All things Christmas 2010

Here is the Christmas blog! It really could be broken up into several different posts, but nah. I’m cramming it all into one massive post. Yay! That’s how I’m rolling today. I’m on vacation this week and I’m feeling crazy like that. :)

Such a great Christmas season! Always a wonderful time to enjoy family and reflect on the birth of our Lord Jesus. I look forward to creating traditions with Will as he gets older to make sure he understands what Christmas is really all about.

First – I am quite proud of my photography skills below. I don’t know how I did it – but what a great pic! Will did so well with our tree. I would tell him to, “touch just a little bit.” We would go around and just barely touch every bit of that tree. He seemed pleased and really only pulled off one ornament. Here he is…just touching a little bit! (P.S. Thank you Lindsey for helping me do the tree - the ribbon made it so much nicer!). Kayse brought these adorable pj’s over for him so I had to get a pic in front of the tree in them.Look! We have lights on our house! After a serious power issue, it finally worked out and we have lights! We feel really grown up with a house and lights up! Next year we hope to do more – possibly some on the trees? This really has nothing to do with Christmas (though he’s wearing Christmas pjs). Will looked really cute in his hat and was actually swinging quite well. Daddy was proud!On a completely unrelated side note, I take back the stinker comment from my last post. I guess the ear really had been bothering him. He has been so good over the last week! I was really starting to worry because there for a week or so, he was melting down all the time for what seemed like no reason at all. It has stopped! Yay! My sanity thanks you! He has resumed to the sweetest little boy in the world. I seriously fall more in love with this little guy every.single.day. I do. I don’t know how it is even possible. He’s sweet and funny and just stinkin’ cute. He’s become really attached to me specifically lately and I can’t say that I hate it. I love it, I do. :)

Ok – onto Christmas celebrations!

On Thursday evening, GJ, Daneille, Kellie, Nick, & Kayse came over and we started things off. GJ & Neille brought over a few presents for Will to open to get into the hang of things. I like how he’s looking at this. Hmmm – looks like fun to me!

Bows are always a fun toy! Let’s put this one on GJ’s face. Yes, that works!

Love how he’s pulling the dog by his tail. Boys.

Sittin’ like a big boy with Neill and Kayse.

On Friday, we went to the Christmas Eve Service at Watermark at 2pm. Then we headed over to Dustin & Tricia’s house for a McCoy/Tooker celebration. It was cold and Will was cute all bundled up!

Since I was terrible at Thanksgiving in the picture department, I made sure to make up for it at Christmas. I got pics!

Cute, cute Justin and Lindsey Uncle J with Will – handsome men! Mimi with her 2 very favorite guys.The Tooker’s!

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I’m pretty sure Dylan convinced Lindsey to read this book to him at least 5 times.

All the kiddos/grandkids!

And our fabulous hosts – the McCoy’s. Tricia, Dylan, Dustin, & Baby M! Yes!! They are expecting and due in July! We are so stinkin’ excited! Being an aunt is just incredibly fun and I can’t wait to see if I am getting another nephew or a niece! Who cares! Another sweet baby to love! We can’t wait!!

Whoa – can we say too many presents?!?

A great pic of Mimi & Will and in front of Tricia's awesome decor!

The table with some more of Tricia’s clever decorating. So cute!

Oh yes – there was some holiday dancing before dinner – lead by Mimi! The boys were way too cute. Even Will was cutting a rug!

This picture just makes me happy. I love these two boys so, so much. I hope they grow up to be friends! They are so fun!

While it isn’t the focus of the season, presents are involved! Above – Dylan got the most awesome cape from Mimi and it even has a D on it! Mr. Potato head from the Tooker’s! So fun!

Will isn’t quite into ripping open presents. Here he’s gently pulling at it a little.

So I’m posting a pic of everyone opening a gift. Its my blog, I can if I want to. I think mom was surprised by this one.

She seems to like what we got her!

Will was so good during the gift opening. We open gifts one person at a time and at one point, I see Will in the corner sitting in this box. Well, ok!

Lindsey with her fun H&M shirt!

Tricia with her pretty candlesticks!

Had to get a pic of this awesome table that Lindsey painted for Dylan. Each chair is a different superhero. One chair is Super Dylan! So fun and so impressive! (So is the step stool she painted for Will that you can see in the back ground).

I was way impressed that my brother paid attention when we were shopping and I said I wanted these. Go brother!

Kevin was pleased that we now have Florida State coasters. We’re equal opportunity around here.

J seems pumped about his dress shirts! He will sure need them for the internship he is about to start! Yay!!! So very excited for him! And – it is in Dallas! Yippie! Look forward to seeing you a smidge this winter. You’ll be busy earning that $ – so I know we won’t see you too much. Keep up the good work smarty pants! (I won’t embarrass him too much by telling you all how good his grades are!).

Not sure if mom or Dustin wins the prize for the funniest face while opening gifts!

I’m clearly too old and too un-cool to be a part of this club. They both got Toms shoes from their husband/boyfriend. (Kevin did get me an awesome present, though – I was impressed!).

Dylan is the cutest kid – he decided Santa should be left bacon instead of cookies! I think it is a good idea – too much sugar makes doing all that work tough!

Santa made a stop at our house this year! Here is what he left. Will must have been a good boy!

He really loves the car and he learned to say car very quickly! Car, car, car, car. Unfortunately he can’t navigate the car quite yet. He can go backwards a little. Mostly it requires mommy or daddy pushing him around. We may have to hide it on occasion to give ourselves a break! He also got some weables and decided they needed a ride.

Is it just me, or does he really look like a big boy playing with this toy? Growing up too fast.

On Saturday, after we enjoyed what Santa brought, we headed out to Ally’s house for some fun. Kayse helped Will open some gifts. Fun Aunt Kayse!

Kellie and Nick were in from Nashville. Too bad we didn’t get to spend more time with them. Next time – we’ll kidnap you to our house for an evening!

Ally needed a pic of Will in Kevin’s rocking chair in front of the chair. Love it!

This officially concludes the official Christmas pics. On Sunday we headed to Waco to celebrate with my Uncle Charles and Addison & Ian. Monday – we rested!

Dylan tested out Will’s new car. You just barely fit buddy!

Will has recently decided he would like to feed himself with the spoon. Like the bottle, he was totally fine with me feeding him for the longest time. I was ok with that because it went faster and was much less messy! However, I know this is a really good thing that he wants to do it himself. But wow – what a mess! It is cute though.

Love his new towel from Mimi! He was way too big for the ones we had. We have a cute lion and a frog now!

To infinity and beyond! We have our very own Buzz. I hope to have a picture of Buzz with Woody (Dylan) tomorrow! Have mercy he’s cute!

I think that about does it. Next time – more posts with less info. Overload! I am so enjoying my time off this week. I am soaking it up because we all know what is right around the corner – I can’t even type it. I’m trying not to think about it. Tomorrow the McCoy’s are going to watch Will for awhile while I run some errands. I am trying to have a good mix of getting stuff done with relaxing. I am sure enjoying my Will time. He’s not been feeling 100% so I’ve been getting some amazing snuggle time. I love every single second. Enjoy the rest of your year!

Visit with Santa

I had been dreading taking Will to see Santa because a) I knew he wouldn’t be cool with sitting a stranger’s lap and b) I didn’t want to deal with the long wait that it would take only to have him freak out. But I wanted the pic, so we took him to Bass Pro Shop in Rockwall. It wasn’t too bad. It was pretty crowded but still only took us an hour from the time we got there to the time we were finished. Not too bad. While he clearly was not a fan of being plopped down into Santa’s lap – but he did much better than I expected. He didn’t totally freak out. Sweet boy!

Merry Christmas!

15 month Stats

Can you believe that this little cutie is 15 months old?!? It is true.

We went for his 15 month check-up on Friday. He had an ear infection, which was a bit of a surprise. He hadn’t shown any signs other than a runny nose. Now the nose has gotten worse and he’s been a little bit more of a stinker than usual. I may call and see if we need a different medicine.

Stinker. Yes, I said it. My adorable, precious, sweet little boy can be quite the stinker. I am told that comes from my husband’s genes, ah-hem. Anyway, he can throw the most impressive fits for no reason at all. Is this a phase? I always heard about the terrible two’s and how bad the 3’s can be. Honestly, I’m scared. Ok, it really isn’t that bad. He’s still super sweet and a ton of fun. But it is taking some getting used to when he melts down. Maybe we’re just having a rough week. He’s been drooling a lot – maybe more teeth? He already has 12, though. We’ll see. It is usually when he’s screaming that I can see that he cut teeth, so that’s a plus, I guess. :)

The stats, oh yes. That’s what this post was about.

Height: 31” (50%)

Weight: 19lbs 8 oz (less than 3rd%)

Head: 45.5 (10%)

Height and weight %’s about the same as at 12 months. Apparently his head is not growing as fast. Dr. said it is fine for his small frame. He told me to cut back on the milk I give him in hopes of him eating more food. Need to put some weight on that boy. Dr. wasn’t really that worried about his size. His vocabulary is still pretty small and the doctor said that was fine, too. As long as he is understanding us, there is no need to worry. And he understands us, for sure. There is a big range for his age. So he can pretty much say the following: daddy, mama, cheese, cookie (don’t ask how he knows this), mowa (more), hi, moo (moon), coooo (for me trying get him out of the fridge by saying “its cold” with a shiver). I may be forgetting some. He’ll randomly clearly as day something we’ve just said. Which is weird and surprising when it happens. But he’ll only say it once, so I don’t think those count. He does the monkey sound frequently and I’ve been getting him to ho-ho-ho when I talk about Santa. So, he’s definitely learning and picking up things. Every week is something different. We’re working on body parts. He definitely knows nose, foot, and tummy. The others are hit or miss. What will be his next trick be?

Missing my Men

How cute are these two? I found this picture on my phone as I sat today in a very, very enlightening (or really boring, I can't remember) training class. I am in Orlando, FL and I am missing my husband and my son! :( This adorable picture just made me miss them more. This was taken at the doctor's office at Will's 12 month check-up. Sitting at the doctor's office gets rough for a little one and Kevin found a way to entertain the little guy. They make me smile. Can't wait to see these two when I get home tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet nephew! Today he turned 4! We love you so much Dylan Wayne! We can't wait to celebrate at your party tomorrow. Thank you for being the sweetest, cutest little boy an aunt could want. Will looks up to you and wants to do everything you are doing. You are so sweet and loving to him. I know you are thinking about being 5 next, but slow down with the growing! It is going fast. Let's enjoy a fun year of you being 4! Love you Dylan!