Playdate with Santa

All of the Mommies and kids got together at Ashley's house for a playdate that included a very special visit from Santa! Everyone had a ball! It was such a great way to kick off the week of Christmas!

Santa read a book to the kids first and they were all very intrigued by him! Then they took turns sitting on Santa's lap, telling him what they wanted for Christmas, then Santa gave them each a gift. Unfortunately Emma didn't want to sit with Santa, but she did tell him "hey" and she told him her name!
**Soon I will have the picture of Emma with Santa in VA Beach. You will then see why I did not push the "sitting in Santa's lap" subject!**

This is the best I could get with the whole crew together. This was the end of the playdate. They all did extremely well considering they were exhausted!

Emma with Ava and Bryce. She loves playing with the girls although I believe she thinks they are one person. They are both "Bice" to her!

Let's not forget the precious craft that Deanna was so brave to attempt with them! It turned out to be a fantastic idea and I loved it so much that we had to bring it home for Daddy to see! This is Our Emma's first little craft! Thanks Deanna!

Christmas in Rockingham

After much thought, we have decided to stay at home in GA for Christmas. After all, Santa HAS to come to our house! Therefore, we had Emma's Christmas celebrations in North Carolina over the past 2 weeks. She absolutely loves opening gifts and getting together with the family!

Our first stop was "Aunt" Jennifer's to exchange with her cousin Grayson. She played with him very gently and wanted to take his pacy out and his socks off, but other than that she really didn't notice him. She was too interested in her fun toys! Above, she's slouching down to be more like Grayson. So rotten!

Last weekend we celebrated at my mom's. She loved the baby bottles that Grandma got for her but it took her a little while to realize that they didn't really have milk in them. Now she knows to give it to her baby that was also a gift from her Grandma.

Another of her favorites was her Dirt Devil vaccuum from her Aunt Kim! She absolutely loves to clean up with me! She's enjoyed this gift everyday since we've been home!

And after a long day of eating, visiting, and opening gifts, Emma's pooped! She's past ready for a good night's sleep! Thanks everyone for such wonderful gifts! We truly enjoyed the time spent with our family and friends!

Ooohhh the weather outside is...SUNNY AND 76 DEGREES???!!!

Seriously, could this weather be more UNlike Christmastime? I have a very cute red sweater and scarf combo I would love to whip out. And an adorable snow-penquin pin for my coat but at this time it's not sweater or coat weather. As a matter of fact, Emma wore a long sleeve dress today with no tights or socks and was still hot! Craziness! I so wanted to enjoy the hot chocolate I just bought, but what's the use?! Our AC is on for goodness sakes! Oh well! It'll still be a great Christmas, sweaters or not!

In honor of the "beach" weather, here are some pictures of Miss Emma at Virginia Beach last week!

Our Thanksgiving

Our day began wonderfully! It was a beautiful North Carolina Thursday and Emma was ready for some of Grandma Gwen's good cooking!!!

Emma's all ready for the day!

After lunch, we headed across the field to Aunt Kimmie's for a friendly game of paintball! Well, the guys [and Aunt WeeWee] played paintball while the rest of us played cards and watched Emma run down the hills and roll in the leaves!

Emma playing with her Daddy after a round of paintball!

Emma's Grandma Rita enjoyed playing with Em outside and taking lots of pictures of her! Luckily I was able to capture this precious moment between the two!

After a long day of playing and eating (like a bird) Emma was pooped and was ready for a nap. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with our fabulous family!

And the following night, I was able to enjoy a little girl time! I went to Jennifer's and had a glass or two (or ten) of wine and chatted like school girls with my friends! I just wish I would have really stopped at that 2nd glass!

Me, Jennifer, Terri Jo, Katie, Amy, and Wendi

Headed to NC

Well everyone, I will be absent from the blogging world for a week! Richard, Emma, and myself are all packed up and heading for Rockingham, NC tomorrow morning. We will be headed back home sometime next Sunday! We're so excited to visit everyone! All of the family back home is so excited about seeing Emma! For most of them it's been 1 1/2 months since they've seen her...WAY TOO LONG! So she's going to get plenty of attention these next few days! Especially from her Aunts Kim and WeeeeeeeeeWeeeeeeeeee, who she loves so dearly!
We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Can't wait to see everyone's Thanksgiving pictures!!!

More Thanks...

We thought of a few more people that we needed to honor for Thanksgiving, although there are still lots more that we just don't have pictures of.

Baby Grayson and Emma Bess. We are very grateful to have such an adorable addition to our family! I can only hope that Em and Grayson are as close as his mom and I have always been!

Justin, Jennifer, Great-Grandma Barbara, Papa Ernie, Nana Arlinda holding Emma, Aunt Kristen.

Back Row: Aunt Wee-Wee and Grandma Rita

These were just some of our loving friends and family who came to witness Miss Emma being Dedicated. This was such an amazing day, Emma did great, and we are very thankful for all who joined us in witnessing her very special day!

Of course, we are endlessly thankful for our little family. We are so blessed!

And how could we leave out our new group of friends her in GA???!!! We are grateful for such a fun crew of toddlers (and Mommy is oh-so grateful for the fabulous group of Their Mommy's!) and we can't wait to spend even more time with all of you!
Above: Emma, Kate (in the background), Walker, "Big" Emma, and Griffin. (we're missing Ava, Bryce, and Madeline, they must have been off collecting candy!)

We are so very grateful to have the friends and family that we have and I thank God everyday to be so blessed. There simply isn't enough space on the web to possibly thank everyone who has had an impact in our lives. You all are so amazing, thank you for being you, and we love you all on Thanksgiving and everyday!

We're so Thankful...

In honor of Thanksgiving, which is just around the corner, I thought I'd post just some of the many people that we are so very thankful for this holiday season!

Grandma Rita and Emma. I do believe Miss Emma has been such a blessing to her Grandma...in countless ways.

Emma's Great-Aunt Kimmie! Aunt Kimmie absolutely adores Emma Bess although she does always threaten to steal her and keep her forever!

Emma's Aunt Can-Can is such a precious, wonderful Aunt! Emma just loves to show her Aunt Candi all of her tricks!

Aunt Wee-Wee just lights up Em's little world! She wants to do everything that Wee Wee does! Can't you tell?

And here's Emma with her Aunt Kristen. Although we don't get to see Aunt Kristen that much, Emma still loves to spend time with her! And who wouldn't, she's just so sweet!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Emma with her Aunt Tarrah and Uncle Anthony, but we are still very thankful for them and we love all of Emma's Aunts, Uncles, Grandparent's, and cousins very much.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Griffin!!!

Yesterday, Emma and I were able to attend Griffin's 3rd Birthday Celebration and we had a blast! All of the kids played great together and even some of the parents enjoyed the bounce house! Thanks Jennifer, for including us on Griffin's special day!

Griffin playing basketball in the bounce house and Bryce taking a dive!

Emma didn't have any pirate attire, so we decided to wear a party dress instead! She didn't mind the dress at all, but the shoes didn't last long!

Emma enjoying the bike...before she decided she no longer wanted to wear shoes! You can take the girl out of the Carolina's, but you can't take the Carolina's out of the girl! Rock those bare feet, baby!

Miss Madeline grinning for the camera. Like Emma, Madeline didn't have any pirate attire, so she went Nautical instead! Beautiful as always!

Emma enjoying the bounce house!

Pirate Princess Emma Bess!

Welcome to The Bledsoe Family Blog!

After some coaxing from my new friends here in GA, I have decided to start The Bledsoe Trio blog! Although I don't know what we'll change the name to when our family expands (The Bledsoe Four-O???)
My family in NC and Richard's family in SC and all of our friends from VA to GA will now be able to keep up with our family through this site!
ENJOY!!!

I will start my blogging with a post from our morning at St. Mary's Park on Friday, November 7. Deanna, Ashley, Nicole, and myself brought all of our kids to the park to play and enjoy the beautiful weather. And although the gnats were terrible, they still had a great time!

Ava and Emma are apparently examining something pretty interesting on Emma's finger. I can only imagine what's on that finger!!!

Bryce and Emma are enjoying some snacks and Ashley's yummy pumpkin muffins!

I could only get pictures of Em with Ava and Bryce. However, she had a blast playing with "Big" Emma, Kate, and Gabe as well! She especially loved looking for lizards with Kate!