thank you nick

a special thanks goes out to cousin nick for a special gift. nick sent one of his old favorites for donovan to enjoy. it came complete with a card. thank you nick, donovan loves his new toy!

christmas week

this year was the first year dan and i have spent christmas in burnsville. we started off our marriage by spending christmas separate in order for both of us to see family that we only get to see once a year. as time went on and children were discussed we started spending christmas together. the past two years we have spent in new york with dan's family and this year we decided on burnsville. this was bitter sweet because it was dan's first christmas in 39 years away from his family, but the burnsville family was eagerly awaiting our arrival.



we started our festivities by picking up uncle matthew from the airport on the 22nd. he had not seen donovan since he was almost three months and lots has changed since then. we all headed to burnsville on the 23rd and got there just in time for dinner. donovan does not particularly like riding in the car, but this trip uncle matthew sat in the back seat to entertain both donovan and buck.....the first of our christmas gifts!

christmas eve traditions in my family have changed over the years due to matthew and myself not being home for christmas. our church has a candle light service in the evening, and my parents have invited people to our house after the service for food, drink and fellowship for the past few years. we were able to spend some time with people that we do not often get to see, and of course let donovan's extended family show him off.

christmas morning was perfect. the only thing that could have made it more perfect would have been for donovan to understand how cool this christmas morning really was. we woke up to a perfectly falling big fluffy flaked white christmas that lasted for the next 2 days! we opened gifts while snacking on breakfast and watching the snow in my parents brand new sun room....which is not sunny but is filled with big windows. donovan was way more into the paper and boxes than his gifts, but he did play with the pictures of children on his toy boxes. i think he thought he got children for christmas. later that day we headed to my granny's for a big turkey dinner--upon granny's request--complete with china and christmas dishes. we spent the evening walking in the snow with donovan, and eating, and opening presents, and eating.

sunday we had plans to go to my dad's parents in anderson, sc, but because of the snow we were unable to make it. this was a bummer because this was the first year in a long time that everyone was going to be there, and donovan was going to get to hang out with his two baby cousins. bummer. instead we had a lazy day at home trying to get matthew's flight changed since the weather was also keeping us from getting back to charlotte.

monday morning we were up bright and early to get back to charlotte for matthew's flight. it was still snowing on the 10"+ we already had and the first 30 minutes of the drive was hairy. we made it home safe and sound with that mixed feeling of glad to be home and unpacked, but sad that family was leaving and donovan's first christmas is over. the good news is that pops and bammie will be here in a couple of days!

8 months

this was the first month that i thought "wait how many months is donovna?".......i am gonna say it again....this goes way too fast.
the stats:
- wearing 12 month clothes...for a little longer
- size 3 diapers
- eats at 9am....2 oz. fruit with oatmeal, 6 oz bottle
12pm...2 oz. vegetable with a grain, 6 oz. bottle
3pm...8 oz. bottle
6pm...1 oz. protein, 1 oz. fruit or vegetable, 6 oz. bottle

-he started outthe month with getting from his stomach to his butt
-because of the new movement we lowered the crib
-he sat in a highchair at a restaurant for the first time
-saw snow for the first time
-used a sippy cup and had snacks for the first on a trip to burnsville....this makes travel much easier!
-crawled for the first time...and was motivated by the christmas tree and a blow-up hockey stick-we are noticing less spitting up
-on a good day takes 3 naps (usually goes down every 2 hours), goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps until 8:30 -9am

-notice the picture of him crawling up the first step for the first time....somebody is getting a baby gate for christmas!

our first christmas with a bambino

after dan's company party we laid low,and with our free time decided to celebrate our little family christmas. we usually travel for christmas and so dan and i have a tradition of celebrating our own christmas at our house. i have no idea what our traditions with donovan will be or if they will be fluid depending on the year, but i do hope we are able to keep our tradition of having a christmas with our immediate family. we do not do anything big, just turn onchristmas music, sit on the floor and hang out.

things are less complicated this year since donovan's priority is crawling around instead of leaving

cookies out for santa. i look forward to the excitement of santa and all that comes with it, but am cherishing this christmas of enjoying watching donovan grow and enjoying being a parent.

dan has always been a fantastic gift giver. he always obviously puts lots of thought into

his gifts and surprises me each year. we give each other stockings filled with gifts that usually have a theme. each year i

try to come up with a gift that i feel that dan will like, and although he is always gracious for what i give i can tell that he would have rather

me not spent the money to clutter up the house. this year instead of spending money in hopes i find something he really likes, i went to the grocery store and filled his stocking with things he uses. i failed again this year with the gifts, but at least i do not have to look at the clutter and think, "why did i buy that?"

when we were finished opening gifts we were watching donovan play in the torn paper instead of with his new toys, and i began doing my thing of looking for approval from my failed christmas gifts. dan looking at donovan said "that is my christmas gift from you". now i know that sounds cheesy and like some sort of movie line...or even the line that you might expect him to say during a perfect christmas moment, but to me it was precious. for those of you gagging about the love that dan and i spewed ...or rather i spewed.......all over this blog post be assured that dan is not getting soft he just had a moment........ and then

he spent the next day at the panther's game celebrating the annual "man day"........

holiday host

we hosted dan's holiday work party at our house this year. dan and i both like to host guests, but the to-do list takes longer with a little one. i started a couple weeks ago planning the menus and making my to-do list thinking i was going to be on top of things. now that it is over i have to say we rocked it, but oh my getting to that point. my mom came as usual on tuesday to keep donovan, but with my to-do list and bad weather we were lucky enough to have her until thursday morning. thank goodness! friday came and i could not believe how much i had left to do. i spent some time that day figuring on how to get out of town before guests arrived to a not prepared for party. donovan had a good day which was helpful, but still required lots of attention. when dan came home i ordered him around until our guests arrived.

6:30pm sharp our guests arrived and began doting over donovan. he was stand offish at first but a few minutes in he was being passed around while dan and i continued hosting. donovan is a good sleeper and just as usual we were able to put him to bed and he slept through the rest of the party like a baby( he he he). so long story short we were a hit, and we survived, and we had a good time.

the next da our good friends meghan, billy and their son liam came to visit on their way to celebrate christmas with their families. liam is almost 2 years old so donovan spent his time trying to impress his older buddy. when donovan sees other kids he loves it. he smiles big and tries to hang out with them, i have heard other parents say the same about babies noticing babies. donovan spends most if his time with adults so it was fun to see him interact. liam was sweet to bring donovan a sweet christmas present.

the picture of donovan and liam sitting together looking stunned was not a good representation of the visit...i just thought it was a funny picture. we then finished our no shower saturday celebrating our christmas.......check out the next post.........

board of education

daddy, or rather grandaddy, was elected as a board of education board member and was just sworn into office. just to brag a bit, he won the most votes in the county ...by lots. i think this is funny because my dad is not the least bit political. so off we went to burnsville to take part in the swearing in. gram had donovan an outfit complete with a toolbelt painted on for the occasion. we were able to spend the day watching it snow, really snow not like charlotte flurries. then we bundled up and headed to the board of ed. for the 15 minutes of fame...literally it was about 15 minutes, and then we headed back down the mountain with chests full of pride, and loaded up with new duds for donovan.

on the move

christmas shopping

dan, donovan and myself went christmas shopping. dan and i take one weekend day per season to knock it out. this year was a bit different because we had donovan....which means more shopping. we obviously have a few things in mind for donovan this year, like a brand spanking new babygate, but our list has also increased due to the new recognition of children in the family. of course we know there are children in our extended family, but the birth of donovan throws us into that pot of gift giving. getting to the point of life where i am giving toys for christmas is lots of fun, but i have hit a hard realization that i am clueless as to what kids want or enjoy. i am taken back to that very selfish time as a child where i would get a gift from someone that i did not want. i do not want to be that person that brings out the selfish.

dan and i have spent the past couple of weeks gathering family gift giving traditions. one family has a traditional secret santa where all names of grandchildren are put in a hat and each grandchild chooses a name to buy for with a $20 limit, and of course it is kept a secret as to who got your name. in another family there is a tradition of buying for all nieces and nephews 5 and under. this tradition had to be revisited this year to clarify if we are buying for great nieces and nephews since we have an influx of new bambinos. then we have my family that is much smaller. on my moms side donovan is the onl

y child, but on my dad's side he is one of 3 new great grandchildren. this means clarifying of traditions, which is to take my generation out of the g

ift giving mix and buy for kids only.

so with all the traditions gathered, and a few ideas of gifts we are on a timeline to mail out gifts by the end of the week and hope that we are not viewed by the kids as the most clueless gift giving family in the world. i know i know this is just the beginning! happy shopping......

oh yeah, and it just so happened on our shopping day we had snow!! well flurries...but it was still fun, and donovan's first snow.

gut laughs

donovan is soooooo ticklish. dan and i have a tradition of getting donovan dressed for bed in our room so he can flail around on our bed. he has realized that he can hit the bed with his face and it does not hurt nearly as bad as on the floor. while he flails we tickle him, and he gives the sweetest baby gut laughs :)