yay christmas time=)

hi sweet baby!

i love christmas so much. i love the season and can't wait for thanksgiving weekend so i can decorate and play christmas music without feeling like i'm bothering everyone. i love sitting in the den at night and staring at the christmas tree and all the lights and feeling calm and peaceful and thankful that God gave us Jesus and that He loves me and delights in my loving Him. i really love my parents' house at christmas time, but i'm getting on board with not being able to spend any of the christmas season there so i'm decorating our house like you wouldn't believe. i'm a white light kind of person. and they're all over the place. you like them too. i am not, on the other hand, a twinkling white light kind of person-they make me feel like i'm in a rave and i do not find them calming at all. but i put them on one of our little trees because i figured you'd find them fascinating. and you do. i was cooking the other night and plopped you in front of the mirror wall in the dining room (i knew those mirrors would come in handy...) with some crumpled wrapping paper and you were in heaven playing with the paper and giving yourself kisses in the mirror. i stood there smiling and staring at you and forgot about what was for dinner. and every now and then you'd start eeeh-ing at me i'd have to give you an animal cracker. i eventually got back to the stove and looked back over at you after a while and you were just laying on your stomach stretched all out looking up at the twinkling (more like spazzy strobe) lights on that tree. my point is: you like the lights so i'm happy to sacrifice a little!

you said "da-da" and meant it yesterday. you've been blabbering like crazy for a few months-saying things like "mama" and "dada" and "emo" and "buh" and "puh" and we think those things mean mommy, daddy, elmo, belly button, and please....but it hasn't been clear, until yesterday, that you meant those things when you made those noises! but you pointed at daddy and said "da-da" so your first official word has been spoken. congratulations on saying your first word sweet girl! (you also say "ya-ya" when you're being lazy or really excited but still trying to say our names. very cute.)

i thought i was declaring your first step a few nights ago but i'm wavering again. you've been standing up for longer and longer by yourself and you would take one step then lunge into whoever you were "stepping" to and i never wanted to count that. but saturday night you took two steps and then lunged into me or daddy or becky or adam or whoever you were going towards (becky and adam babysat for daddy and me to go to christmas prom...) so i thought it was ok to count that as your first steps! but i might have changed my mind again because you haven't done it since that night. we shall see...

something else you're doing that's so fun is kissing all the characters in your books. we'll be reading and you'll look up at me and point to the person on the page and then lean over and give them a kiss. my favorite is when you kiss baby Jesus in our christmas books=)

we went to georgia for thanksgiving. we spent a little time at the farm with grandypa's side of the family, then up to marietta to see everyone else. you had a super cute thanksgiving dress that miss christi made for you. surprise, surprise=) we are so thankful.

our drive back to richmond usually takes 9 hours, but it took 12 nightmarish hours with the holiday traffic. you were an absolute angel, by the way. i couldn't believe it. you took more naps than usual, and went to sleep for the night at 7:30pm which has NEVER happened before. and you were still snoozing when we got home at midnight. but anyway, you would sleep for an hour, wake up and watch elmo movies and play with some toys and read some books...go back to sleep and the whole routine starts again...and periodically we'd hear you giggle and when we looked back you'd be holding your jacket up over your face so we could play peek-a-boo. you'd pull the jacket down really fast, wait for us to say BOO and then you'd start laughing. so you have discovered the game of peek-a-boo and you are LOVING it.

you really love animal crackers. becky called me 5 minutes after we left for christmas prom asking if you could have some because you immediately starting yelling and reaching for them as soon as we walked out the door. i most definitely should've told her that before we left. we keep these huge tubs of them on top of the fridge and every morning we sit on the couch and you reach towards the kitchen to have your morning animal cracker. we were sitting in the floor of the den last week and i was talking to daddy about animal crackers for some reason, and as soon as i said the words you stopped what you were doing and started grunting and looking into the kitchen and reaching for them. you're a girl who knows what she wants. you're getting better with eating. you start the more intense feeding program in january or february. (have i already told you this? i feel like i have...) you'll be at the feeding clinic monday through friday from 8am-3pm for 6-8 weeks and one of us has to be with you the whole time. they put the kids in that program when they're ready to wean off the g-tube and you've actually been ready for a couple months, but daddy and i couldn't do it with our schedules until late january. we're excited. and super proud of you for eating like a champ. you like to eat whatever we're eating but you just take a long time to get just a little food in, so the goal with the program is to get you eating pureed foods faster so you don't have to use the g-tube. lately you are digging pureed spaghettios and pears and thickened pediasure. mmmmmmm. ;) that sounds pitiful but you really do like it! you've still got some work to do for sure, but you've come a long way sweet baby!

next (school) year daddy has an internship and i suppose we'll go with him=). he's applied for internship sites and we're in the process of hearing back from places who want to interview him. we're super excited. and only slightly anxious (well, i would be the one that's slightly anxious). just because i want to make sure you have good doctors. we've been spoiled here because all of your doctors i have either worked with because of school or they've known you since you were in my belly and they treat you like you're extra special. which you are. and that makes us feel like they are extra smart. there's one that i can call on her cell phone or at home when something's up. quite the luxury in the world of super busy pediatric offices. so i'm a little nervous about us ending up in the middle of nowhere with doctors i'm afraid to trust. i have no doubt that God will take care of us. He has provided in ways that i can't even understand and couldn't have imagined and i know He will continue to do just that. i know that we will end up exactly where He wants us and that makes me so excited. as crazy as it will be, i'm looking forward to taking you along with us on our next adventure. to moving with you. to unloading boxes while you play with the packaging paper. to you pulling everything back out as i try to put it up. yes, a nice little "adventure" indeed. ;) i love new places and i love maps and i love learning my way through new cities. just a little tidbit about your mama. on the other hand, it hurts my heart so much to think about leaving the people we love in richmond. we have some amazing friends who will drop everything in a second to help us. they have saved our little behinds more times than i care to mention. speaking of saving our little behinds, the other night i forgot again that i had to work monday night and daddy teaches until 10:30pm. so i lured sara and daryl over with the offer of free dinner and they played with you until daddy got home. the next morning i got home to a note rubber-banded around a broken wipes container that said daryl was very sorry but there was a "poop emergency" and he freaked out and in the process broke the wipes container. i loved it. point is: we have really great friends and i can't imagine life, or just surviving, without them. thank you Lord=)

you and me and betsy decorated our house for christmas last week. you had fun. when i first pulled the christmas tree out you tried to push it over once, but haven't messed with it since. every now and then you'll look over at the presents and make your way over to them and poke at them for a minute, but no ripping of the paper or yanking ornaments off the tree. i'll just consider myself lucky. (you did, however, rip one of your presents wrapped in elmo paper at gigi's house over thanksgiving. you and that elmo...have you ever seen the person who does elmo's voice? i love it.)

your 15th tooth is coming in. so that's important.

i feel like i'm rambling and not entertaining you at all with stories of your life. i'll just show you some pictures now=)

i love you baby. i CAN. NOT. WAIT. (apparently that's the thing to do lately. write each word with a period after it when you want to emphasize something...i think it's funny and figured i should do it too.) for christmas with you!!!!!

mommy

daddy drew on you with mommy's eyeliner

josh came to visit=) catherine loves josh.

sweet girl with a sweet mullet. half naked in your wooden box. a few weeks later you fell on the corner of this box and got a huge gash in your eyebrow! i was a little worried your hair wouldn't grow back over the scar but i think we'll be alright...you probably could've used a stitch or two but you seem to be ok now!


little diva in your thanksgiving getup


you loved baby tripp!!! he didn't feel the same way...

look at your crazy hair! and grandypa's crazy face!


i think your face is funny here. we decided not to use this one as our christmas photo.


having fun with your daddy!

i love this picture of you two=)

like simba.

playing peek-a-boo with grandypa and daddy

focusing on something=)

you and miley became bff for sure!

major tolerating you=) sweet boy.

gigi reading to you and miley

ooooooooooooooh

we didn't use this one either. but i think it's hilarious.

i think you were trying to kiss the bow=)

you and hazel having fun=)

giving her kisses=)

hazel didn't want me to be a part of it.

you discovered the piano!

laughing with aunt nikki and tim-bo=)

daddy and uncle kelly dressing you up (i'd like to point out that uncle kelly's shirt says "you can call me the bus driver.....because i'm gonna take you to school, sucka." out family is very classy;))

this one made the christmas card=)

the happy fam=)

your first christmas party=)

still trying for that christmas card picture...(see the gash in your eyebrow?)

yep. daddy is actually in your crib with you. i can't imagine it's made for a 200+ lb man.