Fun videos

Dustin and I have been huge fans of Costco for a few years now. Recently, our son has also become a fan. In the video below, you can see just how much fun trips to Costco can be. :)

And here is the requested video clip of Southern in his new swing. It's such a beautiful day, and Southern and I are both feeling better so we have spent much of the day outside today. Dracky is also out enjoying the weather. Southern loves watching our kitty. That's who he was looking at while he was swinging in this video.

Southern's First Christmas

The holiday season has passed by in a blur. Southern got so many new toys, we are already wondering what we'll do after his first birthday! Dustin asked me if I thought it would be improper to ask for money for Southern's savings account instead of toys on the invitations!! haha Little does my hubby know that it is just beginning. We are soon going to have toys in every room of the house. ;)

We started off the Christmas festivities with a small celebration at our house with Granny Ehlers, her sister Suzie, and Carly and Parker. There was too much drama this year to have our usual Ehlers Christmas at Granny E's house. Oh well, we had a good time. And Southern got to learn how to rip paper. He proceeded to practice this new skill on Daddy's magazines during the following week.

Our next Christmas was at my Granny Hahn's in Yoakum. Southern got to meet his two little cousins on that side of the family for the first time, one of which was born when Southern was 5 weeks old. It was really fun to see those two guys interact. As I've mentioned before, my grandfather there has cancer. He was given 3 months to live by his doctor. It's now been about 3-4 years, so we were very blessed to share another Christmas with him.

We then had 4 Christmases in 3 days. Christmas Eve was spent in Yoakum as well. We had lunch at Dori and Allen's house followed by supper at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Southern really enjoyed spending time with his two little boy cousins there as well. They are 4 and 3 years old. The last time he hung out with them, he was too young to play. This time, he was crawling around on the floor with them and hugging and patting on them.

Christmas Day was spent back at home. My dad came over, we had a quick lunch, and then we opened presents. He got Southern a little John Deere 4-wheeler to ride around on. (Don't worry, it's not motorized!) When Southern's able to balance himself, he can sit on it and scoot all over the house. We got him a Teddy Ruxpin that I had found for an awesome price during an after-Christmas clearance at Costco last December. We also got him a swing outside. It's shaped like a little race car. Southern absolutely loved it. His face just lit up when we put him in it for the first time and gave him a push. Since that day, I have taken him out on it only one more time (since been he's sick, I didn't want him out in the cold for too long). But he would laugh out loud as I would swing him, and he started screaming bloody murder when I pried his little frozen fingers off of the ropes to try to take him back inside. His little cries were saying, "noooo, Mommy, not yet - I want to swing longer!".

The day after Christmas, we had our last celebration as we had to cancel the one planned for Sunday. My mom, Josh, and his boys came over. Southern scored the mother load this time. I think he had more presents to open that day than all of his other Christmases combined! haha He just loved it. He was playing around in the paper, crawling all over the place, and was given lots of new playthings to keep him occupied. Dustin and I can't complain though. We got a really nice gift too. But most of all, I loved being able to get together with loved ones. We don't get around to visiting family in Yoakum as often as we used to now that little Southern takes up so much of our time. So it was really good to see everyone. :)

The winter blues

Sadly, little Southern has been under the weather these past few days. When we found out a relative was sick right before Christmas, my first instinct was to keep Southern away. I was told that it would probably be okay, just to keep him from getting too close, and besides, everyone was coming to see Southern - he was the star of the show. So we decided to take him as planned. After all, it's Christmas. I didn't want to be a Scrooge. But now he's sick. Poor little guy.

We had 7 Christmases to go to this year as usual. We ended up having to cancel the last one though. Southern just felt awful Saturday evening, and we knew he needed a break. So we called everyone to postpone the party we had planned for Sunday until New Year's Day. One family will no longer be able to make it now though. That's especially sad because they were the people we get to see the least. Oh well, maybe some other time. We've been giving Southern his medicine and trying to get him to take extra naps, and I can tell he's getting better. Unfortunately, now I'm feeling sickly. We had to cancel Dustin's hunting plans today so he could stay home to help. I'm correct in saying that right now our family has got the winter blues!

Southern's favorite "toys"

Just like any man, Southern has a fascination with electronics. The more expensive, the better. He will pass over his real toys to get to any remote, phone, laptop, or camera. My little silver point-and-shoot Nikon is no exception...

8 Months Old

Another month down. The time is flying by. Southern is really crawling well now. For the past two or three weeks, he has been using his hands and knees instead of doing his old creeping moves. He has gotten really fast!

Our little Southern is experiencing his first holiday season. :) He enjoyed St. Nick's Day when we helped him empty his stocking. He got a First Christmas story book and a toy dump truck. He loves our Christmas tree and will try to swipe an ornament or two off of it daily. He has also discovered the presents under the tree. He likes to play with the bows. There is one large present (the perfect standing height for him) that already has its bow messed up, so he is allowed to play with that one - sorry Carly and Parker!! haha Your present won't look as pretty as it first did.



















We took Southern to see Santa at the end of November, and he did very well. I set him in Santa's arms, and he took a long look at him. Then, as Daddy and I were making our way behind the camera, he took a good long look at us. Then he looked back at Santa and prompty broke out into a big grin. :) Unfortunately, the photo guy took the picture at the first look, so we don't have that smile captured, but I don't blame him. I'm sure most kids start crying so he took it as soon as possible.