Day Out with Thomas!

This weekend we went to ride on Thomas the Train! Eli isn't a huge Thomas fan but my sister-in-law got us free tickets so the whole fam went to the Tennessee Railway Museum to see Thomas! Eli has been asking to go again every day since Saturday! It was a great day!
Here are the pics

Click here for something new!!

Better Late than Never

So.. these are the Puckett Easter pictures.... Yes, I realize Easter was a month ago... but, sometimes I am ridiculously behind!!! Oh well, enjoy them any way:)

P.S. The beginning includes a few pictures of Eli's Easter celebration at school.

Another Game Ranch visit

Eli has still been talking about the bears, squirrels and ducks that we saw at the Yellow River Game Ranch last September so last weekend, when Uncle Burt and Aunt Christy came to town we went back. They had alot of baby animals which were really cute. I tried to take more video this time, which I will work on soon but here are the few pics I did take.



Christy got to fulfill her dream of feeding a squirrel:) Here are the rest of the pics.

Extreme blog catchup

So, I have several things I have been meaning to post but time has gotten away from me so this is the result! three blogs at one time!!

First, since most of this blog is dedicated to the life and times of Eli, I wanted to prove Josh and I actually do get some adult time occasionally;) No need to blush, just a birthday party. In February my friend Ami celebrated her birthday with a wine tasting/housewarming/birthday party at her house. She and her boyfriend Blair just finished some major remodeling after a storm last July destroyed the top floor of their Lake Lanier home and they welcomed all of us to see the finished product. For fun, we all brought a bottle of wine in a paper bag and had a wine tasting where we judged which wine was the best. My friend Christen won with her, believe it or not, $8 bottle of Sutter Home Cabernet. It was loads of fun! Thanks Gram and Grandpap for babysitting.




Here are the rest of the pics

Is his last name Manning?

Eli is a sports fan... baseball, football, soccer, golf... he loves them all. We've been playing with all his equipment for the last year and for some reason last week, he created this unusual windup when he throws the ball...

It cracks me up, so I taped it.

A Very Solemn Post

Several years ago, the Daily Post ran a health story about parents of kids with lukemia... I remember because I chose a quote from one of the mom's in the story for the headline, because I really thought it summed up the entire story......

"Kids shouldn't have Cancer..."

Today, a little girl in Iowa, named Shaelynn Sue Kelly died from a brain tumor. She was 1 month older than Eli. I didn't know Shaelyn or her parents... I actually just found her story when she was diagnosed about a year ago, on a blog of a blog of a blog, etc... I've been following her story every week and am very sad today for her family... and amazed at their faith and strength...

This post isn't meant to depress anyone, but just a small form of therapy for me in hopes that my prayers, or any of yours, can help the Kelleys in the next few months....

The Next Iron Chef

So, I mentioned Eli's new interest in helping in the kitchen... I pretty happy with it because it is the only thing that can occupy his time long enough for me to cook dinner(with the exception of Dora, Curious George or Little Einsteins..which I use quite enough)... and for those who know Eli well, he does not entertain himself... and that drives me crazy before Josh gets home and I am trying to cook dinner.

Anyway, this is a short video the day I discovered his interest.... I'm amazed at what a bowl, spoon and some egg noodles can do for a mom's sanity:)

Happy Late Valentine's Day

We have a late post... as usual. I always have such great intentions of posting these things on the right day but, oh well... I wanted to show the cookies Eli made with Mammie (my mom) the weekend before Valentine's day. He loves helping me cook. It's amazing because it's about the only thing I have found lately that can hold his attention fro longer than about 10 minutes...

Here is the valentine we sent out to family:)



Here is the slideshow of the rest of the pics

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

So, we are big Sesame Street fans at my house. Eli realy enjoys it and, to be honest, I promote that because I really enjoy it:) I think it's pretty funny. Anyway, I heard him singing this by himself during this morning's episode so I grabbed the Flip. It's not as cute as before he saw me with the camera but I wanted to capture it anyway!

BTW: That's peanut butter on his face from his peanut butter bagel breakfast!

Georgia's version of a snowstorm

For all the bloggers in more northern parts of the country, I know this isn't anything, but for us here in the Atlanta area.... this is our first official snow!!!!

Last night when it starting accumulating we took Eli out to see it, just in case it was gone by morning... and honetly, he wasn't impressed. I think he was too cold. Even this morning., he just wanted to see it from the window... But of course here are the few pics.



The view down our street


Across the street

Maya!

Since, I like to archive this blog like a diary, I wanted to write something about Maya.



Since I was little I have always loved cats.... I'm just a cat person:) And while growing up, I I always had cats.. When I went to college of course, while living in apartments, I was cat free for 4 years... and hated it so when I graduated from college, my brother gave me Maya as a graduation present.

On New Year's Eve, we had to put Maya to sleep. She was a loyal pet full of personality. She was almost 9 years old. She was independent and moody, which is what I loved about her!

Christmas catchup!

I'm sure you fellow bloggers know how I feel.... When you take so many photos at an event... like Christmas... It's a bit daunting trying to find time to post them...

But I finally did.... here is the slideshow!

We spent the weekend before Christmas in Chattanooga with my family... We have old and new traditions. We always go to my grandmother's house on Christmas Eve so t there are pictures of that and this year we started a tradition of taking Eli to my mom's carousel to ride Rhett.. then the fam went on a walk around the riverfront... It was so much fun.

Then, on Christmas Day, we traveled to North Carolina to spend time with Gradnpap and G, Uncle CHuck, Aunt Amy Trip and Quinny. The boys have so much fun together...

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Santa Claus is ALL OVER town!!

Let me begin by saying that last year Eli and Santa were not a good combination... we tried several times didn't want to have anything to do with him.... but this year, since we have seen him everywhere, Eli is warming up....

First we saw him in downtown Buford at the Christmas tree lighting...


Eli needed Daddy to help him this time..

Then, we saw him again at Chateau Elan...


And THEN Santa visited the kids at Eli's school.....


Overall, he did a great job and I was very proud of him.... I think next year will be a home run!!

Two wonderful Years!

I'm late but here is a post about Eli's 2nd birthday party. Like I said before, his actual birthday was on Thanksgiving Day and believe it or not, I didn't take one picture....

Somtimes I just want to relax and enjoy it... Anyway, we spent Thanksgiving in Chattanooga with my family and had a great time.

On Saturday, we invited family here for a party at our house with Eli. He was adequately spoiled and has truly enjoyed each one of his presents. Here are some pics

Getting bigger

On Thanksgiving Day, my baby will be 2 years old!

I decided to follow the advice of everyone and take his pictures myself this year. . Really, can you imagine a 2-year old in a photo studio.... plus, don't get me started on the quality of local studios.... it's ridiculous.

Anyway, Eli obviously lights up every room he is in. I am more proud every day of him. I love the pictures because I feel like they really show his personality:)

P.S. Thanks Corinne and Christy... you were great toddler handlers:)

Some business to take care of

So, since this is the blog that most of my friends and family visit first, I always like to post my weddings here in addition to my wedding website.

In October, I shot Kelly Anderson's wedding to Rick LaBarbera. It was truly a great experience.



The venue was beautiful in downtown Atlanta. The wedding was held at what most people known as The Abbey, a former restaraunt which is now a church and special events facility.




I decided to hire one of the paper's intern Jenna Findlan to help me and she was awesome!! With her, I had more than 1500 photos to edit through.... which is why I am just now getting done . Kelly & Rick also have a 2-month old daughter Averie, so I got some different portraits of her too!!




The entire night was such a great party! I've never seen so many people on the dance floor.

here is their slideshow

Speaking of work, I am trying to start a portfolio of family portrait sessions to add to my services and am offering a special for some outdoor family portraits for Christmas or just to have. If anyone is interested , email me at nicole.puckett@gwinnettdailypost.com

Halloween party

This weekend we traveled to Chattanooga for my brother & sister-in-law's annual Halloween party. I'll post pics from trick-or-treating later this week but here are a few from the party.

Biker Eli Puckett


Here's the fam... I lovevd my costume.. I even had battery powered Christmas lights ... For any Michael J. Fox fans... Josh went as Marty McFly... I thought it looked awesome


here are the rest of the pics:

Visiting St. Louis

We had so much fun in Saint Louis last weekend...
I am working so hard to keep up with all our fall adventures... and with Halloween this week, I'm updating as fast as possible.

The weekend was really relaxed... we spent most of the time letting the boys play together... at Grant's Farm, at the church playground, in the backyard and at the park... It was perfect.

here is the slideshow....

First Annual Blue Ridge Bash

So... two weeks ago my friend Lauriann, who lives in Arizona, hosted the first, of what will be annual, weekend getaway for her friends.. Lauriann's parents live in Blue Ridge georgia and have recently built a cabin on their property , which is awesome and available for rental....

So 10 adults and 8 kids took over the cabin for the weekend and it was so crazy!!! But it was also alot of fun and I will look forward to the next one over the next year.

So...I really didn't take many photos and after looking at them I realized all I took was pictures of the kids.... Which are always my favorite subjects anyway:) here they are