For Stuart and Katie...

I *finally* met a dear friend of Ben's and his beautiful wife and sweet son this weekend. Anyhow we quickly got down to business of pretending not to like each other due to my support of Georgia Tech, and Stu and Katie having attended Virgina Tech. This picture will make them proud however, and perhaps endear me to their good graces.

Is that little Daniel, STRANGLING BUZZ THE YELLOW JACKET?!?!

Bralley-Mandrell rehersal dinner...

I saw this church bird house at Hobby Lobby and had to tell my mother-in-law about it! Tiffany and JD got married in a little white church and I thought this would make great decoration at the rehearsal dinner.

I ordered this cupcake tree and I was so excited to have the chance to finally use it! Everyone kept giving me credit for the great cupcakes but I deserved none as 1. my mom baked the cupcakes while I was at work Friday and 2. I realized upon arriving at the rehearsal dinner location that I left half the cupcake tree at home. Ben's Aunt Gail, and family friend Theresa decorated the cupcakes for me while I was gone so all I had to do was put the tree together and decorate with the boot toppers when I arrived. I love how it turned out!



Betsy with Aunt Tiff-Ray.


Do you see Betsy eyeing that bottle? Don't even think about it! You can have an adult beverage when you're a legal adult!

Betsy sure liked her Great-Uncle Byron. That's good seeing as how he likes her too!


Let me tell you about Betsy's shirt. Friday afternoon I looked at Target for some kind of little dress Betsy could wear for the rehearsal dinner. I wanted something country-looking to go with the theme. I couldn't find anything I liked but my Mom found these stretchy denim leggings. Tucked in her boots they were SO cute. At the last minute I decided to take some bandana looking fabric and try to make a baby doll top with Betsy's name on it. It turned out OK, I could have done better with more time (I took about 20 minutes on this) but it was a fun project regardless!

Betsy with her Daddy and Great-Grandmother Ada Marie.

The groom with some of his groomsmen. How about that ruffled shirt? Wood knows how to impress the ladies.

Betsy, meet Daniel Freakley. We signed the paper for the arranged marriage this weekend.



Betsy LOVES cupcakes, but she loves them even more when licking the frosting off Granny's face!



When Jonathan and Christi arrived I stole Abby away and promised to guard her with my life while they made themselves a plate of barbeque and cupcakes. I forgot how quiet babies are when they are newborn. Abby pretty much slept the whole time. She is a beautiful baby!

Abigail with her Great-Grandmother Butler and Great-Uncle Jimmy

JD (the groom) and Jane (mother of the groom) singing at the rehersal dinner. Tiffany and Raymond rocking out to the music.


Granny feeding Betsy the last bottle of the night.


Ben and his cousin Jonathan with Abigail.

She had SO much fun, and was SUCH a good girl but the evening wore Betsy out! She looked like a little star fish in her white infant sweater with a hood.

Where Betsy does her best thinking...

I forgot to blog about this!

Little Lauren (sis) and Super Sean (the boyfriend) are PRETTY psyched about this past weekend's football game! It was a great game, and they WON meaning they are the ACC champions this year! I think it's the first year since 1991 they outright won the ACC championship. AND they are headed to the ORANGE BOWL! In MIAMI! I am oh so very jealous, and if it wasn't in the busiest time of year at work I would stick around to see the game. Anywho, here are some cute pictures of both Laur and Sean from the ACC championship game against Clemson.

Things that cheer me up.

Without going into too many details, I had a rough morning. I was feeling sorry for myself when a tri-fecta of good things happened.

1. Ben called to tell me about Betsy's appointment. He noticed I didn't sound good and I spilled my guts. He always knows the exact right things to say. (OK, not always, there was the time I had morning sickness and mid-vomit he asked if I wanted some pringles, leading to more vomiting) but I digress. He made me feel better.

2. I played my Glee CD. Glee is a dancing, singing musical TV show that puts a smile on my face. Benny-Bear bought the CD for me the day after Thanksgiving on sale and in no time at all it cheered me up.

3. A coworker unexpectedly brought me lunch.

I feel so much better. I've already been praying about what upset me and I'm getting in a good place about it. But talking to Ben, Glee music and a yummy sandwich sure did cheer me up in the meantime.

One year stats.

Betsy's one year well baby appointment was today. Ben took her!

Weight, 20 pounds (23rd percent)
Height, 28 inches (13th percent)

Dr. C is very happy with her growth and development. Her ears looked great too.

That's all the details I got besides "She was REALLY mad when they gave her shots!".

Betsy's first birthday cake

It would be a lie to say Betsy has never had a taste of cake or frosting. We've given her a tiny taste a couple times and she seemed to like it. Last night I picked up a pre-made small cake for Betsy to enjoy on her birthday. She was TOTALLY uninhibited. She ate a balanced dinner at least before getting to the good stuff. Ben and I skyped with my sister and my mom and all four of us were cracking up the whole time. Bets was VERY animated in her reaction to the cake. Yum.

Enjoy the pictures. Betsy enjoyed the cake (and so did Madison as Betsy now sees fit to share all food with her 'Nauzer).