First Christmas

I grew up in a house that each kid had at least 30 presents under the tree for them at Christmas! This is not including the items in the over flowing stocking :) Christmas was something I looked forward to each year, year round! I decided that I want my family to have a fun Christmas BUT I do not want to make Christmas about presents. Therefore, we decided a handful of gifts would more than enough. I bought Cole the items that Brian and I discussed and I was done before Thanksgiving. As Christmas drew near, I kept receiving large boxes of gifts from his many grandma's and grandpa's. I was overwhelmed by the love. By the time Christmas came around my simple Christmas was gone :) We are very blessed to have our extended family love our son so much!!

On Christmas Eve, we had a small family dinner at our house with my mother, MIL, FIL, Brian, and I. I grew up with a tradition of opening 1 present on Christmas Eve and I want to pass this tradition onto my kids. The present was always a pair pj's that we wore to bed and woke up on Christmas morning wearing.

On Christmas morning Cole and Brian slept in. Once Cole decided to wake up (close to 9am) he opened his presents. I had always heard children Cole's age want more to do with the wrapping paper and boxes then the gift...not my son, he wanted his toys and FAST! If daddy didn't open the packaging fast enough Cole made it known he was NOT impressed. We spent an hour opening our the many gifts. Some of the gifts received were a tonka tow truck, lots of Lego's, pull toys, a toy mailbox, puzzles, balls and lots of TRUCKS!

Our first Christmas as a family was amazing. We have so much to be thankful for.

Our First Tree

Non baby proofed treeBaby proofed tree (notice the gate is almost as tall as the tree)

Since Cole and I were traveling between 11/24 to 12/13, we did not have a chance to get our Christmas tree till 12/20. Brian, Cole and I headed out planning on buying the biggest and grandest tree we could find. Our first stop, Lowes, had 10 trees between 3 to 5ft. This was not going to do so I insisted we continue to look. Our next stop, Home Depot, had less to choose from. I was in near tears. Brian being the great husband he is, drove us around looking for a Christmas tree lot. We couldn't find one :( I kept thinking, "How can there be no trees left?" The massive tree I envisioned for Cole's first Christmas was slowly being over taken by reality...a 3ft tree or no tree. well, we decided Lowe's was our only option so we headed back. We picked out the fullest, tallest 3ft tree we could find. Brian proudly walked the tree up to the counter to be told the tree was half off. WOW, half off great. The total cost for Cole's first tree was $2.50. We couldn't justify buying a Christmas tree stand ($15.00) so we improvised and used a bucket and some dirt!

Once we got the tree home and decorated, I was surprisingly happy with our purchase. It's moments like these that make memories. Who ever remembers a huge tree?!?! Brian is mostly proud of the amount he spent on the tree. His goal for next year is to see if he can find a tree less than $2.50 :) This is what I get for marrying an Accountant.

Thanksgiving

Brian, Cole and I decided to pack up and visit our family in Texas for Cole's 1st Thanksgiving. We arrived in Texas on the 24th and spent 4 wonderful days visiting great grandpa, grandpa, his aunt, uncle and beautiful cousins!

While we were visiting, I think Cole's favorite part was his great grandfathers train community setup in his house. He spent a long time with his PawPaw watching the trains go by

On Thanksgiving Day I joined "T" and the girls on an 8 mile Forth Worth Turkey trot. One of my closest friends was able to join us on the run. After the first half mile trying to dodge people "S" and I were able to catch up on life. It was nice to spend 2 hours talking to an old friend while getting in a workout! All of us finished the race feeling ready for LOTS of good food.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our visit. I can't wait to go back.

One of my favorite pictures of Cole. He looked so dang cute in his Thanksgiving outfit.
PawPaw & Cole napping together :) I loved watching these moments with the two of them bonding!
Grandpa, daddy and Cole
Cole on his first carousel ride. Thank you PawPaw

Cole could not get enough of aunt T's sweet potatoes!

Our visit was short but the memories will last a lifetime. I am looking forward to our next visit.

Memphis Bound...

Visiting my sister and her family is something that is a must for me! I want our kids to know each other, be friends and grow up together. So for 2 weeks, I called Memphis my home.

Cole and I were NOT adequately prepared for the weather! I knew Memphis was going to be cold but I don't have any cold weather clothes. So, one of the first things we did after we landed was go shopping for warm clothes for Cole! I loved this hat on him!!
My sisters MIL let us borrow her highchair; however, I think is older than I am. There were no straps and no middle piece to hold him in. He kept slipping while eating so he came up with a solution all on his own. He would put his toes on the highchair tray and hold on for dear life! He never fell out and eat 3 meals a day for 2 weeks.

His cousins were teaching him to build with Lego's. He mostly destroyed their creations but they didn't care. They enjoyed spending lots of time with Cole.

Bath time hair is always fun!

What can be more fun than building, playing in and then destroying a fort with your cousins?!?!? NOTHING!!

I always take a picture of my sisters kids the day before I leave. It was nice that this picture now includes a child of mine. We miss our Memphis family and can't wait to go back. I think next time we'll go in the Spring when it is not to hot or cold :)

SANTA

No words and can do this picture justice!