A party for baby girl Pruitt to be

My precious little sister, Stephanie, is expecting her second child... and this time, it's a girl! I can hardly wait to meet baby girl Pruitt, whose name is still in the making. I look forward to the snuggles and cuddles, the kisses and hugs, the nail polishing sessions... you know, all the things that an aunt loves to do with her nieces! There's not been a baby girl in the Rhodes family in quite a while, so it'll be fun for us to have another little princess running around.

Several of Steph's closest friends were gracious enough to allow me to join in helping throw her baby shower last weekend. She got some of the most adorable little outfits in which to dress her little lady, and I look forward to having another baby girl to shop for. We'll have her closet crammed full in no time! What more could a girl want?

Here are some pictures of Stephanie's shower in Julia's gorgeous new home.

Love notes to baby girl Pruitt...

The spread

Beautiful decor for Mama and baby girl

Prepping the beverage station

My beautiful sister

I love this shot... reminds me of Steph as a little girl. All smiles and giggles... sans the crazy hair. :)

Adorable banner made by Julia

The honoree and hostesses

from left: Julia, Jessica, Susan (Grandmama), Stephanie, Christina & Lindsey
I love you so, so much, Stephanie. I can't wait to meet your daughter! If she's anything like her Mama, she can't help but be beautiful... inside and out.

"Winter" in Texas

As I cozy up on the couch, sipping a steamy mug of wassail in hopes of working the chill off of my nose, I can't help but chuckle about the weather we've been having around here lately. Here are a few pictures to chronicle the extremes in temperature over the last several weeks... and maybe a few others that were too cute not to share.

Enjoying the 80+ temps a few days before Christmas

Mid 60's on Saturday. So pretty outside!

Headed home with the promise of crackers...

Crackers and crazy hair.

Watching the snow fall

Bundled up for some fun in the snow!

Drying out our snow gear.

Peek-a-boo... I'll see you again soon!

That was then, this is now...

Our son is, officially, a toddler! I feel awful that I've not blogged about this sooner, but you've probably already read about our December marathon. :) Here is a video of some of his first steps, as well as a more recent video of how quickly he's become an expert!

Dedicating our baby boy to the Lord

On December 12th, Brandon and I had the honor of dedicating ourselves to raising Isaac in the Lord. It was such a special day for us. My parents came in to town for the event, which made the day even more special! Both sets of Grandparents, and two of Isaac's Aunts, Jenny and Karen, also made it for the dedication that morning. Thank you so much to all of you that went out of your way to be there for this special occasion. We are very blessed to have such wonderful family - we love you!

The church asked all parents to dedicate a verse to their child at the dedication service.

Psalm 73: 24-26.

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

I love this picture, because you can see our choir director in the

background playing with Isaac. :)

Dad poses for the camera... note the tie. :)

What a lovely couple. I love you, Mom and Dad!

Thank you, dear Lord, for the gift of our son, Isaac. We promise to raise him in Your will so that he may receive Your gift of salvation through Your son,

Jesus Christ. May You be his portion forever.

The Gaylord Texas

My awesome mother-in-law loves nothing more than having all of her family together for a meal. She always makes the event as special as possible bt pulling out her china, making a lovely display of her wonderfully cooked meal, placing beautiful linens on the table and lighting the candles as we sit down to eat. From time to time, she also plans an outing for the family. Since everyone was home for Christmas this year, she planned an outing to the Gaylord Texas, an amazing hotel in Grapevine which puts on amazing Christmas displays. This year, they were displaying a collection of ice sculptures! We didn't see those due to the hefty $25/person price tag to get in to the display, but we did enjoy the other Christmas trees, trains and lights around the hotel. While it wound up being quite a chaotic evening after fighting through terrible traffic to get to the hotel, wading through massive crowds of people to see the displays, and eating at a sports bar instead of the nice restaurant we had all envisioned - without a table!, it was still a great photo-op. Take a look!

The lighting displays are amazing.

The kids made the most of our interesting seating arrangements!

Isaac spots the train traveling around all the trees and lights

Two lovely ladies

He's a keeper, folks.

Christmas Day

This is the second year for Santa Claus to visit Isaac, and this year was great fun for Mom and Dad to see little Isaac's excitement over his new toys, books and clothes. Well... maybe not so much his clothes, but his other gifts from Santa were a real hit! After playing with his new toys, we rushed around the house to get ready for Christmas brunch at Grandma and Grandpa's house. After devouring a scrumptious brunch, we gathered in the living room around the Christmas tree and began passing out gifts to each of the grandkids from aunts, uncles and Grandparents. It was so fun to see all the kids tear into their gifts and get so excited about each of them. I can only imagine that Christmas morning will become more and more special for us as Isaac grows older each year. I'm already looking forward to next Christmas. Not only for Santa Claus to come to town, but also to continue sharing with him the true reason for our celebration of Christmas - the miraculous and humble birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And now- the moment you've been waiting for... pictures!!

As you can see, Isaac was a very good boy this year!

Isaac discovers Santa's gifts!

Rushing over to check it all out...

BALL!!

Opening gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's

Mamma, help please!

Patiently waiting for everyone to recieve a gift...

Ready for a wonderful meal

The Ritter family - 2010