Merry Christmas Eve!

Every Christmas Eve we go to church at St. Paul and then dinner with the family. Dinner is always vegetable soup and cornbread. Always. (I had to learn how to make vegetable soup - and I don't even really like it - that was an interesting endeavor for sure) The past two years, we hosted Christmas Eve but realized this year that our house isn't big enough to have that many people and try to manage the baby on top of that. So - back to Bill & Becky's house.

My favorite part of the church service is singing Silent Night at the end by candlelight. And I have to admit I got a little teary eyed this year. I'm not sure why - probably has something to do with it being William's first Christmas, etc, cheesey mom stuff. ;)

And he did really well during church, considering it was pretty much bedtime. He loved looking at all the people and at one point I swear he was making eye contact with Buddy, our preacher. He was a bit of a handful to keep entertained, but he didn't cry and even started cooing and laughing to delight of the sweet people in front of us. I can't wait for next year when he is a little more cognizant of what's going on. (and can sing Silent Night with us - watch out for the tears then definitely!)

So - Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you're spending it surrounded by your most favorite people!!

Loves.

More Decor

This year, more than years past, I was all about making very little amount of money go very very far. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. Which makes me even more proud of how I wrapped gifts this year. I had every thing for the gifts except tissue paper - so we did spend $2.99 on that - but everything else I already had, boxes, yarn, everything. I started in early November making the yarn poofs - all 100 of them. That was easy cheesey - just took a couple weeks. I already had the boxes - so I knew whatever we got our humongo family for Christmas would need to fit in a 6x6 box. The last part of everyone's gift came in the mail last night - so we assembly lined the boxes and got them put together pretty quickly. Oh, and the yarn was left over from when I made scarves for Christmas gifts - sure am glad I didn't let Sam talk me into getting rid of it! We decided that the boxes were pretty enough by themselves, so no wrapping paper needed, which is awesome, because I would have to buy some, and there's negative money in the gift wrap budget! ;) (houndstooth paper we bought earlier this year to make it easier to distinguish between our gifts and the ones that need to travel)

The yarn poofs make me happy and I think they're super festive.

Apparently kids now get their own tree in their own room. Not sure when this happened - because I sure didn't get my own when I was younger... And as much as I wanted to buy William a pretty little real tree and buy the decorations for it and make it super cute - there just wasn't any money for that. Then it occurred to me that he already has a tree in his room!!!! I think it's adorable and we only had to spend $3 to pick some more green ornaments.

Retraction Notice: we no longer give him rice cereal in every bottle - he liked it at the time but the next day he didn't like trying to get rid of it. Oops - not so hot on the parenting this time I guess. Good news - he decided he likes eating like a big boy with a spoon - so we're doing that instead of putting it the bottle.

Loves.

Santa's Coming to Town!

Actually we went to him this time. Can't wait to have a whole slew of these to display every year!! Christmas is so much more fun and exciting with William here. Even though he has no idea what's happening - it's still so much more special. And I adore his plaid outfit. I had to talk Sam into letting me buy it two months ago, but I think it's adorable and it will make a repeat appearance Christmas Day. My kid is too cute.

Loves.

Wee Little William

Now for the baby catch all.

We went to the pediatrician on Monday for his 4 month well check. And awesomeness - we got Dr Evangelist - who is not "our" doctor but is one of my most favorite. (my other favorite is another woman, who I can't remember her name, and she's pregnant and just lovely) Anyhow - I actually prefer those two to our official doctor, but anyway.

William weighed 15 lbs 2 oz (45th %) and 24.5" tall (22nd %). So he is still a little guy even though he feels like a chunk to me. ;) He's gaining about 2.5 lbs per month recently and no one seems concerned so neither am I. I kinda like having a little baby actually. And not only because it means that he's just like his parents (short, heehee). It also means that he fits in his clothes for longer - which is awesome. Though I am a little tired of looking at the same old outfits - but he will be in 6-9 month clothes by mid January I am sure. He's so short though, that the legs of all his pants are always WAY long, but it's adorable. And really doesn't matter at all because it's not like he can actually trip on them yet.

After a two week bout of not sleeping through the night, he is back to sleeping 7-7, which is awesome. We decided that he wasn't sleeping because he was sick and on Robitussin - so he napped ALL the time - seriously - like 5-6 hours every day. So that messed up his routine. He occasionally still has a little bit of a cough, but we've stopped the medicine for the most part and lo and behold - we have our sleeper back. And the best part - he must've learned something from being sick because he now takes atleast an hour nap instead of the 30 minute cat naps. Awesome.

I have discovered that we do now kinda have a schedule. It's three hours. Two hours awake and eating, one hour nap. It gets messed up sometimes, like today he slept for two and a half hours in the middle of the day, weird, but other than that it's pretty much like clockwork. I can tell when he's grumpy and needs to sleep and he usually complies. I can put him down in the vibrating pack and play a little drowsy and off he goes. Love this.

He is starting to like tummy time more now. Especially when he has his plastic ring toys to play with. He can push up and hold his head very strong and he's so cute when he does it. He also loves his toys suspended above him - whether on the playmat or on the carseat. I hung his toys so he can reach them in the carseat instead of just looking at them and errands have become much more doable now. MUCH less screaming! Such a godsend!!

He also prefers standing to sitting. He's actually always wanted to stand, even since he was a mere two months old. But now he's getting really good at it. Supporting his weight really well and sometimes even fakes having balance. It was really cute a couple weeks ago, he discovered that he could lift his legs when he was sitting or laying on his back and that's all he wanted to do. I wanted to take cute sitting 4 month pictures in the rocker and all he wanted to do was show how he could lift both his legs in the air. It's so funny when he discovers he can do new things - because that's all he will do for days and you can tell he just thinks it's the coolest thing ever.

Like recreational yelling. He figured out last week that he could string together a bunch of noises and he would just lay in his crib talking (yelling) to himself. It was really cute for the first couple times, but at 4 am it's not so adorable...

We're now giving him rice cereal in every bottle he eats and he loves it. We've tried feeding it to him with a spoon and he's still not quite ready for that yet. He has no idea what to do with it. And while it's totally unproductive feeding - it produces the most adorable pictures. He has the funniest faces and they all come out when he's eating.

He thinks it's hilarious when you say "Hey Boo Boo" (from Yogi Bear). He smiles every time. He also likes when you steal sugar from ear to ear and on his belly. Razzing his belly is sure to bring smiles and he laughs when you tickle him. He loves naked time. Such a boy. ;).

I'm trying to think if there is anything else to catch y'all up on - and I'm sure there is - but I can't think of anything else.

OH! And he's getting more and more hair - and it is definitely strawberry!! I really hope he ends up with red hair. Nothing cuter than a little redheaded boy. But I'm bias.

Loves.

I Heart Christmas

Christmas is my super most favorite time of year. It's the only time we decorate the house and we go all out. (well, maybe not by some standards - but to us - we go crazy) We dug out the decorations as soon as we got back from Thanksgiving with the fam and set to figuring out where all of our 10 totes of fun would go now that we live in the smallest house we've ever had. Lucky for us, this also meant that there was absolutely no NEED to buy anything new. Sam did mention to talk me into buying a Snow Village Church that resembles our church, St. Paul Methodist, for our collection but I wouldn't authorize the purchase of the Snow Village Federal House that resembled Forest Ave. There's always next year... And we did have to buy new stockings because of the new addition to our family. But besides that, we only bought a small box of green ornaments for William's tree - I don't have a pic of that right now - he was sleeping when I went all photo Christmas crazy - but soon.

Dining Room Chandelier - last year the we hung these ornaments from the crystal chandelier - but it was hung much higher making it so the ornaments wouldn't obstruct the view of the people sitting at them table. Not the case in this house. We saw somewhere the idea of putting a wreath on the bottom on the chandelier, and since we had (several) extras thought it was worth a shot. I love it and think it will be become a new Christmas staple. I'll show you the rest of the dining room later - I was sewing all day so the rest of the room is a wreck...

Our mantle. Not quite as simple as years past and I love it. Used the extra limbs from the tree to add some dimension and then just filled in with pretty candlesticks. I had dreams of using every candlestick we own - but it was getting very symmetrical and the mantle isn't really deep enough to make it work. Filled the vases I bought last year with ornaments, filled in with beaded fruit and our silver birds - love. And I am still tickled that we have three stockings. Next year we will have them officially embroidered but I like the ribbon with the embroidery cut out for this year. Thanks be to my stepmom who has the awesome sewing machine that makes embroidery!

Our very sentimental tree. I am not a huge fan of themed trees. Though - if my parents didn't give us kids our ornaments, then I guess I would have no choice. But I love that our tree is full of ornaments from my childhood and, in the more recent years, ornaments that we have given each other. Nothing goes together and I love it!

The ornament Sam gave me this year. Technically it was the one he came home with from his work's Ornament swap party - but since he bought one for the party I think it totally counts. Especially since I also can't authorize the purchase of expensive ornaments this year.

Close up of the stockings. Sara tried to embroider the names on the stockings, but the machine isn't set up the way we needed it to - so she made our names, I cut them out of the white fabric, spray adhesived them to last years present ribbon, wrapped them around, stuck a pin in the back, and voila - loveliness.

Love my snowman and ornament trees that we got on after christmas plus employee discount from Pier 1 in college. Glad to see that atleast some of the massive amount of money I spent there has stuck around and been used.

My most favorite "Baby's First Christmas" ornament that's mine. See - sentimental trees are nice...

The three little birds are this year's ornament gifts to ourselves. At 99 cents each - I couldn't help but keep the tradition alive!

There's plenty more decorations but I have a feeling this is too long already. Next post will have baby pictures for sure for all those family members that have missed me posting them. I know I haven't posted in a week - bad blogger - consider me ashamed of myself. ;)

And I feel that I should note - that of course I love decorating for Christmas - it's kinda my thing - but what I really love about Christmas is getting together with all the family and every one puts the petty things in boxes and we have a good time. I love sitting around the island at my Dad's house with all my brothers and sisters while we cut up and laugh. Playing games, Love me some UNO, at my Mom's house is a staple - as is the red velvet cake - yum! I can't wait to have new "must do" things at our house with William. We'll probably lose the breakfast at Waffle House before we head to Bill & Becky's but I can't wait to wake up early with excitement with our son. Such a special time of year and I love spending it surrounded by my favorite people.

Loves.

Four Months!!

Our sweet little boy is 4 months old and weighs a whopping 14 lbs 14 oz (and the pain in my back will prove it!) In a week and a half we will know how tall he is - I only know the weight because we are all sick and they always weigh him when we go to the doctor.

Notes of possible interest:

He has never had diaper rash. Thank goodness.

He has already has a great scar from surgery to brag about later in life.

He only gets sick when I am sick - not surprising since we spend 24 hours together.

He left colic behind only to chase it with early teething. Yay for us.

He is still not on a schedule - unless you count expected randomness. He doesn't eat as much as he should for his age and doesn't sleep enough during the day - atleast for my tastes... But he's obviously gaining weight and is usually an absolute joy - so we're chalking this one up to good parenting anyway.

He is ahead of his time as far as "What to Expect the First Year" says he should be able to do. Or maybe that's just us being proud parents - but we, of course, prefer to think of him as a genius.

He is quite the show off. He will behave like a perfect cooing angel if he knows someone, besides his parents, is watching.

He is probably one of the most well documented baby ever. We took in excess of 819 pictures of him in November. Granted, a lot of them are 50 pictures of the same "event"....

And to add to the list of pictures - William by numbers:

Loves.

Very Thankful Thanksgiving

We successfully completed the annual musical houses that is Thanksgiving this year. We are officially pros at it now - 19 years for me and 6 for Sam - so it's easy cheesey at this point. Now that we live in Columbus, we always do the day of the holiday at home/go to Bill & Becky's and then make the trek to Cleveland usually the night of the holiday. This year my mom got us on Thursday night and then off to Dad's on Friday night. Then home on Sunday night. We usually try to split the last day - but little man was NOT happy about something (we never did figure out what) so that didn't happen. We even tried to leave earlier than planned because of said unhappiness - but we couldn't get him to eat enough to fall asleep so that was a lost cause. And the ride home was awful. Nothing better than driving through Atlanta holiday traffic with an inconsolable baby in the backseat. Atleast I knew to stay in the right lane so we never truly stopped and made it through the traffic jam relatively easy.

Ok - enough of the timeline...

Thanksgiving Day

I am thankful for the abundance of family. (besides that it means there are lots of people to hold the baby when I can't handle the stress of him crying anymore..) We have approximately 60 or so family members (including close extended family) and it's really great anytime we get to see them all. It was especially fun this time because Mimi & Jack (my stepmom's parents) had not met William yet and they are just the coolest grandparents ever anyhow. (no really, I kept refering to them as aunt & uncle when I was younger because they were THAT cool..heehee) anyhow - Mimi had a big time playing and holding William and I love that he has so many Great Grandparents to grow up knowing. 7 Great Grandparents to be exact. And 1 Great Great Grandmother, Mema. Though, he probably won't get the chance to actually remember her and it's really sad that he won't know how awesome she is. But atleast she got to meet him and we have great video of it - so we can show him later.

All the Rumer Kids, and a boyfriend for good measure

I am thankful for my amazing husband who just happens to moonlight as the world's best daddy too. I always knew he would be great but it really came to light when we were at the hospital having William. He really stepped up and "managed" all the family who came for the birth, and that is no small feat people! (musical holidays remember) Even in my cracked out, drugged up state I was in awe of how effortlessly he handled what could've been a sticky situation. That many people wanting to see the baby, me and everything in between and only so many people allowed in the room at any given time - it was really a recipe for disaster but he was wonderful. A really strong man and I love him for all of it. And nevermind that he puts all my pieces back together when I melt down... ;)

Thanksgiving Day 2 - with Omi

With Mimi

I am thankful for William. When he is happy he is an absolute joy. Smiles and goos and loveliness. I love when he falls asleep on in my arms. And he always wakes up happy - those early (and I do mean early - the new trend of 5:30 has got to stop) morning smiles are adorable. And he's precious when he's eating his nighttime bottle and right before you know he's done - he smiles with the bottle in his mouth and his eyes closed. And just so you know I'm not sugarcoating - Mimi asked me if I could remember life without him and my answer, to her surprise, was absolutely. I wouldn't trade my life for then - but I do definitely remember. (Give me some credit - it was literally only 4 months ago - I may have mom brain - but I'm NOT THAT bad yet)

I'm thankful for my friends. You know who you are and you know why I love you.

I am truly blessed. My new goal is to remember that when the baby is screaming. :)

Loves.