Christmas Eve and Christmas

Tucker's first Christmas and it was full of holiday spirit! We had a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas morning just the three of us. I did miss being with my parents to celebrate as it was my first Christmas without them.

On Christmas Eve we went to St. Anne's for a wonderful Christmas Eve service. We sort of had to bribe Tucker with puffs and milk but all in all he did very well. I think that he liked when we were standing and singing (which seemed to be a lot) but was restless when we were sitting. He did do a good job of flirting with a little girl in the pew ahead of us which was fun to watch. After church and after Tucker was tucked in bed, Brandon and I had a wonderful dinner just the two of us.

Christmas morning Brandon and I actually woke up around 7am and opened our stockings. We were finishing up right when Tucker was waking up so then we helped him open his stocking. Shortly after we headed downstairs to see what Santa left under the tree. Tucker was a little overwhelmed and loved pulling at the ribbon. Once the paper was off the gift he enjoyed tearing it, which we could not figure out. All in all, he has some wonderful cloths for this summer, a new sandbox, books, nice soft foam blocks, and trucks. Everything a little baby boy would want.

In the afternoon we headed up to Brandon's parents house to continue the celebration. Tucker did well for a bit of time and then I think that the overall excitement of the day got the best of him. While he was tired he just did not want to sleep. So unfortunately we all had to hear him cry for awhile. We are all still trying to get back on schedule!!

USN Band Holiday Concert

For the past several years Brandon and I have attended the United States Navy Holiday Concert. This is something that our old neighbors Wes and Lori turned us onto. We loved it so much that this has become something that we look forward to every year and this year was no exception. Unfortunately when I sent my request in this year I received a letter back saying they were out of tickets but that we could still show up and claim an unclaimed seat. I was a little reluctant at first but we needed to get some Holiday spirit so we went. Luck would have it that we "scored" awesome floor seats in the back. This was perfect since Tucker was a wiggle worm the entire time. Brandon had some foresight and brought alone a foam letter and this helped occupy Tucker for awhile.

We even got to enjoy a nice stroll over to the National Christmas Tree and Tucker got to visit with Santa again.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year friends and family!!!

Tucker and Santa

I kept hearing about how my friends babies/infants would start to cry when they saw Santa and I was worried about how Tucker would react. While he was not laughing and smiling, he did not cry. Rather he did seem interested in who this big man was with a long beard though. So, Tucker's first photos with Santa.

Tis the Christmas Season - Family Christmas Tree

The day had come when we, the three musketeers, were going in search of our Christmas Tree. Not only was this a first for Tucker, but it was also a first for Mr. California boy.

Backpack, check. Hats and gloves, check. Camera, check. Christmas music for the car, check. Tucker’s bottle, check and double check. Christmas spirit, CHECK!!! And off we went to cut down the Lindley Christmas Tree. Over the fields and through the woods to the Christmas Tree farm we went. The farm was about an hour away and I had this vision of a forest of Christmas trees whereby we would scavenger our way around and at times get lost, much like we would in Maine. But tree farms are a little different down here so as we pulled in I was disappointed just to see an open field with trees growing on a hill side. Hmmm but I shook my head and realized that this was about a family day and starting a tradition of cutting down our tree despite what I had in my head.

With Tucker in a backpack and bundled up and a saw in hand, we set off. In the past my brother has always been the picky tree finder. Nope, too tall, too short, too plump, too skinny, not enough shape, too many dead needles, tip is crooked, not enough limbs and on and on. This would drive me INSANE! Well now it was my turn to put the trees under the microscope and I did. Soon I realized that I did not want to scare Brandon off so I loosened some of my requirements, but not by much. Tucker was a trooper and enjoyed every minute of it.

After some walking around, feeling the needles, trying to smell the trees and observing we decided upon a tree. Since Brandon was carrying Tucker I got down on my knees and started using some good arm power. Note: chain saws are NOT an acceptable way to cut down a Christmas Tree. Get real, get dirty and stop being lazy! So, half way through I realized that 2 trunks had grown together but we thought that I was low enough and we would end up with 1 trunk. Timber...ops. One fell and one was still standing. Hmmm?? Not good. So, we stood the fallen tree back up, took a picture and left the area quickly. Back to square one and now my arm needed a break. Not too long after we found another tree. This time we were a little more diligent and yup, 1 trunk, this is a go. So I got back on my hands and knees, crawled under the tree a bit and began the journey once again. Little did I realize that I was in some mud, ERGS! Eventually the tree came down and we had our Christmas Tree.

Another interesting note about Maryland Tree Farms, they have tree shakers. I am just used to getting the tree, dragging it and bagging it (not me personally doing all the work). Here, you get it, drag it and then the tree is stood upright and shaken. I am not too sure how I feel about this because conceptually it makes sense and it gets rid of all of the debris that is going to fall of the your house but on the other hand, seeing a tree gyrate as it does made it seem wrong. If I did not want to deal with the hassle of the debris then I should just buy a fake tree right?

So we now have our Christmas Tree, it is lit and decorated and Tucker really has not shown much of an interest in it. He tried to feel the tree but I think that the needles were a bit too prickly. So he went back to playing with his toys.

Oh, and on our way back home we stopped at a gas station and I looked and saw the most random landscaping sign. I had to take a picture of it since blacktop does not seem to qualify as landscaping to me. Hence the random photo in the slideshow.

Carter and Parkers 1st Birthday

Today we had a blast going attending Carter and Parkers 1st birthday. Go TWINS! Kiddos and adults alike had a blast (as documented by the photos). Unfortunately, I did not get a good picture of the birthday babies :( I am sorry

Cindy had fun showing us how to use the ball. Cheryl and Ali had fun jumping. Kids had fun in the moon bounce and on all of the various apparatuses.

Thank you for a fun time!!!

Random Photos

I know I know, I need to stop taking photos. It is fun to document moments and well today, he looked especially cute (in my eyes). Brandon also felt the need to document me looking silly as I was trying to entertain Tucker while we were out to dinner the other night. Tucker had a blast and flirted with EVERYONE!

Tucker - 9 Months

I really do not have a lot to say about this past month. It has been going by so quickly. Tucker is a crawling machine and he pulls up on EVERYTHING. Cords never tasted better and if he is not allowed to play with it, he wants it.

Trying to take month photos and documenting it with a sign is becoming very difficult! This time I had to give him a shoe to distract him then throw the sign down in front of him. It worked but only for 1 shot.

Stats - 29" length and 19.4 lbs. He is still in the 75th percentile for length and almost the 50th percentile for weight.

Holiday Happy Hour

Last week we hosted the MRE Holiday Happy Hour and had a blast. I wish that I had more photos of the night but I was busy socializing and having fun. There were many highlights of the night, including Sam and Jake sitting in the car toy together as well as our neighbor asking one of our quests to move their car. Why one would ask, because he had to park in front of his house due to a heart condition. Regardless of the fact that he could have parked in his driveway. This is the same neighbor who smokes cigarettes and can't rake his leaves because of this heart condition so his wife has to do it. Thanks Lee and Greg for being good sports! The highlight of the night, well Tucker. He was finally able to have free reign of the house and he took full advantage of that. Brandon and I kept asking, "where is Tucker?" So forget all of the tiny friends and his toys, he wanted to crawl under tables, be by the front door, get into the recycling bin and best, we found him huddled over the beer. The moment was priceless and created a good laugh. He has a few years to go :)

Thank you all for making it such a fun night! We can't wait to host another Happy Hour.

Thanksgiving 2008

Ok, I can't believe that I never got a photo of Tucker with our 20 lb Turkey or any Thanksgiving food. His first Thanksgiving and I failed to properly document it with a Turkey. I did get plenty of pictures of Tucker with Mimi and Grandpa though. They had not seen him for 4 months so there were a lot of great photo opportunities. The other highlight for Tucker was chasing around my parents faithful dog Skooter. Now I am trying to convince Brandon that it is time for us to get a dog. Tucker needs a 4 legged friend! Overall it was wonderful to have my parents here for Tucker's firth Thanksgiving. We do not get to see them nearly enough so any time with them is cherished!

A WHAT IN OUR BACKYARD??

Looks like we have a "nice" baby and Santa is going to visit us this year. Rudolph came for a visit and I think that he came to check out the best route to our house (Santa the Chimney might be a little tight feel free to use the back door which means we will leave the side gate open for you). Along the way, Rudolph decided to take a rest, I think that he thought I was napping, because gosh golly gee, as I was making Tucker his bottle, I looked outside into our backyard and there was Rudolph bashing in the sun in our backyard. I do not think that he found a good route out of the backyard but thankfully, after several attempts his magic jumping legs gave him some extra bounce and he was up and over the 6 ft fence. Next time I would rather he use the back gate or better yet, just assume that we have a nice baby and save me freaking out about how you are going to get out of our backyard.

Holy Crap was the phrase of my morning. Poor Brandon was in a Board meeting when a little panicked me finally reached him. How the did the deer get in our highly fenced in backyard and where the @#$% is this guy going to go? It is not like we live around a nice wooded area where deer come and go...hmmmm

Tucker - 8 Months

8 months and I am still scratching my head. It seems like just yesterday I was wobbling around. Now, I am running around trying to keep up with Tucker. He is like the Energizer bunny except it takes a LONG time until his batteries are drained.

The army crawl remains but at a MUCH faster pace. He looks at me and says "screw figuring out how to crawl on my hands and knees mom, this army crawl lets me check out things much faster.” Then, away he goes. Besides fretting where is is going, my other worry is what he is pulling himself up on. Usually, when out of the crib, he likes to pull up on objects that are safe so if he does fall, he can’t fall into/onto something. The only problem is that he has yet to figure out how to get down, besides just falling. That always yields a long hard cry :( At first I was so excited that Tucker figured out how to pull himself up but now, I HATE it, especially in the mornings. Rather than play with his toys in the morning, he is much happier pulling himself up and just looking, bouncing and sucking on the railing.

Taking Tucker's 8 month picture was monumental. Not only was it 70 degrees on November 7th, but it was also a remorseful day because the Republican ticket lost the bid for President. Tucker did his part by being a Tiny Republican Elephant for Halloween and insisting that we post a sign in our front yard. He is just worried that his toys are going to be taken away by President Elect. We all are. Nonetheless, politics aside, we are all embarking down some interesting, and at times exciting, pathways. For us, our excitement is watching Tucker and experiencing his “firsts” with him.

Random Moments with Tucker

These are just a few cute photos of Tucker taken randomly the last couple of months. One of my favorites is Tucker with his sock in his mouth. Frequently we will find him crawling around the room with a sock in his mouth.

One thing that Brandon and I love doing is checking up on Tucker when he is sleeping. He always looks so peaceful. It is hard not to want to pick him up and cuddle with him or just touch him. We also like to see where his toys have ended up and on this night, it looks like the dog...well...you will see. This was NOT staged. I could not stop laughing when I saw this!

Happy Halloween

For Christmas last year Brandon got gave me a teeny republican pin. Sometime during the absurdly long feeding periods early on I was cruising the internet and came across Halloween costumes (the last thing I was thinking about was anything to do with politics). Then I stumbled on an adorable elephant costume but needed to find a way to convince my frugal husband that we should get the costume. So, I suggested that we could put the pin on the costume in the spirit of being good Republicans. He quickly agreed. I got my cute costume and he got a teeny Republican. It was a win win for all of us!


TEENY REPUBLICAN - VOTE MCCAIN!



Of course, going through our pictures, we do not have a lot with the pin on Tucker ):

A Gathering of Pumkpins

I love that there are so many "firsts" for Tucker. Not only do we get to take him to fun places but I also have an excuse to take A LOT of pictures. I am not sure that I will have that excuse in the years to come or have a baby/infant that will actually put up with me taking all of my pictures. So, I am taking advantage of the situation.

Today, Tucker experienced his first trip to the Pumpkin Patch! He had fun feeling the different pumpkins, trying to put the stems in his mouth and picking up dead stems on the ground.

Stay tuned - Tucker has a kick ass Halloween outfit!!

My Preppy Baby and the Ball Pit

The air is getting crisper and with that, we are starting to transition Tucker's wardrobe. So, I have been trying to get one last wear. I told him that he could spit up all he wanted this way I would feel better about his cloths getting more use. Oh well.

Since we were headed to a birthday (Happy birthday Finn - sorry he was running around so much I did not get a picture of the birthday boy) I decided to dress Tucker in his dad's favorite preppy shirt :) I am really kidding. Brandon's comment - "Tucker, I could say great to see you in your sisters hand me down pink shirt but oh, you don't have an older sister. I am sorry you are wearing pink."

So off my little preppy baby and I went to Finn's birthday party at MyGym. Tucker's favorite part was this huge ball pit. Most kids would jump in and sink. I had to place Tucker in and he would sink a little. When he is a little older I am sure that this is a place that he would love to be. A great place for me to let him get all of his little boy energy out!

Sitting Up Tall

Instead of sitting like a tripod Tucker is now sitting up tall. His posture puts mine to shame!!

7 months and going STRONG

I really can't believe how fast time is flying! Everyday Tucker is into something new and different. For instance:

a) he likes to get himself into corners and usually that is because he sees a cord and thinks that it is another Tucker toy.
b) he likes to bat balls around with his hands and then go after them. Sort of like watching a dog fetch a bone but here Tucker keeps batting the balls and they keep on going.
c) he is sitting up tall and unsupported now. This really only started to happen about a week ago.
d) he LOVES for us hold/ support him while he is standing. Sometimes he tries to take steps, other times it is just the sheer joy of seeing things from a new vantage point.

The cruel joke that is played on parents is when they have just gotten used to sleeping through the night, the baby decides to start waking up in the middle of the night again. I only mention this because indeed, it has happened to us. As such, there is a lot to think about while trying to get Tucker back to sleep. While rocking in the chair the other night it occurred to me that no matter how tired I was, I was not upset that I was up trying to get Tucker back to bed. I actually enjoyed the quiet moment with him wrapped in my arms, head nestled against my neck and at that moment I realized how fast he is growing up. Months ago he would just fall asleep in my arms and now it is like he is saying "mom, no way, I am a big boy I want to play around." I guess that is the part of me accepting that he is growing up and that I have to let him explore on his own, wiggle woo out of my arms and onto the floor. I have not even made it to his first birthday and these things are already hitting me.

The other thing that popped into my head was that I do not know what I would do if something ever happened to my little baby. Sad thought but one that came out in the moment of tender love and just wondering if I rocked a little harder, hummed a little louder, would Tucker fall back asleep sooner or should I just cherish this moment and hold on tighter and a little longer because you just never know. I opted for the later and in those silent moments I put my head back and held on a little longer, not wanting the moment to end. Fortunately he fell back asleep and has been very good about sleeping through the night again.

Junior League of Annapolis 5k Fun Run

On a nice crisp Saturday morning, we stumbled out of bed and pumped each other up to join friends in a 5k race to benefit Junior League projects. While I knew that this was Tucker's first race, Brandon informed me half way through that this was his first 5K. I asked if it was his last and he said nope. Hmmm It was our goal to use the race as a motivator to get back in shape. That meant that we were going to start running in the evenings but one thing or another always came up and well, our training began 2 days before the race. Ops.

It was our hope that Tucker would fall asleep since we had to wake him up but instead, he babbled and squealed (good sounds) the entire way. He was our cheerleader! We think that he had a good time. We certainly had a good time and ended up running most of the way.

Included are some pictures of us as well as fellow MRE friends.

Random Moments with Tucker

I am so lucky that I get to spend my days with Tucker so when he does cute things I get to laugh with him and admire him. But there are moments when he is above and beyond cute and I feel the need to share with friends and family.

One of his favorite activities is getting a ride on the train (laundry basket). We take a ride around the family room, hall, and kitchen. Yes we have a laundry basket (ops train car) just for this activity.

The other thing that we love to do is check on Tucker after he has gone to bed. Typically, when we put him down, he has a little energy left and with that, plays with his toys until he zonks out, usually holding a toy or surrounded by toys. These toys that are initially spread out around his crib in an orderly fashion and in this case with the picture, they were all lined up against the front of the crib wall where he in fact ended up on his knees.

Bath Time - Just Ducky

Sorry Tucker, I just could not resist taking pictures of you while you were playing with your ducks! He was so happy and looked so cute. I think that these are my first official bath pictures.

Bath time Sept 2008