Santa, baby....

We had so much fun this Christmas! It was William's first, and was a very special time for our whole family. We spent Christmas eve here at home, baking, wrapping and opening presents. William got so many nice toys and clothes from our family...he was so excited! We have been so blessed this year with such a sweet and healthy baby, and can't wait to see what this next year holds for our little family!

This was Christmas Eve before we opened gifts

William exploring his new bath toys from Santa

Helping daddy

Thanks for the bow...he loves it!

Daddy being funny

This is my favorite...check out the shirt!

Christmas day at my parent's house

Loved this toy from Sugar and Pop!

Finally...meeting the Big Guy!! Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!

A Whole New Perspective on Christmas

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year...lights, music, shopping, warm fires in the fireplace, etc. It has always been a time to remember the baby Jesus, and the glorious celebration of His birth. I try to stop and really think what that must have been like for Mary...to travel that far, being THAT pregnant...to not have anywhere to rest in Bethlehem but a stable....to have to give birth to your child next to animals...to smell the stench of the barnyard with every breath...to have no where to lay your newborn baby except in a feeding trough. Now that I have a son of my own, it is much easier to imagine how hard that must have been for Mary. We all want what is best for our children, but God loved us so much that he chose to have His only Son to be born in a stable. A place so ordinary...so human. That is the true definition of love.

We put up our tree and decorations last weekend, and were able to snap a few pictures of William in one of his Christmas outfits. He's not yet crawling, but he's scooting...mostly in circles! He loves bouncing while standing, and loves "Jingle Bells"!

Here are a few pics from the last week, and a couple of videos I thought everyone might enjoy!

Halloween in December

Today, I was putting away laundry in William's room when I found this little green monster

At first I was afraid, but he assured me that he meant no harm. This friendly little monster said that he was sick at Halloween, and couldn't drop by for a visit in October, but that he wanted to show off his new outfit before it got too small! He and I had lots of fun playing, dancing and even hung around for a photo op!

But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Before he left, however, he let me get a little video of his dance skills. He even added a little monster roar at the end, to say "I'll see ya next year!"

Counting Our Many Blessings

This Thanksgiving was William's first, so it was a very special one in the Lovelady house. We spent the day with my family at my parents house, and had so much fun. William stole the show, smiling, laughing and showing off his new skill of drinking water out of my glass! He is growing so fast that sometimes I wish time would just stay still. I know that I will look back and wonder where the time went, so I'm really trying to enjoy every moment of every day that I have with him. Every smile is precious, every roll-over is like his first, and every sweet baby-kiss is locked away in my memory.

Jay and I have so much to be thankful for this year, that it's hard not to be overwhelmed with emotion just thinking of all the many blessings God has given. We are all so blessed with a loving and forgiving Father, who selflessly gave his own Son, so that we and our own sons can live...that is the ultimate definition of love. I never really knew depth of sacrifice this was until I became a mother. Now, the thought of having to give up my own son's precious life, so that a sinful nation could be free really puts things into perspective. I am thankful for a wonderful and loving husband, who loves me and William more than anything in the world. I am thankful for a perfect child, who has absolutely been the light and the joy of our lives. I am thankful for a job, and warm home to come home to, and for loving parents who taught me the values of God and family. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Who Has Time to Sleep??

Over the last month or so, William has become much more active and interested in absolutely everything that we are doing. He doesn't want to go to sleep, for fear that he will miss something. He's always reaching, grabbing or chewing on something, and doesn't ever sit still anymore. He's mastered sitting, but we're still working on crawling. I took these pictures over the past couple of days. The first was what I found when I went into the nursery during naptime...my little turtle (or parascope, as Jay calls him). The other is of William's new walker. He loves it, although he's still working on the walking part!

Other random pics from the last week

Jay and William playing video games together

Bath-time with his new Elmo mat

My First Halloween

We had planned on William being a little green monster this year for Halloween, but turned out he was sick the whole weekend. He actually had to go to the doctor on Halloween day, which was no fun! I had to work that weekend, so it was just he and Jay, but we did manage to get a few pics of 2 of his little halloween outfits. We still plan on putting him in his monster costume, and snapping a few pics, so stay tuned...they will be up soon! The first few photos are the Thursday before halloween, when he and I were home alone, and the other is of his pumpkin outfit. You can't really see it well, because he was exhausted after going to the

doctor!

Sitting On My Own

Well, William is just growing by leaps and bounds! Every time I turn around, it seems like he's doing something new. His latest trick...sitting! It doesn't seem like much to you and I, but to a little one, this is a big accomplishment! We've been battling ear infections, and teething for the last few weeks, so he's had a rough time lately, but hopefully we're on the upswing and we'll have more fun pics to post. Maybe some of those pics will even have a tooth in them!

.

These are of my boys enjoying some quality time together watching football...Elmo included!

HE LOVES CARROTS!!

So, after numerous exhausted efforts at trying to get William to eat cereal, we decided to give it up, and start veggies. We were so excited to learn that he absolutely loves carrots!! We also tried squash tonight, and he's a big fan of that also! It's hard to believe that he's growing up so fast. We'll be cutting up his meat before we know it!

These other pics are of my boys while we were mattress shopping. They were trying them out...I think they like it!

Eating our first solids...sort of

Today, we started William on solid food...rice cereal. We had planned on waiting until he was 6 months, but he has recently become very interested in everything that we're eating. During meals, he has started grabbing at plates, glasses, food, and anything else within reach. Today, while at the fair, he actually started screaming because we wouldn't give him any chicken-on-a-stick and coke! We took that as a hint that maybe he's ready for something other than milk. I'll let the video tell you how it went!

The State Fair

Today, we took William to the fair for the first time. He spent most of the time taking in all the new sights and sounds. I managed to squeeze in a few photo-ops while we were there. These are of William's sweet baby kisses, and a cute pic of my boys.

This was taken before we went in...all bundled up!

Our First Family Photos

We had our first family photos a couple of weeks ago, and we are so excited that they turned out so wonderful! William was a bit fussy throughout, with his nap cut short, but Katie managed to get beautiful pics anyway. We hope that you will check them out, and enjoy them as much as we have. Here is the link, just click and then put in your email address for tracking purposes.

http://kstafford.photobiz.com/cart/event_login.cfm?eventID=258975

A Week of New Adventures

William had several new adventures, to include his first ride in the front of the shopping cart, his first trip to bass pro (his dad is proud of that one) and his first laugh. I wasn't able to get the laugh on video, but I did get a couple of others. I'm throwing in a couple of extras, because they were too cute!

Weekend with dad

His bad habit

His first trip to bass pro, trying on a hat that Jay picked out. It says "my first fishing hat".

This is his new shopping cart cover. We love it because he can't sit up yet on his own, so it gives him a little extra support.

Attempting to sit up

William has recently been trying to sit up, and has his trunk control has come a long way. He's able to sit up like a tri-pod, and has been scooting on the floor! Here's a couple of pics, excuse the big-head look!

Big boy high-chair

Friday, mom and I ate ate Cracker Barrel, and we decided to take a some pics of William in his big boy seat. The other high-chair was at our friend Connor's house. He looks pretty good, and said he's going to be ready for some solid food soon!

Family Photos

Today was the first time we got pictures made as a whole family, and it went really well, despite the humid weather and a cranky baby! I'm posting a couple of the proofs, and will send a link to the finished product as soon as they are through being edited. The other picture is of William sporting his new hat from the Gap. Since he's not any closer to growing a head of hair than the day he was born, I thought that we might need a couple of hats for the winter!

Where to start...

Well, I finally decided to jump on the blog bandwagon. I've been meaning to start blogging for some time now, but our lives have undergone some major changes in the last 5 months, and time has just slipped by. As most of you know, Jay and I welcomed William Carter Lovelady to our family on April, 27th of this year. He weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz, and was almost 19" long. Since then, he has grown by leaps and bounds! We just went for his 4 month check up, and at almost 5 months he is weighing 14 lbs, 5 oz! He is 25" long, and is right on schedule developmentally. He is able to push his whole chest off the ground, while looking around to check things out. He will be crawling soon, and walking before we know it! He has been the light of our lives, and I just can't wait to see what he'll be doing tomorrow! These are some recent pics and videos from the last week I though everyone might enjoy.