Merry Christmas, Happy New Year...catching up

So I've been a bad blogger once again and I've missed Christmas and New Years! Let me try to back track and catch up. Aside from Bryson having a virus which caused a fever of 103+ on Christmas Eve, several sleepless nights due to fever, teething, etc....I guess you could say we had a pretty good Christmas. Bryson of course racked up on all kinds of toys and clothes! He enjoyed opening his presents and seemed to find more joy in the little things like hangers or tissue paper rather than the gifts themselves. And of course he enjoyed spending time with his grandparents and great grandparents.

Now it's the beginning of a whole new year, which is hard to believe in itself. In just a couple weeks my baby will be 16 months old. He has grown so much over the past couple of months. It never ceases to amaze me the changes that I see daily. His vocabulary has grown to include SO many words, I can hardly keep track. Mommy, Daddy, cookie, apple, uh oh, duck, doggy, cup, bye bye, no, Elmo, quack, book,...are just a few. Every day it's something different. His new thing is imitating ducks. If you ask him what a duck says, he makes his arms into little wings and starts flapping them while saying "quack quack quack" (sounds like "cack cack cack") It's pretty much one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

We are still experiencing a lot of tantrums and attitude as well, so I'm still hoping and praying that this phase passes soon. Apparently this is all part of parenting a toddler though. While we do have our fair share of the tantrums, Bryson also has some very sweet and loving moments as well. He loves to give hugs and kisses, and now he'll actually wrap his little arms around your neck and squeeze tight. It definitely melts my heart every time.

Well, that's about all the catch up I have to do for now. I will do my best to update this more often...let's think of it as my New Years Resolution! :)

I do want to add a special note today though. Today we all heard on the news of the horrible earthquake in Haiti that occurred yesterday. This earthquake has brought unfathomable destruction to the Haitian people....a destruction we can only imagine. Seeing the pictures and reading the stories today just broke my heart into pieces. I don't understand why God allows these things to happen, but I do know that somewhere, there is a purpose and a plan. I would just like to encourage everyone to keep these people and the country as a whole in your prayers. The road to recovery is going to be a very long and very painful journey for them. My heart goes out to them.

I'll leave you today with some pictures from Christmas.

Bye bye turkey...

Ok so of course several weeks have passed since my last post and SO much has happened. Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is slowly approaching us. It is just insane to think how quickly the year has flown by!! Before we know it it will be 2010!
Bryson is growing more and more each day and has now joined the walking world! That's right! It is so funny to see his little self wobbling around like a little old drunk man.....and also very nerve racking! I'm waiting for him to bust his head open at any minute! He is getting the hang of it though and actually getting quite good at it. He can't stand up by himself yet so he will just crawl to the nearest object so he can pull himself up and then he takes off. I know when he learns to stand up, we are in BIG trouble.
Along with walking, Bryson has also developed a HUGE attitude and temper. I think we may be experiencing the "Terrible Two's" a little earlier than originally planned. He can be very aggressive and mean if he doesn't get what he wants. We are definitely struggling with these issues a lot. I'm trying my best to be patient and hope that this phase will pass soon!
He is also going through a huge mama's boy stage. If he isn't attached to my hip, he's following me around the house crying saying "maaamaaaaaaa......MAAAAMAAAAAA!!!" Don't get me wrong, I love having a mama's boy...however this phase he's in can get EXTREMELY tiring. I guess I need to enjoy it while it lasts though because I know he won't be wanting to be with me like this forever....and I know one day I'm going to look back and miss it so much.
Bryson has also added some words to his vocabulary...we hear "thank you" (tee-too), "duck", "got it", "nummy nummy" (which means I'm hungry), and Daddy's favorite "Go Gamecocks!" (gah cocks!) And of course we also frequently hear all kinds of gibberish accompanied with plenty of pointing. He is just developing so quickly and it's so neat to watch him learn and discover things. He dances whenever he hears music, he has begun to figure out how to push buttons and make things work, he knows how to look for things when you ask him....it's just amazing to see how much he's learned.
Unfortunately I don't have any new pictures to post today, however I will attempt to get some new ones on here soon, and possibly a video or two as well.
As always, thanks for checkin in!

Halloween!

So Halloween has come and gone and we had a great time hanging out with our friends Brian and Kristen and little baby Aubrey. We ate, trick or treated a little bit, and watched the Carolina game. Bryson dressed as a puppy and got to ride around the neighborhood in his wagon! He had a blast!!

Also, we had our 12 month photo shoot with Ashley at Harmon Tree Farm a couple weeks ago. The pictures turned out great! I wont share all of them, but here are just a couple of my faves.

That's all for now!!

Random items!

So as I said before, a lot has been going on over the past few weeks! Bryson has been increasingly pulling up and is now cruising along on anything he can get his hands on to! We try to work with him daily to take his first unassisted steps but he's still pretty unsteady! However, tonight he did take a couple wobbly steps by himself, just in time to fall into Daddy's arms! We'll keep working!

Bryson has also graduated to the toddler room at daycare without any issues. They say he moved right on without a hitch and without any tears! Thank goodness! He's been playing his little heart out every day apparently, because he comes home every night and is exhausted! Those big kids must be wearing him out!

Bryson has also begun to drink regular milk instead of formula. Can we say hallelujah?? What a relief on our wallets!! How wonderful it is to pay $3.00 instead of $15.00 for his milk!! Woooohoo!! Now if we can just get rid of those diapers....

We are also starting to see his vocabulary start to develop. So far we've got Mama, Daddy, Bye-Bye, and Pup-Pup. We also believe he has been saying "ah-cha" (a.k.a "chop") thanks to his Daddy who is frequently karate chopping me (while saying Ah chop of course!). So it looks like I'll be getting double chops soon. (doesn't that sound like fun?

Ok, now for some random shots from the past few weeks:

Swinging in my new swing!

Digging in my kitchen cabinet

Trying on Daddy's hat

Just hangin out in my diaper box

mmmmmm

Obviously enjoying some mac and cheese at McAlisters

Oh, and you might have noticed that a certain green object has been missing from all of these pictures....that's because we are 2 weeks paci free!! Wooooohoooo!!!

Playin catch up...

Ok ok so I've missed a month of blogging. Oops again!! A lot has been going on so I'll try to do a run down in a few blogs.

Bryson had his first birthday party at the Gilbert Park a few weeks ago. We had a blast and he did so well. He saw lots of friends and family and completely demolished his cake! I don't think he even took one bite of it! It was great to celebrate this huge milestone in Bryson's life with the people closest to us. It's wonderful to see how loved our son is!! Here are some pics of our time:

The adorable cake thanks to Carey and her mom! Thanks guys!!

Bryson and Torrin, wagon buddies!

Being silly

Checkin out the cake

Not liking the hat one bit!

As you can see, we did have a bit of a meltdown at the end of the party, but overall the day was wonderful!! Good food, good friends...what more could you ask for??

Happy Birthday to my sweet Bryson

Dear My Sweet Baby Boy,
One year ago today, the most beautiful child was born into this world and my life was forever changed. You have brought so much joy into our lives since the moment we first looked into your beautiful blue eyes. This year has held so many priceless memories: your first smile, first laugh, first tooth, first crawl..and soon to be your first steps. Each milestone has made my heart burst with a pride I'd never known. I never knew it was possible to love someone as much as I love you. Every smile, every hug, every kiss makes my heart feel as though it will burst.
Over these past 12 months, we have watched your personality develop. You are always quick to smile and laugh and can easily brighten the moods of those around you. You love to test your daddy and I to see what you can get away with....most of the time with a huge grin on your face. You love to sing songs and laugh at Mommy and Daddy's silly dancing. You love to play with your pup-pups, especially Joey who loves to play with you too. You love to watch Sesame St when you have TV time, and rarely pay attention to anything else when this is on. You love bath time and you always have. Splishing and splashing are your favorite things to do.
You do not like nap time or bed time and you put up quite a fight some days. You do not like to brush your teeth and you make that chore very hard for Mommy and Daddy (usually Daddy). You don't like your face to be wiped or your fingernails to be clipped which drives Mommy bananas!
There is so much more to tell about your personality, that I could go on for days. Your Daddy and I love everything about you....even the parts that drive us crazy. You have made this year so wonderful and it has truly been the best year of our lives. Every day is brighter because of you and the world is a better place with you in it. Words just cannot describe the love I have for you or just how truly special you are. You are the most amazing, beautiful person I have ever known and you are loved by SO many. You are my world, my sun, my moon, my shining star. I love you with my whole heart and every ounce of my being. I cherish every single moment we spend together.
Thank you for the little person you are and the person you will become in the years to come. I am so glad God has chosen me to be your Mommy. Happy 1st Birthday baby! I hope it is wonderful!
I love you baby, always and forever.
Mommy

Update!

Hi there!

Just wanted to update everyone on the whole tube situation. Bryson had the procedure on the 23rd and it went VERY well. While Jeffrey and I were a little nervous (ok, who am I kidding..it was just me) Bryson was absolutely fine. All the nurses even commented on what a perfect little patient he was. The procedure was literally over in just a few short minutes and in no time we were back talking with Dr. Bouknight (who we LOVED!). She told us that when she went in to put the tubes in, his ears were just horribly infected and full of fluid. She was really surprised that Bryson wasn't in pain before the surgery. She said if she had any doubts that we were jumping the gun on doing the procedure, that they were completely gone when she saw the condition his ears were in. This was absolutely the right thing for us to do and I'm SO glad it's over and behind us now. Bryson recovered within an hour or so after the procedure and then he was back to his normal self. So far so good! I'm hoping this is the end of ear infections for good!!

In other news... since my last post Bryson has been pulling up like crazy on everything he can get his hands on. I guess he fooled me when I thought he might skip this step. Walking is getting closer and closer!

It is SO hard to believe that in just 2 days, my baby will be a year old. Not to mention, I'll be a whole year older tomorrow also! AGH! Time is just flying by so quickly! This time last year I was sitting here, big as a house, thinking I still had a couple weeks left of pregnancy. Then wam, bam, here I am a year later, and my almost toddler is asleep in the next room. Wow. Ok, I think I may cry if I think about this anymore tonight. I'll just live in denial for the next couple of days until his birthday actually gets here!

In the mean time, here are a few recent pics:

Rootin on the Gamecocks!

Putting on my game face

Hangin out, watching the game

Waiting for my surgery

That's all for now! Love you all!