Christmas with MawMaw and PawPaw

MawMaw and PawPaw (Joe's mom and step-dad) came to visit the day after Christmas. We hung around the house Saturday and after dinner we had "Christmas". MawMaw's friend Kathy gave Carter some new Christmas pajamas that said "What Santa Doesn't Bring Me, Grandma Will! " so we put him in those for pictures. He looked adorable! Carter got a Radio Flyer Wagon, several toys, and new clothes. He LOVES his wagon and enjoys going for rides in the house. We can't wait until it warms up so we can take him for a ride outside! Thank you MawMaw and PawPaw for visiting and for all our new stuff! We love you very much!

The best present of all- our baby boy!

"A... B... C... D... E... F... G..." next time won't you sing with me!

Carter's 1st Tool- A Craftsman Tape Measure!

Opening his new pair of shoes - Maybe now he'll start walking without holding on to something!

Carter LOVES music and LOVES to bang on his new drum!

Posing with PawPaw and MawMaw (and all his new stuff)!

Christmas at Guggy and Grammy's House

We went to Courtney's parents' house to celebrate Christmas around lunchtime. The kids were so excited about opening presents! Carter loves having his cousins hold him and play with him. Grammy cooked a feast (as always) so we all ate before the unwrapping started. Papaw and Mimi (Courtney's grandparents) came up to watch the kids open gifts. Carter got a new outfit and Eric Carle book from cousins Noah, Zoe, Ellie, and Ainsley and a piano from cousins Reed and Owen! He loves it all! Thanks Guggy and Grammy for the presents! We love you all!

A kid picture before the chaos begins!

Carter opening someone else's present! He would just start ripping paper and opening things if anything got within his reach!

Finally opening one of his presents!

Carter's new piano- he loves music!

One of his presents from Guggy and Grammy- a walker/riding toy!

Carter was so exhausted after all the presents were unwrapped! He was ready for his afternoon nap!

Merry Christmas!

We woke up Christmas morning to a "talking" baby over the monitor. Every morning that Carter wakes up on his own, he sits up and starts telling us (in his own way) that he is ready to get up! Some mornings he bangs his pacifier on the railings to get out attention. He doesn't like staying in his bed long after he wakes up as you can tell. We gave him his morning bottle before we all went downstairs to see what Santa had left. Carter had so much fun with the bows and tissue paper. Unfortunately, Santa didn't wrap Carter's presents in paper that liked to rip so we had to help get into his presents several times. (Note to Santa: Try ripping the paper before you wrap the gifts!) Carter enjoyed unwrapping for about 20 minutes and then was over it! Courtney cooked biscuits, sausage, gravy, and eggs for our 1st Christmas breakfast together. It seemed Carter enjoyed the food more than the presents! We had a wonderful 1st Christmas morning together! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family to enjoy this special day together!

Santa must have enjoyed our cookies after all!

Our Christmas tree on Christmas morning

We put Carter down and he took off straight for the big bow!

Trying to unwrap a gift

"Look at my new books!"
Carter LOVES the books by Eric Carle. His favorite is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". He even has the caterpillar that goes along with the book and it is always one of his favorite toys.

He has to have a school bus with both mommy and daddy being teachers!

Time to take a snack break!

"YUMMY!"

Carter refuses baby food so now he eats basically whatever we are eating... and loves every bite!

Carter with all of his new things!

Merry Christmas From Our Family to Yours!

Cookies for Santa

After the Candlelight Service at Church on Christmas Eve, we came home and decided to bake cookies for Santa. Carter loved the sound that the sprinkles made in the container! Carter also LOVES cookies (if you didn't know that, look back at the blog about Fantasy of Trees)! We let him have a cookie of his own and it didn't take him too long to figure out what to do with it... eat it! While we were trying to get "action" shots of Carter and his cookie, he bit off a huge bite with his 2 little bottom teeth and grinned a HUGE smile! We couldn't help but laugh (after we fished the bite out of his mouth) at his excitement over his cookie! We put a few on a plate along with a mug of milk for Santa. We hope he enjoys sprinkles!

All ready to decorate some cookies!

YUMMY! I just LOVE this thing!

Look at what I bit off!

Mommy and her little baker!

Daddy and his little icing boy!

Carter had the most fun getting into the icing!

All ready to get in the bed!

We hope you like the cookies, Santa!

Santa Claus is coming to ... our house!

On Tuesday, December 22nd, our doorbell rang and guess who was standing at our front door? SANTA CLAUS!! Santa made a special visit to come see Carter and his cousins, Reed and Owen, at our house. Owen was so excited that he hid behind the coffee table! He eventually made it out to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas... a pair of skates. Reed wanted some little figurines that he is collecting. Carter wasn't able to actually tell Santa what he wanted but we could tell that Santa knew just what to get him for Christmas. Carter loved looking at Santa's clothes and beard. We put Carter in his matching outfit to take a few pictures before Santa had to head back to the North Pole to check on the elves. Carter was extremely tired so we were just happy that he wasn't screaming in the pictures.

"I want a..."

Santa and Carter

Another picture of our little Santa

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

Small Group Christmas

Our small group from church are some of our dearest friends. Each Christmas since our group has been together, we've celebrated by exchanging gifts. We all got together at the Blair's home on Saturday, December 12th. Our group began with just couples and one child and now each family has at least one child and some have two! This year the kids drew names to exchange with each other. Baby Katie had Carter's name and got him Little People blocks and a new book. He loves books and the blocks were a hit too! We had a wonderful time with all the kids! They are just so much fun!

Our attempt at getting all the kids to look at the camera... at the same time!

(Baby Katie didn't make the picture.)

Family picture time

"This stuff is fun!"

"Thank you Katie for my book and blocks!"

The girls:

Kelly, Lee Ann and Haylee, Beth and Jordan, Amy and Katie, Courtney

The guys:

Jason, Jody, Justin with Keltin and Matthew, Joe and Carter, Michael and Carson

Let it Snow!

We woke up early (as always with Carter) on Saturday, December 5th to a beautiful, white scene- Carter's 1st snow! We were so excited to get Carter outside to see what he would think. We didn't even give him his morning bottle before we bundled up and headed outside for a little while. We couldn't stop laughing at how much Carter reminded us of Randy from "A Christmas Story". He had trouble doing anything with his arms except holding them straight out (he had on so many layers)! He was very curious watching the snow fall from the sky. He loved to watch but just not touch! We had a great time letting Carter experience snow! It was something we will never forget!

Family picture time!

Our little Randy!

It looks like Carter was trying to make a snow angel! The snow kept hitting him in the face, which he didn't appreciate, so he got a little upset about that!

Courtney took Carter inside to warm up while Joe made a snowman. Carter was dying to get back out there with Joe. He couldn't stop watching Joe! He must have been wondering when he was going to be able to get back out there!

Carter and his 1st Snowman!

After this picture, he fell over and caught himself with his hand... which touched the snow! Our experience was over after that...

"Get me back inside!"

Fresh, Hot, Now!

Courtney's family has gone to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts since she was a little girl. They would drive to the Kingston Pike store, buy a dozen hot doughnuts or two, and everyone would get a little carton milk (now the milk comes in little jugs). That's a family memory that she'll never forget! To this day, Courtney LOVES Krisy Kreme doughnuts! We thought we would go ahead and introduce Carter to this wonderful food group- Delicious Lard! He was excited that the entire doughnut was placed on his tray but a little unsure as to what to do with it. He enjoyed using it as a drum stick on his tray rather than eating it! We broke it up into bites and he doesn't seem to share Courtney's love for Krispy Kreme... yet! He ate a few bites and didn't seem to really care too much about it. Next time we may let him try a "fresh, not, now" kind! (That's what Courtney calls them when the light is on!) It will melt in his mouth and he's sure to love it!

"I'm so excited!"

"What is all this stuff on the top?"

"This is so much fun!"

"Cheese... I mean Doughnuts!"