Timeless Christmas

We are slowly digging ourselves out of the boxes and packing paper.  My kitchen is clean and organized thanks to my sis (thanks em!)

More to come soon but wanted to pass along this AWESOME video from our Elevation Christmas Eve Worship experience.  This song was one of my favorite parts...and the other would be over 2200 people giving their lives to Christ! Can I get an AMEN?!?!

Click HERE and play the video.  I keep watching it over and over- so cool.

We are planning to enjoy the last few days of vacation before we head back to work on Thursday.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!



"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14



Enjoy time with family and friends and don't forget the real meaning of Christmas!

xoxo,
The Staton Family


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Santa Time

We decided to make a day out of Anderson's first Santa experience.  Both sets of grandparents were nice enough to drive and meet us for lunch, play with Anderson and then wait in line for Santa.  We got there right after they opened and the line wasn't terribly long.  But the place was NOT very efficient.  I wanted to go and talk to the manager about how they could get more kids through, make more money and have a much better experience for people.  But instead, I just complained that it was taking forever and didn't want A to have a meltdown.  Can't you tell motherhood has made me more patient...NOT!
When it was finally our turn, Anderson sat on Santa's lap and started smiling from ear to ear.  He is such a poser and I love it!  It probably helped that 2 sets of grandparents and his own parents were making him smile.
After I picked him off Santa's lap and handed him to Mike's mom so I could wait to see the pictures.  About 30 seconds later, he spit up ALL.OVER.HER!  I couldn't help but bust out laughing!!  I wanted to give him a high five for waiting to spit up until after we got several cute pictures.  Way to go, A.

It was definitely a fun day and we were really thankful there were lots of extra hands to entertain Anderson.  Not sure he will be as happy next year when he meets Santa but at least we had one successful year!

Anderson gets so excited when he sees Nanny!

Good Morning

Our little family has been beyond blessed to live at the Russo's lake house for the past 2 months.  I sometimes "forget" to be grateful for a place to live while we are in transition.  I start complaining about living so far out, the long commute to work and Miss Beth's house and wanting my own stuff and not see another box for a long time.  Mike is very good about validating my feelings but gently reminding me that we should be grateful for such a sweet living situation.  

Then mornings like this happen...

Mornings where the baby is still sleeping and Mike and I get to sit on the dock and watch the Lord paint the sky with the most beautiful sunrise.  I will miss living on the lake and seeing the beauty each morning and night.   We are thankful for this transition and look forward to unpacking lots of boxes very soon!

Thanksgiving 2012

We spent Thanksgiving 2012 in Charlotte.  I was sad we didn't get to go to Em's house and experience Anderson's first flight, but it was nice to not travel.

Wednesday afternoon, Emily Chidester, was nice enough to make the haul to the lake in order to take some family pictures for us.  She got to experience taking pictures of a baby that gets cranky when its nap time and doesn't really smile on command.  She was SO patient with us and took a ton of great pictures (if you are in the Charlotte area, you should check out her website and book her now)!

Wednesday night we enjoyed the annual Russo Family Thanksgiving at the lake house.  There were about 35 people that came this year which was a lot less than normal.  Anderson was a champ- Praise the Lord!  He stayed awake long enough to greet everyone and then went to sleep the rest of the night.  I was worried all the noise would keep him up, but he didn't make a peep.

O'Malley came to stay with us the week of Thanksgiving since mom and dad were at Em's house.  He loved everyone being here over Thanksgiving and might have gain just as much weight as the rest of us.

Thursday morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and a baby who decided to sleep in.

We took our time getting ready and then headed to Kelly and Robby's house for the day.  We crashed the Norman/St. Louis Thanksgiving and it did NOT disappoint.  The food was amazing and I wish I could have eaten more.  AMAZING!!  Anderson got a lot of lovin from mama and daddy Norman as well as Aunt Scrappy and Uncle Scout.

We got home in time for Anderson to head to bed and we were not far behind.

Friday we woke up and enjoyed a lazy morning before heading to Davidson to meet Brad for brunch.  It was great to catch up with Brad and finally introduce him to Anderson.

Later that afternoon, we decided it was time to get our Christmas tree.  We usually get our tree from Lowes (don't judge), but we decided to support a local business is good ol' Denver.  They had a great selection and even better prices.  Anderson was amazed at the texture of the branches and really wanted to see how good it tasted.  That's when we decided it was time to buy the tree and head home.

After we put Anderson to bed, we hung the stockings and decorated the tree.  We wanted to put up a few decorations since we aren't moving into our house until right before Christmas.  We will un-decorate next week and then redecorate at the new house- woot woot!

All in all, it was a great first Thanksgiving with the munchkin! 

5 Months

Anderson,

Happy 5 Months...a few days late.  I'm really good about taking your picture each month, but not so good about writing the post.  Most months I have said, "this is my favorite month thus far". Well this month I might not say it, but I still love you.

We had a "rough" few weeks this month as you learned to roll from your stomach to back.  It was great in theory until you did it in the middle of the night and woke yourself up.  The first few nights, you woke up on your back and freaked out because you had no idea what happened.

This lasted less than 2 weeks but it felt like 2 years.  A few days before you turned 5 months, you learned to roll over both ways- PRAISE THE LORD!!  You began rolling all around and would play/talk in your crib if you woke up but went back to sleep.

You have been introduced to more foods this month: avocado, sweet potato, peas, carrots, apples, bananas and more prunes than you ever thought possible.  You have had a lot of prune juice and prunes to get things moving.  You still don't love cereal, but I'm making you eat it for another month then will only do solids.

Your favorite past time this month was the "jumper".  We were going to buy a new one on amazon and someone told us they had an almost new one at a consignment store down the street for 75% less.  I was sold right there and sent daddy there the very same day.  You would be happy if we left you in that thing all day long.  You are laughing and talking more and more and are "trying" to crawl.  You do the wiggle/swim on the floor and try to move but don't go anywhere.  I think it will happen within the month but that is purely a guess.  You had a lot of bumbo time this month so you could work on your neck strength and holding up those cheeks.  You are also sitting on the floor by yourself for about 30 seconds before you fall to one side. Your feet were found this month!  If you aren't sucking your fingers, you are grabbing your feet and trying to put them in your mouth.  Good thing you get a bath every night!

You have 2 teeth that the doctor said are about to pop through in the next few weeks.  You are still a pretty good napper.  Miss Beth says most days you are napping 2 hours in the morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon.  You used to sleep for 30 minutes on our ride home, but that is hit or miss now.  You usually just talk and play on the ride home.

Bedtime is still 6:30pm because you can't last much longer than that.  You get so excited when we take your clothes off, it is hilarious.  You do a "happy dance" and get this funny expression on your face.  Our favorite time of day is always the morning when we walk into your room.  You smile and laugh when you see us.  You are 100% a morning person right now.

You are getting back to your normal 12 hour sleep habits at night, but have had a few middle of the night interruptions.  You are currently on a bottle strike and are waking up around 5am hungry.  You usually eat a bottle and then go back to sleep.  I just wish you would realize this wasn't a 24 hour restaurant and stop refusing your bottles during the day.  More on that during your 6 month post. 

Since you are teething, your 2 fingers are always in your mouth.  You will usually fall asleep with them in your mouth as well.  You still aren't terribly interested in the paci but will take it once in a while to settle your self in the car seat or our arms.

5 Month Stats:

Weight- 16lbs 5 oz (you gained 2 pounds this month!)

Length- def gotten longer but they didn't measure you at the doc this month

Clothes- Mostly wearing 6 month tops and 3-6 month pants. 

Eating-cereal/baby food in evening, bottle every 4 hours or when you decide you aren't on strike

Naps-2 hour morning nap, 1-2 hour afternoon nap

Night time-6:30pm-7/7:30am (a few weeks of waking up once or twice in the night b/c you flipped over.  Thank goodness that is over)

We love watching your personality develop each day.  I can tell your 6th month of life is going to be really fun!!
We love you sweet boy! 

O'Malley

O'Malley has been living with us (again) for the past week and it's been such a treat. We love that dog but knew it was best to let my parents keep him after he lived with them for over a year.
Mom and dad headed to Em's house for Thanksgiving so they dropped the dog off last weekend.
There have been so many people up at the lake house over the last week, O'Malley has been in heaven! He has probably gotten more people food, less walks and dare I saw less attention but I think he has had a good stay.
He is the protector of Anderson and always has to be laying near him. It stems from jealousy I'm sure, but it's still sweet.
We will miss O'Malley when he goes home tomorrow. But I'm glad we are back in Charlotte so we can see him a lot more often.








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Cereal

We have entered a new phase...cereal!  As I mentioned in his 4 month post, Anderson stopped sleeping his normal 12-13 hours at night and mama wasn't happy.  He would wake up, down a bottle and then go right back to bed.  Selfishly, I wanted those 12 hour stretches so I didn't have to wake up at 4am/5am and go back to sleep.

We went to his new pediatrician in Charlotte for his 4 month check up and she suggested we start him on cereal.  The next afternoon, I was excited to get home and see his reaction to this new food.  The first night, we might have actually eaten 3 spoonfuls.  The rest was on his face, chinS or bib.  The next night (after a 2.5 second random freak out), he did so much better and actually ate most of it.  The poor little guy seems to be constipated which he NEVER is, so I added some prune juice to the cereal.  Praying this doesn't backfire on me.

  This face was too good not to document

We're excited the 12-13 hour stretches are back...yet to be determined if it's actually from the cereal or not.  Whatever it's from, we're praying our good sleeping boy is here to stay for a while.

4 Months

Anderson,

You are now 4 months old and had a really great month!   Am I allowed to say each month... "this was my favorite month"??  Your personality keeps changing and you are becoming more and more fun.  
We moved to Denver, NC to live at the Russo's lake house right when you turned 3 months old.  Everything we own is packed in a storage unit except our clothes, your crib and chair.  You did great during the move and it didn't seem to mess up your sleep or demeanor. 

Mom started back to work and you have adjusted so well.  We take you to Miss Beth's everyday and you are so happy at her house.  You arrive in your pj's every morning and give Miss Beth a smile right when we walk in the kitchen.  When mommy picks you up, you muster up a smile or giggle to make sure I feel loved.  Miss Beth has been great to keep your same schedule and says you are a very good boy for her.  I went away for the weekend with your aunts and nanny.  You had a great weekend with your dad and were extra well behaved.

You have continued to roll around, eat your hands/fingers ALL.DAY.LONG, love standing and started to really belly laugh.  The first time we heard you belly laugh, I almost cried.  It was the best thing I have ever heard.  You have continued to drool like a champ and constantly want to hold your bottle.  You played in your exersaucer for the first time and continue to love the johnny jumper (we only let you play in those for 30 minutes a day so it doesn't stretch our hips too much...following Dr. Ellen's orders)  You started riding in the bob face-forward like a big boy and have done really well.  You either scratch the sides and listen to the noise your nails make or play with the toys we attach.  You found your voice this month and started to "talk" all the time.
You are still a total morning person and smile and giggle the minute we walk into your room.  You are the happiest when you are naked.  If you could roll around in your diaper all day, you would be the happiest baby on the earth.  Sorry bud, clothing is important.
You attended eKidz at church for the first time this past month.  Mommy was a little anxious during the church service but you did great.   You have gone a few times now and really love it.  You have started to nap longer on the weekends (2.5-3.5 hour) stretches.  It is glorious for us and we appreciate it!  
You had your first Halloween and mom let you wear a lame costume.  We dressed you up in your giraffe costume,  took a few pictures, went to test drive a new car, then put you to bed.  Exciting night, buddy!
As promised, we bought you a home this past month.  We showed it to you a few weeks ago and you approved.

4 Month Stats:

Weight- 14lbs 1 oz (50% percentile)

Length- 26.5 inches (80% percentile)

Head- don't remember the exact measurement but you were in the 20% percentile.  Sorry about your pea head

Eating-taking a bottle every 3-4 hours during the day

Naps-2 hour morning nap, 2 hour afternoon nap and a 30-45 min cat nap in the evening

Night time-You are usually in bed by 6:30pm and we wake you at 7am to put you in your car seat to go to Miss Beth's house.  A week before your 4 month birthday, you started waking up around 4 or 5am.  We gave you a bottle and you went right back to sleep.  We started you on cereal but more on that later

We are thankful for a healthy and happy little boy and feel blessed to be your parents.   
Love you little nugget! 

Sorry, mostly iphone pics this month...

first time time in the water/sand at the lake

 first pair of shoes

 dinner date with mom and dad- played the whole time

 getting ready for the pumpkin patch

 your favorite past-time...drool bubbles

 first time at church

 first Halloween

 exploring the exersaucer

 attempt at a family picture

 first time riding face-forward in the bob.  Need more toys?