Ian's First Christmas

I can't believe we've celebrated Ian's first Christmas! When he was born, it seemed like it was forever away, but it snuck up on us quickly and went by way too fast.

Vernon's family came over for Christmas Eve dinner and we had a good time together. The downer of Ian's first Christmas is that he was sick. He was happy all day on Christmas Eve until it was time for dinner - of course! From there on out, he was pretty grumpy and pretty much unwilling to be with anyone other than his mama. He was interested in his presents, but he wasn't overly excited about it all. He was SO tired and pretty put out that we wanted him to do anything other than have his milk and go to bed.

Christmas day was a different story though. He woke up and was SO excited to find his wagon under the tree. We had big plans to take him for a wagon ride around the neighborhood and play on the swings, but it was COLD and wet, and Ian was still sick, so we just stayed inside and played. He loved his wagon ride around the house and when we finally got to take it for a ride outside, he was truly giddy with delight!

Ian was also giddy with delight to find a bouncing Tigger in his stocking. He LOVES that thing!!! It's a little bit different than the one he played with at Avery's house, but he loves it all the same . . . it still bounces!

The day after Christmas, we woke up to snow flurries. Areas around us had a white Christmas and day after, but none of our snow ever stuck. We loved watching it flurry all the same and hope that it will snow enough to stick at our house later this winter.

It was a great First Christmas! Christmas with a baby in the house is just wonderful! Hope all of you had a great one as well.

The Roberson Ornament Party

Seriously. Christmas is so much more fun with a child!!! I loved Christmas before, but now, it's even dreamier! Granted, there is more work. More activities. But, also a lot more fun. Part of that fun was Ian joining in on the Annual Roberson Ornament Party. We went caroling to the neighbors house and exchanged an ornament with a friend. We loved it.

10 Months Old

Our sweet boy is 10 months old!!! Here is a quick run down of what our dear one is doing these days . . .

• He took his first step alone while we were in Texas! He's taken additional little steps here and there.
  


• He is cruising around the furniture and will crawl in between pieces he can reach.
  


• His crawl is more of a lop-sided bear crawl - one knee down and one knee up. He'll go a couple of steps, sit up and then sort of scoot the rest of the way. Adorable!!!
  


• He's a little chatter box! His favorite thing to say is "Eee-oh-eee!" We have no idea what it means, but he LOVES to say it!
  


• Ian talks in his sleep. HILARIOUS!!!
  


• He started clapping.
  


• He has FOUR teeth!!! The top two are pushing their way all the way down (one much more than the other) and this round of teething hasn't been bad at all!
  


• He's starting to like noisy toys better . . . Yippee.
  


• He's finally eating Puffs and stuff!!!
  


• He LOVES his walker and squeals with delight as he RUNS through the house in it.
  


• Ian is finally truly sleeping through the night with no need for us to get the paci for him and we're done with the middle of the night snuggling too. I haven't slept this much in over a year!!!
  


• Speaking of his sleeping, we keep 8 or so paci's in his bed so we can all find them in the night and he usually goes through ALL of them - they're all on the floor come morning time!
  


• We may be done with middle of the night snuggles, but we still snuggle a lot during the day.
  


• Ian's blankets, along with the paci, are still must-have items.
  
  

Ian is such a HAPPY CAMPER now that he's mobile. He's always been happy, but now he's just giddy! He's just so proud of himself and it's SO much fun to watch! I was afraid I might not enjoy this stage quite as much since I'm having to watch him like a hawk, but I'm LOVING it! Ian started a game of peek-a-boo with me the other day while I was changing his diaper. Oh, my! I loved it so much!!! My sweet, sweet boy. You fill our hearts with more joy than we ever knew was possible.

Sweet Eli!

We have anxiously been awaiting the arrival of our precious friend, Eli. He finally arrived on December 15th and we're in love! I can't believe that I was able to see him only a few short hours after he was born. He's just beautiful! Eli is the last baby at church to be born in Ian's birth year. I can't believe the year is over . . . what a great one it has been and what a great way to end the year too!

Ian's First Chistmas Program

Our church's Christmas program is always one of my favorites, but this year was even BETTER! Ian and all of his little friends were invited to be in the program this year as the little mice of our nativity story. They were PRECIOUS!!! Ella Harding and Aislinn were mobile during the show, but were content to stay close enough to the stage. Ty was mobile, but was NOT content to stay near the stage. He didn't stay long! Karlie and Zachary are too little to get away and were happy to be in the show. Ian was happy to be in the show too, but mostly, he was glad to sit in my lap to tear up all of the ears everyone gave him! Fortunately, his total count of destroyed ears was only TWO. I LOVE that I have a little one to watch in this favorite holiday tradition!

Ella Harding's Birthday Party

When we got home from Texas, it was immediately time for Ella Harding's birthday party. Do you know what that means? That means that Ella Harding turned ONE and that Ian's first birthday party is the next one on the list. I may have just passed out for a minute . . .

Sweet Ella Harding! We had so much fun at her party. Her mama knows how to throw a party for sure! Ian and Zachary had a lot of fun playing too. That Zachary is getting way too big!!! Why do they all have to grow up so fast???

We love you Ella Harding!!!

Santa Came to Town!

And, apparently left his sleigh in our neighborhood for a little boy to explore with wonder and delight.

Merry Christmas!!!

May the rich blessings of this Christmas season be yours today and every day. Peace, joy and love. Emmanuel, God with us.

All our love to you and yours,
Vernon, Robyn and Ian

Christmas Greetings 2010

For all of our loved ones who might not have been on our mailing list, we send you Christmas Greetings all the same, with just as much love.

Isn't our Christmas card BEAUTIFUL??? I LOVE it!!! It was quite the road getting here though . . .

Remember when I posted the long post promoting Shutterfly's 50 free card giveaway? I did love some of their cards and came up with a pretty card to send out to all of you. I ordered my free cards plus some, anxiously awaited their arrival, and then was so disappointed when they arrived. The photo quality just wasn't very good and for someone who is ALL ABOUT the PHOTO, that just didn't work! But before you think I'm bashing Shutterfly, please hear this . . . ALL of the other Shutterfly cards I have received have been just beautiful, with great quality AND Shutterfly refunded all of my money with no questions asked or further work on my part. So, even though my cards fell through their safeguards, I've been pleased with my Shutterfly experience and will order from them in the future.

On to how I found our perfect Christmas card . . . Sharon, with Redbud Designs made our birth announcement, and I follow her beautiful work. I had actually been lusting over our Christmas card design since the beginning of the Christmas season, but with 50 free cards coming, it just didn't seem like I could come out on top price wise with having to buy the design, print the cards and buy the envelopes. When the catastrophe happened with our Shutterfly card, I remembered this design from Redbud. Could I make it work? I decided to take another look and the design was on sale! I had my envelopes from Shutterfly and I remembered that Costco does a good job with photo processing and is VERY affordable. Turns out we were able to send MORE cards this route than we had originally thought we would be able to. It was our little Christmas miracle this year and what a good one it was!

Christmas Tinsel

Decorating the house for the holidays is SO much more FUN with Ian around! He inspires so much more creativity and the Christmas tinsel is prettier this year than ever before.