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!

Emerson's First Easter

The Easter bunny knew that Emerson had just celebrated his birthday and had lots of new toys, so he figured an Easter basket would be too much for Emerson to handle this year...in other words, this momma was tired and was so busy focusing in his birthday party that she (on purpose) did not do anything for Easter.


He did have a cute new Easter outfit (shout out to Gramma for making it) to wear to church on Sunday and I had bought him some bunny ears for pictures...so there was some effort for his first Easter celebration : )

Happy first Easter, Emerson! I am sure the Easter bunny will make an appearance next year.

Emerson's First Christmas: Part 2

We spent Christmas in Oklahoma this year with my family. It was a winter wonderland! Thankfully the roads were not icy and our drive up was a safe one.

Play time with cousin Lillian.

Emerson and cousin Jack were "sharing" toys.

Playing a rousing game of Headbanz...its harder than it looks :)

All the grand kids with Granddad and Grammy.

We played Dirty Santa the night before our Christmas this year with board games and it was so much fun.

There were some pretty funny moments.

Our family Christmas morning.

Opening stockings.

With my beautiful mom and sister.

Playing with his Christmas gift from Grammy and Granddad.

Frying up our Christmas lunch. Brrr...

 Emerson and his real smile, and Lucas with his "smile for the camera" smile.

With cousins Nathan and Wade. Won't be long before their little brother arrives!

With Granddad Connie.

I just love that doggie hat and double chin.

Beside all the time I got to spend with family, I also got spend some time with my best friend and her fiancé. Their wedding is in April so I got to run a few wedding errands with them and they got to meet Emerson for the first time.

He wasn't too sure about Rob's beard, but he sure was happy to be in this photo :)

And on a totally random note, I got to shoot Jesse's gun while we were at my parents house. Watch out world, I know how to load and shoot it now!

 

 

 My target: the pond. I look so ridiculous and unnatural shooting the thing, but at least I know how to handle it now.

 

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Bring on 2014...

Emerson's First Christmas: Part 1

As always, I took a TON of photos and had a hard time narrowing down which ones to post, so I am just going to do this in a series.

Jesse, Emerson and I celebrated our family Christmas on Dec. 21 before we headed to Oklahoma.

Emerson didn't really care much about the tree this year (thank goodness), but we also never really play in our dinning room, so he was never around it.

The lights were mesmerizing.

Time to open presents!

Emerson's loot pile.

He was great at opening presents and being interested in the whole process. He, of course, especially loved playing with the wrapping paper.

He loved the activity cube we got him.

 

I loved getting to celebrate Christmas traditions this year with a child. Even if he is too little to remember, it makes it so much more special!

Emerson's First Trip to Tennessee

We recently made a trip to Tennessee to visit Jesse's family. This was Emerson's first visit to Gramma and Pops house. This was also the first time Emerson got to meet Uncle Evan. And sadly I didn't capture a very good picture of them, but I think the one below is pretty funny  : )

Just love both their faces, as if they were saying  "what do I do with this guy?".

Friday night was the only night the whole McKee family was able to be together so we snuck in a quick family picture.

Get ready for tons of other photos...

Playing a classic, croquet.

Wearing orange for the TN game.

Meeting new friends!

Jesse's best friend from high school, Michael, his fiancé and his family. Emerson was quite the charmer.

Emerson, Jesse and Michael.

 

These three headed to the TN vs. Georgia game. A great game, but we all had wished for a different outcome.

 

Story time with Gramma before bed.

Hanging with Aunt Molly.

 

Goodbye hugs.

 

Jesse and I headed back to Nashville to catch our flight, but first we made a stop at the greats house.

Emerson got to meet his great-granddaddy and great-grandmomma for the first time. He loved spending time with them.

But we ran into a nap time issue and he had enough of being charming :)

What a great trip! Can't wait until the next one.