Seven Pounds

Courtney is at Mama Lyn's house so Todd and I got to go to dinner and a movie tonight. We saw 'Seven Pounds' on the strength of the Will Smith name alone - we knew absolutely nothing about the film and boy were we glad. Figuring out the plot was a lot of fun. I highly recommend this film - we really enjoyed it.

My Family Christmas Part 2

This is part of Christmas photo-taking. My brother Breck and his wife Jen came after Christmas to our house to celebrate, and here is a photo of all of us taken with the trusty tripod. Unfortunately I don't have pics of My Family Christmas, Part 1, in Asheville. In all the childoproofing, baby-chasing-dog, wrapping-paper-shredding, I forgot to pose a group shot of my father and stepmother with us.

Christmas

Christmas Eve in front of the fireplace.
Courtney Christmas morning, enjoying her new toys.

Trip Home - 13 Hours

Not on anyone's top ten list of things to do - drive 13 hours with a 1-year-old. We did it on the 23rd coming home from Asheville to Jackson. Hour one was the worst - I-40 goes through a mountain pass and Curtain Climber got carsick, depositing her breakfast all over herself, the carseat and the car. Mommy felt a bit sick herself after that. I crawled into the back seat to clean her up and help her - we couldn't stop right away because through the pass there are no exits, so we kept going to Sevierville, TN, and stopped there at the trusty McDonald's playland (our 2nd visit there this trip alone). We changed her clothes and our attitudes and kept going. One of Todd's best ideas EVER is tossing a roll of paper towels into the back seat on any car trip. You just don't think about the multitude of ways those can be used until you really need them. Courtney was fussy but watched Baby Einstein and we all sang songs (went through the kids song CD twice!) to keep her calmed down. But truly, she couldn't have behaved any better if she had had a halo. After 10 hours of riding, we spent an hour in Meridian at the Chik Fil A play land (by the way they have diaper changing stations in the mens room there - they have won a lifelong fan in me!) and by then it was her bedtime, and she slept the final couple of hours home. We left Asheville at 8 a.m. Mississippi time and got home 8:45 p.m. Mississippi time, so it was more than 12.5 hours.

It's Cold Here in Asheville!

The temperature is in the 30's here in Asheville, but the whipping wind makes it feel like much colder. Today Courtney, Todd and Grandaddy took a 10 minute walk and that was enough! Here they are bundled up.

Playplace

I am going to rant here. We have never been so thankful for a McDonald's Playplace as we were today on our trip. We stopped there for an hour and let Courtney blow off steam before getting back on the road. She and we had never played at a McDonald's playground before, and they are great. They're indoors and have a variety of things for all ages. But here's my rant. Todd took her into the bathroom to change her diaper and they don't have diaper changing facilities in the mens' rooms at McDonalds! What? So I had to take her into the ladies room for a diaper change. I mean you might expect it at other restaurants but at McDonalds, come on! That really jangled my chain. Here she is enjoying the Playplace.

On the Road

We have spent the better part of a day traveling to Asheville, N.C. to see my father and stepmother. Courtney has been a surprisingly peaceful travel companion! We spent the night Friday in Ft. Payne, AL, and the rest of the way on Saturday.

Counting

Courtney thinks it's fun when we count to three. We do it a lot of course - on the count of three remove her shirt over your head - on the count of three pick her up - etc. So often she'll say "one" and want us to say two and three....and she sometimes joins in on the three. Here's video.

The Bigscreen

Santa came to our house early this year and brought this big screen, which makes Todd really really happy. Paco also helped Santa out by making the slot in our entertainment cabinet bigger so it would fit. (Courtney loves the box this thing came in!)

Todds Family Christmas

Tonight Todd's sister Kim, her husband Charles, and Todds father Mike, came over and we celebrated Christmas with them. Kim was in town showing her dogs at a dog show, so it worked out that everyone could be here at the same time. Here's Courtney playing with Pop (and she can say 'Pop'), and below, Todd and Charles and Mike and Courtney. I just realized I did not get Kim in a single photo - sorry Kim!

Christmas Photo Session Gone Awry

Mama Lyn and I tried to take Christmas photos of Courtney today, but did not get anything special. So I'll use some photos from earlier in November for the holiday cards. Here's the best that I got. She was extremely interested in the Christmas lights, and I was allowing her to play with them only because of the photos, but that was a disaster because she stepped on a light bulb and broke it and the sole of her foot bled through her stockings. So lesson learned!