Christmas Eve

I'll start this post on Christmas Eve with a picture of how our night ended....How sweet is this picture? Santa was on his way so everyone had to be asleep. No problem in our household!

We had Christmas Eve dinner at our house this year with LuLu. She brought Thomas a wonderful Christmas present - A rocking horse. You squeeze his ear and he goes "cloppedy, clop" and then lets out a loud "neigh!" Thomas loved it! He also liked to stand next to the horse and pet him.

The surprise hit of the night was this ladybug. This ladybug is a doggy toy that we bought for Lollie, my mom's dog, for Christmas. When Mama opened it and squeezed it, Thomas's eyes lit up! This ladybug quacks.....not sure why they decided that a ladybug should quack instead of squeek, but Thomas is obsessed. He broke out into a belly laugh over this ladybug. So.....we will have to get Lollie another toy because Thomas got to keep the ladybug! The noise nevers gets old either...he lights up everytime. Here are a few snapshots - Thomas and LuLu were having lots of fun!

Here are a few more pictures from the night....

Had to sneek in a few pictures of the house all decorated for the season. Didn't get a picture of the tree for some reason, but oh well!

Notice our new fireplace screen in this picture. This was a Christmas gift from LuLu! We love it. Needed to have one now that we have the kiddo. Can't have him crawling in the fireplace or getting to close to the fire.

We had a wonderful beginning to our Christmas celebration. So grateful for special times with family!

Christmas Round One and the Peabody Ducks

Patrick's parents came to visit us this past weekend since we will be in Memphis for Christmas. We had a great time! On Sunday we took a trip downtown. We went to the Peabody first to see the ducks.

We got a few pictures made in front of the tree. Thomas was really posing for this picture. So cute!

Waiting for the ducks....Thomas enjoyed watching the other people almost as much as he enjoyed the ducks.

Thomas LOVED the ducks. He reached his hands out to make his "gimme" sign. He really wanted to grab hold of those ducks. Good thing for those duckies that he can't crawl!

Papa took Thomas over for some more up-close time with the ducks. One day in the future these two will join Patrick and Tino in the duck blind for a different kind of fun watching ducks!

After the Peabody, we walked a few blocks to the Blue Plate for brunch. Yummy! I love breakfast food. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I tooks some candid of our crew walking down main street. Thomas got to see the trolley drive past us. When I took these pictures, I couldn't help but think of the song "Walking in Memphis."

Papa and Nana brought Thomas lots of gifts. One of the most special of these gifts was two books that have recorded their voices reading to Thomas. He doesn't sit still very often, but he sat still for these books. He was really focusing on the voices.

We treated Sunday morning as "Christmas morning - round one." We all opened our gifts and spent most of our time watching this little guy. He was scared of the sound of tearing paper. Good to know, but honestly, not a whole lot I can to do shelter him from this noise at Christmastime.

Here he is playing with two stuffed Santa's. He likes to try to eat them, of course.

Thomas got his first Radioflyer wagon from Nana and Papa. It didn't take him long to figure out how to sit in the wagon and hold on tight! Thomas was showered with more gifts from his Nana and Papa.....puzzles, tap-a-tune piano, megablock legos, a "Thomas" sippee cup, snack cups, bibs and a carseat. Grandmother gave Thomas his Elmo toy storage shelf and his little table and chairs. We can't wait for Thomas to play with all of his new toys.

The Walker's friends gave Thomas these adorable pajamas. I teared up a little when I first saw him in them because he just looked too old. I don't want my baby to grow up so fast. I am having the best time with this age, but I know that it will only get better.

Those little hands all snuggled up by his face. I know exactly what he was thinking - "Santa, I've been a good little boy. Please bring me fun toys that I can put in my mouth for Christmas."

Playing

These days we do a lot of playing around our house. Thomas loves to play. He likes to play with his toys and all of the special people in his life. He even likes to play by himself. I feel so lucky to have a baby that feels comfortable alone. As a mom, independence is a characteristic that I hope to develop in my child.

As all good parents do, we had to torture our child for a few minutes for the sake of a cute picture. He wasn't so sure about this Santa hat so I had to snap a quick pic!

This is one of my favorite pictures! I cannot believe that I haven't snapped a picture of Thomas playing in the mirror before now. He has loved to look in the mirror for months now. I'm not sure if he understands that the baby in the mirror is him or if he thinks its a friend.

We have found our feet!! I thought his belly was a little too big for those feet to fit in his mouth, but I was wrong! He did spend the last few months in my belly exactly in this position with his feet above his head, so I shouldn't be surprised!

Aunt BooBoo has been coming to visit us in between studying for exams. Thomas really likes the baby apps she has on her phone. Notice how serious that little face is!

More fun times with Aunt BooBoo.

Of all of the toys we have for this child, what is one of his most favorite? An old plastic measuring spoon. Whatever works these days!

Sitting next to Dad in the morning before he goes to work! He looks so tiny next to Patrick.

The Johnny Jumper is still an absolute favorite! We log lots of hours in this seat and enjoy every single minute!!

Thomas can sit up now. I still keep the boppy behind him just in case. We don't need to bonk our little head on the floor (again). He loves to play on the floor with all of his toys around him. I think he wised up and decided it was much easier to play if he learned to sit up. So....he did.

These two get lots of playing in. Nothing warms my heart more than listening to the laughs coming from the other room when I'm making dinner in the kitchen. Thomas loves to grab hair....anyone's hair will do, but Dad's seems to be exceptionally fun!

UGA's Lucky Charm?

Is it just a coicidence that UGA did so well the first year that Thomas was a Dawg fan? I don't think so.....

This our little fan watching the SEC Championship in his new t-shirt from my cousin Minor. Minor is a HUGE UT fan, so the fact that he spent money on anything that represents UGA is a major feat. Thomas wore it proudly even though UGA didn't win that game. We are so proud of the 2011 season that they ended up having. Way to go bulldawgs! Hopefully in 18 years our little man will be sitting in Sanford Stadium cheering on the dawgs for his freshmen year!

Santa Pictures

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love all of the decorations, Christmas carols, presents and getting to see friends and family. I am so excited to introduce Thomas to all of the wonderful things about Christmas. I was afraid that he would be scared of Santa this year because he isn't so fond of strangers lately. Not this kiddo! He didn't mind Santa at all. In fact, I was able to catch a smile each time. Yes, we have been to see Santa 3 times already, and its only December 4th.

This one was taken at Oak Court.

This one was taken at the Dixon Galleries family day. Thomas is happy but its too bad Santa didn't smile! : )

Thomas loves to stick out his tongue lately. I caught him in the act here:

Then I caught a giggle after I tried to snatch his tongue!

Today was the first day that Thomas wore shoes. He wore the soft soled white leather shoes from the Women's Exchange. These were a gift from Ms. Buff. His feet were almost too fat, but luckily they stretch a little!

Here are some out-takes from one of the Santa visits. Thomas likes to pull hair, so he is checking out Santa's beard. Santa must come across this a lot because he was quick to get out of his reach.

This is a snapshot from when Thomas first realized exactly who was holding him. Doesn't look too sure about Old St. Nick.

Christmas through the eyes of a child....Thomas loves looking at the Christmas tree lights. Heck, he loves to look at any lights, but Christmas lights are especially appealing. Check out this look of awe and wonder. Wouldn't it be nice if Christmas made us stop in awe every year? I am trying to soak up all of the small and yet fabulously wonderful things of the Christmas season this year. Its so easy to get wrap up in all of the hustle and bustle. A little Child a long time ago is the reason for the season, and I look forward to teaching this little child of mine all about it!

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Sandersville. For the first time in a while, the whole family was there. We had a great time getting to see everyone, and of course, the little guy was the center of attention. He ate it up too!

Snuggle time with mommy. I could just eat him up sometimes......Look at that face!

Here is a picture of the whole crew:

This is the only picture we have of the three of us. Kinda looks like a mug shot of our little family. Guess it will have to do, though!

Showing off our Thanksgiving outfit.

Thomas loved Becky. Becky and Patrick's cousin, Scott, got married this summer in Atlanta. They met Thomas at the wedding, but they really got to play with him over Thanksgiving. Becky is a Virginia Tech graduate and a huge football fan. She is such a good sport with all of the UGA and Alabama fans in the family. She and Scott live in Baltimore.

Even though Thomas didn't enjoy the Thanksgiving feast, he wasn't forgotten. Aunt Beth made sure Thomas got a feast of his very own. Notice that Thomas is sort of glaring at the camera from the corner of his eyes? That's because I am breaking one of his rules of not talking, eating, or doing anything distracting while he is eating. He is telling me to put the camera away because he is busy. Bossy already!

Thomas thought Aunt Betty Jo was hysterical. I'm not sure what she was doing, but she was getting the belly laugh from the little man.

We had a wonderful trip home to Georgia. I wish they lived closer so that we could go more often!