Hurricane Rita Damage

We just can't believe all the trees that are down and how much damage is still there 3 months later. Ken helped his Dad one day while Coralee & I visited with my family. I was worried about his safety all day but he didn't have any close calls until I was already back to the house. It's a good thing that I wasn't out there!

More Sit & Spin

Ken's parents have a room full of toys from his niece & nephew spending the summer here. Coralee loved the Sit & Spin at a friend's house so she was really excited to see one again. She wasn't quite as awkward as she was when she was just learning to walk.

Jewelry

Mom had beads out for the cat but Coralee thought they were too much fun. She did a great job putting them around her neck but wasn't quite as successful getting them off. Of course, I thought her unhappiness was pretty cute!

Christmas with the Cottons

After visiting with my family, we went to Ken's grandparents. Coralee was pretty tired at this point but not too tired to play with her new baby doll. She had fallen asleep on our way there and snuggled with her Daddy in the recliner for a little bit.

Christmas #2 with Grammy & Paw Paw

The next day we went out to Mom & Bubba's. Coralee thoroughly enjoyed the new pond and fish. Again, she refused to open presents. Her favorite thing was meeting their new cat, Ginger.

Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa

We decided to go ahead and leave on the 26th to visit family. It took a lot of work to get everything together. I went shopping in the morning to hit the sales and Ken worked on laundry. We packed once I got home and left when Coralee woke up from her nap. We got to Ken's parents around 9:00 and Santa had some presents for her! She wouldn't wait for Mary to get the rocking puppy dog's eyes, ears and nose attached. She instantly knew what to do with it. After opening gifts the day before she was far from interested that day. She had a lot of fun with the bell Keegan & Gyorgyi sent from London... after all, the world does revolve around her!

Christmas with the Browns

We went over to Scott & Teresa's to let the kids exchange gifts. Coralee loved Jared's Christmas presents and of course, the dogs! They were a little rough with each other but Jared was also very sweet and helpful. They came over to the house for dinner afterwards which was great since we were able to eat Christmas dinner with such good friends.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day at home was so much fun. It was so neat to see everything through Coralee's eyes. She was so excited about everything and did a great job opening her presents and wanted to open ours as well. We ate french toast for breakfast and pretty much kept Coralee on her normal nap schedule. That gave us time to clean up a little and get Christmas dinner started.

Christmas Eve at Home

We tried to read "The Night Before Christmas" and the Christmas story from the children's Bible. Apparently sitting through church was all the sitting she was interested in doing for the evening. We got a nice picture of Coralee & I reading The Night Before Christmas but it didn't last long! She was a real wiggle worm with her Daddy. Maybe next year we'll be able to do those traditions!

Christmas Eve Service at Church

She did really well during the service. Of course we had a paci and books so she was entertained. I don't think I could get anything out of the service if we brought her every week. She's so cute that she's quite the distraction! We took some pictures of Coralee with one of the Christmas trees at church. The cutest thing, though, was Coralee with a friend's little boy in the sleigh.

Ready for Church

Coralee was too cute with her curlers... Ken counted.... there were 10. He was amazed that she had enough hair for 10! Of course, I didn't leave them in all that long and her hair was pretty straight by the time we got to church.

Making Cookies with Mommy

We made cookies on Christmas Eve. She had fun with the rolling pin and cutting out the cookies. Coralee greatly enjoyed eating the dough... don't worry... they were butter cookies and didn't have any eggs! We made a giant mess with sprinkles and Daddy had to get out the vacuum cleaner. We think that was Coralee's first real experience with the vacuum. I think she'll be ready to take over that chore soon!

Coralee's New Ride

There was a little miscommunication about whether I was picking up the car or if Mom was getting it in Beaumont. So, we sent Ken & Bubba to Toys R Us to find it on Thursday. They found the pink/purple version... a princess must have a pink car! She knew exactly where everything went.... sat in it while Ken was putting it together and put the steering wheel where it belonged. She was far from patient waiting for him to get finished. She had a blast driving it around the back yard. Just being out there made us realize how much we needed to do some work out there! Good project for the new year!

Our Anniversary

We had a picture taken by the Christmas tree before we left for the night. After so many anniversaries waiting for a baby, it's so neat to see toys at the bottom of the picture. The holidays have been so exciting this year with her being mobile and enjoying everything (well, except for Santa). We stayed at the Mansion at Judges Hill and ate dinner at the restaurant there. As much as we love Coralee, it was kind of nice to not have to chase her for an evening. We laughed because the restaurant had high chairs in the back. We couldn't imagine ever taking her there! We're quite sure that they were there for weddings.

Christmas with Grammy & Paw Paw

My parents came up to stay the night with Coralee for our anniversary. Coralee had presents under the tree from them that we bought the day after Thanksgiving. She wasn't all that interested in opening them but was really happy with her Fisher Price castle.

Bells at the Capitol

Our handbell group rang at the Capitol on the 21st. It's always such a fun experience and thankfully we did really well that day! Ken and Coralee came as well. He took her to look around and obviously she was a little wiggly! She zonked out during the performance and took a nice little nap in the stroller before we went for lunch. We'd been so busy she really needed the extra sleep!