Merry Christmas...

At the mall awaiting the arrival of Santa!

Addie was fasinated with her new toys. She loved her music table and ABC drum from Grandma Tovey, Nana and Grampy Newton.

This is the rocker that I received on my first Christmas from my GrMa & GrPa Tovey. Doug & I had it redone for Addie to have in her nursery.

Well, Chirstmas 2006 came and went with a blink of an eye. Addie is the best Christmas gift ever! She has been so much fun to have with us at all of our holiday celebrations. Friday we picked Mandy and Jesse up at the airport and went on to Terre Haute. Saturday we all took Addie to visit Santa, I had lunch with my girlfriends and we celebrated with the entire Newton family. The Newton family had an extra special gift for the holidays... my cousin Tiel gave birth to a healthy baby girl Friday evening. So of course all of us rushed up to the hospital to welcome Mazie Mae to the family. She is absolutely precious. Christmas Eve, Doug and I hosted a dinner and celebration for both the Reusser and Newton families. It was so much fun to watch the little ones open all their gifts. Just think, Addie will be there in the mix next year!

Today is Christmas Day and we have yet to get out of our PJs... it's a tradition! We have eaten all day long, opened gifts, played games and watched holiday movies. It is so nice to have everyone home for the holidays. I will have to admit that my favorite part of the day was early this morning. Doug and I both got up with Addie for breakfast while everyone else was fast asleep. We opened gifts and exchanged stockings. Addie curled up in my lap and we read all of our Christmas books together. It was so peaceful and gratifying to spend this time with our baby girl on her first of many, many Christmas mornings.

Addie, my Chirstmas wish for you today is to BELIEVE in miracles and small joys that warm your heart during the holidays and your whole life through. Cause baby girl, it truly is a Wonderful Life! Love - Mama

Miss Dolly...

Nana Newton gave Addie this doll for Christmas. Tonight, she and I are hanging out, while Doug is at the Colt's game with all the guys. She would giggle when I would dance with the doll and make it rattle. Poor doll almost lost an arm, Addie chewed on it all evening. She refused to take her early evening nap, but I don't mind because that meant we had more time for girls' night! I am taking in every moment I have with her. The count down is on for my return to work.

Note:

Friends & Family,

Please don't be offended if I start declining offers the next several weeks; I want to be home with my sweet baby girl. These past 4 months have flown by before my very eyes. We are down to days... Ahhh!!!

A Day of Celebration...

At the open house.

Today, Addie was christened at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. We had a huge gathering of family & friends attend the service with us. The church looked amazing in all of it's glory of the Christmas season. They had a 30 piece orchestra play along with the choir. The performance was amazing to say the least. Addie "talked" the entire time of her baptism, but didn't mind the sprinkle of water on her head. She looked so beautiful in her white gown. She is the second generation of "Newton" girls to wear this gown, so it was very special. She conked out cold in my arms for the remainder of the sermon.

After the service everyone headed back to our home for an open house. I will have to say that Doug's and my hard work yesterday, paid off ten-fold today. We put on quite the party and the spread, if I do say so myself! It was so much fun just to sit and visit with the people who mean the most to us. Addie is so very lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful group of family and friends who are committed to seeing that she is raised to be a Christian. The sermon today talked of our cups and how they runith over with all of the blessings in our lives. It is truly a blessing just to wake up each day and live a life as good as ours. Addie will never know just how much she has made our cups runith over.

Addie, may God bless you and guide you with His grace and presence all your days through. Love - Mommy & Daddy

Breakfast with Daddy...

Mush Mouth!

Bottoms up!

A Day of Firsts...

This morning we headed off to daycare! Addie spent a few hours this morning with Miss Kathy while I took care of some business at school. Kathy said she did just great and I feel really good about leaving Addie in her care. When I was packing Addie up into her carseat to leave, she was just smiling at all the other little ones running around. I think she will be very happy watching all the other kiddos. They seem to be very entertaining!

Addie spent the afternoon with another group of little friends... her cousins. Addie got to play with Auntie Julie, Zach and Bria while I went to go get my hair cut and run a few errands. We came home and tonight I introduced Addie to cereal. She didn't quite know what to do with the spoon in her mouth, but I think she liked it overall. Several good gulps made it down the hatch and not on her bib!

A night (or two) out on the town...

We are so proud of Jesse and his accomplishments with his art career. These tiles are his latest creation that are on display at the Red Gallery in down town Savannah. He is an art professor for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Who is this guy? And where are my Mom & Dad? We found this photo opt on River Street and couldn't pass it up!

All of our visitors have arrived. Doug made it back in on Thursday and Amy & Scott flew in Saturday. It is so nice to be surrounded by friends that I haven't seen in so long! Friday was Mandy's 28th birthday. We celebrated all day long. She had gifts at home. We all went for lunch at Locco's. That night a big group of friends met up down town at Mellow Mushroom for pizza and beer.

Saturday we had a big ol' cookout when Amy and Scott arrived around noon. Later on we took them all over Savannah. We visited some of SCAD's art galleries, toured historical Savannah squares and shopped River Street. We raided the candy store where the selection is wonderful and the smells are out of this world! We couldn't resist buying some goodies! The guys didn't mind shopping because Savannah is very laid back with it's "social" laws. Between each shop you can find a bar or a pub. They serve to-go cups and you can carry your beer or wine with you as you shop... this can be very inticing for the reluctant male shopper!

Not the smartest move I've ever made...

Last night we were preparing for the arrival of Doug today. I was straightening up our bedroom and doing laundry. Addie was having some "naked time" on her floormat. She loves to be naked and to kick around on the floor! Well, she ended up peeing all over her blanket and mat... no big deal. I rounded all of the dirty clothes up, including the newly christened articles. I knew I had taken a dirty diaper off of Addie, but I couldn't find it and thought that maybe I had already taken it to the trash can. That's what I get for thinking. When I went to put the laundry in the dryer all of the clothes were covered in a layer of silicone gels beads from the inside of the diaper. What a mess!!! So I guess I won't be shouting the expression "I'm the SMARTEST woman alive!!!" anytime soon.

Christmas Walk...

Angie, Sarah, Mandy and "Meridot"

Last night Mandy and I helped Christy host a holiday open house. Fort Stewart has brand new housing for the families so they decided to sponsor a home tour for families on the base. Christy's house looked wonderful! She is one of those Martha Stewart types that transforms each room of the house into a winter wonderland. I was stationed in the living room and had points of interest to share. My favorite 2 were the family photo and the stockings. The photo is of my great-great-great grandmother, Prudence Jane's 8oth birthday celebration. It has always been a favorite picture of mine that can also be found at my parent's and grandmother's homes. The other fact about the room that I loved sharing with visitors was that the children's stockings were made of material from "the Colonel's" boyhood woobie! This got a chuckle out of most guests!

After the tour ended, we got a chance to visit the other homes on the tour. They were all located on the same block and the families were mengeling with eachother as we walked freely in and out of their homes. All were decorated beautifully, but also had their own distinct taste and style. My favorite decoration I saw was in the front window of a home. They had purchased the "FRAGILE" leg lamp from The Christmas Story... it's was priceless! One common thread in all the homes was the sense of family and accomplishment. Walls and counters were covered with pictures of weddings, births, military balls, promotions and graduations.

We ended the tour at General Lynch's residence. The Commanding General and his wife Sarah seem to be so down to earth and welcoming. There was a group of about 20 ladies that had gathered there with some of their husbands for appetizers and margiritas. But it was the women who stood out in the group. I stood back and realized that I was in a room full of people who's families make the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us. These women are eachother's neighbors, friends, support system and extended family when they are away from their own families and when their husbands are serving. The sisterhood was evident in the exchange of hugs, friendly conversation and warm atmosphere. Most of them move every two years and have half of their worldly possessions in storage somewhere in the US. I just don't know how they do it... they are a rare and very special breed! Being in the military has given their families wonderful experiences of living all over the world, meeting Presidents and delegates and opportunities other families could only dream of, but it is a lifestyle that takes a very strong foundation.

This June many of their loved ones will be deployed to Iraq for the 3rd time in 3 years. My Uncle Mark is among those who will be going back. Please keep not only him, but all of the families of the 3rd ID from Fort Stewart in your thoughts and prayers.

4 Months Old...

Goin' to town! Addie licks, sucks and chews on her new teething ring like it's the best thing she's ever been given. She thinks she's a big girl now, holding her bottle all by herself!

Well, Addie turned 4 months old today! She did two amazing things today that Mandy and I couldn't get over. First of all, she is holding her bottle and feeding herself. She can only do this once the bottle gets down to 2-3 oz remaining, but it's a milestone... I didn't know what to do with my free hand! It's been about 2 weeks since she started holding the bottle alongside your hands when being fed. She would move the bottle to and away from her mouth. Her eyes would bug out as she registered what was happening as the bottle would move back and forth. Today, when she took full control of the feeding, I just cuddled her and feel in love with each of her chumby, tiny fingers and watched in amazement as they held her bottle in place.

Tonight after dinner, Mandy gave her a teether. Addie had a death grip on the teething ring and licked it like it was the best thing she had ever had. This is an amazing reaction coming from a child who at first wouldn't take a bottle very well and who thinks pacifiers taste like poopy flavored lollipops.

Addie continues to amaze everyone around her. Doug and I couldn't be more proud than to call this wonderful gift "our daughter." We look forward to watching her grow over the next months of her exciting first year of life. We will continue to keep in touch so everyone can celebrate her milestones with us.

Christmas Shopping...

In front of the life size gingerbread house at the Hyatt Hotel downtown. It had something like 500 lbs of gingerbread!!!

The past two days we have been all over the Savannah area on the mission of finding unique and well thought out Christmas gifts. Mandy took a half day on Friday and we headed to Byrd's Cookie Company. We spent way too much time and money there, but everything was so gosh darn cute and creative! They are known for their cookies, but they offer a lot more for the kitchen and for the holidays. We ended the night by visiting with Mark, Christy and the kids. They ordered pizza (A staple in the McKnight diet!) and hung out at their house. We celebrated the twins, Ian and Mitchell, earning their Eagle Scout. Mark had us in stiches with his stories, commentary and character accents. It's sometimes hard to believe that he is a leader of forces for the free world and the commanding chief of staff when he is so freakin' hilarious... seriously I burned a lot of calories laughing last night! We got home after midnight.

Today Mandy and I went downtown. We walked through the outdoor stores at City Market and ate at Wild Wings Cafe. We watched some of the Christmas Parade on River Street and went through all the little boutiques. Mom would be proud, we ended our shopping day at Wal-Mart! Tomorrow we are off to Hilton Head Island. Neither of us has been there before and there are two big outlet malls!