winter slam

The extended family on my mom's side of the family are very close.  I think if we could all move to a compound together, we would.  In the summer we have an annual reunion that we jokingly named 'summer slam' many years ago.  It stuck.  Summer slam is a favorite for all of us.  And we normally spend christmas eve or christmas day together at my grandparents house.  But traditions had to change this year.  Instead we spent a weekend together at my aunt's house in the same fashion of summer slam....hence the title Winter Slam.  Here are some pictures from our time together this year.

brynns face kills me in this one

Christmas

I can't believe that our first christmas with Brynn has come and gone.  She was fun to dress up and celebrate with but she didn't seem to get excited about her presents...so rude.  We spent a weekend in Mayfield with the Barclay side of the family where Brynn was introduced to a few more people and got lots of love from her sweet grandparents and uncle.

After a few christmas parties and a very busy week wrapping up shopping in Nashville, we headed north.  The best thing about a long drive is we get a chance to stop and see friends along the way.  We spent one night in Louisville with The Haydock family.  Their adorable boy (aka one of Brynns potential future boyfriends) was sweet enough to share his changing table, blankets, and mommy with Brynn.  I think he might like her a little bit since he did want to hold her.  She has that affect on boys already...yikes.  Unfortunately I am a terrible mom and didn't get any pictures.

The next morning we got up to finish the rest of our drive to michigan, but not without a stop in Indianapolis.  This place is more of a second home to me then my own home since I have spent so much time there.  We were able to stop quick enough to get a tour of one of my dearest friends, Michele's new house.  It was adorable and as always, decorated beautifully.  Another bestie dropped by with her family to say hi as well.  Brynn did great until she exploded out of her diaper :)  I think that was her way of telling us she was ready to get back on the road.

After a few more hours we were finally in michigan with my family.  Brynn did great throughout all of our travels, sleeping almost the entire time.  It was such a relief because our car was packed to the brim so I couldn't fit back there even if I wanted to.

The next day we took her to see Santa at the mall.  We kept planning to do this around Nashville but every place was so expensive and we were really busy.  She did great and didn't cry at all but her double chin was in full affect.  I had to cut off the video so I could readjust her but thats all we got. 

The next few days were spent at my parents house relaxing and celebrating Christmas.  I love to be at my parents house in the winter, it is cozy and beautiful when it snows. 

Thanksgiving

Brynn's first thanksgiving was one for the books. This was the first time we hosted Thanksgiving day. Most people thing that means that Trey and I cooked, so by hosted, I mean we allowed everyone to use our house and kitchen :) My mom and sisters did almost all of the cooking and I cleaned...that's much more specialty. But first, we spent Wednesday evening in Mayfield with Trey's family. They have a huge get together for a thanksgiving meal on wednesday so that everyone can come. This was the first time Brynn was able to meet most of the family on that side. She was held and cuddled by many! Trey's 2nd cousin, Jasmine, was smitten and I think she is already counting down the days until she will be old enough to babysit. We came back to Nashville Thursday morning, with Trey's parents and brothers not far behind. My parents were already in town and had started with all the cooking. We were able to spend the day with both of our families here, which was such a blessing. It was so nice that we did not have to travel much and we got to spend quite a bit of time together. Family pictures were taken, of course. This thanksgiving, I felt especially thankful for our wonderful families and for the gift of Brynn that God has given us. I hope your thanksgiving gave you enough time to sit down and count your blessings as well.

Sweet Jasmine loved Brynn and did not want to let her go

Grandma and Grandpa Packer

Family Thanksgiving Picture

Grandma and Grandpa Barclay

Sibling Picture!

This is one of his favorite things to do

1 month!

I can not believe so much time has passed since our little girl has entered our family.  She continues to be such a good baby (knock on wood!) and is constantly looking bigger and older. It is exciting and sad at the same time.  Some milestones in her first month:

--great at tummy time!  I don't know what is normal at this point, but I really do feel like she has great strength in her neck and pretty good control of her head already.
-growing out of her newborn clothes, which is sad.  But I am constantly trying her other clothes on her to see what is starting to fit which is very fun also
--It has been so fun to see her start to smile.  At first it as just in her sleep but now it is awake time and occasionally at us...melts my heart
--getting into a fairly good sleep routine.  She sleeps in a pack-n-play in our room but on a pretty regular basis I only have to wake up once in the night to feed her. wahoo!
--she is pretty alert during the day, which makes things a little bit more fun.  Although, running errands or going on walks in the carseat...she's out.
--Trey and I swear we have heard her laugh once.  It is so fun to get a glimpse into what she might sound like when she starts talking

**This is very delayed as she is over a month now, but I started this post when she was 1 month...just took forever to get it all together.