We had a Merry Little Christmas

Baby's First Christmas!

I was so lucky to have John Huston's first Christmas off work. I worked Christmas Eve and as soon as I got home, we went straight to the festivities. We went to Nanny's house for our family's Christmas get together. After stuffing ourselves with seafood gumbo, shrimp and appetizers, we played Dirty Santa then headed home to get ready for Santa. John Huston woke up at 8 am and we went straight to the den to see what Santa brought. He got a workbench, pull along doggy, cell phone, clothes, and the baby Einsteen DVD collection.

I could not resist these outfits!!

He also got a reindeer puppet book and snacks in his stocking. We went straight to MeMe & Pop's to eat our traditional Christmas breakfast. They gave him a rocking horse, 4 wheeler ride along toy, camouflage onesize and money. Nanny gave him diapers, pop up toy, pull along phone, cell phone toy and hoodie jacket. Uncle A gave him a mini football.
After breakfast, we went to Lloyd's sister's house to have the Eicher Christmas. All of Lloyd's family was there. We ate a wonderful lunch and had a good visit. Then we went home and had a good nap and went to MeMe & Pop's for Christmas Eve leftovers. We were also blessed that John Huston was a healthy boy on Christmas!

John Huston's big spread from everyone!!

One the Eve of Christmas...

John Huston turned 11 Months Old!! Wow, one more month until..I can't even say it. We have had a busy and hard month with this little man. He got a terrible cold the first of the month and it lasted a horrible 3 weeks. At first it started out with the runny nose and sneezing which progressed to a nonstop cough and led to him not having a appetite. The pediatrician diagnosed him with sinusitis and a mild ear infection and after 10 days of antibiotics, he was a new baby. We are still struggling with the eating since he does not want anymore baby food. I have been trying to get him to eat tablefood but anytime a spoon goes near him, he locks those jaws down and shakes his head. But if you put food on his try, it goes straight to decorate the walls and floor. Oh the joys of a growing baby! At his pediatrician appt he weighed 21 lbs, 2 oz!!

MeMe & Pop kept him for us one evening so we could go out for Lloyd's 33rd birthday. He had an ugly fall at their house and got a bad owie to his nose so we had to put off making Christmas card pictures a little later. At least his 9 month pictures had just been made the week before! But he is a tough little boy and bangs his head around at least once a day.

He finally took his first steps on Dec 10th. He took 3-4 steps from the coffee table to Buster, of course! and then yesterday was his first time actually 'walking'. I had to work an extra 12 hr shift and Lloyd looked up and he walked right from the coffee table (far end) to the fireplace where Buster was. Then he did it again so Lloyd got it on video so I could see it. We will be purchasing a leash very soon!

He is quite the talker/babbler now. When he sees me he makes the 'mmm' noises but hasn't quite said "mama". He also like to hollar "hey" and other nonsense words. Another sweet milestone is that he has been giving those big ole' kisses. Doesn't close his mouth for them but loves to get you right on the lips! We can't wait for his first Christmas and ours as a "real" family!!

One small step for little man...

leads to many more! Here is our little walker...he started walking on a night I was working an extra 12 hr shift and Lloyd caught it on video the second time he took off.

The joys of Christmas card picture time

This is what goes on trying to get a hyper baby to take pictures!!



And I thought it was hard to take pictures of just us and Buster. This year was a real challenge getting John Huston and Buster to cooperate for pictures, oh and don't forget about a grumpy husband too! After looking back at all 40 pictures taken over 3 different nights, here are some other pictures that were not chosen but were just too cute not to share.

Some Good Ole' Buster & JH Fun!

My Winter Wonderland

A Few of My Favority Things:

Snowman Birdfeeder

Snowman tealights on each side of the front steps

Big wreath on window with pinecones & berries

Snowman windchime

tree topiary I made with pinecones and berries

mantle in den

9 Month Pictures

sweet mischievous grin


I can stand up on my own



baby boy!

I look like a porcelain doll

look how much I've grown!

Ho Ho Ho

We took John Huston to College City Drug's open house in Marion to meet Santa for the first time. He has started going through the stranger anxiety phase so I didn't know how he would act. He just stared at him with his mouth wide open but didn't cry. We got a few decent shots but I wished he would have pulled his beard down ;)

We found the perfect gift for John Huston, a rocking horse, he loved it! Hopfully Lloyd can build him one soon.

Before we left, we had to stop and get some goodies. MeMe gave John Huston some cookies & he loved them. Yum, yum!