and by the time the 4:30 tea rolled around we probably should have hit the road, but the girls did pretty well and got to enjoy some cookies, tea sandwiches, lemonade and got to meet Cinderella and Santa! It was an experience I will never forget!

Getting ready to head out to the show...
Ali and Libby arriving at The Strand
Trying to get a good shot of the girls in our seats...
Lib in "my" seat...
Ali in Uncle Ty's...
And I sat in Uncle Sig's.....you can see the stage a few rows up...
Princesses after watching Cinderella...
We took a pit stop on the way up to the tea to see what the stage looked like from the balcony...
Ali and Cinderella
Ali, Cinderella and Libby
Als and Santa

Libby and Santa...
Me and the girls!
Sweet friends...Ali & Libby!

A taste of our Christmas fun...

Being a parent at Christmastime is lots of fun mixed with exhaustion and stress. I tried so hard to enjoy every moment this year and get all of my Christmas shopping done early, etc - but a few curve balls were thrown and it was quite the crazy Christmas! (So glad I got my shopping done early!!) The Sunday before Christmas was one of our biggest days - starting off with 9:00 church, then 10:10 our Sunday School Christmas party, straight to our appointment with Santa at Phipps, then to wait in the slowest line ever at the Pink Pig, then finally lunch at about 2:30! Phew! After that, Ryan took the girls down to Senoia to see Great-Grandmommy and Great-Granddaddy while I headed to Marietta to be with my Mom, who we ended up taking back to the hospital almost as soon as I got to her! It was a BIG day for all of us - here are a few pictures from the day!

This is actually the picture we bought from Santa at Phipps - I scanned it onto the computer...
One of the best pictures Ryan got - the rest were blurry b/c you could not use the flash...
Me and my girls at Phipps
Now, to Lenox - with Priscilla
FINALLY...all aboard the Pink Pig! (Ryan sat by Ali but we had to get some pictures to show we road this thing after standing in line for SOOO long!)
Ryan and Rhodesy!
Ali and her new pink pig backpack....had to buy the girls each one for being such troopers during the line!
More pictures of some of our Christmas festivities to come!

Update on my mom...

So...3 weeks ago from this coming Thursday, my mom went in for emergency gallbladder surgery. It turned out to be a lot more complex than just gallbladder surgery and we were so excited to have her home the next Thursday (12/17). Three days later on Sunday the 20th, she checked back in to the hospital. She has had a rough go of it but we are so excited that as of a few minutes ago, she is finally on her way home...10 days after her last check-in to the hospital! Hopefully this time it is for good!! Ryan and I were excited about the news in hopes that our trip to Sea Island with friends could still go on (my parents wanted us to go, too!) but now it looks like Rhodes is in the early stages of pneumonia! Ugh! If it's not one thing, it's another, right?? :) After a few days of antibiotics, hopefully we can start off the new year with a healthy family!! I hope to get some of our Christmas pictures up here soon! Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

My girls loved this, so we wanted to share our corniness! :) I think we may watch this 100+ times today, if they have it their way! You will have to press pause on the music player at the bottom to hear it well... Merry Christmas to you and yours! :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Progress report!

I am happy to report and big change since Saturday - my mom is doing a lot better and finally starting to improve. I can not explain how relieved I am or how grateful I am for all of the thoughts, prayers, offers to help/take care of the girls/bring food (and actual food people brought by, help with the girls given!). We feel so blessed and are hoping to have mom out of the hospital by Friday. It's amazing - if you had told me when I typed the post on Saturday that my mom would be out in a week, I would not have believed it! I truly believe it was the power of prayer that helped mom turn this corner. Please continue to pray for her that she will continue to gain her strength back and her pain will decrease. Thank you to everyone for all of the support during this hard time for our family!! Love, Jamie

Asking for prayers...

I am sitting here after a mini-breakdown in search of extra prayers for my mom right now. She is struggling. After an emergency surgery on Thursday, some complications arose and so far she just doesn't seem to be getting any better. I have been spending a lot of time at the hospital b/c I hate leaving her up there, but she is not saying much and seems to be in a lot of pain and in and out of sleep. It is so hard to see someone you love so much in so much pain, plus, I miss her! She is my lifeline and the first person I call every single morning and about 20+ times a day to tell every single thing going on with me/the girls. I just want her to feel better and to start to improve. I just want to see a smile on her face or to see her eyes open for a little bit or to have the tube removed so she can talk comfortably/not in pain - these last few days without that have been some of the longest ever for me! (and I can not imagine what it's been like for her!!!) I ask for prayers for healing for my mom and for comfort.... I know our Lord is a healing Lord and the power of prayer is amazing! Hopefully, my next report will be of some recovery and improvement!

Have yourself a Marietta Christmas!

We had a busy weekend last weekend (it's December, isn't it?) - spending a lot of time celebrating Christmas and Marietta at the same time! A few pictures from our weekend...

Our Marietta weekend kicked off by heading up to the Square on Thursday to wait for Santa to arrive....it was FREEZING and I was not prepared. We stayed long enough to listen to a few choirs sing and then to watch Santa arrive on the square but were on our way to ballet as soon as he finished driving by!

Sitting by the Christmas Tree on the square..


Run away toddler!


Jumping up and down waiting for Santa to arrive - we could hear the fire truck coming from the fire station and Ali, especially, was so excited!!

He made it!

Decorating a gingerbread house on Friday...

Ali was so proud of the gingerbread house and couldn't wait to eat it!

Yay for sugar!!

Ryan and I were on the host committee for the Marietta Pilgrimage preview party/Marietta 175th celebration party on Friday and we had so much fun! We went to a pre-party beforehand with friends and then caught a limo to the square for the celebration!! Thanks to Grandmommy and Granddaddy for babysitting for what turned out to be a late, fun night!!


We woke up on Saturday morning and headed to our church for the "Elf on the Shelf" production! The girls loved it and we got to sit at our table and have breakfast with Libby - an extra treat!

Sitting with Santa after the show....

The girls intently watching the "Elves"

At the end of the show, Ali and Libby went up and walked around/sang the elves - in the back left hand corner...
Ryan and I went to an annual party that night at our friend's house where they fix us a delicious dinner and then we head to the Pilgrimage Candlelight tour and look at 3 of the beautiful houses. This year it was on Church Street & Cherokee Street - right by the square - and we were close enough from the host's home to even walk to the houses. We had a GREAT time with lots of fun friends and can't wait until next year - it is now one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

The next day, we headed to the Country Club for brunch with Santa...

Rhodes and Mimi
Ali decorating cookies with Aunt Ashley
Santa #1 of the day

Rhodes and Mama
Ali and Daddy

A few Christmas card attempts

And, finally, we concluded the weekend with the Poston's annual party with Santa! It was a cold night but so much fun again - another one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

And a few random pictures from Thanksgiving day, I had yet to post!

Ali proud of her very own tree she picked out for the playroom....she picked out everything for it and after we finished decorating it, she looked at it and said "Oh! It is beautiful!"