So, Christmas was magical! After we got back from visiting Santa, we arrived at Granny and Poppa's to see that one of his elves brought each of the babes (Clay, Cousin Joseph, and Cousin Lauren) a special letter letting them EACH know that Santa was very proud of them and that he was gearing up for his big trip.
That night we went to Christmas Eve Service at Jim's childhood church. It was a great service that matched up "perfectly" with Clay's nap time so we hung out in the cry room. It was nice to have a few peaceful moments with that little guy and I got to visit with one of my sorority sisters while meeting her future Pi Phi daughter, Henley, who was a total cutie!
After the service, we went back to G & P's for some great food and to open family presents. Clay got a serious haul, our family was way too generous and we felt so blessed!
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| Cutie pie after church, patiently waiting to get his grub on! |
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| Tissue paper! |
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| Nana and Gramps gave Clay a very appropriate and much appreciated Elmo stockpile! |
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| G&P got Clay his first computer (Clay was confused because he thought his first computer was the Toshiba that he'd been LOVING "typing" - read: banging on - for the last 4 months). |
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| A dinosaur hat from Uncle Phil and Aunt Janet and a Little People Noah's Ark from the G and the P! |
Before we went to bed, we left a note for Santa along with cookies and milk! When we woke up, we saw that Santa had come (and LOVED the cookies!!!) He even left a sweet thank you note for Clay!
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| Clay's first look at his Santa Haul! And yes please, marvel at how gorgeous I am when I am the Mommy of a 10 month old, am sick and wake up without make up on! |
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| Santa is so polite, he took the time to tell Clay he was welcome for the toys! |
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| The Crew (minus Poppa who was kind enough to play photog that morning) |
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| Daddy helps Clay ride his big present from Santa, a Stride to Ride Dinosaur! When the dino's back legs are in the locked position, Clay can ride it, when the back legs are separated, Clay can walk behind it. After Aunt Dree's visit, the dino was named "Mohawk Max" because he has a "mohawk" of lights that flash when the dino plays songs. The lights took a beating pretty quickly since C was teething and (at first) thought that Max's best use was as a teether - needless to say, Max was and is well loved and used! |
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| L.O.V.E! |
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| Look at that dapper gentleman! I am such a lucky Mama! |
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| P & C & G |
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| Clay with Mema! |
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| The Fernihoughs! |
After a wonderful celebration in Lubbock, we headed home and let Clay open his presents from us as well as our out of town family (like Yaya). Check out the wicked cool tiger from Unc Dunc and Auntie L - C LOVES IT!!! He rides it at least once a week and he is a permanent fixture in the play room (and if you ask Clay - since he was 12 1/2 months where the tiger is, he smiles and correctly points out his plush tiger).
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| Family of 3 Christmas in Dallas! Clay loved all ornaments but the glitter balls were by far his favorite (as was evident in the glitter that constantly adorned his hair throughout the Holiday season). |
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| Opening his gifts from his sweet Yaya! |
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| And the lovefest between the Tiger and Clay begins! |
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| A book by Clay's favorite author (seriously, he loves all books by Karen Katz; he has giggled at her vibrant illustrations since the first time we checked out one of her books at the library) was a great gift for both Jim and Clay; it's called "Daddy and Me". |
The celebrating continued on when Aunt Dree came to town. We had lots of fun play time, some sister time, some shopping time, and a fun NYE celebration with Grand Bop. Clay and I sported our special and surprise PJs from Daddy (probably the only time that I'll get away with having footie pjs, complete with monogrammed butt flap that coordinates with Clay's).
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| Mommy, Grand Bop, Clay, and Aunt Dree |
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| Grand Bop with his "littlest" buddy! |
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| My guys |
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| Our matching "butt flap" pjs |
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| This picture was snapped at midnight; Clay was obviously raging as the the clock struck midnight! |
Clay looks like a little baby in those pictures compared to now!! I guess that makes sense since it was MAY when you posted these pics!!! (Cute pjs, btw)
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