Christmas Eve 2009

We could not have had a better time with our Brody Bear this Christmas season. It was great having time off from work and spending time with family and friends, but most importantly spending it with our little one. What a special time of year and how wonderful it was to have snow on Brody's first Christmas. Simply magical!

All bundled up!! Getting ready to go outside in the snow!!

We celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve and we were so thankful to have my dad, step mom and sister drive out here (safely) in this snowy weather, especially since it took them about 2 hours to get home. We had a great time opening gifts, watching Brody, eating dinner, and enjoying each others company. Here are a few pictures from the evening...

Enjoying the wrapping/tissue paper from Aunt Devon's present

Playing with one of my new toys

Can you please show me how to work this...

My dad, Step-mom and Brody

Being a silly stinker before bed. Look at my C-U-T-E Christmas jammies!

First Steps

Brody took his first real steps tonight. We are still practicing our balance so it will still be a little bit before he is "walking," but first steps are pretty fun. Glad I got it on video.

Keeping things interesting...

Gabe and I will occasionally play jokes on each other, such as driving off while someone runs in to pick up an item, pour ice cold water into the hot shower, you get the idea. Well here is the latest trick Gabe pulled on me....

So last weekend we were winding down our Christmas shopping for the day and had one last stop. As we are pulling into the store parking lot, I see a gas station that has really cheap gas, so I encourage Gabe to get gas before we go into the store. Gabe is pumping the gas and I am looking at my iphone (and it goes dead) and for whatever reason, I think it is fun game to lock Gabe out of the car. He sees me do this, finishes up pumping the gas and then disappears! I am looking all around for him outside, no Gabe. I keep seeing people come in and out of the convenience store, no Gabe. I sit there and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait. 10 minutes I wait, with Brody in the car and a dead cellphone. Finally I drive around the gas pumps looking for Gabe, nothing! I am considering driving home to plug in my phone to call him. By this point I am getting a little nervous. I start to drive off and I see Gabe walking toward the car!! He had gone inside the store to look at the items we were going to purchase. Ugh! Didn't even cross my mind! I thought someone had kidnapped him. We got a really good laugh after I decided it really was funny!

Thanks for the heart attack, honey!

9 Months

Brody is 9 months. Seriously, where has the time gone? He is my little love bug who makes each day better. I laugh a lot more now that Mr. Personality is in my life. And he makes our lives so much more full and complete. We could not love him more, our hearts are overflowing with love for our sweet angel baby.

Stats:

Weight 18 lbs 1 oz (12%)

Height 26 3/4 inches (7%)

He gets smaller and smaller (according to the averages) each time we go to the doctor. I was sure this time he was going to have increased percentages! Wrong!! My child can E-A-T! We are giving him too many liquids and will need to begin to cut back a little. The goal is 24 ounces and now he is eating around 30 ounces, plus the 3 huge solid meals that he already eats and cheerios/puff snacks. We will be introducing the sippy cup more regularly now that we should begin phasing out the bottle. He hit all the "9 month milestones" except for waving and clapping. Brody is extremely interested in table food and I got to ok to let him have some. I had my list of questions that our doctor so graciously answered them all and never made me feel rushed. With a little peer pressure, I caved and Brody was given the 1st dose of the H1N1 vaccination. I told myself I wasn't going to let my baby have something so fresh and new, but I am now eating my words.

Brody,

Mommy and daddy love you so very much. These last nine months have been the best 9 months of our lives. You are so handsome and full of energy. You are a very happy baby and extremely tough. Your fun-loving personality shines so bright and is infectious. Everyone who meets you falls in love with you and always has so many compliments for you. You are the light of our lives.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

All Brody wants for Christmas is...

...his 2 front teeth! His left tooth began cutting through on Sunday and now you can see the right tooth breaking skin. I feel like he will look like a different kid with his mouth full of four teeth!! Can't wait to see how cute he looks!

Dear Santa, define "nice."

SANTA and Brody

I thought I would write this one (Gabe) because it is near and dear to me, seeing that I believed in Santa until I was 12 and for an even bigger reason, Brody just got to see the same exact Santa that I did growing up. They call him "The Real Santa", well because he is. After over a 4 hour wait Brody finally got to hop up on Santa's lap and pose for the camera (which we all know he does very well). Brody in his argyle socks and Burberry blazer (thanks to Colin) could not have been any happier to see the Jolly old man. He was literally about a 0.5 second away from grabbing his beard before Mommy stepped in, but after that he was good to go. So with out further ado, here is Brody's 1st Santa Photo!

Momma and Dadda

Brody can say 2 words! Yay! He will get into jabbering about something and he will throw in "dadda" every now and again, and has been for a while now. On Sunday evening he saw us making a bottle and started to whine, and then cry, and then "momma-momma-momma-momma" since we weren't moving fast enough to get that bottle to him. He has only done it a few more times and only says it when he really wants something.

I am so proud, what a great feeling when your child says your name! I just don't know if he knows what he is saying or not, but oh well! The important thing is that he is saying my name...finally! :)

Happy Birthday to my Mom and Sister

A birthday shout-out to two of my favorite ladies! Hope you have a wonderful day!! You make our lives more special just because you are in it. We love you!!

Napping Schedule

Brody has always been and still is a fabulous sleeper! I cannot complain one bit. On a normal weekday he takes 3 naps (3o mins to 1.5 hours) and on a weekend he takes probably 4 naps each day. Yesterday and today he has only taken 2-15 minute naps... and semi-fusses before each one. He acts tired, he looks tired, and rubs his eyes, but the little booger isn't taking a nap! It has only been these last 2 days and hoping it does not become a habit.

Has anyone else had this problem? Did it last long? Could it be due to teething? I think his top 2 teeth are about to come in, anytime.