It was a Merry Christmas 2009!

It would not be Christmas Eve without the Black Family Christmas photo at 10:30pm!  Ha!  It is amazing little Addie Grace was still awake, but I really think she had the most energy of all of us!  Pictured from top left: Skip & Jan (Wayne's dad's sister; Barrett's mom); Sara (Wayne's little sister who was very sick); Doug (Wayne's dad's baby brother); Susan (Wayne's dad's youngest sister) & Rob (they live down the road from Wayne's parents & go to church with us); middle row: Mitch & Dean (Wayne's parents); Memaw (Wayne's grandmother) & Hilton (her adorable husband); front row: Iris (the yellow lab that you barely see; she belongs to Jan); Swayzee (Sara's yellow lab & Neeli's sister); Amy, Barrett (Wayne's first cousin) & their beautiful little girl, Addie Grace (she is the first great grandchild); and us!

Our annual Christmas photo in front on the fireplace!  Wayne is in his traditional red sweater that he has worn for the past ___  years!  And I am wearing the only thing that fits!  Ha!  Neeli (and her sister, Swayzee) sported matching jester collars.  Nova did not like her red scarf or new Santa hat!

 

Wayne & I have a family tradition of wearing new Christmas P.J.'s each Christmas Eve night.  Seeing this pic makes me happy - and glad that I thought ahead and got a maternity top!  And this year we started a new tradition of spending the night at Wayne's parents - it was so nice to wake up & head downstairs for Santa and homemade cinnamon rolls! 

Merry Christmas from the Black family...

Someone is a big girl!

Well, if you ask her, she will tell you she's a big girl!  :)  She is so smart and so full of energy!  We went to Chuck E. Cheese, the park and visited with Granny & Poppa on Saturday!  And we went to church and Grandmommy's for Christmas on Sunday!  We had a big time, and Aunt Sally has the exhaustion to prove it! 

Baby B is...

a GIRL!!!

I must admit that we were both a bit in shock at first, but we are thrilled to be welcoming a baby girl!!!  Poor Wayne will now have four Black girls to please (me, Neeli, Nova & our baby girl)!  Our little girl now weighs 7 ounces, and we were amazed to see so much detail in her sonogram.  She is very active and healthy, and we can hardly wait to meet her on May 26th.

On the Move!

Baby B is officially on the move! 
This morning at 3:40am Wayne left to go duck hunting with Chris!  Those guys and their hunting!!!  Well, for some reason I could not go back to sleep - for TWO HOURS!  At 4:08am I was laying on my back (well, I sleep at a 40 degree angle) and felt the baby bump move just below my belly button, so I placed my hand there.  Within moments Baby B moved TWICE!  I was so excited that I texted Wayne!  Of course, I left my hand on the baby bump to be sure not to miss another foot, elbow or head!  Sure enough, at 4:28am I left another protruding movement!  Yay! This was my first time to feel the little one move!  I cannot wait for Wayne to feel it!  

Weekend with Wayne?!?!

Yes, it's true!  Wayne stayed home during a weekend of duck season - the ducks simply do not like rain!  We had a great weekend of hanging out and watching movies!  We had dinner Satuday with Amy & Dustin then we had a Cocktail Party at Caleb & Tallie's house - both were oh so fun!  But I must admit that I will no longer be wearing traditional dresses - maternity clothes here I come!!! 

Duck Season in the MS Delta

Well, it's official!  It's duck season in the Delta!  And the guys are loving it! 

Josh and JD joined Wayne and Mitch on Friday!  They were in and out of there in no time!

Chris and Michael joined Wayne and Mitch on Saturday morning!  And that adorable, huge lab is Neeli's brother, Otis!  Isn't he precious? 

And on Sunday Mansil joined the group from Saturday!  Neeli had a small injury so Otis was a busy boy! 

Congrats Emily & Bo Holland!

Wayne was already hunting in the Delta, so Sara and I traveled up Saturday to attend Emily and Bo's wedding in Batesville.  Emily was a beautiful bride!  And the wedding and reception were festive and fun! 

Thanks to my wonderful SIL I had the perfect empire waist dress for the occassion!  Although the baby bump is not evident here it is quite real in person! :)

Let It Snow!

Last night it snowed in Madison!  Yay!  It was so pretty when it was falling!  Nova loved eating and playing in it last night, but this morning when I needed her to sit in it for a photo op she was not interested!!!  :)

Candy Day!

Our family has the best Christmas traditions!  One of my most favorite is Candy Day!  Well, it is actually more of a Candy Weekend!  And it is so much fun - even though it is also pretty hard work!  Today the festivities began!  We were blessed with the perfect weather!  Here we are making divinity, but we also make rolo thingies, pecan rolls, oreo truffles, haystacks, banana nut bread, millionaires, pralines, etc.  After all of the candy is made we assemble it on festive trays and deliver it to family and friends.  It's our little way of spreading holiday cheer! :)