firsts....

on thursday trace went to see mrs. debbie for his FIRST HAIRCUT!!!! i thought he would be scared, but he wasn't! he sat in my lap and was such a big boy!!! i'm so proud :) btw, he has this cowlick in the front... it's so cute. i'm sure you've noticed it in the other pics, right? and he has this rooster tail thing (cowlick) in the back that likes to stand up too. that's ok... they're cute! and they add to his wonderful, charming, sweet, handsome personality!!!

I'm so big now!!

Mr. Personality!!

showing off my new do!!

so not only did trace get his first haircut, he got to see his first SNOW on saturday!!! yay :) although i woke up and saw no snow on the ground, a few hours later it started to cover the yard! once it stopped snowing we bundled trace up and took him outside to see what the fuss was all about! bitsy brought over a sled and insisted we use it, at least to get a few pics!! then we let trace crawl around in the snow, and play with a few snowballs! the last thing we did was make a snow angel on the car! it was so much fun. well, to trace it was probably just wet and cold. but to his mommy and daddy, it was a day to remember!! we must have worn him out, because he took a 3 hour nap after playing so hard in the snow!!

Trace's 1st Snow!!
wheeeeeee!!! sledding down the hill!
is this snow mommy?


my snow baby angel!!!

be still...

and know that I AM GOD!! wow, GOD IS GOOD. sometimes i find myself so overwhelmed that i forget to notice the "small things." the other nite i was in the kitchen trying to do dishes. trace wanted to be all up in my space, and i kept tripping over him or stepping on his little hands. so i saw the closest thing to me, which was nate's guitar case. i thought, this will distract him for a while... all the shiny stickers, surely they will keep him entertained so i can do the dishes. and it did the trick! trace crawled up and down the case, in it, out of it, everywhere. it was so cute. so i got busy watching him and decided the dishes could wait til later. then nate comes in and gets his guitar out and starts playing it. he was singing "holy is the lord" and " glorious", 2 really great praise and worship songs. the whole while trace was just so curious with nate's guitar (and case!) when he hears his daddy playing it is like his whole world just stops. trace gets in a daze and is totally focused on his daddy. it was the sweetest thing. i just wanted to cry! nate probably didn't realize what was going on, to him he was just having a little jam session. but to me, it was my 2 boys. praising god with everything they had in them. in the kitchen floor!! the dirty, messy kitchen, with dishes piled in the sink. it makes me wanna cry just thinking about how sweet it was. the whole time i just kept thinking, is this real? is this my life, god? are these the 2 most favorite, precious boys in my life? yep, he said. this is real. this is your life. these are the blessings i have given you.

wow, it hit me so hard. so next time you are trying to clean, and your sweet baby wants your attention, give it to him. stop doing the dishes, b/c i can guarantee you, they can wait. and they aren't near as important as that sweet moment, which started for me as just trying to distract trace. i know i am kinda rambling, but maybe you were able to get something from this post. if it didn't speak to you, that's ok. you can still share in the sweet pics... and if i can figure out how to post the videos later, then i will.

GOD IS SO GOOD.

ALL THE TIME!

some things will never change!

new year, but same great baby!

and same great smile! love this sweet angel boy!!!!

baby's first christmas!

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14

finally! trace's first christmas could not have been better. take a look and you'll see that he really racked up! it's because he has been such a good boy! =) the only thing that wasn't "picture perfect" is trace and i were sick... we both have been battling a head cold and cough for about 3 weeks. trace got some medicine and is finally feeling better. mommy, on the other hand, went thru 7 days of antibiotics and is still sick. ok back to christmas. we had a fun day, but it was so busy... we did presents at meme and g-daddy's christmas eve, then a candlelight communion service at church. christmas morning we woke up to see that santa had come to visit! then we went to bitsy and poppi's and had brunch and opened more presents, then we were off to huntsville for the evening. long day but lots of fun! we continue to be blessed each and every day. nate and i are very excited to start 2008 and see what god has in store for our family! praise the lord for blessing us beyond measure!

who's gonna clean up this MESS???

9 months!!!

can u believe it?? trace is 9 months old!! we went for his check up and he weighs 18 lbs 8 oz and is 28 1/2 in! what a healthy little man we have! dr. miller says he is just above the 50th % but everything is measuring great! i love this pic of him... he is showing us all 7 of his SHARP little teeth. how do i know they are sharp you ask? hmmmm. b/c his favorite thing to do is grab me with both hands and act like he is loving on me but really he is trying to leave me some love bites!! but he is such a sweet baby and we couldn't be more thankful for all the joy he brings us!

the next pic isn't near as cute... but i never post anything but pics of the babies! so here is mommy and daddy, getting ready to go to nate's work christmas party. meme watched trace so we had a date nite! it was fun getting all dressed up, but man, my feet hurt at the end of the nite from the 3 inch heals!! but they sure did look good!

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE!

sooooo here are the long awaited (naked!) SANTA BABY pics of TRACE! isn't he the cutest? we are loving dressing him up in all the christmas gear - so fun! we are so excited about trace's first christmas... can u tell?? most of these pics are courtesy of meme. wow. doesn't she get the best ones? and she has a house full of babies... wonder how she does it! i guess that's what makes meme (and bitsy!) so special, they can do things mamas could only dream about doing!!

ok, so anyways... hope you enjoy the christmas pictures! the kids were (for the most part) absolutely great and we were able to get some good pics to use for our christmas cards. if you are reading this and don't get a card in the mail, just consider this your extra special HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS card! love - nate, jamie, and trace

he'll probably hate us for this pic one day, but we just love it! (thanks meme!)

i LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!!

kenley (will be a yr old Dec 13!)

caden - what a NUT!

laura grace (la-la) is soooo beautiful!

trace is thinking... an ornament - FOR ME??

YAY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

so happy!!

i love this one too... trace looks so stinking CUTE!!! don't ya think??