A Season of Special Gifts!

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been a while since the last post. As usual, we have had one crazy month. Merry Christmas to all our friends and family members! This has been a special month indeed! Nik's birthday was on the 21st - old man- and we celebrated it in the best way we could for him: POKER! He went to Biloxi for a day - and did very well in a couple of poker tournaments, then he had a poker tournament at home! He turned 28 this year, which seems young, until you remember that he and I started dating when he was 16! Time flies when you're in love! lol.

The 21st was also special for another reason, my cousin, Chera and her husband, Eric, were due to have their baby boy on that date. One day late, little Owen James Hunter was born. He was a healthy 8.5 lbs, 21" long. This beautiful little boy was welcomed into a beautiful home. He will be so loved and is so lucky to have the parents he does. I can't wait for our trip to meet the lil man! We want to give a big blogger hug to "Cheric"! Congrats guys! HE IS BEAUTIFUL!

A few days later, Kaileigh experienced her second Christmas! And boy oh boy did she love it! She had so many presents from family and Santa - by the end, she was tuckered out and Mommy and Daddy had to finish un-wrapping for her. Thank you so much everyone for the wonderful and generous gifts! We create a special relationship with our UPS man every year at this time because we have so many people who love us! I will upload christmas pictures soon!

And, just in case everyone doesn't know already, we will be coming home Jan 11-28. We will be celebrating Kaileigh's 2nd brithday at home this year!! Hopefully she will get to go sledding for the first time! We love and miss y'all and can't wait to see you soon! SMOOCHES!

Bradley Alexander Savva

On Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - Nik and I officially became Auntie Jamie and Uncle Niki. Bradley Alexander Savva arrived late in the evening. Such a beautiful little baby boy! He is a healthy 6 lbs. 9 oz! We are so happy for the new parents, Dani and Chris - and cannot wait to meet their new little bundle. We wish them all the very best in their new adventure! Here are a few pictures of our adorable nephew.

ps. Kaileigh is thrilled to have a cousin!

Classic new daddy pose!

Just Precious!

I just wanna kiss that face!

Congrats guys~ We love u!!

Halloween 2010

Happy Halloween everyone! We had such a great weekend! First, we took a trip out to Seward Farms in Mississippi. There, they have farm animals, horse back rides, corn mazes and a bunch of other fun country things. Kaileigh rode her first real horse, and LOVED it. It was a beautiful day; so much better than last year when we froze! We didn't get to the corn maze this time, but we might go back this next weekend. We also carved our pumpkins. Well Nik carved, Kaileigh painted, and I crafted. Kaileigh loved painting the pumpkins until she got bored, then decided to paint Nik's head. So much more amusing! She did help clean out the pumpkin though. She didn't hesitate at all to reach right in and grab all the mushy stuff! That night, I had to work at PURE - a new nightclub in town- I cocktail waitress on Saturdays. The big radio station down here 97.5 had their "BOO BALL" there. I dressed up as Sherlock Holmes and Nik dressed like a non-Edwardish vampire. The costumes were AMAZING! Some people put a lot of time and money into their costumes. The next day was Halloween! Kaileigh was so excited to go Trick or Treating with all of her little friends. It is so cute to see them all together - all the same height! She did so well. At first she would only go with Daddy. But by the end of the night, she was walking up with all the other kids and then would run back to show us what was in her bucket! We had a great time. Here are some pictures from this past weekend. For more pics, go to the following web site: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2015533&id=136500042&l=65d3d77c07

Daddy and Kaileigh at Seward Farms.

(This is Kai's "CHEESE" face.)

Ready to Trick or Treat!

(I made the kitty bucket - go me!)

Loved the "Neigh"


Kaileigh, Rachel, Becca, and Madelyne
(Kitty, Thing 2 & 1, Pretty Fairy Princess)

Me and Nik at Pure

Painting her pumpkin!

Ewww....

NO FEAR!

MASSACHUSETTS!

We had such a wonderful visit home! We were very busy and saw so many friends and family. Kaileigh remembered people and places this time - which was really great to see. We started off our trip with a visit to Becky's field hockey game. She has gotten really good - and has one wicked drive! Go Rams! We also did a round of visiting to local family and friends. Kaileigh got to play with her cousin, Logan - and even gave a few hugs and kisses. So sweet! Seeing our family and watching Kaileigh interact was precious time that we are so grateful we were able to have.

Chera's baby shower was next! It was such a beautiful shower. Chera made all of the centerpieces herself - adorable! She got some of the cutest baby things - Eric's old baby outfits, diaper cake (made by Mom), a beautiful bassinette, and an 80's lulaby cd (from me!) And about a million other things... The baby is due Dec 21st, which means the next time we are up (January) we will get to meet lil mr. hunter! You wouldn't even believe Cher is pregnant, she is still so teeny and cute!

That same night, I went to Brenna and Jimbo's wedding. It was amazing! We took the ski lift to the top of Jiminy Peak for the ceremony. It had rained all week, but was clear and beautiful on that day! The view was breathtaking and the ceremony was so sweet! It was the funnest wedding I have ever been to; with a live band, photobooth, and all of my closest and dearest friends, it was perfect. We are so happy for them - love you guys!

Later in the week, Kaileigh and I took a road trip to Boston! It is one of my favorite places in the world and we spent it with some of my favorite people. The first night, we stayed with Chera and Eric. We had so much fun playing with Lexi (their dog) in the park, feeding Lexi lots and lots of treats, and going shopping. We took a trip to the American Girl store so Chera could buy Kaileigh her very first Bitty baby doll! Chera and I were so much more excited than Kaileigh was. We were such big fans when we were little and we immediatly turned back into 6 year olds when we walked in the doors! So much fun.

Our second night was spent at Aimee's apartment. Donna drove in and spent the night as well. It was so fun just chit-chatting with my girlfriends! I miss them so much! With a great dinner and a few glasses of wine - thats all you need to start the "Remember whens"... The next day, Kaileigh took her first trip on the Subway as we made our way to the Boston Aquarium. Chera and Eric met us over there and we had such a great time! Kaileigh and Chera LOVED the penguins! So much so that we HAD to get a little penguin souvenier. We also saw Myrtle the Turtle (8 feet long) and some crazy seals! After, we took a stroll through Faneul Hall and Quincy Market as well as rode the Carousel. Kaileigh was amazing - she was so enthralled with the city and she never made a fuss! Thank you so much Aimee, Donna, Chera, and Eric for letting us visit! We had so much fun!

The following day, I headed off to Foxboro for my friend, Kristy's wedding. This was such a beautiful and tradtional wedding. She wore a perfect princess gown and was married in a beautiful catholic church. She really was stunning! Her reception hall was the prettiest place I have ever seen! It was like a fantasy wedding come to life! Congrats Kristy and Tony - love you!

While I was at that wedding, Kaileigh was able to visit with Nik's family! I am still upset that I never got to see some of them on this trip - but am so happy they were able to visit with Kaileigh. I was told she had a great time with all of them, and entertained them fully! :)

While we were home, we were able to go with my mom and Becky to a corn maze! That was such great fun! Kaileigh had so much fun running - and falling - it was the perfect Fall thing to do!

While we were away, Nik stayed here in Mobile. His friend, Russ, came out and they got busy with some home improvements! Our privacy fence was put up, landscaping was done by way of weeding and laying lava rocks, an accent wall was painted in the living room, and a ceramic back-splash was put up in the kitchen! Everything looks so great! I am in love with the changes that were made! We missed Daddy dearly - and as much fun as I had - I am NEVER traveling without him again! lol... It was a whole lot of work.

Since we have gotten back, Kaileigh has named her baby, Abby, she has stuck to Nik like glue, and we got some pumpkins for Halloween. It is back to the grind for us. But we are so happy and grateful to everyone for such a wonderful trip! LOVE YOU!

I am having trouble uploading pictures, so the rest will come in a couple days...

Halloween 2010

Halloween Treats Halloween

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Summer in the South

Hey y'all! :)

We wanted to give everyone a great big "Thank You." for our amazing vacation. We had such a wonderful time visiting with everyone that we love so much. Perhaps the very best part of our trip was getting to meet our new family member, Dani. We are so happy for the two of you - soon to be three!! Speaking of babies, we also were so excited to see our best friends, Chera and Eric with their lil' bun! Though it was secret at the time, news has now come out that they are going to be expecting a BOY in December! We couldn't be more excited for all of our expecting friends.

Since coming back home, we have settled back into our natural routine. It's nice to vacation, but it is also nice to come back home. Besides being excruciatingly hot, there is not much new happening with me and Nik. Kaileigh, on the other hand, is becoming more and more adventurous every day. She can now climb up the entire ladder of the BIG slide and slide down by herself at the park. - Scares the ba-jesus out of me... but I encourage her nonetheless! Her relationship with Elmo has become quite committed and she demands his youtube videos hourly. She will sit at the computer screen and scream "Eeemmmmmoooooo!" until we turn it on! She enjoys going to the gym daycare every day for an hour or so - she has made many friends. They are mostly older boys who get her anything she wants. When we leave, she has an entourage of adoring boys waiting for her to blow kisses! (I have already told Nik, he's going to have his work cut out for him!) Her vocabulary is really developing. We have to really really listen sometimes, but she is starting to create 2 or 3 word sentances! She can count up to three or four, but only once in a blue moon. Usually her counting goes something like this: "Du - Won - Du - Ree" ;) Gosh she makes us smile! Her animal sounds are becoming more and more animated and her favorite this week is a monkey!

We are all looking forward to our next trip home in October! Until then however, we have a very exciting visitor coming! Luanne (Grandma) is coming down on August 5th! We can't wait to see her again~

Hope these pictures make you smile! Love and miss you more than words can say

-us

Kaileigh and Auntie Becky at the Pool!

Auntie Dani & Uncle Chris

(Mommy, why does Uncle Chris look like Daddy?)

Drew Brees

(QB Saints)

Nik met him at a book signing - not too shabby!

First ever rapper-ballerina!

(Yo yo - check my pirouette!)

Cinderella? lol - I promise, she wanted to help!

(Chera - check out the pj's!)

Congrats Chera and Eric (and Lexi)!

We are so very happy to announce that Chera and Eric Hunter are expecting their first baby on December 21, 2010. They are going to make the best parents in the world! We send all our love to them and that little "bean." We can't wait to see you guys!!

Check out their blog to see that precious baby's picture!

We're still here!!!

Ok, we're back...

Sorry we haven't posted anything since February... it is funny how fast life goes! We have been very busy down here. Kaileigh is growing up so fast and seems to be learning something new every day. Just to give you an idea of where she is... Kaileigh can now say "Please" and "Thank you" - and even says them at the right time... mostly! She can climb on to the couch, coffee table, toilet, beds, and everything else! Which means that on most days, she is covered with bruises! She says so many things now and is always wanting to learn more and more. She has a great sense of humor - she will laugh out loud all by herself sometimes. She also has her favorite books and toys. She enjoys going to the library with me and picking out new books for bedtime. We have also started swim classes at the Coast Guard base pool. Kaileigh is not too sure if she likes it or not. She will play with me and swim for a couple of minutes and then she doesn't want to do any more. Next week Nik is going to come with us, and since she always wants to be where daddy is... hopefully she will like the classes better.

We are all so excited for our trip home! We will not only get to visit friends and family that we miss so much. But we will also get to see Chris and meet his new wife Dani. They were recently married and are expecting a wonderful baby in October!! Since we haven't seen Chris in over a year, we are so happy to be able to coincide our visits home. Also, our good friends, Tina and Aaron are getting married while we are at home and we cannot wait for that reunion as well!! Life has pulled us all in different directions - us in Alabama, Tina and Aaron in Tennessee, and Chris and Dani in Colorado... we are so lucky to be able to still connect and share these wonderful experiences with one another!

Kaileigh has a bit of a cold that started yesterday. We can't tell if it is allergies or a cold... but either way we all had a bit of a long night last night. I am sorry that I have slacked on the blog! We love you all and are so very excited to see you in just a few weeks!!

Enjoy the following pictures of the last month. These include Kaileigh's first time to the beach... a week before the oil hit, Nik's friend's promotion, and a couple bath time pictures! <3

Lots of fun!

Nik's friend, Rich gets promoted to Cheif! Congrats guys!

Mother's Day at the fountains!

Snuggled up with Daddy!
Burr!!

Bubble head!

Nice look Kai!

Our Beach Day!

Having so much fun at the beach!

Our beautiful family!

Mommy Kisses!

So Big!

Not even 5 minutes after we got in the car... big day for such a little girl!

Kaileigh's first beach trip!

Digging to China with Daddy!

(I asked them to pick me up an egg roll!)

Bathing Beauty!

Kaileigh spent about 85% of her time at the beach in the water with Daddy!

Sand sand EVERYWHERE!

(really... everywhere!)

Daddy's girl, through and through!