Christmas at the Bandermanns continued

I think I've probaby said it too much, but this Christmas was so exciting!  Top reason was because of Ansley, of course.  She can be such a hoot sometimes and this Christmas was no different.  She got gifts galore and after opening every gift, she'd give a big "gasp"!  It was so fun to watch her.  Here are a few from our Christmas at the Bandermanns.

This is Ansley trying to either be silly (she does this head roll with her eyes closed) or maybe getting ready to pray? Not sure which.

She loved pulling off the wrapping paper with dad

 Oh!  That Bitty Baby was the best gift ever! 

Ryan and Whitney opening Kyle's great gift.  Pink Uggs for Ansley and Brynn! 

If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about the perfect brownie pan...so is Whit! 

Pam loves hers, so we both got one!

 

Can't wait until baby Brynn is here to celebrate Christmas with Ansley!

This year Jason's family got together at Aunt Kim's house.  Ansley had lots of fun stuff including some pink cowgirl boots!  She is way too cute in them!  And her favorite gift was definitely the singing bear from GG.  Anything that sings is a hit with Ansley! 

She wasn't quite sure about the boots...she was too preoccupied with the bear. 

We had such a good time this year with family.  We feel so blessed!

Merry Christmas!!

It's Christmas!  I love this time of year!  Decorating the house is always so much fun...well, maybe not getting all the stuff out, but the finished product is always exciting!  I didn't do as many decorations this year as years past, but it still feels warm and inviting (I think:)).  I took a few pictures to capture how I decorated this year so that I can always remember.  Here are a few glimpses of our house. 

Our Christmas tree...mostly reds and silver.

I love the glow....

Our hutch with some glittery branches and the MERRY banner I made (an idea I saw at one of our local stores). 

Our fireplace with all my trees, candles and the book wreath I made.  The wreath idea was courtesy of all the creativeness found in the blogworld!

The stockings were hung with care.... 



My tree branches and homemade ornaments.

Each ornament has a name for Jesus on it. 

 Ansley's Christmas tree

 I will be so sad to bring it all down come January...ugh!

The Christmas Meal at the Mill

My mom and dad always do lunch for their employees at Christmas time.  They give them a new pair of nice boots and a warm jacket to last them in the weather for a year.  It's something they started years ago to show their gratitude to their employees.  It's pretty heartwarming to see their excitement when they get their Christmas gifts and see the meal that's been prepared just for them.  For some of them, it may be the biggest homecooked spread they will have all year and maybe the only jacket they will own. 
Ansley and I traveled to the big city of Marble Hill to join in on the festivities.  All the men know to gather in the shop (that is now heated by a stove, woo hoo!) and start feasting on all the glorious food!  Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.   

BB tried to give Ansley coffee...I caught him!

Little Ansley was TIRED! 

Looking cute in her pigtails and pink/camo outfit.  She fit in well. 

A Cabin Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my immediate family at the cabin this past Saturday.  It was a quiet evening of food, relaxation, and family time.  Ansley and Jansen had run of the whole place, that's for sure!  This is where you could find Ansley and Jansen for most of the night...they wanted to check out ALL the presents around the tree.  They were so cute.  We tried to stop them for 2 minutes to get a picture, but didn't really succeed.  They were WAY too busy to look at a camera. 

They each had a package that kept them pretty busy. 

Little Miss thought standing on the presents was funny! 

And sitting...like a little model.

And sitting on each other!  It was pretty comical!  They both wanted in the bucket. 

Mimi and BB with the kiddos 

Ansley's favorite place was in the chair with BB

The annual family pic in front of the fireplace 

Our family is growing quickly!



2010 Christmas Card

In years past, I’ve had my friend and photographer, Sheri, create our Christmas cards. However, this year I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to create my own look with a personal message to friends and family. There are so many options out there when it comes to greeting cards, but there was only one that really stood out to me. The choice was a simple one…Shutterfly. I’ve seen some beautiful Christmas cards created on Shutterfly, many of which can be found hanging in our house during the Christmas season from various friends and family! This year I wanted that same look and quality for our Christmas cards.
Shutterfly offers so many choices of greeting cards, it’s almost a little overwhelming at first! I started off loving over 10 different cards and then finally dwindled it down to one, but it wasn’t easy! I was in love with so many! Their creations are absolutely perfect and they provide that custom look that I’m looking for.  I loved how easy it was to create our card and the fonts they offer are so chic and stylish…love that!

While on their site, I noticed all the adorable gifts that you can create for friends and family. I always do a family calendar from Shutterfly and 2011 will be no exception! The quality and look is amazing! The grandparents will definitely be getting some Shutterfly gifts this Christmas of little Ansley and Jansen and I know they will love them!
Their birthday invites are adorable too.  I'm already in planning mode for Ansley's 2nd birthday (heartburn), and Shutterfly will most definitely be my choice for birthday invites!  They are all so cute!

Speaking of cute...how about the adorable little girl in this Christmas card...

In His Name Religious Christmas Card

Create beautiful photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

It's a......

Girl!!!!!  Yay! Ryan and Whitney found out on my birthday that they were expecting a girl!  Wahoo!  I can't even begin to explain how exciting this is!  A boy would have been great too, of course!  But a girl....Ansley and Brynn? will have so much fun together!

To show just how it all went down....here's a video of us at the gender reveal party (those of us who thought it would be a girl...Pam, Dale, Rene, me, and Ansley.  Those who thought boy...Rick, Agatha, and Jason).  Girl won!

Ansley Harper: 16 Months!

Well, it just keeps getting better and better!  Time spent with you is so precious and we love to watch your little personality blossom!  Everyday you learn something new and watching you figure this big world out makes our lives so fun!  You make our lives so full, Ansley!  

*You are such a little talker these days and echoing so many words we say!  You are pretty good at saying some new words like...please, outside, slide, I love you, baby, thank you, and daddy is your best!

*You are climbing everywhere you can.  Chairs are your favorite thing to climb on and many times there is a bump or a bruise involved, but most of the time a busted lip! 

*Going outside is one of your favorite things to do.  You love to play with your outdoor toys, take wagon rides to see the horses (and stick your finger in their noses!), and you still think it's the best thing in the world to visit with Alleigh (you like to tell her to sit). 

*You enjoy watching Barney and Blue's clues, especially when you're not feeling well or in the mornings.  This is usually when we get our snuggle time in...it's the only time you stay still enough to let us!

*You love to have music playing!  When we're in the car, if you're not talking to me, you want to be singing! It is so precious!

*Speaking of not feeling well, you had your first ear infection at 15 months.  It's been a doosy...we are still trying to fight it off.  You also just had your first stomach bug.  Daddy had to take care of you because mommy was sick too!  It was not a good night (we went through every sheet/blanket in the house)!

*Mrs. Cathy found a bubble bee outfit for your Halloween costume this year, which is absolutely fitting since you are buzzing around everywhere!  You looked pretty darn cute in it!  We wore it to your daddy's half Ironman race and also to the fall block party. 

*You love to blow bubbles with me on the porch and eat the playdoh when I'm not looking.

*We are having lots of fun in your playroom these days.  You could spend hours playing with your kitchen and shopping cart.  I'm pretty sure you will one day be a domestic diva!

*The sweetest thing is watching you give kisses...the smacking sound you make is too much!

*You can be really silly sometimes, flirting is what some may call it :).  You give the cutest grin and look out the sides of your eyes...you can pretty much get whatever you want when you do this!

You are a joy, Ansley!  We thank God daily for the gift he has given us!

Last Weekend's Fun Times!

 This weekend was a packed one!  It was homecoming weekend, so Saturday morning we rode on the St. Francis float.  Their theme this year was pink for breast cancer awareness month, so of course, we were all decked out in our pink.  Jason's coworkers and the SEMO baseball team rode on the float with us and it turned out to be a lot of fun!  The crowds went absolutely wild for the baseball boys!  I'm ashamed to say, I've never been to the homecoming parade, but I will say...the sorority/fraternitys get pretty creative with their floats.  Just seeing them was well worth the trip!

Jason and Ansley getting ready for the pink parade!

 The St. Francis crew

Excited for the floats!

The winning float

Jason, Ryan, and Mark Coots did a half Ironman on Sunday, which means they swam 1.5 miles, biked 65 miles, and ran 13.1 miles.  Can we say...crazy?!  I still can't believe they spent over 5 hours exercising without stopping.  They are serious!  Jason did it in 5 hours and 41 minutes, which he was really proud of.  He deserves to be proud of this tremendous accomplishment...he has trained for this for several months (almost every morning of the week he was up at 4:45 am to exercise).  Way to go, J!!!
 

Jason and Ansley before the big race! 

To see them come out of the water and stumble around was a pretty odd site.  It was as if they had stood up too fast!

He was pumped after a great swim!

Here comes Ryan!

Next up...the bike.

Ansley greeted Jason in her Halloween costume at the finish.

Kisses for daddy after a great race

Matt, Kristi, and Alex came to cheer them on and Ansley enjoyed seeing Alex.

After the race, we all headed to one of the fall block party's that our sunday school class put together. The Underwood's hosted the party outside their house with food, lots of candy, and a movie. Let me say, I've never seen so many kids in one neighborhood! It was such a great way to minister to the community! Here are a few pictures of the block party.

At the Halloween block party with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Whitney

These girls looked too cute in their wings!

This is where Ansley could be found for most of the night.  She loved to pull the ducks out of the water!

Did I mention her arms were soaked from the water?  Yes, yes...they were.  And can you tell...she loved it!

Ansley found Rhiannon and McKinsley's new puppy!

Charlie Brown Pumpkin was playing on a big screen...how sweet!

We had a packed weekend...full of fun and lots of memories!