Joyeux Noel!

We had a wonderful Christmas here in the Parris household. I just can't believe how fast it flew by! It is my favorite time of year and i'm always a little sad when it's over and it's time to put all the decorations back in the attic. As 2007 comes to a close Jamie and I remember how blessed we are with such a great community of friends and family. The Lord has blessed us tremendously this year through so many precious people~especially as we welcomed the newest addition to our family! We have just been overwhelmed and humbled by all the love showered on us especially during this busy time of year!

We enjoyed lots of gatherings with friends both here and back home as well as extended family. Here are a few photos from the month.... our front door

i finally got around to planting paperwhites...my favorite holiday flower!

meade's first zoolight safari

all bundled up, he slept through the whole thing!

hometown girls

grayson "holding court"

nathan and jenny assemble the Bow and Mallow...this was probably my favorite gift the boys received. what a smart idea! the bow shoots mini marshmallows! so my boys can have battles all day in the backyard w/o me worrying about one of them impaling the other!

castle!

meade "opens" his stocking

sacked out

"i may be losing my hair, but i sure did gain a lot of sweet gifts!"

our family on Christmas Sunday

one month.

m:
you are one month old today. each day i love you more and more. often when i hold you and feel your little hand grasping my finger, the words of this song come to mind...





fragile finger sent to heal us
tender brow prepared for thorn
tiny heart whose blood will save us
unto us is born
unto us is born

welcome to our world


having a child just magnifies in a whole new way the sacrifice God made in giving His own Son up for me. my heart breaks for Mary and her sacrifice. she gazed upon her son with the same love with which I gaze upon mine. she kissed his eyelids. she held his hand. and to think that God loves him and me even more is simply amazing....greater Love there cannot be.

eight.

eight years ago at half past five
in the afternoon in my hometown, i married this man.
i could never merit how God chose a mate so perfectly suited for me. i see His love in so many tangible ways through the way Jamie loves me and our family.
we had a fun night out shopping for our boys and celebrating w/ good wine and good food at one of our favorite restaurants. and we got to take along this great little bundle of an anniversary present w/ us!

for more on why i love this guy, check out my previous posts ;)

to meade

when i look at you i can't imagine a more beautiful creature has ever been. and yet i felt this way at the birth of your brothers. there is just nothing like the birth of a child. after His Son, is there any greater gift on earth that God could have given me than to be your mother? i frequently am overcome with tears by how much i love you. before one has another child, it is normal to wonder, "is there room in my heart to love another like i love the children i already have?"
the answer is a resounding "YES!"

you are perfect in every way. every tiny little feature. i'm trying to just relish each second and yet i'm sad because each day passes so quickly and i can't make them stop. soon you will be 2 weeks old. where did these first weeks go? i am sure i'll soon be asking the same question about your first year. your daddy is just giddy. he can't get enough of you and is constantly coming up with ways to engage you so that you'll stay awake a little bit so we can see those deep, questioning blue eyes.

so far you are a very laid back little man. you only cry when you are hungry or having your diaper changed. you have made the funniest little noises and expressions and gestures. daddy and i could stare at you all day never needing to get up and do anything else and be perfectly content.

we are very excited about having a baby at the holidays. what a festive time of year to have a precious new life! we had a very relaxing stay in the hospital with you. one blessing of having a c section is that you get to stay an extra day or 2! we have been richly blessed that our stays at the hospital have been sweet and restful. that is something i don't take for granted. we got there at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday and didn't leave until noon on Saturday. it was like a vacation for mommy and daddy to just dote on you and focus on the newest member of our family. you had many sweet guests come by to meet you for the first time. you are so loved!

when we left the hospital, it was decorated w/ beautiful trees, wreaths and plants that were not there when we were admitted. we were ushered out to a brisk cold day with gorgeous autumn trees lining the exit from the hospital. your brothers were so excited to greet you when we arrived home, they both climbed into the car to peek at you before we had hardly put the car in park! they want to hold you all the time and we have loved seeing the family that God has given us all together in our house. your grandparents, a friend and your uncle were also here to give you a big greeting when we arrived home. we promptly placed you in front of the christmas tree to begin the paparazzi session! you've almost gotten to the point where you don't flinch at the sound of the shutter! by the time you arrived home, you had already had approximately 700 photos taken of your sweet face, hands and feet and that's just w/ mommy's camera! no one will be able to say that our 3rd child's birth and homecoming was not as documented as the 1st two ;)

we go back and frequently check on you in your bassinet and watch you sleeping. we marvel to each other, "there's a baby sleeping back there!" our hearts are overflowing with love for you and prayers are offered constantly in thanksgiving for this new life God has given us at this time when we celebrate the birth of our Savior and King.

i love you,
mommy

football players are tuff!

I met some friends for brunch this morning and when I got home I found these 2 tough guys in my back yard playing football with their dad. They are ready to show little brother #2 the ropes!

A Day at the "Punkin" Patch

This year we took the boys to a different pumpkin patch slightly closer to our house and the boys loved it! I think it may have come out ahead of the rest due to the cool hay maze it had! They jumped and bounced and wrestled w/ Daddy and didn't want to leave. I'll try to post punkin carving and halloween photos when I have more time.





and they're off!

with their finds

"bert" the pumpkin. the boys don't really watch sesame street anymore, but when s saw this pumpkin he thought it was shaped like bert's head. he was so excited about carving a face to look like him.

waiting for g to make his leap

the boys could've stayed in the hay maze all day!

this one is a little blown out b/c i forgot to tell jamie what setting i had the camera on. oops!

g riding "gravy train" the pony

s riding " trigger"

Great Idea!

How smart is this? This site offers these bumpy name labels for sippy cups and bottles. They won't wash off or fade like stickers and they make it very easy for you and all of your child's caregivers to identify which cup is his or hers. I had lunch w/ my friend Amanda and sweet Anna Caroline the other day and she told me about these! I'm off to order some for G and the new little guy on the way.

i heart fall.

fall has always been my favorite season. here in the deep south we don't get much of one, but i'll take what i can get as reprieve from the oppressive heat. we usually plan a trip somewhere else in the south, where they do experience more of a true fall, and it's always so much fun. some of my favorite memories are from those trips. a few of the things i'm looking forward to this fall:

• the cooler breeze that just gives that extra energy...you can almost smell fall in the air on these days
• baking pumpkin spice bread to take to friends
• it's birthday month for me and jamie!
  
• a weekend get-away w/ the hubby somewhere in the mountains. we try to do this every year around this time, but this year it's also our last minute get-away before becoming parents of 3!
  
• alabama football-it's exciting again!
• pumpkin spice latte's at o'henry's!!!
  
• helping my boys choose halloween costumes, pumpkins and planting mums
  
• the beautiful trees-i hope we do get at least a little color this year...
• the return of THE OFFICE ;-)
• and best of all....the arrival of our new son!
  

so if you are looking for some fun activities to do this fall, here's a list of some of our favorites:

of course, a trip to asheville is the best if you can swing it,
hitting the blue ridge parkway in ga or nc for the fall foliage and lots of fun shops
and antiquing along the way, having a wine and cheese picnic on one of the look-out spots on the blue ridge parkway or on the county roads between gadsden and chattanooga,
old baker's farm pumpkin patch, site-seeing and staying at b and b's in chattanooga and mentone, fall festival at mentone, vulcan aftertunes, cocktails in the gardens (B'ham Botanical)-see activeculture.info....just to name a few. happy fall y'all!

*the beautiful daisies are from my sweet friend lauren---to enjoy...and to practice photography on!

Did Ginny tell ya? She's 30!

the "care bear stare" centerpieces

act of congress-well partially anyway...gin's friends and our new favorite local band

old roomies

new roomies

Ginny is 30!
She celebrated in style with friends at The J. Clyde. It was a fun night! I thought I'd post some pics from the bash for all you friends across the ocean or across the continent.
(about the title, ginny, i couldn't resist ;-)
Love you Friend!
Welcome to the 30 Club!

Tag! I'm it.

So, I've been tagged by my buddy Ginny who is thirty, flirty and thriving, may i add ;)
Boy! Would it be simpler to use my middle name on this, but since i LOATHE my middle name i shall not...

J-Just in time...that's usually when I roll in somewhere. Will I ever be on time again?

E- Against my husband's "Encouragement" to do so, I will not be including "Erotic" as my "E" characteristic. Let's keep it family oriented here.

So, I will say "Extroverted" i am not...though Jamie thinks the longer we've been married the more toward extroversion and away from introversion I have moved...and he's done the opposite! I so love people and I used to come home drained from parties and get-togethers b/c I generally get energy from alone time...but now more often I come home jazzed b/c I'm getting energy from people more. Funny....

S-Searching. Searching for just the right name for the little man growing inside me. I have roughly 9 weeks left to name him. Never has choosing a name taken so long for us...or really just finding the 2 that fit together best. I love him so already and I'm ready to call him by name.

S-Shutter speed. With each click of the shutter I try to capture an expression or moment that is singular and special to that time....and I enjoy getting to learn and explore through this creative outlet.

I-Impatient. Do I need more patience in my life! Whether it's with decorating the house, potty training, or just showing my children the patience that my heavenly Father shows me, I need more, more, more!

C-Caring. There are many, many things that I am not good at-like diligence for one....but one thing I think I do ok at is caring for people when I see a need and being thoughtful and attentive to them.

A-About to pop. And I'm only going to get bigger!

That was difficult! I now tag Kate, Angie and Libby! Have fun ;)

Festival Fun

the other day we met up with some friends of ours for the ross bridge hometown festival and the kids had a blast! i think the giant sinking ship slide was their favorite...that thing was steep!
my favorite part was watching my little rock-climbers! they were too cute w/ all their gear.

the vomit express...but they loved it!

now....this thing....who designed this, i ask??? it was a giant dragon that the kids crawled through and came out this end!

we laughed so hard at this....

\
and what made it funnier was the giant fan that blew them and a huge burst of air out of it!