Christmas, Christmas, Christmas...And a Happy New Year!

Whew. What a busy, yet fun time of year. Our holiday season was filled with travel, fun, family, and two happy little boys when it came to gift opening time : )

Christmas Round One.

Started off with a bang with a trip to the ER for Jesse. He crashed on a dirt bike right before we were going to do our family of four Christmas. He damaged his shoulder (later to learn he had a separated shoulder). All is OK now.

The accident sure didn't stop these boys from being excited about opening gifts. Henry was the shocker this year. He LOVED all of it and got super excited when he would open anything. It was adorable.

Christmas Round Two.

A stop in Nashville to spend some time with Aunt Molly, Uncle Jonathan and Cassidy. A quick visit with Jesse's grandparents on the farm as we drove out of Nashville, and then it was on to Knoxville to see Gramma, Pops, Uncle Evan, Aunt Lea, more great grandparents...and Aunt Molly, Uncle Jonathan and Cassidy again.

Cassidy was full of sweet hugs for her aunt!

Only at a great-grandparents house do you get away with eating ice cream and cookies at 9 a.m.

Playing on Gramma's Dulcimer very carefully. This boy was born to play music.

On our way to Jump Jam trampoline park.

We think Pops had the most fun.

This is what happens when you spend an hour jumping and then decide to skip nap. He finally crashed around 5 p.m.

Baking our cake for Santa.

A Merry McKee Christmas!

Christmas Round Three.

My parents came to visit us around New Years weekend to celebrate a late Christmas with us. Always so nice to have family willing to travel to you after lots of car time.

Love Henry's face : )

Playing Memory Match game with Grammy.

Henry and Granddad reading the same book over and over. Henry was very content until I whipped out my camera.

And lastly, a very happy New Year! We celebrated with a Netflix countdown, sparkling white grape juice, party hats and an early bed time. Just the way it should be.

Now it's January. Happy detoxing everyone!

Henry's 12 Months Old

We made it to the BIG first birthday! A few tears may have been shed by myself, but mostly it was a happy day full of reminiscing over the past year. And oh what a wonderful, challenging year it was.
Henry taught all of us so much, and hopefully we taught him a thing or two :)

I should have put the sticker on his bottom for this photo shoot.

Other than turning one, another big first for the month was Christmas! He met Santa and did NOT like him, understandable. He opened a present from under the tree all by himself and without me knowing, but great job, bud. He enjoyed celebrating Christmas in Oklahoma with tons of cousins. And he certainly enjoyed opening and playing with all his new toys.

This boy would not sit still!

Here is what all happened this month:

Eating: I started weaning Henry from breast milk. He now only gets breast milk three times a day and gets cows milk with his snacks. He took to cows milk like a champ. He is definitely easier at transitioning to new things, unlike his brother.

Activity: I've noticed Emerson and Henry interacting and "talking" more to each other. I love watching their relationship grow. Henry has started to cruise the furniture and stand up independently, but I still feel like we are still a long ways away from walking. He is also now waves and points to things.

Sleeping: Henry has been hit or miss on naps lately. Some days he takes only one, other days two. It's nice to be able to skip that morning nap and be able to get out and about. But he really needs two naps still. On the days he just takes one, he is cranky and most likely over tired and won't nap well. We are just in the glorious phase of nap transitioning.

Serious...

Smirk...

 

Smile.

Doctor Visit Stats:

• Height: 2 ft, 5 in (75%)
• Weight: 21 lbs (47%)
• Other: We switched pediatricians and I could not be happier! Sometimes the hardest part about moving into a new community is not knowing who and where to go for health care. After living here for over a year, I received lots of good advice about who to go to. Our new pediatrician got lots of great reviews and her husband is a family doctor in the same office, so it's a one stop shop, so to speak.

Likes, Dislikes and Other Milestones:

• Hair is still thin, but it seems to be getting darker and curler in the back, so in other words, he has a mullet.
• Finally seem to be gaining weight. Love seeing rolls on those thighs.
• Said his first word, "Dada."
• Loves giving kisses.
• Has mastered walking in a walker when we play outside. 
• Wears a size 4 diaper.
• Wears 12 month clothing.
• Still working on getting his front tooth in, has 5 teeth total.
• Loves reading his Baby Peek-A-Boo book. 
• Likes bath time with brother, but only for a short amount of time. 
• Does not like being taken in and out of the car seat/stroller.
• Does not like green beans.
• Loves blueberries!

Christmas, 2015

Doesn't Christmas feel like forever ago? Really it was only about 15 days ago, but my neighbors stare at my lingering decorations and outside lights as if 6 months has passed. I'll get them down, eventually. Besides, I can't take it all down without having posted on my blog about Christmas, right?

So here it is...

1) We had some pre-Christmas fun: pancakes with Santa and sugar cookie baking. 

I would cry too, Henry. 

 

2) We opened our family presents. Emerson's big gift this year a tricycle. He loves it! He can't quite reach the pedals (oops), but likes to push off the ground with his feet.

3) We then traveled to Oklahoma to celebrate with my family.

Cousins, cousins everywhere! 

Matching jammie boys.

Cousin picture. The only two not cooperating are mine, of course.

 Merry first Christmas, Henry!

4) We took a cold trip to the mountains on Christmas day. We drove up Mount Scott, fed prairie dogs and then ate Chinese food. You know, like a normal family.

5) Then of course a trip to my family would not be complete without seeing a pet hedgehog (not pictured) and some chickens.

Emerson could not contain his excitement, but was still too afraid to actually touch one.

Henry had no fear : )

 

6) And lastly, we got to make a bonus stop in Dallas to see several of Jesse's family. 

Now that that's done, I can take down my Christmas decorations and focus on my sweet baby turning ONE! Stay tuned for that...

O Christmas Tree, 2015

It's that time of year! Time for my favorite Christmas tradition, picking out our Christmas tree. This year was extra special because it was Henry's first time to "help" pick a tree.

The hunt begins.

 

 The winner!

Emerson was just happy to run around.

"I'm freeeee!"

Traditional Jesse's-bringing-in-the-tree photo.

 And now I get to enjoy the wonderful fresh pine smell...and dig pine needles out of Henry's mouth : )

Christmas, 2014

Christmas is always such a busy time of year for us, but we are so blessed we had safe travels and got to spend it with family.

Christmas #1: We celebrated our family Christmas a little bit early with Emerson before we hit the road. Can't believe this will be his last Christmas with just him! Next year baby brother will get to join the fun.

 I tried to start the tradition of letting him open a wrapped Christmas book everyday in December, but I only gathered up about 10 books for this year. Oh well, it's a start at least. 

Reading one of his Christmas books.

Opening presents by our tree. Emerson got really good at this : )

Christmas #2 (actually over Christmas): We traveled to TN to spend Christmas week with Jesse's parents. We made an extra special trip to Dollywood to see the Christmas lights, which were amazing!



On the carousel ride at Dollywood (only picture I captured!). Although Emerson looks like he is hanging on for dear life, he kept saying "again, again" when the ride finished. 

Matching PJs on cousins are the cutest!

Traditional sibling picture by the tree.

Emerson loved his vacuum cleaner that Gramma and Pops gave him. He always loves to help me vacuum at home, but now he has his very own.

Helping Gramma make Christmas cookies.

Christmas #3: My parents came down after the New Year to see our new house and to celebrate a late Christmas.

Working hard on the cool work bench Emerson got from Grammy and Granddad. Now he can help me with the inside work with his vacuum and help Jesse out in the garage : )

We also went downtown Beaumont to see the Worlds third largest fire hydrant at the firefighter museum. Unfortunately the museum was closed, but Emerson still seemed impressed with the hydrant : )

Toddling around downtown.

It also worked out that while my parents were visiting, my mom was able to attend my baby shower that the church held for me, but I'll post about that at a later date. First I had to catch-up on our busy Christmas fun.

Hope everyone else has a Merry Christmas and your New Year is off to a great start!