A Day in the Park

Davis has discovered the bathroom and how much fun toilet paper is!

Aunt Beth and I took Davis to the park at Watercolor during her lunch break the other day. We searched relentlessly for a swingset, but could not find one. We still had fun on the slide and the suspension bridge. Aunt Beth took all these pictures and got some really good ones of him.

I climbed to the top of the slide with Davis and went down very slowly. I don't think JD liked it at all but mainly because it was so anti-climactic with me clutching my feet down to keep from sliding too fast.

Davis on the suspension bridge. Kinda looks like he is in jail.

Christmas with the Browns!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year with Davis. We missed all of our family, but I have to admit it was very relaxing not traveling all over the world. Hopefully next year, everyone will come to see us in Destin! We woke up and cooked a great big breakfast and then opened presents! Once again, Davis was mainly interested in eating paper but nevertheless we had a great time. Here are the pictures from Christmas morning.... mom got us matching pj's (minus John, haha) so I wanted her to see that I wore them with pride!

Grandma and Grandpa Brown got Davis this neat little horsey. It actually has a program that plugs into the TV with lots of fun learning activities. He is a little young for it now, but really enjoys bouncing on it right now. I foresee lots of fun times to come in the very near future on little horsey.

"Eating Paper"
While I was cooking breakfast I noticed the pitter patter of Davis crawling had subsided. By chance, I looked outside. He has figured out how to crawl down into the sunroom and straight out the doggy door! It was so funny, but needless to say... Sunroom door stays closed now!

This picture was actually taken Christmas Eve. Fletcher was so ready to stop wrapping presents and go to bed so Santa could hurry up and come.

""THE END"

For some reason this video would not post last week, but I successfully uploaded it now. This was in Decatur and I have no idea why it is sideways and so dark, but it is still cute as pie!

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring; not even ......the dogs :-) Davis is nite nite asleep in his bed, with visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. John is asleep (and sick for Christmas, poor thing!)...... I tucked Davis in after Grandmommy read Twas the Night Before Christmas and the real story of Christmas to him over the speaker phone. So I sit here with all the presents wrapped under the tree watching the 24 hour marathon of "The Christmas Story" and can't help but giggle at how excited I am about this Christmas. Davis has no clue what is going on but it still fills me with joy and total excitement to be celebrating his first Christmas!!!

We baked some cookies, set them out for Santa and then got ready for church. Davis and I went to the Communion and Candlelight Service at church tonight. Poor John couldn't muster the energy to go, but really wanted to be there. He hasn't moved from the couch since work this morning. The service was beautiful and the church was packed. Davis was very good until the first solo and then he started hiccuping uncontrollably (the kind with the nice loud burp at the end) so I scooted him out to the nursery. After safely securing him with the ever so patient nursery workers, I went back to my seat. I could listen to the story of Christmas a million times and am touched in a different way each time. It means even more this year since I have a sweet, innocent baby boy that is such a precious miracle from God. We have so much to be grateful for and realize that everything we have is a blessing from Him. I have a great job, live in one of the prettiest places on earth, have absolutely wonderful friends, an amazing family, an incredible husband who just happens to be my best friend, and a child that has invoked feelings in me I never knew existed. I stare at him as he sleeps in his flannel Christmas jammies that Grandmommy sent (and I have on matching jammies from her too, little did she know it was going to be 75 degrees though....flannel not so good, haha), paci in mouth, bottom poked to the sky and just want to pick him up and squeeze him. I am so thankful to have Davis in my life and pray that I set the kind of example for him that my parents were to me. I pray to be a better mom, wife, sister, friend, and daughter. And I thank God that Jesus was born on this night so many, many, many years ago and later died for us to save us from our sins. And as Davis' first Christmas book says... "Happy Birthday Jesus!"

Now, you know me and I have to insert a little funny in here... So I am at church tonight sitting by this family and the husband looks so familiar. I knew that I had seen him on TV and thought, "Well, maybe he is a doctor or dentist....chiropractor???" It bugged me so bad! So during the communion we introduced ourselves and I told him how familiar he looked..... It was the mayor!!!! Whoops! I mean, I know that since I technically live in Walton County, not Destin that I get a pass, but he didn't know that... I felt really silly. It kind of reminded me of a great quote from Anchorman..."I don't know how to say this, but I'm kind of a big deal. People know me." Very sweet family and hope I didn't offend him.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!!!!!!!

I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU FAMILY!!!!!

Christmas in Decatur!!!

John has to work Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas so we decided that this would be the perfect year to start our own little Christmas traditions. Unfortunately that means a scattered family, but hopefully in years to come we can all coordinate a little better. I really wanted Davis to see his Grandmommy and Pa-Paw at their house around Christmas time so we went to Decatur last week and got a surprise visit from Santa! It was so cool that he made a special trip just for us!!!!

We also made a special trip to Huntsville to see Santa at the mall. I was so disappointed that we couldn't take our own pictures so I broke down and spent $40 for seriously 4.... yes 4! pictures! But whatever, it is Davis' first Christmas and first time to see Santa so that is priceless. Well (YES MOM I AM TELLING THE STORY AGAIN.... 60 Minutes will re-air it tomorrow night) mom and I split up for a second and she was going to get the car to meet us on the other side of the mall, so I gave her the Santa pictures so I wouldn't bend them. Well, we leave the mall and I start saying how I wish I could have taken more pictures and she said..."Oops, I don't know if I have the pictures". You see, I guess mom has this thing about shiny candles at Pottery Barn I guess and she must have set them down. (Kind of like Dory in Finding Nemo---I love you mom!!!!) We retraced her steps for nearly an hour and could not find them. Finally when we were all the way across town, the cashier from Pottery Barn (who is a mom and understood my desperate attempt to locate these "priceless" pictures) called and said they found them. We went back across town, secured the pictures and guess whose scatterbrained self left them in Decatur after all of that???? ME!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!! Luckily we got to take pictures of a much happier Santa the next night at Grandmommy and Pa-paw's house!!!

Honestly, it's not as bad as it looks. Mom and dad's dog was barking at Santa which made Davis cry. I think if the dog had not been barking he would have been okay. I think??? Santa brought Davis this really neat bulldozer that makes sounds like a real bulldozer and honks the horn. Davis rides it and pushes it around. I think it was his favorite gift.

But all he really cared about was the paper!!! He would seriously treat each and every present as if it were a drum, bang on it a little and then pull back the paper where mom or I had ripped, then proceed to eat it. Needless to say, it took forever for him to open (and eat) all of his gifts. Thank you Santa for the bulldozer, the farmhouse, the "car mover" and the Auburn Teddy Bear. Oh yeah, and my stocking and .... :-) Thank you!!!

This picture sums up the entire trip pretty much, but funny enough was taken before the fun actually began. Notice the pursed lips and clinched fist. He was trying to squeeze in a nap in between mom and I running around chasing Santa (and Santa pictures... haha last time mom, I promise!)

Thank you mom and dad for a great Early Christmas this year!!! I will make sure and take lots and lots of pictures of Christmas morning! We have so many presents under the tree from Grandma and Grandpa Brown, Grandmommy and Pa-paw, us and of course... Santa still has to make a trip to Destin!!!!!

Merry Early Christmas everyone!!!!

Visit with Friends!

We took dad out to dinner for his birthday Saturday night and then stopped by Barkley's house to see Claire Bear. Davis was up way past his bedtime (par for the course in Decatur) but enjoyed seeing his "girlfriend". They played really well together and it was fun watching them interact with each other this time around. The last time we got the two of them together, they both just kind of sat there. Claire has so many expressions I thought I was going to pull a muscle from laughing. She is such a cutie pie!!! And full of energy is an understatement! We had a blast! Miss you Bark! (Brooke, send me the pics from our visit with Sam and Stella so I can post them too!!!)

Davis is pooped! But they shared the dolly so well!!!

"Money Shot!!!"

One of Claire's many expressions and Davis diving off the chair. Notice the next pic...

What you are not seeing is the grandmothers in the background doing gymnastics everytime one of them would make a move to get off the chair! It was quite comical!!!

"We're over this photo session!!!!"

And just 4 short months ago..........

Where did he learn that?

Don't ask me why, but for some reason Davis likes to hold his bottle to the side. It is like he is afraid he will miss something if his vision is blocked. It almost looks like he is playing a flute. He also gets really frustrated at the end of his bottle and will literally throw it down. Little stinker!

I just noticed the other day how badly the dogs beg at his highchair. Well, Sundays are John and my "cheat" days and we eat gross fast food and love every minute of it so I decided to give Day-day a couple of chicken mcnuggets. The video says it all, but he is consciously sharing his food with them. Poor thing is going to regret it later because Fletch and Eddie will always take advantage of him now. I guess at least he is sharing :-)

Lastly, I wanted to brag on him for his behavior in church today! They had the Christmas Concert today with orchestra and all. The church looked beautiful and it was a really nice celebration of Christmas. Davis made it through the entire service without having to go to the nursery. He just looked around at everyone and was a total angel. Aunt Beth was with us and held him for the majority of the service and rocked him to sleep at the end, but he was such a good boy!

It's been so long, I almost forgot my password

So the title says it all. I haven't blogged in so long I nearly forgot my password. This is obviously a busy time for everyone, but it seems lately that extra time does not exist. So much has changed since Halloween. Davis is so incredibly mobile now (hence the lack of time). He crawls at the speed of lightning and gets into anything and everything. He is so much fun to watch and it is awesome to just sit back and observe him explore. He is eating table food, which most of the time ends up all over him, the high chair seat and the dogs mouths :-) At least he is starting to get the hang of it and it allows me 30 minutes to do things around the house because he is happily contained.

We had our 9 month checkup a couple of weeks ago and he is 29 inches and 23 pounds which puts him in the 75 and 95 percentiles respectively. He is absolutely perfect! He has been sick a good bit lately, but hasn't everyone??? It is really hard on us when he is sick because he is still such a happy baby, I honestly can't always tell if something is wrong. My perfect little angel!!!!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. John, Davis and I stayed here and I cooked homemade mac and cheese, homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and rolls. Our trusty Honey Baked Ham provided the ham and turkey! We had a blast, watched football and ate way too much! Davis especially liked the turkey and mac and cheese. Unfortunately, my camera was dead so I didn't get any pictures :-( I am very thankful for my amazing family!

Here are some pictures and videos I have taken over the last few days. You'll have to wait for the good Christmas poses until our cards go out... which by the way, my computer crashed which had my Christmas list on it. Fingers crossed it is still on there when they rebuild the computer!

Davis loves his bath. He would splash and play until he fell asleep if I would let him.

Davis eating table food!

Davis not liking the table food provided, oops!

Full and content!

Helping mommy decorate the Christmas Tree.

Davis starting clicking after he finishes his food. It sounds like he is smacking...too cute!

Yes I realize Davis just has on a diaper, but he was in full effect and wanted to catch him in action. Notice the "mama" at the end! He is also saying bah, bah, nah, nah, wah, wah and of course he says da, da all the time still. He will actually sit around babbling like he is talking to himself. I'll try to get that on video soon.

Davis has started throwing back to us. Needless to say, daddy is loving this milestone. He may not know what he is doing, but it is a fun game. John makes me laugh because he gets really excited that JD is favoring his left arm for throwing. I seriously doubt you can tell at this age, but John has high hopes for a left handed pitcher. I would love that too, because then we could stay away from concussions and broken bones in football. But whatever our little man wants to play when he is old enough, I will be willing to try. I just will need a lot of moral support to watch him play anything physical.

Last video for tonight. Mom sent Davis a turkey that sings and dances for Thanksgiving. Davis is terrified of Gooble Gooble (Beth's nickname for the toy). He litterally threw it across the room today when he saw it on "his" bed in the nursery. Yet again, a Kodak moment captured in his diaper. I swear I dress him, but he is always so happy and active right after he eats, which is also when he is the most dirty... therefore the stripped clothes. He is ALLLLLL BOY!!!!!