White Christmas!

Well, Santa came and he brought some snow with him! It's not only Benjamin's first Christmas, but our first White Christmas! Here are some highlights....

Owen checking out Santa's snack plate - looks like he liked it all, even the soy milk!

Owen's stocking got stuffed! I love that the first thing he grabbed was Mr. Bubble :)

To Owen's relief, Santa remembered that we have a new baby! He brought Ben some sippy cups, teether toys, a ball toy, and some cars. Looks like Santa knew just was Ben was hoping for!

Jeremy and Tiffany came over to spend Christmas evening with us. They helped Owen build a wooden house that Gran and Pop got him. Note the safety glasses and carpentry apron!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Anna, Richie, Owen, and Ben

Twas the night before Christmas...

Somebody forgot to restock the flour at the grocery store, so no homemade cookies for Santa this year. Instead, he's getting mini Oreos, some cheese balls, a glass of soy milk, and some carrot sticks for the reindeer. Hope he likes it!

Mississippi Christmas

Despite all the traveling we did during my maternity leave, the one place we didn't make it to was McComb. Somehow, I wound up going almost an entire year without going home. Talk about a major case of homesickness! Richie had to fly back to California to finish out the Sing 0ff, and I figured the time was perfect for the boys and me to head south to the farm. Ben, meet Mississippi!

No trip home is complete without a ride on the mule, even if it is freezing outside!

Uncle Minor getting a little workout doing some heavy lifting...

Ben's first time to check the cows - Owen loved everything except the smell :)

We had such a wonderful time with my parents and my brother. I got to see some of my oldest and dearest friends, Paula and Audrey. We ate some delicious meals and went to Pop's store Christmas lunch. We even opened our stockings and got some early Christmas happies! Although I had been nervous to travel so far by myself with the boys (and our dog Barrett!), the trip went better than I had hoped - we made it there and back just fine and in very good time each way. Thank you, Gran, Pop, and Uncle Minor, for a very special visit to my favorite place on earth!

Our Big News...

Well, not that kind of big news! I had mentioned several months ago about an opportunity Richie had that he just couldn't pass up, which led to Ben and me taking a trip to L.A. This opportunity - as if anyone who might possibly read this wouldn't already know - is a singing competition on NBC called "The Sing-0ff." Basically, over the summer, Richie, Jeremy and several friends auditioned to be on the second season of The Sing-0ff and, to our great surprise, they made it onto the show! Richie left for L.A. when Ben was barely over a month old. The show started with 10 amazing a capella groups competing for a record contract and a cash prize.

The first 4 episodes were filmed over the summer and the final episode will be live. The first episode aired on Monday, December 6, and it was just an incredible experience. Jeremy and his girlfriend Tiffany had lined up a viewing party at The Holland House, here in East Nashville. About 100 of our friends piled in to watch the guys make their national television debut on a big screen projector. Every time they had air time, the whole restaurant would yell and cheer for them. We couldn't stop smiling the entire night. It was truly an unforgettable experience! Now we just have to wait to see how far the guys will get in the competition. No matter how the show turns out, it has been quite an unbelievable ride!