Miller's Class Christmas Party

Cute little reindeers!

Miller's 2K class at the ELC had their Christmas party at the beginning of December. I was really excited about this class party because I thought it would be the first class party that Miller would actually realize something was different.
The party started at 9:30 so naturally, we arrived around 9:45...I had Casey drop the cookies off on his way to work that morning. In all my excitement about the party, I forgot that Miller has to have his "warm-up" time. Ms. Kaci and Ms. Erika both tell me that after I drop Miller off in the morning, he needs about 15 minutes of time to himself before he is ready to play. (One day, when he is old enough, this will be his coffee time like mommy's :) So when we arrived Miller was in one of his moods and not interested in playing with his friends. It was still cute, though, to see how each child has their particular seat that they must sit in and their particular routines.
After snack time, Miller decided to let go of his tight grasp around my leg and have some fun.

Ms. Kaci

Ms. Erika

New Year, New Name

With a new year, I have decided to choose a new blogger name. Clearly, I do not post every week and sometimes not every month, but sometimes I post every day! So this name is to those who are able to keep up with the Wigleys....Good Luck!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We finally got our Christmas decorations up around the second week in December. I usually like to have all of my decorations out the day after Thanksgiving (if we are in town), but this year with the move I was a little off of my schedule. But I am very pleased to say that we are finally settled in our new home! So as if moving wasn't hard enough, I had to also locate all of our Christmas decorations. We did not decorate as much as we would have liked, but I still had fun putting up our tree....which I did not take a picture of this year (gasp!). Needless to say, this whole moving thing has definitely thrown us for a loop.
So, I did get our tree up, my aunt gave us a beautiful live wreath that she found in Homewood for our unfinished front door, we hung our stockings with care, our neighbors gave us a gorgeous poinsettia, I got out all of my M. Bagwell Christmas dishes and did plenty of Christmas baking.
Last year I was prepared to put a gate around my Christmas tree because I just knew a 2 year old boy would love nothing more than to chunk my Christopher Radko ornaments across my living room, but I was wrong. Last year, Miller showed no interest in touching the tree. But this year...I guess since I wanted to include him in some of the decorating, he took it upon himself to "redecorate" all season long. I would notice that around the middle-bottom of our tree looked a little bare, so I took a closer look and saw that he had chosen a new spot for his favorite ornaments. We would have Aubie and the eagle together on one branch. On another we would have two Bella ornaments together, and so on. I was smart enough to put most of the pricier ornaments closer to the top. And I did tell him to please not touch the ornaments once we found the perfect spot, but it was just too cute. He thought he was helping!
I also got most of out 2011 Christmas cards out this week. I just love our Arden wedding photos so much so I knew I wanted to use them on our card. I had so much fun making our first family Christmas card!

Christmas Parade

The past three years I have taken Miller to the Christmas parade in Gadsden. This year was by far the most fun because Miller was actually knew what was going on and was excited to see the bands, lights and floats. Even though it was rainy weather, I thought it was much better than being freezing cold! For this parade ( and every other parade that Miller has attended downtown) we watched it from our good friends, Amy and Jared Gladden's, store, Gadsden Music Company.
Gadsden Music is the best venue for best friends like Miller and Morris to watch the parade. This year we arrived early to get a close park because of the rain. Miller was so excited to see Morris. Clyde and Jared are such great sports when it comes to 3 year olds running around the thousands of dollars worth of guitars and banging on the expensive drum sets. Finally, it was time for the parade to start.

Iron Bowl 2011

War Eagle!

This year we enjoyed watching the Iron Bowl from my brother's house. We have season tickets, but thought it would be smart to sell them in hopes that we could move in our new house over the long weekend. It ended up that we weren't able to completely move in that weekend, but by the end of the game we were excited to have sold our tickets. Melissa and Kagan, Ross' girlfriend, prepared some delicious tailgating food! We enjoyed spending the afternoon with great friends, even if we didn't beat Bama....

Win or loose, these boys had a wonderful time!

Very Thankful

This Thanksgiving was so busy for us. Since Casey and I are both very close to our families, we had to go to both houses on Thursday.
We started our day by Miller joining us in our bed and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. My dad and I always watched the parade together, so I want to continue this tradition on with my family. Miller loved the parade. His favorite floats were Mickey and Buzz. After the parade, we rushed to get ready to make it to Casey's parents house.
Jada always cooks a feast, and every year we say we will eat light since we have to go to see my family and every year we eat until we are stuffed! This year I brought a yummy hash brown casserole that I found on Pinterest. I only took three pictures on my camera this Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law always gets the cute family picture of all 14 of us. I have got to do better!

That afternoon we headed to see my family. Every year, my family joins the Abels to celebrate at their house. We always have a blast! David and Julie are so sweet to include my family in their celebration. I enjoy seeing all the members of the Abel family just as much as I do mine. To the Abels I took another yummy (and cute!) recipe that I found on Pinterest....What would we do without it now? It was also a hit, but it was funny because so many people just wanted to look at it and take pictures and as time passed, the crackers started to get a little soggy! Miller loved the turkey (of course he would not try it), so I am thinking about making it a little tradition for us. I think next year he would really enjoy putting it together.

Gobble Gobble!

We ended up heading home around 8:30. What a long and fun filled day! By the time we got Miller to bed and sat down for a minute, I jumped up and said "Casey, it is 10 p.m.!" He looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I wanted to go to Wal-Mart. I knew it was crazy too. Before Miller was born my family went to Destin when we were young and when we got older we would spend Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. My experience spending my Black Fridays in the Fashion Show Mall and Caesars Palace did not prepare me for the madness at the Gadsden Wal-Mart. It was completely normal for people to have 2 and 3 buggies. I called Casey and could not help but laugh. I ended up buying 4 things. None of which was on sale.
We had a wonderful family and fun-filled Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays and this year I was so thankful and happy to spend it with my two favorite boys.

Halloween Fun!

We had such a fun Halloween this year. Miller decided that he wanted to be Aubie for Halloween, well, honestly he wanted to be an Auburn football player, but we could not find a cute costume...besides he can be that when he's older ;) We spent the weekend before Halloween in Auburn, and what would you know I found the cutest Aubie costume! Miller was SO excited to be Aubie. He could not wait to wear his costume! But it was so funny because that next day, and even when he was wearing the costume, when people would ask him what he was for Halloween, he STILL said a football player, ha!
Our Halloween started off with a party at Miller's school.

All of the kids looked so cute in their costumes. Miller and his class walked through the church and trick-or-treated at all of the rooms downstairs. Miller, of course, was so excited about candy! The teachers provided a little Halloween snack and all of the parents got their class picture.

Miller and his favorite friend, Morris

Miller and his other favorite friend, Parker

That evening we went to our friends, The Gladden's, home for a neighborhood get together. We all had a blast. It was so much fun to see all of the kids dressed up.
 Amy had rented a bounce house which kept most of the children entertained until time to trick-or-treat. Casey and I had brought 2 golf carts to Amy's to make trick-or-treating a little easier. Amy, Melissa and I decided it would be best if the dad's took the kids. We all laughed about how all the dads would do chasing after 2 and 3 year olds. We had a wonderful night! Big thanks to the Gladdens for getting everyone together!

Here are a few pictures from the night....

On our way to the Halloween Party

Having so much fun!

Golf Cart #1 consisting of Casey, Josh, Miller and Mary Carleton

Golf Cart #2 consisting of Jared, Morris and the sweetest little lion

Aubie and Big Al

After a long night of trick-or-treating, Miller and Morris decided they needed a snack

I thought they all looked so cute in their matching pj's

This picture just made me laugh...Thomas is going to have some fun with these two big boys!

Perfect Pumpkin Picking

Every year we have taken Miller to this cute little pumpkin patch in Sardis, but this year, we decided to do something different. Our pumpkins from the Sardis pumpkin patch are always small and we end up buying another one that is much larger to carve. While on my way home from Huntsville one day, I passed this cute little place with beautiful pumpkins, all sizes, shapes and colors. I knew this was where we should find our pumpkin. (Just a little side note- last year Miller said "pumpin" for pumpkin and this year he says "punkin".)
The next Saturday, we went back to Guntersville and picked our pumpkin. Miller had so much fun looking for the perfect pumpkin.

The sweetest man was working at the patch that day and told us that all of the proceeds went to the Marshall County Lions Club. He even gave Miller a small pumpkin with a cute little face painted on it.
After finding our pumpkin, we did some shopping downtown. I love downtown Guntersville. It reminds me of many summers growing up on our boat on the lake.

After shopping we had a delicious lunch at one of my favorite restaurants- The Rock House! We sat outside and just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. It was a wonderful day with my boys!

A Perfectly Auburn Birthday Party

Since Miller is obsessed with anything Auburn, I thought what a perfect way to celebrate his birthday by inviting all of his friends to Tiger Stadium (aka Pop and Janie's house) to help him ring in his 3rd birthday!
I had the most fun designing his invitations. When I was a working woman, I was lucky enough to acquire an awesome computer program that allows me to design invites, stationery, etc. And I love it!
We decided that we would have an Auburn-themed party with a bounce house. What 3-year-old doesn't love a bounce house?? Miller was so excited when Casey was setting up on Saturday morning. I should have taken a picture! Miller helped Daddy and Pop roll out the bounce house and push the stakes in the ground. He jumped for about 2 hours before the party, and I was so worried that he would be bounced out by the time his friends got there...not the case!
Miller was so excited when his friends started arriving. This was the first year he actually realized this party was all for him.
 The spread consisted of Miller's favorite foods, chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A, PBJs, fruit, Cheetos, Chips, Tex Mex dip for the adults and of course, what birthday party would be complete without a cake from Olexa's! I don't know if it is the 1,539 sticks of butter that she uses in her cakes, or what, but they are fabulous!
We had plenty of Toomer's Lemonade, Capri Suns and a few adult beverages.
The kids enjoyed the bounce house for about an hour before eating lunch, cake and opening presents. Casey and I love the idea of having a bounce house at a 3 yr old birthday party. Most of the kids there were around his age, so the adults we able to chat and watch the kids have a ball while jumping. Here are a few pictures from the party!

Tiger Stadium

Delicious cake!

Official Mascot

My wonderful, precious Sue Sue in her Auburn gear!

Make a wish!

Look at those eyes! My sweet nephew, Corlee, and Miller

Opening presents

Love these boys! I can't wait to show them this when they are 16!

My baby boy!

My sister-in-law took this...Hilarious! To me, this picture sums up the way he felt about the party, "Really?!? For me?!?"

Terriffic Three's!

Miller is at my most favorite age! Of course, when I told Casey this last week, he said, "Claire you say that about every age so far." But, I really think this is it!! He is so, so, so sweet. I wouldn't call our 2's terrible, just challenging, but I can say that we have crossed that bridge! Here is a little update:

• Miller, you can say your ABC's and count to 10 with no problem.
• You know a square, circle, triangle, rectangle and octagon with no problem.
• You are learning the Pledge of Allegiance.
• You attend MDO 4 days a week from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• You love to sing and dance. You will get mine and Daddy's iphone and pull up your "favorites" on YouTube.
• I often hear your talking to yourself and your toys when I am in another room.
• You still love Lambie
• You are still a horrible eater
• You are very obedient. I rarely ever have to count to 3 with you. 
• Your favorite toys right now are cars, tractors, dirt bikes and anything that pulls a trailer.
• You are obsessed with anything Auburn. I am very concerned that you will become a Super Fan...
• When you wake up, you come to Mommy and Daddy's room and say "I want to change clothes.." Into an AU t-shirt and shorts. Every. Morning. 
• And every afternoon you want to put on the same clothes from that morning.
• You love our dog, Bella. You often play with her like a sibling. One minute you both are playing and the next you are fighting over a toy.
• You are so, so, so loving! You love to be close to Daddy and I. So many times throughout the day you will come hug and kiss me! I love it!!
• You also love to wrestle with Daddy! Around 7 p.m. every night you go to Daddy and say, "Let's Wrestle, Daddy!!" 
• You are very determined and like to do things on your own.
• You have the most Southern accent, that is so stinkin cute! Your speech is really good. You can perfectly pronounce the 'L' sound. You still have a little trouble with 'R', but it is getting better every day. 
• Our nighttime routine with you is bath time, a few more minutes of play, brush teeth, Daddy and I lay down with you for prayers and a story. We usually stay with you for 10-15 minutes. When we get up, you always ask for Bella to come sleep with you. 
• You are completely potty trained. We have not bought a pull-up since I cannot remember when. You have still never had an accident in your bed. I actually cannot remember the last time you had an accident. 
• And last,  the picture with this post says a lot about your behavior....I can actually get a posed picture of you! This time last year, all of my pictures were a blur!

Daddy and I love you more than life. You have taught us both what love truly means. You are so precious. I love that I get to see life through your eyes. You teach me to not worry about the small things and to take in the moment. I am so thankful that God gave me you.

Here we go!

Wow, this feels strange...With a 3 month hiatus it's hard to get back on the bandwagon. I feel like blogging is kind of like going to the gym...If you stop, it's so hard to go back, but once you get going, it's great! Anyway, I have been thinking about how I am going to catch up. If I was going to update on every little thing, or just jump to where we are now. So, I have decided to do a little of both.

He Works Hard for the Money....

2 weeks ago a friend of mine called and asked if Miller could model some of the clothes for her spring/summer 2012 catalog. I paused for a minute, remembering the fashion shows that my mom used to force me to do for The Gingerbread House and Barefoot Darlins with my big brown paci in my mouth, and then I said OF COURSE! I could not wait to see how Miller would do.
Knowing Miller, I knew I needed to explain the process to him. He is not one to be happy about changing out of his Auburn t-shirt into a smocked jon jon and especially never happy about having 'posed' pictures made. So I decided we would have a practice round....

yep...this is what I got...

Whew! When Miller broke out this cute little number, I knew I would have my work cut out for me! I told him that was a wonderful silly smile, but I needed to see some teeth!

I was dying

I got teeth alright. I decided we might need to take a break...you know, models never like to be over worked...especially not 2 year old models.
Later that day i brought up the subject again. I told Miller that Randi and Jenna Beth wanted to see his sweet smile.

"Money Shot"

That's when I got the "Money Shot". That sweet little smile melted my heart! I told him that was exactly what Randi and Jenna Beth wanted to see! We practiced our sweet smile several more times that day for Daddy, Jannie and Pop. He was a pro! Casey and I joked about making him start his career at the age of 2. He said, "Hey, ya got to start somewhere!"
The next day was his big debut (haha!). He did great about changing clothes and pretty good about smiling. It worked out well because Randi said she like "un-posed" shots better than "posed".
Randi and Jenna Beth's designs were beautiful! The name of their line is Posh Tots. These ladies are so talented. I am so glad that they decided to do this, and let me come by for sneak peeks every season ;) You can check out their website here.
At the end of Miller's session, he was allowed to pick a toy from the toy chest. They had Lightning McQueen, big trucks, candy and sweet little things for girls too. What does my child pick?? THE PINK HELLO KITTY CHAPSTICK! Ha! Whatever makes him happy. I actually knew he would go for that right when I saw it because of his obsession with chapstick.
I will be sure and post the pictures from Randi when I get to see them.

Family Movie Night

We took Miller to the movies for the first time (well technically not the first time, bc we did take him twice when he was about 3 months and he slept right through the entire movie) on Saturday to see Cars 2. Casey and I were so excited to see this movie. Miller is obsessed with the original Cars movie. It stays on the TV constantly if Miller is at home. My house looks like Radiator Springs-he has every character, and some he has 3 of the same!
Miller immediately saw the popcorn and had to have some, then saw the candy and "needed" some of that too.....Fifty bucks later we were sitting in the theater! We all agreed that it wasn't as good as the first Cars, but we enjoyed the movie and a fun family night!

I know, horrible picture, but when I got my big Cannon camera out at during the movie to take Miller's picture for the blog, Casey gave me a bad look, haha! So I had to settle with my iphone without the flash. But if you look really close you can see Miller, staring intently at the big screen, holding a bag of popcorn as big as he is, with his other hand in a bag of Reeses Peeses.

Happy Birthday, America!

Jimmy's dog, Biscuit. He is hilarious! And so sweet!

We had a perfect 4th of July weekend. We were so excited for this long weekend to give us time to organize and unpack from the move.
We spent Friday and Saturday getting organized and setting up Miller's big boy bed.
On Sunday, my Aunt Becky invited us up to her lake house in Leesburg. We had the best time! She and Jimmy built the lake house several years ago, but this was the first time I had been able to make the trip. It is adorable! I wish I would have taken a picture of the front. When I think of a a cabin on the lake their house is exactly what comes to mind. Jimmy can build/fix just about anything and Becky has a great eye for decorating. Right when we got out of the car I could hear the ice cream machine on the back porch making homemade ice cream...my favorite! We let Miller nap for about an hour and then made our way down to the lake. Their house sits up on top of a hill of their lot and the lake is down at the bottom. Miller was instantly in a good mood when he woke up because he found out that we would be riding a Gator down to the boathouse. For those of you that know Miller, know that he is OBSESSED with Gators...really anything motorized these days. Not only does Becky and Jimmy's lake house look like something from Southern Living, so does their boathouse. The lower level is just like any other boathouse, and up top Jimmy built a room with French doors on each end. They have one of those huge swings that are like an over-sized twin bed. Casey and I were a little unsure if Miller would get in the lake, since he is terrified of the ocean. We told him it was a big pool. We made our way to the swim deck where Becky and I sat in the water and Casey got in and let Miller jump...over and over and over. He loved the lake! He kept calling it "Jimmy's big pool" After Miller got used to the water, he and Casey went for a spin in Becky's kayak. Miller was a little scared at first, but warmed right up to it. My boys kayaked all over the lake that day.

My 2 favorite boys!

Relaxing on the hammock 

After some fun in the sun and water, we went back up to the house to grill some burgers. Considering Casey and I have been in packing mode for about a month and my grill was the first thing we sold, we have seriously been missing some good grilling. We had the best time just chatting and eating supper. We ended up staying until 10 p.m.! I am so thankful to my sweet aunt for inviting us. We can't wait to go back!
On Monday, we slept late and packed our stuff to return to the lake. Only this time, we went to Lake Guntersville. One of Casey's friends just bought a new lake house and we have been dying to "try it out" When Casey and I first starting dating he bought a boat and almost every weekend we would take it up to the lake. We have so many fun memories on Lake Guntersville! Kyle and Lacy have asked us to come up several times this summer, but with packing and other obligations, we haven't been able to make it. I fell in love with their house when we pulled in the driveway- it is gorgeous! We jumped in the boat and went for a ride.

I know he looks terrified, but he really loved it!

 Miller loved it! He kept telling Kyle to go faster. I wish I would have taken a picture of his hair when we got off the boat. It was all slicked back- hilarious! We got off the boat and spent the remainder of the afternoon laying out, (yes, Casey swam with Miller and let me layout on the deck on top of the boathouse :)) I'm lucky) swimming and catching up.

Having a snack at the Bennett's

 We made it back to Gadsden just before the heavy rain came. We had supper at my parents house and enjoyed the city fireworks from my parents balcony.

Watching the fireworks from NYC-Miller loved these!

Watching the live fireworks from the balcony-Miller wasn't too excited about these.

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating our nation's birthday with our friends and family!