Dash of Pepper

Monday, June 11, 2007

Family, Friends and Fun!

Our little lamb...

The Memorial Day Culpepper Family Visit

Kisses!

Mommy and baby

Our little lady at her Mommy's first Mother's Day brunch

Daddy and Hattie hiking up the creek behind our house

Uncle John and Aunt Carole with Miss Hattie in Knoxville

Meeting her "Uncle Whiskers" for the first time

Hattie and Cousin Wes at his graduation from UTK!

Hattie surrounded by her toys!

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Serious Playtime with Big Bird

Hattie and Big Bird

Hattie and family will be traveling all over the country this year. Hattie has already been to Mommy's home state of Tennesse, to visit GranGee and GranSnap in good ole' Tulsa, OK, and to visit Jo Jo and Pop Pop (Trey's parent's) in the "Old Dominion" state. She's been through KY, WV and IN. We will once again travel to TN, OK and then to visit GranDa and Grandma Kathy (Hogans) in Phoenix, up to NY to do a little roughing it in the Adirondacks and finally back to OK...all this year- what a jet setter our baby Hattie is. By the time she's 9.5 months she'll have already been to 10 states!
I'll have plenty more pictures to post after our upcoming visit to Knoxville for some more family fun! ;)
Stay tuned.....

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Hattie's First Easter

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

"Ain't life grand?"

A Culpepper family shot

Baby amidst Easter toys from years past (and a couple new ones)!

Happy Mama and Baby!

Hattie in her Easter bib from GranGee!

Hattie in one of Mommy's old dresses

On our back porch before church Palm Sunday

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Month Four Part Deux

Mommy and Baby

Baking Daddy's favorite cookies- "Snickerdoodles"

A little improv. at the piano

Aunt Carole and Hattie rocking on the front porch

Knoxville trip continued...

Our little Cutie Pie!

Month Four Hattie Pix

Ole' Hattie Blue Eyes

AHHHHHH!

Monday, February 26, 2007

The Smiley Baby at 3 Months

My How Time Flies!

My how time flies. It's amazing just how much life can change in a matter of a few months. In a couple of days our little Hattie will be turning FOUR months old! It's hard to believe but at the same time, we can't fathom life without her....a major piece of our hearts would be missing.

Hattie has been such a blessing! Every day she melts our hearts with one of her grand smiles, silly giggles, "chattiness" or reaching a new milestone. She IS a "Chatty Kathy" and especially loves to talk to her daddy, as he'll let her get a word in edge-wise.....Mommy is quite the chatter box herself as is Hattie's Uncle George and GranGee. Poor Trey didn't have a chance! :) She is very inquisitive and let's you know when she's puzzled by something with her expressive eyebrows. Her Great Unce John said it reminded him of a mini Winston Churchill.

Hattie, at barely three months impressed us with her first roll-over from her back to her tummy! Hattie and I were visiting GranGee and GranSnap in Tulsa at the time so she had quite the cheering section. Just a few days ago, she began rolling back over from her tummy to her back- what a big girl!

Speaking of big girls, we have her 4 month well baby check-up tomorrow and it'll be interesting to see where she is, size-wise in comparison to other babies her age. Last time (2 months) she had moved from the 50th percentile in weight and length to the 75th in both. She's a big pudge now, weighing in at 15 lbs 2 oz! I always wanted a chubby baby and I got one. I'm sure people look at Trey and think, "Where did THAT baby come from?!??" Ha!

Hattie found her thumbs a couple months ago and has her thumbs, hands, fingers...or something in her mouth at all times. She was sucking her thumb a couple of minutes after she was born and the nurse said, "We have an experienced thumb sucker here" so I guess her sucking her thumb now doesn't come as a surprise. She hasn't found her feet yet- maybe next month. She LOVES her bath, as do most babies, I would assume. Hattie is just figuring out cause and affect as it relates to splashing in the tub. She picks up her legs and slams them back down in the water to create big splashes and thinks it's great! Bath time is always entertaining.

We bought her a Johnny Jump-Up, which she dances around in on her toes and bounces up and down every once in a while. It's all so new- so much to explore and discover. We are capturing so much of it on video and/or camera and are having a blast with it.

Trey and I were faced with a very difficult decision about a month or so ago. Maternity Leave was coming to an end for me with International Paper and we had to decide whether or not I would return to work. I loved my job as a Sr. Buyer for the company here in Cincinnati and had studied and worked hard in school to achieve what I'd achieved, career-wise. We felt that the best decision for Hattie and our family was for one of us to be at home with her so I resigned from my position with the company. I know we made the right decision and am loving every minute of my days with her but it wasn't an easy thing to do. When people ask me what I do, it's also been strange saying, "I'm a stay-at-home mom" as opposed to "I'm a Sr. Buyer for an international Fortune 100 company" (not that I ever actually said it like that) :) I'm so very grateful that I'm able to be at home with our little Hattie.

That's all for now but I'll post more pictures soon. For now, here are a few from the last month plus a couple that got lost in my files of Dad and Hattie from Dad and Kathy's visit when Hattie was only 2 weeks old.