Christmastime in '09!

I feel like I am finally coming up for air after all the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I knew this Christmas would be special because it was Lucy Mills' first. But I have to say that I am already looking forward to the Christmases to come where she will have more of an idea of what is going on and be able to participate.

Our first Christmas celebration was with my small group Bible study. I have mentioned this wonderful group of women before. We meet Tuesday mornings for fellowship and to discuss the book The Mission of Motherhood. Both the book and this group have been a HUGE blessing in my life as I have adjusted to life with my sweet baby girl. We have lovingly referred to our group as "The Baby Girl's Club" because between 8 of us there are 9 baby girls! Fellas better watch out once these babes start walkin' and talkin'! Here is a picture at our last get together in December...

That same week I hosted a dinner party with my other Bible study/group of girlfriends. I have been friends with these ladies for several years now and I was in a weekly Bible study with them. But after Lucy Mills came on the scene her nighttime nap interfered with me participating in this group. But lucky for me I still see these girls often. And three of them are expecting babies soon! This group has been such an encouragement to me and I am blessed to call them my friends. (Alicia - we missed you!)

Before we headed to Georgia, we celebrated Christmas with my mom and she surprised us with a wonderful family gift! You see, ever since I tried to find the perfect wedding photographer to capture our wedding, I developed an interest in photography. I am drawn to pictures that tell a story and that allow you to see the personality behind the photograph. Once I had a child, I wanted to be able to take great pictures throughout her childhood. While I have been saving to buy a nice camera (one better than the point and shoot Trav bought the day I went into labor!) Suggie surprised us with the Canon Rebel Xs. Thanks Suggie! I am enjoying figuring out how to work my new gadget!

So as Christmas drew nearer we loaded up the car, this time with presents in tow, grabbed this little punky

and headed on the road again to the Masons. We enjoyed a relaxing, family-filled, eating extravaganza, unending present opening, movie watching, loving on Lucy Mills time. Did I leave anything out?

We enjoyed introducing Lucy Mills to the rest of the Mason family in Georgia and Alabama.
Here is Travis and Lucy Mills with her Great Grandmaw Mason... Trav and I helping LM open up some of her presents...(we had to rent a uhaul to get them back to SC! )

Uncle Daniel and Lucy Mills - all the single ladies, Daniel is available! And he even looks cute first thing in the morning...see?

Lucy Mills "talking" to her Grandmother and Grandfather testing out her new "Sassy Seat" loving her new tummy time mat

So after our time in Alabama, we headed back to SC to have Christmas with my dad. Sadly I did not take pictures ( I think I was so tired and brain dead by this point), but I will post some soon of his birthday celebration!

After being away during the holidays it's always nice to be back home in your own bed. Even Maggie Mae can attest to that...

All in all, I can say that the three of us are incredibly blessed. Travis and I are still in awe of our little girl and enjoyed having her here this holiday season. I am also thankful to have such wonderful family, especially two sets of grandparents that love us and Lucy Mills. Thank y'all for everything you did this Christmas to make it so special. Lucy Mills is a lucky little girl to have family that shows their love for her in countless ways. I will never stop telling her how loved and adored she has been, even before the day she was born.
Love,

Lil

Lucy Mills' 3 Month Pictures

I know I am a little behind in posting sweet girls' three month old pictures, but I had to keep them top secret as they made for wonderful Christmas presents - especially for the grandmothers! I hired a photographer to capture Lucy Mills' three month milestone. I know I am a little bias here, but I can't stop staring at the gorgeous girl in the pictures...even though the real thing is right in the next room! Enjoy!

Bright eyes...

Sweet cheeks...

lovin' those hands again!

I wanted to get some outdoor pics of the family in hopes of snapping a Christmas card shot.

all bundled up...

while we did manage to get some sweet smiles...

...I can't say the day was free from meltdowns...

we did capture some pictures to remember these moments of love the three of us share

after all, we do have the sweetest girl in the world!

I am so glad that we will have these pictures to remember this time in our lives while it's just the three of us. I will do another post soon to show our Christmas adventures...stay tuned.

"Leading a Quiet Life"

I can say for sure that motherhood is on the job training. No one can tell you what to expect until you just go through it and experience the joy yourself. I am learning things as a mom that I did not necessarily expect to learn. You see I always thought that once I started having children that my life would be this crazy busy, on the go, life in the fast lane sort of style. While I do have moments like that (and I am sure more to come as she gets older), I am discovering the simple peace that comes from just being at home. The Lord continues to remind me to"be still and know that I am God" (psalm 46:10) Be still, be still, be still I tell myself. Be still? But I have always liked being the early bird type. The type that likes to get up and go and usually accomplishes more by 9am than most do in a day...how can I just be still???

The thing that I did not anticipate in having a little one is the importance of being at home for tha majority of my day. While we do get outside and enjoy nice days, run errands, and plan fun dates with friends, I like Lucy Mills being on a schedule and napping in her own bed. I like the comfort and security her routine brings us both (which happens to also lead to 11 hours of her sleeping through the night!)

This morning I read 1 Thessalonians 4:11 which says "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands..." I think that we have a choice as to how we spend our time. Everyday I am trying my best to learn to lead a quiet life and to be busy at home.

Because when she can do this...

...then we get this...

...and this is just plain cute so I added it :)

O Christmas Tree

It's December 1st and the holidays are officially here! I typically have the tree up and house decorated for Christmas no later than Thanksgiving weekend. But have no fear, the tree went up last night so I am not too far behind. Although I have to say that maybe I should have taken my time instead of rushing to get that darn thing. Let me explain...

Last year was our first married Christmas together and I wanted our house to be perfectly decorated with no details overlooked. I insisted that we put the tree up the Sunday after Thanksgiving which ironically happened to be a cold, dreary, rainstorm of a day. I was not going to let the weather interfere with our Christmas spirit so Travis and I got in the car, tree stand in tote, and headed down to Harmons Tree farm to cut down the exact tree we wanted. After an afternoon of chilling temperatures, wind gusts, and monsoon like rain we brought home an enormous Christmas tree. We actually had to cut off some of the side limbs (the tree was still bagged up at this point) to get it in through our front door! Once inside the house and standing erect, our den looked like the great outdoors. Literally. I guess when you cut down a tree outside and it's standing next to other trees of similar height, you do not notice how large that particular tree is until you get it inside. I almost started crying when Trav cut the ropes and bags off the tree. The limbs shot out like arrows and my nice den suddenly transformed into a greenhouse. Immediately the movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation came to mind and I just waited to see if a live squirrel was going to leap out of this monstrous tree! If that was not bad enough, over the course a week I had to decorate and redecorate the tree 4 times! Since the tree was so big I had to put countless boxes of lights on it and every few days the lights would trip the circuit and burn out all the lights on the tree. Needless to say I was ready to skip over Christmas and head into New Years!

After all the madness of Christmas '08 I swore that this year we were going to have a smaller, modest size Christmas tree. Well modest it is!

I had visions of me, Travis, and Lucy Mills heading out to pick out her very first Christmas tree for her very first Christmas. Bringing it home, sipping on hot chocolate, decorating our tree, all the while Christmas music softly played in the background. Well let me just say that is not at all what happened!

Lucy Mills was fussy, not napping, and irritated by her tummy troubles yesterday so when Travis got home I said that I would go get the tree just to make it easier on all of us. I didn't make it to Harmon's this year, but I did find myself in Lowe's (yes, they sell Christmas trees). I picked out lights and a few ornaments, had Marty (Lowe's employee) help me put our new tree on top of my car and back home I went. This tree was a lot easier to get in the house. I spent some time last night trimming the tree and I must say that I'm not pleased. I asked Travis if it looked like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree which he proceeded to laugh. I guess that's my answer.

It's not pitiful but I supposed in my fear of getting one that was too big I got one that was too small. It just looks kinda wimpy in the corner where Chevy Chase's tree stood last year. Oh well, I tried! Hopefully next year we will finally have the perfect Christmas tree...or maybe even an artificial one??? I've had it with this comedy!

So here it is...it looks better at night than it does here...
Daddy and Lucy Mills - decked out in her reindeer hat, but looking somewhat like a lumberjack?

sweetness!

I put a blanket down under the tree and let her lay down so that she could see all the lights twinkling...she loved it until Maggie bopped her in the head.

So there it is - at least all the lights are still working and have not burned out this time!

Thanksgiving Celebrations,3 Months Old, and Gamecocks Win

I absolutely love this time of year - cool weather, football Saturdays, time with family, anticipating the Christmas season, and celebrating our countless blessings. Of course this year we are so thankful for our sweet Lucy Mills. Everyday has brought us an immeasurable amount of joy like we have never known.

The Mason family stayed in Columbia for Thanksgiving this year. We went to my mom's house Thanksgiving day to enjoy a turkey dinner, and then Friday we celebrated at dad's house by having Susan's shrimp and grits recipe. Bring on the calories!

We woke up to a blue-sky Thursday morning ready to get the day started. While I preheated the oven and began cooking, Trav played the guitar for Lulu while Maggie cleaned up my crumbs!
still sniffin'...

Lucy Mills is bound to be musical with all the time her daddy spends singing and playing his guitar with her...he swears that she mimics him by strumming her fingers while her plays!
all eyes on Daddy...

celebrating our 2nd Thanksgiving together as husband and wife...

Mommy with Lulu

Daddy with Lulu - showing off her turkey bib, refusing to give us a smile! once we got to Suggie's house she was ready for a nap

...and she slept most of her first Thanksgiving away

Here is the original three Fuller girls - me, Mom and Susan

Mom and Aunt Marian
Lucy Mills wanting nothing to do with having her picture taken! Too much turkey for Trav!
yeah, he's going to kill me for this one!

two sleepy heads...

Maggie sniffing out some leftovers...

Lucy Mills enjoying time with her Shugs

Aunt Susu taking on bottle duty...

The day after Thanksgiving Lucy Mills turned three months old! I feel like she is such a big girl but when I think about the time frame of three months I know it's not a long amount of time! I suppose it's because so much has happened in the last few months, therefore it seems like August 27th was a long time ago. When people stop me on the street during our walks, or even in the grocery store line they always "ooh and ah" over my sweet girl and then proceed tell me to enjoy every minute of it because the time flies by. Well I am trying to do just that. Even though she is still considered and infant, Lucy Mills is doing something new and exciting everyday. Whether it's lighting up the room with her smiles, finding her laugh, or discovering her own two hands, this little girl is growing up.

The sign didn't show up well but it's her three month old banner. She is getting bigger and the bear is getting smaller!

I love little punky's expression here. She is getting more and more alert and aware of what is going on around her.

giving me half a smile!

wave at the camera Lucy Mills! she is obsessed with her hands these days. she opens them, closes them, brings them together and even tries putting a whole hand in her mouth!

So Thursday was Thanksgiving, Friday was Lucy Mills' three month old birthday, and Saturday was the Palmetto State Bowl game - aka Clemson vs. Carolina!

Here is me and Trav - enjoying a great day of football!

Ok, so I need to address the issue of where my team allegiance lies. I am one of those rare people who is both a Clemson and a Carolina fan. It's true. I grew up with a dad who lived for USC football and a mom who graduated from Clemson. I, too went to Clemson for my first year and a half of college before transferring to Columbia College. So what's a girl to do? Here is what I have concluded -

I have spent years keeping up with both teams and cheering for both as well. And I will continue to do just that; however, I grew up living in Columbia, going to Carolina games with my dad, I married a gamecock fan and honestly I have been to way more USC games. While my time at Clemson is special and dear to me, I found myself wearing black and garnet yesterday (although when given a sticker that said "Beat Clemson" I refused to wear it), and cheering as USC fought its way to the victory. So there you have it - I love BOTH teams and will proudly participate in our state's collegiate athletic events. But by simple association I I have come to love me some Carolina football!

the scoreboard at Williams-Brice after the Gamecocks defeated the Tigers
giving the thumbs up after a great game - just a little excited :)

Trav excited after the victory

In a nutshell that was our Thanksgiving weekend :)