Christmas Road Trip '09

This year, we spent Christmas on the road in both Memphis and Little Rock. We left last Thursday for Memphis and got there in time to meet my parents, grandmother, grandparents, and brother and sister for a Christmas eve dinner at IHOP. After that, we crashed so we could get up and be ready for Christmas morning and Santa. Thomas seemed to enjoy his stocking and Christmas as much as any two month old would :)

My parents bought Thomas his stocking, and it is SO CUTE. Here he is enjoying his first stocking.



He wasn't quite sure why Santa put a candy cane in his stocking, though :)



Overall, it was a great time in Memphis. He loved meeting his great grandparents, and the rest of the time seemed very content relaxing and sleeping in Doc's arms.
Here are a few pics from the rest of our time in Memphis...







On Sunday morning, we loaded back into the car and headed to Little Rock to have Christmas with BT's side of the family. He got to meet his other great grandparents there, too. Sunday night, we spent it doing a gift card exchange with the big clan up there, and we also were able to be there to celebrate our nephew Ethan's 2nd birthday, which was Sunday. Yesterday we went to Jacksonville, Arkansas for Christmas lunch with BT's other grandparents and the other side of the family. Then today we had Christmas together at BT's grannie's house and had Christmas lunch there. Overall, in the last week, we have done Christmas three times, and that's included THREE big Christmas lunches. I'll be detoxing my body of ham and sweet potato casserole after the week we've had!

Here are a few pictures from the Little Rock leg of the road trip.

Our nephew Ethan opening up his birthday presents:





Our nephew Blake with the newest cousin:



Thomas and his Great Grandma Mary:







Now we're home and looking forward to a relaxing five days. BT is off until next Monday, and I sadly, am going to have to RELISH the next five days, as it's back to work on Monday.

Until next time!

Happy Holidays!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Update

Here's a little of what we've been up to.

This weekend, T had his first spend the night out with his grammie and gramps. BT's parents were so great to meet us halfway between here and Montgomery on Saturday and let T spend the night with them Saturday night. I have a feeling they were HAPPY to do it! It was hard for me, but I knew it was time for us to have a night 'off.' Plus it made it easier for me knowing the only person that it was hard on was me, not him in any way. They had a great time with him, and the only thing was that he woke up for them at 3:30am, he hasn't done that in a long time. He did it again last night for us. It's probably a little preview of what we have in store in the next week getting out of a routine.

Friday night, we went to grab some Mexican food, then came home and I made these delicious Oreo balls that I found the recipe for on this blog here. They were DELICIOUS, and even though they were messy to make, they were so easy. Great thing to take to a party (which is what we did with them Saturday night, more on that below).



Saturday morning, before we took T to meet the grandparents, I went and got my hair cut a short cut for Christmas, and an eyebrow wax. Made a huge difference in me feeling like a woman again and less a like spit-up target.

Anyway, even though we missed him, we had a FANTASTIC time. This was T on our way to meet the grandparents:



Saturday afternoon, we took a nap, then Saturday night we went out on a dinner date to Smith's Oysters & Burgers, which if you have never been, you should. They make a mean patty melt and wicked good smashed potatoes. Then after that, we went to a friend's Christmas party. It was so nice seeing all of our friends and getting out of the house and socializing with adults! Then the next morning, we definitely slept in until 10am and topped off our weekend with a trip to Waffle House. We picked up T Sunday afternoon feeling refreshed and happy. I missed my boy, though. It was so good to get him back!

This is a picture of a few things this week, and pre-haircut and obviously with no contacts and glasses on, but you can see what he's been working on lately. He loves being like this in my lap and practicing his neck control. He's getting good at it, and I'll be glad when he gets this part completely mastered.





Anyway, this will probably be it for the blogging for me until around New Year's. I'm sure I'll have tons of Christmas pictures at that point. Until then, have a very very Merry Christmas and a Happy Happy New Year!

Is Anyone Else...

Watching 'Sing-Off?' Because I am loving it. It's all so EXTREMELY cheesy and fantastic. To top it off, that got that cheese-meister Nick Lachey to host! The only thing cheesier would have been Donny & Marie or his brother, Drew!

The costumes are awful, the judges are down on their luck "musicians" (I am air-quoting musicians because I can see the case for Ben Folds and the Boyz to Men guy, but the girl from the Pussycat Dolls? Really?), and you even get a group that is basically this decade's Menudo. It's fantastic.

And yet, the music is surprisinly GOOD.

You should tune in, you should.

sleepyhead

They say even at this age, kids exhibit sleeping behaviors that they will have as older children. If so, we have a night owl, just like his daddy. That's okay by me, because I love my mornings to myself. Thomas is normally going to sleep around 11 or midnight, and sleeps consistently through the night, minus the occasional 4 or 5am wakeup. Last night was a midnight to 7am run, and he's been enjoying his morning nap since 8am. I know people don't like people to brag about their kid sleeping so well, but you have no idea how much we dreaded the sleep thing. And he's just so darn cute when he sleeps, too.

I Heart Faces: Pets

Anna, a college and fellow-blogging friend of mine, submits some of her photographs to this great photography blog, and last week placed in the top ten! Way to go, Anna! I have since spent a good amount of time checking out this great website and decided to submit a picture for this week's theme: Pets.

We make it no secret we love our dog and cat to pieces, and when I read that this week's theme would be pets, I just had to submit my all time favorite picture of our Mr. Beau. Like I've said before, he LOVES the snow, so this picture couldn't be a more perfect reflection of his favorite thing...

When you get a chance, check out all the great photographs on their website. You can go to it here. Or below:


Here's the picture I submitted for this week:

Lookalikes...

lucky....

Luck is the only thing we have to explain what we have on our hands: an incredibly good and sleeping baby. It is becoming more and more the norm to have him sleep long stretches at night. Last night, for example, he slept from 10:30 until 6am, woke up to eat, and went back to sleep at 6:45. I'm about to get my morning shower now before he gets up around 9:00 or so.

Yes, we are aware we do not deserve this in the least bit. His worst bouts of fussiness are probably considered nothing for most people. I have to brag on the little guy just a little bit, because we both know it's absolutely nothing that we deserve.

Way to go, you big fat chunky cute baby!

exhaustion....

not for me, for T. Yesterday, his only good nap that lasted longer than twenty minutes was from 8-9am. After that, he was UP. As someone said in the book I've been reading, 'i think he's a little excited from all the living going on.'

since he's so much more aware and alert these days, any and all stimulation just keeps him going, and it's SO hard to get him to settle down to sleep. All that said, he was STILL fighting sleep at midnight last night. but by this point, it was no longer fun for any of us. he was manic tired, the kind where there is no soothing him to sleep.

finally, at twelve thirty, the backs of his eyelids won the fight. and he slept until seven this morning, when his tummy woke him up. he ate, and now he's back down again, hopefully for a LONG morning siesta. my goal is to help him appreciate the value in a good nap. i'm a napper, love naps, and i think people who take naps are better, more well adjusted people because of it :) even if that's my sorry excuse to give myself to be a thirty something that takes two hour afternoon naps, i'm totally okay with that :)

CLEAN...

I'd like baths too if I hadn't had one in almost seven weeks!

Question...

Has anyone read 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child?'

I started reading it last night, and so far, I think it's really good. He makes some very interesting points, ones I hadn't thought of. He has you beginning to make small changes and implementing things as early as six weeks, which is why we decided to go ahead and do it. It's no secret BT and I love our sleep, at night, during the day, naps, I'm an early to bed, early to riser, he's a late to bed, late to riser, etc. etc. So we really want our kid to love sleep too. So far, he's proven to be a pretty good sleeper naturally, but we've noticed in the last week or so that he seems overly tired, and we think it's because we're providing a little TOO much stimulation, not focusing on when he needs to go to sleep in the 'quiet', things like that.

So today is Day One of me trying to pay more attention to those things. Tonight is also night one of moving him to his room. I'm very nervous about it. Not for him, but for me. I like having him right there. But I really want him to be good and transitioned by the time he starts daycare, and that's in January. So with the week long Christmas trip we're taking, we wanted to go ahead and get it done now.

I have to say, though, with paying more attention to when he seems sleepy during the day, I am noticing that he should have been sleeping during the day a lot more than what he has been doing. He's currently on nap #3, and we are going to try to do what he recommends in the book (even at 7 weeks, as long as they aren't crying), which is putting him down around 7:30 or so. We'll see if it works. If all this napping during the day backfires on us tonight, I might be cursing this guy, but people seem to swear by this book, so we'll see!

Any thoughts?

Visit

Here are a few pictures from the visit from GG, Doc, and Aunt Mally last weekend.

finally...

you know that pesky cord?

it's gone!!!

Beauster's Favorite Time of Year

I think he would be happy if we lived somewhere with snow on the ground 365 days a year.

Dog LOVES the white stuff...

Riddle

What's six weeks old and stubborn as a mule???

Nope, not my kid.

His umbilical cord.

That's right. It's STILL HANGING ON THERE.

And it's annoying as all get out. We have yet to be able to give him a real bath.

The sponge baths are getting old. So the doctor said if at six weeks it was still on there, that we were to come in. So we went in this morning. A couple of doctors looked at it, and after playing with it for quite some time, decided it was just one of those stubborn cords really on there. They think it will come off soon, though from the looks of it, so that's good at least. So now, instead of putting alcohol on it like they've been telling us to do, we're supposed to NOT put alcohol on it and hope that dries it up.

At least he was one really good boy as always, and super cute to boot.

Weird Noise

I keep thinking I hear the baby waking up in the pack n'play because of little girgle sounds.

It's not the baby.

Something weird is going on in this dog's stomach....

Update

Thought I would post a little of what we've been up to....

-Last weekend, we took Thomas to his first grown up outing. A close friend of ours had a birthday party and we didn't want to miss it. Here we are with our friend Payton the birthday boy.


-This past week was a really busy one for us. I had my postpartum checkup and all is well! My incision is FINALLY healed and is good to go, so it's officially time for me to hit the gym and hit the weight watchers. I swear, right now my stomach might be the poster child for why you don't want kids with the RIDICULOUS amount of stretch marks I got. I am a firm believer in the fact that it must be hereditary because I did everything I could NOT to get them. Alas, it did no good, so don't waste your money on the cocoa butter myth.

Thomas also had his one month well baby checkup. He is doing great! He weighs ten pounds seven ounces, and is in the 75th percentile for both weight and height.

Then of course, Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we had a wonderful day. We slept in, watched the parade on TV, ate lots of good food, and took great afternoon naps. Thomas enjoyed the Thanksgiving dinner sacked out on the table in his bouncy seat.



Friday, of course, was the Iron Bowl, and after that, Thomas got to meet his Aunt Elizabeth from Mobile! Maybe on our next visit to Mobile, he can meet his future girlfriend Luci :)

And this weekend, we got a visit from GG, Doc, and Aunt Mally. They were SO KIND to keep Thomas at our house on Saturday afternoon so BT and I could get out for a couple of hours by ourselves. We went to Sam's, Target, and a few other places. It was SO NICE to get out of the house just the two of us, and I think they had a blast themselves.

This morning we tried out the new breakfast place in Mountain Brook Village, Another Broken Egg Cafe. I had an omelette that was ridiculously good. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a great breakfast place. Thomas wore his new Godfather onesie and I totally love it.


Then this afternoon, we put up our itty bitty Christmas montage! I am all for simplicity and minimalism when it comes to Christmas decorations. At least for another year or two while I can get away with it.


Hope everyone has a great week!

Is it wrong...

to have pie for lunch???

Because I'm thinking about it....

Thankful...

Happy Turkey Day!

For us, it was Happy Ham Day.

We made the decision after we knew we would have a newborn that we wanted to stay home for Thanksgiving as a family of three. It was a very good decision. We had such a relaxing day, and it was exactly what we needed. Instead of the traditional turkey, and to make it easier on us, we opted to get a ham from honeybaked ham and had ham, green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, and my grandmother's rice casserole. Overall, it was perfectly delightful and delicious! Not to mention the fact that we have been baking all week, so in addition to all that, we've been stupid with my pumpkin bread, and BT's dark chocolate chip pumpkin pie and chocolate chess pie. After lunch, we took turns taking a good Thanksgiving day nap. It was a great day to spend as a family and be thankful for our newest addition this year.

So overall, with a day that started with this looking up at me:

And a day that ended with me looking at this:

I just can't complain when there's so much to be thankful for.

Proof Positive

Here's Thomas rolling over at 4 weeks. We finally got it on video!

Go HERE.

visit from old friends...

Saturday, Jess, Joy, and Liz, old friends from Mobile, came to visit and meet Thomas. We had a great time catching up, and I'm pretty sure they fit in some stellar shopping and dining afterwards! Jess is one of my oldest friends (back since we were around 3 or 4, right?), and it was so good seeing all three of my favorite Murphy ladies!

One Month...

Yesterday was T's one month birthday....

We are still a little sleep deprived, and he's been fussier than usual lately, but it's mainly because he's found his voice, and he can be LOUD. If he doesn't get what he wants right away, then he lets me know about it. I wonder where he gets that from... :)

He's looking more and more like his dad every day in his expressions. The other day, BT gave me a look and I stopped cold, because it was the exact expression T had given me earlier that day. It was uncanny....

A few things for me to remember:
-He is currently sleeping from around 9pm-midnight, 12:30-3:30, and 4am-7am. We just can't complain too much about that.
-His hair is still red. We'll see if it stays that way.
-We still don't know what color his eyes will be, but right now they are a very cool 'colorless' grey, and I love them.
-I'm dragging him all over the place, and so today, he is getting a break. He is hanging out in footie pajamas all day and asleep in my lap. It's a good day for a comfy day inside :)

Happy One Month Birthday!
I just can't remember our lives without you :)

Question...

Who's checking the blog from Fort Wayne, Indiana? I notice it's showing up a lot in my tracker. I don't mind if the occasional random person chances upon this blog, but I want to make sure people who check it on a regular basis are people I know, at least from some point in time in my life! If you could, leave a comment and tell me who you are. Otherwise, I may be forced to make this private!

Thanks.
Happy Sunday.

I Give In...

Ok, because I just think it's too cute, this is one of the pictures I took yesteday. It's not the one going on the card, but definitely still full of cuteness, even if I am biased :)

Cards Galore!!!

I've been working on the birth announcements, and went straight from that to Christmas cards. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Christmas card pictures! Without giving too much information, let's just say his outfit is fairly unconventional. Think skull & crossbones :) It's too cute.

It's the weekend! This week has FLOWN by. We've had tons to do from lunch with friends to mornings out running errands, to other little things. We're looking forward to the weekend. Tonight will be relaxing at home, and tomorrow Thomas gets to meet Jess, Joy, & Liz, and then will get to see his grammie and gramps later that day! Tomorrow night we're going to a birthday party for a friend, and Sunday, we'll get some rest!

Hope you have a great weekend too!

Random Thoughts...

So is T a month old tomorrow since he'll be four weeks old tomorrow? Or technically is he not a month old until Saturday when it's the 21st? I am TIRED of counting in weeks. I feel like I've been counting in weeks since I found out I was pregnant. I guess I'll just say he's a month old as of the ambiguous end of this week....

Other random thoughts this morning:

-Thanks to Cheryl for sending this totally cheesy, yet totally AWESOME tshirt onesie from her trip to Key West for T. It will fit in so very nicely on a trip to Gulf Shores this summer :)


-I'm confused why NBC continues to put crap on their Fall lineup.

-I seriously think Kathie Lee is totally tanked every morning in the fourth hour of TODAY, but I LOVE watching it.

-I've started making coffee in the mornings that is half caf/half decaf. That way I can justify having two cups without me worrying about it affecting T.

-I have managed to schedule something for us to do every day from tomorrow until next Thursday, and it makes me happy. Staying cooped up in the house is not good for me. It helps me to get out and about. Which is why I'm thankful for yesterday's lunch at Crepe Myrtle Cafe with Suz. Tomorrow T and I will run over to work for me to sign checks, Thursday our realtor is coming over to visit T and see the baby,and I have to get out to get meds for the pets, and Friday I am taking T to the can-a-thon.

-So on that note, if you live in Birmingham, make sure you bring any non-perishable food donations to the Publix at John Hawkins Parkway off 459 for the Can-A-Thon! All donations (food and money) go to the food bank and Salvation Army.

-And on one last random note, I can't WAIT to see Jess, Joy, and Liz this weekend!!!

Happy Tuesday! If you need me, chances are, this is where I'll be (note the laptop to my right, baby in arms, and cell phone in hand. i love the multitasking)...

SAY IT'S SO!!!

COULD IT REALLY BE TRUE???

Random Stuff

It's Monday morning. It's very quiet here, which is totally nice. Thomas woke up at 8:00 for his morning milk then went back down and is still asleep. I use that time in the mornings to drink coffee, shower, get dressed, and hang out with the Beauster. I'm also paying bills, ordering contacts, and doing a little work stuff. It's very very nice.

Baby has been fussier than usual lately during the days, and especially into the evenings. I think he's got some gas, but I also think, like I said earlier, that he's adjusting to the daytime, wanting to stay awake, but also needing to sleep. However, just when we were about to pull our hair out last night, he finally fell asleep into a good deep sleep at midnight....

AND HE SLEPT UNTIL 5AM.

Thank you, little guy. BT still wanted more sleep, but I think I was more aware at how awesome that was for our soon to be 4 week old.

I can't believe he'll be a month old on Saturday....

On another note, Thanksgiving this year will be very different, but very awesome. We're spending it together as a family, just the three of us.

At home.

No distractions.

And easy-as-pie: we ordered a mini ham from honeybaked ham along with green bean casserole and sweet potato souffle. All that is left for us to do is for me to make the pumpkin bread and BT to make his famous chocolate chip chess pie.

Bring it.

Weekend

We had a pretty good weekend over here! I really can't complain. I have a fantastic husband who helps me out every which way possible, and a great little boy that only recently has begun to be a little fussy. We think it's from gas, and are hoping the Mylecon we're slipping him will do the trick. Even when he does fuss, it's still nothing a good paci sucking and leg flailing can't get rid of.

Friday, however, was our first "bad" day together. I think Thomas finally has his days and nights figured out, and for some reason, he could not settle himself down enough to sleep on Friday. He was up ALL day until I finally put him in the car to go to the bank at 4:00 that afternoon. Then of course, he slept for a good two and a half to three hours, so that was nice, since my sanity was tested in a major way.

Saturday, we got out of the house a while and took Thomas with us to eat lunch at Jackson's in Homewood. It was such a pretty day and so we sat out on the patio and enjoyed just being outside. I also tested out the Snugli on Saturday morning. You can see from his face he wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but after a while, he decided he liked it.


It's pretty quiet here this morning. BT is at the grocery store, and when he gets back, I'm going to get out of the house for a couple of hours. Then I'm taking this evening's shift so BT can go play some trivia with friends for a little while. Overall, I think we're adjusting well!

I'll just be glad for SLEEP when it decides to come our way.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Smiley

Frustrated Doggie

Beau is unwilling to relinquish his spot on the couch....