Christmas has come and gone

Well Christmas has come and gone for another year. It was great and whirlwind. Starting Christmas Eve, they let us off early for a change--which was good so that we could eat and make it to church on time. The service started at 6. There was not going to be any nursery for the service so at first I was just going to leave Colton with Steve, but then we saw Father Don at Publix and he said it was a short service meant for families and that his granddaughter was going to be there. She is 11 months old so I figured it would be all right for Colton to go. Well he was the only little kid there!!! He did all right. I kept feeding him Cheerios when he would get antsy. I didn't lose him down the aisle and he did a little "singing" of his own. Got home and changed him into his Christmas jammies and went right to sleep. We got up about 7:30 and I got dressed and we went over to Mom and Dad's house to open gifts. I kept him in his PJs so I could get pictures. He saw what "Santa" brought him and the look was priceless. He wasn't used to seeing anything under the tree. He really liked his slide and he named his rocking horse "Bud". He also liked his cellphone and set of keys. He got some books from my sister and a set of wooden puzzles that have a case as well. By about 9:15 or so, he had about enough excitement so Steve actually went and put him down to take his nap. Never has he done that before!!! He slept until about 11:30 and then I got him up to eat lunch. My aunt Julie, Chris and Chris' daughter were coming over from Fort Walton Beach and they got there about 1:30. He played with them for a while and then went back down for afternoon nap. When he got up we opened gifts from them. They got him a big CAT ride on dump truck that he really liked as well as a VTech helicopter.
There is always so much build-up and preparation for Christmas and then it just flies by. Hard to believe that at Christmas last year he was only 2 1/2 weeks old. I can't wait until next year when he will even enjoy it even more!! I really wish I could stay at home with him as I feel as though his life is flying by and I am missing it all. I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday and I am looking forward to see what 2010 holds for all of us!!!

Two days to go!!!

Only two days until Christmas. It still doesn't seem like enough time has gone by for an entire year. All the presents are wrapped and waiting to go under the tree. So far, so good with the tree. He goes over to it and looks at it, but when he tries to touch it, we say "no" and he goes on to something else. We figured why risk it by adding gifts under there to tempt him. He is still too little to understand the concept of Christmas and to really get what it going on. I have to say I am not really in the "Christmas spirit" this year. I am not sure why. I just don't feel all happy and cheery.

Tis the season

Colton went to his first Christmas party last night. Our church had their get-together at the rectory last night. He was the only little kid there. To be honest though, he is one of maybe 5 kids in the entire church. Most of the people who attend are in their 50s and 60s I would say so all their kids have grown up!! He did all right. All he wanted to do was walk around and "show-off". He is always such a big hit at church. He goes into the nursery during church, but comes back in for communion and to be blessed. We didn't stay long, just about 30-45 minutes. It was from 6-8 and his bedtime is generally 7:15-7:30 so we left about 7:15. He went right to sleep when we got home though. For the Christmas Eve service there is no nursery so he will be in church the entire time. Hopefully he will make through. I lost him down the pew last Sunday and yesterday he kept saying "my mama" during the service. Maybe with all the singing he will do all right. It will be a busy end to the week. I can't wait for Christmas to get here. I want to see how he will react to the presents under the tree. Right now he leaves the tree alone, but there aren't any gifts under it yet.

Christmas card pictures

So I finally got Colton to be still long enough to get his picture taken for our Christmas cards. They turned out all right I guess. I chose the last one to go on the card.

Howdy

With my Mom gone last Thursday afternoon through Sunday, Colton and I got to spend more "quality" time together!! She went to NY to see my sister and her family. They usually come down for Christmas every year, but my youngest niece got chosen to be in the NYC Ballet's Nutcracker so they can't come this year. Mom went up there to see Ella perform. Unfortunately the weather pretty much sucked here the entire time. It was cold and rainy on Friday and Saturday it poured all day and was 40 degrees. By Sunday afternoon it had cleared up. He is not the kind of kid who does well cooped up for 4 days!!

This jersey was Colton's Birthday present from my sister. He will be ready for the big national championship game on the 7th. He has his jersey, a Bama hat and his "Big Al" elephant that plays "We are the Champions". I love in this picture how he has his feet crossed and his hand on Big Al. He is loosing that baby look and looks more like a little boy everyday. My dad said that his face was getting chunky. I think he is finally just filling out. He started out so small and skinny that now he is putting on some weight.

Birthday party and update

Whew what a week so far. We went to Christams on the Square on Saturday. It was nice. Not as big as last year I don't think. Sunday was the BIG EVENT. The party went well. My friend, Brenda, and her daughter, Addison, came. Addion is two months older than Colton. My SIL and her kids came too. Kara is 8 and Landen is 13 months old. The "babies" had a good time playing. He got a lot of great gifts. Colton LOVED his cake. He never gets that kind of thing so he didn't know what to do at first, but then he dug right in!!!

The three on the couch.

Enjoying his cake.

In his party hat.

He liked opening his gifts. Christmas will be fun!!

Colton and Addison played nicely.

His little smash cake.

Maddie got into the celebration too!!

The Winnie the Pooh cake.

I took him in for his 12 month check up. He weighed 21.6 pounds and was 30 inches tall. Little man is getting there. Now he is in the 50% for height and weight.

Final countdown!!!

We are in the final countdown for Colton's birthday!!!! Officially it is on Monday, but his party is on Sunday. No one has a party during the week anyway. He will just to celebrate a day early. I am sure he won't care :O)
The weather here is so miserable right now--cold, rainy, and just plain dreary. I hope it clears up tonight so we can go to Christmas on the Square tomorrow. I have been looking forward to it for a long time now. It is the only good thing this town puts on throughout the year. I love looking at the homemade crafts and last year I wandered around for about three hours while in labor. I think it helped ease the "pain" somewhat. Granted I didn't have him until the next night, but in the early stages, it was good to be and walking around.
The Alabama/Florida game is tomorrow afternoon as well. I am definitely looking forward to that. I think we have a better team this year than we did last year so it should be a really good game. ROLL TIDE!!!!