Edward Jones was where I started working when I got married and decided that I didn’t want to make the commute to Macon anymore. I was there not quite a year when I found out I was pregnant. It was such a difficult decision to make, but Dan and I made the decision that I would try to find a part-time job so that I could be home more once Brittain was born. I hated to leave all the great people I had gotten to know so well, so I decided to do my best and keep in touch with emails, phone calls and some occasional visits.

Visiting Patrick, Penny and Frannie in October:

Visiting Mike and Sindy just a few days ago:

Most of you may or may not know that I started out my college career at Florida State University. While a great college and a fabulous music program, it just wasn’t right for me. My sophomore year I transferred to Clayton College & State University. It was a last minute decision, but it was the best decision I could have made. It is where I met so many good friends…friends that had such a huge influence in my life.

The group of friends that I hung out with while there are all married now, and we all have children…many children. We decided over a month ago to get together. Many of us hadn’t seen each other since our weddings, some of us hadn’t seen each other since we graduated. So, we did it. It took a few weeks to plan, but we were finally able to coordinate all of our schedules. It was bound to be a crazy day…5 adults and 11 children. That’s right, 11 children.

The day turned out to be not quite as crazy as we thought. Christy and Crisla came childless, which helped the mothers. We were actually able to get a few words out…but only a few.

Here’s the breakdown:

Crisla Miller: 1 boy and 2 girls, ages 2, 4 and 6; Kelly Spradlin: 2 boys, ages 2 and 5; Christy Maetz: 1 boy and 1 girl, ages 2 and 10 months; Sherdonna: 3 boys, ages 9 months, 2 and 4.

Here are the pictures from the day. What a great time!

Here is Andrew, Sherdonna’s youngest:

Kelly takes some time with Brittain:

Justin, Kelly’s youngest:

Tristan, Sherdonna’s oldest:

Christy’s mommy touch helped Brittain go to sleep:

And the whole gang:

This past Monday, Mom, Brittain and I decided to make a last minute trip to visit Aunt CC in Eatonton. Brittain had been saying how much she missed Aunt CC (even though it had only been about a week since she saw her last). We decided it was time for the Clark girls to get together. Girls nights are so much fun! We spent the night and only got a couple of hours of sleep before having to head back to work the next day. But, as we all said, it was completely worth it!

We arrived at Aunt CC’s apartment and as soon as we walked in the door and Brittain saw her aunt, a permanent smile was on her face. I don’t think it left her face until she fell asleep that night. CC gave Brittain a tour of her apartment. Brittain has learned that she loves Christmas…so many beautiful lights!

Brittain even got a visit from Jeff, Aunt CC’s friend from work:

Aunt CC and Brittain marveling at the pretty lights:

“The Girls”

Aunt CC suggested that we ride over to the Ritz to check out the Christmas lights and gingerbread house. 1.2 million lights cover the property and the gingerbread house is the largest one in the South!

Gosh, I love my family!