Baby Bailey

In October, we went to Chattanooga to see our new niece, Bailey Anne! She was born on the 14th to Zach's sister Marissa and her husband Ashley. I know these are a little late, seeing as how the baby was born over a month ago, but here they are!

 Sweet little close-up

 Uncle Zach & Bailey

Ella, Aunt Ashley & Bailey

(...and I've had my hair done since then! No more root rot) :)

I finally asked Zach to send me these photos that have been in his phone for over a month. It took him about a minute to send them to me, ha! He also uploaded some of Mamaw Ruth's photos, and we're going to get together soon and edit them. As they say, "Better late than never!"

Life is great lately!! I survived our trio on Sunday morning. I didn't just survive, I had a great time doing it! I knew everything was going to be ok when I started up the stage and felt happy. Not nervous, not like I was on the verge of throwing-up, but HAPPY. I even got to watch it, since my sweet Mom recorded it for me. I always say I don't want to watch the recording, but when it's all done, I'm dying to see how I sounded/looked. It's a girl thing, I guess.

Since my last post, Zach's Grandma had had a stroke this past week. She is still at UAB recovering, but I cannot believe how well she is doing under the circumstances. She's definitely a "scrapper," as Zach would say. I took off from work at noon on Friday and Zach & I headed to the hospital. When we walked into her room in NICU, she was talking and laughing. You wouldn't believe she had been through all that she had just a day before. We all hope that she will be back home and back to her old self by next week...which is Thanksgiving, and I CANNOT believe that!!

I am so ready to spend time with family, eat to my heart's content, get up super early and shop 'til I drop, get our Christmas tree, and decorate our house for the season! This is one of my favorite weeks of the year! It starts on Monday with our sanctuary choir's Thanksgiving dinner and early rehearsal for our Christmas program. I'm going to take half the day off from work that day, so that will be nice. We always have a "soup and fixins" dinner, so it's a nice change from turkey & dressing, which (don't get me wrong) I love! Then, we always have a full day on Thursday with about 3 stops. I love it! On Friday morning, I'll wake up at about 3:00 or so and hit the shops with Mom, Deb & I think we'll have a couple more join us this year. I'm also looking forward to the Iron Bowl. We may not win it, but it should be an exciting game.

Today after work, we're headed to a photographer's studio (Moments in Time by Amie Martin) for family portraits. Mom & Dad won a gift certificate for their anniversary last month, so we're taking advantage of it. This will be the first photo of ALL of us as a family, since Zach and I were married. We have plenty of portraits of just the four of us, but none with Zach. I'm looking forward to it...Zach may not be, but I am. :) I just love this time of year! It's busy, but it's always fun.

Youth choir is going very well! The kids are so excited about their Christmas program. We assigned speaking/solo parts this past Sunday, and they're all so excited. I wish that some adults would get as excited about being involved in church as those sweet kids are. We would announce who had a certain speaking part in the play, or who had the next solo in a song, and their little eyes would just light up. Most adults would just gripe and complain. It really makes you think, doesn't it?