Great Christmas!

We had a terrific Christmas. A wonderful reminder how blessed we are - by our Savior's birth, by family and close friends. Mostly pictures - I don't want to forget!

We spent Christmas Eve at the service at Covenant and then dinner with the Moores - our longstanding tradition!

Family picture on Christmas Eve. Notice (if you can) Turner's 2 front teeth - he got them for Christmas!! And 2 on the bottom - we went from 0 to 4 in a matter of days!

All the Starrs...

And the Moores...we seem to outnumber them!

Someone's favorite thing to do at their house was to play on the air vent. Seriously - for half an hour!

So funny. Then we headed to the Averitts for a later Christmas Eve party, but I didn't bring my camera. And Turner was fast asleep!

Playing with his new musical instruments from Santa

Heath opening his Christmas/birthday present from me - a trip to the Outback bowl this weekend! War Eagle!!

Then we went to my parents' house and opened presents with these monkeys! (I forgot Turner had matching pajamas - that would have been a cute cousin picture. Oh well.)

Then some candid pictures from lunch at my parents' house with Mom's family.

Some sweet time with great grandparents...

Grandad Starr - this is his serious annual Christmas outfit. No really. It is cute (in a way), but stands out! I wish you had seen our family the first time he wore it years ago. Festive he is, but he wore orange socks?! Hmmm.

Picture with Dink - who calls Turner "Smiley"

And sweet Nanny

Then we headed to Andalusia for dinner. Here we are with Uncle Jay and cousin Ellie at Granny Eloise's house.

Heath looks like Turner in this picture to me. But Turner doesn't look just like Heath. Weird.

Sitting like a big boy at the table (in a booster seat!) with MeMe and Pap

Playing with Granny Eloise

Turner is blessed to have 5 great-grandparents to love on him. We love and appreciate this and know it won't last forever! Here is the fifth and final one - Granny Fran!

Turner not liking Mom's new camera (thank you Aunt Kate for the tutorial - I was excited about the mom camera, but overwhelmed)

Ahh, Granny had the magic bottle to calm him down.

And the BIG news is that Turner Bug is walking! He officially mastered it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - what a fun gift! One that might come back and bite me :)

Now we are off to Tampa for the Outback Bowl. Did you know Auburn made it to a bowl game too? War Eagle and Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas

Merry, Merry Christmas! May God bless you in the New Year!

Luke 2:10-11 - "And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'"

Christmas Time

We took Turner to see Santa for the first time last week. He and cousin Kate LOVED it, but Blake not so much. The intent was to get a picture of all 3 kids with Santa, but they moved too much and it was hard!
This is actually Turner's second Christmas. His due date was Christmas Day, but then he came in time for Christmas! I would say this is the first Christmas he will remember, but probably not. But, he has been in the spirit nevertheless!

We went to a friend's Christmas party/playgroup. Here were some attempts at pictures of the kids. It was a great time - these little munchkins were all over the place and having fun. And it was great to talk to friends I don't see all the time!

Yesterday was his Christmas party at school. His teachers think that I dress him up "too girly." So, they bought him an outfit to "man him up." I thought it was funny, though throughout the day, he began looking more and more like a lumberjack.

They were looking for Rocawear (I had not heard of it), but they settled for Polo. :)

On a side note, they bought this outfit in his current size (12 month), but thought that I needed to go trade it for an 18 month so he could wear it longer. So, I went to K and G to trade it out. Let's just say that they (his teachers) thought this was hilarious, because I was the only white person in the store. Heath says this is inappropriate to write, but I really don't know how to say it any other way. Here he is with his teachers - Shaneka, Kina and Na'Shira.

Back to his first class Christmas party. I took this picture of the other cute little mothers and their kids partying it up (I didn't tell them I was taking this picture!). The next is a picture of the party dog/lumberjack enjoying it! Ughh!!

In other exciting news, we found out yesterday that baby number 2 is another boy. We are very excited! Heath was pulling for boy, and I was pulling for girl - he won! It was an exciting day because with Turner, I knew 100 percent he was a boy. So, there was never any wondering. This time I had no idea - wasn't sure either way. Here were several of my thoughts as we were looking at the ultrasound (in no particular order):

"Oh my goodness, I am really pregnant again...I see it moving around!" (kind of freaking out/overwhelmed - I tend to be in denial about pregnancy, but that is hard as you watch your child inside of you!!!)

"Aww, not a girl. Will I ever be able to buy bows and ruffles?" "Good, a boy. We are already in boy mode/have tons of supplies and clothes."

"If Turner could pick, he would have picked a boy - they will really be best friends." "Oh my goodness, I am going to have 2 boys 16-17 months apart. Lord, please help me!!"

About an hour after finding out, I was happily in denial again. I know, that is messed up, but that is how I get by these days. I am so blessed to have another baby coming - mostly thrilled, partly scared out of my mind.

If it had been a girl, I would have been shocked and excited, but then overwhelmed. I have NOTHING girl, and don't see myself with enough energy (or money) to order new bedding, paint another room, buy new precious outfits. (I would like one eventually, but I know I can't order them!) Dr. A reminded me yesterday that God gives us exactly what we need at the right time. I KNEW when Heath said he wanted another boy, that would be what it was. I looked at Heath on the way into the ultrasound and said "My thoughts are 75% boy, 25% girl." His main thing is that if they are going to be this close, he would rather them be the same sex. He keeps saying "They can just pal around and beat each other up." ?!?! I do see what he is saying, but that is not the most comforting! My biggest hurdle is that we do not have any clue on a name!!! We will figure something out soon.

I will say that when I went to tell Turner at school (he seemed really interested :)), I remembered there is something indescribable about a little boy and their mom! This little weasel kills me!

I was really reminded yesterday what a miracle babies are. They are truly a gift from God, and I am beyond blessed that this little nameless boy is growing so perfectly and is healthy already! Here are some pictures - when I saw his head I said "That looks like Turner!" I promise - it was crazy how much they resembled!! It made me smile to watch him move and flip around and wave and suck his thumb. I will love meeting him, but glad it is not too soon!!

In other news, Turner is FINALLY getting some teeth. I felt 4 of them this morning. That means we have gone from 0 in 1 year to 4 in a matter of days! They haven't fully poked through, and he tries to bite (gum) me every time I try to investigate!!

He is a wild man. He has decided he loves strawberry pop tarts. But, I don't see how he is eating any, because more ends up in his hair, on his body, in his diaper, and on the floor than in his mouth!! I am not kidding. A mess!

And, his favorite news. He is a big boy, and has turned his car seat around. He loves it and I laugh driving down the road as he loves looking out the window and "singing" to the radio - preferably Christmas songs.

Can't drink that water bottle - just likes to hold it. And eating a Nilla wafer - of course!

Happy Birthday Turner!

My little weasel turned one yesterday! I can't believe it. People have asked if I am sad, but the old cliche is true - they do get more fun all the time! I didn't really understand/buy this until I had my own child, and I might have rolled my eyes at that statement, but it is true.

We just left lunch after church. Heath had a meeting, so Turner and I were walking to the car. I dipped him down and said "GRRRR" - tell me I am not the only person who does things like this?! - and he just cracked up. Threw his head back and was dying laughing, which made me do the same. He does that to me every day. Lately, when we have been driving down the road he will look at himself at laugh for 5 minutes at a time. I can't wait until he can tell me what is so funny!

I looked back at all of his pictures on our computer yesterday, and you really do forget they were ever that small. Holding Baby Ellie (and Baby Miller and Baby Luke) last week made me realize Turner is a giant! He weighs about 24 pounds - we go tomorrow for his 1 year appointment, but he has stayed in 50-75th percentile for height and weight. He can say (and mean) "Uh-oh" and wave "Da-da" for bye bye. Close enough for me now. And, big news! He took 2-3 steps yesterday for the first time. On his first birthday! He did it again at Sunday School today, so I know I am not crazy!

We had a birthday party for him last weekend. I was waiting to post pictures until his actual birthday. It was a family party. I went back and forth about inviting friends, because I enjoy going to one year old parties. But, we couldn't figure out where to draw the line. Not that people would even care, but if we invited so and so, we needed to invite other so and so, and then it would have been 75 or so people. In my house? I think not. Especially since dear child won't remember! He did have one friend that wasn't family - York. They are best friends, and York would have been crushed not to be there. Ha.

Here are some pictures:

I couldn't decide on a theme for his party. So, I saw this invitation and decided we would have a monkey party. He is a monkey for sure!!

The food table - birthday cake, M & M's (see below), fruit salad, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls, chips and dip, peanut butter balls with monkey faces on them.

Birthday cake and smash cake.

These are a sample of the M&M's. They had 'Happy Birthday', 'Turner is one' and 2 pictures of Turner on them - one when he was a newborn and one from now. Creepy? Maybe. But fun.

The party favors were balloons with bananas to hold them down. Attached were small sock monkeys that look like the one above.

Look at all those presents!! MeMe and Pap gave him that Pottery Barn Anywhere chair, and he is obsessed with it. But I can honestly say he has been pretty obsessed with all of his new toys!

Grandparents everywhere! Here is Heath's dad and his Granny Eloise.

Turner and York with their daddies!

GiGi and Grandad - check out Turner's monkey shirt!

He liked his cake, but didn't do too much damage.

Birthday banner

Family picture - hard to take these days with him moving around so much!

Turner and Pop Pop

MeMe and Cousin Ellie

Uncle D and Aunt Lindsey

Turner Bug,

Daddy and I love you so much more than we ever knew we could. You have been a great baby this first year - let's keep that up, okay? You smile all the time and you are easy going. You make people laugh and you are always curious! The other day at Chick-fil-A I brought you in and the ladies knew you by name and commented how cute you looked. Seriously - I had never seen them before, but Daddy takes you there on Saturday and you have left quite an impression. One girl even ran back to the back to get her friend saying "Turner is here in a Christmas outfit!"

I praise the Lord for you, and I pray you will grow up to be a godly, loving man. I am glad I have a few more years with you before I turn you loose! Next year should be interesting with a sibling, but you won't ever be able to remember the difference!

Thank you, Lord, for this little blessing. I can't believe the difference a year makes! Remind me how blessed I am to have a healthy baby boy when I am chasing him around the house ALL the time!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

The one year old monkey as I write this! That is what I felt like after the birthday party!!