Merry Christmas!

An Irish Visitor

Friday afternoon, we had some very special visitors at our house! Joanna, one of my best friends who moved to Ireland a few months ago, is in town for Christmas and she came by to see us! I was so excited to see her and talk in person. Joanna and I used to go to lunch at least once a week so I've been missing our chats. I'm so glad I was able to see her and hate that I won't be here to spend more time with her.

Also, Holden, Leanne's 2 week old, came by to visit, too! Probably a first visit of many! McCoy loves babies and wanted to pat Holden all the time. He does it to be sweet but sometimes he gets a little rough! We just have to keep a close eye on him. I know him and Holden will be big buddies one day!

Joanna loving on the boys!

Holden is such a sweetheart!

The next picture is an absolute miracle! For McCoy to be sitting still, facing the camera, and smiling with no red eye!!!!

Leanne, Joanna with Holden, me, Emily, and McCoy

We had so much fun visiting with everyone! Thanks for coming by girls...and boy!!!

Christmas Party at MDO

This past Friday McCoy had his Christmas party at MDO. Even Santa made an appearance!! Of course, McCoy is still not a fan but he will accept candy from him. Not sure if that's good or not...

"Don't let go of me Mrs. Marv!"

After a visit with Santa, the kids went back to their room and had some yummy gingerbread cookies. McCoy and Addison seemed to be the only two big eaters there, though! They were chowing down!

McCoy LOVES his teachers at MDO and I'm so glad! They are all such a fun group of women and I'm so thankful that he has such a good time! I know he's going to miss everyone while he's out on Christmas break!

Back Row: Mrs Gina, Mrs. Luann, Mrs. Marv

Front Row: McCoy and the two Addison's

Breakfast with Santa and Dinner with Friends

Saturday morning McCoy and I met Addison and her mommy for some yummy breakfast with Santa. McCoy and Addison are such buddies but McCoy and Santa are NOT! Santa came up to talk with Addison and she thought he was so cool. While this was going on, McCoy was leaning the other way! When it was his turn, McCoy started bawling and reached for me. He kept his eye on the big guy for a little while just to make sure he wasn't going to try anything again! I guess this means we won't have any cute, smiley pics of him and Santa.

However, he had a great time visiting with Addison and he even fed her a piece of toast....if you know McCoy, you know he DOES NOT share food! She must be pretty special! And even though I constantly have my camera out, I failed to get a picture of the sweet moment. I do have to admit that he stole some of her eggs, too... But I did get a a couple of sweet pics and then took a few off of Miss Addison's blog!

"Look, McCoy! He's harmless!"

"Who needs Santa? I've got Mommy!"

Saturday night Kirk, McCoy and I met Kasey and Jordan at Pesto Cafe for some wonderful pasta and then went down to the square to look at lights. We love hanging out with Kasey and Jordan and McCoy thinks they are so fun! We had a great time!

Our family!

Kasey (and her fabulous new hairdo) and Jordan

McCoy loved looking up at the lights!

***Side note: What is the deal with my pictures always having so much red eye?? I guess blue eyed people have it worse b/c McCoy's are always bad!

When Mommy turns her back....

On Monday I decided to make an oven stew that takes about 6 hours to cook. So that morning I needed to chop up the vegetables so I could put it all together. I figured I'd just let McCoy play in the kitchen while I chopped and worry about the mess later. Here's the mess he was able to make in about 10 minutes...

I can't really figure out why he's crying...maybe because there's no more cabinets to empty??

A different view

Grandkid's Tree

Monday afternoon McCoy and I went over to Dig and MeMe's to help put up the tree in their playroom. Not sure how much help we were, but we did have fun playing with the toys! And after lots of hard work, we finally got McCoy to hold his hand still for about 2 seconds (literally!!) to trace it out on construction paper and hang on the tree!

"Whew, that was hard work!!!"

Group hug!

A Birth Day and A Birthday

This past weekend we were busy with lots of celebrations! On Friday night, my best friend, Leanne, had her baby boy, Holden!! He was 8 lbs 12 oz and 20 1/4 inches long! He has a little bit of brown hair and is absolutely gorgeous! We were so excited for Leanne and Hunter and loved getting to visit with them on Saturday.

Saturday was also Dig's (Kirk's dad) 60th birthday!! We celebrated by having dinner with the family at Doe's that night. We had lots of fun and were totally stuffed.

Happy Birthday Dig!

McCoy is walking!!!

For the past month, McCoy has been taking a few steps but never more than 5 at a time. Tonight he completely surprised us and has started taking lots of steps! Even turning corners! He was so excited and just kept laughing.

I've uploaded 4 videos that are all pretty short, but I figured grandparents would want to see them all!!

During the second video, Kirk was standing on the barstool and McCoy thought this was so funny! He took a little break from walking to laugh...

(Please excuse the floor mats...our kitchen rugs are in the washer!!!)

The fourth one starts out dark but gets better.

McCoy's 1 Year Pictures

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving we had McCoy's 1 year pictures taken. I know, I know...they were a little late but better late than never! We had Lauren Leonard do them and we're thrilled with how they turned out! Lauren did a great job with McCoy and we LOVED working with her.
Here's a few samples that I took off Lauren's blog...

Helping Gigi Decorate

While we're in El Dorado, we're helping Gigi put up her Christmas decorations. I definitely owe her after all the times that she has helped me!!!

McCoy is doing a great job of decorating the tree! Apparently he thinks that you're supposed to throw them on....

"How many ornaments can I hold at one time???"

"These look good to for throwing..."

"Out of the way, please!!!"

"Yep, right where I wanted them."

Update from El Do

Off to Gigi and Pop's we go!

McCoy did a great job on our way down here!!! I was pretty nervous about him getting fussy and not having anybody to entertain him but he was PERFECT! He slept all the until Conway, then we pulled over and got him some lunch, and talked the rest of the way here. He had lots of fun! As soon as we arrived in El Dorado, he was rested up and ready to play! He was so excited that Gigi, Nanny, ReRe, and Aunt Sara all ran out to see him. He was definitely determined to put on a show for them the rest of the time! After throwing all of his toys out of his toy basket, he hopped in to see if he could find anything else...

He has been wired the entire time we've been here! He's turned into a giggle box! Everything is funny...throwing the ball, dancing, saying "Ouch", playing with Sebastian. You name it, and he's been laughing about it! We're having a ball!

Getting some lovin' from Nanny, ReRe, and Aunt Sara