Berry Family: 1/3/10

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Lauren's 1st Christmas--2009

Oh what a wonderful Christmas we had with Lauren. It was filled with spending time with family, good Southern cooking and was more relaxing than we had anticipated. We packed up Eric's truck, also known as The Sleigh anytime we travel for more than 2 days with Lauren, and drove the entire 45 minutes to Chipley to spend the night for 3 nights at Grandma and Pa's house. This in itself was something new for Eric and I as we have driven from Gainesville or Orlando since 1999 to be with family for the Holidays. We decided to just stay in Chipley to make it easier with Lauren and afford us more time with everyone there.
The only thing that was a battle with Lauren was her sleep habits. Every night while in Chipley (then for the next week), she would wake up once or twice during the night. At first, Eric and I joked that she must be excited that Santa was coming but after a few nights we began to wonder if it was because of teething vs growth spurt vs "who knows"!

Lauren playing with Kerry the Fairy, given by Evan and Joel. See how well she is sitting up now?!

Lauren is sporting her high heel shoes and leg warmers given by Gabby and Fia. So cute!!

On Wednesday night, we went over to Aunt Nan and Uncle Dick's house to have a Christmas afternoon over potato soup and sandwiches. We never get to open gifts with them, but now that we live in Panama City, we can! It was nice to sit and visit and watch Lauren officially open her first Christmas gifts.

Looking at her baby laptop.

Aunt Nan and Lauren.

Uncle Dick and Lauren

Ready for her Christmas trip to Chipley

Christmas Eve night, we enjoyed dinner at Mama Lee's house. It was delicious and Lauren was the highlight of the evening. It is so fun to have a little one as part of our Christmas. It has been 12 years since Thomas Jay was a baby. We all took pleasure in watching Lauren eat her dinner and chew on wrapping paper.

Mama Lee and Lauren

You think Lauren has enough attention? What an audience!

Playing with Baby Huggums given by Aunt Tami, Uncle Bill, Mallory and Thomas Jay

After a bit of fussing, we stripped the tights and shoes off. With Mallory and Thomas

Pa taking it easy with Lucas and Lauren

Lauren on Christmas morning at Grandma and Pa's house. She is sitting in a red chair that belonged Daddy and Uncle Gabe. Santa Claus came and brought her a Madame Alexander Little Huggums doll, an activity table, stuffed bunny and a few other fun little toys. And for those of you who really know the "sentimental me", you know that it was hard for me not to cry Christmas morning during this moment! :-)

We spent Christmas morning eating breakfast and spending a lazy morning at Grandma's. Lauren playing with Aunt Stacie when we went to their house to see what Santa brought Austin, Isaac, Ethan and Lucas.

Early Christmas afternoon, we went to Gigi and Pops' house. Here she is opening gifts with Mitchell, Aunt Kay and Uncle Tyler

One of mommy's favorite outfits. Who wouldn't love satin lined wool pants in 6-9 months. Ha!

Lauren's stocking at Gigi's

By the end of Christmas Day, Lauren was a bit fussy and we had resorted to taking ALL of her clothes off...and it worked!! She was happy as a lark for a while after we did it.

The day after Christmas, we had lunch and opened gifts with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Lance, Aunt Stacie, Uncle Gabe, Grandma, Pa and the Berry Boys. Lauren loves to watch the boys play and she seemed to have a little bond with Ethan (3 years old). He asked to hold her quite a bit and she really liked sitting in his lap.

The Berry Grandkids

Taking a ride with Granddaddy on his golf cart. She loves it! They ride around the yard, look at the horses, pick oranges, and look at Missy the cat.

Aunt Jeannie and Lauren

Taking a ride on Pa's golf cart to look at the cows.

Daddy and his girl.

On the night of 12/26, Daddy and Lauren stayed at Grandma's house while I went to Wells Belles at Mel's house. This is one of my most favorite things to do all year long! I'm looking forward to the next one in June.

Emily (15 years) and Aunt Nan

Holly, Emily, me and Marley

Emily and I talking about nursing school and her plans to be a transplant coordinator :-) My heart melts to talk about it with her!

Merry Christmas everyone!!! We are looking forward to a love-filled and exciting 2010!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Week 25: Getting Ready for Christmas

Christmas is quickly coming and we are so excited to celebrate it with Lauren! I know that she will have NO idea what is going on, but for Eric and I we are eager to watch her experience it. Lauren turns 6 months old at the end of this week and she had her 6 month well baby check up on 12/23/09. She weighed 15.1 pounds (a little less than 50%) and was 25.5 inches long (50%). She received 5 shots, two of which were seasonal flu and the H1N1 vaccine, and one oral vaccine. It is alway pitiful to watch her get shots because she is usually in a good mood with her clothes off and then, wham! Pitiful, sad, holding her breath then letting it all out screaming. Good thing that the next two visits will include only 2 injections each time. She does really well post-vaccination though. Scheduled Tylenol (despite the recent research of decreased immunity if Tylenol is given, I have chosen to continue with scheduling it since history speaks for itself AND this was only one study...anyway...) and pretending like there is nothing different about our day seems to help. This time, though, she did sleep a bit more than usual.
As for milestones, she can hold a block with both hands and transfer it back and forth; she is sitting up better and better as the days go by even though she tips over fairly easily. we've been propping pillows up around her just in case she takes a big tumble; she is babbling more and more and louder and louder, especially when she is excited and then sometimes, she will lower her babble to a sweet little coos which, of course, makes me melt. She is continuing to eat baby food very well and gets milk 4-6 times a day, dependent on the day's routine. We are starting to see some swelling on her lower left canine and she is definitely teething as she is constantly chewing on EVERYTHING, mostly her trusty little toothbrush.

On Thursday night, Aunt Kay came down to visit with Lauren while Eric and I went to a Cocktail Christmas Party at the Moore's. Lauren enjoyed all the attention and time playing Aunt Kay gave her and was in bed by the time we got home. Thank you, Aunt Kay for driving down to keep LEB.

Playing with all the fun toys with Aunt Kay...

Sitting in her window seat relaxing...

Shopping for Christmas gifts has been the theme for this week, so Lauren has been tagging along to share in the fun. Here she is taking a break in a chair at The Mole Hole with her toothbrush.

On Friday night, we all 3 stayed in and had a wine and cheese dinner and watched movies on TV.

Our mantle is all ready for Santa

On Saturday, Lauren and her daddy spent the day together while I went to Destin to do some "fast shopping", ie. without LEB. :-)

Later that night, Emily came over and watched Lauren so that we could go out to a Toys For Tots Christmas Ball. Emily did an excellent job giving her a bath, giving milk and putting Lauren to bed. Well done, Emily! Thank you for helping us in such short notice! Here we are all dressed up and ready for a fun night out!

Lauren playing with Emily...

Lauren in front of her Christmas tree, made by Aunt Val.

She loves playing and pulling on the ornaments.

A little Thank You to Dr. DeVane for our little Christmas present...

On Sunday, we were able to go to the Annual Godfrey Christmas Brunch at the Yacht Club here in Panama City. Eric and I haven't been able to attend in MANY years since we have been in either Gainesville or Orlando, so this year, it was nice to be able to go and enjoy being with family.

"Hi, Jackson! I've missed you!! Come here and give me a hug!" says Lauren.

Generation I (Nan, Dick, and Madalene; sans Granddaddy, Ganny, Walt and Nancy)

Generation II (Kenny, Gail, Mel, Valerie, James, Tim; sans Kellie)

Generation III and IV (Jackson, Christopher, Holly, Lauren, Tricia, Eric, Marley, Kaitlin, Dustin, Emily, and Tyler; sans Hunter who was snow skiing)

"Jackson, let me tell ya somethin' "

"I love family get-togethers!"

Grandma has a new highchair to go with her new house!

I have been trying to read to Lauren more and more; sometimes with force, but we're trying.

Practicing sitting up; I love this picture because it looks like she is trying to brush the bear's teeth!

Sunday night, we were able to attend the Berry Kids Christmas Party at Aunt Beachie's! To me, it was an exciting thing to do: attend the kids party with our very own kid! Corny, I know. Grandma and Aunt Beachie did such a good job planning it with the kids decorating cookies and roasting marshmellows outside. Even though Lauren was either crying or sleeping, we had a good time.