Happy Birthday Jesus

I don't know about you, but I am so thankful for Jesus, who took on flesh, so that we can have eternal life with our Father. Thank you for the best gift of all!!!

The past two days have been long, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. Dylan has his first Christmas under his belt, and he did great.  We started the holiday yesterday afternoon at my parents. We ate, opened presents and watched Fred Claus. Dylan racked up quite a few presents from Nana and Pepaw.  Right before we left at 7:00pm, Dylan fell asleep for 20 mintues, so the whole way home, he was wide awake. I put him to bed at 9:15 and he played until 9:45.  Apparently, he was so excited for Christmas to be here!

This morning we woke up and let him open his gifts. Then, we prepared for Christmas at my Grandmother's, where I ate entirely too much and officially am big enough to be Santa. I do this every year and yet, I stuff my face at the next holiday. UGH! 

Here are a few pics from Dylan's first Christmas.

sleeping in his Christmas PJ

The loot (minus his red wagon that Nana and Pepaw got him)

Thank you God for all my gifts....amen

The Letter T

Holly reminded me this morning that I have yet to do my tag...I forgot...oops. She assigned me the letter T. 

Here's how it works: You leave a comment on this post, and I'll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter and you post it on your blog. When people comment on your post you assign them a letter and the fun continues.

Here we go!

1. Tennessee - I have lived in Tennessee my whole life, and I couldn't imagine living any where else. The seasons here are beautiful. (I could do without the humidity in the summer). The fall leaves and the crisp air....ahhh. Not to mention that I am close to all my family. 

2. Tacos, Tortillas, Taquitos....you get the picture. I love Mexican food. When we went to Mexico for our honeymoon, I was in heaven at the buffets. I love me some cilantro. Yum. I could eat Mexican food everyday. 

3. Tennis Shoes - My favorite thing to wear is sweaters, jeans and tennis shoes. They are so comfortable. The ironic thing is that in college, I hardly ever wore tennis shoes. My roommate joked that I didn't even own a pair, so now, I wear them all the time to make up for that period in my life. (To explain why I never wore them in college....I worked at a law firm, so after school, I went straight to work.)

4. Tricking people - I am quite the prankster. I definitely take after my Mom (see earlier post this week). I think the best trick I played was on my mom, when we told her I was in labor while she was out of town...she cried, but we laughed hysterically.

5. Tide - Not the laundry detergent, but the Alabama football team. They had a great season this year, undefeated on their regular schedule, but lost to Florida in the SEC championship. Nick Saban has brought the program a long way in two short years. Roll Tide.

6. Tickling Damien - that is until he gets mad and gives me Indian burn on my arm, which I hate. He hates to be tickled and for some reason, I find joy in making him jump. He's says it puts him on edge, and I say that it's hysterical.

7. The Shack - By far, it is one of my favorite books. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It will give you a fresh perspective on the trinity (God, Jesus and Holy Spirit). There is some controversy around it, like the way some things are explained, but don't take it at face value. Really dig into the actual word as well. 

8. Trips - There is nothing like a nice vacation, and I am so looking forward to the one we have coming up on Sunday. We are going to San Diego and I am so excited. Some of my favorite trips have been to London with my friend Margaret on New Years Eve, Costa Rica with Damien, Aruba with my Family, Playa Del Carmen with Damien, NYC with family and Damien and San Fran with friends Steve and Lindsay. The next place I want to go is Malawi. If all goes well, I will be hitting up my readers to help me with expenses for this mission trip.

9. Turbo - I love Turbo so much. He has been in my life for 10 years, and I couldn't imagine not having him. One time, we tried giving him away while I was in college. I cried the whole way home. Once I got back to Chattanooga, I called my mom to see if she knew Turbo was doing well. She said, oh yea, he's doing great. He's right beside me. The lady couldn't deal with him. He was an indoor dog and she had put him outside in a run. He was digging and barking non stop. I am so grateful that my parents took care of Turbo until I got out of college. Thank you!

10. Time with family and friends - Time is the most important thing that you can give someone. It's worth more than any gift. I love the time that I get to spend with Damien and Dylan as our little family. As well as the time, I get to spend with my parents and my brother's family. Also, we have the best friends that anyone can ask for and we enjoy the time we get to spend with them. 

A New Conquest

I was in the kitchen starting dinner, and Dylan was in the living room playing. All got quiet as a mouse...this is a red flag. I went to look for Dylan and found him on the 2nd stair making his way to the 3rd.  I let him continue to see how far he would go. He made it half way up before he got tired and had to sit. I hope Santa is bringing us some baby gates. We need them!

Obviously I didn't get a pic of him on the stairs, that would have been bad parenting, but here are the stairs.

Weekend Challenge

This weekend, Dylan got to stay with his grandparents, while Damien and I did a makeover on the bonus room and hallway upstairs. We have lived here for almost 4 years and have only painted the office and Dylan's room.  We had someone come in and stretch our carpet, so Damien had the idea that we should paint while the furniture was out of the room.  I picked out a color, Golden Straw from Waverly and after putting the sample up, I wasn't sure if I could live with it. Damien and I went back to Lowe's to find a new color. We decided on the color, Spun Sugar from Martha Stewart and took the swatch to Farrell-Calhoun to match it. I love it.  

Before (notice the two colors...the top was the color I couldn't live with)

After (farewell pale yellow)

Santa visits Dylan again

Since Dylan was sick the last time he saw Santa (aka PePaw), we decided to give it another try, so Santa came to our house this time. Well, he still wasn't happy to see Santa. 

We tried to inch closer and closer, and we were very patient with him.

Finally, we were able to hand him off from my lap to Santa's lap. He wasn't crying and we were able to get a decent pic.  (Other than the fact that Santa's beard was a little jacked up.)

Mama Mia

Anita's blog, Mud and Coffee, recently had a post that reminded me of some child hood memories, and as I recalled those childhood memories, I began laughing so I thought I would share them with my readers.

My Mom is quite the prankster, and my poor Dad is often the victim of her jokes.  One that I recall, that we talk about still to this day, is the time she pushed my Dad in the coat closet.  I think I was probably around 4 years old and my brother was about 9.  My Dad had bent over, digging around in the bottom of the closet, and my mom just kicked him in the butt...and in he went. She shut the door behind him, and if memory serves me correctly reeled in my brother to be her accomplice. Billy helped her push the couch in front of the door.  Can you believe she left him there for an hour?  I might have a case of kid memory (you know where everything is bigger, seems longer, etc) but I think it was an hour. Then she finally moved the couch and opened the door, and he was just sitting there on the floor with his arms crossed. I wished we had a picture of it. 

The next memory, which triggered this post, wasn't necessarily a prank, but an accident that ended in a bunch of laughter and a black eye. Every weekend, our family would get together with the Scott family. They lived right down the road and had children the same age as Billy and me. The adults played cards while the kids played dolls, video games, watched movies, etc. We usually stayed pretty late, like midnight, there were times that I fell asleep...that's another post. One night, my Dad was driving and he began backing out of the driveway.  At the time, we had a car that had power windows with the control panel in the center between the bucket seats. My mom "got cold" so she rolled my dad's window up without consulting him. Little did she know, that his head was hanging out of it in order to navigate as he backed out of the driveway.  (It was late and we live in the country, no street lights) I don't recall exactly what my Dad said, but he was not happy. The next day, he went to church with a black eye.

Ah....Memories

Merry Christmas

Christmas is exactly a week away. It has snuck up on us so fast. I can't wait to watch Dylan open his presents, and then try to eat the paper of course.  We hope that you and your family have a blessed Christmas week. Remember the reason we celebrate...the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ!

Wrestling Alligators

How many of us can say that we have wrestled an alligator?  I don't know about you, but I can. I know, you are thinking this is in humane, but hang with me. 

Wrestling an alligator can be very tricky, but you have to be able to outwit this creature.  First you look them in their big eyes, and you say to yourself I can do this in no time, I know I can. Then you say a little prayer and you jump right in.  Often times, you grab their little legs first. They are feisty creatures...kicking and squirming. Then the dreaded death roll. Be ready for this one because if you aren't prepared, they will take you with them. You feel the sweat beads trickling down  your face at this point and you bite your bottom lip to prevent from yelling any kind of profanity...whether from your aggravation or any injuries that you may have sustained during the roll. You grab the creature by it's bottom half and try to flip it over to make sure it's heading in the right direction.  Then once you have gotten control of the creature again, it may try to do the death roll. Be strong and you will perservere my friend...once you have the creature rigtht where you want him, then you grab the diaper really fast and fasten it as quick as you can. That my friend is how you change the diaper of a 7 month old. 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

In Damien's words..."call Al Gore and tell him Global Warming is in hold." We got snow! I don't know if this is the earliest snow fall or not. Last year, it's was the first of March when we got snow. I was so excited to get Dylan bundled up for his first snow. Luckily, we had a snow suit that was a hand me down. We went next door early in the morning before the snow melted. The kids were sledding down the hill. Last year, since I was preggers, I didn't get to sled, so this year, I did. It was so much fun. I got the furthest distance out of all the kids...I attribute that to my weight. Might I add, the dogs were especially frisky in the snow. Turbo has been outside now for 3 hours and won't come in. He's snow in his element. (hehehe)

snow fall last night

Dylan (aka Michelin Man)

Snow Angels anyone?

Sophie and Dylan

Turbo

Tag

I was tagged by Misty. For the tag, you go to the 4th folder, select the 4th picture and tell about it. Then, tag 4 other people. I tag Holly, Ashley, Lori and Kelley.

This was Dylan's birthday, May 10. He was quite the screamer and a big boy weighing in at 8lbs 2 oz. (not a good pic of me)

7 months

Today, Dylan is 7 months. Where has the time gone? 

My sweet little baby had another first this week. His first fever. He woke up Sunday morning a little warm, and I assumed it was teething as he had his hand in his mouth the day before. Then Sunday, when we went to my parents house, he wasn't his normal self...he was very sleepy and still.  I took his temp on Monday and it was 100.8. I thought I am going to go ahead and take him just in case. I am glad I did. His fever...104.3! I couldn't believe it. I felt so bad. They ended up checking everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything. First, they gave him motrin for the fever, and he puked every where as I had just fed him. Then they did a catheter on him to make sure the infection wasn't hiding in his kidneys. Then they pricked his finger to check his counts. I was a big ole' ninny and was boo hooing. The doctor (whom I love) was comforting me. The nurse said, I can't look at you or I will start crying.  They ruled it as a viral infection and said it had to run it's course. He puked a few more times, but I think it was because we were trying to keep him hydrated and shoving fluids on him even though he would tell us he didn't want them.  Lesson learned.  I think he's back to normal today, but we are still going to keep away from other kids for another day. I don't wish this on anyone. 

Hangin' with Santa

Dylan sat on PePaw's...uh-hmm...I mean Santa's lap yesterday. He didn't know what to think, so he cried.  Well to take his side a little, he's running a fever and not feeling well. I think he's working on some more teeth.

pre-tears

Turbo and Sophie with Santa

My Mom and her dogs Bandit and Brandy with Santa

Christmas Photo Shoot

Dylan and I took a few moments on Monday for a photo shoot.  My hope was that we could get a picture that would work for this year's Christmas card.  We like to do family pictures on our cards, previous years, it was just us and the dogs, but this year, we didn't have time to do a family picture. Therefore, it's all about Dylan this year, seeing that everyone has seen our favorite family photo on my blog and elsewhere.

This task was a challenge seeing that I had to entertain him, keep him still and try to get him to smile.  I even put him on a stool in front of the tree (otherwise there was no tree behind him just the skirt) and he leaned forward and fell off. Luckily I snagged him by his sweater before he smacked the floor.  whew...no more pics on the stool.  Here are a few of our out takes from that photo shoot. 

Turbo got in on the action too

Walk this Way

Dylan has now somewhat mastered walking with the walker. He still falls over and is a little wobbly and maybe doesn't know exactly how to turn and so forth, but it's his new favorite past time. He could do this all day long. 

Family Visit

Damien's sister and her daughters came to visit us this past week. It was so nice to get to see them, as it has been 6 months since we last saw them. The last time we saw them was right after Dylan's birth, so I wasn't much of a host then as I barely felt like getting out of bed.

Dylan, Taryn and Taylor

We had so much fun during their visit. We played with play doh, played Blokus and Uno.  Dylan really enjoyed them being here, probably a little too much as he didn't want to miss out on anything, which meant short naps and short feedings. Not to mention, I didn't want to let him cry it out while they were here, so I ended up getting in bed with him in one of the guest rooms.

On top of the games and fun, Taylor and I made cookies and dinner the first night while the rest of the family went out to target and books a million. We had fun licking the bowl. Taylor said it was the most fun night ever. 

We even ventured out to Opryland Hotel to see the Christmas decorations.  Last year, when they were here, we did the same but it was at night and it was way crowded. It was nice to enjoy it without the crowd. 

We can't wait to see you all again!!!