Tuesday night we went to visit our friends Brett and Brittney Belcher to see their new little baby Brody Scott. He was so little and cute. I never remember Lily Grace being that little! They also have a little doggy that Lily Grace loved! She was the perfect size for her to play with. We are so happy for the Belchers and love them very much!

Lily Grace also loves puppies but you couldn't really tell by this picture!! I don't know if the puppy liked her too much either!

Sunday was an exciting day! We got up extra early to go to an early service at 8 o'clock at Riverchase Church of Christ in Birmingham. The church was very nice and Lily Grace sat through the entire service! I guess because she didn't sit through a Sunday school class for an hour before and got a good nap on the way to B'ham. After church we had a little extra time so we ate a IHOP. It was yummy and very filling! We didn't even eat lunch because we were so full! After breakfast, we headed to Cullman for church with the James family. Our little, precious nephew was dedicated at their church. It was great to see the whole family. We just don't get to see them all enough.

After church with the James family, we headed for Berry just in time for Krisha's bridal shower at Cleveland. She got lots of beautiful things and it was great to see everyone! After the shower, we spent a little time with my family, visited Krisha and Dan at their house and then headed for our church at Northport. It was a busy but wonderful day!!

Our Family

All of us and wishing the grandparents would have got in the picture!!

Sweet Krisha
Lily Grace just loves Tyner Beth!
We were excited to see "Aunt" Crystal at the shower!
I love Aunt Nell so much!!

Today, Lily Grace and I went for a little shopping and then met some girls I graduated from college with. It was so great to spend some time with Taylor and Agya. We caught up on what has been going on in our lives and they got to meet Lily Grace. She loved them and put on a little show for them. We ate at Mellow Mushroom where it has a very busy atmosphere, so Lily Grace was very excited. I miss all the girls from Bama so much! We spent almost everyday of the week together for about two years, so we have been through a lot together. I hope the entire class can get together very soon but it is so hard with new towns, new states and new lives! I think of them all often and crossing my fingers that I will see everyone this summer for a little reunion. I love them all!! And it was great to see you, Taylor and Agya today!! We must do it more often! After lunch, Lily Grace and I went to meet Grandmommy and MawMaw for some more shopping. Really, Grandmommy just wanted to see Lily Grace and give her lots of kisses. She said she just couldn't wait until tomorrow to see her! So we only got to spend about an hour with them, but it was an hour filled with lots and lots of hugs and kisses. We enjoyed every one of them!! We can't wait to see y'all tomorrow afternoon. We love y'all!

Then we hurried home to go to Uncle Ken's wedding. It was a beautiful service! It was great to see some family and friends there. There was delicious foods at the receptions and about twelve different cakes to choose from!!! It was a very hard decision! We are so happy for Uncle Ken and Mrs. Pam and we want them to know how much we love them! Congratulations!!!

When we got home, our neighbors were out in the yard with their new puppy. I couldn't resist to take some pictures of Lily Grace with it! So we ran inside, got some warm clothes on and played with the new puppy. She didn't know what to think about him. He is so much smaller than Hogan. Aren't they precious? This made me really want a little puppy for Lily Grace to play with because Hogan is way too big, but Marty said NO! Hogan is just going to have to play more gentle!

Today our sweet girl turned 9 months old. She is turning more into a little mess everyday! Her personality is really starting to kick in! She has this new face that she has started making at everyone like a, "Are you crazy" look. It is really funny but at the same time seems like she is being mean! I would love to know what she is really thinking!! She is still talking a whole bunch and giving lots of kisses. She is still VERY attached to Mommy. Some days, she never leaves my hip! She is drinking less bottles and eating more and more food. She is eating the 3rd foods now and they seem to be yummy to her. She eats them all up. She also eats little finger foods because she is now able to pinch small foods with her thumb and index finger. It is so much fun to watch her do this. She has been waving for a few months now but they were at random times. I think she now knows when to wave. She waves hello and goodbye and it is the cutest thing!! She also points to things she wants and points to where she wants you to carry her to. She is still not crawling but she is moving lots more. She rolls all over the bed and climbs all over us when we are holding her. We think she will be crawling any time soon. I keep thinking she might start walking first because she loves to stand up all the time. She is still enjoying being read to. Over the past few months she keeps getting better at turning the pages on her own when she holds a book. She loves MDO and loves going to her church nursery class. But we are still having trouble sitting through an entire church service. I don't know when this will change but I would love to sit and hear a whole sermon!! There is no change on the sleeping situation. She still gets in the bed with us half way through the night, but I do not complain because I actually love this! I love her waking me up in the mornings next to me with those big wet kisses and that sweet smile. Well, there may be other new things but she changes everyday! She is just growing so fast and still lights up my day every morning I wake up next to her. She is the joy of our lives.

See my new face I make?

Aren't I precious?
I love these bubbles!
They are yummy, too!
Today was a great day because Uncle Bubba came to take us out to eat at the Sawmeal Restaurant again!! Daddy got to go with us today. Thank you so much Uncle Kenneth! We love you and we love going out to lunch with you! We hope to see you soon!

Then we had another special visit, Aunt KirKir came to see us for the afternoon. We love you sooooo much and can't wait to see you again very soon. We miss you tons when you aren't around. Thank you for coming to visit! We love you!

This was a first for us - DIRTY FEET!!!

Please keep my Daddy in your prayers. Last night he started having chest pains. They continued to increase in pain so Mother took him to the Emergency Room. My Daddy was very fortunate to get to the hospital when he did. He had four blockages. One was 99%, another 80% and the third was 75% blocked. The fourth still had another big artery helping it. They took him in an ambulance to Tuscaloosa DCH at midnight. Finally at 4:30 this morning Daddy was put in a room. He was one of the first out of many others getting stints put in. He had three stints put in and besides having a very bad headache, he is doing much better. We spent the afternoon with him and Lily Grace just couldn't understand why her Pop was laying there and not getting to hold her. She reached for him all night. He is trying to get some rest and will hopefully be able to go home tomorrow. Most of you know, heart conditions run in our family and are very serious. It is a very scary situation. Please keep Daddy and our family in your prayers. And thank GOD for getting him to the hospital when he needed to before anything worse could happen. GOD is so good and always takes such good care of us. We are so blessed! Thank you and I love you all!

Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed spending time with some of our friends from church, celebrating Sydney Ellis' Birthday. We had a really great time and Lily Grace truly enjoyed herself. She has some of the sweetest little friends from church. She loves seeing them! Happy Birthday Sydney Ellis, We Love You!!!

Sydney Ellis loves puppy dogs, so of course it was a Puppy Dog Party!
Make a wish!
Lily Grace loves riding around!
Giving sweet kisses to Aunt KirKir!
Lily Grace and the BEST Daddy in the world!
Starting her off early, she loved playing with the basketball!
Mommy, Lily Grace and one of her most favorite friends, Molly Jane.

Sunday afternoon we finally found time to have Christmas with "Aunt" Crystal. She did so many sweet things for Lily Grace like giving her a few really cute toys, a sweatshirt from Breckenridge, Colorodo, a "Cookies for Santa" set, and a walker! She enjoys sitting in the walker and walks backwards great! She is starting to move forward a little though. But she thinks she is such a big girl moving around on her own. Lily Grace loves all her presents so much and she loves her "Aunt" Crystal! Thank you and we love you tons "Aunt" Crystal!!!!!! We want to see you very soon because we miss you so much!!!

Saturday afternoon, we went to "Aunt" KK's for Mary Katherine's baby shower. Kendra threw a beautiful shower! Baby Beth is going to arrive sometime in February. MK and Luke can choose the date, either the 14th or the 19th. My vote is the 19th!! We had a wonderful time and we are looking forward to the arrival of Beth!

We played a game where we cut the string to where we thought how big MK's belly was. I went way over, sorry MK!!
MK loved getting all those pretty baby girl stuff!
The table was beautiful and the food was delicious Kendra!!
Lily Grace loves MawMaw!

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update on how Lily Grace is doing. She is doing much better! We got the results back on Friday and they all came back negative. This means we do not know what caused the high fever. I just pray it never happens again. Sunday Lily Grace started acting more like herself and continued to keep getting better. Monday night she finally started sleeping more! Since last Monday night, we were running on empty. We were all so exhausted but finally Monday night she slept most of the night! Then last night, she slept pretty good again. So we are all starting to get our strength back because it is hard on Mommy and Daddy when baby doesn't sleep good, too! She is smiling, laughing and talking it up again! And she is sweeter than ever! Thank you all for the prayers and for thinking of us! You are all so wonderful and we love you very much!!!

What a face Lily Grace!!

Bernice wants to ride, too!

Lily Grace with Bernice. Thank you Grandmommy for the early Valentine's present. I light up, clapping and smiling every time she sings and bats her wings! "Hug, Hug, Kiss, Kiss!!"

Today Lily Grace had a wonderful day! She slept better last night than she did the night before last. She only woke up a few times with restlessness throughout the night. We took her to Dr. Petitt at 9:30 this morning for a follow-up check up. He was very happy with how she was today. She was laughing and in a great mood. Her ears, throat, and chest looked great. The only thing was, she did have a high white blood count. This meant her body was trying to fight off some type of infection in her blood. We will know Friday morning what this is when the blood work comes in. This is the infection that caused the fever. She weighed 21 lbs and 6 oz., still growing! And he gave her another antibiotic to take the next 5 days. And we will continue to give her Motrin and Tylenol for the next day to help with any returning fever. Hopefully we will know more Friday and I pray that she does not get another fever. He gave us lots of information dealing with seizures and said that they were very common. About 3 out of 100 children have one and he sees about 1 or 2 each month. He said she may never have another one but she could have a few more up until 6 years old. This all really didn't help me feel better. We are still scared to death with every little move she makes. Any noise, strain, or whatever she does different, my heart stops. We are even sleeping with a lamp on so that we can watch her through the night. She does seem to be back to normal and feeling good but that may be due to all the medicine she is on right now. Please continue to pray for her that she gets completely well and the results Friday will help us to get her well. Also pray for Marty and me to stay strong and just continue being the best parents we can be. This all has been very scary and I don't know what in the world I would do without Lily Grace in my life. I cannot imagine what our cousins Alison and Justin Cottingham are going through with a three year old daughter having cancer or the Burgess family losing their little boy. We just have to continue praying for all of these families that are going down such rough roads in their life and know that GOD is with them each step of the way. GOD has blessed me with such a healthy daughter and we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day or any day from here on out, but we must know GOD is with us and has a great plan for us. HE will get us through the tough times no matter how tough they may be. HE loves us more than we will ever know. Always keep these things in mind and always put HIM first! Have a blessed day and I will keep you all updated on Lily Grace. Thank you so much for all the prayers and calls. We love you all!!

We were there long enough to watch her three favorite shows - Wonder Pets, Blue's Clues, and Yo! Gabba Gabba. She didn't want to take her eyes off the T.V. This is a picture of her watching it intently with that tongue stuck out!

Lily Grace loves giving Mommy those sweet kisses. I eat everyone of them up! I love them!!

This weekend Lily Grace was going to experience her first snow! We were very excited! We planned to go to Berry on Saturday because of two birthday parties of Lily Grace's friends, a basketball game and a dinner with some old friends. Well, with all the weather people saying the roads were going to get bad and there was going to be lots of snow, we went on up to Berry on Friday to be safe. We just knew we were going to wake up to snow but we were so wrong. Not one flake! But Brent sure did get some snow!!! Later that day, a few flakes started falling and we ran outside to snap a picture of her in the "snow" but you definitely can't see the five little flakes we were getting. So Lily Grace missed her first snow and next time we just have to make sure we are in the right town!