Christmas Recap

In case you haven't noticed I have been putting off my Christmas post but now that it's New Year's Eve and all I figured I should quit being lazy and just do it. 

On Christmas Eve, as is the tradition, we went to Covington to my mom's mom's house and had Christmas with her. We've done that ever since I can remember so it was special to take Wilder there this year. 

My grandmother lives on a farm and Wilder loved seeing all the peacocks, donkeys, and cows. My Uncle Charles took him for a tractor ride and the boy was in heaven. He was touching all the gears and knobs and trying to steer. 

He also had fun exploring my grandmother's house and being the center of attention. 

My beautiful cousin Katie had gotten engaged the day before so I was glad we got to see her too. Congrats Katie and Matt!

On Christmas morning we woke up and did Christmas in our pajamas with my mom, my brother, and sister-in-law. We missed my dad but had fun watching each other open presents and just being together. It's true that Christmas is so much more fun when you have a kid. Even though we had already done our Christmas in San Diego, Paul and I couldn't resist shopping for Wilder all over again when we got to Tennessee. Paul was determined we were going to get Wilder a toy motorcycle and drove all over town until he found one. We were so excited for him to open it Christmas morning -- maybe even more excited than he was to get it -- but he absolutely loves that thing. What a fun morning :)

Wilder loved the helmet that his little

friend got at the birthday party we went

to last week so we had to get him one

too. I think he thinks it's a motorcycle

helmet because he says Voom voom

every time he wears it :)

 Wilder and I gave Paul a remote

controlled helicopter so the boys had

fun with that in the freezing cold 

For lunch we went over to Paul's grandparents' house. Paul's dad is one of five siblings and Paul is the oldest of 14 grandchildren so they had quite a full house and Wilder loved the chaos. 

Wilder also loved being passed

around between all of his cousins

and aunts

Us with Paul's dad and sister

After a huge feast and presents at the Taylors' we went to my dad's mother's house for another lunch. Christmas there was much more subdued since not all of the family was there but we had a good time visiting with everyone and eating more delicious food.

On Monday we went over to my best friend Jinny's house for a visit. Wilder had a blast playing with her kids and all of their new Christmas toys, especially her son's Lightning McQueen car which was just his size and which he looked so cute driving. 

After our playdate at Jinny's we had to come home and tell my brother and his wife goodbye before they left to go back to Mississippi. Wilder absolutely adores them... can you tell? :)

 Flying the helicopter again. Wilder

was making bird noises at it.

 My dad got this old Willys jeep for 

Christmas as a kid. He tracked it down

in the last few years and bought it back

from whoever owned it at the time. He was

in the process of rebuilding it when he

passed away so my brother is working

on finishing it the way he wanted it. It's 

going to be something really special to have.

Tuesday night we went to Steak-n-Shake for my grandmother's birthday. Wilder loved his hat and kept putting it on and taking it off until finally he poked his head all the way through the top of it. He was thoroughly entertaining the whole table. My grandmother totally cracked us up too. She hates being the center of attention so when we started singing Happy Birthday to her, without missing a beat, she turned to my mom and started singing along so the people around us would think it was my mom's birthday. We could hardly finish the song for laughing!

Wednesday night Paul and I went to Memphis with Paul's dad and his girlfriend to go to a Grizzlies basketball game. It was a really good game, we had great seats, and we had such a good time visiting with Paul's dad and his girlfriend. 

 And guess who we ran into? Paul and I

happened to glance up at the jumbotron

before the game started and there was

my cousin Katie and her fiance so I texted

her and we met up at halftime. 

Yesterday our Mississippi State Bulldogs were playing in the Music City Bowl so Paul and I went to Nashville to root them on. It was my first night to ever spend away from Wilder but I survived and we had a great time. We had lunch with Paul's sister and her boyfriend and got to hang out with them for a while and check out some neighborhoods for when we hopefully move there after Paul graduates. Then we checked into our hotel and headed downtown to meet up with some friends. Our friend Russell had some extra tickets to his dad's company's box so we got to watch the game in style. We had so much fun getting to hang out with old friends and cheer the Dawgs on to victory. Thanks for the tickets, Russell!

Whew! OK, I think I'm all caught up now. We're spending New Year's Eve drinking champagne and playing Cranium with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. Thanks to all my readers for your love and support this year! We've had a year of ups and downs but it's been one of the best of my life. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for my little family. I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!