Tooth #16

Lower Right Canine

Tooth #15

Upper Right First Molar

New Year's Eve Party....

..in the closet! We didn't have big plans for the evening but we definitely weren't planning on spending it by dodging bad weather. The sirens started going off around 4:45 this afternoon and we went and got Sam up from his nap and the four of us headed for the master closet.

These two boys were pretty good, considering we were confined to such a small space.
They wrestled and play and loved on each other until the weather passed. We were very fortunate that we didn't have any damage at our house.

Even though Sam didn't stay up until midnight to ring in the new year, I was able to capture a New Year's Eve smooch from Rusty to Sam before it was time to get ready for bed!

The 2010 Christmas Tour

Tonight concluded the five-day Christmas Tour of 2010. We are so blessed to have lots of family to celebrate with and we certainly had fun with each and every one of them - it just went by too fast!

Our first stop was at Meme's house on Thursday, the 23rd, for dinner. We have always tried to get together at her house each year on that day because it was my grandfather Morgan's birthday and when he was still alive we would have a combination birthday party and Christmas celebration! Since he passed away, we have done a pretty good job of continuing the tradition each year.

We draw names at Meme's house and this year our new baby cousin, Cai, drew Sam's name and got him a big truck! For those of you that know Sam, you know how excited he was about this gift!

Sam's cousin Caimbrie was so sweet to him and he sure loved playing with her. She was so funny carrying him around, even though he was almost as big as she was!

Friday, Christmas Eve, we all went to the 4:00 p.m. church service and then headed to Pop Pop & Bobi's house for dinner and presents!

The boys got comfy in their Christmas PJ's and were ready to tear into the gifts!

Sam got a chef hat and apron from the Eatons.

Daddy had to help Sam open some of his gifts.

After presents, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Banks and Sam loved blowing the candles out, over and over and over.

On Saturday, Christmas day, Uncle Bobo & Aunt Kelly, Meme, Shuffie & Lili came over for brunch at our house and to exchange gifts. Shuffie cooked some delicious omelets and we even got to see a few snow flakes!! We opened gifts with Shuffie and Lili and then took an afternoon snooze before it was time for our next guests.

Christmas night, my aunt and uncle from Fairhope came by to play and see all of the things that Santa brought Sam. We were going to have leftovers for dinner but not too long after we set the pork tenderloin out on the counter Rusty jumped up and ate ALL OF IT! Since we had all been eating most of the day anyway we just went straight for dessert!

On Sunday, the 26th, we went to Mimi's house for lunch. Banks and Sam both brought some trucks to play with at her house and somehow Sam ended up in the chair with them all in his lap - talk about a happy boy!

Before we opened presents we had to snap a few family pictures. The two families with the little ones got to go first since their attention spans aren't so long these days. Everyone was acting silly trying to get Sam to look at the camera and he thought they were pretty funny! After pictures and presents it was time for fun and games. Sam and I took a rest in the chair for a while and then joined in later.

Tonight, we had Mammy's Christmas at Pop Pop & Bobi's house. By the fifth day of partying we were all pretty burned out on casseroles and ham so we had Mellow Mushroom pizza and salads - yummy! Aunt Jan gave Banks and Sam some books and they found a cozy spot in Aunt Didi's (that is what Sam calls Amanda and we can't figure out where he came up with that!) lap and read a few books. A good time was had by all but we sure hated that Paw Paw had to celebrate Christmas in the hospital instead of being there with us tonight.

Thanks again to everyone for all of our wonderful gifts and the delicious food you all worked so hard to prepare - we loved spending the holidays with you!

Messy Hair & Face Lines...

always come from a good nap!

Was Sam Naughty or Nice?

From the look of the loot, Santa thought Sam had been a pretty good boy this year! Sam woke up around 8:30 this morning and we were so excited for him to see all of his toys. After we got him out of his bed, we ran ahead so we could video his reaction. When he rounded the corner and saw the truck he just stared like he was in total shock for what seemed like forever - no words!

Then he ran and jumped in with a big smile on his face!

I don't think he has let it out of his sight all morning - good job Santa!

Visiting Santa

Today, we took Sam to the Bass Pro Shop to have his picture made with Santa. Last year he was way too little to know that he might not want to sit with a stranger but I was a little worried that this year might be different.

He was all smiles while we were waiting in line - so far, so good.

Banks and Bobi came to join us. We were even able to get a picture of Santa with both boys after Sam had his picture made.

Sam telling Shuffie that Santa says, 'Ho, Ho, Ho!' right before it was our turn.

And here you have it - a fairly successful picture with Santa! It started out a little rocky with some shaking and a little poked out lip but no tears fell after I reminded Sam to tell Santa about that truck he really wants!

Tooth #14

Lower Left Canine

Tooth #13

Upper Right Canine

Tooth #12

Upper Left Canine

Giddyup Rusty!

The Polar Express

This weekend the three of us went with Eric, Amanda and Banks to ride the Polar Express at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum south of Birmingham in Calera, AL. We drove up early Friday morning so Sam and Banks would have a chance to rest up before our 6:30 train ride that night.

As soon as we parked at the museum, the boys spotted some old trains and wanted to climb and play on them. Then we headed inside the museum to pickup our tickets and wait for the train to arrive.

This is a picture of four VERY excited boys!

The three of us posed for a quick picture in one of the old trains...

before Sam and Banks went to play on some of the equipment they had outside. They sure did work hard!

Around 6:15 we heard the "toot, toot" (as Sam kept saying) and saw the bright light in the distance and knew the train was heading our way. On the ride to the North Pole the Polar Express story was read over the speaker ...

and we followed along in the book that we brought with us. After we finished reading the story, some of Santa's elves handed out bells for everyone to ring and we sang Christmas carols while we were riding. It wasn't long before the train started slowing down and we could see Santa's workshop and Santa and Mrs. Clause were out front waving at everyone - we had arrived at the North Pole!

Santa and Mrs. Clause came aboard the train to visit all of the children and Sam was absolutely amazed by them both! He especially like Mrs. Clause and wouldn't even take his eyes off of her for the picture. After the visit from Santa, we had chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk and the elves passed out a Polar Express ornament to everyone and a gingerbread man beanie baby to all of the kids.

Before it was time to leave the North Pole, the conductor walked through to check on everyone and we snapped his picture with Sam. I'm judging by the look on Sam's face that he wasn't so sure about this man he didn't know!

To make a long story short, all of the sugar from the milk and cookies kept our bed partner up for quite a few hours after his normal bedtime but somehow we managed to drag ourselves out of bed this morning for a little shopping at the Summit before we headed back to Jackson. It had some great stores that we enjoyed going in and we even played a little while in the toy department of Saks. Sam found him two VERY large furry friends that he wanted to take home with him but...

he settled for the cute little pup in the picture instead. He was definitely more of Sam's size and we decided to name him Saks.

We had a wonderful time experiencing the excitement of Christmas through the eyes of these two little boys and look forward to going to ride the train again someday!

Bedtime Stories

Sam hopped up in his glider chair tonight with a book and said "Read! Rock, rock, rock." I guess that was my cue to get the bedtime stories started!

Tooth #11

Lower Right First Molar