micah's first christmas (part 3/the end)

when ended our christmas festivities with the pavone side of the family. we had a great time, opening gifts, having a delicious dinner, and just hanging with family. we stayed for a few days since we don't get a whole lot of hang time with them. it was a great way to finish up celebrating!

micah's first christmas (part 2)

the second leg of micah's first christmas was at home. he woke up, ate, and then opened up his stocking (mostly baby food :) ) and 2 of his three presents...we had totally cheated and opened our gifts to each other the night before since we knew that we would be wanting to leave as soon as possible to get down to alex's parents' house. here's micah enjoying the morning fun ::

micah's first christmas (part 1)

our christmas festivities start on christmas eve. this has been my family's tradition forever and i love it :) everyone dresses up, we feast on all sorts of yuminess (there are always tamales involved) and open gifts with my parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. here are some of my favorite shots of the night...

merry christmas from the family staff babies.

james (5 mo), keaton (3 mo), micah (7 mo) and ryder (8mo)

i'm sure if these babies could talk, they would wish you all a merry christmas :)

magical.

there is only one word to describe Disneyland at Christmastime. magical. plain and simple. the people over at disney are incredibly talented at what they do. one of the things on our list of "wants" this christmas season was to take micah to see disneyland. the lights up and down main street with the way the castle is illuminated, just makes me giddy! micah also got to watch his first fireworks show and he was fixated on the lights in the sky! we had so much fun...and it helped that we went on the night that it was 75 degrees at 8pm :)

the hulk.

i affectionately refer to micah as the hulk. this is why ::
this kid has a "hulk" type strength. he pulls himself up on his carseat, his bumbo, and the christmas boxes. and he was doing this before he was even 7 months old! oh micah, how is mama ever going to keep up with you?!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

...actually, it has looked like Christmas for a couple of weeks, i'm just behind on posting :)

here are a few shots from around our home.

paper garland that I made ::

another garland i made ::

new stockings that alex's mom made for us!
(still need another hook for micah's)

i wish my house could always be so festive!

seven months.

for some reason, micah was much easier to photograph this month than he has been for the past couple of months!

micah,

you're sitting up like a pro these days...sitting has been a progressive milestone for you and one that will have a month long date attached to it, but you have mastered it (kinda)! On a couple of different occasions you have crawled on all fours...just for a few feet, and just a couple of times, but still, we are so proud of you :)

remember how last month I said you were busy? well, last month is nothing compared to right now! you are getting into everything. and i mean everything! You got your first tooth on the 1st of December, and your second one popped through yesterday. teething is a beast. we aren't fans of the pain it causes you :( you are trying more and more foods, and it was SO fun to feed you all the veggies from your gongi's homemade soup...you ate it up so quickly...probably because it was the first seasoned food you've had :) you had another first this month...you went into the nursery at church for the very first time! you were a stud and loved playing in there! oh yeah, and i almost forgot your first thanksgiving! you had a great day (there is a draft about that, but there were so many pics that blogger squashed my post! i'm still figuring it out!) and loved the sweet potatoes that your gongi made especially for you...baked sans seasoning :)

every morning when we go in to get you, you get so excited! you wake up happy these days and spend a good 15-20 minutes just talking or rolling around in your bed. speaking of your bed, one of the things that you do every single nap time is pull off your bumpers. mama is kind of a freak about safety, so you have the breathable bumpers that velcro on...velcro is no match for you!

each month holds so many firsts for you and we love getting to share them with you. your first Christmas is coming up and we can't wait! you are a little stud and we love you!

one of those days...

today has been such a strange day.

micah woke up at 7:30am just like any other day. after less than an hour of being awake, he was beyond fussy and nothing was making him happy, so I laid him in his crib and walked out thinking that he would just be fussy in there for a while, but no. no, he did not fuss. in fact, he was asleep within just a couple of minutes. score.

fast forward 3 hours...that's right...three hours later, my little guy woke up! I could barely believe it. had i known it was going to be 3 hours, i definitely would have been more productive instead of lounging all morning!

since then...now 5.5 hrs. later, micah has only slept about 45 minutes and is fussier than fussy. he did cut a tooth earlier this week (that's right, he's a big kid), so I've been attributing it to teething, but i can't help but wonder if he's starting to feel sick for the first time.

it never fails that the day he is extremely fussy, we have somewhere to go. tonight i will have to pack him up and take him to work with me for a very fun event that just might not be very fun with a fussy baby.

i am always thankful when he has days like this with me instead of alex or my mom. of course i prefer good days over bad, but i always prefer to be the one to soothe my guy. is that kinda weird?

I saw this video posted to someone's facebook and just had to share.

we are anticipating this christmas more than ever before because we get to share our traditions with micah and celebrate with him for the first time. i can't imagine losing him 6 months from now, like this family did. Please watch the video and consider donating to St. Jude children's research hospital. and be warned...i'm still crying from watching this video.

thanksgiving weekend.

Micah's first thanksgiving was filled with lots of family and lots of laughter. Each holiday that we get to experience with Micah for the first time is so special to us. Here are some pictures of Micah's first Thanksgiving. (more pics to come with the pavone side...my computer isn't letting me post more!)