Holiday Open House 2010

We hosted our 4th annual Holiday party on Saturday December 4th, which was Easton's FIRST time being a host! :-) Many of our new friends in the area attended, along with several of our out-of-town friends and family. It was a great night & everyone enjoyed the food and had a good time hanging out. Here are some photos from the night:

The yummy food table

The beverage station

Easton & his uncle Jake - don't teach him any bad habits, Jacob :-)

Martha & Anne Rylee

Canaan aka Santa :-)

My couponing partner in crime, Sarah :-)

Easton chasing Sophie while in their matching pjs

Trying for that family pic ... but Easton's not cooperating :-)

Easton's 1st Thanksgiving!!!

Easton celebrating his first Thanksgiving on November 25, 2010. We decided not to travel to Virginia and instead opted to stay home, take care of some projects, decorate for Christmas and spend time together just the three of us .... as a side note, there are not many occasions that Jason has off from work, so sometimes it's nice to just relax and be at home.

We found out that some of our neighbors had similar plans, so our friends Natalie, Al and Canaan came over to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. I prepared the turkey (my 1st one!), stuffing, gravy, green beans, yeast rolls & sweet tea, and Nat brought the yam souffle, apples with cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and hot apple cider. We had a delicious meal, then relaxed while the boys played. Later on, our friends Amy, Cory and Sophie stopped in and we all had a drink and watched the kids burn off more energy and play even more. Below are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving Day:

My FIRST Turkey ... everyone said it was tasty, and it didn't kill anyone, so it was a SUCCESS!

Easton sporting his "My First Thanksgiving" bib ... and READY to eat! :-)

Surrounded by good friends....

Posing w/ his Daddy

Showing off his Thanksgiving outfit before bedtime

It was a great day, and we are truly blessed and thankful for so many things this year. We are grateful for our wonderful neighbors who have quickly become some of our dearest friends. We are thankful for our beautiful new home and the delicious meal we were able to enjoy. We are thankful for our friends and family, both near and far away, who are all healthy, happy and mean the world to us. We are thankful for each other - I personally would not want to spend my life with anyone other than Jason as my husband and as a father to my child. But at the top of our "we are thankful" list is our sweet, adorable baby boy --- I cannot imagine life without Easton, and am thankful beyond words for every day that I am able to watch him grow. He is truly a blessing and I love everything about him, from his gorgeous blue eyes to that devilish grin. We are so very thankful that God brought Easton into our lives!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, we love each of you!

Surf City Lighting of the Christmas Tree 11-20-10

On Saturday November 10th, Surf City lit up the Christmas tree and other holiday lights at Soundside Park. They had hot chocolate and coffee for the guests, as well as singing and a band. The decorations was gorgeous, and we saw several of our neighbors and friends out at the lighting ceremony.

We of course took advantage of this event and got some photos, which are Easton's FIRST pictures with a Christmas tree! Easton just gazed at the lights in awe, it was actually impossible to get him to smile for pictures because he was staring so much! Below are a few of the photos we managed to capture:

Easton & Jason in front of the Surf City Christmas Tree

Our attempt at a family pic - we couldn't get Easton to stop looking at the tree so I had to hold his head! :-)

Checking out the pretty lights


Easton with his friends, Ruthie and Canaan

His cute Snowman shoes :-)

As a side note - I am OFFICIALLY excited about Christmas .... I do not recall being this excited for many, many years. I've always loved the holidays, but there is something about having a child that re-energizes that "Christmas spirit" .... I just cannot wait to see Easton experience all of the holiday traditions of seeing lights, unwrapping presents, trying holiday foods and of course "telling" Santa what he wants for Christmas.

I also hope we instill a sense of giving & sharing into Easton. We plan to do that by continuing to give to the local shelter, adopting a child from the Angel Tree and showing Easton that it is just as much fun to give as it is to receive. Obviously he's too young to understand this now, but by seeing his parents live this way, our actions should "rub off on him." And one day (that will be here all to soon) he'll be able to participate and experience how it feels to be generous and giving firsthand. At least that is my hope ... we'll see how that works out because he's not so good at sharing yet, just ask his playgroup friends :-)

But most importantly, I want Easton to feel the love and comfort that I vividly recall from growing up, especially during the holidays. I have very fond memories of spending time with family, waking up with my brothers on Christmas morning and racing to the tree to see what "Santa brought us" .... my parents had three kids to buy for, but they always managed to get us what we wanted. I also recall fun traditions that my Mom started, such as having us go on a scavenger hunt to find our gifts and giving us presents Dec 15th through Dec 24th in instead of getting a stocking. The house always smelled of yummy food and we spent time together eating, watching movies, visiting our grandparents and playing with the fun things that we got for Christmas. I hope Easton will look back on the holidays with these same fond memories of his family and the times spent together.....because there is no better gift than being with those that you love!

Easton at 9 months!

We had Easton's 9 month checkup on Thursday October 28th. We changed doctors & visited Dr. Blackstone at Cape Fear Pediatrics for the first time. He was a great doctor, very thorough and really seemed to care about Easton and his well being. I think we have a keeper!

Easton weighed 20 lbs 8 oz (53rd percentile) and was 29.5 inches long (86th percentile). His head measured 47.3 centimeters, which is in the 95th percentile! Dr. Blackstone was happy with Easton's progress and gave him a certificate that highlighted these milestones.

Speaking of progress ..... Easton has developed and grown SO much! He is quite the social butterfly and "talks" constantly. He has said "Mama", "Dadda" and "Bye-Bye". He can clap his hands, wave bye-bye and he scoots, pulls up and moves around the room like a champ! Recently his uncles taught him how to give a "high-five"!! He looks so proud of himself when he performs his "tricks" --- his smile truly lights up the room. He has the cutest expressions as you can see in many of the pictures - he's so full of personality. He eats a ton! He is still breastfeeding and also enjoys jarred foods, Cheerios, Gerber Puffs, bananas, sweet potatoes and his favorite, yogurt! He loves having apple juice in his sippy cup and can pinch most any food given to him & feed himself.

I must admit, Easton has a bit of a temper .... we've learned to not keep him waiting for food - he gets quite angry if he's hungry and waiting. And he definitely has a "devilish" side - when we tell him "no" he'll sometimes give us a little smirk and keep doing whatever it was (usually messing with the entertainment center). We've noticed recently that he does respond to "no" better - or at least he reacts when hearing the word :-)

Easton has several toys that he enjoys playing with - he loves his jumperoo and can stay occupied for 30 minutes just jumping, laughing and squealing. He also has several toys that "make music" .... he really likes the activity table that Martha let us borrow, as well as the "Spin, spin a Letter" toy. Speaking of playing - Easton has tons of friends! He spends a lot of time with his neighborhood friends, Sophie and Canaan. We also get together weekly for playgroup with our former Mom&Baby yoga group.

Easton has cut back on his paci use and only uses it when he's sleeping or confined (such as in a carseat). He has several teeth - 3 on top and 4 on the bottom. My friend Natalie calls them his "Chicklet teeth" because they are tiny and very white. We are so proud of him .... everywhere we go people comment on his good behavior and his gorgeous blue eyes. He is quite the hit with the ladies, both young and old :-) We are truly blessed to have such a sweet and handsome little man in our lives. Here are a few recent pics of Easton where he was "helping" me with laundry. :-)

Easton's 1st Halloween!

We celebrated Easton's 1st Halloween & it was a ton of fun! The celebration began on Thursday with our Halloween themed playgroup. All of the kids dressed up in their costumes to play - Easton was a pirate! Throughout the week Easton was dressed in several different Halloween outfits; you'll see a few of those below. On Halloween night, we took Easton & his friend Sophie out trick or treating in their custom-built pirate ship!!! It truly was a group effort ... Gammy, Pappy, Jason, Sophie's mom Amy and even our neightbor Natalie had a hand in making the ship. Thanks everyone - and we're already thinking of how we'll top the ship next year! Any ideas???

Here are some pics that highlight the celebration - enjoy! :-)

"My 1st Halloween!"

BOO!

At playgroup ... What a precious little Pirate (but he refused to wear his hat)!

The infamous pirate ship ... complete with flag, parrot and a treasure chest for their candy!

What a good Pappy - he rolled them around the whole neighborhood!

Easton's 1st "treat"! :-)

Check out the name plate & the cannon!

Easton's good friend Sophie

So sweet ....

Easton's week in review 9/20 through 9/26

To only be 8 months old, Easton sure has a busy schedule! :-) Here's a recap of some of the highlights last week:

On Tuesday, Easton, my friend Amy, her daughter Sophie, and I headed down to Harris Teeter for some Super Double Coupon shopping. On the way, we stopped at Sawmill Grill for some lunch, which made this Easton and Sophie's first official lunch date!

Wednesday, Amy, Sophie, our neighbors Natalie and her son Canaan, Easton and I all headed to story time at the library. We begin with welcoming the kids with a song, then a library employee and a volunteer read a book to everyone. Last week's book was called "The Green Sheep." Easton really seems to enjoy storytime and actually paid attention for a change! After story time, Amy, Sophie, Easton & I met our friends Chanda and Van at the Farmer's Market. We pulled the kids around in a wagon and they received TONS of compliments on how cute they were. :-) We checked out the produce and also went to take a peek at the chickens.

Sophie & Easton, staring intently at Sophie's sippy cup :-)

Cute babies in a wagon - they were a hit with all of the Farmer's Market folks!

Relaxing with a tasty beverage!

Van checking out the chickens

On Thursday, we had playgroup at Amy's house - we really enjoy getting the babies together each week, and it's also fun for the Mom's to spend some time chatting and "compare notes" on what's going on with our kids. It's our turn to host this week, so I'll be sure to take some photos of the event.

Easton has been taking swim classes on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5pm to 6pm. He loves to splash and is quite good at kicking his feet and paddling his arms. Below are a couple of pictures from our class on Friday, Sept 24th.

Working on floating...

Such a happy boy - Easton loves to splash and kick!

Saturday was packed full with running errands and doing a few projects around the house. On Sunday, I made plans to have lunch and go shopping with my friend, Sarah. Easton spent the day with Jason - when I returned home from my afternoon out, apparently Dad thought it would be fun to let Easton feed himself some sweet potato. Here's what I saw when I walked in the house:

Easton had sweet potatoes EVERYWHERE!!! Good thing it was almost bathtime :-)

Easton crawled!

We've reached an exciting milestone .... Easton crawled tonight! He's been rocking on his knees for a few weeks now, so we knew it would be happening any day now. Tonight we "teased" him with a few toys out of reach and he inched towards them. He didn't go far, but it was definitely crawling - so we'll mark 8/6/10 as the official "FIRST CRAWLING" day :-)

Of course I ran for the camera - here are a few photos and a short video of Easton crawling .... time to babyproof the house!

Getting in position...

....has his eye on the "prize!"

Whew .... crawling is HARD work!

Watching a little TV once he captured his toys :-)

Posing for the camera .... he was so proud of himself! :-)

July 4th weekend 2010

We celebrated Easton's 1st Fourth of July! Unfortunately his bedtime is 8pm so he missed the fireworks - but Easton had a great weekend surrounded by family for the long weekend. Here's a recap of what we did:

Mama and Daddy arrived late on Thursday evening. On Friday, Mama & I had a day of shopping while the boys (Jason, Daddy & Easton) hung out at the house. We cooked dinner on Friday evening at our house, then Jacob & Ashley joined us later Friday evening. On Saturday, Jake, Jason & Daddy tried to go on a fishing trip but it didn't work out due to some mechanical issues with the boat. When they returned Ashley, Mama & I checked out some of the nearby beach shops and stores. Mama & Daddy kept Easton on Saturday evening so the "big kids" could go out for dinner & drinks. We had dinner at Rick's in Snead's Ferry, then checked out a few of the bars in Surf City.

Sunday was spent relaxing, doing more shopping & we said our good-byes to Jacob & Ashley. My parents left today, but first they treated us to lunch at a nearby restaurant called Hollands. Usually I am really good about taking a lot of photos, but for some reason we did not even pull out the camera until today. Here are a few pics of Easton all dressed up in yet another baseball outfit :-)

1st beach day with Daddy!!!

Easton, Jason and I went to the beach yesterday - this was Easton's first trip to the beach with his Daddy! We met up with my friend Emily and her family ... we met Emily in our "Mommy & Baby" yoga class. It was nice to have a chance to spend time with new friends and get to know them better. Everyone had a great time - although Easton is still a bit afraid of the water. We'll have to work on that! He loves lounging and napping on the beach. (under a tent and covered with sunscreen, of course) :-)

Here are some pics from our day, it was a great time and we look forward to heading back again this week! Oh, how I love living 3 miles from the beach!!!!

Jason & Easton - 1st time @ the beach together ... there will be many more times to come!

All of us at the beach - we couldn't get Easton to look at the camera!

What a sweet Daddy - keeping his little boy shaded from the sun!

Whew - it's been a loooooong day! :-)