Mega Christmas Post

Here is the super long Christmas post I promised.

Christmas morning started out slow. Grandma Juli spent the night with us and we started rolling out of bed somewhere around 8:30 or 9. Hank spied the first gift. I don't know how he found it or how he knew it was his, but he spied his little puppy Christmas present up on the mantle before the festivities even started. He was jumping and whining and carrying on even before we woke Luke up. It made lots of loud squeaky noise so we had to throw it outside and let him squeak it out there until we got Luke up.

I went in and woke up Luke and led him out into the hall. Juli had not yet arrived when Luke went to bed the previous evening, so his first surprise was seeing Juli in the recliner. He stopped dead in the hallway. We had to coax him down the hall and when he looked at the car he turned around and went back to the other end. I think he thought he was dreaming. Here he is still very groggy.

Once we finally got him to come all the way into the living room, he climbed right in the car. This is pretty much how he spent the entire day--in the car. I have 100 pictures of Christmas day; 85 pictures are of Luke in the car. So I picked just a few of my favorites to share with you.

First moments with his cozy coupe. . .

Let the festivities begin!!

This is Juli opening one of her favorite gifts. . . all our dead batteries! (Don't worry, we got her real gifts too!)

Hank enjoying his gift too. . .

Intermission:

Luke having breakfast--in the car.

And back to the gifts. Luke showing us the plate he made for his family at school. It was wrapped under the tree with a card and everything! We used it in the afternoon for our snacks. He is now sporting his new Curious George t-shirt over his PJ's, but still in the car!

Luke did come out of the car eventually. And when he did, he got to open this gift. . .

Elmo Live!! Elmo live is such a part of the family now that he has his own sleep spot--in the closet!

Even Grampa loved Elmo!

Cousin Alicia visited around lunch time. Oh no! Her ice cream slab got busted!

Grammy and Aunt Kim were there too!

It was a wonderful day! I think everyone had a good time. Gene busted out Elvis meets Nixon for everyone to watch, and we munched on tamales, sandwiches, dip, sweets, etc until I thought I was going to explode! Hope your Christmas was as fun as ours!

'Twas the night before Christmas. . .

Yeah, so I'm posting this ON Christmas and all, but . . . whatever.

Christmas Eve was super busy. We slept in a little bit (ooops!) and then rushed to get ready to head over to Grammy & Grampa's house for lunch. Aunt Kim made us delicious lasagna. Luke had his three bites and then bolted from the table. After lunch we had our gift exchange. Luke started off slowly, but he was actually opening the gifts. This is the first holiday he has figured this out for.

Grammy & Grampa's gift had a Christmas ornament attached to it. Luke refused to continue opening it until he got to put his ornament on the tree. It was kinda sweet. We have been working with Luke all month to leave the ornaments ON the tree and when they "accidentally" fall off he has to put them back on. He put this one on the tree all by himself.

Luke was sure to appreciate each gift. He had to stop and investigate each thing completely. Here he had to clear off half the table to make room for his new Curious George book. He is pointing to George on the cover.

Gift opening was fun. . . until this set in. The picture doesn't do it justice. There was kicking, screaming, arm flailing--the works. I just laughed and Grammy took him upstairs for his naptime.

After naptime, it was off to church where Luke enjoyed the songs and the pew pencils. He was very well behaved for the service. Following church, we headed back to our place to get ready for Gene's family to arrive.

Here is a cute PJ pic in front of the tree before bed.

It's funny, it looks like he can barely keep his eyes open, yet, this kiddo stayed up playing in his bed until close to 10 pm. Guess he knew Santa was on his way. . .

Prepare for a LONG Christmas day post. .. .

Baby Names 2008

If you enjoyed my post on baby names earlier this year then you might enjoy this post as well.

The results are in!!!
Top Girl Names of 2008
1. Isabella
2. Ava
3. Emily
4. Elizabeth
5. Abigail
6. Madison
7. Emma
8. Addison
9. Madeline
10. Olivia

Of note: This is the first year since 2006 that Emily was not the #1 girls name. Bumped all the way to #3!

Top Boy Names of 2008
1. Aidan
2. Jayden
3. Jacob
4. Michael
5. Ethan
6. Caden
7. James
8. Caleb
9. Andrew
10. Matthew


Reading about baby names always makes me interested in the WORST baby names of the year. After a quick google search, I found a website reccommending these names for giving your child a unique name:

For girls:

Keanah
Lil'One
Nikala
Matilda
Jypsie
Luna-Moon
Bharnee
Jenae
Ilil
Slipperdale
L'Annie
Ameeka
Yokaria
Zyndalee
Lululu
Kirraley
Khiyyi
Bluze
Syenya
Jasmynne
Rohannie
Sheeryn
Kauli
LaMoonah
Karabasque
Zanella
Joivone
Keirraih
Shanhanna
Djalala
Jammooi
Wishyonce
Zipper
Creinna
Ytalia
LaSacha
Kyaya
Lesley-Loo
Evangeli
Pommu
Shoggie
Shirazz
Tatanka
Zandy
Llup
Isleca
tNajeanni
Innuiti
Mikaela
Mauriona
Cassarissa
Daniela
Blooper
Tahana
Aisla
Tammerlaine
Allis
Silvana
Kassacampa
LaBoda
Chouchie
SaKerrin
Indrazade
Coolrunnin

Seriously? are these people serious?
Well, lets not forget the boys names. . .



Urlington
S'Alton
Bascomb
Bichop
Rockett
Cooldred
Stephenver
Dexman
Zornelius
Llyde
Cla
Ebenblo
Dridge
Eramerson
Emmoch
Slavman
Stroster
Hetcher
Garndmanner
Gideionn
Gradeall
Zeneralman
Huntquail
Berezekiah
Justiced
J'aret
Junmal
Bnute
Kitterund
Kyng
Liamword
Larman
Darkrin
McNot
Strerr
Hajor
DeMerritt
Xorne
Zarson
Brinkal
Prymal
Uddeus
Zysses
Harbane
Walaze
Watcat
Cassiuson
Cyruson
Leonimandas
Lawdown
Lyled
Llylyn
Myllart
Froble
Napalm
Oblex
Corter
Parrsly
Ransman
R'man
Straleigh
Coakley
Palcraman
Cobartt
Badiller
Rohot
Strant
Santrig
Wyl
Ashur
Zarson
Zolleman
Delmareve
Prector
Dastyx
Eddsone
Schtarris
Ysaman
Dodsone
Judged
Dillaran
Chesney
Cruzanton
LeCreed
Ochoquatro
Stawford
Macoolend
Davmann
Dock
Erassmuss
Clicker
Jeeler
Wybock

Okay this post is getting long. If you are as crazy about silly and/or cruel names for children you might enjoy these sites:

Baby's named a bad, bad thing
Celebrity baby scoop
Bad baby names
New York Times blog article
Unusual names in Georgia

Just for fun. . .

awwww. . .

look at little Luke opening his first Christmas present last year! He has changed soooo much.

Don't tell his Great-Grandmother that we let him teethe on a wiseman last year. . .

Looking a bit like Christmas around this place. ..

After Thanksgiving, Geno climbed up in the attic to drag out all our Christmas stuff. I don't think Luke really remembers anything about Christmas last year so he was real excited to find out what was in all these tubs and boxes.

He didn't get to help decorate the tree that night--bedtime snuck up on us. However, he has helped me to redecorate it every day since--sometimes more than once.

We did plug it in and let him see the lights before he went to bed.

Here's the finished product:

Just for fun--here's some pictures of some other decorations that I like this year.

The mantle:

Our entryway table:

And finally, our wreath. This one I am especially proud of because I made it myself. It is my version of a wreath I saw in the Sur la Table catalog. (mine is fake = will last for years & cost significantly less) Mine is the first picture and the catalog one is the second (my professional photography skills might make it hard to distinguish)

Thanksgiving in pictures

Back in May I set a goal to run the Turkey Trot 5 k this year. Early Thanksgiving morning, we all got up and headed out together to get it done. My sister Kim went with us.

Last years, 1K baby trot. . .

Brrrrrr! it was SO COLD that day.

This years photo-- Much nicer weather!

Luke got excited at all the commotion at the end! Or maybe he just knew he would be out of the stroller soon.

This one is a little hard to see us, but Luke has a great expression on his face.

We went to my parents for lunch. Luke was most excited about getting to wear a shirt with a turkey on it like everyone else. He just kept pointing at all the turkeys.

Here's a shot of the whole trot team.

We tried to get just one good picture of all the cousins together--well, this is the best one we got. It's hard to share the rocking chair these days.

Cousin Zoe brought over the most wonderful Turkey hat she made at school. She was so nice to share it with Luke who happens to LOVE hats. You can see how much he enjoys it. Look at those sweet rosy cheeks!

I think Luke's favorite part was the free reign in the food department. Unlimited chips and crackers were all within his reach for a good part of the day. I think he also loved being around so many people. He will just crawl up in your lap and give you a good talking to--we're just not sure yet what exactly he is saying. . .

Here he is having a serious talk with Aunt Suzie.