Your first poem about you!!

What a sweet treat for you baby boy! One of Mimi's former pre-K kiddos (who is now a big fourth grader) wrote a poem just for you! Sweet Rachel thought your squash and apples video was so funny she had to write about it! And it is such a great poem!! Here it is, complete with illustrations!! How special!

Yummy Yummy Yummy!

Oh my goodness baby boy do you ever love food!! That is right you are such a big boy now, we have started baby food! And you absolutely L-O-V-E it! So far you have had squash, apples, cereal and wait for it...prunes! Which for some crazy reason you love! We have had so much fun watching you eat! Tonight Mommy was feeding you squash and apples and you were soooo excited about it! Daddy was smart enough to grab the video camera so we could capture your absolute delight and joy in dinner time! Here it is! Mommy just loves that laugh!!

Deck the Halls!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! It's your first Christmas and we are doing it up right my friend! Mommy and Daddy are so excited about your first Christmas, after driving all afternoon back from Ripley the first thing we did when we got home was get all the Christmas decorations out! Poor Daddy froze in the cold putting out our Christmas lights for all the neighbors to see! We had so much fun playing Christmas music and decorating the house, you love all the lights! In the evenings you and Daddy walk all around the house looking at the lights! Here are a couple of pictures:







Mommy is so excited about your super cute stocking! But the decking of the halls didn't stop at our house, we headed off to Mimi and Poppy's to help decorate their tree! This was so fun for Mommy because Mimi and Poppy's tree has all of my old ornaments, Mommy had such a great time going down memory lane while Daddy walked around with you, there were lots of lights to see! You even had your cereal there, everyone got a kick out of your very obvious enjoyment of food! Look how cute you look in your Santa bib!








This is your all time favorite thing to do right now, have Poppy walk you around the house! You L-O-V-E it! You have even started to notice when Poppy is not home, you just keep looking down the hallway towards the office waiting for him to come! It is just the sweetest thing ever, and I know it warms your Poppy's heart!



This is your special tree. MawMaw and PawPaw had a tree just like this for Mommy's first Christmas, and they saved all the ornaments so now it's on your first tree!

We are going to have so much fun this month! Mommy can't wait for all the memories we are going to make as a family!

Thanksgiving!

Another weekend of firsts! We celebrated your first Thanksgiving! Even though you didn't have any turkey you still had a great time visiting Daddy's family. On Wednesday we packed up the car and headed west, west Tennessee that is! That's right you had your very first trip to Ripley, where Daddy grew up! You even slept in your Daddy's old bedroom! Speaking of Daddy, you are lovin him right now! When you see him first thing in the mornings (usually on the weekends because we are still sleeping when poor Daddy heads off to work!) you just smile and smile! You and Daddy's favorite spot together is on the sofa watching ESPN. This has become your Saturday morning routine and you love it! So anyway we headed off for a big Thanksgiving celebration at your KK and Grandaddy's, even Ryan was there! KK and Grandaddy had so much fun with both of the "boys" being there! Here you are with Grandaddy and Ryan (I think you are trying to get Ryan's attention!)



On Thanksgiving morning we woke up to one of Mommy's most favorite things: the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!! We had so much fun watching all the big balloons and floats in our jammies of course!





That evening we all went to your Great Aunt Pam's and Great Uncle Rob's house for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner! Here you are in your turkey bib!



And this is you all tuckered out from the day's festivities!



Here is a picture of the whole group



Mommy is so thankful for you baby boy!!

All You Want for Christmas Is Your Two Front Teeth

And they are a coming!! We have entered into the treacherous land of teething my love! Oh my goodness you have not been a happy camper! You have two precious teeth coming in and they are throwing us all for a loop! Your hands and fingers have become your new best friends. You are constantly chewing on them for some relief!

In your bouncy seat...


Getting ready to go outside...


Eating your cereal...


In the bathtub...


You are trying so hard to be a trooper, sometimes when you are really fussy and hurting you will just stop and smile at Mommy! Melts my heart baby boy! Hopefully these silly old teeth will be here soon and the rest of the teething want be so bad...hopefully!

Books, Books, and More Books!

Well my love a very special thing happened this week, you went to the library for the very first time!!! It was soooo exciting for Mommy because you see not only does Mommy L-O-V-E the library but I used to be a children's librarian before you became my life's work (that was for you Cookie!) Mommy has been waiting for the day we would pack up the stroller and head to one of the best places on Earth! All morning Mommy talked to you about the library and all the wonderful things we would see and do there. Mommy also talked about using our quiet voice in the library, when Mommy would practice her quiet voice you thought it was hilarious and would just squeal and do your very funny high pitch laugh, Mommy will be honest I was a bit nervous about your quiet voice! But when we got there you were asleep! So Mommy pushed you in your stroller around a bit just taking in the sites, Mommy went ahead and picked out her books first and then we headed to the children's section! So exciting! Here are some pictures of you asleep in the children's section, this one is taken in front of the section that has some of Mommy's favorite children's authors.




And here you are in front of OPAC (that is online public access catalog where we can find all of our books, Mommy was looking up Thanksgiving books!)



We had so much fun at the library! Mommy can't wait until you are old enough for story time! But for now we will have story time together at our house with all our new library books!



Then to cap off our literary adventure Poppy brought you your first book back from New York City!! Mommy was so excited because Poppy used to always bring me a book back from the big city and now the tradition continues with you! You were very excited about reading with Poppy! You listened for the whole story, and it was a lengthy Dr. Seuss tale! So fun!



Mommy is so excited about all the wonderful books we will read together! There is nothing better than a good book my love, oh the wonderful and interesting places we can travel to through a book!!

Your first cereal!

Oh my goodness you are such a big boy! You ate your first bites of cereal tonight! And you loved it!! You were not quite sure about the whole swallowing thing, but you thought the whole thing was just hilarious! Here's a video capturing the first bites! Mommy loves your sweet laugh! And yes, that is a big old scratch under your eye, those crazy fingernails!

First Halloween!

So Mommy realizes that our posts are a bit out of order but that's okay! Last weekend you celebrated your first Halloween! Mimi and Mommy were so excited about your costume (we bought it ages ago!)...you were a duck!! And the cutest duck anyone has ever seen, although only Mommy, Mimi, Poppy, MawMaw and PawPaw saw you in your costume! You see, you did not care so much for the duck! But boy were you cute!








You also had a super duper cute pumpkin outfit that you didn't mind wearing!







We had a big weekend planned but unfortunatley you were sick for the very first time in your life! Those silly old shots (which Mommy knows are good for you but hates them too!) gave you an upset tummy! It was very traumatic for Mommy but thankfully the very nice nurse at your doctor's office gave Mommy good advice about how to help you feel better. We all just gave you a lot of lovin that night! Even Mimi and Poppy came over to help. You also experienced pedilight for the first time and let me tell you my friend you loved it!! Orange flavors are your new favorite thing! It was a rough night but we made it through! So Pumpkinfest will just have to wait until next year! But at least you were back in pretty good spirits on actual Halloween day. The gang all came over to our house for Titans and Trick or Treating! You were just in awe of the big kids! We all went trick or treating but you slept through most of it! Everyone thought you were very cute though, even all of Mommy's kids from school. Thanks to Miss Nicole here are some pictures...





The big kids love to tickle your toes!! Can't wait for next year when you can eat some candy!!

First trip to the polls!

Today was a big day...your first trip to the polls! That's right even though you cannot vote yet Mommy took you to the polls while she voted! It was very exciting for Mommy because Mommy feels very strongly about the wonderful privilege we Americans have in exercising our right to vote. Let me start at the beginning. You see Mimi and Poppy have always taught Mommy and Uncle Pook the importance of being an active voice in our government and how voting is the most important way for our voice to be heard. Mommy's love and passion for politics started back in 1992 when a man from Hope, Arkansas was running for president. Mommy was involved for the whole process, first we went to the caucus, then Mimi and Poppy took Mommy and Uncle Pook to a big rally where we saw President Clinton (he wasn't president quite yet but was on his way!)and then on a cool fall night in Forest Park (this is one of Mommy's most favorite places in St. Louis we will go there together soon!)Mommy, Uncle Pook, Mimi and Poppy all watched the presidential debates live on big giant screens. It was so exciting! Mommy was hooked! I couldn't wait for the day to cast my own vote! Ever since then Mommy can't wait for an election year and all the exciting hoopla that surrounds it! Just a couple of years ago Mommy marched in support of our president and was even on TV! That's right Mommy was on Hardball with Chris Matthews and let me tell you my friend how excited Mimi was! Mimi hearts Chris Matthews and all things MSNBC! What a wonderful country to live in where everyone has a voice in who their leaders are and are encouraged to show their support without fear! Here is a picture of Mommy at the rally!




Now at this point Mommy must mention that you live in a divided household, it doesn't mean Mommy and Daddy don't love each other it's just that we made an agreement a long time ago not to discuss politics! It really stems back to the 2000 election (we will discuss Florida, hanging chads, and the Supreme Court at a later time!) So off we went today to cast our votes! Now our candidates may not win but we still did the most imporant thing, we voted! Just think one day you could be President my love! And when they show the video montage of your life on CNN they can show these pictures from your first trip to the polls! Mommy is so profoundly grateful for our freedom and our beautiful democratic process and I know you will be too! Be proud to be an American baby boy!

A lot of dust, some pumpkins, and Robert E. Lee

Well my love another busy weekend!! On Saturday we did what every true Southerner does at least once in their lifetime we went to your first Civil War reenactment! Oh yes my friend, we are talking cannons, rifles, horses and Yankees! Unfortunately you were asleep for most of it, and we missed the actual battle because we thought those crazy Yankees and their cannons might be too loud for your precious ears! But you saw horses, soldiers, and your distant relative Robert E. Lee! That is right, you are related to the great general himself so Mommy saw it fitting to have your picture taken with him!



Then on Sunday you had your very first visit to the pumpkin patch!! Mommy has been so excited about this visit, you see when Mommy went last year I had just found out that you were coming into our lives! I kept thinking about how much fun it was going to be next year when we get to bring our baby! And this year Mommy got to bring you!! And of course you looked super duper cute in your pumpkin patch outfit! Once again you were totally asleep for the first part(boy oh boy do you love sleeping in your car seat!) but then you woke up with a big old smile on your face and it was picture time!! Here are my favorites from the afternoon:











We had so much fun looking around at all the pumpkins, you even saw baby goats and chickens! After the pumpkin patch we kept with the country theme of the day and went to Cracker Barrel with the gang for dinner. You did a great job at the restaurant and then it was home to bed! By the way Mommy is so proud of your very awesome sleeping habits!! You are still sleeping like a champ! All in all a very festive fall weekend! Can't wait for Halloween!

A fish fry, your Sunday best and shopping!

We have had a busy couple of days my love! It was a weekend of firsts! On Saturday you went to your very first fish fry! And boy was it tasty!! Unfortunatley you did not get to sample any of the fried food goodness but Mommy did! Maybe next year you can have a hushpuppie or two! Daddy was so cute showing you off to all his friends, and you really looked good my friend in your super cute overalls! You did a great job smiling and laughing for everyone but we didn't stay too long, didn't want you up past your bedtime because the next morning you made your very first trip to Tullahoma to go to church with MawMaw and PawPaw! Now Mommy will be honest I was bit nervous about the whole being quiet during the church service bit and your feeding scehdule but you were an absolute angel! You looked so precious in all your monogrammed glory! (Mommy hearts everything monogrammed!) you even had a monogrammed pacifier clip to match your outfit! You were quite the hit at Highland Hills, there were so many sweet faces for you to smile at! I think you really liked the singing and all the big lights to look at! After church we went out to eat and you were so tuckered out from being so angelic that you slept all through lunch! Poor Daddy though had too much fried goodness the day before and was not feeling well so we headed on back home for a quiet and restful afternoon. On Monday Mimi and I decided that we just had to get your Thanksgiving outfit before all the cute ones were gone (Mimi was convinced that Mommy had waited too late and she was right!) But we found you a perfect pumpkin patch outfit, that will be a blog post all its own! Mimi and Mommy have so much fun shopping for you!! Here is a picture of you after all the shopping!



You are getting so big now! Here are some recent pictures of you in all your cuteness!









Mommy has been working on your sitting up skills in the bumbo, but I'm not sure you really enjoy yet! I love your expression in this picture, this is your cautious look!



You have also discovered how much fun toys are! This was an early Christmas present from Mimi and Poppy! You love to watch the puppy sing and dance! You like to reach out and grab the puppy's foot!



We have lots of fun events to look forward to! We are going to the pumpkin patch this weekend to pick out your very first pumpkin and you are having your four month pictures taken! I can't believe you are already four months old! You are the light of my life baby boy! Mommy is so grateful for your smiling happy face!!

Elmo!

Oh my goodness you love you some Elmo! So Mommy started noticing that you were watching TV when the TV was on (don't worry Mimi we will not be watching too much TV!), and Mommy thought to herself Vampire Diaries is so not appropriate for a three month old! You are way to young to get involved in the centuries old feud between werewolves and vampires (P.S. we are totally on the vampire side, we will get into Jacob versus Edward at a later time) and that two hour special on the Plague on the History Channel would be sure to give you nightmares so we turned on the old standby , Sesame Street! By the way they changed the song and really threw Mommy for a loop! And you loved it! You just smiled and laughed with Elmo! We learned all about how to salsa dance (we even salsaed a bit ourselves in the living room) and our Latin friends to the south. Elmo only kept your attention for a bit but it was lots of fun! Then this morning while Mommy was getting ready you were doing your favorite pastime of staring at the ceiling fan and Mommy thought it might be fun to listen to some Sesame Street songs. Well as soon as your friend Elmo came on you just smiled and talked!! It was so fun to see you recognize his voice! You are getting to be such a big boy!! I think Santa might need to bring you your very own Elmo!

Travelin' Man

You are becoming a world traveler! Well just really the state of Tennessee, but it's a start! This past weekend your Daddy's birthday celebration continued with a trip to Pickwick! Daddy's whole family was there, you got to hang out with KK, Grandaddy, Uncle Lee, Aunt Leigh (or Lolly as we are trying out, we thought Leigh Haley might be too hard to say!)and your cousin Ryan! And boy did you and Ryan have fun! You think he is hilarious!! He likes to tickle your toes and smile at you and you just eat it up! Grandaddy took some great pictures of the two of you together. I can't wait for you to get a bit older so you guys can really play hard together! Who knows what sort of mischief you two may get into! Here are some of my favorite Grant and Ryan shots!







Ryan even introduced you to his favorite movie, Finding Nemo! You wore your shark jammies in honor of it! (never too young to coordinate events with outfits!) The weather was absolutely perfect and you had a great time strolling with Mommy in your stroller down by the water to see all the boats! There was a perfect spot for us to swing on a swing together and watch the boats sail by, you even saw your very first sailboat! Mommy had so much fun swinging and talking with you! You have become quite the chatter with Mommy and I heart it!!

And you went to your very first museum!! Now as you will learn Mommy and Daddy heart history and museums! Better get used to the History Channel now my friend! KK and Grandaddy took us to a really cool Civil War Interpretive Center (that's fancy for a new museum with lots of abstract exhibits) you learned all about the battle at Shiloh and the fight for the control of the railroad in Mississippi. It was very interesting and just the beginning of fun filled history themed excursions!

All in all you had a wonderful time hanging out with your KK and Grandaddy (and of course you took a great nap on KK's lap! You never turn down a lap to nap on!) You did all your tricks for them: talking, laughing, smiling, and sticking out your tongue! We will all be together soon for Ryan's big birthday party!!