Pre-Christmas Shenanigans

We made it to Tennessee on Tuesday by the skin of our teeth. Christmas travel is definitely not for the faint of heart... so I don't think we'll be doing it anymore ;) What's so funny is that, even though we were traveling with a baby, he wasn't even the reason the whole day was so stressful. It was just one thing after another, from long waits on the tarmac to almost missing our connecting flight to a lost carseat (and a "loaner" carseat from the airline that smelled like the last kid that sat in it wasn't wearing a diaper -- that was lovely on our two-hour drive to Jackson). It was a LONG day but I'm so grateful that a fussy, uncooperative baby was not on our list of problems. And we made it here safe and sound so that's really all that matters. 

We've been so enjoying spending time with family and old friends this week and eating so much good food already. Wilder is fascinated by my mom's Christmas tree and the fact that we've had to move all ornaments to the top half of it confirms for me that I did the right thing by not attempting to put up our own tree this year. 

On Wednesday we went to a first birthday party for the son of some friends. Even though the husband and Paul went to high school together and we all went to Mississippi State at the same time, his wife and I never really knew each other until we crossed paths in the blogosphere and ended up being due with our babies around the same time. Their son was born exactly a week after Wilder and Lindsay and I have spent the last year comparing notes and encouraging each other through our blogs. When we found out we were going to be in Tennessee at the same time for Christmas we were excited to be able to get together in real life. The boys were so funny together and the birthday party was crazy and a blast.

This is the best picture we were able 

to get of all of us haha. The boys 

were obviously not feeling it :)

Yesterday we went over to Paul's grandparents' house for a visit and a few of Paul's many younger cousins happened to be there too. Wilder had such a good time being the center of attention and playing with the "big" kids. We can't wait to take him over there on Christmas -- he's going to love being around the dozen or so other kids who will be there. 

Paul and I have been taking advantage of having a built-in babysitter in my mom and have gone out with friends a couple of nights this week. Last night we ran into a friend of ours from high school who is apparently a fan of the blog. I love finding out who reads all this stuff I write and it's so cool to hear someone who hasn't met Wilder talking about him and knowing what he's up to. So a big shout-out to our good buddy, Chase! :)

And after many attempts I have finally gotten a decent video of Wilder walking. It seemed like every time I tried to record it he would fall down and every time I wouldn't have my camera ready he would take off across the room but at last the stars aligned and I got the cutest 8-second video of his little monkey walk. I can't deny it anymore -- my tiny newborn infant son is truly a toddler now...

Sorry for the sort of random post but I wanted to get all of this down on the blog before the big Christmas weekend because I know I'll have a lot to say and tons of pictures from that. We're so excited to be in Tennessee this Christmas for the first time in three years and even more excited to share it with Wilder and the rest of our family. I hope all of you have a very blessed and merry Christmas this weekend!