Ginger

Very quickly I want to introduce the newest member of our extended family, Ginger. She is our new neice, acquired by my sister, Amy, and her family on Saturday. I was honored to meet her today and am smitten already with this little 8-week-old Labradoodle.

Although sleepy and resting quietly when I arrived, she quickly perked up and displayed her immerging "fetch" skills. She can't quite fit the tennis ball in her mouth yet, but she can carry it by a stringy-string-string.

Leash-walking is not a strength yet, but hey, she's still getting used to people in general. And she is very cute when she rebels.

Welcome to the family, Ginger. Love your human Uncle, Aunt and Cousin and your 2 furry ones.

Al's Wedding Shower

This is Alison. Everyone, say "Hi, Alison". Good. She is one of my very best friends, and is getting married in March. She honored me greatly by asking me to be a bridesmaid and Adalynn to be her Flower Girl. We both said "Yes", and then I prayed that Adalynn would be walking by then.
Thank God she is.


This is Hilary, Alison's bestest friend and her Maid of Honor. Today, Hilary and Molly (they are sisters, Molly is also a bridesmaid) hosted a Bridal Shower in Alison's honor. Hilary graciously opened up her very cute house to Alison's girls and put out a delicious spread of food.

Hilary and Molly introduced a new "game". We all wrote down a precious memory of Alison, and then they read them in intervals throughout the shower. Alison then had to guess who wrote that particular memory.

I couldn't think of one....except the time she visited me in Nashville. Guess the time she introduced me to my husband didn't stand out. I blame the pregnancy brain.
Alison opened her gifts. Many kitchen supplies. A KitchenAid Stand Mixer that she will LoVe. A lot of placemats, napkins, and flexible cutting boards (for cutting or kitty placemats?). And other fun stuff.

For being a good sport with the game, she recieved trendy, bright red, and very useful passport holders for her and her fiance, Jesse that they can use when they go on their honeymoon to the tropics.

Soon and very soon, Al!

Adalynn... +1?

Walking into Adalynn's room used to be somewhat chaotic.


Chaotic. And messy. And pieced together. And the wrapping paper that I hide under the crib is showing. Hmm. Just noticed that. ANYWAY...


Ok, really, enough of that. I can't look at it anymore.

So, which a lot of you now know if you got (and READ) our Christmas card, we are expecting little "Nubby" Masselink in July. (So when he's older I'm sure he'll be upset we called him that, but later I'll post the first ultrasound...and really, he was nubby. And cute. But still nubby.) Because of Adalynn's brother/sister joining us, we decided that we are going to make them bunk together for a little while. Hahaha, poor kids.

To prepare Adalynn we decided to try to transition her into a toddler bed. So she helped me put it up.

And then got stuck.

And then got upset, and made the cutest "I'm upset, MooooooooM! Help Me!" face.

So I did. And this is how the room turned out:

I've got to say, I feel a lot more comfortable with this room then I did with the way it was before. It's somewhat decluttered and more kid friendly.

And Adalynn really does love her bed.

Unfortunately, the first night didn't go so hot. Aunt Amy, who so kindly let us borrow this bed, initally neglected to pass along the siderails. Adalynn is a very wild sleeper. By 10pm Travis had readjusted her once. By 12am Travis checked on her, and she was on the floor, about 3 feet away from the bed, and facing the opposite direction...still sleeping very soundly.

So I called Aunt Amy and asked what she did, and lo and behold, she dug up her siderails and ever since Adalynn has been a happy little camper, snuggled deeply under her covers. Last night I think she even slept with her head on the pillow all night. Diagonal, but still on the right side of the bed.

Oh baby, stop growing up so fast!

Holidays 2008 Wrap-Up

The Year Charlie Brown Visited Us

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So it's done. Over. Finished....and our life is finally getting back to the way it was before Christmas lights, trees, presents, wrapping paper, FOOD, and the Craziness that accompanies it all.

This is my adorable niece. Is her hat not the cutest ever?!?

After New Years Eve (which I already confessed to pathetically sleeping through), we had 1 more opportunity to fly our christmas colors with the annual Masselink Christmas Party. Looking back, I only shot pictures of the kids tearing open gifts and the adults participating in the annual gift exchange.

The kids. They *love* gift opening, don't they?

Then they were banished downstairs. And we started OuR party.

I won't bore you with the details. I think Jeff just said it all.

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So this year, the Masselink party was a two-fer. On Sunday the girls met over at Laura's house for Jenny's baby shower, while the guys trekked to Ed and Deb's house to watch, in awe, football on their *awesome* new TV.

I don't have pictures of the guys, as being a girl I obviously attended the shower.

This is Jenny. She is very possibly one of the sweetest people I know. And will make a fabulous mother to the baby boy in her belly. ETA: Febuary 10, although we have bets that he may arrive sooner.

Laura graciously hosted the shower at her house, newly outfitted with gorgeous carpet. Scott and Laura have done an awesome job on their house since they got married, their hard work shows. Lisa and Laura decorated it SO cute for a lil baby boy, too.

The food tasted delicious, I had to complete multiple taste tests, and everything passed.

There were games, because what is a shower without games? Elaina, good job on explaining them. You have a grand future in public speaking, girl.

And presents. And more presents. :) I have to show this quilt off. Aunt Karie has created these beautiful-beyond-words quilts for new babies as her special contribution into their life. And she makes them for special occasions. And any other occasion that may call for a great quilt. And we love them. But really, I just had to show it off because she is just awesome.

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So now, the holidays are really over. And I just have a pile of lovely christmas ornaments and trinkets and a few red boxes to pack them away in. I feel at peace. I love Christmas, but I love the peace that follows too. Yaknowwhatimean?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

The highlight of this New Year's was, for me, seeing Vanderbilt win their first bowl game since the 50's. Good job, 'dores.

Unfortunately, we have no fun pictures of this New Year to show off. I was sick in bed, Adalynn was sick and running around, and Travis was holding down the fort. Not a whole lotta fun.

But, we hope for a better and healthier New Year, for us and everyone around us. Love y'all!