Mississippi

Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers while we traveled to Mississippi. My grandmother passed away on Valentine's Day with many of her family at her side. Despite the circumstances, we had a great time with our family. I tried really hard to have my camera out and take pictures but of course did not capture everyone. We kept trying to get the three girls but that is nearly impossible.

Isabella and Hannah had so much fun playing. Isabella just watched Hannah and her craziness.

Cousins feet



I loved that they were able to play outside every day. Hannah was in charge of keeping Isabella from going too far.



First time at Japanese steakhouse and using chopsticks.

What we came home to....lovely.

I have a few more that I will add later.

Grandmother

This is my sweet Grandmother Vaughn. We took these pictures at Chris' grandmother's funeral 2 years ago. I am so glad that we did. I think it is my only picture of me, my dad, my grandmother and Hannah. We will be leaving to go Mississippi tomorrow. Hopefully we will make it there before she passes away. Here is a letter that I wrote to her after she fell and broke her pelvis in December.

Dear Grandmother, 
I hope that you are having a good day. I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you how much I love you and how much you have meant to me throughout my life. I thought I would share some of my favorite memories of spending time with you and Granddaddy. 

I can't remember a time that I was not spending time at your house. I don't know how old we were when we started walking across the field to see you. I am sure we were always looking for a coke and a snack. The kitchen was always stocked with cookies and trash(chex mix that she would make YUM). At Christmas, we could always find a plate of pralines on the dining room table. We won't ever forget the time that we were walking across the field and someone stopped to tell mother that her girls were running away from home. No, they are just going to visit their grandmother. 

Summers spent swinging on the front porch, playing outside, swims at Ms. Dorothy's and ice cream at the Old Country Store on the way home. Spaghetti and baked apples for lunch were always our favorite. I would kill to be able to make that spaghetti. Homemade rolls, peach cobbler, soups. Your kitchen was always filled with wonderful smells. I was just telling Chris the other day about the bell outside the back door. You would ring it at lunch time and yell for Uncle Henry and Daddy to come to lunch. What a great family memory. All of us at the kitchen table on summer days. 

Bingo games, painting nails and just visits at the kitchen table. There are just so many wonderful times that were had. Coming down to try on a dress that you were making for us. Oh how I wish I had taken the time for you to teach me how to sew. 

We were so fortunate to be able to spend so much time at your house. Now, that my girls are growing up away from their grandmothers I realize that their memories will be different. I hope that in 30 years that they will be able to recount special memories of times spent with family. 

You are very special to me and I hate I am so far away. I can't wait for you to meet Lucy. Hannah is praying for you everyday that you will feel better. 

We love you very much, allison

The girls

Thanks Jess for these cute outfits. Lucy's is 12 months. I held it up to a dress that is 3-6 months from the GAP and the Children's Place dress was smaller. Weird. But how cute are they? Will they ever both look at the camera at the same time?

4 Month Stats

Lucy had a great visit with Dr. Hammer today. She just cooed away when he was examining her. She weighed in at 12 pounds 8 ounces and is 24 1/2 inches long. Dr. Hammer says, "tall and skinny".
 He gave us the go ahead on all stage 1 foods and rice cereal. He even encouraged us to start finger foods like chopped up soft veggies and cheerios.
 The past 2 nights Lucy has gone from 9:30p.m. - 5:30a.m. without taking a bottle. Now if I can just get her to sleep that long. She quits crying after I put in the pacifier but I would like to not have to get up. (And if Hannah could get the "no needing mommy in the middle of the night memo also that would be perfect").
 We had a gorgeous day today and it looks like tomorrow is going to be warm again (41) but then we will be dipping down into the teens again. We are having sympathy for our southern friends who are enduring a winter storm right now. Abilene has been shut down for 3 days going on 4.
 I will try to take some pictures of the girls this weekend. I was going to take pictures of Lucy this afternoon but she is not feeling good after her shots.