Merry Christmas from the Watts Family

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Christmastime is Here!

I just love this time of year. The story, the traditions, the lights, the trees, the stockings, the music, the fires, the time with family...I could go on and on!

One tradition that my family grew up with is that on the day we decorated our Christmas Tree we got a St. Nick present. It just showed up under the newly decorated tree every year - the first present of the season. It was always such a fun surprise - a present for the family!

Kevin and I decided to keep this tradition alive, and this year St. Nick brought Carter a big squishy ball! He could not have been more excited!

He ran around hugging this ball for days. The St. Nick tradition is gonna be a hit in our home I have a feeling!

Carter and I were feeling crafty one day and decided that his little tree in his playroom needed a special touch, so we painted Christmas ornaments. He was over it in a matter of seconds and much more focused on painting his diaper, so we only painted 3. They turned out really cute though!

Carter loves our Christmas tree. He especially likes the ornaments he can touch (the ones on the bottom). His very favorite is Santa in a hammock - he gives Santa a push - right before he rips him off the tree.

He also loves the Nativity. He calls Baby Jesus "JeeJee" and he can pick out both JeeJee and Joseph. I'm teaching him that the story of Baby Jesus is in the Bible. He will bring his little Bible to you if you ask him, and he likes to say the word "BieBLLLL." So sweet!!! That camel has been known to stick his head in Carter's mouth on occasion as well - nobody knows how that happened :-)

What doesn't fit in the next picture???

That's right - JeeJee is a little bit different, fluffier than usual. Well, that's because this is the official Baby Jesus of our home. It actually goes to a little "My First Christmas" book that is cloth and has finger puppets. We've had it out year round, so Carter has gotten to know the story. When I ask him, "Where is Baby Jesus?" He goes and gets this little stuffed JeeJee out of the book, so we eventually just replaced the other one for now! We are having so much fun with our little man this Christmas!!!

I can't wait to see what other family traditions will come with time!

O, Christmas Tree!

We went on a hunt...

a hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. There were so many to choose from! We had to walk through them all to look for the right one.

Did you know that Christmas trees are itchy when you touch them?

Carter found a few that he really liked, but we redirected him :-)

"It leans just like me!"

"Yep, this is it."

Daddy did the measuring with his hand.

We got a little tired while hunting, so we had to rest...

Eventually, we found our perfect tree...

...so we rode the trolley back from the Christmas Tree field.

While they were packing up our tree, Carter got to take a pony ride!

It was a great December afternoon!

Baby #2 Update

Well, I thought I'd post a bit about this pregnancy. Here I am at 16 weeks pregnant.

(my camera has been acting up lately...this is a little out of focus)

Here I am pregnant with Carter (for comparison).

Sorry, we forgot to take one at 14 weeks! I'm feeling great. This pregnancy is flying by, and I have no complaints. I honestly have no time to think about the fact that I am indeed going to have another baby in a very short 5 months (AHHHHH!). We find out what we are having on the 21st of December. Honestly, the only thing I want for Christmas is a healthy baby! I would love another boy - I would love a little girl....it's really a win, win situation. I can't wait to know!!!

16 Month Update

I can't believe he's already 16 months old!!! Well, he's been 16 months for about 2 weeks now, but it seems like just yesterday.....ok, well maybe not yesterday, but it doesn't seem like it's been over 16 months! He has changed so very much since my 14 month update. It's almost like he's completely transformed into a little boy over the past 2 months. I wanted to record some of the things Carter is doing at this age, so here you go:

CARTER'S 16 MONTH MILESTONES:

- He weighs 29 pounds, and he more than 30 inches (not sure exactly).

- I've lost track of how many teeth he has, but I KNOW that those pesky one year molars have come in (Praise the Lord!), and his eye teeth are working their way in! I think that gives him 14 or so.

- He walks runs EVERYWHERE now. He started walking at the end of September (@ 14 mos.) and hasn't looked back since. He started running at 16 mos :-)

- Now that he is walking/running so much, he doesn't really climb quite as much, but we still love to climb up the stairs and getting in and out of chairs/couches/etc...

- I think the exercise makes him tired because he is napping for about 1-2 hours in the morning, 2-4 hours in the afternoon, and sleeping 12 hours a night!

- When we ask him if he is ready to go upstairs, he runs to the stairs, climbs up them, and runs straight in the bathroom for his bath. This happens pretty much no matter what time of day it is.

- He LOVES taking baths. He plays with all his bath toys. He especially loves cups and dumping water on himself. He also loves laying on his back and stomach in the bath and kicking his feet (leaving mommy completely soaked). He also asks for "bubbls" when he wants me to blow bubbles. He also has a book about bubbles which he calls "bubbls."

- He can reach on top of the counters!

- He likes to sweep (especially when I'm dustmopping).

- His favorite toys are balls (which he has no less than 100 of) and trucks. He makes a truck noise as he's driving things around - even his rubber ducky as he drives it around the bath tub :-)

- When we ask him what a cow says he says "moe" and a monkey says "uh oh oh oh" :-)

- He still likes to sing "If you're happy and you know it" and claps his hands. He also loves "This little light of mine" and puts his hand over my finger when we sing "hide it under a bushel" then he pulls it away at the right time and yells "NO!"

- If I ask him to get his Bible, he will bring it to me! He also loves to say "BIE-BLLL"

- When I ask him where Baby Jesus is, he will go get his finger puppet Christmas book and the little stuffed Baby Jesus out of it. If you ask him to say "Jesus" he says "JeeJee."

- He has started wanting me to read to him. He will bring me books and turn around and back into my lap to sit down. I LOVE that he will sit in my lap now during a book because he has NEVER snuggled, so this is as close as I've gotten in a long time.

- He talks all the time. We call it "alien speech" because it sounds like a little Alien!

- He loves dancing in the kitchen. He presses the button on our refrigerator toy that plays music and will bounce around and twirl. I, of course, am his dance partner.

- He understands so much now! It is amazing to me how his understanding has blossomed in the past few weeks. He can follow fairly complicated directions such as "Go get your milk and bring it to mommy." or "Put the pot back in the cabinet and close the door." Disclaimer: The fact that he IS indeed a one-year-old = he does not ALWAYS follow directions :-)

- He has gotten really good about obeying me when I say "No." See disclaimer above :-)

- His communication skills are greatly improving. When he wants something to drink, he runs to the refrigerator and acts like he is about to die. When he wants something to eat, he opens the pantry door and starts rummaging...again, acting like he is about to die. When he has run out of his drink, he will shake his sippy cup in your face. When he wants to play with you, he will crawl into your lap or throw a ball at your face :-)

- We are working on manners. When he wants something, I ask him to say please. He will (most of the time) do the sign for please and say "PLS."

- He really enjoys playgrounds now. He will climb up the stairs of our playground and slide down all by himself - he even goes head first sometimes. He can do the big kid slide in our neighborhood all by himself too (with mommy RIGHT behind him to make sure he doesn't fall).

- He LOVES to play fetch with Fischer!

- When I tell him "Daddy is home!" He runs to the door and waits for him.

- He likes waving and telling people "hey" and "byebye"

- He is saying quite a few things now, but there's no way I can remember them all! Here are some of his words: dada, mama, dog, hi/hey, bye-bye, bubbles, uh-oh, pls (please), baby (he said this for the first time today!), JeeJee (Jesus), Bie-bl (Bible), ha (hot), ba (ball), Nana, Mamama (Grandmama), NayNay (my mom's dog named Chardonnay), and Pepper (my mom's parrot).

I may have to come back and update this as I remember other things I wanted to include! He is our little man - ever growing and changing. Oh, how we love him.

Christmas Card Outtakes

The good...

The bad...

and the ugly...

There are no other words.

Cruisin'

Our wonderful, fantastic, amazing parents took our 15 month old off our hands for a week while we went down to the Carribean for a little bit of sunshine. It was much needed. I hadn't been away from the little stinker for longer than a weekend since he was born, and anyone would need a break after 15 months of a 24 hour job! Kevin and I had so much fun.

We are blessed.