Christmas Pajamas!

Those of you who know me well know that when it comes to clothes, I am the ultimate bargain shopper. I am cheap cheap cheap and love a sale, an outlet or a consignment shop.

Also, those who know me know that I have moved from being a Christmas sweater wearer to a Christmas sweater derider, and frequently make fun of those who wear theme sweaters as being QuackerFactory subscribers. Furthermore, I am not an advance planner.

I bought these pajamas full price in October. That's how cute they are.
Also, in this shot, you can see what my husband believes to be a mullet. I think it is obvious that it is just little baby hair.

Here he is right before bed tonight playing with his lion. So fun.

Tough Night but Fun Afternoon

So superbaby and I had a really tough night last night. He's teething and he screamed non-stop for about three hours before finally calling it a night last night. Nevertheless, we decided to forge ahead with plans for our Christmas card picture this morning. After a couple of false starts (see below)... We got the perfect one. By the way, V's sporting the 2T outfit Judy Philpott got him last year- I remember looking at it and thinking it would NEVER fit and it has been nine months- Vake is getting too too big!!!

Then we went to Maymont to check out the ducks and farm animals. First we went to see the ducks.

Vake was very curious. As were the ducks.

After that, we went over to the Children's Farm at Maymont. Good times, good times.

The little miniature goats were the fan favorite here.

Hard to believe that it is Christmas when the weather is this nice!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Eric and I decided not to get a Christmas tree this year- mostly because we are going to be out of town for the majority of the holiday season and a little because I have an irrational fear that Vake the Strong will pull a tree over onto himself.

So instead, I worked on a great plan for the front door, mostly inspired by our neighbor, Jeff Willis, who does a phenomenal display of garland and blue and silver ornaments. I didn't want to be too much of a copycat and pink and green ornaments weren't available, so Mom and I picked red and silver.

I've got to take some closeups of the garland.

So now we've got that and the Christmas flag!


We went with friends to the Jefferson last night in an attempt to get the Christmas card pic. These are NOT making the cut. But the Jefferson looked great!

Thankful.

We've got so much to be thankful for this year. Good family. Good friends. Good jobs. Good food. Good house. GREAT baby.

Here's little Vake playing with his Granny Lou.

We all worked hard to get a pretty and delicious Thanksgiving feast prepared! Anne, Louise and I were in charge of setting the table while Eric cooked! The ratio of pies to people was .5/1. Yum.

Here's a close up of the placecards- a meal's not complete without Uncle Neil.

And decorating the dining room was this great craft that Taren did with Vake.

And Vake wore his new, custommade bib.

Here's the table before we all sat down.

And one happy happy baby checking out the action!

Hi people. Vake here. I'm sure momma will post about my first Thanksgiving soon, but I just wanted to say this. I like dogs. I really like my big dogs. They let me pet them, and climb on them, and even taste them. But nothing is funnier to me than a little dog.

Bluegrass Baby

Last week, Vake went with us to a barn party- he loved the music.

He's getting more and more into listening to what's around him...

New Door

Big old shoutout to Anne and Dennis- who JUST finished totally stripping and repainting their front door.

You guys, it is REALLY starting to look amazing. I cannot wait to come and help out once the furniture gets delivered. I am so proud of you two!

Children's Museum

On Tuesday, Taren, Vake, Huff and I went over to the Children's Museum for an after-hours event. V and Huff are enjoying the museum more and more- they will be LOVING it this summer I bet. We played with the giant vegetables in the "crawlers' area"- which Vake loved. But he loved this noisemaker even more...

And then we practiced standing up for awhile...

How funny is it that this baby already has his poses down. We like to call this one Blue Steel.

And this is my Magnum.

Have you all seen the size of this tomato? I mean, really. It's ridiculous.

In other news, Vake LOVES brunswick stew. LOVES it. I cannot express to you how much he loves it. Like half-a-can loves it. Adult servings loves it. My little southern pumpkin.

YAY!

Mommy finished the Richmond half marathon! Daddy and I went and cheered her on at the 2 mile mark. She was looking pretty good at that point, although I understand the last 3 miles were a real challenge.

After we cheered on mommy, daddy and I sat on the front porch and watched the runners in the full marathon go by. Our house is just past the 18 mile mark. The first runner came by 1 hour and 32 minutes into the race. That's wicked fast! Imagine running 18 five minute miles in a row! I had a lot of fun watching the runners go by and watching all the spectators cheering everyobdy on. It was lots of fun.

Now it's time for an afternoon snack and a nap.

bye bye!

9 Months Old at JC Penney

Hi there you all. I am really big now. Really really big.
And cheerful.

I am crawling all over the place right now and I love to talk about it.

What do you think? Could I be a professional model? Maybe if I fluff my hair just so?

Oh well. If I can't get work as a baby model, maybe I could be one of Santa's helpers?

What in the world are they keeping in these boxes? Hmmm.

Oh it is good times, good times.

Alright. Enough of this. Get the Santa hat off of me before I come after you. I mean it.

If you won't take the Santa hat off, I guess the only thing left to do is wear it while I dance!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Vake and I have a little morning routine down. It is not perfect, but given that I have a 30 pound 9 month old that I have to get ready by myself, we are no longer striving for perfection. Mix in the newfound separation anxiety (I am still shocked- he will go with anyone but do not leave him alone in a room!) and we are just doing the best we can...

Last week when Eric was away, we hit rock bottom when Vake was literally in the shower with me! There! Now he's got at least six months of things to work through with a therapist!

But this week's been better. He's consented to sitting in the bathroom while I am in the shower.

Goldfish!

Here's what's delicious in our world.

I've got some good strengths in the Mom department, but I've got some major weaknesses- and they actually track my overall personality pretty well. But on Sunday, I just couldn't catch a break. Eric had just gotten home, so I was going to take Vake to church with me. Well, of course the printer's not hooked up so I couldn't print the lesson for Sunday School and then I got to the Strawberry Street Market and had already gotten coffee but left my wallet at home so had no way to pay for it (fortunately the crazy lady with the baby and the coffee looked so pitiful the woman behind the counter told me I could pay Monday) and finally I realized that I had forgotten the required snack for Vake.

So we got these. And Vake loves them.

Really loves them. Here he is getting them to his little mouth.

Happy Ninemonthiversary, Vake!

SO hard to believe that Vake's nine months old tomorrow! Absolutely crazy to think I was pregnant for nine months, too, btw!

At nine months, Vake is:

Crushing the growth curves- nearly 30 pounds(!) and every bit of 31 inches;
Loving his dogs;
the proud owner of six teeth, with two more on the way;
the smiliest, happiest baby;
able to army crawl wherever he needs to go;
still an adventurous eater;
sleeping 12 hours at night with two decent naps during the day;
making all kinds of talking sounds;
enjoying standing up at the activity table;
starting to show the signs of separation anxiety- he really doesn't like for his people to leave the room;
still a huge fan of bathtime;
able to use his thumb and forefinger in a pincher grip (comes in handy for eating goldfish crackers); and
one of the snuggliest, coziest little boys you are liable to meet!

Ridiculous.

I should start this post by saying that I am not the soundest sleeper I know. That award has to go to a friend of mine who is better at sleeping than almost anyone I know. If sleeping were a sport, though, I'd wager that I'd be able to compete at at least the college level.

Except since I had a baby. And except since Eric started traveling.

So here I am at 4:59 am. I've been awake for at least 45 minutes. If I were truly spectacular, I'd go jump on the treadmill. But because I am becoming an old lady at an alarming rate of speed, I am going to go read Southern Living.

Shout out to Anne and Dennis- they've bitten the bullet and are getting their floors professionally refinished next week.

Pediatrician's Visit

We went to see Dr. Thorpe today because of a scheduling snafu that had me in two places at once on Monday morning.



Vake weighs 29 pounds and six ounces and is 31 inches tall. To help those who, like most of the normal world, have no idea what that actually means, Vake is literally "off the charts" for his age in both categories. He is the height of the "average" 15 month old boy and the weight of the (gulp!) of the average 25 month old. Yowzers. His head circumference, 19 inches, is also the 50% for 25 month old boys.

Interestingly, his current growth is not yet predictive of his adult size and stature and won't be until he is about three.

When did you get so big?

This whole growing up thing is happening a little too fast. Can you believe my big boy? He loves the Cozy Coupe. In a couple of weeks, he'll be driving it all over the living room...

The Pirate Song.

So the other night, I wrote about the Pirate Song. I just went and found it- it is still as funny as I remember it- which leads me to believe that my development was probably arrested about the time I hit fourth grade.

This goes out to the Fisher family members. Peter Fisher and I thought this was quite possibly the most hilarious thing we had ever heard- takes me right back to riding in the back seat of the Ford Tempo in 1985.

So this is a pirate who REALLY does not want to go with the program. He wants to sing and dance.




V and I are without Eric for the rest of this week- he's at a seminar...

AARGH! I want to be a pirate.

Argh. I want to be a pirate.

Does this remind anyone of the pirate who wants to sing and dance? I've got to find the lyrics to that song.

How cute is this sweater? Love it.

Why Yes, I am an excellent crawler, thanks for asking...

The pumpkin and I continue to practice crawling- he's really starting to get there!!!!