Road Trip Home!

This holiday season has been a whirlwind! It has been exciting because it is Bean's first and it has been jam packed with amazing memories. Besides opening gifts at home the weekend before, our holidays started when Dust and baby picked me up from work at 2:30 Friday December 21. We headed straight from my school for Indiana :)

The trip started off great. Dust drove and I sat in the back with the baby.

He was very well behaved. He played with his monkey and we talked and sang until it got dark. Then he went right to sleep :)

We stopped for dinner at a Subway at some point and noticed a woman staring and pointing at Xavier. She went on to tell her family that he was a "HUGE baby." I went on to tell Beanie that he was a PERFECT baby :)

After we got through Atlanta (also know as half way home) Dustin and I switched. It was 10pm and I had been napping on and off so I felt fine to drive. I drove through the mountains and made it to Nashville where we switched again.

By the time we got to Kentucky it was 3am. We were both exhausted and decided to grab a hotel for a few hours. We got a big King sized bed and the three of us snuggled and slept for a few hours.

The next morning, I put the baby down to watch some mickey mouse while I ran and got breakfast. When I came back, this is what I found :)

Midnight and Beanie snuggling <3

After some fruit, we were back on the road and home in just a couple of hours :)

Family Pics

After opening presents, we did our best to take some family pictures. We used the camera timer for the pics of the three of us. They ended up pretty comical :)

Christmas Videos!

Here are some videos of Beanie unwrapping his first two gifts from Santa: one with daddy and one with mama!

Opening Gifts!

Due to our crazy schedules and travel, Santa came to our house Sunday morning. We had a delicious breakfast of fruit salad and coffee and then got straight to opening presents! While Beanie got lots of needed clothes and toys, he was more interested in the boxes and wrapping paper...typical :)

Here are some fun pics we took while he "opened" all of his presents!

Click "Read More" to see the rest! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Ornaments and the Tree!

Dustin and I started a Christmas tradition our first Christmas as a married couple (4 years ago :) Each year, we pick out a special ornament for the tree and date it so that as the years pass, we accumulate and can reminisce on Christmas's past. This year was especially fun because we got Beanie's first ornament too!

Can you guess whose is whose?

 This year, Dustin chose Gandalf, and also got me an ornament that reads "One Fintastic Teacher" to celebrate my award, and Beanie's is a little sleeper that says "Baby's First Christmas" with the date on the hanger :)

Hanging on the tree :)

Beanie with his ornament :)

Obviously, this year there were more presents than ever before underneath our tree. Christmas is so much more special when there is a little one to celebrate with!

We have been enjoying the anticipation and have gotten some pretty cute "Pre-Christmas" pictures.

Precious, precious baby :)

Gifts from "Extended Family" :)

Thursday evening, we came home to a package on our doorstep and that usually means that Beanie's
"aunt" Kelly has been shopping :)

We opened the package and sure enough, she had sent gifts for Dustin, Beanie and me :)

A "Lap-pup" and one of the CUTEST sleepers ever!

She is so thoughtful!

I love my "Aunt" Kelly!

She is so generous! We love her!

Then, Friday, Dustin went to pick Xavier up from homecare. Before he left, Miss Susie handed him a wrapped gift and a big Christmas bag. When we got home, we let Xavier open them.

We are so blessed to have someone watching him that loves him so much!!!!

Clothes, toys, food, and other goodies from Miss Susie <3

What a blessing our "extended family" members are to us :) Xavier is so loved!

Silly Baby!

Xavier playing with daddy...he makes us laugh! What a beautiful gift :)

Shots :(

Last week, Beanie went for his 6 month check up and to get a round of vaccinations. He is in perfect health and the doctor was impressed with his size, to say the least.

Precious baby!

He weighed in at 23lbs 5 oz. and was 29 inches long. He took the shots like a pro and only had a slight fever and soreness the next day.

Poor Baby :(

Once again, I am thankful to have a husband who is well versed in the medical field and knows what our baby needs. He never misses an appointment and I am grateful that he was there with us. I can't bear to see Beanie get his shots so I always step outside (dramatic, I know, but I can't help it and I HATE needles). Dustin holds and calms him during the process and is such a good daddy.

I love them both to pieces!!!!!

Sitting up!!

This morning, Beanie had a monumental moment...he sat up! Of course Dustin and I took videos and pictures to document every second :) He is not a pro yet, but he is getting there! We are so proud of him!

Here are some videos that we caught last minute. Enjoy :)

My New Ride!

Last week, Beanie got an early Christmas present from his Mimi and Papa. My parents ordered and had a new car seat shipped to the "Babies'R'Us" near us.

Even though he was not even 6 months old, he exceeded the weight limit of his infant car seat and was in need of the next size. My parents caught wind and decided to get it for us before we drive the 1,000 miles home for Christmas.

Beanie graduated!

Beanie LOVES his new seat. It is a convertible car seat so it will grow with him. He can use it until he is 65 lbs!

First time riding in my big boy seat!

All snuggled up ready for the ride!

It is still rear facing which makes it super safe but now he sits up more and can see out his window. He loves looking at the water every day when we cross the big bridge to and from work/homecare.

Thank you Mimi and Papa for such a great gift!! :)

Can't wait to see you at Christmas!!