Christmas 2011

We had such a special Christmas this year. It was a different experience from years past when it was full of hustle and bustle and chaos. I got most of my shopping done 3 weeks before Christmas which is a first for me and it was so much more enjoyable. With me staying at home with Sawyer and Keith's month being slow, because that's how the month of December is in sales, I felt like we soaked up all of the Holiday as a family. Now that Sawyer is older and he can understand a little bit more, it made Christmas even more exciting.

We kicked off the month with the annual Christmas Party at Inverness CC hosted by Keith's cousins. We look forward to going to it every year for many reasons but this year the best part was skipping all the long lines at the mall to see Santa. He comes every year and even brings Mrs. Claus! We weren't quite sure how Sawyer would react to Santa so we tried not to have too high of expectations. Well, he wasn't a fan...That's ok, we will look back on this picture one day and laugh.

A few weeks later, we went to Keith's cousin's Engagement/Tacky Christmas Party. If anyone knows Keith, they know how much he gets into dressing up and this was no exception. He went to several thrift stores to see how ugly he could make us and I think he did a pretty good job! We had a really good time and it was great to celebrate Weezie and Bryan's Engagement.

Both sets of Grandparents joined us for Zoolight Safari. I was so impressed by how much work they put into this event. Everywhere you looked there were Christmas lights and activities for the kids to do. This will definitely be an annual tradition for us!

Sawyer and I made a couple of visits to the McWane Center to check out the new Snow Exhibit. I wasn't too impressed with it to be honest but the trains were really neat and more Sawyer's speed.

We went to the Church of the Highlands Christmas Service the Thursday before Christmas and it was sooo good. Pastor Chris did Christmas in a perspective that most people probably have never heard. On Christmas Eve, we went to the Scott's for brunch and exchange gifts. Honey and Papa D got him a slide and he was beyond thrilled!



That night, we wanted to start a new tradition by going to go eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Mandarin House. It was such a nice change and we knew we were going to eat all of the traditional Christmas food twice the next day. After dinner, we set up the Barney DVD for Sawyer and headed to Starbucks followed by looking at Christmas lights. After we put Sawyer to bed, we got all of his toys out and on display for Christmas morning. We actually all slept in until 8 on Christmas, which is very late for us, then we woke up Sawyer and headed downstairs to see what Santa brought him. He was so overwhelmed and really didn't know what to think about all the toys and why his parents were being so crazy!

The boots Keith got Sawyer were his favorite!!

Keith got me a blingin watch and a Tory Burch purse/diaper bag. He is too good to me!

We then headed back to Keith's parents house for lunch with his extended family.

Aunt Pam made a Birthday cake for Jesus!

That afternoon, we headed to my parents for dinner and to exchange gifts. It was so great to see my brother Jeff and his fiance, Rita who were in town from El Paso, TX. The kiddos were wired and had a blast running through the house being silly!

Too many Christmas parties or 15 weeks pregnant?

"Scott Party of Four!"

We are so thrilled to announce that we are having our second child in June 2012!! We are so thankful to God for this blessing. I found out rather early, 3 1/2 weeks, and the secret and excitement was killing Keith and I so we had to share the news with our family and close friends. Three long weeks later we had our first Doctor's appointment and ultrasound. What a miracle to see and hear a heartbeat at 6 weeks. Well, I didn't hear it but Keith and the US technician did and they had to convice me they did. Everything looked great and I was exactly how far along as I thought I was, and the due date is June 19, 2012.

Peanut's first picture!

6 weeks 1 day

A month later, we had another Doctor's appointment and US and it was unbelievable to see how much the baby had grown in just four weeks. The technician was very nice and I think she felt bad for me because I was by myself because Keith was sick so it lasted almost 15 minutes. I watched in amazement as the baby moved and kicked the tiniest little feet I had ever seen. I also got to see the umbilical cord, brain, and other body parts. The heartbeat was 162 and everything still looked good. Praise the Lord! They had to take six viles of blood and I had to get a flu shot so that part of the appointment wasn't too fun.



I was quickly reminded of what it is like to be pregnant again, especially the first trimester woes. Overall I can't complain too much but I have certainly had more nausea and mood swings this time. I really really hope that I don't gain as much weight as I did with Sawyer so that I may have a chance to have a VBAC. We'll cross that bridge when we get there....And, the old saying that you start to show faster the second time around is very true! I swear that I started showing the minute I saw a positive sign on the pregnancy test. Oh well, I'm enjoying the comfortable maternity jeans and the look on people's faces when I tell them I'm due in June!

Halloween Festivities

We celebrated Halloween BIG this year! Three days in a row as a matter of fact so we are t-i-r-e-d! We started out going to a Halloween Party at Keith's co-worker's house on Saturday night. There were costumes off all kinds and lots of fun toys that Sawyer got to play with. And yes, Ice the American Gladiator made another appearance after being in early retirement three years ago.

This was also Sawyer's first time on a trampoline. He loved it!!!

Playing with some new friends.

The hosts of the Party

On Sunday afternoon, we went to Crest Fest Trunk or Treat Party at my childhood church, Shades Crest Baptist. Sawyer loved walking around doing all of the activities and dancing to the live music. We got to see Taylor and Emme in their costumes and with all the excitement, a photo op with all 3 kids can be a challenge!

Meme and Dede loved having all of the Grand kids together and seeing how much fun they had!

 Enjoying a sucker!

On Halloween night, we had the Scott's over for some Taco soup and trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, I dropped my camera on Sunday night so I had to borrow some pics that Aunt Kiki sent me. After eating dinner, we walked around the neighborhood to do some t.o.ting and then we came back to our house to hand out candy to the kids. This was by far Sawyer's favorite thing to do. Every time the door bell would ring, he would go running to the door and give the kids candy in their sacks.

 I loved that Sawyer enjoyed dressing up and going to all of the festivities this year. Getting to see to see the excitement on my child's face is a true blessing.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we took Sawyer to the Pumpkin Patch in Clanton. We started out the day meeting Meme and Dede at Backyard Burger for lunch and then we all loaded up in our car and headed there. It was such a fun experience! Sawyer is obsessed with tractors right now so he was in Heaven! They had every kind of yummy food you can imagine, pony rides, petting zoo, Indian tee pees, and huge bounce houses. A lot of these things were not in the age range for Sawyer but he sure did love checking them out. We did get to ride the "Twactor Twain" which was a John Deere tractor pulling some cars. Sawyer loved it and smiled the whole time! After all the festivities, we rode the covered wagon hay ride to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out our Pumpkins. We opted for the green and orange ones. They were unique and had a Fall touch to them and since we got two, the other one should last until Thanksgiving. We definitely started a new family tradition and we can't wait to go back next year!

Finishing off Mama's Chocolate Milkshake

 Sawyer the Farmer!