This Ain't Her First Rodeo...

....well, actually, it is. Saturday night we took the Princess for her first trip to the rodeo!! She was HORRIBLE at the restaurant beforehand, so we didn't hold out much hope for staying too long at the rodeo. (She literally screamed at the poor little waitress when she tried to take our menus.) On top of the lovely attitude, it was stinkin' COLD at the arena with no real walls to speak of. We had jackets, mind you, but we needed parkas and electric blankets.

My butt is still thawing out from sitting on that tiny little ice cube.

Looking at the Moo Cows!!

The Mutton Bustin' Contest!
Abigail was dying to get out there. Maybe next year...

Eating her french fries, since she didn't eat at the restaurant...

And this is how we spent the majority of the night!

At least it was warm!!

Towards the end, she was getting a little delirious, and everything was so funny!!

All in all, she seemed to enjoy herself, and who really needs to go out and eat, anyway??

Fishin'!!

Okay, so the first pic has nothing to do with fishing, but I think you'll enjoy it nonetheless!!

As you can see, Miss Abigail is trying to steal a kiss from her boyfriend, Jackson!!

And as you can also see, Mr. Jackson is not too sure about all that love!!

Today we went fishing at the Mennonite Catfish Ponds near Longville!

It was a little windy, but it was still a beautiful day to be outside!!

The day started off slow, but we did catch a few fish after the wind died down a little!

Checking out the catch! She wasn't too sure about those fish flopping around in the ice chest!
Taking a walk with Daddy while Momma fishes for awhile!

All in all it was a beautiful day!

Real Pigtails...

Just a few pics of the Princess and her big-girl pigtails!! No more baby hairdos for us!!

Isn't she precious?!

We're Still Here...

I guess I'll be starting this post with another apology for not posting in so long...I really do mean to, it's just.....oh, you know! Life! And it takes so long for the dang pictures to load...Anyway, here are a few recent snapshots of the Princess and the goings-on around the castle!

This first pic was truly an "accident", if you want to call it that! Miss Priss loves to look at herself in her Princess Mirror, and I just happened to have the camera handy! (Ok, it's always pretty handy--it has to be when you live with a real princess!) But this was just priceless, if you ask me! Couldn't have gotten her to do that on purpose in a million years!!

I like this next pic just because she didn't know I was taking it. She's in such deep thought, waiting on Hopper to make his next move!!

As you can see, her hair is just about long enough for real pigtails!! And, if you couldn't tell, she's showing you her "pretty teeth"! She loves to brush her teeth and will definitely remind us everytime she goes into the bathroom! She has very good oral hygiene!
She is just getting so big! It's hard to believe she's already 17 months old!

Yesterday, we enjoyed the beautiful weather and some good barbecue with family! Justin's mom and stepdad, sister and her boyfriend, Mamaw, and "Uncle Tony" came over and we had a great time! Justin proudly manned his new grill and we just relaxed and ate too much! After supper, Papa and Daddy broke out the guitars and we had a true "Louisiana Saturday Night" kinda time! Abigail laughed and danced her little heart out, and she was pooped by the time everyone left! She slept all the way til 7 o'clock this morning, which is kinda late for her!!




She is just growing and maturing so much, it's hard to believe! I never knew how "time flies" really, until she she came along! We try so hard to enjoy every moment with her. She just comes up with new stuff every day!
She is so smart and she has a memory like an elephant!! She knows where Momma hides her snack, where her Nunnie is, and where she left her cup! She remembers about her swing that we just hung up and where the candy canes are that we had at Christmas!
She can say all kinds of words: Abigail, Momma, Daddy, and Hopper (of course), Nunnie, Nooner, and NiteNite; Nana, PawPaw, MeMe, Papa, MyMy, etc.; teeth, cheese, highchair, snack, cup, book, uh-oh!, alright!, Cow/Moo, Duck/CackCack, Monkey/E-E-E!, and so many more!!
She know songs like the Hot Dog Song (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and We Can Fix It (Handy Manny)! And boy, can my girl dance! She is too funny!!
Out here in the woods, not a whole lot of exciting stuff happens (thank You, Lord!), but every day is an adventure and a blessing with our Princess! We are So, So blessed!!
And we are especially thankful for some exciting and wonderful and miraculous news about some very dear, precious friends! God is still in the business of miracles!!

Missin' MyMy

It has just been waaaay too long since we've seen our MyMy, and the Princess and I have surely been missing her. She thinks she has to go to college and get all smart and then not come and visit us, but we don't agree at all!! So when MyMy called and said she was coming this weekend, we were SO EXCITED!!!! She spent the night and we got up early this morning and got to spend most of the day together, just hanging out! She's gone to see PawPaw now, but we hear that she may be coming back again really soon!!

We love you, MyMy!!

I Know, I Know...

...it's been about forever since I've posted anything. So long, in fact, that I forgot to upload the pics in reverse order so they'd be in the right order on here. (Yes, I do suffer from OCD. No, I'm not on any meds for it.) So, here you go!! A few snapshots from the last few weeks around our house. Nothing exciting to report, just same old, same old. Enjoy!!

My love eating her first muffin! She didn't want the bites we pinched off for her, so we just let 'er have it!! She enjoyed it, especially the unwrapping part!!

Aunt Courtney came to stay for a few days while Momma and Daddy were working. She generously shared her ice cream cone with the Princess, who LOVED it!! She's had ice cream before, but never in a cone, so this was a special treat!! Thanks, Aunt Courtney!!

My silly girl!! Since she was little, she has done this with whatever she can find. She'll get a blanket or a shirt or her Nunnie and wrap it over her head and around her neck.

My sweet girl all bundled up for the COLD weather we had a few weeks ago!! She loved her gloves (thank you, Aunt Carol) and didn't want to take them off!!

And how cute does she look in Daddy's cap??

I will certainly try to not be so neglectful in my posting in the future!! Things have just been a little crazy around here the last few weeks--hopefully everything will calm down soon!! We are anxiously awaiting our new baby cousin Rhodes, who will hopefully be here soon!!

Can't wait to meet Claire and Allie's little sibling!!

The BEST Christmas Present of All...

I guess as I've gotten older, there just isn't anything I just HAVE to have for Christmas. Most times, I'm pretty hard-pressed to even come up with anything at all. I guess I just already have what I want: a beautiful daughter, a wonderful husband who is an AMAZING Daddy, a large and precious family, the dearest of friends, a cozy little home, an awesome Church family, and so on, and so on...I'm sure you get the picture. I'm just not lacking much in my little life.

I only Really wanted one thing this Christmas, and boy, did Santa deliver!!

If you didn't know, we've been waiting for the Princess to decide she was ready to walk on her own. She's known how for quite some time, she's just smart enough to know she can still be carried around on her throne (Momma's hip). She has taken a step here and there, but nothing steady or consistent. Until December 23...

Justin called me at work, with such excitement in his voice that I thought he'd killed another deer!! He proudly reported that Miss Priss had taken 6 steps across the living room. He called back in pretty regular 5 minute intervals to update me on her latest travels. (Thankfully, it was a pretty slow day at work!) I was afraid she'd be done by the time I got home, but sure enough, after a little break she was raring to go!!

Although she's still a bit shy about showing off her new skills, she will give a brief demonstration if you pretend to ignore for a few minutes!

She doesn't like to hog all the attention, you know.

So, even though my new shotgun and camo gear are wonderful,

I think this must be the best present of all!!