Christmas has come and gone

Another year of madness and driving around town like crazy people trying to finish all of our shopping has finally ceased. This Christmas was nice and Tyler has definitely grasped the concept of opening presents, of course, Uncle Ryan might not appreciate the fact that Tyler snuck away and opened a good many of his presents. So, let's work our way up until Christmas Day shall we. Sunday night my Aunt CC had a childrens Christmas party at her house. All of the kiddo's exchanged gifts with the beloved Aunts and one another. They had a blast !! Of course, as parents we managed nicely b/c of champagne and spiked hot chocolate. However, no one drank more than one, well not the ones that had to drive home anyway. Here we go with pictures.

Megan, Sarah and Suzanne posing for a shot - notice Ashley making use of her mouth since both hands were being used.

Angel and Sarah

Most of the kids - Sarah, Katelynne, Tyler and Brody.

CC bought all the kids really cute PJ's. I didn't get a shot with all the girls but Ashley had fizzled out and just couldn't bear to take another picture.

MONDAY, Dec. 24th - Christmas Eve

This year we went to Baton Rouge to spend the day with the Schoonmaker(mother's) side of the family. We had a pretty good time and enjoyed seeing our family. We had some highs and some lows as we celebrated good times with our family but we also missed the ones that are no longer with us. Not having Michael there was tough but as we all know, we get through these times together as a family. We enjoyed each others company and the food was pretty good so let's get down to more pictures.

Tyler and his Aunt Deanne loving on each other.

My sweetheart was running around like a 'nut'.

Tyler and Philip

Ashley opening her little butterfly from Tyler

As we were leaving we decided to take a quick snapshot.

Tyler loved his Christmas PJ's. I wouldn't let him wear them except for Christmas Eve night. He talked to his snowman, as he says, noman, and he would try to give him kisses.

CHRISTMAS DAY - THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST !!!

Philip had been working like a dog. Sunday night he worked an 18 hr. shift and Monday night he worked his regular 12 hr. shift. Philip was home and well around 6:45 on Christmas morning and luckily he was able to be home when Tyler woke up to see what Santa had left him. After exchanging gifts b/t our little family we went to my parent's house to exchange gifts and to have lunch with Lori's side of the family, they have come for lunch the last few years and then we exchange gifts yet again with them. 3 Christmas' in a matter of a few hours. It was crazy.

Tyler riding his new 4-wheeler. He was peeling out in the house b/c the floors were so slick. It cracked him up.

Tyler and his PawPaw playing in the lazy boy.

You'll notice Tyler attacking Ryan. When Ryan doesn't give Tyler his undivided attention it usually results in wrestling.

Me and my little man opening up some of his presents.

He finally warmed up to his 4-wheeler.

Everytime we go to my parent's house we have to go see Bandit. Tyler loves him to pieces and since he is now into giving kisses Tyler got a big dog smooch from his friend.

Covington Christmas

This year we had to celebrate Christmas a little earlier than we would have liked but it was a great night. The reason we had to do our Christmas early is b/c Mrs. Sonia really wants Philip's crew and Stuart's crew to all be together at the same time. It's really hard for both of them to be off at the same time so Sunday was the day. We gotta do what we gotta do. Tyler was really funny with Stuart. Stuart is so tall and his voice is deep so Tyler was really nervous being around him. He would look him up and down from the far corner of the room. By the middle of the night Tyler got comfortable and was his usual self - LOUD and WILD !!!
Tyler thought it was real cute that he was using Sonia's DVD/VCR as his chair.

Tyler opened his first present of the night. He did really good opening his gifts. Sonia really likes tape so that held him up some but that's what mom is for.

Tyler spotted the BIG present and started tearing into it. It's like he new Thomas was waiting to get out. We couldn't get him off of Thomas for the rest of the night.

We were trying to get a picture of us as a family but it was a no-go unless Thomas was included and then we couldn't get Tyler to look at the camera.

Me and my sweetheart.

Nunu, Papa and Tyler. Can you tell he was trying to escape ??

Iris, Nick and Stuart

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Friday night Philip, Tyler and I visited the Willow's Subdivision known for having nice holiday displays. About 8 houses have gotten together and create a nice play for families to go to get into the holiday spirit. Tyler loved the display for Halloween but the Christmas beats them all out.

Tyler when we arrived. He was so CITED as we call it around our house.

You can't see it in this picture but the inside rotates like a caroussel.

Tyler would walk up to the Reindeer and give them all kisses. I hate to think of all the germs he picked up on but maybe he was the only one to give kisses.

Gotta love Santa in his airplane..

Santa really did get run over by a reindeer.

Tyler's 2nd picture with Santa Claus

This is Tyler's second Christmas so we went to the mall to see Santa and to get some shopping done. Tyler was fine with Santa from a distance but as we got closer Tyler's anxiety level was rising. When we put Tyler in Santa's lap things went south. He didn't cry but he was definitely petrified. He was squirming and trying his hardest to escape so his pants and shirt rode up and then they snapped the picture. The first picture that was taken Tyler had his hands over his eyes and was stretching his body way out trying to get away. It was so funny. Philip and I were laughing but the photographers and Santa were not to happy with us. They must have thought we were horrible parents for forcing our child to take a lousy picture BUT we need it for the memory book. As we were walking away Tyler started shouting "BYE" to Santa. That Turkey...

What a year can bring

So many things have changed during this year. Tyler is no longer a baby and has entered the Toddler phase. He runs and no longer crawls like a military man, he speaks and no longer coo's and all his baby looks have turned into the looks of a little man. His speach and his expressions are becoming clearer everyday.

I feel settled for the first time in a long while; my family is happy and as healthy as we can be. I have a job that I love and really can see myself here for the long haul. Philip is doing great. He is moving in the right direction at work. He is now a qualified operator but still acting as assistant operator. When an operator is out he can fill their position for them which he has already done a few times. He still enjoys working in a plant and he has made great friends along the way.

I thought I would post a few pictures showing how we have grown as a family. I hope it makes you reflect on how blessed we are to have family to love and to be loved in return.

These pictures were taken before Christmas last year.

These have been taken in the last couple of weeks.

The Guys

This is a picture from Phe's big hunting trip. Ron (3rd from left) killed this 10 point. Left to Right: Danny, Phe, Ron and Alan.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Tyler & I met up with some friends to watch the annual lighting on the Christmas Tree in downtown Denham Springs. The whole thing was kind of boring except for a couple of times when the kids in the choir would make mistakes. They do have a wooden train for the kids to play on and once Tyler found it it was ON. He is a train fanatic. When it was time to go home he cried the second the train was out of site until we were in the house and I handed him his favorite toy train. 15 minutes of pure emotional distress. His life is so hard.

We took a picture of ourselves while the choir was singing - we were bored.
Kaiden and Tyler aboard the choo choo express.
Group picture.

Nice Christmas Tree huh?

Round & Round We Go

Friday after work Phe, Sonia, Tyler and I decided to go to the mall to do some Christmas Shopping. Tyler now knows that when we go to the "New" Mall that he can ride the carousel. Why we call the mall the "new" mall I don't know. It's only been there almost 10 years. Anywho, here are some cute pictures. Tyler always wants to ride on the TIGER, okay, truth be told, we make him ride the TIGER. GO LSU !!
This picture was blurry but it is still clear that he loves the carousel.

Our long and interesting weekend

Thursday, our day of Thanksgiving started off with a bang, try cramming 40 people in a house that should at MAX only hold 20-25 all together for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a world wind. Dana's clean house was destroyed within minutes, kids were running wild and adults were all standing where-ever possible.
Most everyone was in good spirits, well except for my Covington crew. I ate a bad steak the day before that about killed me. I couldn't stand the smell or taste of anything. I didn't eat the first bite of Thanksgiving dinner. That's really sad. Tyler was in an extremely foul mood b/c Philip tried to teach him to share a toy with his cousin Micah, which ended in disaster. Tyler had a screaming fit the rest of our stay at Dana's. He was literally throwing himself onto the ground with anger. It was past his nap time and it just wasn't a good situation. Poor Philip was just trying to hold us all together. Needless to say, we left after a while and we all went home and crashed. We all needed the nap. Afterwards, we perked up and had a nice quiet evening at home.
Friday it was decided that we should have another mini Thanksgiving at Aunt Sandra's house. We brought whatever leftovers we had and we all ate together. It was relaxing and we all had good food with great company. It was about 10 of us, maybe a few more. Tyler played well with the other kids and we all kicked back. THEN the LSU football game on. Let's just say we all know that LSU lost the game. Enough said.
Saturday & Sunday went by quietly and then in the middle of the night Sunday/Monday morning I woke up with extreme pain in my abdominal area. I freaked out b/c I couldn't move and I was hurting VERY bad. I decided that my appendix must have ruptured and I was about to die. Philip left work and met me at the house and Sonia came over to stay the night with Tyler while we were at the Emergency Room. It ended up that my appendix did not rupture but I indeed to have kidney stones. More than likely I got them through genes passed down from my sweet daddy. He used to get them all the time. So Monday and most of yesterday I was doped up on pain medication so needless to say I was in lala land. Yesterday I went to an urologist and they did a whole bunch of test and x-rays and luckily I passed the stone there and was able to go home without any pain. My kidneys are still sore and I feel like I have been punched in the side about a hundred times but the soreness is managable which I am very happy about. I don't like taking medication so my stress level is back to normal.

Let us give thanks

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!

Be safe on the roads and let's all remember what Thanksgiving is about - aren't we so blessed to have our family, love, health, jobs and our friends. Mostly, Thank God for him allowing us to have all these things.
Treasure your crazy aunts, cousins and grandparents that we all have in our families. Without them our family wouldn't be complete.

~ With love

Daddy's Home

Philip made it home around 9:15 last night from his hunting trip. Tyler was pretty much sleeping with me on the couch by 8:30, well that was until Philip called to tell us he was in shouting distance and that I better keep Tyler up until he got home. So, I got the kid moving again and we patiently waited for daddy to get home. I saw the lights from the truck turning into the driveway so I told Tyler to come outside with me to see who was at the house. As we turned the corner Tyler spotted Philip and let out a big gasp and started smiling really big so I put him down and he ran to Philip saying "daddy-daddy-daddy" the whole way. Tyler was thrilled to have his daddy home. Philip was happy to be home too. He was wooped. We made our way back into the house and the wrestling began. They played on the floor together until 10:00 and I finally had to ask Philip to start settling down again so we could attempt to get Tyler asleep before midnight. I think Tyler crashed a few minutes later.

I didn't have much time to talk with Philip last night but I sure did miss him. I did get the details of a few of their hunting experiences while snuggling on the couch but that was short lived. We were all so tired & we were both asleep by 10:30.

My sweetheart is home - safe and sound.

ALONE for the weekend

POOR BAMBI

Philip is off to San Antonio to become a HUNTER !! A few of his buddies are going as well. Danny, Ron, Alan and Philip alone in the woods with guns really scares me. They are so goofy and when you put them together goofy turns into madness. So, Tyler and I are all alone this weekend to do WHATEVER we want, to eat whatever we want and for me I get to sleep in the middle of the bed and not fight over blankets. Oh wait, I am suppose to be sad that he is gone. I am really. He is not even in the same state. :(

Anyhow, I am asking that you guys say a little prayer for them that they enjoy themselves and enjoy in fellowship with one another. Also, most importantly, pray for their safety. I want them to all come home in one piece and not with any battle wounds.

Our Trip to Cabella's Outdoors.

Since we were in the Gonzales area yesterday for a funeral Philip was determined that we were going to go to Cabella's to check out all the outdoor goodies. We had both heard that they had a lot of wildlife in display. Tyler fell asleep right before we got there so he slept through most of the store but once he woke up we re-walked the good parts. He really was interested in the deer and the different types of bear. Lord knows Tyler's PawPaw is giddy with delight over the interest in deer. What PawPaw doesn't know is that his mother is going to teach him to protect the wildlife. This really isn't the greatest picture but it struck me b/c Tyler looks like a big kid facing the world all on his own. Makes me happy and sad at the same time.
Tyler and Philip checking out the deer on the wall.

He was trying to get to the Nutria Rats in the display. GROSS !!
The Swamp exhibit was really good. Everything looked like it truly is in our beautiful swamps.