A little update...

My sister came over one day and took Christmas pictures of Mallory. Thanks, Julie!


This is Pawpaw and Nine with all their grandkids: Mallory, Landon & Patrick. We are so excited to have them back in the States for a little while.


Mallory loves having friends come over for play dates! Our friends David & Mandi came over with their little girl, Kylee.


This is Granny & Poppa (my parents) with all of their grandkids. From oldest to youngest: Cassidy, Cody, Madison, John Scott, Mallory.


Mallory dressed as a super cute kangaroo for the church's Hallow Him. She was so adorable!!

Mallory took two steps the other day, then decided it was better to keep crawling, ha! She still isn't brave enough to just take off walking, but we think it will be very soon. She is now 11 months old and has 5 teeth (2 on bottom, 3 on top). She will eat just about anything, which has made things easy for us so far. For a while there she was keeping runny noses and coughing, but it's been a long time since she's been sick and we are very thankful! She talks all the time!! Her favorite word is definitely "DaDa", but also says "DaDee" very loudly when she's ready to be picked up after a nap. I guess she knows how much he loves it when she calls for him when she wakes up. The other day in the car on the way to church, she said "NaNa" the entire 15-20 minute drive there!! Not quietly either, our child is very LOUD! She is so very social too, she loves other babies and will almost "attack" them to get close to them and play! Mallory loves playing peekaboo and will cover her face randomly and we say "Where's Mallory?" and she will fling her arms to the side and say "dereseeizz!" (there she is!). It is so very sweet! Her favorite thing to do is probably dance. If she hears any music at all, away she goes just a bouncing, swaying, or clapping. So, dance may be in her future if she is any better than her parents.

We have been enjoying the new home. Many of our projects are beginning to get completed...we have a fence up around the back yard, Warren has spread dirt with the tractor and is planting grass, and we finally cleaned out the carport (it still had lots of tupperware boxes, stuff we decided we didn't need anymore, etc. stored in it from the move). We have decorated for Christmas, but still haven't put up the tree. I am kind of nervous about doing that with Mallory at her crawling/pull up on everything/touch everything/put everything in her mouth stage. She usually listens when we say "No, ma'am!", but I know she will get it sometime while we're not looking!

We are also enjoying being members of the church that we grew up in again. It has grown and changed a lot since then, yet it still has all the wonderful people that we love so much (and new people that we enjoy getting to know!). We are involved with the College Ministry called Philly 101 and are actually having our Christmas Party tonight. Well, I guess that sums up what's been going on with us since the last post. I know we don't update often, but I'm a phone person, so if you ever want to know what's been going on, just call us! Talking is so much more fun than typing! Also, if any of you out-of-town friends ever pass through the Pineville/Alexandria area, please let us know, we'd love to catch up and hang out!

Byrd Family Adventures

Mallory's Uncle Jeff has been alligator hunting!

Daddy caught some big bass! I love Mallory's "Popeye the Sailorman" look in this pic.

Mallory says "Don't forget to vote!"

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch.

We actually went twice because it's not far from the house and little munchkin liked playing in the pumpkins...she does NOT like wearing hats!

We went on a camping trip in Arkansas; Pawpaw is carrying Mallory to see some pretty falls.


So happy!

Definitely a daddy-daughter moment--Warren and Mallory both had fun with the sprayer during her bathtime in the sink.

Growing Up...

Well, things are going good here at the Byrd house. It still feels like we are settling in at our house. I have been spreading some topsoil around the front and back yard. And of course, Mallory helped as you can see from the pictures. I wanted to fence in a small piece of the back yard so Mallory can have an area to play without roaming around too far.



This is definitely Daddy's little girl.




Mallory at Buckeye's Homecoming Game




Mallory playing with her Granny.




I had to attend a conference in New Orleans and my co-worker got her this shirt. It says, My first New Orleans shirt.








Mallory helping me on the tractor.




We visited the Alexandria Zoo and had a great time.








Mallory having fun.

We're Home!

Well, after being "homeless" for a couple of months, we are finally settling into our new home. I will have to show pictures later after we get a chance to do some of the decorating...I just unpacked the last box this morning! Mallory is doing great-she now has 4 teeth, is crawling everywhere at super speed, can make more sounds (including ma-ma-yea!!), and is eating like a champ. She eats fruits, veggies, yogurt, some meats, and Cheerios. She does not like getting dressed or having her diaper changed, so if anybody has any good distractor ideas or games to do during those activities, let me know!

Warren really likes his new job and I think they like him a lot too. He had to work a good bit during the hurricanes, but I think it was an interesting learning experience. After the flooding that occurred in Alexandria, he was rescuing people out of their homes with boats, dump trucks and other street equipment-crazy times!


Warren is our hero! This picture was taken by a photographer from The Town Talk. Here's the link to the photograph on their site.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=DK&Date=20080908&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=809080801&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=48

Here are some more recent photos of our little angel. Mallory is now 8 1/2 months old!




Here is Warren and Mallory having fun with how much they look alike.





What a pair!

So it's been awhile....

Well, it has been a long time but we are finally getting around to update our blog. It's hard to even know where to start.

I will start with bragging on my very own expert realtor. We had about one month before I had to start my new job in Alexandria, we decided to try to sell the house on our own while we were still living in it. If we hadn't sold it by the time my new job began, we would just list it with a realtor. We had so many calls beginning on the first day. Within the first week, we had a buy/sell agreement on the house and the next week we had a back-up buy/sell agreement with another family. And then about 2 and half weeks later, we closed on the house on a Friday and I started my new job on the following Monday. I have a feeling that even though we saved money by not paying a realtor fee, Jennifer will make that up and then some at the Mall. Anyway, I just wanted to brag on my great wife/realtor.

We have been living with Jennifer's parents since we moved back to Alexandria while our house is being built. The walls have been painted and the tile guys finished up their part yesterday. The electrician moved back in and is finishing all the receptacles and switches and lights. Hopefully the house will be move-in ready in about 2-3 weeks.

Mallory is just a growing. She got her first tooth about 3 weeks ago (at 6 months and a week). We were so excited for her. She should be crawling any day now. You can put her on the floor and she gets on all fours and rocks back and forth. She can go backwards pretty good but not forwards yet.

My new job with the City of Alexandria is going good. There is alot to learn because my department is so big and Alexandria is a pretty large city.

Returning Home

The Byrd Family will be moving to Pineville in a couple of weeks. Warren and I both grew up in the Pineville/Deville area and are really looking forward to being near family and friends again. We will definitely miss Ruston and all of the people here. We will miss our church and neighborhood the most, and after 8 years of being here, it really does feel like a second home. We still plan on visiting from time to time and hopefully, in about 18 years, we will be making frequent visits here to see Mallory attend our alma mater, Louisiana Tech!

Warren starts June 30th as the Superintendent of Streets for the City of Alexandria. It seems like he's going to like the job a lot. I will still be staying home with our sweet Mallory. She is 5 1/2 months old now and has been sitting up by herself for the last couple of weeks. She's really good at it! She's making new sounds too and loves to talk to anybody who will listen.

Here's a picture of our completed kitchen that somebody else will get to enjoy now! We are in the process of selling our house and it's going well.

We are going to buy a house that is still currently under construction...so here's the only pic I have right now.


Mallory had a playdate with Jackson at the park. They love getting together!


On Father's Day, Mallory took her first dip in the swimming pool. She loved it!!! We plan on going swimming at Granny and Poppa's a lot more now that we'll be nearby.


Mallory showing off her new trick...sitting up by herself!

An Update From Mommy

Mallory is napping and Warren is busy painting the kitchen cabinets, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to share what's been going on with us lately. So much time has passed since the last post, so I'll just try to cover the basics: We are on a healthy eating kick and have even given up Cokes! Mallory's 4 month checkup was great-still in 50th% for weight and 90th for height. She wants to sit up on her own so badly and we think she will be able to do that soon. My first official Mother's Day was wonderful-Mallory gave me a beautiful bracelet with her name and birthstone on it and Warren gave me the cutest pink apron that says "Jennifer's Kitchen" (for all of you women saying, "how dare he give you an apron!", I actually asked for one, LOL). Then, we had our 3 year wedding anniversary. I am so thankful to have such an incredible husband. We are both so thankful for the wonderful little addition we have to our family now. God is good! Here are a few pics.

Mallory in our church nursery where they take very good care of her!


We took her for a stroll in Lincoln Parish Park one Saturday.


Yummy Rattle!


Mallory with her Poppa (my dad).


Sleeping so sweetly...


Mallory meets a ferret at the pet store.


Mallory's Nine (pronounced nee-nay, Warren's Mom) made her this adorable dress.


She likes her Johnny Jump Up and loves eating it too!


Mallory's checking out the blooms on our agapanthus.


She loves rolling around and playing with her feet!


These are my beautiful anniversary flowers. Warren had them waiting on our table at Copeland's when we arrived. Such a romantic!


Our little ballerina!


Princess Mallory fresh out of her royal bath.