Poor Dunky

We're not sure how but Duncan injured his foot the other day and had to have his toenail clipped off near its base by the vet. In addition to being drugged and having his foot wrapped he got the pleasure of wearing this awesome lamp shade-looking thing for about 24 hours. He was none too thrilled. He couldn't actually get through the door of his kennel so we made him a pallet in the corner of the bedroom (where he sleeps most of the time anyway). He even got a heating pad to cover him because he had the chills when the drugs started wearing off.

He milked his infirmity for all it was worth by constantly giving us pitiful looks and whimpers. He acted more pitiful from having a toenail cut off than he did when he lost his manhood. Sissy.

Poor Dunky. He got to sleep on an extra soft pallet with pillows and a heating pad while Molly was locked in her kennel for the night with nothing but a towel. Spoiled. Definitely spoiled.

Bailey - Recent Pics

Bailey turned 7 months old on January 16th and life revolves around playing with toys, playing with mom & dad, and...oh yeah, playing with toys. She is growing and learning new things so quickly that we are well aware of the fact that we are on borrowed time when it comes to her staying in the same spot we put her in. She's constantly trying to sit up on her own when we lie her on her back and she's rolling over better now (although she still has trouble getting over whichever arm happens to be on bottom). She is also in the beginning stages of crawling although she tends to travel backward and in a circle as opposed to moving forward. Her first tooth is starting to become a little more prominent (although it is not really prominent enough to show up in a pic yet) and she has started saying "Da-da", but she hasn't connected it with me yet. Right now, it's just a sound she likes to make. So, a lot has happened in the past month and I expect that things will start happening even faster in the coming months.

Bailey loves playing her piano, but she tends to enjoy flipping it over and trying to chew on the edges instead of playing songs.

It's easy to get distracted from the task of playing with one toy when so many other toys are lying around neglected.


Trying to figure out the best angle of attack before finally deciding to just try to cram it all into her mouth any way possible.

"You guys are looking at me like there's a pink frog on my head or something."

Where's Bailey?

Seriously! Where's Bailey?

PEAK-A-BOO!!!

(I don't think Bailey appreciated it as much as we did.)

This works great, at least it did, when mom or dad needed to get a quick shower. She likes to pull up on the sides now and laundry baskets aren't really designed to support the weight of 15+ pound babies leaning over the edge.

Dad stayed home with Bailey on her first snow day and we spent a few minutes playing outside.

Uh-oh!!! Somebody has Plumber's Disease!!!

Playing in the bathtub. One of her favorite bath games is trying to grab the soap suds that are floating in the water. Her other favorite bath game is making the biggest splashes possible.

That child has beautiful eyes!

Mom is being funny just off camera.

Arching her back has become a fun new game as of late. She's definitely buidling those arm and back muscles in preparation for crawling.

The two pictures below are actually from December when Auburn played AND BEAT Clemson in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. We watched the game at Quay, Erica, & Ava's house and chowed down on lots of good food that was in no way healthy for us. Quay has a big screen tv with Tivo so we spent the whole game rewinding and watching the big hits over and over. The actual game was probably over at least half an hour before we made it to the end.

Bailey and Ava, who turned nine months old this month, hanging out in their Auburn and Clemson outfits. The orange and blue of Auburn proved tougher than the orange and purple of Clemson in two ways: 1) AU won the game and 2) Bailey stayed up later than Ava.

Christmas 2007

This Christmas has been one of the best ever due to the addition of some cute new faces. Below are some pics snapped during our Christmas vacation.

This is one of Bailey's better smiles that we've caught on camera. She is really excited because we're teaching her all about Santa Claus.

As a result, she decided that it would be a good idea to wear her Santa hat and sit by the Christmas tree to wait for him to arrive with presents. She soon got tired and fell asleep.


"Hmm...this better not be my only present, guys."

Along with presents come the Christmas things that aren't as much fun like family pictures.

Here is Bailey shortly before we even left Greenville to drive back to Alabama for Christmas. I guess all the excitement of Christmas was too much for her (or maybe she was catching up on sleep b/c she knew she would need extra energy for the many relatives she would soon have kissing her cheeks and trying to get her to laugh and smile).

Bailey, Harrison, and Scott trying to figure out how to use an abacus

Bailey quickly learned that the wrapping paper itself was more fun than the present inside.

Apparently, Harrison felt the same way about the box that his present came in.

Harrison getting some help from his great grandma opening his present.

Okay, we really didn't stage this one. Harrison and Bailey both wearing their Santa hats, sitting in front of their stockings, and holding hands on Christmas morning. Pretty cute, huh?

Of course, the moment passed when we all noticed and starting running for our cameras and distracted them. They must have thought we were a little crazy.

Bailey, Harrison, Grammy, & Granddaddy on Christmas morning.

This is a "Taggie" and is one of Bailey's favorite toys. It has tags sown all around the perimeter of the toy. Ironically, her favorite tag to suck on is the one tag that has the actual product information on it.

Bailey and mom on Christmas morning.

Bailey and her great grandparents on Christmas morning.

Harrison and his dad (Justin) on Christmas morning in matching Reggie Bush Saint's jerseys.

Baptism of Bailey Edith Williams

Bailey Edith Williams was officially baptized by aspersion at Buncombe Street United Methodist Church on Sunday, December 30, 2007. In attendance were a number of family members as well as some friends. Following the church service during which the ceremony was performed, we all took turns making pictures and headed over to The Westin Poinsett Hotel for a special lunch. The first three pictures below were taken by a professional photographer one week before Bailey's baptism and showcase a 58 year old baptismal gown that was made by her Great Great Grandmother (maternal side) and has been passed down and worn by generations of relatives during their respective baptismal ceremonies. The remainder of the pictures below were taken subsequent to the ceremony.

This is a beatiful picture of Bailey in her baptismal gown. What you don't see, though, is Melanie and I off to the side acting foolish in order to get a smile out of her. It seemed that Bailey was a little stingy with the smiles when the camera was near.

This may be my favoite picture of Bailey yet and I don't think I'm alone. Just check out those big, beautiful eyes.

Yet another beautiful photograph of an amazing baby girl.

Bailey with her parents, uncle, both sets of grandparents, and one set of great grandparents immediately following the church service during which she was baptized. She is lucky to have such a loving family.

The Williams family.

Bailey with mom/dad and the Stutts family.

The extended Williams family

Our friends (Quay and Erica Scott) from across the street and their eight-month-old daughter (Ava) were nice enough to attend the ceremony and join us for luch afterwards. If only we knew what those two little girls were talking about. Whatever it is, it looks pretty interesting.

Bailey drinking water out of a glass with a little help from Mom. Surprisingly, neither Bailey nor Melanie got very wet as a result of this little experiment.

Grandpa, Grammy, Big Grandma, & Big Granddaddy enjoying lunch at The Westin Poinsett.

Quay, Uncle Kenneth, Pops, Melanie, and Bailey at lunch.

Gran talking to Billy Fallaw, the music director of Buncombe Street UMC. Originally, Billy's wife, Joanna Fallaw, was going to perform the baptismal ceremony, but caught an ill-timed case of strep throat and had to stay at home.

Great Granddaddy, Erica, Ava, and Quay at lunch.

Billy Fallaw with his two sons Will and Ross Fallaw. He also has a daughter, Ann Morgan, who was unable to attend, and, as previously mentioned, a wife, Joanna, who was at home sick. Today's church service was Billy's last to direct at Buncombe Street UMC. Unfortunately for us he has accepted a position at another Methodist church near the South Carolina coast. Joanna has also accepted a position as the full-time chaplain of a university in that area. Billy has done an absolutely wonderful job directing Buncombe Street's choir and our family has been lucky enough to develop a personal friendship with Billy, Joanna, and their family. We are very happy for their new opportunities, but will hate to see them go.

Thanksgiving 07

Here we are at 10 til midnight on December 20th and I'm just now getting around to putting up some Thanksgiving pictures of Bailey. That's how it is around this time of year, though. We really didn't take many pics during Thanksgiving so I've only posted a few. We'll do a better job during Christmas.

Actually, we spent a large portion of our Thanksgiving in the car so there wasn't much to take pictures of. We left Greenville on Wednesday night after work and drove to Nashville, TN, where we met up with Kenneth and Meg, who were coming down from Roanoke, VA, and stayed in a Sheraton there. We awoke Thanksgiving morning and hopped back in the car and made the trip from Nashville to Dyersburg, TN, which is where Mel's paternal grandmother, Meme, and her aunt, Pat, live. We remained there until Saturday morning when we, once again, loaded up the truck and drove from there down to Decatur, AL, to spend some time with my family. Meg drove from Dyersburg to Alexander City, AL, to spend time with her family and Kenneth rode back to Huntsville, AL, with his parents. On Sunday morning, we jumped back in the car, picked Kenneth up in Huntsville, and headed up to Chattanooga, TN, where we met up with Meg. At this point, Meg and Kenneth headed back up to Roanoke and we drove down through Atlanta, GA, and back home, finally, to Greenville. All in all, we spent 24 hours in the car and drove nearly 1,100 miles. The most amazing thing is that Bailey never really got upset until the very end, but it was taken care of easily enough by Dad's rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (over and over for 40 miles). Thankfully, the good Lord saw fit to keep us safe during the whole trip and we had a great Thanksgiving.

Here we are at Meme's house in Dyersburg.

Bailey and cousin Harrison at Grandpa's (I think that's his grandparent name this week) and Grammy's house in Decatur.

Matching shirts, but, lucky for Bailey, not matching headgear.

Just kickin it with Harrison after a huge Thanksgiving dinner.