walking!

Okay, so I'm behind, yeah.  I guess the holidays can do that to you.  And I was barely ready for the holidays in time, so truthfully, I was probably behind before they even got here.

Well, it is what it is.

So here I am, a couple of weeks late, posting that MY BOY IS WALKING.

For a couple of weeks before Christmas, he was taking a few steps here and there -- practicing, I like to call it.  He was still moving pretty fast crawling so he hadn't totally abandoned that mode of transportation yet.

[uh, yeah...he's walking on the Word of God.  oops.]

Then the week of Christmas, he started really taking lots of steps all together to get from one place to another.  He would walk from this stationary object to that one, from mommy to daddy and vice versa.  I'm so proud of him for continuing to practice and keep at it -- he's doing really well now and can make turns and such. Now, he actually seems to prefer walking to crawling because usually if when he falls, he makes a beeline for the nearest object that will help him get back up and he's off again. 

He doesn't know how to stand up on his own, but I'm sure that's the next step.  Ha!  Step...get it?  Step, he's taking ste -- ha, ha!  :)

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours...

family photoshoot 2011...

We had a one-year photoshoot with the awesome photographer that took photos at Deacon's 1st birthday party and they turned out so great!  Deacon was feeling much better for these and it's evident in his happy little one-year old face!

1st birthday...

We had a small family get-together for Deacon's first birthday party, a few days after his actual birthday.  My parents were able to come, along with my brother and his family, and some friends who came to take photos for us so that I might actually end up in some of the photos.

Mommies, you know what I'm talking about.

I already regret how few photos there are of me with Deacon (or of our family of 3) throughout this first year so it was important to me to have someone take photos so I could enjoy the day with my son and family, but also so I could have those photos of me with him and our family to look back on.

Mad props and photo cred goes to my man, Larry Thacker!  Thanks so much for documenting this momentous occasion in the life of our family.

Okay, so back to the par-tay.  :)

I made most all of the decorations so it was pretty low-key but I'm super-proud of how everything came out.  They basically consisted of something to hang on the front door, announcing this milestone, a birthday banner to hang across our living room/kitchen area, a photo mobile hanging from our ceiling fan in the living room, and miscellaneous decorations for the food table, including cupcake toppers.

We served pizza for lunch along with cheese curls and rainbow-colored goldfish, sugar wafer cookies and cupcakes, of course.  Adults had sodas or water to drink, kiddos had caprisuns.

The party began at 12pm but Deacon was napping so we let him sleep until 1pm while everyone ate.  My poor baby was the sickest he's ever been in his short life...unbeknownst to us until AFTER the party was over and done with, he had strep throat, of all things.  He had been battling a rather high fever for 4 days prior to the party, and had also developed a runny nose with a little cough.

He really did well, considering, and participated for the most part during his party, but we just didn't get as many smiles as we would've had he been more like my happy baby boy.  :(

You can tell that in the photos, but he's still the cutest thing ever.  See for yourself:

His cake...funniest thing.  He didn't bother with using his hands at first.  He just went "no hands" on that thing!

Presents...he wasn't too into it, but he did like it when I "rrrrripped!" the paper.  That got him giggling a little bit.

Happy birthday, baby boy!  We have so enjoyed this first year with you and look forward to so many more, watching you change and grow and learn, and hopefully becoming a better mama and daddy in the process.  :)

We love you, doodle, with all that our hearts can contain.

one-year well check...

Deacon had his one-year well check a couple days ago (late I know, but we had to move it back a little because he had a bout with strep throat, of all things; he's totally over that now, praise the Lord!).  He got a great report from the pediatrician:

Weight: 20 lbs, 5 oz  (14%)

Height: 29"  (21%)

Head Circumference: 46.4cm  (49%)

Okay, so he's a short, lightweight thing, but I'm totally fine with that.  He definitely isn't scrawny by any means, with those chunky legs and apple cheeks.  Oh, I could just eat him up!  :)

He got 4 vaccines at his appt, boo.  2 sticks in each leg and boy, he didn't like that, but 15-20 secs after I was able to pick him up, he was over it.  Such a tough guy.  In fact, they had to stick his big toe for a hemoglobin test and he didn't make a peep over that.  He just looked down at the nurse while she squeezed the mess out of his toe to get enough blood and was like, "Hey...watcha doin' down there?"

He liked her purple gloves.  :)

So he's good for another 3 months, until his 15 month well check.  And I'm sure that will be here before I know it.

roar.

Our little guy was a lion this year for Halloween -- thanks, Aunt Jill, for the costume!  It was a 12 mo size but was still pretty big on him.  He did surprisingly well with the "hood" -- the head of the lion.  He kept it on without really messing with it at all.

Unfortunately, he has been sick with fever, cough and (very) runny nose so he wasn't in the best of moods for Halloween.  I'm figuring that sickness or not, every parent has at least one photo of their child in a costume crying their eyes out for one reason or another.  Anyone?

Yeah, we have one.

In an effort to be the best parents we can be avoid making things worse, we opted out of taking him around to the few houses we were going to take him in his lion costume.  Instead, we dressed him up and took him out to eat to celebrate Jeff's birthday at Outback Steakhouse.  :)

He did pretty well there mostly because there were lots of distractions, I'm thinking.  We heard an audible "awww" from everyone who walked by the table.  As a matter of fact, I DO have the cutest lion you've ever seen, thank you.

My, my -- how so much can change in a year...

pumpkin patch...

We took Deacon to a pumpkin patch last weekend.  Well, it's more than a pumpkin patch...it's Mike's Farm!  And those who live around here know or have heard of what I'm talking about.  It's a great "autumn thing" to experience -- a hayride to a pumpkin patch, a cute little country store with lots of fudge flavors for sale and yummy family style dining!  Oh, the restaurant is awesome, ya'll!  Country cooking including homeade mac & cheese, ham biscuits and banana pudding.  Mmm...

Deacon, of course, is a little young to even know what we were doing but he was a trooper through the waiting in line for hayride tickets, waiting in line for the hayride itself, waiting for our names to be called at the restaurant...

It's a pretty popular place this time of year.

He did fine on the crowded hayride, checking everything out along the way, as he always does.  We got some cute photos at the pumpkin patch which, of course, is the whole POINT of this trip.  :)

Shhh, don't tell anyone -- we didn't even get a pumpkin.  I wanted to get a small one for Deacon, but they were all gone (or smashed).  We didn't get one because Jeff has his own pumpkins growing and we're planning to carve one of those this weekend.  At least one of them, should be close to ready to harvest by then.  I hope the "guts" will be good because I'm planning to bake with it!