The Newest Neville

Abbey turned 2! We had a BBQ theme party at my mom's pool. It was a lot of fun! The cake turned out super cute! It was a watermelon. We served hot dogs, beans, and corn on the cob and placed coolers of real watermelon on the tables. Emma was ecstatic to get her hands on a cob of corn! My mom got Abbey a water and sand play station for our new backyard (oh yes! we moved!) and we got her a motorized tinker bell car. We had a blast!

(Once again, I did not have my camera so here is a link to my mom's pictures)
http://photo2.walgreens.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=610332005/a=23340848_23340848/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walgreens/

Now that we live so close to family, my camera is not the only one around anymore. My mom probably, no, definitely, has more pictures of my kids than I do now! Here are a few I have and a link to view some that my mom has taken.

http://photo2.walgreens.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=610138005/a=23340848_23340848/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walgreens/

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Emma was not really crawling on all 4's at this point but she always managed to crawl up on to her toys and get stuck. She started solid foods and loved them of course! Abbey's new thing was wearing her easter hat and sunglasses running around saying "I'm a rock star!". Although recently she has gotten confused since we have been talking about ocean animals, including the starfish, and now she runs around saying "I"m a starfish!". What she really means to say is rock star but it is hilarious!

I'm trying out a new photo program. Lets hope it works! Here are pictures to catch you up. These are from Easter this year. My mom made the girls dresses and they turned out really cute! Abbey had a great time dying Easter eggs with her friend next door. I'm not sure how much dye actually made it on the eggs though!

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No, the Neville's have not fallen off planet earth....although there are days that I wonder....anyways. I am in search of a better way to keep everyone updated with pictures. The programs I have been using are too time consuming which is why there hasn't been an update in 4 months. I guess I could just write about the girls but they are so stinkin' cute that they deserve pictures posted to really understand what they are into these days. So with that said....I hope to have some pictures up soon and try to stay more on top of this blog (how many times have I said that before?!)

And by the way....the next newest neville will be here in January!

Alabama does not get snow. Mention the word and the whole city shuts down. Of course once in a blue moon there will be the suggestion of snow flurries sometime during our winter but it usually doesn't produce much of anything except chaos at the grocery stores. Well, this time...we got snow! And lots of it! We haven't had snow like this in Alabama since 1993 and I think the snow this time was even better!

It was so much fun watching Abbey play in the snow and listening to her attempts to say snow! She was freezing outside but would not give up any play time to go inside and get warm. She played her little heart out and then crashed quickly for her nap. Clint and I had a great time building a snow man. Sadly, the snow was gone by the next morning and then the snow man lost his head. Today, the bottom of the snow man still sits in the yard melting more each moment. I'm sure he will be completely gone by the weekend considering we are supposed to have a high of 76 Saturday. Only in the south can you have a 27 degree day with snow and a high of 76 in the same 5 day forecast!

This was the first time for Abbey to visit the zoo. She had fun viewing the animals but did not want any of them to come near her. I guess that is not such a bad thing! She learned to say most of their names and has loved looking at the pictures from our visit.

Playing outside at Nana's

Oh so cute in her tights and boots

Emma's sweet, sweet smile!

Mommy and her big girl

Future Rock Star!

Forget snow angels...how about rock angels!

She still loves to swing

Emma's first swing with mommy

Tummy time

Abbey's attempt at a fashion statement. She dressed herself in a pink shirt, red tights, socks and sparkly shoes

This was the first Christmas since Clint and I have been married that we spent at home with family and it was wonderful. We stayed the night at my mom's house and woke up to do "santa" with my brother and Abbey. Abbey adores Luke and was more interested in him and his presents than most of hers. She did get a karaoke Elmo and spent the majority of her morning singing with Elmo. She must be a natural born rock star because without any prompting, she knew what to do with the microphone. Emma quietly slept through all of the gift opening which was a huge blessing as we chased Abbey around with a camera.

Christmas night we spent at Clint's mom's house with his family. Abbey played with her cousins, Cooper and Bella, and enjoyed following them around like she was a big girl too.

Emma is doing great! She weighs just over 10 lbs now and changes every day. She sleeps well as long as I hold her all night which I continue to do since that is the way I get the most sleep. She has started smiling which is adorable! Especially since she has a dimple on one side. She wants to be held all the time so it is since having all the extra hands around to help meet her needs!

This year has been challenging in so many ways but God has blessed us so much....Just look at our beautiful girls! We are excited to be home with family and are looking forward to the many blessings of 2009!

Emma's sweet smile!

Abbey playing in the tub

Abbey and cousin Bella

Winter attire!

Christmas morning with Elmo

All dressed up

I obviously had unrealistic expectations of Christmas pictures this year. Having a toddler changes everything! I remember last year being able to take a family picture without much hassle since Abbey was 6 months old and smiling but not yet mobile. This year I found my self chasing her around just to get her dressed and then bribing her with anything to get her to sit still. Here are some pictures to show the process of capturing a moment with a newborn and toddler....

"I don't want to hold my sister!"

"Please don't make my sister hold me!"

"Here's your paci sister. I'm trying to help!"

"Okay mom I'm saying 'Cheese!'"

The results should arrive in your mailbox soon!

We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas!

When Emma was first born I thought, "She doesn't look anything like Abbey!". I guess I had forgotten what Abbey looked like as a newborn because as you can see, they look very much like! They both have daddy's nose (you can't escape The Neville Nose) but Abbey has my mouth and Emma has Clint's.

In case you were wondering, Abbey is on the left, Emma on the right.