It's the Holiday Season...

so boo-be-boop and dippity dop...Or something like that.

New rule for 2010, all shopping for Christmas must be done by Thanksgiving and we will be at home for Christmas morning. We can't have Santa flying all over North Alabama in search of our good little girl. :)

Kate loved all the attention this holiday season. She showed lots of personality around her grandparents and cousins. Her grandma and grandpa Farmer kept her for the 1st time while mommy and daddy went and saw "The Blind Side" movie. It was such a good movie based on a true story. I think Kate enjoyed getting to know mawmaw and pawpaw better as well as them know her.

Our Holidays started when we headed up to Don's family on Wednesday night, then we had Christmas with them and Tabitha's family on Christmas Eve, then Christmas Eve afternoon we headed to my parent's then up to my aunt Becca's for a little Dirty Santa action. Christmas morning we woke up at mom and dad's to our living room full of gifts. Then Christmas afternoon we headed down to my grandmother's for a wonderful meal and more opening of gifts. That night we stayed at my parent's and skyped with Wade and Gretchen. We miss them so much! The next morning we headed back up to the Farmers then to the movies. Sunday the 27th was our nephew Ryan's 4th birthday. We celebrated in Huntsville with a spiderman cake and masks. I love to see the holidays come but also enjoy being back home after they are over. Now we just have to wait patiently for our next big event...THE GAME!

Time Marches On

Last year's picture of Kate with Santa...




This year's picture of Kate with Santa...



Yeah, I had to take a picture of a picture because we don't have a scanner...but you get the point! :) Merry Christmas!

Magical

Here's to hoping your holiday is as magical as Kate's mind was in the picture above!



My grandmother Moore turned 82 years old this past Friday, December 18th. She is truly a very special lady. I am very close to her and life wouldn't be the same without her. She birthed 5 daughters that all beat to their own drum and have incredible amounts of spunk. We celebrated in what was suppose to be a progressive meal but turned into a lasagna meal at my mom and dad's. Here are some pictures from the day:







Kate is really starting to interact with other kids. She was very interested in everything the boys were doing and what toy they had. At one time we tried to get her and Marco on the rocking horse together. She wouldn't hold onto or even touch him. She held her hands up like "Ecck, boy = germs"...we kidded her da-da is teaching her early about boys.

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!

Anyone with preschoolers can recognize that catchy phrase in the title bar. It's a Mickey's Clubhouse song. In the past week, Kate has become a fan along with a fan of cartoons that sing (Yo Gabba Gabba). Kate is real into "bumping" these days. Anytime music comes on she sways from side to side or bounces up and down. We were watching Apologetics Press's Digger Doug the other day and she was swaying her hips from side to side. I am pretty sure that is against the rules. :)

Kate currently has a raging cold. I will say that we have been blessed with a very healthy baby. She really hasn't been sick at all. The doc said she had a little cold at one of her checkups. I figured it was just teething but it was gone in no time. We might be going to the doc sometime next week. I am seriously considering getting her the H1N1 shot this time.

While I am on the Kate subject, I want to admit that I believe she has my personality. She is into everything, loves going places and seeing people, and seems fairly outgoing when she is in her environment. I love to watch her when Petey takes something away from her. The look on her face says how determined she is to get it back. AND she marches over there and generally gets it back. Way to take charge my little Tater!

We are about 70% done Christmas shopping. Next year, the shopping is getting done before Thanksgiving. I really have no excuse. I like shopping and I like people, but the craziness of shopping in the month of December along with the bitter cold weather makes me not care for it much.

I talked with my brother the other night via Skype. We both have new MacBook Pros and it was SO much fun. I really felt like he was so close. I miss him so much around the holidays. I know my parents do too. Our little family doesn't seem complete without Wade and Gretchen. Hopefully they will be coming home after the holidays (and not when Don and I are in California).

One last thing, I was SO happy to see Mark Ingram win Alabama's first Heisman last night. What I liked about his acceptance speech the best was his first statement about thanking God for his abilities. What a sweet, soft spoken guy! Now go help your team bring home a National Championship trophy!



I took this picture of Petey the other day after I had been up for a little while (confession: yes our dog sleeps with us), I guess Petey had a long night or something, he looks a little groggy here. I find it hilarious that Petey starts out under the covers at our feet then ends up with his head out of the covers just like we sleep. :)



And he stretches

Gator Bait = Elephant Peanuts

As you guys know, the Good Guys won today...the Crimson Tide is headed to Pasadena for the BCS National Championship Game!!! AND...Don and I are going!!! This was the reason why I was on a spending freeze. Don and I bought ticket reservations the week before we played LSU. You lose the money if your team does not go. Don had complete faith in our boys! I could not be more excited about going with my boy and some of his college friends! My mom and dad are keeping Kate and Petey. Fun Times Ahead!

Our friends, the Hills, came over and watched the game with us today. We had a great time! Here are pics from today:



The Gang celebrating the victory



Kate confused..."No Kate, we won!" :) (actually she missed her afternoon nap and was DONE here)

New Motto

I guess with time you do learn new things and what makes life easier. I don't know why it takes an occasional slap on the hand sometimes to figure out things. I wanted to share 2 of my new mottos: "Wait for it, Wait for it" and "Must Do Better". I am constantly saying these things in my head. :)

I think this guy might need to trash one of my mottos and hold true to another. :)

Gobble GOBBLE!

We did the usual Thanksgiving festivities. We spent the night with my parents Wednesday, then headed up to Don's aunt's house for a 11:00 meal then back to my parents by 2:30 for another meal. We keep the road HOT! About the meal and my contribution...I actually made a food dish this year, can we say domestication!?! What a difference a year of being home and on a budget has done to "The Farm". Well I am not quite Martha Stewart stature yet, but my Sweet Potatoe Casserole was enough to make you slap your momma over!

We stayed over at my parents that night to watch the Iron Bowl on Friday. It was a very tense game. The Auburn Tigers played well but the Crimson Tide pulled through at the end with a score of 26-21. If we can find a way to beat the Florida Gators this weekend in the SEC Championship Game, we are Pasadena/BCS National Championship Game Bound. You can bet there will be some tension in our house come this Saturday. Also some holding of breath by yours truly. Anywho, here are some pics of Kate with her cousins/2nd or 3rd cousins:




Kate with her Great Uncle Lee and her 2nd or 3rd cousin, Cade (5 months older than her)



Kate with cousins Ryan and Reid and her Pawpaw and a Great Great Aunt :)


OH YEAH, I also bought my Christmas present online...a MacBook Pro. Wooohooo! It should be here sometime this week. I am so excited about having a laptop and that I can use it to skype with my brother in Colorado. Speaking of bro, here is a picture of him (and his lovely wifey Gretchen) watching the Iron Bowl in Denver...I like how when people move off, it intensifies their love for the sports back home.

Don't Stop...Believing...

We loaded up the Chevy and headed to T-town this past weekend for Kate's very 1st Bama game. Due to the possibility of every type of weather situation you can imagine, we dressed in layers and brought sun hats and toboggans. As you can tell in the pictures, Kate's sun hat was a slight bit small. :) Kate loved crowd watching, just like her momma and Mamey. We stayed until the end of the 3rd quarter (Bama ended up winning 45-0 over UTC) then left to meet a realtor to look at some property. I think we are back to square one on the property situation as all the property we looked at this weekend was 20+ acres that could not be subdivided. We would love 3-10 acres, but 20 just seems excessive to us because we don't plan to have cows or farm the land (unlike Don's ancestors).

Oh yeah, and I saw New Moon this past weekend with some church friends. It was SO much better than the first one. I guess that goes to show what a bigger budget can do for you. I NEVER thought I would get into anything vampire related. I think the romance is what turned me on to it. I love a good romance. I was watching the author of that book on Oprah the other day and she said it was a dream she had one night. Can you imagine having a dream that turned you into a millionaire? I think the real question is what type of activities did the author partake in before going to sleep that night. I mean really!?!

We are excited about our upcoming Thanksgiving activities. Lots of spending time with family, eating, and watching football. Roll Tide Roll! Blog title refers to our belief in the Crimson Tide. :)



We're #1! We're #1!



Kate and her Sweet Pop



Kate with Mamey and Pop

**One more thing of note, Kate got her 2 back lower molars in last week. Yay(sarcastically)! :)

Cougar Baby

We saw little Colton Key Monday night at UAB. He was born Saturday, November 14th in the 9o'clock a.m. hour. Weighed 5lbs10.8oz and like 19 1/2 inches long. He entered this world a little early because his mommy was showing signs of preclampysia. She also was considered high risk because of a blood clotting factor she has. They induced Friday night in the 6'clock hour. After about 15 hours of labor, an emergency C-section was done because his heart rate would decrease with contractions. Later they found out that was due to the cord being wrapped around his neck. Colton is no other than a rich blessing from God. He was prayed about for many years. Thank you God! And thank you for Kelly recovering well from surgery. Here is a picture of my giant and lil bitty Colton...



Of course the title of this blog refers to Kate being interested in Colton as the older baby. :)

I snapped a picture of Kate and her friend Jake in Cradle Roll class last night. I came in and this is how the dads were sitting...so cute!

Something to Talk About...

This past weekend was crazy yet fun. It took us our whole day of rest to recover. Kate, Petey, and mine started Thursday afternoon when we headed up to my parents only to drop Petey off and pick my mom up. We then headed to Superior Grill on Hwy 280 to meet a high school friend and her mom. It was fun just catching up and Kate did great. While we were there a huge group of LSU fans came in all decked out in purple and gold wearing Mardi Gras beads. There were all loud and cheering. I couldn't believe they felt that comfortable in enemy territory. Crazy if you ask me! We spent the night with my parents that night and Don was left home as a bachelor. He didn't even go to sleep early...what was he thinking? So Friday morning, Mom, Kate and I headed over Pine Mountain to Homestead Hollow in Springville. I seriously haven't been there since I was like 8 years old. All I can remember was eating sweets and watching some young girls clog. I thought the clogging was the coolest thing ever. I didn't spot them this time though. There were rows and rows of Arts and Crafts along with old fashioned houses and scenery. The weather was perfect too. We all met my grandmother, 3 aunts, 2 cousins, and 2 great grandkids (not including Kate) over there. It was fun just having all of us together before Thanksgiving. Mom and I didn't buy anything but my aunts and cousins sure loaded up. I am on a spending freeze unless it is for someone else for Christmas. I will blog later about the reason for my spending freeze. :) So after Homestead Hollow, we went and ate Mexican then headed back to my parents. There we all took naps. After the nap, Don called to tell me he lined up eating out with some good friends at Costas Mediterranean food. Sounded good to me but that meant hitting the ground running. And that is exactly what we did. We enjoyed catching up with the Hills and then home for rest.

Saturday morning, Don left early to meet a buddy that was in town from Pensacola for golf. I met his wife for lunch with some other friends. After lunch, she headed over to our house where we watched the Alabama/LSU game. What a slugfest! Thankfully the good guys won! Wooohooo! Then after that game a bunch of other friends joined us at the house where I made some chili and we watched FSU play Clemson. Everyone left close to the end of that one.

Sunday morning was church then a long afternoon nap followed by more church. We were SO worn out! What a great weekend.

We don't have much planned for this weekend. Mom and my grandmother are coming over Friday and we are going to go look for some property for Don and I's future home. Saturday will probably be some football watching and maybe visiting Colton Key (we'll see)! Don and I so anxious to see how the end of this football season plays out. Sunday we have church and a housewarming party.

Here are some pics from recent happenings:

Filled With Emotion

1 year ago I brought my sweet baby girl home from the hospital. She came 6 weeks and 5 days early. I wasn't prepared for that. She is our first baby and I am still learning the ropes of being a mother. Yesterday I pulled some pictures off my phone from Kate's 1st month. I got emotional as I downloaded each one. I am now as I type this. It is the weirdest feeling in the whole world to have a part of you pulled from you and then to leave the hospital without that precious baby that had been with you for 8+months. You feel as if she doesn't belong to you when you ask the nurses if you can hold her and when she ate last and when her last diaper was changed. I am not sure if it would have been easier for me if it was my second child that stayed in the NICU rather than my first. I remember breaking down the day I left her in the hospital. I will never forget that feeling. I wasn't expecting it but it came on very strong. I guess I was full of emotion because I felt like this wasn't how it was suppose to be. Kate was to leave the hospital when we did. She did great in the NICU but I hated going up there. I never felt as if I handled her correctly or got enough time with her. It was very hard for the first 2 weeks for me to walk the parking deck, go up to elevators and then walk the long halls to the NICU due to my C-section. We could only go at certain times and visitors even less then that. I called multiple times to check in on her and make sure she didn't have any destats (when her heart rate when drop unexpectedly, but luckily she always pulled herself out on her own). I never felt like I washed my hands enough. I saw other parents kiss their babies but I wouldn't even touch Kate's hand for fear of her getting some kind of illness that she could not fight. Don and I both took turns of getting sick with raging colds and we both couldn't see her for 4 days at a time. Then we were told she was to come home after 3 weeks of being in the NICU. We were so excited yet so scared. The day we were to get her, her nurse calls very early in the morning. Her first statement is "Mrs. Farmer, everything is alright with Kate, but she did have a braidy last night and she will need to stay 7 more days for us to monitor her." As you can imagine my heart dropped to the floor. We were so close to having her home and our life to move on but, it wasn't time for Kate. Luckily, little Miss Kate came home with us 6 days from then...Election Day 2008. I was so very uptight. Things have calmed majorly since then. Our girl at her 1 year checkup was 21 lbs and 29 inches long. That is the 50% and not adjusted for her being a preemie. She has come a long one from her entrance into the world at 4 lbs 8 ounces and 16 and 1/2 inches long. Confession: I didn't take alot of pictures from her first month because I didn't want other people to see them and think I had a sick baby. She wasn't sick, just needed some time to develop. Here are a few pictures from Kate's first month:

All Hallows’ Eve

If you haven't guessed, we were Jon & Kate + Kate. We enjoyed ourselves over at Kayne and Taylor Swift's crib (see here). Thank you Brooke and Rick!

So I just watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and squalled my eyes out. I wasn't prepared for that. Can you imagine if you grew young while everyone else grew old? Wow! I have often thought of what it will be like on this earth when only my children and hopefully grandchildren left. My parents, my husband, and my friends gone. Anyway, good movie. Rent if you haven't.

Keep the Babies Coming...Along with the Wins Over Rocky Top!

Can we cram more in one week's time?....probably not! :) Last week Don was in Houston all week for training so midweek I headed up to my parent's house. On the way though I stopped and had some birthday cake with one of our favorite 6 year olds, Baylee Southern. Crazy how much that girl can change in 2 years time. She went from a babyish face to looking like a little girl. No pictures from that but she is a cute little redhead (Oldest) in the picture with Kelly (and pumpkins) below. Our other favorite 6 year old Hayleigh Dyer (pictured holding the water bottle in that same picture with Kelly)also turned 6 in October. She also has changed tremendously in the last few years. She is a beautiful young lady. So we made out way to my parent's.

The next day, dad and I took Kate to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden. What a beautiful drive over looking at God's wonderful creations. Kate couldn't do much at the Pumpkin Patch but we did ride in the wagon out to the pumpkin patch and back then we let her ride a little pony just her size. Dad walked alongside her and it was SO stinkin cute! She didn't smile the whole time or care to touch the pony's mane. I think she had a good time. After many pictures and some good eats, we left. Next year we might have to try to the Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch in Clanton. See how they compare.





Friday my mom was off work so we made food for the Key's baby shower and ran errands all over town. That night I headed up to Keri's house to paint pumpkins that we were going to use as decorations throughout the house for the shower. We did an Auburn one, a Starbucks one, a Zebra one, a leopard one, a baby "It's a boy" one, a sports theme one, a polka dots, and a striped one. They all turned out SO cute! Each represented things that Kelly and Ryan like besides the cute polka dot and striped ones, those are staples. :) Don flew in that night from Houston and met us over there. The Farm was all so happy to have him home.




Saturday we had to get ready early for a noon photo shoot for Kate's one year. We had already done one but the weather did not cooperate as well as Kate's smile. :) I think we got some really cute ones this time though. After that we headed to Tazikis for a yummo pork sandwich then home to watch the Bama/Tennessee game. Because Tennessee has a new coach that has talked alot of Preseason Smack we were anxious to really put them in there place. I had to leave before halftime to head over to Keri's to help setup for the shower where we were expecting 60+ people. Don was suppose to come at halftime. Let me back up a minute. This shower was for Kelly and Ryan Key on the arrival of their bouncing boy Colton Christopher Key. Kelly and Ryan have been waiting patiently on this child for 4.5 years and after alot of ups and downs they are within 1 month of meeting him. SO EXCITING!





The shower was a major success. They got some many wonderful things. Probably the most special had come a few months earlier from Keri and Brooke. Kelly's mom passed away unexpectedly a few months after Ryan and Kelly got married. Keri and Brooke secretly gathered some soft denim jeans and teeshirts when her dad donated the clothes to a China mission at church. Keri had another friend, Ashley Williams' mom piece together a quilt for Kelly and baby Colton. It was perfect with lots of little pockets for Colton to hide his toys. Here is a picture of the quilt that represents Grandmother Barbie...


What a special gift from precious friends!

Keri counted 82 people at the shower (that included guys because it was a couple's baby shower). Crazy!

Thankfully for my husband's and my frame of mind Bama won their game but it was a crazy nailbiter where Terrence "Mount" Cody blocked a fieldgoal that would have put Tennessee ahead as time expired. Final score 12-10.

Sunday we had church and afterwards we had a shower for the upcoming birth of Miss Cadance Simmons. She belongs to Carl and Cheryl. They are due on November 24th, which was Kate's due date. After Kate there was a drought of little girls. There has been 4 (if you include Colton) since Kate. Kate is looking forward to Miss Cadance as a play buddy. I didn't take any pictures from that shower. My mind was by that time very exhausted and not thinking clearly.

Overall, great weekend!



A picture from last Monday of Mom, Kate and Petey walking on wooded trail in Mountain Brook:

Sweet Child of Mine and A Reflection on 10 Years

This past Friday I was asked to reflect back on what has taken place in my life in the last 10 years (10 year high school reunion). We were also asked to predict what will take place in the next 10 years. Lets see what has happened for me in the last 10 years...went to college - Roll Tide, graduated with my Master of Accountancy, married my sweet husband Don, moved from T-town to Birmingham, built a new house, began a job for the largest accounting firm in the world, passed my CPA exam, found a wonderful church family, worked my behind off for 4 years, and had a sweet bundle of joy 1 year ago. In between all of that lots of trips all over the continental US, Jamica, Carribean cruise, and New Zealand. What do I expect for the next 10 years? I would hope more babies and enjoying the simple things in life. And maybe starting my own business and become independently wealthy. :) What a wonderful life I have! I am truly blessed!

Oneonta High School Class of 1999 (1/3):



Kate eating mashing potatoes by herself:



Good Morning Beautiful, How was Your Night (Notice tip TIP toes):





SO EXCITED!: