HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Morgan!! I cannot believe it has been a year since our precious little "bonus blessing" was born! I never thought I would be able to be a new mom again at nearly 40 years old, but Morgan has brought out the best in all of us! We have enjoyed every milestone and are so thankful to have such a happy, healthy baby.
Her party isn't until Sunday, but we celebrated a little bit today. She wore her "happy birthday" dress (& looked ADORABLE in it!!) and her new tennis shoes. After supper, she devoured her very first cupcake with gusto! She'll have no trouble with her little cake on Sunday!! I'll post some party pics on Sunday (after my nap!!) Happy birthday, sweet Morgan! We are so looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you!

See you soon!!

Remembering September 11 . . .

I remember September 11, 2001, almost like it was yesterday. The day started off like most other days did at that time: Chris was at work; Bailey, who was almost 9 months old, was in her high chair after having had breakfast; and I was in the kitchen with her, fixing my own breakfast and watching "The Today Show" on the little black and white television I had on the counter. I was watching intently just as the first plane hit the first tower. The newscasters were stunned and obviously shaken, as I was, too, as I thought, "What a horrible accident" until the second plane hit . . .

While my family did not personally know anyone who died in the attacks of September 11, it is impossible not to be affected by the tragic events of that day. Everyone who died that day was someone's husband, wife, son, daughter, sister, brother, friend, co-worker, mother, or father. And while the death of a loved one is difficult and painful under the best of circumstances, losing someone in such a violent, senseless way must produce a pain that is impossible to explain and even harder to overcome. It is my prayer that the families, friends, and co-workers left behind in the attacks of September 11 feel the love, support, and prayers of those around the world who are remembering them and their loved ones today.

See you soon!
Angela

Circle G Ranch

Bailey, Morgan, and I had the most awesome time at the Circle G Ranch last week! We'd been trying to get to an animal park all summer but the only one I knew of was quite a distance away. Luckily, I stumbled onto the website for Circle G Ranch, which is quite a bit closer so we checked it out. IT.WAS.AMAZING! Bailey loved it - she told me it was the best day of her whole summer! You drive through the grounds in your car or ride their vehicle - since Morgan was with us, we drove our car. You roll you car windows down and the animals walk right up to check you out and eat food if you buy a bucket (or 3!). We kept the sunroof open the whole time, but we had to put the windows up when the emus came by because they are flippin' scary!! Here are some of our up-close-and-personal pics from the day!

Day Trippin' in Nashville!

Morgan LOVED the mirror in the dressing room where we stopped to cool off for a bit . . .

. . . because it was FREAKIN' 109 degrees at one point!

We stumbled upon this neat little homemade fruit popscicle shop, called Las Paletas, after lunch and I had a Chocolate Covered Strawberry one. Had a been more generous, I would've shared more with Morgan!! The really cool thing was that Bobby Flay LOST his throwdown with the owners. How awesome is that?!?!

I got this most amazing cinnamon roll drenched in cream cheese frosting at The Puffy Muffin in Brentwood. It was a delicious breakfast this morning!! I even let Chris have the other one - turns out, I AM generous!!

Morgan ate 2 pickles during our lunch at Burger Up! They were sour and she would make these terrible faces then go right back to eating them. So funny!!

I had the Woodstock Burger at Burger Up in Nashville - delicious beef patty with Benton's bacon (cue angels!), white cheddar from Sweetwater Valley Farms, and Jack Daniels Maple Ketchup. It was absolutely delicious!! Chris had the Bison Burger, which he really enjoyed.

Morgan befriended this older man sitting next to us at Burger Up. She LOVED waving to him and laughing and smiling - he was very encouraging, too!! He must have been a grandfather - she can spot one from a mile away!!

My sweet Chris & Morgan!

More pickle pics from Burger Up.

Our first stop was Outpost Armory in Christiana, TN, a town I have never heard of near Murfreesboro. Morgan LOVED the bullet making machine!

A few pics from July . . .

Family Fun on the 4th

I sure do hate to be a slacker, but I just cannot seem to get everything together to post pictures on this blog! Here's a little of what we've been up to this summer. We celebrated the 4th of July weekend at the farm like we do every year and the three newest Lemmons were in attendance. Morgan (almost 10 months) and Samuel (almost 9 months) played in the baby pool together and when I say "played together," I mean Samuel splashed & laughed & had a great time, and Morgan tried to escape!! I've never seen anything like it! Anyway, Bailey and her friend, Rylie, had fun on the slip & slide, and Eliza (16 months) ran around being especially cute! She's just developed curly hair and it is so cute!! I'm still holding out hope that Morgan will have curly hair, too!! Red, curly hair . . . absolute perfection!

See you soon!!

Zoo Day

We had such a great day today!! We went to the zoo with our sweet friends, the Duprees, and it turned out to be such a pleasant day weather-wise. Morgan got to crawl around in this area in the Wee Play Zoo that is just her size. I could've watch her play there all day long. It was so precious and she had such fun! Bailey caught a butterfly at the butterfly house and graciously shared it with Morgan. After a fun day at the zoo, Morgan slept for 3 hours!! We may have to go to the zoo every day!! After a relaxing afternoon, we met Chris for dinner and then he & Bailey headed off to see "Lord of the Rings" and Morgan and I went to the store to replenish her stock of baby food! I bought 50 jars and, believe it or not, it will only last about a week!! But we have so much fun at the store. Morgan smiles and laughs and carries on and gets a TON of attention, which encourages her to smile and laugh and carry on some more! We had such a good time that I didn't even mind bagging my own groceries. We are so blessed to have such sweet, precious girls!

See you soon!!